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Sun-Child AU Mini-Meme!
Okay, ladies and gents, on a slightly inebrient whim (and if that isn't a word, it is now), here it is- a mini-meme for the Sun-Child AU, of late stalled out in Ba Sing Se and oft with requests for more of the Gaang. Gimme a person, pair, whatever, and a prompt. Soft limit of three, no guarantees.
Usual warnings and apologies apply- I may be slow and unreliable, especially right now with the thing with the teeth.
EDIT-!- Hey, all, just wanted to clarify (as I should have at first, but was a bit, well, out of it at the time)- you can ask for small moments as well as big, AUs of AU, what-ifs, future, past, weird little character/relationship moments, and all that there fun stuff. In fact, I encourage it. Most of the major events of Season 3 and late Season 2, such as WAT, Crossroads of Destiny, Sozin's Comet, etc I do have plans for- it's those set-up moments and in-between spots I'm looking to fill in, so that I can get the big ones to flow freely.
Usual warnings and apologies apply- I may be slow and unreliable, especially right now with the thing with the teeth.
EDIT-!- Hey, all, just wanted to clarify (as I should have at first, but was a bit, well, out of it at the time)- you can ask for small moments as well as big, AUs of AU, what-ifs, future, past, weird little character/relationship moments, and all that there fun stuff. In fact, I encourage it. Most of the major events of Season 3 and late Season 2, such as WAT, Crossroads of Destiny, Sozin's Comet, etc I do have plans for- it's those set-up moments and in-between spots I'm looking to fill in, so that I can get the big ones to flow freely.
Zura/Zhao Explosions: Slow Burn 1/2
All of his plans for a slow, calculated ascension are turned ‘round in a thoroughly pleasant way when they name him admiral before their wedding, and he’s completely off in his own mind during the ceremony, trying to redraw the maps and plans he’d had in his head. There are cups of wine, and he thinks he sees her eyes burning through the veil when they sip together, but there’s just so much to take in, and she hides her face well.
Well she should- the princess hasn’t been seen in public since the abortive Agni Kai, but he witnessed the ferocity with which their Fire Lord struck down dissent. Protestations of innocence and best interests hold little water when you’ve smeared the royal name.
He smiles through the ceremony, and the dignified reception, and the raucous officers’ party afterward. The procession brings him back to his family compound after winding through too many bars to count, back pounded and wine-soaked and ears burning. The lanterns burn down, and the guests go home, and finally he’s left alone in the dark, with only the door to his chambers to beckon him.
Straightening his mantle, smoothing back his sideburns (good grooming is the mark of a great man), Zhao steadies himself and steps in.
The girl is in bed already (her title is gone, her great name, even so mediocre as it was, vanished), her back to him. He goes through the ritual of removing his armor without bothering to set a light- he can do it drunk, injured, in the dark and on a rocking deck, and has done so before (and will do it again). The fancier undertunic and mantle are newly-tailored especially for this day- the armor is ceremonial, but still scarred from ancestral battles.
He hears a soft sound when he gets down to his boots and trousers, and smirks harshly. Probably never seen a real man, have you, princess? The palace gossips place her among her age-mates for the most part- it’s doubtful she’d entangled one of the generals or lords she might have encountered, and the boys she would have known are merest puppies, half-trained and no use.
At last he turns around. She’s still pretending to be asleep, curled in the coverlet like a stone. Thoroughly annoyed, the groom approaches the other side of his bed and flings back the bedclothes.
The princess stares up at him in shock, and he can see all the damage. Eye almost blinded, still surrounded by healing poultice along half of her face. Her linen shift doesn’t disguise the thin limbs of a growing teenager, nor the rounded belly that suddenly reminds him, despite all his efforts to forget, that he comes to his marriage bed already a cuckold.
She looks up at him in what must be fear, and pity mingles with contempt in him, curdling in his stomach. Weakness- of character, of resolve, of body and mind- is not to be tolerated.
She’s a traitor.
She’s a child.
She’s his responsibility now.
“Let me make this clear, my wife,” he growls, still smiling what’s not a smile. “I am your last, best, and only chance in this world. My will is your law, and no one is going to say me nay. Not the crowd, not the courts, and certainly not your once-upon-a-time crown. Your father has delivered you into my care, and out of his sight, and it is going to stay that way.”
Re: Zura/Zhao Explosions: Slow Burn 2/2
Sometimes never at all.
“You will be kept on my family estate. Make no mistake- you will give no orders, nor be allowed out except by my leave. Your education will be in the hands of my mother, and I strongly suggest that you pay close attention. You will not shame me!” he barks, and she jolts. Something in her mask cracks, and the rage that shines through the fear is- interesting.
He studies her for a moment, the moonlight and the setting and the alcoholic haze anything but romantic.
Perhaps there’s some potential to this girl after all. But potential or no, he is an admiral now, and about ten years sooner than he’d planned. Let the raising of children be left to those with more skill at it- he has a war to win.
“When I return- I expect to find a wife befitting an admiral waiting for me.”
.....
The next day the fleet sets sail, and he sails with it.
Re: Zura/Zhao Explosions: Slow Burn 2/2
Re: Zura/Zhao Explosions: Slow Burn 2/2
Thank you^^