Zutara Week 2022 Day 6: Closeness

pov you're Darius

TFW when u and ur bf have the same bad taste 💕 [inspo]

I want a scene, post Azula reconciliation, where there's a quiet moment between her and Zuko and Iroh on Lu Ten's birthday when she starts laughing. She looks at Zuko and is like 'do you remember when Uncle and Lu Ten came back from Lu Ten's military training and we decided to jump him to test him?"

Iroh, who has not heard this story, is curious and confused as Zuko digs for the memory.

'Oh yeah! It was so late and we'd stayed up for hours! Mom sent us to bed but we wanted to stay up because' he looks at Iroh 'you were in your gift-giving phase and we wanted to see what you were going to bring us'

Azula continues the explanation to Iroh. 'We snuck into Lu Ten's room, we waited for HOURS.'

Iroh, bewildered but intrigued, nods. 'We had been delayed on our way home'.

'Right,' Azula continues. 'So we're almost asleep hiding behind Lu Ten's curtains and he FINALLY gets there. So we wait and then...'

Azula's giggles are punctured with a snort as Zuko continues the memory, looking at his sister as though it had been her idea, but he had been far too eager to see his cousin and play again.

'You charged and grabbed him; he screamed so loud. Then I tried to follow, but I had been tying knots in the curtain cords and got caught up and tore the whole thing off of the wall. We were all covered and couldn't see anything and you were still trying to fight him under the curtain-'

'While you were both screaming!!' Azula howls in laughter.

Iroh listens happily; beaming and very happy to hear an unheard tale.

Azula continues. 'He picked us up by our collars like it was nothing. I was still trying to fight. He puts us on the floor and says 'So help me Agni if you do that again I'll make sure Dad never has to buy gifts while on tour ever again.'

Iroh laughs at Azula's spot-on imitation if his late son.

Zuko laughs as well. 'But then we hugged him.'

'Oh he MELTED,' Azula adds. 'He hugged us back so tight. I... I think that had been the first hug we'd had in a while. We dogpiled in his bed and he told us stories until we passed out.'

'Which wasn't long.' Zuko says.

Iroh looks at the siblings as they reminisce; he wipes a tear and hugs them, hoping to emulate Lu Ten's hug that had once given them comfort they didn't know they needed.

'Thank you.' He says. 'He never shared that with me.'

'It... might not have seemed important.' Azula says, still getting used to hugs from her uncle. She awkwardly pats his arm as they part.

Iroh laughs. 'Or maybe he didn't want to admit to his father that he had been ambushed by children. But... often the things that may not seem important, in time, become the most special.'

Another Library!Zuko sketch dump + some Song ✨

You know how purple is considered a royal color IRL? In a Zutara AU, it earns that reputation because of them.

Zuko and Katara originally just wear robes of red and blue (Katara blue with red accents, Zuko red with blue accents) but over time they start requesting purple pieces of clothing, and are soon wearing lots of purple with some red and blue. Their kids grow up wearing mostly purple, and thus the next few Firelords, all with significant Water Tribe heritage wear purple. Then the Fire Nation transitions to a true democracy and the throne is abolished, and the living family fades into comfortable obscurity. However, by this time several generations grew up with the Firelord wearing purple. With the origins of its use by the throne, purple is soon used as a symbol in fiction for both power and love against all odds.

Thoughts on the idea of Zuko eventually learning to lightning bend post-series because he finally got to the point of being able to fully accept and move past all the awful shit that he went through?

Okay so once more disclaimer, i love how in the show Zuko did not have to learn lightning bending but instead was able to face his father by knowing how to redirect it. Anyhow, I love this idea and it put this scene in my head: 

It was a nice evening, and that despite the fact there was a great thunderstorm coming over Ba Sing Se. Or maybe especially because of that, since it was the reason that Zuko, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki and Toph had interrupted their tour through the town to seek refuge in the Jasmin Dragon together. Seeing his nephew surrounded by his friends, so  relaxed and always with a small smile on his face, never failed to make him happy as well. Iroh watched them from the door frame to the kitchen from where he had juts gotten new tea. Sokka was now pretending to bend the lightning that struck outside from time to time by snapping his fingers.

“You know, that is not how you actually lightning bend, right?” Zuko interrupted his little performance. 

“Well, my deepest apologies you highness if I put dishonor on your high art of beding lighting.” Sokka dramatically took a deep bow. “Would you care to enlighten us on the matter?”

