𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃.
━━ ,∙˚✧ ❝ ʷᵃˡᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉ
                                  ᵖᵃᵗʰ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵃˢᵗᵉ
                                      ˡᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃˢ ᵃ ʰᵒᵖᵉˡᵉˢˢ
                    ᵒⁿᵉ. ❞

ʷʰᵉʳᵉⁱⁿ ʷᵉ ʷᵃˡᵏ ᵗʰʳᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵃˢᵗᵉ ˡᵃⁿᵈ,
ˢᵗʳᵉᵗᶜʰᵉᵈ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵇᵉʸᵒⁿᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵇᵉʰⁱⁿᵈ,

ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜᵃⁿⁿᵒᵗ ᶠⁱⁿᵈ ʷʰⁱᶜʰ ʷᵃʸ ⁱˢ
ʰᵒᵐᵉ.

𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐈 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐎 have always been
two sides of the same coin. the crown
prince and the        daughter of a high-
ranking commander,     they had been
wholly    inseparable throughout their
entire childhoods.  it had always been
them, against the world.      a talented
firebender — but with a gentle, loving
heart — luli     had always been on the
outer edge of everything, but still part
of it all at the same time, just like him.

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐇𝐄𝐑    world through two
different lenses. one, her father's cruel
and disciplinary         lust for war—that
red-hot                  flame of violence and
destruction. the other,      her mother's
gentle, calm hand,      trying its best to
guide her in some other direction.      a
forever battle within her.        for a long
time,  it had been her father's that had
won. it took a lot ❪ 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟
𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠;      𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬;
𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 ❫         to
understand            why it was all so very
wrong. zuko was the only other person
who ever listened      to her about such
things— tucked around the turtleduck
pond, just... children, talking about the
ways of the world,  about... something
different from the one they were living
in. he'd always been part of her.   and
then came the ultimate price.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 her home ❪ 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞
—𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫          𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞?
𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧; 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 ❫, she
wasn't sure what was    waiting for her.
she wasn't even sure what        she was
looking for.      a new home? salvation?
redemption?   she'd been just thirteen,
young-faced and not-so-naïve, lost and
so very alone.             all she knew was...
somewhere  out there was something.
and that somehow,     she was going to
change everything.

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐎   who had started her
on that path:          the quest to find the
avatar ❪ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 ❫, to bring a time
of peace. to stop the world from leaving
scars on children. once ❪ 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧
𝐧𝐨𝐰 ❫, luli would have followed him to
the ends of the earth.   once, he would
have let her.

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑  similarities that had
brought them          together—and their
similarities that would drive them apart.
honour and peace;       honour and war.
those same motives that      had always
kept them on the same side as children
had sent them         down parallel paths,
and now forced them           to face each
other on a mirror's edge.

𝐍𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌            are quite
prepared to see       what the other has
become when they   come face to face
with one another again.

༉*ೃ༄

━━ 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡, the two sides of the
same coin realise exactly what they
are. lost.

❝ 𝐓𝐇𝐄, ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵘⁿ ⁱˢ ᵃ ˢᵗᵃʳ,
ᵗᵒᵒ, ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱᵗ ᵈⁱᵉˢ ᵃᵗ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ, ʷʰᵉⁿ
ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ ⁱˢ qᵘⁱᵉᵗ. ⁱᵗ ʰᵃˢ ᵐᵃⁿʸ
ᵇʳᵒᵗʰᵉʳˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢⁱˢᵗᵉʳˢ,      ᵇᵘᵗ ⁱˢ
ᵃˡʷᵃʸˢ ᵃˡᵒⁿᵉ ⁻      ˢᵒ ᵛᵉʳʸ ᶠᵃʳ
ᵃʷᵃʸ. ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵒᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᵉᵃʳᵗʰ
ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵐᵉ ⁱᵗˢ ʰᵒᵐᵉ, ᵃⁿ ᵘⁿˡⁱᵏᵉˡʸ
ʳᵉᶠᵘᵍᵉ, ᵗʰᵉ ᵒᵗʰᵉʳ ᵖˡᵃⁿᵉᵗˢ ᵗᵒᵒ,
ᵃⁿᵈ ᵇᵉᶠᵒʳᵉ ᵗʰᵉ       ˢᵗᵃʳ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ
ᵏⁿᵉʷ ⁱᵗ, ⁱᵗ ʰᵃᵈ ᵃ ᶠᵃᵐⁱˡʸ ᵃᵍᵃⁱⁿ. ❞

༉*ೃ༄

━━𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑.        i do not own
avatar the last airbender.    i only own
luli, her mother,    the original plot for
act four,   and any other pieces of plot
that are my own creation.      all other
characters    and plot belong to bryan
konietzko,   michael dante dimartino
and nickelodeon.       don't steal from
me or you'll regret it.

art in the cover is by sibylline meynet.

━━𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆.    this story contains
graphic violence,   gore, abuse, mental
illness, trauma, war,             mentions of
genocide and   colonisation, character
death, traumatic events,        domestic/
child abuse,            and mature themes.
anything particularly heavy        will be
labelled with a trigger warning.

━━𝐃𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.           dedicated
to my my lovelies and everyone who's
supported me!  deIiquio, athenasvoid
, raspberrysberet ,    -sarcasticpotter ,
theeffingunicorn ,         cosmicookies ,
cheerybIossoms ,             holycometz ,
-voidlegends ,              HeartOfAChief ,
littlewxman , katarassmile , gvnscys
, astridgrace- , sweetjawregui , sxnraes
, 1-800-HORROR !

ily all so much,                    thank you for
supporting my work and        being my
friends <3

special thanks to            creeveycolins for
helping me with making luli's faceclaim!
go check them out, they're great !!

and the          biggest dedication goes to
kingschteve ,      who's kept up with my
ranting and rambling over               every
aspect of this story, and has helped me
plan out a lot of it!         i wouldn't have
survived         with luli's story crammed
inside of me if i hadn't been       able to
gush                      over it like we did. she
promised that she'd keep      watching
atla once i      posted this story so here
we go <3

━━𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄.  luli's story is
story is one that i am incredibly excited
to share! she's a badass,        strong and
loving character   ❪ 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 ❫,
and her relationship with the rest of the
gaang is by far my favourite part of the
story. while this is a zuko fic, it's a found
family fic first and foremost.                her
romance and       relationship with zuko
is interwoven throughout, but the story
is particularly    focused on luli herself—
her love of the gaang,    her discovering
that she can be loved and be        part of
something           larger than herself, her
healing. i'm incredibly proud  of this fic
and it's very         much a comfort work
of mine. as of                 posting this, i've
currently written 44,000 words and 166
pages of the waste      land, and 12,000
words of what will be its TLOK spinoff.
i hope you enjoy       this story—it's my
newest obsession and it's         going to
be great!

honestly, thank god atla's                had a
resurgence. this is a show that i grew up
on between the ages of 6 and 10,  and it
shaped me in a lot of ways.      it's one of
my biggest comfort shows   of all time, i
can't state                 how many times i've
watched this show throughout           my
childhood. toph, katara    and the other
girls were always young    me's biggest
role models (toph  had 7-year-old me's
whole heart),        and nothing will ever
beat atla's found                  family trope.
naturally,      i had to base a story off of
that. enjoy the tale of luli  :)

❪ if you want to see the moodboards &
luli's faceclaim in a higher quality with
music,    you can find them over at my
wattpad instagram, 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬.𝐰𝐩 ❫!