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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

Yay! Trying to think of a title.

1. Zuko tells Uncle
2. Agni Kai against Zhao
3. Does Roku tell Zuko about the comet?
4. What happens when one accidentally airbends while playing the tsungi horn
5. Avatar Zuko emprisoned at Pohuai Stronghold
6. Gran-Gran criticizing Uncle's parenting skills
7. How does Zuko's crew react when they find out their commander is the nation's number one enemy, pretty much?

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

There were children waiting for them on the ice, children with bone clubs and fish knives, four little boys. Zuko blinked, and then stared at Sokka and Katara. "What do they think they're doing?"

Sokka opened the steamer's cabin's door and hopped up and down waving at the children on shore. "Who are my brave little warriors?" he cooed.

The boys grinned, waving back. When Zuko stopped the steamer, they ran over, waving their weapons as Sokka jumped down.

The bravest boy poked the side of the steamer with his club. "What is this thing?"

"Did we do right?" another asked, wrapping his arms around Sokka's leg.

"Are the other boys going to be in trouble?"

"Are we going to be in trouble?"

"Nobody's in trouble," he assured them. "Except Katara, who thought it was a good idea to bring the Fire Nation to the village-" One of the clubs collided with Sokka's knee. "Oww!"

Katara stepped out of the steamer more cautiously, dragging Zuko behind her, and the boys abandoned Sokka to pick up their weapons and advance on Zuko. The Fire Prince's good eye went wide. "What the-" As he stared at the approaching boys, Katara froze the steamer to the shore. "Hey, don't do that!"

"Okay men." Sokka ordered. "Help me guard the Fire Nation enemy. One on either side, you two in front, I'll take the rear!"

"No way!" Zuko howled, backing up. "I brought you home, I'm going back to my ship." All four boys waved knives under his nose.

The boys surrounded him as Sokka came up behind. "Alright, march!" he crowed, poking Zuko in the back with one of the boys' clubs. "You're our prisoner now."

"I can't believe this," Zuko muttered, humiliated. The boys Sokka had told to take the front stayed in at their of Zuko for only a few steps before they dashed off towards the cluster of tents and crude ice buildings close to shore. Rubbing her forehead, Katara ran off after them, leaving him alone with Sokka's evil children.

By the time they made it through the village's low wall, the entire tribe had gathered in the center of their tents. Katara grabbed Zuko's arm and pulled him forward. "There's someone I want you to meet. Gran Gran, this is- wait, what is your name?"

"Zuko." His eyes circled the tiny village.

"He's the Avatar!" she told her speechless grandmother. "I saw him airbending, and firebending, he made that windstorm!"

"Katara," she said at last, casting Zuko a horrified, suspicious look. "How did he get here?"

"He has a ship, but don't worry, he wrecked it." She beamed at the old woman. "They can't use it to attack us."

The old woman's face grew even more alarmed. "They?"

"The ship's crew."

Zuko seized on the opening. "And if you don't let me go, they will come here looking for me."

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

"Katara." Her grandmother shook her head. "What did you do?"

"he just found out what he is," she pleaded, "He was going to turn himself in. You always said the world needs the Avatar, I couldn't let him be locked away!"

"Yes you could," Zuko growled. "It's none of your business."

"it is my business," she shot back. "It's the whole world's business."

"I'm not going to fight against my country!" he shouted, startling everyone. "So if that's why you keep doing this, you can just stop!"

One of the little monsters standing next to him tugged on his sleeve. "You're really ugly," he said forthrightly. "What happened to your face?"

Zuko looked down at him and growled. The little boy backed up.

"He doesn't seem like a very nice boy anyway," she told her granddaughter. "Even if he is the Avatar."

"Just let me go!" Zuko snarled. "My uncle is on that ship. He will find you and make you pay for this."

"Your uncle is with you?" the old woman began. "Is that wo raised you? He didn't do a very good job."

