Long Zuko-centric AU's that I LIVE for (seriously i'd marry them if i could)
(Open, Moderated)
Recent works
-
Tags
Summary
Zuko had never excelled at anything. Azula was a prodigy. Uncle always knew what to say. And Father... Father was strong, iron-like. But Zuko had only ever been good at surviving. Putting one foot in front of the other in a grim show of stubborn determination, gritting his teeth and bearing it. Survival was all he had ever been taught. He knew how to do it. So when he was kidnapped by the Southern Water Tribe, he expected to fight as he always had. He didn’t expect to be taught instead how to live.
In a warring land, the Water Tribe forgave the enemy in an act of defiance. For this, he was torn from them, and this time, his wounds won't heal so easily.
Forced back into nothing but survival, the last person Zuko expected to see was Hakoda's son. Hakoda was a promise of safety. The relentless blue of Sokka’s eyes was a promise of happiness. Zuko could have both if he just reached out his hands, but he found them clutching into fists. After all, he’d been burned one too many times.
But hey, at least between Hakoda and Sokka, Zuko could appreciate the family resemblance of pure, asinine stubbornness.
PODFIC AND TRANSLATIONS AVAILABLE
-
Tags
Summary
Katara and Toph go to the tea shop and discover Zuko is waiting tables way earlier than in the show. Slower exploration of Zuko's life as a tea server. Also the Dai Li are terrible customers. The Gaang ends up coming to Zuko's aid, but that might make things worse.
Eventual and slight Zutara feels because I ship it like I'm a playwright for the Ember Island Players. But I also suck at anything remotely romantic so ... you have to squint to see it. And I try to be fair to all canon ships.
-
Tags
Summary
Mid-Season-One Zuko is held for ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.
Podfic and translations in Dutch, German, Hungarian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian now available! See chapter one author notes for links.
-
Tags
Summary
Sokka is a man of science, and science says ghosts aren't real. So, he can't be dead... Right?
Too bad science can't explain why the only person who can see or hear him is Prince Angry Jerk.
-
Tags
Summary
Iroh insists they create a new life and identity in Ba Sing Se. Zuko wants nothing more than to bide his time until his next opportunity to return home, until he realizes ‘Lee’ can get away with things Zuko never could.
Zuko dons the mantle of the Blue Spirit again only to lose his focus when the Avatar comes to the city. This time, however, his attention is drawn to the annoying Southern Tribe warrior.
Recent bookmarks
-
Tags
Summary
Zuko realizes his destiny much earlier. As in, as soon as he wakes up in the palace after his Agni Kai and is told he is banished. Unfortunately, he's never been a patient one. So he storms right up to Ozai and tells him what he's going to do. And gets locked up for over three years. Then, one day, he's being pulled out and told he's the new Fire Lord.
A "Zuko never meets the Gaang and suddenly becomes Fire Lord after three years of literal torture" AU. In which the Gaang doesn't know what to think of the new Fire Lord who happens to be the missing nephew of Aang's firebending teacher, Iroh constantly has a headache, and, sure, maybe the world hates the Fire Nation, but the Fire Nation LOVES Zuko, and he can work with that.
Series
- Part 1 of Fractures
-
Tags
Summary
Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...
-
Summary
AU where Ozai still banished Zuko, but never gave him the option to capture the Avatar. With this change, Zuko ends up travelling with his crew as they fight the Fire Nation.
- Words:
- 11,482
- Works:
- 7
- Bookmarks:
- 1,337
Bookmarked by TheRealBlueSpirit
08 Jul 2022
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
internment is gold.
-
Tags
Summary
After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.
Series
- Part 1 of Birds of a Phoenix Feather
-
Tags
Summary
It was a mission of revenge. There weren't supposed to be any survivors, but Chief Hakoda couldn't bring himself to kill the Fire Nation boy. Against his better judgment, he brought him home. A Zuko joins the Water Tribe story.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 312,685
- Chapters:
- 37/?
- Collections:
- 23
- Comments:
- 1,939
- Kudos:
- 7,577
- Bookmarks:
- 3,043
- Hits:
- 279,808
Bookmarked by TheRealBlueSpirit
13 Nov 2020
Bookmarker's Tags:
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
Another one of the best fics on this fandom, more than 100% recommend it. Thought it would drag because it starts off when zuko is ten but oh boy it moves so smoothly that you're sucked in deep before you even realize it.
This fic is also the personification of the term 'alternate universe', because every change to canon plot has a well thought out, brilliant reason behind it.
Perfect in every way, i could NOT emphasize this more. This is as gold as gold can get. Read it in two days.I'm so in love with these characters and this plot. Urgh.