1 - 20 of 349 Bookmarks by WriterInTheShadows
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The whole Companion House is in a frenzy when a lucrative request comes in, for the best Companion in the House to meet with the surly Prince of the Fire Nation. –- Prequel to, and inspiration for/of, As the Turn of the Worlds aka "the Firefly AU".
Series
- Part 1 of As the Turn of the Worlds
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
07 Jun 2026
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"The Blue Spirit begins appearing in proximity to rumours of the Painted Lady. She cleans a polluted well and the sickness it caused in a tiny coastal town. The very same night, a crate of rice and cured meat wrapped in flame embossed bamboo appears by the well. Valleys of sword strokes and kisses of ash adorn the rough pine crate.
It is said, the Blue Spirit is hunting the Painted Lady. Or that he’s under her spell.
In a way, both are true."
Series
- Part 1 of Rumour Has It verse
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 50,383
- Chapters:
- 80/80
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 1,207
- Kudos:
- 5,554
- Bookmarks:
- 1,316
- Hits:
- 128,554
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
05 Jun 2026
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‘The Chemistry of Cooking,’ wasn’t exactly rocket science, but it wasn’t going to be a total cake walk, either. Well, except maybe in week 8 — that was when they were supposed to be baking cakes. The instructor tells them to pair up, and the girl in front of him turns around.
Zuko panics. This girl is way prettier than he expected, and now she is smiling at him hopefully.
“Do you have a partner?” she asks.
“No.”
“…Do you want to be partners?”
College AU where Zuko and Katara are chemistry 'lab' partners. Zuko will get more than he bargained for by saying yes.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 47,888
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 655
- Kudos:
- 2,577
- Bookmarks:
- 654
- Hits:
- 41,926
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
01 Jun 2026
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the beginning of a new and brighter birth by aloneintherain
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
13 Jun 2018
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“I’m so proud of you, my nephew.” Uncle cups Zuko’s face in his lined hand. The gesture is so tender, his palm so warm, that Zuko has to take a fortifying breath against the sudden swell of emotion in his chest.
“I want to be a good leader, Uncle,” Zuko says. “I want to look after my people.”
“You will,” Uncle says. “You are, nephew.”
In a new era of peace, Zuko works to be a very different Fire Lord than his forefathers. Based on this tumblr post.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 15,637
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 68
- Comments:
- 1,327
- Kudos:
- 30,404
- Bookmarks:
- 10,297
- Hits:
- 282,306
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
19 May 2026
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Summary
Part of her wonders if she should thank him—if she could—but when she pulls away from her father and tries to make sense of the tangled words brewing in the back of her throat, Zuko is busy securing the balloon, dragging it off to the side and neatly folding the fabric back into the basket. The deep furrow of his brow and the tense set of his jaw gives her pause. His eyes are stormy and conflicted, so Katara bites her tongue, spins on her heel, and remembers a prince clad in black and red who spits fire and only knows how to take.
Against all odds, in the moments between now and the end, Katara falls for Zuko.
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
18 May 2026
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Summary
All of Izumi’s teachers prior to this one have used the term “partners in learning.” But never before has it seemed true. And now, here he is, eyeballs deep in markers and glitter glue, somehow the most involved parent in the classroom.
----
In which Izumi idolizes her new teacher and Zuko falls a little bit in love.
Series
- Part 1 of Zutara Month 2021
- Part 1 of Partners In Learning
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 11,603
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 127
- Kudos:
- 2,024
- Bookmarks:
- 471
- Hits:
- 16,580
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
12 May 2026
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Ten Strides in the Right Direction by evergreenonthehorizon
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
26 Apr 2021
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Summary
These coming days will bring darkness and destruction, but if these little flecks of happiness continue to blaze through the bleak blackness, then nothing that is bad will prevail.
