Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warnings:
Fandom:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 2 of Moonheart's avatar fics
Stats:
Published:
2024-09-09
Updated:
2025-09-14
Words:
1,924
Chapters:
4/?
Comments:
19
Kudos:
47
Bookmarks:
3
Hits:
782

The Fire Goes Out

Summary:

In, Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth, toph comes to the rescue and saves zuko from losing his bending. But what if she wasn't there?

 

Also if you've never read what I'm referring to go read it, it's by AlltheFandoms_tooManyShips and it's amazeballs, they are a great author.

Story starts at the end of chapter 2 of Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth, after katara leaves zuko in the dark.

 

Updates every now and then

Notes:

If you haven't read Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth by AlltheFandoms_tooManyShips please read that first, it will make more sense to this story.
Story starts at the end of chapter 2 of Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth, after katara leaves zuko in the dark.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

“One more day without the sun Katara and you are as good as killing me.” he didn't think it would work, but it was worth a shot.

Katara simply ignores him and struts out of the room, the sun coming through the door for a split second before the stone comes up and he is without Agni once more.

He begins to cry, sobs wracking his thin, frail body, as his connection to Agni slips away forever. He muffles his cries in the shirt he had taken off all those days prior. He holds out his hands, as if willing Agni's power back, he can't even create a spark. He's pathetic. He drifts in and out of sleep for the next few hours, but eventually wakes up to light pouring in through the entrance, he almost chuckles at the irony of it, just a few hours earlier and he would have been saved from this cold, cruel curse, he takes a look at who it is. Its the avatar and his friends, with katara standing protectively in the front.

"We've been talking it over," katara starts, "and we decided to let you teach Aang." She doesn't seem happy about what she's saying.

"I'm sorry" is all zuko can manage.

"What do you mean you're sorry?" Aang asks wearily.

"I can't teach you, avatar, I'm sorry." Katara looks enraged at that sentence.

"What do you mean you won't teach him?!" She yells, and zuko recoils as if he'd been hit, "You practically begged us to let you, and now you're suddenly to good to teach Aang?!"

"No, that's not what i-" he protests weakly, but she doesn't listen.

"And on top of all that-" that's all she can say before toph cuts in.

"He didn't say won't, he said can't!" The others don't seem to know what she means by that, and give each other confused looks, "he said he can't." Then they all turn to zuko.

"It's gone..." He eventually rasps out, "Agni is gone"

They don't know how to react to that, and just look more confused.

"If you had asked just a few hours ago, I would have said yes," his voice is horse, and scratchy, "but I can't, I'm sorry"

"dude," sokka is the first to speak, "what are you talking about?"

“Do you know where a firebender pulls their strength from?” zuko asks weakly.

"Yeah, the sun." Aang replies.

"Too long without the sun and we begin to weaken, too long and our fire can extinguish. Once we reach that point, we are as good as dead. Too weak to work, unable to make a flame unless we find someone to care for and support us we will just waste away.” zuko explains, trying to stand up, "I've lost my fire, I'm sorry I'm no longer of use to you."

"Your lying!" Is the first response he hears, of course it's from katara, "we would do that to you! We're not fire nation!"

"He's not lying " toph states, quivering.

Somewhere in the world iron feels a piece of him fall away.

Chapter 2: Dealing with your former fire bender

Summary:

Hakoda is here, because yes. I give no explanation for why he is here, he just is.

Notes:

This story is cringe! Why are you reading it?!!!?!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

When the avatar eventually lets him out, zuko decides he isn't needed, and starts packing his belongings. He makes it about half way through before he feels a hand on his shoulder, a Big hand. It startles him, and he jumps back. the person is on his blind side, so he can't tell who it is. The hand is as big a Ozai's. Since when were there adults in the group? At some point he had stopped breathing, but he didn't notice, all he knew was that an adult was probably here to punish him, for something.

He then starts laughing, Ozai wasn't here! How could he be, when zuko was at the air temple, hundreds of miles away from the fire nation.

 

–————

Hakoda had no clue what was happening, first he saw a kid that he had never seen before sifting through a bag, then when he tapped said child's shoulder, to get his attention the kid started having a panic attack! Then, much to his surprise the kid started laughing, a very creepy laugh.

"Hey, kiddo? Are you ok?"

The kid isn't responding, instead, he's crying.

—————

Just thinking about the home he can never go back to make him cry, he thinks he can distantly hear people talking, but he's to immersed in his thoughts to care. Uncle's never going to forgive him for ba sing se, he has no home, thinking about that makes him cry harder, he can hear voices again, and is suddenly aware he can't breathe. He takes in hiccuping breaths

Looking around he sees sokka and a man he's never seen before, he assumes that man is the one who touched him. Sokka says something he can't make out, and the man grabs him roughly by the shoulders. Had they decided to kill him? Throw him into the canyon? There's anger in his eyes, anger that reminds him all too much of Ozai. Fresh tears fall, but he makes no sound, fearing being punished for crying like Ozai did. The man is saying something now, the man is talking to him. The anger in his eyes seemingly burning hotter than the god who had left him.

"I-im s-sorry" he doesn't know what he's apologizing for but apparently it's pitiful enough for the man to let go.

