1. Introduction to the Mundane After

**A/N: **Hello! I'm a little nervous because I've never posted in this fandom before so sorry, ahead of time, for the long Author's Note! I don't know how many readers still patrol this fanfiction but I'm posting this anyway because I felt like I needed to write out what I wanted to happen after the finale - and some tweaks and changes were added in, of course. Anything I changed, I'll add here.

Two things I do want to mention right off the bat is this:

1) I'm going to pretend that the kiss between Katara and Aang never happened in the finale and Aang accepted her feelings and moved on. So, in this story, they are still best friends.

2) To keep this story from becoming too long and to ensure the fluid efficency to help me write easier, the character Mai will not really be mentioned - at all I think - and nor will Zuko and Mai be together at any point during this; nor will any previous relationship (romantic) between Mai and Zuko be mentioned. Mainly/basically because I wrote this and completely forgot to add her in and later didn't find any kind of role or scenario that 'fit' adding her in. Sorry.

I am going to pretend, for this story's sake on how I planned it, that Iroh did not re-open the Jasmine Dragon tea shop _in Ba Sing Se _but instead in whatever town the Fire Lord lives in, in the Fire Nation. This makes it a lot easier to write, and honestly, I love that this way I can include Iroh a lot more fluently. I will later mention that his shop in the FN _is temporary_.

So, now that you know that, I think it's safe to read this! Oh, and any misspellings or anything involving edits I am sorry for in advance - I did all the editing myself so I probably missed at least one thing.

Don't forget to review on your way out! I hope you enjoy and_ thank you _for taking the time to view/read this far.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

****

"_We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." _

~ George Bernard Shaw

* * *

><p><em>One month after (the finale)...<em>

The day was perfect for what Sokka had wanted - there were just enough clouds in the sky to provide the occasional bout of shade and there was just enough wind for a cooling effect and to carry the Boomerang, which he was currently in the process of teaching his girlfriend, Suki, how to throw and perfect. Sokka stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms along hers, matching every movement and position of his own arms to hers as he literally moved her through the steps. "Now hold it like this..." Sokka bent her elbows and she glanced back, a soft smile aimed at him.

"Okay, got it. Now what?"

"Now, tip it like this..." She bent the boomerang down and back to match what his hands were doing - when Momo flew down from the sky and ripped it out of their hands, claiming his favorite stolen toy for himself.

"Dammit, Momo! Come back here!" Sokka took off running after the lemur that was now soaring it's little wings on the path to the inside the Fire Nation palace. Suki just stayed where she was and laughed at them. _That lemur will be the death of my boyfriend yet!_

Sokka raced around the corner of the wide hallway, his sandals sliding easily on the tile, gripping the columns carefully to keep his balance. Zuko may have torn down the previous Fire Lord palace and built a much less 'bloody centric' one - focusing on the other accenting colors of fire than just the color of blood - and, even though it was also much smaller, the hallways were still too long and complicated. An especially noticable trait - or rather flaw, from Sokka's opinion - when you're chasing a lemur.

Skidding to a stop, he narrowly missed seeing Momo go down one of the smaller branch-off hallway torwards the two story library. By the time Sokka caught up to him, Aang was standing there, holding the squirming Momo tightly.

"When is Momo ever going to learn that it's _my_ boomerang?" Sokka said, frustrated, as he struggled to breath after the sudden adrenaline rush took hold of his lungs.

"Now, now Momo. Give it here." Aang let go of him and held out one hand. Momo made a low squeal sound at his master after a quick staredown but then dropped the boomerang in the waiting hands. He leaped off quietly and sulking down the hallway, making his best effort to draw the attention back to himself as he slowly scampered off.

"Here! Come on, let's go play!" Aang grinned as he held the weapon - which doubled as a possible toy - out to his closest friend.

"Sorry, Aang, but I was hanging out with Suki."

"Oh... hey!", he exclaimed as a thought occured to him," if you invite Suki, we can all play together!" Sokka debated Suki's reaction to including someone else in their 'us time', let alone it being in a more childish sense, before Aang added, "And then when I go to help Toph cater the party for next week, you can come and taste all the samples with me. You always did have the best sense of taste."

"I'll go get Suki; meet you in the courtyard!" Sokka practically yelled as he took off down the hall, not even noticing that he hadn't taken the boomerang with. The Avatar boy left alone in the hallway just laughed as he headed down the hall behind Sokka, twirling the boomerang excitedly. He tossed it up but instead of coming back down, it twisted around in the air and hit him on the forehead. Luckily, it was the blunt side, but he still lost his balance and fell backwards with a thud.

"Oomph. That's going to leave a mark.", Aang said as he rubbed his head and groaned.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_I'm looking at you through the glass..._

_Don't know how much time has passed,_

_Oh, god it feels like forever_

_But no one ever tells you that forever_

_Feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head._

~'Through Glass', Stone Sour

* * *

><p>"I'm gonna go see Iroh; he told me to stop by for some new concoction of jasmine tea and mint and I've been <em>dying<em> for it all day." Toph clanged the bowl down and slid into her sandals waiting in the doorway without any apologetic excuse.

"But I thought we were going to hang out today - a girl's day! You know, like the one we had in Ba Sing Se that one time." Katara objected.

The little earth bender stuck out her tongue in a teasing response before responding, "No offence but that sounds awful. I still haven't got over how that woman tried to give me a pedicure! But, if it means that much to you two, then we'll go tomorrow, I promise!" She glided out of the kitchen.

Katara sat there for a minute before shaking her head and taking the empty dishes to the Kitchen and handing them to one of the servants with a smile. What Toph didn't have in eyesight, she made up for in a strong backbone and will - not to mention an ability that could help her see everything in her own, unique way. Literally. _Which only served to make her more rude_, Katara thought with a small, contradictory smile.

She sighed as she wandered the halls. Sokka, Suki and herself wouldn't be leaving for the North Pole for another two weeks. They had a whole schedule worked out; for once. They would sail all the way up to the North Pole to visit Gran Gran, and then sail down to stay at the South Pole, visiting Dad and helping the village prepare for winter and Sokka also had some warrior demonstration he was going to participate in, before finally coming back to the Fire Nation some weeks later. Well, she'd be coming back.

Sokka, however, would be staying at the South Pole for a few months with Suki as he helped train a few youngsters in the art of being a swordsman. He'd been invited, originally, for a small demonstration but a week later they had sent another letter, asking if he would stay additionally in his home town and nation and help with the teaching. Sokka had accepted immediately, with a grin as soon as he had read it. She wouldn't think about talking him out of it, though, because he'd be hanging out with Dad a lot in that time and she knew how much it would mean to him for Sokka to be able to show Dad how strong, knowledgable and capable he had become. Katara had also missed her dad a lot since he left to go back to their village almost three weeks ago.

But they'd be together a lot while she was there and truthfully, as much as she wanted to go back to her little South Pole village and live there forever, she knew it wasn't meant to be. Katara _had_ to come back to the Fire Nation after her trip. Aang had no where but here, now, and when he was done with his trip, he'd be returning here as well because it was the best place for him to stay at if he, as the Avatar, needed to be somewhere at a moment's notice. It was her responsibility to help him survive in this new world, and be the greatest Avatar he could be - a responsibility, she admitted, that she readily agreed to before realizing the full extent of the consequences. But she still accepted it and knew how much the idea excited her, consequences be damned.

Katara heard Sokka yell from far off down the halls and smiled. She was happy for her brother and Suki. Sure, Suki had found her Kyoshi warrior friends once again, but now that their region had been reuinted with their long-lost peace, she had officially retired from it. Katara always thought she'd made the right decision there and it was evident just when you watched them together for even a moment. It was cute - whether they knew you were in the room or not. They were in a world of each other constantly.

Walking down the cobblestone path leading to the meditation area out back, Katara stopped to lean on a tree. She slowly took in the peaceful sounds, the hot and humid air and the beautiful landscape around her. She spotted Zuko, sitting on a wooden bench a few yards away, feeding the turtle ducks that were padding around the pond avidly.

Everyone had seen him do this at one time or another ever since they agreed to stay at the new Fire Lord's palace - on a_ mostly _temporary basis - instead of going to an Inn or Hotel. The only one who really planned on being there permaneantly, until something changed or could find her own place she actually deemed likable, was Toph. Her and Iroh were like two peas in a pod - if Katara was honest, she really didn't understand how they could talk about the depths, flavors and different types of tea so much. But that wasn't all they talked about so it balanced out, in a way; and, Katara was partly glad that Toph had fixated her attention on something like tea almost immediatly after they collectively ended the Great War. From what the girl had told them all, Toph's mind had been on earth bending for a long time, but, after having to use it for survival nearly every day when they were fighting to survive, it seemed that she admired it more and looked at it with a fascination less now.

Katara's mind slowly cleared as she allowed herself to study the lone firebender. She'd never really understood why he fed the turtle ducks all the time; it wasn't really that he did it, but that he did it alone and looked so pensive the entire time and that he always, religiously, took an hour off a day to do so. Iroh had just said that it had a personal meaning to him - and that it wasn't his right to tell the reasoning behind it. Whatever it was, Zuko definitely wasn't volunteering information to anyone. Not that she really cared... she didn't. But he always looked so darned... _forlorn_ and like he was thinking so hard about something so sad that it and the emotions behind it alone would drill a hole to the center of the earth.

Shaking herself out of that train-of-thought, Katara hesitated before softly walked over to the bench. He didn't hear her approach and startled when she said, "Hey, this seat taken?"

Zuko shook his head and turned back to the ducks, so she sat on the other end of it and tucked her legs underneath themselves.

"You really shouldn't walk around barefoot outside; besides the sneak factor-", he slightly smirked,"-you could always get bitten up pretty bad."

"I know," she plainly shrugged, "it's happened before." He just glanced at her in response.

The minutes ticked by slowly, much as they had since this sudden peace descended on everyone a week earlier with Ozai banished and the Great War stopped. It's amazing how shocking it was to realize how greatly her day-to-day life relied on saving the world, keeping the Avatar safe and taking down the Fire Nation to end the war and get revenge. The peace was... refreshing.

"Can I..?" Katara asked a moment later.

He responded to her gestured hand by tearing off half and placing the newly shaped hunk of bread into it.

"Thanks. So... why do you feed these turtle ducks?"

"Helps me think..." Zuko let the answer trail off.

Katara felt the curiosity swell inside of her but more than that, she felt a slight inkling of frustration at his stoic behavior. He still hadn't looked once her way and he didn't do anything to aleviate the awkwardness in the air from the lack of conversation and communication. It wasn't like they were on bad terms or anything; she'd forgiven him for all that he'd done after he had taken that lightning bolt for her when they fought with Azula, his sister.

Katara pushed away the shudder that threatened to arise at thinking of that day and instead continued trying to get him to open up. She didn't know why she wanted to, but she wanted to know why - out of all the areas he'd torn down in the old Fire Nation palace - he'd kept this small pond and it's inhabitants. "Oh. Iroh told us that it... had some kind of... _personal meaning _to you...so I just thought... I don't know, maybe you could tell me about it." She sighed.

He turned to look at her, his face completely passive. "It does." He paused before taking a deep breath. "Have I ever told you about my mother?"

She looked over at him as well and their eyes met. "I... I think so... but only briefly."

"Her name was Ursa. I was her favorite child", his lips quirked as she rolled her eyes at his starting point, "but that was fine with Azula. She was constantly praised by Father because of her ruthless skills in firebending. My mother... she was sweet, kind and warm, always friendly to everyone she met that she won the respect and hearts of a lot of the people. She was the complete opposite of my Father - but it was an arranged marriage, like everything in this nation seemed to be at that time."

Zuko curled his lips in brief disgust before continuing. "I was only 7... when she left... She was so sad when she came to... to say goodbye in my room... I later learned from Uncle that she saved my life by helping traitors get close to kill my grandfather Azulon, putting my Father in the position to be Fire Lord. She was then banished by my Father; who was the one that forced her to do those things and make that choice in the first place. Uncle didn't have to say it but it didn't matter, I found out by myself.

"I've never seen her since. I am trying to track her down, find some sort of trail... but... it was so long ago now." He glanced over to the ducks before relaxing his shoulders with a soft smile and leaning back. "We use to always play out here and when it was just us, I'd feed the turtle ducks with her. It was something she had loved to do - I think she even had names for them." Zuko chuckled quietly. "It was always so peaceful and calm here. It's one of my clearest memories." He wiped a lone tear that began a trail from his unscarred eye.

Katara felt overwhelmed by such an admission and felt guilty all at once for having practically pestered about it. _He wouldn't of told you unless he wanted you to know_, a voice inside her whispered. Or maybe that was her own?

"Why was your life in danger in the first place?" She heard herself project the thought outloud and flinched at not having asked him more about his mother, instead.

"Because my Father was cruel and unforgiving -_ as usual _- and was plotting to become Fire Lord immediately after the death of Uncle's son, Lu Ten. Father wasn't the first born son but that didn't stop him from making loud claims that Uncle Iroh was ineligable for the throne so it should be given to him instead. Grandfather Azulon found out and told him to kill me as a punishment. To see the error of his ways against his only brother." He let out a short, humourless laugh. "Amazing, isn't it? Us firebenders - such a close knit family we encourage!" He looked back out at the turtle ducks, breaking their eye contact. He continued tossing more bread.

Katara took the silence for the next few minutes to think. Finally, deciding not to dwell on it and do something to comfort him, she dropped the chunk of bread she had left and reached her hand over, sliding it into Zuko's. It was a small assurance, a small comfort. He tensed a moment before coiling his fingers with hers. "I don't think all firebenders are so bad... definitely not you; and Iroh. And I'm sorry about your mother... I kind of know what you're going through, remember." She whispered softly.

Zuko continued to stare ahead, not daring to look into her big blue eyes. "Thanks; that means a lot.. coming from you. And... your mother always sounded special, too."

Katara remembered how much he had told he he was sorry for her mother's death, even remembered what happened that day he helped her track down the man who had personally killed her mother - even if it was a memory they promised to never tell anyone. This time, Zuko didn't hesitate as he held out the bread he still had left over to her. She smiled and picked at it with her free hand and gently tossed it to the ducks every moments as they quaked appreciatively.

****


	2. Tea Concoctions

**A/N:** In case anyone's forgotten the name of it - I had - the game Iroh likes to play very much, and often did wherever they went, was called _Pao Sho_. I especially mention it this chapter, though I'm not quite sure how often in the later ones. So, now that anyone that hasn't watched the show recently has their memory refreshed - I encourage you to read on.

I didn't want to say it in the first chapter, because the Author's Note was already long, but you will realize within the next few chapters that this show is not really dramatic. It has a few times and a few happenings in it that are dramation - not saying because of spoiler alert - but it will all around be light hearted and focused on the gradual changing of relationships and et cetera surrounding their lives instead of being on some dramatic event that they all have to deal with. Everything I thought of doing has already been done here by way more capable writers than I and this was just more my style. So, if you want to keep reading this story, then I thank you :)

I hope you enjoy this next chapter - and please review on your way out!

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Lets be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom._ ~Marcel Proust

* * *

><p>Toph looked at her friend expectantly as they lazily walked down the street, far too weighed down by bags as is to ever look at a shop window again for fear of being enthralled by something else. They had both pooled their money together and, finding that they had somehow acquired quite a bit - both from Katara being permaneantly employed as Aang's 'consultant' (paid for by the Fire Nation, aka Zuko) and Toph working at Iroh's tea shop in the capital - they decided to go window gazing instead of to the spa.<p>

Her friend soon sighed, relenting. "Okay! Okay, I admit it. You were right, this way way more fun. It's so... relaxed. Weird, because the spa is supposed to make you relaxed..." She shrugged.

"Right?" Toph jumped a bit in the air, a grin undeniably covering half of her round face. "I told you! Once again, Toph the Wonderful is right. Haha!"

Katara laughed along with her friend, and also partly at her zeal of excitement from such a small thing. But, then again, Toph had always taken the opportunity to gloat about any small, minor detail. "I can't believe you're so full of yourself sometimes!"

"Hey now... I'm only gloating because I was _right_." Katara just smiled at her friend, a silent acceptance. Eh, she was speaking the truth... about the reasoning, at least.

Katara looked at all the passing shops, continuing to smile at how prosperous most of them were - when many of them hadn't even been allowed under Ozai's rule. She pushed away that thought and focused on the smiles that were spotted in much more abundance around them before she was suddenly pulled to another storefront by Toph. Katara was so surprised at the show of strength by the young girl - something she hadn't been on the end of for a long time - that she didn't even notice where they were until Toph was fast in the door, with her dragging behind in the girl's wake.

"Welcome to the Jasmine Drag- Toph! Come in dear, come in! Take a seat, I'll make a pot of the Jasmint blend."

"Ooh, yum! Thanks Iroh."

"Hello Iroh." Katara greeted.

"It's nice to see you again, Katara, and same with you Toph - so soon!"

"Same here, although I didn't plan it! She did." They shared a laugh as Toph picked a table. Iroh went to get a pot of tea and the accompanying dishes, leaving them together for a minute. Katara, surprisingly, didn't lay into the earthbender about miscommunication, manipulating, or anything of the type and et cetera. Instead she took a seat quietly, looking around the shop and Toph sat in the booth across, identifying all of the spice bottles on the table with her hands.

It had been so long since they'd been there! Since they all celebrated that one night after Zuko's innauguration - and teasingly mocked Sokka's poor drawing - they hadn't been back. Well, she hadn't. Zuko visited occasionally, without notice to any of them; so he often went alone. Toph visited all the time because she viewed Iroh as a 'kindred soul' like herself - it was the tea obsession really. Aang would visit occasionally, usually in the evenings when Iroh was closing up, and would try to beat him at _Pao Sho _- apparently it was a great bonder when meeting new diplomats; who knew? But Sokka hadn't visited because he and Suki were stuck together like moss and a rock and she certainly hadn't visited because... well, she didn't know. Maybe it was because she'd never been with someone when the subject came up? And the idea certainly hadn't occurred to her much, admittedly, as every free moment she had was spent around the library or gardens of the palace.

She should of though, Katara scolded herself. This place was so peacefully and simply decorated which led a soothing atmosphere, and Iroh was wonderful to talk to _and_ a wonderful listener - so wise he is! You wouldn't think it by how easy going he is but that brain is packed full of knowledge and Katara remembered thinking more than once in their conversations how much she would like the opportunity to pick his brain about the past.

Said old man came back to the front of the small shop with a grin and a slight kick in his step. Iroh set the tea down on the table and poured them all some, pressing Toph's cup against her hand lightly. "Business doesn't get started much till the evening and I have plenty of staff so I'm all yours!" He smiled, welcoming.

"How is the renovation of your Ba Sing Se tea shop going?" Katara asked immediatly as she sipped her tea.

"Ah, yes! Well, when Zuko and I ran the shop before, we left in such a hurry that I only recently found it was taken over by some cabbage restaurant." He shrugged and she nodded for him to continue. "So, Zuko helped me find a new place and it's going along wonderfully! I wish I could be there, but I want to stay here as long as possible, too. That nephew of mine... so much like my own son." He smiled fondly and looked down, remiscent.

Toph continued blowing on her tea and sipping it, experimenting with the various herbs and sweeteners put on the table, seemingly unaware of the conversation. Katara, however, was still caught up in something Iroh had said earlier. "Wait - did you say Zuko helped you find a building for the Jasmine Dragon?"

"But of course! He and I did run it, after all. Such good memories... you should of seen him! That was when I knew, that time exactly, that he could be exactly as calm and peaceful and capable as I knew him to be as a boy." Iroh sipped his tea before sputtering out a laugh in the napkin. "You should of seen him in the uniform! Haha, it was so amazing that he could look so different, so... pesant-like! But he wouldn't wear the hat - if only!"

Katara cracked a grin, "I would of loved to see that - both of with an without the hat!"

Toph looked up from her transformed concoction out of a concoction and commented randomly, unaware of the conversation before her, "Why don't we go dress shopping later, Katara. One of the housekeepers told me about it and I think we might of passed it somewhere along the way."

She blinked and shrugged. "Uh, I thought I could just grab something from my clothes already."

"What is this for?" Iroh asked, thoroughly confused.

"Aang's party! Well, the Avatar Aang's send-off party but no need to get technical about it." Toph added but immediately dismissed it with her hand. "Didn't you get the invitation? I specifically directed them to go out two days ago!"

"Oh, yes!" Iroh immediatly became animated and his eye adopted a twinkle. "That is next Saturday, right my dear?"

"Yep." She said before turning to Katara, "And you have to get a dress especially for this! With Aang first leaving, and then you, Sokka and Suki leaving and then Zuko leaving for the next few months along with Iroh, I won't be able to bear it alone unless I have the perfect party for Aang. And I'm not going to throw a party for each of you guys - that's just stupid."

Katara giggled but once again relented to the young earth bender who had wormed her sarcastic, blunt persona into her heart. "Fine, fine."

"We can always keep each other company until I have to leave for Ba Sing Se - and then you're helping Cren with running this place, remember?"

"Right! Maybe then you can teach me some of your tea secrets...hmm?" She put her elbows on the table and leaned into the general direction of Iroh.

"Hehe, nice try young girl but not until you master the basic techniques of following the recipes!"

"But! Experimenting is so much more fun," she pouted exaggeratingly.

"You two are hilarious", the other girl sipped her tea that was going luke-warm by now. Katara marveled, silently, at how fast time can go when you're around friends. _So fast indeed..._

"Oh! Oh!" Toph hopped up and down from her seated position in the booth before pointing to Iroh - her finger landing uncannily just inches from his face. "You should stay at the palace for a couple 'o nights before the party! And no excuses - I know you're place is here but this is only temporary and you have more than capable hands here - just remember how Aiko dealt with that angry soilder last week."

Iroh turned to Katara, a grin on his face but keeping his voice level. "I don't know, what do you think, dear? She makes a compelling argument."

Katara caught on quickly and played along. "Yes, I think so. The question is, what are the terms of the agreement?"

"Terms?" Toph swung her head back and forth, her mouth floundering and unable to get out all the questions running through her mind on why in the world they would need terms for something so simple!

"But of course!" Iroh continued on. "I would have to arrive the third day before - what with my schedule and all. Then there's the matter of tea! Do I have to bring my own or not? And then, do I get to buy something special for this event too? Because I certainly think I should if you all can spend away on dresses."

"Absolutely!" Katara declared.

Barely three seconds later, they both burst out laughing as Toph had adopted a face that clearly showed she was unsure if they were seriously considering it.

Toph realized what they did to her and immediatly felt an annoyed blush cross her face at the prank; only able to be pulled off because she was unable to see their very poorly masked facial expressions. "Not funny guys! I'm not that gullible." She frowned and crossed her arms.

The other two didn't even notice her reaction. Tears streamed down their faces as they continued to laugh, only serving to annoy the young earthbender more. It was several minutes before either could recover and as soon as Toph jumped into all but cursing at them, they relapsed into soft giggles again..

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2:** Silly? Yes. Funny? I would like your thoughts, please! I hardly ever write intentionally humorous stories - or try to, at least. Usually it just happens by accident - but isn't that the best kind? :D


	3. Iroh's Haunting Memory

**A/N:** Alright, I'm done with posting until... next Monday! How about that, Mondays and Thursdays will be the update days, okay?

Just thought of something else to mention - there will be a few branch-off stories that will take focus at times but, on large, the interactions between Katara and Zuko will be at the forefront.

Some of these examples will become obvious later, as well as this chapter below. Because of this, the story will probably be long and I can say now that for awhile in the middle, there won't hardly be any Zutara interactions because they will be dealing with a few different diversions along the way. I think that makes it more realistic. Plus, I was greatly annoyed by how many things alluded to and shown - as deciding factors in how the characters acted, no less - that weren't adressed or wrapped up in the finale.

And, if you've heard of any of the characters spoilers for the Legend of Korra, I think it's safe to say that they won't adress them there either. So, bear with for awhile as I piece together different things in my own imagination, okay?

I hope you enjoy the following chapter (I had a lot of fun writing it!) and please don't forget to comment on your way out!

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open. _

~John Barrymore

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, Three days later...<em>

"Nope! Sorry sweet cheeks, you're on your own." Toph said before shoveling more food sloppily off of the plate into her mouth, dropping crumbs and increments on the placemat and table around her. The other members of the breakfast table were either ignoring it in a vain attempt or staring at it with appalled faces.

"But why? He's too big! It'll take hours." Aang whined at her.

"Because if you hadn't noticed - I'm blind, so that doesn't help with your situation what with him being really huge and furry and, oh yeah, temperamental at times that I can't see it comin'. And, I just don't want to - booyah for personal will!" She pumped a fist in the air in a mock celebration with a sideways grin. "Back me up on this, Sokka."

He leaned over from where he had his arm around Suki's shoulder. "Yeah, sorry Aang but the little earthbender's right - besides, he's your flying bison." Toph let the description of herself slide and grinned further.

"Haven't you had to wash him before, Aang?" Katara interjected from where she was sitting with Iroh at the opposite end of the table.

The boy in question slapped his face with his hand and slowly let it slide down. "Despite what you might think, being frozen and then being chased by a crazy Fire nation doesn't allow time to wash a flying bison!"

Katara and Suki laughed a little before Toph intervened. "But... you were, like, alive a hundred years before. So, what about then."

"The monks were pretty strict about learning; Appa and the others got washed by the servants." He shrugged, earning a slug from Toph. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"I don't appreciate you dismissing servants, young man! They contribute a lot." She glared and Iroh shared a look with Katara, who only shrugged, at Toph saying 'young man' when the 'young man' in question was a year older than her..

"I didn't mean it like that..."

Luckily for him, Iroh noticed the sudden agitated nature of Toph with the comment and intervened. "Toph, I think he's being honest. Trust me, we all know how important and equal servants are."

"Good." She crossed her arms and sat back.

Aang waited a beat. "So... anyone going to help with Appa?...Katara?"

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry Aang but I was going to show Iroh around - he's bound to have forgotten where everything is by now!" Katara stood and grabbed everyone's empty dishes, walking through the large archway to the kitchen where she rinsed all of the dishes. There was no servant there at the moment but she didn't mind - after all, she had been cleaning up after herself for her whole life before this past month.

Iroh just grinned. "Eh, it's true. My memory doesn't keep up with everything."

"I'm going to go practice my bending out by the cliffs - see you suckers later!" Toph replied shortly and waved at them without turning back as she left. They murmured goodbye's. Aang looked around once last time before shrugging with a slight pout of the lips and walked out as well, resigned to the fact that he has to wash the large, furry Appa all by his lonesome. Katara finished rinsing the dishes and searched around the kitchen before coming across a towel; she set to work on drying them off, one by one.

"And I believe you were going to take me to see some theatre show in an hour?" Suki raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, sitting to the left of her.

"Right! You sure you want to see that one thought?" Sokka smiled nervously and glanced around.

"Oh, stop being a pansy!" Suki said, dismissing him with a wave of the hand as she stood. "So they re-inact some gore, bleh, like we all haven't seen it before."

"Ahaha... yeah... right." The two left - Iroh and Katara - watched as she all but dragged him out of the room with raised eyebrows and a humorous smile.

Zuko walked past the couple as he came in, and just shook his head at the sight. It wasn't that weird to see Suki dragging around Katara's brother but still... it was just different from the way Sokka acted - when he was generally trying to assert that he was 'tough' and 'capable'; not that he wasn't, because he was. Zuko walked over and retreived the remaining bowl of oat mush the cook had left on the nook counters in the corner of the breakfast room earlier in the morning and sat down in Toph's previous chair to eat.

"Zuko! It's such a lovely day, don't you agree?" Iroh asked, trying to revive the conversation as a whole and ignite one with him when he noticed how focused and flat his nephew's face was. He knew it was most likely because Zuko was either involved in a busy day as the Fire Lord - working on perhaps the budgetting or a small conflict that would take his whole attention for the day - or he was going to be training. Iroh accurately guessed the latter.

"Haven't been outside."

Katara, still leaning on the counter, just looked on. It was interesting watching the two interact, she had always thought. It gave some definite insight in how life on their boat much of been like, all the while they were chasing her and the Avatar gang. As much as she tried, she couldn't put some of those thoughts behind her. It wasn't that long ago, though, so maybe that would change as the time dragged on a new memories were formed?

She hoped so. As much as that was a large part of her life she would rather not forget, there were some feelings of intense anger and thoughts of hurt that she now felt ashamed - mostly the ones involving Zuko, now - of and there were also the traumatic memories of violence that forced her into maturity that she would best leave behind at most times.

"Katara," Iroh gestured over to her, "and I were planning on her guiding me around and then playing Pao Sho later; why don't you join us when you finish up for the day?"

Zuko finished off his food in record time and stood. "Sorry, but I can't. I haven't trained in the past week and you know how important that is." He smiled a short one to his Uncle before clapping him on the shoulder. Iroh smiled and nodded in understanding before trying one last persuasion.

"Why don't you take a break, hm? Have some fun - forget your duties for a day! I am sure some time this weekend you can train just as much - or more!"

He just shook his head. "You were groomed for the position, Uncle. You know it's hard to just take a day off. This is one of the few days I have without meetings and it will do good for me to practice. I am Fire Lord now and I shouldn't become rusty on my bending or my hand-to-hand training."

The old man slumped ever so slightly before patting Zuko on the arm with an adoring smile. "I understand. Go on, we'll see you later on, then." Zuko clasped him on the shoulder once more before moving to the side door to leave.

He walked past Katara on his way out the door and paused, "Katara", he acknowledged in greeting with a glance and a small smile before opening and closing the door behind him with a small click. She didn't say anything as he was already out the door, most likely turning left down the wide hallway to the eastern wing that held the large, football sized training room. She turned and hung the towel up before walking back over to the table and smiling at the old man left in the room.

Iroh stood as she did so and clapped his hands together with a gleeful expression slightly above what he was actually feeling inside. "Well... how about that tour?"

"Gladly!" Katara smiled and welcomed the distraction from where she would no doubt be dwelling in her thoughts. They walked out of the breakfast room together and locked elbows, walking down the right end of the hallway instead. "Why don't we start at the bedrooms since you're already familiar with that wing..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_We have forfeited our birthright_

_We have forsaken all things met;_

_We have forgotten the look of light._

_We have forgotten the scent of heat._

~ First stanza,_ 'Song of the Wise Children'_, Rudyard Kipling

* * *

><p>He walked down the halls, spotting the familiar white orchid in front of a large bay window looking over to the front, signaling that he was near the meditation room. Iroh meticulously identified a marker to match each turn or placement of a room or hallway while Katara showed him about the palace and recounted them now as he lazily explored. It was how he kept track - he'd grown up in buildings and ships that all looked the same, it was the details that helped him remember each one.<p>

Turning, he went left left from the window and followed the curving coridor. It was almost sunset, no more than a half hour away from it if the speed of the sun's descent was any indication; and it is. He smiled fondly as he recounted his day. It felt like one big, happy and slightly dysfunctional family when he'd arrived and joined them for breakfast. No one noticed he'd hardly said a word - instead deciding to eat silently and watch them all.

They all played each other's good and bad sides, flattering or pressing buttons at will. That was good - only true friends could located and test your buttons without intentionally meaning to hurt you. Soon after, Katara showed him around and he had fun by pestering her with questions - but she answered them all with, at most, an eyeroll. The new Fire Lord palace was surprisingly small but compact - a definite difference from the previous palace that he and his brother and then Zuko and Azula had grown up in. _Ozai had definitely made it more... dominating after he took over_, he thought as he remembered and compared how it used to have been in all it's evolutions before being completely torn down.

A slight crease in the wallpaper - dictating a peaceful scene of cherry blossoms falling on a clear day - caused Iroh to turn right. He came upon cracked double doors, smaller and less intimidating than the dark, tall-to-the-ceiling doors in the old palace. Iroh pushed the door open a little further and left the opposite one closed, leaning his appearing-to-be-pudgy form against it.

_Slice, right and left at the same speed and time, aim at chest. Tense knees, bend low, spin body inward and around, shifting weight to dominate foot. Reposition other foot, sweep out, rise like a shot and flip blades around, knocking the shoulders of approaching enemies. _

_Face blades out, shoulders back, back bent, race torwards opponent. Lunge, three second flip of the blade, jam hilt between muscle in the neck and shoulder. Rock from heels to spurs on landing, brace strong leg out, leading with weak, flip blade back around, cross them over each other. At first movement of target, slice them in oppposite but exact movements, gaining momentum, shred the back of the opponent._

Zuko stopped, wiped his brow and then repositioned himself, back still to Iroh, lost in the world of training and completely unaware of his surroundings as he focused intently. It was the same way he was when he chased the Avatar - the one minded thought processes and quick, forward thinking that allowed him to catch on quickly and eventually be a step ahead of his opponent.

Iroh could track every move of nephews, having seen each lung, slice and position at least once. Since he was banished at such a young age, Iroh was there with each level of teacher, helping him train harder and harder, his anger fueling each move. Now, it was all practically effortless, fluid and down a rythm that any upset wouldn't change the tune of them. Now, Zuko seemed calmer - he was calmer. Iroh had always warned his nephew about having emotions fuel his attacks. You needed to keep the emotions going that would drive you, but push away the deeper ones that controlled you.

Now, as he looked on, he smiled proudly as his nephew fought the air the best he had ever seen. His eyes scanned the almost football field size room. No other person - guard or otherwise - was there._ He must of wanted to train alone... _Iroh watched for the next ten minutes, studying how his facial scar become more red with each head turn, lunge upward and downward fold.

It made him angry each time his thoughts drifted back to when it happened. He'd looked away at the exact moment the fireball seared into his nephew but that didn't stop him from seeing the aftermath, which still etched the hatred and disbelief in his mind and heart.

He'd never forgive his brother for what he'd done - wherever that should-be bastard was by now, locked in a prison that was unknown to the public. Why couldn't he have seen the loyalty, honour, determination, compassion and love in his own son? Instead, he'd harmed him, shunned him and exiled him, never thinking about the possibility of his return until the Avatar had been shown to be an actual possibility and even then he had only planned from there forward to use his own son to get the Avatar himself.

_Ursa._ She had been the only one to understand the boy. Of course, he was more like her than he'd ever really know. Irohs thoughts drifted back to the memory that haunted him to this very day. Why hadn't he been able to tell something was wrong besides the obvious conclusion he had made? Why hadn't he seen... seen the panicked look, one that spoke of a hastened and dangerous plan? All he'd seen was the sadness... maybe that was all he'd wanted to see because it gave him hope that he could help her. Truth be told, it was too far out of his control.

* * *

><p><strong>*<strong>_**Flashback **__- Sunday Afternoon, One day before Ursa vanishes..._

He'd spotted her, feeding the turtle ducks once again. He gauged both of their moods, cautiously, before considering approaching her in what looked like a deep thought.

He had just let his room, a day after the stomach-curdling meeting with his father and brother, for the first time and was relieved to find the halls emptier than usual. Ozai - _the audacity_! The self-inflated ego his brother has to swoop in and bid for becoming Fire Lord when he, Iroh, was still mourning for his own son! Hopefully his Father would provide a well enough punishment for his _disrespectful_ brother. Although his face had been set like stone, Iroh had noticed how his Father's knuckles turned white as he curled them into a fist and pounded on the chair; and he wasn't naive enough to not feel a light tremor go down his spine when he had been ordered out of the room.

Iroh walked over, his body heavily bulked but still years away from becoming the pudgy faced, pot-belly form he would take on later in life - even if the pot-belly was more of a disguise than reality. Ursa swept her long dark hair away from her porcelain face as she glanced over at him, already having sensed him before he got more than three feet in her direction.

Immediately, he noticed something was wrong. Iroh was amazing at reading people - _a natural knack_. She would normally smile, her eyes would crinkle or her eyes would just_ be _bright; she would engage him quickly in conversation about the children or some charity she had jumped in to help; she would smile up at him and would almost giggle when greeted because she had just seen something or she was simply _happy_. Now, her face was flat and her eyes were dull and bloodshot - so far a cry from her usual appearance that he almost thought she looked like a zombie of her former self. Faint bags resided under them that even the best of powder couldn't fully cover.

"What's wrong, Ursa?" Concern immediately flooded his voice and he let it as he sat down on the bench beside her.

"Nothing...nothing..." She scattered more bread for the turtle ducks, ducking her head from his prying eyes. The ducks eagerly fetched up each piece, the mothers fighting over every morsel for their newly hatched ducklings.

"Don't think I will believe that lie - I can see how sad you are... you know you can tell me anything and everything."

She smiled fondly, staring off into the distance. "I know. You've been my friend since we were just teenagers."

"Just think, if we hadn't been fast friends, you would never have married Ozai and I would never have had the privilege of calling you family." He teased, reminiscing, but quickly saw how withdrawn she became and regretted his words. "Did Ozai do something again?" Iroh's voice hardened. It wouldn't be the first time Ozai pulled a stunt with her or their two young children.

"...It _was_ him. At least at _first... and now_..." Ursa admitted softly.

His brow furrowed and he searched her half hidden face for answers. "I don't understand."

Iroh held her hand and smoothed his thumb over the soft back of it in slow, soothing circles. When she finally looked into his sincere eyes minutes later, she couldn't stand to hold back the tears and told him everything. Everything from the punishment Ozai had received that morning to his arranging a scheme and making her be the one that actually followed through with it, to him then turning on her when she said she didn't want to risk it and it was against her morals; instead, she pleaded with him to be honest and sincere and beg his father for their son's life instead of going to back stabbing, ruthless route. After a long pause, she confided how he'd begun threatening her that if she didn't go through with it already, then he'd take the children away from her and banish her - and when she had said she would beg his father herself, he had slapped her, threatened one last time and left.

She knew, with all her heart, that that would be just the beginning. Their marriage had been arranged - because they were both in the upper elites of society - and even though she did have some say in who her husband was to a small extent it was only just recently she'd realized how far apart they were emotionally and mentally; and how far he would go to be cruel because he believed that was the right path.

The _cataclyst _was Zuko; he was so much different than Ozai and that only served to anger her husband at least once every day. Not like there weren't plenty of reasons for that already! But she'd had hard enough time conceiving him, her second child, that a third one - _let alone another boy, the golden sex for royalty_ - was almost completely out of the question. Hence, the hostility towards her behind clsoed doors, as well.

Ozai constantly threatened her and blackmailed her the past two years, ever since she started trying to stand up for Zuko not wanting to go to _war meetings_and _all day training sessions _to hone his firebending - he was just a child! He was innocent and didn't deserve to be introduced to such an evil world, full of manipulation and schemes and an encouraged emotionless life - at the very least so soon. Azula had been exposed through no choice of Ursa's own and actually thrived in it, like her father. But Ursa wouldn't allow that for her son. He was her only other child and she was determined to save one of them and let them enjoy the peaceful life she had had when she grew up.

Iroh wiped the tears off of her face after she finally stopped crying, long after she'd finished talking. He didn't know what to say - how could his brother threaten Ursa like that? And for so many years he didn't even know there was something wrong! She - one of the best of his friends - had put the happy-wife veil on in front of him; and he hadn't even seen a difference. The woman in front of him look so tired and broken... not the sweet, positive woman he'd known half his life.

"Tell me how I can help." He said low but evenly.

"Oh...oh! No, Iroh, don't put yourself in that position. Please." Ursa held his hands, pleading; she was always able to see right through him and what he meant beyond the words he spoke.

"At least tell me what you plan to do!"

"I have to follow through with it - no matter how stupid and dangerous the plan is that he came up with!" Her hazel eyes filled with tears again but didn't spill over as she bit her lip. "This is my life Iroh, you couldn't of seen it and neither could I have before but should I really be surprised? I was just a princess destined to be married to the best royalty - and that was_ this _family..."

Iroh pursed his lips at the comment and forced himself to think of the situation at hand. She could take care of herself, he knew this. He knew Ursa was strong and one of the smartest people he'd ever had the joy of knowing deeply and truthfully - she'd find a way out. Never would she share it with him, he knew... Still, _what if something went wrong_? Iroh wished he could be there for her... but that time had passed so, so long ago.

Iroh was worn down by the sudden loss of his son but this flamed his insides again like nothing else. He must do something to help her and the children, however minor. His mind made up, he lifted her chin up to make her look into his eyes as he started in evenly. "Listen to me, my room safe is opened by the combination 87-"

Her eyes widened and she gasped as she realized where he was leading. "Stop! Stop speaking, I don't want to know! I won't possibly need it - I wouldn't! No matter, Ozai wi-"

He grabbed her wrists, stopping her from shaking out of his grasp and also silencing her midsentence. "Listen! I know you are planning something, don't tell me you aren't. You forget sometimes that I know you to a fault." His lips wanted to curve upward but he continued on, his voice still shockingly even; shocking even to himself. "The safe access number is 87213. There has to be at least 5 good sized bags in there, enough money for whatever you'd need. Whatever you do, whatever _my brother _makes you do, promise me that you will take care of yourselves and the children; _no matter what_. I can't promise he will do the same for you."

"I promise." Ursa whispered. "But...but promise me this, will you? If... if I'm not... not around, take care of Zuko - be there for him. _Always_. Ozai will never understand him and care like I do." Her hazel eyes welled and glistened.

"Don't say that, you'll always be here for him."

"I promised for you, promise this for me. Whatever the.. unlikeliness of it." Her small fingers wrapped around his, which were still gripping her wrists.

Iroh sighed, relenting to what would be the last thing she would ask of him. _"I promise."_

_*__**End Flashback**__..._

* * *

><p>He'd been right, she was planning something. Whether it was a back-up plan that was different than Ozai's or the original one, he would never know. The next day had continued on like nothing changed. The children played, Ursa took care of everything with them and only for a few hours was she gone. When she wasn't, she was glued at the hip to them and didn't dare let them out of her sight; even for baths or feedings.<p>

But then... maybe he _should of noticed _the few strands of hair out of place that weren't from a young child's stress inducing behaviors or from running around a fifty meter length palace. The day after, Zuko had refused to come out of room and Azulon had been found dead on the Fire Lord throne. Ozai had stepped up immediately and after a few hours of panic, the military, nation and staff had been put on a tight leash of control once again. When Iroh could finally breath for a moment and process it all, he took solace in Zuko's room. When he finally found out why the boy was sitting in his room - _waiting_ - his heart plummeted.

Iroh confronted Ozai but his egotistical brother offered up nothing - instead vehemently denying it all and threatening that if she wasn't back soon, he'd declare her a fugitive and that _all of a sudden _it all made since who poisoned the old man. Of all people, he turned on his own wife! The whole household - guards, servants and staff - swore they hadn't seen anything when Iroh questioned them.

Not that he was surprised, they all loved her. If they saw or helped her in any way, they wouldn't say a word and they knew he knew that - but they also knew he cared for her and wouldn't ruthlessly pursue their barely covered lies as the new Fire Lord Ozai would. As one last thought occured to him one late evening that week, Iroh had checked his safe. Empty. All but a simple note in less than shaky handwriting:

_"I'm sorry. I will try to come back one day - please forgive me. Love Zuko with your whole heart like I know you did with Lu Ten."_

She hit a sore spot by meantioning loving his son and loving his nephew in the same sentence - one was young and alive and the other young but dead. Iroh knew Ursa had meant to bring up those feelings - and it had the desired effect on him perfectly.

When Ozai publicly banished Ursa, rumors spread fast that murder was suspected of Fire Lord Azulon's death and subsequently the security ramped up as the very man who was last around to have a hand in it rose to suceed him and continue his 'legacy' - announcing another attack on the South Pole that same day. Iroh knew why his brother did it and he knew the hand his brother had but if he had said anything, he wouldn't be around for _Ursa's_ children or the Fire Nation when it would inevitably lose. The lesser of two evils was presented and he took it.

It would haunt him forever that he didn't realize exactly how bad it was between the soon-to-be-ruling couple. Iroh always believed that his brother wouldn't go that far - he'd never seen it himself so maybe Ursa was just predicting the worst because she was so traumatized by what he'd been told by Azulon. God, he'd never been more wrong in his life. Not even during the invasion of Ba Sing Se where he failed and his son had died because of it. Iroh looked back up, seeing Zuko still practicing. Sweat was now running down his temples but he didn't bother to wipe it off anymore.

Iroh shook his head softly before turning and walking back out. _He needed a nap_.

Zuko heard the gentle padding of the steps fade and immediately stopped and turned to where Iroh had stood for the past fifteen minutes or so. He knew it was personal, but he wished he could be told what his Uncle dwelled on. As long as he could remember, he'd been like that. At first, Zuko had thought it was because of his cousin, Uncle's son; but as the years wore on, he saw that Iroh could speak happily of his son and that he slowly, piece by piece, let the past go. _So what was it?_ Not all the time did he space out and act like it, sure, but at moments Zuko would catch him looking off or standing alone with the same face.

Those memories were the clearest in his memory, however, but it still meant something; and he knew he wasn't wrong it believing them to be true. After all, the first memories he had were of his mother and the clearest one when he was younger was of his mother startling him awake to bid his a heartfelt and saddened goodbye - and that one, he knew for certain, was true. It was the one he had held close to his heart ever since.

The young firebender shook his head in a way that unknowingly mimicked his uncle. If Iroh ever wanted him to know, then he would tell him. _Best to leave it alone_... Zuko knew how it felt to be conflicted with a memory or knowledge and knew how much poking and prodding from the outside only served to make the person bury it more before it finally burst with an array of passionate emotions.

That was what he had felt about his father before Zuko decided to join the Avatar gang and end the Great War; after all.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2**: In the series, it was revealed that Ursa was actually the one that came up with the plan because she was so desperate to protect her son, while Ozai was rather... indifferent. I switched the facts around just a 'bit'; but the end result is still the same that Ursa either killed Azulon herself, or caused it to happen. So... I only changed who came up with the plan.


	4. Duels and Seating Charts

**A/N: **And here I deliver the long awaited Aang and Katara scene. Sorry, but IMO, Aang is so hard to write! It's hard for me to write a change in emotion as is - I tend to dwell in it when I write - so the way Aang is so cute and eccentric in the show is just hard for me to write. I hope it comes off as okay for you all.

Oh, and I'm so proud of the later scene. I think I'm getting pretty good at fight scenes, so - *happydancearoundtheblock* In the very least, they're becoming easier to think of and write. I have now officially re-written it seven times. Not deleting it or anything but adding to it - so far, I think it's my favorite scene. But that could change ;)

On the second segment - I would like to say how hard it was to find a quote I felt matched. This one is the only one that came close but I chose to change it a bit so I put the original in parenthases and the added part is underlined. Tracking down poems and quotes is a lot harder when it's supposed to be specified; in a way.

Please review when you're on your way out! And I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. Bla-bitty-blah. Movin' on.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Friends will come and friends will go,_

_The seasons change and it will show,_

_I will age and so will you,_

_But our friendship stays, strong and true._

~ Author Unknown

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, two days before Avatar Aang's in-honor party...<em>

Aang moved a few of the tabs around, for the twelth time in the last hour. He squinted at the paper and his tongue pressed against cheek as he considered it once more. Shaking his head vehemently, he moved another one of the tabs and sighed. He pushed the table seating chart across the table. "How about this?"

Analyzing it a minute, she pulled over the binder they had compiled with a summary on each person Toph put on the guest list. Katara thumbed to the section about the man whose tab Aang had last moved tables on and saw confirmation of what she had thought. Shaking her head, she too moved some of the tabs around, including the previous one. "Nope; General Tohsen can't sit next to the cheese seller, Bo Say. He tells a ton of war stories and the other guy hates those." She pushed it back for approval.

He looked down and sighed moved some more tabs around. "But this mayor guy can't sit next to Suki's friends because their paths crossed once when the Kyoshi warriors stole some supplies from his town - _allegedly_." Sliding it back across the table, Aang threw up his hands and jumped out of the chair, choosing to float on an air ball to vent. "This is useless! Why can't Toph do this - she invited these people. I don't even know half of them!"

Katara just laughed wryly. "Ah, but they know _you_. And Toph knows one of them in some form or another - through stories or in person and she wants to meet each and every one of them."

"I feel like she's throwing this party for herself and not for me..." He muttered.

"Hey, she's going to miss you! We're all leaving this place - even Zuko, the very own Fire Lord of this huge place - within short weeks of each other. Let her have this moment, yeah? Besides, I think she'll miss her favorite Avatar more than _any_ of the rest of us". Katara smiled teasingly.

Aang felt his cheeks burn and cleared his throat before he tried to steer the conversation back to the chart. "Well, _ehm_, what if we add more tables and thin out the seatings? Like, instead of 6 people a table, do four. So it's more managible and I don't have a fight break out at my_ peaceful _party."

"We won't all be able to all sit together." She pointed out and started counting on her fingers. "Me, you, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Zuko. That's six if you don't count Iroh because he wants to catch up with some old friends of his, remember?"

"Eh, that's fine!" He waved it off. "I can seat Toph at Iroh's table - she'll love that - and neither will mind. And then Sokka and Suki can be... somewhere else... preferably in the back. No offence but their lovey-dovey twenty-four-seven stuff is annoying." He rolled his eyes and Katara couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"Okay, okay," she recovered quickly and continued on," Then that's you, me and Zuko at our table so who should also be there? Hmm..." Katara stared at the chart once more, tapping her fingers absently against her chin.

"Let me see the book again." He held his arms out and flawlessly caught the three pound binder. Tossing through, Aang made various groans, head shakes, and mutterings. Katara just leaned back in her chair. For now, she was giving up on the damn chart and letting Aang do it. It was his party after all.

She slid her legs up on the table noisely and studied the room. _Wasn't like anyone used this room, so what if there are shoe scuffs on the oak?, _she thought. Katara turned her attention over to the boy sitting across the table and became amused quickly by his unrealized antics. Unrealized by himself, that is.

Aang suddenly dissipated the spinning air ball and landed on his chair with a loud squeak coming from the furniture. "She invited Bumi! Remind me to kiss her when she gets back!" Katara laughed outright this time at both his excitement and words and he blushed, again. "Not like that! Ugh, just help me find his tab so I can move it."

She heaved her body up and crawled over the wide table and they scanned the sheet for it. _Yep, I'm not going to bother twisting my back anymore by leaning over. Hah, if one of the government officials saw me now,_ Katara thought. "How in the world did she get a hold of him? I thought he was up in Omashu last."

"They're not completely isolated up there", he looked up and rolled his eyes at her before smiling. Aang's happiness was infectious.

"Well.. I know that... but still. It's your equivalent to a... an ... air temple!" Aang just shrugged at the comment, narrowing the tab down to the last few tables. "There!" She pointed and he rapidly moved his tab before working on downsizing all of the tables.

"Wait... that guy can't sit at Bumi's previous table because Kuei's there with his sloppy bear, Bosco. Ugh!" He dropped his face in his hands, frustrated, as he hit another proverbial speed bump.

Katara just layed on her back diagnally across the table and crossed her arms under her head. "Just let me know when you're done..." she teased.

Aang shoved her with his elbows but didn't move otherwise.

"Hey! Not cool." She continued to grin, finally finding fun in a project that was otherwise draining and tiresome - and had been for the past two hours.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_For passion, be it observed, brings insight with it; it can give a sort of intelligence to __those observors looking onward.__(simpletons, fools, and idiots, especially during youth). _

~Honore De Balzac

* * *

><p>Katara buried her face into her arm to keep from laughing out-loud - something she had noticed them all doing lately after the stress of most everything they did, day to day, had dissipated; it was almost like all the happiness was pent up inside of them and now that it had a time to burst, it was doing so willingly, Katara had mused one day. Iroh raised his hands instead of laughing and clapped from his positioned seat against the wall. "Good job, Suki!"<p>

The Kyoshi warrior bowed appreciatively and turned back to her opponent. "Don't get so bummed out Sokka! That's only the third time we've fought. I've just been doing this longer than you." She shrugged, trying to make him feel better and make it seem like less of a win and more of a teaching. It didn't work.

"Best four out of seven! And this time, I'm using the longsword." He turned back in bemusement to exchange weapons.

"Alright, well, I'm still keeping this."

They squared off once more; katana vs. longsword. They circled each other for a few moments before Suki struck first, shooting out her katana. Sokka deflected it easily but the curve in it trapped his sword and she almost ripped it out of his hand when she pulled back sharply. He narrowed his eyes and dived at her feet this time. The metal clanged and she, too, deflected it easily.

The two onlookers watched intently. Honestly, each time it had been a close call. Suki only won them because of a very minor miss-step on Sokka's part; but that didn't stop him from becoming highly annoyed and even more proud to keep dueling. Sokka wasn't much of one to accept defeat unless he had to - and even then it was done grudgingly. Loosing a duel to his girlfriend - granted, she had trained a bit more intensely than he had - was hitting some kind of nerve in him; Katara guessed it was because he was a Master now and Suki was only, officially, a retired rogue warrior.

"I think he doesn't want to risk hurting her," Katara thought out loud without knowing it and was startled when Iroh responded next to her.

"Oh, that's quite possible. I've seen many duels in my life and this does seem odd... Of course, not many of those have been girl vs. boy so I can't speak on that dynamic." He flashed a cheeky grin. Katara rolled her eyes at him playfully and turned back to the two being spoken of.

They were enthralled in themselves now but not for the usual reasons. The metal continued to clash and echo off the tall stone walls of the dueling room for several tense minutes. Each dove and twisted and stabbed and reflected but neither came close enough to getting a kill hit on each other.

"What's all this about? You can hear them a mile away." Zuko frowned as he walked in and leaned against the doorway.

Iroh scooted closer to the doorway to speak in a stage whisper, "They've dueled three times but Sokka always messes up something near the end - bad positioning or aim or you know. Katara thinks that he does it on a sub-conscious level because he doesn't want to hurt dear Suki. I am inclined to agree. Here, "he patted the ground next to him - when he was finished with his fast speech - with a smile," watch. If it's true, he'll do it again soon."

Zuko nodded, slightly interested, and moved to sit down. Instead of sitting where his Uncle indicated, he positioned himself between the old man and Katara in a seemingly subconscious move . She just raised an eyebrow at him and waited. He felt her staring and looked over immediately. "What?"

"Nowhere else you could sit?"

"Iroh's too close to the door." Zuko said, a look in his eye daring her to voice what she thought about it while, at the same time, she saw a hint of amusement in his expression. No doubt it was because of her reaction and not the minor thing he actually did.

Katara, however, just settled with rolling her eyes - something she'd started doing a lot lately, too, it seemed - and turned back to watch the duel.

_These past two months, everytime I'm sitting next to someone else he comes and inserts himself between. Unbelievable_, she thought_. And he doesn't even seem to realize it._

Sokka slid across the floor on the pads of his feet and stuck out his sword but at the last moment, it wobbled under her raised arm and she was able to press her katana to his neck. The weapon hitting skin, while unmarked, signaled the end of the duel. Squealing, she turned around with an accompanying grin and let the katana slump downwards in her hand. "I knew I was good but I didn't know I was that good!" Suki's surprised pride was evident and Sokka's shoulders slumping was more so.

"Yep, they were right. Sokka, you are afraid to fight a girl." Zuko announced suddenly, startling everyone to look at him - including Iroh, who was surprised his nephew voiced an opinion outright; even if it was true and even when he knew how much Zuko loved to state things brashly and of his own opinion.

"I am not!" Sokka huffed, placing his hands on his hips, the longsword being pushed out at an awkward angle.

The other teenager just smirked. "Yes, you are. You have to trust yourself to not overstep into causing actual damage and you can't seem to do that." A sudden thought struck him and, acting on the instinct to follow it, Zuko turned over to the girl next to him. "Katara, would like to duel so I can show him how it's done?"

She took his hand and stood up with him. "Sure; but just so you know - I am so kicking your ass."

"Fine, but I don't see how this will solve anything!" Sokka said loudly in a subconscious effort to pull the attention back to him before he set down his sword next to Suki's abandoned katana and let her lead him to the corner to sit. They settled in next to Iroh and the young warrior's annoyance soon ceased as his curiosity grew - and as he was in Suki's company longer.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I train all the time," Zuko continued as they walked over to the weapons hanging on the far wall over the training dummies filled with hay. He grabbed the Dual Dao swords. These ones were practically identical to the ones he trained with and would work just fine.

They were also the ones he had used when he had moonlighted as The Blue Spirit when he had saved Aang once and attacked the Fire Nation guards and army multiple times. At the time, he had thought it was just to vent, to let out frustration. But as he had started thinking back, before joining the Avatar gang for real, Zuko began to think it was more than that. As it turned out, it was. He looked around the room but didn't see Aang anywhere, assuming he must be meditating - as he had been doing every day.

Katara settled on a pair of Stiletto daggers since she'd only trained with small weapons lately and found them easier to hold. Fighting without bending had always been tough with her but, now, Zuko had been kind enough to let any of them use his trainer that came by one or twice a week. Even though she had been training somewhat recently, Katara found it hard to get into a real set of moves and, instead, went with her instincts most of the time. It may anger the trainer at times but it had worked when they were in battle - for real - and she felt more comfortable with it. "I dare say a wager is in order." Katara grinned as they walked to the center of the room and positioned their stances.

"Okay, what kind?" Zuko stood upright and crossed the swords in front of him.

"Hmmm..." She flipped the daggers around in her hands lazily but methodically. Actually being able to train with good weapons lately had done wonders for her skill set, how she was being taught to train issues aside. "What do you guys think? What kind of wager should be placed on this?" Katara yelled back over to them.

"Tea!" Iroh shouted jovially and everybody just ignored him as he grinned.

"Day at the Spa!" Suki joined in.

"Cooking Classes! They let you eat everything there." Sokka said the last part to himself and rubbed his stomach appreciatively.

"Alright, I choose a day at the spa. And three tickets; I want to bring the other two along." Katara decided.

"You want to be bring Sokka along?" He momentarily faltered in his stance and raised both eyebrows.

"No, dumb dumb, I mean Toph."

"I thought she hated girly stuff." Zuko said skeptically.

"Hah! She totally caved at the spa when we were in Ba Sing Se almost six months ago."

"Eh, okay. I choose... beating you." He smirked.

She just giggled at him. "Okay, just don't let your ego get too big. We going to do this?"

"Just waiting for you." He lifted his swords up again. Katara, in response, stopped flipping the Stiletto's and gripped them at her sides, points facing backwards, turned up.

"And I'm waiting for you."

They circled each other for a minute. Suki looked over at Iroh and gave him a look asking _What's with them?. _He just smiled a little and put a finger up to his lips. He wanted to watch these two closely and anyone else talking would distract Zuko and Katara from their little world. Besides the fact that he was interested in how different male vs. female duels were, he was also interested in seeing his nephew in a duel - something he hadn't seen in a long, long time - and seeing young Katara dueling - something he hadn't seen ever. But them both together made it even more fascination to his speculating and positive mind.

In a surprise move, Zuko lashed out first; trying to catch her by surprise. She ducked easily - too easy - and spun around him, kicking out at his knee and causing him to stumble forward.

"Surprise." Katara couldn't help herself and clucked with a small smirk. He quickly recovered and twirled the left sword low and the right one high, narrowly missing her chest in a simoultaneous strike. Katara leaned back just in time but ended up falling back when she was unable to regain her balance.

He came to stand over to her, about to put the swords across her throat to signal he won when she jammed the point of one blade into his right thigh, stopping short of pucturing the skin but still leaving a bruise. With the other, she spun it around at the same time and knocked his funny bone in his left elbow with it's hilt. Momentarily stunned by the action and and the tingling bouts of pain going down both sides of his body, Katara took the opportunity to slide out and push herself back up a few feet from him.

Zuko's determination kicked in and his eyes narrowed. _He wasn't going to go easy on her anymore_. Sliding his blades back into position, he starting charging at her. She played chicken so he wouldn't change direction and follow her, skidding out of the way at the last second but he'd already lunged ahead of her - or what would now be behind her. Spinning around like he'd practiced, Zuko spun the blades torwards her back.

Katara heard it and tucked the daggers to her side, and somersaulted forward. The Stiletto's would leave a bruise because of it on each of her wrists, if not puncturing a bit of skin that she was unaware of, but that was the last thing on her mind. He once again charged after her. She had a strong footing now and met metal with metal - going with her instincts - instead of dodging away to have it meet air like before. Zuko's superior strength was easily seen but she held the shaking daggers against his swords.

Sweat rolled down her face in the few minutes following but she didn't waver. A few spots of moisture began to dot his brow that she could see as he raised it, a look of surprise - and dare she say awe - on his face at her being able to stand blade to blade with him. Bending was something completely different than hand to hand and he wasn't surprised at how evenly she matched him with bending but hand to hand was... personally reliant on strength. There was nothing you could hide behind, not even a blade - as it took all of you, not just bending powers, to hold that blade up.

After several short, tense moments, the opposite blades - in her right hand, his left - slowly began to slide torwards to ground as she lost the upward force that held them still. Katara felt her shoulders start quivering and knew that there was no way she could keep them up. Adrenaline or not, her muscles were failing to superior strength.

She panted, trying to keep the blade up but failed. Jerking, Katara shot it forward to hit his stomach in a last ditch effort. At the same second, Zuko took a risk and tilted the sword back up, catching her neck. The silence deafened inside the room as the spectating friends tried to comprehend what had just happened from their poor vantage point. Both duelers looked down. They'd hit each other at the same time - they saw it, felt it and knew it without a doubt.

Iroh stood and clapped, grinning maniacly, startling the bunch. _He hadn't seen a duel like that in years - a decade or more! _"Well done!" He turned back to the couple who had their heads tilted and mouths gapped from the sidelines. Suki was analyzing their moves to learn more and Sokka was stuck between laughing at Zuko for being beat by a _girl_, and expressing his confusion on how no one was called out as a winner and, instead, it was a tie. "And that is how you duel when you have stakes involved!" He chattered on but the dualers tuned him out.

Katara looked up and met Zuko's gold eyes, tuning Iroh out. "Well..."

"Yeah. Didn't expect that." His eyes were still slightly wide in shock. She was sure hers matched on some level as well.

"So. Tie?"

"How about a dual win?"

"Then I expect my spa tickets." She grinned up.

"I'll have to come up with an actual winning prize then." He smiled back.

"Hey, you guys done? I want to duel Suki again!" Katara and Zuko seperated, lowering the blades they hadn't realized were still pressed against each other. They put the swords and Stilleto daggers back respectively as the other two picked up their own swords once more.

Everyone had just about gotten settled - whether it be their stances or seatings off to the side - when Toph caught everyone off guard by flying through the door on a slab of rock. And promptly letting it thud on the floor.

"Toph! What did I say about flying through the the halls on earth, or rock or whatever that is? You could accidently run into someone or damage the walls." Katara put her hands on her hips as she stood and looked at Toph expectantly, giving her a look that, if Toph could see it, would very much be constituted as a 'motherl look'.

Toph just waved her off. Literally. "Yeah, yeah, heard it before." Zuko exchanged a look with Katara as the young girl walked up to him. Toph stopped just in front and clasped her hands together in a_ 'help me' _imitation. "I need your help - again."

He sighed. "This is about the party, isn't it?"

"Well n- yeah, it is. I booked a band that balked on me at the last minute and now the only one that sounds remotely close to it in the city is asking for_ twice _the original price! Pleeeaasseee?" She blinked up at him and somehow made her big eyes look even more big and doe like. It was infectiously adorable - although if he said it out loud, she would probably slap him to a bloody pulp for being called _adorable._

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head back and forth, relenting already but not saying it yet. "You are going to be the death of me, Toph."

"If you mean the death of your pocketbook - then probably." She conceded and he smiled at the bluntness of it. "Coomme oonnn, ppplleaaaseee?"

"Alright, alright. This is important to you..."

"Yes, it is!"

"I'll grab some coin bags from my office, come with." He started for the door. Toph jumped up, squealing in a way very uncanny for her and that left them all - Sokka especiall - with different forms of a gapping fish expression. She hugged Zuko quickly before bouncing down the halls ahead of him. He just shook his head again and followed behind quickly, smiling affectionately like a brother would to a younger sister.

Katara's brother and Suki turned back to their newest duel with a dismissing shrug and started. Before long, clashing and clanging metal worked with the perfect acoustics of the room. Sokka was striking faster now and Suki didn't waver. Finally, they were on equal ground as they dueled and Iroh smiled at how it was his nephew that helped. He always knew Zuko was as kind and warm and had as good instincts as he showed to have but still, he seemed to be surprised every week by something large or small.

Katara stood over by Iroh - leaning against the doorway - still wearing a puzzled expression on her face. "_Zuko_ is how she's paying for it?"

Iroh looked over at her. "You didn't know that?" She shook her head_ 'no'. _"Oh yes, yes. When the young girl first started thinking of the idea, my nephew offered to pay if she ever did do it. Of course, I don't think he thought she was going to _seriously _do it! But, well, you know Zuko. It's not like he'd consider turning her away!" Iroh grinned. "That Toph... I dare say she's the lynchpin of your little group. A blunt one, but a lynchpin often is."

He watched for another moment before standing and informing Katara of his plans as he went down the hallway to start a pot of tea. Katara turned back to the couple battling, seeing but yet not seeing. She didn't notice what they were doing, so caught up in her thoughts, until she looked up and saw Suki kiss Soka in a, obviously congratulatory manner for him finally being able to beat her. They were an odd couple.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	5. Steam

**A/N**: This is a purely Zutara chapter - so soak it in. Little angst at the end - possibly; you're the judge of that. Please tell me if they seem overly AU - I can't tell when I'm writing them but it's an incessant worry of mine that my story will seem... not possible... because of their behavior.

And this is, once again, only one segment, so it's much shorter than the past chapters. I was going to pair it with some fluffy moments between the other characters before moving onto the party scenes but this one just felt like it _deserved _it's own chapter (and there have been and will be plenty of fluffy moments as is - especially with the three chapters about the party; yes, three).

Thanks to all that have Story Alert'ed, Favorited and Reviewd this story - it means a lot! :3

Enjoy; and don't forget to review on your way out if you have the time! Thanks for reading.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_When you're happy like a fool_  
><em>Let it take you over;<em>  
><em>When everything is out,<em>  
><em>You gotta take it in.<em>

_Oh, this has gotta be the good life_  
><em>This has gotta be the good life<em>  
><em>This could really be a good life, good life.<em>

_Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight_  
><em>Like this city is on fire tonight,<em>  
><em>This could really be a good life<em>  
><em>A good, good life.<em>

_Hopelessly,_  
><em>I feel like there might be something that I'll miss<em>  
><em>Hopelessly,<em>  
><em>I feel like the window closes oh so quick<em>  
><em>Hopelessly,<em>  
><em>I'm taking a mental picture of you now<em>  
><em>'Cuz hopelessly,<em>  
><em>The hope is we have so much to feel good about.<em>

~ '_Good Life',_ One Republic

* * *

><p><em>Friday, one day before Avatar Aang's in-honor party...<em>

The ground had gotten progressively more soft and loose granules started sticking to her feet. Now she was just puzzled. At first it felt like she was walking near the cliffs - what would be the northern slit of the city because only there was the grass non-existant - but now they were steadily going downhill and the rocks were loosening under her feet. Wherever this was, she hadn't been to it before.

Katara grunted again as her foot knocked over a root while they walked further - just a few more steps so he could really surprise her. Zuko knew why she made the noise - one she'd made many times in the past few minutes. He didn't bother to supress his smile, "Don't get so agitated, we're almost there."

"Look, I don't know what Toph told you but this kind of surprise is not fun for me. I hate blindfolds!"

He laughed, a tingling going down her neck as she felt the gust of air hit her ear from behind. She became only slightly annoyed at him practically laughing at her as she became distracted by the urger to shudder - her neck was a sensitive place, you know. "Just a little further... there." He took off the blindfold at the same moment she squeaked as the water splashed over her feet and tried to grasp up at her ankles.

Looking down, and then all around, Katara gasped. The cliffs that Toph always went to for peace to earthbend - and sometimes metalbend - _did _actually slope down to the sea. When they reached their lowest point they finally became a private beach of sorts, sand all along the small strip as well. Katara looked out at the water with a soft, delighted smile._ It was everywhere_! As far as she could see, it was just glittering from the sun, like a pit of diamonds would.

Zuko started talking a few quick minutes after he realized that she would be speechless for awhile. "I overheard you tell Sokka that you wished you could waterbend in actual water and not use canisters of it - I didn't eavesdrop or anything... not on purpose - and I found this beach but it was private so I bought it and put it under your name. So... now you have a little corner of the world, _here,_ that's yours." He almost tumbled over some of the words and hoped that it didn't sound toonervous.

Truth was, he was terrified she would freak out over him buying her a private beach - mainly because it was in the Fire Nation. While everyone had been living in the palace this past month as a relaxation and efficiency of sorts, Zuko still doubted it when his best friend would occasionally say that living in the Fire Nation wasn't so bad and actually had it's benefits. Call him crazy, but Zuko still remembered how much she vehemently yelled in his face - on more than one occasion - how much she hated the Fire Nation. But it was in the past that she said those things. It was before he had joined them, before they had defeated Ozai, before he had ended the war and before he had become Fire Lord, putting the whole world in a state of begrudging but desired peace.

A giggled escaped Katara's throat as she bended the water in all sorts of shapes. "This is awesome! It's so nice being able to _be in the water _instead of lifting it up and out of something..." she explained softy. Looking over, she said, "Thank you, Zuko." Katara was still a bit stunned that he had actually boughten it and then put it in her name - _but exploring what that means, what with taxes and all, is for later_, she promised herself. Instead, Katara focused on the water - the ultimate element in her eyes.

"Your welcome." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he was unsure of what to do next. Zuko was not expecting a torpedo of water missiles to completely drench him. "What the-!" He smirked wickedly as he looked over and saw her lean her elbows down on her knees, laughing at him. He shot out a streak of fire around the front of her, startling her upward and the steam danced up around her face.

He stopped abruptly when she just stared at him, shocked. "Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't me-" a water whip he didn't see knocked him off his feet before he could respond and he hit the ground with a groan. Looking up, Zuko saw Katara smirked as she waited in a practiced bending stance. "Oh, it's on now."

"Haha, good luck!" She teased.

Starting small and gradually becoming more advanced, quicker and closer, they matched hit for hit, bend for bend. Water whip met blaze, mini tycoon met firewall, fire licked at ice dome, ice shards melted inches from fist. Every hit met and dissolved quickly into steam - the water because of the heat and the fire because Zuko wasn't holding it out.

Katara quickly froze up a wall, bending to slowly freeze the area around Zuko - much like she had with Azula that fateful day. Spotting this, he created a pit of fire all around the frost. It quickly dissipated but killing the fire in the process. She dove under the sea water and lifted herself out of it, surrounded by it, shooting spirals of water at him while he was momentarily distracted by how_ beautiful _her hair looked when floating - in a way - around her face. He quickly fire whipped each one out of the way, later steaming them completely with short shots of blazes.

Shooting off shots simoultaneously, both protected themselves with a wall of ice and fire respectively. Peeking over, they saw what the other had done and extended the walls outward with the same thoughts in mind - the same _exact _thought. When they met, clouds of steam rose to meet the sky in billowing puffs. Pushing the elements harder on each side, they moved closer and closer to each other. Completely unaware of it but instead focusing on trying to outsmart the other.

Katara allowed her arms to go limp when the exhaustion finally caught up with her, the elements' resistance defeating her before her opponent had a chance to. Zuko immediately stopped bending when he saw the remaining water fall down and soak into the golden, sparkling sand. He looked up and realized they were less than two feet away from each other. The wind carried over them but did nothing against the hot sun. Both of them slowly became apparent of the stillness around them and realized it had been well over the initial three minutes that they had stood there, on the beach, in the beginning.

Katara smiled when he looked down from the sky again and she took the opportunity to speak what she'd been meaning to say earlier. "You don't have to keep apologizing, you know. I _did_ forgive you for a reason."

"Sorry." He shrugged but she just laughed softly. Zuko watched her forehead crease as an idea occured to her when she looked around at the hazy air that held the steam not yet fully evaporated.

"Here, put your hand up; I want to see something." He put his hand up obediently but it was still in a fist. "No, open. No, palm up." Katara laughed. "Here, just let me...". Her small, delicate hands shaped his so it the palm faced straight out and the palm and fingers made a flat surface torwards her. "Now bend."

"What?" His brow furrowed, confusion clearly evident.

"You know, firebend. Not like a form or anything just... off your hand." Katara paused and looked in his eyes with her big blue ones, clouded in this instant. "I'm not explaining this right, am I?" Her head tilted.

"I think you mean like this." Fire suddenly flicked in a small area off of his palm, the flames licking up to the tips of his fingers but they didn't burn him.

"Yes! Okay, now watch..."

She put one hand of her own up to his and he tensed, fearing she would burn herself; but she stayed relaxed. With her other hand, she flowed water from the ocean in a steady stream. Guiding it with the same one, she flowed it to long, plate looking wall in front of the hand she held to his.

Stepping closer, Katara watched as it wallow small tendrils of steam up into the sky. "I can't believe it took me this long to think of something so... _amazing_ to see. It's beautiful... the elements_ reacting." _She smiled wider as she looked on.

Zuko smiled too, but he wasn't watching the steam and was instead watching her. Katara's eyes were so bright, her form so relaxed and yet didn't dare move a muscle in case it interrupted the fire and water rhythm. He slowly relaxed, too, at the pure sight of her. The wind swept her hair into her face and she turned her head back to move it, hands unavailable to do so. In truth, she really turned because she sensed eyes on her. Looking up, she saw his golden eyes were wide and open, blatantly staring at her face. Just studying without judgement.

The air felt thick suddenly, more like it was charged with electricity than the steam around them. She studied his face, like he was hers. A smile played at her lips, mirroring his own. Zuko was flushed because of their recent exchange, like she was, too, and Katara marveled at how... different he looked now than when he was flushed with anger - what she had seen during all of their past fights on his quest to capture Aang.

She saw his eyes cloud with... _doubt? _At the same moment, she saw - out of the corner of her eye - his free hand reaching out. Katara took the chance and took a small step forward, his hand bumping her shoulder. At the same moment, her other hand pressed against his. On instinct, she curled her fingers around his, forgetting the fire. The fire in question immediately died and the still flowing water pooled to the ground, making a tinkling noise as it bounced around the sand.

Distracted, they both looked down at the sand and then moved to look at their hands that were now intertwined. Zuko moved back, almost stumbling, and the contact broke. _What in the name of elements just happened there? Between us? _he thought. He shook his head ever so subtly, trying to shake the thoughts away. Katara squinted her eyes, the sun blocking her from being able to look at his face clearly and preventing her from seeing his struggle with regaining composure.

"I, uh, should go check on Iroh. Enjoy bending..." The words tumbled out, cooly, before he turned and swiftly walked away. Katara was so confused on what just happened that she didn't even dwell on how poor an excuse it was that Zuko had told her. Instead, she watched him walk up the slow ascent and thought bemusedly with a frown.

_What was that look that crossed his eyes when I stepped closer? And why _had I _stepped closer? Whatever posessed me is long gone now... like it hadn't actually been_. _But, I controlls myself, so,... why did I suddenly decide to do that?_

Katara turned back to the sea. It didn't matter, the 'moment' or whatever it was was gone by now. Zuko had shown and given her a lovely place to bend out of kindness and friendship and she had already thanked him. There was nothing else between them than friendship and a mutual understanding of each other's pasts that, in a way, meant it was only each other who truly understood. And, they only seemed to be completely comfortable with talking about it to each other.

_But that is all_, Katara vowed to herself. She set her head determindly and started practicing her bending in a way she hadn't been able to in long, long time.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	6. Various Preperations

**A/N: **Don't have much to say here, just got my muse humming along with this. These last four segments will be guided by Aang's party - the next three will be during the party, whereas this one is right before. It took me awhile to get 'used' to the POV's of all the characters so that's why there are so many chapters leading up to Aang's in-honor party. After that, it will go a lot quicker in terms of pacing. Plus, some of this sets up later storylines.

I get a little silly in this chapter with the three girls - it's easy to get carried away by Katara, Toph and Suki conversations. Reading it back, it's more like_ a lot _silly, so, might be slightly AU.

I think this is the longest chapter to date - date being posted; I think I have a longer one ready to be edited somewhere...

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Butterfly; butterfly I see you kiss a flower, _

_my eyes fill and I begin to ponder._

_Butterfly; butterfly your beauty soars, _

_I see the beauty in you and I see the beauty within me._

_Butterfly; butterfly show yourself, _

_I see your colors and I see your shimmer, is there anything else? _

_Butterfly; butterfly what is the matter? _

_can't you give me an answer for the questions I desire? _

_Butterfly; butterfly let me lift you, _

_I peer into your eyes and see that there's a secret inside._

_Butterfly; butterfly let it out, _

_your secret could hold great things, give me the secret to life._

~ Select parts from _'Butterfly', _Ashley Landry

* * *

><p><em>9 am Saturday, ten hours before Avatar Aang's in-honor party...<em>

"Ah, thank you for talking me into this." Toph sighed and leaned back.

"How about a pedicure afterward?"

"No!" Suki and Katara snickered at the rapid response and the memory it reprised.

"I agree with Toph. This is _so_ nice..." Suki relaxed even further as the warm winds passed over her.

A few small, strategically placed windows were in the mud-bath room. That would normally be unsettling but they were all blocked by screens and heavy drapings. Thin walls were placed just right so that the hot breeze could flow into the room without compromising the client's privacy - at least that's what they (the employees of this spa) had said. And Suki knew that the breeze part was, at least, true.

Sighing, she let her mind wander. Going back to an event that had nagged at her mind, she rolled her head over. The women there said not to get mud in her hair but she did anyway. What harm could it do? Suki knew she had been in worse situations before during the many, many years she had been a Kyoshi warrior (more than half her life, even if she was still at a young age) - and many more where she had to wash worse than caked mud out of her hair. "Hey Kat, how did you learn to move those weapons around? That was kick-ass." She grinned in equal parts genuine curiosity and amusement at remembering the duel. Suki had hardly seen any duels in her lifetime as of yet - the Kyoshi way of teaching focusing on one's self training over and over more than actual practicing with others.

The girl in question was unsure of what to say and her minute of silence left Toph with an opportunity to jump in with comments - or rather questions - of her own. "Wait - I missed something here! Did Katara practice? Or fight someone? Who'd she fight? Did she kick his ass? Or was it a girl? Oh, Sokka would have loved that, ha! When was this?"

"Calm down, Toph! You'll give yourself a self-induced asthma attack." Suki laughed.

"Well - come on now! I gotta know. Don't think you can keep things like this from me." She pointed between the two of them and then at her sightless eyes. "I see everything - even when I don't."

The other girl reached over and patted Toph's small shoulder before answering, "Oh trust me, we know you do. Alright, so before you came in yesterday and promptly was told off about your behavior by Kat-"

"Which didn't do anything."

"I'm right here!" Katara objected sternly in her at least once daily attempt to curve some of the younger earthbender's bold and brash behavior - but it often didn't work; like now.

"Shh! You're not contributing to this conversation."

"Err, okay. Moving right along, remember when I told you that Sokka and I were going to duel because he was all excited about the idea of us comparing skill now that he has been named a Master?"

"Ha, yeah I remember." Toph rolled her eyes. "That's why I was out exploring the city. Boring."

Suki continued on to explain - in much more detail than Katara would of liked - about what had happened that day; starting with Iroh and Katara wanting to watch the duel as soon as they heard of slowly felt her anger and indignation rise. The duel was simple - it didn't need all of the over-explaining. She, herself, would have intervened, but she became side-tracked and her mind went numbingly blank when Suki randomly brought up the duel between herself and Zuko. Before she'd had a chance to say that it was just a simple duel and there was nothing more to it than that (and that the only interesting bit about it was that she had improved her hand-to-hand to the point that Zuko was challenged), they'd jumped all over it.

_You'd think they were Appa discovering melons_, Katara thought to herself as Suki lavishly described it (a knack she had started developing from her time with Sokka). She shoved her head in her muddy hands, long past the point of caring after she heard what the conversation had escalated to - it was no longer really about the duel. At least, she told herself she was beyond caring.

"... and if you could of seen! Oh, you would of been able to sense it, I'm sure. It's like his eyes got this... spark of _admiration_ - or would it be fascination?"

"Fascination sounds right." Toph interjected.

"If Sokka had his wits about him - he was preoccupied, you can see - then he would of noticed. I'm sure of it. There was a chemistry there that was so... oh, what's a goo-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Katara growled, startling them both, as she snapped. Her shaky hold on calmness and ignorance to what Suki was alluding to snapped in two like a twig. "_._There were no elements of... of... romance or drama to it! That is an assumption with no basis. And so what if Zuko and I had gotten a little... distracted by each other? It was a duel - wasn't that the point? As soon as your concentration wavers from your opponent then you were as good as dead - we all learned that with the Great War. So, just, shut up about it already!_" _Katara wrapped a towel around herself and stormed out. One of the staffers there raised an eyebrow as she pushed open the door and then looked down. Shrugging at the mess of mud following in the young woman's tracks, she closed the door again.

The two girls left in the large mudbath sat still, staring at the door for several minutes thereafter. When it became apparent that they'd neither get an apology or a - less welcome - raging Katara back, they turned to each other. Gossip came natural under non-stressful situations.

"Romance But I thought it was just a duel..." Toph raised her right eyebrow in the general direction of Suki.

The other young woman smiled slyly along with it, not seeing how what they were saying outloud - and describing - was exactly projecting what they thought as they talked about the duel. "Exactly. Now how off-base am I when she admits something like that out of highly-run emotions?" She finished, whispering conspiratorily. Toph rolled her head back and murmured agreements, wondering about the possibilities. It had been a long time since she had thought back to the play, "The Boy in the Iceberg" performed by the Ember Island Players theatre group. It had been a hilarious, greatly deformed and miscalculation of what happened within their little gang and the trials and tribulations before, during and thereafter.

That wasn't the part that made Toph begin to wonder, however. She thought back to the second intermission. The whole play was completely off, as the others had said - but Toph enjoyed it and thought much of it was based largely in reality. She remembers the scene where the acting Katara flirted, shamelessly, with acting Zuko on the stage. Toph had thought, at the time, it was one of the best scenes because of how creative the acting group had gotten.

But, as she remembered feeling the vibrations coming from where Katara and Zuko sat, side by side - the movements she sensed telling her that they slightly moved apart - Toph frowned slightly. _What if all of the play was based in reality?_

"I like that idea." Toph said outloud, satisfied after exploring it in her mind for a moment. There was no part of her that had any sort of negative feelings towards it.

Suki just looked over at her, her brow furrowing as she opened and shut her mouth a few times in confusion. After a minute, she wasn't even sure she had actually heard Toph say something outloud or if it was in her head. Suki dismissed the event and sunk down into the warm mud.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_It must be somewhere, the original harmony,_

_somewhere in great nature, hidden._

_Is it in the furious infinite,_

_in distant stars' orbits,_

_is it in the sun's scorn,_

_in a tiny flower, in treegossip,_

_in heartmusic's mothersong_

_or in tears?_

_It must be somewhere, immortality,_

_somewhere the original harmony must be found:_

_how else could it infuse_

_the human soul,_

_that music?_

~ _'Music', _by Juhan Liiv, translated from the Estonian by H.L. Hix & JÜRI TALVET

* * *

><p><em>11 am, eight hours before Avatar Aang's in-honor party...<em>

The day was especially hot compared to normal Fire Nation temperatures and no amount of fans or lack of windows could keep the sweat from rolling down. Zuko wiped at his brow.

"You must stay still. This man can not fix the hem if you keep fussing, nephew." Zuko ground his teeth but stayed silent - it was no use snapping at his Uncle Iroh, as much as he would like to; and it surely wasn't justified.

The combination of heat and no rain cloud in sight, the obligation he has to his friends to stand around for hours - uh, he hated to say it, let alone do it - _mingling_ and then the peace relations he and Aang had worked desperately for were teetering on the edge, if the message he'd received today from Earth King Kuei and then one of his own Fire Nation provinces had been of any indication. He knew that after this party, Katara, Sokka and Suki would leave to visit their homelands, Aang would leave for his two week monk duties - something about flourishing in the peace, the young Avatar had said - and then he, himself, was to leave to meet the leaders from all the nations in a remote town outside of Ba Sing Se.

Aang's lone visit to the air temples was important, he knew even if he didn't fully understand _why_. And the Avatar would come and join him at the meetings after he was done there. Zuko had made his decision immediately regarding the earthern provinces hit by a deadly drought and knew that he wouldn't tell. It just didn't concern Aang. While the news had an affect on all the nations, it is as implies - only a problem for the nations. The Avatar's job is to be a mediator and patrol for all nations.

While the Avatar boy was the last airbender, he was also the Avatar, so he was _not_ the Air Nation leader - he couldn't contribute valuable resources to the crisis. If Aang did know, he would cancel what he was doing and jump on board Appa, ready to sail around to that corner of the world and 'save' it. The drought couldn't be saved by one person - not even an Avatar; it took the pooling of resources of all the nations to help it be thwarted as soon as possible. So Zuko clamped his mouth shut and tried not to grind down his teeth.

"Zuko - you can go change now." Iroh snapped his fingers in front of his nephew's face, trying to get his attention.

"Right." He left the room and Iroh payed and thanked the sewer generously for the few adjustments he made. He quickly went down the halls afterwards in hopes of catching up to his nephew. He didn't but instead waited outside of the replica door._ Who would think, if they came to this door, that it was the Fire Lord's? It's exactly as all the others; not better or worse_, Iroh thought with a smile of pride. His nephew had just the principles and ideas that he had thought the younger man to have.

"Something amusing, Uncle?" Zuko asked as he walked out of his room and continued down the hall.

"Ah- no, no, I was just thinking of how proud I am of you. Have I told you that lately?" He fell into step with the young man.

"I believe you probably have."

"You don't have to say it as though that is a bad thing."

Zuko didn't correct his uncle on why his voice lacked emotion; not that surprised his Uncle as all he had said in response was a teasing remark - he was used to when his nephew was in a momentary 'mood'. As Zuko's thoughts drifted back to what he'd been thinking earlier, he debated telling his Uncle about them. Asking is more like what would happen. Iroh is very knowledgable, he would know quite a bit about this - _right_? Although Zuko knew it wasn't much of his place to ask or really know about something this... _personal_, he was still curious._ If my past says anything, it is that curiosity will never stop, but rather lead me and everyone else,_Zuko thought. He cleared his throat, "Uncle... I was thinking about that situation that arised this morning; remember?"

"How can I forget? Troubling times these are - it will take a long time for people to fully have their wits about them and things like these will only derail recovery further. Mother Nature can be very cruel - we should all pray to the Spirits."

"Yes. But, I wasn't much thinking about that - it will be adressed between me and the other world leaders in a few weeks time. What I was thinking about... There is no Air Nation leader." He glanced over.

Iroh's eyes went melancholy for a moment. "Yes, I do believe there's not. There hasn't been for awhile and likely may never be again. Why are you asking this, Zuko?"

"Aang is the Avatar. It is explicitely said throughout history that an Avatar cannot represent his original country but rather... _nurtur_e, along with the rest."

"I do remember that." Iroh listened intently to what his nephew was trying to say.

"There are people... in this world... without any bending abilities... Would Aang be able to marry? To try and create an heir and later... generations... of air benders?"

The old man scrubbed his chin and thought back to all the lessons he had learned and all the books he'd read over the years on such a subject, including the extensive teachings he had received as a child when he was groomed for Fird Lord succession. "Yes... yes I believe that such a thing is allowed under dire circumstances. But that clause was added after the fact - never did anyone before dream of such a thing being used, let along needed! So, it's doubtful that many remember it. But... these are dire times... Why do you want to know this, Zuko?"

"I...I don't know... Couldn't let go of that thought."

Iroh examined his newphew's face for several long moments before nodding along. He understood what Zuko was getting at. "If you're thinking of this, some of the other leaders must or will in no time, I'm sure."

Zuko sighed, his thoughts voiced by his Uncle. "No doubt."

"Do you think Aang has thought about it?"

Zuko stopped and looked down the halls before turning to answer. "He's a care-free, innocent and curious boy. But if the past few years have taught me anything, it is that he is capable of deep thought and subsequent actions. I would be surprised if he hadn't thought of it... Uh, this feels like such a breach of privacy even talking about it."

Iroh let out a short laugh. "Hah, well, it very well may be but the Avatar was never really known to have privacy, were they?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Listen, don't speak of it to the boy. Let him complete his journey to becoming a monk at the air temples - that's what he's doing, going into solitude for a week. Then, when he comes to you to join the meetings, you can talk about it with him. The subject of the future of the Air Nation - now that the world is in peace - will be brought up at least once in passing. It would be good for you two to talk about it beforehand."

"Who says I have to tal-" Zuko protested but was quickly silenced by both a stern look and voice from his Uncle.

"Shush. Of course you have to talk to him about it - this is the first meeting between the nation leaders. You think they're not going to talk about something like this amongst themselves? Of course they will! After you get the situation in the Gaih-Fo Valley resolved with all of the other leaders, I want you to talk to him about it in length. I certainly cannot and for him to be blindsided by it by the other leaders at one of the last meetings..."

"But he likely already has thought of it." The young man pointed out with some hope. Iroh nodded in concession.

"Technicalites and pre-cautions. We live by them." He sighed, tiredness falling onto his shoulders as they continued walking down the hall once more. "Now come on, I want to check out the gallery Toph is using for this party and I'm sure you do to. It is your money."

Iroh led his still pensive newphew down the hallway. It was his nephew's last chance to relax before being stuck in a one-block radius during this next month of meetings and Iroh was trying desperately to get him to realize that. Unfortunately, Zuko looked as if he was going to do just the opposite at this party.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand. _

~ Chinese Proverb

* * *

><p><em>3 pm Saturday, four hours before Avatar Aang's in-honor party...<em>

"Ugh, do I have to come out?"

"Yes!" They both said in unision. Suki clasped her hands together and rocked her weight back and forth between her heels and the pads of her feet as she stood anxiously.

"Fine! But you won't like it; I mean it!"

"Psh." Katara whispered the sound bubbly over to her companion. The two girls watched as Toph shyly walked out of the dressing room, her face twisted in a scowl. The only saving grace that got her out of the stall was that they didn't make her wear any makeup - they would force her into that when the party came about. The problem that they were having with her - the dresses. This second dress they were allowed to see - of the dozens they'd given her to try on - was dewy green with bright yellow and light - reminscent of spring, almost - green edging the laced layers along the puffy cuffs and hemlines.

"I hate it."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Suki swiveled Toph over to the mirror to see from a reflective perspective.

"It's too... heavy." Toph frowned and picked it up in front of her, showing them how fast it fell. Suki picked it up and prompted Katara to do the same.

"Okay, so it's heavy." Suki sighed, watching how stubborn the girl was about not wearing this. "Alright, go try and find another dress."

Toph pushed quickly into the dressing room and shut the door with a loud bang behind her. She was always embarrassed at having to dress up, having grown comfortable with her casually - and arguably at times peasantly - dressed self as she had raised herself to be the past four or so years. "I still don't understand why I can't wear what I wanted originally!"

The other two laughed as Suki finally went into her own dressing room, deciding to choose from her dresses now since Toph was taking so long to change - let alone decide on a dress. "Me and Kat will not let you walk around in pants at such a formal event! You know this; you planned the party, for heaven's sake."

"But you know how much I hate girly crap like this! Purposely putting yourself in a dress or skirted outfit because it's supposed to be 'pretty' is so stupid!" She grumbled out.

"Yeah, yeah, well it's your event so you can suck it up."

"It's not mine, it's Aang's." Toph walked out quickly in another outfit. "Alright, what about this one? I think it's... not bad. The cut's nice."

Katara straightened it in different places and stood back to look at in the mirror. Suki pulled her body up from the door jam and leaned her elbows over the door, looking down across the room. "Oh, you look completely adorable!"

"Doesn't she though?" Katara smiled affectionately.

The dress was dewy green - like most of the others they'd picked out for her - but this time it went only to her knees, making it much easier to navigate in; likely almost a hundred percent the reason why she said she liked 'the cut'. The sleaves went down 3 quarters making it formal-esque but not quite unless accessorized. What really dressed it up was the folds in the dress as they floated down - they were randomly studded with fake pearls. No one would risk putting real ones where they could easily get knocked off the second, third time worn. The edges were trimmed in a warm brown and so was the under-layer that peeked out at the top underneath the _very _modest neck cut - perfect because of her age - and the very bottom of the skirt.

"This is the one I hate the least so I'll just get this." Toph turned to go change back into her normal clothes. Suki quickly came out to replace her. She twirled a few times as she made her entrace, a smile matching her movements. She was the one most excited about shopping for the formal dresses. Back at Kyoto Island and during the war, there was never many balls, parties or formal events at all - even weddings were generally viewed as casual events. This was due almost evenly because of the Great War raging around them and the fact that the population on the island was largely middle class, no where near rich, high society families that could afford to open up their house to parties; let alone have a house with enough room for them.

"I found this one on the rack and I love it - what do you two think?"

The other two shook their heads in amazement, Toph after she exited the dressing room. Toph, while she couldn't see the dress, heard her friend's tone and knew it was a keeper. None of the other two noticed, however, how Toph changed quickly into her own clothes and yet somehow had to take forever with the others. "I still don't understand how you are able to get the perfect thing at first try - this happens whenever we go out!" Suki just giggled at Toph's disbelief.

"Well, what does it look like?" The blind earthbender asked patiently. She was used to this from long before - she had grown up blind. Often, she would snap at people when they wouldn't immediately poitn out things that would help her understand. The way her friends were, though, told her they really were her friends - they knew and respected her disability and never wavered from helping her stay current with whatever was going on around them or what they learned from seeing something.

Katara kept the excited teen from explaining, because, after a few tries, it was obvious Suki couldn't properly explain it without getting all excited and stuttering about. Katara told Toph with extra detail all about the dress and Suki went to change out of it.

The dress was very reminiscent of her old Kyoshi colors, along with her hometowns'. Suki had actually asked the shop manager if they had any of those color combinations. Surprisingly, they had quite a supply of them. But, that could also be because they were the biggest and most referred-to dress shop in the Fire Nation capitol - also probably why the housekeeper had referred them to it before they left that morning.

The cut had cuffed arms but they were almost transparent in many places, flowing far away below the arms whenever movement happened. The cut was A-line and went down to almost an inch above her ankles. The strange length didn't bother Suki though, and she fell in love with the patterened white lace that ran down the sides, much of the signs matching ones she'd known since she was a baby - it was obviously made by someone in the area she was from. _That also explained the colors_, she thought with a smile.

Suki had changed by the time they were finished. Both of the older girls made sure Toph had grabbed her own dress before weaving their way through the racks and racks of clothing, cloth and assorted accessories. The others walked to the front counter as Katara stood off to the side, both seeming lost in thought - Suki in anticipating Sokka's reaction and Toph in wondering how the preperations were being followed - that they didn't notice Katara's absence.

"Just two?" The short, blonde haired, middle-aged woman asked politely with a gracious smile as she took the dresses and placed them carefully on the sales counter.

Toph turned, puzzled. "Wait - who doesn't have a dress? I have one - I thought you had one Suki?"

"I do - Katara, why don't you have a dress in your hands?"

She shrugged, "I think I'm just going to wear one of my old dresses..."

"Nope!" Suki immediatly cut her off and turned back to the woman who was watching them with open, poorly disguised curiosity. "I'm sorry, do you have anything that's blue - well, it would resemble the South Pole."

"I don't think we have anything specific for the South Pole, but we have plenty of blue accented dresses and some specific for the North Pole."

"What color schemes do the ones from the North Pole look like?"

"They are usually quite white with blue accents." She answered readily.

"Perfect! Can you show us to the ones that look the opposite, please."

"Right over there." The blone pointed near the back left corner, tucked away behind the changing rooms. "Just left from the back-room. Here, I'll hold these dresses up here for you two."

They thanked her and, each with a hold on the young waterbender, strode quickly back to the section. Toph practically threw Katara into a dressing room as Suki hurried over with dresses picked haphazardly off the racks, throwing them over the flimsy not-quite-walls. "Now you are going to try those on and we'll be right out here!" She said cheerily and joined Toph on the cushioned bench. Katara paraded around in many dresses, almost a dozen, if one were to keep track, but none seemed to_ fit_. Finally, she yelled out that she thought she'd found the one she loved; or at least could find tolerable.

"Okay, I'm coming out!"

Suki gasped and Toph slapped her arm lightly, a silent sign to be told what it looked like. When she finally recovered, she did just that. Katara instead looked at the mirror and smoothed the dress, studying it and imagining how she would like wear her hair.

She had never really loved clothes - when you bundle up so much where she's from, you're not likely to. However, she _loved _this one. The main pattern was wispy, the blue floating in and out in faint, spiralling patterns to a periwinkle blue - reminding her of the color of her mother's necklace; Katara reached up and fingered the stone with a soft, slightly rueful smile.

The dress fell all the way to the ground and bunched like satin would. It fell loose on her whole body, too. The sleeves cut off halfway over her shoulder, making her feel rather naked on her arms. It was tied around the waist, adding form to the design, in the color of silver. It wasn't in a bow or any real shape; rather, it fell and floated down and around like the dress it was paired with. Katara turned around fully to the mirror and Suki gasped again when she saw the open back. Her own dress had a dip back but nothing like... _that! _It went down to the middle of her spine, at least.

"Is it... too daring?" Katara asked, uncomfortable with her friend's reaction. Truth be told, she had become so used to the air of the Fire Nation that it felt nice to wear this; something she previously wouldn't have even considered.

"From what Suki has told me, I think it's right up your alley, sweet cakes." Toph grinned. It was time her humble friend finally did something exotic! And - she'd _never admit it outloud _- her biggest investment in this was hearing and sensing Zuko's reaction. It would be so funny listening to him sputter. Okay... so she and Suki _had_ gossiped incessently about it after Katara left the mud room at the spa.

"I don't know..." Katara bit her lip, suddenly doubting her decision. She really wanted to get it, though.

"No! Don't do that, it's perfect for you! If you pick anything else now, I'm giong to hit you." Both of the girls squared their shoulders and Toph nodded right along with what the other girl had said.

"Oh - alright!" Katara grinned impishly and hurried back over to change.

They quickly paid for the dresses - an expense that Toph had told Zuko was 'preperation fees' when she received the few thousand more coins from him the day prior. _What? It was... kind of... sort of... oh whatever. He'll eat his heart out anyway_, she smiled at her inner monologue and subsequent comment.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts._

~Unknown

* * *

><p><em>4 pm, one hour before Avatar Aang's in-honor party...<em>

Aang flew down the halls. That could almost be a literal statement because of his use of airbending and speed. Sokka huffed after him, silently cursing not practicing his endurance daily. It had been a problem all during their time with the Avatar - flying on Appa twenty hours a day didn't really encourage a routine schedule of exercise. The boy ahead of him didn't seem to understand that.

Finally, after following him for ten minutes, Sokka saw with relief that Aang had stopped. He continued to follow him into a rather large room. A man, probably Iroh's age, was bustling inside a bin of fabric and looked up when he heard them come in. His name was Pizou and he had made himself home in one of the empty offices at the palace. Iroh had brought him in - saying they were old friends - to make all the men's outfits for the party.

Sokka had originally sulked because he hadn't been able to go shopping (mainly due to the fact that he wanted to study the people; it was a hobby of his at times) but he soon forgot it - he got to have his outfit designed to every specific adjustment that he wanted! That was way better than pushing around racks of clothes, with the occasional kabob that he was shoving into his mouth.

"Come, come. You are first, Avatar." Aang walked obiedently onto the small step in front of a ceiling tall mirror. The older man took the outfit he'd made and draped it over Aang's shoulders, making note of a few minor hems needed. He then shooed Aang into a dressing room set up in the corner and beckoned Sokka over. The same ritual repeated and when Sokka went to change, Aang came out and Pizou started hemming one of the cuffs and the ones on the bottom, which were slightly longer than intended. The man mumbled as he worked, saying who-knows-what to himself in small rhymes. Aang slanted his head in a show of curiosity at first but easily warmed up to it; his friendly nature soon couldn't resist wanting to make conversation.

"Alright, you are good. Now don't change - it's close enough to the time." Pizou said as he ushered Aang off the step and Sokka onto it.

"So, Pizau-"

"it's Pizou - pronounced Pih-zoo."

"Right." Aang nodded and flushed slightly. "Have you always done this?"

"Yes I have." He bent down to roll up and quickly sew one of the cuffs on Sokka's pants.

"How does someone decide to do something like this? There are way cooler jobs out there!"

Pizou chucked and straightened, studying Sokka's hemlines as he responded. "Well, when one's family has a long line of sewers it becomes you."

"That's cool..." Aang's thoughts drifted back to his own family. He didn't remember them, his own memories starting just a few years before he was frozen in the accident. Whatever destiny he might have had if he was raised by them would be forever unknown - if there was ever a destiny possible once he was discovered to be the Avatar. But the monks had been like his own family... and they were gone. He shook his head imperceptively. He was going to the temples soon. He'd hopefully have a chance to visit their spirits, even if he couldn't see them.

The man, meanwhile, had turned to Sokka and given him instructions to try and not fall because it would rip the delicate stitching. He nodded along and then they quickly shuffled out and headed in the direction of the gallery to wait for the others.

"How am I going to fall? Does he think I'm stupid or something?" Sokka frowned, his mood having been low all day.

Aang just laughed and patted him friend on the arm. "I don't think so - he probably has to say that to all his customers when he does it."

"Hmph." He brightened and straightened up. "I hope Suki is ready by now."

"Please don't act like this all night or else this is going to be boring."

"Act like what?"

"Oh nothing." Aang sighed in resignment and glanced over at where Sokka was walking next to his side. Sokka's face had lit up and he started talking about Suki; telling some story Aang was sure he must have heard a dozen times before. It was going to be a long night.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2**: Thanks for reading and, if you have a spare moment, please drop a line to tell me what you think about it.


	7. High Society Fun

**A/N:** In this Avatar World, the age restriction on drinking achohol applies too - and in my opinion, if anyone's going to complain about it then it'll be Toph. I also created a character called Ishi who is a fellow member of the Kyoshi warriors - my recollection doesn't supply squat on what their names were and Avatar Wiki doesn't have that either. So, sorry, you'll just have to roll with this one.

A reviewer, **deathany**, mentioned how Suki is girly, therefore a bit OOC. I just wanted to mention that here, for any and all other readers, that the first ten (14) chapters were written well over two months ago so, looking back, I saw that too. I'm trying to filter it as best I can but some scenes are... necessary, and need minimal editing. But, for any wondering, I think I change that much better starting around chapter 13 or so.

Also, on that note, I'm amusing myself at how much I am editing and adding to the chapters. They were so bleak and straight-laced before with no emotion (yikes). So glad I did the NaNoWriMo writing challenge in November or this story would be... short.

Alright, I'm done. I'll try to keep the Author's Notes shorter in the future._ No promises_. ;)

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own it. Next question, please.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. _

Dorothy Parker

* * *

><p>Toph mosied away from the open kitchen after checking on the staff once again. She had hurried to get ready and ended up arriving before the others. It was her intention to do so from the beginning. Aang trusted her with this party and Zuko trusted her with his purse-strings. Toph wasn't going to take either lightly.<p>

She had heard Aang arrive just thirty minutes ago and was glad - more people had arrived earlier than she'd originally thought and Toph was afraid for a minute that she'd loose him in the crowd; especially since they weren't seated at the same table. As long as he was here, though, it was all good. Save, unless someone acted like an ass. Or worse.

Toph let out a breath when she sat down at her table again. Instead of allowing herself to ponder thoughts and ideas like usual, she took a moment to listen to other peoples' conversations. Most of the people invited they (or one of them) had met once or twice, actually known or were friends of friends - many however were only invited because they invoked status among the communities and would provide both Zuko and Aang with the chance to impress wordly leaders to military officials. Toph could realize as much that that was - _is_ - important.

She listened intently to one couple's conversation just behind her.

_"...wonderful setup. I wonder when they built this building though - it's perfect for such an occasion."_

_"But didn't they always have this?" The woman's voice took on a whine. She was confused._

Toph knew the answer - she learned from the grounds keepers in a lengthy conversation several days earlier. The building was long and curved on all the edges, providing no chance to look blunt and awkardly like a box. One area, the place she'd just come from, had all the cabinets and counters and tables installed permanently for a dinner party of any - and yet every - kind. It was seperated from the rest of the half-room by a thin wall that stopped two feet from the high ceilings.

This was where the dining tables were placed, draped in arrays of gold and red hues, yellow and green hues, purple and blue hues and, finally, white and orange hues. It was a choice that Toph had been sure to make with the help of someone who could actually see - of course she made sure one of her friends, Sokka in this case, could verify it. The color blends, swirling from the edges of the cloth to the middle where they made a ying-yang shape to balance with all the nations' symbols, were to specifically portray all the nations. And the harmonic balance each held with their power.

The room stretched out at the other end with a very large and tall archway holding curtains that were currently pulled and tied aside. On this other side, another set of entrance doors mirrored and a large dance floor was set up parrallel to an expansive bar in the western corner.

The only thing that stunk was that she couldn't have a drink. _Not one! Zuko was being way too strict on that_, Toph sulked.

Purposely heavy footsteps trudged over to the table. Tophed hoped - _knew _- that he at least kept his form straight and respectable. "When is dinner supposed to be, again?" Aang asked.

"Seven thirty." She replied calmly, knowing he was going to complain.

"Ugh! Who planned that - it's still an hour away." He pouted, crossing his arms before sitting in a chair near her. He caught himself and sat up straighter, not wanting to loose composure in a room full of people he was here to impress._ I was right about the complaining_, she thought before opening her mouth to speak.

"I did -_ plan it_."

"Oh... sorry." He blushed and twisted his thumbs under the tablecloth as he studied the faces in the crowd. He was running them all through his head, getting their names memorized with the faces. He had met them all at least once already by no socializing was done.

Toph hadn't said it, but, when everyone went off to mingle, she was a bit unsure of what to do. Short of checking on the staff every five minutes - which would only annoy them and increase the possibility of her finding a hair in her food - she couldn't navigate the crowds and could only feel her way back to her and Iroh's table. There were too many bodies, too much commotion in such an unfamiliar place that Toph, for once, felt lost. Now that Aang was here, she jumped at her opportunity.

Toph stood up and walked over to Aang, yanking him up from the table by the arm. It didn't draw attention as she immediately curved her arm through his, linking elbows. Or maybe it was because everyone was involved with mingling to announce their status around. "Come on. Let's mingle." She smiled over at him sweetly.

He stared back awkwardly, his mouth suddenly dry. Not great when you're being led to talk to people. Aang just swallowed and managed to match his steps with Toph's short ones. She, meanwhile, noticed how clammy his skin felt. She laughed on the inside, rolling her eyes briefly on the outside. No one noticed - this time because here eyes were so light colored already; the iris blending in with the surrounding white.

All she wanted to do was chat and get to know people and have high society style fun; _he could just relax_.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_For once in my life, I don't have to try to be happy. When I'm with you, it just happens._

~ Unknown

* * *

><p>Suki slid her hand into his and straightened back up after being spun. "Where did you learn such great moves, young gentleman?" She asked, complimenting. Suki was feeling happy and free; much like she had the past two weeks as the world was blocked from view. For once she didn't have to do anything, be anywhere or worry about a situation. She couldrelax without fear of the next hurl around the corner.<p>

Sokka smiled lovingly across the few inches at his girlfriend. He normally didn't like it when people teased him - always taking it as an insult - but with Suki, it was different. He teased back, with a horrible accent of who-knows-what - "Why my rich upbringing should of told you that, sweet warrior."

"Oh, so now I'm the sweet warrior, huh?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, still swaying to the soft music.

"Yes. In more ways than one." They met halfway in an equally-as-sweet-as-his-compliment kiss. It was interrupted a few moments later.

"Oh my God, is that you, Suki? I was hoping I would run into you!" Suki turned around and spotted a long-time friend of hers, Ishi. They hugged, hard and long, before finally letting go. Matching excited and surprised expressions flanked each face.

Ishi had been one of Suki's first friends when she joined the Kyoshi warriors and they had maintained that relationship all throughout. It had been strained a little when Suki joined the Avatar gang once again but that, too, only lasted a little while before peace descended upon the world once again. It had strained because of the lack of communication and the sudden life-changing decision Suki had made - without any notice.

But, Suki remembered how much it had strained before. When she was prisoner in a Fire Nation camp. Nothing between them oculd hever be as worse as that.

Now, because she was staying in the same place for more than a day -_ a civilized place _at that - they stayed in regular contact. _It is nice to not be cut off from friends anymore_, Suki thought. "I'm so glad you were able to come! I have missed you gals." She felt Sokka's arms wrap around her waist as she leaned back into him, speaking animately to her friend.

Ishi's grin held, stronger than ever. "I know. But it is surprisingly peaceful back home. There's always worry about the tensions between the nations... For now, the towns are doing with just the typical crimes - more or less. And the island is almost fully rebuilt - again, more or less." She shrugged and her gaze flicked to the arms around Suki's waist and then up to Sokka for the first time before doing a double take. "Sokka? Oh my God, forgive me, I didn't even notice you! You two... It's nice to see you again." She stopped herself and simply stated.

Sokka smiled, and shrugged. "It's okay. I'm honestly hoping to avoid being recognized or sought after by anyone tonight." They all shared a laugh. They all felt the same way about talking to any non-friends at such a large gathering. "It is nice to see you again, too."

"How is your mother?" Suki asked.

Ishi happily clapped her hands. "She's doing wonderful! Full recovery, if you can believe it. Gioy, my brother," she added for Sokka, "actually got some vacation time from the military so he's been helping me take care of her. I told her to not overdue herself and hire some help at the farm but I don't think se will listen. Even now. "Ishi rolled her eyes _- a vast improvement over how she'd been in tears when it happened_, Suki remembered clearly. "When I got this invitation, I had to come so that worked out better than I expected. Perfect timing down to the day - Gioy came back twenty hours before I had to get on the train."

"I'm glad you did come." They clasped hands in friendly understanding.

"And I'm very happy to see you two doing well. Let's go look around this place, Suki. I've got a lot of things I want to talk to you about - _girl things_. I'm sure it'll just bore you, Sokka."

He held up his hands. "Yes, it would! Thanks." He laughed and kissed Suki's cheek. "I'm going to go try and find Iroh. I think he said he wanted to introduce me to some people."

Ishi took the other young woman by the arm and they wandered through the relaxed flow of people, catching up on everything from fighting for the lives of others and having boy crushes - or something more, as in Suki's case. "It has been so long! How did I survive back home without you?"

"How is everyone doing? The town? When I was captured, I didn't get to stick around in town long enough to even see the fires put out. Were there many... losses?"

Ishi's eyes took on a somber mood; a look Suki was much more used to from the past. They were great friends and had shared both their good and bad moments, memories. Most of them were bad because of the War. Because of the conflict they were born into. "The town is recovering well. Some of the families had to move away because of the destruction. We stopped counting the number of people that went to take refuge in Ba Sing Se after it hit one hundred."

"Oh... wow. I wish I could of been there. I wish there was something I could do... if I had known."

"Don't regret. It's not good for the soul." They shared a smile as they remembered one of their old Kyoshi teacher's common saying. "There was nothing we could do. Not even us; the ones that were, luckily, left behind. The community is better, though. Morale is up. Most of the crops and lush has been replaced or is growing back with heavy encouragement.

"I wish there was something I could do, too. We have all done as much as we can and are living on. Time... it is the most valuable commodity." Ishi shared an understanding look with her old friend.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The trumpet's voice, loud and authoritative,_  
><em>Draws me a moment to the lighted glass<em>  
><em>To watch the dancers - all under twenty-five -<em>  
><em>Solemnly on the beat of happiness.<em>**  
><strong>

1st stanza '_Reasons for Attendance_', Phillip Larkin

* * *

><p>Zuko excused himself from a conversation between two of the highest generals in the Earth and Fire nations. He'd originally been listening respectively as they compared war stories but now they were becoming competitive. And he wanted no part of it.<p>

Besides, he just spent ten minutes or so listening to them. As Zuko thought, no one much cared that he left, only continuing with their conversation -_ the term debate matches it better_, he thought - after they bowed in goodbye.

Zuko walked through the arch and over to the bar, quickly getting another drink. It often annoyed him how some people gave him preferred treatment because he was Fire Lord. This was another one of those times. He took his quickly served drink without a backwards glance and walked over to where his golden eyes were tightly fixed. It was uncanny how, whenever he his thoughts swayed in their direction, his eyes could find her. Zuko preferred not to think too deeply into it.

Stopping right next to Katara, he startled her when he started talking. "If you want to dance with someone, all you have to do is _ask_ someone."

She sent him a sideways glance. "Actually, I was admiring them more than that. This style of dance is... still new to me." Katara turned and faced him. "So what have you been doing this evening, _great Fire Lord Zuko_?" Her lips cracked into a taunting smirk when she saw him frown at the title.

Zuko let the joke pass, having heard it genuinely all night. And from people he didn't care to talk to. "I've been subjected to war stories and conversations with people who just want to butter me up so they can ask me for something. It has been horrible; and annoying." His face lightly twisted in disgust.

Katara couldn't stop the giggle from escaping but tried but covering her hand over her mouth. "You mean what you hate the most is false friendships and military officials boasting about their glory days? Oh, now that's hilarious! You should get used to it; you will have to deal with it from here on out."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Well what do you hate the most? You have to fess up to it now, Katara. You just ridiculed me; I let you, too."

