shadowsong26 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadowsong26) wrote2011-11-19 12:46 am
shadowsong26) wrote2011-11-19 12:46 am
Entry tags:
- avatar,
- fic,
- listy goodness,
- meme,
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avatar fic and song meme results
Title: The Accident
Characters: Zuko, Iroh, Aang, Long Feng, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, Kuei, Sokka, War Minister Qin, Tenzin, Korra, OCs
Summary: Aang only wanted to help the animals and the zookeeper. He didn't realize how much damage he was causing. AU from Tales of Ba Sing Se, brief flashes as time goes by. Warnings for character death.
Zuko had a half-hour break, and got away from the teahouse as fast as he could without actually indulging in an undignified scramble. Once he was out in the street where the scents in the air were different, he let out a long slow breath and ran a hand through his hair. He made his way over the the fruit stand where he usually stopped--the young lady who ran it wasn't inclined to chatter with him, just gave him what he wanted and took his money. He liked that.
He heard a faint rumbling as he took the apple from her and looked up, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. His good eye widened when he saw the stampede careening around the corner, and he shoved the fruit lady out of the way. As he followed, something caught on the back of his tunic and pulled.
Zuko broke free three blocks away and crawled into an alley, trying to hold himself together. As his vision dimmed, he heard people screaming all around him and the last few fragments of the market stalls clattering to the ground, then nothing.
~ * ~
Iroh was a little irritated at first when Zuko was late getting back. As the hours went by, he got more and more concerned.
When a City Watchman came to the teashop and pulled him aside to give him the news, he was beyond feeling.
Two Days Later
Aang was somewhere between surprised, confused, and angry when he was dragged unceremoniously into Long Feng's office. The head of the Dai Li cut him off before he could ask what was going on.
"I hope you're pleased with the little stunt you pulled the other day."
Something in Long Feng's tone brought Aang up short. He'd been angry when he'd pulled them out of the bear party two weeks ago, but something was different today. Very different. "What--?"
"There were fatalities," Long Feng hissed, and tossed him a folded report. "Not to mention the less serious injuries and the property damage you caused."
Still confused and now more than a little afraid, Aang unfolded the report. His eyes glazed over a little at the neat lists of names and figures and streets. They were so long... "I...I w-was trying to help..."
Long Feng took the report back without acknowledging that. "You are no longer welcome in Ba Sing Se. I expect you and your companions to be gone in three days, or we will remove you."
Aang didn't resist when an agent pulled him back out of the office and slammed the door.
Three Weeks Later
Mai carefully locked the door of the bolthole she and Ty Lee had set up before breaking Azula out of the Dai Li's holding cell. "More bad news," she said.
"What now?" Azula snapped.
"We've confirmed that the Avatar left the city weeks ago."
Azula swore, and pushed Ty Lee away. "So we leave with nothing."
"Yeah." Minister Long Feng had successfully blocked Azula's attempts to remove him or kidnap the Earth King. Just because they'd managed the prison break without too much difficulty didn't change the bleak reality of their situation. There was nothing more they could do here.
Ty Lee had been quiet all day, but finally spoke. "I heard something else. But I couldn't confirm it."
Azula glanced over at her. "Go on."
She took a deep breath. "Zuko and the General were in the city. Zuko was...was k-killed in a stampede a few weeks ago, around the time the Avatar left."
Mai sagged against the wall before she could stop herself, closing her eyes and not really registering as Azula latched onto that one piece of news and began planning a new triumph around it.
Four Months Later
Long Feng walked briskly through echoing halls in the empty palace. Things had quieted down--he'd managed to evacuate most of the city to the crystal catacombs when he realized what kind of assault would come with the comet three days ago, but he'd still lost more than he cared to admit.
He reached the throne room, pushed the doors open, and knelt. "Your Majesty."
"What is going on, Long Feng?" the King asked. He sounded weary beyond fear, beyond rage, but Long Feng didn't quite dare look up.
He let out a long slow breath. "There are some things about the world I've kept from you. But it's time...past time...for you to understand."
"What is it?"
"We've been at war with the Fire Nation for a hundred years..."
~ * ~
"So what do we do with him now?" Sokka asked, eyeing Ozai, drugged to submission and stripped of his bending. "If Fire Bitch Azula isn't gonna trade for him..."
"I don't know," Aang said quietly. He'd been quiet for ages, ever since the stampede and their expulsion from Ba Sing Se. "Keep him 'til she changes her mind, I guess. Someone'll come for him at some point..."
Sokka sighed. "Yeah, I guess." He'd been hoping...praying...that she'd trade Ozai for the prisoners they'd lost during their invasion on the Day of Black Sun. No such luck. Not this time.
~ * ~
"Ba Sing Se still stands, Your Lordship," War Minister Qin informed Azula. "Demands for surrender have been refused. And the Avatar's party has sent another request for an exchange for your father."
Azula tapped her lips with one finger. "We need to show them that we will not bend. Not even for our father." An idea struck her, and she smiled slowly. "Execute the prisoners. All of them."
