Weakness: An A:TLA fanfic - (9 Parts)

[Sawyer]

Your thing with Toph at the end? SO PERFECT. You're so witty! The Snoozles/Sneezles thing was so great and the mention of Zuko either being light on his feet or tripping over them (he really is a ninja and a klutz.. a hard combination to pull off, but Zuko manages). And Zuko's letting his sneezes out while alone was super super sexy. Like, for real. You have no idea. YOU JUST CONTINUE TO BE EXCELLENT. I adore this! The steam sensitivity also. Oh my god.

OH AND and oh man let me just remind you that I love Zuko's attempts to hide his illness. Failed attempts. UPDATE SOON. I CAN'T HANDLE ANOTHER DROUGHT!

[Hex]

(( Enough of a not-drought for you? ))

Aang frowned, spinning a little ball of air on his finger. It wasn’t like Zuko to be late for the daily firebending lesson. Aang had done the Dragon Dance, twice, and there was still no sign of his master. Maybe this was an exercise in patience or something.

“Toph?” he called. “Have you seen Zuko?”

“No,” Toph replied cheerfully. “Never.”

Aang groaned and hit his head against a pillar. Wow. He should have seen that one coming.

--

Zuko was pacing, rubbing his head and thinking furiously. How was he supposed to give a firebending lesson in his condition? He remembered all too well what had happened the last time he had firebending practice a cold at the same time. Aang’s reflexes weren’t as good as Jee’s; what if he got burned by accident? And Zuko absolutely didn’t want to find out what would happen if he sneezed while he was firebending. His head filled with disaster scenarios of the flames flaring away from him and out of control.

He shivered, and rubbed his arms out of reflex. That was another thing. Firebending lessons generally required shirtlessness, to keep the benders from overheating. But he couldn’t stand to be out of his clothes even for a few moments. He got too cold. And that would definitely be noticed.

He paused, a solution to his predicament occurring. He was about to leave when his nose tickled again. He growled in irritation, then took a deep breath. Calm. He was calm. The tranquil fire was the most dangerous and the most effective... “Ht-chsh! K’shhh! Uhh... hh...” his breath hitched several time before releasing in a “Hahtssh!” He sniffled, and wiped at his wet eyes. Then smiled. There hadn’t been any fire that time. Maybe he was safe.

He laughed quietly, but was cut short by a harsh coughing fit. His chest clenched with enough force to send him to his knees. It was all Zuko could do to muffle the coughs in his elbow. His entire body was shaking, and when the coughing stopped, he was gasping for breath.

So much for safety.

--

Aang shot to his feet when he saw Zuko emerge from the Temple building they were using as a house. His hair looked messier than usual, and... the Avatar squinted. Was there a dark circle under the prince’s good eye? “Good morning, Sifu Hotman,” Aang said respectfully, and bowed.

“I said don’t call me... never mind.” Zuko sighed. “We’re doing something different today. Too many benders rely on that ability alone. You need to learn hand-to-hand combat. I’d like to train you with weapons, but there isn’t enough time for you to get good with them.”

“Um, Sifu?” Aang gulped when his teacher glared, but soldiered on. “When will I ever not have my bending?”

“I don’t know, and you don’t either!” he snapped. “You need to be ready for anything! The Firelord is nothing if not clever.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let’s see what you already know. Knock me down. Without bending!” Zuko slipped into a fighting stance, and Aang looked at him with worry. Yeah, there was a dark circle there alright. And he could see tiny tremors in Zuko’s hands and legs.

“What are you waiting for?” And the firebender was almost as irritable as he had been when they first met. Aang took a deep breath, then aimed a slow kick at Zuko’s chest. The older boy batted his foot aside. “Are you going to pacifism the army into defeat? Do it harder!” Aang punched out, a little harder this time, and soon they were sparring. But the Avatar wasn’t hitting or kicking with his full strength. He was getting more and more concerned about Zuko. His breathing was too heavy, and despite the hot air and bright sun, he was still shivering.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t fighting back. Aang ducked the fist aimed at his face, and saw they had gathered an audience. Teo was apparently collecting bets on the outcome of the fight from Haru and Sokka, while The Duke and Toph were engaged in a remarkably quiet argument. At the front of this miniature crowd, Katara looked at the pair of duelists with displeasure.

