a/n: holy shitttt what is that???? an ehfar update after a tiny short chill two years ???? like 2 days after i said i would update it??? i started this in the tumblr atla renaissance and goddamn i will FINISH IT in the tumblr atla renaissance. i wont waste my time apologizing bc at this point you guys are used to it. i had to write this chapter using 2nd person pov because i physically cannot use third person Y/N anymore sorry again! but here's a chill ember island players chapter before shit goes down hope you enjoy!!
wc: 4k
warning(s): the ember island players episode which is pretty chill. yn and zuko have a heart to heart at the end because ofc they dooo
“You can’t be serious.”
“Of course I’m serious,” Sokka said.
“When I said I wanted to see a play,” you said wryly, “this is not what I meant.”
“We can’t not go!” he exclaimed as he gestured at the posture. “I mean, it’s literally a play all about us! We’re Fire Nation famous!”
“Because half of them want us dead,” Katara responded blithely. “Surely someone will recognize us.”
“We’ll just sit in the back,” he said. “We’ve already gone through half of the Fire Nation and no one’s discovered us yet.”
“Sokka and I were out in town all day and no one noticed us,” Suki said.
Zuko frowned. “I haven’t been with you, though. It can’t be a good idea for me to be there.”
“You’re not getting out of this, Zuko,” you said. “If we all have to sit through this, you do too.”
“I’m not trying to get out of it!” he defended. “I’m trying to keep us from getting captured.”
“Nothing we can’t handle if we do get caught,” Toph said. “We should go. I wanna see us win all those fights again.”
Aang looked at the poster again. “It’s by the Ember Island Players.”
Zuko groaned at that and shook his head. “Then we’re definitely not going. The Ember Island Players are a joke—they butcher Love Amongst the Dragons every year.”
“I don’t know,” Aang said. “I think we could all use some downtime!”
“Exactly!” Sokka rolled up the poster. “This is the kind of wacky, time-wasting nonsense I’ve been missing!”
Zuko glanced over at you. “Do you really wanna go?”
You shrugged. “It could be fun. And we could all use a break from thinking about the comet.”
“Fine,” he said. “If you want to go, we can go.”
Sokka grinned. “I love how easy it is to get Zuko to do things now.”
“We’ll just treat it like a date night.” You pecked Zuko on the cheek and glanced back at your friends. “The theater will be pretty dark, right?”
The girls laughed as Sokka groaned and shook his head. “Spirits, nevermind. You two can stay home. Come on, guys.”
You grinned and took Zuko’s hand, and he cracked a smile as he intertwined your fingers together.
“Good one.”
“I try.”
-
It was a bit nerve-wracking being around so many Fire Nation citizens, especially wealthy ones that probably had ties to the royal family, but no one seemed to pay your group any mind as Sokka bought the tickets.
You found your seats in the nosebleeds, and you and Zuko sat down together. Aang cleared his throat, and Zuko looked at him.
“What?”
“I… I was going to sit there.”
He frowned. “Just sit next to me. What’s the big deal?”
You glanced at Katara sitting beside you, making idle conversation with Toph as they waited for the play to start. Aang’s cheeks flushed pink, and you smiled.
“Come on, Zuko. Scoot down.”
He rolled his eyes but did it anyway, and you gestured with your head at the empty spot between you and Katara. Aang smiled gratefully as he sat down, and you winked.
“What was that about?” Zuko muttered.
“You mean you don’t see it?” you asked.
“See what?”
You chuckled and shook your head, then rested it against Zuko’s shoulder. “Nothing.”
He huffed as he wrapped his arm around you, pulling you closer. “You’re so weird.”
You did nothing but smile. You cuddled into his side as the curtains opened, announcing the beginning of the play.
It was a little surreal, honestly. All of Team Avatar had caused enough trouble across all four nations to be somewhat renowned, but seeing your friends portrayed by actors was on a different level.
Katara was overly dramatic, Sokka’s jokes were much worse than the real thing, Aang was played by a woman, and Zuko, much to his chagrin, was played totally stiff and humorless. Toph, however, was loving every minute of it—and Suki laughed the whole time during the one scene her actress was in.
Your actor’s introduction came alongside Actor Yue’s when the trio made it to the Northern Water Tribe. Seeing one of the worst moments of your life played out like a joke didn’t exactly go over easily, especially seeing your fight against Zuko again.
“Zuko?” your actor exclaimed in overexaggerated horror. “Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me! Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, here to reclaim my honor!” Actor Zuko clenched his hand into a fist with the proclamation, then frowned as he turned to the other actor. “Who are you?”
Your actor gasped as she pressed her hand to her chest. “You mean you don’t remember me? I’ve only thought about you every day since the fateful day we met!”
“The only fate I care about is your doom!” he yelled. He then pulled out streamers to signify firebending, as your and Katara’s actors did the same for their waterbending.
They made some very flashy moves that eventually ended in fake Zuko defeating them. He leaned into your side and whispered in your ear.
“I didn’t actually look that ridiculous,” he muttered, “did I?”
“You were trying to kill us,” you replied. “I wasn’t really focused on that.”
Zuko huffed and focused back on the play. He wrapped his arm around you like instinct when you leaned closer to him during Yue’s death—the reenactment still hurt. You didn’t blame Sokka for tearing up.
Toph, of course, loved her portrayal as a super buff guy who saw things by screaming very loudly. Zuko’s shoulders slumped every time he was shown yelling at you or his uncle, while Aang’s smile grew every time the actor Avatar did something cool—even if his actor was actually an actress.
Soon, though, the set shimmered green and blue to imitate the crystal caves beneath Ba Sing Se. You grimaced before you could help it, you and Katara meeting each other’s eyes across Aang.
You both said things you regretted down there, things you never really wanted to hear again—or for your friends to hear. Unfortunately, you didn’t really have a choice.
“Ugh!” your actor groaned, drawing it out for far too long as she wandered in a circle around the stage-cave. “I can’t believe I’m trapped in here alone!”
The edge of a slide peeked out from the left wing as Actor Katara slid down it into the cave.
“You’re not alone!” she wailed as she hugged your actress and started sobbing immediately. “It fills me with so much hope! Oh, nothing could ruin this moment!”
Actor Zuko came down the slide with a loud thump. The two actresses turned to look at him and frowned at the audience.
“All my hope is suddenly gone,” actor Katara said, and then she started crying again.
“Stop crying!” actor Zuko demanded. “I can’t deal with emotions other than anger!”
“Stop yelling at her!” your actress yelled.
“I’m not yelling at her!” Zuko insisted.
The three of them devolved into a yelling match that was honestly a bit too realistic for your liking, until a fake explosion went off and Aang and Iroh danced onto the stage.
“The Avatar is here to save the day!” Aang’s actress cheered.
“And I brought some tea!” Iroh said.
You bit your lip. You didn’t know whether it was better that they didn’t go into all the grisly details, or if it was worse that such a terrible moment of your life had been treated so lightly.
Of course, it only got worse once they got to the battle of the catacombs. You felt Zuko’s body tense up beside you at the moment of his betrayal.
“Well, my brother?” ‘Azula’ demanded. “What’s it going to be? Your nation, or a life of treachery?”
A spotlight shone down on actor Zuko as he looked back and forth.
“Choose treachery,” actor Iroh suggested. “It’s more fun!”
Zuko looked like he was going to make a choice, and then your actress popped up behind Iroh.
“Oh, Zuko!” She swooned into his arms, and his eyes widened. “Isn’t love enough to make you betray your country?”
Actor Zuko scoffed and shoved her out of his arms, looking disgusted. “Why would I ever turn my back on the Fire Nation for someone like you? You have too many emotions that I can’t handle!”
He and Azula walked off stage as your actress began crying. ‘Zuko’ was off-stage for a beat of silence before he ran out of the wings and pointed at your actress. She stopped crying immediately as she looked up at him with bright eyes.
“I forgot to tell you that I hate you!” he exclaimed. “Don’t forget that I hate you!”
She burst into tears yet again and the Earth Kingdom poster on the wall fell over her and ‘Iroh.’ You felt Sokka’s eyes on you as you sunk into yourself. The crying was less embarrassing than the truth of Zuko’s words in that moment.
“Is that really what happened down there?” Sokka whispered. Neither you nor Katara deigned to answer. Zuko just silently pulled you closer. Seeing the past few months play out on stage right in front of you made all the old wounds fester.
The second intermission came after Aang’s near death—perfect timing, because after seeing that, everyone really needed a break. Katara split off to find Aang, who had run off earlier, and the rest of you camped out beside the theater doors.
“It seems like every time there’s a big battle, you guys barely make it out alive,” Suki mused. Sokka leaned against the wall next to her, and he frowned.
“All that matters is that we did make it out alive,” he said.
“True,” you said, inclining your head in agreement, then tilting it to glance at Zuko. “Didn’t Sokka almost beat you in your first battle with a boomerang?”
Zuko, who stood at your side with his arm wrapped around your waist, scowled. “He absolutely did not. Did he tell you that?”
“I told her the truth!” he exclaims.
“He’s lying right now,” Toph added. “And I bet he was lying then.”
“Why did you have to become a living lie detector?” Sokka complained. “It was so much easier to get away with things.”
“Maybe get better at lying?” she suggested. “Your sister was able to do it perfectly.”
“Katara can’t lie to save her life.”
“He means my sister,” Zuko cut in. “Azula’s a master manipulator. She’s been lying since before she could walk.”
“I don’t know,” you murmured. “I kind of feel bad for her. Your parents were awful, and,” you tipped your shoulder, “you kinda were too, for a while.”
Zuko frowned. “But I got better. I learned what I was doing wrong.”
“Because you had an uncle that never gave up on you,” you said gently.
“...And I had you,” Zuko added. He pulled you closer until you could rest your head on his shoulder. “Who also never gave up on me.”
You smiled inwardly. The moment was instantly ruined, however, when Toph slugged you in the arm.
“Ow!” you exclaimed. “What was that for?”
“To get you to stop talking with Zuko like that,” she said. “Did it work?”
“That’s a good idea,” Sokka said, his eyes lighting up. “Think it would work on Zuko?”
“Think it’ll work on you?” you countered. “You go all lovey-dovey with Suki more than we do.”
“You can’t blame me!” he exclaimed. “We just got back together after she was in prison for months!”
“We just got together after she was in prison for weeks,” Zuko intoned. “And we were separated for years.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sokka sighed. “It’s not a competition.”
The door to the balcony opened and Katara ran inside—she slowed to a walk and tried to manage a smile when she saw all of you waiting.
“Hey,” she said, slightly out of breath, “I think the play’s about to start back up again. We should get back to our seats.”
Toph frowned. “I don’t hear Aang with you.”
Katara paused, her smile wavering for a moment. “He’s getting a bit more fresh air before we get back into this cramped auditorium. Now come on, we’re gonna miss the third act.”
You looked at Zuko, who shrugged, then at Sokka, who shrugged harder. You sighed and pecked Zuko on the cheek before you started pulling him along behind you back into the theater, the other three following behind you.
The third act started off better than the second left off—for Sokka, at least. Aang didn’t say a word when he and Katara’s actors made what you figured was a very exaggerated display of friendship, which couldn’t be easy with his very obvious crush on the real Katara.
Once the scene shifted to the start of the invasion on the Day of Black Sun, you leaned forward in your seat. You’d been counting the days in prison for a few months by now, and you really wanted to see what happened, and how Zuko convinced them to let him join their crew, even if all the details weren’t fully accurate.
Instead, it was a very quick scene where Zuko showed up, and they all shrugged and decided he could join them.
“Oh, come on,” you said. “It couldn’t possibly have been that easy.”
“Don’t worry,” Katara said, nudging your shoulder. “It took about three tries and a whole lot of threats.”
“And about four life-changing field trips,” Zuko muttered.
“I’m still annoyed we didn’t get one,” Toph cut in as she crossed her arms. “You burned my feet. That’s basically like torching someone’s eyes.”
“We’ve already gone over this!” he exclaimed. “You forgave me! And you put rocks in my bed for weeks!”
Toph chuckled and shrugged. “You deserved it.”
“That’s all in the past, though,” Sokka spoke up. “We’re in the present now. That must be it.”
Suki hauled him back down. “The play’s not over yet.”
“But it has to be! Unless we’re in the future?”
Toph shushed them all. “I can’t hear anything over your yapping. Don’t you want to know how this ends?”
That got everyone to quiet down just in time for an actor playing Fire Lord Ozai to arrive. Though you could see layers of makeup caked on even from the nosebleeds, he still made you shiver. You hadn’t seen Zuko’s father since you were a child, and he terrified you more than anything. He loomed in your nightmares for years, swore he was behind every corner and in every shadow, lying in wait to kill you just like he’d killed your mother.
You took in a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. Zuko noticed, because he always noticed, and he took his hand in yours.
“It’s okay,” he murmured. “I’m here for you.”
You managed a shaky smile and squeezed his hand. You felt so silly being scared of an actor. But you’d known for years that if the Fire Lord ever found you again, he would not hesitate to kill you. That sort of paranoia didn’t just leave so easily.
But you were jarred out of your thoughts when you heard Katara gasp. You focused back on the stage to see Azula and Zuko fighting with lightning and fire—and then the actress thrust her hand forward, and a wall of fake fire rushed towards Zuko. He cried out for his honor, and then he died.
…Zuko died, and the entire audience cheered.
You felt his body tense once again, his golden eyes wide as the moon as his lips parted. You moved even closer to him, enveloping his hand in yours as your whole group stared at Zuko in shock.
“It’s okay,” you whispered. “It’s not real. It’s never going to be real.”
Zuko nodded. “I know.”
His smile felt just as shaky as yours, something to convince himself more than you as he nodded. You just leaned into his side, hands still intertwined. You could feel his heartbeat steadying through his chest.
The play didn’t get much better from there. Actor Aang tried his best to defeat Fire Lord Ozai, but he couldn’t beat a comet-powered firebender. The Avatar died in a fiery blaze, and soon the entire stage was covered in fake fire as the Fire Lord proclaimed his victory.
Nearly the entire audience jumped to their feet, roaring with applause—but none of your friends, least of all you, could manage any words.
Seeing the horrible defeat you’d all been fearing since the moment you set out to end this war play out on stage right in front of them didn’t really inspire confidence. The cheering crowd made it even more clear that you were completely surrounded by enemies.
You all couldn’t get out of the theater fast enough. The first few minutes of the walk were punctuated with stark silence, you and Zuko walking hand in hand in the front of the group, until he spoke up.
“...That wasn’t a good play.”
“Agreed,” you mumbled.
“I’ll say,” Aang grumbled.
“No kidding,” Katara sighed.
“Horrible,” Suki added.
“You said it,” Toph nodded.
Sokka shrugged. “But the effects were decent.”
“Yeah,” Zuko said wryly. “They were especially great when Aang and I died fiery deaths.”
“At least it was believable!” he exclaimed.
“Sokka?”
“Yeah, Suki?”
“Be quiet.”
-
Once they got back to the house, everyone split off to do their own thing. After the play ended on such a bad note, it was agreed that the theme for the rest of the night was peace and quiet.
You found yourself standing on the beach, staring at the endless push and pull of the ocean. It took you back to the first time you waterbended, even before you could make an orb. When you would stand by the lake for hours working on your form—when you would make the journey through the woods down to where the shore met jagged rocks, where you felt most at home despite the danger because of the ocean.
The memory brought a small smile to your face. When you first discovered your waterbending, you almost felt like a freak in the village because you weren’t like the other benders. Now, you’d gone on the journey of a lifetime, lost your bending and gotten it back, and were close to a master under Katara’s tutelage.
Your smile grew. You promised your mother you would end the war. You promised your father you would take care of her. You refused to break either promise.
The hairs on the back of your neck prickled, and you turned to see Zuko walking across the beach to meet you.
“Am I going to find you here every night?” he asked wryly.
“Just the nights where we’re all contemplating our life and if the impossible mission we’ve been on for months is something we can actually finish.”
“Ah,” Zuko said. “Of course.”
You chuckled and gestured with your head. “Get over here. It’s cold without you.”
“We’re in the Fire Nation,” he said dryly. “It’s never cold.”
“Do you want to act like my boyfriend or not?”
Zuko laughed and came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist to keep you close. “Is that better?”
You hummed, and you felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. “Always.”
The two of you stood together in silence for a good minute or two, just listening to the waves come to shore then recede. The night air had a bit of a chill to it, but with Zuko pressed against you, it would be impossible to feel cold. Eventually, he spoke up.
“What are you thinking about?”
“About how awful that play was.”
“I told you every show the Ember Island Players do is horrible.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think they would be that bad. They completely butchered me—I wasn’t falling over you every time we met.”
“No,” Zuko agreed. “We just tried to kill each other every time we met.”
“I was focused on damage control,” you said. “You were trying to kill us all.”
