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

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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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Zuko recoiled as if he had been struck. "I haven't found anything. It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago." And it didn't matter that he had been reborn, Zuko told himself. He would never betray his country. "Come on, Uncle, we're going."

He stood up and marched towards the tent flap, but before he could reach it, Zhao's guards crossed their spears to bar the way in front off him.

Another soldier with a lieutenant's insignia walked up behind them, holding his helmet under one arm. "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko has the Avatar in custody." The man smirked and lifted up the tent flap to show off his two struggling captives in Water Tribe blue. "I brought his prisoners with me if you wish to interrogate them."

"Now, remind me." Zhao came up behind him to whisper in his ear. "How exactly was your ship damaged?"

"The Avatar blew us into an iceberg," Iroh interrupted hurriedly as Zhao's guards backed Zuko back into his chair. "That's how we found the two of them."

"Two of them?" Zhao mocked. "There's only ever one Avatar, General Iroh."

"Someone airbended our ship into that ice sheet," Zuko began truthfully. "They were the only other people around. It had to be one of them."

"So you crashed into an iceberg, and you assumed the Avatar must have done it to you," Zhao scorned, failing badly to hide his disappointment. "You're more pathetic than I thought."

"Sir," the Lieutenant cut in. "The crew confirms that there was definitely airbending."

Iroh stepped between his nephew and the commander. "I saw it myself."

Zuko pushed himself to his feet. "I demand your soldiers escort them back to my ship immediately."

"Why should I?" Zhao asked him as the guards shoved him back down. "You haven't even managed to figure out which one of them is the Avatar. Getting them to the Fire Nation is too important to leave in a teenager's hands, especially yours."

"Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the Avatar for two years and I-" Zuko couldn't let Zhao take them. How long would it be before he figured out that neither of them were the Avatar? how long before one of them cracked and told Zhao who really was? He could feel the sweat gathering at the back of his neck and beading up on his brow. "My father gave me the job of hunting for the Avatar. If you don't think I can do it, go take it up with him."

Zhao patted Zuko's bald head. "Oh don't worry, Prince Zuko. He doesn't think you can either." Zuko snorted fire out of his nose.

"Careful, Zhao," Iroh warned.

"Why should I coddle him, General?" Zhao tipped Zuko's chin up, and Zuko jerked out of his grasp. "The rest of the world already knows the Firelord just wanted to get rid of him. It's time somebody gave him a taste of the truth." He grabbed Zuko's chin again. "Though how you could have missed the way your father feels about you when you have the scar to prove it-"

Shoving him back, Zuko shot to his feet with a shout. "Maybe you'd like one to match!"

Zhao scrambled back to his feet and brought his face down until it almost touched the Prince's. "Is that a challenge?"

"An agni kai," Zuko hissed. "At sunset."

"Very well." Zhao stepped back. "It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle will do." As he stepped out of the tent, he paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Let's let the prisoners watch. I'm sure they'll enjoy this."

~*~

After the guards had followed Zhao out and they were alone in the tent, Iroh took a sharp breath. "Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

"I will never forget." Zuko closed his eyes.

Iroh came closer, his voice harsh and very quiet. "And what happens if you airbend at him?"

Zuko's hands clenched. "I can't let him have them, Uncle."

"I know," Iroh told him. "Don't do anything foolish."

It was, Zuko figured, a little too late for that.

~*~

Zuko crouched on the edge of the fort's parade ground, acutely aware of the eyes of the soldiers present, and the Water Tribe teens held off to the side. Iroh stood in front of him. "Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons."

His uncle's unspoken words, Zuko's firebending basics, not his airbending ones were not unheard. He shivered. He looked up. "I refuse to let him win."

He stood up and turned around, letting the ceremonial shoulder wrap fall to the ground, watching as Zhao did the same. "This will be over quickly," Zhao told him.

The gong rang out, and Zuko fell into his stance, sweeping his hands down to gather fire. Zhao blocked with a grin as Zuko sent fireball after fireball his way, and Zuko kicked hard in fury, more frustrated than ever as Zhao dodged the blast.

Crouching low, Zhao sent a line of fire toward's Zuko's feet, and he darted out of the way clumsily. "Basics, Zuko," his uncle called to him. "Break his root!"

