ꮼ firelord!zuko is a lovesick man when it comes to you
ᦸ sweetheart boyfriend!zuko is a hardcore yearner ⸝⸝ not proofread.
boyfriend!zuko is a very sympathetic man; he hates to see you in any amount of pain—trying to help any way he can, from making you tea to heating a bag of rice with his flames so he can rub it over your aches in an attempt to soothe.
He'll expertly rub the tense muscles on your back or carefully hold the hot bag over cramps, just happy to make things easier for you.
boyfriend!zuko has a glow whenever he sees you, a softness only you get to know. He's still kind to the others and to his friends and puts on a brave face to the nation—strong & honorable—but you see when he collapses into you after a grueling day.
Vulnerability has never come easy for him, but it's never as hard when it comes to being vulnerable and 'weak' in front of you; it's comforting, actually.
boyfriend!zuko loves when you're cuddled up in bed & lie on top of him, claiming him as your 'special heated blanket.' He finds it oddly endearing when you tug his arms around him and burrow into his skin.
Having you pressed up against him, so content and comfortable, is always so grounding after a hard day.
boyfriend!zuko lets you play with his hair in private, twirling it in your fingertips, scratching his scalp, or just running your fingers through it whenever he's lying on your chest.
Your fingers tangled in the long strands always make it easier to sleep—he's typically out within five minutes flat whenever you start youing with it.
boyfriend!zuko doesn't hide how much he cares for you; he's had countless moments in front of his men where they've caught him holding, kissing, or just touching you for reassurance, & his only reaction is to be annoyed they didn't knock first.
He's not afraid to be honest; he's in love. There's no point in being with someone if you're not in love & not at least sometimes affectionate.
boyfriend!zuko loves whenever you start yapping. He's a rather quiet person, so he adores it whenever you start going on and on about something. It could be the most mundane, uninteresting thing, & as long as you look happy talking to him, he's listening.
It's so sweet to see the way he looks at you once you start your ramblings—the soft spot is very visible with the smile on his lips.
boyfriend!zuko likes to kiss your shoulder a lot. Waking up in a tangled mess of limbs? Expect a kiss on your cheek. Getting ready together in the bathroom? Expect his arms wrapped around you and kisses on your shoulder. A moment alone? You get it. Expect a kiss on the shoulder.
It feels more intimate than a plain kiss on the cheek, and he likes the variety of reasons he can come up with for kissing your shoulder.
boyfriend!zuko is surprisingly gentle; obviously, he'd never be mean to you, but everything between you has this soft, loving undertone.
From the tone of voice he uses, how he speaks to you, & how calm he is around you, everything is serene. He does his best to never be anything like his father. Its so sweet how he treats you.
synopsis . Your boyfriend reaching the avatar state when he’s close. content . afab!reader, improper use of air bending, established relationship, dirty talk, missionary, pet names, he (nervously) talks you through it, praise, implied/slight breeding kink, etc.
author's note: i’d lick the sweat off his bald head if he let me.
You should’ve known something was up when the bedroom’s lanterns began to flicker.
But with the way Aang's hips snapped down against yours in such a relentlessly missionary rhythm—plump cock smothered deep within the juicily squelching walls of your pussy—it was hard to focus on anything else outside of the way he stretched you open.
HIs breaths came in searing pants against your neck, one gripping hand braced beside your head whilst his free one occupied itself with one of your thighs, tugging your leg impossibly higher around his waist just so that he could fuck you at that pinpointingly perfect angle.
"Ohhh, that's ittt, sweet girl. T-Taking me so well," Aang murmured as his eyes locked onto yours with shimmers of honest adoration visible all over them. "Keep squeezing me like that, mmgh. F-Feels good. So good." He thrusted even harder then, his breath flying out of him along with it as the wet slap of skin on skin emulated throughout the room.
His muscles tensed and his balls felt sorely heavy with each time they came plapping down against your sweat-slicked skin. The lanterns began to flicker again, brighter this time around as they cast shadows around the bedroom.
Then he leaned all the way down to smush his soft lips into yours, capturing your breath with in a messy kiss. His tongue came out to slide against yours as his firm body rocked into yours, the bed struggling to remain in place with his every move.
When his mouth left yours, he was dazed. This should've been the second signal for you. Especially as he let out a loud groan and went whispering, "Gonna breed this pretty cunt-," Instantly catching himself after and letting those soft grey eyes of his go all the more doe-like on you, "Shit... can I say that? I-Is that okay? Do you like it when I talk to you like tht?"
His hips picked up in pace, jaw going stiff as the balmy head of his cock smudged all sloppily against your cervix. Aang glanced down to see how he was disappearing into you, gasping at the obscene sight below him and then returning his eyes to yours.
"Tell me, baby. Please, talk to me. Tell me how you want me-, how you need me. I just wanna-, ohfuck—" Mid-sentence, his steady thrusts seem to derail and your cunt soaks around him to leave a sheeny layer of aroused slick all over his dick.
You're sucking him in deeper than he expected you to, and it catches him absolutely off guard. Which you notice rather quickly, batting your fucked-out eyes up at him, "Aang? Are you okay?"
"Yeah-, yes.. You just keep—" He hunches over against you—body going taut and lean muscles constricting against one another. "You keep squeezing me like that."
Begining to like seeing him struggle, "Squeezing like what?" you asked in sync with your walls clenching around the deft base of his cock.
Air puffs right out of him as if he'd been choked and his body shudders with something powerful coursing through him. You only catch it for a split second the first time it happens—a brief flash over both his markings and his eyes as his next array of groaning stammers out of him.
Following this is the flash of something wild in his eyes as they broaden, pupils dialating a fraction. Aang's head tips to the side and the plump crown of his cock slavers itself alllll around your insides, the puffy lips of your cunt left to quiver around him.
"You're so pretty-," Your loving boyfriend chuffs out, unknowingly thrusting into you harder via a burst of controlled air slapping against his backside. "H-Have I told you that? Hm?" He's asking as if he wasn't literally air bending himself into fucking you harder.
Your head just barely manages a nod, tears coating your lash line, "Nngh-, yes, Aang."
"Say it back to me then," Aang encourages. In between his breathy words, a brush of air is felt slithering against your cunt. It was almost as if his ability to seamlessly multitask was showcasing the best of his abilities via stimulating you everywhere. "Tell me how pretty my girl is, yeah?"
The sensation brings a stutter to your speech, "A-Aang, I can’t," you cry out, nails lightly scraping at his back.
He smiles halfway before his thrusting grows erratic and his jaw slacks some, "Oh. You're gushing-, shit."
You feel the way his tip pulsates inside you, his hips struggling to pull himself back for a moment long enough to give his cock a second to breathe—not that he much cared to do so anyway.
"So wet. Wanna see you cum-, wanna feel it." Aang husks, "Can you do that? Cum for me?"
"Mhmm," You nod weakly at first but within the next few seconds, as something begins to rumble distantly, you start to second guess your agreement. Mouth falling agape, “Wait, s’too much-,” you try to warn him.
He’s lost though—lost in the feel of your greedy insides begging his dick to spill enough seed into you to repopulate a nation or two at least. Aang’s unconscious manipulation of air only gets worse too, he goes from using his bending to fuck himself deeper to using it to sprawl your puffy pussy lips ‘n legs apart even wider.
You’re a stretched out mess in mere seconds, gasping his name and crying out in pleasure as your back begins arch. Then he’s chuckling all of a sudden and you swear for a moment he’s not even the same man you knew him to be.
Aang’s head cocks back some and his eyes roll back, “You can take it,” he grunts like he knows his words to be true and no argument could convince him otherwise. “You always do. Mmgh-,” He bites his lip for a second before looking down at you once more. “Can’t you feel that? The air helpin’ me fill you up? It’s-, hah.. It’s a little something I’ve been practicing.”
You pout at first, “Aang, I don’t know if-, mmgnh! Y-Your markings!”
The room illuminates with colors of spiritual blue before he notices what you’re talking about.
“What about them?” Aang asks cluelessly, his voice having changed due to the height of pleasure and energy surging through him.
Sweat drips down his body but it doesn’t even manage to touch you or the bed because he’s bending those droplets just as he was the air—completely losing himself in the feel of you and bending all sorts of shit because of it.
“They’re glowing,” You gasp.
Then his cock buries itself all the way in, every stiff inch clamped by your sappy insides, and his body comes to a sharp stop.
You knew there were… concerns when it came to having sex with your boyfriend who just so happens to be the avatar. But, no one told you he’d enter the avatar state just from cumming too hard!!
It’s while creamy gushes of cum are flooding into your poor cunt that his body is shuddering and he’s literally entering a new state of pleasure. He could hardly manage a word out or even move, the state had taken him over entirely.
You’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little worried for him because of it, but honestly you were a tad bit distracted by how fucking hot it was.
You shouldn’t let this go to your head, really.
But who else can say their pussy sent their boyfriend into the avatar state?
That’s something to brag about!
(not proofread) banner from “Welcome to The Muscle Salon!” || tags:
Summary: The gaang realized there’s some…tension between you and Zuko, and what are good friends for if not setting you two up? What they don’t realize is that you and Zuko have been together for years.
Katara senses something off.
It wasn’t like anything seems out of the ordinary—the gang is out on some sort of life-threathening mission to save the world once again. But funnily enough, that’s not what she’s been noticing with the two people right in front of her. Walking along the clear night sky and talking about random things that come into mind.
That’s the thing—it wasn’t weird for both of them to interact.
Katara, you, and Zuko decided to look for food in the forest; and it’s been years that they’ve seen one another…it’s just, those two still feel close. Almost as if they’ve been seeing each other frequently. Or maybe they could just have a strong bond after all these years.
You touched the ends of Zuko’s hair, “Your hair has gotten so long,” you twirled a strand in your finger.
Zuko lets you play with his head as he tilts his head, “Has it? I thought you liked it?”
“Mhm…”
“Shall I cut my hair?”
You gasped and pressed your left palm to your chest, “Don’t you dare—”
“You wouldn’t like me without my hair?”
You rolled your eyes, “Now you are just putting words in my mouth,”
Zuko puts his hand up in surrender, “I would never do such thing,”
You move a little closer to Zuko, hands brushing, “And I would not prioritize such a thing—even if it’s your beautiful hair,”
“Not to say Aang is not handsome without hair, Katara,” you joked.
Katara giggled, “Oh, if only Aang heard that.”
You put your pointer finger on your chin, “Don’t you ever wonder what Aang would look like if he grew his hair?”
Katara shook his head, “I’ve seen him, once, when we were kids.”
Zuko turned to Katara, “I guess you’ll still stick with the bald look.”
Katara smiled and nodded at that. She wouldn’t have Aang any other way.
But Katara saw something that made her tilt her head.
You were never an outspoken person, it was difficult for people to read you unless they truly observed. And what Katara saw was the way you leaned a little too close to Zuko, even if you can hear him just fine normally. How a brush of a hand may seem accidental at first, but slowly settles and stays there. How your eyes never wonder off him, even if you need to.
You felt someone stare at you and looked away from Zuko, quickly realizing you were with someone else, you pulled back as quick as you could and looked at Katara.
You smiled at her, a little guilty, “It’s rare we get nights like this, right, Katara?”
She blinked slowly, and nodded absentmindedly.
You turned back to Zuko, unaware of the growing smile that the woman behind you mustered.
You’d thank her later, she thought.
Sokka believed that Zuko would be the last in the group to be…intangled with someone.
Every conversation ends the same way, “I’m an expert at love! Zuko, buddy, you should be asking me for advice when it comes to this. Don’t you need, what, fire baby heirs?”
Zuko would usually roll his eyes, “Didn’t your last girlfriend turn into the moon?”
He just couldn’t believe Zuko would fall in love with someone; after all, with all the fire lord duties and his awkwardness, how could he?
He squinted.
“Hey…Zuko?” He started, “Don’t you wanna get that check by Katara?”
He pointed at the bruised hand of Zuko.
Zuko looked down and inspected it, “It’s fine, ointment would do.”
Sokka nodded, he gets it, not everything has to be healed by Katara.
He tilted his head, “Wait, do we have ointment—”
“Sokka!” Aang called out.
He looked back as Aang waved at him. He walks towards Aang and shouts, “Wait, hold that thought! I’ll ask Aang or Katara,”
Zuko, however, was already heading somewhere. He went towards the sleeping Appa and saw the person who could just heal his wound.
“Zuko!” Sokka called out. He got no response.
“I got ointment, didn’t know Toph would carry some! You know, considering she’s blind!” Still no response.
He was just about to give up and leave the ointment in Zuko’s tent when he heard a voice. Of course, you might know where Zuko is.
He started approaching the sleeping Appa, but slowed his steps as he heard you talking to someone.
“Ugh, you fought those thieves hours ago. Yet, you still stayed silent.” You groaned.
Sokka froze on the spot. Now he knows where Zuko went. He should probably leave, but the chuckle Zuko let out made him stop in his tracks.
“It’s not that bad,”
As Zuko spoke, Sokka took a peak. What he saw was Zuko leaning against Appa, using it as a pillow, and you sitting directly in front of him, adding on the ointment. It was soft. Warm. Intimate.
“Of course you of all people would say ‘it’s not that bad.’ Seriously, we have Katara, might I remind you, a healer. You don’t have to even put on this.” You continued applying the ointment roughly.
Zuko winced, “Well, I’m just testing if you can become a healer one day, you have the potential—“
“Yeah, sure, a non-bender healing,” you cut off.