“At least I learned my lesson!” he defended, and you chuckled. You loved being together like this, with your body pressed up against his, because you could always feel when his heart rate sped up around you.
“But I know you,” Zuko continued. “There’s something else.”
“Obviously.” You tilted your head. “I’m pretty sure everyone else is thinking the same thing, including you.”
“And what’s that?”
You fell silent again as you stared at the endless horizon. You always felt so small when you looked out across the frozen tundra past the Northern borders as a girl—nearly miniscule when you looked out the royal palace windows as a child.
Now that you’d traveled the world, faced all your fears and a whole lot more, you didn’t fear the unknown anymore. You welcomed it with open arms because you knew you could face it with your friends at your side—especially with Zuko at your side.
You let out a slow sigh as you let yourself lean back into Zuko. Everything felt easier to handle when he was with you. You think back to just a few weeks ago, when you were slowly destroying yourself for the virtue of hating him. Forgiveness was a weight off of your shoulders. It helped that you got both your bending back alongside the boy you loved.
“I’ve been thinking about how this is it,” you murmured. “We have no choice but to face your father when the comet hits—when every person in the Fire Nation is at their strongest.”
“That also means I’ll be at my strongest,” he reminded you.
“You’re not the one facing your father.”
“But I will have to face my sister,” Zuko said. “There’s no way she’ll give up control without a fight, and we’ll be the ones to give it to her.”
You raised an eyebrow. “‘We’?”
“Obviously,” he said. “There’s no one else I’d want by my side in the heat of battle.”
“That’s sweet,” you said with a smile. “It almost makes me feel like we won’t be running to our deaths.”
“When did you become such a pessimist?”
“I’m not, though.” You gently extracted yourself from Zuko’s grasp so you could turn and face him. His eyes were like pools of molten gold this close. You leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, one that ended far too soon.
“I know we’ll be able to do it because we’re together,” you murmured. “You, me, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang. We’ve gotten this far for a reason.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” he quoted. It brought a smile to your face—your first time on the Ember Island beaches together.
“Exactly,” you said quietly. “The spirits wouldn’t have let us find our way back to each other if we weren’t going to change the world together.”
Zuko’s lips quirked at the sides. He always looked so gentle when he smiled, especially when his eyes shone with the moonlight.
“Changing the world together,” he mused. “I like the sound of that.”
“You better,” you said. “Because after we upend the entire Fire Nation government, we’re going to have a lot of work to do.”
“I know I can do it with you by my side.”
You shared small smiles with each other as Zuko leaned in for another kiss, which led to another, then quite a few more. When you finally separated, slightly breathless and grinning like fools, you moved to his side and rested your head on his shoulder.
“Let’s just… stay here for a moment,” you murmured. “The ocean helps me think.”
Zuko nodded in silence, and the two of you watched the waves crest and recede. A thousand things were on your mind for the day of the comet. Despite your confidence, you had no idea what that day would bring—or if any of you would even live to see another day.
But in this moment, you and Zuko were together. After everything you’d been through, you were together again, and you were in love.
Nothing is ours just because we want it to be, or think it so. What is not meant for us will slip through our fingers every time. It is better to let go of the moment when it has passed, and learn to love what is. We can never escape, or miss out on what is destined to be
everything happens for a reason part 22 - zuko x fem!reader
I've been waiting on you
part 21 | masterlist | part 23
a/n: UHHH happy one year anniversary of me not updating!! i missed it by a day but honestly that's very in character. i kind of have no excuse for taking a year long break from this. lol. all i can really say is i lost all my avatar inspo and got really into a bunch of other things and poor little ehfar got left in the corner abandoned!!! but i could never abandon this it's my baby and even if it takes me 1000 years to finish it i will finish it. it's kind of embarrassing that it took so long for this to come out and it's a short filler chapter like who do i think i am.... but everyone is happy and on the beach and yn finally gets some clothes of her own after spending like 7 chapters in prison clothes. anyways enjoy (three more chapters left what?? will it take me 3 years who knows)
wc: 4.8k
warning(s): yn and zuko talk about their pasts and what theyve been through but overall this is a very fluffy chapter
chapter title from seasons (waiting on you) by future islands
The days after their arrival back to the island passed by with relative ease.
Y/N practiced waterbending with Katara and Aang so she could work on getting the hang of it again. She’d been close to mastery before Ba Sing Se, and her muscle memory was stronger than she realized, but prison and the months without her bending had weakened her. Zuko continued working with Aang on his firebending under the looming deadline of the comet.
Sokka and Suki trained with each other too, working on their hand to hand and sword fighting, and Y/N would occasionally join in to stay sharp on what Suki had taught her back in prison. Her time without her bending made her realize how much she relied solely on it, and she never wanted to feel defenseless again.
They continued to share stories every night over a campfire. They all had plenty to talk about after everything they’d been through, especially when Zuko had been against them for half the time, Suki was leading the Kyoshi Warriors, and Y/N was stuck behind bars.
And of course, Zuko and Y/N spent as much time together as they possibly could. They were practically attached at the hip—sitting together at meals, watching one another bend on their breaks, training against each other the way they used to, exploring the island together, just being with each other. After everything they’d been through, Y/N thought they deserved it.
Eventually though, it was decided that they had to leave. Being in Fire Nation territory, even in the middle of nowhere, was risky. They were running out of food and supplies in general, and the possibility that Fire Nation ships would still somehow discover them weighed on their minds. They couldn’t afford to get caught so far into their mission, especially with the traitor prince of the Fire Nation on their side.
“We’re already being bold by staying in Fire Nation territory,” Zuko said. “We’re safe from Azula for now, but it’s only a matter of time before she somehow finds us again.” He shrugged. “My family’s vacation home is the last spot anyone will think to look.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Sokka said. “It’ll be nice to not fight for our lives for a minute before we make the final push.”
Aang adjusted his hold on the reins—they’d already packed up Appa and started flying before Zuko proposed his idea—and shrugged. “I’m okay with it. Zuko and I will be able to keep training, and you all can relax in an actual house.”
“And we’ll be able to go to the beach!” Toph exclaimed. “I’ve been meaning to work on my sandbending. And,” she grinned, “I’m betting none of you have heard of sandball fights.”
“We’re really getting ourselves into something,” Katara said dryly.
Y/N smiled and she leaned into Zuko’s side. He wrapped his arm around her immediately and pulled her closer.
“I’ve always wondered what Ember Island was like,” Y/N mused. “I was always so jealous when you and Azula got to go there on vacation every summer and I was stuck at the palace.”
“You weren’t missing much,” Zuko said wryly. “Yeah, there’s beaches, but mostly it was just unbearably hot.” He frowned. “My father still made me do work even when we were supposed to be on vacation. I’ve done a lot of swordfighting here.”
“I missed you,” she said, and she knew that she would never get tired of seeing Zuko’s cheeks flush red.
“Really?” he asked. “Even then?”
“Especially then,” she clarified. “It wasn’t like I had much going on for me there. The palace was extremely boring without you.”
“Spirits, you guys are gross,” Sokka groaned as he looked out at the sky. “Suki and I haven’t been like this, have we?”
Katara chuckled. “You definitely have. You could barely stay off of each other when you got back from the Boiling Rock.”
“Just imagine what they were like when they first got back together,” Zuko said with a frown.
“Neither of you can say anything,” Toph asserted. “I can hear both of your heartbeats shoot up every time you’re around Y/N and Suki.”
Zuko scowled, Sokka’s face flushed, and Suki and Y/N just smiled at each other.
“So Ember Island is a yes?” Aang asked. When everyone nodded in agreement, he looked at Zuko. “I’m in need of your navigation skills, Sifu Hotman.”
He groaned. “I told you to stop calling me that.”
“I know,” Aang said cheerfully.
Zuko just sighed, and he kissed Y/N on the cheek before he moved to sit next to Aang. She smiled, and she let her hand hang over the side of the saddle.
“...I guess it is nice not seeing you two argue all the time,” Sokka said after a moment.
“It’s nice that you two aren’t moping around all the time either,” Toph added. “That was kind of annoying.”
“Imagine how I felt,” Y/N said, though it was absent minded as her gaze stayed on Zuko.
“I don’t have to imagine it,” Toph said. “You were very clearly mopey.”
“And when you weren’t mopey, you were angry,” Suki contributed. “You said you were imagining Zuko’s face whenever I taught you new moves at the Boiling Rock. You beat him up a lot there.”
Sokka and Toph laughed, but it was a moment before she said anything. It took Katara saying her name for her to turn back around, and when Y/N did, she blinked for a moment. “What?”
Katara chuckled, glancing at Zuko before she looked back at her. “We’re just glad you’re back.”
Her expression instantly brightened as she smiled. “I’m glad to be back.”
-
It didn’t take long for them to arrive at Ember Island—and if it did, Y/N was far too busy conversing with her friends and watching Zuko for it to matter. She grimaced as she slid off of Appa, one hand taking Zuko’s and the other wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.
“Spirits,” she mumbled, “I thought I was used to Fire Nation heat by now.”
“Me too,” Sokka groaned. “But this is already worse than all the other places we’ve been to.”
“Ember Island’s always been like this,” Zuko said. “The good news is that it’s Ember Island. There’s plenty of beaches—we’ve even got our own private one.”
“Good for practicing waterbending,” Katara said with a glance at Aang.
“Good for practicing all kinds of bending,” Zuko said. “You’re gonna need to practice your firebending every day if you want to stand a chance against my father. We’re running out of time and you’re nowhere close to being a master.”
Aang frowned. “Way to bring down the mood, Zuko.”
“I’m being realistic!” he defended. “You can’t just end one hundred years of war with some good luck and an optimistic mindset!”
Sokka shrugged. “It’s worked for us so far.”
Zuko opened his mouth to say something that would definitely cause an argument. Before he could, Y/N laughed, looping her arm through his and tugging him along.
“Come on,” she said. “Show us around.”
Zuko sighed, though his show of annoyance was negated as he pulled Y/N closer. “Fine. It is about time I’ve brought you here.”
“Ugh.” Toph kicked at the sand with her foot. “I think Zuko’s just brought us along on his couples vacation.”
“Oh, quiet,” she joked. “We’ve earned it.”
Toph stuck her tongue out. “Doesn’t mean we can’t complain about it.”
Y/N chuckled as they walked together, the rest of the group trailing behind them.
“Spirits, Zuko,” Sokka marveled when they stepped inside the house. “This is huge.”
“It is the summer home of the royal family,” he said dryly. “My father never settles for anything less than perfection. It also gave us more room to avoid each other when he was causing arguments.”
“I can’t imagine that happened a lot,” Katara said sarcastically.
“Never,” Zuko agreed with the same tone. “He almost burned down the place a few times.”
Aang frowned. “Sounds like a great guy.”
“I know you’re not a violence guy, but if there’s anyone you’d enjoy fighting, it’s my dad,” Zuko muttered.
“I’ll do it for the good of the world,” Aang said. “Not because I’ll enjoy it.”
Zuko grimaced and opened his mouth to say something, but Y/N interrupted once more before they could devolve into this conversation again.
“Like Sokka said, this place is huge.” She placed a hand on Zuko’s arm. “Will we have our own rooms?”
Zuko’s brows creased a bit, but he nodded after a moment. “Yeah. There should be enough for all of us.”
“Suki and I can share,” Sokka said, stretching his arms out casually to reach one around Suki. She laughed and leaned her head against his chest, and he looked far too pleased with himself. “Tryna make up for lost time, y’know?”
“Gross,” Toph scoffed. “I’ll take my own room, please.”
Aang glanced at Katara for a moment before he cleared his throat and nodded at Zuko. “Yeah. Me too.”
Katara was too busy looking at a mask sitting on a mantle. She picked it up and glanced back at Zuko. “What is this from?”
“One of my mother’s favorite plays,” he said. “She was an actress before she married my father, and every time we came here, we’d always go see some shows. They gave her the mask of the lead character after the end of one production a few years ago, as thanks for her patronage.”
“Oh, we should definitely go see a play while we’re here!” Y/N exclaimed. “I got my hands on some old play scripts when I was still working in the palace, and the other servants and I would spend hours reenacting our favorite parts.” She chuckled. “It would be nice to see actual actors do it.”
“We should be able to carve out some time for that,” Zuko said. “Between all the training, of course.”
“You are such a downer,” Aang groaned.
“I’m seeing the full picture!” he defended. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do—just because we’re at our vacation home doesn’t mean we’re on vacation.”
“After all this is over, we definitely deserve a vacation,” Sokka muttered. “Before all the rebuilding and restructuring and relegislating starts…” The smile fell from his face. “Wow. We’re never gonna get a vacation.”
“Oh, perk up, ponytail,” Toph said. “We’re going to end the endless war and defeat the undefeatable Fire Lord. If we want to take a vacation, no one can really stop us.”
The smile reappeared with surprising quickness. “That’s true!”
Zuko laughed softly. “Your rooms should be on the first floor. You can explore and divide the rooms yourselves. I,” he looked at Y/N, “want to show you something.”
She smiled as Zuko pulled her closer with an arm around her shoulder and made for the stairs, leaving a rapidly growing argument over room selection in their wake.
“Do you think they’ll have decided by the time we get back down?” Zuko asked.
Y/N shrugged. “This is the first time they’re sleeping in rooms instead of camping on the ground in… Spirits. Since Ba Sing Se, I think. I wouldn’t be surprised if they go at it all night.”
He chuckled as they stopped in front of a room, and Zuko pushed open the door so they could walk in together.
“This was my room whenever we came here,” he said. “I figured we could share it.”
“This is the height of luxury,” Y/N commented, stepping out of Zuko’s embrace to run her hand over the sheets. Her lips quirked into a smile. “I can’t believe you slept on a bed like this every night.”
“You’re telling me they don’t have this kind of stuff in the North?” Zuko asked wryly.
“No,” she chuckled, “definitely not. We were more focused on not freezing.”
“Well, we’re more focused on pointless displays of luxury,” he said, “so you’re not too far off.”
Zuko ignited the tip of his finger and began lighting candles around the room, and Y/N glanced at him with amusement as she sat down on the bed.
“Mood lighting,” he explained with the sliver of a smile. “I think we deserve some time alone after the past few days.”
She pressed a hand to her chest. “You know the way straight to my heart.”
Once he was done he sat down next to her, and Y/N intertwined their hands together and pulled him down so they were laying on their backs. She rested her head on Zuko’s chest and he moved his arm around her to keep her close, tracing lazy circles on her shoulder.
“Wonderful mattress,” she sighed. “So this was what you were up to while I was sewing clothes and doing endless loads of laundry.”
“I thought about you a lot more than you probably think,” Zuko said. She turned her head a bit to look at him, slightly surprised, and he shrugged. “Honestly? When we were kids, I thought about you pretty much constantly. My father always told me not to talk to servants, but I didn’t see you as anything other than my friend. You were… kind of my only normal friend.”
“Well, you were kind of my only friend, period. All the other servants were way older—they just felt like a different version of my mom.” Y/N’s gaze rose to the ceiling. “I wonder how they’re all doing.”
“They should be okay,” Zuko said. “No one really caused as much trouble as we did.”
Y/N laughed as her gaze flitted around the room, taking in all the details. A portrait of the royal family hung on the wall, while a much smaller, lone portrait of Zuko sat on a desk in the corner. He didn’t look very happy, but she couldn’t imagine sitting for that many paintings as a child was fun. What looked to be a half-finished message sat on the desk, the ends of the scroll rolling up and obscuring most of the inked letters. A neat stack of towels and blankets were on top of a clothing chest in the other corner, and she chuckled a bit. In her experience of doing his laundry in their youth, it seemed to be something he still hadn’t grown out of.
“I can practically see little Zuko running in here after a day at the beach,” she mused. “The ends of his clothes singed from fighting with Azula, his hair drenched from swimming, getting sand all over the sheets.”
“I wasn’t that messy of a child,” he complained. “I… I did come home with my clothes singed a couple times, though.”
She chuckled. “I know. My mother had to fix a lot of your outfits because of it.”
“It’s not my fault that ‘hide and blast’ was her idea of fun!” he defended.
“Hide and blast?”
“One person hides, the other person searches. By… blasting fire everywhere.” Zuko shook his head. “I don’t know all kids around the Fire Nation were as crazy as us or if Azula invented it herself.”
“...Yeah,” Y/N said with a slight laugh. “We definitely didn’t play that in my village.”
“Of course you didn’t,” he said. “None of you were firebenders.”
“I was the only waterbender in the village though,” she said. “There were a couple other earthbender kids, but it made me feel so special. We would always play together and try to mix our bending together.” A small yet wistful smile tugged at her lips. “That feels like forever ago, though.”
“I know what you mean,” Zuko murmured. “I was banished three years ago, but a lifetime has changed since then.”
“For the better?” Y/N murmured.
She could feel Zuko nod. “Definitely.”
Their door was then pushed open more, and Suki poked her head in through the gap. A grin appeared on her face at their closeness.
