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Title: Family Album
Fandom: Avatar
Pairings: Mentions of Zuko/Mai, Zuko/Toph/Aang of a familial platonic sense.
Overall Rating: PG13
Community:
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high_born's New Year's Challenge( "Scapegoat", Prompt: Payback )
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Breakfast, as usual, is an uncomfortable affair. The others, save Toph, who stares into her bowl with an ever-darkening scowl, either glare at him in distrusting hatred or stare in nervous apprehension. Or watch every move she makes out of concern. He, for his own part, tries to make himself as small as possible and eat what little he's given in relative peace.
He is long used to scrutiny, but this is still nervewracking. And when the Earthbender's bowl suddenly smashes into the ground and sinks into it, he jumps with everyone else.
"That does it," she snaps, getting painfully to her feet. For a moment, he thinks this is it, that she's going to crush him the same way she did her bowl in revenge for what he'd done -some part of him knows better, but the fury radiating off her shuts it up- so he's as surprised as everyone else when she turns to her own companions, glare promising violence if they don't listen up.
"Whatever the hell your problems with him are, get them out. I don't care. But I'm perfectly capable of kicking his ass on my own, thank you, so stop using me as your excuse to act like jerks. And I know that's what you're doing," she adds when the Water Tribe girl opens her mouth, an added rumble under them making her close it.
He swallows nervously as the small girl -despite her injuries- stalks off, throwing up a wall behind her. The waterbender may be hateful, but now it's the earthbender's retribution he most fears, because he can't help but wonder if -when- she'll hit extra hard, just to prove she can.
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( "No Need to Argue", No Prompt )
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He aches. He's already apologized again, and she's already forgiven him, but a promise -threat?- was a promise. Her retribution, when it had come, had been swift and painful, and he's probably going to be bruised for weeks after being bounced across the training arena by rocks the way he was.
His back protests as he sits up, and even more when he slowly gets to his feet. And then he yelps in pain as he's knocked back onto his back by a rock suddenly jutting out of the floor. Dazed, he lies on the bed, staring up at her as she leans over him.
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" she asks as she opens the jar. The smell is powerful and he recognizes it as the salve his uncle used to numb his wound the last time they were here. "I said I'd get you back. I didn't say I'd make you suffer. Besides, you can't train Aang if you can't walk."
He shivers when her fingers make contact with his skin. The jelly-like substance is cold, but he can't help relaxing into her hands as she roughly kneads it into his skin. He can feel it working already, growing warm and seeping deep into his muscles to ease the bruises. And as she works, he finds himself watching her face.
She's an enigma. He had realized already that she was the girl his uncle spoke of meeting -how many female blind earthbenders were there, anyway- but she's still strange. Swallowing thickly, he finds himself asking the first question on his mind.
"Why did you trust me?"
She shrugs and coats her fingers again. "Except for your sister, I can tell when people are lying. You particularly suck at it. So when you came to us, I knew you were telling the truth. Besides, if your uncle can have so much faith in you, I suppose I can give it a try."
He manages not to flinch at the mention of his uncle, his mind flickering to the question of where the older man is now. The renewed chill of her hands on his chest brings him back to the present, and he begins to watch her again. "May I ask you something personal?"
Her eyebrows furrow in a slightly suspicious look, but she nodded.
"You..." He wasn't sure exactly how to put it in a way that wouldn't offend her. "Even though you don't act it, I can tell you're not like them."
"I'm high-born, you mean."
"Well, yes."
She tilts her head, and he perceives it as looking away. "I guess that's the other reason I was willing to give you a chance. I may not know exactly what the fire nation court is like, but I do understand the political games nobles play, and how they can hurt their kids. I spent my entire life being sheltered to the point that no one outside my parents and the guards knew I even existed, because my parents were afraid someone would hurt me as a way of hurting them."
He shivers, and this time it's not from the cold. Maybe he didn't always get along with his sister's friends or his uncle's, but at least he had the freedom to go where he pleased and meet people. "I'm sorry."
She shrugs again and motions for him to roll onto his stomach. "It's probably nothing like what happened to you. I'm just saying I know that people in high places don't always think about how their actions are going to affect their families."
"No... they really don't. And sometimes they think too hard about it."
She smiles wryly at the slightly bitter tone that leaked into his voice, and pulls away when she's finished, wiping her hands on a cloth and closing the jar back up. He'll ache again once the salve wears off in a few hours, but for now, he's just grateful she came at all, and even moreso that she leaves the jar on his bed as she gets up.
"Thank you," he murmurs, and gets a light punch in the arm.