“Focus on your own fight!” Aang yelped and jumped backwards, just barely avoiding a foot to the abdomen. “Use your environment to your advantage! Stop dancing!”

Aang couldn’t see anything close enough to use, besides pillars. Then he remembered something Sokka had told him once. He kicked out, under Zuko’s guard, and managed to hit the firebender in the knee. While his teacher was temporarily immobilized, Aang took the risk and crouched, gathering a handful of dust and throwing it in Zuko’s face. The firebender’s eyes snapped shut, he staggered backwards, and Aang pressed his advantage. He was almost close enough to hook a leg around Zuko’s and topple him when his opponent’s face crumpled helplessly. That was the only warning Aang got before Zuko drew in a desperate breath and sneezed. “Huh’TSHOO!” Flames shot away from his face, and Aang yelled in surprise and backpedaled quickly.

The flames had barely dissipated before a wall of water slammed into Zuko, sweeping him off of his feet and against the cliff wall. Aang looked at Katara in disbelief. Why had she done that?

The waterbender’s face was locked in an expression of determination as she lifted up the remainder of the water in the fountain and advanced on Zuko with a water whip. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted! You tried to burn Aang!”

The Avatar stared at his crush. What? No, Zuko hadn’t done that! But when he glanced at the people who had been watching him spar, it seemed that most of them were in agreement. The Duke was being forcibly restrained by Toph, Haru looked seconds away from adding stone shackles to Katara’s ice restraints, and Sokka... well, Sokka just looked smug, which was weird. A yelp drew Aang’s attention back to his firebending teacher. From the way he was sputtering, he had swallowed some of Katara’s water whip by accident.

“I didn’t-” Zuko protested, and the whip hit him across the face again. He gagged on the water, then started coughing. Deep, wet, nasty-sounding coughs that made Katara hesitate and gave Aang enough time to run up to the pair.

“No! Katara, stop! I think he’s sick!”

“He’s sick all right. He fooled us again, Aang, don’t you see? He was just waiting to hurt you!” But the whip did not descend again, and there was some doubt in her blue eyes. Aang forged ahead. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the sound of Zuko’s coughing. It took serious effort not to wince. Spirits, but that sounded like it hurt.

“I know he lied to you before. But he’s good now, really! And look! Aren’t you a healer, can’t you see there’s something wrong?” Zuko was still coughing, and Aang started to get seriously worried.

“But, he firebent... after he said no bending...” Katara looked at Zuko, who was sagging in the ice cocoon. He had made no effort to break free, even though he could have melted his way out in this time. Or maybe not. He sounded terrible.

“Remember when you met me? And I sneezed myself ten feet in the air? It was like that. Katara, I don’t think he can help it, he’s really sick...” As he talked, Aang gestured at the ice prison, and it melted away and surged back into the fountain. All that cold couldn’t be good for an ill firebender.

As soon as the ice was gone, Zuko dropped to the ground on his hands and knees, breathing raggedly. At least he wasn’t coughing anymore, but he was shivering so hard that even Teo, who had moved back when Katara attacked Zuko, could see it.

--

“Oh, no,” Katara murmured, and transformed her water whip into a water glove. “Zuko, I’m sorry,” she said, so quietly that she was pretty sure no one else heard it, and ran to his side. Aang was close on her heels, followed by Toph and Sokka. “Why didn’t you tell anyone you were sick, Zuko?” she asked, and even that scolding sounded contrite. The firebender raised his head slowly, trembling. His eyes were slightly glazed, and his nose was bright red. The dark circle under his good eye was even more obvious against skin that had gone paler from the cold he had been subjected to.

“N-not... sick...” he muttered. “N-not that... bad... not g-going to... bother you w-with it...”

Katara reached out with the hand not sheathed in water and felt his forehead. “Not sick, my foot! You have a fever. Curse it, Zuko, how are you supposed to teach Aang if you keel over dead from some stupid Fire Nation plague?”

“I can still... still firebend...” Even thought he was supporting himself with all four limbs, Zuko still swayed. His face crinkled, and he pulled his head down to his chest in alarm. “Uh’kssh! Tssh!” Even his fire looked pale and pathetic, vanishing before it could come in contact with anything.

“Yeah, but not on purpose,” Katara said flatly, and tried to haul the teenager up to his feet. He pulled backwards with all of his strength, but he didn’t have much of that left. The Water Tribe girl managed to pick up Zuko with minimal effort on her part.