“I see the lovebirds are making themselves at home,” she mused.
Y/N laughed as she sat up, pulling Zuko with her. She smiled at the sight of his flushed cheeks. “We’re trying.”
“We believe in knocking here in the Fire Nation,” Zuko grumbled.
“The door was open,” Suki said cheerfully. “And I’d like to steal your girl for an afternoon outing.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “What for?”
“Well, I’d like to explore the island some, and I figure we’re the lowest profile out of our whole group,” she said. “We’ve also missed out on some shopping while we were stuck in prison—we’ve gotta get our hands on some Fire Nation clothes.”
Y/N’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea! Leya’s dress is beautiful, but Earth Kingdom clothing sticks out a bit more than I want.”
“And I’m in literal prison clothes,” Suki said. “The sooner we’re in red, the better.”
“That’s… probably smart,” Zuko amended. “There’s some gold pieces in my bag. It should be more than enough for both of you.”
“Are you sure?” Y/N frowned. “You don’t have to—”
“You think I didn’t take a bunch of money from the palace before I left?” Zuko asked wryly. “Don’t worry about it.”
Suki’s smile grew. “Just call it reparations.”
Zuko huffed a laugh, but Y/N cut him off as she pulled him in for a kiss.
“You’ll be alright while we’re gone?”
“Of course,” he said. “This is my home, after all. If anything, I should be asking you that.”
“I’ve got the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors with me,” Y/N said. “If anyone decides to mess with us, it’s going to be their problem—not ours.”
Suki laughed and gestured with her head, and Y/N stood up and started walking backwards. “I’ll see you later—try to have some fun here.”
“I don’t have fun,” he called out as she was walking out, and she just shook her head with a smile.
“You’re really dating a ball of sunshine there, aren’t you?” Suki joked.
Y/N bit back her growing smile. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
-
The rest of the day went by in a breeze.
Y/N and Suki spent a few hours in town, chatting and shopping and even doing some reconnaissance at the end, just to make sure they were truly undercover at the vacation home. Doing rookie spy work with a Kyoshi Warrior was surprisingly just as fun as the shopping part—and after what she and Zuko did to free her village, it was surprisingly easy.
The sun was still high in the sky when they got back, dressed head to toe in Fire Nation finery. Zuko and Aang were in the midst of training when the two of them went around back to find their friends, and when he saw Y/N, his fire died out and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
(“Yeah,” Zuko had stammered when she asked his opinion, “You look really good.”
“Thanks,” she said, and she felt the heat rush to her cheeks. “I feel pretty good.”
“Fire Nation clothes suit you,” he said, and he pulled her into a kiss. “It’s about time you’ve gotten some.”
“Technically, I wore them for a few months,” she said wryly. “Prison clothes and all.”
Zuko scoffed. “That doesn’t count.”
“And I wore them for most of my childhood,” she mused. “Servant clothes and all.”
“That counts even less!” he insisted.
“But thank you,” Y/N finally said with a smile. “I was hoping you would like them.”
It was an effort to bite back her joy every time Zuko would sneak a look at her while they continued their training.)
The rest of the day was just mostly spent getting used to everything. The last time the vacation home had been occupied was when Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee visited, so a lot of adjustments needed to be made.
Katara insisted on washing all the sheets, and Y/N decided to join in because of her waterbending—Aang wanted to talk with Katara, Zuko wanted to be with Y/N, Toph wanted to ask him a bunch of questions about Ember Island, and Sokka didn’t want to be left out, so soon enough, the seven of them were all sitting on the steps of the house doing laundry and telling stories.
Soon enough, the sun had set and the house had been cleaned what felt like ten times over. Everyone had retired to their own devices except for Y/N and Zuko, who were walking along the shore arm in arm.
“I think I like beaches,” she mused. “The nearest ocean had no beach back home, and all we had in the North was ice. You Fire Nation folk are lucky.”
Zuko chuckled. “I don’t know if it’s luck. We’re just one big island with a lot of humidity.”
“Still,” she leaned her head on his shoulder, “it’s nice. We should visit here together once all this is over.”
“Of course,” he nodded. “I know I’m going to be the Fire Lord if all goes well, but there’s going to be a lot of diplomacy trips.” She felt his eyes on her. “You can join me on all of them.”
“Of course,” she repeated. “The Fire Lord’s Earth Kingdom-born, waterbending girlfriend will be so welcome.”
“If you’ve learned one thing through all of this, it should be that I don’t care what anyone thinks when it comes to you,” Zuko said. “I want you there with me. You want to be there with me. That’s reason enough.”
Y/N chuckled, and she ran her thumb over Zuko’s knuckles. His hands housed callouses, borne from hundreds of hours of explosive firebending and sword-fighting and years of life on the road. She always wondered how hands that treated her so softly, that revered her, were so capable of violence.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of expectations for us,” she said. “Especially once you take the throne. But I— I’d like to take things as slow as we can.”
“Of course.” Zuko squeezed her hand, his brows creasing. “I don’t care what anyone says or wants or expects. I love you, Y/N—we’ll go at our own pace.”
“It’s just because we’ve spent the past year trying to kill each other,” Y/N said with a nervous laugh. “If we could spend this next year being in love with each other, that would be really great.”
That actually got a laugh out of Zuko, and he gestured with his head towards the sand. When they sat down, he pulled her into his side. They fit perfectly together.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I think we’ve already gotten a headstart on that.”
“Good,” she said.
Y/N sighed as she moved closer into Zuko’s embrace, his warmth a shield from the cool night breeze. She’d always run cold, and having a personal hearth made things much easier.
“I wish we didn’t have to go through so much to end up with each other,” she murmured.
“Believe me,” Zuko sighed, “I know.”
“But my mother always told me that everything happens for a reason,” Y/N said. “And… I guess she’s right. Because I don’t think we would be here if all this hadn’t happened.” Something inside of her twisted, and though she tried to suppress it, the words came out before she could really think about it. “And sometimes I— I wonder why I’m still here.”
He frowned slightly, allowing a short glance down at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… you know what I’ve had to go through to get here. My village, the palace, the North, this journey with Aang, the capital prison, the Boiling Rock…” she shook her head. “Countless others have died or gotten hurt trying to protect me or save me. Our group— we were the first ones ever to escape from the Boiling Rock. So why do I get to be here? Why is my father gone, but I’m still here? I don’t deserve it more than he did. I certainly don’t deserve it more than Yue. So… I don’t know. Sometimes I just can’t understand why I’m the one that got to make it when so many others haven’t.”
“Don’t say that,” Zuko urged.
“It’s not the way you think,” Y/N said honestly. “It just feels like we’ve beaten every single odd.”
“Maybe we have,” he said, “but it’s certainly not out of luck, or chance.” Zuko took her hand and intertwined their fingers together, giving her hand a squeeze. “You fought every step of the way to get here—a lot of the time, you were fighting against me. You’ve earned every good thing you’ve gotten, Y/N, and I think I might spend the rest of my life trying to be someone worthy of you.”
“Zuko,” she lamented, “you already are.”
“It’s not the way you think,” he echoed wryly. “I’ve loved you since the beginning, and despite everything, you still love me too. You kept giving me chances because you believed in me for some stupid reason. I wouldn’t be where I am without that—without you. I want to be the best version of myself every day so you know you made the right choice.”
Y/N felt the heat rush to her cheeks as she smiled, squeezing his hand back. Nowadays, they were almost always touching in some way. Tonight reminded her why—she never felt more comforted, more at peace, then when she was with Zuko.
“You… kind of just hit my next point,” she said with a nervous chuckle, curling into his side further.
“Don’t tell me it’s more self-doubt,” Zuko said.
“I can’t help it!” she defended. “I— I just have to make sure.”
“Of what?”
“That…” Y/N paused, her mouth suddenly dry. “That I’m still the one you want. Even after all that’s happened. After all that’s going to happen.”
Zuko frowned, and he took her other hand, lacing their fingers together. “Of course. Y/N, it’s always been you. It’s been true forever, even if I haven’t always known it.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” she said softly. “I’m Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. Your people aren’t just going to accept that, especially with you as their leader.”
Zuko actually laughed at that, and he gave her a sideways smile. Months ago, staring into his hardened eyes used to bring her close to tears. Seeing him smile now, reassuring doubts that seemed so pointless in the face of his love—even after everything, Y/N considered herself the luckiest girl in the world.
“Y/N, we’ve gone across the whole world doing things no one ever has,” Zuko said. “The seven of us are going to end a war that’s been going on for a century. Aang is going to defeat my father, and he shouldn’t even be alive. We’ve beat every single odd against us. I think getting my people to like you will be the easiest thing we have to handle.”
“You think so?” she asked. The tension had dissolved some from her shoulders, her worries dissuading with each honeyed word.
“I know so,” Zuko assured. “I’m gonna have to change the Fire Nation from the ground up. There’s no one else I’d want by my side while I do it. My people will see you the way I do, and they’ll love you just as much.”
Y/N leaned closer and pressed a kiss to his lips. Sometimes she still couldn’t get over the fact that she could just… do that. Just kiss him, just smile with him, just be happy with him. Yue shone down on them as she pulled away, Zuko’s features glowing in the moonlight, and Y/N hoped her friend knew she was so much of the reason she’d gotten here.
Happiness seemed out of reach, out of her cards entirely, for such a long time, and when she had it, it always felt like such a precarious thing. Sometimes she still remembered those days in the tea shop, the night in the catacombs.
But with Zuko finally by her side, it was a tangible thing. Something she deserved. Something she already had.
“We’ll do it all together,” she murmured.
“Together,” Zuko agreed.
And she laid back down on the sand, bringing Zuko with her. He pulled her closer, tucked into his side as he wrapped his arm around her. They laid there in silence, Zuko’s warmth heating her from the inside out, staring up at the starry night sky and reveling in the feeling of just being with each other.
Together.
-
i'll tag ppl here because it's been uhhhhhh fucking YEAR and everyone's prob forgotten it exists and i also did tag lists while this was coming out but please do not ask to be added bc i dont do them anymore!!
everything happens for a reason part 20 - zuko x fem!reader
Guess it's true, I'm never getting over you
part 19 | masterlist | part 21
a/n: holy shit guys. we're finally here. the title chapter, the part that officially puts us over the 100k mark, the turning point, the end of the constant mf angst that i've put you all through. that's right. it's finally time for yn and zuko's life changing field trip. ive had this idea down for so long and i can't believe we're actually here lol. buckle up because she's a very long and very emotional one. i hope you enjoy.
wc: 14.3k I KNOW IM SORRY
warning(s): a lot of angst, fighting, violence (including minor character death), a whole lot of emotions, but the fluffy reconciliation you've all been waiting for<3
chapter title comes from everything happens for a reason (!!!!!!) by madison beer
Y/N felt betrayed.
It wasn’t a secret how she felt about Zuko. She avoided him at every possible moment, making herself scarce whenever he walked into a room or completely ignoring him in group conversation—it was the closest she could get to the civility required now that he was Aang’s firebending teacher, and even that was difficult.
Not because she didn’t want anything to do with Zuko—no, it was becoming the opposite, and it scared her more than anything.
She found herself thinking of him more often than not. And not of the North, or their meetings along their journey, not the catacombs—she found herself recalling the more pleasant memories.
The time they spent together whenever they could when she was still a servant and he was still a prince. The sunset they shared together the night before her life was turned upside down. Those afternoons when she would visit him in the tea shop, talking like they used to, smiling like they used to.
Remembering him for who he was rather than who he had become was dangerous. It was how she got her heart broken in the first place, how she went through some of the worst months of her life.
He couldn’t hurt her again if she didn’t give him the chance to. So she wouldn’t.
But it was getting harder and harder to avoid him, because one by one, her friends forgave him.
First, she’d heard, was Toph. She didn’t have any kind of grudge against him, and she was able to make up for him burning her feet tenfold now that he was part of the team.
Next was Aang. He was already far too forgiving, the amount of grace inside of him more than Y/N could even hope to muster. They proved themselves in front of the last dragons together, and apparently that was enough for Aang to trust him.
It took Sokka a bit longer, but after what they pulled off at the Boiling Rock together, he didn’t seem to have a hard time getting along with Zuko. The fact that he helped save Y/N and Suki probably didn’t hurt his chances either.
Zuko had burned down Suki’s village, but Y/N still remembered what she told him in the courtyard—”if you can get me out of here, you’re forgiven. Kyoshi’s fans, I’ll be your best friend.” They weren’t exactly that close, but they worked together, and that was enough.
Katara, it seemed, was the only one who still shared Y/N’s scorned feelings. They held onto each other like a lifeline, feeding off of the other in their hatred. It might not have been the healthiest option, but they refused to forgive Zuko. They stewed in their hurt, and it felt good. It felt good to have a target for their bitterness rather than the abstract ideal of betrayal, and Zuko worked just fine.
After they had fought against Azula, the night they settled on a random Fire Nation island, the two of them sat together on the outskirts of camp. They were meant to be keeping watch together, but instead they made quiet conversation.
“So,” Katara said, “today was… something.”
“That’s one way to say it,” Y/N said wryly. “Since joining you guys, I’ve had enough action for a lifetime. I can’t wait for all this to be over.”
Katara smiled, but it was wistful. “Neither can I. This has all gone on for so long—all I want is peace.”
A memory flashed through her mind—frantic screams, desperate pleading, flames devouring centuries of life—and Y/N swallowed thickly as she tried to push it away. The closer the day came, the more the memories would appear. It happened every year, but this time it was worse.
“Me too,” she murmured. “More than anything.”
Katara looked at her for a moment, her gaze softening before she finally spoke. “Are you okay? I… I know today wasn’t easy.”
Y/N managed a thin smile, but it wasn’t convincing. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Katara said dryly. “We look out for each other—we always have, even from the first day we met. But it’s like you’re trying to make it as hard as possible for me to care about you.”
“One of my many skills,” she said sarcastically, but Katara didn’t laugh. Y/N sighed in response, long and deep, and allowed her gaze to drift into the murky distance. At nighttime, the water and the sky became one. It was calming. “I just…” she shook her head, “I don’t know what to do.”
“With Zuko,” she guessed.
“With everything,” Y/N said, but then she sighed again. “...Zuko included.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” Katara said quietly. “Not after everything he’s put you through.”
“I keep telling myself that,” she murmured. “But there’s something inside of me that I can’t get rid of.” She looked at Katara, the beginnings of tears glimmering in her eyes. “There— there’s this hope that I can’t get rid of, that things could be the way they used to be again. And— and last time I felt that way was in Ba Sing Se, and I know where that got me, so—”
Katara stayed silent, only taking her hand to acknowledge her while allowing her to continue. It was a lifeline to her, one sorely needed, and she let out a shaky breath.
“So why do I still feel that way?” she asked, almost desperately. “How have they all forgiven him so easily? They know what he did— spirits, Aang died because of him— but they’re all able to sit around and joke with him like nothing happened.”
“They didn’t trust him the way we did,” Katara said with a quiet anger. “They didn’t trust him the way we did, so it didn’t hurt them the way it hurt us.”
“I don’t want to forgive him,” Y/N said weakly. “But the thought of losing him hurts so much. Why does it hurt so much?”
“I don’t know,” Katara murmured. “I… I don’t know.”
Y/N flinched as a tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground below, and she instinctively wiped it away. She couldn’t show weakness.
She grimaced at the thought. How long would that wretched place stay with her?
“I’ll give you some time.” Katara’s expression was pained as she squeezed her hand. She didn’t want to leave her alone, but Y/N was thankful for it. Right now she just needed to feel miserable by herself, without bringing Katara down with her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Katara nodded as she stood up. “You can sleep in my tent tonight. Or if you decide you want to talk, come bother me. I promise it’ll be okay.”
Y/N nodded, the action a bit numb, and she could feel Katara’s eyes on her as she lingered. But eventually she mustered the strength to leave, and Y/N was left with her thoughts.
She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat as she stared up at the sky. She tried to find the constellation her father taught her when she was a mere child—the tiger seal.
It was a jumble of stars that didn’t even remotely resemble the animal, but she remembered late nights spent stargazing on the ground outside their house, giggling endlessly as her father would point out various other constellations that he made up on his own. It would last until her mother would come out and tell them it was far past your bedtime, young lady, but she would never hide her smile as they ambled back inside.
The memory made a smile of her own emerge, but she soon realized she was fully in tears. They slid down her cheeks, falling onto the dirt and stones jutting out of the cliffside.
She couldn’t stop thinking of Zuko. She couldn’t stop thinking of her father. She felt so deeply broken in a way that she had no idea how to fix, in a way that was threatening to consume her.
She had her life back. Everything should have been back to normal.
But instead, she felt more lost than ever.
-
Y/N ended up taking Katara’s offer of sleeping in her tent, and she was glad she did. The familiarity of it all made her heart ache, but she was thankful for it. Thankful that she had friends like these who wouldn’t let her push them away, no matter how much her newly wired instincts told her it was the right thing to do.
