Open Meme

[weirdlet]

I'm in a creative mood. So- this here is an open Avatar: the Last Airbender meme. Post up to three- I'll promise one.

Since this is wide-open, please give me a specific to work off of- a line, a quote, a nebulous verb, something. Just a pairing does not count.

(And just as a note- the Dragon Hatching AU meme is still open, if anyone's interested!)

Edit- Meme is closed. I will fill out at least one of everyone's prompts, and more if circumstance permits. Thank you all for your patience, your comments, and the fun you've given me^^

Comments

[alpha-hydra.livejournal.com]

Zuko/Aang "The Avatar gives people hope."

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

The Avatar gives people hope.

The war ends. The world breathes. Three days later the next one starts.

It's much smaller, but it's the first of many- and Firelord Zuko has a use for his soldiers beyond simply turning them into farmers and keeping them busy putting down his own rebels. Under the righteous water-whip of Chieftess Katara, Southern warriors and Northern amazons and Foggy Swamp cousins fight off their own people and dissolve earth to mud, keeping a core amidst the splintering cracks. The Bei Fong Omashu Subsidiary pulls weight in coin, cunning and the sheer stubbornness of the greatest earthbender in the world, kicking her foes' collective asses in the field and in the negotiations-hall.

Zuko is the one showing the most strain- he shows up to the meetings grey-faced and lined, dressed in mourning and penance and it will never be enough, he knows. All he can do is hold on grimly, accept the lash on one hand and offer the other to be chewed.

Aang stands beside him one day. He's stood next to the Avatar for portraits, for shows, for grand speeches and hearty displays of friendship in the face of absolute denial by the state of the world.

It's been a while since he stood next to a friend.

Aang lays his hand on his shoulder, and Zuko almost collapses where he stands.

"You're tired." It's not a question.

"I am." It lacks hope.

"C'mere, then."

There's a speech he finds out about later, from the Bei Fong woman- something about 'we're borrowing your Firelord for a little bit, we don't think you've been feeding him right'.

It takes a long time, longer than he thinks he can afford- just flying across the world, reliving his great defeats and great adventures and mostly just living, with the last living Airbender by his side. He visits the homesteads of the Southern Water Tribe, and the colonies of the North. Villages and cities and mountains in the Earth Kingdom, a high palace and a lowly tavern and a circus with a very entertaining bear-act. All of these are places he's seen and heard from across the negotiating table, read rejections from on scrolls, heard screams and curses heaped upon his name and all his line.

Aang shows him the hope that's in these places too.

Slowly, Zuko begins to smile again.

[alpha-hydra.livejournal.com]

Aww i love it! Thanks so much for indulging me! :D

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

No problem^^ Glad you enjoyed.