She rubbed her hand over her collarbone, fingering her mother's necklace. "Hmm... I don't know. At one point it was the Fire Nation and my mother's killer. And then it was you." He frowned. She was too focused on a picture hanging across the room to notice. "Then it was Ozai and Azula... I don't know. I guess those two still, in a way... but... I just don't have anything to hate. I couldn't have imagined that just a few years ago." Katara shrugged it off.

"Me neither... I didn't imagine having true friends _just a few years ago_." She smiled at him in understanding and Zuko's eyes locked with her big, bright blues. He considered complimenting her as he had thought of doing when he arrived and saw her - but he hesitated. How would she react when_ he _said it?

Before Zuko could become further lost in his conflicted thoughts, the band stopped playing and a man he didn't recognize stood in front on the stage. The gentleman asked everyone to take their seats for dinner and ushered them through to the other room. Eye contact broken, they walked together but not_ really _together back to their table. Aang was already there, just now sitting after helping Bumi into his own seat.

"What are you two talking about?" Katara enquired, hoping her voice sounded up-beat. Truthfully, she was disappointed - it felt like as if there was something she_ missed _back there. She squealched that thought - the moment passed to say anything else about it.

"Bumi is thinking about leading the build for the new monorails and walls in Ba Sing Se. Some of them need re-built because of the invasion and take-over. Plus, they need some new ones." Aang said, pain flashing briefly in his eyes at the reference to the temporary fall of the great earthern city. His tone stayed neutral, however, and showed how perfect for the Avatar position he really was as he managed to stay distant from a very personal experience attached to why the monorails needed re-built.

"The great city is ever expanding! You all must come and see it some time." Bumi chuckled, making his lazy eye quite prominent as he unfolded a napkin.

"We would love to. Sokka and I are leaving to visit home soon; maybe we will visit on the way. If not, all of us are meeting there in a month's time." Katara smiled.

She looked over at Zuko who had gone quiet at the mention of Ba Sing Se's lasting destruction from earlier in the year. "Where are the nation meetings being held again, Zuko? I'm sure you could stop on the way." She asked in an effort to draw him back into the conversation.

"Yes, they're being held in the Earth Kingdom - a few miles from Ba Sing Se though. Security reasons." Zuko explained vaguely.

They all nodded and Bumi launched into a great re-telling of what he'd been up to since the revolution of Ba Sing Se. The first course - a soup dish - was served. The warm and tasteful distraction was welcomed by Katara as the stories of government, destruction, rebuilding, lost people and such else was making her feel uneasy. Quite frankly, a bit nauseous as well. Their failure that day would always be there, lingering in her memory. It was a memory of true despair; the one complete moment she had thought there was no coming back. No defeating relief.

Katara looked over at Zuko several times later but the silence he had earlier quickly dissipated when he and Aang started telling Bumi of their efforts for peace and mutual agreements between the nations and people so far, along with upcoming events for that much. She just shook her head at the conversation similar to ones she heard every day and sipped more of her cream soup.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_When we let the moments of stillness bleed into us,_  
><em>they are there forever,<em>  
><em>to recall, even if ephemerally. <em>  
><em>It is being in the moment,<em>  
><em>Able to truly appreciate the silence of the water, the wood,<em>  
><em>the colors of the sky on a fading autumn day,<em>  
><em>the movement of a branch covered in snow,<em>  
><em>or even a spider's web<em>  
><em>with a drop of dew on it<em>  
><em>swinging in an early summer breeze. <em>

~ 1st stanza 'Memories_ in the Stillness'_, Raymond A. Foss

* * *

><p>"...and that's why we had originally decided to invade the town. One can never be too careful!" Lieutenant Akemi of the 2nd Northern Brigade of the Fire Nation Army boasted proudly.<p>

"I heard about this when I was traveling - didn't your original assessment end up being falsely reported by some drunk citizen in a bar? Why were your people even looking for information in a_ bar_?" Toph asked innocently, projecting a look of all saccharine sweetness.

By the sound of the glass suddenly clanking off of his plate and his sputtering, she held in a satisfactory smirk. She couldn't wait to laugh about this with Iroh later - and she couldn't wait until he was back from wherever he went off to. Toph focused back on the conversation.

"...well, uh... Miss Fong was it?" _He was grasping at straws - metaphorically_.

"Miss Bei Fong, actually. If you lived in the Earth Kingdom you would recognize the name." She said confidently.

"Yes, well, that's a different matter. But at the time we didn't know the intelligence was bad. In such a state as we were in - we couldn't wait the weeks it would have taken to verify it. From the threats we'd received from the town of Haman, we couldn't wait longer to act-"

"Couldn't is a debatable term - but go on."

"Uh...well, what I was trying to explain to you, girl, is that the decision was quite right at the time."

Two staff members came and cleared the soup dishes and immediately replaced them with the next dish - an almond salad. Every person diligently picked up their fork.

Toph nodded at the answer - ignoring the _girl_ remark - and thought a moment before continuing with, "And have any of you done a follow-up on Haman and it's people? After-the-fact reports on morale, behavior and opinions are very important." Toph knew that military officials hardly ever cared about such things, coming and doing their job and then leaving.

Still, she liked catching them by surprise. She could only imagine their expressions to her question but unfortunately, she couldn't judge by their answers. Iroh sat back down in his seat and interrupted the two-man conversation.

"Sorry about leaving for a moment there, lady and gentlemen. Just some business to take care of." He smiled reasurringly and made a mental note to ask the dear lady next to him about why the two men seemed so uncomfortable. But it was probably just because of who Toph was - _she had that effect on many, it seemed_, he wryly observed once more.

"Of course we understand." Major Udit, who was smartly quiet during Toph and Lieutenant Akemi's exchange, immediately assured. "Now, I seem to recall you going to resume telling us of your greatest battle - as you described it."

"Greatest battle! I've had many of those but this one was my greatest _on our soil_. The time was during the sh-..."

Toph turned her focus to Iroh's retelling of how he'd outsmarted the rebel opposition, sneaking half of his army behind them and attacking from all sides - including a magnificent revolt ploy in the opposition's own camps. It allowed him to manipulate them to surrender just a short week later. Toph relished hearing of him being at the front lines - you would never guess it if you had just seen him on the street, as the others had commented.

When she first met him, it was at a tea shot - naturally. She became fast friends with the man and had heard many of these stories before. Maybe it was because she was a runaway child, maybe it was because she hadn't judged or maybe it was because she had a whole wall of sarcasm that clearly stated she would take care of herself before asking for help elsewhere, or voicing something she knew elsewhere. For whichever or whatever reason, it wasn't that long before Iroh had told her a few war stories as they met briefly in passing from time to time. And, for the reasons left wholly unknown, he had felt comfortable telling her he was a former Fire Nation general.

Toph smiled at the memory of him mentioning it as a minor detail during one of his brief re-tellings.

She knew the Major and Lieutenant were just trying to keep the attention off of themselves and her enquiries with the way they readily asked about the story. She let it pass. For now. Toph would get them later when they thought they were in the clear. Maybe she'd ask about the Siege of Boscow during dessert...

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	8. Dancing With You

**A/N:** There's only one segment here (short!) and it is a dance scene. It's a Zuko and Katara one. Fluff is fluffy.

Thank you for all that have Reviewed, Story Alerted and Favorited. If you are a silent reader and have a moment, please review. Knowing what a reader thinks and/or feels about the progression of the story, et cetera, means a lot.

Thanks for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: No. That you think so, though, is one of (or maybe the) highest form of flattery a fan fiction writer can receive. At least in my mind. **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_A smile that lights up a room_  
><em>A heart that knows no bounds<em>  
><em>Intelligence beyond compare<em>  
><em>When I see you.<em>

_Kindness that all can feel_  
><em>Responsible in all things<em>  
><em>Compassionate to all<em>  
><em>When I see you.<em>

_Unwaveringly caring_  
><em>Gorgeous beyond belief<em>  
><em>As thoughtful as can be<em>  
><em>When I see you.<em>

_Someone who can make me laugh_  
><em>Someone who can put me in my place<em>  
><em>Someone who knows me better than me<em>  
><em>When I see you.<em>

_Overly modest_  
><em>A friend when a friend is in need<em>  
><em>A soft hand to hold<em>  
><em>When I see you.<em>

_A person who drives me to be better_  
><em>Beauty the likes these eyes have never seen<em>  
><em>That's what I see<em>  
><em>When I see you.<em>

~'_When I See You'_, Timothy Hardy

* * *

><p>Dinner had long since been served, dessert included. The people were winding down, Zuko had noticed. He looked over as Katara took her drink in hand and stood. Zuko didn't say anything, rather simply watching with his mouth closed. He <em>wanted<em> to ask where she was going but that might seem too pressing or like his attention was only focused on her.

The four of them were embroiled in discussion after discussion during dinner, somehow getting from talking about rebuilding Ba Sing Se to the fishing net structures at the North Pole (it was a long train of thought). All of them had been included in the discussion, sometimes heatedly and others reluctantly. Never did that allow an opportunity for seperate conversations to branch off and operate side by side.

Zuko had wanted to talk to Katara. About what... well, anything, really. Anything and everything. Firstly, though, he wanted to compliment that stunning dress she was wearing. He was literally stunned for a moment the first time he saw her this evening. Somehow - luckily - no one had noticed his reaction.

Instead of forcing a conversation, he watched her completely with secretly curious eyes.

Katara wandered around for a bit before drifting through the arch and to the other side. Zuko's vision following her every step. The music, he could hear, had toned down to match the mood of the people, too. Low, soft and smooth to lullaby the tired.

As the evening dragged, as dinner began and ended, Zuko kept coming back to her. He made a conscious effort to pay attention to what Aang and Bumi were discussing - but could not. A sip of his drink, coolness flowing down his throat, reminded him that he was drinking water. Which reminded him of her. _Again_.

_Even the slightest thing puts her back in my mind_, he cursorily thought. Seeking her out easily, he glimpsed Katara sitting on a wooden stool near the back wall of the dance floor.

"Excuse me." Zuko said, although neither Aang nor Bumi noticed, caught up laughing about their 'old days'. They wouldn't much mind that he was gone - they were reliving inside jokes, recollections and experiences. Inside, as in only they found it laughing to the point of tears.

He eased his way through the tables and all the time kept his gaze fixed tightly on her. Even then, Zuko almost lost her in the crowd around him. Twice. He debated, inwardly, about acting on the impulse he'd been fighting all night. Well, one of them. They were near the dance floor - she is and he is about to be.

Katara had felt eyes on her almost all evening but ignored it. Of course there would be eyes on her. She was at a high-society party but was a previously unheard of waterbender - a waterbender who wasn't supposed to exist, as she is of the Southern Water Tribe. She was the Avatar's best friend and right hand for a lot that he did and made decisions on; a fact now popularly known. In the controlling, influential parts of society, at least.

Katara chastised herself for almost looking over her shoulder a dozen times. Instead, she redirected the movement to taking a drink. Katara had sipped a lot of sparkling water and wine this evening.

But now, the watching sensation she felt again was soon accompanied by a rather warm body standing almost directly behind her. She turned sharply to see Zuko, looking at the couples dancing many feet in front of them. He hadn't changed his stare quickly enough, she saw, but kept that to herself.

Something about saying it out loud seemed as though it would spoil it. Katara turned back to resume watching the dancing.

"I feel like this is quickly becoming a thing."

"What is?" She asked absently.

"Me, running in to you by the dance floor. If it happens again tonight then I think I might start calling this our 'special place' just for kicks." He teased uncharacteristically. Yet, it was natural in the moment. Even as they are both in a swarm of people, it seemed private. Nobody was coming over to talk to them, no one was there that they had to talk to. They both could exist without interruption. Private.

Katara glanced back, a smile peaking over her slightly twitching lips. "Yeah, right." She sighed as her eyes fixed on the dance floor again.

"What?"

"What?" She responded back. One look at him and how he was focusing on her told her he picked up on her preoccupied thoughts. Maybe no more than that she is thinking off about something. Still wouldn't stop him from asking incessantly.

His gold eyes bore into her own as she continued to look away. "You're thinking about something... What is so fascinating at this boring event?"

"Only you would be able to get away with calling this 'boring'." She smirked for a moment before trying to explain - why she was to him, she didn't know, but lately it seemed like he was the easiest one to listen, to understand. A simple answer would suffice perfectly in it's place. "This will sound silly but some of these couples look like professionals! So easy...

"Believe me, I've danced before and it can sometimes be... _simple. _Then - did you see that move? That's not easy. It looks like much more work than it's worth but everyone here is at least as tired as us." Katara frowned. "Maybe it has to do with the partner..."

She contemplated, remembering her own dancing experiences. She relented inwardly - _sometimes it is the quality of company you keep._

Zuko made up his mind on one of the questions he had been considering. He stepped in front of her, holding out his right hand, palm up. "Why don't we see?"

Katara studied his hand as if it was going to transform into something else. Something dangerous. Finally, much to his relief, she slid off the stool and set her drink on it. "I didn't know you could dance." She slid her hand into his.

"I'm starting to think there are still a lot of things you don't know about me. Trust me - I know how to dance." He showed a genuine smile. She found the statement and smile oddly warming; and smiled back.

Few times did he actually smile - instead of in recognition or in place of words. Whenever he did, Katara encouraged and responded to it with one of her own. It became almost an unconscious effort, now.

Zuko led her out onto the dance floor near the strangely empty center and she turned torward him. As all dances start, in her limited experience. Both as a viewer and participant.

Holding one arm up, she slid her fingers through his on their joined hand and placed her other hand on his shoulder. They slowly glided across the dance floor, going in one circle after the other, him spinning her out and pulling her back again. Katara easily lost track of how many songs played - both because she was uncertain what was the beginning and end of a song and, admittedly, she was having a hard time focusing on the music. The rhythm between them flowed better than the music beat.

Katara looked across at him. "How did you learn to dance?" She shook her head. Amusement danced in her blue eyes. "That is a stupid question - you're royalty, of course you were taught."

His eyes became unfocused and he cracked a smile - this time it was reminiscent and ghostly. "Actually no. Because of the war and Ozai's ideals, firebending was the royalty name-sake and what we used to show off. At least, he used it and expected us to follow along.

"No, it was actually my Mother who taught me. We would have classes Wednesday and Saturday - one of the other few times it was just us, having fun and acting as if the world wasn't tearing at the seams. After she vanished, Iroh continued taking me. Not all the time; every other week. That fell to the side many months before I was banished."

"You and your mom sound a lot alike." She chose to focus on the positive of that story. Katara hated it when he got distracted by awful memories of his father so she tried to steer those away whenever she could. Not that she shared many bonding moments with Zuko - not as many as she caught herself hoping for at times..._ Stop_, she said inwardly. Katara focused back on his voice.

"Iroh always said so... You sound a lot like your mother, too." He said gently, treading carefully. Zuko didn't want to upset her and after what happened with her mother's killer - it wasn't much of a subject they brought up again. To the best of his knowledge, that unwritten and silent rule could include her mother indirectly.

Katara's breath caught at the mention. "And where did you hear that?"

"Sokka - he got... tipsy a week ago and wouldn't stop talking. About everything." He smirked and she laughed at the many implications.

"Ah, that sounds like Sokka! I think it would be best if you didn't tell me how he got tipsy."

"Agreed."

They continued to match each other's steps, keeping a steady pace. The dance became less traditional and more loose. Most of the couples on the dance floor had veered that way already.

Zuko called to mind something he had learned long ago and decided to show her. It was a blurry memory but it would be fun to practice it again. Her reaction guaranteed to be priceless.

"Here, put your hand on my elbow." He raised his free arm and her hand moved down from his shoulder to his elbow without asking _why_. "Now hold on because you might get dizzy." He grinned wolfishly.

"Dizzy, why would I ge- eeeh!" She squealed as he dipped her back quickly - almost like he was letting her fall - and drew her up just as fast as before. She still felt like she was weightless when he spun her in a full circle where she was standing before twirling her out extravagantly and pulling back once more.

Katara was shocked when it happened, only knowing that she probably was grinning like a fool. The squealing had stopped, at least. _Small favors_. When she twirled back, her hand gripped the crook of his elbow immediately. He secretly smiled at it and extended their hand-held side, gracefully headed towards the closest end of the dance floor before turning back again in a simple pattern. It started to resemble more of praticed path than it truthfully was.

Katara cast her awed grin over at Zuko quickly but couldn't find herself looking away. Instead, they continued it several times, the spinning and dipping included, with their focus only on each other. Completely. Katara wasn't dizzy at all. Nor was she tired anymore.

She didn't admit it outright - not wanting to interrupt the moment - but it was _fun_. She was sure that her expressions mimicked her inner feelings. Zuko's softened gaze and continued smile affirmed it.

Several minutes passed as they swayed in each other's arms, tranquillised once more by the sweet tune of the music. Katara made a mental note of thanking Toph for a wonderful selection in bands - even if this had been the girl's back-up choice.

As they neared the middle of the dance floor again, he faintly heard the music begin it's descent towards a slower, deeper tune. His slid his hand down the middle of her back - silently appreciating the bare skin he came into contact with - and spun her left, dipping low. It was slower this time, not as fast and carefree.

Without facing any judgment, Katara admitted to herself that she not only having fun but was having a wonderful time_ with Zuko_. It wasn't the dancing; not really. It was part of that, sure, but it was the company too. And the way she trusted him so easily. And the way they just worked on the dance floor - she didn't stumble once - and she didn't know a move of this dance!

Not that they were following a 'dance' anymore.

As he slowly guided her to bend back upward, Katara mouthed 'thank you' to her dancing partner. Zuko's smile managed to become deeper without becoming a grin. He returned her adoring and contented smile with one of his own. She was about to rest her head on his shoulder, having drawn much closer together with the last dip, when she heard some faint applause as the song closed. They hadn't even heard it end.

The band opened with another short seconds later. The focus was already lost.

Looking around, Katara coloured when she saw a few of the couples around them quietly clapping. They didn't do so for long, only a few seconds. She thought for a moment that they were simply applauding the band; until she noticed a few facing where she and Zuko are standing. And staring at them both.

Katara and Zuko unknowingly shared a fleeting look of annoyance on their faces. No one seemed to notice; or pay mind to it.

The only reason they were noticed on the dance floor is because he is the Fire Lord - and only a liklihood of half that knew who she was which still added to the attention. _Can't a girl and her friend get a little privacy?, _Katara thought with a faint blush moments afterwards. It took her a few moments to settle on the word 'friend'; even if just in her mind.

"Embarrassing?" Zuko asked, knowing the answer. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Definitely, yes."

"Same here." He admitted with another smile; a smaller one. It barely quirked his lips but it was enough to project the shared sentiment.

Keeping her hand in his and taking a step back, he gestured to the other side of the room. "Come on, lets go visit Toph and Iroh. No privacy's here."

"No kidding." They walked around the room and underneath the seperating arch. She waited until they weren't surrounded by people before saying, "And thanks for not suggesting going back to the table - I think I'm all tapped out of Ba Sing Se stories at the moment!"

He chuckled at her eyeroll. "You? I thought that was only me..."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	9. Unexpected Revelations

**A/N: **And you all thought I forgot to update today! Nope, I'll just scrape by on the skin of my teeth to get this update out. I was utterly exhausted today - got up at 5 - and only just now finished all I was suppose to accomplish. Sleep is beckoning to this weary soul.

The second segment has two quote excerpts because I couldn't settle on just one of them.

In the Avatar Universe we don't much know the last names of the characters - I believe the only one we know of is Toph because her family is supposed to be part of the Upper Class where she's from. So, I made up a last name for Suki. Her name, mentioned in this chapter, is (Ms.) Suki Eltsina. Now you won't be confused :)

This chapter is long, again.

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Tell all the truth but tell it slant,_

_Success in circuit lies,_

_Too bright for our infirm delight_

_The truth's superb surprise;_

_As lightning to the children eased_

_With explanation kind,_

_The truth must dazzle gradually_

_Or every man be blind._

_~'Tell All the Truth'_ poem, by Emily Dickinson

* * *

><p>Pacing down the length of his office, Zuko shook his head. "And you're telling me about this now? In the middle of an important party!" He glared at the Colonel, the nervous messenger and then his Uncle who was the only one to sit still and calm. Iroh was always calm in stressful situations. Zuko was partly envious of it.<p>

"Your Highness, we did not expect the problem to escalate so much! We are moving troops there now and Ambassador Maalai has been dispatched to arrive within the day." Colonel Jaipal wiped his brow with a handkerchief.

"This is our own nation!" Zuko snapped. "Tell Ambassador Maalai that she is not needed and she can remain here, in the capital, with her family until next assignment." He stopped by the window, looking out over the brown rooftops stretching miles into the distance. The Palace sat high on a hill, over looking much of the town. "We need to find a peace-keeper for this. _One of our own_. But we must not send someone like an _Ambassador_. God help us, that will only make this worse." He sighed, suddenly feeling tired. Zuko's lips shaped into a stern line as he contemplated all of his options.

The messenger, a boy by the name of Hyun-Shik, raised his hand tentively. Iroh gestured for him to speak. "Um, sir- I mean Highness, um, there's always the option of, uh..."

Zuko turned and narrowed his eyes. "Just spit it out."

"We could always bring one of Azula's recognizable conspirators to ease the people that you have unifyed the nation." He spoke quickly in one breath.

Iroh took this moment to speak up. "The Avatar and that lovely lady, Miss Eltsina, have mentioned maintaining contact with Ty Lee. As I recall, she was very valuable against Azula's attacks." He pointed out. The messenger looked over gratefully at the other man for tying together what he had stuttered to say.

Zuko turned back to the window, hands clasped behind his back, to think for a minute. No one in the room dared speak. He was glad.

He didn't want this rebellion led by those good-for-nothing zealots to get out of hand - and definitely not be known publicly. Word was already spreading quickly enough but it was still only gossiped about in some slum streets. Nothing of a concern - for now. Zuko recognized that his plate was very full - getting the nation and all of it's assets, people and positions back on track kept him busy enough. Trying to keep the peace right now was fragile. Most of the people in his country were still wary, having seen generations of their families get pulled off to war. Half of them hated him on some level. They didn't know him, but they knew he was the Fire Lord. Two generations before Zuko of the Fire Lord title led to a disasterous reputation. He was surprised his nation had stayed intact this long - even as pulled apart as it is between people and government.

Zuko inaudibly sighed.

He needed someone to mediate - who was easy to like, part of the recent history, and therefore still in their minds; and most importantly, _one of them_. Firebending was the highest level a person could be - the highest gift they could have. The citizens still agreed on that, at least. Zuko remembered that Ty Lee had joined that group Suki had been part of - the Kyoshi warriors. That wasn't controversial, though, and tended to draw more sympathetic minds than hostile ones. Defenders of a lonely island all but cut off from their nation's capital under seige? And the defending warriors all _female_? Jackpot for sympathy.

Besides, these rebellers - even their insane anarchist leaders - knew Ty Lee and her family well. The harming of her wasn't much a concern because it was very unlikely to happen. If anything, they'd harm the messenger - which they always had precausions against anyway.

Looking back at them, he nodded to Iroh in silent thanks. Zuko shifted his eyes to address the other two. "I want you to contact Ty Lee - wherever she may be - _immediately_ and provide travel for her to come the capital. I want to brief her myself before sending her off to that isolated region. Get my staff to set up an official meeting with her - I don't want to be interrupted. Go." The messenger hurried out of the room.

He then turned to address Colonel Jaipal. "Continue sending troops - I want no less than four thousand in the area. But don't camp them on the streets of the towns; especially not those of Natsuno or Rhange. Stay in the hills and mountains with a few select and non-threatening groups - _small ones _- in the towns. They wear normal clothes; blend. Spies.

"I don't want them to think we're invading or even considering invading. Just that we're making our presence known." Jaipal nodded. "Announce that Ty Lee will be visiting them under the pre-text of donating to their local region's orphanage. Her true purpose will be evolved later. Lastly, start contacting and branching out our spies. If they even contemplate taking those towns hostage or making a move against any of the troops, I want to hear about and know everything from the person, the place, the time, what group and how many. Dismissed."

The Colonel walked out and shut the door. Zuko sunk into his chair and put his head in his hands. He muttered to himself for several long minutes, wondering how he was going to deal with his first crisis - _and an in-house one too_.

Hearing a throat clearing, Zuko looked up and straightened only to realize that his Uncle was still in the room. He'd completely forgotten about Iroh. It was easier than most would think - he could sense his Uncle's presence and, at the same time, forget it easily. They were together for so many years, it became instinct in a way.

"I need to speak with you, my boy." Iroh said low and solemly. Zuko nodded lazily for him to continue. His nerves, however, were on high alert. Only a few times had his Uncle called him '_my boy' _and one of those was during Ursa's being announced a traitor by his father and again when Iroh took him under his wing once banished. The troubled feelings those two simple words brought back stirred in his stomach.

Iroh folded his hands on his lap and stayed still as a statue. "There are some things you don't know about your mother. I know about your... investigation into her location. You, of course, told me. What I haven't told you before now is that I have had my own on the side. For years."

He didn't waver when his nephew went from shocked to reeling to simmering, the clenched jaw included. Zuko jerked his head at the older man and Iroh continued to speak. It was several minutes, however, before the Fire Lord even moved.

Iroh explained about the history and knowledge he had of Ursa and her marriage to his brother - and what happened before she left. _The full version_. Iroh also went to great care to explain his own investigation which he'd had going at an absent-minded pace for years until just recently. His main lead was tracking her finances - even that was not a straight trail. The newest development he had was in direct corolation to Zuko's own search.

He finally finished and paushed as his nephew looked over across the room. Zuko was more open with his emotions around Iroh but he still was curt and closed them off fast. The same as he was doing now. Iroh cleared his throat and the young man's attention snapped back to him. "She's your mother and I am sharing this with you because you have a right to know. And, because there's a solid lead here. It was never my place to intrude and shoulder you with this knowledge. But now... What do you want to do?"

Zuko calmed himself by looking towards to window once more. There was only one in the room but it was long and rectangular, flanking the wall left of his desk. The moon was rising higher now, level with the window. He was pissed off at his Uncle but nothing else could be said of it. A part of him - a small part - understood. Zuko remembered how set he was on recovering his father's good graces that he had put no more thought to his mother doing those years of banishment than he had his meals. Considering there was always a servant for that... well, the point is obvious.

His anger was slowly diminishing as he processed this new information. So much he didn't know... so much he thought to be a finished puzzle piece was actually _incomplete_. Missing a side, an angle, that changed the whole interpretation. Zuko turned back to his Uncle. "I'm going to put my best, _most discrete_, people on this. And we're going to follow it - together. I have no doubt you have more contacts than I. If you have been following it this long, you should be there with me. You deserve to know, too.

"If there's anything else you know then tell me now while I understand why you kept it from me."

Iroh nodded at Zuko's carefully chosen words and opened his mouth to begin a lengthy conversation once more.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The night is only a sort of carbon paper,_

_Blueblack, with the much-poked periods of stars_

_Letting in the light, peephole after peephole -_

_A bonewhite light, like death, behind all things._

_Under the eyes of the stars and the moon's rictus_

_He suffers his desert pillow, sleeplessness_

_Stretching its fine, irritating sand in all directions._

1st stanza,_ 'Insomniac_', by Sylvia Plath

* * *

><p><em>Wandering voices in the air <em>

_And murmurs in the world _

_Speak what I cannot declare, _

_Yet cannot all withhold. _

_When the shadow fell on the lake, _

_The whirlwind in ripples wrote _

_Air-bells of fortune that shine and break, _

_And omens above thought. _

_But the meanings cleave to the lake, _

_Cannot be carried in book or urn; _

_Go thy ways now, come later back, _

_On waves and hedges still they burn. _

_These the fates of men forecast, _

_Of better men than live to-day; _

_If who can read them comes at last _

_He will spell in the sculpture,'Stay.' _

#13, 14, 15 and 16th stanza - _'My Garden_', Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

><p>The moon raised brightly, providing un-interrupted light in it's half cycle shine. The hot, humid air was only barely interrupted by the sublte cool breeze wafting from the South Pole. Katara walked lazily out into the spotty grass valley below and behind the palace walls. There was nothing built behind the Palace. This area is completely private; and she loved it for that. Her slippers had been abandoned in her room for precisely to purpose of being able to feel the grass on her feet.<p>

It had been awhile since she'd done that; felt the soft grass bend and lie flat underneath her soles, feel the blades whisp all down her feet's spine. Katara had found this place shortly after they'd first arrived - seeing it from the balcony above the meditation room. Hardly ever did you see grass naturally in the Fire Nation - something that she had verifyed personally recently. _That's not true_, Katara thought_. Grass doesn't grow much around towns. This land can be as lush as any of the others..._

Sometimes her thoughts drifted on how weird it was to live - although temporarily - at the Fire Lord's palace.

She and Sokka had found Aang nearly two years ago. Ever since, her life had been led by the mission of protecting and helping Aang, so he could save the world from the permanent destruction of the Fire Nation. Katara had already hated them. They ripped her mother away with so much as a scorching burn and maniacal laugh. All because her mother said she was a waterbender - not a threat at all. So it wasn't hard for her to fight against them with a venom inside herself she hadn't known capable of posessing. Harboring it for her whole life. Innocence was taken away from her from nearly the beginning and she resented that, too.

The very monarch of the Fire Nation represented to heart of what she was protecting the young Avatar against - especially when she learned their prince was personally hunting them down. So many close calls and in all she had seen the look in his eyes that she saw in the other Fire Nation soldiers. A lifeless, robotic pursuit that controlled his every fiber. At first she hadn't known he was _banished_ - that added a whole new slant and perspective to consider that she hadn't bothered to recognize for a long time.

Flying from city to city, region to region, nation to nation, in the pursuit of teaching Aang all the elements truly exhausted her. Katara felt it now, after it was over. And yet she recognized that the fight - _the true fight of maintaining peace _- was just beginning. It was one that would never truly be over but rather lying in the background like some sort of stalking animal, waiting for the perfect strike. Peace is a temporary thing. That she came to learn all too easily.

Katara heard the drying grass crunch long before the shadow fell over her face. She already knew who it was; her heart always seemed to stay calm when it was someone she knew. Tilting her head back, she saw Zuko standing above her, eyes flashing with too many emotions it was hard to decipher. He wasn't looking at her, directly, but not away, either. She patted beside her and he layed back, staring but not seeing the stars. Thinking. The same as she was doing. Katara cursed at times because of how her brain seemed to have the inability to turn off and enjoy.

Several long minutes passed with neither speaking but enjoying the company. Katara decided to speak her something that had been nagging at her, a thought that seemed to hang over any supposedly happy occasion - such as this evening. It came out in a harsh whisper. "This happiness I'm feeling - we're_ all _feeling - won't last, will it?

"We all committed to bringing peace. Threw our lives away for it. I just... I guess I didn't realize the sacrifice that involved before. My whole life, I'll be fighting for it now. Won't I?"

Zuko looked over and brought his hand along her jaw to look her in the eye. "I think we both will. And maybe even all of us who were involved in this."

She nodded in understanding before looking back at the stars. He removed his hand from her face when she shifted. "Amazing, isn't it? How much change we can see; and cause." Katara smiled even with the tears of both sadness and happiness welling with a distinct shallowness in her eyes. "Ugh, I can't seem to stop tearing up lately. Stupid water ducts." She held a hand over her eyes for a moment and when she lifted it, the tears were gone.

"I never got a chance to compliment you tonight. You looked stunning."

Katara blushed but it was hardly visible in the darkness. "As much as that's nice to hear, I have to wonder why you're saying that _now_. Is there something... Nevermind. Why did you and Iroh leave the room so abruptly before?" She sat up and looked down at him, waiting for a response.

Being subjected to a scrutinizing and waiting gaze wasn't new to Zuko but he sure didn't like it. Especially not from so close a friend. Feeling uncomfortable, he stood up and walked over to one of the few trees thriving on the retention bank. "It was nothing. More secrets."

She sighed before standing too but didn't move a foot. "What secrets, Zuko? You know you can confide in me."

He didn't respond, opting to lean on the tree. Katara heard him mutter something just as she was about to stand. "What?"

"He didn't tell me for years. So much could have been changed if he had just told me once." Zuko clenched his fists by his side, looking away. After Iroh told him the full story of all that he knew and all that he had been involved in, tracking Ursa, Zuko began to think of the 'what if's'. It was a dangerous thing to dwell on but he couldn't seem to stop.

"Who didn't tell you what?"

"Iroh. He kept information from me about my mother - acting as if I couldn't handle it!" The words burst out of his mouth, the loud pitch interrupting the calm night. "I understand, kind of, why he did it but... Damnit, he should of just told me. I had a right to know -_ have _a right."

"Ursa?" Katara asked, confused. _What does this have to do with his mother? _She stood and walked over to him. She stopped five steps short. Giving him space was best.

"He knew every detail on why she left, how she left, what she took which would make it easy to track her, that he has been tracking her since my banishment and yet he didn't bother to tell me this when I told him a month ago that I was starting a search for her. He didn't tell me when I was banished. Would of come in a little helpful, don't you think?" Zuko shifted away from the tree and looked over at her, his face all but hidden in the shadows. The only side visible was his left. His red scar was stark in the moonlight.

"I can't imagine that anything involving that... situation, would be... comfortable to talk about... much less listen. I'm sure he was just trying to protect you."

"Protecting me?" Zuko turned fully to face her, anger clear on his face. "He could of protected me so many times during my banishment! How different would it have been if he told me, hm? I could have broken with my father sooner. I could have looked for her right away - found my Mother and known if she were still alive or not.

"And then there's all the other things he could of done, this new information aside. If he wanted to protect me then he should of taken the Fire Lord throne when I offered it to him instead of sending me in blind! If he wanted to protect me then he should of thrown his pathetic life to the wall to keep my father from doing this to my face! If he wanted to protect me, then he should of protected my Mot-" _Slap_. He stopped his rant with the contact of skin on skin, shocked, immediately feeling the blood heat his cheek.

Katara set her hands on his shoulders, turning his attention back to her when she spoke. He clenched his jaw. "Iroh's not my uncle and I've only known him briefly until this past month but _don't you dare _bash his name anymore. He is not to blame and you know it. I don't know what the hell you just found out but if you want to talk about it - _I'm here_. But I'm not here for you to lash out and blame someone else when you're frustrated." Katara warned, her voice quavering.

Zuko stared at her, eyes raking up and down her face, before answering. The anger drained from him in an instant, taking the flush of his skin along with it. He looked pale in the dancing shadows. "I'm sorry. You just... reminded me of what I came out here trying to forget."

"And what were you trying to forget?" Concern shown in her eyes even as half her face was hidden. Untouched by the moon's faint glow.

"Uncle found a lead. A real and _solid lead _on my mother." A vein in Zuko's forehead spasmed against the skin. "And it explains why I never found anything. Why I almost considered declaring..."

"Which is..." She inquired, her voice growing soft.

He sighed. "Uncle let her steal almost five thousand worth in a specially printed coin that - apparently - was only made for the royal family."

Katara's eyes widened as she gasped loudly. He took the stunned reaction as a silent push to continue.

"The coins made it easy enough to track - no one who had received them had ever seem anything like it before, so, naturally, they boasted about the mysterious lady-stranger and most kept them, too. For the first two years, she left a path traveling more northeast, just shy of the ports. Smart. She knew that the Fire Nation often stations the military all along the ports when they're ready for deployment.

"This one town - Fuschen - still had some of the older citizens talking. It's a port town. My mother tried to board a ship to the Earth Kingdom - that would land just outside Ba Sing Se, if you can believe it - but even at that isolated and hardly known town they weren't traveling to the Earth Kingdom. Only recently, within the last two years, was citizen travel the Earth Kingdom accepted again. Let alone allowed. From the buzz some of Iroh's contacts collected, she lived there for a year afterwards. Lived alone. Didn't cause any trouble. Basically, kept to herself and hardly anybody remembered her because of it.

"It was only when she started volunteering at the orphanage did some suspicion raise. Rumor had it that the children were anti-Fire Lord Ozai and rebelling against the soldiers that came to the town once a month on leave." Zuko didn't bother to hide his smirk. "Yetm the donations for the orphanage increased each month. Naturally, some members of the Fire Nation's rich got very... _interested_ so they sent their own trusted officials to visit the town. Find out why. Look at the books, and hunt the donators down.

"By the next morning, I guess when they arrived, every trace of my mother disappeared. The people knew, Iroh guessed. While no one knew where she went - and they were honest about that - they never speculated about it either. Never divulged anything she might have said on where she was going. Where my Mother thought of going. Maybe they just didn't remember...

"The last town Iroh tracked her to was this one called Jarro. It's in the side of a small mountain. Secluded. He only found it because of a merchant from the area using some of those coins to buy a large shipping boat." Zuko paused and gulped. His voice lowered with thick emotion. "We think she's still there. No other spottings of the coins or of her description have come up. Iroh thinks it would be unlike her to spend it all in just ten years. I have to agree, from what I have heard. And remember. Can't question the people there without raising alarm but..._ It makes sense_."

Katara nodded in agreement. She thought about all he had told and felt for him. Finding his Mother has been hard - all the disappointments and false hopes she had seen him weather in just this past month and a half - but discovering this... when he could of used it all along... Rough doesn't even begin to sum it up. She looked pensive a moment before brightening. "Now was that really worth getting pissed at your Uncle for?" She teased light-heartedly when she found her voice again.

He flushed, embarrassed. Zuko's golden eyes flickered away from her face, off into the shrubbery. "Sorry. I... I don't realize when my temper gets the better of me."

"Hm, really? Never noticed."

He smiled, briefly, before frowning. "I wish I could go check out the lead! Instead I'm going to be tied up in meetings for who-knows how long..."

"And the rest of us will be off around the world, busy with our own issues." She finished his thought, frowning too.

"Right. There's no way I'm going to interrupt Iroh at his tea shop, either." Zuko rolled his eyes as he looked back at her.

Katara couldn't help but giggle at both his comment and how blind he was to the humor of it.

"What should I do?" Zuko sincerely asked, throwing her for a loop. His golden eyes bored down into hers.

"Uh...I...me? You're asking_ me _for advise?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and almost scoffed. "Now show me how you really feel."

She slapped his arm, this time playfully. Her hands slid down from where they had been resting on his shoulder. They hit his elbow and she disengaged. Katara searched for the right words as she searched his face. "You know what I mean... You've just... you have never asked me for actual advise before... Especially as Fire Lord."

"I'm not asking you as Fire Lord. I'm asking you as a friend." Katara felt a lump in her throat as she stared into his gold eyes. "I'm completely sincere."

"I believe you." She softly said before sighing and glancing up at the sky. It was hard to know what to tell him. On one hand, she wanted to give him the advice on what she would do which is throw everything to the wind and find her. There's no telling when Ursa may become paranoid again or if something happens and she disappears. Gone for the grasp for who-knows-how-long.

On the other, Zuko had responsibilities now. He was Fire Lord and, like it or not, that controlled his life. Katara also knew how important it is that he stay grounded in that role and every decision he makes is closely watched. One false step - false by anyone's opinions - and the public opinion would completely turn on him. All of the other nations were weary now, it would be catastrophic if his own people started screaming, thinking he were selfish and throwing away his title. Katara returned her gaze to his. "Okay... If you really want my advise... then I think you should not worry about it until you're done meeting with everyone at the Earth Kingdom. And then... Then I want you to wait."

"Wait?" He asked incredously.

"Yes. Because I want to be able to go with you." She said with complete honesty. It was refreshing and she smiled. "You need a friend with you, Zuko, and with this more than anything." Katara didn't hesitate as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged. She almost pulled back when she started to but then Zuko wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. He pulled her against him and that meant taking the option away from her. Katara leaned back into him.

"Thank you." He whispered into her hair. "Thank you for caring, Katara."

"I always cared, Zuko. But you're pride got in the way of your eyes. And your mouth." She grinned and buried her head against his shoulder.

Chuckling, he said, "Sorry."

Katara pulled back a few inches to look at his face. Her hands came up against his neck. "Stop apologizing - you don't have to. I've made you apologize enough."

"S- Right." He smiled apologetically so he wouldn't say it.

A cold gust of air rushed down the valley again and Katara leaned back into his warmth, resting her head on his shoulder lazily this time. Zuko savored the closeness, never wanting to let go. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of hers, listening to the slow heart beating - his or hers, he couldn't tell - and the occasional noise escaping her lips.

Several long minutes passed before either took notice. Katara raised her eyes and saw that the moon rose quite a bit higher than last time. Almost over the crown of the halfway mark. _At least three in the morning_, she guessed, calculating the amount of time since darkness descended on them. Sighing one last time, she pushed down the disappointed mood that rose with her words. "We should probably go inside... it's late."

Zuko nodded and she felt the movement next to her own head.

Reluctantly, she pulled back more. He followed her lead. Katara slid her hands down his arms, her too reluctant for the moment to end. She forced herself to take a step back but their heads were still close, not quite touching anymore. "Promise me you'll wait - like I said before?"

"Promise." Zuko vowed gently. They each dropped their arms and took a smaller step back; again. On impulse, Katara quickly kissed his cheek - the same one she'd slapped in what seemed days ago now.

_What is wrong with me?, _she thought. _All in one night I push myself into the role of his confidant and even tag along on his quest to find his mother! And then I kiss him on the cheek like as if it's the most normal thing to do when months before I would of taken any opportunity to slug him on the same spot - and in the gut, and arms, and everywhere else I could. Ugh, do I even know what I want? No you do not, self, no you do not. Especially if my heart leaping in my chest right now is any indication, _Katara thought. _That could also just be the wine... But wine is supposed to make a person sleepy - that's what Iroh said._

She quickly gathered up her dress, not wanting it to drag on the grass, and said over her shoulder a quick, "Good-night", before heading towards the large palace gate. Katara slipped in and across the stone path to the building. She was in her bedroom in what seemed like a blink of an eye - to both of them.

Zuko kept his eyes closed from the sudden and shocking touch, not even sure if he responded to her sweet voice. He hoped he had acknowledged her parting words with polite ones of his own. Raising a hand, he threaded it through his hair. _Of course I'll wait_, he thought - repeating it internally - once he had aligned his wayward thoughts.

_But what am I _really_ waiting for?, _he continued_. Because it doesn't feel like I'm just waiting to go with her and look for my mother._ _Of course it would be nice if Katara came with me. She's my closest friend - the only one I feel I can connect with and understand completely_, he admitted. _So why does it feel like this night somehow changed things? _

_And why the hell is my hand trembling_? Zuko thought that last part, frustrated, as he opened his eyes and stared down at his hand which just moments earlier had passed through his hair.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	10. Aang's Departure

**A/N: **I don't think I mentioned it last chapter - and I'm sure some are wondering - that if it was so easy to track Ursa with the coins then why didn't Ozai make that leap and put some of his people on that? In short, Ozai is a jerk. At least, IMO. And since Ursa left of her own accord and clearly wasn't going to come back waving allegations around, he simply didn't care as long as she was far gone. And the only reason he made it publicly known, later on, that he banished her/called her an enemy of the nation was to twist the knife, wherever she may have been. Well, that and to try and strengthen Zuko as his ally - but, this is IMO.

I hope you all Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to Avatar: The Last Airbender or its apparent franchise beyond being a fan/viewer. This is purely my own opinion expressed through writings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_I let go the autumn_

_At the edge of the broad sky,_

_Among the floating clouds._

~ _Shokugo-shui-wakashu_, by Fujiwara no Tameie

* * *

><p>Aang watched, laughing, as Momo landed flat on Appa's forehead, holding on for dear life to his long, shaggy fur. The eccentric lemur quickly climbed up the flying bison's mane and positioned himself on the head of the leather saddle, whining at Aang.<p>

"I don't think I'm the only one that's ready." He joked to his friends, all standing near him in the large and empty expanse of the grounds outside the stables. It was nearly a full day since the party and everything was still tired in their own ways. Regardless of it, they all turned out to see their friend leave. They wouldn't miss it for the world – even if they would see him in a mere two weeks' time.

"When will you be back again?" Katara asked once more, wrapping her arms around herself.

Aang rolled his eyes. "I'm spending one week at the Southern Air Temple and then I'm off to Cattaile for the two weeks of meetings – so, the end of the second to last week of September. I've told you this before."

"I know." She said before a hint of sadness entered her voice. "But we've all never intentionally split like this in... well, it's just new."

"Not so new - I can't wait to taste Gran Gran's cooking! She makes the best fish pie." Sokka practically drooled. He grinned at them all, the idea lighting his eyes.

"Save me a piece!" Aang pleaded.

"No can do - that stuff does not last during travel. Hah, I would know; there's this one ti-"

"Okay, that story can be for another time, right Sokka?" Katara said. She narrowed her eyes at her brother, remembering how he'd packed it in her bag - _without asking _- and it had stunk up all her clothes, not to mention ruined many when the gravy leaked everywhere. Of course she hadn't found it until they were setting up camp, about to go to sleep_.__ In the middle of Winter_.

"I will miss your company, young Avatar. Make sure to visit in Ba Sing Se on your way over, yeah? I don't know when I'll be back in the Fire Nation - tea shops are more time consuming than many think!" Iroh said jovially.

"Of course!" Aang surprised the old man by hugging him quickly.

They all exchanged hugs, the mood infectious. When it became obvious that they were prolonging the inevitable and dragging time, they all backed up, letting Aang get his bearings on Appa again before he would lift off. Zuko walked over to the flying bison's head, looking up at Aang.

"Now that all the saps are done, I wanted to tell you to make sure you're not late. I know you got this... monk, whatever, business but-"

"Promise. I won't fly Appa for a year if I'm late!" Aang grinned good-naturedly but there was a seriousness of his eyes and nod that Zuko accepted to be truthful. He hardly questioned the boy, though; truthful and honesty were like the Avatar's middle name.

"Okay, okay. Get out of here. If only I could get some quiet from everyone too." Zuko joked and they shared a laugh. He walked back over to where everyone else was standing a little farther back.

"What was that about?" Katara asked, the wind unfortunately going in the opposite direction meaning she couldn't listen in. She wasn't one for much gossip; just certain situations like this made her inclined to it.

Zuko glanced over. "Nothing. Just a friendly send-off."

Aang gripped the reigns and grinned over at everyone - _his normal look_, they all shared the thought. "See-yeah, guys! I'll talk to you soon."

They all waved. Sokka and Katara shouted goodbyes as Appa ascended into the sky and turned South, flying at an impressive speed for having not flown long-distance in weeks. Iroh and Zuko left shortly after. Then, a couple minutes later, so did Suki and Sokka. Katara nodded to herself as she looked at the speck of matter left in the sky and walked back out the large stable gate.

Looking back, she saw Toph was still there. The young girl - lady, actually, although Toph wouldn't let Katara say that out loud - said something about making Appa a proper bed. There she was, expertly commanding the earth into a huge, ringed platform that was a suitable, _although unconventional_, bed. She twisted stances and the rock-hard dirt rose and leaned over, creating an alcove twenty feet high. She created beams that went up to support it when she finally let her bending powers lapse control.

Katara smiled a small one all to herself and continued on through the gate. Somehow, she knew it wasn't just for the lovable, slobbering flying bison they all came to adore. It was also for another - a special someone they'd all come to adore as well. And Katara couldn't help but start thinking of all Toph and Aang's interactions lately with a slightly, _but newly_, biased eye.

She reigned in her thoughts later with a groan_. I am becoming Suki. Never, never, never__._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_When the day is done_

_I take a tree for my lodge._

_On my weary way,_

_Lying under its broad boughs,_

_A flower is my sole host._

_~'The Tale of Heike'_

* * *

><p>"Yip, yip!" Aang loosened the reins and encouraged Appa as they neared to now fully visible Air temple. The air was now clear, the clouds having separated just minutes ago. Now, the tall, beautiful and peaceful temples and their grounds rose up to meet them. "It's good to be home", Aang sighed.<p>

The flying bison circled between the temples before gliding down and around the abandoned courtyard, resting next to its small fountain. Appa groaned before plopping his head on the ground and closing his eyes to drift off after the long, straight hours of flying.

The young Avatar slid down his fur, patting his head when he landed. "Good boy; I'll be back later with some food."

Striding excitedly, Aang quickly bounced up the stone steps and opened the large doors. Momo flew warily into the dark, damp building that had been naturally sealed for a century. The air gust lifted the layers of dirt and dust but quickly settled, still once more. Aang wandered around and through the building, lighting the few lanterns left and opening the wood-sealed windows, the majority warped from age.

Flying up the stairs, Aang searched through the narrow halls.

Finally, he stopped abruptly at his room. Slowly and methodically, he examined everything. The room was mostly cleared out. Old sheets that were previously clean rested in a stack on his bed. The bookshelf was mostly emptied - _no doubt everything was brought down to the library_, he thought, making a mental note to find his favorite book there when he didn't spot it on the third shelf.

Aang huffed out a breath when he finally pushed -with help of air-bending - the window open. It's nice to hear the birds chirp, he thought.

Making his rounds through the whole building, Aang formed a plan in his head.

_Cleaning can serve as a type of meditation and concentration, right? Yeah, I think it does_, Aang thought. _At least it qualifies as bettering the temple. So... sacred act?_

Searching the building once more, he found the room he was looking for. The supplies closet. _Just like the day I was inadvertently frozen_, he mused. Pushing a shelf he found what he was looking for; the very ancient - it was even before, Aang thought - and handmade broom.

He started on the top floor, down, bending and sweeping the filth away, washing each room with water-bending before he moved on.

Aang stopped and looked out the window, noticing the Sun's position. "Half the day? I've only done three rooms", he grumbled.

Sweat misted across him and he worked. Aang spread the water out from a bucket he'd filled from the ocean and let it cascade down the walls and across the floor as he pulled most of it back into the bucket. Checking that the window was open to dry the water, he moved on to the next room.

Picking up the broom, Aang heard a snap. Looking down, he saw the hand break and splinter at an angle. The hay forming the brushes, now not securely held together, started to separate. "Of course." He sighed and picked up the pieces before carrying them outside.

Aang stopped at the cherry blossom tree after dumping the broom contents. The blooms were mostly gone, the few still shining beautifully. _I should meditate at least once a day, why not do it here?, _he thought. Crossing his legs and closing his eyes, Aang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, starting the rhythm he knew by heart. His mind cleared and his limbs went numb.

The arrows on his arms glowed – but not from the Spirit World – and Aang slipped into a deep meditation.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2: **Not completely confident with how the last part turned out but I had to show what Aang was doing there and how his everyday life would be there. Only two segments for him because his storyline at this point is pretty basic. I do have an idea of how to complicate it later and, where I am at writing it so far, it is slowly coming into fruition. Writing Aang is hard.


	11. The Trio's Departure

**A/N: **The first segment, from Suki's POV, is silly. I can't help it - it's too easy to take that route when writing from her POV ;P And, on that topic line, I hope Katara doesn't seem AU in the last part. I'm using it as part of a set-up for something down the line.

The quote in the third segment by the Chinese poet Li Bai has several translations. This one, however, is the closest to what I envision for this segment and so will be the one quoted; whether there is truly a 'correct translation' for this poem, I am not aware of one.

Thank you for reading and please take the time to review! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own or have any connection to the source of these characters. So just stop asking already. Wasn't the first Disclaimer enough?**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_"O Lovers' eyes are sharp to see, _

_And lovers' ears to hearing;"_

~ First two lines_ 'CXCVI. The Maid of Neidpath' _by Sir Water Scott_; _

_(_poem found in_ 'The Golden Treasury',_ an English song and poem compilation by Francis. T. Palgrave)

* * *

><p><em>Two days after Aang's departure...<em>

_I am biased when it comes to love and romance_, Suki admitted to herself. Yes, she was. She would always be glad that Sokka came for her - like she believed he would as soon as he found out - and that she stayed with the whole gang. It's a decision that changed her life in a way she couldn't be more grateful for. All of her friends were worth it._ Especially Sokka - but he's not only my friend. _Suki almost giggled outloud as she was going through her inventory, debating what to bring in the cloth duffel bags.

The last two months had been... amazing. She and Sokka had fit as perfectly as they had before, their love - _and passion_, Suki reminded herself with a knowing smile - rekindled immediately. She never understood how she had almost convinced herself, months after last seeing Sokka leave her island, that they weren't a couple that would be long-lasting. Of course they are!

_Back to the matter at hand, _Suki chided herself before a sly grin spread across her face. She may be completely filled with love thoughts but she was no fool to what was in front of her. And, as she may not be a fool, she certainly is a intrigued party in her friends' lives. Suki recognized the behavior and couldn't keep herself from feeling positively... gleeful.

It was ever since the party._ No_, she corrected, _it was sometime after that but before the next day_._ It must of been that night_, Suki thought for the tenth time. Whatever happened that night left Zuko and Katara acting odd. And not weird, obvious odd. But rather the stolen looks that you don't want the object of your attention to see, careful to be near but not have to overtly interact with. Such glances may not be noticed by the object of attention but, to a observant - and trained observant - eye nearby, they are plainly visible. Almost painfully so.

Suki had noticed it immediately! _Was it that easy for everyone else_? _Nah, probably not, _she thought._ If it were noticed by anyone else, I would of heard it by now. We _all _would have._

Abandoning the clothes mess in her private room, Suki walked out into the hall and paused. Katara's room was next to hers but she wasn't in it so Suki couldn't waltz over and ask her - not so subtly - about it. Aang was already gone but she didn't seriously consider that - he just wasn't the right person to gossip about this with. Especially since he used to have a crush on Katara and, while he accepted the girl's feelings and moved on, it could possibly still be a sore subject for him. _That, and Aang's still a boy, no matter what has happened_, Suki thought. Sokka's room was down the hall but she didn't consider that more than second either. _He would explode if he knew I was thinking about it,_ Suki knew. The quick imagined images flashing through her mind made her shiver. She crossed his name out with a bold lead pencil.

Suki shooked her head slightly at the thought and the names continued to dwindle in her head. All that left was Toph. Suki rolled her eyes. _She'd have a reaction like me but then would end up blurting out the idea and ruine it all, _she thought. _Hell, Toph would probably say it at the dinner table in just an hour's time! _Suki loved her friend's honesty but in some situations it wasn't... needed.

_It might seem odd if I go to them - any of them really - with my thoughts_, Suki remembered. It was only recently that she had fully forgiven Zuko for all but destroying the Kyoshi Island. They all knew that she'd forgiven him completely, finally, after he'd apologized a few times. And then his efforts - personally and with the Fire Nation - to re-build the island and all was... well it was heartwarming and thoughtful. _Maybe Katara thought so too...?_ Suki grinned, helplessly, as her thoughts returned to her new favorite thought topic.

The time spent in the Fire Nation was relaxing and had been relaxing for all but she found herself unable to relax any further. Her heart ached to be home - to see her family and see how all were doing. When she had left - captured by Fire Nation soldiers - her home was in disrepair and was a terrible sight to see. Avatar Kyoshi would have been ten times as distressed as they all were. Suki had only been home once since then, to show them all she could still lead. She put her second hand in charge when she went away - voluntarily - this time.

Since then, she couldn't seem to appease her restless mind. However, knowing now that she would be going back home soon did appease it immensely. It even found a topic all its own.

Suki turned back to her room to continue packing when she stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened with the wonderful idea.

_Wait! I completely forgot about them_!, she thought. Racing down the hallway, Suki didn't pay attention to the surroundings. Once or twice she almost got lost in the maze of hallways but quickly found the portico entrance that led to the servant's living quarters across the yard.

Since Zuko had become Fire Lord, he slacked up on their requirements and repeatedly punished someone who tried to abuse the servants and staff the way he'd seen his father and others do before. He had been the receiving end of that treatment himself, too, and many of the now-elder servants raised him after his mother's disappearance. He didn't tolerate any mistreatment towards them for a moment. Another thing he had immediately done for them was instead of making them live on the palace grounds, they could have a choice - something that was received well by many of the staff that had families or spouses; or just wanted independence.

Then there were other things like they could have alternate holidays off - only half of the staff having to work so that meant they rotated during any vacation times - _an unheard of event too_!, Suki thought as she remembered their reactions to that particular announcement. And then real minor things like only a basic dress code (one that was respectable, too) and a bit of a change with their job duties. Zuko didn't relax their duties, rather moved the pile of duties around so it wasn't up to one person to clean a whole wing one day. All and all, the morale of the staff had jumped pretty high since then. So did the loyalty.

Suki stopped abruptly outside the door. Deciding to go with instinct, she knocked. A disheveled middle-aged woman - her name Loya, Suki learned last week - answered the door with a quizzical look. "Oh, Miss Eltsina! Wha- Is there something you need?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you had a minute? To talk." The younger woman smiled honestly.

"Uh- yes, I suppose I do. Come in, this way." Loya led Suki through the small foyer and through the kitchen, motioning to the bar stools. "I am going to put on a pot of tea."

"Oh, you don't have to." Suki protested.

The other woman waved her off. "No, it's no problem. It's been a family tradition for a long time to do so when someone's visiting for a chat - it's ingrained up here." Loya tapped her forehead.

Suki took the free moment as the woman bustled through the cabinets to look at the surroundings, even leaning off the chair at times to look through the arches at the decor. She approved of the small but important changes. When they'd first moved into the palace, the renovations all over where just starting. _Ugh, the dust and dirt was everywhere! _Suki shuddered at the un-hygienic memory.

All renovations and construction finished quickly, including the new building, but she still remembered how small and barren the servant's living quarters used to be. Now, different wallpapers donned each room, the floors were actual floors and she saw several different personal touches - no doubt from the staff that lived and worked here.

"I must say, this is rather... unusual. What would you like to discuss, Miss Eltsina?" Loya joined a stool next to the young woman and put both cups of tea on the counter.

Gripping the warm dish, Suki blew softly on her green tea. "Please, call me Suki. This will sound even more weird in a minute." Suki explained, with more enthusiam on the topic than she thought she had, about her suspicions regarding Zuko and Katara and the possibility. The idea, in general, she admitted to being odd and out of character on both sides. But, at Loya's imput, Suki conceeded that the circumstances of the Great War's ending was odd, too. Katara and Zuko bonded the most during those times - times when they weren't Fire Nation and South Pole, but, rather, Peace fighters - Suki also pointed out. "What do you think?" She finished, setting her cooled cup down.

"Me?" The servant woman laid her delicate hand across her cheek and leaned on it. "I must admit, I haven't heard this kind of debate and thinking before from my employers." Loya smiled and patted Suki's hand. "But, I'm inclined to agree with you." She leaned over and lowered her voice to a stage whisper, "I admit - I have always loved gossip!"

The two giggled. Suki sipped her tea and the older woman, feeling a kinship with the young Kyoshi warrior, decided to speak her thoughts openly. Suki insisted on it.

"Truthfully, I overheard quite a bit a week or so ago. But that must not be such a surprise, hm?" Loya stirred some sugar into her tea and added a warmer surplus from the pot. "I heard that the Fire Lord went to a lot of care - _and_ money - to get that private beach access traditionally used as a military practice grounds during the winter. Gifting it to a friend, as I understand it. Perhaps..."

"That's what it was?" Suki exclaimed, shocked at the true previous nature of the land beyond what she thought earlier was simply unused land someone was looking to sell. She quickly told her new friend what happened to the beach. The secret of it hadn't stayed so secret for more than a few hours as Toph soon afterward found Katara bending. Katara told her and she, in turn, told nearly everyone else of their friends it as well.

"Yes! And then I was up in the attic a few days later getting some silver that the other young girl wanted for that party. Marvelous one it was! When up there, I could see the perfect view of that beach. So secluded. It has these beautiful palms on the side of it." Loya mused before leaned back in and gossiping some more with Suki.

_I was right!, _Suki grinned to herself as she gossiped with the older woman and listened to what Loya had been on the tail end of seeing.

_Now, remember to always ask the staff first. They know everything. _Suki vowed and remembered the precious fact.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_For the desired effect_

_Would you come back August or June, June?_

_And I hate that tomorrow's too soon_

_But this collision came mid bloom._

_'Fantasy'_ lyrics_, _by The Xx

* * *

><p>The day was hot and scorched the earth, leaving small cracks in its wake after only a few hours. The sun rose at five and since then, the cool of the evening was lost completely. Humidity clung to the air and the sun's heat intensified its effects on skin, everyone they passed having a red or starkly orang hue they couldn't change - no matter if they wanted to. The ocean glistened and gleamed, visible all around the free and open port. Katara walked fast near the ship, eager to see if her father was on board like he'd suggested in their last communication.<p>

Even though the port was almost a mile from the palace, they had all agreed to walk and took the back country roads to avoid familiarity recognition. Sokka had not long after tried to recant on that agreement because his gallant action of carrying Suki's bags had been a lot more than he'd bargained for - _how much stuff could that girl have possibly accumulated to fit four bags_?, Katara shook her head at the thought and continued to feign ignorance to Sokka's grumblings; the same as Suki was doing.

"Dad!" Katara spotted him and set off in a dead run across the planked pier.

"Woah! I'm never going to get used to missing you kids." Hakoda caught her and hugged her tightly.

"Why would you want to?" Katara giggled.

He chuckled along with her infectious laugh. "Good point."

"Dad!" Sokka dropped Suki's bags - and leaving her protesting about it behind him - and hugged Hakoda, too. Suddenly, with their father's appearance, they reverted to their child counterparts. "I didn't know you were coming up to see us - I thought we were coming down to see you."

"Always take a suprising moment where you can get it." He said before turning to the young girl behind them that was struggling to upright the wicker and bags. "It's good to see you again, Suki. Glad my boy has found a real catch." Hakoda grinned.

"Dad!"

"Thank you, sir. But I think you said that the last time we met." Suki said, good-naturedly.

"Really? Oh well then, my bad." He smiled apologetically. "Come on, Sokka. I'll help you load up these... many bags." Suki quirked her lips at how Hakoda was polite not to comment further.

Katara gave her Dad her bag, the only one. They both lugged it and Sokka's bag and Suki's bag_s _up the short ramp and down into the ship's hull torward the quarters. She hung back, watching the port workers as Zuko and Toph walked up to them. They both had followed up behind the group during the walk and then wisely hung back while the two reunited with their father.

"Sorry. I was harrassed by a Green Mackatoo seller. Can you believe how aggressive those guys are?" Toph's face screwed in annoyance.

Katara mumured agreements and shared a look with Zuko - him shaking his head in warning to not engage. She took the silent advice. Everyone in the group knew to sometimes let something go and not engage it with Toph or she would not let you hear the end of it. Katara took it all in stride, though. _Everyone has their buttons that are pushed_, she thought. "I'm just glad you two got here quickly - I think we're about to leave."

"I'll go say 'bye to those two - be right back!" Toph shuffled her way forward to the ramp, feeling it before making her way up.

"Not going to go too?" Katara asked, eyebrow raised.

"It's okay. I was there when Iroh wished them both a good trip - basically did the same thing then." Zuko shrugged; his face staying neutral as he studied hers.

She heated a bit under his gaze - _for reasons I still don't understand_, she said to herself as she gritted her jaw. "Well..."

"I hope Toph will be fine here." His eyes softened.

"Same. What do you think she'll do all by herself?"

"Probably come back and harrass that Green Mackatoo seller." Zuko said stone-faced. They both stared for a minute before she burst out giggling and he grinned, chuckling a bit when she went into a fit again.

"The sad thing is-", Katara gasped, "I think she actually will do that!"

Zuko saw Suki hug a statue-esque Toph up on the deck and knew they were about to leave. "Are you going to stop by Ba Sing Se on your way to the North Pole?"

Katara opened her mouth and closed it again, caught slightly off guard by the question. She was expecting more of 'goodbye' when he'd spoken.

"For Iroh's 'Jasmine Dragon' re-opening." He hastily clarified.

"Oh... Oh! Yes, duh!" She smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for anything. I don't think I ever got to see the original."

"Trust me - I would remember if you had." Zuko genuinely smiled for a moment.

_I could get used to seeing that_, Katara thought. "I'll see you when we - or, I guess I - get there?"

"Yeah... Goodbye." He noticed her step forward awkwardly. Pushing inhibitions aside, Zuko stepped forward first and hugged Katara._ For once, I shocked her with a hug_, he thought while fighting a smile.

They embraced for a few moments before she pulled back, hearing Toph shout a goodbye to Sokka one last time. "'Bye!" Katara said one last time before shyly turning and walking onto the ship's deck. Toph waited on the entrance railing, hearing her steps.

"Goodbye, Sweetness."

"Hey!" Katara protested at the nickname but smiled when this time it wasn't meant as an insult. "Come here, I want to hug you."

"Ugh - oh what the hay, fine!" Toph pulled Katara down and hugged for a quick moment before patting the older girl's shoulder. "There; have a good trip and remember to tell me what Iroh's shop looks like!"

"Of course - I promise. And you'll visit there soon with all of us, anyway, so I can remind you then, too."

"Go, go," Toph backed down the ramp, "before you make this too sappy and pathetic."

Katara laughed and shouted over to Hakoda who signaled the Captain. The four of them watched as Toph and Zuko walked back to the main deck. The small, narrow ship moved quickly out of the port.

Hakoda took Sokka to show him the engine room. "I'll never understand men and boys." Katara said.

"Agreed!" Suki joined in and they both laughed when they saw the slowly dimishing figures on the deck. "I can't believe she made Zuko hold her on his shoulders!" Shaking her head, Suki headed down to join her boyfriend.

Katara leaned on the solid railing and bended up a simple water ball, managing to blast Toph with it. She giggled softly when she heard the faint carrying of the young girl's protesting voice. On whim, Katara bended and froze the small symbol for Zuko. She pushed it far out in front of the slow moving ship and felt it taken from her distant grasp. Satisfied she leaned back and stared up at the sky. When she looked back, the dock had all but become a colored blur in the distance. "He'll understand it." Katara said confidentally to herself outloud.

"Why'd she bend that for you and blast me?" Toph whined after she climbed off his shoulders when the ship disappeared from view. He didn't respond and she just shrugged, tugging him along as they walked back to the palace.

Zuko twirled the simple ice sculpture in his hand; not noticing how it was melting easily in the sun. Distracted, all he could think of was that day at the beach. _Too bad I never had a chance to go back there_, he mused, cursing the fact that being Fire Lord comes with so many forms of paperwork. _It's nice to know she remembers_.

_Wait - nice?_ He frowned. _I need to talk to Iroh - I think I'm loosing it._

For now, Zuko continued to stare at the tiny ice sculpture and did so all the way back to the Palace and at his desk, up until it completely melted. The sculture depicted a frozen hand with fire coming from it. And a steaming ball of water encapsulating it.

**XxxxxxxzzzzxxxxxxxX**

_Before my bed, the moonlight shines,_

_Could it be the frost, covering the ground?_

_I raise my head, look at the bright moon,_

_I set back, and think of my native land._

~_'In the Quiet Night' _(#233 of _'300 Tang Poems'_), by Li Bai

* * *

><p>Katara kicked the twisted covers away from herself, angrily.<em> Stupid, stuffy room and stupid, scratchy sheets with stupidly flat pillows, <em>she thought. "Ugh!" Turning over, she punched a cold pillow, discarding her warm one, and re-shifted her body diagnally.

Not two minutes ticked by before she flopped back again. Taking a deep breath, Katara exerted more effort than normally neccessary and calmed herself a bit. Getting up, she gathered her robe around herself and snuck out of the room she'd come to hate in just a few short hours. She hissed a few times as the cold floors - _was it metal? _she wasn't sure - shocked her hot skin.

"Now that's more like it." Katara whispered, walking out on the small back-deck and craned her neck to look at the stars.

_So... Just beautiful_, she decided upon._ They weren't this bright back on the Fire Nation islands. Not even in the same positions_.

Katara looked around and in the shadows covering the ship before spontaneously laying on the floor of the deck. She sighed at all the sparkling dots in the sky, counting and naming out the constellations.

_I wonder what they'll look like at the South Pole?_ She frowned slightly. _I haven't seen the stars from there in so long... I don't even remember what they looked like against the snow._

Katara layed there for a long time after, thinking and reminiscing the good and the bad memories. _So many of my memories are aligned with the constellations and stars; It's like they're a trigger in a way, _she thought, wondering if that was a good or a bad thing. It reminded her of how the water-bending relied on the Moon Spirit; and their own encounter with the new one.

She got lost in the memories of the South Pole and only went scurrying back down to her quarters when she heard a few voices coming closer from the control room. Unbeknownst to her, it was almost four in the morning and most of the crew members were trading shifts again.

Hakoda stood still in the shadows around the corner, watching his daughter leave. He'd seen her come out and watch the stars - what he'd taught her to do if she couldn't sleep and the one thing that wasn't working for him now. The tears were what had stopped him from joining her and what made him certain that she needed time alone, now, as he watched her disappear down the steps.

He shook his head at all the lost time. _The one thing that I know that could upset her, I can't comfort her about_, Hakoda thought. He leaned back against the wall of the ship and stared at the constellation he loved most - the one he'd shared as a favorite with Kya. And the first one he'd taught Katara so many years ago when she was just a baby...

Still thinking of her home and all the memories that came with it, Katara didn't complain once in her thoughts or outloud as she slipped back in bed. The tears of happiness and sadness mixed continued to spill over her lids as the memories of her mother, childhood and the South Pole that she'd almost gone to the lengths of repressing suddenly flooded back at once. They had been knocking since she and Zuko found Yon Rha and she had forced that confession out of him. After that, the vow they took to not tell anyone else was almost a vow to herself to forget. Move on like she had forced herself to do.

Katara found she couldn't do it so easily this time. Facing a haunting memory, face to face like that, didn't make it easy like it once was. The tears reached the pillow before her head did. But Katara didn't notice; she was already drifting off into the deepest sleep she'd had for a long, long time.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	12. Zuko & Iroh's Depature

**A/N:** Just wanted to mention this but didn't put it before last chapter 'cause it would spoil: Zuko has revealed his emotions and issues _still_ with Ursa's disappearance and now, with last chapter, I've established that Katara is still very much upset about her mother. However, she has reconciled with the object of her anger - remember that episode where she and Zuko got all blood-bending/homicidal on that guy? That's what I'm talking about.

But now, Katara's actually grieving for her mother - something she hasn't allowed herself to completely do. Throughout this, I try to get her to go through the steps, if you'll indulge my probably poor writing in those areas. This probably didn't need to be explained but I wanted to do so in case it didn't become clearer later on. This just seemed like the best place to mention it.

I can't get over how much I love Iroh - and writing him. Favorite old-guy character_ EVER_.

**Disclaimer: I wish I was making money off of this to pay towards some of my wanted expenses - mainly some oil paints I desperately need/want - but sadly, I'm not. Go harass someone else about copyright infringement or whatever else it is I have to put this disclaimer up for****.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_"I can trust my friends. These people force me to examine, encourage me to grow."_

~Cher

* * *

><p>Zuko signed his name on the finished documents and placed them in sealed envelopes each before resting them in the tray that was for his messenger's hands only.<p>

_There is so much to do before leaving, _he thought as a stress headache began to beat like drums behind his eyes_. And so much paperwork just to keep the kingdom running for the next month_, he all but groaned. It had been less draining and obtrusive after Aang left. For a few days, all was normal again; the new normal that the world had become.

But then the Gaih-Fo Valley situation worsened. Every few days he received a growing number of reports on famine, destruction, the homeless and the orphaned. That along had given Zuko a headache - which meant it was the perfect time for the town Natsuno to start rioting. _Always one damn thing after another and I don't have any immediate solutions for them_, he frowned.

A hesitant knock echoed off of his cracked door. "Bad time?"

Zuko looked up to see Toph; whom, while having asked the question, was striding into the room without waiting for an answer. "Actually, no. I need a distraction from this... mess. What's up?"

"I'm bored."

Zuko's frown turned to an amused smile as Toph sprawled back in one of the wing chairs in front of his desk. "And why is that?"

"The others aren't here - it's no fun traipsing around a huge palace all by yourself." She busied herself with her thumbs. "Sure, the staff are good people but it's not... the same."

"You've been hanging out with the staff?"

"Suki told me all about them. Hey, did you know one of them is actually part of a long maternal ancestry that has served the Fire Lords for something like seven dudes?"

"Yea, that's the Spinks."

Toph only wore a bigger frown. She would have started rambling on about their family history, Zuko guessed. Instead, he accidentally took that option away from her. In short hindsight, he realized it was probably the only thing she had new and entertaining to talk about for the past few days. "Well... how about this. You don't have to stay here the whole time we're all gone."

"You mean I can go with you and Iroh?" Toph's face lit up.

Zuko smiled at the young girl. "Not exactly. You could go with Uncle but ask him first - I don't want to speak for him. You'll just be equally bored if you go with me. Trust me. But, you could visit around these islands or go to visit your parents. Something like that."

"Hmm..." Toph's face scrunched up as she thought. "I do have a place in mind..." She sat up. "Wait - how will I get there? I don't exactly have connections here, you know."

"Good point." Zuko went over to a locked cabinet across the room and extracted the form of request he was looking for. "This is a document saying that I, the Fire Lord, am loaning you a vessel and subsequent forms of transportation for whatever you need. Until the stamp is broken."

"Really?" Toph leaned over his desk and felt it, grinning even more when she felt the raised emblem of the Fire Nation in the corner.

Zuko signed his name on the blank space and turned the paper around, gently placing the pen in Toph's hand before guiding her to the open space. "Now sign your name here and I'll stamp it and it's all yours." He noticed her hesitation. "Have you ever signed something before?"

"A...a few times... But it wasn't official. My parents never let me near books or anything... Didn't want to make me feel depressed about it." Toph rolled her eyes before touching the paper, nervously, with her other hand. "Um... how do you, uh, sign it, again?"

"However you want. A signature is all up the person signing. Do you want to practice it first?"

Toph nodded and Zuko pulled a blank pad over. She practiced it, relying on his advice, for a few minutes. While she couldn't see it, she decided after a few tries to shorten it to just her initials so memorizing it would be easier. Toph was able to fluidly move the ink pen across the paper, forming the same loops perfectly over and over. When she was confident, Zuko pulled her hand over to the blank section on the form and she signed it like she'd been doing so for years. And like she isn't blind at all.

Zuko rolled the thin paper quickly and pressed the Fire Lord Wax seal, handing it over to Toph when it dried after a short minute. "And it's just that simple."

Toph grinned and he did too, feeling it was infectious. "So... does this work more than once?"

"Sadly no. But, from what I was told-" Toph snickered. "-you should have no problem traveling wherever you're going if you stay with the same crew."

"And what about if they desert me?" Toph snickered again and Zuko chuckled at her. She loved finding a fault to laugh at or simply a laugh in anything.

"Then they will not be coming back for duty in the morning."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_And so it goes - an idle speech and aimless,__  
><em>_A few chance phrases; yet I see behind__  
><em>_The empty words the gleam of a beauty tameless,__  
><em>_Friendship and peace and fire to strike men blind,__  
><em>_Till the whole world seems small and bright to hold -__  
><em>_Of all our youth this hour is pure gold._

~_'Talk'_ – 2nd stanza, by Stephen Vincent Benet

* * *

><p>Zuko laughed at the young Avatar's choice of words and he heard his Uncle doing the same, barely able to contain his own amusement as he read the letter out loud. They were all keeping in contact, giving sparring updates on what the daily trials of their lives apart were becoming like.<p>

Katara had already written Zuko – so he assumed Aang, as well – and said how she was volunteering down at the South Pole. He was happy to hear the main village – and home village, for his two friends – is recovering well and much of it is actually benefiting from the warm winds coming its way because of the delayed winter. This past summer - with Sozin's Comet at center stage - was so warm the autumn was barely becoming settled across the world, let alone the winter that was supposed to be showing early signs by now.

Aang's letter came that morning and was addressed to both Iroh and Zuko. Iroh, of course, opened it first immediately and opted to read it to his nephew, grinning like a fool. There, a short passage detailing Momo's aggravation with Aang's constant maintenance on the temples included a small story in Aang's own words of Momo accidentally becoming caught under a pile of vines he stripped off the side of a temple.

The poor lemur became caught in them and, in his own defiance against Aang, walked around for the next two days, stumbling and becoming caught in the brush. Needless to say, the description by Aang and his own commentary escalated the laughs two-fold. The Uncle and nephew had to stop several times in order to read it all.

"Ah, and he just signs off after that. Here, if you wish to write him back soon." Iroh set the letter on Zuko's desk and his nephew put it in a drawer. "Oh boy. That was a hoot."

"Yes, yes it was." He smirked.

Iroh wiped his eyes and sat up in his seat. "I'm sorry, was there something you said you wished to speak about?"

Zuko tilted his head and thought for only a moment. He spread his hands out on his desk and looked and them. His words came out much more halted than he meant but he finally settled on his question. "Do you like Katara?"

It wasn't one Iroh was expecting. "Yes. Of course. Why?"

"You know I moved the training beach in the northern city limits to my name – and then Katara's."

"What are you getting at, nephew?" Iroh folded his hands on his lap and waited. He hadn't known about that ownership change.

Zuko continued looking around the room, a look on his face that his Uncle, for once, couldn't quite place. He knew what it meant… he just couldn't believe his nephew was wearing it at this moment. And when talking about the young water-bender Iroh became fond of recently, either. "Am I going insane?"

"I see no signs to point at that."

He frowned and finally looked at Iroh. "The feelings I'm having aren't… they shouldn't be… there. Once or twice a blue moon ago makes sense, right? I mean, we all thought we were going to die. I was happy just to see my Father humiliated and beaten to a pulp – which Aang did even better than, having taken away his fire-bending abilities." Zuko's golden eyes briefly flashed with the hatred he had for his father, before softening and going back to the confused flat surface he held before. "But, it's been ever since… ever since Azula lost her mind and during it tried to kill Katara with a lightning bolt.

"We're friends. All of us laugh at the same jokes, discuss the future of the world and juggle our own responsibilities. Our own lives." Zuko shrugged. "We support each other. Mostly. Yet… sometimes there's a glimpse. A conversation, a moment…. I am losing it, aren't I, Uncle?"

Iroh took a long look at his nephew and saw himself. He wanted to smile, but knew it could be misinterpreted a multitude of ways. His nephew – his surrogate son – having a, a crush! And on the water-bending girl who held the longest grudge of the whole Avatar group against the Fire Nation and the man in front of him, who Iroh had seen grow from a baby. Iroh shook his head. "Zu-"

A knock sounded on the door and interrupted his speech.

"Come in."

"Ty Lee has arrived, sir." Zuko's assistant, Orez, said as he took a small step into the room.

"Thank you. I will call her in in a moment."

Orez bowed his head quickly and stepped out, the door making a sound 'click' behind him.

Iroh stood, seeing his nephew glancing down at the notes in front of him. "I will go now and leave you to speak with Ty Lee."

"No, you don't have to. I would like if you sat in on this meeting." Zuko protested but his Uncle simply shook his head.

"These are the sort of things that will help you secure your footing as Fire Lord. Now – now you must do these things on your own, nephew. This will help you learn by experience, I promise."

"I think I've have plenty of experience already."

Iroh smiled at his nephew's scoff. "Maybe. But experience on the battlefield is only half of what needs to be learned in order to be great." He reached the door and paused, looking back. "We will talk more about that other matter later, yes?"

"Yes." Zuko nodded and Iroh left.

_No, I probably won't ask or bring it up again_, Zuko thought_. I needed to get it off my chest and I did_. He remembered how his Uncle shook his head before speaking and he still felt the anxiety on his chest that was lifting away just now; it was from the possibility of his Uncle warning him against the small bit of truth he was hinting at and Zuko didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear it or speak of it out loud. _No, I don't want to know what you had to say…. Just in case._

He stood and opened the door. A small alcove office was across from his office door and a small bench was across from that. Ty Lee lay across the back of it, her head and shoulders twisted under it to study something on the floor. "Ty Lee. Same as always, I see."

She snapped up and grinned at him. The exuberant teen jumped up and walked over quickly to stand just short of eye level from her childhood friend. "Zuko. As serious as always, I see." Ty Lee mocked and he smiled, making her grin further as she stepped into his office and settled on a chair, flanking her legs over the accompanying one.

"Only when there's business to attend to."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. _

_And meeting again, after moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are friends. _

~Richard Bach

* * *

><p>"This is giving me <em>Deja-Vu <em>of a play I heard of where the little girl of the family was left home alone - and promptly died from the ghosts in the haunted palace. They made her think she was going crazy and then stabbed her moments after she saw her parents coming up the drive. Not at all sure what the moral of that story was…."

Iroh patting Toph and chuckled at her scowl. "Don't worry, dear. I'm sure with that clever brain of yours, you'll think of something to do." She brightened a bit at the compliment. "And, from what that nephew of mine said you have many places open to visit. What about those parents of yours? Have you heard from them recently?"

"No..."

"Well there you go!" Iroh then turned and shuffled over to a bag, promptly opening it. "Come, come. Help me decide real quickly on which teas to bring. I couldn't narrow them down. But don't tell Zuko that." He said in a loud whisper.

"Uncle! Seriously?"

"Well the tiger-cat's out of the bag." Iroh whispered low to Toph before straightening up. "Yes, nephew. '_Seriously'_."

Toph laughed at the exchange. _How could it be such a shocker to Zuko that Iroh waited until they were boarding the ship to pick between his teas? Really, how?_ Toph inhaled the scents of each bag deeply and packed the ones she knew he'd love in the empty bag for just them. "There."

"Thank you." Iroh surprised the young girl by picking her up and engulfing her in a bear hug. "Visit my tea shop when you go to visit your parents, alright? I'm going to get lonely all by myself."

She grinned responding, "No you won't! You'll be complaining about having no peaceful tea time - just you wait. I'm betting a game of _Pao Sho _on that."

Iroh chuckled and trudged up the plank to the ship. Toph turned to Zuko when she felt him tap her shoulder. Feeling spontaneous and in-the-moment, Toph hugged him too.

"I'm going to miss you guys - and you, too."

Zuko rubbed her hair, earning a half smirk and affectionate glare. "And I'm going to miss you, Toph." Placing his hand on her small shoulder, he said, "Don't go bragging about it but... you're like a little sister to me." He smiled down at her.

"Oh come on! Now you know I'm going to brag about that. See this, people? I have the Fire Lord in my pocket!" Toph grinned.

"Pinky-promise you won't brag!"

"Fine." She growled good-naturedly and linked pinky-fingers with him.

"Write when you decide where to go. If you suddenly disappear, the others will try to skin my hide when they hear about me giving you a Fire Nation ship all your own and your well-being means a lot to me, too."

"Okay, okay. Go now or you'll be late!"

Toph stepped back and heard the plank pull from the dock after Zuko boarded. She waited until the engine honked far in the distance - its grinding sound much different than the small traveling ships or fishing ships or transport ships all around her - before she turned back and waved one last time. The sound of their boat mixed with the rest around her as the sounds of the port overwhelmed it.

Long after the ship left, Toph stood and bathed in the hot sun. Finding a sudden hesitance in where she wants to go visit, Toph turned up the road and back to the palace at a slow stride. She fingered the scroll in her pocket, where she kept it every day since Zuko handed it to her. A Fire Lord guard - or whatever_ it _was; always silent so Toph couldn't tell - with Iroh's previous tea suitcase followed behind.

****


	13. Toph's Departure and Arrival

**A/N:** This is the conclusion to Chapter 10. Oh yeah, bring on Toph's POV! Though this chapter is short and I am sorry about that. Still, length aside, I felt that she needed her own POV chapter. This is at least 1.5k words shorter than my other chapters. :P The time-line in the story will start progressing a lot faster next chapter; I promise.

I wasn't able to edit this as much as I wished. If you spot any errors, please point them out!

Thanks to everyone that has Story Alerted, Favorite'd, Reviewed and is reading!

**Disclaimer: I didn't wake up this morning and suddenly own any part of Avatar. **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Was I thinking so loudly?_

_A heart absorbs the absurd_

_on a regular basis._

_Primordial fears and poisoned_

_skies are_

_stage smoke;_

_But fragrant whispers from_

_your skin are_

_open windows_

_on relief._

_And I see,_

_and I laugh:_

_I_

_know_

_nothing._

_~'Clarity' _by Anna Piutti

* * *

><p>Toph was <em>not <em>going to visit her parents.

Their communications lately had been... well, back to normal. After the initial pride and understanding of having their daughter help the Avatar and being able to earth-bend at a mastery level, they dropped almost immediately back into their old routine.

Instead of the _'you're blind; we must take care of you' _the running theme of what they kept saying was _'you're still blind and a little girl; by now you know how dangerous the world is'_. Toph hated it, too. Of course she knew all the dangers out there; the shadows lurking behind the corner. She had lived on her own for many years - more than half her life then - before she met Aang and Co. _What did they think I had done during that time - live in another family's home?_ Besides, what they didn't know is she had made friends with the shadows, supported them, even shared food with them, during her days before meeting up with the Avatar, Katara and Sokka.

And no matter how many times Toph had dictated to them in their correspondence that she could take care of herself, had friends and family here for her and that her life was around those people now, her parents couldn't accept it. They couldn't accept that she had grown up. Toph hated that they still viewed her as a girl. The whole world did. But she couldn't just start playing dolls and dress in frilly outfits.

She matured. She saw the world – figuratively – and all of its danger, evil and sorrow. But Toph also saw the beauties, the joy and the hope. She didn't want to give that up. Not for the world – not for her parents.

Toph felt sad inside at times. She had shocked and scared her parents when she'd run off. But she'd been gone so long now, experienced and learnt so much, Toph couldn't picture herself going back to a mundane existence where she was being cared for like a delicate china doll in the middle of a fortress of a palace in Gaoling, Earth Kingdom. That life was never her and her parents, as sweet and well-meaning that they are, can't see that. They never did.

The young earth-bender felt the smooth crease of pressed paper against her thumb as she rubbed it. _My parents broke when they found out I was blind, _Toph mused on a thought she came to know well. _As much as that sounds horrific, it is true. I can't go back and let them take care of me in an effort to put their perfect little puzzle back together. It will only break me, instead. I will surely lose my sanity._

_So, no, I'm not going to visit my parents, _Toph thought as she walked down the busy dirt street towards the shipyard; Zuko's scroll tucked tightly against her side. _But the possibilities are endless..._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Summer grasses:_

_all that remains of great soldiers'_

_imperial dreams_

_On the white poppy,_

_a butterfly's torn wing_

_is a keepsake_

_The bee emerging_

_from deep within the peony_

_departs reluctantly_

_~'Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu'_ by Ikkyu; translated by John Stevens

* * *

><p>"Stop it, Momo, give it back now!" Aang frustratingly yelled for the fourth time at the very agile lemur. He watched in relief as Momo tipped off the stone's small ledge and had to drop the book to keep stabilized. "Thank you." He muttered.<p>

The only response given was a sniff from the lemur before he went to find something else equally entertaining. The air-bender didn't mind, only happy to keep the book safe in his arms. Momo would surely dirty it – if not destroy it. _For all that he understands, he still doesn't respect personal items_, Aang shook his head.

Aang took the century's old and much worn book outside. The tall cherry blossom tree quickly became the shelter for peaceful moments and concentration while he was here. So far it had been a two weeks and only one day since then had been spent completely away from the tree. He found it reminded him of the Spirit World.

He had just turned the first page, admiring the literature as well as the delicate lines the monks had painted in, when a smell flooded his nose. _Smoke_. Aang looked up in alarm, out of habit. Even if he was 114, his time battling the Fire Nation was still his most formable years. After all, his mind and body were still stuck at only 14.

As suspected, a billow of harsh, black smoke dissipated just over the island's ridge. Curiosity took hold and Aang slowly slid down the landscape before reaching the edge. But when he stood next to the ocean on the thin strip of sand, Aang saw the small Fire Nation ship retreating. He had suspected it to be a ship, but he couldn't understand why it would be leaving. It had barely just reached the land.

_Could they have been here for a long time without me knowing?_ Aang thought_. I wasn't paying attention... admittedly... and I don't know when the wind direction changed from the south..._ Aang's thoughts quickly jumped from one to the other.

Suddenly, and without any warning even as small as a twig branch breaking, Aang felt a hard surface scrape across his back and he hurled forward into the water, the momentum dragging him as his feet ground into the dirt. He quickly pushed himself from the shallow water and sputtered.

Instinct kicked in and he turned, wrapping himself in a wind and fire torpedo before stopping like a lost deer. Aang just barely kept from falling down on the ground. Admittedly, he did stumble.

On the other side of the bank, fast approaching, was little-girl Toph. _Laughing her head off_. Stopping a few yards from him, she leaned her hands on her knees. The hearty laughs came and came, her stomach spasming. He frowned. After several long moments, Toph raised her head to see a rapidly bemused Aang.

"What; you didn't miss me?" She grinned before giggling again. "Got to admit that was a little funny. You should've seen your face!" And then Toph lost it; _again_.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions._

~Nhat Hanh

* * *

><p><em>4 days later...<em>

The past few days left Toph in a sour mood. She was usually the first to act so, but usually because she preferred expressing her pessimistic feelings and saying her secluded thoughts just to get everyone else riled up. It was fun. Though, she usually didn't feel this way because someone else made her. If they did, it was only briefly and by someone she had no care for anyhow.

But Aang made her feel this way at the present. And, aside from feeling a cloud of discontent hover over her, Toph was fairly pissed off, too.

_Aang is ignoring me!_ She sulked with the perpetual thought as she moved her element quickly. She formed an arch over the entrance of one building; a small, stout one used for, traditionally, storage. Everything from food to supplies. Toph wasn't asked to help clean, revive or re-build the temples by Aang. _With_ Aang. But he didn't say anything against in when she starting doing it; in fact, he didn't say anything about it at all.

However, that could be because he is ignoring her. Toph rose upon a column of steps from the ground and felt with her hands that what her senses saw was accurate. The arch is in its proper place, curved neatly and delicately supporting itself. She descended the columns as she pushed the earth back in place.

The young Avatar had been annoyed immediately one he recovered his bearings. He was befuddled on how she came about a Fire Nation ship; Toph told him the how and why. He questioned her on why she gave him no notice; she wittily retorted her response (which, while sounding sarcastic, was actually true and she meant it; surprises were more fun and she didn't want Aang to write back encouraging she visit her parents instead, as the others have and would). Then, having nothing else unanswered at the moment and with nothing left to be said, Aang went back to meditating and looking around for ancient books (his whole 'they aren't ancient; they're from my childhood' arguments weren't valid, considering he was frozen for a hundred years, Toph pointed out smugly).

She had tried to talk to him, even idly - he always said he had something to read, something to do or needed to concentrate_. Even when he was going to bed! Okay, so I surprised him and interrupted his whole monk thing, _Toph thought_. But why does that give him the right to blow me off? I came because I wanted to help and thought that him, of all the few friends I have, that he would understand! But no. Instead, Aang is going to ignore me and pout around about having to do all of his usual things _with a person along for the ride_ when he didn't expect it to be that way_. Toph huffed and walked into the main temple and up the stone staircase_. I'm _right here! _I can help_, she thought with a clenched jaw_.__ Maybe I should have just gone to visit my crazy, over-bearing parents. It would be a nice change against this whole _'you don't exist because you disrupted my plans'_ thing Aang has going on._

Toph walked into the library and easily sensed Aang. She heard a few books clattering about. Reaching out to her element – the dirt floor of the room – Toph all but saw where Aang was standing. She stopped a few feet away, easily sitting on a stack of thick books he piled earlier.

"Don't sit there. You could ruin them with the pressure."

"Yes, because I am so fat." Toph drawled, dragging out the 'so'. She continued the snippy report by saying, "Why, I might just crash through the floor."

Aang sighed and sat down a book gently. The sound of its bind against the table hummed quietly and soft in her ears. "That's not what I meant."

"I know." She took a deep breath and let it out in a long, suffering wind. "So, are you going to stop ignoring me or what?"

"I'm not ignoring you….?" His voice tipped at the end and Toph was partially satisfied that he was at least semi-aware of it – Aang ignoring it would be so much harder to deal with.

"Um, my vocal cords straining at use after this measly conversation beg to differ, sweet cheeks."

She heard skin scraping and guessed he was rubbing his neck. "Okay, you're right. Sorry. But everything I'm doing I planned on being… solo. Having you here suddenly, kind of, you know, throws that out the window."

"Sorry." Toph picked up a book and thumbed through it. Awkwardness practically radiated from her pores. Toph always became aware of how still her hands were when that feeling pooled in her stomach and moving her hands – even if she picked up a book she couldn't read in any sense of the word – helped cure it. "I didn't mean to intrude. The palace was just so empty and the thought of helping you out here was better. I can't even see this place and I already know you need help."

"You are helping!" Aang protested.

She just rolled her eyes. "Yeah. But only because I am doing it myself. You do realize I'm flying by the seat of my pants, right? I have no idea what needs restoring and what the plan for each thing is. Come on, you haven't even talked to me about it. Or asked!"

"Okay, okay. I'll give you a tour and tell you about everything. I didn't realize…. Can you help me with clearing this bookshelf first?" Aang placed a few more books on a nearby table and asked the last part with a voice now normal and not low and quiet.

Toph slid off of the book stack. "Sure!" His tone was breezy and chipper_. He's smiling_. She smiled back as they worked.

****

**A/N2:** I hope it wasn't AU at all – Aang's reaction, I mean. Sometimes, he can get so caught up in something that he forgets his friends can help a lot, too. That is how I perceived him multiple times on the show.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and have a wonderful soon-to-be weekend!


	14. Surprise, Surprise and Surprise

**A/N:** This chapter I actually changed the entire content several times - and it ended up being what changed this s/l in the first place. This is the last chapter where the bulk was written back in September/October. Most of it was, edited and fluffed up since then but it's largely still the same. From next chapter forward, everything has been written in December and on. The writing style shouldn't change too differently, I hope.

It was very fun for me to write the first segment. Sokka and Suki deserved a segment all to themselves - with all the reminiscence and thoughts to go along with it. Katara and Zuko will be the center point of this story, but all of the other couples deserve at least one 'deep' chapter too. Plus, it was just fun to write them.

Thanks to all who are reading, have Bookmarked, have Favorite'd, Story Alerted and Reviewed this story! It means the world to me and I'm glad that someone(/people) out there is(/are) enjoying it!

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own, nor do I have any stake in the Avatar: Last Airbender show.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The hair parted in the middle_

_That I measured against yours_

_Now hangs below my shoulders._

_For whom shall I put it up,_

_If not for you?_

~Excerpt from _'Tales of Ise'_, Lady Murasaki

* * *

><p>Sokka took Suki's hand and turned left off of the main ice lane that led through the small village. Suki looked over in surprise but said nothing as he just smiled at her. The past few days, Sokka knew he was being distant with her, but it was all necessary. That was why he had asked her to take a walk with him today - because he had something to show her. Sokka had been a bit surprised that she had accepted, no questions asked.<p>

Truthfully - even if he would never admit it out loud (ever) - Sokka secretly loved it when Suki was annoyed. When she had a pouting frown and a fire dancing in her eyes that showed she was five seconds from laying down the law in a fierce tone, he thought she looked hot. It was when they clashed - whether over little or big things - that Sokka was reminded why he was attracted to her the first time on Kyoshi Island. Suki was unlike any other girl he had ever met.

The South Pole was just as Sokka had remembered - with the only change being that his hometown had grown some fifty people since he had last been and some faces he passed were unfamiliar. He looked up and saw that nighttime's nearing. He's in no rush - it always looked perfect this time of day and he was partly counting on that_; mostly_ counting on it. Not that he ever really noticed how the sunset looked, but Katara had said it was their mother's favorite time of day so he took time on occasion to appreciate that and notice the streaking colors. The perpetually gray and clouded sky danced with blazing shades of yellow, pink and purple_. The warm colors._ It set off the generally thought bleak and monotone colors of the sea, snow and rocks around them.

"The seashore?" Suki's sweet voice knocked him out of his thoughts. "This is what was so special?"

Sokka smiled over at her, loving the confusion that wrinkled her forehead. He hardly ever had a chance to surprise or confuse her, so he cherished all of the opportunities. "Not the seashore - these cliffs." Sokka held her hand tighter and tugged her where he was standing on one of the damp rocks.

Suki, however, didn't budge and still looked on - concerned and wary - at the rocks and their height from the cold, hard sea.

"I promise you'll be safe. I've done this a thousand times - I know where to step."

Suki sighed quietly and intertwined her fingers with his, letting him pull her up onto the large rock he's standing on. They lined the rocky shoreline in all shapes and sizes, tapering down layers and layers until hitting the water.

The Southern Water Tribe was vastly placed and, while it was considered as one whole village from outsiders, it actually consisted of a few villages spattering the land and the land they covered stretched miles and miles along the shoreline.

In the main strip of the Southern Water Tribe - the most populated area; and which held Sokka's home village, and where the Fire Nation had attacked repeatedly - the transition of land to sea was flat. Almost as if there was nothing but a short slope to distinguish the two. If it was in a warmer climate, the area would flood often.

To the west, however, the icy landscape rose sharply along the coast. Often during his childhood, after his mother was killed, Sokka would recluse here. The rock formation in particular that he was leading Suki to held his private hideout of sorts. He had always thought himself strong, being the man of the house after his father went off to war. But he was still only a kid and a kid still needed fun - or at least a place to unwind. So he had explored the rocks and come here.

Suki felt her feet slide down the side of one of the rocks and stumbled forward in a rush. She gripped the back of Sokka's shirt and let out a squeal. He turned back with a grin. "Don't step off of them; jump. It's the only way to get off without them sliding you off first."

"Then how do you get back up?"

"There's another way. Come, over here."

She swallowed her nerves and followed him around the corner of a bulging, deformed gray rock that was probably fifteen feet high. It was crazy, that she was afraid of falling off of a cliff and into the sea. But that water was cold and these rocks were slippery and a climate - a landscape - like this was not one she was anywhere near comfortable with. She was use to Kyoshi Island - a vastly different place. Sure, it had rocky cliffs too; but its cliffs had moss you could hold on to and warm waters that were safe - relatively - to jump into. Suki blinked down at the sea and squelched a shudder before turning back to Sokka.

"What is this place?" Her eyes grew wide with curiosity as she stepped into a small cave that held surprising warmth. Sokka walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her as she studied the etched carvings on the rock walls. She couldn't make out half of the meanings behind the disorganized pictures.

"This is where I went for a home away from home. Remember what I told you about how Dad left to go off to the war?" She nodded. "Well, I took that as my cue to become the 'man of the house'. I had to be – told it was the way it was." Suki smiled. "But I was only a kid, so I came down here sometimes. I found it just by chance - actually lost my boomerang in here."

Suki giggled. "You're always loosing that thing, aren't you?"

"Half the times that you've seen, it's Momo stealing it. But yeah, I do." Sokka admitted with a shy grin. "What do you think about the drawings? Think my artistic talent of drawing lines with the sharp end of my boomerang is medal worthy?"

Suki turned in his arms and draped her own arms around his neck. "I think they look terrible."

"Well thanks; that means a lot." Sokka replied sarcastically and watched as she tipped back her head and just laughed. He stared at her affectionately, waiting 'til her voice lowered to a few sporadic giggles before saying, in a serious tone, "There is an ulterior motive to me showing you this."

"And what would that be?"

"You've never seen anything of my childhood. I wanted to share this special place with you so there was nothing left of mine I have yet to share with you, too. I know all about your life. What you've told me and shown me; and we've traveled the world together - I'm not joking because right now we will be visiting all four nations together - but you have never seen my life before you."

Suki felt her eyes pool with tears and she flushed with a smile. She almost let out with an 'aw' but couldn't quite manage it as her throat closed in. She and Sokka had sparred from the beginning, always at odds. And yet, they had both managed to find peace, affection and solace in each other in a way that they couldn't with anyone else - and probably not from a lack of trying, either.

The first time she had met him, Sokka was stubborn, sarcastic, close-minded and proud. While he was still sarcastic as ever, Suki was astounded to see how much he had grown since being pulled into helping Aang - the Avatar - and she was even more so happy to have seen it. Sokka was ten times the man that she ever could have remotely considered and she loved him unconditionally. What he had just told her brought those emotions to the surface once again as the memories flooded her retinas and she amorously hugged him.

"One more thing..." Sokka spoke up. He wiped the happy tears off of her cheeks before reaching down with his hand and pulling out a ring from his inside stitching pocket. Suki stared for a moment before looking up into his eyes, waiting for an explanation. She didn't have to wait long.

"This was the wedding band of my mother's. I don't know what tradition is for your people, but it's tradition for people of the Water Tribe to give a betrothal necklace when asking for the hand in marriage. You know me, anything but traditional-", Sokka smiled and reached out, holding her hand, "and I found this in some old box stuffed in the back of a closet long ago and... I knew. I know engagement rings are rare to have but what the hell.

"Suki-", he looked into her eyes and saw the confusion clear, filled up by more tears. "-will you do the honor of marrying me and becoming my wife?"

Suki grinned and sobbed slightly in happiness. Looking down at the simple, small gold band with one pearl looking rock in the middle, she grinned even more. Even if it was supposedly unconventional, it was perfect. Suki captured Sokka's head in her hands and kissed him with all she had. He quickly wound his arms around her waist, the ring fisted in his hand.

They broke a short minute later, slightly panting for air. "I take that as a yes?"

"Definite yes. Yes. Yes. A million times yes!" Sokka chastely kissed her once more before taking her hand in his once again and sliding onto her left hand, fourth finger down. "I think we should celebrate."

"Absolutely - but I have an... odd, request." Suki said hesitantly as she wrapped her arms around her fiancé.

"What?"

"Can we... not, tell anyone?" She saw his brow crease and his eyes flashed with hurt so she continued on quickly. "I just don't want to have to say it three times, right? We'll all be in Ba Sing Se in a month - together again - and wouldn't it be better if we made a big announcement there? We won't have the wedding earlier than that."

"Of course. Hm... I guess I could get on board with that." Sokka said but put her worries at ease quickly when he grinned at her and intertwined her ringed hand with his. "Come on, I have the perfect idea of what to do."

"Okay."

They got back out on the edge of the cliff but Sokka stopped and turned to her. He had mischief dancing on his face. "Let's jump." He nodded his head towards the sea and Suki dropped her grin in what would surely be a world record.

"No. Hell no." She replied vehemently.

"Come on, it will be exciting. What better way to celebrate?"

"There are plenty of better ways to celebrate!" She argued sternly and warned, but to no avail.

"Suit yourself - but I'm still going down." Sokka stated plainly and started to the very edge. Suki reached out and grabbed his elbow.

"What about the other route you were talking about?"

He just grinned and nodded towards the sea again before kissing her quickly. He distracted her just enough that her hand fell from his elbow. Sokka turned and jumped.

"Sokka!" Suki watched, horrified, as he did a fast spin in the air, straightening back to a diving position just as he glided smoothly into the water. She looked around at the slippery rocks and back down to the ocean. She stepped over to the rocks but quickly lost balance and yelled quietly to herself in frustration. "Dammit."

She slipped her boots off and her coat, rolling them into a messy ball. Suki threw them up and over the rocks with her dominate arm and was slightly pleased to see them land where she had wanted. There, she would be able to retrieve them later. She looked back down at the water and was relieved to see him surface. Annoyance and anger flooded her quickly, though, and overpowered the relief.

"Come on in; the water's great!" Sokka shouted up at her.

"You're going to get hypothermia!"

"Not if you are here with me!" He teased.

"I love you but I don't have to like you right now - you left me up here with no exit!" Suki tied her wrap so it cut into her stomach and stepped warily onto the edge. "This not a good start to your engagement. At all! I'm not kissing you for a week after this!" Suki yelled down at him, closing her eyes against the wind. And then she jumped.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_It's all I think of when I was young,_

_reading books in the empty temple hall -_

_refilling the lamp again and again with oil,_

_never lamenting the long winter night._

~'_Long Winter Night_', monk Ryokan - Translated by Steven D. Carter

* * *

><p><em>3 weeks later...<em>

Aang was adjusting the collar of his robe when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in." Instead of a guard or messenger – like he had expected – Toph walked in holding something wrapped in brown paper behind her back. "Hey Toph! What've you got?"

She walked to about the middle of the room, pausing, before he grabbed her elbow and pulled her over to the bed where he sat. "Thanks." Putting the box shape on her lap, she swatted away his hand when he reached over to grab it. "Okay, so I should of given you this before but - and I know you forgave me and whatever - but you were still kind of angry with me not telling you I was coming to crash your whole alone-meditation thing and then I had to tag along with you here so-" Toph stopped to take a deep breath before continuing, rushing it out in a slightly squeaky voice. "- I kept it with me and actually kind of forgot about it so now here-" She thrust it over to his lap.

"Um, what is it?" Aang asked, slowly peeling away the very awkwardly placed and tied thick brown paper. By the haphazard bow alone, he knew that she did it herself and he smiled a bit in both amusement and admiration.

"Remember that book you kept complaining about not finding?" A ghost of a smile hung at her lips as her white, sightless eyes bounced around the room sheepishly. "Well, I sort of, kind of- okay so I actually did earth-bend inside the temple while you were out brushing Appa. I couldn't exactly climb up those huge ladders to the bookcases, you know." She said, slightly defensive, almost immediately.

Aang laughed. "Wait a second, how did I not notice this?"

"It was only behind the bookshelves! Anyway, the how isn't so important. I found this wedged behind a few really tall books so that's probably why you didn't see it." Toph paused. "Insert ironic joke about the blind person finding the right book _here_."

Sure enough, when he peeled back all the paper, it was the book. Truthfully, it was much more like a diary for many generations of air-benders. Flipping through it, he eyed all the different handwritings and drawings excitedly. The book, titled _'The Journal of Air Masters - Southern Air Temple'_, held all of the notes, advice and techniques from previous air-bending Avatars. This one wasn't specific to the one air temple, though, Aang saw. It had been kept updated on all air-bending Avatars. _The only reason it is labeled as such is probably as an identifier in case they got mixed up_, he thought absent-mindedly. Aang held in a squeal of pure joy as he turned back to her. "How did you know it was this book?"

Toph rolled her eyes. "Oh please; all the important books are engraved - including that one. I don't think they could have made the letters any bigger or deeper. Took a few tries with the other books but I figured it out and was able to read 'em in no time."

"Thanks. Just… thanks."

"No problem." She tucked a black strand of hair behind her ear. "So... going to another one of those meetings?"

"Yep! We're almost done though. Finally! I thought these things would never end." He hopped off the bed and carefully hid the book in the shelving unit under some of his other things.

"That's great. I know I have no right to complain but... oh hell, this place sucks. There's nothing for miles; did you know that?"

"I think that was the point. Security and all of those other reasons."

"Still. Sucks. I have nothing to do and you all are my transport." Toph stood and crossed her arms, pouting for a moment before brightening. She opened her mouth once more too quickly before Aang could remind her, teasingly, that she was the one that chose to tag along with him and she could already be off with her parents or Iroh or the others with her own form of transportation. "Are we going to Ba Sing Se next?"

"Well... eventually, yeah. I need to go visit the Gaih-Fo Valley to calm and help those people after these last few meetings." Aang rubbed his neck.

Toph's face went solemn for a moment. "Right. Sorry. Forgot about that." She sheepishly ducked her head. "But - after that?"

"Duh! I want to see Iroh's shop; he's bound to have it done by now. Hey, you think he's going to make them wear those little caps?" Aang asked as they left his room, making their way down the hall before they would have to separate minutes later.

"That would be hilarious!" Toph giggled. "I tried one of those on by accident at some shop with Katara last time we were here - those are so pathetic! So small and they're shaped so weird on the head! What do they look like - even worse?"

"Oh yeah!" Aang chuckled.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_"What is the matter with me? Am I still unable to rid myself of worldly desire?"_

~Koremori character - _'The Tale of Heike'_

* * *

><p>Katara rushed to close the door behind her, eager to escape the cold. <em>Somehow it feels more biting here in the North Pole<em>, she mused inwardly. _But that wouldn't be surprising, in a common sense sort of way._ Taking off her layers of fur boots, winter jacket and a heavy hat Gran Gran had been making her since she'd last been to the South Pole, she breathed a sigh of relief to be inside. She slipped into her flats and re-adjusted her dress' wrap as she walked into the kitchen. "Sorry I'm late! A blizzard came down while I was there and I finally gave up and made a run for it."

"No worries, little one. Sit. I just finished this." Kanna spooned the steaming vegetable soup into each bowl and carried them to the table. She placed the pot in the middle of the table and sat down in one of the four chairs, opposite of where her granddaughter was currently sitting.

Katara sipped it carefully, murmuring appreciatively as her grandmother beamed. Coming up for air after her stomach stopped growling, she looked at the empty chairs. "Where are Suki and Sokka? And where's Pakku, for that matter?"

Kanna waved her hand in a dismissing manner. "Pakku's out at work, of course. Don't ask me where _those two _lovebirds are. Sokka, that dear foolish boy, decided he was going to go visit something by himself which caused poor Suki to get sullen and next thing I know she's going out 'for a walk'. If she had something to say, she should have just said it to my grandson.

"Just watch; she'll come back all fake-happy - like we've all pretended at some time," Katara giggled, sputtering some soup out of her mouth. "- and then when Sokka does something completely minor, she'll snap at him. Don't want to be in the room then, let me tell you."

"No, no I wouldn't either." Katara agreed at the wise words.

They ate in silence, quietly chattering about some news regarding the government, Chief Arnook and the meetings in the Earth Kingdom as the blizzard outside battered against the walls and windows. From the poor and blurry vantage point Katara had, she guessed there were already three inches of snow on the ground. Hopefully, her brother and Suki were able to hold up somewhere - the clouds didn't look like they were letting up their angry burst any time soon.

They both stood up to clear the dishes, Kanna washing their bowls and a few stray plates while Katara dried them off. "I hope Sokka marries that girl soon." Kanna sighed out loud with a matter-of-fact look that her granddaughter recognized well.

"What?" Katara tried her best not to squeak the word out in surprise but failed miserably.

"You heard me, little water-bender. Those two belong together. I don't think anything could separate them..." Kanna sighed again, lost in her thoughts as her granddaughter contemplated it. _I wonder why I've never thought of that_, Katara mused. _It's not like it is unlikely... and it actually sounds nice. _She looked up and shared a smile with Gran Gran.

"Hey, you think you could teach me knitting again?" Katara asked when they finished putting away the dishes. There wasn't much else to do in terms of chores and she already felt the itch of restlessness at being held up inside because of a blizzard.

"Why, so you can forget it in ten minutes?"

"Maybe..." Kanna smiled cheekily at her granddaughter's smart remark and draped her arm around the girl's back, guiding her into the small house's main room. She reached into the cabinet draped on the eastern wall and groaned as she withdrew a rather large basket of knitting materials - tools, cloth and planned projects - from her bent over position. Katara sat next to her grandmother and, for the next hour, was taught how to knit - for the fifth time, at least.

"I remember when I first taught you." Kanna spoke up suddenly as she weaved the gray material. Katara furrowed her brow in confusion.

"You were only five, dear, so you might not remember. You were sad that day and were asking all of these questions about your mother. So, I sat you down and told you - 'Katara, I have told you these stories a thousand times before. Come and knit with me. This was one of your mother's favorite things to do on a cold winter day and she had quite a talent. Do you think you have that, too?' You were so eager, those big blue eyes as big as I think I have ever seen them.

"You were a quick learner - like you were just now - and knit your first scarf in a half hour. Then that Charshen boy came over, asking you to help build a snowman, and then for the next two weeks you refused to knit and were convinced you were going to marry Jai Charshen!"

"I remember that!" Katara laughed as she remembered, while Kanna grinned a rare one as well. "And then the same thing happened the next time! But wasn't it, uh, Ryan or something like that?"

"Shoot, I can't remember that poor boy's name. He was the one that got you hooked on the delivery food routes to the poorer families."

"And the next time I _avoided_ knitting, I ran off to do that." Katara concluded the memory with a smile. "You have to admit, each time after that I didn't knit was because I was doing something else for a good cause."

"I know, I know." Kanna patted her granddaughter's hand affectionately. "I just don't understand why you always forgot."

"Maybe I didn't want to remember - it was my 'rebellious childhood'." Katara smirked and did finger quotes. The older woman just chuckled heartily and continued to knit.

Katara looked out the small window in the room as she continued to knit the green scarf for Toph - should the younger girl ever be in a situation to need and/or warrant it. She saw the snow start to pile on the window sill as it slowed and she set the knitting needles aside.

"I'll go clear off some of the snow." She informed her grandmother before re-layering herself and heading outside. Kanna simply nodded and looked up to see how thick the ice had become. The grandmother shrugged and went back to knitting.

Walking outside, Katara was surprised to find her boots sinking into the snow. She shut the door behind herself and grabbed the shovel from around in the alleyway. The house her grandmother and Pakku had was small and modest - but in the center of town. Not quite center but on one of the main roads only a mile from the government buildings. It was a great location for his work, too, and in general. Katara liked the small, blue building. She had always admired the architecture at the North Pole and while she had been here for the past week, she fell almost completely in love with it. It was completely unique and different to the South Pole.

Her home country was warm and comfortable and loosely decorated with the front doors kept unlocked for the neighbors and the backyards un-gated in case a friend needed something in the garden that they were on short supply with or in case a child threw their toy a bit too far.

