Zuko is loved
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But dawn still finds us again by Stardust_Steel for Dr_Fumbles_McStupid
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
07 Jul 2021
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“Alright, both of you,” Hakoda’s voice is sharp, sharper than his daughter’s. “Enough of this. Sokka, don’t call your sister names.” He reaches for Sokka’s shoulder.
Zuko moves.
One moment Zuko’s still on the ground next to Toph. In the next instant he’s catching Hakoda’s arm, twisting it around his back.
“No,” Zuko growls, applying just enough pressure to threaten to pluck the man’s shoulder out of its socket. “You won’t hurt them.”
-or,
Sound carries really well in the Western air temple.
Zuko doesn’t find out until much, much later.
Written for ATLA gen week 2021.
Series
- Part 1 of Zuko is loved
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Summary
Father and son held each other’s gaze. Zuko looked into Ozai’s golden eyes, the exact same shade of his own, and let his palms flare. He saw the exact moment terror lit, when he knew Ozai would feel the heat melting into his eye socket, melting the skin…
But...
"I’m not you, and I never want to be.” Zuko finished, dropping his hand away.-or,
The final battle goes differently. Zuko faces Phoenix King Ozai and his sister alone instead of Aang on the day of Sozin’s Comet in a final attempt to overturn the tides of war without sacrificing too many lives. Canon-divergent.Series
- Part 2 of Zuko is loved
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Summary
“Go on then,” stupid Zuko challenged, even as his voice cracked, because he was an idiot Fire Lord who didn’t know when to shut up, and Sokka liked that undying fiery streak but also wanted to kill him a million times when they get out of this-
But all thoughts of throttling Zuko himself came to a halt because because Tezuka was smiling with perverse affection, then he was gripping Zuko’s face with one hand---
--lifting a burning palm in the other, and then--
--Zuko was shrieking, his voice high and terrified and so damn young --
--Sokka shouted, shouted because he was so useless --
Or,
Sokka and Azula bond over their mutual desire to keep Fire Lord Zuko alive. Post-canon.
Series
- Part 3 of Zuko is loved
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Summary
Ozai had hated music. When Zuko had picked up his first instrument and proven himself to be a natural at it as a child, Ozai had scoffed, much to his mother’s consternation. “Soft,” Ozai had sneered. “Disgraceful. What use does a prince have for music?”
The morning after his mother disappeared, Zuko quietly put all his scores away and never played again.
Until now.
—or, Zuko is good at music. Sokka is pleasantly surprised.
Series
- Part 4 of Zuko is loved
- Part 1 of Artistic Zuko
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Summary
Why Zuko doesn’t fear lightning, despite being the only surviving member of the Royal family who can’t control it.
Series
- Part 5 of Zuko is loved
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Summary
Zuko's gaze was almost delirious as he looked up at Iroh.
“Tired...wish I was dead,” Zuko whispered. Sokka almost dropped his bowl in shock; only Toph’s quick action saved it from smashing into the floor.
Iroh’s eyes were wide, reflecting the firelight. “Nephew,” he breathed out. “What- do not speak like this-“
“Should have died on that stage, Uncle...” Zuko murmured, eyes hazy with fever. Sokka shifted uncomfortably, knowing the other boy would have hated for them to hear this. “Wish he just... killed me and got it over with...”-or, Zuko gets himself burned protecting the GAang. In his delirium, he reveals more about himself than he'd have liked.
Series
- Part 6 of Zuko is loved
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Summary
“What’s Sifu Hotman doing?” Aang asked, craning his neck. “That was so close!”
Sokka looked back up sharply. The air around them was becoming almost uncomfortably hot, and the flame petal expanded ever further. Still Zuko stood at its centre without moving, his head tilted back, eyes closed, almost creepily serene.
The flames scorched his skin, but Zuko didn’t move. He only tilted his head back further, like it was an invitation to the falling flames around him.
Like he was asking for it to hurt.
When the next expansive firepetals fell in, Sokka knew, knew before it happened, that Zuko would let it burn himself in a coffin of fire.
--or, Zuko and Sokka have a series of not-conversations about self-harm, and moving forward. (The cuddling and affection is a plus.)
Series
- Part 7 of Zuko is loved
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Weight (of the choices we made) by Stardust_Steel for MuffinLance
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
27 Aug 2021
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Summary
Some days, when the scent of dew is heavy in the air and Agni’s rays lend an iridescent quality to the colors of the sky and the grass, Sokka finds himself in the company of the Sun Spirit.
“You are sad today,” the Sun Spirit observes.
“Yeah.” Sokka exhales.
“You are… missing something?”
“SomeONE,” Sokka corrects. “A… long-lost friend.” The Sun Spirit frowns a little, lips that had once been capable of the most endearingly awkward smile pulling down. Sokka looks at the soft waves of dark hair, more lustrous than they’ve ever been in the Spirit’s actual lifetime, and the way it curls over once-familiar golden eyes. He feels his heart hollow a little more.
Sokka had thought he and Zuko would have had more time together.
Series
- Part 8 of Zuko is loved
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Honor Bound (Podfic and text) by Dr_Fumbles_McStupid, Stardust_Steel
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
08 Jan 2022
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Summary
‘…H-how am I still alive?’ Zuko thinks.
Sokka flinches back. Whoaaa, how in Spirits name did Zuko project his voice like that? Sokka didn’t even see him move his lips.
As if he can hear Sokka’s thoughts, Zuko turns his head to look directly at him, eyes bewildered.
And this is where Sokka realises something is very, very wrong.
Two minutes later: “No way!” Sokka shakes his head wildly, just as prince jerkbender across him curses. “I’m soul bonded- To him?! No way! That’s just spirit mumbo-jumbo!!!”
-or, through some freak Spirit accident involving Zhao, the Avatar, and the continuous joke that is both their existence, Sokka and Zuko have been soul-bonded and mentally linked. Neither of them are particularly happy with this.
Series
- Part 9 of Zuko is loved
- Part 2 of Avatar: The last Airbender podfic
- Part 10 of podficcer's favorites
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In which Sokka suspects Zuko is a FireCat, and other tales by Stardust_Steel for
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
26 Sep 2021
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Summary
Sokka theorizes that in another life, Zuko might have been a cat.
A series of ficlets written for ATLAtober prompts.
Series
- Part 10 of Zuko is loved
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Nothing Gold Can Remain by Stardust_Steel for fallen_ophe
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
21 Dec 2021
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Summary
In the next few minutes Jet witnesses the tension in Zuko’s prone, shaking frame head towards a peak. It’s odd to see how his features go slack, the perennially sullen mask that Zuko’s had on ever since Jet met him finally falling away- not in relief but in surrender, like he can do nothing else but submit to the pain. Zuko's chest rises in jerky bursts, a shudder of starts and stops that’s frankly disturbing to watch.
Sokka reaches out to gently tousle the scruffy hair, but Zuko makes a sound that’s somewhere between a whimper and a grunt and shifts weakly to curl on his side, so Sokka lets his hand fall back instead.
It should be satisfying to watch an ashmaker suffer this much, but after all he's learnt tonight, what Jet feels is a lot less like vindication and a lot more like sympathy.
Series
- Part 11 of Zuko is loved