Zuko clamped his hand over your moving one, “Hey…a healer is not only here to save people, but to remind us that we can still keep going despite what has happened,”
You sighed, “I still don’t understand why you need me to put this on, your other hand is in good condition,” you motioned to his good hand on top of yours.
Zuko started to stand up and that’s Sokka’s que to move out of there. He turned back and sprinted towards the others.
He saw the campfire while the others were seated around. Aang saw him and grew wiry, “Are you okay, Sokka?”
“Yep. Never been better.”
Oh hoho, Zuko is gonna thank him later.
Toph doesn’t need two eyes to see there’s tension between two people. When it comes to feelings, people are blind compared to her. All she could hear was,
Zuko tied his hair into a ponytail, “I’ll be fixing the airship—”
You tilted your head, “Do you need help with that?”
Or,
You stood up, “I’ll get some wood,”
Zuko was already by your side, “I’ll come.”
It was driving Toph insane. Two people, who can see each other just fine, are blind to see what’s underneath the niceties and pleasantries.
So, she decided to have a game of her own.
While the gang was flying on Appa to relocate to their next destination. Aang and Katara were stirring Appa while the rest were in the back. Sokka was finishing up and yapping about his new invention, you braiding Toph’s hair, and Zuko staring into the clouds.
Perfect.
Toph poked your side, which caused you to giggle, “Can you describe the person on your right?”
You looked to the person on your right, “Zuko?” You squinted your eyes, “Why?”
“Bet you can’t say something nice about him.”
You look at Zuko and he looks back at you. Silently discussing what’s happening, Toph, Katara, and Sokka perk up their ears in anticipation of what you’re about to say.
“He…looks good in red.”
“Pfft. Basic!” Sokka exclaimed, “Anyone can look good in red.”
You furrowed your eyebrows, “He’s gotten buff—”
“That’s my compliment!” Toph sat up, “No one takes it. And no one says it better than I do.”
“But that’s a general compliment!”
“Not specific enough for Zuko,” Katara chimed in.
You sighed and rubbed your temples.
Zuko looked at you, his lips twitching, “Is it so hard to say something nice about me?”
You clenched your teeth, “Not helping.”
Toph put her hand near her ear, “What was that? Can’t hear you being nice!”
Zuko leaned in closer, “It can’t be that difficult, or are you just incapable of being nice?”
Your eye twitches and you sigh, “Okay, okay, I’ll spill it.”
The three slowly look at you while you come up with what you’re gonna say. Aang continues to look straight ahead.
Toph can hear your heart thumping, Sokka’s leaning in now, and Katara is staring daggers at you.
This is it, the moment they’ve all been waiting for.
“He’s—”
Appa shook violently and spun as you and Toph grabbed onto each other, Sokka let out a never-ending scream, Zuko shut his eyes, and Katara held onto Aang.
Aang stabilizes his grip on the lead, as Appa finally stops spinning. Toph and Sokka turned their heads to the avatar.
“Aang!” They both said in unison.
“Are you alright, Aang?” Katara touched his cheek.
Aang rubbed his nape, “Oh, sorry, I kinda lost hold on Appa—”
Sokka poked his forehead hard, “Aren’t you the avatar? How could you let go of that simple rope?”
“Yeah, twinkletoes, aren’t you supposed to save the world—that includes us, you know!”
While the others are arguing, you turn to face Zuko with a grimace written all over your face.
Zuko let out a sigh and shook his head. He looks to his right, and you follow his gaze. You move closer to him, sitting beside him as you watch the beautiful fiery sky slowly turn to a gentle and soft shade of the ocean.
Bonus:
As the crew got ready to unpack and set up camp. You find Aang still with Appa fixing his lead.
“Thanks, Aang,” you pet Appa while looking at him.
Aang smiled, “Don’t need to mention it…just, please don't bring up my hair to Katara again.”
You shook your head, “Okay, okay, I won’t.”
After securing the lead on Appa, “But seriously, you can’t even say one nice thing about Zuko? That would save us from, you know, dying.”
You waved him off, “You know if I do that, I won’t be able to stop.”
That’s true, after all, Aang witnessed it first hand.
“Right, just don’t bring the sensitive topic to Katara again,” he rubbed his head, “She’s been asking me non-stop how I’d look with hair.”
You started walking towards the camp, “seriously, though, why don’t you just grow your hair out?”
Aang went after you, “You know why I can’t!”
You looked back at him, “Then what will happen to you and Katara’s children? Will they also be bald?”
Aang flushed at this, “That’s a conversation we won’t be having!”
cw: fluff. suggestive a teeny tiny bit. self indulgent. could have continued forever. i might just.
it’s always warm and cosy in the fire lord’s private chambers. red silk sheets rest languidly on your waist as you lay bare on his chest. his arms, thick and solid, are loose at your back but you know how quick they’d tense if anyone was to storm in here.
but they wouldn’t. with it being a little after midnight, all of zuko’s fire lord duties are over and your duties being an earthbender in ba sing se continuing sometime midday, it feels like you have forever in his arms.
the air still smells of sweaty hot sex, which you just enjoyed a few moments ago with a mix of petrichor. warm, comforting and grounding.
you rest your head in your palm, your elbow digging into his cotton mattress and zuko’s honey amber eyes only drift to your exposed chest for a second, okay two, then he meets yours.
“hm? why’re you looking at me?” he rubs up at down your back soothingly and you sigh wistfully.
you brush his long onyx hair off his pectoral, out of his face and behind his ear to reveal his scarred eye. the sight of his complete face. pouty lips, glowing eyes. stupidly straight jaw and slightly crooked nose (apparently he broke it once as a child). it all makes you want to kick your feet in the air and giggle. but you hold it together, you’re a lady somewhat. eh, not really.
“it’s my granny’s birthday this weekend,” you drawl, looping your finger around a lock of his hair. you hold it straight underneath your nose like a moustache just so you can see his eyes quirk in amusement.
“i thought your grandparents were dead?” he asks, robust yet tender like the flames he uses to reheat your cold teas.
you let go of his hair, slapping his arm lightly.
“my blood grandparents, yes. i’m talking about my granny! she’s looked after everybody since we were babies. i’ve never known life without her.”
zuko hums, listening and unmoving.
“how old is she turning?”
“one hundred and eighteen. impressive, right?”
zuko pouts at you out of habit. just because you’re so close and he’s right there. you meet his lips in a wet smack, stretching your leg to rest over his lower stomach.
“you want me to come to her birthday i’m assuming?” he cocks his head slightly, picking an eyelash off your cheek.
that bluntness, the obvious statement now held between you both, makes you horribly shy. instead of his eyes, you’re looking at his nose. grumbling to yourself.
having a relationship with the fire lord, whilst you were a earthbender (one of the best, might you add!) from one of the smallest tribes wasn’t the easiest. for one, you knew the fire council wasn’t the most supportive with wanting fire royalty to stay firebenders, your dates would occasionally come with an entourage of help and your schedules often proved difficult to line up.
though you and zuko made it work, which lead you to the next stage. introducing him to your tribe.
“everyone’s inviting their boyfriends. a few have some from different tribes and kingdoms!” you draw your finger along his hard chest making incoherent shapes, missing out the clear fact that none of them are royalty, however. it’s a slow whisper, “i want you to be there too.”
your hand is snatched from his chest, curled into a fist and your knuckles are pressed against his lips. the eye contact alone gets your stomach swirling with lust. your leg hitches higher on his chest.
“i’ll be there. for sure.”
your smile could light up the night sky. could rule the tide and guide boats home. zuko finds it difficult to say no to you, especially when all your wants and asks are pretty much within his means. besides getting you a flying bison. he still hasn’t broken the news that it’s not likely you can have one since neither of you are airbenders. anyway.
but to you, as much as you love the luxuries his life can provide, you don’t see him as the royal fire lord. you treat him casually, like his friends do and at this earth tribe party, his only title will be yours. it’s times when you try to demand him to return back to bed in the morning that will always drive him crazy. these aren’t dynamics that are supposed to work, but they do.
“okay,” you roll your lips in, then out before flinging your whole body onto him in an embrace. it’s easy. how his arms circle around your smaller frame, your face tucking into his neck to place a kiss and how his gravely chuckle jumps out of him.
“okay, okay,” he squeezes your asscheek playfully, “what does your granny like? i can go down to the market and get her a few things.”
“you don’t need to get a gift, zu. i’m making her a bracelet that can be from the both of us.”
zuko’s grin doesn’t let up. the idea that even though he is your boyfriend, he will turn up empty handed and name your gift as his?
“sweet, but i’m not doing that. heavens forbid.”
you roll your eyes but lay your lips over his in a kiss which only turns into him pushing you onto your back into his bed and opening your legs so he can slot between them.
on the day of your granny’s birthday, you meet zuko without his entourage outside of your home.
“hello baby.”
you pause for half a second before resuming your pace. that doesn’t last long until you’re jogging up to meet zuko, just to look at him closer and faster.
“hi! you look adorable,” you coo and he doesn’t swat away your fluttering hand. he lets you cup his cheek, your eyes gazing all the way down his body.
he’s still in fire nation robes, but civilian ones. he stands before you, in your kingdom, sans a crown or any golden jewellery, his armour off. just burgundy trousers, black boots, a classic grey long sleeve undershirt and a maroon tunic on top. you know the fire insignia will be sewn on the inside of the sleeves if you had a look. the gold thread on the collar and ends of his undershirt are the only signs of wealth and quality. aside from that, he appears to just be your firebending boyfriend, going to an elder’s birthday.
zuko’s got his hair all up in a bun, one he’s embarrassed to have attempted numerous times to get perfect, so you looking at him with gooey eyes causes him to puff out his chest in pride. he lets a few hairs frame his face and like always, you tuck the side that covers his scarred eye behind his ear. the one thing that will always make it difficult to not mistake him for being the fire lord.
you’re too engrossed in his appearance to notice the wooden box he’s holding, about the width of his chest and four inches outwards.
“you look beautiful,” he hums, bending down to meet your face, “kiss me hello, princess.”
“thank you, kind sir,” you play, slinking your arms around his neck as he adjusts to hold the box on one hip.
outside your quiet apartment, zuko slips his tongue into your mouth, pulling you to him with a bare hand on the sliver of skin exposed from your sage bandeau and loose brown linen trousers. he grunts into the kiss, feeling the rumble of his large body with your hand on his chest.
“i’m so nervous for this,” he whispers against your lips, pulling you back in by sucking your tongue. you don’t have to reply before you’re practically moaning into his mouth, careful not to mess up his bun with the desperate need to rake your fingers over his scalp.
you manage to pull away, slightly breathless, “no, you don’t have to be! i’ve told everyone i’m bringing someone.”
he drops his head to your shoulder with a sigh, “but do they know it’s me?”
you smile, just a tiny one, “they’ve never met you.”
he growls into your neck, “you know what i’m asking.”
“do they know you’re the great and powerful fire lord?” he pokes your side and you yelp in a giggle, “two of my friends know of you. but nobody knows you but me.”
zuko lifts his head.
“nobody knows zuko, my zuko.”
he exhales, rubs his hand down his face.
“if i love you, so will everyone else,” you comfort, taking his hand in yours to start walking to the party, “now what’s in the box?”
the only people that mention zuko being the fire lord are a group of your little cousins who run circles around him, pulling at his maroon garments to get his attention.
there’s three of them— all missing teeth, holding stones to practice earthbending and full of questions for your boyfriend.
“are you the fire lord? you look like him!”
“no. he doesn’t have the crown.”
“but he’s only got one eyebrow,” your cousin points to their own eyebrows, “see, we have two.”
“is it true you know the avatar?”
“can i see some fire tricks? i can show you my earthbending!” complete with your cousin throwing her rocks in the air and them all plopping onto the ground with a clonk.
“zuko can talk to you all later about firebending. now where’s great granny?”
amongst all the balloons, banners and food, you follow the little fingers to the back where there is a stone stool, covered in forest coloured cushions and orange flowers. your granny is seated right in the middle, surrounded the older members of the tribe and all your agemates.
zuko smiles at the kids, lays his palm out in front of him to show off a quick small burst of fire. they all release a chorus of wows. “i’ll show you later if my lady here lets me.”
you roll your eyes, grabbing his heated palm as the kids squeal, “c’mon!”
zuko’s grip gets tighter when you near your family. all in multiple different shades of mossy green to honey yellows with the earth insignia at the sleeves.
“happy birthday granny!” you squeal, letting go of zuko to kiss your granny’s wrinkled yet soft cheek and hold her calloused hands. “are you enjoying your day?”
“my dear, i’m happy to see you’ve made it,” she squeezes your fingertips, crinkled eyes squinting up at you. there’s screams of kids in the background, the teens playing further back and your siblings chatting at one of the tables. but in the presence of your granny, your world stills, listening to every word she says.
“of course!” then you gesture zuko to come forward. he does cautiously, bowing lightly to your granny, the woman who’s taken part in raising you your whole life. “this is zuko,” then you giggle girlishly, “i think he’s the love of my life.”
you tell zuko this often, without the i think at the beginning. wrapped in his arms in bed, sugar dusted confessions beneath the sheets or when you take walks along the ocean at midnight. a few times it’s slipped out when he served you plates of food in front of his friends and every single time, he ends up with cheeks as red as his clothes.