"Don't you dare tell anyone I did this for you. I'm already on thin ice with Sugar Queen for speaking for you at all."
He smiles, even though she can't see it, and squeezes the hand that hit him. "I won't. And I won't fail your confidence in me either."
Satisfied, she nods and leaves, and he lets out a slow breath as he relaxes and thinks about his new ally.
She's an enigma.
But an intriguing one.
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( "Castles in the Sky" - Prompt: Castles in the Sky )
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"Uncle always said that if I had to spend all my time looking to the future, I should at least begin planning for it. But... I never really gave it any serious consideration. I mean, hopes and dreams are worthless, really. Just like trying to build a castle in the sky."
"But wasn't that the whole point of your search? You dreamed you'd find Aang, and you hoped your father would love you."
"Yes... and look where it got me."
"Maybe you should look yourself, Sparky."
"What do you mean?" he asks, lifting his head, and she rolls her eyes.
"Well, think about it. You're practically sittin' in a sky castle right now. You know who you are. You've got Aang., not as an enemy, but a friend. A real one. Your girlfriend's coming to join us, and we know your uncle is plotting backup for us."
She grins cockily. "And you've got me, which counts for more than all of of the bad things," she teases, and a smile unexpectedly curves his mouth.
"That's true," he admits, and finally relaxes, stretching out on the fountain wall across from her.
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( "Idle", Prompt: Feet and Hands)
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"You know, this isn't necessary," she grumbles. "I already told you we were even."
"I know," he replies, and gently wraps her newly-healed feet in another steam heated towel. "But Uncle always said that one should make fair amends, and I don't think a few bruises in return for temporarily blinding you is fair."
She makes an annoyed noise and blows her bangs out of her eyes in a huff, but the expected kick or rock is not forthcoming, so he takes that as permission to continue. Slowly, carefully, he wipes down her ankles and feet and finds that, though the towels have done their work, muscles and tendons, especially in the arch of her foot, are still viciously knotted and tense. Lifting a foot into his lap, and as gently as he would have handled one of his mother's filagree animals, he presses his thumb into a knot.
The sharp tremor under them and the hiss from her that accompanies it makes him snap his head up, to see hers tossed back, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. Something in his chest freezes at the way she's tightly gripping the ground and, terrified that his good intentions have irreparably hurt her, he tries to get her attention, but she does not respond to her name.
Then, as he holds his breath, she lets hers out in a slow sigh. "Oh..."
"Toph?"
"That feeling must be what seeing sparks is like," she murmurs, sounding almost awed, then snaps back to reality with a blush. "Um... do that again? Please?"
The politeness unnerves him as much as her original reaction had, but he obliges, and she sinks back against the wall of the bathhouse with a noise of contentment not unlike that of a red leopard-panda.
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( "Carry Me Home", Prompt: Honor and Respect)
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With Sokka injured thanks to an unfortunate powder accident -courtesy of his and Teo's weapons experimentation, naturally-, the task of hunting that night falls to the two of them. And it is as they bring home the evening's joint effort catch that he finally dredges up the courage to ask what's been plaguing him -and subsequently annoying her- all week. "Toph?"
"What?" she grunts, focused more on balancing her half of the kill until he makes her put it down so they can talk more easily.
"I was wondering... would you like to be part of my family?" At her surprised look, he quickly hurries on, rather mangling his rehearsed attempt at explanation in the process. "I mean, not like marriage or anything, and you wouldn't have to be related to Fa- the Fire Lord or Princess Azula, it's just that Uncle adores you and I've really kinda come to-"
She cuts him off in mid-babble with a hand over his mouth and, for a moment, he thinks he might have just earned a violent knock to the head, but she seems genuinely curious.
"This is what's been making you all fidgety? You want me to be your new little sister?"
That hadn't been... exactly what he'd had planned in his mind, but the more he thinks about it, the more he finds that's exactly what he wants. "Well... yes," he replies, suddenly feeling awkward and wanting to squirm as he's pinned by that blank stare, but then she grins, and it's more genuine than any he's seen on her yet.
"You know, Sparky, I think I'd like that."
A heavy relief washes over him, soothing sick nerves as they pick up their burden and continue on their way.
"You gonna ask Aang, too?" she suddenly pipes up just as they reach the edge of the temple cliff, and he nearly drops his burden when he stumbles.
"What?"
"You've been all jittery around him too," she points out, wiggling her fingers for emphasis after they put the armadillo bear down again. "And not just in the StudentAvatar sense. You gonna ask him to be your brother or something?"
