Tales of the Sun

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sadly enough.

Warnings: AU-ish, General Spoilers

AN: For AtLA Land's recent drabble challenges.


Better Red Than Dead - Wang Fire, Hero of the Fire Nation

He does it first as a joke.

As something to amuse himself and his sister and their friends. As an attempt to lessen their burden and lighten their hearts. To make Aang smile and Toph laugh and Katara just shake her head.

But a lie has now become a truth, and he doesn't know what to do.

"That's him," the crowd whispers with something far too much like awe.

"It's him!" others agree in wonder.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," the old woman in red nearly cries beside him.

"He saved me," her grandson says, and his eyes are full of adoration. "He saved me!"

"Savior," they whisper amongst themselves.

"Hero."

But their praise tastes like ashes and betrayal on his tongue.

-O.o.O-

Azula/Kuei

He wonders what his funeral will be like. Kuei knows it can't be too long now.

Her eyes are golden. Cold as they look at him in the morning over breakfast. Calculating as she watches the servants tend their infant son. Dead as she smiles and keeps smiling until even Long Feng has to look away.

"Political alliance," they'd said.

"Marriage of convenience," his generals had added.

Death sentence is what they really mean.

He can already smell it on her skin. Hear it in her laugh. Taste it on her breath as she leans in for a poisonous kiss.

His funeral will be a spectacle the likes of which his city has never seen before.

Hers will be even better.

-O.o.O-

Iroh/Ursa

The meadow is a lovely place, but the gravesite is unmarked. He doesn't dare even write her name on the lone tree in the middle. It's too much a risk, too much a chance someone will see. He can only lay his hand on the trunk and bow his head.

Remembering.

"We'll find her one day, won't we?"

Zuko is grown now, but his voice is still that of a child. Lost but hopeful. Pleading for him to make it right.

Iroh can only offer a sad smile and a nob. His throat is too dry, too tight. His hands shake, and he's too afraid to reach for his nephew's shoulder.

It smells of flowers. Of green places and living things. She'd like it here, Iroh thinks. She'd love the breeze and the soft grass. Eyes and voice soft as she watched the sunrise.

Ursa always looked best in the morning light, though truthfully she'd been lovely all the time. Beautiful. Breathtaking as the children laughed and ran around her skirts. Smiling up at him with a private look.

So close but just out of reach.

There's too much blood, and all of it is hers. Her breathing is labored, hard and fast. Struggling.

There's nothing he can do. He'd found her too late. Always too late. Too slow.

Too slow to see what his brother had. Too slow to return once his son had died. Too slow to save her now.

"Iroh," she breathes, and it's full of relief and affection and something they could voice aloud. "Iroh."

Her hand reaches up for his face, and he catches it before it can fall. He wants to tell her about Zuko, about what a fine man he's grown to be. He wants to tell her of their adventures, of all the years she missed. He wants to tell her all the things he never could earlier.

But it's too late for that now.

Ursa manages a smile as she looks at him though.

"Iroh… Don't tell him," she murmurs, but her voice is faint. Little more than a whisper. "Don't tell Zuko."

She's gone before he can even think to reply.

-O.o.O-

June/Piandao

She doesn't get paid enough for this.

No. Really. She doesn't.

Because really, in the end, no amount of gold is worth this much effort. Is worth the frustration and Nyla's snuffles. June's aching back and thighs from days of riding. The gash on her arm that is still seeping blood an hour later.

Worse even, she's doing this for free.

Oh, he offered money. Lots of it. But like the idiot she is, June's doing it for nothing.

For little more than a nice smile and a voice that makes her heart tighten. Though admittedly, things a bit lower tighten, too.

A perhaps that's really the problem here.

Not her still squirming bounty. Not her tired and beaten body. Not even the exhausted Nyla beneath her.

It's the warmth she receives as she pulls up beside him. The hand he offers and she actually accepts before he helps her down. The sparkle in his eyes as he looks her right in the face and not anywhere else. The way he says her name as they talk.

Worse yet is that same smile. One that grows and widens as they finish their business but she continues to linger.

June is too tired for this. Too hungry. Too heartsick. But she stays and still stays as the minutes tick on.

Piandao just smiles at her a second longer.

Then, he offers to buy her dinner.


Ever Hopeful,

Azar