(no subject)
Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Pairing: Zuko/Zula
Theme set: Beta
Rating: PG-13
Note: Yeah, I have a tendancy to abuse semicolons and hyphens more than I should, and the pairing is a bit disturbing, but... Dedication. HOMG. Jessieheart pwnz my s0u1~!!! Mainly because my writing this made her want to explode or something. zucest = luff
#01. Walking.
It was his fondest memory of his sister; The two were beside each other, walking... just walking...
#02. Waltz.
Zuko pulled his leg back from his sister's attack, regained his balance by shifting to the other leg, then swept the ground, approaching in his attack; he suddenly felt as though in a formal ballroom waltz, as though the world stood still around them.
#03. Wishes.
He still couldn't remember when it was that he had gone from wishing every kind of hell upon her to hoping he could live long enough to fulfill all her wishes.
#04. Wonder.
As Zuko stood on the deck of his ship, the wind nuzzling between the locks of his long, flowing hair, he stared at the stars, thinking what a wonder it was that he had lived so long without her.
#05. Worry.
The only worry he had, now, was for her own safety and happiness, even before his own life.
#06. Whimsy.
She would have finished him off, but her cruelty did not feed from hate, but only from her whimsy.
#07. Waste/Wasteland.
Zula's eyes were wide yet expressionless as a small mound of dust ran through her fingers, sitting in her brother's shadow, part of the wasteland that was once her home.
#08. Whiskey and rum.
Zuko was far too alarmed to draw back from his sister's advances, realizing only now how little of their childhood they had spent together, yet as her lips pressed to his, he recognized that with the heat of her breath lingered the bittersweet flavor of whiskey and rum.
#09. War.
It was the final battle of the war, they both knew - it was inevitable they should have a final facedown - when both the princess and the exhiled prince launched their fiercest attacks; however, when it came down to both too exhausted to take the offensive role, they kneeled in the cold, coarse, golden undergrowth that had lay hidden under the snow before their battle began - kneeled, their eyes betraying their own hearts and still finding the depths of each other's souls - when Zuko finally let himself rest, his thin frame falling to the earth, to be joined immediately after by his sister.
#10. Weddings.
He stood in the crowd watching the bride and groom, smiling, laughing - he didn't even know them, and doubted his father did - and all he could think, looking back at his sister, a peaceful, genuine smile across her face, was how lucky the man would be who won her heart.
#11. Birthday.
They weren't allowed a celebration - games and entertaining only wasted time better spent training - so every year on their birthdays, they awoke in the early morning to some variety of dessert, stolen or slipped away, and a secret party to be kept between the two.
#12. Blessing.
A wedding was out of the question; what father would give the blessing for his daughter to wed her own kin?
#13. Bias.
It was true that Zula had a slight bias in the favor of men with power - on some level Zuko had known this, even before his search for the avatar.
#14. Burning.
Exhiled; she sat in the coarse, short undergrowth, a thrill of anticipation running down her spine as butterfly kisses glided from her shoulder toward her neck, when she suddenly gripped soil and grasses as a sharp pain shot through her every nerve, the smell of burning flesh filling her nostrils; her brother's mark would grace her form for several days.
#15. Breathing.
Everything seemed frozen in time but his sister's breathing, slow, measured, and cruel.
#16. Breaking.
The young prince had not intended either of the offenses he commited that day: the breaking of the heirloom, which had once belonged to their mother, or the breaking of the heart, which belonged to the one girl he would ever love.
#17. Belief.
He had spent his entire life raised on the sole belief that the Fire Nation was omnipotent - that no force could overthrow them - yet now he could only hope this belief was wrong.
#18. Balloon.
Though he himself could not yet see it, Zuko's yearning for the princess was building inside him and, as a balloon overfilled with air, would inevitably explode outward.
#19. Balcony.
"We'll have... a great mansion built for us," Zuko attempted to comfort and focus his sister as she lay bleeding; "there'll be a hundred rooms, exactly, and we can share the biggest of them all - paintings and portraits hung over the whole wall, the softest fabric you can buy-" he stammered all the luxuries he could think of, but was cut short as she replied in a soft voice, "and a balcony, to see the stars at night..."
#20. Bane.
It's true, they hated each other; but each considered the bane of their existance was the love they didn't know they shared.
#21. Quiet.
If there was one thing she hated more about his training than the slow progress, it was the quiet he demanded.
#22. Quirks.
Every reason Zuko hated his sister - her egocentricality, her ignorance, her vile disposition... every single one of her quirks - were the only reasons that he could deny his attraction.
#23. Question.