The North Pole was clean lines and uniformed; yet ornate and magical. The people had completely different customs and expectations. Balls were present, status in government determined everything and education did as well. It was the place where the children were immediately groomed for succession in whatever or whichever profession or knowledge that their parents possessed.

But, she had also noticed the few similarities. It wasn't anything big, but it was enough to show her that, at the end of the day, the North and the South were made of the same people who simply took their own paths in progressing their own societies. The North relied on self-trade and social class - nobility and government - while the South relied on personal relationships and simple, working knowledge - community and physical skill sets.

Katara finished shoveling the walkway down to the ice sidewalk and walked back over to the main room window and kitchen window, brushing off the snow with her gloved hand. She turned and looked up into the sky, sticking out her tongue. The snowflakes brushed onto the pink flesh with fast melting intricate shapes that were too small to see. Katara thought of how much she loved the cold and smiled a smile that the other half of her mouth frowned upon.

Realizing this, she paused and looked out into the dark night air. She had always loved the cold - loved that it held all of her memories and feelings of home inside of one touch of an icicle, one puff of cold air, one crunch of ice under her shoes. But, now, it had been so long since she had been in the cold. Nearly two years, in fact.

Sure, the three of them had been back here - at the North Pole - for Aang's training; but Katara hardly remembered the good times during that. She remembered the training, the stress, the heartache she saw on her brother's face over loosing Princess Yue, the hardships of fighting the Fire Nation - of fighting Zuko - when she wished she didn't have to fight anyone; when she was _pissed off _at constantly having to defend - and of the excitement over mastering her own abilities in bending.

Now, Katara found herself partially missing the hot, humid air, the lush, green landscapes and the pond with the turtle-ducks she had grown fond of as Zuko steadily became more comfortable with her and more encouraging of having her feed the ducks with him. Katara dropped her eyes to the snow in front of her for a moment before turning back down the path to the front door. _When did my likes, my familiarities - _my wants _- change?_

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	15. Reminiscence and Regrets

**A/N: **One segment but it's pretty damn long. I meant this as just a short insert, more of a plot point for later. But, the more I wrote, the more I became comfortable with exploring Zuko's thoughts. Last thing - I hope what I insert at the end is in the slightest bit believable. I think Toph would hold some clout with her family name, do you?

If you are able to, I kindly ask you to review! Even if you are only able to review once throughout this whole time, it means a lot.

**Disclaimer: Do I own it or any part of it, you ask? Nada. Check back in ten years, and then we'll see (I'm kidding).**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_When for an instant I forget,_

_How like a dream it seems..._

_~'Tales of Ise', _Lady Murasaki

* * *

><p>Earth King Kuei lifted his hand in a wave and one of the servants off to the side - a servant for his own ruling cabinet - turned and picked up a stack of letters; all copies. He distributed the copies around the large table of ruling men before shuffling back into formation by the corner vase.<p>

Kuei began to speak in a surprisingly stern voice as the others read on. "The Gaih-Fo Valley is in desperate conditions. There are few villages in the surrounding areas but all have been affected by this drought. One town in particular, Amaupah, has been hit the most by economical standards. The largest town - Jaymai - is to a lesser extent, but still unable to recoup what it's lost. It is still being rebuilt and resources as tight as they are - with us, the Earth Kingdom, having to rebuild much that has been destroyed - their own resources that add to the revival are all wiped out."

Zuko already the information in the letters that King Kuei had supplied. He pretended to read and reminded himself to nod along, as his shame engulfed him. It wasn't shame for what he had done - it was shame for what his family, his nation, and his people had done to the Earth Kingdom. It was the largest of all in the world and the most devastated. What had held together the will of the people, its survival and the largest strength power against the Fire Nation was crushed when Ba Sing Se fell. And for that, Zuko felt his own shame.

"How can we pool our own resources to help you?" Zuko interrupted Kuei and spoke curtly, but sincerely.

The king shared a brief look with North Pole Chief Arnook - with whom he and his nation had good relations with all throughout many generations - before replying. "We need resources to build transportation to the city. Resurfacing roads, building new ones, laying down railroad tracks - you understand. We have the people but no money to pay them. Doing this will help delivery of resources immensely and keep them from being so cut off.

"Then, there is the crop damage from the drought. We would need rations in the meantime to keep the people calm and fed. There have already been ten deaths from starvation and, sadly, two were new mothers. Their bodies couldn't support a child while on the brink of starvation."

Zuko swallowed thickly.

"Lastly there is a hope that we would receive help from some water benders in the meantime. We are able to get water to the area, but the ground is so dry it is doing more harm to the plants than good. They receive none of it - no nutrients, no water, nothing. If you-" He gestured over to where Chief Arnook and South Pole Tribal Chief Hakoda where sitting near. "-could, in some way, lend some hands, we would be grateful."

"I can lend at least five hands for a few weeks." Hakoda spoke and Kuei nodded in thanks. Hakoda open his leather portfolio and wrote it down in small scrawling.

"I can lend twenty - maybe thirty. As well as twenty percent of your projected costs for transport building; as you list in here." Arnook gestured to the letter as well as calling over his own servant, who wrote it down for him and took the letter with.

"I will gather the rest of the funds needed and send them to the town at first available moment." Zuko said and everyone adopted thinly veiled looks of surprise. "I can help with the food, in terms of rations. We have many left over that were used by the military. My men will hand them off to yours wherever you like." The last statement was accepted well by Kuei; as reason it should, because Zuko was well aware that Kuei never wanted another Fire Nation soldier to step into his nation without reason, notice and approval from him first.

"That is very kind."

Zuko simply nodded back. He was still greatly irritated and uncomfortable when he saw the surprise on the fellow leaders' faces when they saw him offer to do something in support. He was not his father's son and he was determined not to see them think that way. For now, it would only take time - he knew this. Iroh reminded him every time he vented about.

As much as he could help - in whichever or whatever way available - right the wrongs he and his nation did in destruction against the fellow nations was of no trouble. It was the only way he could at least try and fix it. Zuko had made the vow to go halfway. He could only wait for the others to do the same.

Aang, having sat at his own seat as both the Avatar and the leader of the Air Nation (a matter they had settled earlier that week), spoke up now. "I don't have anything to offer physically but I will go visit the area and calm the people; assure them they are not forgotten. I can also help with the sick."

Earth King Kuei accepted the offer with a small smile. "Thank you, Avatar. That is more than enough on your part."

Zuko almost rolled his eyes at how Aang all but beamed; but he resisted it. It was a childish thing to do - especially in front of his elders; with who he should be on equal footing.

Aang continued on, as he was the Avatar - meaning he was the monitor of them all. "Tribal Chief Hakoda? Chief Arnook?" Both shook their heads, assenting that they had no objects or additions, and Aang nodded, his face set. Sometimes, Zuko caught himself staring and thinking in surprise how much the boy had grown.

When he was first chasing the Avatar, the few close encounters reinforced - in his mind - that the Avatar was of no use and needed to be captured. He was childish, bold, and unstable. All of those things he had been taught to be deadly - not bad, but_ deadly_. It was Iroh that had changed his opinion to a lesser standing.

Now, as Aang stood and closed the meeting, Zuko couldn't help but see a completely different person. A wiser, weathered, capable, and commendable one. While he wouldn't say - by _any_ means - that Aang was a man yet, he agreed that Aang was no longer just a 'boy'.

Zuko waited until everyone was out of the room before gathering his own few things and walking out, around, and up the stairs to his own room.

The rooms for each were expansive. A fireplace was positioned on the center wall of his own; a sofa and few chairs flanking it. A desk was at the far end opposite of the door, overlooking through huge windows to the desert-like expanse around.

A glass and wooden paned door lead to a small deck outside; something he would of thought worrisome to everyone's security staff, but the deck was screened with reinforced steel - meaning they begrudging allowed it when Kuei complained about not being able to let his bear, Bosco, out to enjoy the fresh air.

The king sized bed and surrounding curtains were to the corner in the nook wall to the left of the entrance door; looking visually separate as the bathroom door was halfway between it and the desk - or, in other words, halfway across the room.

Zuko walked through the whole of the room and out the other side. He stood on the deck and took a deep breath, his hands curling around the metal bars as he subtly used it for support.

Thinking about Aang, but more specifically the past, always made him think about Katara. Zuko felt the flutters of humiliation of shame across his chest when he recalled how he acted, treated, and viewed the Aang gang. He had always thought - _said _- that they were the naive ones. That they were the ones misled in their attempts to end the Great War and bring about peace between all the nations. But it was really himself, who was the naive one. The _misguided _one.

_That moment_. The moment where he was trapped in the Crystal Catacombs by Azula's orders; and discovered Katara was as well. It was the first time he viewed them as people - her, as a _person _- and not enemies. It was the first time he felt on even footing with them. With her.

_***Flashback **__- Crystal Catacombs (Initial Reactions and Expectations Changed)..._

Katara scowled as a look of hurt flashed across her face. "You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally." Katara turned her back to Zuko and crouched down in the middle of the expansive room. He just looked on, unsure. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me."

Zuko stare froze as he was stunned by the small revelation. His brain processed it quickly as the emotions of his own mother's lose filled his chest and made his throat feel thick as glue. "I'm sorry. That's something we have in common." He looked away for a moment, momentarily ashamed that he was sharing this information with the 'enemy'. His mother was a topic of the past by now, back at his home in the Fire Nation - the only place where Ursa and the resulting happen stance was known in any detail.

He was about to walk to the other side of the room, resigned to his situation with sharing room with an angry enemy, when he looked up and saw Katara shift. Her head pivoted and Zuko locked his gold eyes with her bright blues. He saw hope in them. Caring. _Understanding._

Those emotions hadn't come from anyone but Uncle Iroh since he was a boy and his mother had left. Zuko suddenly felt uncomfortable. And yet, he felt as comfortable as ever as his stomach twisted in knots because of it.

_***End Flashback.**_

He felts the knots again now and sighed. Turning away from the rail, he looked back at the desk in the room. Writing a letter came to mind but he was unsure of what to write. The who was obvious to him, even if he was unsure. All he knew is he wanted to talk to her. Even if it was just idle chat or catching up, it would still be refreshing. It would still make him feel better.

Zuko thought back to how, even after all the pain he had been through with his banishment, he still was unable to let go of the Fire Nation. Of hope in his sister; in his father. It was the only home he had known. He remembered the betrayal against the Avatar gang with a scowl; a scowl at his _own _behavior. He had been offered a home then - an _acceptance_ - before by Katara but he was too blind to recognize it.

And it hurt to remember that.

_***Flashback**__ - Crystal Catacombs (During Zuko and Katara's Duel)..._

Zuko set his mouth in a thin line, hoping he had made the right decision as he looked upon his sister's maniacal face. He turned fast and lashed out a whip of fire at Avatar Aang. The boy fell back and Katara rushed to his side, but he rose quickly.

She immediately formed into a battle stance and Aang followed in his own. Katara looked at Zuko with horrified eyes and he almost felt sorry. _Almost_. But he couldn't allow himself to be - he had made his choice and it was the right one. It was. "I thought you had changed!" She yelled across the cave at him, unable to stop herself.

"I have changed." Zuko said, the retort coming easily as he stood on his sister's side. It was something Azula would always have retorted with but he didn't expect the hurt, the anger and the protective streak he immediately saw flare on her face and in her bright eyes.

It made him immediately wonder, for just a moment, if that was what Azula had seen in their mother's eyes every time she talked back and was punished for it. He squelched that thought before it had time to seed - unknowing that part of it already had in the back of his mind and his conscience the first time he looked into her eyes in the cave - and projected the anger he felt at himself out at Katara.

Zuko set his stance and quickly fired together a whip of flames. She pushed back with one of her own - water - and he upped the game with two. The whips of opposite elements licked and doused at each other, steam rising to the enclosed dirt walls.

_***End Flashback.**_

In the end, it was Katara who he had betrayed the most and it was Katara whose opinion mattered the most, whose feelings he held the highest, and whose memories with he couldn't seem to let go.

Zuko turned sideways and leaned his hips against the metal railing, looking out into the sky. It was nighttime now and the thin moon was rising steadily into the sky; and into his line of vision. The color was sparkling, solid white with shades of gray dotted about. On the very edges - having been set against a more so than usual darkened sky - the moon took on a wavering appearance of light blue.

The water-like image reminded him of the water Katara had shown him briefly; the water she had kept from the Spirit Oasis. Zuko slowly reached up and touched his scar. He closed his eyes as he remembered her offer.

_***Flashback **__- Crystal Catacombs (Each Softening to the Other's Confessions)..._

Zuko looked on to where Katara stood a few feet away, surprisingly touched at her apology and feeling even more so ungrateful for it. "It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark." He resisted the urge to reach up and touch it again - the thought alone making him wanting to hide it but he knew there was no way he could.

Katara hesitated. Her vision of the 'banished prince' was vastly changing in such a short time frame. She curled her fingers around the capsule on her neck and tilted her head, looking into his face. He wouldn't quite meet her eyes after the last statement. She felt herself being drawn in by _something_ there. Stepping forward slowly, Katara said with much more strength than she felt, "Maybe you _could_ be free of it."

He turned and looked at her straight in the eye immediately as he assumed he misunderstood the meaning. "What?"

"I have healing abilities." Katara said slowly, taking another step forward.

Zuko wanted to scoff but held it back. He knew it was impossible but a part of him didn't follow his instincts of immediately rebuffing her statement because a part of him _wanted _what she was hinting at to be true. "It's a scar. It can't be healed."

Katara took off the amulet around her neck holding the spirit water and looked at it. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I have been saving it for something important." She walked up completely to Zuko, now standing toe to toe with him in a situation that just six months ago she wouldn't of thought possible without attacking or killing being involved.

Looking him square in the eye, she softened her gaze. Zuko held a look of vulnerability in his eyes. She recongized that it wasn't just becuase of the scar. It was deeper than that. The protective and caring part of her wanted to help it move on; maybe help him relinquish it and find closer. "I don't know if it would work, but.…" Katara couldn't help it and followed her instincts as she took that last step.

Reaching up with her delicate hand, she touched his scar. He flinched initially but didn't shy away. Instead, Zuko stared at her in a sense of awe, before leaning slightly into her hand.

_***End Flashback.**_

Zuko traced his scar with his index finger like he had done many times over the years since first having it seared upon him as if he were a piece of meat. _What would have happened, had we never been interrupted? _He thought something that had kept him up at night at times between then and now. _Would I have a normal face? Would more time have made me join the Avatar gang then, instead of begging on my knees later? I wish I knew,_ Zuko thought as he walked back inside and sat down at the desk.

"As Uncle has said, don't dwell in the past. Make the most out of the life ahead." He muttered aloud. Picking up a piece of paper and tapping the quill pen on the inside of the ink jar, he began his letter.

It wasn't anything special. He wrote it vaguely with the intention of Katara being able to read it to her brother and Suki, if she wanted. _Besides, I'm not someone that's good at poetry and feelings_, he thought with a smirk. Zuko was sure that she received some form of regular correspondence from Aang; it only made sense. The thought set of a twinge inside of his stomach but he ignored it. His stomach was still in knots from 'walking down memory lane', as Uncle would undoubtedly say. He couldn't help but dwell some times.

He stood and walked over to the door to retrieve his wax stamp from one of his servants but startled back when one was standing directly on the other side of the door, hand posed to knock.

"Yes?" Zuko asked curtly, yet having nothing to pressure him. He wanted to lie down on his provided-for bed and block out the world - _and his mind_ - for the next seven hours. Writing the letter was supposed to help him let it all go for the evening.

"There is a message courier downstairs with a letter for you from Fire Nation Colonel Jaipal. You must sign for it personally, sir."

"Fine." He walked out and missed seeing Toph behind him. She heard him leave, along with another shuffling of untidier feet, and assumed he was going with a servant. _No matter_, she thought, _I'll just wait in his room_. Toph walked in, the guard not even saying a sound - she inwardly grinned at that. Finding his desk, she sat down in the chair and set her own letter down on the table.

She was told she had received a letter from The Duke, with whom she had been keeping a light and friendly correspondence with since Zuko's Fire Lord Coronation. Being that she is blind and all, Toph had been using Katara, Suki, and some of the staff at the palace (she had made friends with them easily, too) to communicate back to his letters; along with reading them.

She had no one now except Aang but he was who-knows-where at the moment; not in his room, which no one seemed to notice. Toph kept the small smile to her face, knowing that he most likely escaped out the balcony and took some time to air-bend and unwind.

However, as she set the letter down it slid off of another that was only partially closed. It was folded but the end still stuck upward; not enough force was keeping it folded completely. Toph felt across the top, where the thick ink had dried, and was able to make out a few words. She knew from earlier that Zuko used a thick, molding-like type of ink; it made it easier when she practiced her signature. Running her callous finger tips over it in a few swipes, she ran across the opening sentence and her hand skidded to a stop.

A few more careful feels and she was able to make out 'Kat'. Toph - feeling and acting as bold as usual - took the letter in her hands and folded it into the other one. She walked out of the room, only stopped by the guard who wondered why she was leaving so soon. She replied simply that she would stop by later. The Fire Nation guard was most likely a little suspicious - something Toph could easily decipher by his tone - but there was no grounding for him to be; at least, in his eyes.

She took it back to her room and interrupted the Earth Kingdom servant (the inn had kept their usual staff in case of any needs by their few worldly guests of the past two weeks) as she filled the bath in the other room. After a little convincing, and her family's name thrown about, Toph sat down on her bed and handed the extracted letter over to the nervous young woman.

Toph returned the letter shortly after learning of its contents and tampering with it only slightly. She made sure it was folded halfway - as she had found it - and waited until Zuko came back. He sealed it and handed it to his own courier before sitting down with a reluctant tired yawn. Toph was waiting avidly for him to read her own letter for her; so he did. She chattered with him - _to _him - about The Duke's situation in terms of life and making a living and some minor adventures he and Pipsqueak were stumbling upon - giving a large and heavily unneeded backstory to each.

When she left, Zuko laid back onto the bed with its many fluffy, warm sheets and sighed into the darkened room. He was exhausted now and had no doubt he would fall asleep quickly. Zuko wanted to be mad at Toph, he really did. Toph had bored him to all but actual death with her stories - despite how a few times, only a few, she had made him grin at the 'trials and tribulations of The Duke'.

But, as his head hit the pillow and he stared off into the reminiscent and reminding moon that peaked through the thin curtains, Zuko found he couldn't. He fell asleep all too quickly; knowing it wouldn't have been that easy without the help of his _'little sister'_.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	16. The Letter and Two Times Déjà vu

**A/N: **I edited the first part extensively but still think it's not my best work. Short of scrapping the entire thing, though, there's not much else I can do *lesigh*. And I love it too much to scrap it. Hopefully, it makes sense to you, too.

I have a surprise POV at the end! But don't skip to it! It only works completely if you read the other two first. They kind of go in order. Also, anyone up for Zutara moments? I know, I know, I've been slacking on them but we'll be getting some of those again next chapter *zipsupmouthbeforesayingmore*.

Big, shiny, bright, sugary THANK YOU's to everyone that has put this story on an Alert or Favorite'd it or Reviewed it or simply Reads it! You guys and gals are amazing.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the franchise or am affiliated in it in any way beyond being a viewer with a very active imagination. **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_O tell her, Swallow, though that knowest each_

_That bright and fierce and fickle is the South,_

_And dark and true and tender is the North._

~2nd stanza _'O Swallow, Swallow', _Lord Alfred Tennyson

* * *

><p>Katara stepped back from the patient and smiled over at the doctor. The older man - seventy in age, if she had to guess - checked the patient's vitals and pain levels with their injury before nodded over at her in a small look of awe at how quick she worked. The patient, a young boy at the age of six, had fallen down the front steps of his house because they were iced over in the night and had broken his leg, fracturing the other's ankle. The doctor rattled off some things to the child's mother who was gripping her son's hand tightly, before writing a small prescription for medication in case the herb combinations he gave her weren't strong enough.<p>

The young water-bender stepped outside of the curtained room and watched the medical staff and patients bustling past - all with their own worries. The young mother and boy soon stepped out of the room behind her and she watched them go. The boy smiled back at her innocently and Katara waved at him with a wide smile. Apparently satisfied, the boy gripped his mom's hand tighter and started talking animatedly to her, forgetting all about Katara and his earlier pain.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer? We could always use another healer on board; our hospitals are never quite fully prepared." Doctor Kaiku put his pen back in his robe's pocket and smiled slightly over at her.

"Sorry, but I am needed elsewhere. Besides, you all have wonderful training programs here. And you have more than enough healers here. You know, when I was last at the South Pole, I was using your model of teaching."

"Yes, how is it going down there?"

Katara sighed and walked with him to the staff lounge. "Not too bad. I think, out of all the places I've been around the world lately, it is the most devastated. My home was never allowed to recover from the initial attacks." She paused before brightening. "But, the exchange program is working out well and I heard from Avatar Aang that the Earth Kingdom agreed to open a teaching exchange program, after the Fire Nation helped more than enough with their drought in the Gaih-Fo Valley region."

"I heard of that too. It's amazing to us all the turn-around done by the Fire Nation. We are all still wary of that prince, though." He immediately held up his hand with an apologetic smile. "Fire Lord, I should say now."

She poured a drink of her own after watching him do the same and sat across from him on one of the ice benches. "Trust me on this; he is not like his father."

"That may be so, but we have all heard stories from our fellow soldiers of the destruction he had a hand in on our own soil when they attacked us. It was all because the Avatar and the Moon Spirit that we were able to fight them off. That was a very sad day for us all. Princess Yue undertook a great sacrifice to save us. Who knows what would have happened during any other time." Kaiku said sagely and she nodded, conceding.

"As a wise friend of mine has said before, 'maturity, experiences and time can greatly change a person'." Katara quoted Iroh.

The doctor nodded as well, accepting that point.

"I was meaning to ask, how is the foreign exchange working for everyone here?"

"It's gone excellent!" Kaiku smiled and spoke with obvious pleasure. "My son, Morroh, is actually down in the South Pole right now. We have opened our home to a Southern Water Tribe child in his place for Winter. Her name is Iaka. While our beliefs in things like politics and government and importance are vastly different, it is like meeting someone on the street here. Not much change at all."

"I noticed that too when I first visited here."

"It's amazing." Kaiku simply stated once more. He glanced over to the door where a nurse was gesturing for him and immediately rose, dumping his water infused with herbal extracts down the drain of the bowl shaped sink.

It was a contraption Katara had hardly seen before besides in the kitchens of the Fire Nation and a few times in Ba Sing Se, before it had fallen to the hands of the Fire Nation and Princess Azula that one, brief, time before Aang defeated Ozai and Zuko took power. She was still amazed sometimes at how fast technology was developing. Or maybe it's always been this way but I've always been isolated, she thought.

"I must go." He continued on, almost out the door. "Are you going to stick around anymore today?"

"No. I finished all of my volunteers for the week."

"That is a shame. Stop by sometime before you go; this is your last day of volunteering, yes?"

"Yes." Katara nodded. "And I will be sure to say goodbye to everyone. Thank you so much for opening up your hospitals to me."

"It was a pleasure." Kaiku shook hands with her before walking off down the hall.

Katara left the hospital, bundling her fur parka back on. It was the same coat she had used all throughout traveling with Aang and as far back to since she was twelve. It was much different and clearly showed its South Pole origins when compared to all that she passed as she walked down the sidewalk. But, she spotted a few others and smiled at the young faces. The exchange program she and Aang had set up to benefit the South Pole specifically - and the others by extension - was working as they had hoped. It would take a long time for her homeland to experience much real and drastic change but a small step was still a step nonetheless.

She reached Pakku's and Gran Gran's small house without any delays. Brushing off the snow from the large mailbox used by all of the neighbors on the block (the houses were tall but not very wide, resulting in eight being able to be pushed together; making one mailbox for all a much easier alternative), Katara checked the mail. She guessed that her Gran Gran had already done so before leaving that morning but did it again anyway.

To her surprise, there was mail in the slot designated for them, #34 on Street Kleon. Katara carried the few stamped letters inside and set them on the small table as she took off her jacket and scarf, hanging them on the hooks above.

"Hello? Sokka? Gran Gran? Anyone?" She was met with silence. Katara stepped out of her shoes and walked over to the stairs before stopping abruptly on the second step. "Wait, was that-" She said out loud, catching herself. Katara walked back over to the entrance table and sorted through the envelopes. A few were from various government facilities in the North Pole - meaning they were for Pakku and, perhaps, Sokka - but there was one hidden behind them all. It was sealed with red wax and the Fire Lord imprint.

Katara peeled back the wax, cutting into the paper a bit, as she walked back up the steps to her room. She hurriedly opened it.

' Katara -

Aang told me you two were communicating briefly. I'm not sure why I am writing you this letter; everything happening here you probably already know about. The Fire Nation's relationship with the Earth Kingdom is getting stronger. They still inwardly hate us for Ba Sing Se's fall - like you know they do when you had the same feelings - but they can accept our help now. Like Uncle said, baby steps are still a step towards full peace.'

She smiled at the phrase, having used it in her thoughts a few times this past week and just half an hour earlier. She sat on her bed, continuing to read the short letter. Katara couldn't stop a small amount of amusement rising inside of her chest at the way Zuko wrote - it was just like the way he spoke.

'Uncle Iroh wrote a few days ago; the progress is going along well in Ba Sing Se. He says the Jasmine Dragon has received a lot of 'hype' - especially now that the citizens know his true identity. Uncle mentioned how he had to fire someone. He actually sounded sad about it, for a moment, but then he complained about the person's performance. I don't think he will miss him.'

Katara giggled, easily seeing that in Iroh. Even though she hadn't completely known Iroh until recently, it was a surprise to the entire group that Toph had known him for a long time. The stories Toph told about Iroh and his behavior were only dutifully reinforced in reality. By now, while she reminded herself there were many gaps in history, Katara felt like she had known Iroh for years.

She laid down on her stomach and continued to read with the sunshine filtering through the lone window in the guest bedroom.

'How is your trip going? Aang told me Sokka got applause for his demonstrations. Do you think he will be asked back again on a regular basis? That would be good for him.'

She agreed and was a bit shocked he asked about it. Sokka had actually already been asked back. He hadn't been able to give an exact date when he would be able to return, but he and Suki had readily agreed with each other that they would love to do so. Katara was proud of her brother. Just a few days ago, he had started entertaining the idea of teaching_. For a living_. Suki was thrilled with the idea as that was something she had thought about doing herself; her Kyoshi instincts were still very much there.

'How are you? Did you end up volunteering at the North Pole, too? I hope the South Pole has grown and recovered some.'

Katara saw the thick dot of ink on the period mark and knew what he was thinking of. She sighed and wished he was in front of her so she could tell him he didn't have to apologize (or even contemplate it for the minute the ink showed he had) - it wasn't him who raided the South Pole. It wasn't him who had set the trend of destruction in her home village and across the nations. It was only he who had followed in it during his teenage years to try and seek approval from his father; his home nation.

As twisted as that was, it was the end result that truly mattered. And in the end Zuko had saved himself and his nation by saving the world from destruction at his father's and his nation's hands. Zuko had apologized well enough for the things he had and _hadn't_ caused.

'I received a report from one of my men looking into my mother's location. She is either in Jarro - remember I told you about that town? - or a small, village-sized one called Hemero-Callis on the neighboring island. They can't ask any more questions; it might raise suspicion.

When are you leaving the North Pole? Aang and I are having our last meeting in a few days' time. He wants to go visit the Gaih-Fo Valley; somehow he roped me into it even though I won't be able to do much. It won't be much of a delay. Three days max. Then it's off to Ba Sing Se.

Do you know that Toph is here too? In case you don't - she hiked a ride on Aang's temple meditation. I asked her why she willing joined him, knowing she would be stuck with us for a few weeks in a remote place. She just shrugged. Has Toph ever told you much about her parents? I was thinking about them the other day... Toph is our family - we all are to each other - but I'm thinking that she needs hers. She seems restless. Like she needs a purpose. I know that feeling.

See you in Ba Sing Se next week.'

Katara ignored the abrupt ending, knowing that Zuko wasn't much for... _fluff_. She wondered at what he had said about Toph. She knew the feeling well, too. Ever since the Great War was ended, Katara had been living day to day. And it wasn't very fulfilling. She wanted at least a third of the rush, pressure and ambition she had when they were riding on Appa each day, trying to save the world. _Is that too much to ask? Maybe._ But, Katara would be helping Aang soon enough when he went back to the temples and started forth with his plan.

Her mind went back to Toph and the young member's parents. She knew that Toph had reunited with her parents at Zuko's coronation but didn't know much else besides that. Toph had been gone for a few days, spending time with them. And suddenly she was back; stating simply that her parents went home and she would write them. Aang had asked her why she hadn't gone with them. Toph said they were all her home before abruptly leaving to earth-bend.

Katara puzzled at Toph's reaction as she remembered it. At the time, she thought it was just hard for her to talk to the family that she had run away from for years because of how they treated her blindness. Now, the thought occurred to her that maybe Toph wasn't comfortable with leaving her group of friends to return home. Life had changed so much in just the past two years since she had run away, including herself. _Maybe she's scared_? Katara lay on her bed for a few minutes thereafter and thought, staring up into the ceiling.

Her conclusion was to ask Toph when she saw her next. She would be gentle about it, of course. But trying to get inside someone's head - even if they are a great friend - is impossible. Katara didn't know and her speculation would never bring about the full truth. She wanted to help Toph and if what Zuko said about her seeming lost proved to be true….

Standing, she walked downstairs and sat at the desk in the corner of the main room. Katara withdrew a piece of paper, the ink, a quill pen and the waxing seal supplies. She answered all of his questions diligently - just as she had been taught to do since her childhood - and inserted additions of her own. Katara wrote about how it was different between the North and South Pole. She described what she had volunteered doing (almost every available service to volunteer for, really) down in her home-nation and then about her volunteering both at the orphanage and the hospital in the North Pole.

She reached where he had signed off when her eyes came across a less neat scrawling - a smaller one, too - a few lines below.

'We will probably be on our way to Gaih-Fo by the time you receive this and Aang more or less said you three would be leaving in four days. Would you stop here instead of continuing to Ba Sing Se? I have something I want to talk with you about and the company would be appreciated.'

Katara re-read it. The scrawling was written as if he was in a hurry and his grammar was slightly different but she couldn't complain on that front - a person's writing style should always be slightly different from the way they talk, she had also been taught in grammar school. She reclined in the stiff backed chair and pondered. Why she was thinking of it seriously, she hadn't the faintest idea.

Actually, she did.

Sokka and Suki could always go to Ba Sing Se together. They all had a ship they had paid for in advance, and then rented Ostrich horses to get from the dock to Ba Sing Se. It would be easily to break off from them then and head for Gaih-Fo Valley. From where she remembered it was on the map - she had seen it, one day, when she had stopped by Zuko's office on 'official' business for Aang - she could cut off outside of Ba Sing Se and follow along the south-eastern edge of an arid mountain range. It was on the other side that the Valley was located; on the edge between the rough mountains and the lush forests.

"Hello? Sokka, Katara? Are you two home yet?" Kanna called out from the foot of the stairs.

"It's just me, Gran Gran. You don't have to yell, I'm right here." Katara said and, making a quick decision, wrote back her response - _If you three are going to see Gaih-Fo Valley and lend a hand, then I will, too. I have no pressing reasons to be in Ba Sing Se right away. See you in a few days' time, then. ~Katara_.

She folded it and sealed it as Kanna walked into the room, having deposited her winter layers upstairs in her bedroom. "What are you writing there, little water-bender?"

"Just a letter to a friend. Did you pick out many groceries?"

"I was able to find everything for that new casserole recipe I found." Kanna grinned over at her.

"You are going to make it tonight, aren't you?" Katara asked with a small smile, knowing her grandmother well. She walked over and grabbed her coat and shoes, putting them on with the letter tucked securely in a side pocket.

"Of course. Where are you going?"

"I want to drop this off before the day is over. I'll help you cook when I come back!" Katara said as she waved slightly and closed the door behind her.

"You better. I can't stay on my feet as long as I used to." Gran Gran said the last part in a murmuring voice as she walked back upstairs to catch a nap before her granddaughter returned.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_I stay my haste, I make delays__,  
><em>_For what avails this eager pace?__  
><em>_I stand amid the eternal ways__,  
><em>_And what is mine shall know my face__._

~Stanza 2 of_ 'Waiting', _by John Burroughs

* * *

><p>Zuko strapped down the pack on his Ostrich horse anew. He had instructed no guards to come with him, the Avatar, and Toph during their short trip to the towns of the Gaih-Fo Valley. <em>It would be just like before I became Fire Lord<em>, he thought with a slight feeling of deja-vu wash over him. It was welcome.

He guided the half-bird out of the stables and over to the water trough. It gulped appreciatively, sensing its journey would be long. Or maybe it was just a common precaution. Either way, it was right.

Aang was already there, manipulating the in the other molding trough where his Ostrich horse was drinking away. He cooled it with his air-bending and the horse drew back. Frowning, he slowly drew it to a boil. The ostrich mix drew back more, shrilling. He quickly cooled it to a safer temperature with his air-bending. The half-horse sniffed it warily. After participating in a short stare-down with the water, it dunked its whole head.

"Odd." The young Avatar observed.

Zuko just smirked from where he was standing against the wooden railing. "Do that with all the pets?"

"Only ones I love." He replied cheekily.

They stood there for a moment, Aang glancing back at the tall Inn every few seconds to see if Toph was ready to start preparing her own mount.

"Listen, Aang, I wanted to talk to you about something..." Zuko hesitated; his Uncle's wise words suddenly meaning nothing when he didn't have his Uncle to tell it.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if you have thought about your future... You're the Avatar. We all know you are the last hope at reviving the Air Nation." He took a deep breath and glanced back at the confused boy's face. He tried again. "Look, it's not set in stone now. But what you do... it determines the future of the four nations as four or... three. As it has been for the past one hundred years.

"I don't want to... intrude. You're officially recognized as the Avatar now, and with that comes a level of maturity." He leaned against the railing, staring at the side of the tall barn. Purposefully avoiding looking into his peripheral vision. "There's a clause I read about recently in the rules and guidelines that govern the nations on core principle. In there, it says that if an Avatar is the only chance of continuing on a nation, then he/she may become the leader of that nation.

"I'm... I am just bringing this up because, a-"

"I know what you're saying, Zuko." Aang said with a straight face, matter-of-factly. His friend twisted around to look at him, surprised. "You are saying that I either let my nation diminish or I, while being Avatar, reproduce on the high chance that an air-bender will come from it. Regardless of how that will cross my Avatar and Air Nomad duties; and my monk ones about celibacy."

"Well... yeah." He said lamely; his cheeks feelings warm against the hot air.

"I have already thought about this. Chief Arnook even asked me about it to be clear on where the Air Nation stood; and where I stand. I will revive my home." He vowed.

"I am glad." Zuko nodded shortly with Aang. They spoke no more about it, the mutual understanding and knowledge clear.

Toph took this as her cue to finally come out. There was no prominent or obvious reason for her being late and taking so long. The other two didn't pay much head to it. She readied her Ostrich horse in record time and they set off.

Toph didn't wait two minutes before speaking up. "So what makes this valley so important?"

"Did you seriously not listen in on any of what we were talking about these past weeks? They're going through a severe drought!" Aang answered, astonished.

"Duh; I know that!" Toph made her 'you're an idiot' face at Aang. "I'm just asking why we are going there. Aren't we all meeting up in Ba Sing Se? You know, for Iroh's Jasmine Dragon re-opening. For the tea and mini-reunion."

"Yeah, we are. But we are going to check on these towns because it's the right thing to do! You didn't have to come."

"Ride alone on to Ba Sing Se? No thanks. Who would be my eyes? Who would I talk to?"

"Hopefully not me." Aang muttered under his breath.

"Hey!" But he didn't say it quietly enough. Toph seared him with a glare.

Zuko felt like groaning but managed to hold it in; at the cost of a bleeding cheek. He would much rather not be stuck with these two bickering as they trudged the two day journey to Gaih-Fo Valley. It reminded him of his days with the Avatar and Company during the final months before the end of the war. Except this time there was no distracting Sokka or mediating Katara.

What he wouldn't give to have Katara here at the moment. If she was unable to mediate between the two idiots to his right, she could always swap roles with Sokka and pleasantly distract him. Zuko smiled imperceptivity.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The sun set, but set not his hope:_

_Stars rose; his faith was earlier up:_

_Fixed on the enormous galaxy,_

_Deeper and older seemed his eye;_

_And matched his sufferance sublime_

_The taciturnity of time._

~Lines 1 - 6, _'Character'_, Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

><p>She twisted the key in the lock and was mildly surprised to find the door already unlocked. She stepped inside and set the weaved bags and wicker baskets down on the large counters. Her arms were red from being weighed down by the many objects and she rubbed them absently for a moment, wondering where her employee was at. She started pulling out some of the fresh flowers and putting them in the cooled and closed shelving to stay as fresh as possible.<p>

"Oh, Mistress Saru! I wasn't expecting you so early." Tadame peaked out from the backroom and said with an embarrassed flush of the cheeks. Just then, a little boy, only three at most, stumbled around the corner. "I'm sorry-" Tadame swiftly scooped up the small child. He grabbed at her twine necklace and repeated a verse he learned recently in a high pitched voiced. "-my sister had to work a later shift and can't pick him up until ten. I have no one else to take him."

Ursa smiled at the young woman softly. "You need not to be sorry. All you have to do is ask; of course he can stay here today. Now, when he grows tall enough to reach the flowers, I might object to him getting mischievous with them."

Tadame thanked her excessively but Ursa simply waved it off. She walked over and smoothed the little boy's hair. It was soft, choppy and so uncommonly dark. It reminded her of her son's; until the boy in front of her turned his green - not gold - eyes to her in open curiosity. "What's his name?"

"Jains. He was named after his father..." She looked very young in that moment as she bit her lip at the memory. Ursa kindly pat the younger woman's arm and told her to take a moment if she needed. Tadame, this time, dismissed her and took an empowering deep breath. She carried her son to the back room to set him up with a distracting set of wood-carved animals.

Ursa set to work forming a few bouquets and setting them out in the windows. She took some ribbons and leaves she had picked yesterday - all dried and perfect - and strategically placed them. Ursa opened and unlocked the door, flipping the Open/Closed sign.

She recalled what Tadame had told her about her now deceased husband as she arranged a fire-lily and orchid bouquet - an order for an upcoming wedding in the neighboring town of Jarro; where she used to live for a year.

Tadame's husband, Jaines, was an Earth Kingdom soldier. Shortly after they were married - she was eighteen at the time and he nineteen - he enlisted. Tadame had kept him off that long, continually reminding them that if they didn't marry before he left than they never be able to take the time to do it again; the time soldiers had on leave because of the Great War's demanding need for soldiers was thin. Sometimes, soldiers didn't come home for years. Jaines was an Earth Kingdom born citizen; he and Tadame had met at a port city when she was on a trip with her cousins. His identity as that was kept hidden once she moved back to the Fire Nation and he went to be enlisted.

It was a few months after he had gone off to an encampment along the center-west of the large Earth Kingdom that Tadame learned she was expecting. She and Jaines wrote whenever possible and when little Jains was born, she got a friend of hers to sketch the small baby boy (named after his father) on a letter. (Ursa remembered that with fondness as she had been there when Tadame had coerced her school friend into it).

When Jains was eleven months old, Tadame received word that her husband's regiment had gone missing. Two days after Jains' birthday, she was told he was dead. Ursa had been there for it all, having hired Tadame right after she had married and was looking for a job (her first). She was shoulder to cry on for the young woman who she was seeing more and more like a niece. Tadame held a special place in her heart after so many years of not trusting anyone.

When Jains was two years and four months old, Tadame got hope from a friend of Jaines' when he said that they (his regiment; as he was also in the Earth Kingdom military) discovered a prison where captured soldiers were kept. It was by Omashu, on the Earth Kingdom's own territory. Tadame had traveled in secret with her son to stay with her husband's family as they awaited word. When Jains was two years and five months old, the Earth Kingdom invaded the highly-secured base.

When Jains was two years and six months old, he finally met his father - at Jaines' funeral. He had died from starvation while being held there.

Tadame hadn't come back to the Fire Nation for three months; during which, she and Ursa corresponded regularly. Her old heart went out to the grief-stricken woman. So much sorrow experienced and hope shattered in such a short period. And she wasn't even twenty-one years old.

Tadame had come back, though. She threw her head and soul into her work and child. Ursa commended her for it, knowing that it was all the woman could do to hold it together. Ursa may not be much of a literal shoulder to cry on for the girl anymore, but she still heard the crying in the bathroom at times. The middle-aged woman knew the feeling. She knew how long it took to get over the initial grief and assumption of hope; yet, at the same time, fearing the hope because of experiencing it being constantly crushed.

Ursa saw Tadame as courageous. It was too easy to give up. It was too hard to get out of bed.

"What are the orders for the Bei-Uye wedding, Mistress Saru?" Tadame came out and asked, much more composed.

'Saru' brushed a stray graying lock of her black hair behind her ear. "Ten table bouquets, five hand-held and then the bride's. The tables are these ones I'm making right now. The hand-held are the fire-lilies, spring grass and daylilies. The bride's is purely daylilies."

"I will set work on the bride's first. One less thing to do right away."

"Do you know that daylilies are my favorite flower?" Ursa asked her apprentice suddenly before the silence was left to lull.

Tadame peeked over with a curious smile. She took a vase of day lilies out and picked up an orange ribbon to match the specific color variation. "No, I didn't. Why is that?"

"They were the first ones I ever planted in my garden." That part was true enough. It was the origin of it but Ursa left out the rest. The true origin was that daylilies were the first flower she was given by a beggar. It was a few days after she ran from the Fire Lord Palace. Disguising her dress as a nobody, she bought an Ostrich horse and started down the dirt lanes off from the main trek. An old beggar was sitting on the side of a road. He had a basket with his filled with all sorts of flowers picked from the frolicking field behind him.

Feeling pity, Ursa gave him a coin any other person would have kept out of pure selfishness. The man smiled toothily at her and gave her two daylilies. One was scarlet with a bright yellow center; the other pure white with the same pollinating blooms inside. Its symbolism made her cry later that day. The next day, as she left an inn down the road, she saw him being arrested. Someone had accused him of being aggressive while begging, she had learned; and he wasn't supposed to be begging there anyways.

Ursa always looked at daylilies with full appreciation after that. She valued the kindness they had shared. It showed that the people of the nation were still human; even while the government and ruler wasn't.

"Valera stopped by Jarro yesterday and was able to read a decent paper. You know how all the nation leaders were meeting somewhere in the Earth Kingdom?" Tadame asked and continued after the elder woman nodded. "Apparently, they reached a deal. Isn't that good news? And get this - the Fire Nation is to pay eight percent! Eighty! Of all expenses towards relief and rebuilding of that valley, what's its name?"

"Gaih-Fo Valley." Ursa murmured as she smiled at the news. She knew the name because she had been following all of the new Fire Lord's happening religiously. Lovingly. He is her son; she was entitled to do so. Even if it had to be in secret.

"Right, that one."

"Was there any other word about the new Fire Lord?"

Tadame looked over and up at the ceiling, thinking with a furrowed brow for a moment. "I don't think so. Oh, just some gossip snippets I heard of people recounting how polite, kind and_ shy _he is. Shy? I don't think so. He ended the war, I will give him that. But to place him automatically at the opposite of where Fire Lord Ozai was? No; I do not believe it."

Ursa simply smiled. The younger of the two looked up and saw this.

"What do you think, Saru?" She asked skeptically.

"I think he will come to surprise many with how amiable and agreeable he can come. I always s-heard that he was, and probably still is, very empathetic. He may have seemed to slip up after his banishment, but now? Oh, I think everyone will be surprised." Ursa said, satisfied. She held up the two different table bouquets and turned to Tadame. "Now, which one?"

"The left. It looks much more regal; the mother struck me as a bit full of herself." Her cheeks colored a rosy pink shade as she said it but she didn't regret it. Ursa simply chuckled lightly with her.

The bell over the front door rang out and Tadame excused herself, going to the very front to greet the next customer.

Ursa turned her mind back to Zuko. She thought of her two children every night. Hearing how Azula had become... hearing of her daughter's state, now... She was devastated. A small part of her told her it was inevitable, that she saw it, while another told her it was her fault. Ursa had long since accepted, however, that Azula was a young woman_. A Lady_. She was responsible for her own thoughts, her own actions and if she was manipulated by Ozai then Ursa... Ursa could only wish she had been there. If she had, though, she wouldn't have been for long.

She often hoped to find out where her daughter was being kept, but was resigned to know that, even if she could visit the jail, she couldn't visit prisoners because it would be high security. Select personnel only.

Zuko was showing traits of Iroh in his behaviors, as much as she could tell from the distance she held. Ursa smiled with tears in her eyes as she remembered how she had, more or less, entrusted Zuko into Iroh's care. After she had read about her son's banishment - and was horrified at hearing of the Agni Kai from a few trusted friends (before they, too, stopped talking to her) - she was comforted a small bit by knowing that Iroh was with him. Protecting him. Teaching him. _Raising him_.

Ursa wiped her eyes and finished the last bouquet. She put them back into the case and leaned her forehead against the wood. It had been so long... she had no idea what Zuko thought of her. She was dejected and intensely filled with regrets over all that transpired. But regrets only caused her to cry over all that was lost and Ursa would not allow herself to revert back to doing so.

The thought had struck after the Fire Lord's coronation ceremony. Perhaps... perhaps she could go to him. Perhaps he would accept her. But there was too much risk in that. For better or worse, she very easily could have severed her ties forever by leaving him as a child the way she had. Ursa made sure to leave a clear trail for Iroh's and Iroh's eyes alone. If her son ever wanted to find her again, he would go to his Uncle. And Iroh would lead Zuko the way. She believed that. She _had_ to.

Nevertheless, she was unable to stop herself from attending the coronation. She had stood in the crowd, a peasant shawl over her shoulders. She had cried openly (not looking too out of place, as some had openly wept for joy at the end of the war) and watched, proudly, as her son wore the crown graciously. He was humbled. Ursa knew he was nothing like his father by that alone. When Zuko had looked across the crowd, she could have sworn she locked eyes with him. _Just for a moment_. He seemed to catch himself and start to look back.

Ursa had turned and exited the crowd. It wasn't her place to impose.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	17. Peace in the Turmoil

**A/N:** I hope you enjoy this chapter (and my non-rambling!) and have a wonderful weekend.

Oh, and feel free to voice your reactions to the ending in a review. I expect you to J

**Disclaimer: I do not own it. Not even the purchasable copies.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_A short summer sight..._

_But in this solemn_

_Darkness_

_One peony Bloomed._

~Unnamed Haiku, Buson

* * *

><p>Katara rode through the town of Amaupah and sadly looked at the conditions around her. It wasn't that everything was bad. No, compared to many the conditions were actually quite good. It was the little things she noticed that tore at her heart.<p>

The expressions on most everyone's faces were aged, wrinkled from the stress, and worn. When Katara got close enough to some of the people, she noticed their dry skin and wild hair. Baths were an unavailable thing now and had been for the past month, since the drought started. She remembered hearing about it when the area was first traumatized - only one day a week for baths. Then it was every other week.

Now, the ground was cracking and the animals were dying from eating the little bit of grass left - dying because the grass dried out to the point that it ended up poisoning itself to try and live; and that poison killed the animals when it was eaten. Drinking water was very hard to come by and alcohol imports had gone through the roof. It was the only means of keeping hydrated, even as it did the opposite to your brain. Baths were not even considered, now.

Katara remembered reading the reports with Aang each time they came in. It made for a sad day. The Earth Kingdom, though, had continued to refuse any offers of outside help from the other nations. So, they were all forced to stick their heads in the sand - including the Avatar. She, for one, had felt like hypocrite.

When the EK called for a meeting between all the nations for peace talks, Aang had immediately hoped and suspected that they would ask for help. Katara had happily received that exact report from Aang, a week later. It was just pitiful how long they waited. Pride is a funny thing.

At the dirt intersection in front of her, a girl of ten years stumbled in the street. Her face was flushed and with the way she walked clumsily, Katara guessed unable to concentrate. _Dehydrated_. The girl's mother called her over as she ushered her other two children in the door of the building. A medical office.

Katara stopped her Ostrich horse by the side of the strip. She stepped down and hurried over, helping the girl up. The mother looked back grateful. She quickly became distracted, though, when - presumably - the father of the children called her in to help. Katara looked down at the girl she was helping stand up right. Deciding quickly, she opened up the cantina on her hip.

Bending a good sized pool of water out, the girl watched in awe as it started glowing on her very own forehead. Katara used her healing abilities and, using the water, restored the needed properties to the brain. It would last another two or so hours before the girl starting getting slight symptoms again. A temporary fix. But, it still helped.

The red headed girl in question stared at her in wonder. "What was that?"

"Shh. Be careful to drink next time you can, okay?" The girl nodded profusely. "Now run along with your family." The girl smiled and waved before doing just that.

Katara climbed back onto the horse and continued down the road with a small smile. She would be sure to help as many as she could while here. Not that there was much question about that. She always did.

The only inn in town was just a block further down the road. She tipped the man a coin after he stored her rented bird-horse. His balding head stuck up the brown hair in patches and he smiled with slightly off eyes; reminding Katara of Bumi. She smiled back.

The woman behind the check-in counter was reading. She looked up when the door opened and Katara immediately recognized the same chin, eyes and hair color. _Daughter?,_ she wondered. Katara quickly got a room - single bedroom - and paid in advance. Her own coins were dwindling slightly but they still held quite the collection from her days bouncing from nation to nation.

The largest array she had were of the Fire Nation; being where she last lived and all. Next was the Earth Kingdom and then the North Pole. In the South Pole, you generally traded for most things along with a basic coin system for the rest. A heavily knit scarf for two potatoes. Four copper for two potatoes. It was generally easier to trade a scarf if you knew the person (or their family).

Katara had just walked to the door heading back out to the rooms when Aang came out of the lobby bathroom. "Katara!" She turned at her name and instantly rushed to hug him.

"I wasn't sure you all would be staying here. I thought for sure you would be staying in Jaymai."

"We were going to. It's easier to stay here and make day trips to the others... Wait, how did you know we were stopping by here?" Katara thought fast before deciding to tell the truth.

"Zuko wrote and told me. I figured I could help instead of going back to Ba Sing Se right away."

"Great!" Aang walked out of the door with her and stopped when she went to the small staircase leading up to the second story. "Toph and I are going to Jaymai right now. Want to join? We are to stop by the small hospital first; they are having large influx of dehydrated and organ failures. I was going to water bend and help, like you taught me."

Katara smiled. "Yeah, I noticed that here, too. Go on ahead; I have to put away my things and I don't want to have you wait. I think I'll try and help out some here."

"Cool."

She turned to her room to set down the pack she was carrying but stopped on the first step. "Does anyone here know you are the Avatar?"

"I think the arrow marks give it away." He held up his arms with a this-is-obvious gesture.

"Right."

"Ready?" Toph called out, trotting down the steps next to Katara.

"Yeah." Aang said and turned to get on his Ostrich horse that was hooked up to a post outside the door, air-bending the reins to him.

"Be careful! Your bending will drain you, too. You won't be of any use then." She waved them goodbye and warned.

"Katara? Oh cool." Toph smiled impishly after she recognized the voice.

Aang turned with his horse and pulled the young girl's with the attached rope. "I could say the same to you! See-yeah."

Katara found the number - 204 - of the room she was staying in and set her things down. She unpacked her second cantina, just in case, and her clothes, setting those on the only small table (off to the corner by the window) beside the twin sized bed that stood two inches above the ground. It was basically just a mattress with sheeting and a backboard. She wasn't complaining. It beat a tent any day.

She stepped back out of the room and watched the crowd in the street for a moment. Even though she was expecting Zuko to have changed to casual clothes that blended, like Aang and Toph had (well, Toph wore that always), she still couldn't spot him among the people. Katara walked down the few wooden steps and back into the lobby room.

"Was there another man that came in with the Avatar?"

The woman behind the counter jolted up. "You're friends with the Avatar?"

"Yes. Now, about that other man...?" Katara asked and waited patiently.

"Oh, yeah there was another one. You are talking about the one with the nasty scar, right?"

"Yeah." Katara made a mental note of the fact that Zuko didn't reveal is Fire Lord status_. Interesting._

"He asked about our vacant meeting room for a minute and then I think went off to look at it. He didn't rent it but a friend of the Avatar is always welcome to take a peak." The girl smiled with a blush and Katara had a niggling feeling that the girl either had a crush on Aang, or Zuko. A part of her hoped it wasn't Zuko. She ignored it.

"Thanks. That's at..."

"Far end. Just around the corner here." The woman supplied.

"Right. Thanks again."

"Sure."

Katara walked out and down the walk in front of the motel. She open the last door in the row and found herself in a dimly lit, medium sized room. There were a few tables and chairs pushed off to the sides. The room flickered with heat lighting and she raised her brows. Zuko was off to the side, practicing his bending lazily. If she guessed, it looked like he was thinking of something. _Odd way to think, _she thought. _But who am I to judge? Everyone has their... methods._

"I don't think this is what that woman had in mind when she let you in."

Zuko startled and immediately stopped bending, flooding the room with complete darkness as it feasted on the remaining light. His features softened as soon as he saw confirmation it was her that spoke. "Thanks. I needed that scare." He replied, sarcastically.

"You're welcome." She smiled saucily back. He didn't get mad. Rather, one side of his lips quirked.

"Come to help Aang calm and heal the people? I got your letter response. I think they just left, if you were going to go with them to Jaymai." He engaged her in conversation and she immediately furrowed her forehead at his choice of words.

"Yeah, I just passed them. I also came because you wrote me... Said you needed to talk... remember?"

Now his forehead wrinkled and he walked a few steps across the room, over to her. "Uh, no. I think I would remember writing that."

"Well I remember reading it." Katara immediately went on the defense and her voice hardened.

His did, too. "Maybe you read it wrong. I didn't write, asking you to come because I had something to say. I remember what I wrote and that bit is absent."

Katara crossed her arms. "Fine. I brought the letter with me; want to read it?"

Zuko stared at her for a moment before he sighed. It was obvious she was telling the truth but, then again, so was he. "That's not necessary, Katara."

"Oh, I think it is." She felt her neck heat. Part of her was embarrassed that maybe she had imagined it but the other was adamant; as much as he was that he didn't write it. She wanted to be mad at him but, by his confusion, she couldn't quite find herself able to be.

The water-bender led Zuko out and up the stairs, to her room. He kept his head down fractionally in a subconscious attempt to keep the scar from being noticed. Katara noticed it. She walked in and rifled through her pack before coming up with the letter. It was folded once again but now the seal was broken, cracked in an uneven line. Katara handed it over to him and waited.

"It's at the bottom."

Zuko read the line. It was in noticeably different handwriting; he knew he had never written like that. It looked like... maybe someone tried to... copy his? No, that was insane. He looked up over at her.

"I didn't write this. I mean, I wrote this letter-" He waved it in the air. "-but I didn't write this last part."

"Well then who did?" She ran a hand through her hair, tossling it, and becoming more annoyed by the situation as her defenses lowered.

_***Flashback**__ - Five days prior (The evening Zuko wrote Katara)..._

Zuko walked back down the hallway to his room. He had just received another disturbing report from Colonel Jaipal about the moral back home in the Fire Nation. Slowly, people had adjusted. It was human nature; and human nature craved peace even as it was naturally violent. Even if it came from the hands of someone they were wary to trust. In the towns of Natsumo and Rhange, where Colonel Jaipal and a few others were stationed in secret, some of the people craved different things. Destruction, war,_ revenge_.

After Zuko had stepped into position, there were many people in power underneath him that were noticeably disapproving. Most of them had been eliminated from their posts - most of those military positions. Some were let go right away as they were ones Zuko remembered well and didn't trust. Others revealed their true feelings over time and were eliminated thereafter. He wasn't going to keep anybody in any position around him that he didn't trust and couldn't rely on. All were given hefty pensions for their service and most were honorably dismissed. But that didn't mean they were happy about. Or, at the very _least_, neutral in their feelings.

Most of them hated him. He couldn't blame them when he looked at it from their perspective.

Zuko walked back into his room as he contemplated what to do. He had responded to the Colonel and undercover troops there in the area, that if they saw any of the known disrupters do anything illegal, they were to arrest them. They would then be taken to the local jail. If they didn't cool off within forty-eight hours of their detainment, they would skip trial for their crime - minor or otherwise - and go to a military prison. One of the more lenient ones, definitely. But, hat didn't ease his feelings on taking such drastic measures.

Like it or not, he had to look at this as pure business. His country could not handle - morally or otherwise - another disruption. Especially one from the inside out. All of the people with whom he had the names of that were egging on the police in these areas and reportedly forming a coalition group, he remembered. They were all volatile - and, probably, even more so now. They were smart and risk takers. They didn't care about sacrificing an innocent life if they thought it was for a 'good' cause.

That left them wide open to recruit naive citizens and form an untruthful and biased movement.

The Fire Nation couldn't handle that. The citizens couldn't go through that. Zuko couldn't allow it.

He pushed open his door and was immediately startled to see Toph sitting on a chair next to his bed. He closed his eyes and counted to three to slow his speeding heart.

"Did I scare you?" Toph said uncannily.

Zuko just grunted and switched the subject. "What are you doing in here, Toph?"

"I need your help with reading a letter."

"I thought Aang helped you out with that kind of thing."

"He went out."

Zuko simply paused, absorbed the information and sat in the desk chair._ Of course he did. _"Who's the letter from?" He reached out and grabbed the letter from her hands, only to meet a tugging resistance.

"Who are _you_ writing a letter to?" Toph asked with big, innocent eyes. Even her face lied.

"How wo- no, wait, I can guess this. You went through my desk?"

"Something like that." Toph replied and grinned over at him before waving her letter in front of her.

"Something like that." He repeated. "Sure. I'm writing a letter to Katara to update her on how the meetings are going. Now, do you want me to read you the letter or not? That was your one free hoop-jumping from me today."

"Hm. Okay." She held it over to him.

"You write a person named The Duke?"

"All of us met him once. He and this group, led by Jet, were like these freedom crusaders that forced Fire Nation control out of Earth Kingdom towns and forests and stuff. They were pretty cool; mostly. Until Jet went all crazy and Katara had the beat the crap out of him to save a town."

"Yeah, Sokka kind of gave me the rundown on Jet when we watched that play, remember?"

"Right. Sorry 'bout that." Toph held up her hand when he started reading the letter and tilted her head at him. "By chance... you know that Katara and Jet got all kissy-face, right?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the young girl. "It was in the Ember Island play, Toph. Now do you want me to read this letter or not?"

"Read on, read on."

_***End Flashback **_

Zuko ran a hand through his hair with a smirk. "Sneaky. Real sneaky."

"What?" Katara asked. Zuko had stared at the letter for the past two minutes, not saying anything and it had worried her. Now, she was downright confused.

"Toph." He said simply, pointing to the letter.

"But... Toph can't write. She's blind."

"The three of us were in a hotel rented completely out for just us and the other nation leaders. There were probably fifty servants, maids, you name it, running around. You don't think she has the resources?"

Katara scoffed disbelievingly and sat down her bed. The more she rolled it around in her head, the more it sounded _exactly_ like a stunt the younger girl would do. "Oh my God." She put her head in her hands and giggled.

Zuko's smirk turned into a grin and he set the letter on her end table. "Yeah..." He stuck his hands in his pockets.

She shook her head and wiped her watering eyes. She leaned her head on her hands, elbows leaned on knees, and looked to the side at him. "Well, I'm here anyway. Did you hear anything about your mother?"

He huffed out a breath and sat down on the bed a couple of inches away, leaning over like she was. "Sort of. More leads. More dead ends. Iroh got confirmation from his friends, too - my mother is not in Jarro anymore."

Katara reached out and took his left hand in her right. "That town is still a solid lead. You know she was living there within the past year, right?" He nodded, relenting. "How far do you really think she went?"

"I see your point but my point is she could be anywhere. A year is long enough to move to the opposite corner of the Fire Nation. Hell, even the world."

"I don't think she moved that far away." Katara said confidently as he looked in her eyes skeptically. "And I will tell you why." She shifted sideways so she was facing him, curling her foot underneath her other leg. "A year ago is roughly around the time Iroh found her there. Right?

"Okay, so maybe she knew that. Maybe she realized somebody was always watching her movements in the town. She has been on the run the past ten years of her life! I would be freaked out if I were her. But, like you said, that would make Jarro the longest town she has ever lived in. She knows people there.

"I don't know her as well as you do - I mean, she's your mother - but I don't think she would just leave again. Everything in the nation's different now. I bet you, that when we-" Zuko smiled. "-go to Jarro to ask around, she_ will _be nearby." Katara finished with conviction.

He nodded. " I hope you're right." He intertwined his fingers with hers and squeezed. Katara shifted and laid down sideways on the bed, making sure not to disturb their linked hands.

Zuko looked down at her as she closed her eyes and sighed. She opened up her eyes again, second later, to find him smirking down at her. "What?"

"You said bet. What are you going to place as a bet?"

"Is that all you took away from that?" Katara giggled. "Okay, okay. Uh... Wow, I'm drawing a blank."

"How about I pick if you are right." Zuko said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Nothing too radical but fine." She agreed.

"Is washing Appa too radical?"

"Yes!" She protested good-naturedly. "Have you seen that animal? He's huge and has a ton - literally a ton! - of fur on him!"

"Hm. How about... being my secretary for a day. Dealing with diplomats, bringing me coffee..." He grinned and she snorted.

"Hell no." Katara adopted a fake expression of being horrified. "What would people think? A waterbender the_ secretary _of the_ Fire Lord?"_ She barely got it out before laughing. Zuko actually joined in, chuckling at the outrageousness of her acting and the reaction she had. Katara choked on air and settled down to a grin. "If you do that, you might as well just make me the head of the palace for the day. Now that would be torture because I wouldn't know what to do with so much power!"

"Definitely not something that would torture you, then." Zuko smiled. "Hmm. What to pick. There are so many options I am having a hard time choosing."

"Yeah right. You just can't think of one, that's why."

"What about a kiss?"

Katara froze. Besides the affectionate look and small quirk of the lips, he looked as serious as he sounded. Even the look and smile could be taken as serious, though, the more she deciphered it. "With who?"

Zuko deadpanned a look of_ 'really?' _at her as he responded. "Appa." From her look (she imagined Appa licking her and all of his slobber on her - ugh), he rolled his eyes in response. "I'm kidding. I think the who is obvious."

From his look, Katara saw that her initial reaction had been right. The more they sat still and stared, the more the air felt thick again. Charged. She stared up into his eyes, asking and receiving answers without uttering a word. Her eyes flickered down to his lips a few times before, finally, staying there. His golden eyes did the same.

His hand flexed in hers and left it, traveling up to her neck. She grabbed his arm. Zuko looked back to her eyes as he played with her hair, brushing it back from her face. One look from her bright blues and he knew he had permission. Katara leaned her head up as Zuko leaned down. Their eyes fluttered between open and closed and their foreheads touched.

And then a series of knocks sounded at the door. Katara startled up with a jolt and Zuko did the same. It was a miracle that they didn't bang their heads together.

"Yes?" She called out shakily, standing up.

"It's me." Toph called through. "The landlady or whatever showed me to your room. Aang needs your help."

"Hang on." Katara stopped a few steps outside of the door and glanced over at Zuko. He was already up, staring at the door with a neutral expression. He only glanced at her as he walked over to the door so she just inwardly sighed. She opened the door and he walked out with her.

"I sense ano- Zuko! Hey, did I interrupt anything?" Toph asked, slightly worried.

"No. Just two friends talking. Excuse me." He said and walked down the steps.

"So, what does he need help with?" Katara cleared her throat.

"Aang and I ran across a man on the side of the road. He was passed out. Aang tried to heal him and discovered he's suffering from his kidney, spleen and a bunch of other organs shutting down. He says he can't heal it all himself. It's too much."

Katara grimaced in sympathy for the man who was probably living on life support right now because of Aang. "Show me."

She quickly mounted and followed Toph down the street, looking back one last time. She saw Zuko walking along the side of the street, putting on a hat to hide his scar. Katara tried to focus on readying herself for all the energy she was about to use up healing. But her mind wouldn't let go of the fact that he had said _friends_, even as they were about to kiss. It was wrong to have thought of doing it, let alone be about to. She knew that. But, as one side of her mind told her that, the other protested that the use of the word _friends_ in that situation was too hard to ignore.

Katara blocked it out her mind.

Her heart still ached.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	18. Tough Decisions

**A/N: **Once again, I'm making up a few of the Kyoshi warriors' names. These few mentioned are supposed to be around two years lower in age than Suki. So, definitely not mentioned in the show. Oh, and Ty Lee is here! So, I forgot this, but at the end of the series, Suki resumed her role as leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. I am going to pretend that she put that on *hold*, as I will mention in the chapter. If anyone else noticed that, sorry I didn't remember it before!

I hope Katara's emotions aren't too confusing or OOC. If you have a question about them, I'll post the answer in the next Author's Note!

Last thing - don't be mad! I've become super busy with editing my novel, writing this story, doing school, and working so I'm going to cut this story down to just being posted every Thursday. Sorry! As soon as life slows down, I'll resume the Monday/Thursday schedule,_I promise__._ I hope you all understand :)

HUGE thank you's to all that have Reviewed, Favorited, and Story Alerted. I love you! (Platonically!)

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_A definition, friends, of stress:_

_Your own reaction to a mess_

_Stresses may be large or small_

_Sometimes they're not perceived at all._

~1st stanza -_ Stress, _by William Goldsmith

* * *

><p>She and Sokka walked hand in hand down the dirts streets of the Outer Ring of Ba Sing Se. There were a few noticable changes in buildings, side streets, and the overall demeanor of the people. Then, there were the very noticable differences such as the monorail system that was nearly all destroyed (save for the one than ran through the center of the city) and there was the huge hole in the defensive outer-wall. The Earthbenders were working tirelessly, day and night, to rebuild their largest losses first. Their largest<em> defensive <em>loss.

Still, no one is quite sure how many lives were lost that day and the following weeks that the Fire Nation wreaked havoc on the city, searching for loyalists to the King, before they settled into a peaceful - but strict - regime of control. The deaths would forever remain in an estimated number.

It was times like this that Suki wished she was an earthbender. A _true _Earth Kingdom citizen as she viewed it, at times. Her country was so diverse, but, at the end of the day, it was the earthbenders would made up the last defense. The people were the backbone, they held it together in times of great joy and great sorrow. It was the earthbenders who, on large, were the cause of control and freedom.

Defense, offense, and rest. That was how she had always been taught. As Suki saw it, she was in a time of rest. The few times she saw the destructive aftermath of the war - saw it with her own eyes - she wished she could be on the offense. Act. _Help_. Her time of help was - is - finished. The thought saddened her as she and Sokka sat outside of a cafe nearby and watched as a swarm of earthbenders pushed and pulled, up and down, fit and carved the wall like a puzzle. Each rock pulled from the earth was then twisted and molded to fit it into place to restore the earth wall now turned into granules on the ground.

"You ready?" Sokka asked and she nodded over. He dropped a few coins on the table and they got up to leave. They weaved down the streets again, hand in hand.

Suki couldn't really imagine going even a day without seeing Sokka. Touching him. It seemed surreal that there ever was a time when she had.

He suddenly stopped, before crossing in front of her. She followed blindly, trusting, as he tugged her arm. Suki looked up at the building in progress of having it's earthern face resurfaced. Her face broke into a grin.

"Iroh! Down here!" Sokka shouted at the middle-aged man who was standing on an unstable wooden ladder, painting letters inside stencils on a large canvas.

"Sokka?" He squinted before smiling kindly. "I did not expect to see any of you so soon! My, how time flies."

"We arrived early." Her boyfriend explained after Iroh stepped down and stopped to talk to him. He wiped his beading brow. "All of the others are off in a town called Jaymai, last we heard from them."

"Ah! They are helping, right?" They both nodded. "That is good. Good. I am glad they made that stop." Iroh looked off into the distance, a ghost of approval floating across his eyes and smile before he turned back to the two of them. "Would you two like some tea?"

"No, that's fine." Suki waved off. "Actually... where is your help? I thought you hired some people?"

"No, no, I did. It is the weekend, though, and I thought it wrong to ask them to stay a few extra days. Even if I am paying them a bit more."

"That's kind of you."

Sokka eyed the ladder warily as Iroh moved it. He was about to climb back up and continue as the conversation between the trio dwindled into a stalled silence. "Are you sure that's safe? It looks... horrible."

"I am only using it for today, at most. It will suit just fine."

Suki shared a look with Sokka. "Do you want some extra hands, Iroh? We have nothing else we are doing... We would be glad to help." She asserted sweetly.

His face lit up, briefly, before he masked most of it. Out of habit, of course. "I would be delighted for a few extra hands."

Sokka wouldn't let Iroh back up on the ladder. Not only did he deem it unsafe (the stripped rope that held the bottom half of the steps in place being a huge indicator of that), but if it was to hold then he argued it could only support lighter weight. Iroh relented easily, not willing to argue a frivolous point.

Suki painted the fine trimming inside - the last coat - as Iroh waxed the floors behind her. The walls were already completed, the backroom waiting on tiling and then equipment to be installed. The front, once both of them were finished, was, too, only left with waiting for the furniture and decorative accessory deliveries.

For the next few hours, the trio worked. Banter flowed easily and comfortably; as well as the companionable silence. The sun began setting three quarters down the sky before Iroh mentioned he was going to meet someone for an early dinner. The couple helped him put everything away, not necessarily in an organized fashion; but when is a messy project ever orderly?

Suki waved goodbye to Iroh as he turned left out the door (heading down the path they came from) and they turned right, continuing on the path from earlier. Sokka slung his arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him. "That was fun."

"Yeah. I think I almost broke my neck twice on that ladder, though." He rubbed his neck with a sour expression and she just laughed.

"After the fourth fall, you should have given up."

"I'm not a quitter - and if I didn't paint the stupid sign, you know he would of climbed right back up there."

"Do I detect some sympathy and care for Iroh?"

"He grew on me."

"Good." Suki wrapped her arm around his waist. She liked the older man and was glad he fit so seamlessly with the group. It was never his bone that they had to pick with regards to the Great War and the Fire Nation, and, if anything, they were shocked he was even a firebender at all. At least, she was sometimes.

And then she would see him firebending on those rare occasions, see that light in his eye, that practiced rhythm, and know he wouldn't be the same without it. Things - influences - like that make or break a person. Suki was, frankly, happy to see someone made by it for once - the firebenders she had always encountered were either ordered zombie-like soldiers or someone like Zuko, who was emotionally... well, emotionally damaged, for a long time, and at times still showed it, because of his experiences all surrounding the fact of his heritage and bending ability.

"Is that who I think it is...?" Sokka asked and she looked over to see a group of young woman standing outside of one of the small government service temples. Temple isn't the right word. Tower is more like it. The building wound twice the height of any of the surrounding ones - which meant it was pretty damn tall; the Earth Kingdom buildings were built to be multi-storied and for multi-purposes by default.

"No way! Hang on a second." Suki ducked out of his arm and hurried over. Sokka stayed back a bit, knowing it was a group conversation and catch-up she wanted to have herself. "Ty Lee! Layir! What are you all doing here?" She called out and was immediately hugged/robbed of the air in her lungs. "Can't breath, Ty!"

"Sorry!" The other young girl pulled back and folded her hands in front her, blushing in embarrassment. "We Juniors are here to be honored. Or, were. The ceremony just finished! Isn't that exciting? Here, look!" Ty Lee pulled out a gleaming silver medal from under her neck, tied with a wide dark green ribbon. "I know you Seniors were congratulated already, but it's still so cool that they got called upon the King, too!" Ty-Lee beamed over at her friends before turning back to Suki. "And they let me participate. Even though I wasn't really, you know,_ there _to help then."

Ty Lee's face went somber for a moment but her eyes still flashed with excitement. At her friend's giggling and chatting behind her, she quickly brightened once more.

"That is wonderful, congratulations! I am so proud of you all."

The other eleven in the group peaked up with different responses of shyness, preening and understanding from their leader's words of praise. Layir walked over to where Suki and Ty-Lee were standing. She and the rest of her group - including Ty Lee, when she had joined - were younger. Therefore, they were in what's called the 'Juniors'. In another year, they would be qualified to have both enough experience and age maturity to progress into being 'Full' Kyoshi Warriors and Defenders of Kyoto Island. In another four, based on either time or experience (a factor dependent on whichever one comes first), most of them would become full Seniors. It opened a large array of possibilities for their future if they decided that defending was something they wanted to do full-time and not just as a part-time for their home island.

Also meaning they would have an array of positions at their disposal - everything from becoming a part-time doctor within the group to staying active as they are to retiring as a reserve to ranking in leadership - when it came to staying within the Kyoto Island's community.

Suki had gone with her fellow Senior active warriors to receive honors a week after the Great War was over. They received them personally from Earth King Kuei - a great honor in and of itself. She remembered blushing when he had put the medal around her neck and drawing the Earth Kingdom symbol over her head as she bowed. Suki hadn't left that medal out of her sight for days - it's shiny surface and carved words keeping her eyes drawn to it in awe. She was humbled by it, most of all.

Layir immediately turned to her leader. "Many of us have been wondering when you plan on returning to full duty?" She glanced over at Ty Lee before continuing in a whisper. "We have received reports of rogue 'war mongers' that have attacked a few villages on the southern side already. When we return, all of us are going back to active duty, of course. But what if something happens that we cannot prevent?

"The War may be over, but our island home is forever vulnerable." The girl spoke with a quaking voice and hooded eyes. Suki almost made a promise to return immediately but stopped herself, knowing it would be unfair to Sokka. There were so many choices she should have taken the past month and a half to resolve with him, but she had been selfish. The happiness, however peaceful its temporariness had been, was not something she could bathe in each day.

Suki squeezed Layir's shoulder. "I will be returning in a few weeks time, I promise. Meanwhile, I am communicating with Ishi nearly daily and advising her with every major and frivolous matter. Do not worry. My absence is not permanent." Suki said and knew it was true, however wrong it may be to promise something as life-deciding as that. Kyoto Island was her home. _Is_ her home. She couldn't envision herself living anywhere else. _Raising a family _anywhere else.

"Good. Good." The young brunette with hazel-green eyes smiled, assured, back at her leader. "Did you hear about the luxurious Dai-Han family settling in Kyoto? They are even hosting a big party - more like a ball! - in two weeks. Amazing, isn't it?"

Suki talked for nearly twenty more minutes with each and every member of the Junior group before they all ran down the street to a small shop they had heard that sold rare antiques. It was an inside joke that Suki didn't quite understand.

Sokka was leaning in an alcove across the street when she wandered back over. He straightened and smiled at her before it slowly dropped at her serious expression. "Did everything go okay?"

"I have to go back, Sokka. I can't keep putting it off. They need me."

"Of course they need you. Everyone needs a leader! But you just got this month off. Can't they spare you for a little while longer?"

"You know that is not how this works. It will be two months next Saturday, Sokka. Two." She looked at him sadly, reaching out to hold his hand. "I haven't been home in two months. They haven't had a strong voice in _two months_."

"I thought you said Ishi was a good replacement." Sokka frowned.

Suki couldn't meet his eyes and spoke in a quiet voice. "What if I don't want to be replaced? What if I want to go home and fulfill the position I have trained my whole life for?"

Sokka sighed and grabbed her in an enveloping hug. She squeezed back. "It's never as simple as we hope, is it?" He sighed.

She knew he knew the answer but said it anyway. "No. It's not."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for putting you in a position like this." He pulled back and ran a hand through his hair.

Suki smiled at him. "You don't have to be sorry. I would do everything over again in a heart beat. Hey, what about you come back with me? We're telling everyone about our engagement in, what, three days? Instead of going back to the North Pole, come home with me. It would be great for you to meet my Aunt."

Sokka cupped her cheek and kissed her lightly with a small smile. "Sounds great."

They walked, arm in arm, back down the street. It was a lazy hot afternoon but neither felt anything near being lazy. Their minds were weighed down with thoughts that eighteen year olds shouldn't have to decide. Things like the course of their futures; seperately and jointly. Not everything could work out perfectly, it seemed.

"Promise me this-" Sokka stopped and turned to his fiance. "Don't make a permanent decision until the wedding. I won't either. I won't agree to any trips or teaching positions or anything. Deal? When we are married, we can make the decision together. As it should be."

"That's the greatest idea you have had all day."

He scoffed. "Eating at that dinky cafe was the greatest idea. Their chili was excellent!"

"Eh, it was _okay_." Suki kissed him airily and he picked her up, rocking her slightly off balance. She broke apart, squealing in suprise. Sokka simply grinned. He loved it when he surprised her.

Suki slapped his arm playfully. "You are such a tease."

"I thought that was the woman's job." He received a slap on the cheek this time. Followed by a deep kiss.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX **

_How beautiful!_

_The sky on the night_

_when the year had ended_

_completely._

~Unnamed haiku, Kabayashi

* * *

><p>The birds chiped and cawed their last songs and signals for the day. Until the night birds woke and began their song and flights, that is. The sun was settling down to nap on the orange horizon.<p>

The four young adults rode at a steady pace northward. Riding north as they were, the darkness began to envelope faster; like walking into a cave. However, they wouldn't stop just yet. Not until they reached the edge of a brush coupling spotted ahead, that is. A few trees mixed in promised available firewood - promising fire. Fire promised warmth against the dropping temperatures. Fall in barren, open grounds like these might as well be fast tracked and called Winter. The chill suggested as much.

At Aang's insistence, they only stayed in Amaupah another night (after when Katara arrived, as the other three had been there a day already). From there, they stayed in Jaymai for two. Zuko had been hesitant; wary of people knowing who he is.

He was right to be. The people reacted harshly behind their hands that covered their whispering mouths. In front of the Avatar, they were willing to simply ignore his existence in by the boy's side. Zuko was contented with that little amount of respect. He didn't want to intrude - rather, simply exist peacefully alongside while there.

The make-shift hospital - an outside treatment building with no walls and the staff all volunteers; mostly women and young adults, and the local physician - was over run with the sick. Katara volunteered and Toph did as well; but only half the time as she visited the rural houses each day to drop off the small bit of supplies received from the capital. She also used her bending to open a few wells. They weren't much, as the land was so dry and she could only bend so deep, and they didn't last long; but it was still something.

The best remedy the nurses found, was a root tea that boosted the electrolytes and storage of moisture in the body. It was a concoction Katara still didn't fully understand - meaning none of them much did either. It had to be drunken two times a day, regularly for at least three days. The drought meant it was hard to get water, but Katara was able to bend the juices out of some remaining fruits and odd assortments, at least getting juices for them to use in a make-shift replacement.

That, along with Katara bending water directly into their most-needed organs and shocking the system, kept a person well for an average of four days. Perfect timing for when the first train loaded with supplies had come. It was a few days before expected. The people were overjoyed, the mothers weeping with relieved tears.

As it turned out, Zuko's hated fire-bending ability did come in use for the people's benefit.

He kept the pots on a constant boil with his firebending. It ensured a controlled burn - as everything was so dry one drop of heat would burn a building to a crisp - and, besides, the closest forest was three miles away on the eastern crust of the valley. A deadly distance endeavor for most in these dry conditions. Toph had pushed him to do it - and pushed the towns people to allow it. Her last name, Bei Fong, held more clout than any of them had realized before.

The four then stayed one night in Rulee - the town most northern in Gaih-Fo Valley. They also stayed most of the day thereafter - hence, why it was already dusk and only a slight progress of distance was made. Katara looked back and could still see the flickering lights from the lamp posts.

"Almost there." Aang reminded for Toph's benefit.

"Let's stop on the edge. I don't want to sleep under trees." Toph scrunched her nose and the others made sounds of relentance. Katara knew how the girl made her tent and thought it slightly funny that she would make an issue about trees, but kept the comment to herself.

Five minutes later, they stopped for the night.

Aang walked all of the ostrich-horses a few more yards in and tied them around a tree so they could eat enough grass to be contented. They wouldn't need water - they were almost like horse-camels. Zuko volunteered to get firewood and, by extension, make the fire. It's his craft, after all.

Katara pulled some food from their packs jointly before helping Toph set up the rest of the tents. The earthbender made a crack about her being blind and doing the job requiring the most hand-eye coordination. Katara smiled.

Aang was back in no time and Zuko not long after. The Avatar boy helped Toph put up the last of the three tents as Katara went to heat up the food they could and would enjoy warm. Zuko settled in to cutting up the larger pieces of wood in the pile - made up mostly of skinny limbs - with his knife.

It was scraped but it's pearl hilt still shined. It had some writing insignia's on it but she couldn't make them out. Katara found herself staring at it for a moment before quickly turned away. He didn't see. She berated herself for still sneaking glances at it and him.

"I miss Appa. Too bad we couldn't bring him along."

Toph pat his arm as they both settled around the fire now. "That's okay. We will get to see the slobbering beast in Ba Sing Se."

The two of them had ridden Appa to Cattaile, where the nation meetings were held, but sent him, along with a note, to Ba Sing Se when they decided to go on and make a detour at Gaih-Fo Valley. Aang gave the flying bison strict instructions to find a pay-by-day stable. He was currently supposed to be in one of those. But, knowing Appa, he could have also have gotten distracted by the newly re-built zoo.

Either way, Aang knew the general vicinity with which his beloved pet would go to. And there weren't that many places with those requirements; so he trusted he could find Appa again. Their bond was strong. If they could survive an iceberg for a hundred years, they could survive a location mess-up. They had done it before; coincidentally, also in the Earth Kingdom.

Momo glared at Aang when the boy pulled away, a silent _no_ on any begging resulting in getting his food. He leaped over onto Zuko's shoulders and stole a piece of apple that the Fire Lord just cut off for himself.

"Really, Momo?" Katara scoffed but didn't reach over to punish him. The lemur would always continue with his mischievous ways regardless of what she did, she knew.

Zuko smirked slightly, keeping his eyes on the apple. He cut off another piece of it, holding it up for the lemur. Katara stared at the nervous looking Momo. A warning.

Momo turned back and took the fruit, munching gratefully. Sticky juice dripped onto the fire-bender's shirt.

"You encourage him. Unbelievable."

Zuko just looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. The playful banter was back.

Katara had thought it would be awkward - they had never talked about what ha-_almost_ happened. She waited for him to bring it up and he seemingly took the same approach, resulting in a stand-still. After two days, Zuko was contented, it seemed, to pretend it didn't happen. _Well, fine_, Katara thought. _So am I. It should never have happened in the first place._ The thought wasn't near as comforting as it was the first of a dozen times she had said it.

They were enemies turned forgiven friends turned close confidants. But that was all it could be. Should be. Neither status, nor history, consented further. _And that settles it, _Katara had resolved.

"What are you carrying on about?" Toph asked.

"Momo stole apple slices from Zuko and now he's feeding him instead of punishing him!"

"...So?" Toph did that all the time. Katara had forgotten it.

"Nevermind."

Aang called over for Momo and the lemur came chattering. He pet Momo and rolled his eyes at the two young women. "Momo is a lot smarter than you think. He just begs because he knows you'll give him food. And, he only sulks to play the guilt card. It works with you two ninety percent of the time."

Katara frowned, knowing the truth in it. "Mhm."

Toph nodded. It didn't faze her that she was manipulated by Momo. She grew fond of the lemur too much to be mad.

The lemur in question purred as Aang rubbed behind his ears. His favorite spot.

"At least Sokka isn't here - he would be jumping all over Momo, crying on and on about it." Toph added. They all agreed, grinning - even Zuko's lips widened to hold a broad smile.

The conversation continued lazily in the same circle - quiet would descend until someone commented on something, leading to a brief conversation before the silence would, inevitably, fall upon them again. None of them minded. They were tired, aching down to the bones.

Katara felt particularly exhausted, too. She was the first of them to bid goodnight, but the last to fall asleep. Zuko went into his tent not long after. The two left talked animatedly for another half an hour or so before going to bed as well. Toph's snoring thundered through the camp not long after she erected the earth slabs and closed her small corner off to the world.

Katara sighed and rolled over, pleading into the darkness for sleep. It didn't respond. She felt restless. _Because I am_, she thought bitterly.

There, for all accounts, were no reasons why the day should leave her with any energy left at all. Katara felt her bones ache in her arms and feet and her muscles throbbed along with an unheard beat in her back and neck. Water-bending took a lot out of her. Even more when she did it from sunrise to sunset. And even then some afterwards.

She rubbed her neck to release the pressure - all the while cringing at the pain from her elbows and shoulders clicking in protests.

But her mind was fast awake. Active. Running a race to a thousand subjects at once, none more satisfying than the previous. Katara wanted _home_. She wanted to walk through the door with a smile, lie in her bed with a pleasant comfort pooling her stomach, and attend to the jobs she had set for herself with a leisure all her own.

But she had been home - the South Pole - for a week and still woke in the middle of the night at times. Simply staring at the stars outside. Katara had been in Gran Gran's home - one she once regarded as hers - for a week and a half and the same thing happened.

It didn't make sense.

Katara soundlessly ventured out of her tent and sat a few yards away in the darkness, the distant fire casting light across her face before licking them back._ Do I no longer have a true home? _she wanted to whisper out loud but was afraid to stir the others. Home was always so clear - the South Pole while she wasn't by Aang's side, guiding and helping the young Avatar with worldly business and other matters.

_Is my home here, under the stars? _She wondered. _Did I spend so much time out here in the open that I don't know a home anymore? What does that mean for my future? _

_I can't imagine myself anywhere, standing by anyone side. Not anymore. Not now. It was all so clear... but I see no other options, now... When was it suddenly set in stone? Something I have to abide behind now because nothing else sounds palatable?_

She laid back and thought of her mother. The only home that felt true anymore. The one out of reach so far it made her heart lurch. For a moment, _just a moment_, Katara thought of waking Zuko to talk to him. His short, clipped sentences, pouring emotional confessions, and sometimes simply a sympathetic and understanding ear always calmed her. She could talk about anything and everything and he would stay there, no matter how uncomfortable she must make him feel.

Katara finally drifted off and dreamed the last few snippets of memories she held with her mother.

She woke with a start before the sun rose and laid, wide eyed, in her tent until the others stirred. She determined herself to will away the tears that threatened to break. Katara never much cried before and she didn't want to start a habit of it now. Even when the tears were of a sense of longing so far forgotten. Of confusion. Of hopelessness to decipher all of it. Of why now - and what that means. Katara had never had a mother to ask questions of but now, more than ever, she wanted that. And, she also just wanted her _mother_.

She had thought she had long since grieved and recovered. Katara recognized now that she hadn't; she'd never even begun. The idea of not having the closure she thought she had found was as unsettling as it was annoying. Her mind went to Sokka, her closest family. _Two days. Two days and I will see them again. Just his presence - his smile, his laugh, his cooky stories - will help_, she thought, willing her suddenly jumpy nerves to sooth.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	19. Tea and Announcements

**A/N: **I am not completely sure where I am going with Katara's evolution in this story but I know a general ending and I have to pace this with my outline. So, sorry, not many romantic moments for now :P (I will make it up to later, I promise!) However, please tell me if you think she's a little OOC.

Thanks to all who have put my story on their Alert list lately! It gives me more inspiration and feeds the muse XD

**Disclaimer: Don't own or have anything to do with Avatar: the Last Airbender besides watching it and writing about it. I would have to write out this story if the writers had ended the series properly.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_See, bending to the gentle gale,_

_The modest lily of the vale;_

_Hid in its leaf of tender green,_

_Mark its soft and simple mien._

_Thus sometimes Merit blooms retired,_

_By genius, taste, and fancy fired:_

_And thus 'tis oft to wanderer's lot,_

_To rove to Merit's peaceful cot,_

_As I have found the lily sweet,_

_That blossoms in this wild retreat._

_~'The Lily of the Vale', _Mrs. Hemans (1793-1835)

* * *

><p>The teapot whistled long and hard in its place over the open fire; sounding more like a shriek as it echoed across the tile walls. Iroh pulled it off and extinguished the fire with a flick of his wrist. He placed a few tea leaves - simple black tea - in the pot and pulled down a tray, piled on seven small cups. Iroh put the pot on it as well and walked out to the main room of his tea shop.<p>

He turned over a cup, one by one, and poured the steaming liquid, passing them around. His timing was impeccable - the dark liquid slightly foaming on the top with swirls of its oils signaling a perfect brew length.

"...and the second delivery was just arriving as we left." Aang said proudly. He had been there at the meetings when the supplies and rushed deliveries were agreed upon for Gaih-Fo Valley. He's allowed to be proud of himself and the nations - the surplus of food and barreled water was a day ahead of schedule.

"I am just glad you two were able to resolve it so soon. I'm telling you three, those people were severely bad off." Katara commented. She held her tongue from mentioning the few people they had lost; their organs giving out from an inability to support any longer.

The first she had personally lost was the man Aang called her to that both he and Toph found on the side of the road to Jaymai. The man's kidneys simply couldn't run on so low a moisture level and kept clogging. When the organs looked like they would continue to function and not shut down, infection festered and sent him in horrific chills. She was there when a great shudder took his soul from his body. Katara remembered telling his family and shook her head.

_No, that's not a memory to share. It depresses me enough_, she thought, eyes cast on her tea.

"Alright, well, everyone listen up." Suki said in an uncharacteristically nervous voice. She gripped Sokka's hand tightly as she stood from her seat. "Do you want to do the honors?"

"I know how excited you are."

"No, I insist." She resolved with a deep breath and sat back down.

"Okay." Sokka stood - their hands still linked - and turned to the others. Everyone else had watched and listened with their usual variations of expressions - confused smiles, rolled eyes, amused faces and even a smirk (not hard to guess whom it was if you know them long enough). "We are g-"

"-getting married!" Suki jumped up and joined in at the last second. Glee flowed through her voice as they said it at the same time.

Sokka grinned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"He proposed at the South Pole! We haven't set a date... but we'll know when the time is right. Any suggestions?"

A collection of congratulations, suggestions and hugs, squealed hands and offered tea, erupted.

"How could you keep this from me for so long?" Katara projected false hurt in her voice, truthfully too excited by the news than to care about the how and when it was received.

"I wasn't going to repeat it." Sokka stated in a manner suggesting his sister dumb for not considering. His manner quickly changed again. "It was her decision not to tell you at first."

"You are such a child!" Suki chided playfully from her vantage point across the table - still within earshot.

Sokka drifted back over to his fiancé's side and Katara sipped her tea, watching the happy couple with a contented smile. Toph made a few jokes about 'allowing it' (the smirk told them she was truly unhurt by it all) and Aang offered to give the joint blessing at the wedding, the official binding of man and wife. He is an initiated and official monk, because of his teachings and how he was raised. It would be perfect.

Zuko simply congratulated them and complimented them both respectively. Sokka respected him even more in return, because of it. Zuko's relationship with both was half trusting and half hesitantly forgiving. Large part of it was owed to when he helped Sokka break Suki and his father out of a Fire Nation prison. The fact that Zuko wouldn't let him go without help was something Sokka respected him on - and Suki had thanked him about, knowing that without it her boyfriend may - _would_ - have gotten in serious trouble.

Iroh simply continued to chatter on about seeing their 'fresh, lasting romance'. Always the jolliest on a celebrating occasion. He pulled some sweets from the back and passed them out. Sokka ate half of them all before the others could touch the tray.

Katara sipped her cooling tea a few paces away from the others and felt a pange of melancholy falling over her fast, like an illusionist dropping the black blanket over the pigeon's cage.

She knew this day was coming. Yet, still, she found herself tearing up. First, for happiness; now for the loss. Katara hated to be emotional to the point of crying and even more to do so in public - even if this public is simply one consisting of friends. Close friends; friends that all saved each other's lives.

Sokka's future path was now set in stone. Set in stone far away from hers. Sure, they could always visit frequently. But... it wasn't the same. It wouldn't ever be the same and Katara frowned, wondering when she started hating the change instead of reveling in it.

"What's wrong?" Sokka was suddenly standing in front of her, concern on his face. It was invisible to anyone else but his sister, who knew all his expressions by heart.

"You are getting married, making a family, going off to have this life. I...I never imagined we would be separated so soon."

"We can always visit." He teased with an affectionately brother smile. "Technology is getting faster every day."

"It's not the same." Katara's voice echoed her thoughts.

Sokka sobered and hugged her. "I know what you mean. This is all so... surreal. Moving on, living in peaceful times. I thought my life would involve fighting." He grinned over at her. "See the silver lining, sis! You get some peace and quiet for once from your brother. Or, if you ever get bored of chaperoning Aang you can always live with us; wherever we'll be."

He got the laugh he was looking for - both because of the suggestion and his bold choice of words. Hardly ever did Sokka make a joke out of his own behaviors and Katara knew that better than anyone.

Katara felt her eyes dry on their own accord without her wiping them once from her face. She slung her arm in with Sokka's and they walked over to where the others were now sitting in the large booth again.

"Where are you two going to live?" Iroh enquired.

"Whenever we set a date, we'll have the second ceremony in the South Pole. We're going to Kyoshi Island for now so I can meet the family." Suki beamed up at him as he said it. He hadn't talked with her before about it and the surprise was welcome. "Your parents would skin my hide if we didn't before the wedding."

"They haven't met you yet."

Toph chimed in. "The chance of having a watery death is still alive, bucko."

Sokka rolled his eyes and slugged her in the shoulder.

She just tsk'ed. "Kyoshi Island. _Is-land_. I would think dumping someone in the sea would be a very popular way of getting rid of them if they, say, weren't impressed."

Sokka turned positively pale and Katara couldn't help it; she laughed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Love's language may be talked with these;_

_To work out choicest sentences_

_No blossoms can be meeter;_

_And, such beings used in Eastern bowers,_

_Young maids may wonder if the flowers_

_Or meanings be the sweeter._

6th stanza_ – 'A Flower in a Letter', _Elizabeth Barrett Browning

* * *

><p>The energy wound down a few hours later and the night began to drag. After they all declared the night to be over and end the party at the yet-to-be-re-opened Jasmine Dragon – and yawned at least twice each in saying so – Katara bid goodbye to her brother, Suki, and Aang.<p>

The three were staying at the same home they had used in their previous visit to Ba Sing Se; a washroom house they were first introduced to by their tour guide, Joo Dee. It was located in the Upper Ring of the vast city, as was the Jasmine Dragon, and, as such, was only a mile away. Unfortunately, this time, they had to pay for it and weren't allowed to stay for free.

Aang had set it up for everyone before Toph accepted Iroh's half-hearted invitation to stay with them. Zuko is staying with his Uncle to keep a low profile and planned to from the beginning. He wasn't visiting the Earth Kingdom, or its capital, officially and he wanted to keep quiet and keep to himself as he knew best. The people, on a large, hated him, and Zuko didn't want to add fuel to the fire. He was becoming very used to that opinion of him that he received whenever outside of his home country. Even then, sometimes it occurred.

Because Toph all but imposed herself on Iroh's invitation and the now-open guest bedroom, Katara had decided to keep an eye on the girl. The house they all had used before only had three rooms so, either way, Katara was going to be sharing a room with Toph. She thought about what the girl's parents would say. They would freak at Toph's brazen attitude. Katara smiled.

No part of her mind ventured to the fact that she would be a wall apart – at most – from Zuko for the next twelve hours_. Nope_. _Didn't cross my mind_, Katara thought, contradicting herself.

Aang looked to be regretting his decision as he said good-bye to them and agreed to meet up the next day at a Fair being held in one of the poorer neighborhoods. They saw a poster when they arrived and debated over it for half an hour before agreeing to check it out.

_He is sulking about being stuck with the lovebirds,_ Katara mused – resisting a smirk by biting her tongue. _And, he doesn't have a buffer from them, either_.

The four of them – now Iroh, Katara, Zuko and Toph – walked back inside. Zuko helped his Uncle clean up the small mess and lock up. Katara went up the back staircase with Toph to get ready for bed. Iroh had directed them to where the extra blankets and clothes were; it seemed he had come prepared on the off chance. Or, he was always prepared. Both seemed to be very possible.

Iroh, for all of his light-heartedness, laid down strict rules – Zuko gets the couch, the girls share the guest bedroom, they all must clean up after themselves, be up by seven in the morning, and don't disturb him unless someone's breaking in or torching the place. They weren't strict as much as they charted out strict times for him to have by himself.

And, they showed a different side of him. The side where Iroh had defined guidelines and habits – the side that, admittedly, most of them hadn't seen. None of them had any guidelines to live by besides a few really and incredibly basic ones as they were disorganized and flying around the world for two years – on almost literally the seat of their pants, too.

Katara would have laughed if she didn't already understand how nice that can be to have a strong sense of order. And, how wonderful a stress reliever it is. She wished she could have done it more often for the year and a half – actually almost two, now that she thought about it – they were riding around on Appa. _Running for your life doesn't provide many set plans and times to get things done__._

Iroh went to bed first, Katara next, and Toph last. Zuko's bed is the couch but he had sat in it two seconds after coming upstairs, so, technically, was already 'tucked in'. She assumed he made an effort to fall asleep after Toph went to the guest bedroom.

Katara glanced over at Toph. The younger of the two ladies was drooling, the blanket pulled snuggly around her neck with balled fists. The girl was always so tough to everyone – brusque and defiant about everything. One rare glimpse here, where all of her defenses are down, she looked like a child. Innocent, unbiased, and trusting. Kind of adorable, actually.

The water-bender smiled at her and smoothly slid from the covers, tip-toeing out of the room. She shuffled to the small nook kitchen in the corner by the apartment door and poured some water from the stored jug into a cup. It took her three tries with the cabinets to find a cup and five times for the jug. _It's the result that counts_.

Katara loaded a tea bag with white tea and dried bits of peach; Iroh had told her a couple of blends that worked for restless sleep when she mentioned it in passing. She couldn't really remember them much now but Katara was sure that this one was one of them. At least it tasted good. It was cold but she didn't mind.

Walking across the room to where the moonlight was spilling through the window-accompanied door, leading to a _very_ small balcony over the alleyway, Katara almost yelped at the word whispered through the still room. "Hey."

Zuko was sitting up on the couch, looking over across the room to where she stood.

Her hand flew to her chest, willing away the pounding of her heart – _mostly_ from the scare she just endured. "You scared me!" Katara whispered fiercely. He mumbled a sorry. "I didn't mean to wake anyone up….Don't mind me…I, uh, just was going out on the balcony."

He held is tongue from telling her he was already up – had seen her walk by before – and watched her move lightly to the opposite door. She slipped out and closed the door behind her.

The bright moon continued to shine through the small slit at the top. It was mere days from a full moon again and it was starting to shadow into the daytime sky, too. Zuko scratched his head, staring into the darkness. He couldn't stop himself from wondering why she was still up.

He knew why _he_ was up – his mind wouldn't stop going over all of the responsibilities he would have to return to in a few short weeks. Then it would, sometimes, go back to a few of the comments Katara had made about his responsibilities. She had talking to him about some of them and reassured him; she was the best at doing that. He sighed and pushed the dingy quilt off the side of the couch.

Katara breathed in the damp night air deeply. She was becoming restless more and more. It irked her. A few nights at the Fire Nation, here and there, Katara waved off. It was natural – she had had the same problem at the Fire Nation vacation house they had stayed in for a few weeks leading up to Sozin's Comet. Sleeping in the Lion's den, it seemed. It brought up unsettling thoughts.

On the boat rides to the South Pole and then the North Pole – it was the motion sickness or sea sickness (never mind that she had had neither in her life nor through their many travels). It had to be. In Gaih-Fo Valley is when she started to wonder the true origin of her restlessness; when Katara stopped waving off the symptoms.

Those days were exhausting. She should be able to sleep like a baby and wake with aching muscles. Instead, the nights dragged and she didn't feel her muscles much at all as the nerves ran on so little energy that they began strategically numbing the most sensitive nerves.

A warm hand next to hers on the railing startled her for a second time that evening. She resisted pulling up her hand to her heart again; settling for simply closing her eyes.

"What are you drinking?" Zuko nodded to her cup.

"White tea with peaches. Iroh told me about it."

"Can't sleep?"

"So I got the right tea?" Katara raised her eyebrows over at him.

Zuko just shook his head, half smiling at her. "No. That tea soothes, at most. Someone doesn't walk around at midnight because they can sleep. It's a general rule of thumb."

Katara ducked her head, looking down at the alley behind the Jasmine Dragon. A gray spotted cat scampered across the shadows. "It's nothing."

A pause. "Can I ask about it?"

"No." She said icily and regretted it but didn't voice a correction.

She was surprised when he paused more, taking her words honestly but surprisingly without retaliation. It reminded her back during the days – not too long ago, in all actuality – that he had first joined them in their quest to end the war and she had been cruel to him, yelling at him whenever she could and giving him the cold shoulder. Zuko hadn't retaliated then, either. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Zuko looked out at the buildings around them. Katara noticed, from the corner of her eye, how prominent his scar was against his skin, shadows enlarged by the moonlight.

She wondered what would have happened if they hadn't been interrupted by Azula and Aang and Iroh. She wondered if she would have been able to heal it. Would they all have been set on a different path – a path together against Ozai – earlier?

"Okay, then I'll go first. See all of those stars? Half weren't there before. Well, they were, but you couldn't see them this well. The winter makes them look bigger. Bolder. Uncle thinks so. My favorite constellation is that one." He pointed and turned to her. He was about to explain but stopped when he heard her sniffle.

Zuko put his hands on her arms – throwing caution to the wind – and spun her towards him gently.

Katara's face was crumpled and her lips wobbled. She was trying not to cry and, at the same time, to have a stone face. Neither were working in resulted in a power struggle that gave away both. He didn't have to ask; she immediately explained. "My father used to tell a story about when he and my mother were dating." Katara rushed it out in halted pronunciation, taking deep breaths to still her emotions. "He would take her out to one of the fields behind the village. It would be almost around this time; dark and illuminated. He and my mother would point out all of the stars and constellations they knew. Recite their history of each and every one out there.

"The stories were always too many to name. Dad wouldn't tell those stories much, though. I always have the same reaction." Katara sniffed and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were clear and bright, murky no more. "Sorry. I don't know why I randomly started sobbing like that."

"Don't be. I'm… I'm sorry." Zuko hated that he made her remember a sad time. All because he wanted to get her talking and stop retreating inside of herself, too. He just wanted to be an ear she could vent to and, it worked, in a way. He just hated to see her cry.

"Shut up!" Katara laughed shakily, recovering fast. "You apologize too much."

"Sometimes there is a lot to be sorry for." He said it low and soft.

"I'm sorry Sokka and Suki are leaving." Katara's face morphed into one of displeasure her cheeks inflamed. Bright and hot against the cold breeze. From their position against the moon, Zuko could see it clearly. "Just… Sokka is all of the family I have left that is close to me. Close to where I'm at, I mean. Him moving to the South Pole again or to Kyoshi Island or wherever they decide means it will be the same as visiting Dad or Gran Gran. Far away and on a whole different nation.

"I will be here, alone, in my corner of the world; traveling to Avatar-needed matters and more sleepless nights." Katara laughed without much mirth at the last part; be she did keep the smile. He was glad about that.

"You aren't as alone as you think." Zuko said, meaning their mutual close friends and then the ones she had made with the servants and staff and all of the people they had met because of Avatar work, government functions, charities, and a handful of boards she stopped in to from time to time.

But, as he said it, he wanted to say all of those people – and then add himself. Just insert it softly, there at the end. His face must have revealed as much. Or, maybe she thought it herself.

Katara saw a comforting look of affection come over his face. It was soft, subtle, and oh so sweet. It reminded her of when she had first arrived in Amaupah. Of when they had almost kissed after a normal and teasing game that left each other on the brink of laughing and never stopping. It wasn't a look she saw much in her life and she both beckoned and cursed it away.

Zuko saw the conflict on her face and he pulled her to him in a loose embrace. Katara sighed against his chest as he buried his face in her hair. It wasn't meant as anything more or less than an understanding hug and they both took comfort in it._ It was enough._

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**


	20. Let's Be Silly For A Day

**A/N:** This chapter is sillier than the last few. I mixed up the pairings (for this chapter and the next) differently than usual and had fun with the results. This is the fluff before it gets all serious again. Also, I've written like crazy this week so I'm posting this chapter as a bonus! You guys/gals are awesome; enjoy! ^_^

I found a great map of the Avatar Universe and added in some of my own markers for where I'm at in this story. It's linked on my user-page if you want to check it out to get a better understanding of where everything's at :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own or have any affiliation. **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Oh, a gallant set were they,_

_As they charged on us that day,_

_A thousand riding like one!_

_Their trumpets crying,_

_And their white plumes flying,_

_And their sabres flashing in the sun._

~1st Stanza_ – 'A Huguenot', _Mary Elizabeth Coleridge

* * *

><p>I demand you give him back to me right now!" Aang's temper flared at the snarling oaf in front of him. The arrow-like Avatar marks on his body sparkled under the sunlight. He was teetering on the edge of anger to the point of beginning entrance into the Avatar State. Not good.<p>

Appa had been distracted by the Ba Sing Se Zoo – as they had expected. It took them the whole day, however, to check all of the housing stables before coming here. Because the non-profit organization is relying on donations to both run and rebuild its numbers – after an initial deposit by the Earth Kingdom vault – they could be, at times, understandably hesitant to give back an animal who came willingly.

But this man had crossed the line. Aang had looked around for Kenji – the man who had solely run the Zoo when he was last around, and with whom he helped rebuild the Zoo initially – and even asked after him, but he had the next few days off. _Fantastic_, Aang had remarked under his breath.

"Do you know who I am?" The man, Irat, shook his head. "I am the Avatar, master of all four elements – and I demand that you give me back my flying bison before I break my vows and wage war on you!"

Irat snorted. "I 'on't give a crap who you er. The bison stays, 'less you can provide a form 'o ownership."

Katara landed hard down on her back, cursing to the unseen moon. "You couldn't have been gentler?" She glared over at the girl that simply earth-bended her way over, a much better and simpler alternative then what they just went through.

"You think you can be any less? I'm blind, you fool, not unable to walk or lift someone over a ledge."

"Ugh, come on."

They trotted quickly over to the hidden caged area in the back, where the sick or yet-to-be-showcased animals were kept. Finding Appa's stall was easier than stealing candy from a baby – it was the largest one there.

Toph guided Appa out as Katara posted look-out at the huge wooden doors. "Aang is pissed. We have to hurry up – I don't know how much longer until he well and truly explodes on that guy."

"Pfft. Serves the man right. Ass."

Katara agreed but didn't say anything as she turned and helped guide Appa out. The flying bison wasn't ten feet out of the tall doors before Irat turned and noticed as he was gesturing wildly and irately to Aang.

"'ey! What do you think you're doin'!"

Aang launched himself deftly via air-bending on Appa's saddle. "Let's get out of here. Yip yi- wait! What are you doing, Toph? Get back on!"

She didn't respond, simply jumping down and rubbing her feet's soles into the dirt. Katara watched, slack-jawed (torn between voicing her wish to join in and scolding the girl for doing it – much like she had felt the day she and Toph had gone to the spa and Toph was picked on by a few other girls), as the girl earth-bended a rock cage around the now-horrified Irat.

Toph pushed a pillar of rock under him and up, until he was at least ten feet in the air. From their perspective, it wasn't very tall but to the man on it, it was miles in the sky.

Toph slammed the man down, purposefully keeping him unharmed by slowing at the last second – not enough that the vines of hardened rock didn't rattle – and dropped his cage halfway. It bent down into the dirt at his waist but the man didn't notice, crouching down in fear.

"I'm sorry." He whimpered.

She dismissed him and jumped back on Appa. Aang looked at her, appalled emotions of every variation etching his face.

"What, Twinkletoes? Did you want to leave him here so he can report you and not learn a valuable lesson?"

"Come on, we've got to go. I'm sure Appa is hungry and we have to figure out where to keep him." Katara interjected when Aang started to scowl at the nickname. He always had a love-hate relationship with it and she always laughed at it – right now, it was an inward laugh.

"How about behind the house we stayed at before? I'm sure Sokka and Suki won't mind – I'll make an awning for him. It will look just like an addition." Toph nodded, satisfied with it and needing no approval otherwise.

"That's a good idea." Katara leaned over and rubbed Appa's hair. "What do you think, Aang?"

"Good idea." He mumbled begrudgingly, echoing her words. Toph just rolled her eyes and laid back, feeling the hot sun on her face as it combated the cold winds.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!_

~Unknown

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we let you talk us into this."<p>

"Oh come on. This time it's purely fictional!"

Toph, Aang, and Sokka settled into the theatre seats and watched on as the curtains were pulled to cover the stage.

The others had declined to hang out with them. Katara said she wanted to go on a walk – alone – and Suki had a migraine and retired to bed an hour before the sun broke below the horizon. Iroh and Zuko declined too, Iroh having his shop to run and Zuko was going to help behind the scenes. The likelihood of anyone discovering what position he holds is low – hardly anyone knowing what he truly looks like – but, all the same, he was going to stay back in the kitchen.

The three were tired of hanging around and went off on their own; 'exploring the city night lights'. Not really; they were just really bored.

_***Flashback – ten minutes earlier….**_

They played rock-paper-scissors and Sokka won, meaning he had the power to choose what they did that evening if he ever spotted something he liked as they walked the deserting crowds. They walked past the Upper Ring Theatre and Sokka had quickly sprinted over to read the poster.

"…performed by the Chameleon Actors. Duration: two hours, ten minutes."

"Too long!" Toph whined.

"I wonder who the Chameleon Actors are." Sokka ignored her and continued to the stare at the poster, as if it held some fascinating scenery or information.

"I bet they are from Chameleon Bay." Aang added, scrutinizing the play information. Chameleon Bay had a personal significance to them, as Azula had once tracked them there.

"Oh, I remember that place!" Toph laughed, her face lighting up. "Remember when Appa slammed down his tail and sent Mai and Ty Lee swimming down the river to the bay? Ha!"

Aang grinned over. "Yeah, that was great."

"I have decided!" Sokka announced, interrupting them. "We are going to see _this_! Come one, slow pokes."

"No, no, no! Another play? The last one you picked sucked. Horribly. My character was the only one remotely on base." Toph argued. She crossed her arms.

"You were played by a six foot tall guy who looked like a wrestler." Aang said, confused. He held up his finger as he filtered through his memories, being sure that it was what she was talking about.

"My point exactly."

"Hey, it was fair the way we decided!" Sokka protested. "I'm going to watch this, now. If you two can think of anything else to do for fun, be my guest. See you later."

Toph turned her head over to Aang and he shrugged, clearing his throat after a minute. "Well…."

"Damn it." She swore and hustled to catch up with Sokka.

_***End Flashback….**_

The curtains were suddenly pulled back and beams of spotlights colored blue and green respectively danced across the stage before the green settled on the lower half and the blue settled up. Normal white beamed suddenly in some areas, in what Sokka assumed were clouds, and settled against the wood paneled back-drop.

A woman suddenly danced onto the stage, twirling around and around. Her make-up was horribly bright and layered so much that, fifteen rows back, Sokka thought he could see the layers.

"What's going on?" Toph whispered loudly and poked him in the rib.

"Just some woman dancing in what… what looks like a field…?"

"What was this stupid play supposed to be about again?"

"A woman goes blind after falling out of a tree and is nursed back to help by a traveling soldier, after presumed dead when she's not found. Shh, I'm trying to study the scenery!" Sokka scolded and focused on the stage. He liked to watch how the execution in all things artsy was completed. He even admitted that the basis sucked – not his cup of tea at all – but it was a promising tale in terms of theatre. More than five sets, various moods portrayed throughout.

The 'Boy in the Iceberg' play by the Ember Island players had left them all with a bad taste in their mouths. The effects, however, weren't all that bad. Sokka didn't think so, at least – and Toph had liked her portrayal so that was another in his corner. Here, there wasn't a character of her own depiction. Sokka groaned at the thought of having to deal with her incessant questions and whines about how awful it is throughout.

Luckily, it seemed she latched onto the other man at her left. Sokka settled in to watch.

"This sounds horrible."

"It is horrible. You should be thankful you can't see right about now. I think my eyes are being burned." Aang said before his eyes widened. "Er, I mean – I mean that seeing it would be worse than not seeing it. Ugh, I mean that the performances are bad – not the colors or anything, um-"

"Twinkletoes."

"Yeah?"

Toph pat his forearm and leaned against his shoulder. "Shut up."

He nodded.

The play was actually two hours and a half when it finished. Toph stretched widely and bumped into them and someone in front of her but didn't care to apologize. She heard her back, knees, and neck pop loudly.

"That is just gross." Sokka wrinkled his nose at her as they waited at the end of the isle to be let out.

"It's exhilarating." She simply said, her now-limber muscles settling comfortably. "What's gross is having to sit there for almost three hours! Dishonest marketers."

"Eh, gross is not the word I'd use. More like… uncomfortable." Aang supplied. "And that play sucked – I wish we could get our money back."

"Yeah, it was terrible." Sokka agreed as they walked out the theatre doors and stopped in the street. He stopped suddenly and sniffed. "Do you guys smell that too?"

"The heavenly smell of something fried? Yep. Where's it coming from?" Toph grinned.

"I don't know. There aren't any shops around…." Aang's brow furrowed as he and Sokka searched around them with their eyes.