"Maybe I will," he replies defensively. He had meant it as sarcasm, but when he glances over his shoulder, she's grinning again, more self-satisfied this time.
"Good."
He considers it as she warps the ground beneath them into some sort of staircase through the cliff, and he decides that yeah... yeah, it could be.
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("Hoppipolla" - Prompt: Nightmares and Daydreams)
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He wakes in the middle of the night from one of his usual nightmares, and finds that someone is missing in the barn they took shelter from the summer storm in. Not bothering to pull on his boots, he shrugs into his robe and wanders out into the rain.
She hasn't gone far, his instincts tell him. Just far enough to avoid the detection of others. And he's right. When he finds her curled up on a rock, soaked to the bone and her hair unbound, he feels a small pang. Although he knows she's far otherwise, right now she looks... like the helpless little girl everyone expects her to be.
She looks up when he approaches, and the empty, hopeless expression on her face closes up into suspicion. He wisely -he's finally learned- says nothing, and simply offers a hand. Her eyes narrow, just for a moment, then she slides down and accepts it.
He spins her, but she's predicted he would do so, so when her feet hit the puddle, she doesn't fall. And it takes a moment, but slowly, understanding blossoms on her face, and she smiles.
It's cold, and the rain is neither of their elements. But neither is interested in a baptism of fire or the renewal of mud -although, he has to admit, it does feel nice between his toes, now that she has taught him to enjoy it. Instead, they indulge the childhoods they never had, chasing away their bad dreams by splashing in puddles.
She pushes him, he twirls her, and they both laugh like they so rarely have before. And as they run out of breath and collapse against each other, clinging and still giggling through their panting for air, they call each other sibling for not the first time since they've met.
When they finally are ready to sleep again, they do not go back to the barn. Instead, she builds herself another earthen tent, this time large enough for him to curl up with her as they protect each other from the monsters lurking in the dark with the memory of holding hands and spinning so fast in the puddles that they nearly fell.
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( "Vienna", Prompt: Favorite Colors )
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When he had introduced them to his uncle as "your new neice and nephew", there had been shock. As Katara turned a glare on Aang, silently demanding an explanation, Sokka muttered to himself -loudly- about the world turning upside down.
But his uncle had merely smiled. "I am pleased," he said with genuine affection and warmth as he hugged both the earthbender and the airbender, "that my nephew has learned and grown enough to build such deep bonds." As his eyes lit up with the old, familiar mirth, he added, "And it is always pleasant to have new regular guests for tea."
The pot is steaming on the table when he comes down to their improvised strategy room, but he isn't there to talk of war. Instead, he joins his uncle and sister at the table, taking comfort in their talk of the mundane as Iroh explains the concepts and feelings of 'colors' to Toph. His brother joins them later, escaping bad dreams of his own, most likely, and he fills a cup and hands it to Aang under his uncle's approving gaze while Toph ponders the information she's been handed.
"I think I'd like white the best," she finally declares, and Aang raises an eyebrow.
"Why white?" the nomad asks, sparing him from bringing up the question himself.
"Because it's blank." She takes a long sip of tea and muffles a burp before continuing. "White is what's there when there aren't any other colors laid down yet. When you haven't made any expectations. When you're just starting and you don't know what you're gonna end up with." She absently scratches her ear, and they both realize at the same time that what she really means is It's what I never got to be.
"How about the rest of you?" his uncle asks, and he and Aang stare into their teacups as they think.
"I think I'd pick green and blue," his brother finally speaks up. "In my mind, the ocean and the sky are the most calming things. When I can stare at an endless span of blue or green and know that I have a place just like anyone else, even if it's a bigger place, it makes me feel better, and it doesn't really matter whether I'm staring at an ocean of water, or the waves in a field." I can, for a moment, feel less like the world is riding on my shoulders.
They fall silent again, sipping at their tea, then Toph looks up after a few minutes, expression expectant. "Your turn, Sparky."
He chews at his lip for a moment. "Black," he finally says. "Also for the sky. Because when I look at the stars, or the polar lights, or a thunderstorm, I'm reminded that everything changes, and it's not always bad to do so." It's alright for me to change, even if others don't want it.
"Very impressive answers, all of you." Iroh murmurs with a smile, pouring them all more tea. "Very wise in all your own ways."
One by one, they drain their cups and make their thanks before wandering off to bed. And it's only when he wakes feeling more rested than he has in the longest time that he realizes how effortlessly his uncle had distracted them all from their nightmares of the days to come.
