#dad!zhao

Ahh, I love it! Let’s see here...

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She’s home after the first round of classes at the academy, cut off from her father since their difficult parting on the front steps a few months ago. Received half as many letters as she wrote, and only Agni knew how many missions he’d been off on in the meantime. Excellent marks, scraped knuckles.

He’s there, a first if she ever knew one, and he knows: the good, the bad, the dislocated. Zhao is no man to mince or mother when he speaks, so he asks one thing in the most unaffected tone possible, in case she sees the twinkle in his eye. How hard?

She offers a meek answer - not to say she shies away from admitting the boy was left with a broken nose, and completely deserving nonetheless. And out of all the outcomes she’d expected, it wasn’t for that careful control to break into a wide grin, and for him to say, Atta girl.

Noting her lineage, the warning from a bone-tired headmaster had kept her on edge in waiting. This... it felt like sunlight breaking out in her chest. Cupping her mouth, she discloses another intrepid takedown. When her father throws back his head and loses it, she knows this is what it’s like to soar. She shares another, and another, until Zhao is unmade and she’s rolling over with him - when she rushed to a schoolmate’s defense, dealt a blow to egos and left a limp in their gloating step, challenged every bylaw that said a kid couldn’t serve justice on her own terms.

Nice to see you again!! Honestly it’s hilarious to imagine him popping in and out of an orphanage with a child like

NO ADOPTION PAPERS at ALL because nobody was brave enough to get in the way of mr “give me dad status or give me DAETH”

If you mean who’s the mother in terms of my ocs, oh boy do I have a SAUCY tale to tell. The moment I latch onto a character, it’s a one-way ticket to backstory nobody asked for and theories with zero logical weight... spiced with drama and trauma 🎭

I’ve been a little intentionally vague, but here it is! I basically put two and two together, the first two being 2.a) Iroh shoots down tea made by literally everyone except Zhao, and in book two he reveals the grounds for great tea as “the secret ingredient is love” meaning that ZHAO SOMEHOW KNOWS THIS??! and the second two 2.b) A Fire Nation admiral’s complete and frankly disturbing comfort with an underhanded deal with pirates. Et voila~ pirate wife!!

Man’s not above some sneaky business, and if I’m being upfront, he seems to enjoy a little danger in his life. Whether he’s chasing renown or being a plain buffoon, at one point, he’s sure to tangle with high-risk traders. I would age him down for this, just to push him back a few ranks: army captain squares off against sea captain! Symmetry achieved.

Likely to up the chances for a promotion, it’s one mission after the next bent on tackling piracy. Except, the encounter doesn’t go as planned - certainly not the first time... or the tenth time... and boom! Ye have a child.

Unfortunately, all things with Zhao tend to end in fire. Placing duty above personal stakes yet again, he finally lords his victory over the sea bandits, as well as the most remarkable opponent to have ever crossed blades with him. He returns with all the appropriate laurels and praise, a lifetime of regret, and one (1) motherless child, smuggled over borders!

@flamehotman for the new year

1) his daughter is NOT a bender  Ohoho... *rubs hands evilly*

His only thought process is how... in the name of his unholy genetic tree... of every bender who ever wielded the flame... can his kid not bend?? The possibility finally occurs to Zhao (say, when his daughter is around eleven or twelve and still a straggler), and man just - shuts down for a bit. When he comes back, it’s with the healthiest coping mechanism of all: denial!

Cue weeks months years of trying to summon a single spark. At the very beginning, he pulled himself together and was set on accepting her one hundred percent regardless. When he promised her that she’d make a brilliant fighter with or without - he wasn’t wrong! She’s trained in plenty of fighting styles, and pushed through form after form with the surface intent of raising a first-class warrior. Surface intent. Behind each lesson, he’s tearing through every bending-trigger trick in the book. Hoping against hope for a sign that she’d unlocked herself, that she was complete... and it isn’t long before the little one catches on.

Instead of confronting him, the two idiots spiral deeper into disappointing each other, one quitting mid-training to stalk off, the other’s mind already racing ahead to the next tactic to employ before his own selfishness hits him like a brick. One poring furtively over books and marking pages on late firebenders or curing a blocked chakra - the other slipping into the room when it’s empty and uncovering said pages, at which point her heart cracks. This version could easily lead to resentment and distrust. If prolonged, emotions that cause a devastating rift between them.

Fear not! There is hope... I’m sure if Zhao were to witness his daughter handle herself just fine without bending - emphasis on firsthand - he’d be able to take the long-overdue leap to unconditional pride. Bonus if she helps him out of trouble when his roulette wheel of enemies lands on one clever enough to eliminate bending as a defense. Wink, wink.