----
Written for Zutara Month 2021
Day 3: Cuddling for WarmthSeries
- Part 3 of Zutara Month 2021
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 29,397
- Chapters:
- 12/12
- Comments:
- 396
- Kudos:
- 1,336
- Bookmarks:
- 315
- Hits:
- 25,324
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
12 May 2026
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The Perfect Pot of Jasmine Tea by evergreenonthehorizon for stitch1830
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
27 Aug 2021
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Summary
She’s sitting there at her table, surrounded by thick-spined books, her eyes occasionally seeking his out over the top of her laptop, and he’s here in the kitchen being forced by his uncle to make pot after pot of tea.
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Or: Zuko falls in love with one of the Jasmine Dragon's patrons during Ba Sing Se's rainy season.
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
10 May 2026
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Summary
On a deserted island just off the Earth Kingdom coast, the Blue Spirit saves Katara from the pirates.
It's an accident, really. The waterbender isn't supposed to be there. And he isn't supposed to take her back to his ship.
Unfortunately, there's only one way off the island, and his mask can't stay on forever.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,826
- Chapters:
- 5/?
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 88
- Kudos:
- 191
- Bookmarks:
- 46
- Hits:
- 3,769
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
07 May 2026
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Summary
Stealing from pirates doesn't go as well the second time around. But at least Katara doesn't have to be alone after she's captured.
Series
- Part 2 of Zutara Week 2019
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
07 May 2026
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Summary
Katara finds a familiar face after wandering into a tea shop in the Lower Ring. Unfortunate circumstances force Katara and Zuko to form a shaky alliance as they both work to escape from the authorities of Ba Sing Se without revealing their true identities.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 23,328
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 185
- Kudos:
- 796
- Bookmarks:
- 148
- Hits:
- 13,286
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
07 May 2026
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Sweeter Than Honey, Stronger Than Whiskey by JasmineTeaLatte
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender
15 Feb 2021
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Summary
For the life of her, Katara couldn’t understand why she’d agreed to come to this stupid costume party in the first place. Maybe it was because she was bored, or maybe she needed to find someone to help her forget her jerk ex-boyfriend.
But she gets more than what she bargained for by enlisting the help of a mysterious but cute stranger with eyes golden as honey and kisses that taste like whiskey to help her ward off unwanted attention from a trio of drunk partygoers…
Zutara College Party AU, where the Blue Spirit actually saves the Painted Lady from the pirates.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 21,311
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 76
- Kudos:
- 838
- Bookmarks:
- 154
- Hits:
- 11,630
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
05 May 2026
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Summary
In order to prevent the decimation of her tribe Katara agrees to a treaty with the Fire Nation forcing her to marry the freshly crowned Fire Lord.
There's only one thing she's sure of before arriving at the docks. She hates the red that runs through his veins more than anything in the world.
Written for Zutara Month 2021 Day 21: Her Royal Majesty, Our Queen
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
03 May 2026
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Katara’s not going to let her ex ruin Sokka and Suki’s wedding for her – and neither is her blind date, if he has anything to say about it.
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
03 May 2026
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Summary
For a second, Katara is helpless. No bending, no running, not when she’s trying to pull air into her lungs, feeling the world spin nauseatingly around her.
That’s all Zuko needs.
He pins her with a truly insulting ease, grabbing her wrists to hold both down, and she is well and truly caught. She glares up at him – he is soaked from the water she has been throwing at him, but his golden eyes are glaring right back at her, and there’s that sneering curl to his lip that makes her want to dump half the ocean on his head.
He leans down and she can feel the heat of his breath in her ear.
“Leaving so soon?” he hisses.
***
OR: Zuko captures Katara, and imprisons her on his ship to use as bait to try to capture Aang.
No plan truly survives contact with the enemy. And this plan… goes absolutely sideways.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 48,540
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Comments:
- 504
- Kudos:
- 1,139
- Bookmarks:
- 290
- Hits:
- 22,881
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
02 May 2026
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Summary
“Just run, Katara! We’ll meet you in Ba Sing Se!”
Katara had never left Sokka before, had never imagined having to separate herself from Aang or Toph — but, on the other hand, she had also never planned to get eaten by a sea serpent at the ripe old age of nineteen, so she ignored the agony in her leg, turned her back on the others, and ran as fast as she could.