"Follow me, boys. I can find it."

They both followed her as her strong sense of smell – stronger than theirs – led them two streets over. Toph stopped suddenly and turned right. "There. Is there something there?"

"Yep! Come on!" Aang took hold of her arm as he dragged her over to a small, hole-in-the-wall joint. The place only held four tables and the window he used to serve was facing outside, rather than inside. Eating inside is for those that need to rest their feet.

They ordered and received their piping hot fried kabobs – an assortment of meat and veggies on them that none of them know quite what it was – within five minutes. They walked down the street as they ate.

"Oh my God, this is so good!" Toph gnawed on the end of her second.

Sokka ate them in record speed. He glanced over and wiped at the grease around his mouth with the back of his hand. "I know, right – I don't even know what's on it but I love it." However, his mouth was full, resulting in it coming out like this – "I row white – I won't effen row what's won it fut I wove it."

Aang laughed. Toph choked on her kabob and, when she was able to get it down, burst out laughing. Sokka frowned.

"What?" He bit down on a new kabob and it came out sounding like – "But?"

Aang and Toph turned to each other and laughed harder. Toph leaned against him, bent over as her stomach spasmed. He did the same in kind and Sokka just rolled his eyes. He stalked down the road and Aang nudged Toph. They walked fast to catch up to him.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	21. Sickness and Squash

**A/N: **Shockingly, I have nothing to say here. The only thing I will say, is that the first segment of this chapter is one of my favorites so far (for a multitude of reasons, too). I am curious as to your thoughts about it.

**Disclaimer: I think the first twenty-some-odd disclaimers pretty much covered this already. **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Just as soon you see_

_It's not the way that it should be_

_You'll understand_

_Just for the first time_

_As fake as it seems__._

_~'Real World', _All American Rejects (lyrics)

* * *

><p>"So…."<p>

"Buttons."

"What?" Zuko turned with a confused look to where she was sitting.

"Nothing. Just… it was something me and the other Kyoshi warriors would do. My friends of the same squadron, actually. Someone would start speaking but they had really nothing to say so the rest of us would say 'buttons' to tease them." Suki explained and finished with a shrug.

"Oh. Why 'buttons'?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. First thing that came to mind and… it just stuck."

Zuko nodded from his position on the wooden bench wrapping around the rather large base trunk of the tree in the backyard. He leaned back and listened to the sounds around him.

He had come to visit at the Avatar House, as they nicknamed it, but only Aang, Suki, Toph, and Sokka were there; which quickly became only Suki and Toph because Sokka and Aang went out shortly thereafter to do… something. Zuko couldn't remember what they had said it was. He meant to… but… well, it didn't seem to stick in his mind. Their shenanigan plans hardly ever did.

He hung around just because Iroh was shopping today and he thought sitting around in an almost empty house with someone that he is still slightly awkward with in the conversational context was a better alternative than sitting in an empty apartment and twiddling his thumbs. Toph was off in her room, barfing and nursing food poisoning in front of the wash basin. He had offered to stay by her side, earlier, but she refused. Zuko didn't blame her – the first few months of his banishment, the sea-sickness had been hard to deal with and having someone unaffected around you can get annoying quickly.

"What are you thinking about?" Suki peered over at him as she clipped another undershirt on the clothesline. She's currently doing Sokka's, Toph's, and her own laundry. She refused to do anyone else's – the given excuse was because they weren't living in the house and the reality was that she isn't comfortable doing anyone other's (as she admitted to him earlier). Toph she viewed as a little sister-slash-baby of the group. It's easy to once you get past the initial attitude and confrontations.

"Nothing."

"That is a lie if I've ever heard one." She rubbed a robe with the bar of soap and took on a look of contemplation. "Are you thinking of your Uncle?"

"No." Zuko stood and walked over to the clothesline. He hovered a ball of fire above his hands and warmed the fast dripping cloth.

"Don't burn them up." Suki warned.

Zuko snorted softly. "Give me a little more credit than that."

"Are you thinking about the rebellion in Natsuno?" She asked suddenly and he startled.

"How do you know about that?"

"Relax." She assured, wringing out a skirt a few times over. "It wasn't leaked from your people or anything like that. Toph wanted to look through your desk and I didn't want her to get in trouble."

Zuko just nodded. The answer explained everything. Toph was largely regarded as the baby of the group by the two other females and she could usually rope them into just about anything. Not that she couldn't rope any of the males into doing her bidding as well, but Zuko drew a line, Aang would debate it to the death, and Sokka would distract and then run in the opposite direction. His version of 'laziness' to get out of doing things he doesn't want. It was certainly amusing to watch.

The two other women didn't want Toph to get into trouble, of course, so that was the given reason most of the time. And, if that didn't work, Toph wasn't shy on playing the 'blind' card. None of them were shy, either, on feeling guilty about it. Even if none of them had anything to feel guilty about it. Fate determines what fate determines and no one can step in and change it, Zuko learned from his Uncle.

"I'm just going to say it – seeing you act all domesticated is really, really weird." Suki quipped with a raised eyebrow.

Zuko smirked after folding half of the clothes from the line. They are already dry from but ten minutes of heat exposure. "Thanks for the compliment… I think." He turned the fire back 'on' in his hand. "You and Sokka look really happy."

"We are." Suki smiled a secret smile to herself. "We have our… disagreements, occasionally. Troubles; just like everyone else. But, yeah, we are really happy. I can't imagine any other alternative without him."

"I understand that well." Zuko said it much louder than he intended, even as it only came out in a light whisper. Her words sent his smirk into a frown_. Troubles – do things like struggling to read each other and denial count? Probably_, he decided upon.

He remembered how he was taught all during his childhood and most formative years that showing and expressing too many emotions is a weakness. It is a hard habit to break; every now and then, it reared its ugly head; like it did back at Amaupah. Zuko was loose and carefree – resulting in what would surely have been a kiss if Toph hadn't interrupted. The chance to talk thereafter (let alone one-on-one) hadn't come for days and he was thankful for it. Initially, he felt guilty for being so cold and aloof just seconds after their interruption. But, then Zuko used the time to spy; sort of. He watched her from a distance as he thought.

What he saw was a responsible, capable, strong, and gorgeous water-bender with a level of selflessness and empathy he hadn't seen in years. Maybe never, if he was being realistic. Twice one of the women who also volunteered at the care tents set up had gone and alerted Toph – heaven forbid they tell him, standing fifteen feet away – and she was able to get Katara to rest for a few hours. Katara worked herself to the bone, all for people she doesn't know, and Zuko caught himself admiring her.

A level of care for all innocents isn't made – it is born in a person.

Zuko knew and decided upon, right then and there, that he had no right to almost kiss her the way he had. He has no right to want to at all. No right to hug her when it isn't socially accepted, no right to develop feelings outside of closely friendly, and no right to wish silently for the same in return. Instead, he distracted himself; reminding his mind that it was only fair, and is for the best for both.

Katara portrayed no outer signs of noticing beyond a stare here, a short pause before responding there. _Or, maybe she is as good as covering up emotions as I am_, Zuko thought_. I wouldn't be surprised_.

"Trouble in paradise?" Suki bit back a shameless grin and pulled the plug from the basin she was using to wash with. The murky – half dirt-fill and half soap-bubbling – water trailed the slight slope down into the grass.

"What do you mean?" Zuko startled. _I'm not that transparent, am I_? He asked himself. Unfortunately, no response was given back.

"Katara." She said the name that could unravel him and, with the way her tone and face matched, he knew she knew that.

With just her name said, Zuko folded the last of the dry clothes and left them on the table set up outside. His face went neutral and impassive – eerily like a stone wall. "No." He replied evenly. "If you will excuse me, I am going to go see if Uncle is back at home now."

"Uh, sure. Bye." Suki simply waved. Zuko nodded in farewell.

He walked in through the house and turned down the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Toph's door was cracked and he knocked before walking in. The small earth-bender was lying on her bed, asleep. She still looked pale but he took it as a good sign that she was no longer heaving and now able to rest.

Zuko rinsed out the basin she had used quietly and tried not to turn green as he watched the vomit – half digested chunks of many different types of meat he couldn't even begin to identify – flurry down the water drain. He grabbed a spare washcloth off to the side and soaked it in cold water.

He walked over and laid it on her forehead. Toph moved slightly in her sleep, burrowing further into herself and tucking her knees higher. She didn't wake, however, so he simply walked out, shutting the door behind him.

He thought all the time he walked, taking all the spare streets so it would take longer. Zuko kept thinking back to what Suki had said and wondered if Katara confided in her. It didn't look like it, he admitted to himself, so maybe not. He absently dropped an iron coin in a homeless refugee's begging hat.

The man hollered his thanks after Zuko and grinned a mostly-toothless grin. Zuko paused in his walk and smiled back.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_I shall be telling this with a sigh__  
><em>_Somewhere ages and ages hence:__  
><em>_Two roads diverged in a wood, and I__,  
><em>_I took the one less traveled by__,  
><em>_And that has made all the difference._

~4th Stanza – '_The Road Not Taken',_ Robert Frost

* * *

><p>Katara picked up a bundle of celery and sniffed. Its scent was mild – normal – and its green, chalky-spring like skin was supportive of her assessment. She withdrew a few coins to give the man across the produce booth when Iroh came over and took them from her hand, steering her away.<p>

He spoke before she could protest. "That man sells stolen produce. Don't ever buy from him – it is only encouragement."

"Oh."

Iroh inspects her basket. "Did you get the apples?"

"Yep – green and sour." She smiled and nodded.

"And the squash?"

"Almost ripe – they are spotted yellow, just like you said they should be. I am surprised they were harvested so early." Katara added, reorganizing her basket as the weight was tipped too far to the right.

Iroh smiled as he took her arm and they walked down the isle of stands. "This is another one of the things I love about the Earth Kingdom. Most fruit, vegetables – livestock – can be harvested all year round. Only in certain areas of this vast nation does the soil or season prevent it."

"You make the wisest observations."

"Now don't tell anyone. If more said it, I would lose the ability to say I coined the phrase."

"Ah." Katara grinned at his conspiratorial wink.

They walked back to the Jasmine Dragon quickly. Iroh was eager to get the produce out of the baking sun and Katara was eager to get out of it herself. The freckles that dotted all along her arms were becoming noticeable and prominent in the heat – even as most of her arms were underneath the cover of cloth. Her face began to feel perpetually hot, even in the shade, and she knew in a few more minutes' time she would be burnt, not tanned.

The weird thing about the Earth Kingdom is the climate – _well, one of them, to be honest _– Katara found herself observing. Pick autumn, for example. The season that's currently well under way. The nights' temperature dropped so low frost could be found on the flowering petals – they themselves unfazed by it almost completely. But, the days trapped the blistering heat with faint winds and felt just like summer would. Summer anywhere else, at least.

They walked into the alley behind the Jasmine Dragon and up the back staircase to the loft apartment. It has both an inside entrance and an outer – the inside in Iroh's tea shop and the outer squirreled away out here, looking like it couldn't possibly lead to one of the most famous tea shops in Ba Sing Se. _Clearly, the street cleaners miss this alley frequently_, Katara thought bemusedly at the sight of all the trash and mold.

Iroh was just inside when Katara felt a rough, calloused hand grab hold of her throat and a knife pressed against the other side.

Her startled screams were enough to make the poor man wince.

Iroh was back outside in an instant. "Ka- What do you think you're doing there, young man?" His voice is calm and even. _Just the same as it usually is_. Katara almost envied it, but the emotions of annoyance controlled the majority of her mind. Annoyance at the audacity of the man trying to mug them and the annoyance at herself too, for screaming like a girl when there have been far worse things happen to them in the past two years. She found herself thinking that those days _were_ supposed to be over, but from the tension filled meetings to this, it didn't quite feel like they were.

Katara glared, mentally, at the man behind her.

"Robbing you." The thief smarmily quipped. He smirked in a way more like a sneer. It wasn't playful or teasingly mocking or expressing an understanding of knowledge of what someone just said. Instead, it's hard and ugly; almost pitifully ugly.

"Come on, we both know you can't do it. Look at how your knife is shaking. This is not the life for you, boy."

The man looked at the blade and cursed loudly under his breath. He tightened its hold on her throat, drawing blood this time. Small cascading droplets soaked into Katara's hemline quickly and created streams of red down her tan skin. Her short –lived fear disappeared at the sight she strained her eyes to see. Anger bubbled this time and surged through her veins.

The man and Iroh continued speaking, one daring and the other calling on the nothing-but-false bluff.

"Just give him the money, Iroh. I don't doubt he will make good on his bet – and it's my neck on the line." Katara almost wanted to laugh at the double meaning behind her words but refrained. The pain blossoming around her neck gave her bad images of laughing and having her jugular sliced.

Iroh looked over, noticing her pitched voice and odd emphasizes. She raised her eyebrows and gestured at her hands, sending him a sign. She mouthed him a few words, too, and he seemed to understand. The thief nodded along, encouraging to the transfer of wealth to him – and unaware of consenting to a foiled plan. At the older man's hesitance, he gruffly said, "Get on with it, old man. Listen to what the little girl here said."

Iroh nodded and walked back inside. He grabbed a bag of money – just a small pouch to fit into the palm of a hand – off of the counter and went back outside. He handed it to the thief, who grinned.

Just as he did so, Iroh lit the bag on fire. The petty thief yelped in surprise and dropped it, a few small burns dotting across the surface of his hand immediately. In a scramble to recover the 'hard earned' coins, he loosened the knife's grip.

Now that the chance of having her jugular cut open is minimized and the sharp blade all but neutralized too, Katara spun out of the loose grip and kicked him squared in the jaw. She opened her cantina and froze some ice under his feet. The man lost his balance immediately and fell over the railing.

She hurried down the steps and called the water around her hands, preparing to freeze the man where he stood while she went off to get some patrolling authorities afterwards. The thief already had a head start too large, and knocked over some garbage cans and empty boxes for good measure to slow her down. Katara was still satisfied to see that at least his lip was busted and he was cradling his arm. _Probably dislocated it with the fall_, she happily hoped.

As a parting shot, she blasted his back with ice crystals sharp as glass and he ran down the corner of the alleyway and out of her sight. "Bastard."

Iroh was leaning on the railing, watching with a mix of amusement and concern as she walked back up the steps, wiping at the cut on her neck. "How will I live without you all around?"

"You can take care of yourself just fine. If you egged him on anymore and I wasn't here, he would probably have charged you. I can only imagine what he would look like after that."

"Yes, but the way you operate is indefinitely more entertaining."

Katara simply laughed. She knelt down to where the bag of coins had been reduced to hot metal rings and a slight fire on the cloth. It was bright red, shining its last flames. "A little help cooling these off?"

"Right." Iroh extinguished the flame but the heat still lingered, keeping the metal sparkling more than usual. She doused the coins with some of the water in her cantina before closing it back up. _I'm glad I decided to keep this with me_, Katara thought.

The coins were cooled enough to be picked up. The warmth imprinted into her hand as she walked back inside – shutting and chaining the door, behind her – and set them on the counter.

"Thank you, Katara. Would you mind helping me with dinner?"

"Not at all." She smiled and followed Iroh to where he was setting up cutting boards, pots, and pans in the kitchen. The scab quickly forming over her fresh wound hid the tale and she wiped the remaining blood up – courtesy of a wet towel from Iroh.

The peaceful smile she wore on her face hinted at nothing traumatic experienced just an hour before. Katara became used-to and unaffected-by such experiences months ago. If Iroh did mention it later when Zuko and Toph came back and Aang, Sokka, and Suki came over for a meal, she would wear it as a badge of honor. It's not every day someone is mugged in the Earth Kingdom and lives with a small scratch – and saying 'you should see the other guy', too. Perhaps, it would even scar.

_On the off chance of that_, Katara mused as she chopped the celery, _I will wear it as a badge of honor, too._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2: **It just occurred to me that someone might think I'm going to do a follow-up to this where Zuko finds out about the burglar. I won't be doing that. These two parts were just to show the relationships between the characters we don't often see together (in show and fiction or otherwise) and was a bit of a 'fluff' before I delve back into the story-lines set up.

Thanks for reading! :D I hope this story continues to satisfy all of you readers!


	22. Another Leave and Turmoil

**A/N: **I like the idea of there being a Republic city and a nation outside of the four. For all the 'normal' people. I mention it in this chapter but I don't think I'll do much more beyond mentioning it.

Also, I hope I got the convo between Suki and Zuko right this chapter! I knew how I wanted to do it but reading it back…. Well, it just never seems 'perfect'.

_Big hugs and thank you's to all that have put this story on their alerts and favorites! And another big thank you to all that read it but don't have accounts!_ This story just hit 600 unique visitors and it makes me so giddy :D

I hope you all enjoy! I am having so much fun writing this story.

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. **

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Which I wish to say is this_

_There is no beginning to an end_

_But there is a beginning and an end_

_To beginning._

_Why yes of course._

_Any one can learn that north of course_

_Is not only north but north as north_

_Why were they worried._

_What I wish to say is this._

_Yes of course__._

~Stanza 38 – Part 5 –_ 'Stanzas in Meditation',_ Gertrude Stein

* * *

><p>All of them, san Iroh and Toph, traveled to a sea-side city just north of Ba Sing Se where they would each take ships to their next destinations. It was the closest place they could fine – the city called Bane's Port – and they lagged behind when saying goodbye to Iroh and Toph. Aang was the only one who was not taking a ship, having Appa there with him and being inseparable with him anyhow.<p>

They rode Appa there; a much easier feat than having to go the distance on land. It only took them a day – perfect timing – and they set up a temporary camp off to the side of the port and away from the city. The place was constantly humming with people coming and going, many of them refugees, and Aang pointed out how nice it would be to be in the peace and quiet like they became used to, traveling around the world and all, before arriving in Ba Sing Se.

Even the Fire Nation capital, for all its hoopla, was generally at a slow lull, the people in their own worlds and not always so busy. At least, not all of them were always so busy.

Dusk was pouring down and making its presence known boldly. The hues of red, purple, blue, and an almost-white reminded Katara of the winter light shows she watched happen naturally in the sky for year after year at the South Pole.

Her brother and Suki squabbled with each other in line for a few minutes before it was their turn. She simply dismissed them amusingly and watched the rest of the crowd where she, Zuko, and Aang were standing, off to the distance and away from the trails of people. The couple came over soon after, tickets clutched in their hands so the strong sea winds wouldn't carry them away.

"I had to argue with him over getting a cabin just for us. I'm not sharing with a huge room full of people I don't know for the four day journey it takes." Suki cut a sharp glance over at her boyfriends, daring him to debate it in front of everyone else.

"Keep the other reasons for it to yourselves, please." Katara quipped, shocking everyone.

"Sis!" Sokka's cheeks reddened and he glared at her. Katara merely shrugged at her brother. She noticed the way he was hesitant about speaking in objection and, at the same time, shook his head in agreement.

"I thought she was talking about the extra amenities like those little fruit bowls they give you." Suki's voice came out innocently as she stepped in front of her boyfriend to answer but the look she shared with Katara showed the water-bender that Suki truly knew what was meant by the statement. Katara felt like laughing. "Okay, whatever. Did you two get the first available?"

"Yep. It leaves in twenty minutes."

"So soon?" She frowned and didn't care that her voice sounded needy. She hated being separated from her brother; and even more so when they had barely enough time to say goodbye.

"Sorry about that." Sokka smiled sheepishly but Katara pulled him in for an engulfing hug all the same.

When she pulled back, Aang took his turn. The Avatar wished his best friend good luck and stepped over to send the same wishes to Suki, leaving the brother and sister alone to say private farewells. Zuko had sent his best wishes when Aang did and stepped away too.

"Are you sure there is no way for you to stop by? Dad would love for you to stay longer, too."

"Sorry; there is still pressing Avatar matters Aang left to me to finish up in the Fire Nation." Katara lied and hated how smoothly it came from her lips. She and Aang had finished all Avatar related matters needing to be dealt with in the Fire Nation weeks ago. "And Zuko needs help with some, too, and I promised him I would be there." _A partial truth_, she thought positively.

"I don't like it, but okay." Sokka sighed dramatically, resigning to it, and hugged his sister one last time, long and hard, as the bell rung out for the next boarding to commence_. Their ship,_ Katara knew and from the way her brother pulled back, he confirmed it. _Time passes too fast_. "See you soon?"

"Of course." Katara smiled at her brother and slugged him teasingly in the arm. "You won't even know the time went so quickly."

Suki waved over to her boyfriend, a sign that she would only be a moment, as she sidled her way over to Zuko. Aang ran over to say some last parting words to Sokka, leaving the two alone. "Katara's my fiancé's sister and my good friend and I like to think we're friends too. You're not just asking her to stay in the Fire Nation out of nation duties, are you?"

"Why do you ask?" He swallowed and adopted a puzzled look. It was still half true – he just didn't know what prompted her to ask about it.

"I know you two like each other and something I missed seeing happened that changed…whatever it is that you two having going." Suki gestured to him and answered. Her face was as still as stone and what she said came out so matter-of-factly that he was reminded of her Kyoshi Warrior past – and of how many times she must have interrogated people. "Answer the question I asked before."

"No. That's only part of it."

Suki's expression stayed still. "The other half: business or pleasure?"

Zuko held her gaze for a long minute. "Family."

"Oh." She faltered.

"Don't tell anyone I said that. Katara is the only one in a select few that know. I want to keep it that way if it… if it doesn't pan out."

Suki nodded and held out her hand. "You hurt her, Sokka will kill you. It works out… she'll be the best damn thing to ever happen to you. It's obvious; even now. So don't put your foot in your mouth."

Zuko shook her hand with a small smile. "I know. I'm keeping it in mind."

"Good." She smiled, finally, and he relaxed. "Good luck, Zuko."

He wished her the same and she dispersed into the crowd boarding as he joined Aang and Katara by the railing. The three saw the couple at their own railing as the ship moved out of the harbor, minutes later. They waved until the two were simply colorful specks in a small cargo ship that resembled a rock at so far of a distance. It moved fast; only ten minutes passed and Katara saw the last of her brother, again.

Aang walked alongside Katara as they went back to where Appa's resting outside of town. They fell into discussing the logistics of his plan regarding reviving the Southern Air Temple and the ideas he was thinking of writing to Kuei as Zuko deliberately hung back and left them to themselves.

"Kuei signed a contract, right?" Katara asked. "'Cause just a verbal agreement is…."

Aang immediately spoke as she let the comment trail off. "Of course! And, he has already sent a letter when we were back in Jaymai about it. The first group of refugees are being assembled that wish to come and they will set sail tomorrow."

"You should've left sooner!"

"No, no, you guys needed a ride." He argued.

"No, we didn't."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. It's easier for you guys this way and I want to see you all as much as possible." He scuffed his feet on the ground as they walked. "Who knows how much longer until we're all caught up in our own stuff. Zuko is already straining himself to balance his Fire Lord duties and retaining his constant friendship with all of us." He looked back but Zuko was oblivious to it, staring at something to the right of them. "He doesn't mean for me to notice – for us – but I do. It is kind of part of my job.

"And Sokka and Suki are going to settle down; it's already happening. I'm happy about that, you know. We all are, but that means everything is changing so fast and we already had so much change ending the War that it's just tiring. I mean, I thought we were going to get to relax more. Maybe… be _kids_ more."

He shrugged and then sighed. "I'm not blind about how much work revitalizing and re-inhabiting the Air Temples in going to take and how much time and energy being an Avatar takes, too. Every day I'm reminded up here-" Aang tapped his forehead. "-that I still have a narrow gap to revive my home and that many still doubt I can be a powerful Avatar – _a good one_. So how am I supposed to revive my people with that circling my mind?"

Katara half hugged him as they walked, causing both of them to slightly stumble.

"You are already a great Avatar, Aang. You can do everything you need to and want to if you just believe."

"I know. You sound like Roku." Aang smiled.

"Avatar Roku was a smart man."

They reached the camp before speaking again. They divided up the few duties there were - not having to make a fire and having eaten back at Bane's with Sokka and Suki - and settled down. Aang sat cross-legged and, with a few questions from Zuko, animatedly started talking about his thoughts behind bring refugees to the air temples and ideas, perhaps, on a separate nation. A nation for those without abilities that wish to leave the identity their country holds or that have a bending ability but do not wish to live in their nation - nor any other bending nations.

"...and there's a huge gap between them and us. Most everyone in all of our nations -" He gestured to each one of the trio. "-do not have these abilities. Why shouldn't they be able to create their own identity? An identity free of the earth or fire or water or air? An identity solely based on them and what they can do aside from bending."

Zuko sat up from where he was leaning back against the cliff wall. "That's… smart. How long have you been thinking of this, Aang?"

The Avatar shrugged. "A while."

Katara shared a glance with Zuko as she thought. He responded while she stayed silent. "You need to mention this to Earth King Kuei next time you two speak. You do have a point.

"While you are accepting refugees from the Earth Kingdom to help rebuild the air temples, you are still having preference to those with air-bending and monk ancestry. A nation – a _fifth_ nation – made up of people with the identity of no bending abilities?" Zuko nodded slowly, looking off into the distance. "That would be revolutionary. So… different."

"This is a wonderful idea, Aang." Katara smiled at him. "This is exactly the thing an Avatar is known to do – you would be helping the refugees, the homeless, and those that have no power in their country – the 'peasants'. But… you know… without using that awful word." She wrinkled her nose for a moment before cracking a grin full of admiration and pride. "This is exactly something an Avatar would be remembered for, too. You have the power to do this, Aang, if you really want to."

"I do." He grinned. "After I rebuild my nation, I will look into the details of this and I will give it my all."

Zuko looked over at the boy across from him. His voice was still and serious. "You must be sure before you project this idea out loud. You plant the seed of an idea like this in people's minds, it will grow quickly. This past war…. a lot of people lost everything. They would jump at this idea – jump at the idea of being free of their elemental nations that brought this suffering on them." His words were consulting Aang but his tone left it sounding like a warning.

Katara knew he was right to warn, though. People still weren't completely accustomed to the peace. She wasn't even, at times. The expectation of violence and the expectation of needing to use violence was still ingrained in people. For a hundred years, people had to fight from being pillaged, beaten down, and killed. Those instincts weren't going to go away so soon. If people – whether from the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom – wanted freedom to be in a new country away from benders, even at least to start a life in an environment as such, they wouldn't hesitate for long before resulting to violence to get their hands on the opportunity.

After all, violence has been how to get the attention of governments for years now. Katara shuddered to think of if that happened.

Aang, however, nodded semi-seriously, with the grin still on his face. She didn't doubt he knew the full extent of what Zuko meant, however. The boy was much smarter than some gave him credit for. "I know." He responded before repeating once more, "I will rebuild my nation before I build this separate nation, but I will do it eventually. I have a responsibility to my people, first."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX **

_A Man may make a Remark -_

_In itself - a quiet thing_

_That may furnish the Fuse unto a Spark_

_In dormant nature - lain -_

_Let us deport - with skill -_

_Let us discourse - with care -_

_Powder exists in Charcoal -_

_Before it exists in Fire._

~_'A Man May Make a Remark_', Emily Dickinson

* * *

><p>Iroh picked the letter filled out with a few short lines - contact information, to be specific - and stared in thought. He shook his head and set it down again. The thoughts racing in his head were interrupted abruptly by a knocking on his door.<p>

"Can I go down to the Jasmine Dragon before opening? I want to... practice."

"Are you going to experiment with my teas or follow the recipes?"

Silence. Iroh smiled.

"Maybe." Toph replied more than a little vaguely and to neither of the questions. "Please, Iroh?"

"Sure, sure. Just don't wreck my kitchen!"

"Sweet! Thanks so much!" Toph's voice echoed off of the door. He chuckled. He turned back to his desk after hearing the back door shut hard.

The note on his desk was from a close friend of his now currently in the Earth Kingdom government. With such close access to the records, Iroh called in a favor from Rorett. He would have to return it later - as the other man had said all too clearly - but it was worth it. At least, he thought it was. Until now. The apprehension in his thoughts gave him pause.

He didn't think he would even have contemplated stepping into Toph's life without her permission just a few weeks ago. However, what Iroh found two days ago and the reaction from her made him feel he had to. On some level, in some way, he felt the need to help her. He couldn't think of any other way to do so than with the letter in his hands.

_***Flashback - 2 days prior - Lunch time...**_

Iroh finished chopping the greens and scrapped the leftovers to the corner of the wooden board. "Uh, green?"

"Nope! You would think so, right? If not blue then of course green!" Toph grinned from her position sitting on the opposite counter, kicking her legs out freely. "The water is actually purple. Purple! Can you believe it?"

"Well, purple is in a close relation to blue. Where did you say this was?"

"'Gaill Lake'. Somewhere in the southwestern area, I think. Near the edge of Si Wong Desert, I know that."

"Interesting. I think I would remember seeing that." Iroh dropped the slices into the heavy pot and closed the lid, walking the board over to the trash bin. He placed a few extra slices he cast aside earlier in Toph's hand closest to him as he passed. She quirked her lips and chewed on them, making a comment every now and then. As she continued to talk of the mysterious purple lake, Iroh picked up a few stray envelopes from the wooden bin lying haphazardly under an array of trash.

What caught his eye was they were all for Toph. What strode his interesting was the fact that they all three were unopened.

He turned back to where Toph was now fishing in a vase for tongs to use in the pot. "What are these?"

"What are what?" She waved her hand in front of her eyes.

"These letters. I found three of them in the trash - they are from your parents, it says. Why are they in the trash, Toph?"

She turned back to the stove pot and shrugged. "They say the same thing."

"How do you know that? They haven't even been opened."

"I know my parents and you don't. Butt out of it already."

Iroh faltered at Toph's loud voice. He wanted to say more but pressing it would be a bad idea. He had been in much worse situations in the past to know this by now. Instead, he said, "Alright then. Do you want me to throw them out?"

Toph turned back but paused. He watched as her eyes darted around rapidly, trying to lock on to a place to concentrate, to think. "No. Here."

He felt a wave of sympathy go over him, just a bit, at her low and quiet voice. She held out her hand. Taking them, she hopped off the counter and walked quickly across the open expanse of a living room to the guest bedroom - her bedroom. Iroh just watched on until she was out of sight before turning back to the stove, wondering if he should help. If she would even be okay with him doing so.

_***End Flashba**__**ck**_

Iroh knew by the next day that while she was still holding on by keeping the letters, she had no desire to know what they said. Whether she is afraid or hesitant, he didn't know. She never asked him to read them to her and no one else was around to do so – their mutual friends aren't around the tea shop's staff is always so busy that he would be surprised if she could whisk them away for even a minute.

Pipsqueak and The Duke (Iroh shook his head the first time he met the two, marveling at the names) weren't to come to Ba Sing Se for a while. At present, he didn't know of any plans of them to come at all. With those other two, her only other two friends that he knew of, Iroh couldn't think of who Toph would go to to hear the letters.

Which, in short, meant she isn't going to anyone, he knew.

Picking up his ink pen, Iroh set aside his worry at her reaction. _In the long run, it's better this way_, he told himself. _She is still young, no matter how many grown-up things she can do and has done. Her parents have to be wondering why she isn't responding_, Iroh thought. His mind suddenly flashed with memories of Lu Ten.

_Tossing him in the air as a baby._

_Building sand castles with him as a child._

_Standing by his side, all pride and smiles, when he received his first armor set after being initiated into the Fire Nation Military._

_Ordering him and watching him become among the best of his regiment__._

_Seeing the earth-benders hold the Ba Sing Se wall strong as Lu Ten lay in his arms, blood fleeing from his body. His son's hazel eyes stuck in a dawning image of knowing death._

Iroh shook his head of those thoughts. He accepted his son's loss after so many years. Now, now at least the memories didn't make him sob with sorrow. No, they only made him inevitably think of the last one he had of his son. The one where his son died a death that wasn't towards any greater good.

He wrote the letter, short and to the point. Scribbling the address across the seal, he walked it out to the street. _As much as Toph may dislike my actions_, Iroh thought_, this is for the greater good of herself. One shouldn't have to be away from their family if they don't have to be._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it._

_Voltaire_

* * *

><p>"Happy?"<p>

"It's not that much better."

Suki looked at him pointedly.

Sokka threw up his hands and scoffed. "Fine, yeah, it is better."

"Finally!" Suki grinned and flopped on the bed. "I'm so glad I got you to spend some of our meal coins on this cabin. Being stuck in that one we just passed..." She mockingly shuddered.

"Babies crying constantly." Sokka frowned at the thought as he set his bag down.

"People arguing over beds. And space." She paused. "Families arguing about personal stuff."

"Snoring."

"You snore - and drool." Suki pointed out amusedly.

"Touché. How about… feeling other peoples' drool from the top bunk."

Suki sat up quickly and gagged with her hand over her mouth. "Okay. Ew. You win. I've seen a lot of gross things in my life but that one would just be… awful."

Sokka pulled his fiancé up from where she sat, holding out her hands in a silent gesture for him to do so. She didn't need help, just did it for amusement. Suki trailed her hands up to his shoulders. "Want to go check out the buffet? They're probably setting it up right now."

She watched his eyebrows dance and laughed. "Sure."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	23. Embrace The Shock

**A/N**: Not much going on in this chapter until the end. I thought up this storyline for Toph as soon as I thought up the first initial idea for HTC (How Things Change). To me, it never felt 'finished'. Please, please, please tell me what you think if you have a moment to spare to review!

And thanks to everyone reading this! I just got a few more Story Alerts this week and it made me smile I'm glad so many people find it worth it reading!

**Disclaimer: I don't even dream that I own the TV Show and franchise and all that is entailed in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe. Although, I do **_**wish**_** I could play with Momo for a day. Mischievous lemur ;)**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Guard yourself from the terrible empty light of space, the bottomless__  
><em>_Pool of the stars. (Expose yourself to it: you might learn something.)_

1/3 stanzas – _'Quia Absurdum', _by Robinson Jeffers

* * *

><p>Katara hugged Aang one last time and hurried aboard. She met Zuko on the ramp and together they went to the railing. Zuko was able to route a Fire Nation ship to Bane's Port and did so right before they all left Ba Sing Se. Therefore, it was given plenty of time to arrive. Katara was also happy to see he had put in his letter for only two guards. They still made her nervous, despite Zuko's relatively new position as their leader.<p>

The ship was small. No more than half the size of the ship Sokka and Suki took to the South Pole – though it also stops at many Earth Kingdom ports first. Their ship was also nearly half the size of the monster ship Zuko used to travel on when chasing Aang and the rest of them when what seemed forever ago.

The black metal ship pulled from the relatively dead port (what, with it being four thirty in the morning) and the sound of the engine set off a flock of seagull-crows. Their call was piercing in the damp air but no one paid any mind.

Katara waved to Aang once more at where he was now ascending into the sky on Appa. He had no delays now. She hoped Appa would get to the Southern Air Temples in record time. Aang had received another letter, this one from a shipmaster, who stated he's a bit over one hundred miles out from the temples; but Katara didn't worry much. Appa hadn't been very active in the past month - beyond playing in the air, that is - and the record speed at which he disappeared in the sky told her he has more than enough energy to use up.

Zuko had waved one last time too, but he doubted Aang could see it. Or see either of their waves, really. When the young Avatar flew Appa, he focused on the path ahead, not behind. _As well should everyone who commands any forms of transportation - or commands in general_, Zuko thought.

He turned from the railing and nodded to the Captain through the glass window. The older man tipped his hat and moved some of the controls. The boat lurched forward at an impressive speed. Katara looked over and back behind her, but she quickly understood what had transpired. She resumed where she was staring intently at the disappearing sea-side town - a spot in the road. It was only so big because of its port and the easy access of its location to Ba Sing Se.

"I need to make a detour and stop at the Capital first. Do you mind?"

"Not at all. I understand you run a nation, Zuko. _A nation_." She chuckled lightly. "That has to be more work than you try and make it out to be."

Zuko shrugged and looked at her sideways. He was half smiling; conceding to her comment.

She continued on. "So stop acting all guilty about having to run off and take care of 'business', okay? Aang is going to have to start doing that in a few weeks too. Or, whenever we see him again."

"Probably at your brother's wedding."

Katara opened her mouth to protest it but stopped and closed it. "Yeah, probably. Wow, I never thought of it like that; how weird." She turned her body back to face the railing but still looked at Zuko. "Anyways, remember I'm your moral support with this. I'm your... friend. And helping you find your mother matters to me."

"Because of your mother?" The words were out of his mouth before he thought twice. "Sorry, I d-"

"No, you're right. It is partly about my mother." Katara pat his hand and let hers linger when he curled up his own and gripped it. "You deserve to find your mother, Zuko. I may have lost my mother, but I still have a loving family. You deserve one too."

He intertwined his fingers with hers. Katara saw his sincere and appreciative smile as he looked directly at her this time. Smiling back, she got caught up staring into Zuko's eyes. Realizing their close proximity, she blushed and turned back to stare into the wide expanse of dark blue ocean. He did the same but she didn't dare glance to see his expression.

As she subconsciously squeezed his hand, she couldn't help but think back to the day they almost irrevocably changed their relationship. What seemed like only a moment now, in Cattaile; _I may not be risking my kisses now_, Katara thought,_ but I'm risking more with each day that passes. _The four letter word - the most precious of all - fluttered across her mind and her heart did a double-take.

Zuko squeezed her hand again and she looked up from her thoughts. Katara hoped, against her logical mind, that he felt the same inside. Katara had no idea what to do with it if that came time to be proven, but she still hoped, all the same. The thought of it kept her warm from the cold ocean winds.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_A free bird leaps on the back_

_Of the wind and floats downstream _

_Till the current ends and dips his wing _

_In the orange suns rays_

_And dares to claim the sky._

_But a _bird_ that stalks down his narrow cage_

_Can seldom see through his bars of rage_

_His wings are clipped and his feet are tied_

_So he opens his throat to sing._

_The caged bird sings with a fearful trill_

_Of things unknown but longed for still_

_And his tune is heard on the distant hill for_

_The caged bird sings of freedom._

_The free bird thinks of another breeze_

_And the trade winds soft through_

_The sighing trees_

_And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright_

_Lawn and he names the sky his own._

_But a caged _bird_ stands on the grave of dreams_

_His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream_

_His wings are clipped and his feet are tied_

_So he opens his throat to sing._

_The caged bird sings with_

_A fearful trill of things unknown_

_But longed for still and his_

_Tune is heard on the distant hill_

_For the caged bird sings of freedom._

_~'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings',_ Maya Angelou

* * *

><p>Khan, the manager of the Jasmine Dragon tea shop in Ba Sing Se, knocked on the door of the back office. "Hey, I'm closin' up in ten, but there are some people here askin' for you. Can you close up when you're done?"<p>

Toph frowned. "Ask Iroh."

"He went up to the 'partment. I knocked but he didn't answer me." Her frown deepened. "So - it cool?"

"Yeah, sure; whatever. But if I get attacked, just remember I can't identify my attacker."

"Why would I have to 'member that? This is a nice neighborhood. 'Sides, this couple looks rich. I don't think they'd need to rob you."

"Mhm."

He left the door open, probably presuming she would follow him out, and Toph heard him say some parting words to the people. The front door closed with the bell clanging in the whispered silence; _literally _whispering. She heard two voices interchanging, low and quiet, and she felt an inkling of familiarity itch across her neck.

Listening for a few more minutes, she couldn't place them and simply shrugged. Toph stood and walked out into the dining room. The voices immediately stopped. She used her element, feeling to find which table they were at, and headed there smoothly. "Do you two need anything? A refill?"

"Toph? Oh, it's really you!"

She startled and went stiff in mid-stride. "Mom? Wa-"

Toph was ambushed in a hug before she could say more and the breath was squeezed out of her lungs. Poppy Bei Fong let go as quickly as she had hugged and her long fingers fluttered across her daughters face, arms, and hair as she assessed her. "Oh, why are you dressed like this? Come, we will get you better clothes and take you home!"

"No!" Toph pushed her away roughly, back to where her father was standing off to the side. "I am home."

"Of course you aren't." Her mother lightly laughed. "This is just a tea shop. Come along now. Here, let me take your hand. Did you receive our letters?" Poppy tried to reach for her daughters hand but was eluded. "The Avatar read them to you, didn't he?"

"No, he didn't. Some of my _other_ friends read them for me. I didn't read the last seven." She set her jaw and held her head high.

"But... I-" Poppy's voice wavered and, unbeknownst to Toph, she looked back to her husband for guidance. But, Toph guessed as much.

"Toph, you worried us to near-death." Lao spoke up. "Come home with us_. Now._ Surely you don't want to have us live without our only daughter, do you? We've let you get away with more than enough freedom these past eighteen months."

"Let me? Let me?" She scoffed and felt her cheeks heat, her blood boiling underneath them. Five minutes and she was already wishing to be anywhere but with them, here. If she wasn't so acutely aware of being in Iroh's shop, Toph would've considered earth-bending herself into a hole to block them out and, while she was at it, destroying the place to distract them so she could slip away. It wouldn't be the first time she pulled a trick like that. Toph loved them, but it was a love-hate relationship when it came to what they wanted for her and what she wanted for herself.

"Baby, your father didn't mean it like that." Her mother tried to defuse the tension but Lao cut in, contradicting her.

"I did and still do mean it. You've run around the world putting yourself in dangerous situations, Toph. You cannot even _see_ them, either. The Avatar could have found any number of earth-bending teachers and you volunteered yourself without having any proper training to protect yourself or listening to our wishes. Did you ever stop and think about how nerve wracking it would be for us?"

"I didn't have any proper training because _you two_ kept me at the basic level. And what about me? What about my wishes?" Toph felt tears of frustration pool in her eyes; she really didn't want to start crying in front of them.

"You know we always hold your best interests at heart." Lao's voice hardened and Toph knew he had recoiled at her tone and words by just the pause it took him to answer. Life without anyone else's command but her own for the past year and a half really made her bold. She recognized it and the brazen streak that developed within her.

But she wasn't going to back down to her parents' wishes. Not now – not anymore. Toph did that last time – _almost_ – and it led her to running away with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. She didn't want to have to lie about her opinions anymore. "I know that my own parents kept my existence a secret." Her voice grew cold.

"Baby, haven't we moved past this?" Her mother asked.

"That's the core of this whole problem. You still see me as a baby! A _helpless child_ who needs everyone else or I will die!" Toph refrained from expressing her frustrations by stomping her foot as she often did with her friends. Doing so here would only give her father enough ammunition to be able to drag her back 'home' with her mother cheering on the sidelines.

"We only want to take care of you, b- sweetheart." Poppy said it soothingly but the effect did nothing for Toph as she quickly picked up on the fact that her father stayed silent.

She crossed her arms and held fast with her silence as well. Her mother reached for her again but she already sensed it and side stepped. Toph's nerves and every other cell involving her emotions and senses felt like they were lit by a match. They were burning now but she knew they were going to die out in a matter of minutes and leave her with an aching and sickly feeling.

Intentionally heavy footsteps pounded down the back staircase and quickly came around the corner to the dining room. Toph was relieved to hear Iroh's voice.

"I heard loud voices. What is going on here?"

"Are you the owner of this tea shop?" Poppy asked cordially and no doubt with a smile, Toph guessed. Unbeknownst to her, she was right.

"Yes. Please call me Iroh. I assume you are this wonderful young earth-bender's parents?"

"Yes, we are." Lao interrupted his wife. "Thank you for writing us. We were, as you guessed, completely unaware of our only daughter's situation. We are here to take her home. _Immediately_."

"Wait – wrote? You _wrote __them _and didn't tell me?" Toph's relief left instantly and she felt as if a cold bucket of water was poured over her – except it was done over and over and her skin wasn't becoming used to the shock of it.

"Toph, please, take a deep breath and try to calm down. Stressing so much will do you no good. I only wrote hoping for reconciliation between you three. Family shouldn't be divided this way."

She was already on the brink of becoming hysterical and his trusted pleas fell on deaf ears. "Like your family was so put together, right Iroh? It took, what, two 'bad seeds' to get four good ones? Those are great odds. Oh yeah, and let us not forget how two of those good seeds are gone." Her sarcasm and harsh words left him silent. "I know you both love me." Toph turned back to her parents. "But let me live my own life already so we can all find the peace we want!"

"Come with us right now Toph or we will drag you with us. I will not play these games any longer. You are only but a minor – you need to be at home with us, your parents." Lao's voice was hard and stern.

Iroh cut in, his voice's still thick from Toph's insult. "That is a little extreme, is it not? Why don't we let young Toph sleep on this. Can you both agree to this, Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong? She's simply overwhelmed."

"That sounds wonderful. Doesn't it, Lao?" He relented to his wife's wishes – surprisingly – and the three said awkward farewells to each other. Toph's father promised to be back the next day at dawn and his daughter didn't doubt it.

Iroh locked the door behind them and gently rubbed the young girl's shoulder as he stood next to her. "I really was trying to help, Toph. I had no idea…."

His voice was apologetic but she felt weak and frayed and instinctually went on the offense; something she hardly was able to all night as she played defense to old wounds and her parents' ideals. Maybe she was still doing that, in a way.

"Oh yeah? How about asking next time; isn't that a great idea? I didn't and haven't ever presumed to know the relationship between you and your son. I respected that, Iroh_! I respected you!_ You had no right to contact them! The least you could have done is tell me first. Even if you had gone through with it, I would have understood.

"They- those wounds you just brought up- how would you feel if I started judging you for being a commanding officer when your son died? Huh? My relationship with them was none of your business and that wound is just as deep!"

Her voice cracked at the end. Iroh said nothing as she ran up the back staircase and didn't come to the apartment until after she went to sleep; at least that long as far as she knew. Toph regretted what she said but didn't say so out loud. Her nerves were torn to shreds, her emotions pulling to both sob and scream at the same time, and her throat was raw – as if she had swallowed sand.

_If I had been prepared then maybe- maybe I would have been able to express myself better_, Toph thought. _Maybe my parents would've understood me. Maybe listened to what I was saying and realize the truth in it._

Then she remembered how she had run away with Aang and the rest of the gang because her parents said no to her wishes then and how they rebuked her elegant speech at the time. Toph knew that no matter what she did, they wouldn't fully accept her. It hurt. _Deeply_.

She flopped down on the bed and cried herself to sleep at the thought and replayed Iroh's words and her own back at him. The only adult to listen to her, to trust her, and to treat her like a mature person and she hurt him with just a few words she didn't mean – didn't even know how they were thought up in her mind. They were just there and she used then and Toph couldn't regret them any more than she did now. She didn't think she regretted anything in her life more.

As she drifted off to sleep, Toph repeatedly wished she hadn't said what she'd said to Iroh. Instead, she wished she could have directed all of the hurt and frustration at her parents. _They deserve it._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	24. Crescent Room and KoalaSloths

**A/N:** I didn't mention this before in the Aang's Departure chapter but I did change one detail regarding the Southern Air Temples. We know from the series that it is generally thought that you can only access this Temple by air, yet the Fire Nation managed to kill all at the Temple, raid it and all of that. I am going to pretend that down the long winding trail of cliffs in front of the SATs, is the ocean. So, Toph could direct the ship she took to land there, Aang could see it from how high he was up in the courtyard, and the emigrants could arrive via boat instead of using Appa.

Also, I made up a character here that is actually related to a character that appeared in the show. The character is General Shinu (previous a Colonel). He appears in 2 episodes, I think, and he clashed with Zhao in one of them over the Blue Spirit (in the episode of the same name). Just in case you were curious. The brother I created of his is in this chapter and is one of the top people handling the FN Rebellion. General Shinu might pop up in a later chapter, too.

**Disclaimer: Rawr. (Nope don't own it and am not presuming that I do. Although, I do own this grilled cheese sandwich, at present.)**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_White cloud of mist_

_Above white_

_Cherry-blossoms…._

_Dawn-shining mountains._

~Unnamed, Basho

* * *

><p>The emigrant people disembarked from the ship with a mixture of curiosity, hope, and anxiety. They all split off to do their own things in their own groups as soon as they arrived. Aang used his air-bending and met them at the ships. Staying behind and helping some of the more elderly, he smiled at how quickly the children raced up the rocky paths to the temples with their parents yelling behind them. The ship captain handed him a letter before directing his crew to start unloading the supplies. The Avatar made a mental note to help them with unloading in a bit and to possibly organize a group or two of the refugees to unload everything.<p>

He waited a few minutes after everyone was above the cliffs and at the temples before calling for their attention from where he stood. A large, pointing rock divided the pathways halfway up to the main temple. During the time that Toph spent with Aang last month at the Southern Air Temples, they largely pushed the earth back into the ground and shaped the remaining into a marvelous fountain. Tapping into a water pocket Toph was able to sense in the almost-floating rock island, they cleverly set it up so it was always pooling with the blue-white liquid.

A few families stepped out of the buildings and temples to join those gathering around Aang on the broken stone paths and lawn. "Thank you all for coming." He smiled peacefully. A murmur of whispers carried through the crowd but he continued onward. "My home - this home - was ravaged, decimated, and abandoned while I was frozen in an iceberg during a freak storm. I am the last of my kind. There will always be another Avatar after me.

"It's because of this that I am so intent to try and fix my peoples' home. Starting with my personal home - these temples," Aang gestured to the buildings around them. "and I cannot thank you all enough for coming.

"Being a bender... at least some past with one of the elements is engrained in us. I know it has been a hundred years now, but all of you here have an ancestor who ties with the Air Monks' pasts, too. It is my hope that with your help, we can not only rebuild these temples to their former glory and not only make a fresh and permanent home here, but also that we can bring back the air-bending race.

"Without a fourth balance in this world, I fear what future Avatars, what future generations, will be left to deal with. After the Great War, we may live in a whole new world - but we don't have to live in a world unable to be fully - and truly - rebuilt."

Most everyone in the crowd around him smiled or clapped or shouted words of agreement. Aang grinned contagiously, secretly relieved that his impromptu speech was so well accepted.

A few came up afterwards to ask questions or simply talk with him; however, most moved away to explore. The day wound slowly as Aang walked around the island and helped direct all of the people. The first thing he had to do was show everyone where they would be staying. The smaller temples situated in the north-west part of the island was chosen for boarding. A few fights broke out that he had to come and tame, but, all in all, it didn't take long before everyone was situated.

Aang held another impromptu meeting; this one with the elder doctors, farmers, and others of the same likeliness. They agreed on a building for the health clinic and school – as it's easier to contain both in the same place and more effective, Aang argued. He granted the small circular island connected to the temple by a bridge to become the community garden.

He promised them that, by the end of the day, he would bend and help turn over the soil so it would be able to hold nutrients for the produce they hoped to grow. As autumn was well under way, most of farmers said it was time to plant the winter crops and that it would take considerably less people than it would in the summer.

They finished up quickly and he flew over to where the two Earth Kingdom ships were still docked and where the crew was carrying boxes upon boxes onto land.

"Ah, 'ere you are. 'Ere you want 'em?" The ship captain, a man known only by the name 'Captain' to Aang, asked the teen as he walked up.

"Just here is fine. We will get them up and organized; you are doing more than enough already. Thank you."

"It's no problem." Captain took off his hat and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his forearm.

"That's the last of them, Captain!" A crew member yelled from where he was poking out his head through the door leading below deck.

"Yeah sure?" He hollered.

"Positive! We checked the manifesto, too – all accounted for!"

"'Right then. Well, you take care now, yeah 'ear?"

"Thank you, I will. Same goes to you – those seas can be tough."

Captain chuckled. "I 'ink you mean 'ey can be a bitch!" He hustled his men with quipped orders back on board.

Half an hour later, they pulled away from the makeshift port. During that time, Aang organized twenty men to help move the boxes. The storage temple – soon to be organized with the supplies – was on the eastern side of the island. It was only at most a half a mile walk but nonetheless, Aang used Appa to carry them back and forth. The heat was sweltering as the sun approached its peak and everyone had already been walking around all day. Not to mention they were on a boat for five days and walking on land was an adjustment in and of itself.

"Here, let me help with that!" Aang spread his feet apart and thrust his hands up. The boxes the older man was trying to lift were suddenly at his waist. The man quickly picked one of them up.

"Thank you, Avatar."

"Please, call me Aang."

Aang was startled when he took the box from the man and saw he wasn't nearly as old as he looked with the long robe on.

"Where are you from?"

"Originally, Lixange Village. It's on the other side of Mount Makapu than its named-for village. You heard of it?"

"Of course! I helped prevent a devastating eruption there."

"No kidding, really?" Aang nodded and hopped down to help the man carry a few more boxes as they talked. "Well, ain't that something."

"So, you're a monk?"

"Yep. Sorry for my manners – the name's Genaru. My friends just call me G, though."

"Nice to meet you, G." Aang grinned. "I had no idea there was another town near Mount Makapu. Any chance you could tell me where it's at? I didn't have any extra time to stick around after the volcano and help the people more."

"Sure – it's 'bout, oh, fifteen or so miles from a stop-in-the-road called The Abbey? Those nuns; they're always selling a bunch 'o weird scents. Have you been?"

"Yep! I can't believe I missed your town…."

Genaru shrugged and half-grinned. "Don't sweat it. We're kind of clouded in a forest. Hardly ever are seen by those traveling on foot, too. Heh."

"How about that. So, why did you decide to come along? If Makapu Village was of any indication, I can't imagine why you would leave Lixange."

Monk Genaru grew solemn. The teenager didn't notice as he turned his attention away for a minute to grab another box. After lifting up the next box onto Appa, Aang pat his flying bison's leg.

"Be careful with him! Be good, Appa." The young man who came up to Aang earlier, wanting to fly Appa, nodded nervously and let out a hesitant yip-yip. The flying bison soared quickly and Aang just shook his head. "So-", he turned back to Genaru. "-were you in Ba Sing Se when King Kuei announced my plans?"

"Yes. I moved there a few years back."

"Oh, so you were there during the invasion?"

"Yes. It was very sad what happened." Genaru brightened. "But, you and the others saved the world just a couple months afterward and we won back our great city then, too. I cannot complain."

Aang looked over at the young Monk next to him – no more than twenty-five in age – and smiled_. I'm already making a friend._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_In Silent mid-night_

_Our old scarecrow_

_Topples down…._

_Weird hollow echo._

~Unnamed, Bon Cho

* * *

><p>Katara closed the cabinet and balanced the weave basket on her hip. She retraced her steps, walking back through the maze of halls. She remembered Sokka complaining about them often. Her familiarity, it seemed, was growing fast<em>. I can find all of the bedrooms, library, kitchen, dining, courtyard, baths, steam room, presentation dining room, meeting rooms, extra offices, Zuko's office, the empty nursery, the dueling room…. Well, almost everything,<em> she concluded. Katara smiled as she set down the basket and loaded it up with the last of the towels.

"Miss, please, you do not need to continue helping us." Loya, the head housekeeper, said. Roshk, the younger of the two and her helper, nodded along.

"Yes, you are guest." He finished the thought.

Katara waved them off – literally. She smoothed the hand-towels and washcloths down so they wouldn't be tossed around as she carried them. "No, no, I insist." Loya was about to protest so she spoke on. "Besides, what else am I going to do? As a guest of the Fire Lord Palace, I have the utmost right to be entertained. Please, I promise I will finish with these towels and bother you no more."

Loya consented with a shrug and bow. She pet the water-bender's hand sweetly; like a mother would. Katara smiled warmly at the haggard looking woman, swallowing a lump in her throat as the sudden influx of emotions from the simplest touch, and turned out of the courtyard.

Here is where all of the clothes are hung to dry. There are even machines – state of the art, testing models, she learned – that are used to squeeze almost all of the water out of the cloth after it is washed and before being hung. Katara was fascinated by it, earning an amused chuckle by both Loya and Roshk.

She walked through the long pencil-shaped laundry – shaped like a triangle corner on one end and curved on the other – and cleaning room. The doors were open throughout the Palace to welcome the first cold winds of the year. The Fire Nation would not become very cold – only the mountainous peaks receiving white snow – but the change in climate is nonetheless greatly appreciated by all of its citizens.

The smell of meadow- dew and musky, falling leaves flowed through the halls and she had to push her hair out of her face after the wind made a mess of it several times over. The water-bender knocked on the cracked door and opened it without waiting to receive a response. Zuko's office stood still and empty. Katara paused a moment before shrugging_. Odd, he must be out_, is all she thought before moving to his adjoining washroom.

She opened the cupboard and placed the towels in quickly, organizing them so they weren't haphazardly stacked as she had found them. Katara closed it – and heard a voice in the same instant start speaking. The scare made her jump, as she was unaware anyone was in the room, and she turned to see Zuko standing in the doorway across to her left.

"I don't remember hiring you."

"Funny." She remarked back, walking past him. She set the basket down on a stool and sunk into a spare chair. "Seriously, stop sneaking up on me. Announce your presence or something."

"Last time I checked, this is my office."

"You know what I mean."

Zuko relented as he sat down in his straight-backed chair behind the enormous desk and nodded to her. "Sorry. So, why are you moonlighting as a servant?"

"I was helping out. No big deal." She shrugged.

A knock sounded at the door, dispelling their tête-à-tête immediately. Zuko's assistant, Orez, walked in quickly after Zuko voiced permission. "All requested have arrived and are seated in the Crescent Room. Do you need anything else, Fire Lord?"

"No. Thank you, Orez. You are dismissed for the day."

The young man blinked in surprise but simply nodded and left so quickly and quietly it would make cats envy. Zuko knows his assistant-and-coordinator was confused, being bright enough to realize that this meeting is important to Zuko, but he didn't want the young man around. It is the weekend, too, and it provided a good excuse.

Katara stood soon after Orez's departure and gripped the basket tightly in front of her, announcing her leave, too. "I should go. You need to prepare for you meeting."

Zuko nodded reluctantly, knowing there was no debating it with her. He turned to his notes after she left. He picked up his leather-bound notepad and walked out, heading to the right side of the Palace, where the large Crescent Room meeting room was situated. It was named so because it was dark inside and shaped like a Crescent. The room is one of the only ones not painted a form of red or yellow – instead, it's painted gray. _Instead of like the fire, it is like that of the ash the fire creates_, Zuko thought.

He walked in and greeted everyone. No servants nor couriers nor guards were inside. They weren't allowed to be.

"The freedom from my sister has served you well, Ty Lee."

The young woman in front of him blushed slightly at the mention of Azula and nodded. "Yes, it has." Instead of her usual tube top and gypsy, billowing pants, Ty Lee was dressed sensibly this time in a long mandarin dress – form fitting with the high collar to boot. She did rebel slightly – _like always_, Zuko remembered – and a water-droplet shaped opening was situated underneath the collar, going over her collarbone. Zuko saw a rope necklace with a white and gray spotted stone carved with the Kyoshi Warriors symbol. It is slightly different than the Earth Kingdom emblem – the same but with half of the circle carved as a fan.

_She has moved on well_, he observed happily for the second time.

_***Flashback**__ – Day of leaving for Cattaile Meetings (One month earlier)…._

"Nice necklace."

Ty Lee reached up and touched the simple necklace. "Thank you. I would have come in my Kyoshi colors but your letter suggested something more serious. I don't think me doing that would have been received well here, anyways."

"No, probably not."

"The weather here is a relief! So hot and humid - it brings back many memories." She sighed. "You have no idea how fast Kyoshi Island has become cold. I admit that did have a factor in my coming right away."

"I'm glad then." He smiled and opened a binder tossed to the side, withdrawing a few papers clipped together. Zuko handed it across to her and she took it.

"What is this?"

"A series of reports regarding Natsuno and the neighboring village of Rhange. I'm sure you've heard about the area's problems."

She flipped through a few of the pages and looked up briefly to answer. "No, I haven't. Enlighten me, please."

"A rebellion led by 2nd Lieutenant Shinu – of the Marines – is occurring." Zuko stated bluntly and Ty Lee looked up once again – however, this time in surprise. "He was dishonorably discharged as you should see in that file. It has been unsuccessful so far. The people there are more working than rich. Most are poor, too."

"Meaning they're just trying to get by because they all have families and they don't want any trouble or any part in a stupid war." She cut in.

"Right. When did you become so good at reading the people?"

"You forget I was one of those people for a while – circus and all. My father never approved of that." She shook her head.

"I remember." Zuko nodded.

"Can I hang on to this? Do some studying?"

"I insist that you do. I would like you to play the peacekeeper in this."

Ty Lee sat up in her seat. Her big, intelligent eyes squinted as she thought it through. "My cover?"

"You are going in as yourself under the pretext of donating and volunteering to the local orphanage – there's the packet for it. This contains everything on the orphanage, the money, and background checks on everyone you should be meeting or coming into contact with."

She took the brown paper parcel. Its outside appearance was and would be deceiving to everyone around her. "Thank you. I still haven't accepted."

Zuko threaded his fingers together and sighed, leaning over the desk slightly. "Honestly, I need you. I would go down there and kick all of those bastards off to the nearest prison but it wouldn't look good. I'm trying to be fair and open here. If I bend the new rules just because I know these guys are crooked and dangerous, where would it stop?

"And, I have a more important engagement I need to deal with first. All of the reports on this situation tell me that these are drunken fools trying to stir up some bloody entertainment and they resent those who took their power away. The citizens are having none of it so that is keeping them more or less in line. For now." He added the last bit after a moment and leaned back, exhaling a long breath. "That's me being honest. Are you in or out?" Zuko glanced at the window and turned back to her. "If you can't do this – or don't want to – then I need to know now. I'm leaving soon and finding a replacement will be… difficult."

Ty Lee stared at him for a moment. She looked down at the folder and parcel on her lap before speaking. "You really have changed. Kaol Shinu's leading this, you say?"

"Everything points to him." He spoke carefully.

"I'm in. I never liked that guy." Ty Lee grinned. "So, when I do I need to leave?"

_***End Flashback.**_

Zuko gestured to Colonel Jaipal and he spoke first, relaying the few newest development and reiterating the rest for all in the room.

There are only two in the small meeting room beside Ty Lee and Colonel Jaipal. One of the others is Major Wahyn, who was brought in by Jaipal to lead the troops in the case of the situation turning into a blood bath. While his men aren't doing anything other than waiting at the moment, their presence is still greatly warranted. He was recently promoted to the rank of General when Zuko cleared out all of the previous Generals and advisors – all that serviced and were close to his father.

Zuko saw no reason not to trust Wahyn and his record actually showed him to speak honesty. Jaipal trusted him too, and for that Zuko trusted him the most he would trust any military official.

The only exception to that rule being Zenan Jaipal. He had been one of the only to stay on that were in the military more than ten years at the time, just two months ago, that Zuko became Fire Lord. Because of this, Zenan saw behind the closed doors of the Fire Lord before him – Ozai, his father – on occasion and many of the others were afraid of how it would be now, while he was glad for a change in leadership. Many of the others had quit on their own; especially when Zuko fired every advisor of his father and every high-ranking official that trusted and supported the direction that Ozai had been taking both the Fire Nation and the world.

Jaipal told him point blank on their first meeting that he was looking forward to retiring in peace with a Fire Lord who wouldn't destroy his beloved nation. Zuko had smiled. He hardly ever smiles when speaking about military matters.

Intelligence Officer Cheveyo is the one who reports all activity, changes in mood, and word from the people and rebels alike. So, as far as the titles go, Jaipal was currently working as the manager of the other two – three, if counting Ty Lee – underneath him with whom he directs via the Fire Lord's orders.

No one else was allowed into the room, nor to know the full extent of what was happening in Natsuno and Rhange. Even the boots on the ground under Major Wahyn and the eyes and ears under Intel Officer Cheveyo were under various impressions of it being a preliminary measure and/or simply a test.

Intel Officer Cheveyo cleared his throat. Jaipal finished up and gestured for him to talk in the same way that Zuko had done to him earlier. "Can I be blunt, sir?"

Fire Lord Zuko nodded as the question was directed at him. "I would prefer it."

"Very well then. The people in Natsuno and the surrounding land are unsupportive of these rebels. But, they are too scared to do the necessary push of kicking them out, and are being paid to keep their mouths shut. I – we – have a man on the inside. He has reported back, on several occasions, that there are only a few of them. The rest are doing the actual unrest merely because they are being paid to do it.

"Normally, I would suggest storming in there and throwing them in jail for various crimes – the most recent is a few acres of crops that were burned to the ground in a town nearby. However, I think that would be too risky. If we can send someone to negotiate with them, perhaps set up a meeting, then I believe that is the right course. The suspected leaders of this mismatched 'gang' are not doing the violence themselves. I think they might be willing to simply settle." Cheveyo finished and turned to the others.

Major Wahyn immediately protested the idea. "These men are using other people for their own needs! Just because they aren't willing to get their hands dirty now, does not mean they won't do so if we try and negotiate. We do not and never have negotiated with criminals."

"Not true." Zuko spoke sternly. "On several occasions, both in the past and currently, we have negotiated with criminals and those banished. It is a chance to redeem for many and if they have the right information, we warrant them a release on probationary standards. It is your men who do this, right Officer Cheveyo?" He nodded and voiced agreement. Zuko turned back to the other man. "If he is recommending this, I believe he is then capable of making that assessment. Do you have any other objections?"

The Major looked across at the other two before responding with a 'no'. "I still do think this is a bad idea. We could injure her." He gestured over to Ty Lee. She frowned.

"Um, I'm not the one going in, am I? I am a friendly face to them – if anything, I'm keeping them calm. Me going in to negotiate for you three could anger them more."

Zuko nodded. "We are not sending in Ty Lee for this." He turned to Colonel Jaipal, who was largely staying silent during this with no more than nodding at Cheveyo's words. "When you first briefed me on this matter, who was that assistant in the room? Blonde hair, stuttered?"

"Hyun-Shik, sir. Would you like me to call him in for this?"

"Yes. You can debrief him in a moment when this meeting is over. He will be the one to go in and negotiate."

Major Wahyn protested. "But he stutters!"

"Precisely." Zuko kept himself from all out glaring over at Wahyn. "He will be unthreatening, look weak, and do exactly as we ask. This way, we will see if they are really after merely some cash or if they're after violence. We have protocols for this, need I remind you. He will not be seriously injured nor killed if a finger is laid on him.

"Colonel Jaipal, can you spare him for a day meeting?"

"I see no reason not to be able to."

"Good. The decision is final." He stood, palms spread out on the table. "Thank you four for coming. Your insight is valuable, as always. I trust you will continue about on these new orders immediately."

The rest responded with varying sentiments of 'yes' and shuffled out. Ty Lee stopped at the cracked door and closed it. "I don't trust that Major. Something about the way he is protesting gives me a bad vibe."

Zuko ran a hand through his hair. "He reminds me of a petulant weasel. If I weren't already dealing with a rebellion, I would think _he_ is the rebel."

"Watch out for him, Zuko. Some shades of him… sometimes I am reminded of Azula. At the end. She wasn't the same level-headed person we knew." She looked down, hurt in her eyes.

"My sister was a lot of things. Her mental breakdown…. I've come accept that it was inevitable. You should too."

"I have." Ty Lee looked up with a rueful smile. "Sometimes it's just the memories getting to me. Do be careful with Major Wahyn. Never trust a weasel." They shared a smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Same to you."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Thence, O fragrant form of light,_

_Hast though drifted through the night,_

_Swanlike, to a leafy nest, _

_On the restless waves, at rest?_

_Art though from the snowy zone_

_Of a mountain-summit blow,_

_Or the blossoms of a dream,_

_Fashioned in the foamy stream?_

_Nay; methinks the maiden moon__,_

_When the daylight came too soon,_

_Fleeting from her bath to hide,_

_Left her garment in the tide._

_~'The Water-Lily', _John B. Tabb

* * *

><p>Life at the Southern Air Temple was hectic for the first week. However, as the people began to settle into their routines and adjust to the new surroundings, it calmed. Everyone that came had decided to willingly, but Aang had wondered several times over if they had fully prepared themselves. It would be at least a year until they were fully independent from the Earth Kingdom regarding food supplies and anyone used to the fast pace of Ba Sing Se would have a major adjustment on their hands. The Temples were and have always been for peace, tranquility, and slow relaxation.<p>

Something that was completely ironic to consider with all of the little children running around.

Aang waved to Monk Geranu before leaving. He was letting his new friend catalog and organize the multiple stories high library at the monk's request and insistence. It wouldn't be done for a long time but he seemed happy to do it and the Avatar couldn't really complain. If Geranu didn't do it, he would have to do it himself, at some point.

Aang spent all day reading the historic journal written by the past air-bending Avatars; and any other days when the opportune time would arise. The first few days had been difficult and he had been left with no extra time on his hands and barely six-hour sleep schedules as he helped everyone out, but Aang was glad to see everyone adjusting so well. And so quickly, too. Aang tucked the book back under his arm and walked out, contemplating if he should put his own experiences and knowledge into the book, as previous Avatars did – including his Spirit World guide and mentor, Avatar Roku.

"Avatar! Over here! Can you help us?" He turned to the voice and saw two teenage girls, near Katara's age, waving him over. They were under a small wooden shack that had no door and open sides. It looked more like a cabana.

Once he walked over, they explained how they had been setting up a sewing machine – the hundreds of strings that weaved in and out included – when a flying lemur crashed down from the sky and crashed into it. They tried to untangle him but the small animal would screech when they drew near.

"I thought those things were all extinct!" Natima said nervous as she glanced over at the ball of thread that held the lemur.

Her friend, Shaepa, slapped her friend's arm. "Quit it; it won't hurt you. He's just scared. Do you mind helping us?" She directed the question at Aang.

"Of course! He's my lemur." Aang moved over to the bent sewing table and chuckled at Momo's scowling face as the two girls whispered behind him. "Get yourself into some trouble, did you?" Momo squirmed and chittered. "Come on; let's try to get you out of this.

"No, move left. Nope, your other left, Momo. You don't even know what I'm saying, do you?" Aang sighed. The playful lemur chittered back, nodding his head to his entwined ankles. Aang took his silent advice and a few minutes later he unbundled and untangled his friend. Granted, they left behind a massive wad of threads but Shaepa didn't seem to mind. Natima kept her distance, wary of new people and things.

"Oh good, he's okay!" Shaepa smiled and fed Momo a consolatory apple slice. He immediately brightened and took it.

"Sorry about that." Aang flushed as he held Momo, who was trying to move over the arm around his stomach to steal more food. "He usually doesn't fall into things like that."

"It's fine! We'll be able to fix it in no time. So, is he, like, the last of his kind?"

"Yeah."

"Aw, that's so sad! So he had no mate? No true love?"

Momo's ears fell and he looked sad. Even if the lemur acted foolish at times – most of the time – he did understand quite a few words. Natima scolded her friend. "That's a stupid question, Shay! Don't be so mean."

Aang fidgeted awkwardly. "Uh, no. It's just us and Appa."

"Well. Maybe it could mate with another animal! Say…." She tapped her finger on her nose. When she gasped and jumped, Aang startled. "Ooh! I know! Why don't we get him a Koala-Sloth! That would be a great paring, right?"

"Uh-"

"Okay then, genius, how do we get one? Just to entertain your idea for a minute." Natima mocked.

"We can send an order in with one of the carrier pigeons. On the next shipment from Ba Sing Se, we can get it on there and pay for it then! Come on, we'll pool our coins!"

Natima shook her head at her friend. "What's the point?"

"It will be our pet! Remember how much you always wanted a pet but your Mom never let you get one?" Shaepa nudged her friend, completely ignoring Aang and Momo. "Now's our chance."

Aang backed up a few steps. "Uh, okay, good luck with that. Sorry again!" He turned and air-bended a ball in front of him. In only moments, the spinning air was propelling him and the flying lemur to the main temple tower. He set Momo down on the staircase banister as he walked up the rest of the way to his room. The flying lemur followed him, just the same.

"Girls are weird, Momo. It's impossible to read them and they think of the oddest solutions sometimes. Not that they don't work… bleh." Aang shook his head. Momo chittered and grinned.

"What, you happy that they're getting you a mail-order bride?"

The flying lemur chittered loud and frowned at the young air-bender's smirk. "Yeah, yeah. Well, if they can afford it and manage to get one then at least you have a new buddy. Or do you love Appa too much?"

Momo's ears perked up and he flew over to the window, looking for Appa. Aang smiled as he jumped and flew away after he was reminded. Or, maybe it reminded him that Appa gets fed around this time, Aang smiled.

Aang finished the long overdue reply letter to Kuei, thanking him for his wonderful and more than enough follow through to his simple request. He asked the Earth King and personal friend if there was anything that he could do to return the favor and promised that for every new shipment, he owed the eccentric king two favors. He knew they wouldn't be abused.

Finishing up the letter, Aang set it to the side and made a mental note to take it down to the carrier pigeons before nightfall. The time of the month for no moon was back and the nights became blanketed in darkness faster and wholly more.

The teen sat down on his single bed that backed up to the temple wall and opened to where he had placed the bookmark last. He twirled an ink pen around in his hand for a moment. "Why not? I'm an Avatar too." He opened up a small jar of ink and dipped the pen in.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	25. Negotiations Or Not

**A/N:** Surprisingly, nothing to say. No, really, I've got nothing. Thank you to everyone reading, alerting, reviewing and favoriting this story! :)

(Just in case - Lee Hyun-Shik is Colonel Jaipal's assistant, the one he and Zuko discussed sending in for negotiations to gauge the rebels' intentions.)

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Don't sue me.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

"_One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is that things are what they are and will be what they will be."_

~Oscar Wilde

* * *

><p>Lee Hyun-Shik shuffled down the street, trying to make up lost time. The debriefing meeting he was in ran over. Lee looked over his shoulder nervously and spotted a man in a black wrap sitting casually on a bench down the dirt street. Another one was in a classically dark red ensemble but was loitering around a corner ahead of him. He recognized them - they met the prior evening when he first arrived in Natsuno. They were undercover – watching and waiting for violence. He hoped there wasn't any tonight; at least, not at him.<p>

He wondered why his employer, Colonel Jaipal, would send him. _I'm a nobody,_ he had wanted to argue. _Surely my involvement will only hurt your negotiations_! But then his mind, being all so cynical, wondered if that was what they were looking for. He personally hated it when he wasn't given the full story_. Ironic, really, 'cause I'm lucky to get the leftovers of information; even as the messenger_, Lee thought_. _Especially _as the messenger._

The house situated at the top of the hill he's currently climbing is where Intelligence Officer Cheveyo said they asked to meet. _For a 'compound', this place is wrecked._ Lee frowned at the smashed locks and hanging gate that lead into the courtyard. _Oh Hell, they probably don't even own this place. The owners are probably in Ba Sing Se for the next few weeks before winter hits, like many do,_ Lee mused.

He shivered against the cold wind coming from the South Pole and mounted the steps to the house's deck_. I really hope I don't blow this for the Colonel and the Fire Lord_, Lee thought. _And I hope I don't pee my pants; I've always had a weak bladder. How embarrassing._

A man was already standing at the door, guarding, when he walked around to the side entrance. The man had graying hair that didn't match his bulk. By the tan and the clothing, Hyun-Shik guessed the man to be a local farmer. _Apparently a mute, too_, Lee thought after being given a look and pat down from the Guard. He was escorted inside, only silence and scuffed feet to be heard the whole time. The guard directed him with a slightly curious glare several times, but Lee tried to act casual.

The Guard pulled Hyun-Shik's shoulder roughly, stumping him to a halt, once they were inside of a large office-looking room. The only indicators of it being an office were the desk, shelves, cabinets lining the walls, and chairs flanking said desk, along with the standard box layout. Everything in it, however, was strewn across the floor or on other furniture. Drawers were left hanging and open, papers dumped into a corner where the trashcan overflowed, valuables taken from their places – where the dust, or lack thereof, indicated them to have been – and décor was ripped, dumped, or in an otherwise manner.

Hyun-Shik observed this with a carefully concealed glare at the way the men cast-away everything_. No one appreciates private property_, he thought bitterly.

"So yer da little errand boy, eh?"

"Yessir." Lee said it shakily and found it starkly evident in situations like these that he was not good with people. _Observing them? Yes. Breaking down a situation before it happens? Yes. Relaying information? Yes. Being pleasant and polite with people who weren't going to do the same to you? Hell no._

"'Ell. Let's hear dat offer."

Guard stood in the middle of the room off to the left side in front of a bookcase, watching them both. At the other man's words, he slammed his hand against the shelf. It startled the other man – as it was intended to. He gave a pointed and menacing look and the man speaking puffed his cigar, keeping silent this time.

The seconds dragged as Lee waited. He didn't dare sit in the few chairs that were still upright in the room, seeing how damaged both they and their unstable counterparts were. Instead, he processed the little exchange and filed it away to write down later in his report. The man behind the desk, tossing the ass across the silk rug, was the right-hand to Kaol Lee Shinu. Hyun-Shik still couldn't fathom how anyone would work for something who was dishonorably discharged after openly threatening to start a war himself and then going as far as to destroy a poor woman's shop when she called the locals after him, not realizing him to be in the army – and not only the navy, but the marines too.

This man, Delajit Kaar, was not discharged from the army. He quit the first chance it arose. The file was an interesting study case for Lee when he stayed up the night prior. The man left, stating reasons of not wanting to pursue a military career. Nothing of the sort about the new Fire Lord, the new direction, and et cetera_. Truth be told, he probably would've been laid off in the first wave_, Lee thought. _So why is he going along with this mad and groundless scheme when he didn't__receive a pink slip?_

Kaol Shinu slammed open the door opposite the one Lee came in with a resounding thump against the wood paneled wall. They all startled, but none more than Kaar. He bolted up and out of the chair as if it were set on fire. He was so clumsy he didn't take the time to pick up the cigar he stupidly dropped on the floor.

Kaol nodded over to Guard in acknowledgment and walked to the desk. He stopped short and looked down. Hyun-Shik felt his heart hammer at the man's ability to not even say a word and yet send off a resoundingly cruel and dark mood across the room. Whatever the man was mad it, it was not something Lee wanted to know about. Or get in the middle of. Both, he was waist-deep in already.

Kaar flinched when the cigar was thrown back in his face but all he did was catch it. Kaol sneered at him while the other man had the astutely obvious lack-of-spine and looked like a beaten puppy. "Take a seat."

Hyun-Shik looked uncertainly at the chairs once more but sat in the best looking one after a moment. He learned quickly in his job to never refuse a noble – or higher-placed individual – when they asked something of you. Especially so when it was something like sitting down, listening, or fetching tea.

"So you're the one they sent to negotiate. I'm not impressed." His eyes took in the young boy's skinny and knobby form with as much interest as he would give a rabbit he just shot for dinner. Only the starved liked rabbit. No one in the room was near starved of any sort.

"Sorry to disappoint." Hyun-Shik tried to lighten the mood but the other man's beady eyes told him it was of no use. Lee cleared his throat. "As you have given no demands yet, my superiors have put together a list of things they are willing to negotiate on." He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a folder paper, passing it over the desk.

Shinu took the paper and opened it briefly. He tossed it away without regard. "I don't see the resignation of Ozai's incompetent son on there."

"Fire Lord Zuko?"

"I don't care for the names of lowlies, boy." Shinu sneered. "What I want is the resignation of that bastard and a man more suiting of the Fire Lord legacy. Someone like…. Me." His smile was worse than his sneer.

"Impossible. The Fire Nation Royal Family works on bloodlines only! The law is the law. Even if they did bend to your request, other things keep it from being possible." Lee didn't mean to argue and withheld from adding '_and if anyone is a bastard in this situation it is you, as I have met with Fire Lord Zuko and one word of your demands and he will laugh at how moronic you are. Your expectations are severely overestimated and, worse, they're beyond comprehension of anyone with an IQ over the sixty you seem to be hovering. If that ever even happened, the people, the army, and the purse-string-holders would revolt on you so fast you wouldn't be able to blink a menacing blink.' _

Lee was glad his Aunt insisted upon behavioral training classes when he was young.

Kaol Shinu's jaw clenched on his broad and prematurely wrinkled face. He leaned back in the chair and picked up a cigar from a beautifully carved wooden box on the side. He lit it from a lamp's flame. Lee noticed with sadness that the box's lid was barely hanging on to the rest of itself because of the torn hinges. "Do you know why the Fire Nation was nearly able to over this whole world? Do you know why we fell short?"

_Rhetorical question._

"Because people are stupid, boy." He laughed without humor. Or maybe it was with humor, but Lee honestly couldn't tell. "When the leader says 'jump', the people say 'how high?'. When other countries see their leader falling to the opposite power, they wilt too. It's called survival, boy. The instinct lives within us all. The strong – us – take over the weaklings. The weaklings survive because they let us in order to continue living their meaningless existences.

"Our nation –" He puffed the cigar and took a long, shaking breath. "- fell short because of internal conflict. The greats always do. But what about the gods among men? No one will stop them from getting what they want. Those are the ones who never let the internal conflict take over. They cut it at the bud." He nodded over to Kaar.

Lee felt an explosion of pain on his right cheek and blinked to clear the sudden spots in his vision, finding himself on the musty floor carpet. His lip was split and ached worse than any migraine he remembered. His cheekbone protested against the force. Lee lifted himself up with big eyes, bewildered at how the situation escalated without him seeing it.

"So you see, Ozai, for all that poor fool did, was just a great. He let the internal conflict consume him and now he is known as an evil. His best legacy is lost. That seat warmer holding my crown is not near half as good as Ozai was." Kaol stood and walked over to where Lee was crouched and holding onto the chair. He tapped the cigar and the ash fell around the messenger's face, whispering the threat of burns on his skin. "Now I want you to deliver a message for me." He kicked and Lee felt an explosion of heat and pain hit the front of neck and the back of his skull as it snapped back. He lost his balance and hit the floor.

Kaol Shinu pushed his boot down on Lee's chest, partly restricting his breathing. "Tell that weak bloke holding my throne that we're coming. I won't listen to anymore of his negotiating because, to be honest, it's wasteful of time. And time is all we have now, isn't it?

"You tell him that we're strong and we know all the insides of his little army – the one which he just cut, don't forget. He's wasting good money hosting that child Avatar and his mismatched group of wannabe's." He spit on the boy's face. "Now we won't appreciate anymore visits of your kind or his and we definitely won't be this nice next time. Leave us alone or try and take your best shot." He took his foot off of the messenger's chest and pulled his up by the cloth collar. "I dare him to. We clear?"

Hyun-Shik nodded. The man let him go and he stumbled out of the house, trying to remember which way he came in and what corners he took as the right-hand's smoky laugh echoed through the walls.

It was only when he was three block away and back in town, happily breathing in air untainted by smoke once more, that Lee realized he had pissed himself after all. He just hoped it wasn't in front of those bastards.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	26. Simply Romantic

**A/N:** I'm pretending that in the Avatar Universe, a game very similar to Scrabble exists. It's called Scramble (so original, I know). Beyond that, I didn't fudge anymore facts.

_Miniramble_: Guess what? I've got this story planned out all the way to the end! Yaayyyy! Now all I have to do is write it… less yay, but it's still there. Wish me luck on writing this weekend? I hope to get a lot done. Oh, and once I finish writing every bit of this story then I'll start posting on Saturday's, too! Just to give you all a heads up :)

If you have a spare moment, please review! A virtual penny for your thoughts ^_^ Everyone that's reading, alerting, reviewing, and favoriting this story, you make me smile! I started off writing this just to give myself closure but I'm glad to see that you all are enjoying reading it as much as I am imagining it!

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. (But I do in my dreams!)**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

'_Do you remember when we didn't care?_

_We were just two kids that took the moment when it was there_

_Do you remember you at all?_

_Another heart calls…._

_I remember when we stole the night._

_We'd like awake but dreaming 'til the sun would wash the sky_

_Just as soon as I'd see you – but didn't I, but didn't I tell you?_

_As deep as I need you, you wanna leave it all._

_What can I do? Say it's true…_

_Or everything that matters breaks in two_

_Say it's true…._

_I'll never ask for anyone but you…._

_But I know you what you want is to figure it out_

_And God knows I do, too –_

_What can I do? Say it's true…_

_I'll never ask for anyone but you.'_

_~'Another Heart Calls', _All American Rejects

* * *

><p>"Do you plan on relaxing any time soon, or are you just going to stand there?" Katara's voice held strong over the roaring of the sea.<p>

"I am relaxed."

"Please." She scoffed.

"I'm just thinking." Zuko turned back to face her but she saw he was still lost in thought, half paying attention to his surroundings.

"Yeah, I can see that." She murmured.

He shook his head, to all intents and purposes dispelling his commanding thoughts. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to play Scramble with one person. It's a little hard to keep track of the points." Katara smirked lightly at her own joke.

He responded in tune. "Can I join?"

"You don't need to ask." She cleared off the board and dropped all of the pieces back into a leather bag dyed green, shaking them around a bit more than necessary. Taking her allotted pieces, she pushed the bag over to him and he dutifully took his own. Zuko went first, snapping the tiles across the tabletop.

For fifteen minutes, they went back with little words exchanged. The quiet was as nice as the day outside – warm, comforting, and peaceful. Katara was secretly glad that he was at least putting his energy into some activity while his mind was occupied. She intentionally played with half a mind so that they're on a more even ground because of it.

Word of the attack on Lee Hyun-Shik, Colonel Jaipal's assistant, reached him – both of them, actually – quickly. Zuko sent the leader a lengthy letter in return, thanking him for the report, allowing Hyun-Shik to partake in that 'test', and thanking Hyun-Shik for his willing involvement. He also included, almost passively, that the money he'd sent with the intention of letting the rebels have a 'taste' could be re-routed to the boy's pockets. It would've been nice to see Lee's expression on that.

It wasn't much in terms of an amount, maybe enough for him to invest in a small apartment and get some new furniture, too, but it was the thought that counted. That's what Zuko had been taught by his mother.

"Any word on Lee Hyun-Shik? Did his black-eye heal any better?" Katara spoke up, laying down the word 'crescent'.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what; the word?" Her brow creased in confusion.

"No. How do you know what I'm thinking?"

Katara blushed sheepishly. "Coincidence, I guess."

He smiled and contemplated his letter tiles. "Yeah, he's better. Those men… they're animals." Zuko laid down his word and took a few tiles from the green bag to replenish his stack. "Too bad the leader is General Shinu's brother. Now I have to let Hyun-Shik's attack just pass. I hate having to hold off because of political reasons."

"Not to mention it's awkward." She grinned at him. He just shook his head, pointing out to her that the word she just spelled is missing a vowel. She picked it back up and laid out another one.

The familial relations that Kaol Lee Shinu has isn't the only reason Zuko held off. He didn't want any of his men – and by extension Colonel Jaipal's – to start a physical conflict before he could get there. A rebellion in one's own nation is severe enough and demands the full attention of its ruler; especially a nation such as the Fire Nation, where the strict upbringing is enough to make even someone who's starving think twice about stealing.

But, his attention is currently occupied by another matter. A _personal_ one. Zuko hoped that this trip wouldn't be a colossal disappointment. He wanted closure with his mother - with his childhood.

Both have haunted him his whole life and both were the only things that he couldn't fix with ending the War. _It's a precarious position I've put myself in_, he mulled. _I should be focusing first and foremost and completely on my nation. I have to deal with this rebellion and then there's a few requests sitting on my desk for road and bridge projects, approval to convert now-unused military bases, and approval for being able to set up local governments_ (another thing Ozai tended not to allow, instead wanting his soldiers to police their own hometowns_;_ Zuko thought it to be too ridiculous to laugh at).

_And then there's the fact that I still has three advisor seats open that I'm getting pressure at from the Fire Sages and the other four advisors separately to fill_. Zuko didn't trust anyone else enough to make them an advisor. The only person he could think of that would be remotely eligible for that position was Ty Lee; but she didn't have the knowledge, ambition, or otherwise to do it. Then there was always the fact that she was peaceful now – the first time since he'd met her during their childhood – and he knew the answer he'd get. A big, fat 'no'.

_Of course, I can always change that rule. Make it so that a Fire Lord can have any number of advisors he wants – large and _few _alike_. Zuko wanted to smirk at the thought.

At the end of the day, he was fighting job duties against personal needs. Ozai warned him on the stress he would have while being Fire Lord; had laughed in his face the one and only time Zuko went to visit his father in prison. It was also when he asked him, point blank, where Ursa was. He had never received a direct answer. Zuko didn't think, now that time had passed for reflection, that Ozai even knew anything about her location after she left in the dead of night. He'd made it abundantly clear that he didn't care.

But, as Zuko thought over all that was waiting at his desk and all that was potentially waiting at Fuschen and with the rebellion and then the island where Jarro was on, he saw that it wasn't the stress getting at him. No, it's the conflict inside of him. _My father was – is – such a fool_, he thought.

Zuko knew he'd chosen finding his mother before all else when he had first asked his father about her. It was before that, really. It was truly decided when he learned that she was banished and not killed outright; something he learned from his father after confronting him and then redirecting lightning against him, leaving the dumb bastard in a slump against the palace walls for Aang to deal with.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

He looked up to see Katara smiling and her head tilted, leaning on her limp palm. "I'm reflecting on decisions."

"That's never a good thing." She teased.

"Sometimes it is." Zuko stared at her for a second longer than usual. "I hope we find something. Even if she's gone, it would be nice to find closure."

Katara nodded and reached across, squeezing his hand. "Zuko, even if you get closure through tragedy, it's still closure. You're prepared for all the possibilities we might find, right?" He inclined his head. She realized her words and continued speaking hastily. "I'm sorry, that sounded _really _bad. I just mean, that- I'm your friend, right? I just hope you don't get too hurt in the end by hoping and then… finding the truth. Whatever that may be because, come on, we have no idea-"

She continued to babble and he just smiled. He'd already thought – multiple times – exactly what she was saying. It didn't faze him in the slightest. The only thing that bothered him was how each of them were always cautious with their words, fumbling about for apologizes because each was afraid to hurt the other. Zuko stood from his chair and leaned over the small table. He held her chin lightly and stared, waiting for her. She stopped talking and licked her lips, looking at him. _Questioning._

"I understand what you're saying, Katara. It's no big deal."

"Oh. Good."

The silence between them stretched as she waited for him to explain why he was suddenly in front of her. His eyes flickered down to her lips. "I'm going to kiss you now… and I mean it as more than us being friends." Katara's eyes widened in surprise, but her breath only became shallower.

He brushed his lips across hers gently. Simply tasting and feeling her. Her lips were chapped from the cold winds, but still sweet. Zuko savored the moment like it lasted for an eternity, when it reality it was but for a few seconds long. Absently, he waited for her to react as he savored possibly the only moment he would ever be able to taste her lips, but he was more surprised when she made no move.

Partly a good thing - her not pushing him away and yelling - and partly a bad thing, too. Zuko knew what it meant, him acting on this idea he'd had for _so long_. He was giving up his control. Katara held all the power. What was lying under the surface, unspoken in the cool air, was now out in the open. Feelings were proclaimed without being verbally so and he could only hope she didn't wake up the next day - or moments from now from the kiss - and decide she still hates something about him and push him away.

Their friendship is forever changed. Sure, it could go on much like before; but it would always have an undercurrent. Which kind of current, Zuko hoped for the romantic one. But he wasn't naive to believe it would happen. He only knew it _could_.

Pulling back, Zuko slowly moved away, staying a few inches from her face. Opening his eyes, which were half lidded by an accord not of his own making, Zuko looked into Katara's face. Surprisingly, her eyes were still fluttered closed and made her look... peaceful. If it weren't for the slightly heavy breathing he heard, he would believe that she was calm, too.

Then something beautiful happened. Katara never once opened her eyes to question or project curiosity through her blue orbs. Her free hand reached up to cradle his chin, instead, and she pulled him into another kiss.

Zuko sighed against her mouth with relief. Her lips were softer this time, and seemed sweeter. He felt the curve of her lips under his own as she smiled. Katara pressed harder and circled her arms around his neck, the heat rising between them. They stayed like that for several long minutes before he shifted his head. Zuko trailed kisses to the corner of her mouth, to her cheek, and back. Katara sighed in his ear.

He tucked a stray lock away from her face and sat back completely. She was wearing her hair down today with only two strands in the front pulled together with blue beads. Katara stared down at the pieces in front of her when she opened her eyes and she started gnawing on her bottom lip. Her lips were a darker pink shade now and her face was flushed; a stark contrast from the cold winds around them that made everyone pale.

He knew she was trying to process what that kiss meant for both of them. Zuko was too.

Just two – almost three, now – weeks ago they had almost kissed in Amaupah but agreed, without words, that they would pretend it didn't happen and continue on as usual. Then, they had reinforced through their words that they were strictly friends (in part because they each found a way to bring up the word in every conversation). It was to remind the other and themselves. Sometimes, it was easy to forget.

Truth be told, Zuko didn't _want_ to forget. And he didn't want her to forget this one just now. He reached over and took her hand in his. She looked up and he smiled at her – she smiled back shyly.

He had had an impulse and he finally acted on it.

And it really wanted him to kiss her again.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The stars are soft as flowers, and as near;_

_The hills are webs of shadow, slowly spun;_

_No separate leaf or single blade is here-_

_All blend to one._

_No moonbeam cuts the air; a sapphire light_

_Rolls lazily. and slips again to rest._

_There is no edged thing in all this night,_

_Save in my breast._

_~'Midnight', _Dorothy Parker

* * *

><p>"Lean up, Winsor. We're not digging for molerats with our swords." The other kids in the class giggled as the boy in question turned beet red with embarrassment.<p>

Sokka and Suki were now at Kyoshi Island. Suki quickly ran off to continue her duties as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors after giving him the initial introductions to her family. Sokka had been a bit stunned to see that she still lived with her father, Blais, and Aunt, Celeigh; something he didn't hear mentioned when he was on the island before. She had told him that her mother had died during a raid; the same one that injured her father. Now, her father was weak and frail. He was constantly bed-ridden, but it didn't change his strong convictions about things. He was wary of Sokka; who, for his part, sweat like a pig when talking to Suki's father and was as nervous as a beaten circus animal.

The couple didn't see much of each other the past few days, but it was alright. They were each doing fine in their own elements. The Kyoshi Island didn't have many warriors that were male (outside of the Kyoshi Warriors clan, that is, which had none), so Sokka offered to help teach some of the children in the local school. Most of the girls opted out of regular schooling at a young age and entered the intense training of becoming a Kyoshi warrior. As a result of that, most of his students were male, like they would be anywhere else.

He was having fun with it and seeing Suki's smile on the few occasions she could stop by made it even better.

"Your form isn't too good either, Hammun. I don't know what you're laughing about." The lead boy of the trouble-makers in the group stopped laughing and frowned, trying to find where he went wrong.

Sokka winked over at the first boy, Winsor, and then called the attention of all the boys - and two girls - back to the head of the classroom.

"The last thing we'll practice for today is the lung. I will change it up this time. I'll demonstrate and all of you have to figure out what you're doing wrong when you imitate it - _before _you can go home. Okay?"

They all groaned and he nodded, unfazed. While a few of the students complained amongst themselves, Sokka got in position and quickly executed it. His wooden sword (a practice one like the rest of them had) spliced smoothly through the air, staying still as his body dipped.

"Your turn."

Most of the students quickly tried and failed while a few of hard studies – and pure lucky ones – did it right on the first time. He walked around all of the children tapped their shoulders when they got it right. The few that did so on the first try immediately grinned and grabbed their bags, running off and out down the school halls to enjoy the extra time they would get to have playing in the outdoors before needing the head home.

Sokka sat down in a spare chair off to the side of the room and unwrapped his late lunch. A kabob style assortment of meats and 'hearty' vegetables (as Suki called them - which only amused him) like potatoes and brussel sprouts. He looked at it warily. She talked him into getting this one and not the one deep-fried in honey batter. Sokka really wished he had the one with honey.

The prior class to his had ended early. It was supposed to be a blessing but he spent so much time setting up the unfamiliar space – it's his first day in a permanent classroom, after all - that he was unable to have his lunch any sooner. Or at all. He chewed a brussel sprout and it burned his tongue. He spit it out in disgust.

Sokka looked up at the students and signaled to a few more that they could leave. Most were catching on quickly_. Well, that, or they're just copying one of the others and getting lucky_. He smiled. _That's what I would've done once upon a time_, he thought.

Calling out to two more, he was quickly distracted by the beauty standing in his classroom's doorway. One of the boys on the way out was, too, and he accidently clipped his shoulder on the doorframe. Sokka winced for the boy.

"I hope I'm not interrupting. I thought you'd be done by now." Suki smiled sheepishly.

"You're not. The class ran over."

"Ah. Have a bad first day?" She sauntered over.

"Just the opposite. I think I might be catching the hang of it." Sokka smiled proudly. He didn't tease that it wasn't his first day (he actually had a week-long trial before he could officially teach the class) as she walked up.

Suki embraced him when she drew near enough, her arms loosely draped around his waist. "Really? I find that hard to believe – you're so stubborn!"

"Well what if I'm changing – sort of?"

"I would say I like it but don't change too much; I love you just as you are." They shared a kiss and Sokka startled when he heard a loud thump. He was embarrassed at having forgotten there are still some students left in the room. He turned back to see one boy had fallen over – as both the loud sound before and his face planted on the ground indicated – and was cursing some choice words Sokka would rather not acknowledge hearing.

He dismissed the last few students and turned back to the youngest of the group to see Suki was already helping him up. "You okay there?"

"No." The boy grumbled.

"Sorry, but, uh, what's your name?"

"Fen. And it's fine. Really." He turned and thanked Suki before standing back on his mat and taking a deep breath. Suki quirked an eyebrow over at her fiancé but he didn't see it, focusing instead of how the boy was setting up his stance. The boy tried to leap and spring out his sword but his feet caught on the mat, his ankles twisting under his legs, and he let out a yelp. Suki managed to catch him just in time before he face-planted on the tile one more. "Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize. Here, can I show you something?" Suki took his nod as approval and started moving his feet and knees.

"What're you doing?"

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Sokka furrowed his brow.

She looked up at the boy with a sweet smile. "Us girl were always tripping over our feet, too." Fen smiled. "One minute we are suspected to wear fancy skirts and platform sandals and the next we have to fight for six hour straight. Not to mention we have to fight in skirts, too. You men – you have it made." She sighed and Fen giggled. Suki straightened back. "Okay, now try again but put your dominance on your left, okay?"

"Okay." The boy tried it again and only wobbled this time. It was a considerable improvement to the falling.

"Why don't you try shifting your sword from your right to your left." Sokka suggested.

The boy just looked at him with an aghast expression. "But all the teachers teach right-handed stuff!"

Sokka just rolled his eyes at the kid and got a sword, standing across from him. "What side is my sword at?"

"The le- I mean, right!"

"You see it as my left. If you think about it, you'll actually have an advantage over all the other kids, see?" Sokka demonstrated a move and encouraged Fen to follow along with it. The boy was easily able to mimic it as he simply followed it completely, instead of doing it backwards and on the opposite side.

"Oh." The boy flushed.

Suki showed him how to press his heels together until they clicked and then slid his less dominate foot – his right – forward a few more inches. Sokka explained to him that his dominate was always to stay back, as it was used for support. The flimsy and less reliable led - if only because the stronger side of his body (or leg, in this case) could quickly shift stance if he lost direction or stability.

Fen tried it again and, this time, he succeeded fully. He jumped and impulsively hugged Suki. She just smiled when he pulled back and mumbled apologies again – even he knew she was the leader of the Kyoshi warriors. Fen held out his hand to Sokka and the South Pole man shook it, thoroughly amused.

"Why weren't you home sooner, son?" A voice boomed from the doorway and Fen hurriedly raced towards it. The man was tall but hunchbacked and looked older than his years with lines etching his face.

"It was nothing, Dad, I was just practicing some more! Guess what? I was able to almost master a move, too!"

Suki giggled as the boy's voice disappeared down the hall. "I think you just made that boy's day."

"Nope. That was all your doing."

"Let's call it a tie." She leaned against him and Sokka slipped an arm around her waist as they enjoyed the silence and company. In just a few hours, there would be a feast and celebration over Suki's return. They were both excited and dreading it at the same time – celebrations meant no peace and quiet; even when you're exhausted because of the travel (and tell them that, too).

"You really like leading the people? Being a figure to look up to?"

She smiled over at him. "Yeah. Nothing else feels like home."

Sokka nodded and pecked her on the forehead. "Okay, then that settles it. Welcome home."

"Just like that?" Suki startled up and looked at him skeptically.

"Why not? There's nothing else to discuss – I won't drag you down to the South Pole and I love seeing you happy!" He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his forehead against hers. "You're _permanently_ home."

"_We_ are home." She corrected and he shared her grin.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2:** Daww! Resolutions for both of them… almost! Well, resolution for Sokka and Suki (Soki?) until the wedding and resolution for Zutara until they can talk it all (which won't be for a few chapters, I think). Gah, I love these two couples!


	27. Raja

**A/N:** I confess I am very nervous about how you all will receive this chapter. I debated for the longest time about going in this direction, but... well. It's only one part, but I didn't think it needed anymore. The only segment kind of grabs your attention.

Anyway, please leave a review, if you can! Thank you, everyone, for reading :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Don't pretend to own it. (Not even here.)**

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The birds, the flowers, the foliage of the trees,  
>The stars which seem so fixed, and so sublime,<br>Vast continents, and the eternal seas, -  
>All these do change, with ever-changing time.<em>

4th Stanza – _'Change'_, Ella Wheeler Wilcox

* * *

><p>Aang was tinkering with a launching mechanism (it was something sent in the Earth Kingdom shipments that he hadn't requested; rather, Kuei added in extra, as well as some other things) when he heard a large crash outside of the supply room's doors. He paused and listened.<p>

The building had one large room and three rooms off to the side. The windows of the large room were so tall and wide they were much more like arches and doorways to the cliffs and sea below than what one expects out of windows. Aang is currently in the spare room off to the left which holds all miscellaneous extra boxes of supplies – everything from paint to canning jars. The two other rooms were for food and craftsmen activities respectively.

Another banging echoed, but this time it was the doors to the room flying open. Aang leaped up, startled, and rushed forward when he saw the woman's befuddled and stricken face. "What's wrong?"

"I-uh, I- I don't know. Come quick! We, we don't know what to do! What does it mean?" The woman – whom he recognized as Danae Light, a timid woman that largely worked cleaning and babysitting jobs her whole life and on the island now – continued on in the same circling talking pattern, mumbling to herself as she led him out into the street. He gave up questioning her after a few more tries. It was obvious she was only speaking to herself, now that he's there. Aang followed, worried.

A few people, who noticed their hurried pace and worried looks startled, whispered about it with their companions. Aang paid it no heed, however, too concerned over what could have bothered the woman so. Nothing looked out of place and the people continued as they normally were before, he did briefly notice. He was relieved a bit by that.

Danae led him down the slope and around the bend to the lowest point of the island. This portion formed a crescent shape around the base of the tall, steeped mass which held the center of the island's town, and the low lands here were where all the houses were being built, renovated, and lived in. Its closed nature from the rest of the island helped separate it into being a peaceful resting place. Perfect for living and sleeping.

Aang followed her as she pushed open and shuffled into a large building. It housed several rooms – he remembered from earlier – and he followed Danae as she moved into one of them after going through several corridors. She pulled the make-shift door hanging blanket aside, seeming to remember he was there as her mumbling stopped, too.

The room was sparse, he noticed immediately. But it didn't strike him as odd in the slightest. His own room is sparse, the shops and temples are sparse, and most homes are greatly devoid of furniture because of the lack of wood available for it. Most families quickly became accustomed, however, of how the air monks viewed worldly possessions – for basic necessities, knowledge, and worship only.

A tall man with a troubled stare stood in the corner of the room behind a young mother and her child. His gaze was fixed tightly on the baby, crossed between being confused and concerned. The Avatar turned his attention to the mother, a young woman with light hair and glowing green eyes, and the baby, who had her father's complexion but mother's eyes and, seemingly, neither of the parents' personalities.

"Danae told me something was wrong?" He brushed his hand across the baby's forehead but the little girl just giggled, thinking it's a game. "The baby seems okay."

"It's not that." The mother looked at him with a frown and continued speaking tightly. "Just… look!" She wailed and, her hand trembling, held up a carved baby toy. The mother then dropped it and the baby squealed in surprise. Suddenly, the toy flew up and across the room. "How can she do that?"

Aang was speechless. It couldn't... The little girl stared back at him with her bright green eyes, grinning at the guest she managed to shock. "May I?"

The mother nodded and he carefully took the baby girl in his arms. He only stared at the baby as he spoke. "What's your name?"

"M-my name is Halona – my husband, there, is Perry. Our ba-baby girl is Raja. Sweet, sweet Raja." Halona sniffled. "Is- is she, like, cursed, o-or something?"

"Cursed?" He shook his head at the absurd thought. "No, no. I assure you, she's definitely not that." Aang studied the baby girl and she just stared back at him mischievously, wrapping her fingers around his. "When did you first see her… act?" He looked over at them, nodding to the toy. He didn't want to call it... Just in case.

"Oh, it's so stupid!" Halona took a deep breath and visibly relaxed as she talked it out. "It was a stressful day – we just moved here and I knew where nothing was and she wouldn't stop screaming her head off, hating the noise coming from the room next door. It was, uh, drums or something. I tried to calm her with a few toys and one of them suddenly ripped out of my hand and flew across the room!

"I didn't think anything about it. Mind games, you know? Two hours of sleep for a few days doesn't help! It's funny the stuff you can see when you're not all… there." She pointed to her head and laughed briskly. "But Perry came home – today – and she did it again! But she won't stop! I- we all gave up hope in… something like- oh, I don't know! But it can't possibly be… right?" Halona chewed on her finger nails.

"Do you mind if I… test? It won't harm her, I promise. It's a natural instinct to extinguish and rush from fire."

"You mean you're going to fire-bend in front of her?" Danae screeched, horrified.

"Yes."

Perry stepped forward when his wife adopted a doubtful and concerned look. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, cradling her. "He won't hurt her, Lona."

"I know, but it's fire. It just.…" She took a deep breath and sighed, closing her eyes. "Okay. Just do it."

Aang shifted the baby girl on his lap. "Show us what you can do, Raja." He whispered for her ears only and held his hand a good eight inches from her face. Fire flickered from his palm and burst forth, licking its way into the sky and creating gray smoke tendrils in its wake.

Raja shrieked a high-pitched wail when her finger passed through it because of her own curiosity. Aang flinched but shot a warning look to Danae when she tried to pry the baby from his fingers. Perry did the same and Danae drew back, clearly unhappy.

The baby girl continued to look at it with wide eyes, squirming in his arm for an escape. Aang shook his head as a few minutes passed by and went to extinguish his hand when a gust suddenly blew it out. The smoke still hung in the air around them and Raja flailed her arms above her, the air carrying the smoke high and fast with a gust through the windows. Outside, the day was still and hot.

"I told you I wasn't crazy!" Halona clutched her husband, who just looked stunned and thoughtful.

Aang spotted a water basin on a nearby table and bended some water around the little girl's hand just in case she had even the slightest burn. When he was finished healing, he left to water trailing down her arm. Raja licked at it and drooled as she splattered water around, acting like a typical happy baby.

"What does this mean? What she can do…. that's not possible." Perry whispered.

"I think she showed that it is, sir." Aang handing the baby back over to its mother, who immediately set to dotting on her and kept smoothing Raja's hair out of nervous habit. "Your daughter is the first air-bender born in nearly a century."

Halona whimpered.

"That cannot be possible." Perry insisted, the fear of having false hope exposed on his face.

"I assure you, I once thought that same. Just a few minutes ago, actually." Aang smiled and stood. "I will consult the Spirit World first thing in the morning. What I can tell you is that they work in mysterious ways and while none of us thought this to be possible, we were just proved wrong."

He walked out, his heart heavy. How it's possible, he didn't have an answer for the little girl's father. He didn't think it ever could be, either. Yet, the proof was in front of their eyes, wasn't it?

Before he knew it, he was back inside of the monk's primary temple. The Avatar sagged against the tall doors. _What would everyone think? What would Earth King Kuei think? Southern Chief Hakoda? North Pole Chief Arnook? Zuko - the Fire Lord? Katara, Toph, Iroh, Sokka, Suki?_

The news was so hopeful in face of the bleak days recovering from the hundred years of war that trashed the world; but could he tell anyone? Everyone on the island would have their suspicions - Aang would have to intercept the family and the baby before they could tell anyone and show off Raja's bending capabilities. He would have to teach her himself.

Two years he scoured the nations, looking for teachers. Did he ever really teach? No. He would need someone's help - someone's advice.

Aang sank to his knees at the thoughts and leaned over, screwing his eyes shut.

The nation leaders at least deserved to know. His friends, he could trust to keep this secret. The largest one he'd have to deal with on his own - maybe even larger than his own existence had been two years ago?

Aang stood, walking over to the windows that stood at the cliff behind the island. The water slammed and licked at the tall rocks. Occasionally, a few pebbles would fall in, the noise of their sinking into the water being lost in the wave chaos.

_I can't tell the other leaders, he thought. Not now. When Raja is older, yes,_ he thought, nodding to himself. _But... right now is too soon. If it got out - and it would - there would be too many threats against her_, he realized_. Ozai was never acting alone..._

He took a deep breath, readying himself for his trip into the spirit world in the morning. The sun was already setting and he needed to meet his new friend, monk Geranu, at the library soon. Going into the Spirit World while tired too even more energy and limited his length spent inside. Aang turned back to the temple doors. He would visit Avatar Roku's spirit tomorrow.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	28. Findings of Sadness and Fluffiness

**A/N:** This is a longer chapter than some of the previous ones. Writing some completely AU characters (Shaepa and Natima) has been entertaining! I can really mold them however I want. I'm using them, at the moment, for a storyline I've crafted for Momo. It's actually quite silly, now that I think of it, that I'm writing out a storyline for Momo. My muse doesn't want to let go of _any_ part of the Avatar Universe, apparently

I will be double posting today, so expect to see another chapter up in a few hours! The next chapter will be back to Aang and will, hopefully, give you some answers as to how little Raja can be an air-bender!

By the way, there is some swearing in this chapter. Just a few spots, I think, so it should be easy to avoid if one's offended by it.

Big thanks to everyone reading and following this story :) I write for you!

**Disclaimer: I do not even deign to think that I have any ownership of this franchise. Don't sue me!**

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_The village trees their summits rear_

_Still as its spire, and yonder flock_

_At rest in those calm fields appear_

_As chiselled from the lifeless rock._

_One tranquil mount the scene o'erlooks-_

_There the hushed winds their sabbath keep_

_While a near hum from bees and brooks_

_Comes faintly like the breath of sleep._

_Well may the gazer deem that when,_

_Worn with the struggle and the strife,_

_And heart-sick at the wrongs of men,_

_The good forsakes the scene of life;_

_Like this deep quiet that, awhile,_

_Lingers the lovely landscape o'er,_

_Shall be the peace whose holy smile_

_Welcomes him to a happier shore._

_~'A Summer Ramble'_, stanza's #12-15, William Cullen Bryant

* * *

><p>Zuko looked uncomfortably at the people around them and he slowed his pace, waiting for Katara to catch up so she was right next to him. The crowd on the streets was thick and only now, a mile down the road, were they able to walk side by side. When she joined him, he reached over and smoothed his hand across her lower back. Katara merely blinked over at him with raised eyebrows and kept walking. He didn't answer her unanswered question; he simply wanted to keep her close to him.<p>

The two of them arrived in Fuschen just that morning and took a few hours to rest up before heading to the streets. The water was choppy and neither got much sleep as it swayed and the skies thundered. A storm was moving in but, luckily, they seemed to have passed it. Fuschen was still on the mainland – or, the largest island that comprised the Fire Nation – and was their first and only intermediate stop before sailing off for the island and city of Jarro.

Iroh had told him, before they left Ba Sing Se, that he had an old friend in Fuschen with whom he contacted about the investigation into Ursa's whereabouts. The man had known him in the military but never met Ursa – a good thing, as it gave him an easier perspective when searching for clues. It was this man, named Jinhai, who alerted Iroh to his mother's multiple identities, Zuko recalled. Zuko found it oddly amusing that his mother changed names. He couldn't imagine her without the name 'Ursa'.

"I think this is it. One-twelve, right?" Zuko nodded and they walked up the steps of a modest bungalow. He rapped on the door when Katara nudged him. She pointed to a doorbell and he just shrugged.

Footsteps thundered on the other side for what seemed like minutes before the door flew open to show a jovial looking man with a low gut and sporadic mustache. "Is that damn doorbell broken again? I just got it fixed!"

"Sorry, sir." Katara interrupted. "And, uh, no, it isn't. We didn't see it first, is all." She smiled sweetly and the man visibly relaxed and instantly wore a grin. Zuko wondered how she did it, calming people with her presence. Whatever the trick, he wondered if she knew it worked on him, too.

"No need to apologize, pretty lady. What can I do you both for?"

"I believe you know my Uncle, Iroh? He pointed me in your direction." Zuko said. "You recently helped him with an investigation into an old missing persons, correct?"

The man narrowed his eyes at Zuko, trying to place him. "Yeah, that's right. You said you're his nephew?" Zuko nodded. "Well, shit! That makes you the Fire Lord! Come in, please. Sorry for my manners. I usually don't have such, um, high presences in my living room." The man ushered them in and guided them to a small sitting room.

Katara chose the couch and he silently thanked her, glad that he didn't have to worry about her sitting in a lone chair flanking the two loveseats. He didn't know this man and didn't trust him – even if his Uncle did. Besides, being in a stranger's home, he learned, made some think they were entitled to act more personally. Zuko didn't like being anything but polite and stiff around strangers.

