A/N: Thanks for the idea of fanfiction tributes goes to three people: dementedchris and aka Arashi here on ff, who did a few of these for the cast of Samurai X. But the original idea came from Punk Manueverability. If you ever find him, thank him for me.

Happy, Capt? They're heere!

Our Zukos

When we first met him, we wanted to hate him. He was hunting down the last hope for peace, after all. Some of us sensed what he would become even then- but many of us had to wait for the day he sat alone in his cabin, in the midsts of a storm, remembering better days, as his Uncle told us the story he never would.

And we fell in love.

We took him in as our own. And in doing so, he showed us parts ourselves we may have forgotten. As he had forgotten his own.

As time passed, we grew to know our Zukos even better. We learnt of his bad jokes, his dreams of acceptance, his horrible taste in tea. We saw the conflict within him, and we tried to soothe him in our tales. But we always remembered he had to deal with his demons himself.

So we delved into his past. We told tales of times with and without his mother. Sometimes we took him from her instead of her from him. We gave him additional scars; we removed the brand of the betrayed. We unmasked him in front of his enemies. We forced him to kill those that shared his blood. We took away his memories. At times, we allowed him to save his world; we said farewell as he drew his final breath.

But still he returned, that slightly goofy smile in place; or maybe a frown. And we began again.

We still debate over who was the right girl for him: the one who he was comfortable with, or the one who would challenge him. We took away his crown; we gave it to the one he claimed as his true father. But he never lost what he was- not again.

Our Zukos were always the ones we loved to comfort- for he was in so much need of it. But we didn't ignore the many opportunities he gave us to laugh at him. To call him "Sparky". He recited speeches to frogs. He tried to offer advice. He lost his temper on so many occasions- oh yes, we had some fun with that. But then we saw as he remembered his past, his doubtful future, and we wept for our Prince.

He yearned for acceptance; we gave him a family. A goofy little brother. A little sister he could both advise and protect. A brother to spar with and lean on. A father to whom he could turn to for advice- and tea. And we gave him loves. A waterbending princess; a warrior; an everyday girl; a healer. To soothe the fire that we saw raging behind his amber eyes. To calm his heart. To help heal his pain. To give him the love he so deserves.

We know he isn't patient, but we put it to the test. We wrote about him shirtless. We made him run from requests to get married. We put his firstborn into his arms. We made him dance. We put him in the middle of hugs. We almost skewered him with a boomerang. We made him hide in bushes. We gave him a tail. We had him scared of a twelve year old. We tricked him into drinking love potions. We made him fail.

We watched as he breathed his last in his love's arms.

But we also gave him new techniques: to control lava. To combine his element with water to create a storm.

I am ashamed to say that we even put him in Air Nomad robes.

But I'm also proud to say that we gave him dragons; the freedom of the skies.

Our Zukos, Zuzus, Sparkies: they were everything for us. They showed us what family really meant; how far to go for acceptance. To remain true to who we are. And in return for that, we gave him what he needed.

To our Zukos, we gave love. To our beloved firebender, Fire Lord, husband or Prince, we gave peace.

On aka Arashi's suggestion, here's a list of the fanfics (whose titles I remember) that I referenced here. Believe me, all of them are worth a look. Also, if you have any suggestions of fanfics for the other characters (Iroh and Sokka are up next), feel free to let me know in a review!

On fan fiction:

-Stormbenders by Fandomme

-Another Brother, One and In His Shoes by AvocadoLove

-Ember Island Truths, Season One Remix: Shirtless Zuko Style, Season Two Remix: Shirtless Zuko Style and Almost by Jakia

-Hearts of Fire by Dracori

-Lies by Tuna Salad Sonnet

-Dancing in the Dark and Rhythm of the Rain by DamageCtrl

-Guide me home by Rashaka

-Dangerous ground and Dangerous Drabbles by wilderness-writer

-The Road Less Travelled by Nandireya

-Oracle: Dum Vita est, Spes est by Zaz9-zaa0

On avatar spirit :

-Book Four: Air- A Canon Continuation Fic by aka Arashi (Capt BoomerAang on ASN)

-Late Night with Shredder by Shredder

-Change of Pace by luckychaos

-Style by Loopy

-Katara who? by DPawsome

-... the ones they left behind by Liledhe

That's it... I think...