“is it now? let me see this boy.”
zuko takes that as his turn to talk, hoping the sweat along his brow isn’t reflecting in the sun, “hello granny. it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
the smile your granny had for you falls, eyeing down the man you brought with you. you watch as she runs her eyes over his clothing, the golden stitching of his undershirt, his new freshly ironed robes. then his eye, the raised reddened skin around it.
“is this the fire lord?” she asks you and zuko’s wide pupils bounce to yours.
“that’s just his day job—,”
“do you love my child?” she presses, her attention back on zuko.
even you can’t judge where she’s going with this, your posture straightening as you await zuko’s answer, like there’s a possibility he will deny you in front of everyone you love.
it seems to be the easiest question of the day as zuko, still holding his gift, nods. “of course, with my whole heart. the easiest thing i’ve ever done.”
“awe,” you whisper and zuko grabs your hand with an ease unlike before.
one of your (rather annoying) aunties butt in, arms folded, seizing up the fire lord. “yn is one of our most beautiful women.”
“yn’s beauty is the least interesting thing about her.”
it’s as if the whole tribe goes silent, not quite understanding what zuko means. though here you see the qualities of the fire lord rise to the surface with the speed of a wildfire.
he stands tall, straight, rubbing his thumb on the back of your hand.
your granny squints with questioning, while your aunties gather with furrowed brows.
“yn is strong, kind and an intellectual. strong with her bending, strong in her willpower, strong to handle everything life throws at her and still stays by me day after day. the kindest human i’ve ever met. i’ve never seen her think about herself first and she’s shown me love in a way i’ve missed my whole life.” he kisses your palm, “checks for my wounds, offers to manage my accounts. then the smartest smartest person. proves me wrong daily, knows the most random facts and could rule a kingdom if she wanted. though she’d never admit it.”
you swat his arm at that, shyly looking to the ground, “stop zu!”
he laughs, his amber eyes are the softest they’ve ever been. he looks nothing like the fire lord who sits on his throne with the layers of robes and heavy golden jewellery. here he looks like a local boy from another nation, convincing his family he’s made for you.
“but also yes, yn is beautiful. i knew from the day i saw her that i’d love her.”
there’s a range of emotions on the members of your tribe. some with watery eyes, others with gleeful smiles. a few in awe, at the fire lord so effortlessly baring his soul for you in front of everyone who loves you.
“hm,” your granny huffs but you don’t miss the crescent moon smiles in her eyes, “you’d look good in green. yn you must have a shawl you can give him. a scarf?”
a peace offering. you chuckle, nodding unable to take your eyes off zuko, “yes i can, if he wants?”
earth nation robes reminds zuko of a specific period of his youth. he did look good in them. “sure. a shade that goes with the red.”
“also, i got this as a gift for you,” zuko bows when he hands the box to your granny, lightly settling it on her lap.
your granny loves a gift, a fact you didn’t mention to zuko because you knew it would only stress him out more. “oh! you didn’t have to, my boy.”
zuko glances over at you, in shock already. my boy? you shrug playfully.
“delicacies from my kingdom.”
the wooden chest is opened to find cheeses, fruits and chocolate over green fabric. some foods you’ve yet to even try. you point to a chocolate in the corner, white chocolate stripes over a block of milk chocolate.
“that one looks tasty!”
but you’re forgotten as your granny takes zuko’s hand with a greedy smile, you’re wondering if your boyfriend is about to get poached. “what a thoughtful gift. i will be trying these all.”
“everyone loves you here,” you whisper to him as you drunkenly sway to the music your family members play in the distance. “almost as much as i do.”
after practically sharing zuko with every mother, father, auntie, uncle, cousin and your granny who even told your boyfriend to pull up a chair after dinner to talk, finally they’ve given him back to you.
all in one green and red piece.
he’s only had a few drinks, nothing close to how many you’ve thrown back but with your tribe, you’ve always been able to relax. for zuko, it’s the first time he’s ever seen you so… yourself in public.
you’re not overthinking every comment you make. your laughs are booming, not covering your mouth. you also inhale all the food on the tables, swearing it’s better than anything he’s ever tasted because your tribe made it.
you’ve danced with every family member, dragged him away from your cousins when he had to answer his twentieth question about the avatar but just as you get him, your teen cousins ask him to spar. this time you fold your arms in front of zuko, protecting him from their weedy selves, “he’s here for granny and me! not to fight you!”
“sorry, have to listen to the misses here.” he pipes up.
so in zuko’s arms, away from your tribe, you appreciate the reprieve they give.
“how about i give up being the fire lord and just become your husband here?” he chuckles, kissing your forehead as he sways you to the music. zuko’s hands appropriately stay on your hips, despite the desperate want to grope you just a little.
you stare at him with wet round eyes, bottom lip jutted out, “don’t tempt me and you better not be proposing to me here.”
you’re pretty with the candle lights surrounding you, braided hair dancing to the opposite way of your hips. there’s even a daffodil tucked into a braid by an auntie earlier. the more you’ve drunk, zuko’s been on watch that your skirt is still facing the correct way and your bandeau isn’t revealing too much cleavage that you’d usually allow. every clothing adjustment attempt zuko’s made has been met with a deviant smirk from you.
you’re about to kiss him, yank his hair out of his bun and have his gorgeous locks flow all around his face. instead you have to throw up a wall of dirt when a little cousin comes zooming to your feet. “go back to auntie! zuko’s mine now.”
there’s a loud whine when the kid spins around, pottering back off.
“i’m not proposing to you now. you’ll know when i’m proposing to you.” he hums, kissing your cheek, pulling you tight to his chest. he inhales your hair like he always does, peppermint and wafts of orange.
“okay. not now though, i’m not ready yet,” you tell him firmly and zuko’s smile stays put. he nods in understanding. “i loved your little speech earlier.”
his cheeks beam a berry red, looking away from your piercing gaze. you look like you want to eat him in one gulp whilst simultaneously take your time with him.
“just wanted everyone to know i am serious about you and you know, despite my title and priorities… you’re important to me.” his lashes flutter over to you at the end. the grip on your hips tighten, pulling you in to feel his hardening length against your stomach. your next inhale is sharp.
“d-don’t. my family is here.” you warn, but you still snuggle against him, wrapping your arms around his neck and rubbing your nose against his, “you can’t be adorable and…” he brushes his lips along your jaw. you clench your eyes shut. “zu… we can’t. later.”
“i know, i know,” and you hear the lust heavy and thick in his voice. he lays one kiss behind your ear, “i love you more today than i did yesterday.”
you want to tug his hair, have him expose that throat so you can mark it up. “i love you too, so much more. you were so sweet with everyone, made me want to cry. take you home for myself.”
you shiver at the brush of cold air as the sky darkens, the lights surrounding you getting brighter to manage. zuko is quick, shrugging off the shawl you gave him earlier to wrap around your shoulders and lightly heating his hands to hug you back into him.
“i was on my best behaviour, wasn’t i?” he grins, stunning as always. your stomach can’t help but heat.
you nod, chewing down on your lip, “one more hour, we pack up the food and we go, okay?”
“it’s up to you, baby. whenever you want.”
“i’m rewarding you when we get back.” your tone ends on a sensual tilt, one that has all the blood in zuko’s body rushing south.
“you’ll be on my face then,” he mumbles and you can’t reply because aunties are rushing over to you, dragging you back into the crowd to sing songs and listen to stories.
summary: during the day, he is the Fire Lord — but at night, he belongs only to you.
warnings: female!reader, established relationship, a bit of fluff, teasing, cursing, dirty talk, suggestive themes, nsfw, smut, p in v sex, riding/cowgirl position, creampie, temperature play, lots of fluids, orgasms, MDNI;
a/n: erm, it started nice and then i got carried…
wc: 1,4k
Complete silence surrounded you.
That’s how most of your nights were spent in the royal chambers, waiting for your husband to finish his tasks.
You were lying in your bed as usual, dressed in the finest sleeping robe you owned — lazily watching the candles flicker since you didn’t have anything better to do.
You were half-asleep, but slumber didn’t quite reach you. You refused to let it win. You and Zuko barely spent time together. During the day, he was needed by his people. During the night, he was yours.
After a few more minutes passed, the movement of the door handle completely stirred you awake. The wooden door opened with a loud creak, and you rose up, the silk bedsheets creasing under your movement as you looked towards the entrance.
The lights in the room were dim, but the silhouette of your husband was unmistakable. He was already wearing one of his sleeping robes, one that resembled yours. A part of his strong chest could be seen, and his long black hair was down, a few strands falling over his face as he stepped towards you.
He sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight.
“It’s late for you,” he frowned, his hand reaching your cheek, his finger slightly grazing your skin, the touch barely there — as if he was still afraid to do it properly.
“Time works the same for both of us,” you reminded him with a raised brow, leaning into his touch.
He narrowed his eyes at you.
“Are you talking back to the Fire Lord?” he asked, trying to repress his smile.
You huffed and took his face in your palms, squishing his cheeks together.
“Are you talking back to your wife?” you frowned, and he shook his head instantly.
“That’s what I thought,” you smiled proudly as you scooched over to make space for him. “Now sit down so I can hug you. I’m cold,” you commanded, and he sighed, but obeyed.
The room truly was colder than usual, and he knew it.
He got onto the bed, the mattress lowering even more because of his weight. He was a tall, broad man, taking up almost both sides of the bed, leaving you barely any space.
That’s why, once he was settled — head on the pillow, hair splayed on the sheets, chest barely covered by his robe — you crawled on top of him, placing your face in the crook of his neck, your arms wrapping around his torso. The warmth he emitted made you feel fuzzy inside, and you nuzzled your face into his hair.
“What am I… your heater?” he sighed, his hands wrapping around your waist, massaging your skin through the thin material.
“A very handsome one, yes,” you smiled, and he scoffed.
“Compliments are not going to work,” he said dramatically as he stared down at you.
“Does the Fire Lord require anything else from me?” you asked teasingly, raising your head from his neck, balancing yourself on your elbows against his chest.
From his position, he had a very clear view of your cleavage. The robe sat loosely on your breasts, revealing the soft skin under.
He found himself staring a second too long — long enough for you to notice. When he realized, he faked a cough and looked away.
You only chuckled and lifted yourself from his chest, shifting your legs to straddle his lap.
“You know, you can touch me however you like. I’m yours, Zuko,” you reminded him.
Your hands moved to your robe, untying the knot completely, letting it fall open and reveal your breasts before him. The soft material slipped down your shoulders, bunching at your waist and hips, barely covering your bare cunt.
Zuko took a deep breath, his eyes beginning to wander over your exposed body. His face remained composed, but when his cock twitched against your inner thigh, you decided to take control.
“How can I assist you, my lord?” you tilted your head, slowly grinding yourself against his crotch, feeling him harden beneath you.
“You must have had a long day,” you purred, your voice low as your palms moved over his chest, massaging his muscles before sliding down to untie his robe.
“Take it all out on me,” you suggested, and he groaned under you.
His large hands instantly found your hips, fingers digging into the soft flesh as he dragged you over his crotch again.
You moaned at the friction, craving more. Your fingers quickly pulled down the material of his undergarments, revealing his hardened cock, veins prominent along the length.
“Ride me,” he commanded, his hands moving to your ass, gripping firmly.
You moaned in response, your fingers wrapping around his cock, giving him a few slow pumps before lifting your hips and aligning him at your entrance. His leaking tip brushed your clit before you slowly sank down onto him, gasping the moment you felt him stretch you.
He let out another groan, teeth sinking into his lower lip to keep quiet as he watched you take him fully, your pussy molding around base perfectly.
“Fuck… fuck,” he breathed out when you squeezed him, making it harder for him to move. “I needed this… needed you.”
“Mhm— me too,” you nodded mindlessly, beginning to move your hips, riding him, your pace gradually increasing.
“How can I stay away from you?” he grunted, his hips thrusting up to meet you half way. “When you take me like this.”
His breathing turned uneven as he watched you bounce on him. Wet, squelching sounds filled the quiet room, your breasts moving with each motion, your nipples hard from the cold.
A faint smirk appeared on his face as he lifted his hands, cupping your breasts, kneading them roughly, pulling louder moans from you. His thumbs pressed against your nipples, holding them there until a warmth began to build on your sensitive buds — heat spreading just enough to make you gasp and shudder. Your skin was cold with sweat, but his touch was hot and it drove you crazy.
“Zuko,” you cried, your legs trembling, your mouth falling open.
Your hands gripped him for balance as you kept moving, the tip of him hitting that sensitive spot every time you sank down.
“More!” you whimpered, and he responded with a low grunt.
Noticing your legs weakening, he released your breasts and grabbed your hips instead, taking control. He lifted you up and down with force, the sudden pace making your head spin.
He was lost in it too — muttering curses under his breath, hair sticking to his forehead, veins standing out along his neck. His cock twitched, his release close.
You felt him grow hotter inside you, your walls tightening as you took him deeper, faster, your body trembling each time you welcomed him in. His skin grew warmer with every passing moment, until his touch felt almost burning against your skin, forcing your head back as your moans blended with his groans.
“I’m— fuck— so close,” he grunted, his control slipping.
“Inside, inside,” you pleaded, your voice breaking as your own release approached.
And with one final thrust, everything snapped.
The next moments blurred together. Your senses sharpened, your eyes rolling back as a loud moan escaped you, your body collapsing against Zuko’s burning form.