"Break his face!" Sokka shouted. The soldier holding him cuffed him in the back of the head, and Sokka retaliated, kicking his shin.

Zhao's lips quirked up. He stepped forward and punched fire straight at Zuko's face. He blocked, but the blast forced him back, and Zhao stepped forward and punched again, and again, and again, until Zuko fell flat on his back, staring up at the setting sun.

Zhao stalked forward, to deliver the final blow. Zuko saw the fire coe for his face, for his one good eye, and his mouth opened, ready to scream. Without thinking about it, he rolled over onto his hands, and kicked out in a circle.

Wind ripped through the parade ground, and Zhao's fireblast struck harmlessly against the dirt. Zuko swallowed with fear, but the other man didn't even seem to notice that when he went down, Zuko's foot hadn't been touching him. He leapt back to his feet, and Zuko slid his foot out, kicking up fire at Zhao's own feet. Zhao stumbled back, and Zuko slid forward again, and as Zhao reeled back, Zuko kicked out, flames leaping from his foot. Zhao fell back, tumbling in the dust.

Zuko drew close, fist raised.

"Do it!" Zhao roared, and Zuko punched out- only to leave the ground next to Zhao's head smoking instead of his sneering face. "That's it?" the commander raged. "Your father raised a coward."

Zuko's lip curled. "Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back."

As he turned to leave, Zhao shot to his feet and kicked out with a shout. The flames died unborn when Iroh caught the foot in midair and shoved the commander back to the ground. Zuko bellowed with rage and turned back to charge the cheating dirty-

His uncle's arm came up to hold him back. "No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory." Iroh let him go and stepped over to Zhao. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat. Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you." He paused. "Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious."

Zuko tried not to smile. "Did you really mean that, Uncle?"

"Of course," Iroh said with a small grin. "I told you ginseng tea is my favorite."

They walked together to the edge of the parade ground where the guards had been keeping the Water Tribe teens captive. Sometime during the Agni Kai, Katara had pulled free of the guards' grasp and had grabbed onto the back of one of the guards holding her brother. As Sokka kicked and bit, Katara pounded the guard's back with her fists. Zuko stared.

"We will be taking the prisoners off your hands now," Iroh said, pursing his lips to keep from laughing.

The guards let go quickly. Katara swung down from the man's back and strode over to her brother. Before they turned to follow Zuko, they stuck their tongues out at Zuko's men.

As they walked together out of the fort, Katara remembered something Zuko had said on the ship. "So, if that's bad firebending, what does good firebending look like?"

Sokka's eyes bugged out. "Wait, that's bad firebending? The world is doomed."

"I will let you in on a little secret about my nephew," Iroh said. "He is better than he thinks."

Zuko tried not to smile under the praise.

Ooh, I loved this :D! So many parts I liked. The part where Sokka and Katara go looking for candy, the Agni Kai (Zuko should consider himself lucky that Zhao didn't notice the accidental airbending), Katara attempting to defend her brother by attacking the guard...
I agree that Zuko is better than he thinks. It's just that he's usually up against prodigies like Azula and Aang.
I think there's just 1 little mistake: "Before they turned to follow Zuko, they stuck their tongues out at ZUKO'S men." Shouldn't it be ZHAO's men?

*headdesk* yes it should be Zhao's men. Oops.

Zuko should be on his knees thanking the spirits that Zhao is an unobservant blowhard. Also, Zuko will get his chance to be a prodigy at water and earth, and it will Freak Him Out.

Yeah, do not mess with the water sibs. What they lack in skills at this point, they make up for with love, commitment, and a tenacity that nearly rivals Zuko's.

Okay, I WANNA READ THAT. I WANNA READ THE FRAKING OUT.

*freaking, not frakking. Even if that would be awesome too. ^^'

I have watched too much Battlestar Galactica...

I'm a political science student, so fracking means something else to me: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

And frakking means fucking in BSG universe.

I know. There are a lot of scifi geeks in polisci, and whenever it's brought up, everybody starts giggling, proving that we are all still twelve-years-old.

It's not quite as bad as the time my law class had to debate whether a certain act of prostitution counted as intercourse (as in economic intercourse). That was just sad.

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