fanfic snippet

[jade_sabre]

So Rashaka went and put a prompt up on katara_zuko and I, like a fool, agreed to do it, partially because I haven't written Zutara in forever and partially because the prompt (and its source) are pretty funny. (Also check out this entry. Like, dude. Anything I can do will pale in comparison.) And like I have an idea full of t3h lulz, and I'll write it, but I keep remembering my more srs post-finale fic I was going to write and then didn't (which has echoes of that other fic I wrote waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the beginning of season 2, Experiment, that was the name of it). I wanted to take the finale as fully, 100% canon, and then go from there and see how I could break it apart work Mai/Earth king into a plausible ship play with it.

SO ANYWAY because I'm a huge tease who's procrastinating on studying for her last final (Anselm, and I have no idea what to study), here's the snippet of it that I wrote (this is not the AU pre-finale fic I wrote on the back of receipt tape while working at Target last summer...maybe I'll post that too). Premise is that everyone's all together for a peace summit a yearish after the finale, and Zuko asked Katara to come with him while he went to investigate a complaint from one of his colonies.

(Longer premise involves the idea that there are Fire Nation colonies scattered throughout the Earth Kingdom and there's been all sorts of kerfluffles about them--like, are we going to kick out people who have been there for a hundred years? But at the same time they still swear allegiance to Zuko--almost like a Northern/Southern Ireland problem [I have been hanging out with friends who take lots of courses on Ireland watch out].)

Anyway, here you go:




"What's eating at you?" Katara asked as they took a break from walking.

"Nothing," Zuko said, flopping on the grass and staring up at the sky.

"Really?" Katara said in her best Sokka imitation. "Come on. Something's up. There was no reason for you to come on this trip."

"I wanted to tour--"

"You've done personal tours of all the colonies," she said. "You could've sent a minister or something." A shadow passed over his face as she came and stood over him, sliding away as she sat down. "So what's wrong?"

Zuko sighed. He'd forgotten how perceptive she could be. "Mai dumped me," he said finally, staring at the single cloud in the sky, small and whispy.

There was a pause. "Oh," she said awkwardly. "When?"

"Right before we came here." The sense of immediate pain hadn't returned, which was a good sign, and the dull ache throbbed a little less, but it still felt...strange. "I just wanted to get away."

"Yeah," she said, and then she said, "But I thought you two were--"

"I know! I thought so too!" He threw his hands up in the air, let them land with a hollow thud on the ground. "But she--I don't know. She just doesn't...I don't know. I don't know why she can dump me. Why she did dump me. But..."

She was quiet, waiting for him to continue: an unusual silence. He guessed it was a lack of comforting things to say, which only made him feel worse, so he came out in a whisper, "I'm kind of glad she did."

She shifted, but he didn't turn his head to look at her. "Glad?"

"Yeah. It's weird, because she made me so happy...and now I'm just...happy on my own terms? I don't know." He shrugged, feeling the prickly blades of grass agains his back. "How're you and Aang?"

"Oh, we're...fine," she said. "Happy."

She was wrong if she thought she was the only one capable of perception. "Fine?" he echoed, finally turning his head.

She grimaced. "It's been so busy that...it's almost like nothing's changed since before the war ended, when we'd kiss and then weeks would go by before we'd actually talk about it."

"You never wanted to talk about it," he pointed out.

She looked annoyed. "I was confused, okay?" And then she sighed, leaning back on her hands and letting her head hang back, absorbing the sun. "And now I'm confused again. It's like...we're supposed to have all the time in the world--"

"But you don't."

"Exactly! And Aang...Aang's the Avatar. And I love him, I do, but there's never not going to be a problem that he needs to solve. And I'm just afraid..."

He turned on his side and propped up his head with his hand, studying her with concern. "Afraid?"

"I'm afraid one day we'll turn around, and it'll be too late for us. Or..." She sighed. "I'm afraid he's going to see what's happening, and choose the world, over me."

Her eyes downcast, she said, "And then I feel so selfish, you know? And..."

"Yeah," he said. "But I wouldn't worry too much. Aang's good at finding clever solutions to problems that no one else can." She glanced at him, and he said, "My father's still alive, isn't he?"

Her expression didn't lighten. "Yeah, but that's because Aang's the Avatar. It's all the stuff he gets from that that takes him away from me."

