(UPDATED LIST AT BOTTOM OF FIC)
Requested by Avatar Wolf
Hom Tom--Hope x Tom Tom
The streets of Ba Sing Se are littered with waste, the curbs paved with unwanted garbage. Dead bodies of starved beggars lie stiffly on the ground, sometimes robbed of their clothing and left to be picked apart. Flies travel in swarms in all parts of the city, for neither the Upper nor the Lower Ring could escape devastation. Even the lowest of men steer clear of the fallen city, walk by with their noses turned up, dare not speak its name. Bandits travel together, looting the bloodstained remains of war grounds. Broken bones, shards of glass, and splintered wood are all that remain, having no value, but the potential to be a powerful weapon. Twice officials have tried to rebuild Ba Sing Se; twice the hallowed stillness and the spirits of the killed drove them out. No one is to mess with a single thing, and Ba Sing Se will stay a wreck forever more.
Within the crumbling walls, in a tiny apartment to the farthest east, two infants sleep restlessly through it all. Neither have seen a trace of their parents since the war ended, or if they have, neither have any memory of it. Then again, no one remembers much of anything anymore. Even the elderly woman who'd rescued the babies from opposite sides of the city and nursed them until her death often found herself wondering how she'd come to be in possession of children that weren't hers. Her corpse is still slumped over the side of a small chair.
Fourteen years later, Hope rolls over in her bed and studies her friend's sleeping form. Tom Tom's chest rises and falls gently, his head lolled tiredly to the side. When a kind hand shakes his shoulder, he yawns and rubs his red-rimmed eyes. Stretching, he rises and begins to fold the blankets. They are thin and worn, patched and faded, but all the orphans have. It's the best they can do, the best anyone can do.
Hope's stomach rumbles its familiar plea, but she, as usual, ignores it. Unspoiled food is getting increasingly harder to come by, a rare delicacy in Ba Sing Se. Instead, she drinks from a dented tin cup of mud-swirled water to calm her famine. Dozens of diseases breed inside her body, spawning from her poor lifestyle. Yet no matter how horrible their situation is, Hope and Tom Tom can't leave; they've never known any other way to live, and wouldn't be able to make it on their own. Besides, if they hold out long enough, a miracle is sure to deliver them soon. Whether or not that happens to be death, they don't care, but belief is their guide.
Belief, that is, and love.
Hope looks out to the ruins below her window and sighs. Once, she is sure, Ba Sing Se had flourished; now it is nothing. The few citizens remaining never leave their homes, terribly scared and unable to escape due to fear. Hope knows this feeling well; it envelopes her every night, attacks her dreams, forces her to reach out to the only person she has left.
Said person sees the familiar dull in her eyes, the way her shoulders droop slightly, the heaviness to her breathing. Cautiously, Tom Tom stands beside her. He, too, wishes for deliverance, but in the form of marriage, a family. As he is only eighteen, two years Hope's senior, the idea goes unmentioned, off-limits. Despite his promise to himself, he cannot help but notice the delicate curve to her cheeks, the soft curl of her eyelashes, her golden skin that so fiercely contrasts his. His hand reaches tentatively to hers, which accepts it with sad grace. Their fingers intertwine as Hope leans her head on his shoulder.
They stay like that for several minutes, the girl dangerously close to her protector, the beating of their hearts in perfect sync. At last she breaks away and wraps her arms deathly tight around his waist. Tears stream from one survivor, then the other as they observe the death below. If there was ever another state of Ba Sing Se, they hope for it to return to the wreckage and do away with it all. Hope buries her face into Tom Tom's chest, now sobbing and with no end in sight. The older teenager tries to regain composure for her sake, but fails miserably and allows himself to run through her untamed black hair. Time slips away, passing the mourners. They will not let go, no matter what happens against them. Why?
Because all they have left is each other.
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All pairings, no limits. Same-gender, crack, whatever suits your fancy.
Woot! I finally reached 100 reviews! (I'm at 101 as of now). I've always wanted to reach a hundred reviews, because I thought it was so cool. Now I see stories with more than 1100, and don't feel so great. Anyway, now I am shooting for 200, but that'll come if it comes...
Here are the requested pairingsthat are yet to be written. (NOTE: This list is just organized by requester, and not by the order I plan to write them.)
Ozai x Appa (TrueThinker)
Mai x Ty Lee
Momo x Appa
Earth King x Cabbage Merchant
Xin Fu x Foam Mouth Guy
Jet x Yue
Sokka x Momo
aang x roku
zuko x zhao
katara x meng
suki x tylee
sokka x azula x longfeng x cabbage guy
paku x jun
teo x mai
teo x momo
teo x jet
teo x longshot
teo x smellerbee
teo x crazy-foaming-at-the-mouth guy
teo x azula
teo x ozai
mai x iroh
azula x bumi
iroh x sokka x aang
mary-sue spoof x zuko
iroh x that old lady from the train station
zuko x tea
azula x fanfic archive
aang x the rabbiroo from tales of ba-sing-se
azula x roku
azula x jin
azula x katara
azula x suki
azula x aang
azula x avatar kyoshi
Jin x Suki (joebob)
Yue x Azula
Jin x Aang (Roxius)
Toph x Longshot 2 (OMGAH You've Been Pixified)
Hope x Tom-Tom
Toph x Kuzon (AvatarWolf)
Suki x Sokka
Jet x Mai
Meng x Toph (Childe at Heart)
Mai x Zuko 3
Toph x Sokka 2
Long Feng x Azula
Bosco x Momo
Aunt Wu x Kuei Earth King
Foamy x Azula
Zuko x Meng (forgetmenot45)
The Duke x toph
Yue x Lu Ten
Yue x Agni
Katara x Ozai (AvatarWolf)
Roku x Ty Lee
Koh x Suki
Toph x Gystso
Aunt Wu x Guru Pathik
Jeong Jeong x Jun
Haru x Mai
Hei Bei (Forest Spirit) x Smellerbee
Cabbage Merchant x Gran Gran
Fire Sage Shyu x Azula
Zhao x Joo Dee
Meng x Teo (insane wacko)
Jin x Zuko (lilly1542)
Teo x Toph
Aang x Meng
June x Azula
Iroh x Aunt Wu
Suki x Foam Mouth Guy (Teoph!)
Suki x Mai (Jade)
Mai x Katara (amaurea)
Sokkula 2 (spartanearthbender)
Katara x Azula (ara6012)
Mai x Zuko 3 (softballgirl9411)
Yue x Sokka
Suki x Sokka
Jeong Jeong x Zhao
ChintheGreatxAvatarKyoshi
Suki x Foam Mouth Guy
Mai x Azula
Blue Spirit x Katara
Cabbage Merchant x Avatar Roku
Katara x Foam Mouth Guy
Jet x Aang
Toph x Azula
Jin x Zuko (Zutarafan16)
Jet x Azula
Sokka x Suki
You x Azula 2 (Sapphire Wolf Master)
Ursa x Ozai (Alya Riddle)
