MfWAT: No Turning Back
Memories from Western Air Temple
Chapter Title: No Turning Back
Characters: Zuko, Aang (main) Katara (minor)
Arc: Unity Arc
Setting: after Not a Woman, before The Call of Reality
Rating: K
Warnings: shounen-ai, spoilers
Summary: A short tale in which Zuko learns to understand Aang better and Aang sees something he’s been refusing to see.
He should be feeling jealous, Zuko thought as he watched Aang complete a yet another kata without fail. The Avatar had a natural talent to learn the moves he needed to bend, it seemed. In that way he was very similar to Azula and Zuko had always been jealous of his sister. But as the prince watched Aang shoot flame after flame and move skilfully across the stone ground, he felt awed by the other’s skill. He was also relieved that the boy seemed to be feeling better than the previous night but even more than that, Zuko felt proud.
With a final spin in which the Avatar used his foot to bring a cycle of flames around himself, Aang finished a series of attacks that Zuko had especially prepared for the boy to learn, based off of the way how the prince himself bended. Once again, Aang had completed the form perfectly and Zuko had to agree with Toph on the words the girl had spoken after their first sparring match together. Though he had to wonder how much of his mind was on the moves and how much of it was on the person doing the moves.
“How was that, Sifu Zuko?” Aang questioned. The boy had finally dropped the ‘hotman’ title but still insisted on using the ‘sifu’ part. Zuko did not know why it was so but decided not to ask, thinking it was just something Aang did.
“You were just as good as yesterday”, Zuko replied with an approving nod of his head. “I couldn’t detect a single mistake and you know how much of a critic I am.”
The words brought a wide smile to Aang’s face and suddenly Zuko became aware of how expectant the pearly grey seemed. Aang was looking at Zuko like he was waiting for something he really wanted or needed, but Zuko had already complimented him. What more could the boy want from him?
Finally the eyes stopped their staring as they trailed to the side. Zuko also noticed Aang’s shoulders sag in what seemed to be a disappointed fashion and wondered what the other had been expecting of him. Feeling awfully awkward, Zuko tried to salvage the happy atmosphere from moments ago and spoke: “I think we could stop for today. You’ve earned a break.” The raven-haired teen attempted to smile encouragingly at the shorter male.
“Oh, okay”, Aang said with a startled nod and Zuko wondered about the distracted expression on the boy’s face before it turned back into one of disappointment. Aang kicked at the ground like he had been denied something while grumbling: “I guess I’ll just go see if Katara needs any help in the kitchen.” And with that the boy scurried off.
With a frustrated growl Zuko rubbed at his forehead with his hand. For a moment the prince worried that Aang was still affected by that accursed play from the previous night but discarded those thoughts, thinking that it was not like Aang to obsess about things like that. That was his own forte. Still, Zuko had to wonder how it was that every time he thought he was getting closer to understanding Aang something like this would happen, leaving the prince feeling like he had failed an important test of sorts even though he had no idea what the test had been.
&
It was really impossible to change Zuko, it seemed. As Aang worked to cut the vegetables that Katara needed for the stew she was preparing, he thought back at the ending of his previous training session with Zuko. He had no idea where he had gone wrong. He thought he had gotten Zuko into the habit of sharing physical contact but it seemed that the fire prince was a tougher nut to crack than he had thought.
Every time Zuko had admitted to Aang having performed flawlessly during a lesson, Aang would hug the firebender tightly. This time Aang had decided to not do so for two reasons: one, he was feeling slightly unsure after the events of the previous night and two, he had tried to see if he had succeeded in making Zuko more comfortable with him. He had expected the teen to in turn embrace him but Zuko had not made a move to do so. Even though he had smiled so pleasantly…
Aang shook his head, frustrated at the way he allowed even the memory of one of Zuko’s smiles to distract him like this. This was even worse than those times he had ended up stuck staring at Katara when the waterbender was displaying exceptional grace in something.
A blush spread immediately on Aang’s face when he realized that he had just compared the fluttery feeling he got from Katara to the warmth that spread into his body whenever Zuko smiled at him. The knife dug right into the wood of the table he was cutting the vegetables on top of.