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( "Cybersadhu", Prompt: Born That Way )
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One part of him is afraid. His sister has always been better, has always had everything handed to her. One way or another, he has always been her puppet, her servant, her pet. He isn't sure he can do this.
Gritting his teeth, his fingers clench on the sword as he makes his way through the halls. She has always had her silver platter. But he has always had to work for everything he had. To prove himself. To learn. And he hears her words echo in his head, rather than his blood sister's.
"If that's what being born lucky makes people into, Sparky, maybe it's better that we were lucky to be born."
He has learned so much more than she will ever expect of him. She had the Dai Li, but he has a teacher who could beat them. She'd had Mai's fear, but he has her support. She had his birthright, but he knows that means little in combat. He has suffered. He has matured. He has grown. He will fight. He will prove himself.
He will win.
For the sake of his new family, for the sake of himself.
He will win.
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( "Walk On", Prompt: Let Me Help You! )
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He can feel the ground beginning to shake under their feet as they run along what's left of the cliffs and, from the flicker of worry across Mai's face, so can she. Wordlessly, he grips her hand and she squeezes reassurance as they force themselves to move faster.
She's strong, part of his mind insists. </i>She'll hold.</i>
It wasn't supposed to happen this way! the rest of him rails, and is unsure. Their plan counted on the Southern Pass being secure, not on General Zhou deciding to fling a brigade at a couple of earthbenders and a mechanic when they should have been taking on the main force at the eastern side of the mountains. His little sister os strong, but not strong enough...
Unless the tremors beneath them mean what he is afraid they do.
She squeezes his hand again when they pass the downed glider-chair. "We'll check on the way back," she promises, and he nods. Harder to pass is the body a few hundred yards away. Gods above, no one could lose that much blood and survive, and fear settles icy in his chest.
We'll get there, he chants in his mind, a mantra of will and desperation as the shaking grows more violent and cracks began to form in the other side of the pass. Fear becomes rage as they see the milling bodies in red attempting to keep their footing enough to launch a killing blow at the lone little body in green lying prone on the ground. With a roar of fury that matches that of the flames he unleashes, he sends a wild blaze hurtling downward, barely restraining himself enough to keep it from exploding low enough to harm her as well.
A hand on the arm stops him as he prepares to do it a second time. "I'll hande them. You get to her."
The ground yields easily under his feet and he slides down, flashes of silver and steel around him as she follows, sending razor-sharp death at any armored body that moves and covering his advance until he reaches the downed earthbender's side.
"Haru-" Toph gasps, voice hoarse and small body heaving with exertion.
"Dead," Mai replies beside him, and he winces at the small groan his sister makes. Then his lady bends, and a tearing noise precedes the strips of cloth she offers. He smiles gratefully and reduces his own sleeves in the same manner, binding the blind girl's injuries as best he can after giving her unburned shoulder a squeeze.
She's tense when Mai helps him get her on his back then falls into step beside him, her body not yet having clued in that the fight is over. He doesn't know how to tell her that they are going back to the glider chair. He doesn't want to get her hopes too high.
His lady nudges him gently and looks back over his shoulder, and he can feel his little sister droop. "Get some rest," he murmurs, pride and affection in his voice. "You've earned it. I'll-" let you sleep while we save who we can, "-wake you when we meet back up with Uncle."
She's much heavier when the tension drains out of her as she sleeps, but he doesn't mind tightening his hold as Mai puts a steadying hand on his hip to help him keep his balance. She's smiling that small, faint smile of approval, and he can't help but bask for a brief moment in that and the feel of trusting arms wound around his neck before turning his mind back to the seriousness of the situation at hand.
Time to get back to the glider chair, and hope at least one more comrade has survived.
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( "Still Breathing", Prompt: All Wounds Heal )
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Mai is just exiting the room as he comes down the hall.
"How bad?" he asks, almost afraid of the answer and mentally damning himself for not -somehow- keeping his sibling from throwing herself into another fight before she was healed... Even if it had secured them a key victory.
"Not life or limb threatening," she replies, but there's a hint of concern in her voice that worries him. "I've done the best I can keeping the infection at bay. But unless the Water Tribe girl or a real doctor gets here soon, there will be some thick scarring."
He swallows thickly, but embraces her and murmurs his thanks, and she kisses his cheek before going to put her skills to use elsewhere needed. He has to take a deep breath before he can make himself push the door open. Katara is still looking after Aang -while his brother does need it, he wishes those capable hands were here now- but he can send for a doctor. After he's made sure she's alright.