As Zuko yelled in reply, flames spewed out of his mouth. The whole village jumped back. One woman screamed.

"Not a very nice boy at all," Katara's grandmother said. "Let him go back to his men."

"Then I'm going with him," Katara told her. "Someone has to make sure he does what the Avatar's supposed to do and doesn't get himself locked away!"

"No way!" Zuko yelped. "You are not coming with me! I'm going home."

"Warriors," Sokka commanded. "Escort the enemy back to his vessel."

"Sokka's supposed to babysit them when the women take the big fishing boat out together, but he pretends it's warrior training to make himself feel better," Katara whispered to him. "Gran Gran, he must be a sign from the spirits. With the Avatar back, the world has hope again."

"No, Katara." She watched the boy who was slowly being lead away by a troop of little boys. "He will have to find his own path."

~*~

Katara shifted her pack on her shoulders and kept walking. "You can't stop me, Sokka."

Sokka took a deep breath. "Listen, Dad told me to protect you, and-"

"I told you, you're not going to stop me."

He spun around to show her the pack slung over his own shoulder. "Then I guess I have to come with you."

"Sokka!" When she threw her arms around him, she almost knocked them both into the snow. She glanced back at Zuko, still trying to thaw the ice encasing his little boat. "Come on. We have to get back to the ship before he does."

Edited Date: 2012-05-03 07:53 pm (UTC)

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

AHAHAHA THE WARRIORS. They're the cutest ever. I love Sokka cooing at them. His own army of widdle minions, ready to poke the enemy at a moment's notice. And of course Zuko isn't going to firebend at little kids.

Wait, Katara wants to get back to the ship before Zuko does? Katara, what are you doing. What. Granted, she's making things happen, but Gran-Gran's horror is perfectly understandable.

That ship is in for a wild ride. I love where this is going.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

I love the Warriors! They were so much fun! (I loved them in canon too). They give Zuko his daily dose of humiliation. In canon, he gets dumped butt up in the snow. In this, he gets ambushed by waist-high little boys. You decide which is worse.

Poor Gran Gran. There she is just trying to keep the village together until the men come home, and her granddaughter is suddenly showing off her heretofore unknown suicidal streak.

You'll see what Katara's up to in a moment.

From:

luunyscarlet.livejournal.com

HAHAHA! Love the warriors here! They're so cute. Kanna is clearly not impressed by Zuko's manners. She probably thinks that Iroh should've given him more spankings ;). I think canon humilliation was worse. At least here his crew didn't get to see him get captured by a bunch of little kids. And then Sokka opens his big mouth XD.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Sokka will spread the story far and wide, far and wide, I say. I'm so glad everybody likes the warriors. I was worried they would be too silly.

On a not at all humorous note, Kanna probably does think Zuko needed a few more spankings, but we all know how that boy was raised. Many abused kids are discipline problems, because the behaviors condusive to being a good citizan is not the same as the behavior needed to avoid an abuser's wrath. Poor baby. Poor obnoxious baby, but poor baby.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

This sort of answers number one, right?

~*~

The gangplank was still down. Katara heaved a sigh of relief as the siblings crouched behind a snowdrift. Sokka ducked down and scuttled over to the next snowdrift, waving for his sister to follow. "Okay," Sokka whispered. "We have to do this quietly. No talking."

"Then hush," she hissed.

On their hands and knees, they crawled up the ramp, the tops of their heads barely visible from down below. The soft leather on their gloves and boots hissed softly against the metal, and Katara was terrified they could hear her breathe.

Then Sokka sucked in a very sharp breath that she was sure the whole world heard. She elbowed him in the back of his thigh.

"Funny meeting you here," a smiling voice said. Sokka and Katara were on their feet in an instant. the short, fat old man the voice belonged to put a finger to his lips.

They tiptoed guiltily onto the deck behind him. He led them into a room in the command tower, with a low table and a small window, and shut the door behind them. "First my nephew disappears, and then I find the two of you trying to sneak back onto the ship. Very suspicious."