The one reason Zuko had to question fate was that, had destiny been divinely set, Zula should never have been born his sister.
#24. Quarrel.
It was nothing but a quarrel - Zuko stormed down the hallway - only a lover's spat, really - he flung the door open - this was the result of all fights - the princess was caught unprepared, even as his tongue searched her mouth at a moment's notice, one hand brushing forcefully over the small of her back as the one on her neck held her near - as it does for all, the tension of the fight gave rise to a more heated passion, even if it was just a quarrel.
#25. Quitting.
The last thought on their minds was quitting - as much trouble and supposed shame as they had brought to their father, there was no possibility of returning home, and as much as they had grown to rely on each other's warmth during the night, they would never be able to live as siblings again.
#26. Jump.
His heart gave an enormous jump that day, as he stared in disbelief at the flaming horizon, looking upon a cloud of black smoke where his sister's ship had been only seconds before, and Zuko was sure it would never have returned back to its proper place if the silhouette of his sister hadn't appeared before the wreckage.
#27. Jester.
If there was one thing they had in common it was that neither could bear being taken for a jester.
#28. Jousting.
The first time Zuko realized the cruelty in his sister's nature was during a jousting excersize, a skill nurtured in all children born to the fire nation save for the lower classes, when she had managed to severely burn Zuko's arm and crack several of his ribs - she smirked until their tutor was within view, at which point her face took on a somewhat surprised, apologetic guise.
#29. Jewel.
He never thought the black jewel of the fire nation could become just another grain of sand, or that the jewel could truly be so precious after all.
#30. Just.
Zula lay silently in the small bed beside Zuko - it was just too quiet in her cabin - she pressed against her brother's warm frame - she didn't like laying near the edge of the bed, nothing more - he shifted in his bed to face her back, resting his arm on her raised shoulder - surely he must be asleep, even dreaming - he gently kissed the base of her neck, directly between her shoulder blades - perhaps he just didn't want her to be cold - then his hand slid from her shoulder, down her arm, until it finally rested contentedly on her waiste - it's just... it's just for tonight - the princess finally drifted to sleep with Zuko's breath warming her neck.
#31. Smirk.
It still haunts him in the darkest nights - the heat of the flames, the scream of his senses - her cold, pleased smirk finds its way to his nightmares.
#32. Sorrow.
It had hurt the prince greatly when he was banished, yet the attack on his pride would heal; yet, holding his sister's limp, crumpled form, his tears mixing with her own spilt blood, Zuko knew that the sorrow now pulsing through his veins would live forever.
#33. Stupidity.
The entire ritual was only a display of stupidity - Firebenders take a position in an arena which was often prepared for just the occasion, then begin attacking each other until all that remains is a bleeding, scarred mass of life, if you can call it that, often begging for mercy or forgiveness, sometimes pleading for a quick end to ease suffering, nothing solved, nothing gained - she still remembered her brother's first Agni Kai.
#34. Serenade.
As she sat beside the open window, the serenade of nearby robins reached her ears, the bright-chested male flitting about the nest of the hen; it was then that Zula decided she would only marry a man who did the same for her.
#35. Sarcasm.
She had told him just that day, that if he wanted her, he would have to "come and take me," but he did not catch the sarcasm in Zula's voice.
#36. Sordid.
The two approached the sordid old beggar, Zula trying to avoid him, when the exhiled prince lowered himself to the beggar's level, where he drew a small half-loaf of stale bread from his satchel; another hand joined it with a fresh apple and a small package of spices as Zula stood over him with her nose upturned.
#37. Soliloquy.
Zula stood with her ear pressed to the door of the simple building on the outskirts of the Fire Nation village, having just overheard a soliloquy of sorts as Zuko, within, grappled with the emotions he felt for his sister; She had been sent to discover a spy, but instead she had found unconditional love, which she prized above her father's favor, above the appeal of the throne, and which she would not leave without claiming - she pressed through the lockless door to welcome the young prince home.
#38. Sojourn.
The leper stayed longer than he said he would need to, yet remained, for much of the time, in the small lodgings he had barely been able to afford - nobody expected him to come outside, and he never did, but the princess; for some reason, though he never removed his hood, he would always find a reason for a walk when she came near, and she was one of few who did not cower at his approach - though she was still not sure why, she was grateful for his sojourn in the fire nation.
#39. Share.
The girl had once been a princess, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation prior to its fall, yet she had turned from the throne... seeing her now, you would never know... she spent most of her life in the mountain where she had made her home, though often, downstream of her house in the clear river, the lerger bass seemed to posess an insatiable hunger which no villager could explain; if any had bothered to visit the recluse, they would learn of her sorrow for her lost brother, possibly her secret that she sometimes slit her own skin to watch the blood flow into the river, or even that her only regret was that they had not had a single day to share.
