Yes. Talking. - Tumblr Posts

Ok so like…I’ve always been a sucker for time travel fics. Entire Gaang goes back? Great! Just Zuko? The angst is immaculate and I love it every time. Aang? Always a trip. Couples going back? The SHIPPING. The point is, time travel is the best (when done right) and I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll eat it up every time.

So I was browsing through ATLA time travel fics as you do, and I had an Idea.

We’ve all seen the Gaang time travel/dimension travel (and sometimes Azula, which is pretty fun in and of itself) but Ive never seen this done with Ozai (not to say there’s none, I just might not have found it)

Now wait. Hear me out. I hate Ozai as much as the next guy. Canon Ozai is a shit person who doesn’t deserve good things.

But.

Imagine an alternate universe Ozai who’s not such a shit person.

This Ozai makes mistakes and does more than questionable things, but at the end of the day he loves his kids and his nation. So he is VERY CONFUSED when he one day wakes up/dies and is transported to canon universe. IMAGINE. The confusion. THE ANGST. On BOTH SIDES.

No one will talk about his wife, who is apparently gone and has been for years (?????) Zuko looks…honestly terrified anytime he’s in the same room as Ozai (which is more than a little disturbing!) and Azula is…well. He doesn’t know what to think about Azula. This alternate Azula is so different from his Azula it nearly gives him whiplash the first time they interact.

So Ozai’s just shrugging and doing the same things he usually does with his kids (because even if they’re not from the same universe, they are still versions of his kids) and Zuko and Azula are just like. Extremely confused.

The day of black sun comes, and with it Zukos confrontation.

So Zukos just like, letting loose on him, yelling about years worth of pain and suffering caused by the man in front of him.

And this, of course, extremely hurts and confuses Ozai (what did alternate him do?????)

He can’t even say anything back, because these alternate versions of his children are very obviously hurt and in pain and Ozai is having a sneaking suspicion it might be alternate hims fault. So when Zuko finally lets out years worth of anger and pain on him, Ozai just sits there and takes it, numb with shock. He can’t believe a version of him could hurt family, but here they are. Zuko gets to the part about his scar and.

Ozai just can’t even respond. He’s just…extremely disturbed and horrified. By this entire conversation, actually…

So when Zuko goes to leave, Ozai doesn’t stop him. Zuko doesn’t feel safe here, and Ozai…really can’t blame him. He’s honestly very horrified and a lot disgusted by what Canon him did to both his children, and knows there’s no erasing that. The best he can do is try to mend burned bridges and salvage something out of this mess canon him made.

Idk. Just a thought.