"We weren't sneaking onto the ship," Sokka tried. "No, we were sneaking off backwards, yeah."

Katara cringed.

The old man smiled. "Would you like a cup of tea? I'm about to start a pot."

"That's okay." Sokka's voice cracked. "We're fine."

"I'd like one." Katara tried to smile. Really, she would feel a lot better, she thought, if she had a cup of scalding hot water to bend if something went even more wrong.

"It just doesn't make sense to me." He took a teapot, small brazier, and a bottle of water off one of the room's shelves and poured. With a slight push of his wrist a small fire began to crackle in the brazier. "My nephew wouldn't let you two out of his sight if he believed one of you was the Avatar, because the Avatar is the only hope he has of going home and reclaiming his throne." He leveled them with a furious stare. "And if you had escaped him, why would you come back here?"

"Wait." Katara leaned over the table. "What throne?"

"Because ah, neither of us is the Avatar, and um, your nephew knows that now, and he let us go!" As Sokka's voice sped up, it grew higher and higher. "But we left something on the ship, and we're just going to get it, and, uh..." he trailed off.

The old man folded his arms and eyed Sokka skeptically. Katara let her head fall to the table.

Sokka scowled at her. "Well, it's mostly true." Then he looked up at the old man. "Your nephew? The guy with the weird bald headed ponytail thing, bad ugly scar? He's the Avatar."

"Shut up, Sokka!" Katara cried. "I promised him we wouldn't-"

"Are you trying to tell me that my nephew is the Avatar?" The old man almost dropped the teapot. "No. I cannot believe you. It is not possible."

"I'm sorry Katara," Sokka told her in that calm voice he used when he thought she was being too stupid for anger, ignoring the old man. "But this way, they can lock him up, and we can go home, and you'll be safe, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Katara closed her eyes. "I promised."

"Yeah, well," Sokka started angrily. "I think that went out the window when he decided he was going to fess up himself and let them arrest him."

"My nephew," the old man said very slowly. "Is the one who is supposed to bring balance to the world? Prince Zuko?"

"I guess?" Sokka squeaked.

The old man blinked his wide, horrified eyes. "And he wants to turn himself in?"

Katara shrugged. "That's what he said."

"I don't want to see my nephew locked up." He sat down heavily. "I love him."

"Then you better stop him before he tells everybody else," she mumbled.

"And this is why you came back?" he said with a weak smile.

Katara looked back at him stubbornly. "Someone has to make sure he does what he's supposed to."

The old man nodded. "It is an arduous task."

"So," Sokka cut in. "What's this prince thing?"

From: (Anonymous)

Wow, Zuko is sure going to love Sokka and Katara a whole lot more after this! Those two will have so much less fun traveling in this verse than they did in the series, I almost feel sorry for them.

And for Iroh. This Zuko is going to be so much harder to deal with than angry!Zuko.

Oh, Sokka excuses. Never change.

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

Ack, that anon comment was me.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Oh, don't worry, Zuko is still plenty angry... Right now for example, he really wants to set Sokka on fire. Katara too, but Sokka most of all, especially after the "warriors".

Poor Iroh indeed. Sokka and Katara at least get to make up for it by torturing the crew, but what is Iroh to do?

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

I can't wait until the story of Prince Zuko's ignoble capture by kindergarden denizens gets out.

Re: Uncle finds out

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com - Date: 2012-05-04 05:39 am (UTC) - Expand

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

Because I sort of wimped out before, not giving you Iroh-and-Zuko interaction, the second half of the answer to prompt one

~*~

Iroh was waiting at the stern of the ship when his nephew's steamer sailed up under the cover of the strange, short polar summer twilight. He watched his nephew hook the special chain to his vessel and creep up the ramp. As his nephew sent a fire blast into the miniature moter that would haul the steamer onboard, Iroh stepped out of the shadows. "Nephew."