#40. Solitary.
The crew of Zuko's small vessel would constantly wonder, even gambling amongst each other, why he was always alone - they had all spent nights on land with a woman at some point, yet the prince seemed to resent the very idea, determined to remain solitary.
#41. Nowhere.
Where could they go, Zuko wondered as his sister slept in his arms, that they may not be persecuted; but he knew too well that there was nowhere for them now.
#42. Neutral.
They lay on the bed in Zuko's cabin aboard his ship, black locks falling over his muscular shoulders, Zula laying on the bed, watching the flickering of the candles as her brother perched above her, having abandoned his shirt for the heat of the room, stroking her hair passively, as slowly he pulled the knot from the sash around her waist, then lowered the hem of her skirt, gently caressing her soft stomach with his lips; Only in the Fire Nation's waters were they in neutral land.
#43. Nuance.
There was a nuance between their view of the Fire Nation's power, being that Zula saw it as a blessing, while Zuko saw it as a curse.
#44. Near.
Zula held a carelessly sharpened blade to her brother's neck, yet the prince's surrender was only because he couldn't remember ever being so near to her.
#45. Natural.
Why did it seem so natural to them that they should have to compete for their father's eye?
#46. Horizon.
The difference that now drew them together was the habit that he had picked up in exhile; while his sister looked back, Zuko always looked to the horizon before him.
#47. Valiant.
Even when his nation, his family, and his own father turned their backs to him, Zula believed that her brother's efforts to reclaim his position were valiant, yet now, as he bandaged her arm with a torn piece of his own clothes, she realized what it meant to be truly courageous.
#48. Virtuous.
To become virtuous had taken the place of the prince's remaining aspirations, yet as the taste of cinders and the heat of Zula's breath filled his lungs, her tongue forcefully brushing the top of his mouth, Zuko mused to himself, "Virtue be damned."
#49. Victory.
Since the two had left their previous relationship behind them, Zula began to learn that the difference between victory and defeat was truly only a hair's breadth; victory didn't always feel good.
#50. Defeat.
Zuko feared his emotions, refusing to admit to any stirrings within him, because for him, to love the princess meant defeat.
Pairing: Zuko/Zula
Theme set: Beta
Rating: PG-13
Note: Yeah, I have a tendancy to abuse semicolons and hyphens more than I should, and the pairing is a bit disturbing, but... Dedication. HOMG. Jessieheart pwnz my s0u1~!!! Mainly because my writing this made her want to explode or something. zucest = luff
#01. Walking.
It was his fondest memory of his sister; The two were beside each other, walking... just walking...
#02. Waltz.
Zuko pulled his leg back from his sister's attack, regained his balance by shifting to the other leg, then swept the ground, approaching in his attack; he suddenly felt as though in a formal ballroom waltz, as though the world stood still around them.
#03. Wishes.
He still couldn't remember when it was that he had gone from wishing every kind of hell upon her to hoping he could live long enough to fulfill all her wishes.
#04. Wonder.
As Zuko stood on the deck of his ship, the wind nuzzling between the locks of his long, flowing hair, he stared at the stars, thinking what a wonder it was that he had lived so long without her.
#05. Worry.
The only worry he had, now, was for her own safety and happiness, even before his own life.
#06. Whimsy.
She would have finished him off, but her cruelty did not feed from hate, but only from her whimsy.
#07. Waste/Wasteland.
Zula's eyes were wide yet expressionless as a small mound of dust ran through her fingers, sitting in her brother's shadow, part of the wasteland that was once her home.
#08. Whiskey and rum.
Zuko was far too alarmed to draw back from his sister's advances, realizing only now how little of their childhood they had spent together, yet as her lips pressed to his, he recognized that with the heat of her breath lingered the bittersweet flavor of whiskey and rum.
#09. War.
It was the final battle of the war, they both knew - it was inevitable they should have a final facedown - when both the princess and the exhiled prince launched their fiercest attacks; however, when it came down to both too exhausted to take the offensive role, they kneeled in the cold, coarse, golden undergrowth that had lay hidden under the snow before their battle began - kneeled, their eyes betraying their own hearts and still finding the depths of each other's souls - when Zuko finally let himself rest, his thin frame falling to the earth, to be joined immediately after by his sister.
#10. Weddings.
He stood in the crowd watching the bride and groom, smiling, laughing - he didn't even know them, and doubted his father did - and all he could think, looking back at his sister, a peaceful, genuine smile across her face, was how lucky the man would be who won her heart.