2) Joins the navy under his command feat. a creep on board  “dad gets angry enough to go into a new avatar state” HSGDAG YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT THAT GUY IS DEAD

Obviously, doubtless, hands-down (no)... she inherits Dad’s great looks, a dead giveaway as she grows older. And if that wasn’t a neon sign overhead, the crew is introduced to another trademark in the bloodline, solidifying appearances and the grounds for nepotism... and a good reason not to act on those grounds.

I took a crack at them! Hope I did your guilty pleasure some justice because same

1. Zhao’s daughter is being courted by Zuko (post war) He deals with worry by means of... helicopter parenting. Seeing Zuko ascend to the throne would come with mixed feelings as it is, so when his daughter gets wrapped up in courtship, it’s just evil-eyeing each other when the poor girl’s turned the other way, perfectly unassuming in that they seem to be getting along well. Being the sole person other than Iroh who knows Zuko is the one who freed the Avatar... His kin, with the two-faced Blue Spirit? Zhao thinks not.

Political perks or no, he’s going to grill Zuko for details and intentions, and talk his daughter’s ears off on how to defend herself if a boy ever toes the line. It’ll most likely end when all walls come down between them, and either the mask is gifted to the Zhao family as a symbol of trust/understanding, or he manages to earn the Firelord’s (unofficial) pardon for being a big-time jerk. Both. Both is good. If when she becomes queen, does he get a spot on the council? Is it possible?

2. How Zhao and his wife feel the first time they see their daughter Think of the kind of moment that jump-starts a redemption arc... For a man like Zhao, I’d say it would be a moment like this. Not finally taking in the real cost of war, or some decent bone in his body kicking at the sight of the horrors, the loss. Not one of Jeong Jeong’s teachings springing into his head when he’s about to rain fire and brimstone.

Not raw or painful, inch for inch like Zuko’s arc. But in the pocket of time where everything is frozen, and the world glows in a way it does every moment after, and life turns onto a road of no turning back. Zhao’s stupid, duty-bound shell jarring when his wife slips the bundle into his arms, cracks spreading through his misgivings about marriage and family and the distractions of civilian life when her waking eyes brush his... pieces of that shell falling away and revealing someone who can smile with every muscle in his face, who trembles when her tiny hand accepts his finger, and quickly passes the bundle over before his knees fail him. For him, it’s the final proof. After that, he’s never really the same. And who is? (Except for Ozai. Choke.)

3. Playing when she accidentally ends up burning a leaf If this is the first time she demonstrates the ability, he might actually be underwhelmed! It’s safe to assume Zhao’s first signs probably sparked mid-brawl with the other kids his age... and, ehm... the property damages were extensive. If his daughter is utterly delighted and goes about catching other leaves that spiral to the ground, pinching them, and setting them ablaze with manic glee in her face - Zhao will have aged twenty years, and finally understood the migraine of one unlucky Jeong Jeong.

If she’s frightened and panicked, however, the approach is slightly different... he takes a page out of his old master’s book and guides her through a simple breathing excercise. Both to help her calm down, and as her very first lesson! He’s a fast-paced dad. Of course, after the milestone he would be sure to throw a big celebration or a quaint little hoorah with respects to tradition. Maybe a good opportunity to pass down an heirloom! Topped off with her asking in a small voice, ‘Would you love me less if I couldn’t bend?’ and Zhao wrapping her in a bruising hug, sure to tell her, ‘There will never be a day where I loved you more the day before.’ notice how he dodges like a PRO

4. Comes back after a really long trip He likely knows he’ll be returning to someone just as heartsick as he... so, to deflate some tension, Zhao pretends he doesn’t recognize the curious stranger in his home. It’s up to her to convince him she’s the one and only! Can and will end in giggly antics, from shouting the embarrassing secrets he’s told no one else at neighbors-can-overhear volumes (while he frantically tries to close her mouth), goofy profiling, testing what she knows and learned while he was away so he can go ‘You’re certainly as smart as any kid of mine... okay, I’m sold.’ The end reward is definitely a shower of overseas keepsakes and thrilling stories. She practically clings to him overnight and the next day.

If she’s a bit older... things could get a little angstier. Coming home to a teenager with pent-up resentment, fear that he wouldn’t return that she internalizes like a queen - not super fun. Especially if she’s given him the cold shoulder, and Zhao being Zhao takes it personally, or thinks he’s lost her for good. Man’s trying to de-stress and then he has to deal with this shit. When the paperwork comes in and he’s stretched thin into the early hours, she finds him, conked out with a nib in his teeth or using a stack of books as a pillow. Girl huffs and puffs, finally throws a blanket over him, and when she’s sure the snoring is as obnoxious as can be, presses a small peck to his cheek. A grumbled ‘Love you, Dad’ and slinking out of the room later, Zhao pops an eye open and smiles like the smug, conniving bastard he is softly. real soft