Zuko spun around slowly, carefully in the polar wind. "Uncle," he responded warily.

"I had an interesting talk with those children you captured," he said calmly. "Very interesting."

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Zuko whispered, feeling sick. "I know I dishonored the family and I'm going-"

Iroh grabbed his stupid, wonderful boy's arm and pulled him into a fierce hug. "You will not. I won't let you."

"It's the right thing to do," Zuko muttered into his uncle's sleeve.

"No, it isn't," Iroh told him, holding tight. "There is no honor in choosing captivity, and I will not let you do it."

Edited Date: 2012-05-04 05:07 am (UTC)

From:

fanficforensics.livejournal.com

OH MORE.

And hell yes, hugs. Go Iroh. Zuko, you are really really stupid but you are made for hugging, and there's no way you can pretend otherwise. I want to squish them both here, and I really hope that Zuko just lets the power of cuddles change his mind about turning himself in.

But Ozai will be fucking that up with his "love you darling, come home" letter, presumably? I hate him a little more already.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

That suicidal streak of Katara's that Gran Gran didn't know about? Well Iroh really really really knew about his nephew's. In fact, Katara telling Iroh that Zuko wanted to turn himself in is what really made him believe her. Fortunately, Iroh has long experience managing such idiocy on his nephew's part. Not much success, but lots of experience.

Thankfully for both mine and Iroh's sanity, Ozai doesn't find out about the Avatar thing until after that regrettable incident with the blue spirit, and then there are certain reasons his daddy's message doesn't reach Zuko right away (can't say more, you can't make me!) but yeah, Ozai is an uncle/nephew love killer.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

The ship limped into port, misshapen and listing in the water, the gash in the hull held closed with rusted scraps, but the repairs had held, the ship was only leaking a little, and he hadn't accidentally bent air where anyone could see since the South Pole, and some days, that qualified as the universe smiling down on him. As they docked and the crew lowered the gangplank, he knew his unsour mood would disappear as soon as he started talking payment with the shipwrights onshore, but for the moment, he allowed himself to bask in his rare good fortune.

"You know, when I saw your ship at the South Pole, I thought it was huge," Sokka said, as Zuko flinched with surprise. The Water Tribe kid gazed around at the baleful black bodies of the warships in port, towering over Zuko's own undersized ship.

"My ship needs to be swift and maneuverable," Zuko ground out. "I can't be weighed down with excess bulk."

"Oh, no no!" Sokka forced a wide smile. "I'm not knocking it. It's uh, cozy?"

"Yeah," Zuko muttered darkly. "Cozy." They watched as the gangplank was lowered, squealing on it's battered gears. "Keep your sister here. I'm going into town."

Sokka stuck his lip out, wasted as it was on Zuko's retreating back. "You know, it really isn't fair that we're stuck here, while you get to go mess around on shore whenever you want."

Zuko spun around, the wind following to tug at Sokka's parka. "You're the one who snuck onto my ship, so quit complaining. I don't want to hear it."

Iroh stepped away from where he was waiting by the gangplank to put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "You and your sister should keep out of sight," he said softly. "This place is not safe for you."

~*~

He found his sister in the anchor room, getting ready to shimmy down the chain. "You're not glued to him, you know. You don't have to be with him every second."

"Somebody has to make sure he does his job." She grabbed the chain and slid out of its hole in the side of the ship.

"He's got the general with him." Grabbing the back of her parka, Sokka hauled her back onboard. He liked the general. Katara didn't, but she was just being stupid. And a girl. "Besides, with almost everybody off the ship, I want to see if we can sneak into the hold and find some more of those spicy jelly candies."

"I thought you said last time it felt like somebody had burned a hole in your tongue." Katara reached for the chain again, but Sokka held onto her.

"I did not!" He squawked. "You're lying because you want them all to yourself. Now come on, we don't know when they'll be back."

~*~

"Uncle. I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. We need to get out of here before..." Before he airbended again, and somebody saw and realized what it was this time.