She tilts her head, blinking fuzzily, and he glances at the bedside table as he takes a seat on the stool his lady had vacated. Burn salves, bandages, herbs for cleaning and numbing, mild sedatives... this was familiar.
"Hey, Sparky," she mumbles, half coherent. "You picked a good one, yeah?"
He takes her hand in his, and even though she can't see it, he smiles. "Yeah, I did."
"She gonna be my 'sister-in-law'?" she teases, and he coughs, changing the subject.
"How are you feeling?"
"Numb... sleepy... dark. It pretty well sucks. I can't wait to get back on my feet again."
He chuckles, absently brushing his thumb over the back of her hand. "What are you going to do once you are? Run off and see the world?"
"Maybe I will. Athough, I suppose I could stick around until Uncle is crowned. I bet that'll be interesting."
"Boring dignitaries and long speeches. Royal ceremonies are always full of them."
"But it's Uncle. He'll do something to twist it. Or I will."
He laughed outright at that, knowing her methods of making things 'interesting'. "I look forward to it."
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( "Dark Waltz", Prompt: Sunrise )
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He's never before seen her like she is tonight, all wrapped up in flowing silks and makeup. She'd look like a lady, if it weren't for the scowl on her face. She'd be a pretty, delicate flower, if she wasn't so clearly miserable with the fact that she has to wear real shoes instead of her unsoled ones.
He can't help but sympathize. While formal functions are now old tassel to him, he has yet to learn to enjoy all this pretentiousness and pomp, and he doesn't even have to put up with it unable to see anything. Often, he finds himself wishing he could have done like his girlfriend -whom he holds no grudge against, because he knows she's hates these setups even more than he does- and begged illness. But a prince gets no such quarter, especially when nobles of all levels choose to ignore the fact that he is already attached and throw their poor daughters at him like coins.
Glancing around to make sure that all interest of the nobles was finally on his uncle and off him, he surreptitiously makes his way across the massive hall and gently nudges her side. She's 'seen' him coming, but she gives a weak smile anyway and leans against him, and he knows she's grateful for the subtle support.
He leans down to whisper in her ear, ignoring the nearby court ladies' tittering. Let them think what they want.
"What do you say we get out of here and gather up our friends for a party of our own?"
The smile she favors him with for the suggestion makes her almost glow, and he can't help his breath catching just slightly as it fills him with a warmth not unlike the creep of the rising sun every morning. He can't keep himself from smiling back, no longer hearing as the older girls giggle at their expressions.
And he realizes, whether in her normal garb or that of a court damsel, she truly is beautiful when she's happy.
Weeks later, he just wishes he could have seen that expression more often once she has made good on her promise to go off and chart the globe herself.
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( "Wayward" , Prompt: His Messed Up Family )
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It's been years since the defeat of his father. Years since his uncle was finally pressed into taking the throne. Years since he finally put down the burden of need for honor and allowed himself to be content and happy with his father figure and his love.
Years since he'd seen her or him.
He's heard reports... occasionally. Where they come from is always different. She's always on the move. But not with the Avatar this time, his mind notes. He knows they have to still be friendly, their bonds are that strong, but earth and air are still opposing elements, so it made sense that they would travel the world their separate ways.
That doesn't stop him from missing them both, though.
After all, they -she especially- were the first besides his uncle and Mai to ever even try to accept him. While never conventional, they are family to him, moreso than his own father and blood sister had ever been, and he wishes he would get even a letter. But day after day, there is nothing but the reports, and while they give him the comfort of knowing they are still alive, they do little else. And when the reports stop coming at all, worry sets in and becomes illness.
Until he wakes one morning and feels a familiar rumble in the ground when his bare feet touch it. Never adept as she, he still knew the sensation, and he can't help the wide grin that splits his face as he flings on a robe and leaves his wife blinking sleepily in their bed with a quick apology for waking her.
Racing downstairs, he throws open the door to the main chamber, knowing that would be where they -as guests now, not prisoners- would be sent-
-only to find it empty.
His heart sinks as he wonders if he has only imagined the feeling -that his hope has turned to delusion- but just as he turns, dejected, to go back to his rooms, a blast of rock knocks him into the air, and a gentle wind cradles him back down. Before he can recover, they're both on him, laughing.
Catching his breath again, he buries his face into her hair, breathing in the scent of dirt and flowers, and flings his arm around his waist as everything became right with the world again and the cold stone he's been carrying in his stomach vanishes.
"Little Brother, Little Sister," he whispers almost reverently as he clings to the last missing members of his little 'family', knowing they will both hear. "I welcome you for as long as you wish to stay."