"So. Has your Uncle told you everything?"

"No." Zuko shook his head. "He said you told him you found something but he was unable to send me the report – we left before he got it."

"Damn mail system. I send anything to Ba Sing Se and it gets lost for a month." Jinhai shook his head and grabbed a few extra tea cups from a flanking cabinet. "'Guess that's our fault, though. We did destroy 'em pretty good. Tea?"

"Yes, please." Katara took his with a small smile. As he poured, she enquired, "You were in the military?"

"'Course I was! That's where Iroh and I met – man, he was great at commanding. Had the whole presence thing down to a pat. None of us were much surprised when he got promoted so quickly. But then, he's also royalty, you see? They get all the privileges." The man held up his hand and blanched over at Zuko. "Not that I'm insulting. Your Uncle's a nice guy. Even got me a good pension when I retired a few years ago."

Zuko just nodded and tried to steer the conversation back to what they came for. "It's alright – I understand your opinion. Now, about what you discovered recently. Was it anything new?"

"Well-" Jinhai grunted and shifted, leaning back in his chair. "See, I told Iroh a while ago how there wasn't much else concrete beyond those request records I found in the shipyards – a request for travel to the Earth Kingdom from an 'Ursa'. But, it never amounted to anything and it's been quite a few years now. I can't just go asking people on the street – they'll think I'm talkin' 'bout a ghost.

"So, I went through some of the, uh, what are they called? You know, those documents that keep track of all the tourists?"

"Travel visa's?" Katara piped up and he nodded vigorously.

"That one!" Jinhai smirked. "I missed it the first few times I went over 'em, you understand. Anyway, then Iroh asked me to look into anagrams 'cause all the neighboring towns didn't have someone under the name of 'Ursa' after that one ship request. So I did and found somethin'.

"The name is 'Raus'. R-A-U-S. I told your Uncle 'bout it, but didn't think anything of it. That's usually a boy's name, you know? I checked it out anyway, and ran across this food stand where people knew of a woman going under the name of 'Raus'. They said she's been gone for years now, but one of 'em had a sketch.

"I didn't ask why and they didn't say." Jinhai spoke hastily when Zuko's fast clouded with disbelief. "I still got it here somewhere. Hold on."

Zuko exchanged a looked with Katara as the man shuffled around a few drawers by the windows. "This is good. See?" She smiled and whispered. He reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Got it! Here you are."

Zuko looked down at the sketch and the breath caught in his throat. It looked just like his mother in all of the photographs and paintings and memories he had of her – but it was different. She wasn't smiling and laughing like in his memories, nor was she sad or neutral like in some of his others, and all of the paintings he saw of her.

Here, she was smiling. Simply and shyly as she looked across a field. Zuko wondered if she was even aware of the sketch taking place. He doubted it, knowing the great lengths of paranoia she went through to keep her identity secret all of this time. There was something about his mother's expression in the picture that wasn't about happiness, though. It was tinged with sadness; a darkness.

"She's beautiful, Zuko." Katara squeezed his hand this time and Zuko opened his mouth to ask about keeping the sketch but Jinhai beat him to it, seemingly already knowing what he was going to say.

"Don't worry about it. I was just keeping it for you, anyway." He turned his attention to Katara. "And isn't she? Doesn't look like she's aged one day from what Iroh told me." Jinhai filled his tea cup and gestured to the others. Katara placed her cup down but Zuko just shook his head. "It's quite cute how you brought your girlfriend along, Fire Lord." Zuko almost choked on the tea. "I wish that Uncle of yours would've warned me. I could've got you some lovely flowers. They're not as great as the ones that bloom over on them islands but a woman should always have a pretty environment for tea and chats."

Katara blinked a few times but recovered much faster than her counterpart. "Oh, that's alright. Besides, we're just friends. I am best friends with the Avatar, you see."

"You don't say? What a lucky boy, that air-bender is!" He hooted at some inside joke.

Zuko cleared his throat loudly and interrupted. "Thank you for your help and services. Did you find any other details that could be of help?"

"Sorry." Jinhai shook his head. "Wish I could've."

"Thanks for your help." Zuko set five coins on the table and the older man slipped them into his pocket quickly.

"So, why aren't you two coupled? At the very least, you should be courting her. A beauty never stays on the shelf for long." Jinhai winked over at Katara.

Zuko stood and nearly dragged Katara up from the couch. "Okay, we're done here. Thank you for the tea."

Katara finally recovered from her appalled expression and managed to squeak out, "Yes, you have a lovely home", before stumbling out the door behind Zuko. The man just laughed behind them.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I ask of thee, love, nothing but relief. _

_Thou canst not bring the old days back again; _

_For I was happy then, _

_Not knowing heavenly joy, not knowing grief._

_~'I ask of thee, love, nothing but relief', _by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge

* * *

><p>It had become awkward. There was no other way to say it. Toph's parents came by every day for the next three days and each time she rebuffed them. The first day and a half, Iroh had tried to talk sensibly with them. <em>Serves him right<em>, she thought. _All he had to do was ask Aang and he would know that my parents don't take no for an answer. _

After that, Iroh made up excuses to take a wide berth around them as well. He continued to apologize occasionally to Toph, whenever it seemed that she would allow it. Sometimes she said nothing. Sometimes she nodded. Sometimes, Toph just felt like crying.

Truth was, she was tired. _So damn tired_. Peace was found and then ripped away a few weeks later because of her parents – the ones that wanted her 'safety' and wanted her 'home'. Toph wanted to scream at them that her home isn't with them anymore. She loved them to pieces and would up to her dying breath but, with them around longer and longer, she had scary thoughts that her death would come at her own hand if they agitated her enough. They weren't scary to Iroh; she didn't tell him about them – mainly because they didn't much speak anymore. No, they were simply scaring her.

The memory of the night before – when her parents refused to leave when the shop closed – sent a chill of resolution down her spine.

***Flashback – Evening Prior**

"I'm sorry, but we're closing up shop." A nice, young girl that worked at the tea shop part time said to Lao and Poppy Bei Fong. Toph couldn't for the life of her remember the girl's name but she had always been timid and charming in her demeanor. Now, she wished she had warned her against going to that particular table. But, it was too late – and, she was the only person left cleaning up (Khan, the shop's manager, had to leave early for something she didn't bother to remember, either).

"My daughter lives with the owner of this shop and I will leave when I wish to. Until then, would you mind sending her out?"

When Toph heard the waitress mumble something incoherent and scurry back towards her, in the kitchen, she knew the girl must've recoiled at the cold tone. She didn't blame her. It was still something she was becoming used to. A loving and bright household hers wasn't.

"Uh, is there anything else to help with?"

Toph shook her head from her seat on a stool by the back door. "No. Thank you."

"Your, um, parents are still out there. They wouldn't leave. Should I get Iroh…?"

"No, no. I'll talk to them."

"Oh. Okay. Well, um, have a good-night then."

The girl slipped through the backdoor after getting her bag and Toph stood to lock the door behind her. She sighed. Confrontations like the one that was about to happen was exactly what she had been trying to avoid since the first day they arrived. The tension in the air when she walked out into the main room was so thick it could be lit and the whole building would explode.

"You look unhealthy, dear. Come home with us and sleep in your proper bed – those baggy eyes will be gone in no time!" Poppy said sweetly.

Toph sank into the chair across from them. "Why should I care? I'm blind – in my mind, I'm flawless right now."

Her mother stayed silent at the sarcastic remark – probably because she took it to be true. Toph didn't take time to envision herself. She liked to think that growing up blind gave her a whole new perspective that growing up with vision would have given her – all of the girls her age that she heard of were staring at themselves in the mirror for an hour a day, at least.

"Toph." Lao's voice held warning in it and she subconsciously straightened. "You cannot fault us on being suspicious. We do not know this person that you are… living with. At one point in time, that man was the heir to the Fire Lord throne. Can you blame us for being worried?"

"Yes." Toph said simply.

"And why is that?"

She ignored her father's hardened voice and did so to her own with each new word. It was a talent that she learned from the best. "I blame you for me having no life. I had no friends, no goals, no future, and not even any hobbies when I was living with you two! _My own parents_. I've said it before – I understand you were only trying to protect me and that you love me. I love you both too; so much it hurts sometimes. But it hurts more when you open your mouth and dictate my life.

"I have one now and I won't throw it away. You may not trust my friends but I thought you trusted me." Her voice broke, even as she tried to keep it strong. "I thought you trusted my judgment and respected my voice. If you don't want me living here, then just _say_ so! But don't force me to come home with you, Mom, Dad. Can't you see that I am not a child anymore?"

The silence echoed. Toph wished she had a match with her so she could test the explosion theory. She waited nervously for one of them to respond.

"You will always be our bab-"

"No." Lao cut off his wife. Toph gulped. "You want freedom? _Fine_. We both assumed you would see the error of the world on your own, but maybe more encouragement is in order. How will you marry and raise a family, Toph? Your earth-bending protects you now. When you aren't a child anymore, you will see how cruel people can treat their _'equal'_." He pushed back his chair roughly and stood. "We are leaving."

Poppy stood and paced a few steps, seemingly uncertain. But she didn't stand up to her husband. Instead, she simply hugged her daughter briefly and walked out the door. For the first time in the last few days, her daughter let her.

Toph felt numb. She desperately wanted peace between herself and her parents. _I want them to understand me! I'm your daughter!_ She wanted to scream it at them but she already had before and received no results for it. _What is the point anymore?_

She shuffled back to the kitchen and startled when she sensed Iroh there. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Perfect. Top of the moon." Sarcasm dripped from her clipped words.

"I'll lock up and then make you some tea. How about we experiment with a new recipe? Khan ordered a new blend with the latest shipment." Iroh offered, trying to lighten the mood and change the subject.

She smiled faintly at the older man. "Great."

He walked out of the room.

***End Flashback**

Today, Lao Bei Fong and Poppy Bei Fong didn't grace the Jasmine Dragon with their presence. Iroh was busy with customers as the weekend approached and people resurfaced from their work and homes more often. He checked in on her from time to time and Toph was glad for it. She wouldn't have time to say goodbye.

The kitchen was busy and everyone was doing their own thing. She sat on her stool by the door and waited until a lull hit. Two of the people around her went out with full trays once more and the one left went to the bathroom across the back hallway.

Feeling under a broken cart they had yet to fix, she pulled out a bag. It was clunky and old, something she'd gotten at a bargain price during the Fair weeks earlier when the whole Avatar gang had visited Ba Sing Se. The first night her parents showed up, Toph had packed it. She was angry, disjointed, and worried.

Now, she felt the same as she did yesterday – but worse. The home she had been trying to make once more in Ba Sing Se – in Iroh's Jasmine Dragon tea shop – evaporated in a snap. It wasn't home, it didn't feel comfortable, and it certainly couldn't keep her from being in conflict anymore. Conflict was what she was good at – hell, she had to be. But Toph didn't want it after the War. She wanted that dream everyone was searching for – the love, the home, the contented life.

It would be different than others' visions, sure, but, then again, she had a different… _view_ on things. She loved to rebel and speak her mind and dress like a man more than a woman_. I have rights_! She would argue.

At the end of the day, she was still human, though. She still wanted that peaceful environment that she could disrupt at her own free will – and fix with her own hands and words. Someone else coming in and ruining it for her just left her feeling violated and annoyed.

Toph picked up the bag with resolution and walked out the door. She hadn't been able to write a note – what with being blind and all. Iroh – her confidant, her friend, her mentor – would be able to sense it, all the same. Checking the apartment first would be on his mind but his eyes would probably swipe over her room and miss how unnaturally tidy it is. He would catch it on the second time through – maybe when he would go to sit in her room, worried and confused. Toph gulped away the thought.

She would write a note the second she could find someone to help her with it – someone she trusts.

Toph had considered asking the young woman waitressing at the Jasmine Dragon who had an unfortunate first encounter with Toph's parents, but she refrained. The girl was a loose cannon – could have told Iroh before she had time to leave. _Big no-no._

She felt the hot gust of air brush against her face when she stepped out into the alleyway and her earth-bending senses branched out, alive completely once more. She heard the shuffles of people's feet and the sighs of voices and was able to, more or less, locate each person on the brick street. Toph wondered where to go. The shipyard at Bane's Port sprung to mind, as it did when she left the Fire Nation the prior month and went to that nation's port.

_The shipyard holds good potential_, she thought.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_It gains the more it gives_

_And then it rises with the fall_

_So hand me that remote_

_Can't you see that all that stuff's a sideshow?_

_Such boundless pleasure_

_We've no time for later_

_Now you can't await_

_your own arrival_

_you've twenty seconds to comply._

_~'Let Go' by _Frou Frou (lyrics)

* * *

><p>"Here it i- Shh! Pay attention, I want to know how it sounds! Okay, here goes.<p>

"'_Dear Captain_-'"

"Why 'Captain'?"

"Because that's what everyone called him! Now shut up, will you, Natima? Ehm. Here goes.

"'_Dear Captain,_

_Before we all left, I understand that the Pet Adoption services and the Ba Sing Se Zoo were recovering nicely. If you can, I would like to enquire after owning a Koala-Sloth. A female, please, and preferably not more than three years old. I know how fast they can grow_!-'"

"That line's stupid."

"Shut up! Now, where was my place? Right. Okay, you interrupt one more time and I will sock you over the head with my basket.

"'_I can afford to pay within the 70 copper to 1 silver and 10 copper coin range. If you can find it in your time to acquire one, it would be much appreciated and the cost will be included in your next payment. (Oh, and any costs going into the ownership, aside from the initial buy, can also be covered up to 2 silver). _

"'_Thank you and have a safe voyage.'_ So, what do you think? And please don't be a sarcastic ass about it!"

Natima shifted the rough basket on her hip. "It's alright. It will certainly get the job done. Why do you even want this beast, anyway?"

"She will not be a beast!" Shaepa said, horrified at her friend's thought. "Koala-Sloth's may sleep a lot and seem like dead weight but they can move fast and are actually quite docile."

"Where did you read that? The Ba Sing Se Zoo directory? They always lie!" Natima snorted.

Shaepa frowned at her friend and finished hanging up the clothes she had just washed on the line. She turned and walked the long trek down to the shore with Natima. The wind on the island really was unfortunate with where the best washing cove was located. "No, I read it in one of the Animal Dictionary's in the library. And I am getting the girl for the same reason as was last week – for Momo! That poor boy is flying around so alone sometimes. And some of the kids on this island aren't the nicest to him, either."

"You talk as if he is a child."

"He might as well be!" Shaepa argued. "No one his age or his race to play with. It's got to be traumatic."

"He's full grown in lemur years!"

"Oh? And who's consulting the Animal Dictionary now?" Natima frowned at that but didn't offer up a response.

"Are you two still arguing over that letter?" Shaepa's mother called as they reached the seaside again. The middle-aged woman with an exact, but older likeliness to Shaepa, loaded their baskets with some more clothes. She had already soaped them and let them sit. Now, it was the girls' job to rinse them, ring them out, and hang them up on the embankment.

"We're not arguing." She corrected her mother.

"No." Natima agreed. "I was simply trying to assess your daughter's sanity."

"Hey!"

"I can't blame you." Shaepa's mother shook her head mockingly at the two of them. "Who would ever want to waste their saved and hard-earned money on an animal – which one has to feed, and house, and groom – when they could spend it on candy and chocolates?"

"You two are horrible." Shaepa scowled as her best friend and mother giggled playfully.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	29. It's Just That Simple

**A/N: **I hope this segment will explain quite a lot! Aang gets another chapter all his own because he's that special! Roku was hard to write – he was always so vague but then, suddenly, direct. Like a riddle! One quick thing (not entirely important, but nonetheless mentioned):

25x4 = 100. That's four generations per century – as is often with most families. And what I mean by middle-aged isn't necessarily old; rather, it's a generation going by the math of 33x3 = 99, or, basically, one hundred. Three generations per century. Trust me; this will make sense after you read the chapter :) although it is not necessary to read this at all. I'm just weird like that.

**Disclaimer: Don't own! Sadly.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_At the last, tenderly,_

_From the walls of the powerful, fortress'd house,_

_From the clasp of the knitted locks __-__ from the keep of the well-closed doors,_

_Let me be wafted._

_~'The Last Invocation', _1st stanza, Walt Whitman

* * *

><p>Aang breathed in deeply, feeling his lungs expand and contract with ease. His skin tingled in the still room at the top of the main temple's tower and he almost smiled when he felt the rush of heat underneath his skin but he didn't. His journey was serious this time; <em>as it usually is.<em>

The darkness spotted under his closed eyes and they suddenly snapped open, glowing to the outside as all he saw as a bright white light clouding his vision. It soon cleared and he found himself standing in a forest. It looked identical to the many he and his friends had traveled through within the past two years. Aang heard a babbling brook and followed the sound instinctually. He always marveled at how real the Spirit World could be and didn't fail to do it again this time.

Stepping into a brief clearing, Aang saw his mentor, Avatar Roku, standing next to the babbling river and petting his red dragon - and animal guide - Fang. The dragon faintly glowed, reminding Aang of his existence only being in the Spirit World.

"I thought it would be longer before we spoke again. You need my help?" Roku said turned walked forward. He stopped five feet from his successor.

"I need answers."

Roku nodded. "You have discovered the girl."

Aang didn't bother trying to hide his surprised expression, knowing his mentor wouldn't judge him for it. "You know?"

"Of course. Us Sprits have known ever since the Fire Nation's spiral out of control that without one element, the others can never be whole." Roku calmly glanced around at the trees and sighed as though a weight rested on his shoulders. "I may be your mentor, Aang, but I still interact with my own. They're around here, living their lives out in the Spirit World just as I am and just as you will; eventually."

"Why can't I see them? Why can't I call on them?" Aang asked, distracted by the small revelation.

"It wouldn't be right." The fire Avatar looked back, his words hesitant as he explained. "The Spirit World and your world have a very delicate balance – much like the one you saw at the North Pole when one of your enemies killed the Moon Spirit. Transactions like that of Princess Yue's borrowed life are rare, at most. We made that agreement with her father many years ago because we saw there might have been a time it would be needed." Roku held up his hand at the younger Avatar's question. "No. We cannot see the events in the future.

"Merely, when Avatars pass on to this state - when we leave our physical bodies - we see past the regrets and choices made young. Our job is to guide the growth and peace of the world, Aang. The others and I do that from a greater and wiser distance, away from the world we influence. Your guidance is done up close. This is in order for you and others after you to learn the fine lines between every existence and the emotions that can make people unstable."

"What about the decimation of the Air Nomads?" Aang asked loudly, a thought occurring to him. "Did you let that happen because you saw this baby girl, Raja, being born?"

Avatar Roku shook his head sadly, an uncommon display of pain in his features. "No. That was something that took us all by surprise, as can happen at times. There was nothing we could do – believe me, we all tried. Sometimes, a guide and fate beyond us controls things."

"So what about Raja? Tha-that shouldn't be possible!" Aang shook his head, frowning. He was afraid to wake at any second and find that the hope Raja held in her ability to be but a dream all along. He was fearful to admit that his heart was warming to the idea, as his mind, at the same time, doubted what his eyes told to be true. He continued on, saying, "At least _four generations of genetics_ have changed her ability or suppressed it or whatever. Everything that I have read, heard, and seen told me that if a bending ability in a person's lineage does not pass from generation to generation, then _it cannot_ _pass again."_

"Not necessarily."

Aang, frustrated at his mentor's vague and flippant answer, asked simply, "How?"

Roku looked at the boy in front of him for a long moment. He cast his eyes over to his beloved friend, Fang, who tilted his long neck at him. Fang's movement eased as he circled the two Avatars in curiosity.

"Or is this something me, the current Avatar, is not allowed to know?"

"It is hard to explain, Aang." The older Avatar acknowledged the question when Aang's tone became hurtful. "It is true that, in most cases, if one's parents are not benders but their grandparents are, they won't inherit the ability. However… some _rare cases_ have surfaced throughout history where those that have abilities skipping a generation discover that their bending is fully intact – despite suggestions of the opposite.

"Did you take a close look at the girl's parents, Aang? What struck you about their age?"

Aang pursed his lips. "The parents were older – not young. Nearly middle-aged, probably."

"Precisely." Roku nodded. "Common practices have four generations making up a family in one century's time. Her family is one of the other ones that, for the past few generations, have been having children in their more middle-aged days. Even then, the small girl is fourth generation from her nearest air-bending ancestor. We were lucky to have shrunken it down to there. It was… difficult."

"Why her? You – all of you past Avatars – could've done this sooner. With someone younger, too." Aang pointed out.

Roku shook his head. "Most air-bending descendants not living with the Air Nomads – and thus killed from the Fire Nation's first onslaughts - lived in the Earth Kingdom; the nation always prized for peace, equality, and freedom above all else. Doing this sooner would've been too dangerous – the child would've been killed without your presence here, protecting her.

"There is that and the fact that the Earth Kingdom, being as vast as it is, led many of those descendants to have earth-bending ancestors as well." He paused, linking his hands together in front of him as he searched for the right language. "Once those lines are crossed… we can't touch them. What our past Avatars and I were able to do was _awaken _the bender within her that lay… dormant.

"Everyone else we've come across has earth-bending inside of them. The possibility of finding one without that, if we reviewed the nation as a whole, would've been easier… but we needed someone close to _you_. You need to help her, mentor her. For how much this upsets the balance, we are not able to do this more than once. If we awakened the earth-bending by accident… it would be a sadly wasted opportunity." Roku shook his head. "Do you understand? This is what you came for when seeking answers, yes?"

"Yes…." Aang raked his hand through his hair and scuffed the ground. He thought about his own mentor's words. "You said you could only do it _once,_ right? Still, why not take the chance with someone besides Raja? Someone outside of the group moving to my Air Temple? The odds would've been better – you said so yourself. I would have heard of it, too. That news would have traveled fast and the world is at enough peace that Earth King Kuei could've protected her during my short journey."

Roku just smiled at him and Fang came over to sniff Aang as his master spoke sagely. "That is a risk even bigger than the one we took with this girl. Besides… when benders are between the ages of one and six is the time that they display their abilities. We _couldn't _try with anyone else. Do you remember the stories of when you picked up the Avatar toys while playing and the Nomads knew who you were, instantly?"

The boy smiled and nodded and the older Avatar continued on.

"Your true abilities did not surface until you were five, but they and your air-bending were already waking up and alive by then. After a certain point - age, really - of being untouched, the basic bending abilities can go into a sort of hibernation and later die. Not die… per se… merely go locked for their whole life. In short, those who are not meant to be benders because of self-will, or perhaps a lack of need, cannot be.

"And this girl – Raja, as you remind me – was at a prime age. She had no earth-bending blood in her." Avatar Roku smiled for the first time since Aang entered the Spirit World. "And, the most important part of all, is she came _home_."

"Home?"

"Sometimes, Aang_, it's just that simple_."

He moved to ask another question but his vision suddenly flashed white and, within moments, Aang was back in the tower's room, sun flowing in through the carved windows to cast light and shadows in front of him where the river had been. The Spirit glow along his tattoos under his skin and in his eyes quickly diminished and his tether to the 'other side' was lost completely. Along with his focus, it seemed. Even if he wanted to go back, Aang knew better.

He was all but pushed out of that world just seconds ago because his time was deemed over and his questions deemed answered. No other quest or need kept him there. Aang knew to not question his peers – it would be years since he entered and became part of their world. For now he was but a student in their realm and the head in his own.

He walked out onto the window ledge at his right and air-bended himself over to one of the top branches of the tall Cherry Blossom tree he'd come to love so much. Its branches were thick, wide, and stable. Aang slumped against the trunk behind him as the exhaustion overtook him – all the while, his mind raced with Avatar Ruko's wise and enlightening words. He clung to them, the phrase _"she came home_" echoing in his mind.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**


	30. Meet the Family and Hang In There

**A/N**: Tadame, the assistant to Ursa (or, 'Saru', as she knows the older woman), has a part in this chapter. I mention her son and husband again, so here's the difference in the pronunciation of their names (forgot to put this in chapter 13 – oops!): Jains (son) – jay-ins – and Jaines (husband) – jay-in-es.

* * *

><p>A reader, <em>Shiningheart of ThunderClan<em>, reviewed with some questions over Raja's air-bending existence, so here's an explanation for any others that are wondering and/or are confused by last chapter:

-Aang was stuck in the iceberg for a 100 years, so I guesstimated that if there were any air-bending children that survived the FN attacks, they would either ignore their abilities or simply not be air-benders – keeping them alive and hidden in the Earth Kingdom (EK).

-My logics was that 100 years, 3 generations (using the numbers mentioned last chapter), would make Raja 4th generation from her nearest air-bending ancestry. Roku was vague because I don't think he would come out and say everything about her ancestry, so here's the unspoken possibilities behind what he and the other Avatar Spirits were able to do:

-There is always the (again, unspoken) possibility that one of Raja's grandparents (3rd generation from original air-benders) was an air-bender in secret, making Raja 3rd generation instead, making it easier for them to tap into her ability. And, in the alternate, she's still 4th generation and any further lineage would have an all but impossible percentage of being an air-bender, making her a perfect match that way.

-I used that idea because in some colleges you can get a scholarship if you prove you are 1/16th or more Native American (as far as I know, that is the common cut-off point). That is 4 generations = ½, ¼, 1/8, and 1/16.

-I left the 'unspoken possibilities' open to be explored later if I ever want to. Raja is still but a baby and all that matters for now is teaching her air-bending.

* * *

><p>Okay? I hope this makes sense for you and if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me :)<p>

**Disclaimer: Do not own any part of the Avatar Universe – not even a DVD series copy. So sad!**

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_In the end, love for family is the success, _

_The way you are remembered, should be the goal, _

_It is all about life, and the way you live, _

_The memories you leave, families will possess__._

~_'__I Had a Dream'_, 4th stanza, B.J. Ayers

* * *

><p>A knock sounded at the door and Suki jumped up to get it, not wanting to step into the heated discussion her father and Aunt, Celeigh, were trying to rope Sokka into. Memories going as far back as her first steps helped her know to not get in between her family when debating feasts. She personally didn't care if they dined on elephant koi or not.<p>

The way Sokka looked up at her, with such longing to be anywhere but there, she kind of felt bad.

"Oyagi!" She barely kept from yelping in surprise and bowed before him. He shallowly bowed back.

"Suki. It's lovely to see you again."

"It has only been two days." She smiled and he did so back. It was hard to tell, what with his long and bushy beard and moustache, but she could see it after growing up with him being the Village Chief.

"Not nearly short enough. May I come in?"

"Oh! Of course. Sorry." Suki opened up the door and he walked in. "Why are you here? It's evening - shouldn't you be having dinner?"

"Your father invited me over for dinner and a game of Pai Sho."

Suki flushed. "Sorry; of course. He didn't have time to tell me - he's grilling Sokka right now."

"Ah." Oyagi gave her a knowing look and walked through the hall to the sitting room. Suki saw that her Aunt had gone off to the kitchen by now and her father was questioning Sokka much the same way he had done to all the kids who stole from the local stores that she'd seen all her childhood. Less of a questioning, more of an interrogation.

"My late wife, Gin, bless her heart, was very strict when it came to these things. You will understand my wondering, yes?"

"Yes." Sokka wore a relieved look. _And I thought he knew the women of my island, _Suki thought with a small smile.

"Good. Good. Have you courted my daughter fairly and honestly?"

"Uh, I think so. We have been honest about everything." He replied eagerly.

"Good! Good. Have you ever tried to sleep with my daughter?"

"Dad!" Suki exclaimed.

Blais only looked over with an unapologetic stare. "Sorry, Suki, but these are things your mother and I have - and had - every right to know."

"We did sleep in the same bed once." Sokka volunteered idiotically.

What?"

"Sokka!"

He just shrugged. "What? It's true." Sokka turned back to Blais. "Nothing happened, I swear. There was a shortage of rooms while we were traveling, once, and everyone else had doubled up with who they could. There was a pillow wall and everything." Suki blinked. _That part is a lie…._

"I see." Her father said pensively and Suki felt the blood drain her face, fearing an angry outburst.

"It really was nothing, Dad. I promise."

To her shock, Blais held out his hand for Sokka to shake. Sokka seemed to have the same reaction, probably expecting to be kicked out of the house right about now. "You are an honorable man."

"What?"

"You trust yourself around my daughter! That is a great comfort. Good. Good."

Suki threw up her hands and stood at Sokka's boyishly happy expression and her father's strange behavior. "You two are unbelievable." She walked into the kitchen to find her Aunt cutting thin, curled pieces off of a roast on the wooden block. "Smells good."

"Don't let men get to you, baby girl." Celeigh said immediately, easily hearing what happened through the think separating door. "They have much simpler standards than us - and sometimes those standards use convoluted logic, too."

Suki shook her head. "I should have figured this out long ago."

Celeigh grinned. "Your mother was finding it out every day. I think she might of told herself at the end of the day 'Gin, your husband just had an off day. He'll be normal tomorrow'."

"How did that work out for Mom?" She took the sliced meat and methodically started arranging it on a platter.

"As far as I know, she gave up on that after you turned two and then just started laughing at it."

"So that's what she was always giggling about." Suki grinned to herself.

Celeigh finished cutting up the roast and wrapped up the rest, putting it on ice. She then started whipping up a glaze while Suki set the table. When done, she carried the glaze over to the table, too, as Suki grabbed the bread pudding from where it was covered up on the windowsill, benefiting from the cold ocean breeze. Her Aunt got the rest of the veggies and went out to usher everyone into the room for dinner. She followed.

"Did you make the bread pudding?"

"Yes, Blais, I made your favorite bread pudding."

"Good. Good." Celeigh just barely shook her head as she let him use her as a crutch while walking into the kitchen.

"Do I smell stuffing?" Oyagi sniffed and asked as he shuffled behind them.

"Yep! I made the kind with all of the nuts and garlic."

"You're going to kill me with your excellent cooking one day, Celeigh."

"Not a bad way to go." She grinned.

"No; not at all!"

Suki hung back and pulled Sokka to the side. When the others were in the kitchen and safely out of sight, she leaned over and kissed him with all the energy she had left.

"Should I ask what that was about?" Sokka smiled unabashedly when they pulled apart.

"It's still only dusk, Oyagi dropped by which means he will want to quiz me about the Kyoshi Warriors' activities, my father is totally not done grilling you on our relationship, and my Aunt just made all of her special and favorite dishes, meaning we will be sitting at that table for at least two hours because no one will want to stop eating. Also, I think my father might stay up late just to watch us."

Sokka grimaced at her choice of words. "So no rooming together?"

"If you want to get strung up in the backyard then we can." She deadpanned.

Sokka grinned and looped his arm around her waist. "Then come here."

"Suki! There won't be any food left for you and your fiancé if you two don't hustle!" Celeigh hollered through the kitchen door.

"Damn."

Suki tsk'ed as she sashayed to the door for his benefit, throwing over her shoulder, "You jinxed it."

Sokka scowled and mumbled, "I did, didn't I? Damn."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_When I was young, I had a dream_

_To be famous, with lots of money, _

_A dream it was, yet never to unfold, _

_Dreams never end, the way it might seem._

_~'I Had a Dream', _1st stanza, B.J. Ayers

* * *

><p>Tadame bundled up little Jains one last time in his scarf. He actually looked a bit funny, the way he awkwardly didn't attempt to move at all, if she paused to look; but she didn't. She was in a hurry to catch the ferry back home before dusk hit. She still had dinner to make and Jains was hyped up more than usual because she suspected her mother gave the boy chocolate during his weekend stay.<p>

"Loosen that scarf there, hun. He looks like a penguin." Her mother chided but Tadame whisked Jains up in her arms before she could try and fix it.

"You know how cold it is on the ferry, mother. Anyway, we've best be going. Do you want to hang out with him again in two weeks?"

Her mother smiled and reached over to straighten Jains' hair while he squirmed in his thick outfit. "Of course. And it's 'visiting, hun, not 'hang out'."

"Right. See you soon." She kissed her mother on the cheek and hurried out the door.

Saru had given her a list of things to get while coming to the neighboring town. The little Ash Island was just that – little. All of the major supplies came from the city and island of Jarro across the way, and anything major in their standards came from the mainland.

"Do you want to help mommy shop today, Jains?" He smiled over at her when she spoke to him and nodded happily. "Let's see what's first."

The mother and son duo hurried from shop to shop along the main boulevard and a few on the side streets and after each Tadame would look nervously up at the sky. Thankfully, the list wasn't that long. The flower shop provided mostly for itself and only when they needed some special chemicals that originated off of their island or had special orders for replacement furniture did they need to go out of town. Tadame was also placing an order for another glass chamber, to help them out with the flowers.

Normally, the wooden ones they ordered from the local carpenter were just fine, but the glass and metal ones preserved the flowers better, she found. Saru didn't want to admit it, though, so Tadame would surprise her with another out of her own funds. She had no doubt her mistress employer would want to help pay in some way. For once, Tadame would let her; expenses were getter higher for Jains' schooling once he would be going to group elementary in the next year.

Jains tugged on her arm a few feet outside of the last stop – clothes. Winter clothes were a little on the low side for them this year around, what with Jains growth spurt and all, and the sad fact was that Jarro had cheaper prices than Hemero-Callis did. Tadame didn't want to take money out of her own town's economy, but she had no choice.

"I wanna ride on da donkey!" Jains looked up at her with his precious green eyes and she melted.

Tadame walked with him over to where a man had set up a stand and circle track and was hocking rides on his donkey. "Hold on tightly, okay? Mommy's just going to go buy some cute little jackets for you and I'll be right back, okay?"

"It so furry!" Jains paid her no mind as he rubbed the donkey that looked rather huge now that he was on its saddle. Tadame bit her lip, uneager to leave him there by himself.

"Don't worry, love. I'll take good care of your babe." The man tipped his hat.

"Thanks. Don't go too fast!" She said in warning to her son and ran back across the street.

Tadame worked fast and didn't pay attention to the color schemes of what she bought; only focusing that her baby boy would have all of the essentials to get through winter properly. Besides, it was cuter when a baby had on clothes that didn't match. As she shopped, she thought back to her son's green eyes and saw Jaines, her deceased husband.

It made her tear up, but she wiped them away. Tadame was long past breaking down in the middle of the day.

When she walked back outside, there were a few people – and couples – around the donkey ride stand now, vying to have a go at it or simply watching on amused. Tadame felt fear grip her heart as she ran up but was quickly relieved to see her son sitting on the nearby stand.

"Momma! Did you see me?"

"Of course I did, baby. You looked frightened!"

"Nu-uh! I's profeshnal!" Jains grinned over at her as she took him down. He immediately started running back to the fence to watch the donkey. Tadame went to join him but felt a tap on her arm.

"Ye- oh, thank you for watching him. He wasn't took much of a bother, was he?"

The man shook his head and scratched at his beard. "Nah, he's a charming fella. You and your husband must be proud."

Tadame stilted for a second before recovering. "Yes, thank you; we are. Thank you again."

"No prob'."

She turned back and shuffled the bags on her arms at the same instance that she heard a wail split through the air. "Jains?" Pushing through the few people blocking her from the railing, she spotted him lying on the ground and clutching his arm. A man nearby suddenly stopped and helped him sit up. Tadame almost sighed in relief but crouched down next to her son instead. "What happened?"

"I saw it – he was pushed between the fence and crowd. An accident." The man said.

"Thank you – Jains, is your arm okay?"

"It nu-numb and da-dis here hur-hurts." He hiccupped and she rubbed his back soothingly.

"I can help with that. Here little guy." A woman's voice was next to her ear and Tadame watched as she crouched next to them.

"What are you doing?"

The lady – who she realized was younger than her, maybe even a minor – opened up a canister. The dark haired man helped pulled back Jains' jacket. The lady looked over at her and smiled kindly, her blue eyes bright and innocent. "I'm a water-bender – I can check and see if anything's broken."

"Oh…." Tadame felt at a loss of words. _There weren't any water-benders in the Fire Nation before, right? Why is one here now? And why is one so nice? They can just do that, too; just check for injuries?_ "That's so kind, uh, thank you."

The other girl waved her off. "It's nothing. How do you feel, kid?"

"It hurt." He sniffed and Tadame kissed his forehead, rubbing his hair.

"Okay, why don't I try something. Close your eyes, okay?"

Jains nodded and did it.

"I saw that! No peeking." The other lady smiled and then concentrated. Tadame startled when she saw the water in the water-bender's palms suddenly glow. It stopped just as suddenly. "How about that? You can open your eyes now-"

"Jains."

"-Jains." The brunette smiled apologetically over at her.

His eyes widened and he grinned. "The boo-boo's gone! Momma, it's gone!"

"Say thank you."

"Thank you!" Jains leaped to his feet and hugged the water-bender.

"Oof! Thank you, little guy; I was on a shortage of hugs."

The young man who was originally by Jains' side when she found him stood and placed his hand on the young woman's shoulder, smiling down. Tadame took the chance to look over at him, too, and felt the blood drain from her face. Since the coronation, a sketch of the new Fire Lord had been printed in all the newspapers in every town of the Fire Nation. When he turned his head more fully, she saw it -the scar, she recognized.

The joyful expression, she didn't.

"Yo-you're the Fire Lord. Forgive me for not noticing!" Tadame did a short bow before picking up Jains, who was now standing and rubbing his shoulder in awe.

The young brunette straightened as well and Tadame noticed, in puzzlement, that instead of shrugging out if his hand, the water-bender slipped under the Fire Lord's arm. _But fire-benders hate water-benders…._

"No, please, there's nothing to forgive. I would prefer if my identity were kept secret, for the time being. If you don't mind….?"

"Of course not!"

She felt more curious and puzzled when he looked relieved. "Um, well, thank you…" She directed it at the water-bender.

"Katara. I'm Katara; and you are?"

"Tadame." She nodded.

Katara smiled infectiously. "It's nice to meet you, Tadame. I'm glad I could help. And take care of that arm, Jains!"

The little boy giggled when he was tickled teasingly. Tadame smiled at them again and paused while looking at Fire Lord Zuko, seeing something familiar in his eyes. For a second, she swore she saw the same caring and accepting look she usually saw on Saru's face. Tadame dismissed it with a shake of the head. "Thank you, again. We have to go – we have the ferry to catch over to Hemero-Callis."

"We won't keep you any longer. Have a good day." Zuko spoke this time.

"You too."

As she walked away, she overheard some snippets of their immediate thereafter conversation and smiled. It sounded like they were flirting. No, Tadame knew they were. She recognized it from when she would playfully tease and talk with Jaines, not too long ago.

"What are you hungry for tonight, Jains? We have some fresh tomatoes from Mrs. Cleery."

"Pasta with da meatballs!"

Tadame chuckled – that was always his answer. "Okay then!" She straightened his scarf one last time after they boarded the ferry and took a bench seat inside. Jains napped on her lap as they rode across the water in the small boat, the light skirting away from the skyline. She thought back to the encounter just an hour ago with the Fire Lord and his water-bending companion, Katara.

_I must tell Saru about this as soon as I see her. Should I invite her over for dinner? No, no. She probably has her own plans. I'll tell Saru about this next week, then. _Tadame smiled as she rehearsed how she would open with the story. Saru was always interested in the Royal Family and Tadame knew she would be excited to hear this news. _Maybe she'll be speechless! That would be a first – me surprising her!_

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_ In late October in the park_

_the autumn's faults begin to show:_

_the houses suddenly go stark_

_beyond a thinning poplar row;_

_the edges of the leaves go brown_

_on every chestnut tree in town._

_ The honking birds go south again_

_where I have gone in better times;_

_the hardy ones, perhaps, remain_

_to nestle in the snowy pines._

_ I think of one bold, raucous bird_

_whose wintry song I've often heard._

_I live among so many things_

_that flash and fade, that come and go._

_ One never knows what season brings_

_relief and which will merely show_

_how difficult it is to span_

_a life, given the Fall of Man._

_~'Lament of the Middle Man', _stanza #1-3, Jay Parini

* * *

><p>Three days. Iroh couldn't believe it had only been two sunrises and two sunsets; and yet, he couldn't believe it had even been that long. No notice, no talk, not even a note (although he couldn't blame her for that, he knew). Iroh didn't want to admit that Toph had left, running away to who-knows-where.<p>

But he had to. At first, Iroh thought she'd simply stepped out for the night. She would do that on occasion and he couldn't fault her for doing so with her parents around every corner, bombarding her with their snobbishness and condescending attitude. The next morning, Iroh didn't check in on her; if she was out late, he didn't want to wake her early.

When she didn't come down at all that day, Iroh assumed it was because she was still avoiding him. He hated that their friendship was reduced to such shambles; and his mind still reminded him of it at least every hour.

He opened the door to her bedroom – formerly his guest bedroom, although the positions of each were now swapped again – and sighed. He had never bothered to decorate it much – only one painting adorned the wall, the quilt on the bed was plain green, no rug graced the floor, and the bedside tables were bare. He remembered when Toph had laughed when he apologized about the décor. It wasn't that Iroh forgot; on the contrary, he treated her as normally as he would the others. Just because she's blind didn't mean she couldn't still enjoy running her fingers along the statues and paintings or smell the fresh flowers in the floor vase or feel the soft carpet under her feet.

_Beauty and enjoyment comes from a collection of every sense, not just sight_. Iroh told that to Toph the first time they met in passing in the Earth Kingdom – near Gaoling, if he recalled correctly. Her hometown, he later confirmed when Zuko joined the Avatar trio. She'd smiled when he said the phrase; the first time during their ten-fifteen minute encounter that he'd seen her do so genuinely.

Iroh sighed once more and sat down on the bed. It was made and the quilt was patted flat, no wrinkles in sight. The place was spotless_. She must have cleaned before leaving_, he thought. _If only she could have been able to leave a note, too. Maybe then I would have a clue. _

He leaned over and put his head in his hands. _I'm so sorry, Toph._

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	31. The One Eyed Pub

**A/N** Writing The Duke in this chapter was a blast - when I mentioned him first, countless chapters ago, how many of you thought I would actually show him? Hehe ^_^ He was my favorite minor character - I wish he had gotten more air-time! Sorry if he seems OOC at all!

Oh yeah, and we're getting closer and closer to Katara and Zuko being, well, together (*uselesshinthint**uselessnudgenudge*). Sorry it wasn't until thirty chapters in, but I confess I've split up some of these chapters before posting them because they're so long.

There's a link of a marked map of the Avatar Universe on my user-page here, and it might come handy to refer to it during this chapter :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own it! *sob***

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_You may write me down in history_

_With your bitter, twisted lies,_

_You may trod me in the very dirt_

_But still, like dust, I'll rise._

_Does my sassiness upset you?_

_Why are you beset with gloom?_

_'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells_

_Pumping in my living room._

_Just like moons and like suns,_

_With the certainty of tides,_

_Just like hopes springing high,_

_Still I'll rise._

'_Still I Rise'_, #1-3 stanzas, by Maya Angelou

* * *

><p>Toph blearily opened her eyes as she was dragged into consciousness by the bumps from the train. It never ceased to be amusing to her that opening her eyes, even if she couldn't see, still helped her wake up faster. She straightened in the seat and became keenly aware of something liquid on her arm being pulled downward by gravity.<p>

Feeling it, she grunted at the goopy texture. Toph flung out her arm and felt Pipsqueak slumped beside, tall, block-like body and all. She wiped her arm on his shirt and scooted closer to the train's window. "Ew."

"Yeah, Pip can slobber in his sleep. Napkin?" The Duke brushed the cloth into her hand.

"Thanks." She mumbled as she rubbed at her arm.

"No problem."

"So, where are we now?"

"No idea."

Toph startled. "What? You were supposed to keep track of the train stops while I - and apparently big doofus over here - took a nap!"

The Duke adjusted his helmet and pushed it back on his head. "Hey, I paid attention! Sort of. We just passed river what's-its-name that connects the East and West lakes to that big bay."

"Chameleon Bay?"

He nodded, the helmet rubbing, and his non-verbal answer made her assume he meant yes.

Toph had traveled in a record of only a day and a half to get to Bane's Port. Intending on getting a ship ride to wherever sounded exciting or like it held the possibility of a reunion with the others. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the Earth Kingdom Train network stopped in Bane's Port - or, as she found out later, it actually began there. Hopping on the first train available, instead of a boat, Toph had only traveled a day before accidentally rejoining with The Duke and Pipsqueak.

_***Flashback - Afternoon Prior **__**–**__**'**__**The One-Eyed Pub**__**'**_

"Charming." Toph mumbled as she hoisted herself up on a stool. A few patrons were swapping insults over by the door where she left them in the dust a few moments earlier. She forgot to take the time to dress herself down - or, basically in rags - so the attempts at being pick-pocketed, especially in places like this 'fine establishment' she was stopped at, was escalated more than she was used to.

Traveling with Aang and the others, pick-pockets were never an issue. Unless they were in a group as well - which was a rare bird on the night of a blue moon type of occurrence - then they would give her and the others a wide berth. Why take the chance to pick-pocket one when there are automatically two, three, four eyes trained on that person at all times?

"Wut can I get yeah?"

She almost laughed at the accent. _Of course the bartender has one of the country folk accents._ Toph mentally concluded that this man standing in front of her and across the bar counter was decidedly less skilled with table etiquette than Katara had been – and Katara had horrible manners, as she recalled. "Any kind of juice."

"Yeah don't look like yer old enough for eh al'colic drink."

"I'm not asking for one." She snapped and his stench reeled away from her before she heard him waddling away. Toph regretted stopping at this small town now. Tapping her fingers irritably on the counter-top, she moved her head around, as if she were looking, and wished her sight was still with her so she could read the time. The next train wasn't supposed to come for another half hour.

_If that guy doesn't get me my drink in ten then I'm going back to the station_, she thought.

A commotion erupted behind her a few minutes later and the bartender still wasn't back. Toph gave up and hopped off of the stool, turning to try and hear - sense - what was going on.

"If you're so tough then come at me!"

"I'll kick your scrawny butt two ways to Sunday!"

"Then you'd have to cut him in half."

Toph stepped a bit closer and recognized the voice, having difficulty placing it.

"Who brought this idiot along?"

"Hey! He'll kick your butt for me and cut you in half!"

"Give it your best shot!"

Toph grinned. "Pipsqueak! The Duke!"

A shuffle sounded in front of her as a few chairs squeaked.

"Toph? Well how about that. What are you doing in this joint?" The Duke was suddenly right in front of her.

"Stopping you from getting beat up."

"Hah!" The patron they were fighting with suddenly piped up in his rough and wheezing voice. "Even your girlfriend knows you'd get whooped!"

A loud smack resounded and Toph heard a collected hiss of air, assuming several people winced.

"Ouch! You big oaf - how do you like this!"

A chair collided with Pipsqueak - echoing a noise unique to that of which only weak wood colliding with someone of Pipsqueak's stature could make - and The Duke yelled out a battle-cry, charging away from her side and at the guy. Toph tried to sense where everyone was moving but with the close quarters and covered earth, she couldn't pinpoint anyone at all.

A body suddenly knocked back into her, nearly crashing her to the ground if she'd been a bit taller. "Hey!"

"'Scuse me, miss." The man pushed off of her. "Aghhh!" He yelled and charged right back.

_These people are crazy_, she shook her head. Walking back over to the bar, Toph hoisted herself back up onto the stool and was surprised by the sound of glass banging on wood half a foot in front of her.

"There's yer drink."

"Thank you." Toph smirked at him and gulped it back. It was surprisingly okay.

"Pipsqueak! Knock him down!" The Duke's voice echoed above everyone else's and she listened avidly as someone's body suddenly slammed against the floor. Toph winced herself for the poor sucker that just broke a rib, or two, but was relieved to find her two friends were still yelling and blasting away with everything they could get their hands on.

It went like that for the next ten minutes, and a plate of nachos later for her, before the patrons who'd picked the fight staggered out of the bar. Toph dropped a few coins on the counter-top in front of her and headed over to where she heard her friends moaning. "Congratulations, winners, you're not dead."

"We won? My head doesn't feel too good." The Duke's voice pitched and Toph slipped her arm around his shoulders, guiding him out of the building.

"I'm sleepy."

"You too, Pipsqueak." Toph said and heard his shuffling feet behind her. "Let's find a train outta here."

The Duke stopped a few steps outside, tipsy on his feet. "Hey, Toph?"

"Yeah, dumb-ass?"

"Can you find me something shaped like a bowl? I think this nausea's going to leave me in a second."

"Sure thing." Toph took off his helmet and thrust it in front of his face. "Helmet."

"Thanks." The Duke smiled weakly at the memory of another time where the situation was reversed – sort of- before bending over and throwing up.

_***End Flashback**_

"Hungry?" The Duke broke her reverie as he jumped off the seat opposite of her.

"Starved." Toph quipped and stood in the small cabin. "Is there anywhere to eat on this bucket of nuts and bolts?"

"I think so. Let's check it out."

Toph stopped at the door while he slid it open. She turned back to where Pipsqueak was now slumped over and laying on the bench. He had been leaning on her before and when she stood, he slid all the way down behind her. "Should we wake Pipsqueak?"

"No, he gets grumpy. There's two things to never interrupt Pipsqueak doing and that's one of them."

"What's the other?" Toph furrowed her brow as she walked with The Duke.

He pushed up his helmet once more and shook his head, making it slide down again, but she didn't see it. "I don't know; he never finished when he told me about the sleep thing."

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Simplicity..._

_Isn't often easy to achieve, _

_When teased by variety._

_And those assortments of life._

_Yet when simplicity arrives, _

_As a necessity..._

_One is able to breathe deeply, _

_With a sense of peace and clarity._

'_Simplicity'_, by Lawrence S. Pertillar

* * *

><p>Katara blew the pesky strand of hair away from her face once more as she twisted her arms further back and looped a few more handfuls together.<p>

"Need help?" Zuko spoke up from his position across the table. She looked over at him and saw he was all but laughing at her. It reminded her of Sokka for a moment; he would always joke about her faces when she tried to braid her own hair.

"No." She huffed. Katara's fingers grazed the end of the braid. "Yes."

"Yes or no?"

"I need a band."

Zuko leaned behind him and picked up one of her hair bands; a string died dark blue with a sea-shell attached that she'd tied just for her hair. "One like this?"

"Perfect. Here!" She leaned her whole upper body across the table and he placed it in her hand, laughing out-right. Katara ignored him as she tied it around the end of the braid. When she was sure it was secure, she dropped it behind her and sagged in her chair. "I think my shoulder went a little numb."

"Shocking."

"Hey, I don't see anyone else offering up to braid my hair." She shot at him but quickly smiled teasingly. "Unless you would like to learn?"

Zuko held up his arms, still shaking with laughter. "No. No thanks. Really."

"I thought so." Katara sighed exaggeratingly. "I can never find a braider. The first and only one I taught won't do it anymore."

"Who was that?"

Katara deadpanned, "Momo."

Zuko laughed loudly and rolled his head back. She held off for a minute but soon found her grin turning into giggles at the image of Momo braiding her hair. They quieted down after a good ten minutes and Zuko shook his head, looking over at her. "That was good. You got me."

"Thank you." She grinned again. "I try."

He held her gaze for another minute and the time stretched on as she stared into his gold eyes. Blushing lightly, she realized how that might have been interpreted and ducked her head.

"So, we narrowed it down to thirteen?"

"Yeah. I don't think she went back to the mainland, but she's not using the name 'Raus' anymore, either. I did a little wordplay with her name while you were, uh, braiding. Which ones do you think she'd use?"

"She's your mother." Katara drummed her fingers as she stared down at the map on the table between them.

"But she's a female_. You're_ a female. You two think... _differently_." She looked up and he shrugged, embarrassed.

"Okay, give me." She took the list and ran her eyes across the names. "Do you think she'll stick with just the same four letters as in her name? And _only_ four?"

Zuko nodded. "If her first alias was, then yes. I don't think my mother will completely give up her name. It was Ozai that forced her into hiding, not who she was... Outside of being the Fire Lady, I mean."

"Right. Hm." Katara bit her lip. "She won't use any names starting with 'U'. It's too risky." She picked up a lead pencil from the table and crossed them out. "And she won't use anymore 'R's, I don't think. That would be too much of a risk too." Crossing those out, Katara set the pencil down and thought about how each name sounded. Mumbling, she crossed out a few more names, doubting anyone ever voluntarily used them. "Here."

Zuko read the remaining out-loud. "Arsu, Saru, and Sura. I could see that. Why not Arus? Wait - it's because she used the u-s combination before, right?" Katara nodded and he smiled. "This is the list I made, too." He passed over a short list and she smiled at it.

"Why not Arus?" She mocked and he shrugged.

"I was trying to keep it to three."

"Okay, we have three names your mother could use. I don't think she'll use the Arsu one, though."

"Assuming my mother is going by a pattern."

Katara nodded. "That's all I keep seeing."

"Thought so. Going on that though, she might use Sura, then, instead of Saru, because Raus has the 'a' first."

"Maybe." She slumped against the table. "Do you think we're over-thinking this?"

"A little." He admitted. "But it doesn't hurt to theorize. I'll ask everyone we talk to about all three names regardless."

"Good. I don't want us to miss her just because we think she has a pattern and then it ends up she doesn't."

Zuko nodded his agreement. The silence stretched as Katara stared at the map.

"I do have a theory about where she might be going."

She stared at him, intrigued. "Shoot."

"She started here, went along this ridge, and came to the sea here. Basically, the Capital to Fuschen in a round-about way, following the mountain's edge." Zuko trailed the path with his finger and Katara nodded, watching him. "But she got here and couldn't go anywhere. Ports closed. Earth Kingdom unreachable."

"Assuming she ever planned to leave." Katara interrupted. "She might have gotten there but it was the perfect excuse _not _to leave."

Zuko stared at her a long moment, pain in his eyes - no doubt from having his mother so close and yet far away, Katara knew. He simply nodded. "Maybe. So she settles down in Fuschen. Stays a year, builds a life."

"But then her alias' presence creates interest and if any noble sees her, she's found out-"

"-And she leaves the mainland altogether. Skips stopping on the first island, where the Fire Fountain City is-"

"-because it's unsafe and they practically worship Ozai there-"

Zuko smirks at her eye-roll and continues. "-stopping at the second one, Solis Island, instead. Settling in its largest city of Jarro. It's easier to blend in, large enough to get lost-"

"-and perfectly placed so that it's out of the way but still has a steady flow of tourists, traders, and all the rest."

"Exactly." He tapped the map, staring at it intensely. "Question is: did she move again?"

Katara considered him for a long moment - pursed lip, drawn expression, unmoving and unnerving stare. She spun the map around, under his erratic fingers, and picked up the pencil again. "Say she did. Time to eliminate." She drew a big 'X' across the mainland. "She wouldn't go back to the mainland. Even if I don't know your mother, I don't think she would do that.

"And she wouldn't back-track at all. So Fuschen and its peninsula are out because of that, too. Staying on Solis Island would be just plain stupid." She glanced up and saw Zuko smiling amusedly at her, his mood lightened considerably. Katara focused back on the map. "So that leaves this, what, Ash Island? And these two other ones here, but they're so small I find that impossible.

"Plus, they're so far away. If you're running from someone and are looking for isolation, that means less population, not _literal_ isolation. It's easy to be trapped. I would know." Katara didn't glance back up, instead clearing her throat. "So that leaves Ash Island, right next door to Jarro but far enough away to be culturally different; hopefully. Unless she went back on the mainland temporarily to get to this island..." Katara pointed at it but stilled, remembering it's where Zuko found Yon Rhu's pathetic shack for her.

_Where they had attacked him. _

_Where she had let the piece of scum go. _

_Where Zuko saw how dark she could get._

Zuko noticed and took the pencil from her, placing his other hand over hers and rubbing slow circles along her wrist. "But she wouldn't go that far back. The island is either cut off or completely industrialized in patches. It's too big of a gamble."

Katara cleared her throat. "Right. So. There's your answer. If she isn't in Jarro, we'll look in Ash Island. What towns are there?"

He peered down at the map." Doesn't say."

"Oh well. There should be a dock or something; we can always ask the fishermen. Your best bet is the town closest to Jarro. Travel reasons. Escape reasons." She shrugged and her stomach growled.

Zuko smiled. "As much as I want to keep speculating, we should eat. Buffet? The clerk said they serve at seven."

She shook her head. "No, no, no. I saw the menu - boiled fish and fried lizards." Katara shuddered and gestured like she was gagging. "There's a cute cafe down the street that I saw."

"I have no choice?"

"Not unless you want to dine alone tonight."

He smiled and pulled her up by the hand he'd now made decidedly warm. "Alright. 'Nareva Café' it is."

Katara grinned as she rolled up the map with her other hand and stuffed it in her pocket; just in case they decided to speculate about Ursa some more. "You know the name?"

"Habit. 'Always take stock of your surroundings'. Uncle's advice."

She linked hands with him and for the rest of the evening and her grin never wavered.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**


	32. Blasting Jelly Strikes Again

**A/N**: I got so much writing done, I'm proud of myself ^_^ Now hopefully real-life can hold off for a bit and I can finish writing this story altogether! I have everything planned out, FYI, and I'm now shooting for this story to be around 50 chapters as I've got nearly every one of those planned out, it's only a matter of how I split them up (epilogues are included in that number, of which there should be about 3).

Humongous and warm thanks to everyone reading and adding this story to their Favorites and Alert lists and to those reviewing, too. I'm so glad you all find it interesting and fun to read and it keeps me going :)

**Disclaimer: You offering to sell it to me at thirteen dollars? I kid, I kid. Don't own it; not even the box-set DVD's. That reminds me….**

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life._

~Steve Jobs

* * *

><p>Katara nodded over to a ship captain and smiled when she caught his attention. He was tall - at least a foot above her height - but his pudgy form hid it a bit. She walked down the rest of the dock to where he was tying his boat securely, glancing back at Zuko.<p>

Zuko proposed they split up so they could finish canvasing the docks faster. The small-in-numbers but expansive-in-size dock a mile from Jarro was the last place they had yet to ask around at on Solis Island. The rest of the island was too mountainous for anyone to live on - or, at least attempt to live on for the time being - and their bouts of friendly interrogation of the citizens went quickly.

There were a few accounts where some people said they saw someone like Ursa, but couldn't really say where she lived or what her relation might be to anyone else. The most recent time anyone remembered seeing Ursa - or 'Saru', as two people remembered, much to Zuko and Katara's delight - was nearly three years ago.

Most everyone avoided their questions, though. Zuko, being the Fire Lord, couldn't come out and say she's his mother - the previous Fire Lady Ursa - and Katara couldn't get away with that lie for even two seconds, her complexion and eyes giving her away. It made the whole process infinitely more difficult.

So, instead of being done with Jarro in three-four days, it took nearly a week. But it seemed like their luck had struck out yet again. Tomorrow they would be off to Ash Island and its largest town of Kuo Lanka. There were nearly five thousand people living there, versus the maybe three on Hemero-Callis, hence their decision.

"Excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?"

The man eyed her warily, rolling up his sleeves against the humidity that hung in the air. "This about Nina? 'Cause I told her mother she ain't watching over her, and I'll say it again!"

_Family problems. Ouch_. Katara smiled peacefully. "No, no, I'm not here about your... daughter." She paused and the nod she received told her the guess was correct. She continued, "Actually, I'm looking for someone. I haven't seen her in a few years and I really want to make sure she's okay."

Her concern made the man falter when he was about to wave her off. "Oh. Who are you lookin' for?"

"My mother-in-law. She... she hasn't been the same since we both lost..." She glanced away, her eyes locking on Zuko for a second as she sold the lie. Katara moved her hand behind her back and squeezed her tear ducts with her water-bending, making her look as though she's actually about to cry. "I just really want to see her, make sure she's doing okay. I tried to talk to her last year but... and it's the anniversary, so..."

"I'm sorry, love." The older man patted her shoulder roughly. "I'm Lee; what she look like?"

Katara paused, taking in the name. She remembered when Zuko mentioned months ago that the fire-bending teacher he found for Aang advised them to go under the names of 'Lee' because it was so common. Katara hadn't thought it was, not having seen the name much, but now... She bit back the smile and held out a picture Zuko had given her. "You can't really tell here, but she has gold eyes, see? Her name is Saru."

He narrowed his eyes at the picture for a moment, looking for recognition, before drawing back, shaking his head. Katara already knew she had nothing when he said, "Sorry, miss. Nothin' comes to mind."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks for your help." She turned to leave and looked up, seeing Zuko. He shook his head. She stopped and turned back. "Um, what is she went to Ash Island?"

"Then she'd take the ferry - there." He pointed. "It only goes to Hemero-Callis; closest town, nearly directly across. The other town on our neighboring island is Kuo Lanka. It's bigger. I suggest you look there." Lee nodded and drew a stick of hay out of his pocket, popping it in his mouth to chew. "But I suggest you get a partner, love. Those streets are dangerous at night."

She nodded, thinking. Katara didn't know Zuko's mother – not by a long shot - but she couldn't imagine the sweet woman she heard about purposefully going to a town that was dangerous. And, if she had a lot of money like Zuko suspected, she couldn't imagine Ursa would be unable to move away if she did go there at first. "And Hemero-Callis?"

"Damn, that place's very close-knit. But, they're good folk. Got the best flower shop in the area, far as I hear. Some people from our contact, Fuschen, even order in from that place."

"Really?" Katara asked lightly, thinking how cute that was.

"Yep!" Lee held out his hand. "G'luck to you, miss."

She went to shake his hand but he kissed it instead, being very gentlemanly. "Thank you. And same to you with your, uh, fishing?"

"Lucky guess." Lee joked and turned back to his boat, climbing back on board to get his take for the day.

Katara walked up the dock slowly, disappointed at having another bust. The only thing they learned was the name 'Saru'. Nothing else - no job, no residence, no definitive change in looks. Plus, it was years before. She could've changed it – again.

"What did he have to say?" Zuko nodded to Lee when he met her back on definitive land.

"Nothing new." She sighed. He took her hand and they walked over to the ferry ticket office, going to fetch their Ostrich horses tied-up outside of it. "You?"

He shook his head.

They walked in silence, each thinking. Katara knew it would be hard to find Ursa; that's why she agreed to help Zuko in the first place. He would need moral support as he hunted for clues and if anyone was going to be next to him, she wanted it to be her. But, somehow, it seemed like it would be easier than _this_. When they reached the horses, she turned to offer words of encouragement when he cupped her cheek.

Zuko drew her into a kiss and slipped his hands into her hair. Katara pulled him into a tighter embrace and nudged his lips with her tongue. He opened immediately and she sighed, warring with him in their mouths.

He kissed her lightly on this lips one last time before moving his hands down to her hips and lifting her up, surprising her. He set her on the Ostrich horse and smiled up, resting his hands on her knees.

She panted slightly, her skin flushed. "And that was for what exactly?"

"I'm thanking you. Again." He intertwined his fingers in her left hand, squeezing softly. "I won't admit it to anyone else, but I probably would've quit days ago."

She smiled, running her free hand through his hair. "If I were in your situation, I probably would've done the same in a huff. It's hard. But, I'm here so I'll kick you in the butt before you even think about quitting."

"Now I remember why I brought you along." He joked.

Katara giggled and playfully slapped his cheek. He took it in stride, a huge adjustment over their days when he first left his father to join her, Aang, and Sokka. "And don't forget it." She sighed and sobered. "I did hear something from that guy about Kuo Lanka."

"What?"

"He said it's dangerous at night."

Zuko frowned. "That's something."

"Yeah. I thought so too." She said, understanding what he was thinking without him even saying it. "It would be easier to take the main ferry to Hemero-Callis anyway."

He nodded. "Be right back; I'll get tickets for tomorrow."

"Hey!"

He turned back, confused, but Katara grinned and leaned down, capturing him for a kiss before adding, "Say a proper goodbye next time."

Zuko's lips stretched in a lop-sided grin. "That felt like more of a hello."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully._

~Max Eastman

* * *

><p>Toph was wakened by the train bumping along. It wasn't the first time she was woken like this but usually she would curse or complain about it. Snores were accompanying her so she simply sighed and stayed quiet. As she leaned forward and stretched, a tickling sensation ran up her arms. The sun was shining warmly through the window.<p>

They were already approaching Gaoling, the last she remembered. _It was only, what, a week?_ Toph couldn't believe it. The train ride went by so quickly - hardly leaving her enough chance to enjoy the peace; and sort of the change of company, too. But no, the frequency of their arrival at the infrequent train stops kept interrupting that.

Her main concern was the fact that, in only a few hours, based on her estimation of how long between stops it would take and how long she'd slept, she would be back in her hometown. Gaoling was a beautiful place and full of rich families. She and her, uh, traveling companions, would look widely out of place there. _Maybe I could sneak us out some clothes, somehow? Maybe stop by the estate? Nah, not worth it_, she thought. _We'll be out of this town soon enough. _

_But what about my parents?_

The thought halted her. Toph figured they were still back in Ba Sing Se, or were still in the process of traveling back, liking to take their leisure time. Iroh might've even told them she left and they are taking their time returning to Gaoling for the possibility of seeing her on the road and not simply for the traveling luxury_. What do they think, that they can run into me on the road willy-nilly and whisk me back to their home? No thanks_, Toph thought sullenly. _That sounds just... awful_.

Toph didn't normally bet, but she was feeling a little nervous all of a sudden. She crossed her fingers and sent a small wish to the Spirit World that her hometown would be devoid of any other Bei Fong's.

"Ow!" She reeled up her leg and rubbed her shin, feeling the funny bone in the knee above doing a little dance after being hit.

"Sorry!" The Duke yelled out, embarrassed after having been jerked away from a nightmare and involuntarily kicking out.

"Trouble?" Pipsqueak asked and bolted up, making Toph clutch her elbow, too, as he's sitting next to her.

"No, the only trouble is you two. Jeez, you're like bulls in a china shop." She scolded. Pipsqueak chimed in with The Duke and they mumbled apologizes. "So, can one of you tell me where we're at?"

"Right!" The Duke's feet thudded on the metal floor and he hustled over to the window. "Uh... I think we're a few miles out! This is cool; I've never been to a rich town before where the roofs are all clean and new and the people wear fancy stuff."

Toph rolled her eyes and turned to Pipsqueak. "What about you, big guy?"

"No."

"Ah. Well, it's not all wonderful." She yawned. "So when we stop, smell the roses quick or I'm leaving your butts behind."

"Roses? They put rose bushes next to the train station? They wouldn't be able to block the smell of the smoke."

"No. I meant... never mind."

The train's tires began to squeal and Toph turned to The Duke. "We're here already?"

"Yep."

The trio waited for the train to stop and for the feet to stop running by their door before opening the cabin's slider. Toph gripped The Duke's hand as he pulled her through the crowd. Instead of the usual ten, maybe twenty people, it was line after line of people waiting to get off the train. _Gaoling must've adopted a zoo or something,_ she chuckled to herself. She walked along behind the other two, sliding her feet in case anything bulged from the ground (Toph made that mistake the first time she got off the train and let out a string of curses that made everyone around her blush into silence).

"Everyone's getting off." Pipsqueak observed out-loud.

"Everyone?"

"Yeah."

Toph crinkled her nose in puzzlement. "Duke, check the train map."

"Where's that at?" She opened her mouth to reply but he continued, "I see it! Meet you at the fountain."

She stood still for a minute, wondering if Pipsqueak was still with her, when she felt a big hand clasp on her shoulder. "This way."

"Thanks."

He just grunted. They stood by the rather loud fountain for several minutes before The Duke came back over. "Come on, I think I saw a place to eat. Anyone else starved?"

Toph frowned. "What did the train schedule say? Where's the next route to?"

The Duke pushed up his helmet nervously, but she couldn't see it. "There is no other route."

"What? That doesn't make sense..."

"Well… we kind of have to go _back..."_

"What! That's idiotic! Where was there an- oh no." She narrowed her eyes and shoved him. "I knew I couldn't trust you to get the right tickets!"

The Duke held his hands up against her onslaught. "Hey, hey! In my defense, I was really sick that night!"

"'Make sure Pipsqueak doesn't go to sleep, Toph', 'Make sure to steal us a good cabin, Toph', 'Don't worry, stop pestering me, I'll get the right tickets, Toph'! I should've pestered you more, you little-" She jumped on him and pounded her fists, making irregular shapes of rock jump out of the ground around them as she bruised his chest.

"What the- thank you!" The Duke stood and brushed himself off as Pipsqueak held the female earth-bender away. "Jeez."

"Idiots!" She stomped out of the near-giant's grip and went down the street. The duo quickly caught up with her; if not for anything else then simply because they enjoyed the company of someone else other than the other along for the ride.

Pipsqueak grabbed her elbow after a little while - at The Duke's glaring to do so because he would get socked in the eye if he tried - and they walked along the marketplace corridors. Loud calls by the merchants, conversations by the buyers, and creaking sounds of the carts rolling by was drowned out by an assembly a few blocks ahead.

"What is that noise? It sounds like someone's getting one hell of a splinter!"

The Duke grinned. "There's some kind of shipment being put together. Lots of wooden crates. Some are being loaded up."

"That's why they're cursing so much? Hah." She snorted.

"Nah, it's because they're trying to stack them on this long-bed carriage thing and it's not working out so well."

Toph smirked. "That would be hilarious to see."

"You! You stole from me, kid!" A man shouted and he repeated it, drawing near to them.

"What's going on?"

Pipsqueak pulled Toph to the side and started running, making her almost fall down before catching on.

"Why are we running? Duke! Did you steal something?" She asked, scolding, putting two and two together to make four easily.

"Uh... I may have forgotten that I've been here before..."

"Forgot to mention or just forgot?"

"He forgot." Pipsqueak deadpanned, pulling Toph into a much quieter and danker street, presumably an alley.

"This just gets better and better."

"Him!" The man's voice suddenly shouted. "He stole a whole cart of blasting jelly from me!"

Toph turned to her right where she heard The Duke heaving for air and pushing up his helmet in the same instance. "During your time with Jet, huh?"

"Nah; it was ages before that."

She quirked an eyebrow, doing mental math and knowing he was around her age and then wondering how it being 'ages before' could be possible. _Ages must be measured in days for him_, she thought.

"Hey Toph? You mind bending us up to the roof?"

"Uh, I guess. But I don't know where that is." She shrugged.

"I'll say when." Pipsqueak volunteered.

"Now!" The Duke said when dozens of footsteps could be heard rushing down the alley. Toph correctly guessed police. She pushed the earth high up and, at Pipsqueak's word, stopped it. She crashed it back downward after they jumped off and onto the roof. Her hand searched to her right and she quickly grasped The Duke's shirt, holding tightly so she wouldn't accidentally fall off the side of the building. "Jump!" She did so immediately and found herself tumbled in an array of sheets someone had hung out on their balcony.

A lady cursed at them but the trio didn't pay any mind to it, focusing more on putting some distance between the six or so sets of feet that were quickly following without missing a beat. _They were benders too_, Toph realized before frowning cynically. _Of _course_ they are._

"Put up a wall behind us!" Toph did so and her arm was suddenly jerked right. She stumbled over some wooden steps as they burst into a building. They raced through a maze of corridors separating the many shops in the building before pushing out of the other side. "Ooh, let's hide in those!"

"What?" She blurted out.

"Sh! I hear them coming. Be quiet!"

Toph gulped in more air and raced along, her legs already feeling like lead. _That's what happens when you stay stagnant and don't run for a few months,_ she thought bitterly, cursing her muscles.

The Duke grabbed her from the back and pushed her up three feet, into a new and enclosed room. Her two companions stopped running and she took that as a queue that they were fine – for now. She leaned over on her knees, gasping for air. Pipsqueak was next to her, doing the same if the hot gusts of breath on her hair, blowing it sideways even more, told her anything at all. The Duke pulled the door closed - which sounded much bigger and heavier than she thought it should be - and a slow rhythm from the outside echoed lightly against the walls.

"Where are we?"

"One of the shipping containers." The Duke huffed, sitting on a creaking box.

"What? Do you realize how bad this is? What if they leave with us in here!" She asked the last part rhetorically, going to advance on her. A wall of boxes hit her shoulder and she stumbled. A hot gash of pain shot into her knee as another one hit her, and she fell over, her vision seeing stars despite not being able to see. When she fell back, her head hit someone round and metallic. "Shit!"

"Yeah. It's pitch-black in here."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm always blind, idiot."

"I know. I'm just saying. I have no idea where the boxes are, so, no heads up. Sorry."

Toph paused, conceding that his point was valid.

Pipsqueak took a deep breath, standing still.

A loud motor sounded - an odd and still unfamiliar for most sound as they're only used in the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se - and the smell of coal smoke wafted through the porous walls. The box room they're in lurched backwards as the vehicle carrying them moved forward.

"Ugh!" Toph huffed and stood, carefully feeling her way to the wall. Her fingers ran along it again and again, feeling the grainy surface of wood. "Dammit!"

"I know. Sorry about this." The Duke said softly.

"Yeah. I can't bend wood, either, so we're screwed even if this thing stops."

She sighed and sank to the ground, wedged between two columns of boxes.

"Jerky?" The Duke asked through the darkness as a crinkling sound echoed. Toph rolled her eyes.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxX**


	33. Sea Pearl Necklace

**A/N:** I'm late! So, so, sorry! I was gone yesterday afternoon from noon to about midnight – family thing – and didn't have a chance to post this beforehand. I hope this chapter makes up for it!

Side note: I adore writing babies. ^_^ Oh, and I apologize for just writing Geranu's nickname as 'G' but it feels weird to write 'Jee' and 'Gee' doesn't produce the right sound.

I wrote a flashback in here between Zuko and his mother. We're nearing the time of the reunion and I hope you all like it (both this memory and the reunion)! I always loved their relationship - much like I imagine it was like between Zuko and Iroh before Zuko was scarred and angry.

- Also, the flashback is 2 years before Ursa left (making Zuko age 9). Apparently (according the Avatar Wikia), Zuko was born in 83 ASC.

**Disclaimer: I don't have any claim to the A:LA franchise, nor do I pretend to. Purely fictional fan fun.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_In such a night, when every louder wind_

_Is to its distant cavern safe confined;_

_And only gentle Zephyr fans his wings,_

_And lonely Philomel, still waking, sings;_

_Or from some tree, famed for the owl's delight,_

_She, hollowing clear, directs the wand'rer right:_

_In such a night, when passing clouds give place,_

_Or thinly veil the heav'ns' mysterious face;_

_When in some river, overhung with green,_

_The waving moon and the trembling leaves are seen;_

_When freshened grass now bears itself upright,_

_And makes cool banks to pleasing rest invite,_

_Whence springs the woodbind, and the bramble-rose,_

_And where the sleepy cowslip sheltered grows;_

_Whilst now a paler hue the foxglove takes,_

_Yet checkers still with red the dusky brakes_

_When scatter'd glow-worms, but in twilight fine,_

_Shew trivial beauties, watch their hour to shine;_

_~'A Nocturnal Reverie', nearly 1/3 of text, Anne Finch – Countess of Winchilsea_

* * *

><p>A knock sounded on the door and Aang put the shaker toy back down, hurrying to answer it. Monk Geranu stood on the other side with a stack of books piled so high in his hands that Aang could only see his forehead and hair. His muffled voice said, "Can you take some of these?"<p>

"Of course!" Aang reached over and took half before nearly falling down at the sudden and heavy weight. He used his air-bending to hold a few of the bigger ones up and walked up the stone steps to the main room, showing Geranu where to set them.

"What are these for?" Geranu asked, wringing his red and momentarily creased hands.

"Oh, uh, they're just some books I remembered from years ago and wanted to brush up on. I thought I'd read them again; you know, reminisce, see if I can learn something new." Aang replied awkwardly, but the other man accepted it.

"Cool." He looked across the room passively and smiled. "Hello, cute!"

Raja looked up from her blanket spread of toys and grinned, gurgling a welcome. Aang watched as Geranu crouched and tried to play with her, continuing to be inspired at how friendly the little girl was. _The little girl that's the air-bending race's last hope beside himself_, he knew.

He smiled and remembered the story of how he was a friendly, happy baby as well even as he was left on the Monks' doorstep. But, he did later grow into a very playful boy who chose the four Avatar relics out of hundreds of toys, whereas in a similar – but not the same – turn of fate, Raja showed off surprise air-bending abilities.

"You remind me of someone very special, yes you do. How about this one, huh? No?" Geranu picked up another toy but Raja shook her head at him, teasingly blowing raspberries. "What about peek-a-boo, yeah?" He covered his face with his hands and the baby stopped. She looked around, her eyes clouded. "Boo!"

Raja squealed and tipped back, laughing and clapping her hands. Aang kneeled down and helped her straighten up. She quickly tried to imitate the trick herself but was sent in a fit of giggles when Geranu did it again. "You're great with her," Aang commented

He shrugged. "I had one of my own for a time."

Aang's brow crinkled in curiosity, knowing he hadn't heard so before. _Actually, what do I know about G's past? Not much_, he thought.

"I best be going." Geranu stood.

"You don't have to." Aang quickly answered and the other man paused, hesitant.

"The library still needs organized and I promised to help in the fields this afternoon."

"It isn't noon yet and the library will always need organized. Remember the two yesterday that took down a whole shelf by accident?" Aang's smile was infectious to the older monk. "Here, you can teach me how to be so good with Raja."

"I guess." He sat down and passively tickled the girl every few minutes. After letting her regain some breath, she picked up a toy and started chewing it, distracting herself. "Why are you babysitting her? Perry acted strange when I asked him and she's so cute I can't imagine her parents wanting to rid themselves of her so easily."

Aang paused, flushed cheeks becoming obvious but Geranu didn't turn his head. "After Raja's sickness, Halona - her mother, you know - wanted me to help watch over her. I healed her, so I don't mind - I want to make sure that the infection or whatever it was doesn't come back."

"I thought you - water-benders - could heal completely."

He nodded. "Yeah." He turned his head and smirked over at Momo. He was currently sitting on the farthest window ledge and licking his hind leg while starting at them suspiciously. If Aang didn't love the lemur so much, he would think it to be mildly creepy. "Plus," Aang continued, "there's the bonus of watching Momo act like a jealous idiot."

The flying lemur bristled at that, seemingly understanding, and Geranu chuckled.

"So, uh, what did you mean earlier when you said you have experience with babies? Did you care for a baby at a time?" He watched his monk friend, genuinely interested.

Geranu sighed and turned his gray eyes over to the Avatar. "I do have a son, yes. He's... my pride. I mean, he was." His reminiscent smile dropped as he blatantly caught himself mid-walk-down-memory-lane.

"Is he alright?" Aang asked, absently handing Raja another toy. She whimpered softly for attention, but was accidentally ignored as Geranu continued to explain, stealing the teen's attention.

"My wife," his tone softened to a level Aang had never heard him speak before, "never recovered from childbirth. She... She died a few months later. I was grieving and rashly became a monk because of the loss. My sister-in-law kindly took him in for me. She is a sweet woman; always wanted children of her own. When I recovered from my dark place, I went back to get him... But, ah, some things are best left the way they are." He smiled fondly, sadness edging on the corners.

Aang nodded. He stayed quiet, thinking it best not to say anything for a moment.

Raja had stopped crying out for attention by then. Instead, she clumsily air-bended at toy into her direction. Aang noticed in time and stopped it, picking the toy up and giving it to her instead. Raja didn't seem to notice the difference. Je looked over, instantly relieved to find Geranu hadn't noticed one bit. An understandably dense reaction, considering he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Do you ever regret becoming a monk?" Aang asked the question that his mind wandered back to whenever he was on the topic of Avatar business - or air-benders. Which, it seemed, he would be a lot more.

He could always leave his monk principles of celibacy and single-hood behind; being the Avatar and last - or one of the last two, he needed to remember now - air-bender. _But still__…._ All of his teachers had stressed contemplation above stillness and the contemplation, he always recognized, was what he couldn't help but spend his silent and lonely minutes doing.

Geranu tilted his head, regarding the question, before answering, "No. I have never regretted it. Without it, I would still be a shell of myself and would've never gone back to see my thriving son."

Aang shared a smile with the older monk before he stood.

"I best be off. Remember to check her diaper sometime soon." The man joked and Aang made a disgusted face.

"Eck, I forgot. Take care, G."

"You too, Aang." He pulled the doors shut behind himself and Aang leaned down to pick up the little surprise air-bending female he had no idea what to do with. Or even where to start. She clung to him tightly until he set her down again, this time on the table pushed against the opposite wall.

He grabbed a historical book out of the stack. It had a detailed timeline on the inside front flap; he smirked slightly as he read it. "Female and male air-benders used to be separated into different temples, see?" He pointed at the page and Raja promptly spit on it. Aang hurriedly wiped it up with his robe. "Ew, Raja. Anyway, I think it was because of the monk celibacy thing. But, I think the most sin you'll be doing is pooping in your pants, isn't that right?" He shut the book and cast it aside, smiling at Raja.

She giggled and flailed for attention. With a hand, he grabbed her wrists and shook them, getting another laugh out of her. She tried to repeat it and several other playful moves he'd done earlier. Aang let her as he searched through the stack.

_What should I focus on first,_ he mused. _She's too young for training and there aren't any books on raising a child._ He picked up a book called 'Strict Lessons: Childhood etiquette' and frowned. _Okay, definitely not the way I'd do it_. He tossed the book across the table. Aang stared at the books and an idea came to him. "Come here, Raja." He picked her up and set her down on the knitted mat lying in the middle of the room once more.

Air-bending, he quickly used the books Geranu brought in - and a few that were already in the room - and built a circular play-pen around the baby girl. Satisfied, he walked over and crouched, reading the book labels from an awkward leaning position.

"Ah-hah! I know." He picked out one from the precarious stacking labeled 'Eastern Air Temple: Convent History and Lineage'. "The eastern and western temples were for nuns, Raja. I'm sure this will help you," he mused out-loud and hunted around the circular stack for more like it.

The list of books he'd asked monk Geranu for included a selection from the eastern and western temples specifically – mainly because he wasn't sure what kind of books they would have and he hoped they had something on how to raise a girl. They didn't, though. Copies of every book revolving around history and rules were kept at all temples outside of the one it originated from. The reason for this, Aang had learned a hundred years ago, was to help young air-benders with understanding separate and shared customs. Even as the eastern and western temples were nunneries, the chance of a male air-bender going to visit or even to live at one of these for a time was still high; as was for a nun visiting a monastery.

Aang couldn't raise Raja as a monk, he knew. And, unfortunately, that was where his expertise laid. He had learned during the years he lived around Katara and Toph that women operated... _differently._ If he was expected to raise a girl without another present - at least for now, he hoped, thinking that he should send a letter to Katara and soon - then he saw that the next logical step was to look into the books written by nuns.

So far, skimming those that he could find in the stack brought by his new friend, he couldn't find any that talked specifically about raising a female air-bender outside of ones that plainly talking about their temple's rules and proper behavior. _Maybe it's inside one of these? I hope so_, he thought.

Raja pouted at him when Aang sat back to open one book. She tossed her toys around, apparently bored all of a sudden. He picked up one and tried to entice her with it. It didn't work. She sensed he was ignoring her and frowned.

Sighing, he settled back to read, hoping she could find a way to entertain herself. Aang remembered reading something about that when he initially went hunting for information after discovering Raja's ability - it said something about learning to 'self soothe' and that only the baby could do it themselves. _Or maybe it said something _like _that._ Aang couldn't recall.

Raja, annoyed, stared viciously at the books around her. He took a deep breath and focused on the words in front of him.

He only got a paragraph in before a gust of wind suddenly pulled his hair forward at the same time a book smacked into his face. "Ow!" Aang fell backwards at the onslaught of books piling up on him. "What the-" He pushed them off and sat up. Raja grinned and laughed happily, point her arms forward. "Did you try and copy what I did?" He asked her, realizing she easily processed all of his air-bending movements. _Maybe that's natural?_ He wondered about it absently and filed it away to research later.

She just sat there, all smiles, entertained as he manually started stacking the books up again – not wanting her to get any ideas about using her air-bending.

"Screw national crisis's. You'll be the death of me, little girl." Aang looked up but couldn't help share a smile with the small air-bender as her common Earth Kingdom green eyes sparkled mischievously.

And then another book hit his face.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

_Held in a late season_

_At a shifting of worlds,_

_In the golden balance of autumn,_

_Out of love and reason_

_We made our peace;_

_Stood still in October_

_In the failing light and sought,_

_Each in the other, ease_

_And release from silence,_

_From the slow damnation_

_Of speech that is weak_

_And falls from silence._

_In the October sun_

_By the green river we spoke,_

_Late in October, the leaves_

_Of the water maples had fallen._

_~'A Reminiscence', stanzas #1-4, Richard O. Moore_

* * *

><p>"Celeigh!" A women of nearly fifty years with only slight wrinkles and dressed in traditional Kyoshi garb stepped out from the behind the counter. She smiled and extended her arms to the other woman in front of her. "Right on time for your appointment, I see."<p>

"Of course!" Celeigh shook her hands and kissed her friend's cheeks. She turned to her left where Suki stood. "And Suki is even happier than I am."

"Really? I don't know how that can be possible." She winked at Suki, who smiled.

"Hey, I'm the bride, Tea. It can't be that shocking."

"Ah, right, right. Come on in back, I have the hemmed dress in one of the spare rooms. You can change in there - it even has a mirror. Do you want everyone to wait out here?" Mattea asked, laying her hand on Suki's elbow. The younger girl nodded and let her Aunt's good friend – the woman being like a distant Aunt herself - lead her to one of the dressing rooms in the small shop. "Come out whenever you're ready and just yell if you need help - don't try to pull it up if it's too tight!" She smiled and left, the door clicking behind her.

Suki stood in the middle of the circular room, her hands on her stomach, and took a deep breath. The dress she chose to wear was her mother's own wedding dress. It was simple, her family definitely not being royalty, but she always thought it was beautiful. She teared up just a bit as she remembered being a child and dragging it out from under her parent's bed, touching the delicate cloth, imagining her own wedding day. Then, as it is in most childhoods, life was simple, revolving around minor events with the utmost importance.

She reached out and stroked the wide band around the waist. It tied in the back in a knot. No big puffy bows, for which she was thankful now. Suki smiled, imagining what her mother would say if she said the comment out loud just then in an alternate universe where her mother was alive. Suki shook her head, dispelling the sadness that loomed with the thought.

The sleeves were longer than usual dresses, extending six inches or so past her fingernails - which her Aunt insisted she get manicured for the 'big day'. Suki rolled her eyes, imagining what Toph would say. _The little earth-bender would make fun of it for an hour!_

The whole dress was the palest yellow Suki could ever remember seeing. She wasn't sure if it was this way when it was made, or if it faded with the years. Either way, she loved it completely. The rest of the dress was much like any others she would wear except for a few things.

There was a short but still noticeable train; no more than a foot in length. Up the sleeves and the parallel sides of the dress that ran the length of her legs was weaved with a black and a green of the Kyoshi colors. The band around the waist was dark green in contrast with the body's lightness and was where the weave ended. But the color that wasn't uncommon - what was uncommon was a second layer of the same color that bagged over the chest area of a nearly see-through material (making it muted) that also tied into the band. Suki couldn't begin to guess what it was; clothes were never really... her… _thing_.

_When would I have had time?_

The second layer held a string of both sparkling shells and pearls alike stitched into the fabric to form a sort of necklace outline around the neck. Every shiny object was fished out from the sea and coral reef around Kyoshi Island.

"That was always my favorite part." Suki startled and turned to see her Aunt, Celeigh, standing in the doorway with a rather reminiscent smile.

"Mine too."

"You know," She walked across the room and stopped next to Suki, picking up a sleeve of the dress, "your mother actually extended her engagement until this specific dress was finished. She picked and chose every piece that went into this sewn-in necklace."

"I remember Dad teasing her about that." Suki smiled at the early memory. It was shortly after the first time her mother caught her with the dress. It was also one of the only times Suki could see her mother's face clearly in her memories. "But she had to get the '_perfect pearl__'_."

"Indeed! I thought she was mad then." Celeigh chuckled. "But my brother had good judgment. You look so much like her." She stared fondly at her niece. Suki flushed at the thought.

"Really?"

"Of course! You have her eyes, her hair, her chin!" Celeigh tapped it teasingly. "But, you also have her mannerisms and her speech. I think that startles your father sometimes. I see that look on his face - like he's seeing a ghost."

Suki frowned. "Oh."

"No, no, it's not a bad thing!" Her aunt quickly assured her. "I think he's glad. Your mother was able to pass on a bit of herself - it makes him happy."

She nodded, moisture sprinkling her eyes. "Okay, I think it's time to get this dress on. If it doesn't fit, I might have to extend my engagement too!" She resolved, joking with the last part.

They untied the dress and, after fifteen minutes, and much shifting, tugging, and careful buttoning in the back, Suki smoothed the dress over her abdomen. "Stop fretting. You look... gorgeous. Oh, honey." Celeigh smiled.

Suki sank into the chair behind her, her face in her hands.

"What's wrong?"

She wiped away the tears, biting her lip. Her aunt hovered over her, concern clearly evident in the lines on her forehead. "I wish Mom was here! I did-didn't think I would," She said, hiccupping a bit," but I can't help it. Ugh, I'm having a mini-breakdown, aren't I?"

"Honey - it's okay. Shh, shush now." Celeigh engulfed Suki in a tight hug, stroking her hair. "I would actually be worried if you didn't have a little episode like this!" Suki burst out a short laugh, hiccupping some more. "It's okay, I promise. Your mother is here. She's around all of us, you know? And I'm sure she's smiling from her place just on the other side, happy to see you marrying such a wonderful man."

Suki sniffled. "You think?"

"Of course!" Celeigh pulled back a little, patting her niece on the back as she started recovering. "And I think she's even more proud at how great you turned out. At just fifteen and protecting the whole town from the Fire Nation - and the Fire Nation prince? Impossible!" She smiled. "But you did. And you fell in a love with a great - albeit a _little_ dorky - guy and formed friendships with the Avatar and his companions and now, at age sixteen, you're getting married with a whole life ahead of you. Nothing is holding you back from your own happy life. Your mother would be so, _so very_ proud."

Suki smiled before laughing again for a few seconds. She stood, smoothing down the dress where it wrinkled along her ribs and hips when she sat, feeling embarrassed. "Okay, I'm good! Sorry... I guess all brides get emotional, huh?"

"That's why I never got married."

Suki rolled her eyes, poking her aunt. "Yeah, that's why."

"Hey!" Celeigh protested it good-naturedly and opened the door. "Let's just go show the others, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Suki walked out and braved the onslaught of 'oh my's, 'how beautiful/gorgeous/(insert flattering word here)'s, and 'you look perfect's, managing to situate herself in front of the full length mirror.

"Okay, okay!" She held up her hands. "Most important question: does the color make me look nauseous?"

The Kyoshi girls around her burst out giggling and she couldn't help joining in, happy for the relief. Ishi, her best friend, walked up and patted on her on the arm, inspecting the bodice. "Please, if yellow and green did that to you, all of us would be doomed – and forced to wear full black, making us all look like mourners."

"Thank you - I think."

"No, that's a huge compliment!" Layir chimed up, poking her short head out from the rest of the girls. "That dress is so stunning! It's, like, raw beauty. Perfect for you!"

"Again, thanks - I think." Suki grinned as the other girl flustered. "I'm joking, Layir! Thanks. That means a lot."

"You're welcome!" She sighed wistfully. "I wish Ty-Lee could be here - she would say something clever about it."

"Yeah, well, let's focus on the groom for now." Ishi said, straightening as she turned away from looking at the mirror.

Suki raised an eyebrow. "Dismissing the dress so soon? That must mean you think he's an axe murderer in disguise!"

"Hah. More like boomerang murderer if anything." Ishi rolled her eyes. "But then he can't hit anything with that thing."

"Hey! He's gotten better at it!" Suki protested in defense. "Besides, that's my fiancé you're talking about. Watch your mouth!" She grinned and tapped her best friend's cheek. Ishi just looked at her, a _'really?'_ expression on her face. "Seriously, what do you think of him?"

"I think," Ishi took a deep breath, making her friend wait; "that he's the best you're going to get."

"Hey! Now _I know_ that was an insult!"

"Oh no," Ishi shook her head with big doe eyes, an instant tell to Suki that she's lying. "He's like an eight and you're a six on that made-up keeper scale. Sixes never get nines. Tens are completely impossible!"

"Please! If anything, I'm the eight and he's the six!"

The girls all burst out laughing merrily. Suki wiped the tears out of her eyes - happy tears, this time - caused from the sheer ludicrousness of the situation. It was all in good humor. She loved that part the most.

A year,_ hell, months _earlier, Suki couldn't joke like this. _How far we've come, _she thought giddily.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

"_As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."_

_~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

* * *

><p>Zuko slid over on the bench he was currently occupying with Katara. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. She sighed and snuggled into his chest. Yawning, her muffled words were somehow still audible as she said, "Four in the morning is not acceptable."<p>

He smiled, twirling with a few strands of her tousled hair. "Sorry. I got a little excited."

"'S okay." She closed her eyes and he listened to her steady breathing. Zuko wondered if she was sleeping or not. He smiled at how she could be so serene and _still conscious_. He was troubled for so long - still is, partly, _but everyone is on some level_, he believed - that it seemed almost impossible to be tranquil and still without effort. Katara kept crossing that imaginary line and repeatedly calmed his thoughts, worries. _More like washing the line away_, he thought.

The couple was sitting in a small room just above the hull inside of the Ferry that docked at Jarro's port. Zuko had originally bought tickets for a ship late in the morning, but quickly changed those plans when a memory came to him in his sleep.

He regretted waking her up after seeing how lethargic Katara acted, but she still got up, got her small bag, and let him lead her out to the ferry as he explained the memory. She nodded, commented, and conversed with him about it, agreeing that it was a good idea.

Zuko did admit, though, that he got a little _too_ excited. But how was he supposed to feel when, for the longest time, he tried to block those memories out? _Calm?_ As if.

***Flashback - Spring Day, 92 ASC**

Nine year-old prince Zuko ran across the courtyard, searching for his mother. Down the steps, over the stone grounds, up the hill, and over the brook, he found her in a small corner near the rear of the palace. Ursa was bent over, her long black hair flowing freely and un-lady-like out of its usual half-bun, and tending to some bushes. A few had yet to be planted and were wilted in the shade next to her.

"Mother!"

She looked up and smiled at him, dropping her tools and opening her arms wide as he rushed for a hug. Zuko squeezed as tight as he could and she laughed. "You're getting stronger, Zuko."

"I'm practicing an extra hour in the training room." He said proudly.

A frown appeared on her sun-kissed face. "Are you sure that is wise? You're still but a boy - I don't want you to over-exert yourself."

He shook his head. "It's Father's idea!"

"I see." She wiped her hands and sat freely on the grass, as only a member of royalty in their own home was allowed to do without looking poor. "What are you doing, running about? You don't even have shoes on!"

Zuko glanced sheepishly down at his dirty feet. "I forgot." He shrugged and his face immediately adopted a boyish grin. "We got another letter from Uncle Iroh!"

"Really? What did it say?" Ursa smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears. She patted the ground next to her and he sunk beside her, sitting on his knees as, she turned back to continue planting the flower bushes. She chatted animatedly with her son as he described his Uncle's newest adventures and hyped-up tales of the wilderness beyond the Fire Nation beaches.

"-and Lu-Ten even met a girl! Uncle said he knows nothing will come of it. Good, I say! I think it's gross." Zuko faked gagging, completely carefree around his mother and _only _her.

Ursa laughed. "Zuko, I will convince you one day that girls are '_okay_'."

"Never!" He crossed his arms and nearly full-on shouted. The yard was empty and the walls were too thick for anyone to hear.

She continued laughing, shaking her head at his antics. "You say that now... Zuko, can you get the rake for me?"

"Sure." He crawled over and grabbed it from where it was stuck into mound of dirt next to the spare bushes. "Here."

"Thank you."

Zuko sat back, crossing his arms over his knees as he watched his mother work. His mother was the only person he ever saw doing simple things like this. With her, it looked natural and relaxing and like a nice remedy to any troubles. She always told him to take a walk, or water a plant, and his worries would sort themselves out. Not that he ever tried it! But still... the nine year-old boy wondered why his mother could still be so perfect tending to a garden, yet the people his family occasionally had to see on the street were deemed 'dirty' and 'poor' for tending their own flowers.

He reached over and plucked a bud off of one of the bushes that had yet to bloom. "Hey! Plants have feelings too." Ursa scolded him, but let him keep the bud as he twirled it in his hand.

"So I don't have to eat anymore veggies? Because they probably don't like being cooked." Zuko grinned.

"Nope. Vegetables will help you grow! And you want to grow six feet tall, right?"

"Right!" He smiled. "What are you planting, Mom?"

"Orange and yellow variants of Hemerocallis."

"Huh?"

"Daylilies." She explained, teasing him. "But, daylilies aren't actual lilies. They simply look like them in the way their petals bloom, see?" She turned a wispy stalk so he could see a premature bloom. "Remember that and it might come in handy when you try to pick up a girl someday."

"I will _never _want to be with a girl! Girls are gross!"

Ursa laughed and hurried after her son, who was stomping away in a huff so fast that the dirt kicked up. "Calm down!" She dove and wrapped her arms around him, catching him by the waist. He went limp and she sighed, shifting him on her lap. "I really wish you would stop with this boneless thing."

He huffed.

She cupped his cheek and turned his head. Zuko reluctantly matched her gold eyes with his own. "Fine, no more girl talk. We'll revisit that in two years - when you're eleven, okay?"

"I guess," he mumbled. "But girls will still be as annoying then!"

"I wouldn't doubt it." She kissed his cheek and he stood. "Help me finish planting the flowers?"

Zuko shrugged but she saw the smile on his face.

"Come on, I'll race you."

He grinned. "Can I call it?"

Ursa nodded, black hair shimmering in the sun.

"Ready... Go!"

***End Flashback**

Zuko heard Katara snore softly on his lap and smiled, pulling himself away from the memory once again. He shifted over on the seat so she could lie sideways - although it was a bit crooked. She burrowed into his embrace more regardless and he sighed, securing his arm around Katara as he closed his eyes as well.

The young Fire Lord let the water-bender's breathing lull him into a deep sleep he didn't realize he needed.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**


	34. Reunions

**A/N: **I love this chapter. These quotes may seem a little off, but I did read them before writing this chapter so they're related in a roundabout way, I'm sure.

I hope you all enjoy this update :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own any part of.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The wind was torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,_

_The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,_

_The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, _

_And the highwayman came riding–_

_Riding–riding_

_The highwayman came riding, up to_

_The old inn door_

_~'The Highwayman', _Part 1 stanza 1, Alfred Noyes

* * *

><p>"Good?"<p>

Katara nodded and he stepped down on the dock next to her. It was awkward as the tall ramp didn't quite meet the wood boards of the dock. "I wish we could've gotten closer to town. I'm so tired!"

"At least we can look around." Zuko said and kindly took the bag off of her shoulder, holding it for her.

"Thanks." She curled her hand around his elbow and leaned against him as her feet adjusted to solid ground again quickly. They stepped down from the dock onto the dirt pathway.

The dock was a hundred paces from the actual start of town, if she had to guess. Both of them knew the reason for it and couldn't really complain. Truthfully, the boat was lucky to have gotten as close to the town as it did, the water being so shallow around the island. The beach in front of the town sloped for so long that the water could be as shallow as fifty feet for miles (as they were informed by a very chatty crew member before exiting).

"Where to first?" She inquired, twisting her sore neck to look at him.

"Are you tired?"

Katara shrugged. Even if she was, which she's surprisingly not, she couldn't go back to sleep if she wanted to. Her mind was already processing and cataloging everything they were seeing for when they would ask around about Ursa. She was too pumped. A few of her muscles were sore, like her neck, but that was from the ferry ride. "Nah. I napped enough on the ferry. I had a comfortable pillow," she joked.

He returned her smile. "So, find shelter first or continue on?"

"We can go on. See what this town's like first." Katara studied the street ahead of them as it transitioned from dirt to mismatched laid brick that looked decades old. There were only a handful of people on the street - no more than six, she counted. "Let's just walk - see the buildings before questioning and ostracizing ourselves."

Zuko's lips formed a tiny smirk. "Sure. Hey, isn't that the girl whose kid you helped?"

"Where?"

"Back in Jarro - and over there outside of the... grain store." He finished the last bit after reading the sign.

She moved her field of vision lower and caught sight of a dark-haired woman with a little boy at her feet. Katara recognized the boy immediately - the strange combination of black hair, pale skin, and green eyes sticking in her mind. "Yeah, it is. Come on, let's say hello - maybe she can help us navigate around town?"

"You read my mind - again."

"It's because I have super-hearing." Katara joked, a warm feeling falling over her that had nothing to do with the rising sun and everything to do with the genuine grin that briefly flashed her way before they stopped in front of the mother and child.

"Excuse me," Katara began.

Tadame grabbed her son's hand and moved to the side, away from the shop's door. She shuffled the few small bags in her hands while mumbling, "Sorry."

"No; I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Katara shook her head apologetically. "We actually wanted to talk to you. Uh, was it Tadem?"

"Tadame," the girl said automatically as she looked up. Her eyes widened as she processed the faces of the two in front of her. "Uh, Fire Lord! And you're the water-bender that healed my boy!" She half bowed awkwardly in front of them.

"You can call me Katara; no need to be so formal," she smiled pleasantly, continuing with, "And you can call him Zuko around just us."

"Uh... okay." Tadama said timidly.

Zuko pinched his companion's arm but she ignored him. He didn't like dropping formalities; Katara knew that. It had taken him a full day around the group of them to stop correcting, saying 'Fire Prince Zuko' instead. (It also led to a bloody lip, as he tried to stop himself from saying it by biting down. It didn't work as perfectly as he imagined.) _He can deal with it for now_, she thought.

"Would you mind if we asked you a few questions?"

Tadame's brow furrowed. "I guess not - no. What about?"

"We're here looking for someone. She's a family friend of Zuko's, here, and he lost contact with her a few years ago. We think she moved to this island, possibly even this town." Katara supplied and paused, starting to unfasten a few of the clasps on her bag. "I have a picture here, if you wouldn't mind."

"No, not at all, but to be honest I don't know what help I can be to you." Katara stopped her rummaging and looked over at the other woman. "I only moved back permanently a few years ago, you see - less than two, I think. And even now I don't know many people locally. I originally came from Jarro." Tadame smiled nervously, apologetic about it.

"That's alright." Katara bit back a sigh. "It was good to see you again."

Wait-" Tadame held up her hand, making the couple pause from walking away. She hefted Jains up on her hip. "I work for a very nice woman - she's a bit older and was here before me. I think she moved here only a few years before I did but she runs the best flower shop in town and is friendly with all of our customers and neighbors. Maybe she can help you...?"

Zuko nodded. "That would be great. Thank you."

"Good! I'll, uh, show you where the place is. I was headed there now."

"Here, let me help you with these." Katara offered, taking a bag from Tadame's hands. Their new acquaintance mumbled thanks and gestured for them to follow her. The first few streets they walked through were only accompanied by the seagull-crows cawing, a brief conversation about the flower shop being the same famous one the couple had heard a few times before, and their own foot traffic. Tadame reverted back to the shy self she'd been when they first met her in Jarro.

Katara, not wanting to seem rude or like a user, walked fast to catch up. She slowed her pace once she was about even with Tadame. "His name is Jains, right?" She waved to the little boy.

"Yes." Tadame answered, glancing over at her son and tidied his collar. "He's named after his father."

"Aw, that nice! Do you get to take him to work with you?"

"Yes. She's only my first employer - I've had this job for as long as I've been in town - but she's the kindest! One time she even brought some toys to keep for him at the shop so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of finding a babysitter. My family is in Jarro so it's hard."

"That is kind of her."

Tadame nodded. She turned with a smile to Katara and continued, saying, "Sorry for the long walk. The shop is all the way on the other side of town and it's a big town – in size, I mean. The name of the shop is 'Daylily Florists'. She thought it was funny, naming it the literal saying of the town. Did you know that's what Hemero-Callis means?"

"Yes, I had heard," the water-bender nodded along. She glanced back at Zuko behind her, wondering if he would come up and join them in conversation. He didn't see her look and stared ahead of them, but not at anything specific, as far as she could tell. He looked pensive and moved to open his mouth, as though to say something, but Tadame spoke again, cutting off any questions he might've had. He closed his mouth and turned to stare at the sea running parallel to them.

Katara resumed chatting with Tadame, keeping one ear open as she heard all about the history of Hemero-Callis.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Whispers of little winds low in the leaves, _

_Rustle of warm winds through tall green trees,_

_A full resinous fragrance, rich, warm, sweet,_

_A sharp acrid odor, a hint of heat,_

_Snap, hiss, crackle, a faint blue smoke, _

_A whirl of black swept by tawny flame – _

_Deep in the forest the wild wind broke;_

_Fast in the wild wake the fire-wind came,_

_A soughing of branches swept sudden and strong_

_Like the rush and crash when the storm winds meet:_

_~'Forest Fire', _#1-10 lines, Edna Davis Romig

* * *

><p>Aang briefly straightened before leaning over once more. Even crouching, his young muscles ached from the strain - and all because of a patch of soil. Times had been worse.<p>

True to his equality beliefs, Aang volunteered and joined the small band of men, women, and even children alike that tended the seasonally late garden on a regular basis. There were hardly any items of produce they could plant during these soon-to-be cold winter months, but Aang and the others hoped to salvage at least some crops beforehand.

Everyone at the temple was eager for as close to full independence from any and all other nations as they could sustain it.

"Hey look! A ship, Mama!"

Aang popped his head up from the hay-strewn field but didn't see anything indicating a ship through the perpetual fog.

"There isn't a ship out there," The woman said, patting her son's shoulder.

"Yes there is!" He protested, extending his arm to point. "Right there. See?"

The Avatar followed the boy's hand and squinted. The clouds parted to the north-east and a speckling of gray glared through. He kept it in his vision and stayed still, waiting for it to get closer so he could verify it.

"That is a ship. They must've assembled the stuff early," Aang said absently, watching the rusted metal ship pull closer to the temple island. The boy to his left grinned and bragged about being correct to his mother before rattling on about seeing the crew and wondering out-loud if it would be the same group, apparently fascinated by the heavily embellished stories he was told by some of the crew.

Forty minutes later, the boy eagerly raced on board once the ship docked. Beforehand, Aang helped the others water the yet-to-bloom seeds and put away the tools in the storage temple building. He walked onto the cargo ship's desk, stopping next to Captain, who stood near the ladder descending under deck.

"This was fast. The next one wasn't supposed to be until another few weeks."

The older man shrugged. "Couldn't let 'er sit full in 'e harbor. Besides, some of 'is stuff could go bad. Don't want 'at."

"Yeah."

"Next one might be late, 'ough." He continued on. Aang turned to the metal wall next to him and rolled his eyes_. Of course it would be late_. But again he reminded himself worse situations were had. "Get a lot of orders in 'ese winter mon's."

Shaepa bounded over and interrupted them. An expectant expression flooded on her face. "Did you find it? Is it here?"

"What?" Captain startled and asked the same time Aang did.

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Shaepa smiled shyly, doing a quick and informal bow. "I'm Shaepa - I sent you a letter about acquiring a Koala-Sloth."

"Ohh. You." The man lit a pipe and took a drag.

Natima appeared at her friend's side. "She gets that reaction a lot."

Aang blinked at a now blushing Shaepa - blushing in embarrassment, he could see. "You actually wrote him about that? You were serious?"

She put her hands on her hips, jutting her chin out at him. "Of course!"

The captain cleared his throat, alerting the three teens of his continued presence. "Yeah, I got it. It's in a carrier back by 'e boiler room." At the girls' appalled looks, he hastily continued, "It's a small ship. Couldn't put 'er in a container - can't survive in 'ere."

Shaepa gave him his pay and a tight thank-you smile, dragging her friend Natima away with her, leaving as not-so-silently as she'd appeared. Aang shook his head and went to help his neighbors unload as Captain stalked off to yell at more of his crew. It seemed to be a developing habit, Aang noticed.

He was happy to also notice that the boxes inside the containers were smaller and easier to lift the time around. As he unloaded, few of the children from the temple raced and played around the ship with worried parents chasing after. It made him smile.

A shriek caught his attention as he was climbing down to the compartment underneath the ship. "People!" He heard Natima scream a few yards from where he was standing.

"What?" He muttered, thinking the two girls were just plain weird, but took off flying down the hall anyway. His feet just thudded back to the ground as he came around the corner of the second large room under deck. Natima was standing in a corner, holding her arms out, eyes wide with fear and confusion.

He entered in time to hear a small kid, a few years younger than him (based on his voice) with a helmet on, standing in front of the girl, say, "-cause ship crews aren't near as pretty as you."

"Duke?" He looked around and saw Pipsqueak as well. The giant-like man was walking back into a cracked opening in a wooden container he assumed is where they came from. "Pipsqueak. What are you two doing here?" He walked over to The Duke as the other disappeared from view.

"It's 'The Duke', thank-you-very-much." The shorter boy pushed up his helmet, as it covered his eyes, when he turned away from Natima to speak to Aang. "And we didn't mean to end up here, just so you know... Where is 'here'?"

"The Southern Air Temple," Natima supplied a little loudly. However, she did calm down enough to cross her arms warily and just look annoyed.

"Oh, great. Of all pla- ow!" Toph emerged from the container with Pipsqueak, holding her head. "Shipping containers - I do not recommend them as a traveling portal."

Aang went slack jawed when he saw her. The Duke broke the minute of silence with a high-pitched laugh. "Group-reunited hug!" He offered, grinning.

"You know these people?" Natima asked dubiously, her mind catching up to the fact that Aang was talking with the strangers and calling them by name.

"Group reunited? Duke, we were stuck in that container for, like, two or three days!" Toph rolled her eyes.

"Aang's here!"

"Aang?" She straightened, sweeping her sightless eyes across the room.

The air-bender in question shook his head, "Toph, wha-"

"Hey, there you are!" Shaepa interrupted, skipping into the room. "Found her!" She held up the carrier where bright, blinking eyes were barely visible.

Natima frowned, turning to her friend. "You hear me scream but still look for that thing?"

"Hey!"

Aang ignored the bickering girls - who The Duke and Pipsqueak watched with avid interest bordering on something he would probably find mildly disturbing (all the two needed was complimentary snacks and a teleportation to a theatre and they would fit right in) and focused on the only silent female in the room.

"Are they really fighting over a sloth breed? Who would want any kind of sloth?" She asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

"Where's Iroh?"

Toph startled at the question but pretended as though she never heard it, back still tensed. "Do you know what kind they got? I bet it's a Panda-Sloth. Those things ha-"

"Toph!" Aang grabbed her arms, pulling her to face him. "What happened? I'm worried. As far as I know you're living with Iroh in Ba Sing Se but suddenly you show up with The Duke and Pipsqueak, stuck in a cargo ship that comes a few miles away from your hometown?"

"It's nothing." She mumbled.

He smiled at her incredulously, not sure what to do or say. "Did something happen? Is Iroh okay? Are _you_ okay?"

"Iroh's fine. He's running his tea shop. What if I just said I got bored, huh?" She tilted her head, expression guarded.

"I wouldn't believe it."

"Toph, come check out this thing! It's a Koala-Sloth; it-_sorry,_ _she'_s funny."

"Coming!" She scurried away from Aang and he let her, scratching his head. He was at a loss with what to do and she clearly wasn't going to come out and tell him the story of how she got from point A to point D. Sure, he could try and keep her next to him or something so that she would tell him but she was his earth-bending teacher - and the field she was best in was the element of surprise. _She'd probably smack me on my butt with her earth-bending, _he thought.

Aang walked back up to the deck, escaping the sickly smell in the air of trapped humidity to finish up unloading the top floor. Not everything on the ship was for them, obviously, so it wasn't very long afterwards that the little gang resurfaced under the sun and everyone had all the boxes of dried food and supplies on land, carrying them to the storage temple next.

"As weird as you two are, I had fun. Thanks for the accidental bar reunion." Toph smiled and reached out for The Duke. When she found him, she simply pat his arm.

"This is goodbye?" He asked, disbelieving. "You're not coming back with us? But we were going to do so many more pranks and adventures and stuff!"

She raised her hands in a hopeless gesture, smiling. "Sorry; I think you wore me out."

The Duke pulled her into a fast hug.

"Ooh! Uh, constricting lungs here."

"Sorry." The Duke straightened his helmet and backed up. "Write you later?"

"Don't you know it." She grinned and shared a high-five with Pipsqueak (him reaching out and hitting her hand). "Bye."

"Bye." The rambunctious duo walked back on board the ship and Toph kicked the dirt, listening to the boat and its persons pull from port.

Aang walked up next to her from where he had been standing off to the side. Before he could speak, she was doing so, asking him, "Could you write a letter to Iroh? Just tell him I'm here and okay and staying."

"How long?"

"What? I don't know, a few paragraphs I guess."

He shook his head, his lips wanting to smile. "No, I mean how long you are planning to stay."

"Oh. That." Toph bent and picked up a loose rock from under her foot. "I don't know."

Aang just nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Where's my room?"

"Um, you can take one in the main temple."

Her button nose wrinkled. "Isn't that sacred or something?"

