attackfish | Kindle the Wind (The Avatar! Zuko 'verse) commentfic meme

That's it, folks, I can't take it. In the hopes that maybe writing some of what I want to write will get me unblocked on the fic I'm trying to write, I'm giving in and running a commentfic meme for my Avatar!Zuko verse. Comment with up to five requests, and I’ll guarantee you at least one commentfic. I’ll probably answer with more, knowing me.

weirdlet ,

fanficforensics,

beboots, and

floranna get seven requests and a guarantee of two fics, because

beboots and

floranna are the best betas ever, and

weirdlet and

fanficforensics just because.

Also, the 'verse has a title now, Kindle the Wind!

Air, Water, Earth, Fire.

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished.

A hundred years passed and the new Avatar crashed into the ice sheet that borders our village. Although he is the Fire Nation prince, and it's his family and his nation that have brought this war to the world, I have hope that inside Zuko lies the spark of greatness. In the end, he has to save the world.

Front Cover Illustration

Timeline:

The Turtle-Crab and the Hawk
The first time Zuko struck a Fire Nation soldier in anger
Banner
Meeting Sokka and Katara
The joys of new bending
Zuko surprising himself by being spiritual and philosophical
Gran-Gran criticizing Uncle's parenting skills
Uncle Iroh finds out
Iroh has a talk with his nephew
Agni Kai against Zhao
Laying Aang to rest at the Southern Air Temple
Momo joins the Party
Sokka finds out the women on the ship aren't there to cook (and learns something, maybe)
Act of Providence
The Spinning Gates

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Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

"So where did Uncle say he was going?" Zuko asked testily.

"He just said he was going up to the temple," Katara said. Zuko's stomach rumbled. "You missed lunch, by the way."

He scowled at her. Sokka stepped back from the mural and poked his head down one of the hallways. "You didn't miss much," he assured him. "He brought no meat, just tea and these little cake things." Zuko scowled at him too. "So which way you think we should go?" Sokka asked, pointing around at the maze of corridors branching out from the entrance way.

Zuko tried to remember where they had gone two and a half years ago. They had spent weeks there, wandering around, with Zuko convinced that if he just stayed a little longer, looked a little harder, he would find the one clue that would lead him right to his quarry.

Uncle would probably have something wise and moving to say about him hunting his own self, and the very thought set his teeth on edge.

Zuko's ear twitched towards a faint chitter coming from down one of the corridors. "Hey, you guys hear that?"

Sokka slipped away from the mural and across the floor, to stand beside the Fire Prince and gaze into the dark hallway Zuko pointed into. "That doesn't sound like your uncle to me." He cocked his ear and drew his boomerang. "That sounds like... dinner!"

He took aim with the boomerang, angling it for the small shadow perched on the floor, but Katara yelled and grabbed his arm. "Sokka, you can't eat it, it's probably some kind of sacred creature!"

"Aww, Katara!" he cried, tearing after it. "You scared it off!"

"We're supposed to be looking for Uncle," Zuko hissed.

"Well it should be scared." Katara completely ignored him, taking off after her brother and the small creature. "You're trying to kill it!"

Sokka's head whipped around to shout at his sister. "This is why we don't take girls-" He bounced off Iroh's round belly and stumbled back, finishing the sentence almost inaudibly. "Hunting?"

Katara and Zuko caught up a moment later and Iroh beamed at them all. Huge lemur eyes blinked at them, terrified from around the general's leg. He bent down and held out his arm for the creature. "I see you have met my new friend."

Sokka's face heated guiltily, and Iroh favored him with a knowing smile.

~*~

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

On the trail down from the temple, where it was just low enough for trees to grow, but not low enough for them to thrive, a few stunted trees clung to the mountain face wind warped and waist high, bridging the space between bare rocks and tufts of grass and the true forest below. Zuko dove his hand into Uncle's picnic basket sulkily, still a little puzzled as to how he ended up carrying it. The leftover tea cakes were wrapped in thin, translucent pieces of rice paper, and he crumpled one of the wrappers in the bottom of the basket and pulled the cake out. If Uncle was saving the leftovers for anything, that was tough, because if he was going to carry the basket, he was going to get something out of it. He finished off the cake and shoved his hand back in for another one. And it brushed against paper a lot sturdier than his uncle's cake wrappers. His fingers wrapped around it and pulled it out.

It was a scroll. "Uncle, what's this?"

At the reproving tone, Iroh craned his neck to look back at him. "It's my idea," he smiled at his nephew. "For what we should tell your crew we were here for."