She was visited by her childhood in her dreams yet again. She saw her father and her mother, walking hand in hand with smiles on their faces as they trailed behind a young Y/N skipping through the village paths.
She saw her child self running, screaming and laughing in equal parts as she was chased by the boy marked as the tagger, only to stagger backwards after running into one of the adults. But she was greeted by the smiling face of her father. The boy tapped her on the shoulder and ran off laughing, but her father knelt down to her level and looked at her completely seriously.
“I guess that means we’re the taggers now, huh?” And with that, the two of them ran around the village tagging everyone they could with the seriously unfair advantage.
She saw the moment after she’d learned how to waterbend, sprinting through the whole village to find her father, drag him to the lake, and show him her new skill. Gan held all the stars in his eyes as he watched her bend, and even though it was the simplest thing she could’ve done he praised her to no end.
The absence of scars, the smoothness of her skin, a bright smile that shone through her—she was unmarked by the world then. Hopeful, content, naive.
When she woke up with still-wet tear tracks on her cheeks, it wasn't a surprise. She woke up like this more often than not.
One week. Seven days. And then she would go to face something she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
But for now, there was something else to focus on. She could hear loud voices outside of the tent—all familiar, thankfully—but she knew that meant she had overslept.
Y/N fixed her hair and her clothes, rubbing furiously at her face to get rid of any signs of her previous emotions, and emerged from the tent to see her friends all standing around Appa.
“—about getting closure and justice,” she heard Zuko say, and her brows instinctively creased.
“What’s going on?” Y/N asked, crossing her arms as she stopped between Sokka and Zuko. “What are you all talking about?”
Zuko’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at her. “Uh— good morning.”
“Good morning,” she said stiffly before repeating herself. “What’s going on?”
“Zuko knows where to find the man who killed our mother,” Sokka said. He was oddly quiet.
“And Katara wants to find him,” Aang said, his expression uneasy.
“Is there a problem with that?” Katara asked defensively.
“Not if Zuko’s right and you just want closure,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s what this is about. I think it’s about getting revenge.”
“Maybe it is!” Katara exclaimed, gesturing with one hand. “Maybe it is about revenge, Aang. But don’t you think I deserve it?”
“You don’t know what it will do to you,” Aang said. “I know how you feel right now, trust me—like violence is the only way to solve your problem. I felt that way after I discovered what happened to my people. But it’s not the only way.”
“I can’t let him go now that I know I can get to him!” she yelled, her voice rising with her anger. “Maybe it’s what I need—maybe it’s what he deserves.”
Aang’s eyes widened slightly. “Katara, you sound like Jet.”
“That’s not the same,” she snapped. “Jet hurt the innocent. This man— he’s not innocent. He’s a monster.”
“Katara, she was my mother too, but I think Aang might be right,” Sokka said.
She set her jaw. “Then you didn’t love her the way I did.”
Sokka took a step back as his eyes widened. “Katara…”
“The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper.” Aang spoke up quickly, trying to fill the air after what she’d said. “While you watch your enemy go down, you’re being poisoned yourself.”
“That’s cute, but this isn’t Air Temple preschool,” Zuko said. “It’s the real world.”
“And you think he hasn’t experienced the real world?” Y/N snapped. “I think he knows a little bit about grief after what’s happened to him.”
Zuko looked at her with a surprisingly level expression, contrasting her narrowed eyes and upturned lip. “Monk pacifism isn’t going to help here.”
Y/N opened her mouth to retort back but Aang stopped her. “It’s okay. I forgive you, Zuko.” He looked at Katara. “That’s what you need to do. Forgiveness.”
Katara laughed in disbelief. “You want me to forgive the man who murdered my mother?”
“Of course not!” Aang said. “You need to face him—I understand that. But when you face him, you can’t kill him. You have to let the anger flow through you, and then out of you. Accept your emotions, then let them go.”
“Why should he get to live when our mother is gone?” Katara shouted. “I don’t want to forgive him, I want revenge!”
“Killing him won’t bring our mother back,” Sokka murmured. “You’ll just have someone else’s blood on your hands.”
“Good,” she said coldly. “An eye for an eye.”
“Makes the whole world go blind,” Aang finished. “One of the monks said that back in the temple—violence might feel right, but it just hurts everyone more. Forgiveness is the right choice.”
“Forgiveness is the same as doing nothing,” Zuko said.
“No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s easy to do nothing—forgiveness is hard.”
“It’s not just hard,” Katara snarled, “it’s impossible.”
Aang looked over at Y/N, who had been silent since her outburst at Zuko. “Y/N, please. You know revenge won’t help her.”
Y/N looked between the two of them, the steely determination brewing in Katara’s eyes at odds with a desperate softness in Aang’s. Something twisted in her chest, and she had to force herself to look away as she spoke.
“...Do what you have to,” she said quietly. “Whatever that ends up being.”
Hurt flickered across Aang’s expression before he looked away, and Katara nodded thankfully at her before she started walking away. Zuko cast a long look at Y/N before he followed her.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Y/N muttered as she hurried off in the opposite direction, swallowing her doubts as her hands bunched into fists and loosened over and over, desperately needing something to do with them.
Katara was going after her mother’s killer, and Zuko was helping her with it. Katara, her last line of defense in her feelings against him, was going on her own trip with him. Y/N knew it was for the best—it was something she needed to do and Zuko had the Fire Nation knowledge that no one else in their group possessed, so he was the obvious choice—but a small part of her still couldn’t help but despise it.
He was getting too close, far too close, and she wasn’t going to let that affect her.
No matter what.
-
Y/N had found a small solace by the cliffside, sitting on the edge as her legs hung off. She could fall just as easily as anything, but maybe it was the danger that calmed her, the fact that she was in control of what would happen. She heard the footsteps before anything though, and her body tensed up instinctively as she whirled around.
“It’s just me,” Toph said, her blank gaze aimed at the ground. “You’re jumpier than usual.”
“How can you tell?”
“I can hear every ant on this cliffside through their movements,” she said. “Your heart rate spiked so much that even a baby could tell you’re off. You’ve been off, ever since you came back.”
She smiled wryly. “I’m still getting used to everything again. It’s not an easy transition.”
“But you’re here,” Toph said, and she sat down next to her. “You’ve been through everything, and you’re still here. That means you’re tougher than everything the Fire Nation has tried to throw at you.”
“How can you say that so easily?” Y/N asked. “I’ve flipped out on everyone at least twice for no reason. I constantly have nightmares about what’s happened. I— I can’t even bend because Zuko still has this stupid hold on me. I don’t feel tough. I feel weaker than ever.”
“You’re still here,” Toph repeated, emphasizing each word. “So many other people would have given up by now if they were in your position. But you didn’t—you fought, and you continued to fight until you won, no matter how long it took you. That’s what makes you tough—not all the stuff you’ve been through, but the fact that you’re still standing at the end of it.”
“When did you become so wise?” she joked weakly, her gaze trailing off into the horizon. The sun was beginning to set, beautiful reds and oranges blending with deep purple. It reminded her of the night everything changed.
“Someone had to keep these dunderheads together while you were busy in prison.” Y/N chuckled a bit, but she could see Toph’s expression sober in her peripherals. “...I’ve just been worried about you.”
“Really?”
Toph punched her on the arm without looking. “Does that make you believe me?”
Y/N managed a small smile as she rubbed the spot. “Yeah.”
“Good. Because I don’t know how much sappy stuff I can take.”
Her smile widened as she wrapped an arm around Toph and pulled her closer. “So you do love me.”
“Let go of me!” she protested. “This is the worst kind of sappy stuff!”
But Toph made no move to get away from her, and Y/N laughed. “Just admit it. You missed me.”
“Of course I missed you,” she huffed. “Without you, I actually had to do all the work with Katara instead of knocking Twinkle Toes around with earthbending or practicing on my own. It was horrible.”
“I missed you too, Toph,” Y/N said with a smile. “I didn’t realize how much I appreciated your tough love until I didn’t have it.”
“I have plenty saved up for you, Snowflake,” Toph grinned, “so don’t worry.” But her expression sobered, and she paused.
“...I’m here for you,” she said after a moment. “If you need anything, or just someone to listen to. I’m good at listening to people complain.”
“Thank you,” she said, her smile softening. “That means more than you know.”
And as the two of them sat there in silence, nothing being said verbally but more in the air between them than ever, she felt content once again. She didn’t realize how much she just needed to talk to somebody. First her conversation with Katara and now with Toph—her friends really were the secret to making her feel better.
…Things would be okay again, Y/N thought to herself. No matter how long it took, her friends would be there for her.
Things would be okay again.
She would be okay again.
-
“They’ve been gone for too long,” Sokka grumbled.
“It’s been two days,” Aang said. “Zuko said the man they were after was retired—it can’t be easy to find a retired Fire Nation soldier, no matter how knowledgeable you are about the navy.”
“That’s too long,” Sokka insisted as he crossed his arms. While Y/N, Aang, Suki, Toph sat together in a loose arc, Sokka was up and pacing. He had been for the past twenty minutes.
“Can you sit down, Sokka?” Y/N asked. “You’re stressing me out.”
“You should be stressed out!” he exclaimed, flinging his arms up. “The boy prince of betrayal went off with my impressionable sister on a murder field trip. There is no reason to not be stressed out!”
“You need to give Sugar Queen more credit,” Toph said. “If Zuko tries anything, he’s the one that should be worried. Not the other way around.”
“Toph’s right,” Aang said, but then he frowned. “And I thought you trusted Zuko.”
“Not when he’s alone with my sister on a murder field trip!” Sokka heaved a long sigh as he stopped, staring out into the distance. Even though their island was one of a big scattered chain, they were still extremely isolated. It was unnerving sometimes, especially at night. “She feels everything so strongly, and… and she’s always felt guilty about what happened to Mom. I know she thinks this is her chance to make it up to her, to do what she wished she could have done on that day. But I also know that if she goes through with it, she’ll regret it for the rest of her life.”
“She’ll make the right choice,” Y/N murmured. “I know she will.”
Aang suddenly perked up, and he turned around. When he did, his eyes widened. “They’re back.”
They all turned around to see Appa touching down at camp, but only one person dismounted.
“Where’s Katara?” Y/N instantly asked, her eyes narrowing as she darted up.
“She’s fine,” Zuko said, but when he glanced at Aang she could see his nerves. “She… she’s back at the dock. At the soldier’s village.”
“Did she…?” Aang didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t have to.
“No. He’s terrified out of his mind, but he’s alive.” A weight was visibly lifted off of Sokka’s shoulders with the single word, and Aang nodded.
“That’s… that’s good.”
“She said she needed some time to herself,” Zuko murmured. “I figured it was only right to bring you back with me.”
“I’m coming too,” Sokka said.
“Me too,” Y/N spoke up. She could feel Zuko’s gaze on her, but she didn’t meet it.
“I’ll stay back,” Toph said. “Someone has to hold this place down.”
“I will too,” Suki said, and she gave Sokka a light kiss on the cheek. “I hope she’s okay.”
“She will be,” Sokka said softly. “Eventually.”
Zuko nodded and started walking back towards Appa. “Let’s get back, then. It’s a bit of a ride.”
-
Soon enough, they were all in the village, and Aang jumped off Appa as soon as he’d guided him close enough.
“Katara!” he exclaimed as he ran towards her, sitting on the edge of the dock. “Are you okay?”
“I’m doing fine,” she murmured. Her voice was placid as the water she sat above, but it was strained.
“Zuko told me what you did,” Aang said softly. “Or… what you didn’t do, I guess. I’m proud of you.”
“I wanted to do it,” she said stiffly. “I wanted to take out all my anger on him, and I almost did. But… but I just couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to do it or strong enough not to.”
“You did the right thing,” Y/N said. “Facing that man makes you stronger than he could ever hope to be.”
“Forgiveness is the first step you have to take towards healing,” Aang said.
Katara stood up, and her gaze was a mixture of sadness and acceptance. But it was obvious the ordeal was still weighing on her. “I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him. But…” she looked past them and over at Zuko, the smallest of smiles pulling at her lips. “...I am ready to forgive you.”
She walked up to Zuko and hugged him, and after a moment of hesitation Zuko smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Y/N clenched her jaw and started walking back over to Appa.
She was happy Katara got closure, of course she was. But in the process, she had forgiven Zuko. She was her confidante, the one person who understood how deep her anger towards him went. She had been by Y/N’s side throughout their whole journey, at each and every road block, she was there for Ba Sing Se—for all of Ba Sing Se.
And somehow, Zuko had gotten her to forgive him too.
It was selfish, unbelievably so, for it to hurt her so much when Katara had just faced something impossible. But she couldn’t help the way that her chest twisted, how her heart ached, how her nails dug so deep into her palms they left indentations.
When the rest of them got back onto Appa, Katara sat down next to her. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” She didn’t make eye contact, her gaze focused into the distance as Aang set off for camp. “I’m glad you got to face him. That you made the right decision for you.”
“Y/N,” she murmured, “I know what this is about.”
“It’s not about anything except you,” she evaded. “This was a journey you had to take—we’re all behind you.”
“And you have all my thanks for that,” Katara said. She glanced at Zuko on the other side of the saddle, very obviously trying to pretend like he wasn’t listening in on their conversation. He wasn’t very good at it. “But I know you’re upset about… that.”
“We don’t need to talk about this right now,” she said.
“Y/N…”
She didn’t say anything. Katara sighed and settled back down on the saddle.
“Okay,” she nodded. “When you’re ready.”
Quiet conversation was made on the other side of the saddle between the three boys, but there was nothing between Katara and Y/N.
Nothing except a newly found weight on both their shoulders.
-
The sizzling fuse exploded when they got back to camp, though. A ride spent staring at the sky didn’t do much for her. Y/N got down from Appa the moment Aang guided him to the ground, and Katara let out a hefty sigh as she followed after her. She started to say her name, but she didn’t get far.
“Even you forgave him.” Her words were cold, icy rather than hot anger. “Even you! After everything we’ve talked about— everything you know!”
“I— I know,” Katara said, and she let out a deep sigh as she ran a hand through her loose hair. “But… but he helped me in a way that no one ever had. I found my mother’s killer. I got closure.”
“Well, maybe I should get him to help me find the guard who killed my father,” Y/N said sarcastically. “Maybe that’ll get me my bending back.”
“It could,” Katara said, and she was actually genuine. “It could work. And Zuko would help you.”
She huffed a mirthless laugh and shook her head, biting the inside of her lip to prevent the tears she knew would start welling up. “I’m not letting him back in. Even you said I shouldn’t.”
“I can’t say I know how much you’re hurting,” Katara said, “but… but Zuko is hurting just as much as you. There’s no excuse for what he did, I’m not saying that. But he wants your forgiveness more than anything in the world.”
“Did he tell you to say this during your trip?” she asked stiffly. “I mean, now that he’s turned you over to his side and everything.”
“I’m saying this because I care about you,” Katara said softly. “Y/N, I have seen you hurting for months now, all because of Zuko. Even from the first moment we met in the North, I knew there was something inside of you, and it’s still there. And if you don’t take care of it, it’s going to consume you.”
“I can’t forgive him.” Her voice was barely a whisper, a cracked, haunted resolve behind it. “I won’t let myself get hurt again.”
“And I can’t promise that he won’t hurt you again,” Katara murmured. “But I do know if you decide to let him back in, he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to you.”
Y/N wasn’t able to muster any words. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and turned away, blinking back tears.
“He talked about you,” she continued. “When he wasn’t talking about the Fire Nation and where we were going, he was talking about you. He loved you back then, and he still loves you now. Even if it took him way too long to realize it.” Katara’s expression softened as well as her voice and she took a step closer. “All he wants is to help you however he can.”
“If he loved me then and he still betrayed me,” she whispered, “then how can I ever trust him again?”
“...You just have to,” Katara said quietly. “Trust in the Zuko you knew before you were forced to be on opposite sides. When the two of you were the missing half of each other’s souls.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, still unable to look back at Katara. “I can’t.”
“Then at least don’t push us away,” Katara urged. “You’ve been off. I don’t know what it’s about, but you can tell me as little or as much as you want, whenever you’re ready. I’m here for you—we’re all here for you, Y/N. We love you so much. Let us help you.”
She bit down on her lip hard to prevent the tears from welling up, and she was only able to muster a nod. “I will. Soon.”
“...Okay.”
Y/N walked off, and she could feel Katara’s worried gaze on her. It took all her strength not to look back.
-
Three days.
It all went on as usual. Suki asked if she was okay, but she didn’t push.
Sokka wouldn’t stop looking at her strangely. He must have heard her leaving her tent in the middle of the night.
-
Two days.
The nightmares were worse. She nearly woke up screaming. Thankfully, she didn’t wake Katara.