"No; all the senior monks lived there." He let himself smile this time. "If you want, you can room with another family."

"Hah. No, I'll pass on that. Where's it at from here? Regrettably, I will admit I forgot some of the layout here." She spun around.

"Up the slope in front of you and past the fountain. Go left and through the upward tunnels and ta-da."

Toph nodded. "I remember now. Never mind. Thanks." She walked over the bridge and started up the zigzagging pathway. Aang still felt confused as to why she didn't say more about Iroh, but he was enough of an empathetic person to recognize that look on her face when she mentioned his name - and when he'd mentioned it earlier, too.

She was sad.

Aang decided to wait it out. Besides Zuko, Toph had always had a closer relationship with the old man they'd all come to view as an Uncle of their own. Aang liked Iroh and knew the two would work through it. The young earth-bender of the group was stubborn and passionate, yeah, but she also deflated as fast as her spark was lit if you apologized sincerely or partook in an act to fix what you broke; basically, a big and from-the-heart gesture. He kind of liked that about her - strong to a fault.

He'd discovered the same thing about himself just days before Sozin's Comet. Another thing he discovered he had in common with his friends.

Shooting off the ground with a burst of air, Aang landed a few feet behind where Toph was shuffling. "Toph?"

She stopped and turned back, puzzlement on her face. "Yeah?"

"I won't can stay here as long as you want. I'll write Iroh and tell him you're doing well here. That you just needed a break, right?" She slowly nodded. "Okay. Just... know I'm here to talk." Aang waved his arms around, unsure what gesture to make, even though she couldn't see it.

"Okay. But I'm going to dish my secrets to this pet rock first," Toph said with a snarky edge – but also with a grin.

He nodded and put his hands on his hips, satisfied with how that conversation went. _For now._ Just because he wouldn't ask, doesn't mean he would try and twist the information out of her eventually. _Or maybe she will tell me on her own_, Aang thought. _Hopefully that. Manipulating people is tiring._

A high shriek sounded before his vision was blacked out. Aang sank to his knees, scratching at his head in fear. His hands came upon wings, a small beady face, and gel-like fur. "Momo! What are you doing? Get off!"

The flying lemur continued to chitter.

"Aw, she only wants to play with you. Come here, Momo! Spend some quality time with your new wife-y!" Aang pulled his pet companion off of his head and saw Shaepa approaching with the Koala-Sloth in her arms. It looked bored. Momo looked terrified.

He set the flying lemur on the ground, nudging him away. Momo got the message and took off in flight, quickly going hundreds of feet high and circling around where Appa was lounging. The flying bison, once seeing it was just Momo, continued his hay feast.

"Damn! Now I'll never get him down." Shaepa bit her lip in frustration. She stalked off and Aang sighed, falling back against the dirt.

"Worst. Idea. _Ever_. Poor Momo."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Oh, the river, oh, the river, it's running free, _

_And I'll join in the joy it brings to me _

_But I know it'll have to drown me, _

_Before I can breathe easy, _

_And I've seen it in the flights of birds, I've seen it in you, _

_The entrails of the animals, the blood running through, _

_But in order to get to the heart, I think sometimes you have to cut through, _

_But you can_

_Just keep following the heartlines on your hand _

_Just keep following the heartlines on your hand _

_Keep it up, I know you can _

_Just keep following the heartlines on your hand _

_Cause I am_

_~'Heartlines' lyrics, _Florence + The Machine

* * *

><p>Ursa exhaled with relief as she slumped against the counter behind her. She had worked through the weekend to finish up the last big order. There wouldn't be another one for at least two months and for that she was thanking the universe and spirit world. She loved having her shop be such a success and having a good and steady income to go along with it but she wasn't getting any younger.<p>

It wasn't the work that tired her, though. It was simply the tedious task of leaning over the same three counters for hours on end whenever a large order for a wedding, funeral, party, or what-have-you came in the door.

The order would've only taken half a day if she called Tadame in, but Ursa didn't. She wanted the young girl to spend as much time with her son as possible. Tadame didn't realize it now, but one day she would wake up and her son would be grown, possibly starting another family of his own, and she would wonder where the time was spent. And then, remembering all the days playing, nurturing, and sometimes simply sitting with her son, the girl would smile.

At least Ursa hoped she would. Her own recollections of the past were very much skewed by having to live a lie in the current later half.

The doorbell chimed and Tadame's voice rang out, "Mistress Saru! I have some visitors I think you will want to meet."

There was a muffled voice and Ursa thought she heard her cover name again, but figured it was Tadame or one of the girl's friends asking about the place. The Fire Lady straightened, checked to make sure all of her hair was wrapped in its bun, and walked out into the front.

She opened her mouth automatically to speak but her words died in her throat.

He was there, physically there, standing by the door that his tall frame nearly engulfed and he was staring back at her with the beginnings of tears in his eyes. She felt some of her own coming on as she solely stared at him, a sudden helplessness of what to do and how to respond washing over her.

His jaw, nose, cheek-bones, forehead, it was all so defined. No more was the little boy in her memories. His dark hair wasn't cut like it was supposed to be as a prince, nor was it long like the past Fire Lords often wore it. It hung halfway to his shoulders, carelessly parted. She felt like crying in relief at how… how normal he looked.

"You two know each other?" Tadame asked, picking up on the undercurrent flowing through the room. A shadow passed near the corner of Ursa's field of vision and her assistant said no more.

"Mother?" Zuko asked timidly. His voice was rough as sandpaper.

Ursa looked at him with large and uncertain eyes. Would he freak out? Would he break down? Would he accept her or reject her? Her eyes finally registered the scar on his face. It was worse than she imagined. Seared flesh along his eye that barely managed to knit itself together in the form of a scar. He was lucky to have kept the eye.

A sob escaped her lips and she rushed forward, crushing him in a hug. Her son's arms instantly wrapped around her, squeezing with the same desperation. Her nurturing instinct bloomed and burst inside of her heart, blocking out all the rest.

"I'm sorry!" She managed to choke out, her hands smoothing down the sides of his face and hair, grooming as only a mother does.

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling. He laid his head down on his mother's shoulder. Ursa hugged him tighter as he whispered, "It's all okay. You're okay."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	35. Distant and Close Reconciliations

**A/N:** So, so, so sorry for posting kind of late! Most of you won't see this until Tuesday :S I've had a hectic week. I updated my profile to include a link to the FN dress Katara often wore when they were living in the beach house during Season 3. This is sometimes worn by her during their quest to find Ursa and is mentioned here in this chapter :)

In my mind, I imagine her hair as a bit different - without the top-knot and with her typical water-tribe loops on the side of her face instead of those FN ones by her neck. She can keep a bit of her SP style, now that the FN is more or less at peace with everyone ^_^

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Beginnings are always messy. _

~John Galsworthy

* * *

><p>Sitting in the darkened room, Toph thought about Iroh. She couldn't help. The guilt flooded full force now that she was no longer constantly being led by another person, talking with another person, sleeping, or doing something of physical labor. Anything that kept her busy, really. Eating probably fell into that category, if she thought about it long enough. <em>But no<em>_._ Her mind went back to thinking about Iroh and how he must be occupying his hands and mind with thoughts of the tea shop and tasks involving the beautiful and large Jasmine Dragon restaurant instead of dwelling on her absence. Iroh had never been one to dwell, she knew. Or, he wasn't around her and anybody else.

It wasn't right, leaving the way she did. Toph recognized that. But in the guilt was also some relief. She was just relieved to have escaped her parents. _Maybe I can run for the next, what, four years until they let me be an adult. Or is it two since I've basically been on my own? I should brush up on my Earth Kingdom laws,_ Toph thought.

_***Flashback – Jasmine Dragon **__**–**__** Four weeks prior**_

"Wait for it… wait for it…." Toph teased.

"If I was still any longer, I would be catatonic."

"Shh!" Toph smelled the spice jar to be sure before sprinkling some more in the tea bag. "It only takes a minute to brew."

"That fast?" Iroh asked dubiously.

"Yep!"

The water came to a boil and she pulled it from the wood-stove. The steam rose to heat her face, flushing it a pretty shade of pink. Toph counted to four and pulled the spout away, dropping the tea bag in its place.

"Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight," she murmured under her breath.

Iroh smiled and joined in until it was done. "…three, two, one."

The earth-bender withdrew the scolding cotton with a quick and deftly accurate lift of a spoon. "Try." Her friend blew on the cup loudly and took a sip. Sputtering ensued. Toph frowned and all but threw a napkin at him. "Choke much?"

He chuckled for but a moment before another racket of coughing began. When he recovered, he pushed the cup back across the counter at her. "Sorry, Toph, but that is much too strong! Perhaps you put too much peppermint extract in it?"

Toph guffawed and snorted. "Give it." She raised the cup to her nose and smelled. Its scent was much like the peppermint-cherry white tea she'd been experimenting with for the past week. She tipped it up to taste and took a gulp. Not long after the first stark and bitter drop hit her taste-buds, Toph dropped it and leaned over, heaving. "How do you make yourself vomit?" She gagged.

Iroh burst out laughing.

"It's not funny, she moaned, clutching her stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

He stood and shuffled away for a few feet and came back, putting a shallow dish in her hand. "Here; it helps with stomach sickness."

Toph gulped that too. She stumbled up and then hit the counter. She didn't mind much when she slid down, grinning. "What was that stuff?"

"Something you shouldn't gulp altogether," he said amusedly.

Startling with alarm, her eyes went round. "I won't, like, start seeing crazy stuff will I? Or seeing at all? Oh no, now I understand Sokka's cactus juice stunt! It's like being stuck in your skin while someone else itches at the ants crawling on your skin!" She scratched up and down her arms avidly, mumbling to herself, not stopping her speech to do more than catch a breath.

"Oh boy."

_***End Flashback**_

Toph reached up along the clasps of wooden shutters that held the window in the room closed and released it, the metal falling to the side. She felt the sun on her skin and cherished it for a few minutes, recovering from her thoughts.

She wondered where Aang was and felt her way back out of the temple and down the large staircase, seeing the swim of shapes with her earth bending senses. If there was any gift her disrespectful and way-over-bearing parents had given her that she truly enjoyed, it was earth-bending. Everything else they gave her was but simply a useless shell-of-their-love toy that she would abandon anywhere from a week to a year after receiving it - becoming bored when she realized all the fun she would have with it was in the past by then. Often, by then, her parents didn't even remember they'd given it to her at all.

Toph had long before running away figured out that she didn't share the same ideals with her parents when it came to sources of entertainment and joy. They found it in power and objects. To a certain extent, Toph admitted to finding a certain solace in power. _But, that is when its limited to me_, she promised. _No other power held much appeal. Freedom was enough. Freedom... the _golden_ ticket._

A scraping of a chair to her left could be heard faintly, bouncing off the stone, and Toph followed it. She heard Aang inside - knowing it was him by his smell and the fact that the temple was otherwise empty as he said it normally would be - and went to sit next to him, earth-bending a stool up for her to sit on. He startled - she could hear it in his breathing - and then set down the ink pen he was using. It made a small hollow sound on the wood.

"Writing the letter to Iroh?" Toph asked.

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd be down for the rest of the day. Aren't you tired?"

"Nope. Being stuck in close quarters gave a lot of time to nap," she nodded. "And I didn't move much, afraid to run into those rough boxes." She rubbed a phantom splinter pain on her arm. Pipsqueak had 'carefully' extracted it when he pulled her out of the container that morning. She wondered what they were doing at the moment - _annoying the crew or making best friends? Probably the latter; The Duke has a way with words_, she had noticed amusedly.

"That sucks." Aang commented.

"Meh, to each their own threshold." She leaned forward against the table. "Hey, uh... could you put something in there ... for me?"

"Sure." Aang picked the pen back up, probably posing it over the page and expecting a 'word for word'. Toph couldn't deliver that and sat, thinking about what she wanted to say - more or less exactly. It ended up on the lesser side.

"My parents showed up at Jasmine Dragon a week and a half ago. Iroh wrote them." The pen's placement back on the table echoed a few short seconds afterwards.

"Oh."

Toph could practically hear the wheels turning and pieces clicking him his head. She sighed. "Yeah. They reacted... worse than what you saw."

"I can't imagine how that's possible," Aang scoffed.

"Yeah, well, me either at the time," Toph felt the tears come on and sniffed. "He thought they were nice and could help me with a home or some bull like that. Don't I have a home? You all are my home - I don't need a physical space for that. Have I ever had any preferences over boarding when we were traveling on stinky Appa?" Her voice rose at the last bit.

"Uh, no."

"Exactly!" Her eyes were full-blown tearing up now but she ignored them, continuing on her venting rant. "But they show up and want to drag me home. It's been what, a year? And they saw me after Zuko's coronation! Where was their 'parent protectiveness' there, huh? Ugh." She wiped her eyes, turning to Aang. "You know what's really sad though? I liked it at the Jasmine Dragon. Iroh and I were having fun. It was like... the family I've never had, you know? You guys are the family I've never had. We do silly stuff and can just... be." She sniffed again, wiping her wet and running nose. "I sound crazy and I probably look like a mess."

"You don't look like a mess," he said quietly. "And you don't sound crazy. Imagine how I feel, being stuck in an iceberg for a hundred years and everyone I know is dead."

"Except Bumi," she pointed out.

"Okay, except Bumi. But come on, he's a real crazy," Aang laughed. "If anyone was going to make it a hundred years, Bumi was!" Toph smiled at his warm voice and he sobered a bit. "But you know what I mean. No... _family_. No parents or anyone like that. You have parents - but they're less... understanding than every child wishes for ideally."

"Yeah. Iroh's my dream father!" She leaned back and sagged against the chair back (which she erected via earth-bending) sadly. "And I was a complete ass to him because I had a stupid freak-out."

"No you weren't. I'm sure he regrets writing them and understands your feelings perfectly. Just... give it some time. We'll see him soon or whenever it is that something happens where I have to leave these temples."

Toph laughed. "And what if your peace works?"

"Then we'll see Iroh at Sokka and Suki's wedding. That'll be sooner than anything else."

"Oh yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Sokka's very _'in the moment'_ . He'll want to get married pronto."

Aang laughed, reaching over to half hug her. "See? It'll be fine. _Promise."_

"You do realize that promising wellbeing, as the Avatar, means you have to follow through. I can say that and it's just pretty words but you have to back that up." She teased with her usual brashness.

"Okay then," Aang said, a rustle of paper rising to her ears. "Then I'll make it happen. Any special words you want me to use?"

"No. Just 'sorry'. Make it bold and underlined and whatever else you think works."

"You got it," Aang pulled her in for a full hug, waiting until she returned it to speak again. "Everything will work out. I promise," he said.

Toph believed him - she always did.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Living is experiencing _

_both paths of life— _

_Peace and turmoil, _

_right and wrong, _

_together and alone._

_Wisdom is knowing why— _

_so we can see the difference _

_and finally find _

_the hidden path between, _

_where things rejoin._

_We get our share of bruises _

_searching for this simple truth; _

_as it is revealed to us _

_when we don't understand, _

_loitering and lost, _

_deaf and blind._

_When we do wake up _

_to knowing who we are, _

_we start our real journey— _

_putting back together _

_all the things we took apart._

~'_Reconciliation_', William S. Cottringer

* * *

><p>Zuko just sighed, staring at his mother. Nearly seven years. <em>Seven. Years<em>. He couldn't believe that she was right in front of him, instead expecting that if he took his eyes off of her for even a moment then she would float away like a butterfly - graceful like she had been even when she'd run, fleeing into the night.

They - the two of them and Katara - were in his mother's house. He was happy to find it was right next door to her _Daylily Florists_ shop. He'd cradled his mother when she eventually broke down, comforting her and helping her sit in the plain chair across from his. She sat there now, curled up in a ball, staring back at him with the same startled and intent expression he wore at the moment. "I can't believe you're here," she said softly, like she always did with him and Azula when they were children. "You're so calm."

"I'm not supposed to be?" He asked, quirking his lips.

Ursa shook her head, her ruffled hair falling even more out of the loose tie her bun had been in. _It__'__s weird seeing her like this_, he thought,_ all carefree and not caring about high-society rules for once_. _But in this town she isn't high-society_. "I thought you would hate me…."

Zuko vehemently shook his head. "I will never hate you. You left to protect me - and yourself. If you hadn't left, I... I might have seen... father... do_ worse_." He grappled for the words. It was wrong to say out loud how he believed it was a possibility - when his father was with his fire-bending abilities and was Fire Lord, free to the world - that Ozai might have killed Ursa or at least hurt her in front of Zuko, their son. But Zuko didn't doubt that now after everything; especially after having been branded and banished by his own father at so young of an age.

"I'm so sorry for you scar," her voice pitched, her breath a bit ragged. "If I had been there... maybe I could've done something...?"

"No one could. Not even Uncle."

"What happened to Ozai?" Ursa straightened in her seat. "The only reports said that you became King and he was ill; a mental disease?"

Zuko smiled wryly. "He was insane. I'm glad you weren't there to see it... all." He added the last word, knowing she was subject to his father's wrath more than he would know. "Father tried to become a 'Phoenix King', some position he made up to be head of the world. Avatar Aang stripped him of his fire-bending abilities and I imprisoned him in the Fire Nation's most guarded prison."

"That's for the best."

He nodded.

Katara walked in from the kitchen with a tray and set it down, pouring some tea and serving it to Ursa.

"Mother, this is Katara, my... she is one of the Avatar's closest friends."

Ursa held out her hand and shook Katara's in the lady-like manner of clasping fingers. "You are a water-bender."

Katara started. "Yes; how did you know?"

"Blue eyes are hard to mistake, even when one changes their clothes," Ursa nodded to Katara's Fire Nation red ensemble of a diagonal tied tube-top, long layered skirt, and gold bangles on her wrists and upper arms. "Your tanned skin in the Fire Nation suggests being poor, but your clothes deny it. It's the necklace, though." Ursa nodded to it.

The water-bender brushed her fingers along the carved stone. "It was my mother's."

"Betrothal necklace?"

"Yes. How-"

Ursa smiled, small lines of stress-induced aging crinkling along her eyes. "Being educated as a noble means they try to cram as much information in your head as possible. I've probably read dozens of scrolls on all other nations' customs."

"Oh. That's fascinating."

"And boring," Ursa laughed lightly. "So, you're good friends with my son?"

Katara glanced at Zuko, secret merriment in her eyes. "Yes. We weren't at first but we have more in common than it seemed in our first encounter."

"Were you traveling with the Avatar as well?"

She nodded. "My brother, Sokka, and I actually found him and broke him out of an iceberg he was stuck in for a hundred years."

"Really?" Ursa propped her head on her limp wrist, intrigue written across her face. "That is truly fascinating."

"It's a boring story," Katara tucked a stray hair behind her ear sheepishly. "My brother and I traveled with Aang and tried to find him water-bending, earth-bending, and then fire-bending teachers. After Zuko broke away from his crazy family - uh, no offence," she smiled apologetically, catching her words.

Zuko smiled, amused, and Ursa said, "No offence taken."

"Um, after that, he was the one that mostly taught Aang fire-bending for in the battlefield. In fact, he even taught Aang how to bend lightning, right?" She turned to Zuko and he nodded.

"Iroh showed you how? I told him it was too dangerous!" Ursa shook her head at her son. "You didn't get seriously hurt, did you?"

"No when I used it, no." He side-stepped it carefully and his mother didn't notice. Katara nodded at him, remembering when he took a bolt of lightning for her from Azula, when she was crazed at the end.

"Sorry, Katara," the former Fire Lady said, "Go on please I am curious."

"Where was I? Never mind." She brushed her hand out in a dismissal. "Aang was able to learn all of the elements in time for Sozin's Comet. He stopped Ozai, uh, _your husband_, and Zuko and I stopped Azula, _your daughter, I mean_. I'm sorry; this must be hard for you to hear." Katara unclasped and re-clasped her hands, the situation feeling very awkward for her.

Ursa waved off the apology. "I'm just focusing on the fact that one of my children is alright now." She smiled sadly.

"Uncle helped me," Zuko said. "Even when I imprisoned him and turned my back on him multiple times, his words were in my mind, guiding me. I should thank you for that, I guess."

"I made him promise to watch over you, guide you," she nodded. "But he would've done so anyway. Iroh was always warm at heart. A miracle, being born in such a... self-destructive family."

"It won't be that way anymore. I won't let it," her son promised and she believed him, tearing up a bit. "I never forgot what you said. I never forgot who I was, even when I wanted to be the perfect son to father. I am your son too, and it was your influence that made me who I really am." He held out his hand.

Ursa reached over and grasped it, squeezing with a stray tear spilling over her cheek. She wiped it up. "But your father is also a part of you, if now maybe only in looks. That's why I was so worried about leaving you... If I could have done it all differently and known it would have worked out... I would have saved you and your sister... Taken you somewhere safe…."

Zuko shook his head. "I don't regret everything that happened." He glanced over to Katara, saying nearly identical words to ones he told her in the Crystal Catacombs, "This scar from father marks me, but it's not the mark of a banished prince, cursed to chase after 'mistakes'. Father was the one that was wrong and if this is what it took for me to realize that, then I am okay with the process. I'm free to determine my own life now and so was Azula, having been the Fire Lord's daughter.

"She could have done anything she wanted with a free pass forever but ambition and power was what she wanted." Zuko frowned at the memory of his sister's crazed and caged expression the last time he saw her. "Azula chose her path and if she went any other way, I think she would have regretted it. I may have gotten father's look, like you say, but Azula got his wants, his personality. I'm sorry, mother.

"But I don't regret it and neither should you." He tried to smile. "Maybe... we could visit her. Together."

"I would like that." Ursa squeezed his hand once more before letting go, taking her hair out of her bun and letting it shield half of her saddened face. "I heard she's... locked up."

He nodded. "She's not in prison. She is being cared for in a high security mental ward. She needs a chance to recover... I gave it to her."

"Do you think it will work?" Ursa asked, hopeful.

Zuko shrugged. "Maybe. Her seeing your face might help. I don't think ours together would." He looked across the room. "I'm afraid she'll... snap. Be reminded of her cut with sanity and her jealousy and anger that led to it... Maybe she still isn't all... there. Azula tried to kill me and nearly succeeded... I don't want to risk a relapse for her. I still love my sister after everything." He turned back to Ursa. "The last report I did receive said she's doing better. Getting the 'right priorities', so to speak."

His mother set down her tea and curled up more tightly in the chair. "She tried to kill you?" Her voice quivered and she closed her eyes. "That's not my baby girl."

Katara stood quietly. "I'll leave you two to talk."

Zuko took her hand. "You don't have to."

"I know," she smiled reassuringly. "But you just found your mother, Zuko, and she just found her son again after... years. You both have a lot to work through. _Privately._"

He nodded, stroking her hand one last time with his thumb before releasing it.

Katara walked out of the room, softly closing the sliding panels that enclosed the room.

"Tell me everything. Please? No... No sugar-coated words or excuses. I want to know everything your father and Azula did... everything you dealt with, too."

Zuko simply opened his mouth to speak and, for the next few hours, explained everything. He spoke plainly, as usual, and tried not to leave out any details. A few times, when his mother seemed about to fall into despair at all the hardships her two children had faced, he would divert and tell a happier memory like the one trip he and Azula, Ty Lee and Mai, took to Ember Island, or of when he first tried to join the Avatar gang and was drenched in water, or another, more sillier time, when he and Sokka rescued Suki (whom he told Ursa about, along with Toph) and other prisoners from Boiling Rock.

However, by the end, Ursa cried anyway. She wasn't sobbing, but the tears came in a steady stream.

Zuko moved to kneel in front of his mother, comforting her by drawing her into a hug. "It's happy tears too," she said with a deep breath. "I'm sad because I wasn't able to protect you and your sister and Azula was influence by Ozai worse than I ever could have thought... But I am happy; you do know that, yes? You turned out... so well."

Zuko chuckled. "You don't have to say it. It's a miracle to me too."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	36. Midnight Talks

**A/N:** Sorry for not getting this out sooner in the day. This site wouldn't let me log in, for some reason. But, all is good now.

Thank you very much for the crazy rush of feedback and story alerts! ^_^ I'm so glad Zuko and Ursa's scene was so well received!

**Disclaimer: Wish I owned it! But, alas, I don't.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Afloat between your lens _

_and your gaze, _

_the last consideration to go _

_across my gray matter _

_and its salubrious _

_deliquescence _

_is _

_whether or not I'll swim, _

_whether I'll be able to breathe, _

_whether I'll live as before._

_~'Echo', _1st stanza, Pura López Colomé

* * *

><p>Footsteps padded down the hall outside of the room. She listened carefully and heard the door of the room next to her slide open, pause, and then close. Katara sat thinking.<p>

After leaving Zuko and his mother to catch up by themselves, she had stalled in Ursa's kitchen for half an hour, cleaning and straightening, before deciding to head to the town's only inn she'd seen on the way in. She stopped by the flower shop the older woman had created and said a quick farewell to Tadame. Or, at least she meant to. The fire nation girl a few years older than Katara had stopped her, inviting her out to lunch.

Katara didn't have anything else to do, so she said yes. Tadame turned out to be quite funny and intelligent and with a tragic backstory to boot. It was a mild surprise to her when she found out the Jains, Tadame's son, was of earth-bending descent, but that was more common in the Fire Nation than one might initially think. She initially thought, growing up in the South Pole, that such things were rare. But, the Earth Kingdom is the largest country in the world, after all.

Tadame rattled on about being friends with 'Saru' all this time, not realizing she was actually Ursa, Fire Lady to former Fire Lord Ozai. Katara was happy to find, however, that the girl held no bad will towards the older woman.

After an hour, they both parted on good terms, promising to no doubt see each other the next day. Katara liked meeting new people and making new acquaintances - maybe even friendships - during the past few years and especially months, now that she didn't have to worry about being persecuted for being either a water-bender, friend of the Avatar, or both.

After milling around town for a while, eating dinner at the inn - and left a note about for Zuko in Ursa's kitchen - Katara then retired to one of the two rooms she rented. She wasn't necessarily tired though.

Rather, Katara enjoyed the feeling of relaxation as she watched the sun set and the crescent moon rise, thinking of the joyful expressions on both Zuko's and his mother's faces when they saw each other. It felt good helping people. It always had. Seeing the reconciliations, healing, first hand was the best gift helping gave.

She stood and closed the sliding paper door out to the patio she was sitting on before, walking through her room and into the hallway. Katara paused outside of the door next to hers - Zuko's room - and doubted whether it was his footsteps she heard. Then she wondered if he was asleep.

She knocked anyway.

It wasn't two seconds before Zuko opened the door. "Hey. You too?"

"Yeah," she said. "Couldn't sleep. Can I come in?"

He nodded and stepped aside. She walked over to his own sliding door leading to the garden-like grounds behind the Inn and opened it, sitting in the doorway against the jam. Zuko walked over and stood next to her, leaning against the wall. "I can't seem to sit still…. It's surreal, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She craned her neck to look at him. "Now that we found your mother, it seems like we just started looking."

He smirked. "Weird, huh?"

Katara nodded and asked, "How did it go? You two talked all day."

Zuko slid down to the ground next to her, stretching his long legs out and leaning back on the heels of his hands. "We did. About everything." He looked at Katara. "It was hard telling her about Azula. We saw it but putting it into words just wasn't possible. My sister... lost it."

"But you did put her in a mental facility," Katara reminded, spinning on the floor so she was facing him, her back against the doorway jam. "Instead of putting her in a cell."

"I guess."

"It does make a difference." She told him with conviction. He made a glowering face off into the distance, still seeing his actions as a betrayal, even though Azula couldn't be trusted to be... loose.

"She wasn't upset about hearing of my father's predicament," Zuko said with a smirk and Katara did the same.

"I don't think anyone would. He was a monster."

"Yeah."

Katara sighed, lying beside him and leaning all the way back. "The moon is pretty tonight. I always like it when it's a crescent."

"But you're more powerful when it's full," he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah. But then it's just a circle." He laughed and she just shrugged, smiling. Katara lifted her arm up and traced the air in an outline of the moon. "This way, it's purely unique. Special. It glows enough to give light but everything is still shadowed. I do admit a full moon is better if I'm going to attack someone."

"Like Yon Rha?"

Katara blinked. "Yeah." She looked over at him, "but I was going to compare it to the North Pole incident."

Zuko shrugged. "I prefer to forget that. I did get my butt kicked by a very skilled water-bender and then later by the Avatar himself – and he wasn't even _that_ powerful at the time."

She giggled and he smiled, lying back next to her. "Do you find it weird too; thinking back on our… _less_ peaceful moments? It seems like it was an entirely different world!"

"In a way it was." He took her tanned hand in his, holding it up to the moonlight. Katara's fingers curled into his. "It's kind of fun."

She looked at him like he was crazy, amusement dancing in her nearly glowing blue eyes. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he grinned over at her. "Each time I remember you talking, my new bias keeps zooming in on your lips."

Katara blushed, laughing. "You're crazy!" She pushed against him playfully before curling next to him.

"I'm completely sane," he deadpanned; "it's the world that is crazy." She softly giggled and he pulled her closer. Zuko grinned into her hair as she lay half on him. Eventually, her breathing evened out and she murmured something else about the moon in his ear before falling asleep, the relief of the day and exhaustion of the past two weeks seemingly pulling her under.

Zuko kissed the crown of her head, the salt of the sea-water and smell of new grass lingering around her. He fell asleep staring at the moon; contented with both knowing he found his mother and having Katara, his love, peacefully in his arms.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better__._  
>~Ralph Waldo Emerson<p>

* * *

><p>Iroh tossed the rag into one of the wash buckets. He pushed the tables back into place after wiping the chairs and booths down. Where a big Spring cleaning was important, so too was the autumn cleaning, he found. Winter just around the corner, the cold would come to constrict his blood a bit more - regardless of his veins more of less having <em>fire<em> in them - and he would delegate the tasks of cleaning to his employers permanently. For now, Iroh enjoyed the physical labor.

It was the menial tasks that kept his body in shape more than anything else.

A short rapping on the large front door made Iroh jump. He grunted, pushing the last rather large table into place, and went to answer it, unlocking the thick bolt rapidly. "Yes?" He asked when he recognized the uniform the young man in front of him was wearing. It was pressed clean, a vest-like garb falling down in front with a large Earth Kingdom symbol threaded across the center of it. _A royal messenger. Odd._

"A letter was mistakenly delivered to the Earth King Kuei, looking for an Iroh of Fire Nation Royalty," the man glanced down at the letter out of curiosity to look for a last name but found none.

"That is me, sorry." Iroh smiled, taking the scroll. "Thank you for redirecting it."

The man simply nodded, turned, and walked away, back down the steps of the tea shop's entrance. Iroh locked the door behind him and then promptly cut the wax seal.

_ 'Dear Iroh,_

_I hope you are in excellent health and that the Jasmine Dragon is thriving. I miss the tea! But, for now, I can only request the basics from Kuei. He is footing the bill so..._

_I wanted to assure you of Toph's safety. She managed to accidentally arrive here by... getting stuck in a shipping container. It was hilarious! Uh, so she wanted me to tell you how sorry she is for running away. She told me about what happened and sounded very apologetic about it. I know next time you two see each other, all will be well. (But just make sure to apologize about writing her parents - she still gets kind of, um, angry whenever I mention them.)_

_Anyway she's safe and likes it here. Being the only... other bender, people here kind of look to her for help from time to time whenever something happens. (Don't tell her this, but I think she likes being relied upon.)_

_Have you heard from Zuko recently? I wanted to ask him about the Fuschen rebellion. See if he needs help, you know? Kuei writes me often and he has expressed concern over it in his last letter. But__,__ I'm sure Zuko would write me if it becomes any big deal, so please just pass the message along. I would be glad to assist with it. Maybe mediate?_

_Good luck with your newest tea blend experiment 'Cyan Light' (Toph told me about it - sounds yummy!)._

_Best wishes,_

_ Aang.'_

Iroh smiled at the childishness that came through when the boy wrote. He could see the boy, relaxed and without a care, writing the letter. _Maybe that flying lemur was sitting at his shoulder too_. He smiled at the thought.

Iroh folded the scroll up and grabbed the cleaning supplies he had out, stowing them up in a closet in the kitchen. He was glad to hear that Toph was doing well and was with a trusted friend. He wondered how she could have possibly gotten stuck in a shipping container, but decided to ask her about it next time he saw her. Iroh didn't know when that would be, but hoped for sooner than later.

For now, he was just happy she was near Aang. The Avatar boy always provided fun distractions.

Iroh went to the staircase, already thinking of what words to use in his response to Aang and then in the letter to his nephew.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I do not know the names of things _

_but I have lived on figs and grapes _

_smell of dirt under moon _

_and moon under threat of rain _

_everything lush I know _

_an orchard becoming all orchards _

_flowers here and here _

_the earth I have left _

_every brief home-making _

_the lot of God blooming into vines _

_right now then and always_

_~'Everything Lush I Know', Kimberly Burwick_

* * *

><p>Zuko woke up with a stiff neck and to the sound of loud crickets. He blearily opened his eyes to find it pitch black outside. <em>Probably around four or five in the morning<em>, if he had to guess. It always got darkest at those hours. He looked down to find Katara still sleeping on his chest, snoring softly. He smiled in the darkness.

If his bruised tailbone and spine were of any indication, however, he knew she would be uncomfortable if she woke up to sleeping the whole night on the floor. He cradled one hand under her head and another on her hip, softly rolled her over. Katara_, amazingly_ perceptive, didn't stir. He wanted to laugh at her nearly literal dead-to-the-world sleeping, but also felt slightly humbled that she felt so safe around him. He didn't laugh.

Slipping his arms under her knees and neck, Zuko picked the water-bender up and walked her over to his bed, slowly and easily slipping her under the covers. He went back and closed the sliding door left open, pausing at the foot of the bed again.

He just shrugged, too tired to care. He lifted up the sole blanket and crawled under it, sighing as the soft mattress conformed to his body. The bed was small, meant for one person. Their arms touched. Zuko brushed an array of hair away from where it spilled over Katara's eyes and cheek before closing his own eyelids.

Sleep tinged at his consciousness when Katara turned over, knocking the blanket off. She shivered in her sleep and curled along his side. Zuko's eyes fluttered at the movement but she was still asleep, sighing. He wrapped his arm around her again with pleasure and buried his head in her hair; his breathe slowing to match hers.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	37. Watermelon Slice

**A/N:** This is a short and purely fluff chapter :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_What is the song the children sing,_

_When doorway lilacs bloom in Spring,_

_And the Schools are loosed, and the games are played_

_That were deadly earnest when Earth was made?_

_Hear them chattering, shrill and hard,_

_After dinner-time, out in the yard,_

_As the sides are chosen and all submit_

_To the chance of the lot that shall make them "It"._

_~'A Counting-Out Song', _1st stanza, Rudyard Kipling

* * *

><p>Miya slinked over to Momo, reaching out to grab his watermelon slice. He screeched and ran. Miya thought it was a game and smiled, tottering after him. She wasn't very fast but still caught up with him when he started climbing.<p>

Aang watched as his flying lemur clung to Appa's forehead, glaring daggers at the Koala-Sloth that tried to take his food. Momo chittered loudly when Miya started expertly climbing Appa hair, like she was born to do - the climbing part, not climbing about Appa's hair; _although that would probably become habit for her soon__,_ Aang guessed with a humored smile.

"Do you think that'll hurt Appa?" Shaepa asked next to him, concern tingeing her question.

Toph looked up from where she was earth-bending carelessly, not really making anything at all. "What's hurting Appa?"

"Miya," Shaepa answered nervously. She chewed her fingernail.

"Nah, he'll be fine." Aang said and no sooner did he say so than Appa shook his head, knocking both the flying lemur and the Koala-Sloth off. Momo whimpered from where he was getting up, the watermelon skin slice knocked out of his hands.

Miya ran over and snatched it up. "Poor Momo! Miya! Bad girl!" Shaepa yelled, hands on her hips.

Toph rolled her eyes, bending a faceless statue replica of Shaepa. "Oh jeez. Hey, Aang. Is this accurate? I even got the arms right, yeah?" She grinned and Aang earth-bended it back into the earth before Shaepa could see it. The other teen just shrugged, seeing nothing when she looked over, and started walking over to Miya. "Such a buzz-kill."

"Hey look," Aang said with surprise. The Koala-Sloth stopped and plopped down on her butt in front of Momo, holding the watermelon skin out. Momo looked at it and then to her and back again suspiciously. He snatched it up suddenly, holding it up to his nose. Sniffing the whole thing over twice, he went to take a bite. His mouth lingered over the green skin, eyes narrowing at Miya.

"I can't. What's going on?" Toph asked.

Momo broke off a third of the fruit reluctantly with a displeased frown and dropped it in Miya's lap. She picked it up eagerly while grinning her version of an animal smile over at Momo, who sat across from her and ate his fruit sulkily.

Appa, seeing his buddy acting all kinds of unhappy, walked sideways over to the small animals and plopped down behind them. He nuzzled Momo for a moment in what Aang guessed was encouragement.

"Momo just gave some of his fruit to Miya."

"Wait, didn't she try to steal his earlier?"

"Yeah. And again; just now."

"Little thief," Toph shook her head. "My kind of animal."

Aang smirked. "Momo's much more of a thief."

"Yep. And I love him to death."

"Miya wasn't trying to steal," Shaepa argued, walking back over and sitting next to Aang on the bench; they were all under the cherry blossom tree next to the main temple, as had become routine since it's Aang's favorite place. "She wanted to partake."

"Then she succeeded," Aang smiled. Momo looked up at him and chittered. The Avatar just waved.

"It's like he's your son." Shaepa observed. Toph burst out laughing, doubling over.

"You mean Momo? You're kidding, right?" Toph took a deep breath, wheezing. She wiped a line of tears from her right eye. "They're more like brothers! Have you seen how childish this kid can be?"

"Hey! I'm not a kid anymore." Aang frowned.

"Keep telling yourself that, twinkle-toes."

"I'm thirteen. If anyone is a kid, it's you, miss twelve years old."

"That comeback was lame," Toph shook her head. "We don't even have a year's difference between us. It's, like, six months. _Maybe._"

"Whatever."

"Original."

"You two are cute," Shaepa said, picking at a shedding petal she captured in her hand.

"What?" The two startled and nearly shouted.

"Hey, hey, don't attack me!" She laughed. "I'm just saying: the banter's cute. Very... eh, I don't know." Shaepa wrinkled her nose and paused. "I thought of something, but I just lost it. Oh well. Hey, did you guys see that!" She pointed at Miya and Momo.

"No, what?" Aang asked, confused.

Toph just sighed, annoyed at the other girl.

Aang's cheeks went pink for Momo. "Oh, Spirit World."

Momo was scrambling, his feet and arms flailing, from where he was lying underneath Miya. The Koala-Sloth - and her thirty pounds of extra weight - hugged the flying lemur and toppled him over while hanging on to dear life like one would expect her kind to do with a branch. "I'll go get her up. Miya - no!" Shaepa yelled the last part, standing from the bench and running off.

"Okay, so what's going on? Is Miya violating Momo's food or something with her slobber?"

Aang recounted the scene to Toph, who promptly smirked. "I would high-five her, but I'm afraid of the talon-like claws that Koala-Sloth has." She stopped her bending exercises, now bored, and sat on an intricate rock seat next to the bench. "This place is nice," she breathed as the wind picking up.

"Yeah." Aang agreed and smiled.

"I could get used to it."

He looked over with a raised eyebrow but she just propped her arms on the arm-rests, sagging down like he'd seen her do often. Her bare feet didn't even touch the ground. He turned back and closed his eyes, mimicking her. The breezed tickled across her bald head.

"Yeah," he simply repeated.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_When a friend calls to me from the road_

_And slows his horse to a meaning walk,_

_I don't stand still and looked around_

_On all the hills I haven't hoed,_

_And shout from where I am, What is it?_

_No, not as there is a time to talk._

_I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,_

_Blade-end up and five feet tall,_

_And plod: I got up to the stone wall_

_For a friendly visit._

_~'A Time To Talk', _Robert Frost

* * *

><p>Sokka gasped, waking up from a cold sweat sleep and accompanying nightmare<em>. I never asked permission! I never asked her father for consent! <em>He groaned loudly, stumbling out of bed. Sokka quickly donned his South Pole boots, wrist wraps, and his South Pole robe over his under garments. He exited the small, closet-sized room he was assigned to sleep in at Suki's house and trooped down the stairs to ground level.

The sun now shone, low and bright, and caught him in the eye. He bent over jarringly as his eye burned. "Gah; bright!"

"Hello Sokka."

He started up again and looked over. Shielding his eyes, he saw Suki's father sitting by window in his usual rocking chair. "Uh, Blais; sir. Good morning."

"Yes, it is." He nodded, looking out through the large window that ran nearly the length of the porch behind the house with only carved wooden sticks scattered about to hold it up against the brutal summer storms.

"I wanted to speak with you about something... sir." Sokka said, walking closer. The sun nearly blinded him again and he squinted, turning his back to the window once he was next to Blais.

"I love sunrises. They're always the prettiest. Do you think so?"

"Yeah. Sure. I've seen enough from sleeping outside lately to last a lifetime," Sokka joked. He swallowed the laugh when Blais simply looked at him sternly. It was intimidating. Sokka shifted his gaze. "So, uh, I know I asked for Suki's hand in marriage without your permission first... so, can I marry your daughter, Blais Eltsina?"

The father just looked at him, an incredulous expression on his face - and maybe even one holding amusement, if he looked hard enough. He didn't though, feeling the sweat pool on his hairline instead. "You're asking me now? You and Suki went out for invitations yesterday."

Sokka blanched. "Well... yeah."

"Okay, okay." Blais held up his hands, looking at the Sokka with the stare he would give rowdy kids during his days of teaching. It worked with the same effect it had years back. "Answer this one question properly and I will give you late permission."

The South Pole teenager nodded.

"Why did you propose to Suki when you did?"

Sokka frowned, forehead scrunching as he searched for what to say properly. "You mean location? We were leaving in a day and I wanted to propose in that spot. Actually, I, uh, kind of dreamed about it," he admitted while scratching his neck; embarrassed.

Blais shook his head. "No. I mean _why_."

"Because I want to marry Suki and I can't imagine being without her again."

Suki's father grinned, holding out his hand. "Permission granted."

"Really? Just like that?" Sokka exuberantly shook the old man's hand.

"Ow, careful, son." Blais rubbed his shoulder. "This arm's never been the same since I fell and it slipped out of socket." The boy grimaced at that mental picture but Blais smiled. "Since you're going to be my son-in-law in a few months, I should probably tell you I approved of you ever since Suki wrote me, saying you rescued her from that awful prison. Going up against the Fire Nation like that is good enough for me. Plus, you actually won against them! Good. Good."

"Thanks, sir."

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Of course! Anything for my new father-in-law." Sokka smiled.

Blais gestured to his chair. "I haven't had breakfast and I can only stand for a few minutes."

"Ah! I'll whip up some... do you like fried beef?"

"What I would really like is two eggs, beaten, with two pieces of toast, one with a red-berry jam - not purple - and another with a tomato spread, and then one of those corn muffins that my sister made last night. We do still have some, yes?"

Sokka's jaw dropped at the request. Eventually, he realized how foolish he looked and recovered – but, his mind was still processing. "Err, yeah. Okay. Be... right back." He took off stumbling to the kitchen.

Blais laughed when the boy was out of the room. He didn't actually care what the kid came up with, he just wanted breakfast. It would be fun to see him sweat, though. _I've missed this_, he thought with a chuckle, happy that his home was full again.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	38. Kyoshi Invitation

**A/N:** This chapter is just a bit of filler fun.

There's a segment in here with Momo's POV. It was a fun exercise ^_^ I recommend it _(it_ being taking on an animal's perspective).

The last segment refers to all of the stories that first popped up between Katara and Zuko - you know, the ones where he either captures her or they get stranded somewhere? The number of those that sprang up at once was ridiculous! So, it's kind of an inside joke for us all.

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Sadly. Wish I did. Oh well.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_If life gives you lemons, make some kind of fruity juice.__"_

~Conan O'Brien

* * *

><p>Iroh left the key in as he pulled down the flap of the box placed in the stone wall. To his surprise, there were two scrolls of mail deposited within. Today and the next day are the usual times he would expect another letter from Zuko.<p>

Sure enough, when he looked at the insignia of wax stamped to seal the document, he saw one of the Fire Lord's; the other one was an Earth Kingdom one. If he remembered correctly, it was of one of the islands. The mainland worked under one insignia, with Ba Sing Se having a separate one - capital city and all. But, the islands branching off usually altered it into their own.

The man of Fire Nation royalty locked the box back up and leaned against the wall, waving to a few people walking into his tea shop. The day was busy, so he decided to open the mysterious letter away from the chaos inside. Iroh's nephew's letter could wait until that evening; he always responded to those letters with long responses full of encouragement, inquiries, and proverbs.

Even thought Zuko was not next to him, Iroh knew it made him smile. It always had - outside of his angry early (really all) years of banishment, of course.

His eyebrows rose on his wrinkled forehead as he grinned, reading the invitation.

Sokka and Suki's wedding approaches! The date wasn't until the middle of the next month, but Iroh was already excited. He loved moments and, even more, events of celebrated joy - a wedding between the two listed on the scroll promised that and much more.

"Sir, we are low on black tea and just received two more orders. What should we do?" Khan asked, cracking the door open as he spoke outside.

Iroh scowled at the boy. "We are never low on tea, boy." He opened the door to pass through. "Come, I will open up my own stash."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Character develops itself in the stream of life."_

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

* * *

><p>Momo chittered and jumped from the railing, flapping his bat-like wings until he was high and soaring. Miya just sat back, not the least bit amused. He did a 180 turn and dive bombed over her, spitting his tongue out at her. No one else was around, and for that he was relieved. He could finally get rid of the female that was attaching herself almost literally to his back these days. Miya reached up and swiped at his wing.<p>

The flying lemur rolled in the sky but recovered just in time, going vertical with the temple in front of him at the last second before smacking into it. He rolled his big eyes at the girl's antics.

He passed over Appa, who was snoring in the shade, and over a few people walking past, looking for Aang. He did spot Shaepa and Natima, Miya's caretakers. He dive bombed them too, but they only laughed. Momo chittered at them, annoyed, and circled away. No one understood his frustrations.

Spotting Toph rounding the fountain, Momo coasted. He got close enough to land on her shoulder. The short girl took it in stride, cooing at him. "What have you been up to, Momo? Where's your little girlfriend?" Momo reeled and hissed. "Oh, so it's like that?" He nodded, chittering. Toph pat his head, rubbing the sensitive spot behind his ears. He drooled on her shirt.

A scent of pollen wafted up to his nose and Momo looked down, noticing a basket of assorted wild flowers and cherry blossom petals. He sniffed them and Toph held the basket up. The flying lemur picked up a blossom and shoved it in his mouth.

"Hey!" He just chewed it noisily, swallowing the lump. Slapping his lips together, Momo tasted the remnants of its juices. He burped, eyes wide. In a second he was leaned over Toph's shoulder, scratching at his tongue and gagging. "No you don't!" She picked him up and held him with one arm, his mouth facing outward. "You are not puking on my hard work." Momo gasped for air, scratching at her arm. It was constricting his lungs now, the offended taste-buds taking a back seat to his need for oxygen. He chittered. "What? Never mind. Here." Toph set him down on the ground and Momo plopped down, bracing on all fours.

He gulped in air and sighed, falling on his back. Looking around, the flying lemur noticed he was now in the tall and large room Aang was spending an awful amount of time in lately. And there was the baby. Momo groaned, irritated.

"-cool." Toph said, setting the basket down.

Aang touched her shoulders before holding Raja out. The earth-bender took hold of her easily, the silent communication becoming habit for them both. He held something of paper in his hand. Momo hopped over. "Look, Raja. Your first wedding."

"If she can go," Toph pointed out before tickling the baby.

"Yeah - but still." Aang turned to the baby and ruffled her hair. "What do you think, Raja? Do you want to attend a wedding?"

Momo jumped up and tore the paper away, trying to decide what all the fuss and smiling was about.

"Momo! Give that back this instant."

He stuck his tongue out at his best friend, too, and ran off, jumping out the window. He would return it later that evening. For now, though, Aang just watched on with speechlessness and Toph with barreling laughter. The flying lemur smiled at entertaining someone and circled down to Appa.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Silvius: __O, thou didst then ne'er love so heartily!_

_If thou remember'st not the slightest folly_

_That ever love did make thee run into, _

_Thou hast not loved:_

_Or if thou hast not sat as I do now,_

_Wearying they hearer in they mistress' praise,_

_Thou hast not loved._

_~'As You Like It', _Act 2 Scene 4, William Shakespeare

* * *

><p>The sea winds slowed and Katara closed her eyes briefly, breathing in the salty air. She opened them and resumed watching Ursa speak to Tadame. Standing on the boat a hundred yards away, the water-bender couldn't hear what was being said, wanting to leave the two with some privacy, but the expressions said enough.<p>

Ursa pulled the younger woman into a hug, rubbing her back while speaking. Tadame smiled, tearful. Katara briefly drifted her vision over to where Zuko stood nearby. The Fire Lady pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over. With one last hug, and a kiss to Tadame's small boy, Ursa joined her son. They walked the distance shortly and boarded the ship with care.

"She's a nice person," Katara said of Tadame once the other woman was aboard.

"She is, isn't she? I see her like as my niece... We'll stay in touch." Ursa smiled and waved to Tadame back on shore. The ship lurched forward into the sea. "I will need to keep checking up on the flower shop I founded."

"She'll manage it for you?"

Zuko came over and stood next to them, a small smile on his lips. "She gave the woman the deed."

Katara wore an incredulous expression. "That's... very kind. Wow."

The other woman simply shrugged. "I get to go home now."

A Fire Nation guard appeared at their side and did a short bow to Zuko. Ursa stiffened at his presence. Holding out a scroll, he said, "This arrived for you an hour ago, Fire Lord. And," he looked over at Katara, grabbing another scroll after the Fire Lord took his own, "one came for you."

"Thank you," Katara murmured, looking down at it. She recognized the Kyoshi seal immediately and reached over, verifying that Zuko's had the same seal. She cut open the seal jaggedly.

Zuko tucked his own in his robe's pocket. "They're probably identical."

Ursa folded her arms calmly, sitting on a bench running along the ship railing. "Who sent both of you identical letters? That's odd."

Mother and son watched Katara, who grinned as soon as they opened it. She raised her wide blue eyes after reading it twice over, saying, "Sokka's getting married next month."

Ursa looked over, momentarily confused, and Zuko mouthed 'her brother'. She nodded as she remembered his name through the stories. So much information... she still found herself processing bits here and there. The other two understood graciously. "So soon?" Zuko asked.

Katara rolled the scroll back up, rolling her eyes at him when she half-sat on the railing. "We're talking about my brother here."

"Right. The one that once got high on cactus juice?"

She nodded, grinning. "The very one."

Zuko leaned on the railing a few feet away from her and where it curved, running horizontal instead of vertical. He ducked his head. "Katara, I wanted to ask you to go with my mother back to the capital. For as long as you want, but to show her around. You know."

"Of course. But where are you going? I thought we were all headed back to the capital."

"Agreed," Ursa said, silently inquiring after her son's motives.

"I have to go to Natsuno. It can't be put off any longer. But it's something only I need to do," he said fast. "You two can go on. I'll be back there in a few weeks. Maybe less."

"What is going on in Natsuno? Isn't that south, right at the peninsula?" Ursa asked before the water-bender could speak up in protest.

"It is. There's... a small rebellion. Zealots are all they are."

"You should go; rebellions of any sort - grounded or not - should be handled with every care. If not, it can project a detachment from the people."

"I'm sorry," Katara said, her voice calm. "But why can't I come along?"

Zuko frowned. "You don't need to. You can go back with my mother and then maybe go to see Sokka or Aang. You've helped me more than enough."

"Need?" She scoffed. "I didn't _need _to come with you here either, Zuko. I came because I wanted to and I want to go with you to Natsuno now too. There's not some kind of favor I want to stack up on. I want," she glanced over at Ursa, pausing for a minuscule second. Katara sighed, staring into Zuko's gold eyes, as she repeated what she wanted to say. "I want to be by your side during... I don't know, everything."

The words sunk in as the silence filled. Ursa kept glancing at her with a strange expression, making her feel nervous. She stared back at Zuko, tugging at the railing for no particular reason other than for something to do with her hands. Zuko's eyes widened for a minute before the brightest and sweetest smile she'd ever seen graced his lips. "Sure?"

Katara swallowed. "Yeah." She rolled her eyes, trying to lighten the mood. "Duh."

Ursa clapped her hands together, standing. "Well. You two have some things to speak about. One last thing, Zuko," she smiled at him, "I remember my way around the capital just fine. Don't forget I once lived there and it was for longer than you. I can manage with the palace all by myself. Good day, you two."

She walked off and Zuko bent his head downward, scratching his neck.

"So? If you tell me I can't come, I'll just follow you

He smirked. "I can't just tie you up and throw you in a tower?"

She held up her finger, teasingly reprimanding, "That's not an appealing fantasy."

"Okay, you can come along." He looked up. "But I... I don't want you anywhere in the front lines, okay?"

"What front lines?"

"In case it gets dangerous and I have to attack them," he explained as the wind picked up again, whipping his shaggy hair around.

Her eyebrows rose. "That's inevitable."

"Why do you say that?"

Katara leaned against him as she spoke. Zuko snaked his arm around her waist. "Because, they've spent what, weeks, just destroying peoples' lives and land while quote-unquote 'negotiating'. They're not negotiating - they just want to make trouble. Remind you of anyone?"

He nodded. "I can think of a few people."

She sighed, "Yeah, me too. Not anyone you've met, though."

Zuko kissed her temple. "Hey, I have a personal matter to attend to first. Do you mind traveling with Ty Lee?"

"Mind?" Katara grinned. "It's kind of weird, what with our past, but she's fun. Weird, but fun."

"Yeah, she gets that reaction a lot."

"You're still coming to the palace first, right?" Katara pulled away from him a bit to look at his face. Mischief danced in her eyes and over her wrinkled nose, smile stretching wide. "I don't have to worry about you jumping off the ship in the middle of the night?"

Zuko chuckled. "No, you don't have to worry about that."

"Good," she snuggled into his side again. "Or else I might have to do a kidnapping-slash-stranded fantasy on you."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	39. Black Rock Prison

**A/N:** Alright, alright, so here's a short chapter that I felt needed to be written! It's been set up for a while. Hopefully, it fulfills some expectations. Nonetheless, please enjoy :) (Very vague!)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**

"_To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." _

~Clara Ortega

* * *

><p>Lone footsteps thudded down the long hallway that stretched inside the prison. A few of the convicts cared enough to notice, banging on the bars of their cell, yelling out words that became unintelligible from the echoing combination of stone walls and high ceilings. A few fire-bended long arcs as he walked past, but their angry blasts were easily stopped by the heat-proof glass a few feet in front of each cell.<p>

Fire Lord Zuko nodded in passing to the guards lined up in pairs along the wall as he walked through the several gates separating the prisoners and mental wards. Each gate held a unique security measure. The prison was dark but it seemed almost eerie in its shadows, looming around him. He was nearly lost in deep thought as he went to the mentally insane wing.

Stopping at the last door, he waited patiently as the guards unlocked the round door that looked like and basically was a human-sized safe. He ignored the guards looks as he pulled it closed behind him himself, wanting the privacy. They'd unlock it for him later.

The resounding sound of his own steps were all the company he had as he descended down into the basement carved into the deep earth of Black Rock Prison. His gold eyes flickered around, probing into the depths of the cell in front of him for several minutes before he spotted her.

The gray uniform of the mental wards that she wore was nearly unidentifiable in the unlit and padded room, blending into the grayed-by-darkness white walls. She had her knees pulled up, arms hugging them close, where she sat in the middle of the room, not trusting the walls. Paranoid behavior that fit so perfectly with his sister, he saw.

Zuko noisily pulled up a chair and sat. He let his hands fall into his lap and stared into and through the small barred but open window that started waist-high and stopped a foot from the tall ceilings in front of the cell. She startled at the sound of the metal legs scrapping. Her head bobbing up with narrowed, suspicious eyes, long mangy hair plastered to her sweaty face.

"You look horrible," he said simply.

"Brother," she hissed as he expected her to. "Come to gloat? You finally bested me – oh wait, that was the water-bender."

"When have I ever been known to gloat? No, that was always you, Azula. And, in the end, your pride and jealously got the better of you, didn't it?"

She snorted.

"I found Mother," he brushed some dust off of the bars absently.

Azula visibly startled, as he thought she would. He pretended not to notice for her own peace of mind. If he did point it out, in even the littlest of ways, she would grow cold, cruel. For once, he wanted to speak to the person behind the mask behind the broken shell. "Yeah. _Right_. I don't believe you, Zuzu."

"She ran to a small island off of the Northern tip of our nation called Ash Island. Ever heard of it?"

"Of course I have," she smirked, in her mind winning a small prize. "I was the only one of us that actually bothered to retain what we studied years to learn."

He smiled thinly. "Yes, you believe that. You were only every looking to impress Father with it, not use it to rule; and look where your 'perfect child' attitude got you."

"What do you want?" She bellowed, twisting to sit on her knees, her arms still bent around her back. Zuko noted mentally that any reminder of where she was now set her on edge. Again, he expected as much. He'd had nearly three months to think through her reactions to his words.

"She still looks the same," he continued on. "A few wrinkles but otherwise, she's still the same. She sobbed for nearly an hour when I told her how you sunk so low. Mental breakdown?" He shook his head. "I think she blames herself for that. Not there to help you ease the 'weight of the world' you seemed intent on carrying. I was able to calm her by promising her a few things."

"I don't care how she feels; she left us!" Azula blurted out in a yell before shrinking into herself, fire in her eyes. "She left me!" Red light flashed behind her hands and she groaned, head stooping low as pain flashed over her face.

"Yeah, you should be careful about that," Zuko warned with an empathetic frown. "You'll only heat the metal of your chains and burn yourself."

"I thought the purpose of the padded room was so I wouldn't have to have chains." She snarled.

He shrugged. A minute passed and neither sibling said a word. Azula recovered by now and repositioned the chains so they were in front of her, not behind. Zuko stared at the burns on her palms for a moment. They were small, brief, wouldn't cause any welts, but they were burns nonetheless. "Mother wants to visit."

Azula blinked.

"Bearcat got your tongue?"

"Say I believe you, Zuzu," she mocked. "When will dear Mother come to visit her poor daughter?"

"A month. Maybe two."

Azula stood. "Liar!" Her face twisted in shades of anger and doubt. "She won't ever come. She doesn't matter to me and she never did so if this is what you came to throw in my face then just _get out_!"

Fire burnt the wall behind her. Zuko stood, walking up to the bars. "Who's the liar now? Mother wants to come immediately, today, but it's me who won't let her. Do you want to know why, dear sister?" His voice softened.

"So you could get back at me for all the wrongs you think I did to you? Mock me with that crown on your forehead." The Fire Nation princess seethed. Her heavy breathing reminded him of the last time he saw her. He hadn't watched as she was carted off to prison.

He sighed, smiling fondly. "No. I won't let her visit you, not yet, because I want you to get your act together." His voice hardened then, resembling that of their father if he hadn't been fueled by misguided passions. "Our mother is worried and I won't have her coming in here and getting her heart broken.

"I don't want her to see the same girl I saw that became maniacal on the day of Sozin's Comet and struck her own brother in the stomach with lightning, effectively killing him but for the unfortunate clause of a water-bender being nearby that knew how to heal. You were so insane that day I doubt you even remembered Katara was there. When would you have realized you killed your own brother, your older brother, who has _always_ loved you, over a crown and parental affection?"

Azula sank to the floor, tears in her eyes. He stayed still as she looked down at herself, shedding the tears silently as their royal upbringing taught them to do.

Zuko tilted his head, watching her with concern. "How are you doing?" His whisper was like a small breeze; barely heard. "Really?"

His sister looked up at him, narrow eyes suddenly wide and eager. He was reminded of the few times he saw his sister, away from the palace confines, away from their Father, only being herself.

The look was gone just as fast, replaced by the cynical glint in her eye and the intimidating-to-anyone-else smirk he'd come to associate with his sister. "Worried about me, Zuzu?" She stood, stalking to the bars. The chain was long enough. Zuko let her get close. She stopped at the bars. "You want me to look at _myself_? Look at how _you're_ acting, Zuzu. Like a wounded animal trying to be tough. Don't you remember Father's favorite lesson?" She whispered loudly, grinning. "Always kill the weaklings."

He just stared at her. Disappointment was clear on his face. Azula gripped the bars, heating them, trying to taunt. Zuko left his hand on them for a minute before slowly dropping it, showing no weakness to his sister. She glowered and the bars suddenly flashed, glowing and illuminating the two of them in the darkened room.

Azula sucked in a breath, pulling back her now thoroughly burnt hands.

"Did you die inside at Sozin's Comet or when you turned two-years-old and captured Father's interest?" He mused out-loud.

She reeled, looking as though she'd been slapped. Azula growled in retaliation, "I could get out right now but it's more fun to watch you suffer."

Zuko just blinked at the threat. "Okay. Then do it."

He smiled after a moment.

"If you could escape, then you're staying only to punish yourself," he whispered, a ting of regret in his voice. "And if that's so, then there is a part of the sister I love still inside of you and she still has a chance. So, if you ever want to see the sun, the stars, our mother, again, then you will fight from the prison you've built for yourself.

"I won't give up on you, Azula. After everything, can't you see that?" His voice grew rough with his own pleas. "Even in the end, I couldn't cross that line - I only hope you can come back from it. Why do you think I put you in a rehabilitation cell instead of simply down a hole, as Father would? As I did _to Father_."

She stayed silent, looking away. Her dark hair fell down to cover her face, reminding him of Ursa. If he couldn't lure her out by reminding her of his belief in her, he would have to use their mother's. Zuko looked away from his sister.

"Think about our Mother. She wants to see her baby girl again."

He turned and walked away, sharply closing his eyes against the wail of her sob and the crack on the ground as she sank in what he could only hope was a combination of despair and regret. He'd long reached the point of not being able to guess his sister's emotions.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	40. Peed Pants

**A/N:** So, the chapters are getting a bit shorter than usual. Sorry about that. (For those interested, the word count is down to 1.5 – 2.5k per chapter where it was usually 4-5k). They're shorter because not so many things are happening in a day now :)

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own. Although, maybe that's a good thing… I was never good at cartoon drawing!**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing__.__"_

~Oscar Wilde

* * *

><p>The sun peaked up but still low over the mountain ridge running west along the eventual coastline to the South. It beat hotly on his back. After visiting his sister at the Black Rock Prison in what everyone else thought was a minor detour, Zuko immediately hit the road. He didn't stop to rest and the guards around him gave no protest. Not that they ever would, though; they were trained to be practically like mute monks in their address to the Fire Lord. He liked that.<p>

Because he left so early from the prison – not stopping to stay the night in the town nearby that housed the military – it only took a day (and the half they're currently in) to reach the town of Rhange. Natsuno, the much more violent town and current headquarters of the rebellion, was only a few miles from there. It was still eight days from their – his, Katara's, and his mother's – sail from Ash Island. On one hand, Zuko thought it had been a day too many and, on the other, he wished he'd has more time.

Saying goodbye to his mother so soon after finding her was painful. But, with his nation's matters pressing so adamantly at his proverbial door, Zuko couldn't exactly afford much time off. He was lucky to have been able to do as much from the road as he'd done for the past two or so weeks in his efforts to track down his mother.

A quick all-nighter spent at the palace dedicated solely to the most pressing civil, foreign, and diplomatic matters, Zuko then turned around and was out the door once more – this time to visit his sister and then be practically stationed in Rhange for the foreseeable future. He groaned mentally.

Zuko hoped to be able to wrap up the rebellion in his homeland within a week but it was his first experience with it and, for as much as he knew, it might take months. His sleep-deprived muscles hoped against that alternative.

_***Flashback – 5 days earlier – Fire Nation Royal Palace foyer**_

He stopped at the front door, signing the last letter and rolling it up, giving it to a guard to wax-seal. Once he saw it was, he motioned for his guards to go ahead. Ursa immediately rushed him with a hug and worried smile. Katara left the day before with Ty Lee; they'd said temporary goodbyes then.

"I know, pressing business with hot-heads needs to be addressed, but be careful, okay?"

"Always." Zuko's mouth curved in a tiny smirk.

She let him go and stepped back, wringing her hands. "You're so… grown. Does that sound weird?" She smiled awkwardly.

"A little, yeah." At her reaction, he shook his head. "I'm kidding! No, that's not weird."

"Where did my baby boy go? Promise me you'll stay safe, yeah?"

"Okay, mother, this is getting a little ridiculous. I'll be as safe as possible. Did you see the guards father always kept around him? And I kept the amount half of those. Plus, I'm not riding at the front of a war hoard here," he teased.

"I know," Ursa smiled and rubbed his cheek softly. "Losing you again would be too much, is all."

"You can't protect me anymore. I only have my own judgment and even some things happen outside of that we can't control."

"Don't remind me!" Ursa pulled him into a fierce hug, perfectly fitting into a role mirroring that of a mother Liger. "Okay, go. Go before I act all crazy." She laughed merrily.

Zuko clutched her hand and squeezed it one last time for her own comfort. "I'll see you in a few weeks. I promise."

"Good luck," she said in his ear when he bent to kiss her cheek.

He thanked her for that and then he turned and walked out of the large, heavy doors held open by his bodyguards and into another journey to another dangerous place that held yet another confrontation. While the thrill always held a certain appeal, Zuko was starting to crave to simplicity of settling down. He never thought he'd feel that way.

_***End Flashback**_

Rhange had come into view half an hour ago but now they – the Fire Lord and his guarding entourage - were finally coming into it. It looked much like all the other towns he'd seen in his eighteen year existence. The only difference being the red accents on the buildings, the symbol banners on the street poles, and the clothing of the people walking past that marked it as one of the Fire Nation. Compared to other towns in his nation, however, it looked the same; including the capital.

He dismounted the ostrich horse outside the lone school building he was told about by Colonel Jaipal in correspondence. He handed the reins to a man next to him – another guard. As if on cue, Jaipal stepped out of the archway and to him. "Fire Lord; you're an evening early."

"I tried to make good time." They slightly bowed to each other. "Any news?" Zuko asked once he straightened again.

"Not much," Zenan Jaipal frowned, brow wrinkling. "If you would like to be caught up by the scouts, they're inside. None of us have heard their reports yet."

"Good. And everyone else?"

"Major Wahyn is there also, along with a few of his military experts, and Officer Cheveyo is there too. Ty Lee is… ah, here she comes now."

Katara walked out of a building across the street, to his right, and he saw her blue garb out of the corner of his eye. Zuko looked over and smiled slightly, nodding. She nodded back but had stayed still, leaning on the railing. Ty Lee, next to her side, said something he couldn't hear and then bounded across the street into the school before him. She stopped to say a quick, "Nice to see you again, Zuko." With a head bow, Ty Lee continued on. Jaipal looked amused at this more than anything else.

"Same," he smiled before she disappeared. He turned back to Jaipal and said a simple, "Alright." He headed into the school.

Zuko smiled slightly to himself, filing it in the back of his mind to applaud Katara on wearing her South Pole colors. Here, she didn't have to try and blend in as though she is one of the Fire Nation and he was glad she knew that. Still, it was humorous to see the split-second flicker of confusion crossing his friend Zenan's face. Katara and Ty Lee must've only beaten him by a day – at most.

No one said anything about her clothing before and definitely wasn't going to now. Katara was his unofficial counsel on nearly everything at this point and everyone around him stayed silent on it, accepting it.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_We never know how high we are_

_ Till we are called to rise;_

_And then, if we are true to plan,_

_ Our statures touch the skies-_

_The Heroism we recite_

_ Would be a daily thing,_

_Did not ourselves the Cubits warp_

_ For fear to be a King-_

_~'We never know how high we are', Emily Dickinson_

* * *

><p>Hammun lunged out, whipping his sword, and clashed with one of the two girls in the class, Soelle. She held the wooden sword strong and kicked at his ankles. He managed to jump out of the way the first few times, confusion and mild-disgust on his face at her antics. But, soon enough, she caught his left and hook her foot around, pulling him off-kilter. The young teen boy fell down on his tailbone, hissing. Soelle jabbed her sword in his chest quickly.<p>

Sokka grinned and clapped his hands. "Good job! You two are dismissed. Go get a drink or something." He gestured over to the large barrel of water and the girl bowed mockingly at her opponent before curtseying in front of her teacher and then ran off so fast she almost went head-on into the water stand. She was obviously happy and a bit smug – or a lot. "Hey, don't sweat it," Sokka said to Hammun, clasping the boy's shoulder. "Mistakes are good! Learn from them!"

The bully of the class, pride wounded at having been beaten by a girl, just glared at his teacher and stalked off. Sokka scratched his head, shrugging. "Okay, who's next?" His eyes scanned the room. "How about... you, Winsor, and Fen! Onto the mat, onto the mat."

The two boys grumbled over and got in their stances. Sokka held up his hand, paused for effect, and then yelled, "Fight!"

After having a few of the teachers sit in on his class, Sokka was beaming to find out that his teaching 'prowess' would be rewarded with a full-time gig. Truthfully, as he admitted to Suki, he wasn't even sure what to do besides teach them his mistakes and follow what his father had shown him. But the kids were just that – kids - so it didn't take much before their young and unclouded minds ran with it, figuring out all the different ways to beat their opponents - or, in this case, classmates.

Although, some of them held grudges more than others. Sokka just shrugged. There wasn't much he could do about that.

Sokka organized a semi-official match between the students and their best-matching opponent of the class in technique, skill, and age to happen the upcoming week. Most of the kids were indifferent on it, some of them were proud to show off their teachings (what with the girls usually dominating the boys in that field), and some were downright fearful of it.

Like Fen, the boy he and Suki helped during Sokka's first day teaching.

Sokka focused back on the match in front of him. Fen teetered on his feet after barely escaping a stab but didn't fall over; swaying dangerously instead. Winsor took the opportunity to strike out high. Sokka shook his head - slicing high was the mistake he often made when young and learning. Now he's only young; more or less.

Fen managed to avoid it by jerking his upper body down but tumbled and lost his sword. The other boy, who also had difficulties in the classroom, charged after him with a maniacal gleam in his eye. Fen peed his pants as Winsor's wooden sword touched his neck. Sokka didn't blame him.

"Alright, we got a winner." The winning boy shuffled back over to the floor mats and sat down, a boasting grin on his face as some of the other kids snickered at Fen and launched into congratulations. "Don't feel bad, Fen. They'll all forget about it in a week - trust me," he grinned while kneeling down next to the boy, whispering, "I did something like that when I was your age."

The boy smiled a little but was otherwise still sulking a bit.

"Go wash up down the hall."

"Thanks." Fen hurried off.

"Next!" Sokka grinned happily as the two boys next to duel complained about the new smell on the mats.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	41. Spies

A/N: Just one segment. Kind of dark but really just makes you want to slap someone (you'll see who).

I gene-spliced again (or, made up an animal). It's a peccary crossed with a pig – Peccarypig. Pigs, self explanatory, and a peccary is a 'skunk pig' that's much smaller, ranging 40-80 pounds. Also, they are native to the Americas, vs. Africa, Asia, and/or Europe (or, The Old World). I love learning new things when researching ^_^

**Disclaimer: Do not own!**

**XxxxxxxxxX**

_Lord Clifford:__ Had I thy brethren here, their lives and thine_

_Were not revenge sufficient for me;_

_No, if I digg'd up thy forefathers' graves_

_And hung their rotten coffins up in chains,_

_It could not slake mine ire, nor ease my heart._

_The sight of any of the house of York_

_Is as a fury to torment my soul;_

_And till I root out their accursed line_

_And leave not one alive, I live in hell._

_~'Third Part of King Henry VI', _Act 1 scene 3, William Shakespeare

* * *

><p>Katara watched as Zuko moved all day, back and forth, without a second of breathing time. He went from all day meetings with his advisors and the military leaders, to meeting with the military itself, to meeting with the scouts, then breaking for food. and sleep. and then back again. It made Katara tired just thinking about it. It was now two days since his arrival – three since her and Ty Lee's – and Katara was beginning to see why he didn't want her to come. It's draining work – for him.<p>

For her? Well, there's not much of anything that she can actually do. And, if she can't help out in any way, Katara began to think of herself as dead weight. She hated to be dead weight for someone. Now, she can only see herself getting in the way when everything does come to a head. She hated doubting herself.

"Hey water-bender!" Ty Lee called to her right and bound up the porch steps of the rented house. It was being rented out in the near center of the town for the Fire Lord and people closest to him in his entourage. There were more than enough rooms to warrant it.

"What's up, Ty Lee?"

"I'm exhausted, is what." She sucked in a shaky breath and hung her head, faking dead, with eyes bulging. Just as fast as she'd done it, Ty Lee was straightened again, smiling. Katara smiled back at the girl's antics. "I've been up since the crack of dawn today and I did that yesterday, too."

Katara sat on the railing. "Yeah, well, this whole situation doesn't help relax. I can hardly sleep as it is."

The Fire Nation noble laughed. "I can sleep anywhere!" She leaned in, saying, "Hey, can you make excuses for me if Zuko or some messenger comes looking? I'm going to take a nap right now."

Katara bit the inside of her cheek. "Yeah. Sure. Hey, where is Zuko? I haven't seen him pass by in a few hours."

Ty Lee paused, shrugged, and then slipped indoors. The water-bender pulled her legs up and over to the other side of the railing so she could see out into the road, and drummed her fingers on the railing, mind-numbing boredom seeping into her again. It made her eye twitch.

A group of men dressed in Fire Nation military uniforms strode by, chatting with an older man Katara recognized to be Colonel Jaipal. He looked over briefly and nodded at her presence. She forcefully relaxed her shoulders from their instinct of alarm at the sight of the uniforms. Even now, she wasn't so used to them. She was secretly glad when Zuko had only kept two guards with him when they were searching for Ursa – and those two were only following them, not with them; unless something happened.

Katara sat for a few more minutes, thinking about where Zuko could be while searching the buildings with her eyes. Her gaze landed on the school building currently occupied by the military_. Is he in there?_ She wondered.

She stood. Stepping down the steps, she walked quickly across the dirt road and into the building. There was almost no difference between the air inside of it and the air outside. It was hot and musty and full of wafting dirt-dust. A cold chill occasionally wafted by but, as like now, when the sun shone, it was hot and humid, typical of Fire Nation summers and falls. It reminded her of Si Wong desert – and even a bit like Ba Sing Se's. The Earth Kingdom had so many climates that Katara's mind went mush with them running together.

The school was small; six classrooms. The hall she was in was one of two, running vertical. The other met it in the middle and continued on, moving horizontally. Four classrooms were near the two front doors, Katara saw, and two were near the smaller and less used entrances near the back alley.

The first one she passed revealed an empty classroom with scrolls overflowing from the teacher's desk, a sketch-pad leaned up against the wall behind the desk, and paper stacks with accompanying ink jars and pens lined up neatly on the ten or so desks pushed about. It was all organized, clean, and cookie-cut for efficiency. _Every expectation met there_, she thought wryly.

She turned and walked back down the hall, to the left; the last room she had to check. The four front and center classrooms were allowed to be used while the Fire Lord and his camaraderie more or less occupied the town. It would be cruel to shut it down completely. While Rhange and Natsuno were largely farming towns, they did have many young children in them and the school provided education for all (even if it only went from ages six to twelve) - something Zuko highly supported.

It was easy to tell the room wasn't currently being used as a classroom. The desks were all pushed aside and a small round wooden table was set up in the middle. Pieced together, it was able to get through the narrow doorway. Katara's eyes immediately fell onto the open maps and scrolls on the table in the darkened room.

Her fingers ran along the map and picked up a carved, black piece crudely carved carefully, eyeing it, before setting it back down where she found it. Katara wasn't even aware of anyone else in the room until he spoke.

"Spy."

She whipped her head up, a defensive frown on her face. "Excuse me?"

Major Wahyn stood from his chair at the table, now pushed back farther than normal, and spread his hands out on it for support. His face came out of the shadows and into the sunlight barely filtering through the closed window, gray eyes clear and precise in their stare. "The black piece. It means spies. We're sending them out along the rocky hills that insulate Natsuno. Maybe we'll get lucky."

She nodded and looked back down at the plan in front of her. Now knowing what the piece meant, the plan was clear as she saw them dotted all along the ridge west of the town. "That's a good plan. I hope it works."

He squinted at her. "You're the little water-bender the Fire Lord brought along, right? What are you doing in here?"

Katara narrowed her own eyes angrily at the word 'little' and his condescending tone. "I was just looking for Zuko. He's obviously not here so I'll leave you to going over your plan." She swiveled back towards the door. His tone made her bristle but she refrained it to little more than a shiver.

"It's obvious you want to know what's going on. Caught out of the loop?"

She held her head high and just stared at him. Major Wahyn held a predatory gleam in his eye that she didn't like one bit. "I don't have to snoop around. Zuko tells me everything."

He barked out a mouthful of laughter. Straightening, he tapped a finger to his chin. Wahyn changed his tune, saying, "It is interesting that you're the last South Pole water-bender. You are, aren't you? That's funny... How did that come about when we killed them all?"

Katara clenched her jaw. "I guess your soldiers were too bloodthirsty and were too happy to kill anyone they thought to be a water-bender," she snapped.

Major Wahyn shrugged. "They can be that way. If it gets the job done, what's there to complain about really?"

Fed up and determined not to humiliate herself in front of him or vice versa without anyone else around, she turned to leave.

"Katara, is it?" She stopped again in the doorway, annoyed, as he continued. "Being self-righteous doesn't look good on anyone; especially not a play-toy water-bender like you."

She turned so fast her blue skirt sounded throughout the room as it snapped against itself. "You really know nothing, do you?" She asked incredulously, insulted beyond belief at his misinformed words.

"I know from the servants that you're sharing a room with my Fire Lord." Major Wahyn grinned crookedly. "How did that come about?"

Katara flushed and was glad her face was largely hidden so he couldn't see. "There's two beds."

"Oh, of course. My mistake."

She squeezed her fists at his openly mocking tone. "You really have no idea the history Zuko and I have. We aren't... lovers!" She all but shouted. "I am the closest confidant to the Avatar and one of the closest confidants to _your_ Fire Lord. _Peccarypig_," she whispered under her breath.

Major Wahyn shook his head at her, white fingers curled around the lip of the table. "The Avatar?"

"Yeah. Think again before you insult someone," she said scathingly.

"I should say the same to you. And was I insulting you?" He held up his hand to his chest with an innocent look. A smirk wavered beneath. "That wasn't my intention at all. Oh, and water-bender? If you are a close confidant of _my_ Fire Lord, then warn him of this rebellion. He's stepping into a dangerous game here and he might not like to get bitten."

She scoffed. "What, he won't listen to you?" Katara smiled sweetly as his jaw pulsed. "Pathetic. Just so we're clear, I'm not a messenger and my friendship and relationship on a whole with Zuko is private. I'm his friend and a trusted ally. I will _never_ do a Fire Nation soldier's bidding." She turned and stormed out for real this time.

_Who did that idiot think he was?_ A shiver went down her spine. _He's one of Zuko's military officers and he said that? Why? _She rolled her eyes, thinking as her temper cooled._ Yeah, traveling with Aang had us meet a lot of idiots like that but… why would he be so bold? Does he really think I'm just some, some__…__ power grabbing manipulator? _Katara scoffed, shaking her head as she emerged out of the building. _And the way he talked about Zuko…. _

Katara folded her arms, rubbing away the hot anger that turned cold, leaving goose-bumps. Her hands had itched to slap him – still did a bit - but she refrained. Now, she just had to figure out what to tell Zuko. Katara bit her lip nervously. She didn't want to cause a rift or change the tides, so to speak, but he did deserve to know…. _Needs to know_….

She really hated dealing with people in power. _Most of them have no appreciation for it and are rude as hell,_ she thought, scowling.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	42. Twineltows

**A/N:** Yay, thanks so much for all the response, guys! :D Huge virtual thanks to all that have reviewed, favorited, and story alerted over the past few weeks! You all are awesome.

No drama what-so-ever for Toph and Aang at the moment. There's no reason for all of these updates on them but I love writing them just being… silly. It's fun ^_^

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I SAW a stream whose waves were bright _

_With morning's dazzling sheen; _

_But gathering clouds, ere fall of night, _

_Had darken'd o'er the scene: _

"_How like that tide," _

_My spirit sighed, _

"_This life to me hath been." _

_The clouds dispersed; the glowing west _

_Was bright with closing day; _

_And o'er the river's peaceful breast _

_Shone forth the sunset ray:— _

_My spirit caught _

_The soothing thought, _

"_This life might pass away." _

_I saw a tree with ripening fruit _

_And shady foliage crown'd; _

_But, ah! the axe was at its root, _

_And fell'd it to the ground: _

_Well might that tree _

_Recall to me _

_The doom my hopes had found. _

_The fire consum'd it; but I saw _

_Its smoke ascend on high— _

_A shadowy type, beheld with awe, _

_Of that which will not die, _

_But from the grave _

_Will rise and have _

_A refuge in the sky._

_~'Which Things are a Shadow', _Bernard Barton

* * *

><p>"Can she really see what you do and repeat it?" Toph asked.<p>

"Yeah. It's weird. Here, I'll do a wind tunnel and maybe she'll copy it." Aang stood and clicked his heels together before spreading them wide, bending his knees. He took a deep breath and then thrust his arms out. A small cyclone of wind shot from his hands. Raja clapped her own little hands, thoroughly entertained as she usually was when he bended or when Toph earth-bended. After a minute he stopped and kneeled back down in front of the girls.

"Now what?" Toph asked as she blew a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"Now, we wait."

Raja crawled from the earth-bender's lap and fell onto Aang's, reaching up at him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She gurgled a jumble of words together in response. He repositioned her so she was facing Toph again. Raja waved her arms up and down and a small breeze went through the room. "Did you feel that?"

"Was that her?"

"Mhm." Aang smiled proudly.

"I didn't think babies cou-" Toph was silenced when Raja thrust her arms forward and sent a large but quick burst of spinning air at her. Toph fell back and Aang winced at the sound of bone hitting stone.

"Are you okay?" He scrambled and set Raja down, running to the other girl's side.

Toph took a deep breath, paused, and then let loose a loud, long laugh. The air-bending baby climbed up on her fellow female bender and sat on her stomach, pushing down on Toph's rumbling stomach. "Ow, okay Raja! Hehe, that tickles!"

"I got her," Aang said and picked up Raja again. The girl promptly screamed, annoyed at the contact. She wanted to continue exploring.

"Ugh, I'm going to get a headache from that. Give her." Aang tapped Toph's shoulder and then handing her the baby back once she sat up again. He went over to resume his earlier position of sitting in front of them cross-legged. "At least I'm not seeing stars." She grinned. "Get it?"

"Nice one."

"Thank you. Can she do stuff that powerful just… whenever?" Toph picked up little Raja's fisted hands and bounced them, drawing a happy sigh from the baby.

"Yep."

"Like I was going to say before," Toph smiled, "I've never heard of babies being able to do that much with their bending."

"Well, she is one year old. That's really early but not out of the realm of possibility, I guess." He shrugged.

"When did you become all-knowing on baby stuff?"

He buried his head in his hands, "when I had to start babysitting a kid who can air-bend. I am so lost in this."

"Don't worry, twinkle-toes," Toph encouraged, reaching out and patting his knee. "I'll help."

"Twinel-tows!" Raja squealed and grinned at Aang.

"Did she just…?" The Avatar couldn't even finished his thought as he sat slack-jawed.

"Priceless!" Toph giggled. "Oh, this is just too good!"

"Twinel-tows, twinel-tows!" Raja half-walked, half-crawled over to him, settling in his lap where he held a wooden toy. Finding what she apparently wanted, she ignored him and started chewing it. Her smile was infectious, as usual, and only flourished in the happy vibes that it created in the room.

"C-change it or, or something," he stuttered.

Toph shook her head. "Nu-uh. That nickname's sticking! I love you, little Raja."

Hearing her name, she looked up and made a small sound of agreement.

"I wish the others were here! This is just…" She burst into another fit of laughs.

Aang sighed. "Fine, okay. I can deal with this. I have to put up with you saying it as it is."

"Hey!" She straightened. "You don't 'have to' put up with anything." She softened, teasing, "You secretly like the nickname, twinkle-toes."

"Hah. As if," he scoffed.

"You only protested it, what, the first two times I said it? You _like _it."

"How could anyone like the nickname 'twinkle-toes'? Not even when I go into the Avatar-state do my toes glow!" He protested.

She coughed. It was soft, faint at first, and then picked up. Aang realized after a minute that she was trying to stifle her laughter.

"It was the mental image, wasn't it?" He asked, resigned.

She nodded and fell back, laughing outright.

"You done?"

"Nope! Glowing toes! Hah!"

Aang sighed.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_They ask me where I've been,_

_And what I've done and seen._

_But what can I reply_

_Who know it wasn't I,_

_But someone just like me,_

_Who went across the sea_

_And with my head and hands_

_Killed men in foreign lands..._

_Though I must bear the blame,_

_Because he bore my name._

_~'Back', _Wilfred Gibson

* * *

><p>Ty Lee tore up her copy of the map-plan and tossed it back across the table. "Nope."<p>

"I must agree with Miss Ty Lee," Intel. Officer Cheveyo said gravely, patting his own copy of the plan and glancing over a Major Wahyn. "My men have been the ones risking their lives to gather information for your planning and I see hardly any of their hard work considered in this. A full frontal assault? We need a plan with a bit more effort, Major."

"Anyone serving our country in the army is risking their lives," Major Wahyn snapped.

"I'll agree with the Major – on his plan." Colonel Jaipal cleared his throat, waiting until he gathered Ty Lee's and Cheveyo's eyes in his direction before continuing. "These men are ill in numbers. While I can see you were thinking of something with less… noise, right?" Cheveyo nodded. "Well, while I can see why you would think that, I'm the senior-most in age and rank and I've seen this situation a dozen times before. A frontal assault is best. How else do you think we took all of those independent Earth Kingdom villages?"

Ty Lee shifted on her seat at the mention.

"What's your objection, Ty Lee?" Zuko asked, glancing at the three of them for a long minute before settling on her.

She raised her head. "I think it traps the _innocent_ people."

Wahyn scoffed.

"And," she continued, her voice booming without getting high and squeaky, "I think the Major's plan doesn't take into account some of the information Officer Cheveyo's men gathered. Like, for example, the fact that the followers of Shinu are only following him because of violence and destruction threats.

"A 'divide-and-conquer' strategy would take fewer men, make less noise, and be just as effective." She shrugged her shoulders, gesturing outward with her hands, adding, "Plus, this way, we could easily grab those that are true loyalists and those just after a couple bucks. Not all of them are bad, just greedy."

"If I may defend myself," Wahyn said. "I did take all of that into account. But we're talking about a town of nearly ten thousand people here and half of those have left. Nearly all of the five thousand of those left, according to Officer Cheveyo's data, as you keep referring to, are loyalists." He turned to Zuko. "When you took over the throne from your father, did you take the time to sift through each person's thoughts and motives to determine if they were good?" Zuko stared at him, jaw clenched. "No, it would be a waste to do that.

"If I can be bold enough to speak for you, Fire Lord, you reviewed everyone based on their actions at that point in time." He turned back to Ty Lee. "That's what I'm doing here. We don't know who can be trusted in that town and, in the military world, the best strategy is to regard all as enemies."

Ty Lee just sat still, staring at him intensely.

Fire Lord Zuko grew exasperated at the high-strung atmosphere. The immediate head of his troops and one of his most trusted allies were having a stare-down in front of him, while his most trusted ally in the military, Colonel Jaipal, was crossing his arms and staring dubiously down at the plan. Zuko waited for the man to speak, knowing he had something to say. A few minutes later, stare-down still on-going, Jaipal spoke. "I propose we cut down on the numbers. Is that enough of a compromise for you two?"

"But we need the full squadron," Wahyn protested.

"And why is that, Major?" Zuko asked.

"Because, Fire Lord, they were trained as one. It wouldn't be right."

He blinked. "So if I sent six men out to torch a field that was feeding the rebel leaders, would I have to send all of the squadron out?"

"N-no, sir."

"Good." Zuko straightened and looked over at Jaipal. "Coordinate with these two on revising the plan. I want no less than a squadron of six thousand and an additional plan with some more thought put into it than a basic frontal assault. We need a back-up plan, for a just-in-case measure. Dismissed." He stood and walked out; leaving the mess that was planning an invasion behind.

He walked across the street, nodding to the guards along the way, and straight into the hall, up the stairs, and into his room. It was large, scarce of furniture, and had wide windows to catch the cross breeze. He sighed at the nice silence.

"You're back early." Zuko smiled over at Katara where she was sitting, feet propped up on a stool near the middle of the room, and water-bending above her lap. The water flowed back into the canteen she constantly carried with her. "Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know," he replied. He rubbed his shoulders which suddenly felt weighed down with phantom pains of responsibility. "None of them can agree and I can't mediate them because none of their plans sound right. There are elements in each but it's not my job to nitpick, is it?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Right. So, what are you doing?"

Katara nodded to the canteen, although it was a question answered as soon as he walked in. "I got bored. This town is like a ghost town."

Zuko frowned. "Half of the people have been taken over to Natsuno because they were bribed by the rebels to join their army and most of the people in Natsuno had fled."

"Nice," she commented sarcastically. She stretched her arms, yawning. "I went over to the orphanage this morning for a few hours. Helped out, played with the kids. The usual."

"The usual, huh?" His lips quirked.

Katara smiled. "What, I like kids."

His grin widened and he lifted up her feet, sitting on the stool in front of her, and then placed them in his lap. "You have to be the most interesting girl I've ever met."

"Because I like kids?" She asked doubtfully, eyes narrowed and confused. "That can't be unique at all. It's rare to find one that doesn't."

"Nope. It's because the people I grew up with viewed that as something to do if you're either poor or are desperate for some 'good will' from the commoners."

"I am a commoner," she joked.

"You're anything but common."

Katara rolled her eyes and wiggled her toes. "Cheesy. So, seriously, how did it go? Are you any closer to resolving this? I overheard one of the guards telling Zenan that another farm between here and Natsuno was raided by the rebels."

Zuko nodded, confirming it. "Zenan?"

"I'm not one for titles."

"Yeah, you've never called me by my titles unless you were mocking." Zuko reached out and ran his thumb across her water-tribe necklace. Katara waited for him to continue. "Like I said before, we've got a few plans on the table. I'm just uneasy about them. I don't know what Shinu's endgame is. Yeah, he keeps demanding the throne but even he knows that it's impossible for him to have or hold or even sit on."

"So he's working with someone."

"Perhaps," Zuko said with his voice distant. He thought as he stared at the necklace's carved stone in his palm. "But who? If I'm gone, Azula won't get it. She's in prison as far as everyone knows and anyone wanting me out of the way just wants a puppet to control. Azula's anything but a puppet since her break with sanity and even before it was only out of love for father."

"Okay, so they're the puppet-master."

His eyes sidled up to meet hers. "What - who?"

Katara shrugged, saying, "The person working with Shinu. What if the person trying to get you out is also controlling Shinu. What if Shinu is stupid enough to think that he could get the crown that is promised by this person? Just a thought…"

"But if they were, then this person must be in the military. Even someone as dense as Shinu knows that only the military can get someone in and out of office quickly."

"How can anyone in the military promise a throne beyond the seat being open?" Katara asked.

Zuko shook his head, leaning back and letting go of the necklace. "With me gone without any following lineage, the way the Fire Kingdom works is the throne would be up to grab for all senior advisory officials, precedent going to those in military."

Katara scoffed. "You're country really is all about fighting and conquering!"

"The symbol of fire always fit well." He scratched his chin. "Alright, I'm done speculating. This is making my head hurt. To answer your question before, yes we're getting close. In a few days I'm going to meet with Shinu."

"Who proposed that?" She asked loudly.

"Major Wahyn. I know, it's dangerous, but maybe this way I can get a feel for him."

Katara pulled her legs back, bending them at the knee so she's in a simple sitting position. "Speaking of the Major…."

Zuko frowned. "Why are you using his title?"

He watched her closely as she swallowed, eyes fluttering around the room and away from him. "Two days ago I went looking for you in the school but you weren't there, so I peaked in on the war room…."

"That's fine," he assured when she paused. "You know I don't care. I tell you everything anyway."

"I know," Katara sighed. "The Major was there. He tried to get me to warn you about the rebellion. Said you're "stepping into a dangerous game" and that you "might get bitten". He was beyond rude."

Zuko narrowed his eyes, grabbing her hand. "He tried to use you as a messenger?"

"That's not even an insult compared to what he accused me of being. I can deal with being called a messenger – in my village, you had to deliver your own news." Katara rolled her eyes. "No he called me your," she met his eyes," 'play-toy'."

Zuko sat still for a moment, scarcely allowing himself to breathe. Inside, he was seething. It was no business of his Major's to know anything of his, the Fire Lord's, private life and to even think that Katara, smart and independent Katara, would…. _The idiot!_

"Zuko?"

"I'm going to knock his stupid head around so he'll actually have an excuse for being so stupid," he promised in a quiet voice.

"Zuko, don't." She grabbed his head in her hands.

"Why not? It's not like anyone would say anything."

"But I'd say you were acting more stupid than him." He closed his mouth and Katara shook her head. "He was an ass and he was stupid but confronting him over his behavior now will only make things worse. Deal with him after this rebellion mess is cleared up. Promise?" She smiled thinly. "I do want to see him get your anger eventually – but it's not smart to now."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. For you and only you I will pause from beating the crap out of him. But I am discharging him effective immediately after Natsuno is fine again."

"Good! Get me a front-row seat for that," Katara said jovially and kissed him lightly. "I love you."

Zuko grinned. "I love you too." He picked her up out of the chair and she squealed briefly before he set her back on the ground, kissing his cheek. "So, show me around the orphanage?"

She grabbed his arm. "Really?"

"I want to see you in your element."

"And my element is with children?" Katara asked with a light laugh as they walked down the hall.

"Maybe, but your element is helping also people."

Katara smiled uncharacteristically shyly at his words. "Thank you. And yeah, I guess it is."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_THIS is thy hour O' Soul, thy free flight into the wordless, _

_Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done, _

_Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best. _

_Night, sleep, and the stars._

_~'A Clear Midnight', _Walt Whitman

* * *

><p>Ursa bit her lip, looking about the palace. Her son didn't know it, but often through the past few days she'd consulted the water-bender, while she had been there, and then the servants on where things were located. Zuko, having been so busy for the sole day he was here, made only a bare mention of re-doing the palace – oh, changing a few rooms, downsizing, and stripping the place. No big deal.<p>

_Biggest understatement of the year_, in her opinion.

Ursa debated, glancing between the corridors and in a spur-of-the-moment fashion chose the left one. It wasn't ten steps later that she heard a call behind her. She spun around. "Mistress," Loya bowed her head submissively once she caught up. Ursa smiled at the old greeting. "I heard you had something to mail…?"

Yes, thank you." She handed over the letter addressed to Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom. She stopped Loya before the housekeeper made to leave. "I know it's nearly seven years late, but it was a girl, right? A granddaughter?"

A glowingly warm and wide smile immediately lit up Loya's face. "Yes! He named her Urma and my son has had two girls since. My daughter-in-law is expecting again, so he's hoping for a boy."

"No boys?" Ursa shared a brief giggle with the woman.

"Well as I only had one child and he was a boy, I am greatly humored by it. I love girls. They're so fun to spoil. But I do hope he has a boy so his nerves are eased. You know how men are." Loya waved the letter around. "I will go send this for you, Mistress."

"Thank you."

Loya walked a few paces away and then looked back quickly, saying, "I'm glad you're back, Fire Lady. Thank you for remembering my granddaughter; she was named with you in mind." And then she was gone, fluttering off some corridor or hallway Ursa couldn't begin to remember where they went or what they led to.

Ursa smiled the rest of the way to the stairwell, main floor, and out to the garden. That at least was the same and she would thank her son for that. The courtyard of the palace, holding _her_ garden and _her _turtle-pond, was all she'd ever loved about the palace anyway.

Finding the bench she'd used as a constant for twelve years of her life, Ursa sat and unwrapped the roll of bread she had taken from breakfast. The turtle ducks flocked nearly on cue. She thought of the housekeeper's words and granddaughter, drifting off into a memory of her own.

***Flashback – 97 ASC – 4 days after Azula's birth**

She was so small. Her skin was wrinkled and bright pink and her eyes were still light hazel before settling into a golden tan hue - which wouldn't happen for another year or two. She was an angel and Ursa smiled down at her daughter, forgetting the labor pains instantly.

"Can I hold her?" Zuko asked excitedly. He bent his short chest over the crib edge awkwardly, skinny arms reached out to touch the baby blanket.

"No, sweetie. She's much too young to be held for too long - and _you're_ too young to hold her, for that matter." Ursa herded him out of the large nursery to where his nanny stood waiting. "Now you go play, okay? Your sister has to rest and so does mommy."

He nodded and tottered off down the hall dutifully with his nanny, only looking back to wave in child-like happiness. Ursa waved back with dancing fingers and a big smile. Moving back to the princess' crib, Ursa thought of Ozai as she watched her daughter sleep. Her husband was disappointed at the birth.

Somehow he'd gotten it in his head that royal families had more boys than others, as the men would become the military leaders. She couldn't possibly have told him she was to have a girl. Nonetheless, _there are always more chances_, she reminded him. And, while his tempers could be irrationally directed, Ursa respected and kindly loved her husband. In a week his thoughts would clear and he would come to love and dote on their daughter as if no turmoil ever existed. The thought of that warmed her.

The Fire Lady bundled up Azula and sang to her, soft and low, cooing the barely intelligible words of lyrics she remembered from her own childhood. She paced slowly around the diagonally-circle room. Feeling a bit dizzy after a minute, Ursa moved outside into the hall. Heavy, fast footsteps sound down the end behind her and she turned to see.

It was Ozai walking past.

"Ozai," she called. He stopped, jarred from thought. He waved his hand and the guard next to him disappeared ahead around the corner.

"Yes?" He asked in a clipped fashion. It didn't faze her. She was used to it.

"Come see our daughter."

"I have a meeting with father." Pause. "I will. Later."

She nodded and went back to caring for their daughter as his steps echoed. "See, little girl? Your father will see you this evening. Let's get you rested up, yeah?" Ursa smiled adoringly and moved back into the nursery.

She settled into the rocking chair by the bay window. It was creaky and its cushion un-matching to the traditional nursery, but Ursa never apologized for that. Ozai had consented when she insisted she needed something of her own for the room their son would spend his infant years in. Now, their daughter would too. Little flowers, leaves, and reaching ivy designs ran along the wooden edges of the chair. She loved it.

Azula's face was slack, full of contented happiness, as her mother hummed to her. Ursa did it all the time to the ducks. Azula finally closed her eyes, stopping her fight against sleep easily. Ursa, after a brief moment, did the same.

A hand laid on her shoulder woke her. It felt like it was only a moment later. Really, it was nearly ten minutes.

"Catch you sleeping again?" Iroh teased. Her shoulders relaxed.

"I'm only four days from labor. I think I'm entitled to a lot more sleep than this."

He crouched next to her knees, reaching out to caress baby Azula's thin, soft hair. "You would get more sleep if you let the servants care for my niece here. You can't be expected to care for a screaming infant on a few hours of rest."

"Isn't that what I did with Zuko? And do you see her screaming?" Ursa asked, tilting her daughter over to him with a proud smile. "I think not."

Iroh flashed a returning smile before adopting a look of barely contained laughter. "Who's idea was it to name my niece 'Azula'?"

"Mine."

"You?" He chuckled incredulously as she thrust her chin out, defiant. "That I didn't expect! Hopefully she doesn't end up like her grandfather, then. Here, join hands with me as we pray to the Spirit World," he said as he held out his hand, jokingly, but she ignored it all the same.

"No, my babies will all be good with strong values and everyone will be equal in their eyes, as they are in mine."

"Good."

"I just hope…."

"What?" Iroh prodded after she stopped speaking.

She wanted to say she hoped that Ozai viewed his daughter equal to their son and think of them both highly, a hope making her nervous as he started expressing disappointments in Zuko already. She hoped they would both learn the differences between love and caring and cruelty and violence and to choose love, no matter all else. To have proper sense and judgment – different than that blood-thirsty nature of her father-in-law.

But, as she looked back into her good friend's concerned and interested eyes, Ursa simply said, "Oh, just that I'm a good mother to them both."

Iroh scoffed. "You're a fantastic mother. You will more than make up for my brother's odd behaviors."

The Fire Lady threw her head back and laughed heartily. "That's a gentle way to say it! He can be quite high-strung. But – I do love him, so that's alright. Everyone has their quirks."

He knelt. "May I hold her?"

"Sure," Ursa shifted her daughter in her arms and handed him Azula, watching anxiously as he did the same to get the baby comfortable in his hands.

"You're hovering, sister. Lu-Ten is eleven. I think I got this right – eventually."

She smiled at his joke and forced herself to sit back properly. "Sorry."

Pause. "I stopped by to say another goodbye."

She stilled.

"I already said farewell to my father and brother. You and Lu-Ten are the last to know," Iroh continued. "I'm picking him up from fire-bending class in an hour." He looked up from his niece and smiled apologetically. He handed her back.

The Fire Lady stood, putting the now-dozing Azula back in her crib. "What of Lu-Ten? I can't believe you have to leave so soon. You were just back two months ago. Why another tour? Aren't there other people capable? Lu-Ten was so excited to see you again – Zuko, too."

"I spent every second with my son that I could," his voice was off; almost pained at the reminder. Ursa finally turned back to see his face showing what she guessed. He tried to smile comfortingly. "Duty calls and you know I can't say no – I _won't_ say no. This is best for our nation."

His words didn't calm her. When talking of war, they never did. Ursa gathered him into a hug. "Do well out there, okay? Hurry home to your son." She said softly against his cheek.

"Believe me, I'll be counting the days."

She kissed his cheek and pulled back. He did the same, said another goodbye, and left. Ursa glanced back to her daughter, deep in a mildly disturbed thought.

_Another entrance, another exit._Nothing stayed still for long at the Fire Palace.

***End Flashback**

She startled out of her memory with the sound of thunder and saw dark clouds approaching from the north. Ursa sat back and picked the rest of the bread in her hand off into crumbs for the ducks. They grew anxious with the sounds of approaching stormy weather and huddled by the tree after she threw them the rest of her food.

Petting one of them crouching next to her foot, Ursa stood and moved inside to explore the halls again. The skyline opened and large droplets of rain poured down in a rush. The duckling ran to its mother under the bench, having lost its shelter.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N:** I wanted to give a flashback where Ursa had *some* 'happy moments' with Ozai. At one time, I imagine she gave their relationship a shot and that he wasn't completely consumed with being Fire Lord. Of course, it's all in my imagination.


	43. Wild Flowers

**A/N:** The name 'Bo-Ram' is a Korean baby girl name. Most of the names I'm making up characters with have roots in Asian naming by being combined with others or are actual Asian names (which includes Indian ones, too). Just a little FYI I figured I would share :)

Wow, finding quotes is getting harder and harder. Well I guess that's what happens when you drag a story on :S I'm not boring you all, am I? I promise two more chapters of drama and then it's all fun and games again! Thanks for reading; hope you enjoy it! :D

**Disclaimer: Okay, I think I've said this enough.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_The cloud never comes from the quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it."_

_~Elizabeth Gaskell_

* * *

><p>The day settled into a kind of chilly fog. It held the possibility of warming - the sun burning away the moisture later that was still hanging invisible in the air, its humidity clouding the lungs for the moment - but it didn't. Storms rolled in from the north of the Fire Nation as soon as the sun rose and they would surely reach the southern curve in a few days. Overcast was what they were expecting and for most it was a relief – especially the soldiers. For now the storm was all innocent, obstructing clouds.<p>

Ty Lee found it ominous. Zuko's meeting with the rebel leader, former 2nd Lieutenant Shinu, happened tomorrow and it would be even darker out then. The circus trained, noble-born female advisor (albeit temporarily) to the Fire Lord searched the halls for Katara. But, much to her brief annoyance, the water-bender wasn't in her room or in the halls of the building they were staying at. Those feelings quickly dissipated and went hopeful and pleasantly curious again as she turned her sights outside. She wasn't one to hold a grudge.

She found the girl in the stables, walking a rich chestnut-colored ostrich-horse with fewer feathers than fur out of a stall. It looked beyond odd and she briefly wondered how the runt of the family found its way into the military. "Going somewhere?" She asked.

Katara smiled at her and in greeting casually responded, "Nope! I'm teaching a little girl from the orphanage how to ride." She turned her soft and relaxed nature to the stall, coaxing the girl out with a small and a wave.

Ty Lee spotted a skinny girl of long and shockingly curly black hair around the wood-paneled corner. Katara took the girl's hand - silently assuring her that she, the little girl, wouldn't be frightened by anything at the moment - and led her to the ostrich-horse now in the middle of the barn. It sniffed stray hay, oblivious. Katara lifted the girl up on it as the girl squealed in in delight. The animal only raised its head – very docile and un-spooked by the whole event.

The water-bender waved Ty Lee over.

"Bo-Ram, this is Ty Lee. Ty Lee, this is Bo-Ram. Ty Lee is a good friend of mine." The little girl blinked at the teenager from under her eyelashes.

"Nicetomeetyou," she said in a rush.

"No, please, the pleasure is all mine, princess." Ty Lee curtseyed extravagantly and bit back a grin. Shy Bo-Ram giggled and blushed. "Do you like riding?"

The girl nodded. "But we can't do it much."

"That's a shame. Hey, I'll share a secret with you for to use each time you do get to ride," Ty Lee leaned in real close and whispered conspiratorially. "These animals have a secret spot where, if you rub them just right, they will instantly love you."

"Really?" She asked, shyness gone. The little girl was bought – hook, line, and sinker.

"Mhm. Right… here." Ty Lee pressed her hand angularly behind the beast's shoulder blades. The mount sighed loudly and, when Ty Lee pulled back, startled at the loss of contact. Bo-Ram's eyes glistened and she landed her little hands on the place. She scratched the rough fur. "Push in as hard as you can."

She did just that and the ostrich-horse moaned delightfully at the massage. It was a rough and loud sound and Ty Lee shared an amused smile with Katara as the orphan girl grinned, satisfied with her work.

It was all nerves and soft spots and muscle knots. _Everyone loves shoulder massages_, she thought.

"Come on, let's get you down. I'm sure you're wanted back soon," Katara said after another minute. A bell rang just then through the main stretch of town. Bo-Ram let the water-bender take her off the horse and waved goodbye to them both, thanking Ty Lee especially, before running off to dinner at her orphanage. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Ty Lee helped her guide the ostrich-horse back into its stall. It was reluctant but still went along. "I wanted to ask your opinion about someone." She locked the wooden gate once Katara emerged. The water-bender started methodically putting away the blanket, brush, saddle, and bridle she used. Ty Lee just stood.

"Who?"

"Major Wahyn."

Katara burst out laughing. Ty Lee stared at her in bewilderment. _Well this wasn't what I was expecting, she_ thought. _An argument, maybe. A refusal, perhaps. Questions, an absolute. Laughter? Nope_, she thought. It was contagious, though and Ty Lee, being a light-hearted person, couldn't help smiling.

"What's so funny about that?" She asked when Katara recovered.

"I don't trust anyone like that as far as I can throw them."

"Are we talking about water-bending throwing or regular throwing because you can do damage with water," Ty Lee half-joked and half-complimented. Katara smiled over her shoulder at that.

"What I can hold." The other girl nodded and waited until Katara emerged from bending over a trunk. She wiped her hands on her South Pole blue skirt and looked around before saying, "Okay, don't tell anyone, but I'm spying on him – for me and Zuko. He's so boring he doesn't leave to go anywhere but yeah."

Ty Lee wore a look of plain-to-see astonishment. "Zuko?"

"Yeah. Wahyn was… rude." Katara rolled her eyes, giving the Fire Nation girl an impression that there was more to it than that. "And I'm keeping an eye on him. Zuko can't call out his military guy over a frivolous and personal matter. So I'm…. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Of course! Cross my heart and all that." Ty Lee promised when the other girl seemed to catch herself. She bounced from her heels to her toes, the sudden stillness bothering her. "Won't tell a soul. I'm great at secrets."

"I'm watching for anything Zuko can dismiss him on. The guy has a temper, so Zuko doesn't want to tell him it was over a small thing like insulting a friend," Katara explained.

"So he wants to take the wind out of the guy's sails, so to speak."

"Yes!" Katara smiled in relief at being understood.

"I'm good with that," Ty Lee approved. "The guy is a total idiot."

"Right? Why did Zenan even recommend him?"

"I don't know," Ty Lee leapt upon the stall fences and swung her legs over to sit. Her feet kicked back and forth fast, her muscles tingling from craving movement. She was unable to sit still – or stand still - for long unless she had to think hard about something; it had been like that since she was a child. It was the main reason the circus appealed to her so much. "Maybe their families know each other? Everyone in Fire Nation royalty is related somehow."

Katara blinked. "Zenan's not royalty."

"Okay, no, but the noble families might as well be and the Jaipal's are nobles. It's only the nobles that can get to the point of marrying into the royal family." Ty Lee studied the ceiling above her and, when she was done speaking, latched her hands on it and climbed up to it. She smiled, feeling the grain of wood under her palms.

"So you and Zuko could be related," Katara continued on after a minute.

Ty Lee flipped and gripped the beam with her ankles and feet, falling in front of the water-bender. She nearly screamed in surprise. Ty Lee grinned at that. "Oh sure. A cousin of a cousin and all that."

The girl still standing put her hands on her hips. "Okay, how do you even do that?"

"Do what?"

"That!" Katara waved at her friend's swinging body.

"I climbed up on the fence over there, jumped on the bar, low crawled it here, and then wrapped my feet like this so I don't fall. I thought you had eyes, water-bender," she teased.

Katara stuck her tongue out at that but went over and inspected the stall's wooden frames. She carefully crawled up on it, full of pride. She only sat still a minute, swaying dangerously, when Ty Lee yawned at her slowness. Katara then tried to leap up onto the bar but missed, her hands slipping from the wood after getting a splinter, and she lost completely balance on the frame, falling to the floor on her back. The Fire Nation girl flipped down and hurried over.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Perfect. So glad I did that." Katara sighed, winced as she felt her chest hesitantly. She winced again but more annoyed than anything else. "I used to think I was pretty agile!"

The other girl helped her up when she tried herself and couldn't get any leverage. "Need a doctor?"

"I can heal myself," Katara waved it off. "I used to think I was pretty agile!"

"Clearly," Ty Lee deadpanned.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_These tulips make me want to paint: _

_Something about the way they drop _

_Their petals on the tabletop _

_And do not wilt so much as faint,_

_Something about their burnt-out hearts, _

_Something about their pallid stems _

_Wearing decay like diadems, _

_Parading finishes like starts,_

_Something about the way they twist _

_As if to catch the last applause, _

_And drink the moment through long straws, _

_And how, tomorrow, they'll be missed._

_The way they're somehow getting clearer, _

_The tulips make me want to see— _

_The tulips make the other me _

_(The backwards one who's in the mirror,_

_The one who can't tell left from right), _

_Glance now over the wrong shoulder _

_To watch them get a little older _

_And give themselves up to the light._

_~'Tulips', A. E. Stallings_

* * *

><p>"Meeting adjourned," Suki called and they all bowed to her, standing from the floor cushions to leave for the day. She returned the same gesture to her Kyoshi Warriors and then stopped to wait as she saw Ishi, her best friend, worm her way over from the back corner of the room. The room was empty besides the two of them in a matter of minutes.<p>

"Is it just me or has the violence changed from deaths to robberies lately?" She asked once Ishi was next to her.

"No, you're not alone. It can be aggravating at times when the people scream on the street at each other about fish but you'll be happy to know most of the women like the change. It's more manageable."

"True." Suki sat back down and refilled her tea cup. She gestured to Ishi, who nodded, and poured another glass for her friend. "Would it be odd if I said I'm enjoying the quieter change too?" She sipped, waiting to hear a response. The steam from the tea didn't even smudge their powdered faces.

"I confess to the same," Ishi said with a flushed neck. It was the only sign of her embarrassment visible. "With my mother recovered wonderfully and the violence lowering and my brother returning home soon, I can just… breath. You know? And I used to like the action!"

Suki nodded. It seemed weird to say it, the two of them still so young, but it was like life was moving at warp speed while they stayed, on the outside, the same. Priorities shifted and changed and all Suki wanted to do now was continue to manage the Kyoshi Warriors and settle down with Sokka. Running around, fending off bad guys, didn't hold the same appeal it did before. Now it just sounded draining.

Plus, what bad guys were there to get? There were pirates, but they stayed miles and miles away from Kyoshi Island, for good reason, and the Fire Nation was no longer a threat to her future livelihood or her future children's.

Her friend glanced to the window outside, the sky turning mauve from the setting sun, gray streaks bursting through, and she started. The Kyoshi warrior leader was crushed into a quick hug before Ishi stood.