His skin was hot and damp, his touch overwhelming, and when he breathed, steam came out of his nostrils and mouth. He groaned deeply as he spilled his cum inside you, making you flinch at the intensity of the heat. His body burned from the orgasm, taking him a few moments to cool down.
“Did the stress go away?” You let out a breathy giggle in his ear, and he shakes his head.
“Should we keep going?” You suggest with a teasing smirk.
“I have duties tomorrow, love…” he exhales as he watches you straighten your back and hoover above him.
“Then stop me,” you raise a brow at him.
But he looks away, hands remaining at his sides, not even lifting a finger.
stranded on an island with sokka and zuko… what else is there to do than fuck?
note: i wrote this drunk but the vibes are sooo good <3
the three of you gave up on trying to find a way of escape pretty quickly. the glow of the orange sunset was sign enough that there's not much to be done, the steady crash of waves background noise for panic.
you stopped caring and took your clothes off pretty quickly, running into the warm ocean water nearly nude in front of them like it was nothing.
sand stuck against your skin and the sunset refracting against your skin as you play in the water somehow makes both men come to a truce.
"i guess it won't hurt to just… go in." sokka shrugs, tugging his own clothes off and joining you.
you feel the splash of water that hits your back and smirk, turning around and splashing him back. "asshole!" you tease, squealing when he suddenly lifts you up and tosses you deeper into the water.
zuko watches from the shoreline, mouth set in a tight line. he knows there's nothing they can do right now, but you and sokka goofing off isn't the smartest.
but when he watches the way you come up from the water, hair slicked back by saltwater and the way you beam… he stops caring.
sokka's arms are wrapped around you the moment you come out of the water, giggling at his closeness while he stares down at you.
"you're awfully touchy today," you murmur, lost in the way his eyes glow in the sunlight.
you shiver a little when his thumbs rub into the spot where your breasts and ribs collide, face falling into something a bit more serious.
sokka’s grin doesn’t falter, but his gaze flickers over your shoulder toward the beach.
"can you blame me?" he hums, his voice dropping an octave as he pulls you flush against his chest. "we’re stuck on an island with nothing but time, and you look like that."
you turn towards the sound of splashing footsteps and smile at zuko, waving him over. "oh yes! come here! join us!" you yell, pulling yourself from sokka's grip.
when you splash toward him, your hands reach out and grip his wrists. his eyes are wide as you tug him toward, smile on your face as you dash backwards until the dropoff sends you below the surface again.
he falls in too, gasping when he comes up to the surface again. you and sokka are giggling like fools at his wet hair, the way it's falling out of the tie crazily.
"awww, like a little wet dog." you coo, hands pushing his hair back.
he flushes at your touch, the way your hands feel against him. he's not sure when you started to make him have this reaction, but it's potent.
it's not long until the moon has risen, plants beneath the surface of the water and all along the island glowing in their own bioluminescence. it feels as if everything around you is sparkling, an ethereal light casting shadows perfectly.
you're smirking at sokka, subtly nodding your head towards zuko to try to get him to join in on the playful bullying. you want him to loosen up a bit.
sokka shakes his head, swimming behind you and wrapping his arms around you tightly as he lifts you out of the water a bit. the breeze hits your wet body and you shiver, leaning into his touch.
"you know, i don't think i'm the one who can get him to come of his shell." he whispers, smirking when you shudder against him.
you turn to look up at him, completely enthralled in the way the subtle blue glow highlights his face. "fine, i can." you squirm out of his hold, swimming up to zuko and tapping his back.
your eyes trail down the fine mass of muscle from his biceps to his back, biting down on your bottom lip. he turns and faces you, eyebrows raised. "yes?"
you pout dramatically, "play with me?"
his eyes widen, confusion lacing his features while he looks down at you. "what?"
you roll your eyes, leaning in closer. "what's confusing about that? play with me…"
"us." sokka interjects, coughing it out as you glare at each other.
you gasp when zuko pulls you close, staring up at him with heated cheeks. he looks like a god beneath the moonlit shadows, golden eyes shining down at you.
his fingers are splayed out on your hips, breath heavy and heat radiating off of him. "are you being suggestive on purpose? because you have no idea what you're asking for."
his tone sends waves of pure arousal and adrenaline through your body, your mind swimming away from the playful ocean and straight to something else entirely.
sokka's hands suddenly touch your waist from behind and you're not even sure when he got there, suddenly sandwiched between the two of them.
"i-"
"yeah, it's on purpose." he talks over you, his tone deep and radiating with a hunger that has your thighs pressing together desperately.
you huff out a breath of air that turns into a quiet moan when sokka presses into you, the steady heat of zuko starkly contrasting his touch.
and zuko's eyes darken at the sound of your desperation, suddenly much more rough with you as he leans in closer. "really? you tease both of us and expect no consequences? nothing to happen?"
you shake your head, "n-no. i want something to happen. and why not now? while we're all alone…"
"it's funny you mention that, actually. zuko and i have talked about it before. we knew you were going to pull some little trick on us." sokka whispers lowly, his teeth grazing your ear in a way that has your toes curling.
zuko's breath brushes against your lips the closer he gets, your impatience suddenly too much to carry anymore. you close the gap between you in a desparate push, moaning against the heat of his lips.
he feels like he's almost burning you with touch alone, and you wonder if it's because he's turned on too. and what else might happen if it escalates…
his tongue is heavy and hot against yours, swirling against your own with the vague taste of coconut and saltiness of the sea that stuck to his lips while he was beneath the water.
you're whining into his kiss, the feeling of his hot fingertips burning your skin so deliciously.
sokka's no stranger either, sloppy and wet kisses trailing down your neck and into your back. you're positive you're melting between the two of them, every wet noise that passes between you amplified with the steady crash of waves.
you gasp against zuko's kiss as his fingernails press into the fat of your hips, teeth sinking down on his bottom lip while your ass arches into sokka. he grunts at the contact, a thick and heavy bulge pressing against you.
"please…" you whine into the kiss, your own fingers digging into his chest.
you can feel the sand stuck between your fingers wash away when they curl up into your palms, the soft blue glow of the sand floating in the water.
"please what? use your words, you were so keen on them before." sokka smirks against you, zuko pulling away to stare at you expectantly.
you see steam rising out of the water surrounding zuko, your eyes focused on the sight in amazement. you had no idea he could do that, just from kissing someone.
"i… want you both." you whisper, eyes flickering back up to zuko's.
his jaw clenches as he suddenly pulls you in close, his arms gripping onto you while he slowly walks back towards the glowing beach behind you.
when you feel your weight come back to you as your body's lugged out of the water, you don't expect zuko to drop you down on the sand the way he does. you gasp when your back hits the wet sand, looking up at the two towering figures.
the light of the sand sticks to your skin, glowing limbs suddenly on full view as you shiver in the warm breeze.
sokka smirks down at you, a sight you just barely make out from the glowing light as he kneels and pushes you against the sand. he hovers before leaning in close and claiming your lips against his own.
he's so rough with you it sends you reeling, quiet whimpers echoing out while his hands grip your hips and pull you into him.
then they're moving up to your tits, the wet fabric of your brassiere suddenly being torn from your body and making your nipples harden uncomfortably until his chest presses into yours.
he finally pulls back just enough to look down, a content breath passing his lips.
"i've waited way too long to see you like this."
zuko's suddenly right next to you too, on the left while one of his hot hands grips your tit and kneads it with burning heat. sokka takes the other into his mouth, swirling his tongue around your nipple until your eyes roll back.
his hips grind into yours, that bulge nudging just the right places to get you even wetter than you've been all night.
your eyes push open, meeting with zuko's. you can't get enough of the way his irises glow under the blue glow of sand on your skin, his dark eyes searing with the same heat that radiates in his touch.
his hand glides away from your breast, slowly going lower until he's touching you through your panties. your back arches against where sokka's mouth is marking your tits up, hearing him grunt against you.
your fingers grip onto sokka's hair, tugging his hair out from the tie and letting it all fall in a wet mess around your chest.
your chest and stomach glow with the blue sand, both men's hold against you almost too much to handle now.
"think you could handle us both?" zuko whispers in your ear, his fingers dipping into your panties and circling your clit with a dizzying pressure.
you whine out, struggling to gather words. "yes- fuck! yes i can."
sokka pulls back from your chest with a smug smirk, looking down at the fresh marks that coat your skin proudly. "you don't get a say in if you can anyways. you just will."
he kisses you again, that intensity from before replaced with impatience. you can feel it with the way both of them handle you, and hear the sear of water burning off of zuko.
both of them pull away just enough to pull your panties off too, glowing handprints on your skin while they pull off their underwear.
you can't help but stare – eyes fixated on the way that sokka's abs flex while he pulls his cock out. it's massive. so thick it looks like it could make you hurt, and long enough that you know nobody else could possibly compare.
except for zuko of course. his is dripping, not quite as thick but somehow longer and so pretty.
you feel special to have not just one, but two of the hottest men you've ever met literally hard as fuck for you.
sokka grips your hips so hard it hurts when he pushes your body to flip you over, your knees digging into the glowing sand while your ass is on full view for them and glowing.
"fuck…" sokka groans, his hold on you steady while he lines his cock up from behind.
you glance up to see zuko settling in front of you, his face softer now as he lines his cock up to your pretty lips.
you barely get zuko's cock in your mouth when sokka decides to finally push into you, jaw falling open and eyes rolling into the back of your head at the way he fills you to the brim.
you moan so loud it's embarrassing, pussy clamping around his cock while each inch feels like it should be the last but somehow isn't.
your lips wrap around zuko's cock while you cry out against him, eyes opening to lock onto his. there's a steady cloud of steam surrounding him, the scent of smoke and salt water almost addictive.
when sokka finally – finally bottoms out, your ass presses into him for some kind of friction.
and he takes that as his sign to start a disgustingly perfect pace, the steady clap of his hips slamming into your ass in time with the waves.
zuko’s hands tangle in your hair, his knuckles brushing your burning cheeks as he guides your head, watching you take him with an intensity that feels like it’s going to light the whole beach on fire.
the way your throat works around him while sokka absolutely ruins you from behind has him making a sound that’s half growl, half whimper.
"that's it," sokka pants, his hands sliding from your hips to your waist, anchoring you so he can drive even deeper. "should've done this sooner, fuck."
he’s hitting that spot over and over, his rhythm getting faster, more desperate.
your eyes are blown wide, shimmering with tears you can't even feel because of the sheer sensory overload. you're drooling around zuko's length, your throat contracting around him while you cry out.
your body shakes when sokka reaches for your clit, steady and rough circles drawn against the little engorged nub sending you straight into an orgasm.
your pussy clamps around his cock, his fingernails breaking skin while he lets out a low growl and pulls out suddenly. you can feel thick ropes of hot cum hitting your back.
"holy shit." he breathes out, a groan passing his breathless lips.
zuko pulls out of your mouth, quick to move around and take sokka's place. he pushes into you and your jaw slackens again, his cock hotter than it'd felt in your mouth as he starts fucking you.
every little noise that was muffled before isn't now, your cries and screams loud as you clamp around zuko with every aftershock of your orgasm.
your knees burn from the salt water and sand becoming a steady friction on the thin skin, but each heavy thrust into your pussy makes your brain too clouded to even consider the pain.
sokka's hands grip your hair, pulling you to look up at him with drool pooled around your puffy and swollen lips.
"so beautiful." he whispers, pulling your head into his chest for support while zuko's thrusts send your body fidgeting into the air.
his hot hands are pressed into your hips, the steady burn of him addicting to a point where you don't think you could possibly get enough of him.
or sokka.
zuko’s breathing is ragged, the steam rolling off his skin in thick, white plumes that catch the blue glow of the sand like a fog.
he’s hitting you with a precision that’s almost agonizing, each thrust reaching deep enough to make your toes curl into the sand.
you can tell he's close with how hot his cock is inside of you, that heat somehow pulling you in towards cumming again. "p-please- i'm gonna-"
you scream out when it hits you again, goosebumps forming across your whole body while you cum for the second time. your toes curl, fingernails digging into sokka's biceps as you shake.
your pussy spasms against zuko so hard that he can't hold it back anymore, groaning while he suddenly cums in you before he gets the chance to pull out.
sweat drips from your body, slick with sweat that glows blue. the sudden lack of sound is slightly muffled from the crash of waves, your body shaking and hips dropping once zuko pulls out of you.
"wow." he whispers, a thud in the sand as he just lies there.
sokka’s breathing is the only thing that competes with the waves, a harsh, jagged sound as he drops down behind you, pulling your limp, glowing body back against his chest.
you’re a mess of saltwater, sweat, and sand, looking like some kind of fallen star draped over the beach.
he laughs breathlessly, "wow can't even cover it."
zuko is sprawled out on his back a few feet away, his chest heaving. the steam has finally stopped rolling off him, leaving him shimmering in the moonlight.
i am a VERY firm believer that aang’s tattoos light up whenever he’s close
especially when you’re riding him in a rhythm that has his hands on your hips almost digging his nails in your skin and pathetic sounds leaving his lips
the avatar was a mess for good pussy, like all men. it was almost funny
it wasn’t just sounds leaving aang’s lips, it was words basically slurring out of him as he looked up at you with those blown eyes, blabbering on how both of you might bring back the air nomads in a single night
you would laugh, you really would. but his cock was sunk in your pussy so deep it was the only thing you were thinking of. and honestly? you were just mindlessly nodding to everything he was saying
aang started to feel that familiar feeling form and just like that, his tattoos started to glow. “baby— fuck, i’m already gonna cum” he moaned under you, eyes starting to tear up from how good you made him feel
and the moment you brought your hand to wipe his tears with your thumb with that dazed yet reassuring look, it was enough for him to take matters into his own glowing hands— literally. his grip on your hips would take control and start pounding your pussy more onto his cock with moans of your name leaving his fully agape lips, feeling your walls pulsing around him
what a light show
—————————————————————————
masterlist!