Aang sat with her during breakfast, telling ancient airbender stories. He didn’t ask anything when he had to repeat himself because of her blank stare at the ground.
She spent most of the day sitting by the water.
Maybe it would come back after this.
-
One day.
Everyone knew something was wrong, but she didn’t give any of them the chance to ask.
Especially Zuko. He wouldn’t stop looking at her, wouldn’t stop trying to talk to her. She brushed him off every time.
She packed her bag that night.
She barely slept a wink.
-
“What are you doing?”
Her plan was to leave at the crack of dawn, before her friends could ask any questions or try to go with her. She would be back by nightfall, and she would have closure. The nightmares would stop. The guilt would go away. She would be okay again.
But of course, he had to ruin everything.
She didn’t look over at the sound of Zuko’s voice as she rifled through her bag, making sure she had everything she needed. “Nothing.”
“That doesn’t look like nothing.”
“Very perceptive, aren’t you?” she said dryly. Y/N tied her bag shut and stood up, then climbed onto Appa’s back. “I’m leaving.”
His eyes widened. “You’re leaving? Does everyone else know about this?”
“Not leaving for good,” she scoffed. “I just have something I need to do.”
“And that is?”
Y/N glared fully at Zuko. “None of your business.”
“You’re taking Appa in the middle of the night to go somewhere,” he said, crossing his arms. “Every time someone’s tried to do that, it’s been for something important. Sokka was going to the Boiling Rock, and Katara wanted to find her mother’s killer. I’m guessing whatever you’re going to do is equally important, which means you’re gonna need backup.”
“I said it was none of your business,” she repeated. “I can handle myself just fine without you.”
“Well,” Zuko crossed his arms, “I’m not leaving until you tell me what you’re doing.”
“You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met,” she jabbed.
“You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met,” he responded with a shrug.
She went silent for a moment as her gaze traveled away, staring instead at the dark night sky. Today had been the hardest day yet, even looking back on her months in captivity. It was the day everything changed. She didn’t exactly know what possessed her to tell Zuko the reason, but after a moment, she did.
“Seven years ago today, my village was invaded,” she said quietly. “It’s the day my mother and I were captured, and… and the day my father was killed.”
Zuko’s eyes widened, and his voice was the same as hers when he finally mustered something. “I… I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I,” she said, “but apologies haven’t helped me with anything. I’m going back. I’m visiting my village for the first time since my mother and I were taken. Now that I have the means to travel there, it’s something I need to do.”
“I understand,” Zuko said, “completely. I’ll come with you.”
Her response was instantaneous. “No.”
“You can’t travel that far alone,” he insisted. “I have no doubt that you can handle yourself, but you’ve trained to fight with your bending, and right now you don’t have it. If you run into any kind of trouble, you’re… well, you’re gonna be in trouble.”
“I can fight,” she said. “I’m good with my fists. I held my own against Azula.”
“You did,” he admitted, “but her skill also isn’t in her hand to hand. And if you’re up against multiple people—say, Fire Nation guards—you’re gonna go down quick.”
“You have just as much faith in me as ever,” she remarked sourly.
“It’s not that I don’t have faith in you!” Zuko defended. “I just don’t want you to die because you have too much pride to accept any kind of help.”
“It’s not that I don’t want any help,” she stated. “I just don’t want your help.”
Zuko let out a long-lasting sigh, shaking his head before he finally met her eyes again. “Look. I know you don’t like me, and you don’t have to. Not after… not after what I did. But whatever’s between us can’t affect our mission, because ultimately we’re all here to defeat my father. That has to happen no matter what, so like it or not, we’re probably gonna have to work together at least once to make that happen.”
“I don’t have to work with you if I don’t want to,” she said.
“Really? So if we’re in the middle of a fight and your choice is to either work with me or die, what would you do?”
“I’m not that stupid,” she snapped.
Annoyingly, though… he had a point. They couldn’t afford any distractions, not so close to the end. And Y/N wouldn’t be the reason for their failure because of Zuko.
“...Fine,” she relented, but the glare she pinned him with was still withering. “But you do whatever I tell you to do, and you don’t come with me when we get to my village. This is private.”
Zuko immediately broke out into a grin and he nodded. “Of course. I’m here for you.”
She averted her gaze as she took her seat on Appa’s head. “Get your things before I leave you here.”
He nodded again and he started off towards his tent. Y/N let out a loose sigh as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, the early morning chill beginning to get to her.
A trip with Zuko to her childhood village on the anniversary of the worst day of her life.
This couldn’t go terribly at all, she thought wryly.
-
“...So,” Zuko said, “do you know where we’re going?”
“No,” she said, “I just thought I would lead Appa around blindly and hope that we somehow end up in the right place.”
“So you do know—”
“Of course I know where we’re going,” Y/N snapped. Maybe it was unfair of her, but she didn’t exactly care. “Sokka took a map from Wan Shi Tong’s library before it collapsed, and he let me borrow it. It’ll take us a couple of hours, but we should make it before noon.”
Zuko nodded. “Where is your village? You never told me much about it when you talked about your past.”
“Why do you care?”
He huffed a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
She said nothing, and Zuko sighed. “I care about you, Y/N, more than anything. I’m here because I want to help you. Of course I care about where you’re from.”
“That doesn’t mean we need all the small talk,” she said.
“It’s not small talk, it’s a conversation,” Zuko said dryly. “I’m more than happy to sit here in silence with you for another six hours, but I think that’s pretty boring.”
“...It’s by the southern coast, near the Zeizhou provinces,” she relented after a moment. “It’s so small that you can’t find it on a map unless you know what you’re looking for. We didn’t even have an official name—if we had to, we called it South Zeizhou because that was the only notable thing near us.”
“What was it like?” he asked. “Growing up in a place like that.”
“It was nice,” she said. “We were almost completely isolated from other villages, so we were tightly knit. Everyone knew each other—I’m sure I knew each person by name by the time I was five—and everyone helped each other. We didn’t have much, but everyone was well taken care of. Our community was everything.”
“That sounds beautiful,” Zuko murmured.
“It was,” she agreed. “Until your people invaded it and destroyed it.”
Zuko went silent at that, but instead of the sick sort of satisfaction she normally experienced, she felt… guilty.
It wasn’t his fault. Zuko was only a year older than her—when her village was invaded, he was probably in school lessons or learning how to be a prince. And now he was here, going against everything he knew, everything he’d ever had, to try and make things right.
He was a child just like her. And with a father like Fire Lord Ozai…
“...I’m sorry,” she said, and his eyes darted up, a bit of shock visible in them. “I know it wasn’t your fault. I just…” she sighed. “I’ve never forgiven the Fire Nation for what was done to my people. And I guess you’re just the easiest target.”
“I understand,” he murmured. “And for whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry too.”
“This doesn’t mean anything.” The words were quick to leave her mouth, and she didn’t look at him. “Just because I feel bad doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.” Nevertheless, she could still hear the smile in his voice.
“I know.”
More silence.
“What was your father like?” Zuko asked as he broke it. “You speak of him so fondly.”
She bit her lip at the question as the memories flooded back, and Zuko was stumbling over his words almost immediately.
“You— you don’t have to answer,” he said, “obviously, if it’s too much, but I—”
“He was the nicest man you’d ever meet,” she said softly. “He was always willing to help anyone who needed it, always willing to do far more than he had to if he thought it would make someone happy. And he did—he made my mother the happiest woman alive. He was beloved by everyone in the village.” Y/N swallowed hard. “He died to protect it. To protect me.”
“You’ve made him proud,” Zuko said. “I know you have.”
“I hope so,” she murmured. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
She meant to leave it at that, but for some reason, the words continued to flow. “But I… I’m worried about what will happen when I get there.” that they won’t recognize me when I come back.”
Zuko frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s been years since I was there.” Y/N let go of the reins and wrung her hands together. She glanced down at the bandages, the rough fabric almost a comfort after her time without them. “I haven’t been back since I was captured. What if they resent me for not being there?”
“No one could possibly resent you for that,” he scoffed. “You were taken, Y/N, by soldiers. You were a child—what could you have done?”
“Anything,” she muttered. “If I had done anything, maybe things would have been different.”
“You can’t do that to yourself,” Zuko insisted. “You’ll drive yourself insane going down that path.”
She shrugged. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“Look at me.”
Y/N frowned. “What?”
“Turn around and look at me,” he said again. “And don’t do your stubborn I hate Zuko thing. Just humor me for once.”
She scoffed and crossed her arms as she turned around, looking him in the eye. “What?”
“Do you think it’s Katara’s fault that her mother is dead?”
The jump to the topic made her blink, recoiling the slightest bit. “What? No— spirits, of course not.”
“But she died to save her,” Zuko said. “The raiders were there looking for the last waterbender, and that was Katara. Her mother gave herself up in place of her.”
“That’s not her fault,” she said. “Her mother ch—”
It hit her then, and her eyes narrowed. “You’re not clever.”
The slightest smile tugged at Zuko’s lips and he shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“You’re not clever,” she simply repeated, and she turned back around and grabbed the reins. She couldn’t see Zuko’s pleased expression as he adjusted his position in the saddle.
“Just trying to help,” he said, and his voice softened. “You’ve made your father proud, even if you don’t think so. You’ve made both your parents proud.”
She didn’t respond. She feared that if she tried to, the tears would spring. And she wasn’t going to cry.
But she appreciated his words more than he knew. Maybe even more than she knew.
But she couldn’t say that. And so they rode in silence.
-
“We’re almost here,” she announced, and she lightly tugged at Appa’s reins to get him to slow down. It had been a few hours of silent flying and navigating, but they’d made good time. By the spot of the sun in the sky, she could tell it was just before noon.
“Good,” he said.
They had been in the air for hours, starting even before the sun had risen, so it was no surprise when she glanced behind her and saw Zuko fighting off grogginess in the form of a barely stifled yawn.
“You didn’t have to come, you know,” she said, maybe a little too snippy.
“I wasn’t going to let you go alone,” Zuko said. “And even though you might not think so, I like being around you. I…” he sighed and shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“What?”
“I just want things to be the way they used to be,” he murmured. “But I know that can’t happen. And I know you’re tired of hearing it.”
“...I want that too,” she said quietly after a moment of hesitation.
She heard the rustling of leather and a sharp intake of breath, and it wasn’t hard to tell he was shocked by her words. And maybe she was shocked too, because she knew she meant them completely.
“Y/N,” Zuko started, “you—”
But then he was interrupted by her gasp.
“What?” he asked, only a moment of hesitation before he switched veins. He moved up beside her, and his eyes widened. “Flames of Agni…”
In the distance, she could see where the forest abruptly stopped. It went on for kilometers, the ashy remnants of fauna and chopped stumps. So much of the forest was just— was just gone. And in the center of it all…
Her village was unrecognizable. Houses made of wood and stone had been torn down and replaced with metal buildings, and the few original buildings that still were in disrepair, riddled with scorch marks and on the verge of falling apart. She could see armed Fire Nation soldiers manning certain spots around the village, as well as marching through the streets. They numbered far more than anyone in simple Earth Kingdom garb.
Flags and banners with Fire Nation insignias hung everywhere, but the worst part was the factory. It was as big as ten of their old homes, black, polished metal only good for serving as an eyesore. It pumped out acrid black smoke, and even from so far away it made her eyes sting. Her hands clenched into fists around the reins, and anger swelled up inside of her.
Everything that was held sacred in her village was gone, ruined by the Fire Nation for their own gain. Just like everything else in the world.
And she hadn’t even known about it.
“The Fire Nation is still here,” she said shakily. “I… I don’t know what I expected. I thought they would move on after the raid, but…” She barely managed to choke back a sob by clenching her jaw tightly. “They destroyed it all.”
“I’m so sorry.” There was horror in Zuko’s voice, and like her, he was unable to look away from the devastation. “I… If I had known…”
“Sorry isn’t going to fix anything,” she said bitterly, but it was more pained than anything.
“Then we will fix it,” he countered. Her eyes flicked up to him, the smallest bit of surprise visible. “We’ll take your village back and get the Fire Nation out, once and for all.”
Y/N’s grip tightened even further on the reins, her nails digging deep into her palms as she nodded. Her eyes hardened as they moved back to her village, and she nodded resolutely.
“You’re damn right we will.”
-
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m not okay,” she said. She wanted to snap at him, but she didn’t have the energy. Not after what she’d seen.
She and Zuko had set up camp a while away from her village, deep in what remained of the forest to give Appa enough cover. Though she wanted to light a fire, she knew it was too risky. And so they sat together on the ashy, barren ground, the air between them heavier than ever.
They were going to take back her village, that much was a given. The only question was how.
“You’re right,” he murmured. “It was a stupid question.”
“I just don’t understand,” she said weakly as she sat back on the ground. “Why would they stay in our village? We’re so far off the map that it’s probably costing them more to be here than not.”
“That’s what the Fire Nation does,” Zuko said. “They destroy everything they get their hands on.”
When Y/N looked up at him, he was staring at the ground, his jaw clenched.
“It’s about breaking their spirit,” he continued. “If they just left, your people could fight back. Get revenge for the invasion. But if they take over completely—”
“They crush an uprising before it has the chance to grow,” she murmured, “and they gain a workforce and all the natural resources they could want.”
“Yeah.”
Zuko’s voice was oddly quiet, stilted in a way she couldn’t place. She couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“What happened when you went back to the Fire Nation?”
Zuko glanced at her, swallowing hard before he looked away. “I’m not sure you want to know.”
“I do,” she said. “And I think I have the right to know.”
“Mai and I got together.” He sounded almost embarrassed, and she hated the twist of jealousy in her chest. “We talked during the entire boat ride home, and it went from there.”
“Oh,” she said stiffly. “So while I was sentenced to rot in prison for the rest of my life, you were getting busy with the girl who’s loved you her whole life.”
His cheeks flushed bright red in spite of the obvious anger. “That’s not what it was!”
“Really? Because that’s exactly what it sounds like.”
“We were both struggling,” he insisted. “I… I wasn’t handling Ba Sing Se well, and Mai was having doubts about everything. We gravitated towards each other in our misery, and— and it just happened.”
“You can’t honestly believe that’s true,” she snapped.
“You don’t know anything about Mai if you think it isn’t!” he exclaimed. “Neither of us were—”
“What?” she asked, brazen in his silence as he suddenly cut off. “You weren’t what?”
“…We realized that we didn’t like each other in that way,” he finished in a mumble. “Expectations pushed us together. Our own feelings pulled us apart.” Zuko looked back at her this time. “We couldn’t ignore our… our true feelings.”
“And what are those true feelings?” she asked. She couldn’t help the mocking tone in her voice, but the anger was beginning to come back. Mai had never been mean to her back in the palace, but it was hard to forget Omashu and Ba Sing Se. And it wasn’t exactly nice to hear that she and Zuko got together right after she was sentenced to a life in prison.
“I love you,” he said, “and you know that. But Mai, she—” Zuko shook his head and glanced away.
“What?” she repeated.
“...Do you remember Ty Lee?”
She frowned. “Yeah. She’s tried to kill me a couple times.”
“That’s who,” he said, and her eyes widened slightly. “They’ve always been close, but… I don’t know. Maybe the pressure of working under my sister brought them together. Maybe me being as horrible as I was pushed her away. But all I know is that Mai has feelings for her, and none for me. And I’m okay with that.”
“...Ty Lee,” Y/N said, and she managed a chuckle. “I think that’s the last pair I expected.”
Zuko cracked a smile. “It works, though. I hope they can figure something out.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “Me too.”
But then Zuko’s expression sobered again as he looked at her, his gaze as piercing as ever. “You know I don’t like her. You know there’s nothing between us. A—and you said you wanted things to be the way they used to be.” His voice was low, but there was no mistaking the edge of desperation in it. “So why can’t they be?”
“Why does it always come back to us?” she asked bitterly.
“Because I want there to be an us again so badly,” he said. Zuko’s voice was so genuine it pained her, and she hated how easily he was cracking her resolve.
The walls used to be easy to keep up, used to be gratifying. But now all it did was hurt. The night was cold, and she longed for his embrace.
But Zuko was fire. Beautiful, inviting, full of warmth, but able to hurt her just as easily.
And spirits, that was all she could think about as the scar on her arm stung. The burns on her hands had faded, and Ba Sing Se’s mark was nearly gone as well, but she couldn’t forget.
“Maybe there can’t be an us again,” she mumbled as she stood up. “And maybe we just both have to accept that.”
The look in Zuko’s eyes hurt, his downcast expression combined with the same longing she felt. So she walked away towards the forest, or rather what remained of it.
“I’m going to scout out our surroundings,” she said, though it was half-hearted. “I’ll be back when the sun starts setting. We’ll figure out a plan at nightfall.”
She’d disappeared into the woods soon enough. If Zuko said something, she didn’t hear it.
