So, uh, what’s Fireflies?
So pretty much everyone ever has their "Season Three Rewrite" fic. Fireflies is mine.
Basic premise: I hated the narrative role they gave Combustion Man, and felt it cheated Zuko's character arc a bit. So. Fireflies is Zuko not sending a random assassin, but doing what he does best: going out and hunting the Gaang through the countryside himself.
Featuring:
- Hama getting her pound of flesh and Sokka making sure Aang never knows, yep Toph and I got all her victims out, no need for you to check, oh hey Katara's probably in trouble let's go! Meanwhile: Zuko still chained in the deepest darkest cave, and he knew the moment he locked eyes with the peasant that the other boy was going to... to just leave him here-- (they saved Zuko at the North Pole, they saved him in Ba Sing Se, yes he looks pathetic and he was so far gone he couldn't even shout properly which was a weird way to see the enemy but Sokka knows how saving Zuko goes)
- Zuko finding out way more than a sheltered thirteen year old ever knew about how the war is affecting his own country, and winning over people's support while he's out there, holy crap you mean we've got a royalty option that isn't homicidal?
- The Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady getting competitive. And mutually ignoring breaks in each other's costumes, because spirits clearly don't talk never mind talk about whatever this is (spirits do high five when the Avatar is yelling at them about their latest background explosion ARE THEY EVEN LISTENING)
- Zuko getting Suki out of prison because she is the perfect Avatar bait, so Suki spends the whole season not just actively affecting the plot but doing so on the palace side of things and seriously Zuko she should NOT be the one giving the enemy prince pep talks about standing up for himself, but if Azula makes one more snide comment about banishment or evening out your face she's gonna slap a bitch
- Turtleducks. And everyone seeing Zuko being soft at the worst possible times.
Sokka: You're dead! I left you to die! I had nightmares about leaving you to die!
Zuko: ...Your point, peasant?
Sokka: Stop huanting the pond of delicious non-flight-capable meat, we need it for lunch!
But yeah, this one is fairly low on the writing list because everyone writes Season Three fics. It's a shorter idea though, so it's only competing for the "token short fic" slot, which means you'll probably see it one day.