(a/n: i need more aang propaganda and again, i acu dk wth is this 😭 i wrote this in boredom)
synopsis: She was twelve when she left the Southern Water Tribe. Young, dumb, and broke enough to mistake hope for courage.
Years later, when people asked how she met the Avatar, she made it a joke. It was easier that way. No one wanted the truth — the jealousy, the humiliation of hope, the quiet, graceless way love can make you smaller if you're not careful.
But the truth has a way of surfacing. In the air that answers her like breathing. In the spaces between Aang's words. In the name she calls out when the fever takes her.
This is not a love story. I dont think so
wc: 10,879
ps. I crashed out while listening to laufey like a sad girl when i dont even have a love life to begin with
a/n: english is my second language. im sorry for any grammatical errors made.
I will change the banner soon, when I finally get enough sleep.
next>>
When people asked how she met Avatar Aang, she would smile and say, lightly,
"Oh, I invited myself and then forgot how to leave" or "I saw my sister crack an ice, and there he was sleeping inside."
People laugh.
It was easier that way since no one wanted the truth.
No one wanted to hear that she had followed him across the world with a half-packed satchel, boredom, and a ridiculous crush, believing that maybe if she stood close enough to the sun, it might one day turn and look at her too.
No one wants to hear that story!
The jealousy.
The humiliation of hope.
The quiet, graceless way love can make you smaller if you are not careful.
So she made it a joke.
She had always been good at that.
Because back then, she had been ordinary.
Painfully, aggressively ordinary.
Katara bent water like she owned it.
She, however, bent it like she was asking for permission from a dragon to take atleast one of its gold.
She was not useless. Just disappointing in the sort of way people were too polite to say it out loud
Gran-gran would smile kindly and say:
"You're patient enough"
"You worked hard"
"You will learn it in time"
She learned very young that if you made yourself a joke first, no one would turn you into a punchline.
Sooo... she smiled. She laugh when she fail.
She joke when things don't go her way.
She said things like "It's fine," she'd joke, shaking the water off her sleeves "The spirits clearly have their favorites"
Everyone laughed.
Katara would throw a snow ball at her.
Sokka would tell her to abandon magic and be just like him.
That was easier.
If you made them comfortable, they wont witness your shame.
She brought that skill with her when Katara said:
"You should come with us"
Like it was simple and the most obvious choice she could make. As if she was asking her to join dinner and not leave the only home she had ever known.
"And do what? Become an emotional support?" Sokka snorted and shrugged,
"Puh-lease. We already have enough of that"
Katara smacked his head and said, "I'm serious."
"I know. That's what scares me" she answered with a gentle smile a twelve years old could ever offer.
Let's just say… she just couldnt be apart from her family so she joined them.
She should've said no.
She had every reasons not to come.
She's no prodigy.
She's not smart and couragous.
She only knew household chores.
She has her staff and various books and scrolls their mom left her.
For goodness sake, she can hardly bend the water the same way Katara does!
She's no Sokka who is a quick thinker.
She's certainly not the Avatar.
She was just… there.
Ordinary.
But ordinary girls are the most vulnerable to impossible things.
Heroes have purpose.
Ordinary girls have hopes.
And hope, dangled in front af an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams is dangerous.
So she took their hand. Smilling like it was an adventure instead of the beginning of her own hardship and heartbreak. Left home before she became wise enough to think this decision through.
At first, she thought she might survive it.
Travel made everything temporary.
Cold nights on Appa's saddle. Bad camp food. Villages she would forget and forage. Fights and flights too urgent for self-pity.
Quit nights, and slow days were scarce.
Ugency was mercy. It gave longing for a place to hide.
And Aang, he was kind… and that was the problem!
Cruelty woul've been easier.
Cruel people can be hated.
Kind people became saint worthy of prayers.
He noticed when she fell behind and slowed without saying anything.
He handed her fruit first because he remembered how she hated the bitter kind.
He laughed at her self-depricating jokes like she was genuinely funny and not just using humor as a personality tourniquet.
He made space for her, which is the beginning of her demise.
Because lonely people are reckless around being welcomed.
One evening, somewhere over the Earth Kindom, Appa drifting through the wide sky, Aang sat beside her at the saddle's edge and asked casually:
"Do you ever feel like everyone else got instructions for life and yours got lost?"
For a moment she stared at him, then looked back ahead, thighten her hold on the string manouvering Appa and said "Yeah,"
"Most of the time"
He looked relieved, "Right?"
He sat cross legged beside her, his elbows on his thighs, his face craddles on his fisted knuckles, and looked ahead of him as well.
"Everyone seems to know what I should be doing and expects me to know each one of them just because I'm the Avater" he grumbled.
"But you are the Avatar" she answered without thinking
"Exactly" he flatly said "A terrible idea to be honest. Who died and decided I should be the avatar? Huh? Huuuh?"
She can not help but chuckle. "Maybe you should've told Rokku that when you had a conversation earlier"
"Oooh, you dont know how badly I wanted to complain to him earlier!" he said broodingly "But Rokku was fast and distracted me with more pressing matters" and then he blew a raspberry.
She laughed— real laughter not just a chuckle that almost throw her off balance. She could've flown down had he not caught her on time.
He smiled at her as she laughed, as if he was aiming for it.
She remembered that moment for years.
The complaining avatar and her ever helpful insomnia.
That should've warned her.
She noticed the way he looked at Katara in pieces.
Not all at once. That would've been mercy.
Instead it arrived slowly.
A glance half a second too long.
The way his body turned towards her like she's the first person he wants to see.
The softness in his voice when he said her name.
The way his laughter changed when she was the reason for it.
The way he wants her attention on him.
The way hope sat in him, bright and fragile and obvious.
Love, she learned, was often obvious only to the person it excludes.
Or maybe she was just blind to not see them before.
Who can even blame her? She was a child. She still is, if you dont count her age and think that the war and adventure took her childhood away.
The realization came by a campfire in some forgettable village with excellent noodles and terrible weather. Appa asleep nearby, the world briefly quieter.
Katara was laughing at something Sokka said.
Aang was watching like sunset had personally agree to happen only for that moment.
And there it was.
Simple
Final.
Oh
Suddenly every moment before that rearranged itself into clarity.
Every blush.
Every awkward silence.
Every excuse to stand a little closer.
It had always been there. She had just been too selfish to not see it.
She sat very stil. Smiled when spoken to. Nodded at the right time.
Then lay awake that night staring at the branches of trees she would never remember and quietly mourned a love story that had never actually existed.
By morning, she was composed again.
She had years of practice.
The air found her by accident or maybe she found it.
Or may be it has always been with her but she was constantly looking for other things.
Aang insisted it was destiny.
She countered that destiny was just a bad decision-maker with better marketing strategy.
They were in some valley so green that it made the Southern Water Tribe feel like a myth someone else had told her.
Aang was showing off. Again.
The usual.
"Air is about freedom" he said, spinning leaves in circles with infuriating ease. "You can't force it"
She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes "Sounds fake to me"
"It's not fake. You're just skeptical"
"Phu-leaase" she elongated, "add charming before skeptical"
He chuckled and stepped towards her
"Here"
And because the universe hated her specifically, he moved behind her.
Too close.
Warm.
And unfair.
Her entire nervous system went haywire.
His hands settled lightly on her shoulders.
"Relax," which felt more like a trap than a guideline.
"Aang—"
"Trust me"
Which was rude, because she does!
Always.
She just dont trust herself to be able to do it though.
He adjusted her stance.
Patient
Oblivious
And far too gentle for her continued emotional instability.
"Dont push it, dont force it," he murmured. "Listen. Air doesn't like being controlled."
"I relate to that"
He laughed softly, close enough that it felt like a secret.
Then the wind shifted. Like something in her answered.
The pile of leaves in front of them lifted.
Rose.
Then swirled.
Both of them froze and stared.
The leaves dropped
Then Aang shouted so loudly that Appa was startled awake.
"You did it!"
"No! I absolutely did not" denial is heavy on her voice, "There was probably a strong gush of wind that's why it moved"
"Yeah right" he gave her a deadpanned look "And we were so numbed that we didn't feel it"
"Glad we came in to an agreement then" she nodded in finality and walked towards where she left her staff leaving Aang who was buzzing and giddy behind.
He grabbed both her hands.
Looked at her eyes like she had hang the moon herself.
"You absolutely did it!"
She laughed too because she couldn't not. Because joy was contagious when it wore his face.
"I think I would've known if I was secretly an air bender."
"Well, apparently you're full of surprises." He looked at her like she was something astonishing.
And there it was again.
Stupid.
Persistent.
Leach.
A terminal illness called Hope.
Because now they had something that was theirs.
Not Katara's
Not Sokka's
Not the group's.
Theirs.
Air.
Air bending.
She learned it too quickly.
At a frightening speed.
Frightening everyone.
Especially her.
Born to water, she should've been bending oceans, tides, and ice.
Instead, air answered her like breathing.
Air answered her without prayer and bargaining required.
She learned the forms she had seen in scrolls.
The breathing.
The meditation.
The philosophy.
Then she moved beyond the forms.
Beyond what the world deemed to be tradition.
She could pull cold from the atmosphere so sharp that water froze obediently at her fingertips. Sometimes she carry water in the air and drink from it.
She could strip oxygen from flame until fire folded on itself and dies.
She could move sand, mist, ash— enough that people sometimes swore she was bending every element when really she was just terrifyingly good at lying and playing with the wind and air in her vicinity.
What even is a tradition for a practice that has been lost for more than a century?
She jokes once that she was the world's least impressive Avatar which Toph replied with:
"No, you're just terrifyingly good at committing fraud."
Even Aang looked at her sometimes with quiet awe.
The only other airbender.
The only person in the world he could teach this way.
The only one standing beside him in the shape of something he had lost.
The only person he could hand those ghost to and know they would be held carefully.
He trusted her with pieces of himself he did not hand out lightly.
His grief.
His culture.
His loneliness.
He shared everything.
Late nights were filled with conversations about Air Nomad temples, artifacts, monks and stories no one else asked for.
He thought her games from his childhood.
Made her meditate with him even though she's bad at it as her mind would wander off.
He laughed every time she complained, and corrected her posture with the unbearable sincerity of someone who had never learned to be embarrassed.
Morning training became theirs.
Before sunrise, barefoot on wet grass. They practiced forms older than kingdoms while the rest of the world lay asleep.
Sometimes he would stop mid-lesson and grin at her with such uncomplicated pride that she forgot how to breathe.
It should've been enough.
Friendship.
Trust.
History.
But proximity is dangerous when your heart is stupid.
She started believing in maybe.
Maybe love could grow where devotion and shared practice lived.
And hope is humiliating.
It teaches you how to survive on crumbs and call it faith.
Everyone knew. She hated that too.
Not because anyone said it.
Because no one did.
Sokka would pause sometimes when Aang and Katara sat too close together, glancing at her with the kind of pity people thought counted as kindness.
Toph understood everything immediately because apparently blindness only improved her ability to witness emotional disasters.
"You're all exhausting," she said over dinner.
No one asked, because they didnt need to.
Even Zuko, who is permanently one inconvenience away from violence, looked at her once in sympathy and understanding when she said too casually that Aang and Katara had always been like this.
Only Aang seemed untouched by it.
Or maybe… he was simply better than her at pretending.
The strangest thing she and Toph ever built were letters. Neither of them understood how it worked, but that made it theirs.
It started during training.
She had been practicing carrying sound through the air currents— trying to move and amplify voice farther without shouting.
Toph, meanwhile, was being Toph.
"Can you stop breathing dramatically? I can hear you in my sleep"
She laughed and sent a small gust at her. In return, Toph blocked it with floating thin wall of earth.
But something shifted. The gust carried more than air.
A feeling.
A shape.
A thought.
Not words exactly.
Intetion.
Toph froze and said "… Do that again."
"What? Fan your royal face?"
"Nooo. I heared something in that gust you sent"
"I guess no more ghost stories tonight then"
And she did as she was told.
Actually no, she doesnt even know what she did.
But she tried attacking her with air that has some dust in it.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until somehow, the impossibility became a possibility.
Messages carried through air pressure and vibration and stubborn intent.
Not perfect.
But enough.
Enough for short letters folded into the wind.
Enough for thoughts sent across impossible distance if both of them concentrated hard enough.
Enough for both of them to have secret codes and secret jokes to laugh about.
Enough for Toph to insult her from three villages away without inconvenience of travel.
Before she left, Toph had said:
"If you disappear dramatically and dont use this, I will personally hunt you. "
She smiled.
"Comforting"
"I'm serious"
"I know. That's why its comforting"
Katara was the one who finally said it. They were sitting by the river at sunset, the world unfairly beautiful. For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Then Katara said softly:
"You should tell him" then she belatedly added, "You love him"
It wasn't a question.
She felt her whole body lock and denial is as automatic as she breathe "Who? Sokka? Of course I do, he's our—"
"I meant Aang"
Katara looked at her. Not accusing. Not pitying. Just knowing.
And somehow that was worse.