Zuko unrolled it. "An airbending scroll? Why would we want an airbending scroll?" There were reasons, of course, that his uncle would want him to have airbending scrolls, seeing as he was an airbender, sort of, but he just wanted to stop airbending, not make it worse. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration before opening the basket lid. "Why would we want six of them?"

Iroh's smile took a small, conspiratorial edge. "If you were bringing the Avatar to my brother, wouldn't you want to prove to him your captive really was the Avatar?"

"Yeah," Zuko said guardedly, glancing back and forth between the Water Tribe siblings.

"Then the Avatar will need to know a little airbending, just to show he can." Iroh folded his arms smugly.

"Uncle." Zuko tried not to growl. "The crew saw airbending at the South Pole. Thats how we knew the Avatar was there."

Iroh waved his hand. "An accident."

Zuko flushed.

"Besides, I am sure these scrolls will come in handy for something else as well." His uncle fell back to put a hand on his shoulder.

"So I guess one of us is really going to have to pretend to be the Avatar now," Sokka said thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Zuko grunted, trying to decide whether or not to shrug his uncle's hand off.

He slowed down to fall in beside Zuko and his uncle. On Iroh's shoulder, the lemur Uncle had found at the temple squeaked and launched himself at Katara to get away from her brother. "Well, you wouldn't get us the scrolls if we weren't cooperating, would you?" Reaching inside the basket, he snatched a cake and shoved it into his mouth. "And if we were cooperating, we would tell you which one of us it was."

Iroh shot Sokka a fond, almost proud look, and Zuko threw his uncle's hand off his shoulder, furious.

"So," Sokka went on. "That's settled. I'll pretend to be the Avatar."

"You?" Katara jeered. "You can't even bend anything! If anybody's going to pretend to be the Avatar, it's going to be me."

"Katara," he said slowly, like she was a child. "You're my little sister, and it's my job to protect you-"

"You think that mean's I'm not going to protect you too?" she fired back heatedly. "You think you can stop me?"

Iroh put his hand back on Zuko's shoulder and reached out his other one for Sokka. "If the Avatar were you, you would have told us long ago to keep your sister out of danger," he told the boy wryly.

Katara shot him a triumphant glance and grabbed the scrolls out of the basket. Zuko watched her march out ahead with them, and felt like he couldn't breathe again, because even if it worked, it wouldn't for long. They weren't trying to stop the crew from finding out, they were trying to put it off, and that never ever lasted.

~*~

When they had launched the steamer back into the water and heaved themselves on board, Zuko stepped back into the cabin to take the helm, but Iroh held up his arm to stop him. "No Nephew, you get some rest. I will guide us back."

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

This isn't universe canon, but it sort of attacked me while I was rereading "Hide the Battleship", so I'm inflicting it on you. Best I've been able to figure is that if it did happen, it would be a few years post Sozin's comet, after Mai started letting her husband hitch rides on Fire Navy ships because he doesn't have an Appa.

~*~

"Never get drunk and try to talk to your past lives." The Avatar and former prince tried to gesticulate, but he couldn't even point straight.

Jee ducked to keep from being hit in the head. The kid was staggering even with him there to lean on, and he supposed he should have more sympathy, but really...

"Unless you I don't know, want to have a bunch of dead people make fun of you."

"Huh?" Jee blinked at him, nonplussed.

"I mean Lu's just mean, and Roku, where does Roku get off making fun of anybody after what he-" Zuko yawned hugely and let his head sink to his chest. His breath came into his nose in a kind of bubbly snore, and Jee shook him awake, suddenly terrified that he was going to be stuck there for hours in the hallway, with the Avatar sound asleep and leaning on him. Zuko's eyes blinked open, and incongruously, picked up where he had left off. "Did."

Jee didn't think he remembered Zuko ever being that talkative when he was drunk before, but then he wasn't entirely sure he could remember him ever having gotten drunk at all, in the nearly three years he had been stuck serving on the brat prince's ship. Though given the amount of time the prince had spent sulking in this cabin, it was possible he had gotten drunk in private. It was too late to be thinking about this. He was supposed to be in his nice Captain's bunk, enjoying his promotion.

Zuko lurched forward, peering muzzily through the darkness, trying to spot his cabin. "And then Kyoshi said I was a very stupid boy, but she liked me anyway, and I could go to sleep in her lap if I wanted, and she started petting my hair like I was five, and it was really weird."