Iroh smiled. Of course Sokka would ask that. That boy seemed to be curious about everything, and never seemed to stop until he fully understood how something worked. He would make a great member of the white Lotus one day, he thought.

“Well, I never said I could it myself. Uncle once tried to teach me but it literally just blew up in face because of my inner turmoil back then” For a moment, Zuko seemed lost in the memory of back then, and a trace of the old pain returned into his his eyes. It quickly vanished, however, as Katara softly put her hand on his shoulder, and he continued speaking new enthusiasm. “But in theory, if you were to do it, you would first have to divide the positive and negative energy to create an imbalance.”

“Like so?” Sokka made a motion that looked like his was slow clapping.

“No, more like this.” Zuko made the required circular motion with his arms “And then you would have to let them collide.” 

At first, Iroh could not believe his eyes. But suddenly, there it was, with no shadow of doubt. A small lightning, flickering around his nephews hands and dipping his surprised face in purple light. He closed his eyes for a moment as he felt tears in them. Yet, he could not prevent one from running down his cheek when he heard Zuko call him, proud like a little kid that had produced his first flame: “Uncle, uncle look! I can lightning bend!”

jetko + ao3 tags. tags from @ao3tagoftheday​

[IDs: five screenshots of jet and zuko from avatar accompanied by ao3 tags as captions. in the first image, jet and zuko are depicted from the legs up as they fight, in ba sing se. it is nighttime. they are back to back, fighting with their hook swords and dao swords respectively. the tag reads “there’s lots of fluff, but there’s also DUELS.” the second image is a wide shot of pao’s tea shop. jet and zuko are standing at opposite ends. both have their swords drawn and are in fighting stances. customers stand around the edges of the room where the tables are, looking on. the tag reads “a bi disaster and a gay disaster walk into a bar, that’s it that’s the story.” the third image is of jet and zuko in the doorway of a ship’s kitchen, ready to steal food. they are in wary, semi-crouched positions and they both have their swords drawn. the tag reads “arson as foreplay, we all knew this was coming.” the fourth screenshot shows jet and zuko standing next to each other at the train station in ba sing se. jet has his hands on his hips while zuko’s are at his side. the tag reads “less ‘opposites attract’ and more ‘two people from different sides of the asshole spectrum.’” the fifth screenshot is of jet and zuko duelling in ba sing se at nighttime. jet is holding his swords ready to parry, while zuko is swinging his own swords to attack. the tag reads “but there’s no romance here, maybe two percent romance, two percent romance and ninety eight percent REVENGE.” end ID]

A Long List of Trash Fire Lord Zuko Headcanons

...that i couldn't get out of my head:

(warning: SUPER LONG POST i havent figured out how to trim posts yet)

he's the one who unchains azula despite iroh's protests. she doesn't even try to fight him, just cries into his shoulder and keeps mumbling about how father's going to be so disappointed in her. he takes her to her rooms and has her drink a sleeping draught, then stations the best guards he has left outside her chambers.

his first council meeting takes place literally a day after sozin's comet. he hobbles into the council chamber shirtless with his entire torso covered in bandages and every council member just looks at him like '...what'

he does NOT sleep for like,,a week after sozin's comet and then another two weeks after his coronation. katara, aang and suki try to persuade him to sleep and he doesn't listen. eventually sokka, toph and mai team up to literally drag his ass to bed and tell him he's not allowed to get up until he sleeps (does mai pin him to the bed with her knives? yes. is it kinky or sexual in any way? definitely not.)

he drinks So. Much. Tea. at this point it's practically tasteless to him but he drinks it anyway because he just needs something to do and tea is something familiar. he keeps iroh on his toes because he's constantly asking for new tea blends, uncle, i think i actually tasted the last one,

he flat-out refuses to grow his hair for at least a year after ozai's defeat. the second it starts getting close to his chin he shears it off himself, with his knife, and his stylist has a heart attack every single time

when he's tired he'll occasionally jump up when one of his guards moves. it stops after a bit, but for the first month and a half or so he's really twitchy. when sokka asks, the only explanation he can come up with is that he's not used to having people stand behind him silently and not want to kill him, much less want to protect him (sokka immediately takes him out for a shopping trip and makes a point of walking behind him the entire time, but only on zuko's right side, where he can clearly see it if sokka moves towards him)

when the healer declares azula mentally unstable and in need of an institution, he shuts himself in his office for the rest of the night. no one's allowed in, not even iroh. he finally emerges in the morning, eyes red from crying and sleep deprivation, and tells the librarian that he'd like a list of the best mental institutions in the country, please, the best in the world if you can get them