-
She held true to her word, and she was back by nightfall. Zuko had drawn a map of her village in the dirt with a stick, and though it was crude it was accurate. It turned out he had a better memory than she thought, and it also seemed that when they were working towards something like this, it was easier to work through the tension.
It took the better part of an hour for them to come up with something and actually agree on it, and it was still shakier than he liked—a lot of it relied on her people remembering Y/N the way that she remembered them. But it was a plan, and it could work, so it was good enough.
Soon enough, they were back on Appa, riding through the inky sky towards her village. Dressed in black from spares Zuko had in his bag—the same outfit he lended Katara during her mission, she was sure—they blended in perfectly.
“We’re here,” she whispered, and Zuko nodded as he sheathed his sword and moved up next to her on Appa’s head. “Do you remember the plan?”
“Of course I do,” he said. “Are you dropping down here?”
“Yeah. I’ll signal when I’m ready for you.”
He nodded again. “Good luck, Y/N.”
“...Thanks.”
She guided Appa closer to the ground, handing the reins off to Zuko when she thought she was close enough. She slid off as quietly as she could, her moccasins doing little to help with the shock of landing but good enough at muffling her movements. There were fewer guards than before, but it still made her nervous.
Y/N didn’t even dare to breathe as she moved through her village, ducking behind cover when she needed to as she made her way towards one of the only remaining houses. Despite the Fire Nation banner hanging across the front, it still felt like it was her village rather than another forced colony.
That was something, she supposed.
She pushed the door open quietly and pulled the fabric down from her face, checking once more to make sure there were no guards before she closed it. And when she turned around, she was met by a wide-eyed woman and a stark-faced man darting up from his spot on the floor.
It probably wasn’t the best look, showing up dressed in all black in the middle of the night while the village is occupied by soldiers. She could only hope they would recognize her.
“What are you doing in our home?” he demanded, but his wife shook her head.
“I must be dreaming,” she whispered, and she stood up as well. “Y/N? Is… is that you?”
“Leya,” Y/N said, and she felt the pinpricks of tears behind her eyes, “you remember.”
Leya laughed and clasped her hands together as she moved closer and pulled her into an embrace. “Of course I remember you, darling! How could I forget the little waterbender who always managed to soak my laundry just as it had finished drying?”
“Gan’s girl,” the man—Lao—marveled, and he laughed as well. “What in Kyoshi’s name are you doing here?”
“It’s hard to explain,” she said, slightly sheepish as she pulled out of Leya’s hug. “But basically… I’m here to save the village.”
Lao shook his head with a smile—that same smile she remembered from her youth, a mix of approval and surprise. “You haven’t been here since the invasion and now you’re here to save our village. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“What can I say?” she said with a slight laugh. “I’ve been busy with the Avatar.”
“The Avatar?” Leya asked, and Y/N held up her hand.
“As much as I’d love to tell you both what I’ve been up to all these years, we’re working on a schedule.”
“‘We’?” Lao caught. “Who else is here with you?”
She didn’t think she could exactly say the crown prince of the Fire Nation, no matter how reformed he claimed to be.
“A friend of the Avatar,” she decided. “He’s waiting for my signal. That’s when the action’s going to start.”
“What exactly is your plan?” Leya asked tentatively. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our numbers aren’t the highest. Those who haven’t been sent away as laborers had their spirits broken long ago. There are very few with any kind of fight left in them.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’ve got more than enough fight in me for this whole village. But I need your help.”
Lao nodded. “Anything.”
She smiled, a miniscule amount of weight dropping off her shoulders in relief. “Good.”
-
Appa was stashed securely in the woods, a rucksack full of moon peaches to keep him happy and quiet, but Zuko was still nervous.
How couldn’t he be, hiding behind a gaudy metal structure pretending to be a house that fit into this village? He was only the traitor boy prince of the Fire Nation, most likely with a wanted poster and a bounty on his head courtesy of his father.
He wasn’t scared, though.
Nervous? Sure. But he couldn’t wait to give these soldiers what they deserved.
Zuko’s eyes snapped towards the sudden movement across the way—the Fire Nation banner had been ripped down from the house Y/N went into, and the woman who did it held her fist in the air for a moment before darting back inside.
The signal.
It was time.
Zuko took a deep breath, pulled his broadswords out of their sheaths, and started moving.
It didn’t take long to find a guard, standing at his assignment near some light post. Zuko dashed behind him and brought his swords up to his neck.
“Stay quiet if you want to keep your head,” he said. “Nod if you understand.”
The guard nodded, but Zuko saw his hand clenching into a fist. He moved one sword down, and he froze in place as the sharp edge settled against his skin.
“No firebending either,” he growled. “You wanna test my patience some more, or are you ready to cooperate?”
“I— I’ll cooperate,” he stammered. “Just don’t hurt me, please. What do you want?”
It was almost pathetic. These people took over an innocent village, and now they were so confident that they stationed guards like this. Zuko wondered if this man even knew what had been done here.
“Good,” Zuko said. “Who’s in charge here?”
“General Lee,” he said, and Zuko had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Of course. “He— he’s the one who took over this place at the beginning. The one who ordered the invasion.”
“And where is he?”
“The biggest house at the end of the lane,” he said. “You— you can’t miss it.”
Zuko thanked the soldier for his information by knocking the flat end of one blade against his head, and he took a step back as the man fell to the ground, unconscious.
Step one complete.
-
“How is your earthbending?” Y/N asked. She and Lao moved swiftly through the village under the cover of darkness, avoiding soldiers where they were stationed as they conversed in low voices.
“Not as sharp as it used to be,” Lao said. “I’ve been hiding it since the invasion—otherwise they would have killed me or sent me away. What do you need it for?”
Once again, that sheepishness came back. The plan she and Zuko created sounded very outlandish when she said it out loud.
“I want to destroy the factory.”
“You certainly don't aim low, huh?” Lao chuckled a bit, but he flexed his hands nonetheless. He moved his fist forward and a short pillar of solid rock shot up from the ground. “I’ve still got some of it, at least.”
“That’s why I asked for your help,” she said. “The Fire Nation builds everything out of metal, but I think they forget that rocks are pretty effective against it.”
Lao smiled as he sent the rock back down into the earth. “I like how you think.”
She smiled as well, but her head shot up at the movement near them. She stepped protectively in front of Lao, her instincts above anything, but the tension dissolved when she saw it was just Zuko.
“Did you find out where he is?” she asked, and he nodded.
“His name is Lee— General Lee,” he said. “The last house,” he pointed, “that way. You can’t miss it.”
“Good.” She cracked her knuckles. “I have some things I’d like to say to him.”
“Y/N,” he said, “he’s…”
“What?”
“He’s the one who did all of this,” Zuko said. “The one who ordered the invasion. He’s been here ever since.”
Her jaw clenched as she felt fire ignite inside of her. “Then maybe I have a little bit more to say to him.”
“Take this.” Zuko took one of his swords off along with its sheath and handed it to her. “Just in case.”
She nodded, taking some satisfaction in her practice swings before she stashed it across her back, then she looked at Lao. “You two are going to take down the factory together. Is anyone in it still?”
He shook his head. “Shifts ended a few hours ago. It should be completely empty.”
“Good.” Y/N looked at Zuko. “How do you feel about causing some explosions?”
He smirked. “Pretty great.”
“And how do you feel about crushing a lot of stuff?” she asked, turning to Lao.
“Even better.”
“Great,” she smiled. “Obviously, this is going to make a lot of noise. Get out when you feel danger—we might have to bring this fight to the streets.”
Lao cracked his knuckles. “Gladly. It’s about time we take our home back.”
“Laya’s alerted the people?” Y/N asked.
He nodded. “She’s gone house to house—she should be near the end by now. She and the rest of our people will be safe, and anyone who’s willing to fight will be ready for my signal.”
“Then I think it’s time we split,” Y/N said.
“Be careful,” Zuko said. “Don’t let your anger blind you.”
“I’ll do what I have to do,” she said simply.
Zuko nodded in understanding. “See you on the other side, then.”
“See you on the other side,” she murmured.
-
Y/N got used to the weight of the broadsword in her hand as she moved through the village yet again. She was surprised at how easy it was, how inattentive the few guards were. Their confidence would be their downfall.
It wasn’t hard to find the house of the general. It was so massive it edged on gaudy, obviously built for nothing but the man’s ego. The door wasn’t locked, and she just shook her head as she slid inside. This was ridiculous.
She closed the door as quietly as she could behind her, and she held her breath as she looked around the first floor. It was eerily empty, eerily silent. Maybe he wasn’t here.
Y/N tightened the grip on the hilt of the sword as she crept up the stairs, wincing at every creak. The whole upstairs was the general’s room, and she shook her head. This was more luxury than anyone in the village lived in. He’d built his comfort off the pain of her people.
“Would you like to tell me what you’re doing in my home?”
She whipped around, her sword instinctively flying up as she stared right at her target. So he was here, and he’d been just as quiet as her. He was younger than she expected, but his eyes told everything she needed to know.
“General Lee,” she said, and she was surprised at how steady her voice was. “This isn’t your home.”
“Isn’t it?” He was dressed in a simple tunic and pants, no armor in sight. Good. “I was here when it was built, and as far as I’m aware, it was built for my use.”
“You took it from my people,” she said. “You took everything from us.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific,” he said nonchalantly. “I’ve taken over a lot of villages.”
“Do you not have any shame?” Y/N demanded, and she pointed her sword at him. He didn’t even flinch. “Destroying the lives of innocent people, tearing apart their homes for resources, occupying them just to show off your strength. You kill people, you destroy families, and you don’t even care?”
The general had the nerve to smile. “It’s the way of the world. The weak fall, the strong prevail. I guess your people were just weak.”
Y/N couldn’t control herself after that. She yelled out as she lunged forward and swung with her sword. The general sidestepped her as she whirled back around, and he just laughed.
“You want to fight, girl?” General Lee mocked. “For what? Your people? Your honor? You won’t get far, I assure you.”
“For my family!” she growled. “Your men killed my father and forced my mother and I into servitude. I’ve wanted revenge for so many years, and now I can finally get it.”
His eyes lit with recognition and he raised his eyebrows. “The waterbenders. So you managed to escape—impressive.”
And then suddenly, there were two massive explosions. They were all the way across town, but it still rocked the foundations of the house. The impact must’ve been felt all over town, surely alerting every guard on duty that something was wrong.
Step two was complete.
It was Y/N’s turn to smile at the general. “There goes your factory.”
The general’s mocking confidence melted into cold anger. “You—”
“Blew it up,” she responded. “Yeah.”
She lashed out with her sword to force him out of the way, then booked it down the stairs and out of the house. She laughed in pure exhilaration as she saw all of the guards in the street, as well as the general running out of his house. The fire blazing in his hand matched the anger in his eyes.
“You want a fight, girl?” he growled. “I’ll give you one!”
General Lee launched the fireball at her and she dodged out of the way, watching as it sizzled against the ground. She held her sword in both hands, beckoning him to come further. It wouldn’t be an easy fight to win against an enraged firebender, but then again—she’d done it before.
He was far too eager to go against a young girl as he shot fire at her in repetitive blasts. She dodged what she could and slashed through the others with her sword, lunging at him with the blade when Lee gave her space.
But then fire shot past, narrowly missing her, and her head whipped around. It took these soldiers long enough to realize the fight was happening right next to them.
“Come on, Zuko,” she muttered as she backed away from the men, the general and the soldiers narrowing in on her. She brandished her sword. “Where are you?”
“You’ve picked a battle that you can’t finish,” General Lee spat as fire lit in his hand, “just like your father!”
Rage hotter than anything before ignited inside of her. And then, everything happened at once.
The general and his soldiers shot their fire at her.
Someone yelled at her to duck, and she dropped to the ground.
As the fire was extinguished above her, General Lee’s eyes widened. He took a step back. “What in Agni’s name—”
“I’m not too late, am I?” Zuko reached a hand down to her, and Y/N let out a relieved breath.
“Right on time,” she remarked as she took it and allowed him to help her up. “I’m in a bit of a situation.”
“I noticed.” Zuko turned to the general and gestured with his head behind them. “I’m sorry, general, but I think someone blew up your factory!”
“Prince Zuko,” he said sourly. “So you’re a traitor as well.”
“I’m not a traitor,” he said, stepping in front of Y/N ever so slightly. “I’m helping free these people from your glorified slavery.”
The general’s eyes narrowed. “So all it takes for the crown prince to give up his values is a pretty face.”
“You’re a sick man,” Zuko spat. “Take your soldiers, leave this village, and we’ll give you the mercy you never extended to her people.”
“I don’t think so,” Lee said, and he smiled. “Don’t worry, though—this’ll all be over soon. Unless you think you can go against every soldier here on your own.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve been outnumbered,” Y/N said, and she drew her sword. “Besides—”
“—They’ve got help,” someone interrupted. She looked behind her and saw Lao, followed by a myriad of villagers—some earthbenders, some that were just ready to end this. More than she thought still lived here, more willing to fight than she thought.
So everyone’s spirit wasn’t broken.
She smiled. Step three.
“So you want to make this harder,” General Lee said. “I admire your tenacity, but it won’t do you much good.”
“We’ll see,” Zuko said.
Lee didn’t even say anything before he started firebending, and Zuko blocked it yet again. The battle immediately escalated from there, earthbenders and soldiers and swordsmen fighting. It was mostly visible in flashes of fire and the occasional lamppost, but it was loud.
Y/N and Zuko fought side by side against the general, their moves seamless—whenever one fell back, the other would step forward. She was surprisingly good with a sword, but it might’ve been her adrenaline.
With the amount of energy and anger pumping through her veins, she was sure she could take on anything at that moment. And having Zuko with her… She would be lying if she said it didn’t help.
It was a deadly dance between the three of them. Y/N’s sword sung as it cut through the air, and it was in sharp contrast to the explosions of fire in the background and the general’s own bending against them.
Maybe it was that adrenaline inside of her, or maybe it was the thought of finally getting to deliver justice for her village. Maybe the spirits were finally on her side. But whatever it was, General Lee ended up stumbling as he dodged the sword’s jab at him, and it gave her enough time for Zuko to kick him in the chest and send him backwards. Y/N took the opening and swept his legs, putting all her strength into the single move, and it worked.
He fell to the ground, a slight grunt being forced out as he landed on his back, and Y/N pointed her sword at his neck. She took immense satisfaction in the flicker of fear in his eyes.
“Zuko,” she said placidly, “go help the others.”
He looked at her for a good, long moment before he conceded with a step back. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“I won’t regret this,” she murmured.
Zuko’s gaze remained on her for another moment before he turned and ran back into the fray. Y/N could do nothing but stare down at the general. The man who took everything away from her in one short afternoon, now defenseless below her blade.
“So,” she said, “after all this time, all it took was one fight for you to fall.”
The general gave her a wry smile. “It wasn’t exactly a fair fight.”
“Neither was the invasion of my village. But that didn’t stop you, did it?”
“You savages have never understood,” he growled. “No great leader has ever gotten anywhere by being nice, by yielding to the demands of those lesser than him. There’s a reason the Fire Nation is at the world’s helm while every other nation continues to fall to its feet.”
“Because you go after the defenseless!” she exclaimed. “You go after those who can’t do anything against you, and then you destroy everything you find. All you care about is power.” Y/N huffed a mirthless laugh and gestured around them. “And look where that’s gotten you.”
“Yield,” she demanded before he had the chance to speak, moving her sword closer to his neck. “Yield, and leave this village, and I’ll let you leave with your life.”
The general laughed, followed by a wince as her blade nicked his skin. “Don’t you know anything about the Fire Nation? You served there for so long.”
“Yield!” she shouted, her voice trembling along with her grip. She just wanted this to be over.
“We fight until death,” he continued. “You’re going to have to kill me if you want your way.”
“You think I won’t?” she challenged. ”You’ve taken everything from me! Your life is too small a price to pay for what you’ve done!”
“I think you’re weak,” he spat. “Too weak to do what you need to do.”
Her eyes stung with tears as she pulled the sword away from his neck.
General Lee huffed a laugh. “Like I said: you’re wea—”
He was stopped in the middle of his sentence as she plunged the sword into his heart. His eyes widened as he choked out his last breath, the light beginning to drain out of him. And then he was gone.
“I’m not weak anymore,” she murmured.
Y/N stared at his lifeless body for a moment, glanced at the gleam of blood on metal.
She had just killed a man. The one responsible for her father’s death, for the imprisonment of her and her mother, for the invasion of her village.
Y/N didn’t feel remorse, didn’t feel satisfaction—but she felt whole. Like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
She sheathed her sword and walked away, back towards the chaos of the ongoing fight. Zuko had joined the others, fighting with a combination of his sword and his bending, and it worked wonders. For a moment, all she could do was watch him. The grace he fought with was akin to that of a waterbender.
Lao moved like he was twenty years younger, working in tandem with other earthbenders as they took down the Fire Nation forces soldier by soldier. Toph would have been proud.