"It it that obvious?" her voice came out smaller than she wanted.
Katara sighed, looking down at the water, "Only if someone's paying attention"
She chuckled once. Bitter. "So everyone, then"
"No." Katara shook her head. "Mostly just me"
That should have comforted her but she knew how things are within their circle. No secret remains a secret for that long.
'Sis, if you know, then Toph knew then Sokka noticed and while Zuko can be dumb but he have eyes and ears too,' she thought
She stared hard at the river so she didnt have to look at her.
Then she laughed.
A sharp, wrong sound.
"Absolutely not." she answered resolutely. "I wont tell him a single thing"
Katara looked at her and countered, "He cares about you."
"Yes," she said "And that's exactly the problem"
"You dont know what he'd say"
She turned then,
Really looked at her.
At this girl that she loved and envied and resented and would still defend with all her life.
And because honesty was easier when disguised as humor, she smiled.
"Yes,I do."
Katara's face fell but she reached for her hand regardless.
Warm and steady.
Just the same way she remembered when she was shaking from her nightmares when they were younger.
"You're allowed to want things"
She almost laughed.
"But apparently I'm not allowed to have them."
Katara's grip tightened.
And for one horrible moment, she hated her.
Hated her for being kind.
For being worthy of kindness.
For being loved so easily by the person she would have bled for.
She hated her because she could not hate her enough. So instead, she pulled her hand away and said the cruelest truth she had.
"Do you know what the worst part is?"
Katara said nothing.
"He tells me about you."
She hated how her voice cracked a little there.
"He asks me what you mean when you say certain things. If I think you're upset. If I think you'd eve—" she laughed, sharp, and ugly. "I help him try to love you better"
Katara looked like she'd been struck.
But she kept going because once pain starts speaking, it rarely stops politely.
"He teaches me airbending like it means something. Like maybe I'm special because I'm the only one who is somewhat like him. But I'm not. I'm just convenient. I'm just there."
"That not true"
She looked at Katara again and said "Is it?"
She softened immediately because cruelty was easy and she liked Katara too much to deny it.
"He loves you"
Silence.
She looked back at the river.
"And before you say anything noble and tragic, please dont. I dont think I can handle your guilt on top of everything else."
"That isn't fair!" Katara countered.
"No" she said lightly "It really isn't." she chuckled, "None of this is, actually."
Then, because if she didnt joke she might drown:
"Beside, imagine how embarrassing rejection would be. I'd have to relocate to another nation."
Katara made a helpless laugh despite tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Your awful"
"Oh phu-lease. I'm hilarious"
And because she was very, very good at smiling, Katara almost believed she was fine.
Almost.
It ended quietly.
No storms.
No screaming.
No dramatic declarations under moonlight.
Real heartbreak is usually administrative.
And jealousy, when masked flawlessly, is dissolved to something polite.
Katara was impossible to hate, which frankly makes this inconvenient.
It would have been easier if she was cruel and vindictive.
If she was arrogant or selfish or blind to the devotion orbiting her.
But Katara was good.
She was warmth, and competence, and strength held together by stubborn kindness. She notice when people are hurting. She remembered who needed what.
She deserved to be loved. That was the problem.
Because if Katara had been terrible, resentment would have felt righteous.
Instead it felt shameful.
Like being angry at the sun for rising from the East instead of the West.
So she said nothing.
She helped with dinner.
She laughed at Sokka's jokes.
And once again, she listened when Aang talked about Appa and the Air nomads, and old memories that still hurts.
And when he talked about Katara— because of course he does— she listened then, too.
"Do you think she's mad at me?"
"She seemed tired today"
"What do you think would be a better way to catch her attention?"
Each time, she answered like a good friend should.
Each time, she hands him the knife and thanked him for trusting her enough to hand it over.
The worst part was he never seems to notice she was bleeding.
Not because he was cruel. It's because it never occured to him that she likes him.
To Aang, she's safe.
Easy.
Certain.
And there's nothing lonelier than being loved like a furniture.
Useful.
Comforting.
Convenient.
It was late. Everyone else was asleep.
She was laying on Appa's saddle, staring at the stars, willing it to fall on her, allowing the mosquitoes to start treating her like a buffet when Aang sat beside her.
Easy.
Familiar.
Dangerous.
Like he owned the place beside her.
"You've been weird lately"
She smiled and with a snort she replied, "I'm offended that the weird one tells that to the normal one"
"You seized being normal when Sokka called you a magical girl" he countered, chuckling at the memory.
"I'm serious though. Are you ok?"
There were so many answers to that question.
None of them were survivable.
So she sat up, folded herself into something manageable.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
She's pretty sure she heard Toph send out a noise that sounded suspringly like a snort.
'Traitor. '
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The fire across them crackled softly between breaths.
Then Aang said, very quietly, like it would break whatever fragile china there was. "Katara spoke to me."
"Did she?"
"Yeah"
He rubbed the back of his neck, nervous.
She wanted to laugh.
How considerate of him.
"She said…" he hesitated. "she said I might've been making things harder for you without realizing it"
She stared at the fire.
The flames blurred.
"Well," she said calmly, because apparently self-destruction is her hobby now, "that sounds like her."
Then, softly he said "Is it true?"
She could lie.
She will lie.
She had planned to, for years, to lie forever.
But exhaustion is honest,
And she was tired of carrying it alone.
So she looked at him in the eye.
Calm.
Composed.
Smilling, because of course.
And said:
"You already know the answer."
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Worse.
Recognition.
And suddenly she understood. All at once.
"You knew"
He looked away.
And there it was.
The final cruelty of this charade.
Not ignorance.
Awareness.
Choice.
She laughed. Not because it was funny.
Because if she hadn't, she might let herself break.
She wanted to scream.
Instead, she asked, "Do you ever wish people were different?"
He blinked.
Confused, "What?"
"Like…" She looked at the sky again and asked "… do you ever look at someone and think that if they were a little different, if you had met them first, maybe you could have love them?"
The words hang between them, naked and terrible.
Aang went still.
For the first time in years, the air they shared felt torn and absent.
She didnt look back at him.
Couldn't
Instead, she settled in locating the north star, willing it to guide her in life.
And when he spoke, his voice was soft with the kind of sorrow that only made things worse.
"I think," he started carefully, "People are not puzzle pieces you fit together to define love. It just happens."
Her throat burned. Her eyes blurred. Her heart ache. Her gut hurts.
She laughed anyway.
Because that was kind. That was honest. That was enough.
"Right." she took a deep breath, "Of course. That was a stupid question"
"No—"
"Aang"
His name had never sounded so tired.
"I dont know what to do. What to—"
"Of course you didn't"
"I didnt want to hurt you"
She shook her head and looked at him this time.
She smiled wider. Sharper. Sharp enough to tear.
"And yet" she pointed at him then back her and look around their surrounding, "A remarkable outcome we have here."
A laugh escaped her, soft and humorless one.
"That ship sailed, crashed, and sank somewhere around Ba Sing Se"
He flinched.
Good.
Let him
She slid down from Appa's saddle.
He followed suit.
"I didn't mean for it to happen," she said, "If that helps?"
His voice small and asked "When?"
She smiled at that, because of course, he would ask like there was a clean beginning.
Like love arrived politely and announced itself.
"I dont know. Somewhere between you flying to teaching me how not to trip over my own feet, probably."
He made a week sound that might have been a laugh. Who knows, really.
She swallowed, continued and started listing things that made her hopeful.
"But you were kind to me. And then… you trusted me! Then there was airbending, and all those moments shared between us. You just made me feel…" She paused and searched for the least humiliating truth and failed miserably "Seen, I guess"
The fire popped. And somehow Appa flipped over in his sleep.
"I know you didn't mean anything behind it. That's the problem. You were just being you. I was an idiot who turned kindness into hope"
"No"
She looked at him.
Aang was starring at her with something raw and stricken in his face.
"No, don't do that. Don't make it sound stupid"
She blinked, because she was expecting pity.
Awkwardness.
A gentle rejection wrapped in kindness.
Not this.
Not conviction that might mean something.
He dragged a hand over his face.
"I knew." he admitted.
His voice cracked on the word. "I knew"
Aang, apparently is committed to ruining both their lives tonight, continued. "But I was selfish"
He looked younger when he's ashamed.
Smaller even.
"I knew, and kept pretending I didnt, because if I admitted it, I'd have to do something about it. And I didnt want to lose you!"
His words landed between them like fire landing in a forest, destroying the life around it.
Her throat tightened.
Her smile almost slipping.
"Aang—"
"I loved being with you"
His voice was so quiet she almost missed it.
"I still do." he whisphered, "You make things easier. You understand parts of me no one else does. With airbending, with the Air Nomads— with everything. You make me feel less alone."
Hope really is a vicious, vicious thing.
Because even now, even here, when the veil has been lifted.
Even when the illusion of the mist has shifted.
It craves and is hungry for validation
For confirmation.
For a confession.
"And?"
He closed his eyes then looked at the sky, took a deep breath, then look at her again.
And she knew.
Before he said it, she knew.
Before this entire confrontation, she knew.
"But it wasn't the same"
There it was!
The knife.
The deadly stab.
Clean and familiar.
Not enough.
Never enough.
Not the way he love Katara.
She blinked multiple times, letting her eyelids swallow the burning tears inside.
She nodded once.
Let out the air she was holding in.
Because what else was there to do?
"I know," she whispered.
"No— you don't! because if I could choose—"
"But you can't," she looked at him and offered him another smile. The kind that you knew is holding everything in. "No… " she shook her head, "you didnt even have to."
He stopped. Because that was the truth, wasn't it?
Love was not fairness nor effort.
It was not proximity or history or practice.
It was simply where your heart arrived.
And his had arrived somewhere else, somewhere named Katara.
"You know what the worst part is?"
Aang looked at her like he already did.
And for once, she let herself be angry.
Not loud.
Not cruel.
Just honest.
"You let me stay in the maybe"
His face broke.
And she kept going because pain, once invited, rarely leaves politely.
"You gave me closeness. Trust. Just enough affection to make hope feel reasonable enough. And all that time, you knew— No, I knew it would never be me."
"For years, I ate and built a life in that maybe. And you knew!" she exclaimed, "You knew and you couldn't be brave enough to pull the plug on it"
She laughed bitterly.
Her voice shook, tear sthreatened to fall.
She ignored them just like how she ignored the mosquittoes feasting on her.
"And… its not even your fault. I knew you love Katara. Devastatingly so. I'd be blind to not see it. I'd be deaf to not hear it from you" she paused again, trying to gain control on her emotions.
"I was the one foolish enough to put meaning in those moments that we shared. It was selfish of me to think because we both have airbending, because we have our own thing, because you share with me things you dont share with others— that maybe, maybe you might look at me and choose differently. That you might see me"
Aang whispered, devastated:
"You are worth choosing."
She smiled then.
Small.
Sad.
Final.
"But not by you"
Silence.
That was enough.
"I think…" Then she stepped away from from him, and said, with all the gentleness of a closing door:
"… I will always love you a little. I wish I didn't. But I will."
He looked like grief had introduced itself and kissed him.
And for the first time since she had climed onto Appa's back all those years ago, she chose herself over staying.
"And I think," still smiling she said, "that's the last thing I'm ever going to give you."
Then she walked away.
And this time she did not look back.
The war ended. The world celebrated.
Aang kissed Katara beneath a sky that finally belonged to tomorrow.
And she smiled.
Of course she smiled.
She clapped when eveyone clapped.
She laughed when everyone laughed.
She stood beside them in victory and looked exactly like someone who had made peace with all of it.
Maybe she had.
Mostly.
But peace was louder than war.
Because now there was time.
Time to notice.
Time to remember.
Time to ask herself who she was when she was no longer trying to be enough for someone else.
That question terrified her.
So she stayed.
Because leaving immediately would make it look like heartbreak.
No.
If she leaves, it will be on her own terms. Own reason, own choices and benefit.
So she stayed.
Long enough for peace to become believable and normal.
Long enough for Katara to stop watching her with quiet guilt.
Long enough for Aang to stop looking like the embodiment of apology.
Long enough for Appa to have children.
That part, oddly, mattered the most.
Because if Aang was the last airbender, Appa had been the last sky bison.
Because if she's leaving, she would need a cuddle buddy.
She would not leave him alone inside extinction if she could help it.
So she helped fix that frst.
It started as a joke. Mostly.
They were older now. Not old, but older— at that dangerous age where everyone around you starts talking about permanence like it is a reasonable thing to attempt and have.
Aang was talking about rebuilding Air Nomad culture. Again. He always was.
Some things just never changed.
He talked about the weight of being the last and desperate need to stop being it.
She listened because she always had.
Then, over tea she said lightly,
"Well… if we're rebuilding things, perhaps start with Appa" she said, acting as if she pittied Appa's singleness. "Poor Appa has been carrying your entire emotional instability for years. He deserves a wife! He needs a mate!" she exclaimed, determination clearly visible in her eyes.
"His carnal needs havent been met for a hundred years. He lived more like a monk than you ever could Aang! Don't you pity that giant flying caterpillar?!"
Aang nearly choked. "G-giant caterpillar?"
Katara chortled into her cup.
Sokka said with a raised eyebrow, "And how are we even going to achieve that, my dear flying sister?" a bit skeptical, like he always is. "We travel far and wide and we havent seen a flying bison anywhere!"
"Hohoho" she chuckled like those obnoxious princess in some play they've watched few days ago.
