asph0del
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Crossing Paths And Blowing Sand by ErsatzErmine
Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005)
30 May 2025
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Summary
“We’re in the middle of the desert, waterbender. So you might have that barrel, but once it’s gone, what do you have?” Zuko moved forward, into her personal space. She was shorter than him, and he was using his height deliberately to glare down at her, but Katara didn’t back down. He could feel the sun soaking into him – his power was strongest while she was at her weakest, and for a moment he wished she would start something so that he could beat her in a fight. “I can make fire anywhere, and you might get one shot in, but then I am going to make you burn.”
The moment dragged out.
They were glaring.
Still glaring.
This was the point where the girl would usually be flying away on a bison and he’d be covered in perfume or something.
Something shifted in her expression, and Zuko started fully processing what he had just said, and how it could perhaps have been phrased a little—Her voice was completely flat. “Make. Me. Burn.” Her mouth tugged, started widening into a sly smile.
His stomach dropped. Oh no. “I meant it like—“
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OR:
A good tip about a mountain pass leads Zuko and Iroh to Misty Palms Oasis a week early, and they run straight into some old enemies.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 81,564
- Chapters:
- 13/13
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 696
- Kudos:
- 1,135
- Bookmarks:
- 288
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- 26,948
Bookmarked by asph0del
12 Jun 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.
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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:
- 2
- Comments:
- 582
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- 1,347
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- 317
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- 26,274
Bookmarked by asph0del
11 Jun 2026
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Summary
When the next letter arrived, Zuko let it sit on his desk for a whole day before opening it, as if somehow Sokka would sense, a continent away, that he was still pretty pissed about Sokka trying to rope Iroh into this whole festival visit insanity. Finally, his point proven to literally no one except himself, Zuko waited until after a long bending practice, then a full bath, before he casually picked up the letter and broke the seal.
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OR:
Zuko has been Fire Lord for six years when Sokka starts trying to convince him to attend the Spring Gift festival at Wolf Cove, and Sokka isn’t taking no for an answer.
Bookmarked by asph0del
10 Jun 2026
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Summary
He opened his mouth to reassure his uncle, to tell him that he’d be able to start running in just as second, just as soon as the world stopped spinning, but instead all he muttered was, “I’m tired.”
When Iroh brushed against the back of Zuko’s head the pain there abruptly muscled to the front of Zuko’s list of issues, and he gave a loud groan. Iroh pulled back quickly, but Zuko could see that his hand was now dripping with blood.
“Then you should rest, Prince Zuko,” Iroh said, his voice calm and controlled, which would’ve been very nice if the lines of concern on his face hadn’t been so obvious. Zuko watched blearily as Iroh began to look sharply around them, apparently assessing something. “A man needs his rest.”
The world started getting hazy again, but the lack of attempted movement was a slight improvement. A series of shouts pulled him back from the creeping numbness, and Zuko forced his eyelids open.
Iroh was waving his arms, signaling to someone. “We surrender!” Iroh bellowed. “I am with the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, and he needs a doctor!”
***
OR:
Zuko and Iroh are taken prisoner by the Northern Water Tribe following the battle in Agna Qel’a.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 72,459
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Comments:
- 683
- Kudos:
- 1,187
- Bookmarks:
- 274
- Hits:
- 24,870
Bookmarked by asph0del
09 Jun 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:
- 507
- Kudos:
- 1,161
- Bookmarks:
- 298
- Hits:
- 23,687
Bookmarked by asph0del
04 Jun 2026