Jee found the right door for him and opened it one handed, the other keeping a tight grip on the former prince. The war was over, they had found the Avatar, there was someone new on the Dragon Throne, and Jee wanted to gag at how little things had changed, especially now that he was stuck with Zuko on his ship, however briefly. Zuko looked alarmingly green as Jee helped him into bed and pulled the cover up around the kid's neck. He found a bucket in the corner that the Avatar had been tossing the failed drafts of letters to different world leaders into earlier that day, and Zuko held onto the brim weakly for a moment before vomiting into the balls of paper. Jee shut the door behind himself as he left.

"I don't think Aang has the right to make fun of me until he's gotten drunk himself," Zuko yelled shrilly through the door. He sounded like he was about to cry. Jee thought he might join him.

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

:D Poor Jee, it never ends. Why did Zuko get drunk here in the first place? Jee should have gotten drunk along with him. To celebrate his promotion.

Kyoshi, you letch. Sounds like the past lives will enjoy this new amusing Avatar.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Part of the reason this is non-canon was that I just couldn't figure out a good reason for Zuko to be drunk. Maybe it's his daughter's second birthday, and he's stuck at sea and convincing himself that he's a terribe father?

That's actually Kyoshi's utterly failed attempt at being maternal. She's 230. To her, everybody under 40 looks like a baby. If I could figure out how to fit it in, Kyoshi trying to mother someone and being mistaken for coming onto them would be a running joke.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Since they aren't going to Kyoshi Island, this serves a similar narrative purpose, so I'm considering is an answer to 3... sort of.

Meanwhile, the prince is in his cabin trying to meditate, which in Zuko-speak translates to sitting in front of a bunch of candles with his eyes closed and panicking.

~*~

Sokka poked the sharp edge of his boomerang and ran the whetstone over it one last time, just to put off acknowledging to himself that there really was nothing for him to do. Back in the village, it had never occurred to him that traveling the world, among his enemies, with the undercover Avatar would be this boring.

He blew the strands of hair that had escaped from his wolftail out of his face and pushed his way through the mess hall doors. "So, anybody feel up to sparring with the best warrior in the South Pole?"

Katara looked up at him from where she sat across from General Iroh at the pai sho table and burst out laughing. Sokka glowered at her.

"So how about it, boys?" Sokka cocked his head with a grin. "Any of you think you can take me on?"

One of the firebenders tried to stand up, but the lieutenant, who had been sitting next to him, grabbed his arm and pushed him back down. Then one of the soldiers stood up and smirked contemptuously back at him. "Idiot." She picked her helmet up off the table and walked over to him. "If you really want somebody to put you back into place that badly, I'll do it for you."

"Miki." The general blinked at her calmly. "My nephew will not tike it if you harm the Avatar's brother and give her a reason to blow us out of the water."

The blood leached out of Katara's face.

"Aww, I won't hurt him," Private Miki pouted, eyes gleaming. "Much. Maybe just bruise him a little."

"No way. I'm not the kind of guy who beats up girls." Sokka glanced around the room, daring anybody to disagree.

She smiled, showing off her teeth. "You scared, Water Tribe?"

He laughed. "Please, there's no way I'm ever going to be scared of a girl."

Her brow furrowed. "I'm not a girl, I'm a woman, and what does that have to do with anything anyway?"

"Real men don't fight women," he explained slowly. In the back of his mind, he wondered, a little insulted, if the Fire Nation really thought so little of their enemies that their girls thought they could take them on. "we're just better fighters. It wouldn't be fair."

"Yeah, I hear a lot of the Earth Kingdom thinks that way too," one of the firebenders said, mouth full of noodles. "No wonder we're winning the war."

"Pipe down, Hoshi," Miki told her without heat. "Seriously kid? Your sister's the Avatar."

"That doesn't count!" especially because they were lying about that, and she was just his twerpy sister. "That's weird bending spirit stuff. You're just a girl."

Her lip curled. "Don't worry, Water Tribe, I wouldn't have offered to spar with you if I wasn't sure I could kick your butt.

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "You're on."

The lieutenant put his head in one hand. "If you damage him, Private, you'll be cleaning out latrines for a month."

"Don't worry. He can handle himself," Miki scoffed. "Can't you, tough guy?"

He bowed to her mockingly. "Shall we take this outside?"

"After you, Water Tribe."

Iroh carefully unfolded his legs and hauled himself to his feet. "I think it would be a good idea if we resumed our game later, young Avatar, and went up to the deck to keep an eye on those two."

Katara was on her feet in an instant, pressing through the crush of crew members eager to see the show. "She won't hurt him, will she?"

Iroh joined her, and the crew parted for him. "Not seriously."

