1 ☼ joint tutorial video / open to both courts

[atoned]

[ for the first time since zuko had unlocked his locket, it turns on without fuss. perhaps because it's in the hands of toph that it does. for viewers with a keen eye, they'll spy a thin, red ring around the ring finger on his left hand. after tapping into the power when he had been practicing his firebending techniques, his flame hotter and brighter than anything it had been before, zuko's been attempting to tap into sozin's comet once again. but as he hadn't taken the time to note the time of day he had used his ring, he believes it to be broken (he’s momentarily forgotten what the imps had informed him of, overloading him with information when he had already felt overwhelmed at his boon actually appearing in his hand, a living ring that didn’t feel as hot as sozin’s comet, but had left him feeling invincible). with that thought in mind, he's almost fuming. ]

[ with a scowl, the right side — the good side — of his face can be seen. his left hand is currently occupied, but his right curls by his side into a tight fist, knuckles painfully white. unaware of being filmed, zuko's holding an imp by the scruff of his neck. the little creature snaps its small jaw at him, but the fire lord looks nonplussed. ]

Where are the dwarves!? [ the little beast twists, despite zuko's long fingers digging hard into his flesh, to try and bite at his wrist. leaning in further, he yells so loud the earth may move beneath his feet in fright, ] Where do I find them!? Stop snickering!

[ for good measure, he shakes the imp before his other hand forms into a gun, index finger aiming for the little beast's feet. small blasts of fire shoot at the imp's toes, the creature squealing as it tries to chomp at the air in front of zuko. ] Stop laughing every time I ask what a dwarf is!

[ at first it starts as a small, indistinguishable sound, then grows into a gigantic, unruly, loud, exasperated yawn. ladylike as always. then, a voice comes from off-screen. ]

You’re so predictable. [ a beat ] And loud. [ another beat ] Also boring.

[ the locket clatters to the ground, the view shifting to show mostly the ground, though zuko’s legs are still visible. closer to the locket, a leg covered in green pants is there, a foot crossing over the knee that’s mostly covered in dirt. the toes wriggle. ]

I know where the dwarves are. [ she doesn’t. ]

[ zuko doesn’t hear toph until he hears the d word. not that anyone can see — thanks, toph — but zuko’s head snaps in her direction. how his neck hasn’t is a trick of the spirits. his grip on the imp drops — his ugly feet hit the ground and scamper away — as he turns on her. he shouts, ] Where!?

[ if anyone’s paying close enough attention, they’ll see a subtle shift in toph’s foot that’s on the ground. there’s a soft rumbling and it looks as if something’s moving underground. in the distance, the imp flings off to the side with a yelp. she admits to nothing. ]

I can hear, you know. [ avoid the question. she’s not answering. ]

I know that! [ curling his fingers into a fist, he smacks his knuckles against his head. zuko sighs, exasperated. his shoulders slump slightly, as if the exhale of air has rid him of all the anger keeping his bones upright and stiff. (it hasn’t.) his tone is softer, less of an inferno and more of a comfortable hearth, ] Where are they?

[ she sniffs, then pitches the locket in his direction. sorry but not sorry for shaky cam. her voice grows a little distant. ] Don’t know if I feel like telling you.

[ his voice is as loud as ever, hands balled into fists as he yells, ] WHY NOT!?

[ her voice is definitely farther away now, but she does yell back: ] Don’t feel like it!

WHY NOT!?

[ there’s a long moment of silence, followed rapidly by a rumbling and a moderately sized boulder comes flying right at zuko, courtesy of one earthbender. ]

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[atoned]

[ zuko inhales, ] That's — [ and then he smiles, as there's really nothing else he can say besides, ] Katara.

[ but it's not necessarily a surprise she would become a teacher, one who is hard and possibly almost murders her students. even though she hadn't taught him how to waterbend, she'd taught him it was possible to atone for personal slights — even if the hoops she threw toward him were very small and very difficult to jump through. it's the easiest part of his alleged future he can believe. katara as a teacher and working her students to the bone. ]

She trounced me a lot. [ with good reason. but he says it fondly, and perhaps to let her know she hadn't been singled out by her waterbending teacher, even if she may know this from any tales katara may have spoken of a fire lord and his stupidity. but it's nice to pretend it's something no one from the future may know; it's a little piece of zuko he's willing to give, even if the history books dedicate a chapter to katara pummeling him with her delicate fists. ] I think she just liked hitting a prince.

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[sangilak]

[ this is good, right? zuko talking about katara fondly and not like she's just a southern water tribe peasant. it occurs to korra now that she probably should try and figure out exactly where in time zuko is so that she doesn't spoil too much of his future. he responded to "fire lord" without much of a reaction, so she can at least assume it's after his coronation — but how far after?

biting down on her lip to keep from saying something silly like "she liked beating up avatars, too", korra lets herself laugh instead. ]

She's the best there is, and she couldn't get that way without practice. She had to use someone as a punching bag, right?