“Aang!” Katara’s voice suddenly exclaimed and Aang jumped, glancing up at the girl who was giving him a slightly disapproving look. “Be more careful with those vegetables. The pieces need to all be about the same size. If there are too large pieces they will stay rare and if they’re too small they’ll turn soggy.” The waterbender tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear and for once Aang did not pay exceptional attention to the act. “Sokka really hates soggy vegetables.”
Usually Aang would have felt depressed at having Katara scold him but this time around the boy was able to think about the comment reasonably and remembered the scenario where Sokka had complained about too soggy vegetables a couple of days back. So, the Avatar did not miss a beat before adding in: “Zuko doesn’t like them either.” It was only after the words were out of his mouth that Aang wondered just when he had noticed such a detail about the prince.
There was a disapproving hum from Katara and Aang lifted his eyes to the girl when she spoke: “It seems I’m out of salt. I’ll go get some more from the bags.” The waterbender stood up. “Make sure the pot doesn’t boil over.”
“Sure”, Aang said and nodded his head and with a smile Katara was off and Aang glanced back down at the halfway cut vegetables.
Suddenly there were arms around the airbender’s shoulders and a voice whispering in his ear: “You really were great during practice today.” A deep blush rose to Aang’s cheeks and he placed his hands on top of the arms crossing over his chest. It was almost shyly that he mumbled to the other: “Thank you, Sifu Zuko.”
There was an acknowledging sound from the teen behind Aang and Zuko’s chin settled on the shorter male’s shoulder. It was a pleasant sensation, to feel the other’s warm body pressed against his like this, Aang decided. And at that thought the boy remembered something; it was a firebending move he had invented himself and had wanted to show his teacher. The Avatar decided that there was no better time than the present and spoke out: “Zuko, I came up with a new firebending move. Would you like to see it?”
Zuko’s form retreated from it’s place against Aang’s back and the airbender immediately longer to have it back, but ignored that desire as the older male said: “Of course I want to see it, Aang.” The firebender glanced around and frowned thoughtfully. “Should we move outside?”
“No, this isn’t really a dangerous move”, Aang assured the other and lifted his hand up in a fist with the curled fingers facing upwards. “Now watch.”
As requested, Zuko observed silently as Aang opened his palm, causing a gently burning ember to rise into the air between the two of them. Deep red flames flickered in a circle, forming an image that looked exactly like an exotic flower. Aang dared to glance up at Zuko’s face to see a look of wonderment on the other’s face and the Avatar immediately thought that Zuko probably rarely used his firebending for such things, even though there were so many possibilities and wonderful illusions that could be created with the living light that they controlled.
Aang closed his fist and opened it again, causing the flame flower to change colour into a yellow one. So far Aang could only create the colours red, orange and yellow, but the boy knew that it was no wonder, since it was extremely rare for a firebender to create flames of any other colour.
Another movement of a hand and the flower was back to red and Aang questioned: “What do you think?”
A short laugh came from Zuko, one that rang with happiness and had Aang smiling brightly. The airbender watched the other’s face, seeing the golden eyes flicker both because of fire and emotion and watched the face keenly even as Zuko spoke in response: “It’s exactly what I would expect from you, Aang.” And something about the prince’s tone told Aang that the words were a compliment.
“I’m glad you like it”, Aand admitted with a nod as he brought his other hand up and created an orange flower to keep company to the red one. “I invented this while thinking about you.”
“Really?” Zuko’s voice asked in a slightly breathless manner and Aang found himself sinking into the golden depths that were the prince’s eyes. “You created this while thinking about me?”
“Yeah”, Aang said with a nod, noticing how his own voice had lowered into almost a whisper. There was just something about Zuko at that moment that made Aang feel like he wanted, no, needed something from the other, but for the life of him the airbender could not think what it was. And was he imagining things or were those beautiful eyes coming closer?
“What the -?” a horrified voice screeched suddenly and Zuko and Aang sprung apart like the harmless flames had burned them while the fires snuffed out by themselves. The two boys looked over at Katara, who was glaring at them angrily as she snapped: “No firebending in the kitchen, or anywhere inside the house!” The girl waved around with the package of salt she had brought with her. “This house is made of wood for spirits’ sake! It’ll only take one wayward flame to set this place into blaze!”
“We’re sorry, Katara”, Zuko blurted out before Aang could recover from his own surprise. “It won’t happen again.” And with that the prince fled out of the room like there really were flames on the loose. Aang watched the other go and wondered why he felt so utterly disappointed and cheated.