It was just temporary, she reminded herself. She would get to the city just a few days after them, tops.
***
OR: Katara is separated from the group at the Serpent’s Pass, and runs into unexpected frenemies on the road to Ba Sing Se.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 45,629
- Chapters:
- 10/10
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 577
- Kudos:
- 1,313
- Bookmarks:
- 309
- Hits:
- 25,532
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
02 May 2026
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Summary
“I’d hate being kept from the sun.” Zuko reaches over her shoulder so his pale hand glows. Moonlight bathes her in silver, cloaking her like a second skin of crushed diamonds. Men of the Fire Nation burn the air around them. Women shimmer like a hot summer day.
He’s never seen anyone sparkle.
“I… I shouldn’t have stolen the moon from you. Tui’s waiting.”
She breathes in. “It’s impossible to steal the moon. But you did steal me.”
~ ~ ~
My take on the series if Zutara were the series endgame. Feat. canon-divergences, aged-up characters, mature themes, pining and Two Idiots in Love.
Series
- Part 1 of My Heart Burns
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 88,219
- Chapters:
- 16/16
- Comments:
- 694
- Kudos:
- 1,207
- Bookmarks:
- 274
- Hits:
- 44,094
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
30 Apr 2026
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Zuko does not notice when the Water Tribe girl first stirs. She is staring at his face — his scar — but strangely it is only when he faces her head-on that she is afraid.
She is the first person who ever flinches at his right side instead of his left.
He begins his interrogation at once. Uncle has dozed off, thankfully. If he knew she was awake, he would slow things down by offering tea. Still, Zuko is not a total barbarian. He thrusts the lukewarm tea in the girl’s direction. She looks around wildly, no doubt disoriented by her surroundings and Zuko presses his advantage.
“Where is the Avatar?”
A canon-divergent tale: Katara must protect the newly-found Avatar from a Fire Nation Prince, although he is not quite who she expected. But Katara has plenty of secrets of her own...
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 95,187
- Chapters:
- 17/17
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 729
- Kudos:
- 4,008
- Bookmarks:
- 1,158
- Hits:
- 92,738
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
27 Apr 2026
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Summary
Zuko goes into exile with a scar, a mission, and a wife.
The girl wears ill fitted ceremonial silks. She is too thin, with jutting bones and hollowed eyes. Dirt smudges her cheek. Her lower lip has a healing split in it. Gaudy as her finery is, she wears it like prisoner’s rags.
All of this Zuko registers in the time it takes him to reach the dais and bow. Every muscle aches with the remembrance of what happened the last time he knelt before Father. This time there is no begging, no roar of the crowd, no burning. Still—Zuko’s grateful to stand once more.
Slipping into soldier’s parade rest, he waits for what will come next, all too aware of the girl’s defiant body next to his.
“I am told that this is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe,” Father says, cruel amusement oiling his words. The phrasing makes the girl sound like a thing. “The last waterbender of their pathetic tribe.” Flames conceal all but his shadow, yet Zuko knows from long experience the exacting blade of his father’s smirk. The smirk he must surely wear now. Because he has built up his insult and now he lets it fall. “Your bride.”
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 25,095
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 323
- Kudos:
- 5,253
- Bookmarks:
- 1,632
- Hits:
- 51,944
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
27 Apr 2026
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Summary
Katara grew up in the Southern Water Tribe under the tutelage of Hama, the only waterbender ever to have escaped Fire Nation captivity. When Zuko arrives at the South Pole, seeking the Avatar, they are more than ready to defend him. Iroh watches as his beloved nephew throws himself at the ice walls again and again in an impossible siege–-and resolves to do anything it takes to save his nephew from himself. With the assistance of the Order of the White Lotus, he deposes his brother on the Day of Black Sun.
A week later, the Southern Water Tribe receives a petition for peace, and a proposal of marriage.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 102,813
- Chapters:
- 22/22
- Collections:
- 7
- Comments:
- 1,121
- Kudos:
- 8,770
- Bookmarks:
- 2,851
- Hits:
- 206,203
Bookmarked by WriterInTheShadows
27 Apr 2026