he loves theatre (is this even a headcanon?). unfortunately it practically died out in the fire nation along with the rest of the creative arts, leaving nothing but small troupes like the ember island players. one of zuko's personal goals (meaning things he wants to accomplish that aren't as important as restoring his country) is to bring back theatre; he finally manages to do it after about eight months or so of being fire lord, along with other arts like dancing, music and sculpture

he establishes a national day of mourning, on the first day of autumn every year, to commemorate the genocide of the air nomads. from 100AG onwards, every calendar printed in the fire nation has it marked. at first it was called the day of repentance, but aang persuaded him to have it changed (by arguing that he didn't want guilt to be a literal staple of fire nation culture)

he introduces literally So Many educational reforms, plus a mandatory class that teaches students about the cultures of the other nations (air nomads included) and how some of their traditions overlap

he turns down the offer of having a statue put up of him in the capital. toph ignores him and does it anyway.

he visits azula regularly, makes sure she's (relatively) comfortable and well-fed, and sometimes just sits down outside her door and tells her about everything that's going on right now ('some of the far colonies have developed their own standardised writing, azula, you wouldn't believe it, and i've asked the fire sages to come visit more often—but you never liked them, did you? oh, well; i'll make sure none of them go into your chambers by mistake')

(he doesn't know it, but when he does this azula sits by the door and listens. she wonders what kind of writing the colonists have developed, and whether or not the fire sages have taken on some new recruits.)

he hates being above anyone else. never sits in the throne if he can help it, nor does he sit on the dais in the council room. when he talks to people shorter than him, he finds himself stooping a little bit to talk to them on their level (the exception to this rule is sokka, who he mocks for being shorter all the way up until sokka grows taller than him, the bastard)

the first time he visits the earth kingdom, the earth king's ministers call a toast. he ends up being the only one who has to sit out, because he's too young to drink by earth kingdom law

once his servants figure out he won't kill them for talking to him, they start becoming a lot more bold, telling him off when he doesn't take care of himself. at one point, they force him to let them take care of him so much that he literally just bolts into the gardens and hides there until the staff rope in mai and ty lee

when he needs to escape, he does one of two things: (a) he dresses up as the blue spirit and does some parkour until he calms down, or (b) he goes to work at the jasmine dragon. (b) happens less often bc the jasmine dragon's in ba sing se, but there's been a few memorable incidents when an earth kingdom diplomat walks in and yells, 'LEE?!' when they see the fire lord

the first court artist who draws him also happens to be the one who drew azulon and ozai. he draws zuko without his scar. zuko takes one look at it and tells him, very calmly, that he'd like him to leave, please.

zuko burns the portrait. he doesn't fire the court artist, but he never calls on him again unless he has to. a second court artist is called, and can't help but be a bit confused when the fire lord tells him to be sure to include the scar

he forgets the crown. a lot. sometimes he walks into council meetings in his sleepwear with his hair tied up in a messy ponytail and a bunch of scrolls tucked under his arm. none of his councilmen have the guts (or the heart) to tell him that this is not, in fact, formal council wear

he goes to feed the turtleducks when he's stressed. he thinks he's being subtle. he's not. the entire palace knows, and they consciously give him space when they see him in the turtleduck garden

most of his staff are older than him, so they look at him and see this teeny tiny fire lord who is So Small and who Must Be Protected. the day after zuko's coronation, the head chef holds a meeting where they commence Operation Do-Not-Let-That-Boy-Turn-Out-Like-His-Father (subsection He's-The-Only-Good-Thing-We-Have)

one night he wakes up to find suki sitting in his room, decked out in full kyoshi warrior garb and makeup, and just about screams blue murder. suki tells him there are suspicions of an assassin in the palace, and would you please stop yelling it's very distracting, we won't be able to hear anyone coming over that racket

zuko gets very, very paranoid of random spirits after that. yeah, suki looks like a possibly malevolent spirit when she's wearing her makeup, what about it? (when he tells sokka he's highkey terrified of spirit shenanigans, sokka just looks at him and says, 'man, the stories i could tell...', and THAT'S when zuko remembers sokka spent like six months more than he did travelling with the avatar)

on his first visit to the southern water tribe, he removes his boots and leg guards, rolls up his pants and kneels barefoot in the snow. even though chief hakoda immediately starts trying to pull him up, he's stubborn as hell and stays kneeling for the entirety of his very long, very sincere apology-on-behalf-of-the-fire-nation speech. he nearly loses his toes to frostbite after that, and both sokka and katara never stop giving him shit for it

the first time he grows a 'beard' is completely accidental. he's stressed over some trade miscommunications with chief hakoda, hasn't slept in a few days...and then when sokka arrives as water tribe ambassador to help smooth things over, he takes one look at zuko and says 'man, facial hair does not suit you'

zuko: facial what now

he checks a mirror to find that he's got stubble covering his chin, dark enough that it almost looks intentional, and holy gods how the fuck did he not notice this before