But now there was only one thing left to do.
Y/N took a deep breath then cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling as loudly as she could. “Soldiers of the Fire Nation! Your general is dead!”
That was enough of a shock to knock them off their balance, because Zuko and the earthbenders all immobilized their foes. Zuko with a sword to the neck, Lao and his crew with rocks around their legs and other limbs. The fight died down quickly, all of them staring at her. Zuko’s expression was impossible to read.
“You heard me,” she repeated, “General Lee is dead. You have no stake in this village anymore. Leave, or face the same fate as him.”
“Will you stand here and fight for a nation that doesn’t care about you?” Zuko shouted, catching on to her goal. “Or will you do what’s right and leave these people be?”
Silence hung in the air, only broken by the heaved breaths of soldiers and earthbenders alike. She stared at them all expectantly, her heart pounding in her chest.
And then, the clatter of a sword against the ground.
“I surrender.” A soldier being held in place by rocks around her ankles had dropped her weapon, looking Y/N straight in the eye. “I’ve served the Fire Nation blindly for far too long.”
She nodded at the earthbender, and he retracted the stone around her.
“Go,” Y/N said. “Back to wherever you came from.”
“Your mercy…” the soldier murmured, and she shook her head. “Thank you for giving us a second chance. I know it means little, but I apologize. For everything.”
And then she walked off—in the direction of the shore, she noticed—and soon enough, she’d disappeared into the wood. They must’ve come in on ships.
Slowly, the remaining soldiers either dropped their weapons or declared their own surrender, and one by one they were let go. The sound of clattering metal was music to her ears, and with each one the weight lifted a little more.
The soldier in Zuko’s hold was the last to drop his sword, and Zuko kicked it away before removing his blade from his neck. As he walked away, she let out a sigh of relief.
“…We did it,” she said. “We finally did it.”
“You did it,” Zuko said as he sheathed his sword, doing the same to the other when Y/N handed it to him. “None of this would have been possible without you.”
“Wouldn’t have been possible without you either,” she said, and the smallest smile tugged at his lips.
Lao walked up to her, and he enveloped her in the biggest, tightest hug she’d felt since Katara’s at the air temple. She reciprocated immediately, tears springing into her eyes at the warmth he carried.
“You did it,” he said, his voice and eyes full of pride as he pulled away, though his hands remained on her shoulders. “You’ve given us the freedom that none of us could attain in seven years. We owe everything to you, Y/N.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said, unable to help her grin, and she looked back at the other villagers. “Any of you—thank you so much. Tonight, you fought for our people! You fought for our village! And we’re finally free from the Fire Nation.”
A wild cheer erupted from the group, and Y/N had to wipe away the tears that began to fall. They’d really done it.
“Go, be with your families!” she exclaimed. “Celebrate with your loved ones! You deserve it—enjoy your freedom!”
Several of the villagers clapped her on the shoulder or shook her hand as they began to wander around, returning back to their houses. She heard one discussing architectural plans, about what they would do with everything the Fire Nation left behind, as well as their houses. The smile wouldn’t leave her face.
And then Zuko walked up, alerting her to his presence by clearing his throat. “Y/N,” he said, and she turned around.
“What?”
“First of all, congratulations.” His own small smile was there, and she felt her cheeks warm. “You freed your village from a seven year occupation. It’s amazing.”
“It feels amazing.” She rubbed her arms, the cold of the night beginning to get to her as her adrenaline from the battle started to fade. “I can’t believe we did it.”
“I’m not surprised,” Zuko said. “You can do anything you put your mind to—I’ve learned that twenty times over by now.”
She chuckled a bit, but Zuko’s expression sobered. “But I have to ask. You… you killed the general.”
The air between them immediately changed. “I did.”
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“I don’t feel happy,” Y/N said, “so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going to start killing everyone that’s ever wronged me.”
Zuko laughed, though it was slightly nervous. “That’s, uh— that’s good.”
“But I don’t feel sad either,” she said. “I just feel… right. Like it was something I had to do. Not just for my people, but for me. To know that he’ll never be able to hurt someone the way he hurt me.”
“...Good,” Zuko repeated. “That’s all we can ask for, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “But… I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us. At least until I’m ready to tell everyone.”
“Of course,” he agreed.
“Good,” she said.
Y/N looked up at the sky, the sun having fully set. It was dark except for the bits of ashes that littered the battlefield and the lanterns that lit up the path through the village. But there was still something she needed to do.
She looked back at Zuko. “I have something I need to see. And I want you to come with me. Is… is that okay?”
He smiled, his voice soft when he spoke. “I’d love to.”
-
The path she led him down was one well-traveled by the people of her village—the inky darkness they walked through was penetrated only by the flames Zuko held in his hand at Y/N’s request. She knew she would be able to find her way without it, though.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Somewhere special,” Y/N answered. “Sad, but special. Somewhere I’ve thought about a lot since my mother and I were taken.”
It took a few more minutes of walking in silence only disturbed by night ambiance. When they got there, Y/N let out a quiet sigh. There was unimaginable weight behind the sound.
“We’re here.”
“Where is ‘here’?” Zuko asked tentatively. But then he made the fire in his hand bigger and brighter, and his breath caught in his throat.
“...Hi, Dad,” she said softly, her gaze focused on the headstone. “It’s me. Your little girl finally found her way back home.”
“Y/N…” he murmured.
“I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time, but I’ve never been able to,” she continued. “But you don’t have to worry anymore—the village is free. The Fire Nation is gone. And Mom is okay—she’s safe in Ba Sing Se, and after all of this is over, I’m going to find her again, and I’m going to take care of her. You don’t have to worry about us anymore.” Y/N chuckled. “I’m sure I’ve been driving you crazy with everything I’ve been doing lately. But you can rest in peace now.”
“Are you sure you want me here?” he asked. “I— I don’t want to disturb you—”
She shook her head, placing her hand lightly on his arm. “Stay. Please.”
“...Okay,” he said. “Of course.”
“This is Zuko,” she said, and she laughed a bit as he hesitantly waved. “He’s… he’s the most important person in my life.”
His eyes widened a bit and he looked at her, but her only response was to wordlessly slip her hand into his. He didn’t hesitate to lace his fingers through hers.
“We’ve been through a lot together, and I’ve… I’ve been really angry at him lately. And I thought it was good, righteous anger, but all it did was eat me up inside. I’ve been miserable because of it—I even lost my bending. But now… now, I understand.”
She looked at Zuko now. His gaze hadn’t moved.
“I love you,” she said, “and I mean that with everything in me. I’ve been so angry at you because of what you did that I haven’t let myself think about anything that you’ve done—and you’ve helped my friends so much since you joined them. You’ve helped me too, even when I claimed I didn’t need anyone.”
“And all this time, I thought that letting you go was what I needed to do. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.” She tightened her grip on his hand—her lifeline. “I’ve lost so much in my life, Zuko, things that I can’t get back. And I’m not going to let myself lose you again.”
Y/N pressed a gentle kiss to Zuko’s lips, and he extinguished the fire in his hand as he immediately reciprocated it. It was impossibly soft, impossibly right. And Y/N knew then that this was exactly where she was supposed to be.
“I love you too,” he murmured, and his eyes shone even in the darkness. “More than anything. And I’m so sorry that I ever made you think anything else.”
She pulled away from the kiss to embrace him, and when his arms wrapped around her, it was like home. The constant twist in her chest, the constant weight she’d been carrying for months—it dissipated, and she felt lighter than ever. Spirits, it all felt so right.
And when they pulled away, Y/N rested her head on Zuko’s chest. He responded by wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her in close.
“Thank you for taking me here,” he said. “For trusting me enough with it.”
“Thank you for never giving up on me,” she said.
“Speaking of that…” Zuko said, and there was a slight lilt to his voice as he lit the fire in his hand again. “How about trying that bending again?”
Y/N chuckled a bit as she looked at her hand, flexing her fingers the way she used to. She barely had to concentrate as she pulled moisture from the air, forming into an orb of water in the air. She wasn’t even shocked—she’d known, after they got here. It wasn’t anything concrete, just… a feeling. A feeling that order had returned.
“It’s back,” he said, and the boyish surprise in his voice made her smile.
“That it is.”
Y/N formed it into a flower and then froze it, gingerly taking the stem in her fingers. She walked up to her father’s grave, running her fingers over the engravings. She wasn’t here when it was made, but she was so thankful it had been made. That her people had always been thinking of her and her family.
GAN
HUSBAND OF KURA, FATHER OF Y/N
48 AG-93 AG
WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HIS LOVE AND HEROICS
It was bittersweet, but she was glad he had a spot here. He would always be remembered.
She carefully placed the flower of ice against the headstone, lowering the temperature of her breath as she blew on it to preserve it longer. It would melt eventually, of course, but this wouldn’t be her last time here. Next time, there would be real flowers.
“I love you, Dad,” she murmured, resting her head against the stone as she closed her eyes. “Forever and always.” She stayed there for a moment, and the gentle breeze that blew through the enclave was no coincidence. For the first time in a very, very long time, she felt peace inside.
She stood back up with a sad smile, wiping at the tears before she turned to Zuko. “I’m ready.”
“Are you sure?”
Y/N nodded. “I am.”
Zuko nodded too, and they started to walk together down the path.
And when he offered his hand, she took it without hesitation.
-
hope you enjoyed this mf emotional marathon of a chapter lmao im gonna go hibernate for a few months because jfc
everything happens for a reason part 21 - zuko x fem!reader
Meet me in the afterglow
part 20 | masterlist | part 22
a/n: wowwwww we're finally in the happy part of this fic lol. it feels so good to write zuko and yn together after 100k words of them being on opposite sides and hating each other. it was actually kind of hard to write this because it was a lot of chill fluff and it has been a long Long time since ive written that. very sorry this took so long
wc: 5k
warning(s): some discussions of yn and zuko's pasts but overall very fluffy
chapter title comes from afterglow by taylor swift!
Silence.
That was what Y/N woke up to.
No nightmares, no guilt, no flashbacks—just… silence.
And the arms of another around her. Zuko. She reveled in the warmth he provided, sighing contentedly as she shifted to look at him.
She’d always thought Zuko was beautiful, but he was even more so when asleep. His features relaxed rather than rageful, no longer tainted by her own incessant anger. Pools of gold met her when his eyes flickered open, a gentleness held within them she’d missed dearly.
“Hi,” she whispered, a smile already tugging at her lips.
“Hi.” His voice was just as soft, his own emerging smile enough to make her melt. “Did you sleep well?”
“Better than I have in months.” Y/N moved her hand over his, and Zuko turned his over to entangle their fingers. “And it’s all thanks to you.”
“It’s the least I can do,” he murmured, and he drew her in for a soft kiss. That was what made her melt. “You know I’m never letting you go again, right?”
A light laugh spilled from her lips. “I don’t want you to.”
“Good.”
Though she wanted nothing more than to nestle back into Zuko’s embrace, she mustered enough strength to sit up, a small yawn escaping her. “When do you think we should go back?”
Zuko sighed as he sat up next to her, running a hand through his rustled hair. “We have time, Y/N. We’re in your village, the place you grew up. We don’t have to go back until you want to.”
“We are on a timeline though—”
“A timeline that isn’t close to being up yet,” he countered. “Aang doesn’t have to fight my father for a while—a few extra days out here isn’t going to hurt us.” Zuko shrugged. “You deserve a break after all you’ve been through lately, and besides—I’m sure your people wouldn’t mind hosting the savior of the village for a little longer.”
Y/N laughed and pushed him lightly, eliciting a little half-smile from Zuko. “Okay, I get it. Another day would be really nice.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer?”
She shook her head. “The rest of today will be enough for me to help get things moving on the repair front. We’ve already been gone two days—any longer than this and Katara will think we’ve died.”
Zuko chuckled. “Alright.”
“Besides,” she said as she stood up and stretched her arms out, “after all of this is over, I’ll be able to come back anytime I want. And,” Y/N looked at Zuko, “I’ll be able to properly introduce you. As Zuko my boyfriend, and not Zuko the evil prince.”
He grinned. “Your boyfriend? Is that official?”
Y/N groaned and swatted at him. “Get out of here. I have to get dressed.”
“Anything for my beautiful girlfriend,” Zuko said as he got up, still wearing that ridiculous grin while he walked out.
Y/N rolled her eyes as he shut the door, but she couldn’t help but smile. It felt good, joking around like this. Having a lazy morning—waking up with him in the first place.
And yeah—hearing Zuko call her his girlfriend was pretty nice too.
She’d been longing for it for a greater time than she knew, and now that she’d worked through her anger, let it go, realized that this was what she wanted?
It was too great a feeling to put into words.
That small smile remained on her lips as she began to rifle through her belongings, the minuscule amount she’d packed for this trip in a tiny satchel. She wanted to change, but the only other clothes she had were the tunic and pants she’d worn for months in prison. They were sort of the only clothes she owned now.
The smile faded as she shoved them back into her bag. Maybe she could ask Leya to borrow one of her dresses for the day. That particular memory didn’t need to be resurfaced right now.
She blew out a loose sigh as she sat back down on the bed, allowing herself a moment to really take it all in.
Though Y/N had initially planned to get in and get out, the whole ‘taking back the village’ thing really threw a wrench in her hasty excursion. After last night—after the fight, the general, the grave—she was well and truly exhausted. Lao and Leya had immediately offered up the second bedroom of their home to her and Zuko, claiming it was ‘the least they could do after all she’d done’, and in the moment, Y/N wasn’t one to deny it.
She didn’t realize how worn out she was until she laid down on the bed—true exhaustion and the warmth of Zuko’s arms around her was a deadly combination—and she was out before she knew it.
It was the best she’d slept in a long time.
Because she didn’t have a new outfit, she opted for smoothing out the black fabric and her hair, and nodded to herself before she left the room. She was surprised to see Zuko leaning against the wall next to the door, his arms crossed as he stared off at nothing in particular.
“You waited?”
“Obviously. Life-threatening fights don’t have to be the only time we stick together.” She chuckled a bit as she slipped her hand into his, pleased at how familiar the motion felt.
“Of course.”
“Besides—” Zuko cleared his throat as his eyes darted away for a moment— “I’m kind of scared of Leya and Lao. I don’t think they really trust me.”
“What? Of course they do!” she exclaimed. “You took down the factory with Lao, and you helped in the fight for our village—they wouldn’t have offered you the place if they didn’t.”
“You weren’t there,” he said dryly. “Lao questioned me the entire way to the factory about you. And he might be okay about me now, but Leya still seems uneasy. They still don’t even know who I really am.”
“Who you are is Zuko. It doesn’t matter that you’re the prince—you’re Zuko, and you helped them. That’s all they’ll care about.” She gave him a slight nudge. “Things are different out here, away from the Fire Nation. People are tolerant. You’ve seen that while you’ve been away, right?”
It took Zuko a moment, but he nodded. His lips quirked in the smallest smile and he nodded again, as if he was actually starting to believe it. “Okay. Yeah.”
“Yeah,” she repeated. She swung their hands together a bit and started to lead the way. “Now let’s go. It’s nearly noon—we’ve gotta get our day started.”
“If you say so,” Zuko mused, and she just laughed.
“I do.”
“It’s good to see the two of you are finally awake,” Leya mused from her cushion as they emerged into the living room. “I was afraid you would sleep the whole day away.”
“If anyone deserves it,” Lao said, walking over from the kitchen, “it’s them.”
“Sorry.” Y/N scratched her neck, slightly bashful. “We were exhausted after yesterday.”
“No need to apologize,” Leya laughed, and she gestured towards the counter. “Help yourselves, please—we made xiaolongbao and egg custard tarts to celebrate. There’s far too much for just the two of us.”
“Are you sure?” Zuko asked tentatively.
“Of course we’re sure,” Lao said. “We’ve welcomed you into our home. Anything we have is yours, son.” He frowned. “I never did get your name.”
He paused. “...My name is Zuko.”
The name struck them like steel, tension immediately thick in the air even if just out of instinct.
“Like Prince Zuko,” Leya said carefully, “of the Fire Nation.”
“I don’t think I’m much of a prince anymore,” he frowned. “I did betray my entire country to help the Avatar.”
Lao glanced at Y/N, the unsaid question obvious.
“It’s the truth,” she said. “Zuko has been working with us for a good while now. He’s the Avatar’s firebending teacher, and he’s going to help us end the war.”
“Alright,” Lao said, and he nodded. “Welcome to our home, Zuko. Officially.”
His brows creased together. “Really?”
“You’re clearly a good man,” he said. “Not just anyone would do what you’ve done.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is,” Lao insisted. “You didn’t have to help free our village, but you fought on the front lines with us.” He smiled wryly. “That makes a man good in my book.”
“I agree.” Leya’s smile was softer, kinder, but held the same respect. “You’re just as much a hero to our village as Y/N is.”