“No,” he protested, fear in his gold eyes. “No, too dangerous, stay ‘way...”

“Oh, please,” Katara snorted. “I’m the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe. Do you think I can’t handle a little fire? You’re going to your room, and you’re going to let me try to heal you.” While she couldn’t get rid of his sickness, she could certainly make it ease up a bit. It had worked for Sokka, after all. She glanced back at her brother. Was it just her, or did he look faintly guilty? As a matter of fact, Toph looked the same way...

She didn’t have time to notice anything else, as Zuko was struggling again. “L-let go,” he gasped. “H-have to s-sneeze...”

Katara did not relinquish her grasp around his waist. “Turn away. And try not to sneeze fire,” she added, and then winced at how stupid that sounded. How was she supposed to know if he could control his fire-sneezes or not? She had never had that kind of problem with her waterbending.

Zuko nodded, jerkily, and rotated his head away from Katara. His hand hovered in front of his nose, and his breath hitched. “Haht-Chhshuh!” Evidently, he did have some control, as this sneeze did not bring fire along with it. His body did tremble noticeably, though, and he slumped against her body, leaning heavily against her side. “Sorry,” he muttered, and sniffed pathetically.

Oh, no fair. Now she had no choice but to let her mothering instincts loose on him. Katara sighed, and locked her dislike of the prince away for the time being. “Bless. Honestly, I don’t know how you hid this from us.”

Yeah, Sokka and Toph looked guilty, all right. She was going to have to have a talk with them, once she forced Zuko into his bed.

[Coral]

Waiting impatiently for more. You're such a good writer and I love how you make the story light and humorous.. Thanks for the quick update!

[TheCakeIsAlive]

“Toph?” he called. “Have you seen Zuko?”

“No,” Toph replied cheerfully. “Never.”

Aang groaned and hit his head against a pillar. Wow. He should have seen that one coming.

--

“I can still... still firebend...” Even thought he was supporting himself with all four limbs, Zuko still swayed. His face crinkled, and he pulled his head down to his chest in alarm. “Uh’kssh! Tssh!” Even his fire looked pale and pathetic, vanishing before it could come in contact with anything.

“Yeah, but not on purpose,” Katara said flatly, and tried to haul the teenager up to his feet. He pulled backwards with all of his strength, but he didn’t have much of that left. The Water Tribe girl managed to pick up Zuko with minimal effort on her part.

“No,” he protested, fear in his gold eyes. “No, too dangerous, stay ‘way...”

She didn’t have time to notice anything else, as Zuko was struggling again. “L-let go,” he gasped. “H-have to s-sneeze...”

Katara did not relinquish her grasp around his waist. “Turn away. And try not to sneeze fire,” she added, and then winced at how stupid that sounded. How was she supposed to know if he could control his fire-sneezes or not? She had never had that kind of problem with her waterbending.

Zuko nodded, jerkily, and rotated his head away from Katara. His hand hovered in front of his nose, and his breath hitched. “Haht-Chhshuh!” Evidently, he did have some control, as this sneeze did not bring fire along with it. His body did tremble noticeably, though, and he slumped against her body, leaning heavily against her side. “Sorry,” he muttered, and sniffed pathetically.

Aaawww... poor Zuko!

"fear in his gold eyes"? *melts*

And I love that bit with Toph. So very in character.

Very well written and quite awesome. I hope you will continue this!

[Sawyer]

Oh my GOD this is brilliant! Your ideas and interactions and characterization are sp perfect and your narration and oh my god just the events and the way you describe everything oh my goddd the katara mothering him thing and sdfhsdjkfhsahajksa GOD I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

[caligulasArmageddons]

MEGA-SQUEE!!! -Runs around in circles a few times, then remembers she was supposed to be licking Zuko-

Best lines EVAR!:

“The Former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation is a Big Spaz”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Toph?” he called. “Have you seen Zuko?”

“No,” Toph replied cheerfully. “Never.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

GAH!!!

Oh, and this:

“Remember when you met me? And I sneezed myself ten feet in the air?”

What sneeze fetishist DOESN'T?!?!

Moar plez?

[tFM!]

MEGA-SQUEE!!! -Runs around in circles a few times, then remembers she was supposed to be licking Zuko-

Best lines EVAR!:

“The Former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation is a Big Spaz”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Toph?” he called. “Have you seen Zuko?”