[ and she's sure katara had her fill of beating up sokka when they got older. ]

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[atoned]

[ while katara may have never really raised her hand against him, he can still feel the heavy push of water against his chest, knocking him right back on his ass. it had hurt when she had knocked back his proposal of joining the gaang — he'd sported a bruise for a week, both on his backside and on his ego — but if she hadn't done so, he'd have found himself concerned she didn't take his own hunting of aang and her as a personal offense. ]

[ but he winces all the same. his tone is still fond; speaking of katara to someone who knows her — someone he can pretend doesn't know some version of him he knows he'll never live up to — is easier than thinking about all the other junk. this zuko can do without stumbling. ] She had Sokka. She didn't need me. [ except she did. sokka may be infuriating, but zuko had sparked her ire. ]

[ after a moment, he laughs lightly, ] Sokka's pretty irritating. [ and a voice he misses among the very many. ]

video;

[sangilak]

[ if there was a way to put her chin in her hands during this discussion, korra would be doing so right now. it does take her a moment to respond to that because she's trying to plot out her words and watch her step to make sure she doesn't throw anything out of balance during this conversation because while she might be okay with talking to someone from her past, someone she remembers being very old when they first met, she has to remember the way aang reacted when she blurted out the truth.

in a way, it's challenging. not only because korra (for once) has to be mindful of how she proceeds but because she has to think of her childhood and her life in a way that doesn't revolve around being "the avatar". it's all she's relied on while she's here — she's the avatar, she should know how to stop a war; she's the avatar, she should be allowed to set the dragon free; she's the avatar, she should steamroll her way through everything — and this is different. korra has to be something she's almost never been before: careful. ]

I never got the chance to meet him. [ not... face to face, at least. in her only connection with aang she saw sokka holding council, but korra doesn't count that. she can't. ] Our paths just never crossed.

[ but there's a giant statue of sokka and his trusty boomerang outside the southern water tribe cultural center, so that has to count for something. ]

What was he like?

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[atoned]

[ it's a little strange to think sokka wouldn't be where katara is, taking any opportunity he had to see her wound up. he doubts he matures to the level of actually leaving his sister alone. it's how he shows affection, poking katara until she bursts as if she's a firebender. it's something zuko's always been a little envious of. but perhaps he gives his sister space when she wishes to teach. it's an easier explanation for him — he doesn't get the impression he's beyond eighty, greying, wrinkled, and taller than he is now from the kids supposedly from his future. was may be used, but zuko sometimes slips in his own use of tenses. ]

[ but what's sokka like? that's easy. his tone is just as fond as when he spoke of katara, ] Annoying. He makes a lot of dumb jokes and eats all the food. He's like that annoying brother you don't want. [ but do. he's the sibling zuko would like, but he doesn't want to admit it. it might be clear to her he wouldn't mind if sokka was his brother — if he wasn't so already. ] He's a good guy. [ he laughs, ] I helped him break his girlfriend and father out of the Boiling Rock. He wanted to do it, even when I told him it's impossible to break in or out. [ zuko shrugs. isn't it clear what sokka's like? it's difficult to really put it into words. ] That's Sokka.

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[sangilak]

[ it would be strange to korra too, if she had any opportunity to meet sokka as a child or if she had the same kind of upbringing anyone else in the water tribe had. being the avatar meant everything changed though, and she was secluded away from everyone else so that she could concentrate on her training.

korra just thanks her lucky spirits that zuko didn't ask the meaning of "was" in her question. she could attempt to argue semantics but let's be honest, korra might have cracked under that pressure since she's not a great liar.

on her end, she smiles at the story. of course she knows the legend secondhand, hearing it from katara, but hearing it from zuko makes the story that much more special. as far as she knows, that prison doesn't exist anymore, but one day she might be proven wrong. ]

That sounds amazing. [ and she sounds wistful too, perhaps in a way that zuko might recognize. korra's never had any water tribe friends her own age (save for her cousins, and they aren't exactly friends), and as much as she loves mako and bolin... sometimes she thinks it would be nice to have a friend who understood her culture, knew what it was like to be in water tribe, lived her way of life outside her avatar training. she'd love the chance to get to know sokka and katara at their younger ages, and she'd do everything she could to make sure they were taken care of. ] Maybe he'll show up one day.

video;

[atoned]

[ it's weird to think his own life is a part of a legend. he's just zuko, the son of ursa and fire lord ozai, the heir to the throne — except that's really no longer. it's a little strange thinking himself the leader of the fire nation. he's still that stupid and lost, awkward boy korra may have heard about in the stories — or may not have — but she and her friends see him as though he's ... something else. the story isn't one to go slack-jawed about. they'd been stupid and reckless going to boiling rock. he'd almost lost sokka and he'd almost lost himself; if they had taken to that freezer, they'd have been cooked alive within the boiling lake. he'd almost seen sokka had fallen into that boiling lake. ]

[ but he blushes all the same beneath the attention, cheeks a light pink as he looks incredibly awkward at the idea of that story, his own personal experience, being something to be in awe about. he hasn't really done anything worthy of remembering. but, then again, zuko believes himself to be the lowest priority of heroes to even speak about. for one, he's not a hero. ]

[ it doesn't last for too long, however. the thought of another showing up is something he clings to, but he's uncertain if he wants his friends locked in this place, too. the fire nation needs him, and while korra, mako, and bolin confirm he does what he hasn't even thought he wanted to achieve in their future, he's afraid him being here might undo all the good he and his friends have done since stripping the fatherlord of his bending. he'd almost died here, too; if he hadn't been quick, if toph hadn't used her bending to break them out of the mountain, he'd be shardless, and that thought scares him as much as disappointing the world as a leader. ]

[ but if sokka were here, maybe he'd have more reason to scowl and bite back a laugh. he does it with toph — even if he opts to yell at her, instead. zuko frowns at the thought, his face falling. ] You think so? Toph and I arrived together. But she's ... [ different. ahead. taller. he opts for: ] Weird.