More Memories from Western Air Temple
Chapter Title: No Turning Back
Characters: Zuko, Aang (main) Katara (minor)
Arc: Unity Arc
Setting: after Not a Woman, before The Call of Reality
Rating: K
Warnings: shounen-ai, spoilers
Summary: A short tale in which Zuko learns to understand Aang better and Aang sees something he’s been refusing to see.
He should be feeling jealous, Zuko thought as he watched Aang complete a yet another kata without fail. The Avatar had a natural talent to learn the moves he needed to bend, it seemed. In that way he was very similar to Azula and Zuko had always been jealous of his sister. But as the prince watched Aang shoot flame after flame and move skilfully across the stone ground, he felt awed by the other’s skill. He was also relieved that the boy seemed to be feeling better than the previous night but even more than that, Zuko felt proud.
With a final spin in which the Avatar used his foot to bring a cycle of flames around himself, Aang finished a series of attacks that Zuko had especially prepared for the boy to learn, based off of the way how the prince himself bended. Once again, Aang had completed the form perfectly and Zuko had to agree with Toph on the words the girl had spoken after their first sparring match together. Though he had to wonder how much of his mind was on the moves and how much of it was on the person doing the moves.
“How was that, Sifu Zuko?” Aang questioned. The boy had finally dropped the ‘hotman’ title but still insisted on using the ‘sifu’ part. Zuko did not know why it was so but decided not to ask, thinking it was just something Aang did.
“You were just as good as yesterday”, Zuko replied with an approving nod of his head. “I couldn’t detect a single mistake and you know how much of a critic I am.”
The words brought a wide smile to Aang’s face and suddenly Zuko became aware of how expectant the pearly grey seemed. Aang was looking at Zuko like he was waiting for something he really wanted or needed, but Zuko had already complimented him. What more could the boy want from him?
Finally the eyes stopped their staring as they trailed to the side. Zuko also noticed Aang’s shoulders sag in what seemed to be a disappointed fashion and wondered what the other had been expecting of him. Feeling awfully awkward, Zuko tried to salvage the happy atmosphere from moments ago and spoke: “I think we could stop for today. You’ve earned a break.” The raven-haired teen attempted to smile encouragingly at the shorter male.
“Oh, okay”, Aang said with a startled nod and Zuko wondered about the distracted expression on the boy’s face before it turned back into one of disappointment. Aang kicked at the ground like he had been denied something while grumbling: “I guess I’ll just go see if Katara needs any help in the kitchen.” And with that the boy scurried off.
With a frustrated growl Zuko rubbed at his forehead with his hand. For a moment the prince worried that Aang was still affected by that accursed play from the previous night but discarded those thoughts, thinking that it was not like Aang to obsess about things like that. That was his own forte. Still, Zuko had to wonder how it was that every time he thought he was getting closer to understanding Aang something like this would happen, leaving the prince feeling like he had failed an important test of sorts even though he had no idea what the test had been.
&
It was really impossible to change Zuko, it seemed. As Aang worked to cut the vegetables that Katara needed for the stew she was preparing, he thought back at the ending of his previous training session with Zuko. He had no idea where he had gone wrong. He thought he had gotten Zuko into the habit of sharing physical contact but it seemed that the fire prince was a tougher nut to crack than he had thought.
Every time Zuko had admitted to Aang having performed flawlessly during a lesson, Aang would hug the firebender tightly. This time Aang had decided to not do so for two reasons: one, he was feeling slightly unsure after the events of the previous night and two, he had tried to see if he had succeeded in making Zuko more comfortable with him. He had expected the teen to in turn embrace him but Zuko had not made a move to do so. Even though he had smiled so pleasantly…
Aang shook his head, frustrated at the way he allowed even the memory of one of Zuko’s smiles to distract him like this. This was even worse than those times he had ended up stuck staring at Katara when the waterbender was displaying exceptional grace in something.
A blush spread immediately on Aang’s face when he realized that he had just compared the fluttery feeling he got from Katara to the warmth that spread into his body whenever Zuko smiled at him. The knife dug right into the wood of the table he was cutting the vegetables on top of.
“Aang!” Katara’s voice suddenly exclaimed and Aang jumped, glancing up at the girl who was giving him a slightly disapproving look. “Be more careful with those vegetables. The pieces need to all be about the same size. If there are too large pieces they will stay rare and if they’re too small they’ll turn soggy.” The waterbender tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear and for once Aang did not pay exceptional attention to the act. “Sokka really hates soggy vegetables.”