"I've got to run. I promised mother we'd walk the shore today and count her steps. She's getting better at endurance – hardly gets out of breath around the house anymore."

"Tell her I said hello!" She waved goodbye. Suki finished her tea and then stacked the pillows, put away scrolls, and locked up the private room in the building that served the island's meetings – on everything from outside attacks to the small market's trading. Before she locked it, though, Suki did one more sweep through and checked herself in the mirror. She didn't bother to take her makeup off – people on Kyoshi Island respected them more if they wore their makeup. Besides, Sokka could recognize her with and without it now.

There was hardly anything to clean up as it was so she made it to the small island's square in record time.

Sokka jumped up at the sight of her from across the way. When she was a few feet from him, she could see his grin and he pulled a small bouquet of wild flowers from behind his back. A dark blue ribbon was tied around them in a crooked bow. She loved it.

"Beautiful," Suki said, smelling them. "What are we seeing tonight?"

"It's a surprise," he said, kissing her cheek as he pulled her into the small theatre. Quickly, he set to finding seats for them.

"There's only one showing! You're just lucky I missed the movie poster," she retorted. Someone shushed them. She ignored it.

Sokka looked and over winked at her. "How do you know I didn't distract you on purpose?" She moved to respond but he pressed a finger to his lips, pulling her down to sit.

The curtains were pushed aside before they could sit completely and a drumbeat sounded. Suki elbowed him when he oohed, avidly interested like the dork he had become over theatre. She was still holding a little bit of a grudge at him shushing her, too. When her fiancé looked over, she shushed him back, putting a finger to her lips.

He just smiled adorably and wrapped arm around her shoulder as they settled into the play. She twirled a wild daisy in her lap.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	44. Buffer Zone

**A/N:** Hello! Just wanted to remind everyone that there is a real Shinu character in the A:LA series and I'm making up that he has a brother; and I say that because his brother will be mentioned here.

I love chapters like this, just to practice play 'devil's advocate' for a minute. (You know, where you pick the negative of an argument and defend it from the point of view of another?) This is a somewhat short chapter (at least in dialogue), only 2.3k words, and a bit more of a filler for the next one, but I hope it's entertaining, in any case ^_^

BTW: I had to edit this without a spell-check, so leave a word if there are any typo's! I tried to catch them all :)

**Disclaimer: Bee-boop. Don't own. **

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_What weak, inglorious fools we mortals are_

_That war must be, or any need of war._

_And yet, the better day is coming when_

_The teachings of the lowly Nazarene_

_Shall be the rule of nations-as of men;_

_The sword and bayonet shall be preserved,_

_By the fair children of a nobler race,_

_As relics only, of a barbarous past._

_~'The Bluebird', _Andrew Downing

* * *

><p>The dirt road was almost literally in the middle of nowhere. Dust kicked up from the Komodo rhinos and Mongoose lizards and tens of feet treading on it. The military mounts were pulled out of the stables today, as no one knew quite what to expect. But everyone did know how it was supposed to go today - this was just for reassurance.<p>

Zuko barely noticed the wind drying his eyes, the sun beating his skin red. It had been doing the a lot latey; which, truthfully, was better than being cooped up in rooms, meetings, all day. The road he, his advisors, and a good fifty soldiers were on currently connected sister towns Rhange and Natsuno together. It was here and now where he was scheduled to meet Shinu – halfway from the other's occupied town.

Basically, a buffer zone - the peaceful line.

Kaol Lee Shinu brought his own men too. There were a bit fewer in numbers and with significantly less armor and capable weaponry. _They all can probably fire-bend_, Zuko thought, _which makes weapons useless._

It was easy to spot Shinu in the crowd, despite Zuko having never seen even a sketch of him until a few hours before. The man was tall, graying in some areas, and with a smug expression planted firmly on his wrinkled face, tan from years and years of marching in an army. Zuko knew from his father's teachings that it was all in how someone carried themselves. Very few could trick a trained eye into thinking they were insignificant, a nobody, and Shinu certainly made no effort to hide his power over the men at his side.

The Fire Lord held up his hand to the men behind him - a signal to stay put - and dismounted the Komodo rhino. It snorted and shook slightly from the loss of weight. Shinu did the same with his ostrich-horse almost immediately. They met halfway in between the respective entourages, staying more or less five feet apart. Their distance from the others was enough to keep the conversation private. Their distance from each other enough to defend if the other should strike.

Zuko eyed the military man in front of him, calculating. Shinu spoke - saying words similar to those he expecting_. All hot air, not action._

"Ah, I can speak first? This is interesting." He waved his hand between the two warring factions, smirking like an overly-confidant man. It showed. "It's amazing how power affects people, isn't it? These people around us – none of them matter to the world; to history. But us… you and I matter. Teenage fire lord who locked his father away and his successor, the military fire lord that restores the Fire Nation back to its rightful place ruling the world."

Zuko simply stared. He let the man's words go in one ear and out the other. He only watched the man – for signs, for tells of lies, for furitive glances, for unsure remarks. This act, this inexpressible face he wore, only seemed to urge Shinu on further.

"What is peace? Truly? It's just a false curtain to make everyone feel better and safe at night. War is a constant - it always has been, it always will be. If countries aren't warring other ones then their government is fighting their people or their people are fighting factions of others or the government is fighting off pirates. It's a never ending cycle. Someone will always have another to fight, while the inlanders and nobles and royalty plug their ears with their coins and feasts and silks and pretend it doesn't exist. And that ones that do admit it does sneak behind closed doors and order more of it to keep them where they are.

"Bending really gives power, though. You know I can fire-bend. Hardly anyone during your father's reign could get into the military without bending abilities – unless favors were pulled, that is. A lot of those were. I find it amazing how all the soldiers under your father were like mindless slaves, following orders. All this puffing of chests," he chuckled, "means nothing if I thrust out my fist and burned the other side of your face. Anyone could do it, but I would find the most pleasure in it."

Zuko only stared, not even flinching at the remark. He was used to his scar, talking about his scar; it meant nothing now, it was just a part of who he was. It stopped being a threat long ago. The other man grew agitated; _wanting an audience_, he thought. Another minute passed. "But you wouldn't do something that bold," Zuko spoke calmly, at last.

"No?"

"No." Zuko took exactly one step closer. The Fire Lord crown in his short hair knot (so short it could barely be pulled together, him liking to keep it shoulder-length now, despite tradition - or was that because of it?) reflected off of the sun and hit the rebel's cheek. Shinu winced slightly as the light raised to his his eyeball. "No, you wouldn't because there's a bigger play here. Only people that assassinate do it for the attention. You believe the throne, this crown on my head, could possibly be yours. Killing me now, you're burned by my men instantly and one of my advisor's takes power." He shrugged. "For a man of philosophy and history, as you keep talking about, your intelligence shown disappoints me. Like I wouldn't think through all of the possible scenarios before meeting with you?" Zuko shook his head. "Your outrageous demands will never be met-"

"All talk and no fire? No wonder your father hated you."

"-so, here's the new deal," Zuko continued on. His eyes were hard as stone, giving away no emotion. Since his first days chasing the Avatar, the Fire Nation prince had learned much about composure. Inside, however, the man's words lit a small, annoyed fire that fueled his words, booming them out with a cold but resolute hatred. "I'll spare your life. Think of it as a your pass from the Spirit World, giving you a little more time. You go back to your hometown – Ember Island, right? And you'll live out your lavish life on a military stipend and get to pick up a more relaxing hobby. Maybe wood carving – I hear it helps with anger issues." Zuko adds the last bit mockingly but doesn't smirk; the situation doesn't call for mocking _humor_.

"No money?"

Zuko, predicting the fast outrage, merely blinked. If Katara was right on about Shinu being a puppet, his personality certainly fit the profile. "No," he said evenly but firmly. "You lay claim to the pension you're receiving now from the peoples' taxes and not a copper coin more. You don't _deserve _any more and you won't _get _any more."

"You're brave, I give you that," Shinu says after a long moment. He smirks, too, trying to seem smug, but it's false to Zuko's eyes this time. He spots a bit of anxiety underneath it, as though the man thought Zuko would cave so easily. That gives the Fire Lord pause. "You toughened up your voice; dressed up. But I don't buy it. Tell you what… why don't I think about it?"

The Fire Lord nodded. "Forty-eight hours. Two days. I don't receive an answer, I'll come looking for one."

"Okay. Forty-eight hours to the dot."

Zuko walked away first without letting another second pass. He had no fear of Shinu blasting him the back. Most of his lessons after he was burned by his father were in defense - he would sense it a mile away. Besides, while no honor could be found among thieves, honor could be found by military men - especially in the act of death. At least, when it came to dying on the battlefield versus a dirt road in the countryside through a non-meaningful fireball.

If Shinu wanted anything, it was to make a lasting impression, and being burned alive after killing the Fire Lord would only be remembered for a few years - at most. Then a new one would come in and everyone would forget and move on with their lives. Shinu wanted the attention. _Like a baby_, Zuko thought.

He mounted again and set the rhino to a fast pace back to Rhange. Not one of his men asked questions on the ride back. He was a bit surprised, expecting at least something out of Wahyn - questions, advise, plans. Zenan Jaipal only nodded to him, staying silent too. In any case, they'd meet about it later at the school in their war room.

However, as they went back down the road, a violent clash promised within the next two days, Zuko couldn't help feeling something was… _off. _There was a piece of this puzzle he was missing and it was the reason a petty man like Shinu was so confident about going against the Fire Nation army at his doorstep. Zuko wasn't doubting that he could take down Shinu - he knew he could - but he was starting to think he would have more things to deal with than a simple rebel when the time came that they met on the battlefield.

Not even Zuko's father had taken military rebellions lightly, and _he'd _had a terrifyingly firm grasp on them.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_"There never was a good war, or a bad peace."_

_~'Poor Richard's Almanac_', Benjamin Franklin

* * *

><p>Kaol Lee Shinu, back in the privacy of the vacation home he confiscated in Natsuno from an unsuspecting merchant, crushed the scroll in his hands after reading it. The words in it left him reeling and his mind went blank, unable to think up a plan for himself, let alone his loyalists craving the blood of a battle. He'd always had his contact, his partner, planning everything and, without that during what was the be the key point in his life, the pivotal point, Shinu didn't know what to do, think, act like.<p>

Instead, he focused on the crushed letter in his hand. The paper compacted into a small ball roughly the size of his thumb and he threw it aside. It landed near another one of a thicker cream paper with a broken wax seal indicating his family house. Shinu thought back to the letter he'd received from his brother - who was, irratingly enough, still serving in the Fire Nation military, under the new Fire Lord.

_Why should I back down?_ He thought again the same thoughts as earlier when he'd read that particular letter. It distracted him. _My brother can mind his own business. If he's concerned of his job, he can plead on his knees for himself,_ Shinu thought scathingly.

His brother had never seen the potential of Shinu's big ideas. _Always serving up to the master, aren't you, brother? The get-along guy. What about the people with the big ideas - what about people like me?_

But this new letter he just received upset his future plans... _It upsets everything_! He knew he couldn't trust the Fire prince, but he had assumed he would have at least twenty-four hours to ready his people, get into position, and prepare for 'war'. But only _eighteen_? Shinu paced the room. He was furious. His thoughts ran fast, jumbling up, as the insults agaisnt the teenager piled up in his mind.

"As if I'm so easy to get rid of!" He roared a few minutes later, continuing his musings aloud now to the emptiness around him. "Stupid prince boy. I'll personally kill you and watch the light fade from your eyes as I have done many others and I'll laugh. You think I'm the past?" He skid to a stop in the middle of the room. "Guard! Bring me Delajit," he hollered through the door, his rant stopped by a logical thought - _of his own._

Kaar shuffled in after a quick pause. His gaze glanced around the room but avoided Shinu directly, landing on everything once instead, but only for a few seconds before moving again; much like a rabbit cat, arguably the most nervous and fidgety animal in the world. "Yes, sir?"

"My informant in the Fire prince's camp just shared with me that their army will attack in eighteen hours - at just past noon tomorrow," Shinu glowered. "Gather everyone together. I need to meet with them in... I don't know, an hour. No leave, I have to form a plan of attack."

Dismissing Kaar almost as immediately as the man had entered, he then stomped to his desk and found a spare cigar, hurriedly chipping and lighting it. When he turned back around, the calming qualities of the habit evaporated. Kaar was still standing. Anxious and fidgety. Making_ him _anxious and fidgety. It was like a disease.

"What?" He snapped.

Kaar reddened as though he'd been punched by the tone. "It's just, well s-sir,maybe we should think of accepting the m-money; pull back a-and all."

"There is no money available now so just do as I tell you," Shinu growled.

Kaar still stood there, looking shocked. Kaol Lee Shinu narrowed his eyes. The man in front of him seemed lost in thought now and wouldn't _leave_. The rebel leader growled again, in warning this time, and blasted a fireball angrily in the young man's direction; but Kaar's fast reflexes - again, like a rabbit cat - dodged it quickly.

He hid under a broken table for a moment before Shinu spoke, and then hurriedly straightened up, fearing more wrath. Kaol hadn't been serious about hurting the boy, anyway. That's what he told himself. (If the boy had been hurt, he would have probably been cast aside.) "Now go count our supporters and group them in the middle intersection of town while I decide our course of action. If anyone gets in your way, kill them. You need the _practice_," he spit out.

Kaar scurried out and Shinu stood still, his face a revolving mixture of annoyance, fear, anger, and almost painful-looking contemplation as, admittedly, he'd never been one to plan the town and village invasions he'd partaken in two-thirds of his life. There was always another military official there, calling the shots, keeping their hands clean. He personally always liked getting messy, pillaging the houses and occupying the kitchens. It made him happy, for the moment.

It was only after the Fire prince took power over his father that that ceased and he left after being threatened to be moved to guard duty outside some temple on one of the Fire Nation's volcanic islands. It was being rehabilitated or something equally idiotic like that (idiotic in his opinion) and Shinu wasn't going to do that for all the pay in the world.

But now he had to plan for five thousand troops; including himself. Should he stand in the front or the back, with a circle around him or behind him? Should it be a frontal assault or a stealth one? Could they even get away with a stealth one, having barely enough time to go through all of their practices and rest up for the next day? He could keep his men awake, sleeping in shifts, for safety in case the Fire Nation army decided to attack earlier, but would that weaken them more?

The grandfather clock across the room, the only thing left intact, ticked off another minute. He kept it because it soothed him. Reminded him of the days he was first a military grunt. His instructor had one just like it.

But it didn't calm him this time. The clock ticked again, sounding off the hour.

Shinu upended the desk, bursting it into flames.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	45. Captain

**A/N:** This is late! Please forgive me, I've been busy today. The time flew by so fast I actually forgot to eat lunch!

I figured The Duke and Pipsqueak deserved an update, yeah? Short chapter, though. Next one's longer, promise, and resolves this current storyline. Also, I still like Geranu after this. He just succumbed to curiosity! He's loyal as a dog, though (wait, was that a bad choice of words? *shrug*)

Also, random, I checked the total word-count for this story… and it's at 167k! O.O If only I put this much effort into a novel!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of A:LA or the fandom besides the words written here.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The man in the wilderness asked of me,_

_How many strawberries grow in the sea?_

_I answered him as I thought good,_

_As many red herrings as grow in the wood._

_~'The Man in the Wilderness', Anonymous_

* * *

><p>"Charge!" The Duke shouted, running fast across the ramp connecting the two ships. A few men came scraggling on behind him. His helmet bounced off his forehead loudly, the echo of it from his skull competing with the sword clashing around him, but he didn't notice. To his left, Pipsqueak rolled a barrel across the besieged trade boat. The Duke distracted the sailor nearest to his friend long enough for one of their newest acquaintances to scoop it up and carry it below deck of their pirate home.<p>

The sailor in front of him jumped over some fishing nets. The Duke wouldn't let him escape so easily. The crafty boy jumped up on the sailor, latching onto his shoulders. He ducked underneath the haphazardly swinging sword and pulled on a fistful of hair. The sailor dropped his sword. He started batting at the Duke wildly.

Pipsqueak picked up another barrel to steal and made a pit-stop, clobbering the sailor on the head with it twice - but lightly. The young sailor fell to the stained and worn wood boards. He was unconscious - but alive. They made it their own personal policy to not kill anyone. The war was over, wasn't it? They hadn't support any war like that of their previous boss, Jet, and they wouldn't start now.

"Thanks!" The Duke wheezed out. His giant friend grunted with a small smile. "How many more?" He asked over the sound of clashing metal as he ducked another sword. The owner of it was too distracted fighting with another pirate. They both passed right on by as Pipsqueak loaded more heavy barrels of 'riches' in his arms.

"This is the last one."

The Duke climbed the sail's mast, cupping his hands to scream out, "Retreat! Retreat!"

The pirates, hearing the not-so-subtle code word rushed for the ramp. It was thin plank and a few men lost their footing, falling to the other side and gripping the lip around deck that served as a railing. They were helped up on board again. Pipsqueak grabbed his short friend as soon as he slid down within reach and hustled over to follow in suit. The Duke kicked out at a man trying to follow them and socked him in the chin, dazed. They helped drop the ramp into the sea – tossing a few sailors from the other ship with it.

"Go, go!" Someone said as the Captain ramped up the engine. A huge cloud of black smoke billowed out of the metal ship they'd stolen from a rich crew a few weeks earlier and it lurched. Even if they wanted to - not that they did - the ship they'd just robbed couldn't catch up to the pirates as it was wood and sails, not metal and engine.

The metal ship was a newer invention across the four elemental nations and the Captain had laughed with glee when they'd actually gotten it. The Duke and Pipsqueak were tired then, nursing a few wounds, but still crawled every inch of it. They had never seen anything so complicated before - and that ran on gears and coal and wood (if the coal ran low, which was usually the case because coal wasn't something they, the pirates, were used to stealing - the profit on it ow).

The Duke shouted out something resembling celebration with a few other men and then turned to high-five with Pipsqueak. They did it every time.

"You did good, boys," their boss said, coming over to them last.

"Thank you, Captain. But we are still in your debt."

"Ach, I'm not a Captain," he said, but grinned anyway. "And you aren't in my debt - you're two of the best, most ruthless fighters I've had in a while - but you don't kill anyone! I'll keep thanking you for not making the charges against my ship worse. If any men coming looking for you, you're safe on this ship."

"Thank you! Where's the next stop?" Pipsqueak asked, rubbing down his dirty arms with a spare rag. The Duke smirked happily at the Captain's words. He had a few,uh, let's just say 'not so good' relations with some less than shady people - including some pirates too - and was relieved to have some protection. Working for it like this was more fun, less hassle.

Their boss scratched his scraggly beard in thought, glancing about in habit. "I've got a few hints at some good scores coming from Chameleon Bay. Antiques and that sort of stuff."

The Duke snorted. "How do we move that?"

The Captain shrugged. "I'll see, don't you worry. Go enjoy yourself – we dock in ten hours."

The Duke mock saluted. "Yes sir!"

He just chuckled at them, clasped Pipsqueak on the shoulder (whom he was half a foot shorter than, so it was a comical sight each time), and tottered off again. He disappeared below deck. Half of the other pirates were down there already, trying to get some sleep or more drinks or seeking a card game.

"What do you say, Pip?" The Duke grinned, nodding to the stairs leading below deck. "Want to beat another idiot at arm wrestling?"

"I'm always up for that."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_But in her web she still delights_

_To weave the mirror's magic sights,_

_For often thro' the silent nights_

_A funeral, with plumes and lights,_

_And music, went to Camelot;_

_Or when the moon was overhead,_

_Came two lovers, lately wed;_

"_I am half sick of shadows," said_

_The Lady of Shalott._

_~The Lady of Shalott', Part 2 stanza 4, Lord Alfred Tennyson_

* * *

><p>"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Monk Geranu heard the words in a faint whisper as he walked up the staircase of the main temple to see the Avatar. His cloth shoes made no sound. Intending to deliver some news regarding the baby girl the Avatar had taken to bonding, he slowed his steps. He deliberately listened in - to be sure he wasn't going to interrupt.<p>

Geranu had, before becoming a monk, been a servant - and a smart one. During those days he had made it a point to have good timing and to not irritate those giving him his copper coins. At that time, he'd had a son and wife to feed, along with himself. It wouldn't do his family any good to get fired. It was only later, after his grief consumed him, that he quit.

"I don't know. I was the one who told you to keep it a secret but hey, whatever," he heard in a higher pitch.

"I'll just write King Kuei." Geranu stopped at the door when he heard this and recognized Aang's voice at the same instance - just who he expected it to be. As there were no other air-benders, the Avatar still lived in the main temple alone. Well, except for Toph, his good friend. "I've already written Zuko's letter but I can put it in Kuei's to tell everyone else," he contemplated aloud. Geranu recognized the tone. Sometimes, it was like Aang didn't even know another person was there, talking to himself in a quieter voice wavering on being hushed, sounding out ideas to no one in particular.

"Okay."

"What?"

"Nothing. What?"

"Okay, you have something to say; say it."

"I don't," Toph protested. Geranu recognized her voice now as she walked closer to the center of the room. Her steps weren't loud, per say, but the half-moon shaped room echoed easily. Unbeknownst to him, she had stood from her window seat and crossed halfways to Aang, where he was sitting at one of the private-library desks.

"Yes, you do."

Pause. "Fine. Okay, I just don't get why you have to tell anyone at all. If you didn't tell Zuko to tell anyone else – which you didn't – then he'll keep it a secret. He's good with those."

"Because she's another _air-bender_. How can I _not_ tell everyone?" Monk Geranu held his hand up to his mouth, stifling a gasp. _Another air-bender? That's impossible_, he thought but the doubt quickly seeped in. _Wasn't it? Of course it was. But Aang is saying this…. He doesn't lie. _

Geranu nodded to himself, assured. There was silence for a minute. Geranu thought they were speaking in whisperes and he unabashedly pressed his ear to the door. His task and reason for visiting the Avatar was forgotten over his own curiosity.

"Maybe…." Her voice drifted off.

"What?" Aang asked, but gentler this time, curious of her reasons. Geranu almost thought the boy was wanting her to talk him out of it. It wasn't like he was so confidant when the monk first overheard.

Toph sighed audibly; making an obvious point to have it heard. "She's so young! You could teach her everything about... that... and _then_ introduce her to the world. Prepare her like you were - or would've been, you know, if you hadn't gotten frozen for a hundred years."

"You don't trust anyone, do you?"

Beyond the door, Toph crossed her arms and stuck out her chin defiantly. "Not unless they prove themselves first."

"So you don't trust Kuei?" Aang asked incredulously.

"Of course I do," Toph snorted. "But he's so… gullible. I know he knows better now – or should, anyway – since being tricked by Azula but he doesn't see everything. And what if someone reads that letter? He has like a hundred servants! Come on, if I were a servant and saw a letter, from _the Avatar_, I would be fascinated and wanting to know what it says."

There was no sound for several minutes. Geranu considered going in, using this as his chance to act as though he weren't eavesdropping. The guilt of doing it was starting to niggle at his stomach. But then Toph spoke again, so he stood still.

"She's so innocent."

Pause. "Momma-bear much?" Aang tried to tease.

"Shut up; I'm serious," she said affectionately and sternly. Geranu didn't know how the earth-bender friend of the Avatar was able to do that, yet she managed to bristle at everyone and stay warm and loyal to her friends at the same time. "Once the world knows, she'll be a threat and a princess and still only a baby all at the _same time_. She'll grow up being cherished and hunted; she won't know anything else. Her life here is simple and she has a normal family." Someone scuffed their shoe on the ground. "Have you even asked her parents? They'd like to have a say in what you tell people about their daughter." Another pause. "Hah! You never asked, did you?"

"I was going to."

"Aang! Ugh, you're such an idiot sometimes."

"I am not!" He huffed and a chair was pushed back, along with a ruffling of something – _papers,_ Geranu guessed. "Fine, I won't write anyone else. Just you and me and Katara and Zuko and – oh, we might as well tell the whole group. I'll focus on other things, like that self-government city I was telling you about and you'll get your wish on this-"

Geranu, not wanting to overhear a _political_ conversation he certainly was not invited to in the first place, knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. Lately he had been doing that and Aang didn't mind one bit. He figured it would help his appearance of innocence. "Avatar, Toph," he greeted quickly. They startled, looking like deer caught eating garden grass - _not_ wild field grass. "Ah, am I interrupting something?" He asked, nervous about being found it.

Luckily, his own anxieties put Aang's fears of being overheard to ease. The Avatar interpreted them as Geranu being uncomfortable with the awkward, silent stares he was getting from the friends who were startled mid-conversation. He smiled. "No; it's fine, G. What's up?"

"Nothing, just, uh, Halona came into the library earlier today and asked to speak to you."

Geranu managed to remember his original purpose and sighed with relief. He watched the Avatar closely. He wasn't sure, given how pale Aang was to start with, but he thought he saw the boy blanch. "W-what about?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't say. She's at home now; said she would like a visit." Geranu paused for a second, concern washing over his face. "Is little Raja alright?"

"Perfect health," Toph assured while Aang nodded.

"Alright then. I'll see myself out." Geranu stopped at the door. "Sorry for interrupting," he said, partly – _mostly_ – to apologize for his eavesdropping without admitting to doing it. Aang told him there was no need to apologize and thanked the monk for giving him Halona's message.

Monk Geranu walked a few steps out the door and stopped. Nervously, but too much intrigued, he turned back to listen. For precaution, he flattened against the stone wall. However, the wood door was cracked; from the angle, the two inside couldn't see him, even if they were looking for him. Geranu felt guilty about the Avatar trusting him enough to not even close the door. "It'll be nothing," Toph assured.

"I've been mulling over an idea for a while now…." Aang started to propose hesitantly.

"Okay, shoot."

"What if I ask Halona and Perry to let Raja live at the temple? It can be under a pretense of schooling." Geranu, putting two and two together to make four, again held back a gasp. _Raja, little girl Raja, the air-bender?_

"Isn't schooling for children at, like, four and up and only half of the day?"

"Not for air-benders – the temples always acted like it was a boarding school. And, because all the islands were close together, it didn't break the families apart. Most of the population was on the main island, anyway, where the main temple always is. It was easy."

"I don't know. Do you think they'd go for that? They're still her parents," Toph said doubtfully, "and they're good people. They love her. She's their daughter."

Aang's voice shook warily. "I know. Hey, you're the one that said this needs to stay a secret and that she should be raised as I was."

"It does and she should be," she said again. Her voice also sounded tired as she continued with, "This is so messed up. Do you ever forget you're supposed to be a kid?"

He laughed mildly. "Yeah. You?"

"All the time," she grumbled.

Geranu smiled, pitying their situation, and decided to keep the information to himself. Like there was any doubt that he wouldn't. His loyalty was to the Avatar and Peace – he had no reason to share what he now knew.

Raja was a healthy baby girl, oblivious to the dangers of the world. The temples she was growing up in would expand slowly in numbers, a plan led by the Avatar, and the isolation of said temples would do good for her secret air-bending training, and whatever else Aang planned to teach her, too. Her parents were naturally fidgety people. They wouldn't deal with publicity or dangers well.

Geranu remembered meeting them the first time. It was the dangers of the streets, they'd said, of where they used to live, that led them to follow the Avatar to the Southern Air Temples. The couple had been overwhelming relieved to find out they had been allowed on the first trip over. The second trip, or influx of people to the temples, was to come a _year_ later. The decaying infrastructure needing repairs and mending and building in general couldn't take too many inhabitants at once.

The monk in gray cloth continued silently down the steps. A little late, Geranu decided the two friends should have privacy.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of proceeding times. This arises from the fact that they're produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."_

~Niccolò Machiavelli

* * *

><p>"I'm coming with you," she said, hands on her hips.<p>

They were standing around the back of the main temporary residence of all the Fire Nation leaders stationed in Rhange. It was the only way for them to get privacy anymore, away from the tuned ears and prying eyes of servants, and even then there were still big windows above them. Katara didn't quite get the view - it was a pretty valley, probably beautiful in spring when the flowers bloomed, but the other three-fourths of the year, like now, it just looked... plain.

She was not foucsed on that now. Her irritation rose at his look.

"You really don't know how to take 'no' for an answer, do you?"

She rolled her eyes. _Childish_, she kept thinking of the act lately, being around all of the military men, but she could not come up with of any other way to get across her exasperation with him. Stomping her foot would be worse. "I could name dozens of times where _you_ didn't listen to _me_ saying 'no'."

Zuko pretended not to hear that. "You wanted to come here – you did. But _this_ is too dangerous. I have to be there, you don't."

"What's with all this 'have to' stuff? I can't make my own decisions? And how is this more dangerous then all the times I went up against you?"

"I never would have killed you – and didn't," he pointed out.

Katara crossed her arms, changing stances as she thought. It was hard to fight with his logic. Even when the two of them didn't stop for two seconds to _see_ the other person, consumed with their own driven passions, they had the decency to stop at the last second. They didn't kill and wouldn't unless it was a situation of only them or the person attacking them surviving. The rebels were a different story entirely. _Unpredictable_, Jaipal had said. Katara hated to admit they were right - solely because she wanted to help them. "If I don't come with you, I'm going to follow you."

"I'll have hundreds of soldiers with me so how will that work?" He asked it teasingly but she didn't budge; only raised a taunting eyebrow. He sighed and tried a different direction too. "Look: nearly all of his allies are fire-benders. It's not just _one_ that you'll be fighting."

"I fended you _and_ your army of _all_ fire-benders off for two years."

"Largely by evading and running," he pointed out. "And you had Aang with you - and no, I'm not counting your four-out-of-five-times-uselessly-clumsy brother."

"Zuko!" Katara threw up her hands and started pacing. The outrage was from his first comment. She bit back a smile of laughter after his last; about her brother. While Sokka was a master now, it was hard to believe how bad with weaponry and confrontation he had been before. He had the proverbial fire inside of him but none of the refinery. Katara thought it was amazing how far her brother had come. However, she didn't let herself get side-tracked from the current debate she was having.

A small, concerned smile graced Zuko's lips and he stepped in front of her, stopping her mid-stride. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Is that too much to want?"

Her gaze softened and she lowered her by-then-near-shouting voice to respond, "I can take care of myself."

"I know, I know… I _have_ seen you in action before." Zuko rubbed his neck, inwardly conflicted.

She waited until he responded, staying silent. He stared into her eyes the full minute he thought. Sometimes, he got this look on his face - as if he were looking through her. _No, that isn't it_, Katara decided. It was like he was seeing inside of her, what made her tick and get animated and make her blood rise._ It's something_, she decided, _he picked up from Iroh that helps him read people_.

She liked to think it was one of the reasons he, in the beginning of his budding friendship with the Gaang, continued to protect her and stay by her side and propose peace between the two of them. That somehow he had seen she would forgive him eventually. She wanted to too much; it was only the doubt and anger she felt for the Fire Nation soldiers that held her back. But he had fixed both of those in time with two very different actions - both times endangering himself. For her.

Katara could see why he wanted to keep her out of the front lines now, away from the war, but she wanted to help. Zuko saw that, understood that, and sighed when the sixty-odd seconds ticked away.

"Okay, you win. But _only_ because I don't want you to follow us and cause a bigger disruption among Wahyn's guys or accidentally get yourself in a dangerous situation at Natsuno. Stick close to me or Zenan at all times, okay?" He glanced down to her waist. "And you might want to carry more than one of those pouches. For water."

She refrained from jumping up and down, grinning so wide he thought her head would split. However, it didn't, and her happiness was infectious. Her blue eyes twinkled brightly. He smiled a little at her happiness – but it didn't ease his fears any. She hugged him in thanks. Katara then pushed him back after a chaste second. "Go. You have a meeting first, remember? The sooner we get moving the more surprise we have over Shinu and the faster this thing can all be finished and I can go see Aang and Toph before Sokka's wedding."

Zuko smirked. "When did you become so smart in strategy?"

She just smiled, glowing at the indirect compliment. He meant it as a tease, too, knowing she was largely the brain behind keeping the Avatar from his capture the whole time - well, beside the few times Aang did fall into the hands of the enemy.

But Katara ignored that, knowing it was just that - an innocent tease. Their relationship quickly bloomed and blossomed to the two of them being able to constantly joke about the past. Making light of it was easier than holding an unnecessary grudge. Like it or not, those memories bound them together.

"See you in a minute," she said, pushing him towards the alley running parallel along the house and emptying out into the main road.

"See you in a minute," he repeated.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	46. Natsuno

**A/N**: Long scene here and the conclusion of the Natsuno Rebellion storyline! (yeah, I've been promising it for awhile.) Cutting it close, again. Trust me, I didn't want to post late again. I have to get up at 6 tomorrow and now I'll get maybe 5 hours of sleep (curse you, dogs! What squirrel can POSSIBLY be worth barking at at 4 in the morning? Oh right, you work on a different sleep schedule. Humph.)

Penny for your thoughts on the fight scenes? Okay, I admit... it's a _virtual_ penny. But seriously, I hope it's okay :)

_EDIT_: I ran this through a spellchecker now, so all typos _should_ be found and corrected.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! I feel all happy inside when someone reviews/favorites/story-alerts/reads-in-general. Writing this for you, guys and gals!

Also, two things:

1. I write 'bended' a few times, which, I know, it's not a word, but they're bending with their abilities so I'm not going to write the grammatically correct 'bent'. It sounds worse.

2. I'm using page-breaks but that's to separate point of views. They're still in the same 'part' together because they're more or less in the same scene.

**Disclaimer: Alas, don't own. Sad days. Okay, well, maybe not - I've kind of gotten used to this little ficlet of mine.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Skimming lightly, wheeling still,_

_The swallows fly low_

_Over the field in clouded days,_

_The forest-field of Shiloh —_

_Over the field where April rain_

_Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain_

_Through the pause of night_

_That followed the Sunday fight_

_Around the church of Shiloh —_

_The church so lone, the log-built one,_

_That echoed to many a parting groan_

_And natural prayer_

_Of dying foemen mingled there —_

_Foemen at morn, but friends at eve —_

_Fame or country least their care:_

_(What like a bullet can undeceive!)_

_But now they lie low,_

_While over them the swallows skim,_

_And all is hushed at Shiloh._

~_'Shiloh: A Requiem'_, Herman Melville

* * *

><p>Zuko searched the landscape for any signs of life. The sun has risen what seemed like minutes ago - but truthfully, it was hours. Now, near noon, he and his men marched towards Natsuno with war on their minds. It was inevitable that he would have to do this, Zuko just didn't have to like it. He didn't have a taste for blood. A flicker of movement and a gleam of metal in the distance made his eyes narrow. He saw the rooftops of Natsuno - his men being on a hill next to the valley descent into town - and looked for the entrance in the beaten-down wall.<p>

He found it the same time he found the source of movement.

A few hundred men, maybe more, were outside of the town. He frowned. Confusion clouded his mind and he thought about all the different scenarios - maybe the soldiers ahead were only of the guard Shinu had, meaning he has at least a thousand actual 'troops'; or they knew, in which case he, Zuko, had a mole; or Shinu was just about to march on him, meaning he was actually lucky to have planned ahead by an hour or so more than Shinu.

Zenan Jaipal, walking next to him, muttered under his breath in surprise too. Zuko didn't say anything.

Fire Lord Zuko held up his hand a hundred paces from the town. Shinu's men were already on guard by this time, glancing around nervously. They were looking for their leader but he was nowhere in sight.

"I hope I'm not the only one that finds this odd," Jaipal commented.

"No." Zuko simply stared. He decided to wait for Shinu's appearance instead of charging outright. It would be bad to go into a battle without knowing everything and this was one instance where he would completely take his Uncle's advice. Finally, after nearly a full ten minutes, the tall, salt-and-pepper haired man showed his face among the inexperienced soldiers. He looked out of place with his military armor while the men - and boys - around him wore robes with leather padding.

Zuko refrained from shaking his head at the poor protection. Thinking back to Katara's words a few days earlier, and then watching the faces across from him closely, he wondered if there were more of Shinu's soldiers willing to surrender at the drop of a hat than he'd thought - like, say, all of them.

Seeing the many young boys reminded him of Lee, a boy he'd briefly befriended on his journey alone across the Earth Kingdom. Occasionally he still wondered what the boy thought about him, if the taught hate against anything Fire Nation steadily remained.

Kaol Lee Shinu beckoned with his hand, walking some distance away from his men. It wasn't halfway between them and looked a lot more like a trap. Nevertheless, Zuko dismounted and made a sign to the others to wait. He walked out to meet Shinu. His features were carefully schooled, looking like inexpressive stone.

"Surprised?" Shinu asks, holding out his hands. "What happened to my forty-eight hours?"

"You tell me."

"Funny. Real funny," he smirked with a distinct coldness - but there was more than that. Arrogance. Zuko felt a heaviness in his stomach as his mind raced with ideas. "Sorry, prince boy, but I had to make plans of my own - knowing you were coming and all. How rude that is, by the way. Ambushing me?" Shinu shook his head.

"Well, all is fair in war," Zuko simply said.

"And love, right?"

He shrugged and cut right to the chase. "So. Do you have a mole in my camp? Or are you a fortune-teller?"

Shinu laughed. "Fortune-teller? That's good. No, I don't believe in those. But," he held up a pointed finger, shaking it as he spoke. "-you would know this 'mole', but I'd say more of a 'hidden ally' to the right cause."

"That doesn't mean anything. I know a lot of people."

"I bet you do."

Zuko eyed the man when movement flashed in the corner of his eye. He looked over, slowly, almost in a relaxed manner, to see Major Wahyn. The Major was behind him and slightly to the side, coming up to the two other men. Zuko made sure to keep his features neutral and glanced to Colonel Jaipal walking over on his other side. He had no idea what they were doing, disobeying his orders, but he didn't like the way Zenan was frowning.

"Nice to see you, Kaol."

The Fire Lord whipped his head around to stare at Wahyn, shocked. He choked back his a yell of outrage. The man just stood beside Shinu.

"Letters can get boring, I agree," Shinu said, talking about an inside joke of theirs. He continued to wear a satisfied smirk. Zuko was annoyed by it.

He clenched his jaw. and addressed his soon-to-be ex-General. "I've gotten many warnings about your behavior, General Wahyn."

"Maybe you should have listened." He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Oh I imagined your faces many times but this is too... surprising. I expected a little more emotion but maybe I was too obvious? I suppose you want to hear our little story, _Fire Lord_? I'll indulge you as you're going to die or be thrown in a hole in a minute anyway," Wahyn said, staring at Zuko almost the whole time he talked. The Fire Lord matched his gaze.

Jaipal glanced behind himself under the premise of scratching his cheek. _A signal_, Zuko thought at the same time his soldiers snapped into formation, no longer acting fatigued or wary from the walk. The other two didn't seem to notice. "Don't keep me from sharing your life story," he said to stall. A little niggling of curiosity also prompted it. _Why?_ _The most important question_, he thought, biting his tongue.

"Both of us are from military noble-families - but you know that. From your childhood, I bet you were taught the difference. Our families had to earn everything through service; death. But yours..." Wahyn paused. "You just had to be_ born_. I've always found that fascinating. It's the way our society is and I love our country but it always seemed unfair to me. And you - you want to be fair to the people in a way your father wasn't. Hypocritical to the foundation," he glanced ahead of him at the men under his Fire Nation command. "What isn't in our files is that me and Kaol here were childhood friends. The best of them.

"There was this game we used to do at age ten or so. Boys will be boys and we were at a military boarding school, you know. I loved strategy and Kaol here," Wahyn gestured over absently, "just wanted to hit things. In all of the little scenarios our teachers wanted us to play out, Kaol and I had a secret code. The objective would get done - captured a stupid fake casualty or a fake tent village, all boring stuff - but then Kaol and I would turn on everyone else and take it for ourselves. This way, we taught the other boys in our class: you never know who you can trust. The teachers didn't take too kindly to it but we're here and they're still in that crumbling old gymnasium."

Wahyn grinned, seemingly proud at that. Zuko looked at him incredulously. "_You _are the puppet master."

Wahyn's smile held. He was proud of that. Shinu frowned, holding up his hand, a good minute later when he caught on to what Zuko meant. "I'm no puppet!"

"Quiet, Kaol. He's just trying to push your buttons."

Zuko marveled at how Shinu immediately shut his trap. "No I don't care about 'pushing buttons', I'm just curious. This whole relationship here is weird to me," he said. "And you _are_ a puppet."

"This whole plan was mine," Shinu said proudly.

Zuko noticed the twitch in his eye. "I doubt that."

"All this time, Param?" Jaipal spoke up, talking to Wahyn, while curling his lip in disgust. "I should have known - you've only gotten more and more reckless this past week."

He clenched his jaw, ignoring the last part. "Yeah, well, we can't all have good eyesight. You both fell right into my _beautiful_ trap."

The Fire Lord turned his body, preparing for the case of needing to fire-bend, when Wahyn stepped out from in front of the two loyal Fire Nation citizens and raised his arms in a gesture; a sign that Zuko recognized. "Attack him! You have a new Fire Lord now!" He bellowed.

Jaipal kept a fierce gaze on the two in front of them and raised a hand behind his back to prepare to give a signal of his own. Zuko didn't have to look behind to see _his_ troops fidgeting, unsure of what was happening between the four men. The Fire Lord smirked for display. Truthfully, he was relieved more than anything else. Not so much from not being attack by his own men - that he more or less expected not to be - but from now knowing, for certain, that his men saw him as the Fire Lord. And, with that came a loyalty of both respect and fear.

Zuko's eyes turned cold as he eyed Wahyn, who began shifting nervously on his feet. "Not what you were expecting? No, I guess not. You may be their commanding officer, Wahyn, but I'm their Fire Lord," and a second after the last word left his mouth, he burst out a ball of flame.

Shinu and Wahyn ducked readily. Jaipal made a fist and raised it back behind him. The combined display of the attack sign and their Fire Lord attacking made the soldiers start charging. They went around the two nobles as they passed. Zuko nodded to them after watching Shinu and Wahyn flee towards the town with their rag-tag team of protection.

Zuko turned to Jaipal, who stood beside him. They shared a look. It was one of mutual understanding and trust. He nodded and began the walk into town. He was the Fire Lord, he didn't have to fight. For now, he would simply watch and try to find Wahyn, paying the traitor back severely. Soon, the two were immersed in soldiers charging Natsuno.

* * *

><p>Katara did listen to Zuko - initially. She stuck close to Zenan when the troops began moving into Natsuno, stayed back by the troops when he told her, and then followed him over to the sidelines as he went about directing orders. But the heat from the fire, the clang of metal, and the echoing of scurrying feet as many of Shinu's men ran snapped something inside of her. She couldn't sit on the sidelines - it wasn't her, <em>isn't<em> her. There was only so much she could watch before feeling anxious.

Ducking to the side, Katara narrowly missed a fireball. Fortunately, it wasn't aimed at her, so she kept on moving, practically unseen. She took off the tops of all of her canteens and created a shelf of water, lifting her up on the roof of one of the buildings. She landed with a thud and crouched low. The Fire Nation soldiers had reached Natsuno ten minutes ago, give or take a few. They now were spread across nearly every street and in every building. Katara couldn't see how Shinu or any more pals of his would escape. They didn't have Appa.

Katara cupped her hands, crouching over the roof ledge, yelling, "Rebels! If you don't want to fight, put your weapons down and hold your hands up! Our fight isn't with you!" She bit her lip, hoping the Fire Nation soldiers would listen, too. "You don't have to be in this fight!" She continued a few more times.

Hesitantly, when the sounds of battle lessened, Katara peaked over the roof. Many people had done just as she said, looking terrified. A few of the younger ones had dark, wet trails down their legs. She couldn't blame them for being afraid - she would be too if she were in their shoes.

She spotted a ladder going down the side of the roof and took it, not wanting to waste any more water. While she returned it all back to her canteens, each and every time, it was hot out and the evaporation took some too. Katara didn't know how long she'd be out in the heat today, using it. And anyway, it was a habit to save it every chance she had.

The metal ladder, almost blistering her hands, stopped halfway to the ground and she jumped onto the lower roof that ran the length of the edge of the bottom floor's ceiling. Katara wobbled but quickly crouched again and rolled to the ground. _Only a few scratches,_ she thought satisfactorily. Those she wouldn't have to bother healing.

Walking out of the alley, the water-bender quickly sidestepped Wahyn as he came out of a blind-spot to her right. She blasted him with a jet of water and, while he stumbled, rage contorting his face, she froze icicles. Quickly, she launched them at him. Wahyn held up his arms and hunched, bracing. One of them pierced into his shoulder and melted quickly once she let go of her power over it.

"Hey!" She waved over at some Fire Nation soldiers. They came running over once free of fighting another rebel, who had surrendered after being cut in the leg.

Katara turned back in time from watching the rebel, making sure he wouldn't attack their backs, to see the two soldiers blasted with a wall of fire and pushed to the ground by Wahyn. If they weren't dead, they were at the very least unconscious. He pulled out the last frozen bit of the icicle in his shoulder and lunged at her again. Katara ran to the side.

Jumping up on a crate in the alley she'd just left, she stole some time as the military man changed strategies. She did that as well and chose to reduce his mobility. First, she froze his feet. She knew it wouldn't last long and the next thing had to disable was his hands.

She blood-bended, a frown on her face. Katara always hated doing it as it took so much out of her and she could feel the heartbeat of the person she was controlling. Wahyn fell over, crumpling up. Yet he never stopped struggling against the invisible bonds as Katara worked from the inside of his body. Her eyes fluttered as she found the artery flowing blood to his brain and, with a heavy feeling, shut it down. A long, unending line of blood came from his nose.

Suddenly, before he fell unconscious, Wahyn smiled. It unnerved her and she faltered - and then her feet were pulled out from underneath her.

Landing hard on her back, Katara kicked, collided with solid muscle, and twisted her ankle into a soft spot. The man briefly cried out. She took the chance to stand and ran as fast as she could. Looking back, she saw he was one of Shinu's men - and he didn't look like a farmer feared into fighting.

His stride was double hers as he followed her steps and Katara knew she didn't have anywhere to run where he wouldn't catch her even a second beforehand. She stopped and turned and bended a wall of water to protect herself. But she was too slow in turning it to ice and he advanced too quickly. His sword sliced through the water. She only managed to turn towards the building to the left of her. The sword sliced through her side, digging in a good inch. Katara cried out.

The hot pain ached and pulsed along her whole middle section. She refused to take a moment to look at it. While the man winced at her cry, she used the last of her energy to draw the water spilled back up before it managed to soak into the earth. She froze it and thrust it out. It pushed him all the way back to brick wall of the building she'd been on top of minutes earlier.

The man hit the back of his head. His face contorted with dizziness.

Katara paled and stumbled. Dark spots danced before her eyes. She fell to her knees but her mind kept whispering; _get up,_ it said. _I have to finish this,_ she thought,_ and then I can nap_. In the haze, she managed to get up - yet the man did too. She felt an explosion of light-headed numbness and tried to run, find somewhere that she could heal herself. Her mind rushed with worries. It didn't sound like her voice at all as her mind became muffled, disjointed.

However, the man came at her too fast. Again. Katara saw his large, outstretched arm and ducked. Her knees locked together; she fell to the ground again. This time, it didn't matter if she had the motivation to get up.

Her head collided with a rock bulging from the earth. Black unconsciousness consumed her immediately. She sighed.

* * *

><p>The cry startled Zuko. He knew it was Katara because he'd heard it a few times when they'd sparred- fighting for or against the Avatar, or, in the few rare cases lately, just to duel each other - and he knew she'd disappeared from Jaipal's side earlier. Somehow she had managed to blend with the soldiers.<p>

He was nearly half into town now as Shinu's men fought tiredly, gave up, or fled, in that order, and his men were starting to set up posts and military stations in empty buildings; it was only a matter of minutes, maybe an hour, before the small battle was over. Most of his troops weren't fighting anymore; instead making rounds around the town for anymore rebels.

Katara's clothes were hard to miss and he followed the flashes of them that he spotted when not being blocked by his soldiers moving past.

Zuko just turned the narrow side street when he saw her fall. Her eyes snapped closed and her body went limp on the dirt, sprawled haphazardly. He couldn't recall ever seeing her like this. He saw the blood seeping from her side, the droplets of it on the ground, and his heart exploded with rage. The man standing over her was Delajit Kaar. He didn't notice the Fire Lord behind him. Zuko recognized him as Shinu's right-hand. Shinu, he recognized, who was wounded and collapsed next to Wahyn, whom was also suffering - this from a nasty nosebleed on the other side of the road. He hoped Katara did that.

Shinu slit his eyes open but Zuko didn't care about him now.

Calmly, he hit Kaar in the back with an oval of fire, searing across his shins. The man howled and fell. Zuko did it intentionally for the very reason of how painful it will be. Delajit reached back frantically to his legs, only to rip his hands back as the touch worsened the pain. Zuko walked toward him and sent a small spray of fire out at the man's feet. He whimpered.

Zuko pushed him over on his back, a foot on his stomach, and pulled the man up from the ground from his shirt. "Did you do that?" He asked with a low and even voice. The man's eyes bulged.

"Do what?"

The Fire Lord pushed him back to the ground and punched him. Kaar slumped.

Zuko moved to grab Katara when he heard hard footsteps behind him. He barely missed a ray of fire burning his back as he stepped aside. He looked up rapidly to see Shinu hunched over, in a bending stance, trying to conjure up another thing of fire.

He slid his own feet into the stance Uncle Iroh taught him well and shot a bolt of lightning at the rebel leader. He didn't even think about it; maybe it would've given him trepidation, once upon a time, but now it was just instinct. His anger was oddly calm the whole time. Iroh would've been proud to see his nephew using lightning with understanding, not passion.

The air crackled with electricity. The area around the two men glowed... _blue_.

Shinu collapsed like a sack of flour. Zuko walked over to him, feeling more numb than he thought. _Maybe I was expecting satisfaction_? He wondered. _No. I'm just glad this is done with._ Out loud, he said, more to himself, "You never deserved to live. At one time, maybe, and at one time I didn't either. But I was sorry for all that I did. You?" The image of Katara bleeding out behind him flashed across his mind, reminding him. Zuko spit on Shinu, disgusted with the man.

He turned around to see Katara being lifted by two people. Their light red ensemble and unique emblem patches on their shoulders told him they were medics. They lifted her into a building a few yards away from him. It was one being used for a temporary station, he remembered. Zuko breathed out, relieved - for now. _She's in safe hands,_ he thought._ There's nothing I can do..._

Opening his eyes after a minute, he walked down the street and over to where Jaipal and Ty Lee were standing. He ignored the few poorly-covered-up stares from soldiers here or there, bouncing between him and Shinu's body. The men arrested and quarantined off to the side that were previously fighting for Shinu were openly gawking as if they were at the theatre and it was a surprise ending. Zuko ignored them, too.

_Maybe the lightning surprised them_, he mused.

"Can you interview them all?" He asked, looking to Ty Lee.

"All... of Shinu's men?"

He nodded.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she smiled nervously. Ty Lee cleared her throat after a second of staring off into space. "I mean yeah, I can do that. Assess them for loyalty, right?"

Zuko nodded again. "Those that you think are fine you can let go. I trust your judgment." She went to walk away and, thinking quickly, he said, "And tell them they'll get compensation for the... destruction."

Ty Lee nodded and moved lightly across the street. Like a feather, she was gone in the wind in a second. Zenan Jaipal scratched the stubble on his cheek. He smirked slightly but made an effort to keep it in. "I see Shinu's disarmed."

"Yep; and Kaar. Wahyn, too. Who did that one?"

Zenan looked at him skeptically. "You don't know?" One look from Zuko, and he got his answer. "Katara. Where did you find her? She's better than some of the men I train."

The Fire Lord smiled ever so slightly. "I'll give that compliment to her. She largely trained herself."

"Now that's an idea... I can see it now, forcing my men out to an abandoned facility for a week..." Zenan pat his shoulder like a brother-in-arms. "I've got to go rally up my men. I will leave a squadron here while Ty Lee's here. Then I'm off; unless you need us to stick around?"

"No, no; go. The situation's resolved - the military doesn't need to be here anymore," he said. "Now it's just budgeting and cleanup - both fall under my responsibilities at some point."

"I don't envy your job. Not one bit."

"Finally." Zuko said almost wistfully. "I was starting to think everyone wanted a piece of it."

The other man made a small crack about it and bowed before leaving for the post just out of town. Zuko sighed, looked up at the sky, and thought back to Katara. With the wound she had - the little bit he could tell of where her flesh ended and the blood-soaked cloth began - he knew he wouldn't be allowed in to see her. Sure, he could pull his Fire Lord title, but he needed to leave it to the hands of the medics.

Nevertheless, he found himself walking there. Zuko stopped in the doorway and looked around. He didn't spot her. He waited. For the past few years, the teenager always worried about losing the one person left loyal to him; the one person left that loved and understood him. That person was his Uncle.

Standing there, it struck him that, for the first time since his Uncle took him under his wings, Zuko was worried about losing someone else. Losing _her_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_The world is on my side_

_I have no reason to run_

_So will someone come and carry me home tonight_

_The angels never arrived_

_But I can hear the choir_

_So will someone come and carry me home_

_Tonight_

_We are young_

_So let's set the world on fire_

_We can burn brighter than the sun_

_Tonight_

_We are young_

_So let's set the world on fire_

_We can burn brighter than the sun_

_So if by the time the bar closes_

_And you feel like falling down_

_I'll carry you home tonight."_

_~'We Are Young' _lyrics by band _'Fun'_

* * *

><p>Katara felt hot. <em>Not like a fever,<em> she thought, _but like a... wound_.

Her eyes snapped open and she immediately cringed at the light from the candle next to her. Normally she would think it was too dim, but now it scorched her eyesight. Hesitantly, she fluttered her eyes open again, adjusting to it slowly. Katara raised her arm to shield her vision before sitting up and winced.

The muscles running along her right side pulled and split apart underneath the tight cloth gauze. She realized the right side of her waist was bandaged, now, and forgot about the light beside her.

Her long fingers softly moved across the cloth. It was wet. She knew before raising her hand that it was blood. Katara had seen enough different scenarios, being stuck in those healing classes the first week she and Aang and her brother were at the North Pole, that when the cut or wounded muscles stretched they pushed the veins to the surface, creating a surge of blood being pushed out again. It was a bad thing if the wound was past a certain size.

By the bloom radius of the blood, she guessed it was definitely past being considered small.

She grappled for one of her canteens and found them on the table beside her. Opening them, again, she carefully worked on healing herself. It hurt a bit, at first, but then there was relief. Sweet, peaceful relief. It almost lulled her back into sleep.

Katara sat up. She looked around to see a few soldiers on cots nearby. Most of said cots were made up of tucked blankets and pillows no crates. The building they were in seemed to have been abandoned long ago with sparse furniture left in it.

She worked carefully and quickly, healing them the most she could without draining herself back into unconsciousness. A headache came on halfway through, but she ignored it. Most of the men - some boys - were sleeping. _Either passed out from the pain or from exhaustion,_ she guessed, seeing that it was probably night out. But she was guessing on that, too. There were no windows in this room and Katara had no frame of reference to judge the time of day.

Katara moved away from the last soldier in the large room when he woke, gripping her hand. "What happened?" He whispered, eyes still closed. "Did you give me something?"

"Uh..." Her mind went blank, unsure if she should tell him who she was, but she thought quickly. "Yeah. Some medicine. It will help with the pain, so go back to sleep."

He nodded and let go.

She looked up to see a few people watching her closely from the doorway and one on the other side of the room. They didn't look angry or wary, rather they seemed grateful. She smiled apologetically at interrupting them and moved out of the room. She wondered who they were, passively, but figured they were healers.

_Why else would they be there? _Katara thought.

She carefully walked down the hallway into another room, housing a few other men of much less critical injuries. Most of them were scratches or, as far as she could tell, just men knocked unconscious. Katara spotted Lee Hyun-Shik across the way. She smiled when he caught her eye and walked over, ignoring the pain throbbing in the back of her head. She made a mental note to get some water in herself -_ soon_.

"What happened?"

"Ah, it's nothing. One of the men clocked me in the head," he smiled, waving it off. It seemed odd that he could do that, but then Katara wondered if he was glad to have been knocked out. _Maybe it gave him an ego boost - someone actually saw him as a threat_. "What about you? I thought you were..." He looked down at the red stain drying on her clothes and frowned. "What are you doing up? You'll pass out on me!"

"No, I won't," she shook her head. "I'm fine. Water-benders can heal, remember?"

"I didn't know that."

Katara was confused at this and was curious about what kind of teaching he'd received. She thought every Fire Nation citizen knew stuff like that - they'd only annihilated her fellow South Pole water-benders because of their ability to, well, water-bend. "Now you do. Rest up," she patted a pillow from the make-shift bed beside him, fluffing it, and replaced it with the one he was using now.

Lee nodded and thanked her. She moved to the doorway now, glancing at everyone else. But they would all make it without her help - she was sure of it. Katara walked in the doorway and stopped, looking outside. It was dark out - very dark.

"Hey!" Katara startled and Ty Lee seemingly came out of nowhere, almost knocking her down with a half-hug, slinging her arm around her former enemy's shoulder. "How are you? Oh, sorry, did that hurt? Wait, why are you up? Should you be up? You're not sneaking out on them, are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I healed myself," she said, feeling like she'd said it a dozen times already. It was only the second.

"You can do that?" Katara nodded. "That's awesome. You had us so worried! And by us, I mean Zuko." Ty Lee glanced over at something to her right. The water-bender didn't bother to look. Her vision was like tunnel vision and the compound effect of exhaustion and headache pain left her with the relief knowing she could still stand each time she took a step. Of course, she didn't know she could until she actually took said step. "Everyone's more afraid when he's quiet than when he talks - we don't know what he's thinking," she whispered with a small smile.

"What happened?" Katara held her head with one hand, massaging gently.

"You were attacked by Shinu's right-hand and passed out when you fell down. Your head was hit pretty good."

"That's why I have a headache..."

"Probably." Ty Lee eyed her with narrowed eyes. "Are you sure you're alright? The physicians won't mind if you need to stay the night."

Katara waved off her concern, shaking her head and refraining from wincing._ That was a bad idea_, she thought, before saying, "No, I'm good. I remember what happened; it's coming back. I just want some sleep. I felt like I've been fighting all day but it was only like an hour, right?"

Ty Lee nodded. "I've got to go - I just got a quick minute break from interviewing all of Shinu's guys but I'm pulling an all-night-er here. Bye," she smiled and bounded across the street as fast as she'd come.

Katara looked around to get her bearings, calculating how long it would take to get back to the temporary living quarters she was using in Rhange - or if she'd be able to get there at all, it being an hour there as it was - when she spotted Zuko. He stood to the side, leaning against another door-jam that looked into the building she just came out of. She wondered if Ty Lee had been glancing at him. _Probably._ "Hey."

She walked over softly, her headache falling into a dull pain now from the lack of jostling movement, and repeated, "Hey."

Zuko pulled her into a hug and she sighed. He was the only thing keeping her up at this point.

"I'm tired of fighting people. I'm tired of war."

"Okay," he simply said, rubbing her back gently. Katara laid her head in the crook of his neck and finally relaxed for the first time since she'd woken. His hands beat out secret patterns up and down her spine. It distracted her. She liked it. "We'll leave in the morning. Ty Lee will take over everything with the rebels here. You were right - hardly any of them she's interviewed so far liked or supported Shinu. Then," he took a breath, "we'll go home."

Katara nodded, closing her eyes. The thought to correct him on 'home' never crossed her mind. Maybe she didn't have to.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	47. Southern Air Temples

**A/N: **Sorry for doing this next day! I was waiting on getting a book from a friend for a certain quote. Lame, yeah. Again, huge thanks for all that favorite, review, story-alert, and all the like! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME :D

Yeah, so Toph and Aang have been chatting about Raja's situation for a while and are coming to a census on that but then I thought – there aren't many scenes lately where something ELSE is going on. So here's a completely Southern Air Temple chapter, for your entertainment :) It's still focused on Raja a bit, though. But this is as good as a resolution as there will be for now. Raja's kind of in limbo, lol.

(The chapter is set in the same day as the previous two, but is going from mid-day to evening, whereas the last one finished off with nighttime and the one before that was in the morning. So, it's kind of going back a few hours and tracing their steps to evening. Kind of. God, I hope that just made sense.)

Random last mention - I've been reading a lot of books lately set in historical periods so I'm sorry if this messes up some of my writing style. I don't think it has, but if it sounds a bit different, then that's why.

**Disclaimer: *sigh* Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_A symmetry of forces, yes, _

_but not of shape. The roots: a mess _

_of curves. Like slow snakes _

_they incorporate _

_rocks. The tree's full weight press-_

_ing down, the trunk arrows skyward. _

_For humans, centering's awkward. _

_You lack longevity, _

_can't fight gravity, _

_grow heavy. What wayward_

_cantilevering keeps you calm? _

_When sorrow settles, blights your limbs, _

_what dark contortions _

_fix you to the source? _

_Contrition. The light-aimed psalm._

_~'The Sycamore on Balance', _Katy Didden

* * *

><p>"Live in the temple?" Halona asked. Her voice was full of doubt and bordered on screeching as she elevated her voice to be heard over the storms. Or maybe the storms weren't the reason she was speaking so loudly. He had known her long enough to know it didn't take much to make her nervous.<p>

The storms in question had hit out of nowhere as soon as the sun rose to its high perch at noon. It seemed the storms from the Fire Nation went to the sea before hitting their southern highlands and were now bringing the heavy raindrops to the Southern Air Temples.

Aang tried to hide his nervousness at her reaction. "Well, yeah. A few other families will be moving in – Toph and I are going to fix up these places." He glanced around as he said it. The buildings added after-the-fact were good for a temporary stay, but now they were decidedly worn. He and Toph would have to put in the time to build other, more permanent ones. "I know you're worried about Raja's safety-"

"I'm worried about other people knowing about her… ability!" She hissed but with fear in her eyes.

The Avatar boy flinched. He was really glad he took Toph's advice. "No one but me and my closest friends will know."

"But I don't know your friends!"

"You know Toph. They're good people. They helped me defeat Fire Lord Ozai and restore peace – they _won't_ expose Raja," he vowed. "I promise you, she will be safe."

Her shoulders visibly relaxed at that. Still, Aang knew she was wary. He didn't understand it from a parent-child perspective, but he did understand it from a friend-to-friend one. Aang would never knowingly put his friends' lives in the hands of another person he wasn't well acquainted with. And just because he himself is the Avatar doesn't mean he automatically knows everyone. It doesn't mean they should immediately and completely trust him.

"You don't have to move to the temple," he said, giving her an escape. Should she want it. "This was just an idea. You're Raja's mother; you know what's best for her. I'm only proposing ideas to make this easier for you and your family."

She nodded to herself. Her hand rose to her mouth and she started chewing on a nail anxiously.

Aang continued with, "When Raja's older, she will be coming to the temple anyway for schooling. I've actually grouped up with Monk Geranu lately about creating and placing a school for all students in the main temple. This way, no one will know of Raja's gift. All the young kids here will be taught."

Halona nodded, stood, and crossed to the window inside the small living room. She nodded again in his direction. The shutters put on the windows in the stone wall battered from a gust of wind. She stared at them; or, rather, through them.

Aang wondered, briefly, if she was so out of it she thought she was looking out at the sky. Then he scolded himself for thinking that. It was a stressful situation, finding out what they had about Raja, and he still vividly remembered meeting them the first time when they disembarked from the boat, and the second when he - all of them, really - found out about Raja. _They are… easily stressed people. _

The Avatar looked around, wondering where Perry, Halona's husband, was at the moment. But then he remembered – Perry mentioned in passing once when Aang was picking up Raja, that he liked to take Raja to the small dock.

Danae came into the room just then. She was a babysitter on the island that helped with Raja's family. She stopped abruptly upon seeing Aang and bowed. He did so back. It used to bother him a bit, being treated so... _highly._.. but it was a formal custom and, even as a very friendly person, the Avatar relented to it. "Perry took Raja to the docks," she said after going to stand beside Halona.

"He'll make her catch a cold!" The mother rapidly moved to look at the other woman and whimpered.

"He's staying under the overhangs," Danae said softly, attempting to assure Halona. Everyone had been at the temples for nearing on two months so many small structures had been built. Some of these were along the shore. Perry could easily go down and stand by the water, even fish, and not get more wet than the initial dampness from walking there.

The two women said a few more things back and forth. Danae made to stay and start another conversation with her friend, so Aang interrupted, saying, "Like I said, Halona, it's okay for you to say 'no'. It was just an idea - I only want to help make things easier for you." He smiled comfortingly and nodded, bowing shallowly.

He left then and stood outside of the apartment building, under its overhang. Aang had wanted to play with Momo later, go flying, but it was a bad day for that now. Just then another gust of wind came across the island. Aang stumbled out of balance and his right shoulder ran under an eave cascading a small waterfall down. He frowned.

Thinking of Toph and, having nothing else to do, he ran out from under the overhang to search for her. If her knew her at all, she probably had not stayed in the main temple when it started raining. Aang didn't care that he was getting soaked now. He could always bend it out later.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Very deep, _

_very mobile _

_the swarm-song _

_sounds in my chest: _

_not a beat, not breath_

_but an older music _

_remembered—_

_when a head _

_turns on a pillow _

_or hips lift—_

_one gesture becoming another _

_in the room _

_where a shoulder moves _

_close, moves away _

_uncovering a picture-window_

_filled with blossom-streaks, _

_pale trailers _

_that might be rain _

_or flight, _

_but these are flowers—_

_swarming white and eager _

_on dark branches, _

_while the Airbus _

_overhead _

_shakes the glass. _

_~'Swarm', _Fiona Sampson

* * *

><p>Toph came to the temples to escape her parents, metaphorically see a familiar face, and decide what to do with her life. It was a constantly mess of fun and work here - fun with Aang, Momo, Appa, Shaepa, Natima, and many others whom she'd met there and work because she would always help where she could.<p>

Yet the truth of it was that, at the end of the day, Toph still wondered what her life would end up being. _What does someone do when they mature but still look like a child, _she wondered. It was like being suck between a rock and a hard place. If anyone knew about that, she did.

Toph didn't want to run around the world the rest of her life like Katara was doing with Zuko right now, she didn't want to teach her ability kind of like Sokka was doing, and she didn't have a village or temple to run like Suki or Aang.

Or did she?

Appa groaned next to her. Standing, he shook loose rocks off of the rougher, larger ones he was lying on. He turned around and took a few heavy steps closer to the mainland and plopped down again. Fur rolled off into the air around him, only to drift far enough for the rain to crash it down. He was just far enough under the cliff to not get wet and kept moving closer and closer to escape. Toph smirked at that. It was like the big flying bison was a tad bit neurotic.

Toph took to these cliffs as a form of relaxation. The thrill - whether it be a chase or a fight or just a dare - always relaxed her best. Odd, yeah, but the earth-bender long ago accepted she found humor and fun in... _different_ things than most. The cliffs, dropping a good ten feet or so into the water and residing over less than shallow water, were about the most thrilling thing Toph would find at the Southern Air Temples. But she wasn't complaining. It was actually a nice change for her; which made that another thing, besides the letter in her lap, that left her with mixed feelings.

She listened to the rain pour down. It soaked her collar from where it dripped down the rocks behind her. The sheet of water poured down on her stretched out legs and feet. From her placement (and Appa's), a short shale overhang shielded her just enough. Her only concern was if the wind changed. From its direction coming from behind her, the rain was pushed a good three inches out after the shale shelf ended.

Toph thought back to her parents, subconsciously. They hadn't even let her out to feel the rain. She didn't hate them for it, though. The letter in her hands, now crinkled with big rain drops, was from them. Aang was going to read it for her that morning before they got on the topic of Raja again. Raja took precedent - Toph came to care too much about what happened to that little girl that she let Aang go off to speak with Halona.

But the matter of Raja's future was settled now, more or less. She and Aang agreed to just let things... be. Raja would grow up and her future would be discussed again when she was older. That was that. There wasn't really much else they needed to talk about.

So, now her mind wandered. Her correspondence with her parents was nonexistent until this morning - when she finally got their reply to her previous letter. Toph felt a little guilty about it; yet, she wished to have seen their faces. Of course, even if she was there, she couldn't.

_*** Flashback - Southern Air Temples - Two weeks earlier**_

"Geranu!" She raced down the hall of the library.

The main temple had its own private one, but the island's full and complete library was on the eastern corner in a rather large, square (weirdly enough, compared to the rest of the island's architecture) building. Shelves went all the way up the ten feet tall walls and additional bookcase were methodically placed in rows, here or there, split up by tables or cushions or simply large, long halls. The halls weren't so long as the illusion made it look that way.

It was a maze but not to Toph. She could see it all with a combination of her senses and bending ability, which was like a sense in itself.

"Toph! How good to see you." Geranu said, stepping out of a row of bookshelves. "Looking for a book? I just finished organizing the section to your left."

"No, I wanted you help with something else."

"What with?"

She fiddled with her hands. "I need to send a letter but I can't write it myself. Duh."

"Okay, yeah. Follow me." Geranu took it in stride more than she thought he would and led her down the rest of the main hall. He sat at a desk squirreled in the back. He scrounged in the drawers for pen and paper - she knew, because she heard the tinkle echo of the quill, clunk of the jar, and flutter of paper. Toph wondered just how neat Geranu really was. The few glimpses she got amused her. "Do you want to dictate?"

"Yeah," she said, swallowing her nerves. Normally Aang would write her letters. However, today she had awoken knowing exactly what she wished to say. Aang would only ask, again and again, if she was _sure_ if she wanted to be so cold. If she wanted to be so harsh.

Toph couldn't think of any other way. She'd danced around the debate of having freedom or being coddled her whole life, consenting to her parents when they asked for 'time' or 'respect for our wishes'. An ultimatum was all she could think of that was left to use. It was also the only thing she thought would would - _could_ work.

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly, giving her monk friend enough time to transcribe for her. "Sorry if comes out all in one breath. Okay, here goes:

"Dear parents,

"I know you've received my other letter by now. I sent it to you weeks ago; only a few after I left Ba Sing Se; the Jasmine Dragon. I know you're probably furious at me. Yeah, well, I would be too if someone just up and abadoned me like that without listening. But I have to ask you: how did it feel to be so helpless? I was the one to end a conversation with you, not the other way around. That has to be a first for us.

"All I have ever wanted is your acceptance for who I really am. You both think I need protection and babying and other stupid crap like that but I don't. If I need anything it is food and shelter and other basic things like that. Yet if you ever asked what I wanted then I would tell you it's love and freedom. Did you ever ask, Dad? Mother, you always shushed me, didn't you? Told me it was a 'bad time'. I can't count on my hands and feet together how many times you used that excuse.

"So here's how it is. I'm tired, Mom, Dad, and I'm only thirteen. How sad is that? Either accept me or don't but just know that if you don't, you won't ever hear from me again. I will abandon my Bei Fong surname if I have to. I'm a girl, a master earth-bender, and an independent person who's friends with both the Avatar and the Fire Lord. I can take care of myself.

"Signed,

"Toph Bei Fong."

She finished speaking resolutely and, upon hearing no motion, asked, "did you get that last bit?"

Geranu stuttered and repeated it back, signing the last bit (although she stopped him from signing her name and did it herself where he held the pen). He coughed and rolled it up.

"Thanks G," she smiled slightly.

He went to give her the letter but she stopped him. "Actually, can you send it off? I should be somewhere." It was a lie, but he replied that it was no problem at all.

She thanked him again - this time for his discretion, to which he responded that if she ever wanted to tell him, he would be there - and walked off to the cliffs. Momo joined her and she listened to the natural sounds around her and then those of the people walking past. It was peaceful much in the same way Ba Sing Se had been.

_***End Flashback**_

Toph passed the letter between her fingers. Behind her, crunchy, fast foot steps sounded. "Hello?" She called out

"Toph!" Aang's voice said, getting closer. He was standing next to her when he stopped walking. "What are you doing out here? And how is Appa _still_ dry?"

"Because he has a ton of hair - _literally_."

Aang snorted at the comment. "What's in your hand?"

"I got a letter from my parents. I mean, it's a reply."

"You sent them another letter," he guessed. She nodded. Aang sat beside her. "Want me to read it?"

"If you don't mind?" She said.

He took it from her and wrapped his arm, previously pressed against her, around her shoulders. "You know I 'don't mind'. Jeez, how long have you been out here? Your skin's almost frozen."

"It is not," she rolled her eyes. "Now read, twinkletoes."

He did and several times stopped to try and ask her questions about what she'd sent, what had she said, when had she sent it, and then one time, at the end, to compliment her dad's writing style. Toph had just smacked his arm and told him that her dad is a noble - _of course_ he would have good writing style - but that it didn't matter and to continue before she buried him under the rock. A joke, but he still shut up and finished reading the letter.

Now, the Avatar handed the letter back, which she pocketed and sighed afterward. It was both a happy one and a sad one. She could tell his thought process by how quiet he was - Aang recognized that he had missed something huge and wasn't sure how to react. Toph gave him credit for at least that much.

"Okay, so, what did you write them before?"

She took a deep breath and told him matter-of-factly, "I told them to acecpt me or I wouldn't be their daughter anymore."

Aang paused. "And by your not being their daughter anymore, you mean-"

"I would stop talking to them, renounce my Bei Fong surname, and pretend they don't exist."

A beat passed. "Huh."

Toph swiveled her head around to face him. "What? Nothing else to say, twinkletoes?"

"I can't tell you how mean that was because the threat obviously worked," he shrugged.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah. Kind of. Whatever." The earth-bender directed her unseeing gaze out to the sea again, noticing the rain had let up.

In the letter, her parents agreed to treat her as a 'grown-up' (a word, or words, she didn't think she'd ever hear her father say, let alone write) and respect her independence. But they were wary of it. Toph thought, wondernig if it only worked because her mom didn't want to lose her only daughter completely and her dad probably relented to her mom's words, fearing how it would sound if his daughter traveled wtih the Avatar to, say, King Kuei and corrected "oh, no, my name's not Bei Fong anymore, it's blah-blah".

Toph was relieved and a small bit happy - but then she was also worried if it would last. "Didn't you get what you wanted?" Aang asked, interrupting her musings. "They won't come barging in and drag you away. They won't bother Iroh anymore. You can do whatever you want!"

"It is what I want. It always will be; and I hope they don't ruin it." She smiled unsteadily.

"To new hope then," he proposed.

"To new and old hopes," Toph finished. "Now can we get out of the rain? I think you were right about freezing - and I can't revive myself after a hundred years like you can!"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The box elder bugs are on _

_both sides_

_of the glass. They appear to _

_be walking_

_across the sky. The window _

_is warm_

_and full of sunlight. _

_Crawling silhouettes,_

_tender antennae. No one's in _

_a hurry._

_Two Japanese beetles, round _

_and curious,_

_appear out of nowhere . . ._

_~'No One's in a Hurry'_, Michael Judge

* * *

><p>"Grab her!"<p>

"No way, her claws are freakin' blades! You grab her!"

"And you say I'm the softy," Shaepa growled as she lunged for Miya again. The Koala-sloth only seemed frightened by the sound her friend-slash-owner made and continued climbing the drapes. "Oh Spirit World, if Mom comes home and finds those ruined, I'm so screwed." She buried her head in her hands.

Natima huffed and stood from where she ways trying to sketch earlier, going over to the window. She held out her arms to the Koala-sloth. Mina looked dubiously back at her. "Now's not a time for a crisis, Miya. Get down right now."

Unsure whether the animal heard her or not, it didn't matter to Natima at that moment because Miya climbed down and then proceeded to cling to her when Momo came drifting through the doorway again. He glided through the air and then landed on Natima's head.

"Momo! Off, right now! I'm not playing games with you two," she threatened and swatted at him as Miya tried to crawl into the girl's chest. Understatement, that was not. "See, Shaepa," she said to her friend when Momo abandoned her own head. "This is what you get when you try to match-make with animals. Scratch that: _anybody_. Don't ever try it again, okay? Okay?"

Her friend looked up to see the drapes un-clawed and Miya in Natima's arms and grinned. She tuned out her friend's last question and advice. "Oh good! Whew, close call there."

"Yeah because you almost had a mental breakdown."

"Come, Miya." To Koala-slot jumped the distance to her owner and was given a cracker for the obedience. Miya didn't eat them but for some reason liked to play with them. It was adorable to watch.

Natima sat down on the long carpet in Shaepa's living room, inspecting her arms. "No 'thank you' for getting torn up?" She held up her forearms to show a few shallow scratches along them.

But Shaepa waved her off. "Aang can heal them. Now why are you so scared of Momo all of a sudden, Miya? Did he do something mean to you? Did he steal your food?"

Natima fell back and laughed. _Shaepa's talking to Miya like a person! _It was a shock each time she saw it. "You're insane!"

Once more, the other girl showcased her selective hearing. "Momo!" The flying lemur came out of nowhere just then and settled on her shoulder, chittering away. Miya smacked him. "Miya!" Momo hissed at her. She did it again. Momo jumped from Shaepa's arm and Miya followed suit.

Natima sat up on her elbows to watch. "Now this is entertaining." She sent a side-long glance to her friend. "They're not going to start killing each other, right? Because I will fix your curtains but I will not clean up blood."

She didn't get a response because in the next instance Miya slapped Momo and he finally stopped fighting, raised his arms over his head, and made the weirdest face that both of the friends had ever seen. Miya was delighted at it, grinning and making little sounds of her own (they couldn't be called chittering, as they were nothing like Momo's speech, but it was decidedly talk-like).

Shaepa burst out laughing. "That's what you wanted, Miya?" Natima accidently fell back as she laughed, causing the two of them to hug their stomachs from the newest onslaught of giggles.

Momo just put his arms down after Miya settled onto a cushion in the corner. He watched the two giggling bestfriends with a small smile. Or, what could be called a smile. It was hard to tell with animals.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	48. Competition

**A/N:** I love researching for crossbreeds in this ficlet. By the way: A Direcoyote breed I made up here is a cross between a Dire Wolf and a coyote. Dire wolves are extinct and actually a predecessor to the Gray Wolf. They went extinct about 10k years ago. The wolfjackal is, obviously, a cross between a (gray) wolf and a jackal.

Two poems by Amy Lowell this chapter because I've run across her works recently and love them all to pieces :)

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for reading and reviewing/favoriting/story-alerting!

**Disclaimer: Do not own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Cloud-topped and splendid, dominating all_

_The little lesser hills which compass thee,_

_Thou standest, bright with April's buoyancy,_

_Yet holding Winter in some shaded wall_

_Of stern, steep rock; and startled by the call_

_Of Spring, thy trees flush with expectancy_

_And cast a cloud of crimson, silently,_

_Above thy snowy crevices where fall_

_Pale shrivelled oak leaves, while the snow beneath_

_Melts at their phantom touch. Another year_

_Is quick with import. Such each year has been._

_Unmoved thou watchest all, and all bequeath_

_Some jewel to thy diadem of power,_

_Thou pledge of greater majesty unseen._

_~'Monadnock in Early Spring'_, Amy Lowell

* * *

><p><em>Four days later... <em>

Sokka was near a grin with pride. Today was the day his students would spar in an actual competition - and in front of their families and outside-of -class friends. A few days earlier, he had watched on with a critical eye as he decided who to pair with who to best bring out this kid's or that kid's strengths. He was pleased with the results; and, while there were some lazy children in the group (no surprise there), most of them were either quick to learn or worked hard and were eager to learn, fighting for it.

Because of that, some of the duels went several minutes longer than normal. Sokka was pleased to see each predicting their opponent's moves and evading while opposing with their own. Usually it came down to one making a misstep or a calculated (by the other person) error, making them loose. Of course some were taken by surprise, in the end, through no mistake of their own. Some of the kids were faster, quicker, and had a better eye for things. Sokka had hardly any doubt they enjoyed it too if their joyful reactions afterwards meant anything. These were usually the ones that went above and beyond - even if by just a little bit - what he could teach in the classroom.

So he directed them to practice at home and, a few times a week, come to an after-class class he started. His students varied in age as much as seven years apart and it was bound to happen that he would have to separate some of them to better teach them all. Sokka couldn't teach too simply, but not too advanced, either, while he was with the whole of them. It was all technique at this point and the older students had mostly practiced that already, repeating what they'd seen their siblings, parents, the Kyoshi Warriors, or Earth King Army do.

More and more of Sokka's time was spent either thinking or planning what to teach or what exercises to run but he didn't regret that. In fact, he was finding it quite enjoyable.

Sokka clapped his hands and whistled to get the room's attention. The children had just arrived and were milling about while getting ready. They looked up at the sound and came over, some immediately, some slowly, to where their teacher stood to the side of the center mat and waited.

Despite being completely confident the day before, most were now nervous - and it smelled. _If this goes well_, Sokka thought amusedly, _I'll request somewhere outside for next time. This room's going to smell like my socks do after a double-wear._

"Nervous?" He asked understandingly at them. A few of the students were his height and because of that his head bobbed back and forth as he glanced at them all. An outsider not used to it would find it funny just to watch that. A few students nodded to his question, unafraid of ridicule by their friends. They knew their fellow students felt the same. "Good. Look, it's natural to be nervous. It's your first time using your skills for a serious and kind of lasting reason… and in front of people you care about seeing it.

"But the bright side is this is _just_ _practice_! What you lag behind in today you can practice tomorrow." Sokka paused. He was never a big public speaker but he wasn't afraid to speak his mind either and his speeches for the Gaang, no matter how simplistic or silly in nature, had always seemed to work. Or maybe that was his enthusiasm. Sokka pushed both into his words as he continued. "The first time I really tested my skills was when I fought the Fire Nation. Did you know that?"

The class glanced at each other and shook their heads after half a second.

"And look at me! I'm still here; I survived long enough to get better - like learning how to throw a boomerang and get it back. That thing was _hard_ to find in underbrush, let me tell you."

The kids smiled and one even laughed. Another jumped up with his hand raised in the air, and, with Sokka's nod, asked, "How were you able to beat the Fire Nation army? They can all bend!"

"Bending isn't power and you'd all do good to remember that - but it is a scary thing to be on the receiving end of a few fireballs. But with the Avatar and a water-bender by your side, those guys get so careless it's easy to hit them. Even with a boomerang - but don't dis it. The truth is, all the stuff I'm trying to teach you now can be used against anybody.

"I knew this one girl who could take down a whole squadron by hitting certain nerves and jumping around the place. Could she bend fire back at them? No! But they were stiff at boards. Pay attention to your enemy's weaknesses and use the hell out them," Sokka smirked.

It had taken quite a few encounters with the Fire Nation army and the banished prince, now a good friend, for him to learn that lesson for himself. But the difference was no one was teaching him them. The least he could do is share the knowledge he learned during all that time. If Aang - and the rest of them, really - gets his way, there won't be another war for a long, _long _time. By then, it would probably be kids like his students who would be leading the young soldiers into battle. Sokka just wanted to help level the playing field a bit.

"Now!" He said, rubbing his hands together with a sparkle in his eye. "I'll open the doors for your parents and set up and you all practice. Deal? I don't want to see any lolly-gagging!"

"Why do we need to practice when we're fighting all day today?" Another one asked, whining what most of them were thinking.

"Because you're not fighting all day, it's only two hours, and practicing when you have an available moment gives you an advantage over the enemy that doesn't practice. And," he added with a half-smirk before leaving the room, "I don't want to be responsible for any muscle strains. Go!"

Sokka unlocked the front door (he and the students had come in from the back) and retraced his steps halfway to another hallway, going to a supply closet. The competition, being held on the weekend because there were only half-days for schooling then, meant someone had to unlock the whole building just for that one event. Sokka was still giddy at being allowed to do it himself.

"Sokka!" He paused and looked over his shoulder and down the hall after taking a step into the closet. Young Fen raced towards him.

"What is it, Fen? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. No." He gripped his knees with his small palms, struggling for breath.

"Just relax, kid. Did you run all the way here from the docks? Jeesh, it looks like you ran a marathon," he tried for a joke while the kid recovered.

Fen nodded, straightening a bit. His stomach still wheezed. "I looked, for you," he swallowed air, "at the front door, and then the back, and then, then I came here. Obviously."

"Yeah. Obviously." Questions still stood stagnant in his mind. "So what's wrong?"

"I forgot my sword at home. I forgot because I slept over at a friend's house last night and woke up late and couldn't go back and get it - forgot to - and then I came here and just realized it." The nine year old boy suddenly looked a lot younger with the combination of his watery eyes (from adrenaline), flushed face, and nervous hands, alternatively scratching at his neck and wringing at his waist. "What am I going to do? I can't borrow one of the others!"

"First thing? Relax." Sokka patted Fen's shoulder, reminding himself just then of when his father would do the same. "Come here." He walked into the storage room and bee-lined for the overflowing shelf running the full length of the back wall. He rifled through a few tubs, casting them aside when they were devoid of what he was looking for. With an excited cry, he emerged wielding several small wooden swords. "Take your pick, kid."

"Any of them?" Fen asked, a little in awe with gratitude. Sokka nodded and Fen bit his lip, hand passing over them and back again several times. He finally decided on one with a handle painted gray, a very faint darker gray outline of a wolf breed on the hilt. It was hard to tell whether it was a jackal-wolf or a Direcoyote. Nonetheless, it was still a cool design. Sokka approved of the pick. "How did you know these were back here?"

"I put them here," Fen's teacher said, returning the swords where they were with a bit more effort than before - a whole slide of unorganized arts materials and textbooks tumbled down behind him when he took out the swords. "But don't tell anyone because I'm not officially a teacher yet and I can't put stuff in here - if they _know_ about it. Okay?"

Fen made a lock-and-key motion over his mouth and grinned.

"I can see inside your mouth - it didn't work!" He joked, ruffling the kid's hair. "Help me with these mats and chairs?"

Fen did and they lugged the equipment in three runs total. Sokka was impressed by the kid's motivation and eagerness to help in every and any way he could. It was a nice change compared to the rest of the kids he taught. Not that he didn't admire the others - he did. They were all different and yet Sokka loved that, because he saw a bit of himself at different times in his young life in each one of them.

He went to work setting up the large room and mentally preparing what to say to start it all off before the parents trickled in. Again, Sokka wasn't much a public speaker, but he still loved to do it.

Once everything was in the room, Fen raced over to show some of his friends his new sword. The grin didn't leave his face for hours after Sokka told him he could keep it.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Always we are following a light,_

_Always the light recedes; with groping hands_

_We stretch toward this glory, while the lands_

_We journey through are hidden from our sight_

_Dim and mysterious, folded deep in night,_

_We care not, all our utmost need demands_

_Is but the light, the light! So still it stands_

_Surely our own if we exert our might._

_Fool! Never can'st thou grasp this fleeting gleam,_

_Its glowing flame would die if it were caught,_

_Its value is that it doth always seem_

_But just a little farther on. Distraught,_

_But lighted ever onward, we are brought_

_Upon our way unknowing, in a dream._

_~'The Lamp of Life', _Amy Lowell

* * *

><p><em>'...and the casualties are low. Almost none, really<em>_.__ You would be proud. 2nd Lieutenant Shinu caused a lot more damage with his words by the time we actually fought. Don't worry about Natsuno, Aang. Ty Lee and I organized the initial clean-up and she's staying for a couple of days until it's over and the citizens of the town helped too after they returned. It's amazing how much the community comes together - I wish you could see. You'd love it._

_I'll be returning with Zuko to the capital initially but I figured I'd stop by. Do you need me at the temples? Sorry I haven't received a few of your letters - I'll be getting them tomorrow. They got lost while I was traveling. Did anything important happen?'_

Aang chuckled. If only she knew. But he didn't actually write the information about Raja in his most recent letter to Katara - which she apparently wasn't able to get. That was common. No, he'd only told her there was some important information with vague references to Roku and "others like him", while talking about the Southern Air Temple's progress. If anyone opened up the letter, although he doubted it, they wouldn't be able to tell anything from it. He had been careful not to mention air-bending at all in it.

_'Expect me early next week! How's Toph? Is she driving you crazy yet? _

_Hey, I heard from Sokka! He's really excited about his wedding. It's like his new obsession. Suki's doing great - kicking butt with the Kyoshi Warriors. He's so in love with her. Who would've thought he'd be such a softie? I love it.'_

Aang smiled and read the last few lines before she signed off. He picked up the scroll and tucked it in his robe. He scurried up from where he sat on the steps of the main temple and quickly went down the rest of the way. Today was one of the ever-increasingly rare days where he didn't have Raja under his care. She was back with her parents and would be for the next few days until the start of the week again. The system went that he took care of her for a few hours, four days in a row, and then she was with her family completely for three.

It helped Raja's family, baby-sitting wise, and Aang wouldn't complain about needing any more time with the girl - he hardly knew what to do to fill the time as it was. Raja, while being a miracle baby in terms of her ability, was still just that - _a baby_. He couldn't school her in matters of discipline or on subjects like History of her Ancestors. She couldn't comprehend it.

Plus, if he showed her too many air-bending moves (whether on accident or on purpose) then the chance was higher that she would do them in front of other people. It was risky.

Halona spoke with Perry and they agreed to stay living where they were at. Aang told them he was okay with that, in case they thought he was pressuring them or something like that. Really, he was just looking, before, for something to advance the state they were at. But there wasn't anything he could do. So the Avatar just took care of Raja the days she was in his care and put it out of his mind when she wasn't.

So, for now, he was just using the time to bond. Toph liked that. That part was what really surprised him. Or maybe it didn't. Aang smiled; she was always a gentle soul - but just with really rough attitude edges.

He found her around at the southern edge on the rocky cliffs – _again_ – but this time she was earth-bending a pathway out to the sea half-heartedly. Mostly, it was to practice her bending. Appa was not around this time and neither was Momo.

"Be careful or you'll drown," he yelled out once he was close enough.

Toph turned back to him and frowned. "That's not funny - you know I can't swim." Stepping back away from the edge of the ever-increasing length of rock, a little startled by his words, she let her arms drop and legs straighten. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were going to go into the Spirit World today or something like that."

"I will later. I got a letter from Katara."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise and she crouched on the rocks. Her fingers brushed across the sea-foam gathering against the rocks. "What does it say?"

Aang climbed the rocks quickly, almost slipping a few times. He could earth-bend up to her, but the discipline he taught himself after learning all four of the elements and being faced with Sozin's Comet initially took the fun out of it, and, somehow, has ever since. If he didn't need to bend for the mundane things, it didn't much occur to the Avatar that he could; although floating on a spinning air-ball was a regular occurrence. "Come over here," he called, sitting down on a rock he flattened into a bench. Toph scooted into place next to him.

Reading it out-loud, Aang made some comments here or there, echoing what he would write back, and she slapped his arm nearly every time, either in exasperation, laughter, or wanting him to continue reading. Sometimes, it was all three.

That had become their routine lately – him always commenting before something was finished and her berating him about it. Several times, Shaepa had told them now that it was "cute". Each time, Aang shifted uncomfortable on the bench.

But when no one else was around to remind him of that then he didn't remember himself. It was a comfortable routine.

When he was done, he folded the letter back up and pocketed it again. "You're quiet."

"I'm thinking of all the ways to prank her," Toph smirked.

Aang groaned. "Just don't destroy anything, okay?"

"Define destroy..."

"Breaking, cracking, spilling, denting, shape-shifting, soaking, or bruising," Aang promptly replied.

Her eyebrows rose in surprise once more but her eyes twinkled. "That was oddly _specific_. Do you have ideas, twinkletoes?"

"Oh no. I'm not participating. Count me out of whatever plans you come up with."

"Humph." Aang rolled his eyes at her deflated mood. "First thing first when she arrives is to tell her about Raja."

"I know. Maybe she'll be able to help, if there's anything needing to be done." He looked up when a seagull overhead cawed noisily, close, and turned back to see Toph staring off in front of her, unseeing. "Help _me_ with the response letter?"

"If you help me with a prank," she challenged.

Aang sighed and held out his hand, spitting on it. "Deal. Shake on it."

"I like your style," Toph grinned, did the same, and shook his hand. Spit handshakes were something she'd always done but the group had found it gross. Her grin widened at that. Aang practically saw the thought process flashing through her mind and smiled wide too.

"Come on! I want to send this off before noon so it's not lost on the road again."

"Don't you mean the sea?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Toph chuckled and skipped behind him.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_"Let the red dawn surmise_

_What we shall do,_

_When this blue starlight dies_

_And all is through."_

~Opening poem for short story_ 'The Yellow Sign', _Robert W. Chambers

* * *

><p>The taller of the two kicked out but missed the other's ankle by a few inches, instead colliding with the other's wooden sword in a blocked jab. The shorter one slide left and circled around. The taller one fell into that pattern. After two full round-a-bouts, the taller one eagerly tried a side-swipe at the other's neck. It was deflected easily but he was only able to lean back. He stumbled and the blade shifted, swiped down at his chest. It hit its mark. The dull wooden sword end lying diagonally pressed over the eleven-year-old's chest marked the end of the duel.<p>

It was the seventh of the planned total of fourteen duels and also marked the start of a short 'intermission'. Each student is to duel twice in the hour and a half that Sokka had planned out and each time it would be against a different person than before. Sokka, seeing how well the first rounds went, was glad he mapped it out this way.

Young Fen lost his first round but now raced over to his father and mother happily, containing the same exuberance of a winner. From what Sokka could tell, they didn't seem to mind either.

He spotted Suki and Celeigh from across the room halfway through the third duel and now went to embrace his fiancé. Celeigh was already moving out of the room by this time. To the bathroom, probably, like many other people were doing. Suki giggled when he embraced her. "What will people think?" She teased.

"That I love you...?"

"Oh, yeah, that." She kissed him softly. Pulling back too soon for his liking, she said, "Everything's going great. This was a good idea, Sokka. I like it."

"Thank you. It wasn't too... I don't know, hoity-toity?"

"Nope." She glanced around the room. "How's your prodigy doing? I had to step out with Ishi for a minute and I think I missed his battle. Celeigh didn't get here till later, so yeah. Did he do good?"

"My prodigy?" Sokka asked, genuinely confused.

"Fen," Suki half-smirked, half-smiled shyly as she continued, "He's what I imagine you were like when you were younger, you know."

"You think?" Sokka said aloud distractively, more to himself than as a question to her.

"What did I just say? Never mind, scratch that. I don't want to know what you 'heard' because you obviously weren't listening to me." She just rolled her eyes. It hardly affected her at all - she just waited for him to get back to the planet. Most of the time he was goofing off anyway so if she could put up with that, then the Kyoshi warrior could put up with him occasionally spacing out.

"He did good," Sokka turned and tuned back in again, picking up where they were five minutes ago. "He lost but it didn't affect him at all - he's just thinking about how he can get better and better. He likes to play around more than practice but he _is_ eager to learn. I was thinking maybe his normal teachers aren't really pumping him up, you know? You've got to admit some of these people are _boring_."

"You should take him under your wing," she suggested.

He opened his mouth to respond but stopped when he saw the time from the clock on the far wall. "Gotta go. Catch you later for the opening of the Winter festival?"

"I'll be waiting right here to go with you," Suki promised, rocking her feet back and forth and planting them again firmly on the worn wooden boards. Celeigh returned then.

"Sokka! It looks to be going wonderful from back here."

"Thanks, Celeigh."

She smiled and he smiled back at the both of them, nodding slightly before calling all of the students back to assembly. Sokka looked at his notes and picked up the pen, marking another pair of names. The two kids, hearing their names a minute later, lined up on the mats, did the duel greeting, and set to 'work'.

He paid attention only about half of the time as he pondered what his fiancé had said. _A prodigy_? He wasn't afraid to admit he watched the kid a bit more after helping him that one day - he just wanted to make sure Fen continued to do well. But taking Fen under his wing? _Wouldn't that be a bit... biased to the other students? Maybe_, Sokka concluded.

Still, he liked the idea_. Fen__'__s a good kid. _

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	49. Letter From You To Me

**A/N:** A completely Iroh-centric chapter! Oh I had so much fun writing this, you have no idea. I completely adore Iroh, as I have made it abundantly clear by now, I'm sure, and I hope I've carved out two distinct writing styles between him and Ursa. Sorry if this isn't as interesting to some, but I can't help exploring the relationship between Iroh and Ursa some more. They're two fascinating characters with similar pasts and ideals - and from the same era, too. Icing on the cake (so to speak).

I'm adding in the idea here that the Fire Nation Royalty always had vacation homes (duh) and that Azulon's was at Fire Fountain City (the city which has a statue of Ozai in the middle of it, breathing fire). This idea stems from Ozai's beach house on Ember Island.

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is this fanfiction. Okay, and my computer, and my notebooks, and… yeah, you get the point.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Once it smiled a silent dell_

_ Where the people did not dwell;_

_ They had gone unto the wars,_

_ Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,_

_ Nightly, from their azure towers,_

_ To keep watch above the flowers,_

_ In the midst of which all day_

_ The red sunlight lazily lay._

_ Now each visitor shall confess_

_ The sad valley's restlessness._

_ Nothing there is motionless-_

_ Nothing save the airs that brood _

_ Over the magic solitude._

_ Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees_

_ That palpitate like the chill seas_

_ Around the misty Hebrides!_

_ Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven_

_ That rustle through the unquiet Heaven_

_ Uneasily, from morn till even,_

_ Over the violets there that lie_

_ In myriad types of the human eye-_

_ Over the lilies there that wave_

_ And weep above a nameless grave!_

_ They wave: - from out their fragrant tops_

_ Eternal dews come down in drops._

_ They week: - from off their delicate stems_

_ Perennial tears descend in gems._

_~'The Valley of Unrest',_ Edgar Allan Poe

* * *

><p>Iroh tapped his wooden desk top, his mind wandering. His fingers went in a sequence, thumb to pinky, all of them following a millisecond behind the other. It helped him think. A short couple of days ago, he received Ursa's letter. At first he thought it was one of Zuko's - the same Fire Nation Palace emblem stamped the wax. His first clue should have been the ribbon tied around it. Gold, with white fringes; it was completely unconnected from the Palace in any and every way. No one would've put that on a letter, let alone Zuko.<p>

However, he hadn't checked his mail for a good week and a half before then. He'd pick it up, deposit it in his upstairs apartment, and then leave it sitting there, collecting dust.

The Jasmine Dragon customer bank had increased three-fold and, with the winter temperatures starting to descend in the desert at night, many people starting going out for hot drinks - like tea - instead of cold. When he wasn't exhausted and falling into bed, he'd sift through the letters to make sure none of them pertained to the business of Jasmine Dragon. He knew none of his correspondence with his nephew, the Avatar and Gaang, and his old friends were of any life or death importance.

He knew it was rude, taking the time each morning to work-out and set up the Jasmine Dragon (of which had a capable manager already) and not take the time to answer any letters, but for the first time he had a life not dictated by his birth or title. Iroh was going to enjoy that and the peace it brought every chance he got.

As soon as he read Zuko's first letter, detailing how he was going to Rhange, Iroh tore through the rest. His nephew was in a dangerous, potentially _deadly_ situation, and he hadn't been able to offer any words of advice? But, on the other hand, he was proud. While he, having much experience, could've told his nephew right away that Wahyn was up to no good and that if there was any mole, it would be that man, he was also proud of how quickly and efficiently Zuko handled the situation.

It was easy for someone to be taken surprise by a traitor. His nephew wasn't shocked so easily.

As soon as Iroh saw that the ribbon letter came from the _actual_ Palace and not on the _road_ with Zuko, he cast it aside. He knew who it was from. He has already torn the seal and taken a peak. The handwriting was still the same.

_***Flashback - Teenage years - Azulon's cliff retreat, Fire Fountain City**_

Young Iroh slid along the walls. He'd seen her walk past here earlier and now heard her scribbling away in one of the empty guest rooms - the one on the other side of the wall, to his back. If it wasn't her, well, Iroh would just apologize to the servant and promise not to tell of them trying to... _do_ whatever they were doing.

Once or twice he'd caught one of them reading a book off of the library shelves while dusting or writing a letter in horrible spelling to their families, who usually didn't live at the capital or around the palace. He wouldn't lash out at them - they were just innocents. Like him.

"Bah!" Iroh yelled, leaping through the door.

It was Ursa after all. She startled back out of her chair and her hip slipped from the edge, sending her crashing to the floor. Like she always did, she giggled at his antics and just shook her head, not getting upset in the slightest. "Iroh! What is wrong with you, sneaking up on a lady like that? Very rude. Look what you've done - my skirt's messed up."

"Your reactions make the blow to my reputation worth it," he replied cheekily.

"Help me up," she pleaded, and he did, taking her elbows gently. When she was standing once more she brushed imaginary dirt off of her skirts while fixing them. Her hair was let loose today, with two small braids going down each side and tied off with gold twine matching the Fire Nation colors. Or maybe it was some kind of cloth. Iroh wasn't the best judge of those things. All he did know is that only a noble like her could get away with that very un-Fire-Nation hairstyle.

"What are you doing in here?"

"This room has the best view," she gestured over to the embankment of windows.

"But they only show the cliff. You can't even see the sea."

"No, but the sun rising is so beautiful. It makes all the rocks glitter," she said with a small smile, looking out. She then turned back to him and gestured to the desk. "I'm practicing my handwriting." Ursa sat back down and he followed, standing behind the chair. "What do you think?"

He could hear the eagerness in her voice and almost laughed. "Your handwriting is way better than mine. Don't let my Father see it or he'll be after me again."

"What about the 'g' loop, here," she pointed, biting the inside of her cheek.

Iroh shook his head. "Ursa, it's great. You could be a professional pen master, scribbling down all the old scrotes ramblings." She grinned. "Now come with me, Ozai wanted me to get you. He has a surprise for you." He held out his hand and she took it, briefly disconnecting to link her arm through his and then slid her palm against his again.

"Is it a good surprise or a surprise I'll have to fake being happy at?"

Iroh chuckled. "I hope you'll like it because I helped plan it."

Ursa batted her eyelashes, teasing, "And you thought I was the one hiding something and being all mysterious."

"You got me," he quipped.

_***End Flashback**_

Iroh unrolled the scroll again and stood by the window, pushing back the curtains so they were fully open instead of cracked. The sun was just beginning to rise and it was still quite shadowed outside. Lighting a candle for only ten minutes use would be tedious, and a waste, so he strained his eyes to read.

_'Dear friend,_

_You don't know how many times I've re-written this letter. Where to begin? I guess it should be with an apology._

_I'm sorry for raiding your safe like I did. I was just so desperate. But you do understand, don't you? Please tell me you do. You're my only friend left - besides Zuko, but children don't count, do they? Or maybe they do. You and I have known too many past friends that have horrible familial relations. Maybe blood doesn't buy loyalty after all._

_Iroh, you did such a wonderful job with him.'_

The ink blotted at the period point, as if she was unsure what to put next. Once Iroh read on, he understood why.

_'His scar. Zuko wouldn't tell me the full story and I don't blame him - he has moved past it, for which I'm very glad. You were there, weren't you? Was there nothing you could do? No, sorry, that's unfair of me. I know there's nothing. I know what those meetings are like - if you had interrupted, it would've been far worse for both of you. Ozai's temper was almost unmanageable at the end._

_Zuko told me everything, you know. Some areas were a little light on details but I can understand why. A few times when listening to him speak, I got the impression that Zuko was far closer to the breaking point then than he'd realized and you pulled him back. You have no idea how much I'm in your debt, Iroh. To think my baby boy was treated like an outcast... Never mind. It's in the past, and I'll leave it there._

_So many things are in the past, aren't they?_

_He found me. Or I guess you did, didn't you, Iroh? Did you ever stop looking? Did Ozai ever _start_? I don't know whether to be glad or sad that he never looked, never cared. _

_I'm _sorry!_ There are just so many things running through my mind... you're my connection to the past and Zuko to my present. He's so grown up! He was so small and soft when I left. Remember how I used to joke about his hair staying so soft for the longest time - like a baby's hair? It's the little things I remember now, like that. Did he grow up fast? Please tell me he didn't. I want to savor the image of his childhood lasting as long as possible. He deserves that._

_Azula... is she... just tell me. Please. I'm begging you here, Iroh. Is she alright? Zuko won't tell me much but I know it's because he's trying to protect me. He tells me she's safe and that she's not in prison like Ozai. That comforts a bit but a mother never stops worrying. _

_The things Zuko talks about... was she that... bad? I didn't think Azula would suffer so much but I guess I was that blind. She had so much favor with Ozai, I thought he would allow her to be babied. _

_Is it my fault? Of course it is - I'm her mother. I'm her guardian, the angel supposed to protect their innocent as long as possible. Instead I left her in Ozai's hands. What a fool I was. I still am. Am I wrong to think of him as two separate people? It's like he just snapped... I still can't believe it. I can't even really pinpoint the time, either. But you were his brother so maybe you always knew he could be like that... on the inside..._

_My baby girl did the same, didn't she? I should have seen that one of them would end up like him; maybe it was inevitable. I will never stop blaming myself for being naive to think she would get a safe life (at the very least safe from his wrath and pressure) by being his favorite. He was always about the fire, wasn't he? And she was always so good...'_

A few irregularly round splotches blurred some of the ink and distorted the color of the paper. _Tears._ Iroh cleared his throat and read on.

'_Oh Spirit World, I'm never going to be able to think of her situation and life without choking up, will I? Zuko promised to take me to see her as soon as I'm ready. The truth is, and this is for your eyes only, I don't think I will ever be ready. What if I see her and she rejects me? What if she is far beyond help? What if she doesn't recognize me? What if she doesn't let me _help_ her? _

_I can't bring myself to think she would hurt me. Azula became many things, I hear, but I don't think she could do that now. Not after the physical hurt she did her brother. Is that me being a fool too? _

_Be honest with me, Iroh, because you were the only one that ever was. I haven't been known as Ursa, Fire Lady of Fire Lord Ozai, for years now. I have not been in this life or in the middle of this turmoil for so long. Surely I'll be blindsided at least once..._

_Enough about me, though, because I don't want to sound like a complainer! I always hated people that pitied their lives. I don't pity mine - in the end, it has all worked out. For now. _

_You opened a tea shop! Why am I not surprised, Iroh? Oh, I love the name Jasmine Dragon. It's so poetic - wait, you already thought of that, didn't you? How is it going? Are you doing well? I remember when you went through that faze of trying to read everyone's tea leaves. I think you lived on a tea for a week! But your father put a stop to that._

_I'm glad to see you never outgrew the tea. It suits you. You always were too calm and peaceful on the inside to be one of the Fire Royalty or Fire Nation Army, despite how much you conformed for your family._

_I took flowers to Lu-Ten's crypt the other day. Said hello, wished him well on the other side. They were white Cosmos flowers - for peaceful remembrance. I bet you he's looking over from his place in the Spirit World and is glad at how well your life's ended up. Both of you should be proud of the other.'_

Iroh blinked away dry tears, thinking of his son. Years ago he had cried the last of the tears he would ever be able to, but he still got the choked feeling in his throat. Coughing loudly for a minute, he tried to clear it and focus back on the letter. It was so _Ursa,_ jumping from one worry to another.

_'Katara is a sweet girl. The last water-bender of the South Pole? I feel all warm when I see her and my son together; they balance each other well. It's so amazing, seeing my son this way. He is just the way I always imagined him to be when he grew up. I have no fears of Zuko becoming like Ozai when I see them side by side; none at all. Neither of them are naive. Silly and young, sure, but not naive. They've seen what this world can hold and the shadows that will always lurk if you don't have a light to keep them at bay._

_Fitting. The light during the day and the light at night. _

_Stop me, Iroh, before I think up a hundred more little clichés for the two of them._

_I'm missing a thousand questions to ask you, I know, like how have you been, what's new, but I know you'll tell me it all. Make your response as lengthy as possible, please. I can't wait until we see each other again - I've forgotten the sound of your voice. Is that odd to say? Don't respond to that, I already know._

_Well I've gotten this far, I can't very well tear up this letter too, now can I? If I'm absurd in any part of this, please just ignore it. I have this weird thought that if I read it over, I'll cry and ruin the ink._

_I hope you're doing as well as Zuko said, Iroh. I'm glad you have found peace too._

_Forever and Always a Faithful Friend,_

_-Ursa'_

Iroh set the letter down on the desk, still standing by the window, replaying her words through his mind. Down below in the large cobblestone alley behind the Jasmine Dragon and his second story apartment, servants from restaurants and tea shops nearby bustled back and forth with last minute errands. Their footsteps and shouts broke the morning stillness.

_***Flashback - Two weeks earlier - Two days after Zuko finds Ursa**_

It was another letter this time, as it was his only connection to his young friends now. Iroh had opened it, reading through his nephew's stilted sentences and explanations, questions and advice-seeking words, while preparing a pot of tea. He debated for a good five minutes before settling on a mint mixture - he felt like trading spice for coolness, this morning.

Zuko often formed his replies over several days and Iroh paused in reading once he reached another break. He brewed the tea, deposited the leaves back in a dish, which he put in the windowsill to dry them out for use again, and mixed in some sugar, tasting for accuracy. It was a little bittle in the after taste but the first wash across his tongue was sweet and uniquely cooling in the way only mint can do. Iroh took a handful of berries and sat in a corner chair of his living room. He picked up the letter again.

_'I found Mother.'_

Iroh dropped the berries.

_'I still can't believe it. Remember when I mentioned a young girl whose son Katara healed back in the town and island of Jarro? Her name was Tadame and she greeted us, by accident, when we arrived at Hemero-Callis. She works for Mother - who she knows as 'Saru', by the way._

_Mother opened a flower shop a couple of years ago - four, I think - and has been running it this whole time without anyone discovering who she is.'_

Iroh shook his head. _A flower shop? _He didn't expect that. He shouldn't be so surprised, though. _She always did like her garden, the great outdoors, her turtle ducks_. _Maybe it was a way for her to still connect,_ he mused.

Reading the rest of the letter, Iroh let his tea grow cold and the purple-red stains stick to the wood floor.

_***End Flashback**_

Iroh shook both the memories and her words from his mind with a greater effort than should be necessary as he cleared off his desk to compose his own letter. The sun had somehow risen without him sensing it, or seeing it, and the light flowed into his room rapidly.

The ink dripped onto the paper from where the pen was poised in his hand. No words were formed.

Suddenly, he had a very good idea as to what it was like for Ursa, his dear friend. What do you say to a person whom you haven't spoken with for nearly a decade? Where does one even start? How do you speak with them as if no time has passed when so much has changed that, besides wearing the same face, you wouldn't even recognize them on the street?

No matter how much he tried to kid himself, however, Iroh knew he would always recognize her, even if he was just looking at her soul. He knew her too well, too long.

_'Dear Sweet Ursa,_

_No, I never stopped looking for you.'_

He paused, took a deep breath, and then wrote with fast, inelegant strokes. Teenage Ursa would tease him for it.

