avatar: the last airbender fic recs (part 2)
as promised! link to part 1
personal favorites are starred, by the way.
everything is complete unless stated otherwise.
*Spirit Son by imadoctornotanescalator (~136k)
Akine was quite familiar with bodies --- dead ones to be precise. He should have known something was wrong with this one, but he and Shino were so eager to be rid of it, they did not notice that there was something very wrong with it.
this fic is complete but it is the first part in a two part incomplete series (as of now) Spirit Son. ithe author is also rewriting it, but the rewrite isn’t complete either. i haven’t read the second part or the rewrite, which is why i’m not recommending them here.
one of my all time atla favorites.
The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris (~36k)
Some people are born with soulmarks. Zuko has them, but his grandfather burned them off because they "make you weak."
Team Avatar has a few things to say about that.
gaang platonic soulmark au. lots of hurt/comfort.
*we are bound, by each crime and every kindness by hyugesoo (~4k)
Todoroki Shouto dies, ice in his veins and ash in his lungs.
Zuko is born with fire on his lips and tears on his cheeks.
(or, when Shouto is reborn as a prince in a world desperately needing a hero.)
reincarnation. i read this before i knew anything about mha, so you should be alright if you haven’t watched my hero academia yet. it’s really beautifully written fic.
Unwanted Friends by FoiblePNoteworthy (~17k)
Aang knew those swords. He’d seen them every day, felt the warm, if rough, presence of their owner in all his hardest moments and coldest flights. He was a strong figure, gentle in his own way. A Firebender who still used swords.
another gaang platonic soulmate au fic rec.
Little Zuko v the World by MuffinLance (~110k, last updated 2019 dec)
Zuko finds Aang a month into his banishment. They’re both 12. Expect not-a-kid-person!Zhao, gratuitous saving from pirates (dangit Katara give little Zuko back his shirts), and some solid Appa/Zuko bromance. It is the hole in your life you didn’t know needed filling.
warning: incomplete. lots of fluff and humor alongside angst.
for reasons wretched and divine by ZenzaNightwing (~8k, series: 178k, last updated 2021 nov)
(He screamed toward the moon, they murmur, it’s a sign)
(The sun set on him, others scoff, it’s a sign)
Prince Zuko is born into rumor and bloodshed. He is raised in flames and scars.
Sozin's Comet is coming again, for Earth instead of Air, and Agni will not let it pass lightly. Not without intervention.
the series no grave (hold my body) has 4 fics, 3 of which are complete and under 15k each, while the fourth fic is incomplete and ~150k.
absolutely loved this idea.
To The Victor Goes The Spoils by LizaGreen (~27k)
Hakoda kills a Southern Raider. This backfires spectacularly. Zuko is just trying to keep four kids from dying while not being a traitor to his nation. Toph is concerned. Sokka finds himself rethinking everything he had previously considered the norm.
Kuei orders all of the Fire Nation out of Ba Sing Se after Azula fails her coup. This has wider ramifications than he thought.
*half in the shadows, half burned in flames by r_astra (~4k)
“They say you tried to kill the Firelord,” Hakoda says. "Why?"
Zuko doesn’t know how to answer. Because I hate him. Because I love him. Because he wants to see the world burn. Because he knotted one hand in my hair and cupped flames against my face with the other.
Because my mother is dead.
Because my uncle is dead.
Instead, he shrugs tiredly and says: “Someone has to.”