“No,” Toph replied cheerfully. “Never.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

GAH!!!

Oh, and this:

“Remember when you met me? And I sneezed myself ten feet in the air?”

What sneeze fetishist DOESN'T?!?!

Moar plez?

I second ALL of this

[Tess]

IIIIIIIIIIHHHHH

I just started watching avatar, and then I read this--> LOVE!!!

The Katara mothering part, oh I wanna be her sooo bad. Would love to a Zuko

Can't wait to read the next part, hope you'll update soon

[Hex]

(( It's November. Which means, 1) I have a novel to write and 2) It's my birthmonth, so if anyone wanted to illustrate this fic... it would be amazing. Anyway, last update for a while. I am a comment whore, so tell me what you think! ))

Toph felt bad. From the sound of things, not as bad as Katara, and definitely not as bad as Zuko, but still. Bad. She kind of liked Sparky. He was a big dork, yeah, but he could be sweet, too. And he was really funny, whether he meant to be or not.

And now he was really sick, and Toph couldn’t help but think that he wouldn’t have gotten this bad if she had just spoken up.

“Hey-” she began, but was interrupted.

“EHH-hpt!” The sound was cut short when Sokka buried his nose in his arm.

“Hey Sneezles,” she said with annoyance. Normally she would tease him for the funny sound his sneeze had made, but she was worried, and with her, worry turned to anger very fast. “I need to ask you something.”

“Really? Huh. That’s funny.” She could feel his heart speed up. “I needed to ask you something too.”

“You first.”

“No, no, in my tribe, we let ladies go first- ow!”

“Who told you I was a lady?” Toph grinned, and tossed another piece of gravel at Sokka for good measure.

“Fine. Look, I know this isn’t really your problem, and I know this is more of a thing for Katara or Aang, but, well...” he sighed. “I kind of knew the Jerkbender was sick before anyone else did, and I feel bad for not telling people.”

“You’re kidding me,” Toph said flatly.

“Hey, this is serious! If I tell Katara, she’ll waterbend me off a cliff! And if I tell Aang, he’ll tell Katara, and I’ll get waterbended and airbended off a cliff. But, never mind. I don’t know what I expected you to do... What did you want to tell me?”

“The same thing, actually.” A lady would have blushed. Toph was not a lady. She was not blushing. Nope. Not at all. “I could feel something was... off about him. I thought it would be funny to watch him try to hide. I didn’t think he’d get, you know... really sick.”

“Oh.” Sokka paused to consider that. But soon he was talking again. “Well, I think if we tell Katara together, we’ll be a little safer.”

--

“You WHAT?”

Toph glared at Sokka and mouthed the word “cliff”.

“Uh... well, it was just a cold, and we didn’t think it would get bad... I wanted to teach him a lesson and... stuff?”

“I am stuck playing nursemaid to the worst patient ever because you two decided it would be funny?” Yep. They were so getting thrown off a cliff.

“Sparky? The worst patient ever? Haven’t you had Snoozles here as a patient?” Toph snickered. “I’ve heard him complain.”

“That’s the problem! He doesn’t complain! He barely even asks for anything so I don’t know what I have to do to make him get well faster!” Katara started pacing. ‘This is what he sounds like! ‘Katara, um. Can I. Umm. Have another blanket?’ It’s like asking for a blanket when you’re sick is some horrible insult or something! And don’t even get me started on what happens when I leave him alone! I left to go train with Aang and make lunch, and when I come back, he’s on the floor, fixing his clothes! On the floor! It’s cold and dusty down there and I can’t even yell at him because he looks. So. Pathetic!” By the end of all this, Katara was breathing hard, and Sokka and Toph had scooted back to avoid becoming targets.

Then Toph grinned. Sokka did not like that grin. It was a dangerous grin. “Oh, Sugarqueen,” she purred. “I know how we can make up for this.”

--

It was evening. Zuko hissed as his body got away from him again, clenching in stupid tremors. Stupid illness. Stupid Water Tribe peasant, icing him to a wall. Stupid Avatar, throwing dust in his face. He could have gotten away with hiding his illness, if it weren’t for them.