'UNCLE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME' 'i assumed you were doing it on purpose' 'WHEN HAVE I EVER DONE ANYTHING ON PURPOSE'

he shaves it all off immediately, of course, which prompts a lot of teasing and rib-poking from sokka until zuko finally snaps that he's scared it'll make him look like his father. sokka stops after that.

(the day after sokka leaves, zuko finds that a mysterious someone has scribbled all over ozai's royal portrait, giving him a frankly ridiculous beard and moustache that literally CANNOT be grown in real life. oddly enough, he can't bring himself to care about the defamation of royal property. he's too busy laughing.)

his paths cross with toph and sokka more than any of the others, because sokka is ambassador and toph is technically still a beifong. most of the time, at formal functions, he ends up sequestered in the corner with toph and a hoard of snacks, and they talk and swear much more than they usually do (zuko's ministers once heard him when he was drunk with toph, and the servants swear the older ministers' ears started bleeding)

he restores fire nation cultural festivals, and in doing so subjects himself to learning a lot of complicated dances

during one memorable week, he wrote so many letters and drafted so much legislation that he ran out of paper. he had to go visit the nearest school and ask for some

he keeps up with his firebending and sword training even though it's hard to fit into his schedule. his ministers refrain from reminding him that he has guards to protect him now; it's still hard for zuko to trust his safety with anyone but himself (team avatar is the exception).

he started sleepwalking about two months into his reign. no one knew why. one time, he nearly sleepwalked right off the edge of a balcony, and one of his guards had to grab him by the back of his robes.

the sleepwalking stopped after around a month and never happened again. at this point it's practically palace legend.

after freeing the war prisoners, he went around collecting every single earthbender-proof wooden cell he could find in the capital and surrounding areas. when he'd gotten most of them, he gathered them into a huge pile in the city square and set fire to them with his own hands.

unfortunately he couldn't do that with the waterbender metal cells but he did get toph to come in and bend them all into pretty shapes (well, toph thought they were pretty shapes. everyone else thinks they're meaningless squiggles)

he learned how to write with both hands at the same time out of sheer necessity (he refused scribes until it became clear that he'd be putting some people out of a job; that was when he started letting scribes write very, very minor things, but all important documents/drafts/letters are still written by him)

he once put the wet end of an ink brush in his mouth instead of the wooden end by mistake. didn't even realise until he bit down to keep it in place and ink went oozing everywhere

when his guards rushed in to find him coughing and spluttering black liquid all over his desk they thought he'd been poisoned but no he's just stupid

on his 17th birthday, his first one after being crowned, he got tackled by team avatar in the middle of the ballroom and ended up at the bottom of a cuddlepile for like ten minutes

this cuddlepile happened at an event that was very much public and very much formal. it was a scandal for weeks

just. fire lord zuko, guys. so much potential

Some of my Atla headcanons nobody asked for part 4:

Aang names every single animal he meets. He can see an insect chilling right next to him and be like "oh, hi Bob" or something

When Zuko told the Gaang about how he got his scar they all climbed on him and forced him to be hugged for a few (tearful) hours afterwards

Suki likes to draw and when Sokka finds out about it he definitely signs them up for these artistic dates or something

Toph made her statues herself

When Sokka admitted to his family that he forgot what Kya looked like everyone was utterly shocked and told him he's almost identical to her (yes, Sokka cried after hearing that)

After the war Iroh starts calling Zuko "son" instead of "nephew"

Zuko still can't get rid of the bad and scary burden the word "father" has so he still calls Iroh "uncle" but being called son by him makes him so so happy

Iroh has a tea blend for every member of the Gaang so when they come all exited and he can't catch what they order in between their conversations (or when they come sad and can't utter a word) he knows just what tea to make

its so funny how katara stays being the only person zuko doesn't yell at when they're rightfully mad at him.

zuko with everyone: 🤬😤😡🙄

zuko with katara: im sorry 🥺 thats something we have in common 😔 what can i do to make it up to you queen i waited outside your tent all night 😕