Katara didn't feel very reassured.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

The crew followed them up the staircase and out onto the deck, and Iroh pulled Katara over to the small table he sat at when he watched Zuko train. When the crew tried to ring the fighters, Iroh sat down and spread his arms wide. "Move over so an old man can see."

The crew members in front of them shuffled to the side, sheepishly.

Sokka held his boomerang high. "Choose your weapons!"

The crew, seeing the boomerang, broke ranks and hurdled for safe vantage points outside of his zone of fire. Sokka let his chest puff out a little. At least they respected his skills.

"Don't need any, tough guy," Miki shot back, bringing her hands up. "I can take you with my bare hands."

"Your funeral." Sokka smirked at her and took aim.

She stepped forward, grabbed his wrist, twisted the boomerang out of his hands, and drove him down to his knees. "I wouldn't start gathering the mourners yet if I were you."

"Hey, no fair," he howled as she let him up. "I wasn't ready!"

"You're never going to be ready, kid," she sighed theatrically. "But if you want to go again..."

He grasped his boomerang tightly and ground his teeth. "Let's do this."

And that was the only warning he gave her. The boomerang flew true, straight for her head, but she ducked and grabbed his outstretched wrist. Stepping forward, she hooked her foot behind his and pushed him over it. He overbalanced. She smiled at him, and Sokka smiled back, because he knew that boomerangs came back. But then suddenly, she pulled him up and around, and the boomerang did come back, right into the back of Sokka's skull. He yelped as he felt the blade slide over his scalp.

Miki let him fall down at last as the boomerang clattered to the deck. "I want you to know, I am a soldier of the Fire Navy, and I can face up to anyone or anything, and if you and your people are stupid enough to underestimate me because I've got breasts, it's their own fault, and I won't go easy on them."

"You cheated," Sokka gasped still lying on his side on the metal deck. "I don't know how, but you cheated."

She offered him her hand, and when he took it reluctantly, she pulled him to his feet. "You really want to go again? It's your choice."

He rubbed his hand over the place that the boomerang blade had sliced into his scalp. It was a glancing blow, almost a scratch, but it stung. "You used my boomerang. I thought you said you didn't need a weapon to take me on."

She refrained from pointing out how quickly she had gotten the boomerang away from him before. "Fine, I won't hit you with your own boomerang this time, I promise."

Keeping his eyes on her, he picked his boomerang up off the deck and held it, ready to throw as she sank into a fighting stance. He let it fly.

She ducked to the side and circled around him, but he circled too, keeping her away from his back as she drew closer and closer. When she was close enough, he punched at her, but she just blocked and wrapped her hand around the outside of his wrist. Before he had even realized what was happening, she had him lifted onto her shoulders and thrown down to the deck. The boomerang sailed back over both their heads and dropped into the ocean.

As the boomerang bobbed on the waves Katara darted over to the ship's rail and slowly and carefully made a new wave for the boomerang to ride closer to the ship. When it came close enough, she pulled her hands up and raised a tiny ball of water with the boomerang inside, the way she had with a fish once, back home. The boomerang splashed onto the deck, and Katara grabbed it.

Miki sank her knee into her opponent's back and pressed down on the back of his hand with her thumbs. "Give up yet?"

"No w-" she applied just a little more pressure. "Okay, okay, I give up, just-"

She let his arm go, but before she could stand back up, she caught sight of the blood seeping from the cut on the back of Sokka's head. "What's this from?"

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

"Oh nothing," he yelled sarcastically, trying to figure out how to turn his arm around without dislocating it. "Just that boomerang you hit me with!"

"Don't lie to me, Water Tribe, this was made by something with a blade."

"Yeah, it's a boomerang." He rolled his eyes. "Of course it's got a blade."

She stared at him, and blinked, and stared again. When she opened her mouth, she started yelling. "Wait, you threw a crazy bladed flying spinning thing at me in a practice fight? What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" he shouted shrilly. "You're the one who spun me around and let me get hit with my own weapon! It could have taken my head off, it could have-"

"That's my point!" Her mouth hung open. "I'm glad that thing landed in the water, because otherwise, I would have to throw it overboard anyway."

Katara quickly hid the boomerang behind her back and sat back down.

Miki sent him a look brimming with disgust. "Ugh, who cares anyway, it's gone. I'm going to get something to eat."

As she headed back to the mess hall, the rest of the crew meeting her as she went for back slaps and high fives, Sokka picked himself up and slunk over to his sister and General Iroh. "Can't believe I just got beaten by a girl," he mumbled, voice taking on a whine.

"Three times," Katara reminded him helpfully.