He felt a tickle start in his nose. Resigning himself to his fate, he leaned back, so any fire would avoid his bedsheets. “Ihh... hh... Hetsch! Haht’tschh! Chssh! Ih-hishchoo!” Sparks rained down on his with every sneeze. He wasn’t strong enough to even make a proper fire. He sniffled weakly, then groaned and rolled over to face the wall. And then, slowly, rolled the other way at the sound of clapping.

“Bravo, brilliant performance,” Sokka said. Zuko blinked. He had never had a fever so bad he hallucinated... but that was the only explanation for the beard Sokka was sporting.

“What are you doing here?” Zuko grumbled. Toph stepped out from behind Sokka.

“Why, helping you get well, of course!” she twittered in ridiculously high voice. “Some of the ladies at court told me that stories are an excellent cure for stupidity- er, illnesses and I think that’s just a lovely idea.” She walked over and leapt onto the bed with enough force to bounce it. She took a scroll out from her belt. “Now, let’s see... Once upon a time, there was a dumb teenager named-“

“Why are you here?” Zuko repeated. “What are you doing?”

Toph frowned, and rapped Zuko on the forehead with the scroll. “Don’t interrupt, young man!”

“Yes! Mind your manners when there are ladies present!” Sokka stroked his beard.

I’ve gone insane, Zuko realized hopelessly. This is what being crazy is like.

“There was a dumb teenager named Sparky,” Toph continued. “And he decided it would be a great idea not to tell anyone he was sick. But then the Queen of Sugar froze him to a wall. She felt bad about it afterwards, so she sent the lovely Blind Bandit and her man-slave, Snoozles, to make him well. The end.”

“Man-slave?” Sokka asked incredulously, and Toph shrugged.

“Artistic liberties.”

“You’re holding the scroll upside down,” Zuko pointed out, resigning himself to his fate.

“No, you’re just looking at it upside down,” Toph shot back. “And it’s your fault you’re stuck with us, anyway.”

“It is not!”

“Is too!”

“Is- mmph!”

“Stop yelling, boy. You’ll spread your germs everywhere,” Sokka admonished, admiring his handiwork. Zuko tried to make a face, but it was difficult to do so around the giant rice ball Sokka had shoved into his mouth. He began chewing instead, knowing that if he spat it out, they would probably shove it right back in.

“I hate you,” he said flatly when the last of the rice ball was gone.

“Aww, we love you too, Sparky,” Toph said sweetly, leaning down to kiss Zuko on the nose.

“Toph!” but it was too late. She pulled back, giggling, as he drew in a breath and sneezed. “H-chsh!”

Sokka regarded the place where the tiny flame had vanished curiously. “I wonder if we could cook things over his face...”

“GET OUT!”

Edited November 2, 2010 by Hex

[Tess]

Awww, that was so adorable

Zuko being such a "bad" patient

I absolutely LOVED this part:

“That’s the problem! He doesn’t complain! He barely even asks for anything so I don’t know what I have to do to make him get well faster!” Katara started pacing. ‘This is what he sounds like! ‘Katara, um. Can I. Umm. Have another blanket?’ It’s like asking for a blanket when you’re sick is some horrible insult or something! And don’t even get me started on what happens when I leave him alone! I left to go train with Aang and make lunch, and when I come back, he’s on the floor, fixing his clothes! On the floor! It’s cold and dusty down there and I can’t even yell at him because he looks. So. Pathetic!” By the end of all this, Katara was breathing hard, and Sokka and Toph had scooted back to avoid becoming targets.

PATHETIC!!

And or month I guess

[Sawyer]

Happy birthdayyyyy! Birthmonth. You know.

ASDFHADSHFALA man oh man did you deliver this time. Zuko's mannerisms as an awful patient are so brilliant and so like him. YOU KEEP MAKING THIS BETTER AND BETTER. You have the best ideas ever, I swear. Also, the line about cooking stuff over Zuko's face.. was... so. brilliant! I love this so hard, you don't even know. If I could draw, you bet I'd illustrate this fic.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Sen Beret

[caligulasArmageddons]

I would LOVE to draw something. If I could draw. Fudge. I can draw, y'know, circles and stick figures and stuff, but nothing else...

-Licks Zuko some more-

Havvy Gurmoth!! -Takes tongue off Zuko- I mean, Happy Birthmonth!