He bowed and silently backed away.
Five Years Later
Iroh was still living in Ba Sing Se, the last Free Earth stronghold in the world. He dimly recalled hearing that the Water Tribes had fallen the previous year. Long Feng and Earth King Kuei still somehow managed to hold out against Azula's vicious war of attrition.
He watched the rain trickle down his windowpanes, and didn't look up when he heard the door open behind him.
"Brother."
He didn't answer.
"I heard you were here." Ozai sounded exhausted, bitter...grieved. "I escaped, the Avatar and his friends have been holding me, but I escaped. Azula...she doesn't want me back. Has refused all offers for exchange. I...you're all I have left, Brother."
Iroh watched the rain fall on the city that had taken everything that mattered, but still stubbornly sheltered him.
"May I stay?"
He didn't answer.
Six Decades Later
Tenzin fled the ruins of Ba Sing Se, still smoking from the wreckage of Warlord Kuro's assault. Fire Lord Azula had been assassinated twelve years before--Tenzin's parents' and uncle's desperate attempt to change things for the better.
It had made things worse.
True, the Fire Nation had devolved into anarchic chaos for a few years, while the warlords who emerged in the wake of the death of the last royal carved out their niches, until Kuro had emerged on top. He hadn't claimed the crown officially--there were wild rumors that Prince Zuko and General Iroh were still alive, somewhere, and ostensibly he planned to put one of them on the throne--but he was as brutal as his predecessors and had found a dormant clutch of dragon eggs.
Between the airships and the mounted firebenders, the city hadn't stood a chance.
He picked Korra up--his mother had retrieved her from the hidden village in Occupied Water Territory where she'd been identified--and whispered something soothing in her ear. He glanced over at Keiko, whose face was ashen with grief.
Ozai had fled to Ba Sing Se, like all the others, after escaping Tenzin's parents. He'd found a pretty Fire refugee, and taken her as his second wife. Sokai, their son, had married Keiko not long after his father's death. He'd died in the assault, right in front of her.
Now she held their daughter, Ayame, close and said nothing, woodenly following Tenzin as he navigated their way through the wreckage.
There was a circle here, one that would have pleased Tenzin's father, or so he thought--Korra and Ayame had been born the same day. Maybe their mirrored lives would be enough, to undo the damage that Sozin and Roku's feud had done.
It would be.
It had to be.
Somehow.
3. Only Love, from The Scarlet Pimpernel
8. Hold Me, Savage Garden
15. Santa Monica, Savage Garden
16. Thank You, Leonard Bernstein's Mass
24. Let it Lie, Drew Sarich
29. Measure of a Man, Clay Aiken
Characters: Zuko, Iroh, Aang, Long Feng, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, Kuei, Sokka, War Minister Qin, Tenzin, Korra, OCs
Summary: Aang only wanted to help the animals and the zookeeper. He didn't realize how much damage he was causing. AU from Tales of Ba Sing Se, brief flashes as time goes by. Warnings for character death.
Zuko had a half-hour break, and got away from the teahouse as fast as he could without actually indulging in an undignified scramble. Once he was out in the street where the scents in the air were different, he let out a long slow breath and ran a hand through his hair. He made his way over the the fruit stand where he usually stopped--the young lady who ran it wasn't inclined to chatter with him, just gave him what he wanted and took his money. He liked that.
He heard a faint rumbling as he took the apple from her and looked up, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. His good eye widened when he saw the stampede careening around the corner, and he shoved the fruit lady out of the way. As he followed, something caught on the back of his tunic and pulled.
Zuko broke free three blocks away and crawled into an alley, trying to hold himself together. As his vision dimmed, he heard people screaming all around him and the last few fragments of the market stalls clattering to the ground, then nothing.
~ * ~
Iroh was a little irritated at first when Zuko was late getting back. As the hours went by, he got more and more concerned.
When a City Watchman came to the teashop and pulled him aside to give him the news, he was beyond feeling.
Two Days Later
Aang was somewhere between surprised, confused, and angry when he was dragged unceremoniously into Long Feng's office. The head of the Dai Li cut him off before he could ask what was going on.
"I hope you're pleased with the little stunt you pulled the other day."
Something in Long Feng's tone brought Aang up short. He'd been angry when he'd pulled them out of the bear party two weeks ago, but something was different today. Very different. "What--?"
"There were fatalities," Long Feng hissed, and tossed him a folded report. "Not to mention the less serious injuries and the property damage you caused."
Still confused and now more than a little afraid, Aang unfolded the report. His eyes glazed over a little at the neat lists of names and figures and streets. They were so long... "I...I w-was trying to help..."
Long Feng took the report back without acknowledging that. "You are no longer welcome in Ba Sing Se. I expect you and your companions to be gone in three days, or we will remove you."
Aang didn't resist when an agent pulled him back out of the office and slammed the door.
Three Weeks Later
Mai carefully locked the door of the bolthole she and Ty Lee had set up before breaking Azula out of the Dai Li's holding cell. "More bad news," she said.