"You're creeping me here" Sokka sweatdropped.
"Maybe you haven't but I have!" she exclaimed
Sokka pointed a finger at her and called bullshit, "Don't lie! You were hardly apart from us. So what time do you even have to see them alone?"
"Zukko, bring me the map"
"What now. Did you somehow made the big bad fire lord as your lackey?" crossing his arms, Sokka grumbled.
Instead of answering his question she looked at them playfully then covered her mouth, then looked at the side avoiding their eyes and said "Hoho~ Who knows~"
If she had a cat tail, they would've seen it swishing playfully.
"Wha-What? Zuko, what's the meaning of this?!"
Poor Sokka was ignored as Zukko laid out the map that for some reason have a drawing on a certain region of the Fire Nation.
"Why is there a cat drawing here?" Sokka pointed out in which she chirped happily with "That's a Appa!"
"Gurl, are you drunk" Toph, bless her soul, asked as she looked wearily at the tea cups.
"Nope. Just giddy hehe. Imagine, more fluff balls in town"
"And we lost her in her merry land"
Since she seems to be lost in her imagination, it was Zuko who had to explain how they found the hidden herds of the flying bison.
"I can't believe I'm hearing a discussion about Appa's love life before mine" Toph grumbled.
"That's because your ideal type dont exist!" she countered pointing finger at Toph "Dont you dare oppose my flying bison repopulation plan! I need a cuddle buddy. It isn't fair that only Aang have one" she grumbled before drinking her tea.
And because the universe love surprises.
The proposal was approved.
Contacts were established.
Ancient records were dug up.
Hope, once again, arrived disguised as logistics.
She threw herself into it with strange kind of devotion. Everyone thought it was because she cared about Aang and Appa.
Which was true. Partially.
Toph, of course, understood.
Because Toph undersood everything she wish she didn't.
One afternoon, while she was painting, Toph dropped onto her studio's floor and watched her paint for few minutes before she spoke;
"You're planning to leave, aren't you?"
It was a statement disguised as question.
She paused. She didn't look up. Then continued painting again.
"Whatever do you mean Toph?"
Toph snorted.
Then silence.
She watched her drown in the painting she's pouring her mind and soul into. It had always been like this whenever she tried running away or if she need to hide something. She poured them in painting, in art, or music that only the air could carry and remember.
"You've been wanting to leave." she paused, "For the longest time, you've been looking for your way out."
She stilled and looked at her, because it wasn't a lie.
Because hearing it aloud made it real.
Toph, now layed on the floor, popped a grape on her mouth.
"The second Appa stopped being the only one, you got hopeful. Like an excited child waiting to open her present" she chewed.
"That's dramatic"
"You're dramatic"
"Excuse you, I have flare" she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah right. Its that exact same diseased as Sokka. Dramatitis" Toph popped another grape on her mouth
She laughed despite how ridiculous everything sounds.
And Toph, with an emotional subtlety of a landslide, continued:
"The students were a dead giveaway, by the way"
That made her pause
"Huh? Isn't that the most subtle one? Teaching aspirants how to airbend. I've got good reputation to boot" she's not even denying anything anymore.
"To others yeah. But I know you" another grape to her mouth it is. "For someone who likes her freedom so much that she would rather drift around, you sure follow a strict schedule for teaching."
"I had too. You cant have random time to teach, you know. I dont want them budgering me around for which day and time I would be free"
Toph pointed at her and said "That's the thing. Its too logical. Too clinical. Totally not like you. Its like a final hoorah for something." she said in finality. "I feel like I'm the only one with functioning eyes here. How can I see things they couldn't see? Are they blind?"
The irony caught her off guard that it made her fall from the chair she was seating at. The blind woman complaining about their abled friends blindness will never get old.
"If you had stick to just selling your painting and sculptures, it would've been less obvioust yknow" Toph added as she added another grape that would go down her stomache in no time "You've been doing that since we've been on the run or on the fly? You get what I mean. And hey, anything made under your name inflated in price value"
"Should I stop teaching then?"
"Nah. Apparently they are too blind to see the obvious. Stopping now would be like telling them they're dumb"
Toph turned her head towards her. Her eyes somehow sharper than sight.
"Just dont forget that you can come home to me when the going get tough. I can hide you from them too, y'know" she said with outmost sincerity.
"My reputation exceeds me, dear. I doubt you can hide me in your little hut" she jest, but she's thankful.
They both knew that.
Because somehow, someone noticed her silent plea.
Someone noticed her closing the door before shutting it close and let the ocean swallow the key.
And they were kind enough to reach out and ask for a duplicate.
They didnt listen to everyone's congratulatory messages.
They didn't mistake her competence for contentment.
They didn't allow her to disappear just as easily.
They made sure that there was a tether connecting them, regardless of how thin it may be.
She told everyone she was taking a vacation. That was the official version.
Sokka complained and told her to take him with her.
Katara hugged her and told her that she deserved it.
Aang smiled softly and asked where she was going.
She smiled back and said:
"Away from you, obviously. I cant handle your brooding nose anymore"
Everyone laughed.
Because she made it sound like a joke.
She had always been good at that.
Only Gran-Gran knew the truth.
And even she knew about it just few days after she left the warm embrace of Katara and the ventured on her own journey.
She stood before them at dawn with one bag, enough money and souvenirs with her. and the kind of calm that only comes after a decision has been made so thoroughly it no longer hurts.
She knelt down to hug Gran-Gran the moment she saw her. Its been so long since she's been home. She missed her scent, her voice, and her embrace.
"What brought you home child?" Gran-Gran asked as she enveloped her in a warm embrace in contrast to their winter season.
"Can't your grandchild see you just because?" she joked, her voice croaked. "I missed you so much Gran-Gran" she nuzzled deeper in her embrace.
Gran-Gran did not ask much. She let her cry in her embraced, wiped the snot off her face, and laughed at her when she noticed how puffy she had looked.
She let her stay, cooked her favorite meal, let her play they with the pequins the way she used to. She let her teach the kids, now turned into a teenager. She tell them tales of their adventure, of the places they've been too, showed them drawings and gave them gifts that are timely but timeless.
Kanna let her be her own person in their own home, because at the back of her mind, she knew that this might be the last time she will see this child. She let her babble like the kid that she once was, she allowed her cuddle times that she was so shy to ask. They braided each other' s hair, exchanged stories over meal time, knitted together.
They made the most of their 'borrowed' and limited time.
One dinner Gran-Gran finally asked "For how long will you be gone?" with no preemptive plan to stop her or to tell her stay. It's like she knew this child would just fly and disappear if she doesnt find her anchors.
She smiled, "I dont know yet"
"Will you come back?"
That made her pause, she looked at the food on the table filled with dishes Gran-Gran knew she loved. The house is no longer a temporary tent but is a wooden cabin, much sturdier than the one she grew up in. She looked at the neatly scattered knitted, finished and unfinished project they both started.
Then she looked at Gran-Gran. She aged so much over the years. There are more lines on her face than the ones she used to trace when she was younger, hoping to smooth them out then pout when they sag back.
She can't fully leave this yet.
She cant leave her yet.
She can't leave the mother that raised her yet.
"I'll come back here each year" she said in finality, "But I dont think I'll go back there anytime soon"
Gran-Gran did not ask. She was used to this child's vague and stubborn ways.
She sighed though "You told them you're taking a vacation didn't you?"
Chopstick stucked on her mouth. Her eyes wide, and she smiled awkardly just like how she does when she's caught taking another slice of the meat that was supposed to be preserved for another meal when she was younger.
"Uhm… Uhhh" she looked like a gaping fish in front of her mother grandma.
Gran-Gran just looked at her and shook her head. She was pretty sure she heared her say "This child" in a low voice.
At that moment she thought of Katara.
Of Sokka.
Of Aang.
She thought of Zuko too, but she's can bet Sokka's broken heart that he knew what she was planning. After all, he handed her a weaned child of Appa saying "That can't carry you yet, but you can train her when you're on the run"
T'was a scary exchange to be honest. She was half-asleep when they decided to meet and when he handed the baby to her. She thought she was wanted in some nation or something.
She thought of Toph too, that kid almost foiled her plans! Kept hiding her maps and notes. Then sometimes made it impossible for her to sell or trade her craft by making the middle man arrive days late.
Those two can survive without her. Maybe she'll pop up every now and then, who knows.
But Katara, Sokka, and Aang?
"I think they deserved honesty. And I dont think the me right now is kind enough give them that" her thoughts spilled out causing her Gran-Gran to look at her across the table.
"They will ask questions"
"Well… Maman, make up an excuse for me hehe" she asked sheppishly.
The next day she left before sunrise.
No dramatic farewell.
No tears.
No one last look.
Just a note on table bidding her mother farewell and a bag of cash she might need in case of emergency.
Just her.
A bag.
A future.
And the ocean, for the first time, opening for her without needing to ask for permission.
They noticed after three weeks of silence from her. There should have atleast been a letter by now.
Sokka complained first.
Because Sokka noticed absence like others noticed the incoming storm.
"This is suspicious," he announced over breakfast.
Katara barely looked up, "What is?"
"Her vacation. It's been too silent." he answered, suspicion is creeping on his tone.
"Let her be. She cant possibly report every moment she had on us" Katara countered, but she too is concerned, after all, this is the first time that their youngest have been away from them on her own.
"She organized my kitchen before leaving. Then left multiple paintings and sculptures she made in my house, saying that if I'm short for money I should sell them in months or years time. The price appreciates or something" he stabbed the pork on his plate then continued "That's not the behavior of a woman seeking peace. That's a behavior of someone who's saying goodbye!"
Katara looked at him, hard, like she was a little bit convinced by his reasoning because she did the same at her place. She redecorated her living and dining area. Placed her paintings and sculptures in places that visitors could notice. Then asked her if she could house some more of her piceces, sell them during emergencies if needed.
But she brushed that feeling off because… it can't be true. Right?
Or rather she tried convincing herself by telling him that:
"Maybe she's just looking after her older brother. You know how she gets"
Aang smiled faintly at the exchange, but there was something restless there.
Like there was truth in what Sokka was saying.
"What if she eloped with Zuko?!" Sokka's voice raised as his brain went on some weird tunnel "They were oddly chummy the last time I saw them. They were whispering like they have their own secrets" he grumbled, "There has got to be something going on between those two"
"If they did, then the world would've known by now" Katara reasoned, "It would've been on the papers. A headline saying "Fire Lord Zuko Ran Away with the Avatar's First Student" but there's no paper yet"
"He could've been hiding her in that huge mansion of his." Toph for some reason just popped out of nowhere and decided to add her two cents "It's huge enough to hide anyone without being found. It would've been easy for him to keep her there" she said, adding fuel to Sokka's overthinking overprotectiveness.
"Exactly!" he exclaimed, "Toph, lets go to the Fire Nation now!"
"Toph no! Don't feed into his delussions." Katara exclaimed back, "What are you even doing here?"
"I was hungry, so I decided to pop by"
Aang chuckled at the whole exchange .
Guess its just one of those typical morning of theirs.
Just like back then.
Ever so cheerful.
Ever so jolly.
Three weeks of silence turned to a month.
A month turned to two.
Two months followed by another week.
But nothing.
No letters were received.
Finally, concern outweighed assurance, and they went to the Southern Water Tribe. The one place they knew she would stop by.
When they arrived, they saw remnants of her. The same way she left hers at their places.
They saw her trinkets. Her little figurine's that the kids are playing. Saw multiple paintings on Gran-Gran's house. Some of them seems to be newer than the ones left at their houses.
She must've stopped over. They were relieved, cause maybe. Just maybe, they could find her here.
But there was no shadow nor a strand of her hair.
There was, however, a ghost of her intigrated in the tribesmen's daily life.
Finally, on one lunch time, Sokka was so feed up that he finally piped up and asked:
"Gran-Gran, hypothetically, if you leave remnants of yourself in someone else's house, how long do you think you will be gone?"
The elder looked at him then scooped up some soup and put it in her own bowl.
"How long? That wouldn't even be my question"
Katara blinked, confused and alarmed.
"… Yes?"
A pause. Then:
"I'd ask: Is she ever coming back?" and suddenly you could hear a pin drop as silence engulfed the dinning table.
It was Katara who broke the silence by asking hurriedly:
"What do you mean, Gran-Gran? She's just taking a vacation, right?" she asked for assurance. "That's what she said."
The elder looked at them pointedly and said "I know a runaway when I see one"
"No"
Aang had gone very still.
"Trust me, I know. I was one" she then looked at him, confused "You ran away once as well, were there no signs?" she paused "I'm sure there was. I saw some when she was here. They were so evident, that you would be blind not to see them."
And that cuts the deepest.
Because they didnt see.
Because apparently she was just fussy and looking after them like she would usually do.
Sokka laughed sharply. Like he had just heard some bad joke across the pub. "That's not funny Gran-Gran"
He started hitting the side of his head where his ears were "Some snow must've melted in my ears when I played with the kids earlier"
"No," the elder said softly. "It isn't."
Aang said nothing.
Because there it was.
The thing he feared and believed wouldn't happen.
She's really gone.
Not for time.
Not for distance,
Gone.
And she hadn't told them.
Not because she forgot
Because she choose not to.
That was the wound.
Not absence.
Intention
Toph found them found them afterward. She was conveniently asleep during the entire lunch, which was unusual for her.
They were sitting outside, looking like grief had physically punched exhaustion in their system.