[Mitsu]

just about the best avatar fic ive ever read! I loved this show X] and i love how you keep the shows humor in your writing! hot. hilarious. whats not to love?? excited for moreeee!

[Hex]

Happy Holidays-for-everyone Month! Since I’ve got an idea for this, but it may take a while to write and I don’t want you to die from sneezy Zuko withdrawal, PROMPTS! Give them to me! I prefer dialogue format, such as “Stop falling in the pond!” but seriously, I’m not picky. Give me emotions, song lyrics, pairings, anything that you want. The replies to the prompt will probably be drabble-length. The more prompts you give me, the more writing I will do.

A tip:

If you want something in particular, be specific. I am not a mind-reader, and I will not take offense.

Yes, that may seem obvious. But I would hate to disappoint anyone because what I wrote was nowhere close to what they had in mind. In fact, have a request template. You can fill in as many of the slots as you’d like:

I would prefer that the prompt itself be short, but you can have as many specific qualifiers as you like. An example would be:

Zukka. Post-Sozin’s Comet, “Stop falling in the pond!”

If you squish character’s names like that, I will assume you want to see implications of a relationship between them. If you just write “Zuko and Sokka” then I will assume you just want them both to appear.

... anal-retentive? Me? Noooooo.

Prompt away! (and you can totally use the example-prompt as a request)

[caligulasArmageddons]

Do you want us to post prompts here? If you said yes, I'm posting here! If you said no, I'm posting here anyway, so deal with it.

*Begins extremely-specific prompt*

Something along the lines of...Zutara, Post-Sozin's Comet, germaphobe Katara, Jealous Aang, Aang makes completely OOC plot to get Katara.

Um...Less specific than I thought, but I would die a million times if you made that. Or the other way around, Katang, Post-Sozin's Comet, Zuko is jealous, tries to use small, unimportant cold to get Katara.

I enjoy sickness and jealousy. Both would be...settling on a word.....................

[Hex]

Somehow, Aang’s plot to get Katara became Aang’s plot to get Katara to pay attention to him ;-.-

And it’s possible that the two prompts somehow managed to fuse. Hope you like it anyway!

“Hp-ch!”

Toph turned toward Zuko in bemusement. “We can all hear you, you know, so you might as well admit you’re sick.”

Zuko tried to rub his nose surreptitiously. “I am not sick.”

Katara swatted Zuko’s hand away from his face. “Stop doing that! You’re going to spread germs!”

“I can’t spread germs if I’m not sick!”

“I wouldn’t put it past you, Lord Jerkbender. If it’ll annoy Katara, you can do it.” Sokka examined his fingernails and smirked, apparently quite pleased with himself. “And she hates germs.”

“Only because as the resident healer, I’m the one who will have to deal with the epidemic if you don’t stop rubbing you damn nose!” Instead of simply using her hand to make Zuko stop, she made the tea in his cup rise and water-whip him.

“Ow!” Zuko glared at her.

“You shouldn’t have kept rubbing your nose.”

Aang was not pouting. That would be childish. He was not pouting, because he had nothing to be jealous of. So what if Katara and Zuko bickered like they were married and no one else was in the room? So what if he had saved the world but his relationship with her was still somewhere in Limbo? He had nothing to be jealous of. And there was no reason to believe that he could not get her attention just as easily as Zuko could.

“Hey Katara, look at this!” Aang pulled six marbles out of his shirt and spun three in each hand.

“That’s great, Aang,” Katara said. “You’re getting better at that trick-”

“Eh-htcht!”

“Zuko, if you sneeze one more time I will put a hospital mask on you and tie you to your bed!”

Aang had nothing to be jealous of and there was absolutely nothing but anger that led his girlfriend to think of the Firelord tied to a bed.

[Tassielli]

first to comment i think awesome1! ermm mm i would be specific so but id end up writing the whole thing for u so ill just erm not prompt at all if that makes sense ermmmmmm wutevaaaa continue

[caligulasArmageddons]

Mmm...This...was...so....

[Hex]

(( Christmas cuteness! Happy holidays, everyone!

Oh, and I posted some art in that part of the forum. Go check it out if you haven't already. ))

“Where were you?” Mai asked her boyfriend, standing in the doorway with one hand on her hip. It looked like he had fallen asleep on the couch. Maybe he had, but he certainly hadn’t been there last night. He hadn’t been anywhere in the palace last night. “I was about to call the Royal Guard.”

