The best part is Aang wouldnāt even teach him airbending in the beginning. First itād be brewing the perfect cup of teach and blowing on it in juuuust the right way that it cools down āBut not too cold, or youāll ruin it!ā
Brushing Appa of course. Zuko would be pretty decent at that, but would come back to Aang absolutely covered in slobber and bison hair. āAwww! He likes you! <3ā³
Then itād be calming meditation and slowing Zukoās breathing (āBut I am calm!ā), tracking an elusive and nigh legendary animal so they can ride it, teaching patience by baking the perfect cake āYou just slapped the frosting on! It looks awful! *airbends it into the horizon* āAgain!ā
When Zuko finally gets it right, he almost smiles at Aang saying: āExcellent work, my student.ā Then to Zukoās consternation and horror Aang flings it at the head of the Fire Nation Governor during a political function. āAnd now we run!ā
Pranks would be absolutely the thing that would bluescreen Zuko. Hereās an airbending master, over a century old, witnessed the genocide of his people, and heās juggling, doing dances and tricks with Momo for the village kids, and plaguing the local aristocrats and military officers with flying cakes and whoopie cushions.
āHow am I supposed to beat the Firelord with whoopie cushions?!ā
And then, perfectly serious for the first time since Zuko had met him: āYou donāt. The Avatar is about restoring balance. This training isnāt so you can fight the Firelord - itās so you can stop a war.ā
It takes a long time for Zuko to understand this. But the weird thing is: the townsfolk actually like Aang. Sure the aristocrats and crooked merchants and the officers donāt, but even the common Fire Nation infantry hide their chuckles with a cough when they see their commanderās fancy armor get covered in honey and feathers by āCrazy Aang,ā again.
And Zuko realizes, at that moment, that heās been having fun.
So, waking early, with no prompting from Aang, Zuko feeds Momo, brushes Appa, washes off the slobber, brews Aang his morning tea -perfectly cooled- and then proceeds to make a new, beautiful cake with no explanation.
āThat looks wonderful, my student. Your best yet! Who were you planning to-ā
Then Zuko smashes it in Aangās face.
Itās the first time since coming out of the ice that Avatar Zuko laughs.
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