She walked towards them, took one look, and said:
"Sooo…You found out huh" she said it so brazenly as she brushed the gunked she got off her ear.
Sokka gawked and pointed an accusing finger at her "You knew and didn't bother to tell us?"
Toph shrugged. "Obviously"
Katara looked stricken, what could've had happened that made her younger sister trust Toph more than her?
"And you said nothing?"
"Its not like she told me" she shrugged again, plopping down the snow covered earth "She said nothing, and I respected her little game."
Aang finally spoke and said "You knew she was leaving?"
Toph snorted, "I didn't knew. I witnessed it myself" she paused as she thought of something "If it helps, Zuko figured it out before I did. I think"
"After all, she's been on the look out for years"
Years.
Years.
That word hit like a bruise.
Sokka's voice tightened, "What are you talking about?"
"Those two are kindred spirits. Always wishing to run away from something. I just couldn't figure out what she was running away from" she said looking at them or in Aang's perspective, at him "Maybe she felt suffocated by something, but what could she even be suffocated by when there's no longer any war to fight?"
Toph said it like it like she was discussing weather.
"Zuko and Iroh gave her a gateway. Appa and the flying bison. To be fair, I think they thought it would ground her, made her less flighty. You know, an anchor" she trailed off as if looking back on a memory so precious that if she kept looking it would lose its charm
"When everyone was discussing it, she was giddy. Like a child waiting for her candy. Everyone witnessed that. Those two thought so as well. She was practically glowing when her ridiculous idea was approved" she chuckled at the memory and rubbed the tip of her nose with her pointed finger.
"Then her paintings and sculptures kept popping up on the market, the auction. She started teaching . That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever done. I was mildly surprised that none of you clocked that" she scoffed and smirked at them.
Then Toph pointed vaguely towards Aang
"I think repopulating Appa was her final gift to you so that she dont have to feel guilty about leaving you with your extinction issues. Being one of the last Air Bender and all that."
Aang looked like someone had struck him.
But Toph kept talking as if she's been holding this in for far too long.
"Personally, I just think she wanted a cuddle buddy. She can be selfish that way" she chuckled, "The students? Teaching? Selling art? Dude, those weren't a cute hobby of hers. That was funding. She was building her runway before she flew away"
Silence engulf them as her words finally sunk to their system.
Sokka was the first one to break
"How are we so blind?" he said as he finally recall their last moments together "It was fucking obvious" his hands scratched his head, messsing with the perfectly tied hair of his.
"The kid, if given a permission to do so, would just sleep or float all day. Her dream was to be a slob or be eternally dependent on to her dependable siblings. She doesn't even wanna work!" he said exasperratedly. "Why didn't I think it was suspicious when she was always busy?"
"That's the entire reason why she trained so hard with Air Bending. She told me that she wanted to command the air to do her bidding" he said in defeat.
Toph looked at him flatly confused, not sure if he's insulting or praising his sister, but ok. Whatever makes his guilt softer…?
"Zuko and I did wonder how blind you all were to be honest. It was so obvious that it could slap you in your faces"
Katara sat down like standing had become impossible.
And Aang—
"Why didn't any of you told us?" he asked sharply.
"Because she didn't have to tell us anything. We asked, she never answered. She allude to thee. What can we even tell you? Our speculations?"
"What we couldn't understand is how were the three of you so blind?" she left them with that question to ruminate from or to hollow in.
Indeed.
How can they be more blind than Toph when they have perfectly working eyes?
We're they so lost in their happiness that they didnt even notice her crumbling?
Why?
What was she even running away from?
Amidst all the questions, Aang understood something terrible.
She didnt leave suddenly.
She had been leaving them for years.
Quietly removing her presence.
Patiently and surgically limiting their interactions.
Right in front of all of them,
And because she smiled—
because she stayed—
because she made things easy—
they had mistaked her endurance for permanence
her compliance for contentment.
He thought of every dawn she trained alone.
Every joke that had been a goodbye.
Everytime she said she was fine.
And the night she told him she was done giving,
She had meant all of it.
She had not been waiting for him to come after her.
She had already choosen herself.
Long before she walked away.
She came back for a funeral. Of course it would be something like that.
Not for him.
Not for closure.
Not for nostalgia.
For death.
For Gran-Gran. For the woman who understood her soul more than anyone. For the woman who raised her. For the woman who didn't ask questions but comforted her silently. For the woman who took her in when she didn't have to. For her mother, Kanna.
Years had passed.
Enough for Appa's children to have children of their own.
Enough for the world to stop waiting for her return and start speaking of her like weather— something that existed, occassionally touching your life before moving on again.
Enough for Aang to become less of a boy and more of a history.
Enough for regret to stop being sharp and settle into something permanent.
She stepped off the boat at dawn looking older, yes, but not softer.
Sharper.
Like she had been carved down to only the necessarry parts.
She wore travel like it belonged to her.
Like home had become a direction instead of a place.
Katara saw her firts.
Across snow.
Across years.
Across silence.
For one terrible second, neither of them moved.
Then Katara crossed the distance and hugged her so hard it was almost violent.
She laughed.
Real laughter.
Startled somewhere deep.
"Well," she amusely said into Katara's shoulder, "I see subtlety is still dead, huh"
Katara started crying.
"I hated you."
"I know."
"I'm still considering it."
"That feels healthy."
Sokka cried too, loudly and with immediate denial when it was so obvious on his puffy eyes.
Toph only crossed her arms and said:
"Took you long enough."
Her answer came immediately.
"You're still unpleasantly comforting."
And then—
there was Aang.
He found her last, near the shore at sunset.
Of course.
She stood at the edge of the water with her shoes abandoned somehwere behind her, coat open to the wind, looking like she had never belonged anywhere except places she were about to leave.
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Finally, he said quietly:
"You came back"
"That's old news already. I've been here for couple of hours now."
She smiled faintly.
"I'm here for maman."
"Maman?"
"Gran-Gran. Kanna. Whatever people call her. She had always been Maman for as long as I can remember"
She gave him a stinky yet playful side eye. As playful as time could get "Don't make anything out of it, Avatar"
He laughed.
Soft.
Tired.
"Too late. I already had a whole scenario in my head"
She chuckled.
Then silence.
"Are you staying?"
She turned then.
And there it was—
affection.
Real.
Warm.
Gentle.
But no hunger.
No waiting.
Nor ache.
The kind that no longer asks to be chosen.
The kind that no longer care.
"No" she said.
And strangely—
it did not hurt.
Not for her.
Mayber for him.
But not for her.
Because it was not rejection.
Just the truth.
She had left once to save herself.
She would not unlearn that lesson for sentiments.
He nodded.
Like he had expected it.
Like he had spent years teaching himself how to survive answers he did not want.
Then, because maybe honesty only arrives after it can no longer ruin you—-
he said it.
Quietly.
Like holding a fragile china
Like a confession wrapped in grief.
"I love you"
She didnt move.
Did not gasp.
Just stood there, watching him with the calm of someone looking at the tornado she had predicted years ago.
Aang swallowed.
The words came easier once they existed.
"I think I have for a long time. Maybe not the way you deserved then. Maybe not in a way I understood when it would have mattered. But I do."
His voice shook.
"I loved you in all the places I thought didn't count. In trust. In dependence. In certainty. In reaching for you first and not understanding what that meant until you were gone"
She said nothing.
So he kept going.
"I thought love was supposed to feel like lightning. Immediate. Obvious. Like what I felt for Katara when we were younger. I thought if it wasn't that, it wasn't real
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"I was a teen and stupid."
"Yes, you were," she smiled softly "We all were."
"But losing you— watching you leave and realizing you had been walking away for years and never saw it because I thought you would always be there…"
He looked at her fully.
No Avatar.
No duty.
Just him.
Just Aang.
"I loved you in your absence. I think I will for the rest of my life."
There it was.
The line that once would have ruined her.
Would have made her stay.
Hope.
Shrink.
Now—
she only felt tired tenderness.
For him.
For herself.
For the younger versions of them who had loved badly, strongly, and too late.
She stepped closer.
Touched his arms.
Once.
A pity.
And smiled.
Sad.
Soft.
Final.
"I know."
His breath stuttered.
Because somehow, that hurt more than anger.
Because somehow, that hurt more than her absence.
She continued gently, "You loved me too late."
"…Yeah"
"And I loved you too early."
The truth sat between them like something sacred yet contagous.
"There was a time I would have given up everything to hear you say that"she said
A pause.
A lifetime inside it.
"But that girl… she doesn't exist anymore"
He nodded.
Because what else was there to do?
Beg?
She had spent years learning how to belong to herself.
She would not abandon herself again.
"I dont love you that way now," she said.
Not cruel.
Just clean.
"I care for you. I always will. Like how family care for each other. But I am no longer waiting for you to choose me. I dont even want you to do that. I stopped building my life around that a long time ago."
Tears threatend to leave his eyes.
And he let them.
For the first time in a long while.
He cried.
And she smiled.
"You thought me something important, Aang"
His voice was barely there.
"What?"
"That love is not always a place you should stay."
Silence.
Then, almost lightly:
"And for the record, confessing to me while married is incredibly selfish of you"
He laughed.
Wet.
Broken.
And human.
"I know"
"Very terrible timing and choice"
"My specialty"
"That and emotional desparation"
"That too"
She squezzed his arms once before letting go.
A goodbye.
Not a maybe.
Just kindness.
"I'm glad you loved me," she said.
His face broke quietly.
She smiled.
"But I'm more glad that I learned to survive when you didn't."
And that, more than anything—
was the truth.
Katara knew.
Not the word at first, but the shape of it.
Because love changes the way people grieve.
And Aang grieved her absence like someone mourning a future he had only realized he wanted after it was already gone.
Years later, one quiet night, with the children asleep in their room, and the house too honest in its silence, she sat beside him and asked:
"Did you love her?"
Aang went still.
Then, honesty gave courage to his coward mouth:
"Yes"
Katara nodded once.
"For how long?"
A sad laugh.
"I'm not sure if it stopped"
There it was.
Truth opening an old wound she thought had healed.
Or maybe a knife giving her a new one?
There was no betrayal.
Just truth.
She thought, absurdly, 'I won… Didn't I?'
She got the life.
The marriage.
The children.
She was chosen.
So why did it feel like she just lost a fight she didn't even stand a chance on?
Because sometimes first love is sunlight.
And greatest love is air.
Forever present, not seen, but is felt greatly.
And Katara was perceptive enought to know the difference.
Did she hate her?
Sometimes.
In the quitest corners of herself.
Because she understand exactly why Aang loved her.
She was freedom.
She was movement.
She was the air he once breathe.
And there is something cruel about being the one someone stayed with while they spend the rest of their life haunted by the one who didn't.
Did she hate Aang?
No.
Sometimes she wants to.
Mostly when she's tired.
Because love is complicated and marriage is often just choosing which truths you can live beside.
One night, much later, she asked him:
"If she had stayed… would you have choosen differently?"
Aang closed his eyes long enough that she almost told him not to answer.
Then he whispered
"Ye—Maybe"
Katara cried silently, because hearing it aloud turned suspicion into history.
He reached for her.
She let him.
Because despite everything, she loved him.
And because love is sometimes not forgiveness, but the quiet decision to remain.
After a long time, she said into the dark:
"I think I will always be a little angry with both of you."
And Aang, voice breaking softly said "I know"
She laughed through the tears. Sharp and tired.
"Good. I'd hate for this to be graceful"
And somehow, that was the marriage.
Not perfect.
Not tragic.
Just raw.
Just humane.
She left again.
No dramatic farewell.
Just one morning.
A bag.
And the wind.
Toph, half-asleep from her doorway, muttering:
"If you die somehwere stupid, I'm haunting you."
She grinned
"If I die somehwere impressive, you have to brag about me."
"Deal"
And Aang, he stood farther away.
Not asking.
Not stopping.
Finally understanding that love is sometimes the decision not to reach out.
She looked at him once.
Warmly.
Kindly.
Gratefully.
Like someone honoring a grave and not a future.
Then she turned to walk towards the horizon.
He loved her still.
He would love her when his hair silvered.
When his children laughed.
When history turned him into a statue and memory into myth.
He would love her in quiet places.
In the wind.
In regret.
In gratitude.
He would love her forever.
And she—
she would keep walking.
Not lonely.
Never lost.
Just free.
Some people are homes.
Some people are storms
He had spent trying to make her into the first.
Only to realize— far too late—
She had always been the second.
And storms, even when loved,
Were never meant to stay.
The first thing she felt was heat.
Not warmth— heat. Suffocating, feverish, the kind that made her bones feel too heavy for her own body. It pressed against her skin, crawled down her throat, sat in her chest like something alive.
And voices. Too many voices.
Far away at first, like she was underwater.
"—she's burning up—"
"Amihan—hey, hey, baby, look at me—"
"Katara, is she supposed to be shaking like that?!"
"No, Sokka, obviously not!"
"I'm just asking!"
The world tilted.
Something wet touched her forehead.
A hand.
Katara?
Amihan wanted to say she was fine. It sat on her mind, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a broken sound— small and humiliating and far too close to a sob. "Ma… Maman?"
next>>
a/n: I hope you had a blast reading this chapter! my hands cramped up when i typed them!
some inaccuracies were deliberate (except for wrong spellings and grammar)
and pls give me artist and song reco. listening to laufey is not good for my single ass.
next chapter will be next week! hopefully.
pls like, comment, reblog, and follow!