Usually Aang would have felt depressed at having Katara scold him but this time around the boy was able to think about the comment reasonably and remembered the scenario where Sokka had complained about too soggy vegetables a couple of days back. So, the Avatar did not miss a beat before adding in: “Zuko doesn’t like them either.” It was only after the words were out of his mouth that Aang wondered just when he had noticed such a detail about the prince.
There was a disapproving hum from Katara and Aang lifted his eyes to the girl when she spoke: “It seems I’m out of salt. I’ll go get some more from the bags.” The waterbender stood up. “Make sure the pot doesn’t boil over.”
“Sure”, Aang said and nodded his head and with a smile Katara was off and Aang glanced back down at the halfway cut vegetables.
Suddenly there were arms around the airbender’s shoulders and a voice whispering in his ear: “You really were great during practice today.” A deep blush rose to Aang’s cheeks and he placed his hands on top of the arms crossing over his chest. It was almost shyly that he mumbled to the other: “Thank you, Sifu Zuko.”
There was an acknowledging sound from the teen behind Aang and Zuko’s chin settled on the shorter male’s shoulder. It was a pleasant sensation, to feel the other’s warm body pressed against his like this, Aang decided. And at that thought the boy remembered something; it was a firebending move he had invented himself and had wanted to show his teacher. The Avatar decided that there was no better time than the present and spoke out: “Zuko, I came up with a new firebending move. Would you like to see it?”
Zuko’s form retreated from it’s place against Aang’s back and the airbender immediately longer to have it back, but ignored that desire as the older male said: “Of course I want to see it, Aang.” The firebender glanced around and frowned thoughtfully. “Should we move outside?”
“No, this isn’t really a dangerous move”, Aang assured the other and lifted his hand up in a fist with the curled fingers facing upwards. “Now watch.”
As requested, Zuko observed silently as Aang opened his palm, causing a gently burning ember to rise into the air between the two of them. Deep red flames flickered in a circle, forming an image that looked exactly like an exotic flower. Aang dared to glance up at Zuko’s face to see a look of wonderment on the other’s face and the Avatar immediately thought that Zuko probably rarely used his firebending for such things, even though there were so many possibilities and wonderful illusions that could be created with the living light that they controlled.
Aang closed his fist and opened it again, causing the flame flower to change colour into a yellow one. So far Aang could only create the colours red, orange and yellow, but the boy knew that it was no wonder, since it was extremely rare for a firebender to create flames of any other colour.
Another movement of a hand and the flower was back to red and Aang questioned: “What do you think?”
A short laugh came from Zuko, one that rang with happiness and had Aang smiling brightly. The airbender watched the other’s face, seeing the golden eyes flicker both because of fire and emotion and watched the face keenly even as Zuko spoke in response: “It’s exactly what I would expect from you, Aang.” And something about the prince’s tone told Aang that the words were a compliment.
“I’m glad you like it”, Aand admitted with a nod as he brought his other hand up and created an orange flower to keep company to the red one. “I invented this while thinking about you.”
“Really?” Zuko’s voice asked in a slightly breathless manner and Aang found himself sinking into the golden depths that were the prince’s eyes. “You created this while thinking about me?”
“Yeah”, Aang said with a nod, noticing how his own voice had lowered into almost a whisper. There was just something about Zuko at that moment that made Aang feel like he wanted, no, needed something from the other, but for the life of him the airbender could not think what it was. And was he imagining things or were those beautiful eyes coming closer?
“What the -?” a horrified voice screeched suddenly and Zuko and Aang sprung apart like the harmless flames had burned them while the fires snuffed out by themselves. The two boys looked over at Katara, who was glaring at them angrily as she snapped: “No firebending in the kitchen, or anywhere inside the house!” The girl waved around with the package of salt she had brought with her. “This house is made of wood for spirits’ sake! It’ll only take one wayward flame to set this place into blaze!”
“We’re sorry, Katara”, Zuko blurted out before Aang could recover from his own surprise. “It won’t happen again.” And with that the prince fled out of the room like there really were flames on the loose. Aang watched the other go and wondered why he felt so utterly disappointed and cheated.
More Memories from Western Air Temple