#11. Birthday.
They weren't allowed a celebration - games and entertaining only wasted time better spent training - so every year on their birthdays, they awoke in the early morning to some variety of dessert, stolen or slipped away, and a secret party to be kept between the two.
#12. Blessing.
A wedding was out of the question; what father would give the blessing for his daughter to wed her own kin?
#13. Bias.
It was true that Zula had a slight bias in the favor of men with power - on some level Zuko had known this, even before his search for the avatar.
#14. Burning.
Exhiled; she sat in the coarse, short undergrowth, a thrill of anticipation running down her spine as butterfly kisses glided from her shoulder toward her neck, when she suddenly gripped soil and grasses as a sharp pain shot through her every nerve, the smell of burning flesh filling her nostrils; her brother's mark would grace her form for several days.
#15. Breathing.
Everything seemed frozen in time but his sister's breathing, slow, measured, and cruel.
#16. Breaking.
The young prince had not intended either of the offenses he commited that day: the breaking of the heirloom, which had once belonged to their mother, or the breaking of the heart, which belonged to the one girl he would ever love.
#17. Belief.
He had spent his entire life raised on the sole belief that the Fire Nation was omnipotent - that no force could overthrow them - yet now he could only hope this belief was wrong.
#18. Balloon.
Though he himself could not yet see it, Zuko's yearning for the princess was building inside him and, as a balloon overfilled with air, would inevitably explode outward.
#19. Balcony.
"We'll have... a great mansion built for us," Zuko attempted to comfort and focus his sister as she lay bleeding; "there'll be a hundred rooms, exactly, and we can share the biggest of them all - paintings and portraits hung over the whole wall, the softest fabric you can buy-" he stammered all the luxuries he could think of, but was cut short as she replied in a soft voice, "and a balcony, to see the stars at night..."
#20. Bane.
It's true, they hated each other; but each considered the bane of their existance was the love they didn't know they shared.
#21. Quiet.
If there was one thing she hated more about his training than the slow progress, it was the quiet he demanded.
#22. Quirks.
Every reason Zuko hated his sister - her egocentricality, her ignorance, her vile disposition... every single one of her quirks - were the only reasons that he could deny his attraction.
#23. Question.
The one reason Zuko had to question fate was that, had destiny been divinely set, Zula should never have been born his sister.
#24. Quarrel.
It was nothing but a quarrel - Zuko stormed down the hallway - only a lover's spat, really - he flung the door open - this was the result of all fights - the princess was caught unprepared, even as his tongue searched her mouth at a moment's notice, one hand brushing forcefully over the small of her back as the one on her neck held her near - as it does for all, the tension of the fight gave rise to a more heated passion, even if it was just a quarrel.
#25. Quitting.
The last thought on their minds was quitting - as much trouble and supposed shame as they had brought to their father, there was no possibility of returning home, and as much as they had grown to rely on each other's warmth during the night, they would never be able to live as siblings again.
#26. Jump.
His heart gave an enormous jump that day, as he stared in disbelief at the flaming horizon, looking upon a cloud of black smoke where his sister's ship had been only seconds before, and Zuko was sure it would never have returned back to its proper place if the silhouette of his sister hadn't appeared before the wreckage.
#27. Jester.
If there was one thing they had in common it was that neither could bear being taken for a jester.
#28. Jousting.
The first time Zuko realized the cruelty in his sister's nature was during a jousting excersize, a skill nurtured in all children born to the fire nation save for the lower classes, when she had managed to severely burn Zuko's arm and crack several of his ribs - she smirked until their tutor was within view, at which point her face took on a somewhat surprised, apologetic guise.
#29. Jewel.
He never thought the black jewel of the fire nation could become just another grain of sand, or that the jewel could truly be so precious after all.
#30. Just.
Zula lay silently in the small bed beside Zuko - it was just too quiet in her cabin - she pressed against her brother's warm frame - she didn't like laying near the edge of the bed, nothing more - he shifted in his bed to face her back, resting his arm on her raised shoulder - surely he must be asleep, even dreaming - he gently kissed the base of her neck, directly between her shoulder blades - perhaps he just didn't want her to be cold - then his hand slid from her shoulder, down her arm, until it finally rested contentedly on her waiste - it's just... it's just for tonight - the princess finally drifted to sleep with Zuko's breath warming her neck.
#31. Smirk.
It still haunts him in the darkest nights - the heat of the flames, the scream of his senses - her cold, pleased smirk finds its way to his nightmares.
#32. Sorrow.
