Title: The Avatar and the Fire Princess
Author: Loopy
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure, Romance
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Pairings: Aang/Azula
Link: A03 FFN

Summary: In an AU born of betrayal, Aang makes the only deal he can to free himself from the prisons of the Fire Nation. But a political marriage to the Princess Azula turns out to be nothing like either one is expecting...

It’s about five years after Aang wakes up from the iceberg, Zuko is Firelord after Ozai mysteriously dies. The starting premise is kind of dumb- that Zuko would ever let Azula marry Aang, even if the Fire Nation won. If you can suspend your disbelief on that, it’s a really solid story.

ATLA as a fandom has so few stories that aren’t complete trash. And the Azula in this story is great. Her relationship with Aang is surprisingly well written- it’s not like most stories with this pairing, where Aang ‘thaws’ her or ‘cures’ her of her crazy.

If anything she’s crazier than she was in canon, especially with Ozai dead and her brother on the throne. She’s evil and despicable but realizes she needs allies, and Aang needs any help he can get. So a legitimate partnership between them is born and its a really fun dynamic.

It’s also currently updating, which is a plus. I’d say 3.5/5 rounded up to a 4/5

EDIT: I also just realized that this is the same person who wrote Traitor’s Face. So take that as you will

 

I like it. 4/5

 

See, any stories with a premise remotely resembling this I can only digest if they're set before Aang masters the elements and/or the Avatar State.

 

That’s the case. He gets captured by Zuko/Blue Spirit in that episode where Katara and Sokka are sick. So he’s in progress when it comes to waterbending and he’s a master airbender but that’s it.

 

A bit more angsty than I usually read but I quite liked it.

4/5

 

Having finished what’s there, my opinion is a lot higher than it mightve been initially. I just can’t get over how much I love this portrayal of Azula and also the relationship she has with Aang.

Spoiler

especially post Azula’s mental breakdown when she finds out that Ursa is alive and has a new family/was actually the servant Noriko. It makes sense that finding out her entire family helped murder her father and that her mom has a new daughter who’s ‘perfect’ would push her over the deep end.

And afterwards when she expects Aang to abandon her but he sticks with her instead, it makes sense that she’d crave his approval the way she would her father’s. Loopy makes their relationship seem loving and genuine but also incredibly dysfunctional.

I’m really looking forward to seeing when Aang starts trying to beat the Fire Nation and whether Azula goes with it. She’s definitely with him when it comes to taking out Zuko, but there are a lot of moments of discontent where it seems like she might legitimately turn on Aang if it means defending her country.

I think this might be my favorite story in the fandom. Really the only knock I have against it is that I wish there was more of it. Changing my vote from 4/5 to 5/5

 

I like the main characters, the plot is not slow-moving, but I struggle to see how the author will wrap up things in an expected 5 more chapters (as per chapter 9).
Aang seems very believable and his personality remains canon with a twist (due to the changed circumstances).

I could definitely see the ending (if it ends as I expect) being rushed, so it could go down to 3.5/5 -> 3/5.
Their dynamic relationship and Azula's crazy hotness makes me give this fic 4/5, as it was a very enjoyable read.

 

Aang's character is more enjoyable than Azula's in this. She has some great lines but is a little too unhinged. Not saying that her craziness is unrealistic, especially given her position in the story, just that this flavor of Azula isn't exactly one I want to read a romance about. Aang on the other hand is like a breath of fresh air. In canon Aang is a pretty unique character but this fic really showcases how otherworldly he seems.

It's definitely a good story. More slice-of-lifey than not. Usually when I'm really invested in a story, my head's running with theories and ideas (and I maybe get a bit frustrated if I think my ideas are better), but with this one, I'm totally content letting the author guide me. I can't picture how the rest of this story will turn out. I would've never predicted Aang and Azula would run away from the Fire Nation together. Or that Azula would allow their child to have an Air Nomad name. Now I'm not sure if I like these things, but hey, keeps you on your toes.

The biggest con, in my opinion, is Zuko's character. He's just bland.

Solid 4/5. I'll probably keep it this rating no matter what happens-- the above average writing deserves it, if nothing else.

 

If you havent read this chapter yet, it’s really good.

Spoiler

just such a gut punch at the end, and it really felt like a natural conclusion. Like you feel bad for Azula, but she totally deserved it. Kind of shocking it wasn’t worse.

But now she’s definitely right up on the edge of a full blown mental breakdown, and Aang has more questions than ever on how/if their relationship works.

Really looking forward to the next few chapters. And to the person above at some point who listed the 14 ‘planned’ chapters- I talked to the writer, and they said that’s really only around where they think this arc ends but that they have plenty of ideas and will keep going on.

 

This is fun, I kind of wish the explicit parts were a bit more I guess? They felt too innocent.

4/5