"Aang won't let you go," he said, startled at the conviction in his voice. She looked at him, openly surprised, and so he finished lamely, "I mean...no one in their right mind would let you go."

She blushed a little. "You think so?"

Zuko looked at her, seeing, feeling for the first time, the effects of a year of friendship, of absence, of...possibilities, at once sparkling new and tantalizing in their impossibility. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I do."

Comments

Argh! I need a Zutara icon!

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

"I'm afraid one day we'll turn around, and it'll be too late for us.
Ooh! Ooh! I like it! I think that could be totally plausible in canon. At least, I wish it could be. *sigh* I was just watching part of Sozin's Comet again today, had the commentary on, and Bryke was all like "Zuko took a lightning bolt for her, and she still didn't go for him. *snicker* Those Zutarians...they're kinda mad right now." It was sort of funny, but sort of annoying. *sigh* Part of me still wishes Zutara had ended up canon. Is that wrong?


Zuko looked at her, seeing, feeling for the first time, the effects of a year of friendship, of absence, of...possibilities, at once sparkling new and tantalizing in their impossibility. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I do."
Ooh! Ooh! This too! This is wonderful!

So, yeah, I love this snippet! I'd also love to see more of it. *pokepoke*

Re: Argh! I need a Zutara icon!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Bryke was all like "Zuko took a lightning bolt for her, and she still didn't go for him. *snicker* Those Zutarians...they're kinda mad right now." It was sort of funny, but sort of annoying.

Ugh. >P I really hate hearing that stuff. The one downside of fandom is that you can't get away from things you'd rather not hear from the creators. Sometimes I'd like to just interpret the canon on my own, you know? And work with what they give me. But series creators interact so much with fans since the internet. It's good in some ways...but bad in others.


Why does this quote annoy me? Because "she still didn't go for him" or paraphrase the sentiment...ARGH!! For three seasons Katara was not The Girl. She was Katara. Shit like this and the ending of the series makes Katara into The Girl. I FUCKING HATE THAT. I know fandom hangs on the balance of who gets with who--that's why fandom is fun--but I wish the writers had higher aspirations for their own characters than that. Who Katara "goes for" is not her sum importance in the series.

Unless, I suppose, you're these two, based on this and other stuff I've read. =( Which is sad because I love them so much for giving us characters like Katara...it breaks my heart in a way to see them reduce their own fantastic characters and story to petty shit like this. Shipping (which is not the same as romance) is for the fans and sometimes--if they're nerdy--the actors. The writers should be above that.

Re: Argh! I need a Zutara icon!

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it makes me kinda sad that Mike and Bryan do that, because in all other ways, they're completely awesome. But I guess I'd feel the same way if they were rubbing Zutara in people's faces. So, you're prob right, they should just stay out of that stuff. They should at least not be petty about it and try to piss their fans off. Who does that?

For three seasons Katara was not The Girl. She was Katara. Shit like this and the ending of the series makes Katara into The Girl.
Katara kicked butt up to the very end; she was Katara and she was awesome. She was the one who took Azula down, for goodness' sake! I don't think they made her "The Girl" until the very last scene, if at all; and we can just erase that last scene from the show for all I care. Even with all of Aang's angsting and attempted make-outs, he got denied everytime. Katara hadn't shown enough of her feelings to get together with him. I just widh the ending had been more ambiguous. That was just too rushed.

Whatever. Katara is awesome. We've all been over these arguments before.

But, yeah, I basically agree with what you said. Who a person "gets together with" is important, sure, but that certainly wasn't all Katara was there for (thank God).

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I want more! Love it. Does feel like a plausible extension of canon:

"Aang won't let you go," he said, startled at the conviction in his voice. She looked at him, openly surprised, and so he finished lamely, "I mean...no one in their right mind would let you go."

Nice way to slip in affection and earnestness without being too over the top yet with Zuko being obvious. Still comes off as a friend support comment, and yet...hints at more.

For a second, when Zuko talked about Mai dumping him, my brain went "OMG is Katara the one who breaks the Bro Code???!! But then I remembered Katara and Mai aren't Sistas or Bros so that's not right."


how I could break it apart work Mai/Earth king into a plausible ship

OTP!! You and me against the entire fandom of doubters for our TINY ONE TRUE PAIRING!