"Before what, Prince Zuko?" came a smug, suspicious drawl.

What little hair Zuko had stood on end. He forced himself to turn around slowly, hoping the air would stay still as he masked his distress and crossed his arms. "Captain Zhao."

"It's Commander, now," the man corrected with a heavy lidded, self satisfied expression as he bowed to Iroh. "And General Iroh, great hero of our nation."

"Retired general," Zuko's uncle said graciously, dipping his head.

"The Firelord's brother and son are welcome guests any time," Zhao said, but he didn't have a bow for his prince. Zuko clenched his teeth. "What brings you to my harbor?"

"Our ship is being repaired," Iroh answered with a smile, keeping a hand on his nephew's shoulder.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

"That's quite a bit of damage." He sounded so pleased about it, and Zuko's fingers itched to set the man's sideburns on fire.

"Yes, you wouldn't believe what happened," Zuko said nervously. Of course. The nearest port would have Zhao in charge. He wasn't allowed to have any good luck at all. "Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened."

"Yes, I will do that," Iroh said quickly. "It was incredible." He elbowed his nephew. "What, did we crash or something?"

"Yes." Zuko wanted to put his head in his hands. "Right into a huge iceberg."

"Really, you must regale me with all the thrilling details." Zhao's oily smile grated on Zuko's already raw nerves as the man leaned over, not to but, but to threaten. "Join my for a drink?"

Zuko narrowed his good eye and turned to go. "Sorry, but we have to go."

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." Iroh's hand clamped down on his nephew's shoulder. "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite."

As the other two turned their backs, Zuko's hands curled into claws, and before he forced himself to follow, fire swirled around them and died in the chilly air.

~*~

"This one says 'mild'." Katara tossed him the bag of candy. "I think we should stick to those."

"I can handle a little heat, Katara!" he insisted, throwing them back to her and coming over to dig through the crate himself. "Now, where did the hot ones go?"

"Wow, big tough manly man," she exclaimed. "Just don't come crying to me when it feels like your whole mouth's on fire."

"Don't worry, I won't." he grabbed a packet of hot candies and popped three of them into his mouth at the same time. "Mmmmph," he whimpered as tears sprang to his eyes.

The heavy sound of boots striking metal rang down the corridor. Katara stuffed the bag of mild candy into her shirt and pulled the lid back onto he crate.

"We were just trying to find some extra blankets," she said when the cargo hold door burst open.

"Stand up," the soldier in front ordered. "You're coming with us."

"Did we do something wrong?" She swallowed. Two of the soldiers dragged Sokka to his feet as he tried to speak and gulp down his tears, and two more grabbed her arms, pushing her in front of them. "Where are we going?"

"Silence," the first soldier snapped at her instead of answering. With a jolt, Katara realized she didn't recognize his voice.

~*~

"Sozin's Comet will return in the end of summer, With the drill nearing completion, Ba Sing Se will fall easily, and by year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule." Zhao stood in front of the map and bragged like they were his own plans. "The Firelord will finally claim victory in this war."

Zuko stared sulkily in the opposite direction. His father wasn't stupid enough to think he could rule the whole world once the comet was gone, even if Zhao was. He clenched his teeth and forced himself not to speak, lest what he wanted to say be interpreted as disloyalty. He couldn't afford anyone making that mistake.

Zhao smiled at the boy's silence and sat down in the chair next to him. "So, how is your search for the Avatar going?" Zuko flinched.

Behind them, Zhao's display of pole arms crashed to the floor of his tent, and his uncle backed away with his hands in his sleeves. "My fault entirely."

"We haven't found him yet," Zuko mumbled.

"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders." Zhao sneered. "Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive."

"No." Zuko looked away. "Nothing."

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war." Zhao stood up to loom over the young prince, watching him squirm. "If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found."

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

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.

From:

attackfish.livejournal.com

~*~

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.

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

Avatar: the Last Airbender

Harry Potter

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