It had hurt the prince greatly when he was banished, yet the attack on his pride would heal; yet, holding his sister's limp, crumpled form, his tears mixing with her own spilt blood, Zuko knew that the sorrow now pulsing through his veins would live forever.
#33. Stupidity.
The entire ritual was only a display of stupidity - Firebenders take a position in an arena which was often prepared for just the occasion, then begin attacking each other until all that remains is a bleeding, scarred mass of life, if you can call it that, often begging for mercy or forgiveness, sometimes pleading for a quick end to ease suffering, nothing solved, nothing gained - she still remembered her brother's first Agni Kai.
#34. Serenade.
As she sat beside the open window, the serenade of nearby robins reached her ears, the bright-chested male flitting about the nest of the hen; it was then that Zula decided she would only marry a man who did the same for her.
#35. Sarcasm.
She had told him just that day, that if he wanted her, he would have to "come and take me," but he did not catch the sarcasm in Zula's voice.
#36. Sordid.
The two approached the sordid old beggar, Zula trying to avoid him, when the exhiled prince lowered himself to the beggar's level, where he drew a small half-loaf of stale bread from his satchel; another hand joined it with a fresh apple and a small package of spices as Zula stood over him with her nose upturned.
#37. Soliloquy.
Zula stood with her ear pressed to the door of the simple building on the outskirts of the Fire Nation village, having just overheard a soliloquy of sorts as Zuko, within, grappled with the emotions he felt for his sister; She had been sent to discover a spy, but instead she had found unconditional love, which she prized above her father's favor, above the appeal of the throne, and which she would not leave without claiming - she pressed through the lockless door to welcome the young prince home.
#38. Sojourn.
The leper stayed longer than he said he would need to, yet remained, for much of the time, in the small lodgings he had barely been able to afford - nobody expected him to come outside, and he never did, but the princess; for some reason, though he never removed his hood, he would always find a reason for a walk when she came near, and she was one of few who did not cower at his approach - though she was still not sure why, she was grateful for his sojourn in the fire nation.
#39. Share.
The girl had once been a princess, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation prior to its fall, yet she had turned from the throne... seeing her now, you would never know... she spent most of her life in the mountain where she had made her home, though often, downstream of her house in the clear river, the lerger bass seemed to posess an insatiable hunger which no villager could explain; if any had bothered to visit the recluse, they would learn of her sorrow for her lost brother, possibly her secret that she sometimes slit her own skin to watch the blood flow into the river, or even that her only regret was that they had not had a single day to share.
#40. Solitary.
The crew of Zuko's small vessel would constantly wonder, even gambling amongst each other, why he was always alone - they had all spent nights on land with a woman at some point, yet the prince seemed to resent the very idea, determined to remain solitary.
#41. Nowhere.
Where could they go, Zuko wondered as his sister slept in his arms, that they may not be persecuted; but he knew too well that there was nowhere for them now.
#42. Neutral.
They lay on the bed in Zuko's cabin aboard his ship, black locks falling over his muscular shoulders, Zula laying on the bed, watching the flickering of the candles as her brother perched above her, having abandoned his shirt for the heat of the room, stroking her hair passively, as slowly he pulled the knot from the sash around her waist, then lowered the hem of her skirt, gently caressing her soft stomach with his lips; Only in the Fire Nation's waters were they in neutral land.
#43. Nuance.
There was a nuance between their view of the Fire Nation's power, being that Zula saw it as a blessing, while Zuko saw it as a curse.
#44. Near.
Zula held a carelessly sharpened blade to her brother's neck, yet the prince's surrender was only because he couldn't remember ever being so near to her.
#45. Natural.
Why did it seem so natural to them that they should have to compete for their father's eye?
#46. Horizon.
The difference that now drew them together was the habit that he had picked up in exhile; while his sister looked back, Zuko always looked to the horizon before him.
#47. Valiant.
Even when his nation, his family, and his own father turned their backs to him, Zula believed that her brother's efforts to reclaim his position were valiant, yet now, as he bandaged her arm with a torn piece of his own clothes, she realized what it meant to be truly courageous.
#48. Virtuous.
To become virtuous had taken the place of the prince's remaining aspirations, yet as the taste of cinders and the heat of Zula's breath filled his lungs, her tongue forcefully brushing the top of his mouth, Zuko mused to himself, "Virtue be damned."
#49. Victory.
Since the two had left their previous relationship behind them, Zula began to learn that the difference between victory and defeat was truly only a hair's breadth; victory didn't always feel good.
#50. Defeat.
Zuko feared his emotions, refusing to admit to any stirrings within him, because for him, to love the princess meant defeat.