Zuko looked like he wanted to protest, but Y/N placed her hand over his and nodded. He deserved the praise.
“...Thank you,” he finally said, wholly genuine. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”
“Any friend of Y/N’s is a friend of ours,” Leya said, and her lips quirked up. “Would you like to hear some of the terrible things she did when she was younger?”
“Leya—” Y/N began, but Zuko shook his head, his own smile growing.
“Tell me everything.”
She groaned as he pulled her over to the floor, two cushions already set for them. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as she sat down next to him, Leya and Lao launching into a story together from her childhood.
(She had always been a bit of a terror, especially after she discovered her waterbending. That didn’t mean she wanted Zuko to know about it.)
((“This is no way to treat the savior of the village,” she complained at one point. She was fully ignored.))
After spending far too many hours eating, chatting, and laughing (at Y/N’s expense), she and Zuko set out for the day. Y/N asked Leya for a spare outfit and she obliged immediately, so once again she found herself in Earth Kingdom greens and browns. The soft linen was the nicest reprieve from the scratchy prison clothes she’d been stuck in, and she had to admit—it was nice being back in Earth Kingdom clothes. It was just as much a part of her as the North.
The rest of the day was busy but fulfilling, working long into the night to make up for the damage from the battle. Most of their efforts were spent architecturally, helping to repair houses that had been damaged and to tear down the Fire Nation estates.
It might have been property, but it was tainted beyond belief. South Zeizhou would never truly belong to her people again if any trace of the Fire Nation remained.
Y/N and Zuko had split halfway through the day to help with separate things—for some reason, her people were trusting her with designing. She spent the entire rest of the day running around helping various people, sketching up ideas for buildings and statues and everything else under the sun. It turned out that, when you saved an entire village of an eight year hold, they were just a little grateful.
(She denied the idea every time someone brought up building a statue of her. She was sure she heard Zuko go behind her back and tell them otherwise.)
She was kept so busy that she didn’t see Zuko again until that night, when she pushed open the door to Leya and Lao’s estate to see him sitting on the floor alone.
“Zuko,” she said, still getting used to the lightness his name brought her. It was more comforting than anything. “What are you doing up?”
“I should be asking you that,” he said with a slight smile, setting his bowl down. “You don’t have to work all night, you know.”
“I lost track of time,” she said sheepishly. “What are you eating?”
“Jook.” A faint blush tinted his cheeks as he gestured back towards the kitchen. “Leya and Lao turned in a few hours ago—they told me to tell you that you had free reign of their ingredients, but I didn’t want you to have to do it yourself after working so hard all day. So I made you something.”
Her whole expression softened. “Zuko, that’s so sweet.” She crouched down and pecked him on the cheek, warmth blooming in her chest. “I didn’t even know you could cook, being a prince and all.”
He chuckled. “Uncle taught me some things when we were in Ba Sing Se. I told him I didn’t need it, but I guess some of it stuck.”
Y/N took his spoon and tried some of the jook in his bowl. Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s surprisingly good.”
“Surprisingly?” he asked with mock disdain. “Why can’t it just be normally good?”
“Because,” she said, “I’ve never tried your cooking before.”
“That just settles it,” Zuko said. “When we’re back in the Fire Nation, I’ll ask the chefs to teach me some things. That way I can really impress you.”
“You don’t need to impress me, Zuko,” she said, and she stood up and walked over. “Just spending time with you like this is more than enough. We’ve got a lot of it to make up.”
He managed a soft laugh, but it was bittersweet. “Yeah. We do.”
Y/N filled her own bowl with jook and then walked back over, settling down next to Zuko. She placed her hand over his, smiling softly at him. “Tell me about your day.”
“It’s been… a lot,” he said. “I’ve helped tear down a lot of Fire Nation buildings. I melted a lot of metal.” He chuckled. “If only we brought Toph with us. Her metalbending would make things a lot easier.”
She laughed. “She’d become the foreman of this place. She could probably redesign everything herself.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“I did a lot of healing,” she said. “Turns out that sending a lot of middle-aged men and women that haven’t fought in years into battle against trained soldiers results in a lot of injuries.”
Zuko frowned. “Was it bad?”
“Not as bad as it could have been,” Y/N said. “Mostly twists and sprains and artificial cuts. One man got his arm broken, and I have no idea why he didn’t ask for help last night.” She shook her head. “No matter what nation I’m in, men always think they have to act tough.”
“I’m glad you’re able to help them,” Zuko said. “You know you’re amazing, right?”
She playfully shoved him. “Stop it.”
“Never.” He shrugged. “Like you said, I have a lot of time to make up for.”
“I guess flattery’s a good place to start,” she said coyly.
“It’s easier if you just accept it,” he said sagely, “because I’m not going to stop.”
Y/N laughed and leaned against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. “What was it like being back and seeing everyone? Did they all recognize you?”
“Maybe not immediately, but everyone knew my name.” Y/N smiled. “People don’t really forget the only waterbenders in village history.”
“Do you think this’ll ever be your home again?” Zuko asked.
“It’ll always be my home,” Y/N mused. “It’s where I was born, where I grew up. There’s a part of me in this village, and there always will be. But…” she sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll ever live here again. I’ve been traveling all over with my friends for the past couple months, and it just feels like I’ve… outgrown it.”
“I understand,” Zuko said. “You’re different than the girl that grew up here. You’ve changed, and that’s not a bad thing.”
“I know. It just feels like betraying who I am.”
“A part of you is in this village,” Zuko said, “and a part of this village is in you. Just because you’re going somewhere else doesn’t mean you’re forgetting who you are.”
“When did you get so wise?” she asked, craning her neck to look up at him.
“Years of traveling with my uncle,” he said, and she laughed.
They spent the rest of the night idly chatting and finishing up their meal, and by the time they turned in, the village was completely dark.
It was quiet as they settled into bed together, Zuko’s arms around her setting her at ease. She felt safe next to him.
(Spirits, how she’d missed feeling safe.)
-
“Are you sure you have to leave so soon?” Leya questioned, her gaze watchful even as she stood in the kitchen.
“We have a war to end,” Y/N said, only slightly joking. “I’ll be back sooner than you know.”
“You’re making us all so proud, Y/N.” Lao patted her on the shoulder, and then he pulled her into a hug. “People will tell stories of you centuries from now, I know it. You’ve made history.”
“I’m just glad our people are finally free,” she said softly.
“And you, son.” Lao pulled away and looked down at Zuko, respect in his eyes. “Your path hasn’t been easy, but you’ve made it here. You’re welcome in our corner of the Earth Kingdom anytime.”
“I’m just doing what’s right,” Zuko said, but she could see the beginnings of his pleased smile.
“And sometimes that is the hardest thing to do.” Leya came over with a large basket, smile beaming down on the two of them as she handed it to Y/N. “This should be enough for your journey back and to share with the rest of your group.”
Y/N frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Of course we are,” Lao said. “Without the Fire Nation leeching off of us, we’ve got plenty to spare.”
“Thank you,” Zuko said. “This means a lot.”
“It’s the least we can do,” Leya said, and she grasped Y/N’s hands. “Promise me that you’ll be careful.”
“We’ll try our best,” she vowed, and she glanced at Zuko with a smile. “I’ve got a lot of good people with me.”
“You,” Leya pointed at Zuko, tone motherly as ever, “make sure nothing happens to her.”
“That was already the plan,” he said with a chuckle.
“So,” Lao said wryly, “what’s the next thing I should expect from our heroes and the Avatar?”
Y/N smiled inwardly. “Change is coming. That’s for sure.”
-
The ride back to camp was quiet, but different kind of quiet from before. Y/N and Zuko switched off on flying shifts, occasional conversation filling the gaps—more often than not, though, they just sat together. Her head on his shoulder, his arm around her, her fingers rifling through his hair.
The fresh air invigorated Y/N. She felt like a whole new person, the dread and anger and heaviness she’d been carrying with her for months steadily dissolving.
Zuko’s constant presence was nice too.
Without her inner dread, supremely thick tension, and a week of sleep deprivation, she was actually able to enjoy the trip back home. It went quicker than the ride there, and she never thought she would be so thankful to see an island.
Tiny specks in the distance turned into her friends the closer they got, and she and Zuko shared a smile. Y/N was going to have a lot of explaining to do.
“You guys are finally back!” Sokka exclaimed once they were in hearing distance. “Where did you even go?”
“You’ve got some nerve leaving like that without a word!” Katara yelled, but the moment Y/N slid off of Appa’s side she barreled over and pulled her into a hug. She knocked the air out of her completely, but Y/N laughed as she wrapped her arms around her in turn.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed. “It was something important.”
“She’s been worried sick about you,” Toph spoke up.
“So have you!” Aang piped in. “You were asking about it y—”
Toph punched Aang on the shoulder, and he stopped. “What was that for?”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Sokka interrupted. “Where did you two even go?”
Y/N let out a long deep breath, and Zuko nodded supportively when she glanced at him. “We… went back to my village. The other day was the anniversary of my father’s death, so I went to honor him.”
“Oh, Y/N,” Katara murmured, and she pulled her back into a hug. “I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I thought it was something I had to do on my own,” Y/N said, pulling away after a grateful moment. “If I had my way, I would have. But Zuko pushed his way on.”
“It’s not my fault you’re so stubborn,” Zuko said. “Besides, it was obviously the right move.”
Sokka frowned. “You guys are being really nice to each other.”
Aang’s eyes lit up. “Did you two have your life changing field trip?”
It was Y/N’s turn to frown. “Life changing field trip?”
“That’s what they’re calling it,” Toph explained. “All the trips that they’ve gone on with Zuko to be his friend or whatever. I still haven’t had one.”
Zuko stared at her. “I woke up with rocks in my bed every day for a week.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t go anywhere,” she grumbled at the ground.
Y/N chuckled, though her expression sobered. “I thought I was just going to remember my father, but it turned out that the Fire Nation was still occupying my village. So Zuko and I pushed them out.”
Katara’s eyebrows shot up. “Just like that?”
“It wasn’t that easy—” Zuko said, but he was interrupted when Sokka patted—or rather hit—him on the back.
“Nice going, buddy! That’s how you get your girl back.”
He glared daggers at Sokka but Y/N just laughed. “It took a lot of fighting and some haphazard plans, but… yeah. We took my village back. My people are free, and I got to see my father’s grave.”
Katara’s entire expression softened. “I’m so happy for you, Y/N. That’s— that’s amazing. And… is it back?”
Y/N nodded with a smile, and she formed a ball of water out of the air. “My bending is officially back.”
Katara screamed and she nearly tackled Y/N with another hug. “Thank the spirits! I knew you could do it!”
“Life changing field trip always works,” Aang mused.
“Well, whatever you did, it worked,” Toph said. “I’m happy I don’t have to see the two of you mope around all the time anymore.”
Zuko frowned. “You can’t see.”
“Trust me,” Toph muttered, “some things transcend sight.”
Y/N smiled, and she took Zuko’s hand, tears welling in her eyes. “I really missed you guys.”
-
Later, once they’d unpacked all their things from Appa and properly decompressed, Y/N found herself sitting on her own by the cliffside once again. This time, though, she wasn’t trying to hide her mourning from her friends or foster the burning inside of her chest. Instead, she played with an orb of water in the air, a small smile on her lips at the effortlessness of it all. Not only were they surrounded by water on all sides, but the Fire Nation’s climate meant there would always be moisture in the air.
Oh, how she’d missed her bending.
She didn’t flinch when she heard footsteps behind her, able to see the reflection in her orb—instead, she flicked her hand and shot the water back at her visitor.
“Hey!” Zuko complained, sputtering as it struck him in the face. “What was that for?”
She giggled as she turned her head. “I had to make sure you remember who you’re dealing with.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, grimacing a bit as he wiped water droplets off his face, “my girlfriend is super powerful and can take down anyone. That doesn’t mean you have to take me down.”
“Oh, you’re so dramatic.” Y/N smiled as she stood up and flexed her fingers, drawing all the water out of his clothes. “It was barely anything.”
“This time,” Zuko said, and he gestured around them with a wry smile. “We’ve got a whole ocean around us.”
“I’m not that powerful,” she said.
“Maybe,” Zuko said, “but I don’t trust you and Katara together.”
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.” She chuckled as she took his hand. “What’d you come over here for?”
“You’re not allowed to mope around by yourself anymore,” Zuko said. “We’re having a campfire and digging into some of the food Leya gave us.”
“I’m not moping,” she complained.
“Not anymore,” Zuko clarified, and he chuckled at her expression. “Still. You have to join us.”
“Of course,” Y/N said, and they started walking over together. “I’m excited for some actual food after the past few months.”
Zuko frowned. “I made you jook last night. That was perfectly good food.”
“You know what I mean,” she groaned. “Yes, it was perfectly good food. I’m just excited for more of Lao’s xiaolongbao. That man makes miracles in the kitchen.”
“I’ll have to get him to give me the recipe next time we visit,” Zuko mused.
She looked at him, slightly surprised. “You want to go back?”
“Of course,” he said. “It’s the place you’re from. And besides,” he shrugged, slightly bolstered, “I am one of the saviors of the village.”
She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Of course.”
-
“It’s about time you guys got here,” Toph grumbled. “Katara won’t let any of us eat.”
“They’re here now,” she said, “you can—”
Katara didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Toph started digging in, and she just shook her head with a sigh.
“We’re glad that you’re here,” she offered with a slight smile.
“Katara’s mostly glad that you’re back,” Sokka said, his mouth full of food earning him a glare from his sister. “I think you two have separation anxiety or something.”
“Can you blame me?” Katara defended. “You were gone for weeks and we had no idea what happened to you. You can’t just up and disappear with Zuko.”
“To be fair, you tried to do the same thing,” Sokka said.
“To be fair, you thought Y/N was going to kill Zuko,” Katara shot back.
Zuko’s eyes widened slightly. “Uh, no. We never went that far.”
Not with him at least, Y/N thought with the smallest bit of guilt. Not for what she did, but for keeping it from her friends. That was a whole other problem she had to deal with, and definitely not tonight.
(Maybe not ever.)
“Let’s talk about something else,” Y/N said, and Zuko put his arm around her, pulling her close. She couldn’t help but smile. “What have you guys been up to while we’ve been gone?”
“It was only three days,” Sokka said. “We didn’t get up to that much.” But he wouldn’t stop staring at them, and Zuko frowned.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. “I just realized I’ve never been around you two when you actually liked each other.”
“Why did you have to say that?” Toph groaned. “Now they’re going to be extra gross.”
“What, you mean like this?” Zuko pulled Y/N into a kiss, but she didn’t even get the chance to enjoy it before something hit the two of them.
Y/N pulled away and picked it up, scowling at Sokka. “Is this your shoe?”
“There are children here!” he complained. “You two really are gross.”
“I think it’s sweet,” Katara said, and she hit Sokka on the shoulder. “Leave them alone.”
“I’m just trying to protect the sanctity of this place!” he exclaimed.
“I’m on Sokka’s side,” Toph piped in.
As the group devolved into accusations and conversation with occasional pauses for food, she leaned into Zuko’s side and sighed contentedly.
This was the life she’d been chasing so long. All they had to do was end the war.
And after everything she’d been through, that seemed like the easiest part of the journey.
-
Things cooled down after a while, and they began to go their separate ways. Sokka and Suki went off together, Aang went to meditate and clear his mind, and Toph went off to do spirits knows what. Y/N was close to nodding off against Zuko’s side—she was sure he already had himself—when she heard Katara’s voice.
“Hey,” she said, gesturing away from the fire with her head, “can I have you for a second?”
Y/N nodded, yawning as she tried to blink the grogginess out of her vision, and the two of them walked over. “What’s up?”
“This is something I’ve been wanting to give to you for a while, but it hasn’t been the right moment.” Katara grinned. “But it is now.”
She pulled something out from behind her back, and when she presented it Y/N realized it was a water skin, almost identical to the one she’d given her months ago in Gaoling.
“Both of ours were taken away at Ba Sing Se, but I was able to get a couple new ones from some of the Water Tribe soldiers when we ran into them. And now that you’ve got your bending back…”
Katara trailed off as she offered it up again, but instead Y/N crushed her in a tight embrace.
“Thank you,” she said, unable to hold back her own smile. “For thinking of me even then.”
“Always,” Katara said, returning the gesture with just as much intensity. When she pulled away, her eyes shone.
“It’s good to see you like this,” she said softly. “Happier. Lighter. You look better than you have in months.”
“I feel better,” Y/N admitted. “I know that I needed to forgive Zuko, and maybe it was the spirits’ plan to make the road so treacherous. But it feels so good to have him again.”
“It feels good to not have you two arguing all the time,” she said wryly.
Y/N chuckled. “Just imagine how I feel.”
“What do you think is next for you two?” Katara asked. “After the war is over, I mean.”
“I haven’t really thought that far in the future,” she admitted. “After everything, I’m just trying to live in the moment.”
