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fandomweekly2016-06-05 09:15 am
alobear) wrote in fandomweekly2016-06-05 09:15 am
Entry tags:
[#15] Thinking Things Through (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Theme Prompt: Patriotism
Title: Thinking Things Through
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: No
Word Count: 693
Summary: Prince Zuko thinks about his place among his fellow travellers
“The Fire Nation is the strongest and the best. We deserve to be in control. The other nations should bow down before us and be grateful for our rule.”
Zuko heard his father’s voice echoing in his mind as he sat apart from the others in their makeshift campsite. He had always been very proud to be a member of the Fire Nation, and had taken the responsibilities of his position and status seriously. He had believed his father’s words wholeheartedly, and had been confident of his own superiority over others. But he had come to know, in no uncertain terms, that his father was not always right. Unconsciously, his hand came up to his face and his fingers whispered over the ugly burn scar that marred his cheek. Was it possible that his father could have been wrong about this as well?
Zuko glanced over to where Sokka was lugging a bucket of water across from the stream to the shady spot Appa the flying bison had claimed as his own. Sokka thumped the heavy bucket down in front of the gigantic animal and turned to walk away. Appa extended his long, pink tongue into the water and flicked it up, causing a wide curtain of moisture to land squarely on Sokka’s back. The boy spun to face the bison and yelled angrily, waving his arms about in front of Appa’s entirely unconcerned nose.
Zuko thought the Water Tribe boy was an idiot, and really annoying to boot, but Sokka did have a certain entertainment value on occasion, and his loyalty and good intentions couldn’t be faulted. When it really came down to it, Sokka would stick by Aang and his sister, no matter what, and had already, on more than occasion.
Toph was grouchy and difficult, though Zuko was self-aware enough to know that he shouldn’t criticise others for those traits. She was stubborn as a rock, too, which he supposed was only appropriate, considering her Earth Kingdom origins. But he had to give her credit for the way she had overcome her disability, when she could have allowed her blindness to make her helpless and dependent on others. Zuko admired Toph’s fierce self-reliance, not to mention her incredible earth-bending powers, and was grateful they had her on their side when it came to dangerous situations.
Then there was Katara. Zuko’s feelings about her were more complex and harder to pin down. When she danced with the water, her hair flowing about her like liquid and her body both graceful and strong as she bent the element to her will, he found it difficult to imagine she could be inferior to anyone. She certainly considered herself to be in charge of their little band of misfits; she ordered them about like a military commander, especially the boys. But she also kept them together in a way Zuko was sure none of the others could done. If this was what being in a Water Tribe family was like, Zuko envied them.
And what was there to say about Aang? He was so small and unassuming, almost insubstantial like the wind. Zuko didn’t really know much about the Air Nomads, but he was learning that Aang had a steel core of morals to his being that could not be corrupted. He suffered the loneliness of knowing he was the last of his people, yet had taken on the burden of being the Avatar, and bore it proudly. Aang inspired others to follow him without even trying; he was the reason they were all there, after all, emigrants from their homelands in search of a new world they would have to create themselves. Aang represented something powerful and important and made the rest of them realise they had something to contribute to the greater good. It was heady stuff.
Zuko looked up to see Katara standing before him.
“Food’s almost ready,” she said simply. “Come join us.”
She extended a hand to pull him up, to bring him into the circle of their friendship, to offer him a place to belong that wasn’t defined by Fire Nation prejudice.
Zuko reached up and took it.
Title: Thinking Things Through
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: No
Word Count: 693
Summary: Prince Zuko thinks about his place among his fellow travellers
“The Fire Nation is the strongest and the best. We deserve to be in control. The other nations should bow down before us and be grateful for our rule.”
Zuko heard his father’s voice echoing in his mind as he sat apart from the others in their makeshift campsite. He had always been very proud to be a member of the Fire Nation, and had taken the responsibilities of his position and status seriously. He had believed his father’s words wholeheartedly, and had been confident of his own superiority over others. But he had come to know, in no uncertain terms, that his father was not always right. Unconsciously, his hand came up to his face and his fingers whispered over the ugly burn scar that marred his cheek. Was it possible that his father could have been wrong about this as well?
Zuko glanced over to where Sokka was lugging a bucket of water across from the stream to the shady spot Appa the flying bison had claimed as his own. Sokka thumped the heavy bucket down in front of the gigantic animal and turned to walk away. Appa extended his long, pink tongue into the water and flicked it up, causing a wide curtain of moisture to land squarely on Sokka’s back. The boy spun to face the bison and yelled angrily, waving his arms about in front of Appa’s entirely unconcerned nose.
Zuko thought the Water Tribe boy was an idiot, and really annoying to boot, but Sokka did have a certain entertainment value on occasion, and his loyalty and good intentions couldn’t be faulted. When it really came down to it, Sokka would stick by Aang and his sister, no matter what, and had already, on more than occasion.
Toph was grouchy and difficult, though Zuko was self-aware enough to know that he shouldn’t criticise others for those traits. She was stubborn as a rock, too, which he supposed was only appropriate, considering her Earth Kingdom origins. But he had to give her credit for the way she had overcome her disability, when she could have allowed her blindness to make her helpless and dependent on others. Zuko admired Toph’s fierce self-reliance, not to mention her incredible earth-bending powers, and was grateful they had her on their side when it came to dangerous situations.
Then there was Katara. Zuko’s feelings about her were more complex and harder to pin down. When she danced with the water, her hair flowing about her like liquid and her body both graceful and strong as she bent the element to her will, he found it difficult to imagine she could be inferior to anyone. She certainly considered herself to be in charge of their little band of misfits; she ordered them about like a military commander, especially the boys. But she also kept them together in a way Zuko was sure none of the others could done. If this was what being in a Water Tribe family was like, Zuko envied them.
And what was there to say about Aang? He was so small and unassuming, almost insubstantial like the wind. Zuko didn’t really know much about the Air Nomads, but he was learning that Aang had a steel core of morals to his being that could not be corrupted. He suffered the loneliness of knowing he was the last of his people, yet had taken on the burden of being the Avatar, and bore it proudly. Aang inspired others to follow him without even trying; he was the reason they were all there, after all, emigrants from their homelands in search of a new world they would have to create themselves. Aang represented something powerful and important and made the rest of them realise they had something to contribute to the greater good. It was heady stuff.
Zuko looked up to see Katara standing before him.
“Food’s almost ready,” she said simply. “Come join us.”
She extended a hand to pull him up, to bring him into the circle of their friendship, to offer him a place to belong that wasn’t defined by Fire Nation prejudice.
Zuko reached up and took it.
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