Iroh shook his head, shoulders shaking with laughter. "Someday you are going to meet my niece, and if you survive, maybe you will even learn something."

"Ugggh," he moaned.

"I have something that'll make you feel better." She pulled the boomerang out from behind her back.

"Boomerang!" he crowed, hugging it to his chest. "You do always come back!"

"Excuse me, she interrupted. "Boomerang had a little help from someone."

He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her hair. "Thanks, little sis."

Taking advantage of Sokka's distraction, Iroh plucked the boomerang out of his grasp. "Private Miki is right. You cannot be trusted with edged weapons until you understand that you should not throw them at people in practice." When Sokka opened hos mouth to speak, the general raised his finger. "But if you promise not to steal it back, I will show you where we keep the practice weapons."

~*~

Hefting the bamboo sword up over his shoulder, Sokka walked out onto the deck. Private Miki had one of the practice spearsand was whielding it against one of the Komodo rhino riders. He had knocked her helmet off, but she had him backed up against the command tower. She let the man go when she spotted Sokka. "You come back so I can kick your butt again?"

"No, I uh," he rubbed the back of his head. "I was hoping you could teach me some moves?"

Her eyes shifted awkwardly. "Well, I don't think I'm allowed to teach you how to fight, given that you're supposed to be our enemy and all."

His face fell. "Oh."

She held her spear one handed as she patted him on the shoulder. "But I don't think anybody'll mind if you stay here and watch."

"And maybe," Sokka hesitated. "After a while, join in?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah, maybe."

From:

wolfs-lament.livejournal.com

I understand why they wouldn't go to Kyoshi island, so it's good to see Sokka learning that yes, girls can fight from someone. Considering they'll (possibly) be on the ship for a while, does that mean he becomes a bit of a better fighter than in the series?

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

That little bit of character development had to happen, or there would be hell to pay later, like when Sokka does meet Iroh's niece and she makes him into Sokka barbeque.

I can't answer that. There are things you must not know!

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

I think Zuko has plenty of reasons to be drunk, he just needs someone who'll make him drink ;) Bad idea, Jee.

Maternal Kyoshi... No. Not really.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Yes, he isn't usually the sort who takes the initiative with that sort of thing.

Well it's possible. We know she had a daughter.

From:

wolfs-lament.livejournal.com

Yeah, I can imagine Zuko and co would have enough trouble trying to hold Azula off without Sokka insisting he can take her and almost getting himself killed.

I'll look forward to finding out, then. Sorry I keep asking things that shouldn't be answered.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Zuko: How do I get myself into these situations?

You already know too much. Now you shall never be allowed to leave!

From:

weirdlet.livejournal.com

Awwww

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

The family is coming together!

From:

somariel

If you're still taking requests for this, I have one:

Zuko learns of Roku's history with Sozin and his own non-Avatar-y connection to Roku.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Yes, I am still taking requests!

Two things though, first, I'm filling the requests pretty much in timeline order (so book 1, then 2, then three, and so on) so it'll probably be a while before I get to this one. Also, you get five requests. I'm kind of lacking requests for books two and three, and pre-canon, so if you wouldn't mind helping out with that...

From:

somariel

As long as you do get to it, I don't care how much time it takes. I just love the 'verse and am happy to help with it.

I know I get five requests, I just wanted to get the first one up while I remembered it.

I actually copy-pasted all of the prompts given here into a Word document to make sure I didn't repeat one, so if you want me to, I could go through that and organize it by book, then send it to you.

Finally, I came up with a second prompt - Zuko meets Ran and Shaw - and a third that I don't know if you'll actually take - Ursa figures out Zuko's Avatar status shortly before Lu Ten's death.

Edited Date: 2012-06-08 08:53 pm (UTC)

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

I already made a list of all of the prompts I plan to fill in chronological order. It's functioning as a sort of outline. Thanks for the offer, though.

(I definitely won't be answering the third, sorry)

From:

somariel

(I definitely won't be answering the third, sorry)

That's okay. I knew you might not take that one

From:

somariel

Fourth prompt: Jet learns Zuko is the Avatar

From:

gamiel.livejournal.com

IROH: How do you know so much about swallows?
SOKKA: Well, you have to know these things when you're the meat and sarcasm guy, you know.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

*giggles* I love that movie so much.

*makes note to self to write more Sokka and Iroh*

From:

somariel

Fifth prompt: Mai's first meeting with Kuei as Firelady Regent, with Zuko mediating. Having the Council of Five complaining about Mai and Zuko's relationship biasing Zuko would be a nice bonus.

Edited Date: 2012-06-21 09:29 pm (UTC)