“Hn?” Zuko lifted his head, blinking blearily. His hair was unbound, and fell into his face in an infuriatingly cute manner. She was annoyed at him, curse it. “Mai?”

“Who else?” She made her way across the room and stared down at him.

“I, uh,” he started, then frowned. “Uh... tsh! Tchuh!” he sneezed into the back of his hand. “Nnh,” he mumbled, and started to lie back down on the couch. Mai’s hand snapped out and caught the neckline of his shirt.

“Not so fast.” From the pinkness of his nose and cheeks, he had spent a fair amount of time outside. The Fire Nation might be located on a series of volcanic islands, but it could get very cold. Especially in the capitol, which didn’t have any active volcanoes nearby. But having a general idea of where he had been wasn’t good enough, and it didn’t tell her what he had been doing.

“Mai,” he said in a voice that was very close to begging. “I’m tired. Let me sleep.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “It’s daylight. If you wanted to sleep, you should have stayed in bed. What were you doing instead?”

His answer was to bat at her hand and wrinkle his nose quickly. “Eh... h-tchuh!” A few sparks danced through the air, but he was doing a good job of controlling himself. That or, he was too tired to firebend well. She would bet money on the latter.

“Besides catching cold,” Mai amended, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. No fever, and his face wasn’t too cold either. That was good. The last thing she needed was to have to cancel all of the various meetings planned. If he wasn’t too sick, she could leave him and go to the meetings his stead. If he had been really sick, she wouldn’t have been able to leave him alone.

Zuko gave a small smile. “Spreading peace and love,” he answered. “Ow!” Mai swatted him with the hand she had been using to check his temperature. “I’m serious!”

“Right. Do you want to give me an answer that doesn’t make it sound like you’re cheating on me?”

From the way his good eye went wide, that interpretation of his words hadn’t occurred to him. Typical Zuko. “I mean, uh...” he coughed. “I... do you know how much steel went into the production of armor and weapons? Way more than we would need in peacetime.”

“Zuko...” Mai said warningly, “what did you do?”

He muttered something inaudible, so she smacked him again. “Put it to better use! Teo and Sokka figured out a way to make the steel from one helmet alone into two small toys. The rest of the armor makes even more.”

Mai would have hit herself in the forehead if she didn’t think that would be too dramatic. “You didn’t.”

“Ehhtsch!” A bigger flame that time, as he woke up more and got more excited. “I did. Yuletide gifts. For every child in the capitol. There isn’t a single one out there who hasn’t lost a loved one to the war.”

“Let me guess. You went to each house, too, instead of just leaving them in heaps around the city.”

His eyes glinted, and she knew that wasn’t because he was getting sick. “Not every house. I had help.”

“Right.” She was going to kill the Avatar and his friends for encouraging her boyfriend’s mad schemes.

“Htch! Tssh!” After she put the Head Moron to bed.

“You couldn’t have invited me?” she asked, resigning herself to her fate. It was her fault she was stuck with him, after all.

“Who would I trust to run the Fire Nation while I was sleeping?” he asked, kissing her on the cheek.

Hm. Maybe her fate wasn’t that bad, after all.

Edited December 25, 2010 by Hex

[Ker0kero]

Cool ^ ^ I missed watching Avatar...this brings back memories..

[Sawyer]

Will you just MARRY ME? Zuko's denying his sickness in the earlier drabble was SO HOT and his coming in from the cold all sniffly and tired was just dsjfhsjdhffaskj and it was so like, on par with the whole Christmas season thing... oh man.. I just... wow, you are fantastic.

[Aprilcot]

I really should have read this when it started!

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please continue soon! I don't mind what prompts there are, and I don't think I'd be able to give any ones woth writing as I haven't actually seen Avatar...

Brilliant writing!

[Stars]

brilliant. don't know how I missed this. I love mai and zuko.

[SterlingSilver]

You are SUCH a good writer ! WONDERFUL STUFF!

[Garnet]

Oh good I was going to feel all weird bumping a super-old topic but NOW I CAN SPEW FANGIRL AFFECTIONS EVERYWHERE AT YOU. It's been a while since I've seen Avatar but aaaaa I remember my fangirling well and your characterizations are just spot-on. The Toph, Sokka, and Zuko interactions had me rolling, I love them so much. Thank you for sharing!