—————

The minute sokka tells Hakoda who the boy was anger fills his entire being, this was prince zuko, the boy who had chased his children, and the avatar all over the world. He grabbed the child, not noticing the fear in his eyes, focusing on what the boy had done. He begins yelling at the prince. He wanted to hurt the prince, kill him even, he told the prince all of this. Then he saw them, the tears, the scars shaped like fingers, the vulnerability.

Then the prince spoke a stuttering apology "i-im s-sorry" hakoda softened and put the boy down, while his son just stood there and watched.

Notes:

Why are you reading this?? It's cringe!!

Chapter 3: Dealing with your traumatized fire bender

Summary:

Little zuzu's panic attack

Notes:

Sry, short chapter, I have another wip I need to write.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Zuko couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't see! He needed to escape, but he can't move, were they going to kill him? He didn't realize he was clawing his neck until a pare of big hands grab his, big like Ozai's. Ozai was here to kill him, to scar his other side, to end his pathetic life, as he should have all those years ago when his mom left. 

Everything hurt, his hands were being held away from him and he couldn't move. He didn't know what to do. He wished he had uncle, he wished he hadn't betrayed Uncle in ba sing se, he hoped uncle wouldn't morn him when he died. He cried at the thought of uncle. uncle probably hated him now, he'll never be forgiven.

The person holding his hands was taking, it sounded as deep as Ozai's voice. It must be Ozai, so he started begging not to be hurt. Maybe father will be forgiving this time. He begs not to beZuko hurt, to just go back to his cell.

he wished mother was here

He cried and begged, to die a swift death, to not be tortured any longer. The voice was suddenly soft, maybe he would die swiftly. Maybe he would have that mercy.

There was a hand coming towards his face, it wasn't flaming, but then again neither was Ozai's at first. So he chomped his teeth at it, he was doused in water for that.

Everything in his brain was getting fuzzy, he couldn't think straight, and then, there was nothing.

Notes:

Did you enjoy? Comment weather or not you did.

Chapter 4

Summary:

Toph is here now, she can kill the bad guys

Notes:

My writing style has changed now, pls don't hate me T^T

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

                  Toph could feel the stampede of a heartbeat from all the way across the temple, so she knew that whatever was happening, it was bad. It could be Azula attacking, or maybe someone was seriously hurt. She immediately rushed over, not bothering to be careful about the temple, she knew Aang would berate her for that later, but this was probably an emergency, so it was fine for now. Toph broke down any wall in her way and as she got closer, she felt Sokka and Katara's dad, and Sokka himself, standing over the heartbeat she had felt a few moments ago.

                 The heartbeat was zuko, the zuko who had just had his bending taken from him by the group's carelessness. Zuko who was on the ground apologizing over and over again simply for existing. To say that Toph was outraged was an understatement, "What the F***k, Sokka?!" She yelled, drawing attention away from Zuko, "Don't you have Any common sense?!" She aught to put a block through his head, but she put that off for the moment and turned to Hakoda, "Don't you think Sparky has enough trauma with father figures?!"

                Sokka stammered some pathetic excuses, but Toph wasn't listening, she had already turned her attention to Zuko, lifting him in a rock chair and taking him away. She didn't know how to calm someone from something like this, so she just started talking, "Honestly, how idiotic can you get? Not even the baby badgermoles were ever this stupid. Did I ever tell you about them? I named the mama badgermole Jade, and I named the papa Grass, they were both really nice and helped me learn how to earth bend. The babies were something different though, they always played rough but they knew how to have a good time." Toph dragged the rock chair with her as she walked, until they got to zuko's assigned room, and she talked the whole way, "My first earth rumble, I was Ten, I lost, of course, but I had the time of my life doing it."

                 Eventually, this method worked, Zuko started to calm down, and he wasn't hyperventilating anymore, his heartbeat started to slow, so it wasn't so overbearing, and he actually listened to some of what she was saying. A little after he calmed down, he interrupted her, "I'm sorry, you had to take time out of your day to help me."

                 Of course, Toph wasn't gonna let that slide, she saved him of her own volition and it was no burden. "It's fine, Sparky, those assholes were just being mean." She punched him in the shoulder, affectionately, of course.

"First, ow, second, sparky?" Zuko said, rubbing his arm where she punched him, "I'm not exactly a fire bender anymore." He pointed out.

"Well," Toph said, "it's that, or grouchy."

"Those are both bad choices." Zuko pointed out, standing up so he could pack up and leave.

Toph put a stop to that pretty quickly though, "Where do you think you're going?" She used the rock seat and her earth bending to pull him back into the seat, "we're not done talking."

Zuko sighed, "I'm going to leave. I'm not wanted here, Hakoda made that pretty evident."

Toph was practically Fuming at this point, "didn't you say that, unless you find someone to care for and support you, you'll just waste away?" She threw his own words back in his face.

He hung his head and sighed, "yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" He ruffled her hair and tried to stand up again, but he was stopped, again.

"Nope, you're not leaving until we figure out how to get your fire working again." Toph insisted, using earth bending to push him down, now way was he going to die on her watch.

They both pondered in silence for a few moments, brainstorming, before Zuko spoke, "I guess there might be one thing we can try."

Notes:

Sorry it's short, I wrote this at 2 am. (⁠╯⁠ರ⁠ ⁠~⁠ ⁠ರ⁠)⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

Notes:

Pls leave a comment and thank you for reading this far <3

Series this work belongs to: