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lizbeeLate on Monday morning I developed a weird obsession with Toph/Azula. Why? Well, I've reached that point in my AU Big Bang where I'm quite close to being done, only there's a big climactic scene to write first. And whenever I reach this stage in a story, my brain starts throwing out completely unrelated ideas that totally have to be written right away. For example, over the weekend I wrote 1000 words of Katara/Zuko fic. And usually that pairing makes me retch.
Anyway, Toph/Azula. Because I was talking about my Big Bang fic withbnharrison last week, and she said something about Toph being almost the only person in the world, other than Katara and possibly Iroh, who is totally a match for Azula. And while any good Azula pairing should start out with "someone she can't kill too easily" I started seeing other ways they work well together, even as their combined ego threatens to destroy the entire world.
So now I'm kind of contemplating a series of ficlets about Toph and Azula fighting crime and letting Zuko pay for the property damage. It needs a better, or at least more appropriate title than "TEAM TOPHZULA, FUCK YEAH!" but I can work on that. I scribbled a 500-word ficlet this afternoon.
Untitled Toph/Azula ficlet
The Earth King opened his eyes and beheld the face of his rescuer.
"Actually," he said muzzily, "on second thought, captivity wasn't so bad."
"Relax," said Azula. "I'm not invading your kingdom this time." She smiled. It was about as reassuring as a sharktopus eyeing its prey.
"Oh. Good."
"You could call it a gesture of international cooperation," she added.
"Could I?"
"Don't tease him, Princess," said another voice. Another woman came into view. The Bei Fong girl. Last time he had seen her, she was fifteen years old, striding through the palace at the side of the Dragon of the West. That had been a few years ago. Last he had heard, she was living in Omashu, being groomed to succeed King Bumi.
Now she was as tall as Azula, though stockier, and her hair was cropped short like a peasant's. Her muscled arms were decorated with metal bands. Kuei had a vague memory of seeing her bend the metal like stone, right before he passed out.
Now he was on an airship. A Bei Fong airship, he realised, recognising the flying boar sigil on the walls. Toph had rescued him. Only not alone.
"Why..."
Toph shrugged. "The Council of Five said you'd been taken by dissident Dai Li agents. I asked myself, who is the one person in the world who took down the Dai Li without breaking a sweat?"
There was probably going to be some kind of diplomatic incident over that, the Earth King thought. He would probably have to do something about it. A sternly-worded letter to the Fire Lord, reminding him that the Earth Kingdom had agreed not to prosecute his sister for war crimes on the condition she never, ever came back.
At that moment, it didn't seem especially important.
One final thought struck him as he fell asleep.
"...Bosco?" he managed.
"Yes," said Azula. "The bear is fine."
"Oh. Good."
*
As they left the airship's little infirmary, Azula said, "You know, Long Feng wanted me to marry the Earth King."
Toph snorted. "Wow. He really did misjudge you."
Azula's grip on her arm tightened. Just a little, a squeeze that was almost affectionate, but for the sharpness of her nails.
"Will you visit your uncle while we're in Ba Sing Se?"
"I'd rather eat my own fingers," said Azula, "or babysit my neices, or go back to the hospital--"
She broke off as they entered the bridge. The pilot bowed to Toph.
"We've just had word," he said, "the waterbender, Katara, is waiting for you at Ba Sing Se. She said she'll meet you at the palace."
Only Toph could have felt Azula's flinch, or understood the reasons for it.
"On second thoughts," Azula said, "some tea and anecdotes might be nice."
Later, as the airship came in to land, Toph said, "Do you think General How wanted that castle left intact?"
"He's an earthbender," said Azula. "Don't you people destroy buildings for the fun of putting them up again?"
"It was eight hundred years old."
"Then it was overdue for refurbishment." Azula leaned against Toph. She didn't quite relax, because she never properly relaxed. But neither did Toph, so that was okay.
Toph pressed a kiss to her temple, savouring the taste of her skin and the smell of her hair, and the metallic scent of lightning.
"Anyway," Azula added, "we just saved the Earth King's life. If they really want to complain, tell them Zuko will pay for the damage."
Toph grinned. "Are you going to warn him about that?"
"No," said Azula, and she sounded happy. "No, I'm not."
end
Tonight, feeling a sad lack of River Song in my life, I watched "Silence in the Library" for the first time since it aired. Tennant's accent isn't very good, is it? I spent much of it going, "WHY AREN'T YOU ELEVENTY? BE ELEVENTY AGAIN!" and also feeling that, while I like Donna okay, I feel like she was hyped up into The Greatest Companion Ever, and I don't actually find her that interesting.
Also I wonder, again, at people saying River is smug in her first appearance, because she spends most of the episode either dealing with plot stuff, or being visibly and increasingly distraught that the Doctor doesn't know her. Either she completely changes in the next episode, or fandom thinks that any woman who is capable of walking and breathing at the same time is getting above herself. GUESS WHICH OPTION I SUSPECT!
Here, have a meme that charms me:
Give me two characters I'm familiar with, and I'll tell you about a time that they kissed.
As usual lately, bonus points for AtLA characters.
Anyway, Toph/Azula. Because I was talking about my Big Bang fic with
bnharrison last week, and she said something about Toph being almost the only person in the world, other than Katara and possibly Iroh, who is totally a match for Azula. And while any good Azula pairing should start out with "someone she can't kill too easily" I started seeing other ways they work well together, even as their combined ego threatens to destroy the entire world. So now I'm kind of contemplating a series of ficlets about Toph and Azula fighting crime and letting Zuko pay for the property damage. It needs a better, or at least more appropriate title than "TEAM TOPHZULA, FUCK YEAH!" but I can work on that. I scribbled a 500-word ficlet this afternoon.
Untitled Toph/Azula ficlet
The Earth King opened his eyes and beheld the face of his rescuer.
"Actually," he said muzzily, "on second thought, captivity wasn't so bad."
"Relax," said Azula. "I'm not invading your kingdom this time." She smiled. It was about as reassuring as a sharktopus eyeing its prey.
"Oh. Good."
"You could call it a gesture of international cooperation," she added.
"Could I?"
"Don't tease him, Princess," said another voice. Another woman came into view. The Bei Fong girl. Last time he had seen her, she was fifteen years old, striding through the palace at the side of the Dragon of the West. That had been a few years ago. Last he had heard, she was living in Omashu, being groomed to succeed King Bumi.
Now she was as tall as Azula, though stockier, and her hair was cropped short like a peasant's. Her muscled arms were decorated with metal bands. Kuei had a vague memory of seeing her bend the metal like stone, right before he passed out.
Now he was on an airship. A Bei Fong airship, he realised, recognising the flying boar sigil on the walls. Toph had rescued him. Only not alone.
"Why..."
Toph shrugged. "The Council of Five said you'd been taken by dissident Dai Li agents. I asked myself, who is the one person in the world who took down the Dai Li without breaking a sweat?"
There was probably going to be some kind of diplomatic incident over that, the Earth King thought. He would probably have to do something about it. A sternly-worded letter to the Fire Lord, reminding him that the Earth Kingdom had agreed not to prosecute his sister for war crimes on the condition she never, ever came back.
At that moment, it didn't seem especially important.
One final thought struck him as he fell asleep.
"...Bosco?" he managed.
"Yes," said Azula. "The bear is fine."
"Oh. Good."
*
As they left the airship's little infirmary, Azula said, "You know, Long Feng wanted me to marry the Earth King."
Toph snorted. "Wow. He really did misjudge you."
Azula's grip on her arm tightened. Just a little, a squeeze that was almost affectionate, but for the sharpness of her nails.
"Will you visit your uncle while we're in Ba Sing Se?"
"I'd rather eat my own fingers," said Azula, "or babysit my neices, or go back to the hospital--"
She broke off as they entered the bridge. The pilot bowed to Toph.
"We've just had word," he said, "the waterbender, Katara, is waiting for you at Ba Sing Se. She said she'll meet you at the palace."
Only Toph could have felt Azula's flinch, or understood the reasons for it.
"On second thoughts," Azula said, "some tea and anecdotes might be nice."
Later, as the airship came in to land, Toph said, "Do you think General How wanted that castle left intact?"
"He's an earthbender," said Azula. "Don't you people destroy buildings for the fun of putting them up again?"
"It was eight hundred years old."
"Then it was overdue for refurbishment." Azula leaned against Toph. She didn't quite relax, because she never properly relaxed. But neither did Toph, so that was okay.
Toph pressed a kiss to her temple, savouring the taste of her skin and the smell of her hair, and the metallic scent of lightning.
"Anyway," Azula added, "we just saved the Earth King's life. If they really want to complain, tell them Zuko will pay for the damage."
Toph grinned. "Are you going to warn him about that?"
"No," said Azula, and she sounded happy. "No, I'm not."
end
Tonight, feeling a sad lack of River Song in my life, I watched "Silence in the Library" for the first time since it aired. Tennant's accent isn't very good, is it? I spent much of it going, "WHY AREN'T YOU ELEVENTY? BE ELEVENTY AGAIN!" and also feeling that, while I like Donna okay, I feel like she was hyped up into The Greatest Companion Ever, and I don't actually find her that interesting.
Also I wonder, again, at people saying River is smug in her first appearance, because she spends most of the episode either dealing with plot stuff, or being visibly and increasingly distraught that the Doctor doesn't know her. Either she completely changes in the next episode, or fandom thinks that any woman who is capable of walking and breathing at the same time is getting above herself. GUESS WHICH OPTION I SUSPECT!
Here, have a meme that charms me:
Give me two characters I'm familiar with, and I'll tell you about a time that they kissed.
As usual lately, bonus points for AtLA characters.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-24 04:50 am (UTC)"She's in the office," Iroh says, so Katara makes her way through crowded tables, thinking, everyone here would kill you if they knew who you were.
Mai is hunched over a ledger and an abacus. She doesn't look up as Katara enters.
"I'm not due for another month," she says. "And I'm busy."
"This is a delicate time," says Katara, taking her by the shoulders and pulling her straight.
"I'm about as delicate as a mammoth-whale," Mai sighs, but she permits Katara to press a hand against her belly.
"It's kicking," Katara says.
"It does that."
"Are you sleeping?"
"When I can."
Katara leaves her hands resting on Mai's belly. "Meaning?"
"Meaning that I'm trying to keep control of the refugees here, and not get assassinated by any of the sixteen different groups that want me dead, and Zuko is almost certainly dead, and the baby kicks me in the ribs at night, and I need to pee every hour, and--"
It's more emotion than Katara has ever seen Mai show. She moves her hands to Mai's shoulders, but isn't certain if she should offer more.
All she can say is, "Aang's still searching. No one's given up on Zuko."
"It's been months." Mai is in control again. "When the baby's born, he'll be the new Fire Lord. I'm going to be running a regency government from an Earth Kingdom tea shop." Her voice is flat. Her face is a mask.
"You're not alone," Katara says.
"Aren't I."
Katara kneels to look up at her, taking her hand. "No. I promise."
Mai is tense, but she doesn't pull her hand away. Her gaze is distant as she leans forward and kisses Katara on the lips. Katara freezes, but Mai puts her hand on the back of Katara's head, holding her in place.
So she returns the kiss, letting it deepen. Mai's teeth graze her lips, and Katara exhales in surprise.
"No." Mai stops, pushing her away. Katara stands up. Mai turns back to the desk, hunching forward. "Sorry," she mutters. "I thought -- but I was wrong."
"It's okay," says Katara. "I'm not going anywhere."