"What now?" Azula snapped.
"We've confirmed that the Avatar left the city weeks ago."
Azula swore, and pushed Ty Lee away. "So we leave with nothing."
"Yeah." Minister Long Feng had successfully blocked Azula's attempts to remove him or kidnap the Earth King. Just because they'd managed the prison break without too much difficulty didn't change the bleak reality of their situation. There was nothing more they could do here.
Ty Lee had been quiet all day, but finally spoke. "I heard something else. But I couldn't confirm it."
Azula glanced over at her. "Go on."
She took a deep breath. "Zuko and the General were in the city. Zuko was...was k-killed in a stampede a few weeks ago, around the time the Avatar left."
Mai sagged against the wall before she could stop herself, closing her eyes and not really registering as Azula latched onto that one piece of news and began planning a new triumph around it.
Four Months Later
Long Feng walked briskly through echoing halls in the empty palace. Things had quieted down--he'd managed to evacuate most of the city to the crystal catacombs when he realized what kind of assault would come with the comet three days ago, but he'd still lost more than he cared to admit.
He reached the throne room, pushed the doors open, and knelt. "Your Majesty."
"What is going on, Long Feng?" the King asked. He sounded weary beyond fear, beyond rage, but Long Feng didn't quite dare look up.
He let out a long slow breath. "There are some things about the world I've kept from you. But it's time...past time...for you to understand."
"What is it?"
"We've been at war with the Fire Nation for a hundred years..."
~ * ~
"So what do we do with him now?" Sokka asked, eyeing Ozai, drugged to submission and stripped of his bending. "If Fire Bitch Azula isn't gonna trade for him..."
"I don't know," Aang said quietly. He'd been quiet for ages, ever since the stampede and their expulsion from Ba Sing Se. "Keep him 'til she changes her mind, I guess. Someone'll come for him at some point..."
Sokka sighed. "Yeah, I guess." He'd been hoping...praying...that she'd trade Ozai for the prisoners they'd lost during their invasion on the Day of Black Sun. No such luck. Not this time.
~ * ~
"Ba Sing Se still stands, Your Lordship," War Minister Qin informed Azula. "Demands for surrender have been refused. And the Avatar's party has sent another request for an exchange for your father."
Azula tapped her lips with one finger. "We need to show them that we will not bend. Not even for our father." An idea struck her, and she smiled slowly. "Execute the prisoners. All of them."
He bowed and silently backed away.
Five Years Later
Iroh was still living in Ba Sing Se, the last Free Earth stronghold in the world. He dimly recalled hearing that the Water Tribes had fallen the previous year. Long Feng and Earth King Kuei still somehow managed to hold out against Azula's vicious war of attrition.
He watched the rain trickle down his windowpanes, and didn't look up when he heard the door open behind him.
"Brother."
He didn't answer.
"I heard you were here." Ozai sounded exhausted, bitter...grieved. "I escaped, the Avatar and his friends have been holding me, but I escaped. Azula...she doesn't want me back. Has refused all offers for exchange. I...you're all I have left, Brother."
Iroh watched the rain fall on the city that had taken everything that mattered, but still stubbornly sheltered him.
"May I stay?"
He didn't answer.
Six Decades Later
Tenzin fled the ruins of Ba Sing Se, still smoking from the wreckage of Warlord Kuro's assault. Fire Lord Azula had been assassinated twelve years before--Tenzin's parents' and uncle's desperate attempt to change things for the better.
It had made things worse.
True, the Fire Nation had devolved into anarchic chaos for a few years, while the warlords who emerged in the wake of the death of the last royal carved out their niches, until Kuro had emerged on top. He hadn't claimed the crown officially--there were wild rumors that Prince Zuko and General Iroh were still alive, somewhere, and ostensibly he planned to put one of them on the throne--but he was as brutal as his predecessors and had found a dormant clutch of dragon eggs.
Between the airships and the mounted firebenders, the city hadn't stood a chance.
He picked Korra up--his mother had retrieved her from the hidden village in Occupied Water Territory where she'd been identified--and whispered something soothing in her ear. He glanced over at Keiko, whose face was ashen with grief.
Ozai had fled to Ba Sing Se, like all the others, after escaping Tenzin's parents. He'd found a pretty Fire refugee, and taken her as his second wife. Sokai, their son, had married Keiko not long after his father's death. He'd died in the assault, right in front of her.
Now she held their daughter, Ayame, close and said nothing, woodenly following Tenzin as he navigated their way through the wreckage.
There was a circle here, one that would have pleased Tenzin's father, or so he thought--Korra and Ayame had been born the same day. Maybe their mirrored lives would be enough, to undo the damage that Sozin and Roku's feud had done.
It would be.
It had to be.
Somehow.
3. Only Love, from The Scarlet Pimpernel
8. Hold Me, Savage Garden
15. Santa Monica, Savage Garden
16. Thank You, Leonard Bernstein's Mass
24. Let it Lie, Drew Sarich
29. Measure of a Man, Clay Aiken