_'And yes, I helped lead Zuko to you, but I bet he's already told you about the origins of his first big break in looking for you. You were good, I give you that. I never thought you would be able to hide that easily, but you did. The coins you took only gave me a few leads but they did give me the last one, which I shared with Zuko - although you probably already know about that lead, as Zuko would've shared it._

_The truth is, I didn't look that hard. I did, but I didn't. It's hard to explain, Ursa. _

_I knew you didn't want to be found and I knew, at the time, that neither Ozai nor Zuko nor Azula would look actively for you if I told them I was close to finding you. Ozai: I have no idea, now, how far he would've gone and whether it was the find you or keep you hidden. Zuko felt too pressured to speak much more of you the week after you left and Azula... she pretended as though you didn't exist, that you abandoned them. It was her own way of coping, you understand, and with Ozai there, constantly pushing her to be more, to be better than whatever imaginary being he created to be her expectation, she also adopted all of Ozai's lies as her own._

_I tried my best with Zuko and saw him like a son. He was such an angry boy for a long time - I could only do so much in trying to calm him. But he wasn't agry at you. I know you'll immediately think that, but don't._

_If you want to thank anyone, truly, thank the Avatar when you meet him. That boy took Zuko down a peg or two time and time again and forced Zuko to confront some things about himself, allowing me in after to help him accept it all. His situation was far from ideal but some things, like jailing Ozai, had to be done and making a break from Ozai also had to happen._

_I didn't like seeing it myself, told him that over and over, but sometimes you can't fight fate. And yes, despite how I was the last couple of times I saw you, I have come to accept things like fate and destiny. No matter what, some things just happen and one has to accept that._

_I wish I could have done something during that fateful meeting - the day Zuko turned from boy to man. You see the scar now, feel the heartache at the retellings, but I was there each day that he was lying in his room, moaning in agony, the doctors constantly flowing in and out of the room as they fought to save the skin and his eye. Luckily it was miraculously unaffected._

_Ursa, I am not saying that to be mean or hurtful to you in any way. You know me too well for that, just as I know you. What I'm trying to express is that day forever changed Zuko by making him separate from his 'family' and it's the day I started becoming protective over him like a true father is. That day also helped me in accepting Lu-Ten's death and moving forward to a life filled with more love and happiness._

_Sometimes I am thankful for what happened that day. Is that wrong? Is it wrong that now, in the end of yet, all of us have found so much good from the path we were set on from days like that?_

_Yes, Zuko is quite grown! He has a lot of the Fire Nation Royalty features in him - and, if you ask me, he looks much more like you than Ozai. It's hard to tell at first, but he has slightly softer features than Ozai. His eyes sparkle lightly, like yours, instead of darker, more brown, like Ozai's._

_Azula fell. There's nothing else I can say to explain, easily, what happened. _

_It broke my heart but I long ago saw how susceptible to power she is, just like Ozai. Maybe with a different childhood she could've ended differently but it's all guessing. It gives me peace of mind to think that she would have always had some kind of crisis of conscience like this and I'm then relieved that Zuko survived her attack in the end and got her the help she needed._

_Azula's in a mental ward now. That he has told you. It's one kept secret from the public as it's generally used for war criminals but it is also one of the best. He has the best people working with her and is following all of her progress with a close eye. Zuko inherited your gift for ordering thoughts and filing ones away for later so they don't bother the concentration he needs to have on other things, like matters of state. _

_Before he went to Rhange, he visited her. He wrote me and told me._

_Azula's doing better, but he's right - you shouldn't see her now. I'm sorry, Ursa, but she's not the girl you love and know in your heart. But you being back is helping her. Let her get her own peace of mind and ready herself for seeing you again, before you visit. Zuko will tell you when that is. I know he will, even without talking to him; but I will send him a letter and mention it anyway._

_Don't feel bad about not going now, Ursa. If you're angry later then blame it on my advice here and now but wait. Just know she's doing much better. Even at a distance, you're helping her, as a mother does. Even at a distance, an _angel_ does have influence._

_Ursa, you've never been a fool. We have all been naive at one point or another in our lives but you were never a fool - just an idealist. You wanted life exactly so and some things were simply out of your control, but your instincts were never wrong. Don't doubt yourself, I tell you, because you are doing it too often. _

_Did you doubt yourself when on your own? Every day, I'm sure. But stop. You never much doubted yourself around me before - think down to what you really believe and stick to it. Of the two of us, you had the best instincts. _

_Yes, I opened a tea shop. You must come see it as soon as you can. In fact, have you heard of a young couple's wedding, Sokka and Suki? If you haven't, ask my nephew or Katara - better if it's Katara, as Sokka's her brother - and you'll be told all about it. They're getting married at Kyoshi Island and when you come with my nephew for the wedding I will take you back with me for a few days to Ba Sing Se so you can see the Jasmine Dragon._

_See? We're already making plans._

_In the beginning of your letter, you asked for forgiveness. You don't need it, Ursa, because you never had anything to be sorry for. I _wanted_ you to take that money. I _wanted_ you to get out while you could. Don't apologize. I would be sorry each and every day if far worse happened to you because you stayed._

_The tiles fall where they may and sometimes selfish choices need to be made. It will all end well, you'll see. I promise.'_

Iroh added another lengthy paragraph after lengthy paragraph as he detailed his life so far and shared what he knew of Katara to feed her curiosity. He thanked her for putting flowers on Lu-Ten's grave, at the end of the letter, and signed off sadly. Writing, it almost felt as if he were speaking with her here and now. He wasn't, of course, but Iroh remembered her voice well.

Hopefully she would accept his plans to visit Jasmine Dragon after Sokka and Suki's wedding - it would be the earliest time he would see her and it would be the most convenient occurrence for meeting up, too.

Iroh sealed the letter with a thick wax seal and, stopping at the back door, took the stray ribbon from her letter and tied it onto his. A small thing, but when they were teenagers they would always do little things like that, teasing each other. As the memories surfaced again, Iroh couldn't help but feel the same eagerness to continue on the tradition as he'd felt back then when he was just a boy.

_***Flashback – Teenage years – Azulon's cliff retreat, Fire Fountain City**_

"Okay, this is where I stop," Iroh said next to her cheek from behind. After leaving his father's house, he had quickly put his hands over Ursa's eyes. She giggled and asked if it was another surprise they managed to hide horribly. He told her no, that it was a surprise meant to be out in the open, she just couldn't see it. She smiled at that and let him lead her. "Close your eyes."

"Wait," Ursa said, turning around. Her eyes were wide open and she took a daisy from a pocket lining the inside of her lengthy dress. It was slightly wilted and had lost half of its petals already. The white petals were more gray than white; it looked out of place in the brightness of the beach. "You forgot it on the swing this morning."

"No I didn't, I left it there for you to find."

"It could've gotten blown away with the wind!" She smacked his arm and held it out sternly. He took it. "Now don't lose it again, you hear?"

"When did we even start these games," he wondered aloud, smiling slightly.

"When you found my hair-tie and were the only boy brave enough to give it back, that's when."

Iroh chuckled. "That's not bravery – I'm the one with royal blood, here. I can approach any girl I want."

Ursa stuck out her tongue. "Yeah, yeah. Remember, when it loses all of its leaves, it's your turn to exchange something with me."

He nodded in acquiescence, and then nodded in the direction behind her. "Go; Ozai's wondering what's taking you so long. Remember to cover your eyes or it's ruined."

She spun around, hands over her eyes, and walked along the beach some more. Iroh began his own trek back to the house and only turned when he heard her squeal out his brother's name. She went running to Ozai, jumping in his arms, giddily thrilled at the surprise. Iroh thought she would be.

Thirty and some odd years later, he couldn't remember what that surprise was, but he recalled the memory because it was one where he exchanged something with her. Somehow, he could remember nearly all of those. The small tradition started with a hair-tie, then it became a handkerchief, and then, when they ran out of things around their houses that would wear out in a few weeks, they picked up random things, like rocks and flowers. It was a small thing to remember how they became fast friends.

Iroh twirled the daisy in his hand back in that time, wondering what he'd stumble upon next to trade with her. _Maybe a seashell,_ he thought. She loved those things.

_***End Flashback**_

He waited at the box until the mail was picked up; seeing it off gave him more peace of mind than it ought to have.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	50. Soft Orange Snow

**A/N: **How has it become Thursday? How is tomorrow to be the first of June? Where did the time go?

By the way, groundmole is a groundhog/mole. I made up another animal (I confess I like crossing them too much). Also, I re-watched '_The Blue Spirit'_ episode and is the spirit actually a mythical spirit to the FN people or just a mask Zuko used that was named that? It didn't say anything more in that episode (unless I missed it, somehow – but I was tired, so many) so I'm just *making up* that the Blue Spirit is like a FN folk tale. Gives it more history and all that. (Plus I just wrote the part in this chapter with that in mind and it didn't occur to me that it was just a one-time-thing of Zuko's until later and I really like the segment so… it stays.)

As if this Author's Note isn't long enough, I thought I would mention that FF . net destroys the space formatting for the poems I quote here (noticed this awhile ago, unfortunately) so if you really love them, then please look them up on your own to enjoy the full experience. There are some natural pauses at the end of stanzas that's lost here, sadly, and sometimes those can make a poem as beautiful as it is.

I haven't said this in a while but huge, _**huge**_, very thankful _**thanks**_ to everyone reading this, alerting, putting it on their Favorite lists, and reviewing this story! It always brings a smile to my face when I get one of those notices. Kind of on that same train of thought, I am so happy that this fandom is so _active_ again! Hundreds of stories are popping up left and right :D

Happy 50th chapter, everybody! Now onward with the story!

**Disclaimer: I do own a small plush replica of the Teletubbie Dipsy. **

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_When I was young, we dwelt in a vale_

_By a misty fen that rang all night,_

_And thus it was the maidens pale_

_I knew so well, whose garments trail_

_Across the reeds to a window light._

_The fen had every kind of bloom,_

_And for every kind there was a face,_

_And a voice that has sounded in my room_

_Across the sill from the outer gloom._

_Each came singly unto her place,_

_But all came every night with the mist;_

_And often they brought so much to say_

_Of things of moment to which, they wist,_

_One so lonely was fain to list,_

_That the stars were almost faded away_

_Before the last went, heavy with dew,_

_Back to the place from which she came—_

_Where the bird was before it flew,_

_Where the flower was before it grew,_

_Where bird and flower were one and the same._

_And thus it is I know so well_

_Why the flower has odor, the bird has song._

_You have only to ask me, and I can tell._

_No, not vainly there did I dwell,_

_Nor vainly listen all the night long. _

'_In a Vale', _Robert Frost

* * *

><p>Ty Lee was proud of herself. She had been mildly stunned when Zuko had asked her to stay and be the one interviewing all of the rebels. However, it had been easier than she thought possible. It did make her extremely exhausted but, besides that, Ty Lee might even dare to say it was fun. Okay, she would <em>definitely<em> dare to say it was a fun break. She was easily contented.

Those fighters that surrendered amicably were focused on first and sent on their way home as fast as possible. Far and few between them actually wished any harm at all on the Fire Nation. Sure some were disgruntled or grieving - in various stages - losing loved ones in the Hundred Year War, but there was no fuel behind that fire. There was no vengeance they could take that was sane and practical. All that fought in the Fire Nation military did so willingly, because they – _had_ - believed their country's war was a good one; an admirable one.

The initial day after the small battle took place passed with Natsuno echoing eerily, like a ghost town. But then the second day began and, as the sun rose to meet the blue sky again, so did the displaced families return to their homes.

Then it was her job starting the third day she was there to interview those in levels of 'power' (if it could be called that, when the leader was a dictator) among Kaol Lee Shinu's ranks. Each and every time, during each and every interview, Ty Lee would bring up Wahyn's name. No one showed any recognition beyond him being in the Fire Nation military and one of those that had come to throw Shinu off of his metaphorical pedestal.

A rumor had started among some of them though that said - moments before the battle started outside of Natsuno's poor walls – Wahyn defected and tried to join Shinu's ranks without much success. It held some truth in it but was not nearly the full story.

_An onlooker's view_, Ty Lee guessed. In any case, it seemed those that held any real hate against the Fire Lord and his military had their flames of life snuffed out during that small but fateful battle.

Former 2nd Lieutenant Kaol Lee Shinu was killed during battle and so was Major Param Wahyn (but through a sort of internal bleeding that had many scratching their heads about it initially). Delajit Kaar was killed. The last man hadn't been killed on the field, though, like the other two. His burns had been extensive – too extensive for the medical personnel to fix.

In the end they rubbed enough numbing concoctions on the burns to ease his pain as best they could, should he wake up, and bandaged him up. He didn't wake again and died before Katara had woken herself. Even if she wished to heal him, that choice was out of her control. Ty Lee didn't think Katara had even considered there being an alternate scenario where she could've healed the man.

Instead of being confronted with hostility, Ty Lee was amazed to hear the stories of the men – and some women, too, which had surprised her as much as it did everyone else in the Fire Nation army, as women were only recently allowed per Zuko's implementation – as they sincerely answered her questions and poured out their stories. Many of them were more or less begging forgiveness.

But those day in and day out encounters also pained her a bit to think that they were afraid of repercussions because of how much they asked for mercy. However, Ty Lee knew it was a rightfully thought mindset. Under Ozai's rule they all would have been killed. If not immediately, then at the very least sent to a prison or a sweat-shop making tools for the army as a way of payment for 'their' destruction (when most was likely was largely from the Fire Nation military's occupation). There was no chance of being set free from those places. They would die there eventually, through one method or another.

So Ty Lee would pat their hands, unlock their chains, and push them out the door with a kindly shove, smiling sweetly at them and telling them they had nothing to worry about and to focusing on rebuilding their home, their town, and reuniting with their family. More often than not, they would regard her with a little bit of cautious awe as one gives a crazy person that's spouting hopeful rhetoric during a dark time.

Only a handful of the rebels actually went to prisons and those were the ones that hurt and/or killed Fire Nation soldiers. Ty Lee never saw their faces.

Today was the last day of her 'work' and, as Ty Lee watched another middle-aged man embrace his family in the dirt-slash-cobblestone streets, she smiled warmly. It was a thoughtful smile too as she thought of the hope she just returned to them. It reminded her of the Kyoshi Warriors. _Home_, Ty Lee thought. _I wonder what all the girls are doing right now._

The metal door (Ty Lee had been given a room in the only building in town that had bars on the windows and metal doors, in case of violence from the now _ex_-prisoners) behind her swung open loudly. She turned and asked, "How many more are left?"

Lee Hyun-Shik shrugged tiredly against the doorframe. His eyes looked a little bloodshot and she knew his body was more exhausted from the lack of sleep than being stressed. His body was now healed, but it still wasn't completely recovered. Even from a knock on the head. "None. That was the last one."

"Really?" She pursed her lips dubiously, her face a mask of surprise and happiness. He nodded. "Cool! Come with me, Lee, 'cause we're getting food. I'm starved!"

He did as she asked and followed a half-step behind her, walking next to her. The messenger-assistant of Colonel Jaipal was ordered to stay behind in Natsuno and help Ty Lee with her task. Zenan and Zuko were wary of trusting others and Lee had more or less stuck out his neck for them when he went for a negotiation meeting a month prior and promptly got beat up. Ty Lee remembered seeing the bruises then. He hadn't stopped wincing for a week.

_How can a brave, loyal guy be so__… shy?_ Ty Lee wondered as she glanced to her side. His head was down and he was shuffling, following her lead. _But he is kind of brave through loyalty __– that's a thing, right? I think so.__ Eh, Iroh knows more about this stuff than me. But Lee is really quiet. Like a__… a… a groun__dmole, afraid of his own shadow. _She almost snickered but made do with it in her mind, not wanting to be impolite – or look crazy. Although Ty Lee didn't much care what others thought of her. She was the most comfortable person in her own skin that she'd ever met.

They found a little food cart two blocks down and she went to order first as Lee stared with and intense, pondering expression up at the menu. "You're up," Ty Lee said and proceeded to the second window of the small almost-shack to pick up her food.

He ordered his food and came to join her, following her lead and sitting on a stone half-wall in front of an abandoned building that looked to be a former store-front. Ty Lee balanced on her tippy-toes and bounced lightly, landing smoothly on the wall. She crossed her legs while she dug into her meal. His seating method balanced a lot less gracefully than hers.

When the citizens trickled back into town, Ty Lee noticed how vibrant Natsuno actually was during the day – and even night – on a constant basis. A small community heavily reliant on agriculture, it worked well within itself. The citizens were neither poor nor rich and yet housed some of the lesser rich during certain seasons like Summer in vacation homes.

Ty Lee imagined that, when this happened, there was an influx of community activity – _like theatre, picking a super obvious choice_ – because of the influx of money for those families going to work contractually as servants, maids, or gardeners.

"Why do you think Shinu picked this place?" She wondered and voiced the question to Lee. "Why not a place like the Fire Fountain City?"

The skinny boy a few years older than her shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe because it was isolated and its only closest town was Rhange, a much poorer counterpart, so maybe he thought the Fire Nation armies would never occupy it and would camp out in the surrounding dirt and starve. Maybe because these two towns are so distant from everything else and the people would be a lot more likely to join him if he paid them – which they were."

She raised an eyebrow. Lee had said it all in one quick, soft breath. "Interesting." She chomped down on a wing in her meat platter. With a full mouth, she said, "I guess the world will never know."

Lee Hyun-Shik shrugged, adding, "But maybe he also just wanted somewhere south where it was still on the mainland. Any further and it becomes like a nation of its own, you know? The possibilities are numerous."

"M-hm." She licked her fingers quickly. "So what do you plan on doing when you get back to the capital? Going to take a couple of days off and roll around in your plush apartment?"

He flushed, mumbling, "I don't have a 'plush' anything."

Ty Lee dropped her jaw, making her cutely round face look even more so cute. "What about that reward money you got for going to the negotiation meeting with Shinu and Kaar, like, a month ago?"

"I haven't spent it."

She stood up and took his empty tray, tossing it with hers into the nearby trash bin. It went in perfectly and she hadn't even looked. "What do you mean, _you haven't spent it?_ What have you been doing with it – rubbing it and staring at your reflection in the metal?" Ty Lee joked.

Lee shrugged again. She noticed he did that a lot when he felt self-conscious. Which was, to say, quite a lot of the time. "I don't need to. I'm going to save it for something special."

"Walk with me." He did and she shuffled lazy circles through the town. "So what's this something special? Or is it something for someone special?" She hinted, grinning and batting her eyelashes.

It seemed all of her friends were growing up and finding love – even many of them marrying now. The Avatar Gaang were all in different stages of that, the Kyoshi Warriors back on her adopted-as-home island were her age so they were too, and even her old, noble-born friends were now of age that most were married or about to be. Of course not all of those were 'love' marriages.

Ty Lee loved it, though. She was a pure and unadulterated romanticist. Teased for it constantly by her friends, Ty Lee didn't mind admitting it. But while she flitted from one flame to another, she also liked being an observer of it when it was something real. Some kind of connection that couldn't be broken – like Sokka and Suki, with their inside jokes.

She liked seeing everyone being so happy and unabashedly, and stupidly, giddy.

Lee blushed at her suggestion and flirting behavior. His face was covered with a bright shade of crimson. It made his skin look translucent against that dark red uniform of his. "I don't have someone special. Plus how could I – I live with two other guys my age and we all work long hours as assistants."

"Don't you like your job?"

"Yes. Of course. It's fun – Jaipal's a cool guy," Lee smiled slightly and looked to lock on to her gaze. "But anyway you're not talking me out of saving my money. Maybe one day I can get a house instead of a better apartment."

"You say 'maybe' a lot," Ty Lee said lightly," but I like it. _Hope_!" She lazily draped her arm across his shoulder. "We need more happy people like us! And I am _so_ making you spend that money on something. Get me a dagger?" She suggested sweetly but his eyes just bulged.

"You carry a dagger?"

"Nope! I've just always wanted one," she said, scrunching up her nose as she teased him – again. _It__'s just too easy_, she thought, before continuing on with her line of thought. "Now that I think of it, why would I ever need a dagger? My hands are more deadly. I do carry a metal fan when I'm in Kyoshi, but that's… different. It's like an extension of my hands," she said, flexing out her fingers and wiggling them.

Lee Hyun-Shik picked up her hand off of his shoulder and inspected it. "A little dirty from the dust but it doesn't look deadly." He said it so calmly but when he looked up into her face again there was an edge of a smirk on his lips and twinkling in his eyes. _He__'s mocking me._

"Hah!" She pointed at him, resting her fists on her hips proudly. She stopped in the road and he did too, giving her his attention gladly. "I made you smile. _Finally_! You're always so… so… subservient. Is that the right word? Yes. _Subservient_."

"Maybe life is easier that way," he suggested.

Ty Lee sighed and kept on walking. After a moment, she turned to walk backwards in front of him as she responded, "You amuse me, Lee. And not just because you have my middle name."

"Well hundreds – thousands, I guess – have my name so…." He shrugged.

"Well played," she responded with mock sternness. Ty Lee then winked and spun to face forward again with a skip in her step.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The snow had begun in the gloaming,_

_And busily all the night_

_Had been heaping field and highway_

_With a silence deep and white._

_Every pine and fir and hemlock_

_Wore ermine too dear for an earl,_

_And the poorest twig on the elm-tree_

_Was ridged inch deep with pearl._

'_The First Snowfall'_, stanzas #1-2, James Russell Lowell

* * *

><p>Back in the palace, it was obvious winter descended in his absence. The skies stayed gray as the sun fought in vain to warm and clear it, revealing its normal blue beauty. While snowfall was mild and ill frequent on the Fire Nation's islands and wouldn't occur for months – until a few weeks before the onset of spring for everyone else and then it would snow for a good month straight - the cold winds were enough for the heat-prone people.<p>

The Fire Nation's citizens were quick to start layering their clothing with a jacket or vest that's fur-lined, and the usual cloth slippers for commoners or casual nobles were exchanged for leather shoes. It might almost seem amazing, for anyone looking in, that they were so prepared.

Zuko wondered absently what Katara would think if she were feeling the cool in the Fire Nation and watching its effects. When she spent a short day at the palace before leading on a ship to the Southern Air Temples, Katara had mentioned how strange it was to see the Fire Nation experiencing winter.

They are a nation of heat and fire. It seemed almost like a weird, parallel world, she had said. The Fire Nation was like a revered beast to those not living in it – almost untouchable by even a drop of rain and something to watch when it's not looking your way because onecan feel guilty thinking a vicious beast so beautiful.

He had asked her then if the South Pole was always snowing, because all the stories he heard about it and his brief time visiting it (in search of Aang) suggested it was constantly cold and wet. She'd laughed at that. "So I guess we both believed in myths before meeting," Katara joked, yet it was said with an air of truth to it that couldn't be combatted.

"I guess so," he responded.

Now she was probably a day or two out from the Southern Air Temples and he was back in his office, doing sole Fire Lord duties again.

In all honesty, Zuko hadn't been in his office much at all since being crowned – if one was using an attendance record to keep track. It was now almost three months since his coronation and only for a solid month of that had he been in the palace, working away. But the other time hadn't been a vacation. The last two months had him traveling around the Earth Kingdom in and near Ba Sing Se and in his own nation extensively. Often he would hold make-shift meetings and the room – or rooms – those were held in would often serve as his temporary office, too.

But nothing was really behind schedule. Nothing was dropped from his proverbial plate. The usual things like tax proposals, committee needs, and such would always be piled up. Even if he did work three days straight to clear them all, another five would be there in the morning. So he did keep affairs in order, just not the way tradition usually dictated. Most didn't complain at him anyway if he took the usual week to respond instead of hurrying to try and get an immediate, next day response to them.

Zuko just found it – the paperwork - boring. Not something he could say out loud, though. So he didn't.

He stood, crossing to the windows. They were always refreshing – his father hadn't had any windows to - or light from - the outside. Maybe that was why he had felt so compelled to tear the place down and build anew among some of its architectural bones.

That, and he hated using the old meeting rooms. They reminded him of that time he'd been scarred. He was so traumatized by it. A part of Zuko would always be. Even without entering those rooms, the dark reds and blacks of the previous palace still seemed to be able to remind him of poorer memories. It was best to be gone with it completely.

Now he had peace of mind. And Zuko hoped that clarity would help him with a certain matter that just came across his desk.

The invitation was on a flat board of paper instead of in a scroll. It was also in an envelope – but it was still sealed with a wax stamp. He had known almost immediately what it was about.

_Kaol Lee Shinu's funeral._

It was not surprising at all that an invitation had been extended out to him_. Just awkward_, he thought with a frown.

The rebel Shinu's brother was a general under Zuko. And now, because the funeral was for one of his top men's family members, he had to go. It would be politically disrespectful not to.

More disrespectful than the killer showing up. Which Zuko was - the killer, that is.

Zuko rubbed his hand down the unscarred side of his face. Sometimes he envied other nations: like, say, the Earth Kingdom, where death was treated more intimately. The Fire Nation managed to make a big and regal ceremony celebration out of something mournful like death.

The Fire Lord wondered if the Komodo elephant in the room would be addressed. The Komodo elephant being Shinu's death as a traitor. Nobles liked nothing more than burying their heads in the dirt and their skeletons in the desert - while keeping a black book on all of their 'friend's' bad deeds to manipulate them with later. Yes, it was an event Zuko would, under no circumstances, find any kind of fun in. It was yet another example of a duty he had to do as the Fire Lord.

He would go, of course. But he would still curse it the entire time.

Zuko returned to his desk after another long moment to sign a few documents Orez, his assistant, left on his desk that morning. Then he planned to go down to the gym where he could escape the endless paperwork for a few hours. _It__'s endless_, he thought absently and without much venom.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I have always known _

_That at last I would _

_Take this road, but yesterday _

_I did not know that it would be today._

_~'Untitled', _Narihira (9th century)

* * *

><p>"<em>You must carry on my work," Hama said calmly, almost peacefully. But Katara knew it was wrong. With the words in her nightmare sounding, echoing almost painfully, the dark forest came into view with the glowing full moon casting shadows about. No shadows produced by the moon, the source of her – <em>their_ – power could make Hama's wild eyes, sunken cheeks, and hunched posture look any less haunting._

_The scene shifted in a blur, suddenly, and it was mid-day. She felt like she was waking from a dream. Katara couldn__'t remember what happened in her 'dream' and where she was now, but she__ was relieved. That feeling only lasted a moment. _

_She found herself in her own body, once again, but it didn__'t feel like she was controlling it. Katara watched on with a feeling of horror in her belly as__ she pushed her arms down at her sides and took control of Wahyn__'s veins, arteries, and heart__. It was instinct. It was adrenaline. It was fear._

_Just as quickly as she began it, Katara could feel herself and her nerves doing it. She could stop it. But as soon as she began, Katara found she didn__'t even _think_ of stopping__._

_The moon wasn't out but it had been full the night before. The power of it still existed in the air, flowing through her veins with her blood. Her bending seemed to find strength where none normally was._

_She made herself sick as the feelings rushed over her. The pump of the liquid heat, the sound of the flowing blood, the pull of the muscles straining – straining to follow both its brain's orders and follow how its source of oxygen, of life, moved. Katara__'s eyes fluttered from both the energy this act took from her body and how the control overwhelmed her._

_The sight of the blood pouring from Wahyn__'__s head through his noise, a speckle out of the corner of his mouth, shocked her and scared her. Scared her of _herself_. Yet she pushed on because the weakness washed over her and her power, her strength, drained. He went down like a sack of rice to his knees__._

_He wore a strange smile, then._

_In another instant the day morphed to night once more, to the forest Katara came to wish never to see again. Katara found herself staring at Hama, not Prabal Wahyn. She was slumped over but raised up by the villagers. Katara felt like crying and bit her lip to try and stop the tears. She looked down at her hands_. I blood-bended_, she thought numbly, not fully grasping the situation. _I blood-bended her into submission. I….

_Hama's voice shook her out of her grasping thoughts and the young water-bender looked up to watch her elder, the woman she thought would be her idol, say, "__My work is done. Congratulations, Katara. You're a blood-bender."_

_Katara let out a short sob and fell to clutch the ground, barely held up by Aang and Sokka. _

_The scene morphed and shifted and Hama's maniacal laughter pounded against her ears. Katara desperately covered her eyes, clawing to block it out, take it out, but it was in vain. "You're just like me!" Someone said, over and over, the voice shifting into the old water-bender's. It rang in her ears, louder and louder. It threatened to consume her. _

_Katara couldn't breathe, she couldn't stop the tears from choking and closing her throat. _

_It was all consuming her and pulling her into the darkness of the forest around her._

Her body propelled upward from the mattress and into a shaky sitting position. Katara flailed wildly, gasping for breath and swallowing mouthfuls of air instead. She slowly – and forcefully - lessened the heaving of her chest and leaned against the headboard at the back of the narrow bed. Katara fluttered her eyes, still hearing the echo of Hama's voice.

Except it wasn't Hama's voice – not really. Hama had never said '_you are just like me'_ during that night or with that kind of laughter that sickened Katara to the very pit of her stomach. It was another twist in her memories; a twist arisen only during her nightmares. The night before the roles were reversed in her repeating dream, with _Wahyn_ blood-bending _her_ in the forest. Katara knew it was illogical – her mind was only playing tricks on her – but dammit if it didn't feel real.

As her feeling trickled back, so did her nerves. They screamed in hands and her fingers. Her light blue eyes swiveled down to see blurrily in the dark that her fingers were white and clutching at the sheets. She unclenched them and pulled them back up near her face in jagged, abrupt movements.

She rubbed them against each other idly. Her breathing finally slowed to a manageable pace. She closed her eyes and hung her head. _I feel so tired_, she thought. Her back throbbed from awkward position after awkward position from when she sought sleep a few hours before. Sliding back down, the sheets twisted around her ankles and calves. Katara ignored that. _Please let it be daytime soon_, she wished.

A knock sounded on the door, snapping her eyes open. "Yes?"

"The Captain wanted to tell you we'll be making landfall by the morning."

"Thank you," she said faintly.

There was a shuffling of feet at the door and then the silence descended. Katara sighed and laid her hands over her eyes but kept them open to see through the cracks and up at the ceiling of the metal Fire Nation ship. Her body craved the sleep, needing it to operate properly. Katara was afraid of it and the horrible truths it brought with it.

_Think of something_, she thought, pleading to her mind. _Anything. I'll be a dead person walking if I have to go through another nightmare._

So she thought of the Southern Air Temples and wondered about all that had changed since she had last seen them a year ago. She wondered about what Aang was doing, what Toph was doing, and whether they made any new friends. She wondered about Momo and Appa and if Toph made the flying bison a circular stone pad like the one she made in the stables after Aang left from the Fire Nation palace.

The thoughts of her friends made her smile. And they kept the nightmares at bay.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_From sheds new-roofed with Carrara_

_Came Chanticleer's muffled crow,_

_The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down,_

_And still fluttered down the snow._

_I stood and watched by the window_

_The noiseless work of the sky,_

_And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,_

_Like brown leaves whirling by._

_'The First Snowfall', _stanzas #3-4, James Russell Lowell

* * *

><p>Ursa tip-toed through the halls. Her cloth slippers were silent as it is but she just felt sneaky by arching her feet up on her toes like that. She crossed down the lengthy hallway among the shadows.<p>

A cool breeze floated through from the other end. She loved it. But now wasn't the time to revel in it. Her son was in the room of the cracked doorway she's peeking through at the moment. Ursa wanted to startle him (for no purpose, really, beyond getting a good rise out of him, and because she liked to see that playful smile grace his face as he joined in her havocking games, acting like a child again for a few minutes) as he practiced his bending but she saw he was practicing with another weapon. One of metal.

_Dual dao swords_. Somehow the past Fire Lady recognized them from being told of them, or hearing them mentioned in some military conversation, once upon a time. Zuko moved with such fluidity and calmness that he reminded her of the stories everyone in the Fire Nation heard at one point in time or another. Most forgot those folk tales, though.

The stories were of the vigilante that went by the name of 'Blue Spirit'. He had used Dual dao swords. But, of course, he was only a myth. A child's tale that at one time was only - at best - mildly popular. Maybe at some point there was one like him, the one that set the stories into motion, but now his name became associated with folk tales. The stories to inspire children to follow the right path, not the wrong. Yet the same children these lesson were taught to were also taught to grow up and want to enter a ruthless system of holding nobility and rising military ranks and marrying for political status.

_Oh, the irony, _Ursa thought.

She crept through the door ever so slowly.

"I know you're there, Mother," he said instantly.

She dropped all pretenses of creeping about and put her hands on her hips gracefully. They weren't fists balled on her hips; rather, like the way a swan folds in her wings. "Now how can you? I don't even have sandals on."

Zuko smirked. "You have a tell."

"And what is my tell, my son?"

The Fire Lord didn't say anything. Rather, he just smiled. Zuko then turned his attention to wiping sweat off of his brow and crossing the room to put away the swords, back in their rack on their place on the far wall.

"You reminded me of the Blue Spirit just then;" he paused ever so briefly at her words. Ursa didn't notice at all. "When did you start training with those?"

"I have tried everything; you know that. But I guess some time when I was twelve or thirteen." Zuko finished locking them into place on the wall and returned to her side. "Uncle gave me those swords and a Blue Spirit mask for one of my birthdays. I liked the stories."

"Coincidences, coincidences," she clucked softly. "Come join me for dinner, okay? I won't let you hole up in your office another day and I'd like to actually eat with someone."

"Don't try to guilt me – I know you've been eating with the servants."

"You caught me," she waved a hand up.

Before she said anything more, Zuko held out his arm at his side for her. "What are they making?"

"It's a surprise," Ursa smiled and took his arm. They walked from the room and turned down the hall. The sun was struggling to hold its place on the horizon and reflected off of the mountain-peak painted wallpaper in a way that cast the painted snow in a soft orange light. Ursa admired it as she spoke. "But I can give you a hint – it was your favorite meal as a child."

He smiled warmly back. "It's nice having you home, Mother."

_It's nice to be home, son__._

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	51. Family Dinners

**A/N: **Alright so I'm just going to come out and say that I'm leaving for a nearly three-week summer vacation tomorrow and as such my updating schedule will get a little hinky. I will try and put up a chapter whenever I can but as it stands now the updating days of Monday and Thursday are postponed. Thanks to everyone that has and is reading this story so far, those that have alerted this story or put it on their favorite lists, and those that have reviewed! It means more than you know :)

The next day I will be able to post on time will be July 2nd, so I have a few days of a breather after getting back. I hope you all can understand and I'm really, really sorry for this inconvenience! Didn't think the story would go on this long, lol.

Anyway, here's the chapter for yesterday, Monday, and I'm posting up a bonus one for Thursday's chapter, as I won't be able to post it then. (Also, sorry for any typos or anything like that in these two chapters. I'm editing them in a hurry.)

Please enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: I do not even feign to own any part of A:LA. Or dream about it. You know, that would be an weird dream, now that I think about it. Huh.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_There trudges one to a merry-making _

_With sturdy swing, _

_On whom the rain comes down._

_~'An Autumn Rain-Scene', _stanza #1, Thomas Hardy

* * *

><p>The days of the week began again… for everyone except Sokka. Because of his weekend class, he got to sleep in on the day that everyone else around him (everyone that worked, that is) bustled around anxiously and nervously, afraid to be late, forget something, andor be unable to expel that one plaguing thought from their mind as they had to focus on whatever it was that their jobs or duties required.

Sokka loved it. Maybe it was still a part of being a teenager that was stuck inside of him, but he loved being able to sit back and relax and laugh at the people who were fretting. For as much as he's changed, that part of Sokka still stayed true.

At the moment, though, he actually was working - and quite hard, too. Or, at least, he was trying.

"Good," Celeigh said, smiling. "I forgot how long this tea took. These mangos probably should've sat another day. Can you start on the duck for me?"

"Uh… sure." Sokka said the last word in a long and drawn-out way that made his future Aunt-in-law look up doubtfully. But she didn't say anything and continued squeezing the mangos through a strainer and into a large jug for tea.

Sokka approached the duck in the sink warily. He was still so used to either eating nuts, some kind of jerky, fruit, or something they just bought off of a food-stand in the street in a hurry that he never put much consideration into the preparation of a meal. When they - he and Katara - lived in the South Pole, most of the food was either eaten on the bone or turned into some kind of bland soup. Every dish revolved around fish. Sokka did not think, now, that he could ever possibly go back to that.

However, Kyoshi Island did have some customs he was used to – like seaweed. It used to act as a sort of grain in his diet but Celeigh was going to wrap the Duck in it and steam the meat. Then she would sprinkle it with something he didn't remember, and leave it to dry for a few minutes while the duck cooled, so it would come out sweet and crispy.

All the different variations of cooking made him drool. Almost literally. Sokka stopped himself from doing it, though, because that would look bad. And, well, the duck in front of him almost made his saliva come out of his mouth in a different reaction.

It was skinned, trimmed, and drained. And it was very pale.

"Sokka." He looked up at Celeigh's voice. She wore an amused smile. "I need you to take out the giblets; that stupid butcher left them in again. Then I need you to rinse it out, pat it dry with that," she gestured with her head," and wrap it in seaweed. Actually just put it in the pot – I'll do the seaweed part. Okay? You good?"

"Yep. Perfect!"

If his friendship with Fen and his first prolonged meeting of Fen's parents did not rely on the meal being _edible_, Sokka would drop the duck on the ground and go screaming from the small kitchen. He grimaced at the contact as his hand plunged into the chest cavity. His fingers ran along the sides and he felt the ribs. His stomach almost turned over.

"Aunt!" Suki said suddenly, bursting through the door. "Why are you making him stick his hand down a duck's throat?" She shook her head and turned to her fiancé. "Sokka, take your arm out. There aren't any giblets in there. She's messing with you."

He whipped his hand out as fast as he could. "What?"

Celeigh grinned. "Relax, baby girl. I was just teaching him to get used to raw meat. You understand, right Sokka?"

Sokka wanted to barf but kept himself from doing that with a variety of exercises like pinching himself and thinking of appetizing and, more importantly, cooked food. It would look bad in front of both of the women if he did throw up on the floor. Suki shook her head at her Aunt and he turned to wash his sticky arm.

"But that duck does need wiped down and wrapped," Celeigh continued as she went back to the jug of tea, mixing it around. A dozen mangos laid in a pile, squeezed dry and cut in half, as dead as produce can get. "Suki, do you mind taking care of this? I promised I would take some of this to Ishi's mother. It's her favorite." She winked and picked up a second jug, stirring it quickly and jerkily tapping the wooden utensil on the side when done.

"Yeah, sure. Tell Ishi I say 'hi', if she's there."

"Will do." Celeigh kissed her niece's cheek and was out of the door.

Suki grimaced. "So she tricked you with the tea, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

Suki grabbed the seaweed and helped him wrap the duck while he held it still. "She did that to me when I was ten. She thought it was weird that I was so gross out by slimy chickens – 'cause she always marinates them in this broth from the previous cook." Suki shuddered and Sokka smiled understandingly. "So she pretended it just took _forever_ to mash up the berries to mix with her new concoction of tea – like a juice, but my Dad doesn't drink juice, so she mixed it with tea as a compromise – and got me to rinse off the chicken, cut the legs off the breast and cut it up for the soup."

"Ew."

"Yep."

Sokka shrugged. "Hey, she taught you. That's good." Suki nodded and said something about appreciating it, but that it was still gross and unnecessary. A few minutes passed and she pinned the seaweed together underneath the heavy duck, dropped it on top of the cabbage in the pot, and move it to hang over the fire. "And just for the record," Sokka said as his fiancé went to dry her hands. "I do not have an aversion to raw meat. I'm just more used to fish."

She laughed. "Whatever you say, Sokka."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_So little cause for carolings_

_Of such ecstatic sound_

_Was written on terrestrial things_

_Afar or nigh around,_

_That I could think there trembled through_

_His happy good-night air_

_Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew_

_And I was unaware._

_~'The Darkling Thrush', _stanza #4, Thomas Hardy

* * *

><p>Katara raised her arm and waved excitedly – and a bit wildly. She was happy to see the Southern Air Temples again and even more so to see that, this time, they were bustling with life. It wasn't anywhere near the way it had been, a century ago, but it was a start. A very <em>good<em> start.

A few people stood at the small dock carved along the eastern side of the island. Katara didn't see how the Fire Nation ship could get any closer to it. This time she was traveling on one of the much smaller and narrower ships of the Fire Nation, one of the smallest in the fleet actually, but its dimensions were still awkward and, in a way, made it seem larger than it truly is.

A soldier – sailor, she saw, by his much looser and much more armor-less ensemble – came beside her and gestured to a corner of the deck. "There's a boat to take you ashore, over there."

She nodded and thanked him and climbed on board it. The small boat took her by surprise when he disconnected from the ship's side and it plopped down upon the waves. Katara stifled a yelp. In a few short minutes they were at the dock, the boat rocking from the seas still upheaved by the storms from a few days ago (which she was aboard the Fire Nation ship during the tail end of).

Katara thanked the sailor and didn't even try the leap to the small wooden dock. She water-bended a shelf under her feet. It lifted her, carried her, and deposited her on a cliff edge a good twenty feet up from the water. The unruly waves crashed against the rocky island wall.

"Katara!"

"Aang!" She grinned and quickly turned to receive his hug. "Ow, you'll crush me!"

"Sorry!" Aang smiled sheepishly and pulled back. "It's been forever. I don't know what to say."

She laughed. "Where's Toph?"

"Ugh, she's… around…." The Avatar scratched his neck.

Katara furrowed her brow in response, wondering what exactly he meant. But she was too happy at seeing her friend for the first time in…. "I can't believe it's been a month! So much has happened; you first."

"No," Aang chuckled, "you first. I've been here the whole time – I'll bore you to death."

"I doubt it."

She followed her best friend up the path to the main temple as he talked, explaining this building and that building, its use and the unique story behind it. She was glad to see him so at ease. Not that she expected him to be high-strung or anything, but he was just in his… element. Much in the same way it helped him relax to sit on a spinning air ball, Aang wore a smile and spoke excitedly – but calmly – about everything at the Southern Air Temples.

He told her about a baby girl, a year old, named Raja, who he was babysitting. There was more to the story, he had said, but he and Toph would share it later.

"Where is Toph?" Katara asked again, as they walked around the fountain, halfway up to the main temple.

"Boo!" Toph yelled suddenly and the water-bender swiveled around to find a mud statue next to where a bush had been only seconds before. It was dripping with rich earth and Katara yelped this time as the outrageous and bizarre thing startled her. It was a messy (both because of the mud and most likely because of who had built it) replica of Toph. Said girl in question dashed from behind the scene to the side, shouting, "Run for cover!"

Katara didn't have time to react as the earth-bender spun around and took a stance. The imperfect statue exploded a foot from the older teen.

While Toph wasn't a water-bender, she did soak the soil in mud while making the statue. As the earth bits went flying, they carried and propelled the liquid forward. It was a mess.

Katara opened her mouth in a shocked gasp as a gob of mud hit her forehead, another her hair, another her wrist, another her ankle, but that was the absolute worst reaction, as shards of flying mud were flung into her mouth. She stayed perfectly still and soon the explosion stopped. Katara saw Aang peek out from being a rock and Toph from behind a bush.

The scene was calm, quiet; not a bird sung and not a person laughed. And then her taste-buds starting working and the water-bender bent over, spitting and hacking out the dirt from her mouth. Something moved in her mouth - a worm - and Katara almost screamed as she tried to spit out all of the grit. Toph burst into giggles behind her. A mere second passed before she heard Aang's own trademark laugh join in. "What was that for, Toph?"

"I'm sorry!" Toph said, it coming out all bouncing because of her vibrating chest, sounding more like someone sounding it out like 'I-I'm so-so-so-ar-ar-rey-rey'. In the same voice, she gasped for breath and said, "No wait! I'm not sorry! Hahah!"

Katara stomped her foot where she stood, _most_ of the dirt out of her mouth, and swiveled to confront Aang. He was too beside himself with convulsions to be fearful of her. "You helped her, didn't you?"

"I might have," he said in the same shaky voice as Toph. When he finally got it out, with many starts and stops, Katara stomped her foot again.

"Ugh!" Her chest heaved, annoyance pulsing through her veins.

Then a gust of wind drifted by all of a sudden and brought with it a brief shower of ice-cold water. Katara stood, paralyzed with shock, while Toph managed to crawl over to Aang and bend them a small shelter. All the while, the young girl was laughing her head off.

The rain passed after a brief five minutes and Katara raised her hands, inspecting her now-clean hands, arms, and then clothing and hair, pulling it from her scalp to see as much as possible without crossing her eyes and blinding herself. She smiled. A high giggling escaped her mouth. Toph and Aang watched her and, when she burst out in a laugh that startled her body, making her lose her balance and fall over on her butt, they couldn't help that it fueled their fit of giggles more.

Katara laid on the ground, feeling happier than she had in the past few days as she laughed – at herself. "You two are crazy!"

"Says the one that fell over," Toph said back.

"Goo-," she interrupted herself with another laugh. "Good point."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_It would be good to give much thought, before_

_you try to find words for something so lost,_

_for those long childhood afternoons you knew_

_that vanished so completely -and why?_

_We're still reminded-: sometimes by a rain,_

_but we can no longer say what it means;_

_life was never again so filled with meeting,_

_with reunion and with passing on_

_as back then, when nothing happened to us_

_except what happens to things and creatures:_

_we lived their world as something human,_

_and became filled to the brim with figures._

_And became as lonely as a sheperd_

_and as overburdened by vast distances,_

_and summoned and stirred as from far away,_

_and slowly, like a long new thread,_

_introduced into that picture-sequence_

_where now having to go on bewilders us._

_~'Childhood', _Rainer Maria Rilke

* * *

><p>Fen munched on the rice making a large mound on his plate happily. He was sitting and eating dinner with his parents, and also Sokka, his great combat instructor. And then there was Sokka's fiancé, Suki, and then some of Suki's family too, her Aunt Celeigh and father Blais if he remember right and whom he hadn't seen stand up once so far and kind of rolled around in a weird chair that kept him upright instead of tumbling in a ball like Fen did with his friends sometimes. Fen thought it was cool.<p>

"Want some more?" Suki asked him from across the table, holding out the rice serving bowl. Fen nodded and grabbed it.

"Thank you," he said warmly and she smiled, waiting to take it from him again and pass it back around to where its place was on a warming towel. "And this is really good; thank you."

"That's nice, Fen, but you should thank my aunt. She did most of it."

"Hey, I wrapped the duck in seaweed." Sokka protested meekly.

"_We_ wrapped the duck in seaweed," Suki nudged her fiancé. Fen giggled and Suki smiled at him in a conspiratorial manner.

Sokka looked around the table. "Can someone pass the tea?"

Fen leaned his elbows up on the table and leaned across and diagonally, over Blais's plate, and thanked Celeigh. When he sat back, Blais turned to him. "How old are you, boy?"

"Nine. Just turned. How old are you?"

The older man seemed a bit startled by the question back. But he was a kind man and responded, "More than six times your age."

"That's like…" the boy counted, "fifty-four!"

"More than that, son."

Fen stared at him, wide-eyed and curious. "Did you live an adventurous life?"

"Not as much as a boy like you would think. This injury here is from an attack from the Fire Nation," Blais said, gesturing to his legs and the chair. "That put an end to my world-traveling, I'm afraid."

"That's too bad." He leaned in to the man's ear and whispered, "But if it's between you and me, I think you should just say you use that chair for fun. It looks cool."

Blais gave a hearty chuckle at that.

A knock sounded at the door and Celeigh jumped to grab it. Fen focused back on his father and found him speaking with Sokka. "Do you really think he has that potential?" His father asked.

"Of course," Sokka said and put down his chopsticks after another leaf of cabbage slid out from their grasp. Fen had noticed that too and was trying to discreetly eat the cabbage with his fingers. His mother scolded him the first time or two but then gave up. "Everyone can get there it's just if they want it. I want to help him if he does make that choice."

Fen felt befuddled and his forehead scrunched, showing that confusion clearly. He leaned back and glanced to his mother. She caught his gaze and slightly smiled at him, nodding to the conversation his father was having. A smile could have a hundred different meanings, the boy knew, and this one meant the conversation was something he should be listening to but not say a word in. Fen focused back begrudgingly. They sounded boring and half the time it sounded like they were talking about him, except he couldn't tell very well if they were or weren't. Fen did not think he should speak.

"Fen." Sokka called to him. "What do you think?"

"About what?"

He sighed with patience. "About becoming my teacher's assistant."

Fen startled. Admittedly, he hand't tuned in for a few minutes. "But I'm one of the youngest of the class! That would be awesome," he grinned, swinging out his arms. "I could boss all the other kids around. Beat up bullies."

"Fen," his father said suddenly, taking his hands by the wrists and stilling them. "Don't be mean to anyone."

"But what if they deserve it?"

"As the teacher's assistant, you'd have to tell me if you saw anyone acting out. I will deal with it," Sokka said.

Fen thought about it for a long moment. It still sounded fun. Not beating up bullies, as much as he wanted to, was actually more of a relief as Fen was till not so great at combat. And if he ran into an older bully... "Okay," he shrugged, trying to be all cool and collected. But a joyful smile still broke his lips, even as said lips bled a little from being bitten in an effort to try and keep the smile at bay.

He listened to his parents a few more minutes but then they went off onto another tangent, talking about something Ba Sing Se, blah-blah, and Fen tuned out again. He finished off his mango tea. Suddenly the jug was in front of him and Fen said thanks but stopped mid-pour, not recognizing the young woman who had handed him the tea.

"Your eyes are… odd," he commented, handing back the jug.

"How so?"

"They're brown, but they're kind of green – like there!" He smiled. "When you shift your head like that, they get green. Like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly."

She blushed and the boy's strange but sweet analogy. "I don't think anyone's ever said I have eyes like a caterpillar."

"Not _like_," Fen shook his head, "but with the color of a bright, spring season caterpillar and then when they go brown again, it's similar to a butterfly. I'm Fen," he nodded his head once in greeting.

"Ishi." She leaned across the table in front of him, almost conspiratorially.

He was glad to have found someone at the table who was so simple to talk to. And who wasn't talking to anyone else, too. Fen didn't want to interrupt the others; he was very courteous like that. He had made fast friends with Suki but he had also known her or seen her about most of his childhood. She was a kind but strong leader.

Fen vaguely recognized this Ishi in front of him as having been one of those around Suki. Ishi was obviously a Kyoshi warrior, too, as she still had her makeup on. "So, Fen, I hear you're the best in Sokka's class. Is that true?"

"I don't think so," he said modestly but honestly. "There are at least a dozen better than me. And there are almost twenty kids in the class; so no."

Ishi waved her hand, dismissing his words. "But you practice all day and always strive to get it right. That's admirable. The best in the class is always the one that works the hardest and longest. Sometimes a kid just has it, sometimes they don't, but what I was always taught when training to be a Kyoshi warrior is that the one that succeeds is the one that doesn't give up. Does that make sense, Fen?"

"I think so."

"Good. Maybe I can help you with your practice some times? An extra set of eyes can sometimes see the mistake another's can't."

"Yeah. Okay." Fen nodded. He smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"By the way, you are really pretty without your makeup, too." Fen said it and then immediately dove into his duck. As a boy, he was still wholly unaware of how nice it was for a woman to hear a compliment.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of one another. _

~Eustace Budgell

* * *

><p>Toph waited outside of the large wooden doors for Katara to come downstairs from changing. After the three of them recovered from laughing their heads off, Katara realized her clothes wouldn't dry anytime soon, as the sky stayed hauntingly overcast. Not a ray of sun shined through – or so Toph had been told. So the water-bender took her small sack of clothing from the boat and went to change as Aang watched the Fire Nation ship off.<p>

It was strange now that any of them could use Fire Nation transportation – specifically the army's transportation – if they asked Zuko for it. (It was on the contingency that they would eventually pay it off, but it was not like a loan with interest or a specific time to do so. For now it was just like a bar tab – always open. And all of them were friends with the bartender, too, so there was no deadline for that tab. Unlike was most outsiders would think, they didn't abuse it or use that 'service' nearly as often as they could.)

Shaepa came up beside her and plopped down on the step. "I'm so tired," she whined.

"Why?" Toph asked, indulging her friend. She didn't have anything else to do at the moment besides wait.

"I haven't been getting much sleep. Don't tell anyone… but I'm kind of afraid of thunder," she whispered.

Toph smirked. "Afraid of thunder?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Just… never heard of that before. Why are you afraid of thunder?"

"I don't know!"

"Jeesh, okay."

"Sorry," Shaepa said. There was a soft noise beside the earth-bender, a ruffling of hair, as the girl dropped her head between her legs and scratched her neck.

"Momo!" Toph smiled as she felt the flying lemur land on her arm. Miya was much heavier than Momo - so much so that the difference was obvious. Plus, she didn't even have the same kind of fur. Toph scratched down Momo's spine. He loved it.

"Oh, here," Shaepa said and fished something out of her pocket. With one whiff the earth-bender knew it was a Moon peach. "He loves those."

"Don't I know it."

A bleep of silence fell with only Momo's squishy chewing filling the air. Toph was bored and Shaepa was cranky, so the two silently agreed not to make conversation. They all did that from time to time. It was easier to simply be near another person and not go through the troubles of conversation.

Shaepa gasped. "What the…."

"What?" Toph asked, confused.

"It cannot be worse than the soaked rag I wore earlier," Katara joked. Toph thought she heard a note of nervousness in Katara's voice.

Toph extracted Momo from her lap before he spilt peach juice all of over. When she did so, she finally sensed the water-bender a few feet behind her. She turned to see what the startling was about. Shaepa shook her head and stood. "No, it's not that. I've just not seen a Fire Nation, uh, garb that wasn't… armor."

Katara shuffled awkwardly. "Right. I'm sorry, I didn't think it's just the only one I have at the moments that's not in need of a wash."

"No, don't worry about it."

A call sounded then – a woman's voice – and Shaepa groaned. Toph recognized the voice as the other girl's mother's.

"I have gotta go help with something or whatever. See you guys later. Nice to meet you, before, Katara."

"Same," She responded and sighed when Toph stood from the step and Shaepa left.

"Fire Nation clothes, huh?" The earth-bender asked skeptically. She knew all of them had worn Fire Nation clothes while they were hiding out in plain sight in said nation but after their identities were known and Zuko was crowned, everyone more or less went back to wearing their own stuff. Toph wondered.

"Yeah."

Toph smiled like a predator cat. "Grab those by accident while you packed?"

"I didn't have enough of my South Pole clothes and, if you must know, I actually kind of like these. Big deal." She then grabbed the young earth-bender's arm in a sudden action and pulled her down the steps alongside herself. "Now come! You have to introduce me to everyone or show me someplace special. The temples are so different now! It's like a whole new world."

Toph let her musings go for another day. She smirked at the 'whole new world' comment. "Wait until you hear Aang's plans for the Eastern Air Temples."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_This shaking keeps me steady. I should know._  
><em>What falls away is always. And is near.<em>  
><em>I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.<em>  
><em>I learn by going where I have to go.<em>

_~'The Waking'_, stanza #4, Theodore Roethke

* * *

><p>Suki hugged Ishi, the last one out the door that evening, and gave her friend a bag. "Aunt's leftovers for you and your Mom."<p>

"Sweet! I love Celeigh's cooking," Ishi grinned and hugged her friend one last time, briefly, with one arm. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Suki closed the door. She leaned against it for a moment, feeling sore feet. She had only been home half the day - more than she had thought - and still somehow managed to always be on her feet. A good fourteen hours straight had been spent standing, walking, or, in one case, running to catch up with a courier before he left to Ba Sing Se. The fellow Kyoshi warrior who handed him the wrong envelope would need a stricter punishment job. Suki would have to think that up, later. Maybe putting the girl on a night patrol would be enough. The punishment wasn't actually a punishment, it was rather more of a given opportunity for the fellow warrior to think over being more cautious (as that was usually the end result of why something happened - that they weren't cautious enough).

For now, though, all she could think of was sleep. Celeigh came out of the kitchen then and bid her goodnight with a kiss on the cheek. "Sokka's on dish duty so don't wait up for him, okay sweetie? You look like you're going to faint!"

"I'll be fine, Aunt. Go to bed," she smiled.

"My own niece acting like the boss of me," Celeigh shook her head in obvious amusement. "I told Blais that leadership position would go to your head."

"Hah-hah. Night."

"Night, sweetie."

Suki crossed the front hall, through the living room, and to the opposite wall. Sinking tiredly onto the heavily cushioned couch, she stared out the large windows to the ocean on the other side. It was dark, nearly black, but its foam as it crashed onto the sand was still white as ever. With the sliver of a crescent moon visible through the clouds, it was a beautiful sight.

The cushions sunk down to her right and Suki looked over to see her fiance. "He, what are you doing? I thought you were on dishes duty."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Your Aunt made it sound way harder than it is."

"Oh no. You'll probably have something wrong in the morning. She'll have a fit it you put something back in the wrong place."

He shrugged. "Too bad." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Tired?"

"Extremely."

"Want help up the stairs?"

Suki smiled. "In a minute. The view is just too pretty." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Fen's a nice kid. His parents are nice. I'm glad you took my advice, Sokka. You'll be a great mentor."

Sokka squeezed her closer and joked, "I'll teach him to kick butt better than everyone else. Not that he'll be favored, I mean."

She just giggled.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	52. A Funeral

**A/N:** And here's the bonus chapter!

I'm just going to *slide* in the idea here that cremation is a common practice in the Fire Nation. It seems like it would be, right? Also I'm pretending there are lesser sages than the Fire Sages that find who the next Fire Nation Avatar will be. Nothing else is known about the Fire Nation's religious beliefs (besides witches, evil spirits, and patrons, like everywhere else in the Avatar universe) so I'll just have to go with this. The mood is a little different this chapter. I figured it fit well with wrapping up this storyline.

Thanks for reading :) Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_In a dark time, the eye begins to see,_

_I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;_

_I hear my echo in the echoing wood-_

_A lord of nature weeping to a tree,_

_I live between the heron and the wren,_

_Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den._

_What's madness but nobility of soul_

_At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire!_

_I know the purity of pure despair,_

_My shadow pinned against a sweating wall,_

_That place among the rocks-is it a cave,_

_Or winding path? The edge is what I have._

_A steady storm of correspondences!_

_A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon,_

_And in broad day the midnight come again!_

_A man goes far to find out what he is-_

_Death of the self in a long, tearless night,_

_All natural shapes blazing unnatural light._

_~'In A Dark Time', _stanzas #1-3, Theodore Roethke

* * *

><p>Zuko felt hesitant but schooled his features so it didn't show. He was becoming almost a master at doing that now. He walked – with his guards in a distant square assembly around him – to the cliff point where the funeral was to be held.<p>

A small coupling of people were there, gathered around the sage initiating the ceremony. A gathering double the size was scattered in clumps beyond, near the tree-line that dotted along the coast in this largely uninhabited area. (If it was inhabited, these trees would be torn down so the people could see an uninterrupted and remarkable view of the sea.)

He skirted around the edge of the more intimate gathering, staying just close enough so his presence was known but not enough to intrude. He didn't want to intrude. The small gathering was Shinu's family. Zuko did not recognize any of them but General Shinu, but he knew they were family because he knew the names and descriptions of Kaol Lee Shinu's family.

A father, brother, sister-in-law, niece, and two nephews. His mother had died from a common sickness a few years prior and he never married. Kaol Lee was not even betrothed once, as far as Zuko knew. But that was something private so anything was possible there.

The sage spoke in a long, droning voice where the syllables were muted and the consonants came out like footsteps across a smooth stone surface. It was a sound that, when hear long enough, could drone someone to sleep. That was the purpose as it helped soothe those that were grieving. Or so Zuko was always told. Many of the people from the larger group (mostly military friends or colleagues from the past going to honor the respects from a variety of reason ranging from their presence was required, as the family remembers them, or they were friends with Kaol up until the end, and came because they wished to) huddled closer to hear the sermon.

Zuko felt like it could put him to sleep right about now. He didn't want to be here and wouldn't be, but for his presence being required. For now, though, he just watched. Watched the people and how little of them reacted, usually flickering their eyes here or there and doing much of the same discreet spying and studying of fellow comrades that he, Zuko, was doing. The family did not seem to be grieving much, which surprised him. It surprised him dully, almost like his subconscious was telling him that he should've expected it. _The Fire Nation may be full of passion but everyone acts like a statue,_ Zuko thought idly.

He remembered his Father, then. When his Father would find something unsatisfying, annoying, or in any way remotely displeasing, he expressed it - _clearly_. If they were out in public or in front of someone important and that they must impress, then his nostrils would just flare, his forehead crease, and he would wait until they were at the palace again. And then he would let it rip. His voice boomed and echoed painfully off of the tall ceilings and slick tiles and walls.

Zuko thought about his own family turmoils as the one in front of him continued to pay respects and find peace.

_I haven't thought of my Father in days; well, weeks_. Ozai had been there at the Black Rock Prison too. He and Azula did not know it, because Zuko made sure they were completely separate. The first two weeks after his coronation, Zuko visited his Father nearly every day. No one else knew. Not even Uncle. He told the Avatar, Katara, and the others that he had meetings during those times. They left it at that.

It was true enough. He was meeting with someone – they just didn't know it was his Father.

He visited in an effort to discover where his mother was. The first week, Ozai didn't talk more than a few words. The second week, Ozai responded to all of his questions by stating how much his son would be just like him; how he, Zuko, would discover how hard it was, running a nation; how war was necessary to keep everything running smoothly and soundly and that it only worked when done with a tight control. The last day the new Fire Lord visited - the fifteenth day - Ozai snapped and finally admitted he had no idea where Ursa was. He never looked, did not care. He said other things too that Zuko blinked his eyes against the memories of.

Zuko never went again. _Angry, pathetic old man_, he thought with a frown_. An insane, angry, and pathetic old man._

The sage finished and with the end of his voice brought a sudden startling realization to how quiet it was outside. A flock of some gray breed of bird cawed loudly overhead. The sage stepped forward and took a large vase from the oldest man in the intimate family group. The man largely resembled General Shinu. Zuko imagined, now, that he - the father - also shared many of the same looks or actions with Kaol Lee, too, but couldn't much remember the rebel's face. Whether he pushed the rebel's face out of his mind intentionally or by accident (because he did not care about the man enough at all to remember him) didn't matter.

The sage went on to murmur some blessings and dumped the ashes over the cliff edge. There was enough of a wind that they were carried for a little while before dropping into the sea, spreading out wide and far. The uttered words were of a promise of peace. _How strange, for Shinu. _Those back in Natsuno and Rhange would argue it was wholly undeserved.

Zuko watched on for a few more minutes, pretending to pay his own respects in his mind like everyone else was doing. But he was not doing that really because he didn't even have an ounce of respect for the man. Kaol Lee was a cruel and sullen person who was angered at his lot in life. Zuko knew far too many people the last few years of his banishment and then the handful of months traveling with the Avatar to know that many more people had it a lot worse off and they got used to it. A great deal of them even found more happiness than Shinu ever did with his small inherited fortune and guaranteed position in the military.

Zuko saw General Shinu approaching him, specifically, and waited. He locked eyes with the man after the General made a short, curt bow. "Fire Lord Zuko."

He gave a nod in return. "General Shinu. I am sorry for your loss."

"No you're not," the General said lightly. "And neither am I. Or perhaps I am. It's hard to tell." Zuko only nodded politely and understandingly, knowing the feeling. Sometimes the thought and stress of possibly losing someone hurt more than the actual act. Something he came to discover when Aang stripped his Father of his powers and then Zuko locked him up in prison. Zuko always imagined that, if the time came to make a break like that (because although he didn't want it, his mind still thought of it from time to time), it would be a lot harder and weigh heavier on his conscience than it did now. "My father thanks you for coming."

"It's custom."

"Yes, it is." General Shinu continued to glance about, here and there, into the trees and over the cliff, while talking with an air of ease Zuko did not expect. He unclasped his hands hanging in front of him and said, "If you'll excu-"

"You did a good thing, ending that War. Many of us in the military are more disgruntled about it than anything else – it's our life. War is all we know. But the people are much happier and it was only supposed to be for them," he shrugged. "Engaging in war with our fellow nations wasn't necessary. At least, not that war." Shinu smiled a little at that and bowed. "Excuse me."

Then he turned and walked away and Zuko, for the briefest moment, let the other man's words sink in before turning to leave with his little entourage.

General Shinu was right in what he implied – some wars his nation had engaged in, in the past, were necessary. To protect the people, the nation. But that War, the war his grandfather started, was not. And Zuko did not care one bit if some in the military were unhappy to see it end. Those few were being replaced every day with dozens of the more open younger generation. If those blood-thirsty men under his father hoped to keep their jobs, they would have to swallow their opinions.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	53. Business as Usual

**A/N: **Kind of a short chapter. I really just wanted to get a chapter out for you guys, so I split this off from another I have yet to write (actually better this way, continuity-wise). Sorry for any typos - wrote this whole thing on an iPad. Man, wish I had a laptop right now (but this is better than nothing, so I'm not complaining!).

Thanks so much to everyone reading this, adding it to you alert and favorite lists, and reviewing! I live writing this story and love reading your feedback and really just seeing that you are reading it, too :D

**Disclaimer: do not even feign to own a sliver of the A:LA universe.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_"Character is what you have left when you've lost everything you can lose."_

~Evan Esar

* * *

><p>The meeting wrapped up well and successfully. There would always be tensions somewhere and with something when you're the one that runs a nation but, as of now, there were virtually none. Zuko's only stress came from a new plan he signed into effect regarding restrictions on businesses. And then there was the silent part of him that missed Katara terribly, being in and used to her company for a long time now.<p>

Under his grandfather's and father's collective reign, the imperial government became more and more suspicious of those that may be opposing them. It was natural, but the steps they took, including pulling most able men or smart men off the streets for military service, led to a monopolization on most services.

But Zuko only saw absurdity in what the thought behind it was - that thought being that if someone had a business trading across the seas and with other nations, he or she could be trading military secrets as well. Military secrets that they would be unable to have access to in the first place. And overseas trading was largely shut down during Ozai's reign, in his early days - some five or six years before.

Plus, it was hard to keep the small, just-around-the-corner shops open if the ones criminalizing and vandalizing it were military. Which they usually were. They wouldn't go to jail and the ones with the job to stop it were those supposed to prevent it in the first place.

Yet, in a way, a very far-fetched way, it was those soldiers (or, at least their families) he was trying to protect. You can't judge a group by one's actions.

"Okay, I barely understood just now what you were trying to accomplish in there, but I hope it works," Ty Lee said as she came out of nowhere and sidled up beside him as he walked down the hall.

"How did you sit in?" Zuko's asked. The meeting was, of corse, a closed one and, if he recalled correctly, her name wasn't on the list of permitted to attend.

She shrugged. "I used the balcony by the ceiling."

"Isn't that decorative only?" He knew quite a large extent of her acrobatic abilities but was still a little surprised by this.

She only shrugged again but there was a small, proud smile on her lips.

"So what are you doing here?" Zuko's asked. As far as he knew, Ty Lee was going to go from Natsuno to Kyoshi Island, with no unnecessary stops in between. He rubbed his neck tiredly. He was even more wary of asking questions - he'd been doing that all week.

The noble born girl yawned too, as it was as contagious as a simple summer cold. "I came to say goodbye - but not for long, remember. Maybe a week or two, I think."

It took him nearly a full minute to figure out what she was talking about. "Sokka and Suki's wedding is in almost two weeks. Twelve days."

"Right. Have you got the number of hours and minutes left for me too?" Ty Lee joked. Zuko smiled along. He didn't want to admit that sometimes he_ did_ calculate that - it would be the next possible time he would be able to see Katara.

They stopped outside of his office. He opened the door and offered for her to come inside to talk more but Ty Lee shook her head, saying she had somewhere else to be.

"I'm going to see my sisters before I leave."

"But not your parents," Zuko bluntly said. She nodded.

"They disapprove of me running off to join the circus and if they heard I was going to live and be a Kyoshi warrior?" Ty Lee curled her hands together and then rapidly opened them and pulled them apart, indicating an explosion - with the semi-accurate sounds, too. "they're going to some banquet something, something today do I should be able to sneak in and out before they know it." The cheerful girl grinned. "You know me, I tend to tune out when reading their letters."

Zuko smiled lightly in response to her truthful words. But, he didn't say anything as, admittedly, his mind was elsewhere. It was on the faces he had to speak with urgently, the meetings he had to attend, and the reforms he had to enact so that the Fire Nation could be functioning for more than three days before a report came across his deck about someone being arrested or some property being seized because his - Zuko's - words didn't match the laws on the books.

Those things couldn't be taken lightly and they plagued his mind with a kind of stress he hadn't experienced before. The kind his father warned him about. Zulu automatically shook off that thought, almost driven by instinct. If he wrote any law haphazardly, it would do no good. Zuko knew that while he could interpret the words exactly as he intended, those after him, and after that, wouldn't have his thoughts, his mind, to interpret and would see it differently.

And Zuko didn't want some volatile, potentially dangerous, interpretation of his peaceful changes.

A shuffling maid or servant walking past snapped him out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Ty Lee, what did you say?"

"I asked if you've heard from the Avatar. I was just wondering how his temple efforts were going. My friends in the Earth Kingdom keep wondering about it too; they're happy about taking part in the program."

He nodded and gestured with his free hand. "It's going good. He's planning on moving on to the Eastern Air Temples by next year. As far as I know, he's going to leave early for those like he has done the southern ones after the upcoming wedding. Everyone's adjusting well - but he is busy, planning and stuff. His nation is much more spread out than ours," Zuko joked.

"I don't understand how his program works-" Ty Lee shrugged and smiled serenely, as always. "-but I hope it works out."

"We all do." A beat passed. "Hey, and Ty?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay in Kyoshi. It makes you happy. I don't know, teach your friends that chi-blocking stuff you do or open a small circus as a side job or something if that warrior stuff gets boring."

"Hey!" she protested, laughing. "Being a Kyoshi Warrior isn't boring. Besides, I don't know if there are enough people in Kyoshi to take part in my circus."

Zuko smirked, amused. "Then I guess you'll have to find out."

She bounced on the balls of her feet, full of merriment. "I guess I will," she answered coyly. They then exchanged goodbyes - until the wedding - and wished each other good luck on whatever the other needs luck on and then she was gone, briefly shocking another maid by cartwheeling down the hall.

The young Fire Lord went into his office and took a minute, forgoing the pressing work waiting for him, to stand by his embankment of windows and think. His thoughts invariably turned to Katara. Where he would normally dwell in any thoughts regarding the stubborn, fascinating water-bender, Zuko turned his thoughts to the Gaang instead. It was funny to him how much they all changed. Yet, they were all the same people on the inside - they just all reacted differently to events or happenings of violence or commotion.

He thought about Sokka's upcoming wedding. _Of all people, _he thought, smirking, before contradicting with, _well no, that makes the most sense. Of all people, of course Sokka._

A few more minutes passed and Zuko's mind wandered to his sister. It was the sibling connection, he knew. He thought of his mother and his wish to visit her daughter. Azula's most recent status report lay unopened on his desk. His mother deserved to visit Azula. But, as selfish as it was, he didn't want to know if his visit hurt dear sister. Yet, he did want to know if it had helped.

The curiosity got to him eventually.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_By three methods we may learn wisdom: _

_First by reflection, which is the noblest;_

_Second by imitation, which is the easiest; and_

_Third by experience, which is the bitterest._

~Confucious

* * *

><p>She was happy. Not content or "fine" or managing as she'd told her mother, her son, her friends, Sar-<em>Ursa<em>. She reminded herself of the Fire Lady's real, at-birth-given, name every day that she shared correspondence with the older woman she held so dear and trusted in her mind. Truth be told, during their shared letters, the other woman was completely comfortable with being called by her alias and, therefore, the younger girl continued to.

But Tadame was happy. The day was sweet in its temperature, it's view, it's feel. Jains was off at a friend's house, enjoying rare delicacies - for him - like a pink berry tart or a lemon tart. Her son loved those. While she would splurge more than normal and, on a few, semi-rare occasions, they would get ice cream in thick, sugary-warm waffle cones, it wasn't very often that she - and Jains, by default - would eat baked goods. Mostly because of the required "baking" part. Tadame did not pretend to have anything near expertise in that area.

Tadame took the key out of her slip pocket and unlocked the door it went to. It was her shop now. It was strange to her, when she thought about it, that while it seemed Ursa had only left a day, a week, ago, the flower shop always seemed to be partly hers. Hers to run, hers to own, hers to maintain.

The young fire nation born woman flipped the Open/Closed sign and went back to the "kitchen". The orders she had noted down were organized in a complex system of bulk amount versus needed-delivery date. Saru had been able to remember all of the orders without writing down so much as a word - every detail, ever receiving person, every location, every single flower asked for.

But Tadame couldn't remember. With a son constantly keeping her running around here or there and now a shop and business on top of an apartment to keep busy and clean too left her with more than enough energy to sleep and not enough hours to do it. Fretting would be a good word to describe her usual routines.

Maybe the reason she'd never felt more shocked about running the flower shop - besides the initial stunned calm she had felt - had been because Saru always told her that she meant for the widowed, young, fire nation woman to take over when she was no longer able to. Tadame always tried to downplay when the Fire Lady said she - Tadame - deserved a second chance to make a new life.

Saru had no qualms about loneliness. However, when she'd gotten to know Tadame, she had admitted to the girl that while loneliness was bearable, it was "the right company" that made life worth it.

Tadame gathered some long, bushy sprigs of green leaf stalks. A few were woody at the bottom. Unfortunately, their length was perfect for the vase she had picked out. She took the select stems to another counter and treated them with a tool that resembled a peeler - used for, you guessed it, peeling roots and vegetables and other things like such - but it was duller and had soft grooves. It lifted the bark layer but left the almost-raw one behind. It would speed up the deterioration of the plant but less than it would if she'd cut into the stem with a knife. So that was something.

Picking the daisies and three beautifully orange-red striped carnations out of the bins for the arrangement, Tadame found that she was missing a wispy final piece of spotty white - a faint cream, really, if you look hard enough - blooming flower that resembled a full dill bouquet hybrid. It would die looking the same as it did alive, except that it was dry; thus, it was used in nearly every arrangement she made.

Tadame put the unfinished work into an iced case and grabbed a small bag of coins and the front-door key. She needed to go down the street to an older couple's residence for a couple she knew that took an avid interest in having the best, most overflowing garden in Hemero-Callis.

They were nice people who, with a little payment added to the request, always came through during an emergency and let her come and cut off whatever stems she needed.

Normally, Tadame got frustrated when work was interrupted. It was her safe-haven and escape from the rest of the world, if only for a few hours. Not this time. Tadame smiled wider. _Maybe I'll ask them if they've decided to adopt that, what, cat? Whatever they were thinking about getting as a pet,_ Tadame thought._ Yeah, I'll do that_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	54. Fishing

**A/N: **Alright, next chapter skips ahead a bit to Sokka and Suki's wedding! Yay, so excited. Their wedding will span a few chapters (because, in my mind, that plot point also involves everyone arriving, the ceremony, and then the reception. I don't want to cheap the whole Gaang out anything important or comedic - this will be the first time they're together since... _a while ago_) so the next chapter will actually be arrivals, but we're so close! *rubshands* Only a few more!

Side note, it's hard to post chapters on the road :S Good news, I can't seem to stop writing them.

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't pretend to own. Please don't sue.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I'll rest me in this sheltered bower,_

_And look upon the clear blue sky_

_That smiles upon me through the trees,_

_Which stand so thick clustering by;_

_And view their green and glossy leaves,_

_All glistening in the sunshine fair;_

_And list the rustling of their boughs,_

_So softly whispering through the air._

_And while my ear drinks in the sound,_

_My winged soul shall fly away;_

_Reviewing lone departed years_

_As one mild, beaming, autumn day;_

_And soaring on to future scenes,_

_Like hills and woods, and valleys green,_

_All basking in the summer's sun,_

_But distant still, and dimly seen._

_Oh, list! 'tis summer's very breath_

_That gently shakes the rustling trees-_

_But look! the snow is on the ground-_

_How can I think of scenes like these?_

_'Tis but the frost that clears the air,_

_And gives the sky that lovely blue;_

_They're smiling in a winter's sun,_

_Those evergreens of sombre hue._

_And winter's chill is on my heart-_

_How can I dream of future bliss?_

_How can my spirit soar away,_

_Confined by such a chain as this?_

_~'The Arbour_', by Anne Bronte

* * *

><p>"Hugsies!"<p>

Ty Lee felt squished and on the tipping point of lacking oxygen, but embraced the large group-hug anyway. "It's good to see you guys too!"

"You look exhausted."

"Yeah, you do," Layir agreed with Masie, a friend of hers who tagged along when Layir spotted the Earth Kingdom ferry carrying Ty Lee. Ty Lee had sent a letter a few days earlier - when she had left an Earth Kingdom port, on a ferry - to Kyoshi Island and put in her letter what day it was expected to arrive. Many of the fellow Kyoshi warriors she had come to care about and befriend were there, waiting absently, when it arrived.

The Fire Nation girl laughed merrily at the other two's words. "Thank you for the compliment, Masie," she said sarcastically but it was meant without venom. Masie half-grinned and shrugged. It gave off a vibe that she interpreted - rightfully - as _'what? I'm just being honest'._

"Ty Lee, it's good to see you back. Did you help out Zuko?" Suki asked from about a foot away from the rest of the group. While they weren't as close as the Fire Nation noble was with many of the others, they were still close enough that Suki had come with the welcoming party.

"Yeah, what was that about, anyway?" Ishi asked. She had been involved in the group hug too, having had more time to befriend Ty Lee than Suki. Layir, Masie, and a few others of the small Kyoshi warrior crowd chirped agreements, wanting to know as well.

She just smiled coyly. "You know I want to tell you guys! But I can't, okay? Sworn confidence and all that." She made a sign over her heart that looked like a pinky-promise. After, she let her hand linger over her necklace - the same one shaped into a circle, with half of it carved like a fan the Kyoshi warrors typically carry and use. It was comforting to know the necklace wasn't the only piece of Kyoshi with her now, anymore.

Layir echoed the loudest "aw", being arguably the most vocal of the group, but, as she was also the most eager, she quickly shut her mouth at Suki's look. The others followed in the same manner.

Suki gestured, waving her hands at all of them and then putting them on her chest area, across her collarbone. "We all understand, Ty Lee. Now, why don't we catch up at lunch?" At her words, the group gravitated down the dirt road to the main stretch of town. "And _then_ you can go pass out and sleep through the rest of the day." Ty lee shared a smile with the Kyoshi leader. A few of the females chuckled.

Suki hadn't had much time to form a negative opinion of the Fire Nation teen. They rarely, if more than once, met on the battlefield. The stories the Gaang had of the evil Fire Nation chasing them dealt largely with Zuko - which, now that she thought about it, amused Suki more - and had few mentions of the other royalty heir, let alone Azula's friends and fellow teen allies. The story of Ty Lee and Mai turning on Azula - which was a rumor until Ty Lee ran into them - greatly changed the Gaang's view on those they had fought and were still fighting against.

Brought together and shaped by difficult, hard (in the sense of being worn-down), and emotionally-distraught circumstances, all of them were still teenagers at the end of the day, working their way through life's lessons. It was that mindset that helped Suki so easily accept and allow Ty Lee into the Kyoshi warriors. Because, after all, her admission was Suki's decision to make.

The two females were almost peripheral to the close-knit group of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko. Granted, Zuko was, for the majority of the four's shared history, an enemy, but those shared experiences also brought them closer and escalated the passions on both sides before the Fire Nation royal prince switched sides altogether. Their was a kinship there developed by constant companionship - even if it wasn't always the desired kind. Even Zuko admitted once that his tracking of Aang and the Gaang became a lot more personal, and a lot quicker, than he'd expected.

Suki didn't have those personal grudges or biases towards Ty Lee. When she first met the girl - _really_ met her - the Kyoshi warrior was surprised at the other's..._ bubbling attitude_. They struck a slow but steady friendship. Ishi, Suki's best friend, had struck a _fast_ friendship with Ty Lee. Suki had been surprised at that.

"Oyagi!" Ty Lee called to the resident mayor. He swiveled to face them from where he'd been walking past, his face instantly smiling at seeing a familiar face (not that there were many strangers of his in his beloved town). She went over and embraced him in a friendly hug. "Miss me?"

"I wasn't sure you were coming back."

"Oyagi!" it was Ishi that admonished him.

He winked. "I'm joking with you. How was your trip? Enlightening? Terrifying?"

"Terrifying," Ty Lee said with a slightly exaggerated sigh. Only the smile adorning her lips showed that she was play-acting. Suki remembered the other girl had been in the circus. _That must be where it comes from_, she thought. Sometimes, when Ty Lee was playfully tricking one of them, it was hard to tell that she was actually _playing around_ and not serious at all. "But I wasn't harmed, so you don't have to worry."

Oyagi winked again. _He holds a soft spot for the Kyoshi warriors_, Suki knew; hence the winking. "Well, I was just on my way to a friend's house for a morning visit. I will see you all later, I'm sure." he nodded and was off again without missing a beat in his stride.

Roughly a few minutes later, they all filed into a small cafe - one of the few on the island - and were distracted from their reunion for a few minutes while they ordered. After, they stood off in the corner by the counter, one by one, instead of sitting. When they received their food they all walked out again. They ate out in the street as Ty Lee was all but escorted back to the duplex she shared with Layir and another girl who was not a Kyoshi warrior.

"How's the wedding planning going?" Ty Lee asked. She slurped thick egg noodles into her mouth.

The others broke out in either grins or giggles while Suki blushed. She didn't have her warrior white makeup on today and knew they could see it. _Drat,_ she cursed herself. "It's coming along," she shrugged nonchalantly. It took all her strength not to admit she was ready to have the ceremony and happily partake in the event. _If I start going on about it now, I won't stop_. She bit her lip and distracted herself with another thought. "Which reminds me; you have to get a dress."

Ty Lee gave her a cocky grin. It told Suki that the other woman knew that the conversation was a deflection off of herself. Ty Lee accepted the added attention graciously, though; she thrived in it. _If she'd been royalty, she would've done wonders with public attention; even during the Hundred Year War,_ Suki thought. "What is the color scheme?" Ty Lee asked.

"Pale yellow and dark green; like a forest!" Layir interrupted. Ishi laughed. "What? I like weddings, okay?"

"We know and we love you for it," Suki responded for her friend. She wrapped her arm around the Junior's shoulders and half-hugged her. Layir beamed a little, recovering from her upset mood-swing when she thought she was being ridiculed.

"Here we are." Ty Lee said. "You coming in too, Layir?"

"Yep!" She said, slipping out of Suki's arm and going to stand next to her roommate. "I've gotta feed Cyan."

Cyan was a small, gray minnow fish. It was only the third that the young woman had ever caught, preferring to socialize instead of focusing on the act of fishing (which, believe it or not, was something Suki took them out to do from time to time. The position of being a Kyoshi warrior wasn't all about fighting; it included survival, too). The fish was named Cyan, meaning 'blue', because, in the right light, it looked to be reflecting blue light - and it probably was. Suki had never seen aquariums outside of Ba Sing Se but Layir seemed to be starting one herself. She did have another fish before, but it had died last week. _If she can improve her fishing, she'll make Kyoshi famous for something besides the late Avatar Kyoshi._ Suki smiled at the lackadaisical idea.

"See you, Ty," Suki said, hugging the fellow girl after the others did the same.

Ty Lee nodded. "And _tomorrow_ we are going to go shopping."

Suki laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I think I'll pass. I've been to that dress shop enough in the past weeks to last years, thanks."

"I'll convince you," she promised with a teasing curtsy.

"I'll come along too; I haven't gotten my own yet," Masie volunteered.

Ishi rolled her eyes. "I don't understand you guys!"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting."_

~Dave Barry

* * *

><p>"Miya!" Shaepa hollered, but the Koala-sloth wasn't far away like her owner's yelling would suggest. Rather, she had climbed a tree in between two squat looking buildings and was now refusing to come down, even whimpering a little for help.<p>

Katara smiled. "Aw, someone help her. She's just like a shy Momo - without wings, I mean."

"I got her," Aang volutneered. He air-bended up, grabbing branches here and there to keep his slightly-unsteady-balance from dropping him completely to the ground. Unfortunately, his ations were counterproductive because Miya saw this as a threat and climbed even higher. It was ridiculous, Katara was thinking, because he was actually the most peaceful human the Koala-sloth had in her surrounding environment. Nonetheless, she grabbed another branch and hauled herself up, swinging her butt past Aang. Aang spoke soothingly, coaxing her. "Come on, little Miya. You can do it; come to me and you'll be safe on the ground again."

After a shattering second, she squealed and jumped for another branch. "Catch her!" Katara yelled as she saw Miya fumble with her grip. The Koala-sloth scraped against the timber but her claws were uanble to solidly grab it, becoming disloged from the heavy gravity force Miya was commanding on them. The sap that sprug up from the tearing bark didn't help, either.

Miya fell only three feet torwards the ground before Aang scooped her up. He winced as her claws cut into his forarms and shoulders. She was still making sounds that were a cross between a squeal and a sqeak while she tumbled around in his grip for sturdy balance.

When he landed back on the ground, Shaepa took the female animal and snuggled her. The fellow teen had a padded wool coat on underneath her usual robe as the humidity from the sea began to deepen the cold at the temples. It was because of that wardrobe choice that Shaepa was grinning and lavishing the clawed animal with love without reacting like Aang, who was grimacing and fussing at his scratched arms and the open wounds. Luckily there were only a few actual wounds, so neither he nor Katara healed them on the spot.

Katara held back a laugh as she watched her friend. "Don't itch them, Aang."

"I'm not."

"You are too." Aang rolled his eyes. "I can see your arms! You will make those worse," she tsk'ed. Katara turned to Shaepa then as Aang continued to focus on his wounds and ignore her advise. "Sorry about Miya. I didn't know she would react that way to fish."

"Oh, it's okay. It actually isn't the fish - it's the dock. She hates the sea." Shaepa shrugged. "I guess from being stuck on a boat for a few weeks. Anyway, I'm just surprised you got her a few steps onto that rickety thing in the first place."

Katara nodded, enlightened. She smiled in amusement. "So me holding up the fish was just-"

"Her trigger, yeah; basically." Shaepa adjusted Miya on her hip. "Okay, well, I guess I'm off! See ya- oh, hey!" She spun around again, pointing to Aang. "Don't leave before Miya, Natima, and I can give you a big send off - and Toph, too. You're not leaving this island before saying goodbye!"

"I'm only leaving for two weeks, Shaepa." The way Aang said it made it sound as though Shaepa was the mother and Aang the son. And, from what Katara had observed the past week or so, she didn't doubt that Aang often had to fight the other teen from falling into that pattern. _Shaepa is a very... nuturing, er, controlling person...? _Nurturing wasn't the right word, but Katara settled on it anyway. 'Controlling' just didn't fit.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll just miss you and Toph - and you, Katara." She flushed a little at forgetting the water-bender.

Katara interjected with, "Hey, don't worry about forgetting me. I'm not the one living here."

Shaepa conceeded to that point. She moved to say something else to Aang but then Miya squirmed in her arms abruptly, almost fallling out of them, so she stopped and said goodbye, promising to talk later. They waved farewells at her.

"So..."

"Want to check on Toph?"

"Sure." Katara smiled and they went walking back.

The three of them - plus the bipolar-acting Koala-sloth that is Miya - had been fishing, for no particular reason beyond wanting to try it and being incredibly bored, that morning. When Miya began to go ballistic after the water-bender held up the fish she caught, Toph only rolled her eyes at the event, calling "it's not smart to leave the blind girl with all of the poles!" after them as the two went running behind the fleeing Koala-sloth.

"You did great," Katara complimented Aang suddenly. He blushed a little at the words. Doing what he was doing at the Southern Air Temples - including joking around, which was roughly a third of it - seemed so normal to him now, having done it for nearly two months with little breaks, that her compliments since arriving kept catching him off-guard. "I'm serious! And I'm not just talking about getting crazy Miya down from that tree. This place looks so lively, Aang! I could've never dreamed of it looking so... fresh."

"Fresh?" He asked dubiously. It sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

"You know what I mean - revived, new... _clean_."

Aang did laugh this time. "Toph and I did spend a solid month cleaning everything here. You wouldn't believe the mold."

"Um, hello, do you remember some of the places we stayed when traveling around the world?" She raised an eyebrow. "I can believe anything tossed my way now.

"And I still can't believe what happened with that little girl, Raja," she rattled on after a minute. "I believe it, yeah, but that's just... If it was anyone else, Aang, I have a hard time believing it would've happened."

"It was out of my hands." Aang said.

"Yes, but it was because you were there, with your hands, that the past Avatars did what they did." Katara looked at him with admiration. "I hardly understand what they did but I did understand what Roku told you about it being good timing. If anyone can teach her well, it's you. At least with the whole publicity stuff."

"Hey!" Aang chuckled.

"I'm kidding! You'll make a great mentor - didn't I teach you anything?"

"To be fair, a lot of my skills come from Pakku." She gave him a fierce look. "But you were the one that drove his points home," he added quickly.

"There you go," she teased.

The silence descended after he acknowledged her words with a poorly covered smile. They began to cross the hill that seperated the lowlands of narrow beach - that held the equally-as-small deck - and the main temple buildings high upon cliffs, seperated from the sea by both space and fog. As they reached the top, Aang spoke suddenly. "I haven't heard you having nightmares for the past four nights..." He left an opening for her to speak.

Katara swallowed, surprised at the sudden statement.

"Have you been having them?"

"Yeah." Katara admitted. She stopped walking abruptly, but gracefully, and pivoted to Aang. Glancing at the dock out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toph still sitting there, feet danging in the water, her own pole still between her knees - now accompanied by two others - as she leaned back on the palms of her hands. "I'm okay, Aang. Really... I'll be fine."

"You _are_ okay or _will_ be?"

_Damn_, Katara thought._ He caught my slip up_. She sighed. "I _will_ be okay. But I'm fine now. They're not that bad after a while, they just remind me. You and Sokka know most how much Hama... _scared_ me. I don't ever want to be like her."

Aang's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to speak in protest. "You're n-"

"I know. Still, I guess it just hurts to know my own instincts are to... blood-bend," she said the last part in a whisper. "I promise I will get over it in my own way - like you did during Sozin's Comet. You know how stubborn I am," she joked lamely. But, a second later, with - what she hoped to be - a reassuring smile and a nod over to Toph, she said, "And I'd prefer not to tell anyone else. Now come on, lets go finish fishing and try to catch another striped thing to scare Momo with this time."

Aang's look make it obvious that he was unsure whether to let her get away without a full confession and shoulder-leaning. Nevertheless, he left it at that. "I'm always here, just like I know it's vice-versa. Even if you don't want to confide in me there's Toph and Sokka and even Zuko." Those were all the words he said on that matter. As they moved back down to the deck, he seemed to have realized what she had said earlier and joked, in his usual grinning fashion, "Momo will never come down if you flash fish at him. He'll be so mad - just because you compared him to Miya! He will do it just to spite us."

Katara giggled a little at that. The lightened mood was refreshing. She didn't know when everything seemed to take such a dramatic turn in their lives, but it all seemed to go in a wave, she observed. _First fall of Ba Sing Se, then Sozin's Comet, and now all of this personal stuff. Okay, so it's always been personal with all of us_, she confessed to herself. I_ wish there was some frog I could lick to come out of this fog_. Remembering her and Sokka's delirious episode and the healing incident of sucking on frogs aided her quiet laughs more.

The subject of Hama was still something Katara was wary about speaking of out-loud. Aang had made a good point - he and her brother were the ones that would understand most what she went through when she blood-bended the first time. There in that forest, with Hama threatening Aang and Sokka's lives, Katara hadn't had a choice. _No_, she almost whispered to herself as they walked down the hill in silence._ I did have a choice and I chose their safety. I would do it again, too._

But, if Katara was going to speak to anyone about her second and latest - preferably _last_ - blood-bending experience, back in Natsumo, it would be with Zuko. _He was_ _there_. While her choice with Hama was to protect her friends, her choice with Wahyn was to protect herself. Katara was hardly ever a selfish person. She had scared herself that day when she blood-bended. In some weird way, Katara believed - _knew_ - Zuko would understand some part of that. She remembered his behavior when the Gaang first took him in. He was like an abandoned, emotional puppy and she had been so mean to him.

_Of course, he _had_ deserved it_. Katara smiled a little at that but Aang didn't notice as they approached the dock. It was funny but she could honestly say that, looking back on all those memories, she could laugh at some of her own behavior. She'd been so focused and intense. _How anyone put up with me... but I had a good reason; a _great_ one._

And then there was also the fact that Katara just missed Zuko. _Terribly_. She wondered what he was doing just this second. _Probably looking over something at his desk. Probably pissed off at some government official, too, and is venting about it while staring out his windows. Yeah, he' _so_ doing that,_ Katara thought with a silent laugh.

"Where in the world have you two been? Is Miya with you?" Toph asked. Her young voice snapped the water-bender out of her reverie of thought.

"Nah, Miya took off with Shaepa. And we were only gone, like, ten minutes."

Tooh snorted at Aang's explanation.

"So, catch anything?" Katara asked this time, taking up her position again. She was sitting on Toph's right; Aang on Toph's left.

The earth-bender handed back each their fishing poles. "Nope. Nothing bit at the bait, either. Boring as ever." A minute passed and then Aang yelped in surpise when his line tugged. He began reeling it in as Toph just rolled her eyes, turning to her right. "You two and your luck. It's sickening."

Katara smiled and patted her best friend on the shoulder. "Love you too, Toph." She said it sincerely. _Even when you're crazy and so sarcastic you confuse me_, she added silently.

Toph mumbled in response, "Yeah, yeah, love you too," as quietly as she could.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	55. First Arrivals

**A/N: **I will be resuming my posting schedule a week early! Yay. Didn't think I would be back so soon. Good thing for you guys ^_^ huh? Side note, I love having an excuse now for these characters to chat non-stop. A break from writing narrative is refreshing.

**Disclaimer: Blah-blah. I've already said it fifty-something times.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."_

~Albert Camus

* * *

><p><em>8 days later, 3 days before the Ceremony...<em>

Suki looked over at Sokka and a happy giggle escaped from her mouth. He was so relieved. _But why wouldn't he be_, she thought.

They were standing and waiting, for the past thirty minutes, for Appa. The two of them - and her Aunt and her father - knew that sometime within the next few days, Aang, Katara, and Toph would be arriving. Still, no one beside the Gaang a few passer-byers had seen a flying bison for a hundred years - give or take a few - which meant her Father's almost-heart attack at the sight of Appa descending from the sky was completely justified. If not a little strange at first. She was pretty desensitized to the big beast.

Finally, they landed on a strip of beach quite a few yards down from her house. It was in a more cut-off part of the island and almost on the opposite side from the island's dock. Nonetheless there was quite a crowd_. Nearly the whole freakin' island._

Katara dismounted first. Like the water she bent, she flowed quickly into her brother's arms and hugged him as though they hadn't seen each other for months. _Oh wait__..._. Suki grinned as they shared the mixed greetings of "I missed you", "so great to see you", and "how are you?" Instead of waiting around by them, Suki walked down to greet Aang and Toph. Toph was the last to disembark and she landed clumsily onto the sand. "Motion sickness?"

"No, it's this sand. I can't get my footing." Toph grumbled but her voice wasn't gruff in the least._ Relief from finally being back on the ground,_ she guessed.

"It's great to see you two. Hug!" Suki rushed them and pulled Toph in, catching her off-guard.

"I think your cheeriness has increased since we last saw you," Toph suggested when they pulled apart.

"You think?"

"Oh yeah."

Aang smirked. "But that's a good thing," he nudged Toph. The earth-bender said something under her breath afterwards but Suki let it go. She knew it was just the way Toph loved. "You look great, Suki."

She preened. "Thank you. Come on, I want to introduce you two to a few people."

"Shouldn't we wait for Katara?" He asked, looking over to where the water-bender was chatting animatedly with Sokka. Suki glanced back too. The two siblings were like candles that were finally lit.

"She'll join us before you know it. Now come!" Suki all but dragged them over to where a small group was at the forefront of the crowd. "I don't think you guys met before - and I definitely know you didn't meet, Toph - so this is Ishi. Ishi, Aang, and Toph." Her best friend was completely decked out in the Kyoshi warrior dress. Aang spoke a little about that – being a Kyoshi warrior - with her and Toph did the same, although in a much more secluded way, before Suki went on to introduce Layir, Masie, and a few others. She turned to her right and, with a little apprehension fluttering in her gut, said, "And this is my Aunt, Celeigh, and my Father, Blais."

"Nice to meet you." Aang said quickly. He held out his hand for Blais to shake. Her father looked a bit surprised, but pleased.

"This is the infamous new Avatar."

"Yes, sir."

Toph smirked ever so slightly. "Don't worry; he's more mature than he looks."

Suki bit back a laugh - partly because of the girl's words and partly because of the fierce, and slightly bewildered, look Aang shot Toph. Blais smiled impishly. "He disabled Fire Lord Ozai all on his own. Even if he's not so mature, he is capable. That's enough for me." Aang seemed humbled by that and bowed shallowly, thanking him for the compliment. "It's not a compliment," Blais waved off. "Just the truth."

Sokka walked over with Katara. Toph pulled roughly on Suki's ear and, when the other girl leaned down, whispered, "Is he always this way?"

"Afraid so."

"Awesome." Toph sidled up beside Suki's father and they proceeded to strike up a conversation; her asking him about his war experience (Sokka had mentioned it in a letter to Aang before they left the Southern Air Temples), him asking her about her blindness, and their shared experiences with "disabilities" (which Toph said "make a person harder and better at other things, so what's the problem?"). _I should have seen that coming_. Suki subtly shook her head and turned to her fiancé.

Sokka said, "I have a surprise for you", to Katara. She teased him, asking what it was. When he gestured to the edge of the crowd behind her, and her promptly turning to see, she squealed. Katara ran to warmly embrace her father. Suki rubbed Sokka's shoulder. They shared a look.

"Ty Lee? I thought you were still back in the Fire Nation!" Aang expressed his surprise.

Ty Lee grinned and jokingly socked him in the shoulder. "Do you keep the whereabouts of everyone up in that noggin of yours, Avatar?"

"I'm still not used to seeing you as a Kyoshi warrior..." He said instead of answering her witty question.

She smiled and tossed her long braid behind her back. "Thank you. I look completely different, right? It's so cool! I don't think my parents would recognize me if I dressed like this. You guys just have the advantage because you know I'm a Kyoshi warrior now."

Suki laughed and the engaged couple joined the conversation. "I think you wanted to join just so you could put on that makeup."

"Please!" She scoffed. "My family has enough money to buy any amount of makeup I want to put on." In a side they don't often see, she let her shoulders sag a little and took a deep breath, looking around in awe. "I just love it here."

"I know that face - it's the face of someone at home."

"Cheesy!" Toph laughed at Aang's words.

He smirked at her. "Oh yeah? Then how come you had the same face - twice - each time you arrived at the Southern Air Temples? And you've never left since. Point made; case closed."

"I love that line - can I use it?" Sokka asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Aang laughed.

Toph huffed. "Okay, firstly, there's no such thing as a special face for when someone's at 'home'," she held up air-quote fingers for the word. "And secondly, Twinkletoes, I didn't leave that island because of the temples."

Everyone saw how Toph immediately went pink at the comment. Sokka cleared his throat, Aang took on her new shade too, Blais looked on with a raised eyebrow, Celeigh held the same expression as someone who's trying to hold back a laugh, Hakoda furrowed his brow like someone who missed a very important piece of the conversation, Katara offered a change in conversation by way of a question, and Suki took the change gratefully. "Us girls are staying at my Aunt and father's house," she answered. "And Sokka and you, Aang, and I guess Zuko and Iroh too, when they arrive, will be staying at some super-secret location Sokka won't tell me anything about."

"It's a surprise!" He kissed her cheek.

Suki rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." She turned to Katara. "Not even married and he's keeping secrets from me. He won't even tell me if this place _is_ the surprise or _holds_ the surprise!"

"I knew I should have warned you," Katara winked and played along. "My brother - the heart-breaker."

"Hey!"

Hakoda laughed for the first time… and it was at his son's outrage. That made Katara finally give in and release the giggle that had been playing on her face by way of a grin.

Suki just rolled her eyes again, wrapped her arms around Sokka's neck awkwardly, and kissed his cheek. When he turned his head, she gave him a hard, chaste kiss. "I'm kidding, you moron."

"I know." He said, smiling impishly. "I just wanted to kiss you."

Suki laughed.

Katara was the one to roll her eyes this time. "Get a room!"

"Here, here! I came here for a wedding, not to witness a snog-fest."

"Thank you, Toph." The two linked arms. "I'm hungry. You?"

"Starved!"

Aang ran to catch up to them. Suki and Sokka didn't even notice.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Under the cherry blossoms_

_The guardians of the trees_

_Lay their heads together._

~Unknown, by Kyorai (poet Bashō's disciple)

* * *

><p>"Just set it anywhere," Sokka said. Aang dropped his bag on the floor, right then and there, in the middle of the room. It hit the scraped stone with a loud thud. Sokka would've asked what the Avatar boy could possibly have in the bag that was so heavy – or if it was just his clothes, in which case he was wearing way too many layers – but Sokka had other things on his mind at present. "So, what do you think?"<p>

"What do I think?" Aang repeated one syllable at a time. A slow smile pulled the corners of his lips up. "I think this place is awesome! Look at that view!" He rushed over to the western wall of the large main room that combined both the family room and the kitchen spaces. The wall was covered, side to side, ceiling to stone floors, in glass windows. It would look stunning during a sunset. That was the main fixture that attracted Sokka to the place. "How much did this cost? The Avatar asked, having no real clue what was expensive or moderate. Katara helped him with financing now and really had done that since he'd come out of his iceberg, rationing copper coins for the better filler meal – kabob or pie – while narrowly escaping the Fire Nation each day.

"Surprisingly cheap. They - the previous owners - had to dump it because of this... mess," Sokka gestured at the room with his arms. "It's definitely a fixer-upper."

And indeed it was. The stone floors were scuffed a thousand times over - a _definite_ understatement - and their grout was heavily stained with mud and dirt. There were a few water stains on the ceiling that meant someone - _he_ - would have to get up there and figure out where the leak was on the roof… and fix it quickly thereafter. Then there were the rooms, which didn't have much furniture, and the built in stuff, like the kitchen cabinets, for example, which were in good need of a coat of paint or stain treatment and more than a few tightening of screws.

But Sokka was working on it, at present, and had been for roughly a week. It was his surprise for Suki. _Our first home_.

"It'll be worth every copper coin."

"You think?" Sokka knew Aang was speaking honestly. He didn't want to show it too badly, but he was nervous. Really, he was terrified - terrified that Suki would hate their home being a masterpiece in the _first_ stage, with only the first few strokes of paint on the canvas. The analogy was actually quite fitting because half of the main room and the whole of the connected bath was unpainted, let alone paneled or wallpapered.

Aang reassured him with, "Don't worry, Sokka. Suki is the last person to complain about dirty grout. She was in a prison camp and didn't even complain about that. And she loves you! Now come on, I've got to unpack my bag."

The South Pole teen's brow furrowed. "Where's your bag?"

"Over there. Sorry for the scuffing." Aang picked up the bag and deposited it on one of the few barren furnishings - a surprisingly bright-in-color futon, left in its upright position - against the southern wall. It had a pattern of falling leaves on it. "I forgot how forgetful you get, Sokka. We need to hang out more often!"

"Hey! I didn't forget - I never processed it."

A beat passed before the friends burst out laughing and Aang, being in the precarious position of leaning over at the time, promptly fell face-first onto the futon.

Half an hour later, as the sun's heat was beginning to peak, the two met the other at Celeigh and Blais' house. The "others" were Suki, Toph, and Katara, along with Celeigh, Blais, and Hakoda. They all sat around and talked as one - Toph, because she volunteered, with the help of Celeigh, because Toph was unfamiliar with the kitchen - made tea. "Alright, done. Here, here, here-" she continued to repeat, pushing a tea cup in front of everyone. Toph climbed up on a counter opposite to the three stools and blew on her tea when she was done. "You can't spin on an air-ball and drink tea at the same time, Twinkletoes." She chided.

He was in the middle of saying "yes I can" when he stopped abruptly at the sounds of breaking pottery. Toph didn't even try to hide her smile, Sokka saw. He shared a grin with Suki before leaning over the counter himself. He took the towel that Celeigh offered and threw it at Aang. The boy caught it easily and started cleaning up his accidental mess.

Suki adopted an air of casualty as she asked, "Toph, are you seeing anyone?"

"Nope. My soul hasn't entered the Spirit World yet," She quipped back without missing a beat.

"Don't stay up too late, kids." Celeigh interrupted them. She had been making sandwiches for herself and Blais. Now done, they wished the Gaang peaceful dreams and left the kitchen. Hakoda did the same, taking his cup of tea and leaving for the living room. He kissed Katara on the forehead and pat Sokka on the back on his way out. The door closed behind with a soft sound of brushing wood against wood.

"Where was I?" Suki asked suddenly.

Aang groaned as he tossed the towel in a laundry bin and the cracked pieces of the tea cup in the sink. "Please don't tell me you're as bad as Sokka."

"Does anyone know when Zuko and Iroh are arriving?" Katara asked. Her turn in conversation stopped Suki from protesting against Aang's comment.

Sokka turned to answer his sister as he was sitting between her and his fiancé. "In a day or two. I think Zuko mentioned Iroh coming to him first, so that will delay them." He saw something like recognition to that fact cross his sister's face. That puzzled Sokka_. They probably share letters sometimes_, he then realized.

He had been a little surprised at Katara helping Zuko instead of going with Aang through the past two-three months, but then, after Katara forgave the Fire Prince, they had struck up a fast friendship. Sokka was just glad his sister could get along with Zuko at all - for _all_ of their sakes. The awkwardness if she hadn't... Sokka dreaded to consider it. Aang would've had his work cut out for him then.

While he was always the quickest to judge someone - justified in the case of Zuko's past - Sokka was also always one to be open to accepting change and repentance in someone. Well, _most_ people. He had been someone that changed and learned a lot from his experiences through the past year - especially those involving one Princess Yue. She taught him a lot about caring for a person. The South Pole teen couldn't look at girls, or the Spirit World, the same after that.

Aang rubbed his hands together. "Stories?"

"Is this one of those sharing games where we vote which is the best story?"

"Yes it is, Katara. You got one?"

She gulped the rest of her tea. Suki pushed the kettle across the counter and to her. "Funny or dramatic?"

"Funny." He nodded.

"Yeah, I want to laugh! And if you didn't catch that, Sokka, that means tell stories about yourself." Toph interjected.

He smiled. It was true; sometimes he just had great thoughts and experiences the others didn't. _The funny situations I stumble upon_, he thought happily.

Katara spoke again before he picked a story to share. "I'll go first. So Zuko and I are looking Ursa, right? Well Iroh hel-"

"Can you tell us later how you two found her? Your letter to Aang was sketchy on the details," Toph, once again, interrupted.

The water-bender merely stopped her story-telling and raised an eyebrow at the other. "My explanation wasn't sketchy!"

"Yes it was."

"Okay, _maybe_ it was, just a little, but I was respecting Zuko's privacy."

Toph folded her arms. "Fine, I'll wait for him to tell me. Carry on."

"So like I was saying," Katara took a deep breath... and promptly lost her focus because of Toph.

"Does anyone know if Ursa's coming too?"

Suki piped up. "I don't know. That would be cool, right? I'd really like to meet her."

"Do you think she's as crazy as Ozai?" Sokka grimaced. "That guy was wacko with a capital double-you."

Aang grinned. "No she's really nice! You guys will see."

"You never met her," Toph argued.

"No but I know more about her than you do. Trust me, she's harmless."

"Not if she killed Fire Lord Azulon." That silenced the room for a minute.

Katara cleared her throat. "Let's all agree right now to bury that discussion in the ground. Yeah?" They all nodded. She smiled. "Zuko actually told me that she is coming with him. So you will get to meet her, Suki - everyone," she added the last word, glancing at everyone's faces.

"I bet she's really friendly."

"Two seconds ago you were saying she was cruel enough to kill other people!" Aang said with an open mouth. Sokka rubbed his forehead tiredly. Suki reached over and squeezed his hand. _'These two are crazy'_, he mouthed to her. She nodded sympathetically but grinned when Toph spoke again and turned to watch as though they were at a play.

"A person doesn't have to be mean to people to be a killer." Toph shot back. "Lots of fugitives are sweet-talkers and everyone thinks they're harmless - until they're _dead_."

"Can I please just get back to my story?" Katara pleaded. It was in vain.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	56. An Untimely Revelation

**A/N:** Alright, so this was originally going to have three segments in it, but I'm once again taking a knife to my chapter-by-chapter outline. *lesigh* It's just so long. One segment, 3k words. This is why the Gaang needs to group up more often.

I hope no one's too disappointed at all the conversations they're having :)

Drop a line if you can, please, and receive a big thank you and a reply to any questions you might have! And if you can't, story-alerting or favoriting doesn't just get you updates – it lets me know you care enough to read it!

Side note – anyone else tired? It's like the last few days of June came and all of a sudden the calendar is screeching to a halt. (Well, that and summer classes are kicking my butt. Why did I take those, again?)

Please enjoy and thanks so much for reading!

**Disclaimer:** **Ní féidir liom féin an seó teilifíse nó na carachtair. Mar sin féin, rinne mé a gheobhaidh tú dul tríd an deacracht a bhaineann le ag aistriú seo. Uamhnach an.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Gone is the city, gone the day,_

_Yet still the story and the meaning stay:_

_Once there was a prophet in the palm shade basked_

_A traveler chanced at noon to rest his mules._

"_What sort of people may they be," he asked,_

"_In this proud city on the plains o'erspread?"_

"_Well, friend, what sort of people whence you came?"_

"_What sort?" the packman scowled; "why, knaves and fools."_

"_You'll find the people here the same," the wise man said._

_Another stranger in the dusk drew near,_

_And pausing, cried, "What sort of people here_

_In your bright city where yon towers arise?"_

"_Well, friend, what sort of people whence you came?"_

"_What sort?" The pilgrim smiled with lifted head;_

"_Good, true, and wise."_

"_You'll find the people here are the same,"_

_The wise man said._

_~'The Right Kind of People', _Edwin Markham

* * *

><p><em>2 days later, 1 day from the Ceremony...<em>

The thunder rumbled softly in the distance, harmless. Ursa briefly clapped her hands beside him, showing a rare side of young happiness. She loved weddings. Zuko had heard as much, _several times_, during the boat-ride. The three weren't arriving on a ferry but another Fire Nation ship.

Contrary to what one may think, the royal family now wasn't traveling near as much as they could – if you included in the royal family all of the friends that Zuko was letting have a personal tab with the Fire Nation transportation. The amount of invitations the Fire Lord received from nobles or royalty around the country or in others was exhausting. He would die if he travelled to fulfill them all.

Luckily it seemed as though they weren't surprised when he had Orez, his assistant, reply back something along the lines of "very sorry… conflicting plans".

Zuko glanced over to see what his mother and Uncle were doing as the crew hustled around behind them and made sure the boat lined up with the dock. They were talking but the steady breeze kept their conversation quiet. He preferred that. The Fire Lord had noticed, over the past four days since his Uncle arrived and they promptly boarded the ship to Kyoshi Island, that there was a history between the two he wouldn't understand – the same as how they wouldn't understand the time after her disappearance and before his banishment in his childhood.

What all happened during that timeframe was traumatic for him, a young boy, and he didn't understand much of it until later. His mother's life as she knew it was destroyed and lost and his Uncle's seemed to be – while his Uncle was in his grieving state of mind – full of depression, anger, and a lost sense of self-worth. Of course, Zuko didn't understand much of this at the time and only understood the surface of it now; what tidbits he could see. He only knew then that something was wrong, terribly wrong.

His Uncle handed Ursa something and she tilted her head back in laughter. It wasn't loud or rambunctious but instead inquisitive. Like she was unsure what to do with whatever she was given.

Zuko turned back to Kyoshi. He thanked the sailor beside him, called and waved a hand to his Uncle and mother, and disembarked. It didn't take him more than two minutes to find Katara in the crowd. She grinned. It was Aang that came up to him first, though, and he wouldn't turn down a chance to catch up. "Good trip?"

"Yep. You?"

"Appa needs to be brushed again. It was like a sandstorm of fur." Aang's own smile widened when he saw Zuko smile at that. "I heard from Ty Lee all about the Natsuno cleanup. You let most of those people go?"

He shrugged. "Most of them were harmless. Everyone can be dangerous if they're threatened enough but in the light of day? They weren't – not really."

Aang clasped him on the shoulder. "Next time I stop in to the Fire Nation, remind me to go down and visit the people. I'm proud of you, Zuko." The Fire Lord looked at him as though he was looking at an alien. Aang grinned and removed his hand. "Message received; didn't feel right."

"A little weird," Zuko admitted.

Another hand took up residence on his shoulder within a minute of Aang's leaving and Zuko looking back to see his mother behind him.

"Sorry; introductions. Aang, this is my mother, Fire Lady Ursa. Mother, this is Avatar Aang."

"Great to finally meet you."

Ursa smiled. "Same here. So you're the boy who stripped my husband of his fire-bending, hm?" Aang flushed. "I'm only joking! Zuko, introduce me to the rest of your friends." She winked at Aang. "And I will ask you later how you managed to do that."

Zuko barely managed to hold back a laugh at that. His Uncle reassured Aang that Ursa was joking, though Aang saw that when he received her wink. Sokka and Suki were at the edge of the clearing, along with Katara, Toph, and Hakoda. Suki tilted her head back and talked to an older pair behind her. Zuko could see the similarities in the eyes and other facial features already. _They are related. Mother and Father maybe_?

He quickly made introductions to the engaged couple and Ursa happily asked a dozen questions right off the bat about their wedding. Suki jumped eagerly into conversation with the former Fire Lady. Ursa clapped her hands. "Yellow is a beautiful color and yet you don't see it as often as you should."

"You're wearing yellow right now," the Kyoshi warrior pointed out.

"It's metallic yellow – _gold_. Trust me, it is not as uplifting and full of love as a pale yellow."

Suki beamed. "You know what the color represents! _Finally_. I was starting to think I was the only one that looked up that kind of stuff."

Ursa smiled. "Everyone should look up the meanings behind colors, flowers, what-have-you when using them on a special day."

"My mother taught me that, too. Oh," she blinked and seemed to remember something. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you! Uh, Ursa, this is my Aunt Celeigh, and Father, Blais."

"Pleased to meet you," Ursa said. They expressed the same sentiments back to her and then Katara took the opportunity to introduce her father, Hakoda. The South Pole Tribal Chief eyed the Fire Lady warily, but was still courteous.

Zuko watched the tension with amusement. It wasn't deadly or violent in the least but rather more representative of two strangers feeling each other out because they share a friend and are more or less obliged to. He glanced over at Katara. She caught his eyes and looked to be amused too. He let a smile slip onto his face.

Toph had side-stepped any possible introductions by going around the edge of the group and jumping into Iroh and Aang's conversation. Now, though, as Ursa turned back to him, Zuko walked over to the earth-bender and tugged at her arm. "What?" She asked before pursing her lips. "Oh, right, introductions. I hate these."

Ursa heard the last part and bit her lip. Zuko recognized his mother's look – it was the same one she used when he was a child and thought he was overreacting but found it comical anyway. _At least that part is always true with Toph_, he thought. "Toph, this is m-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Heard it five times before." Zuko stepped back and let Toph make her own introductions. He would be embarrassed at how she dismissed him if he wasn't avidly interested in how she would greet his mother. Toph bowed shortly. "My name is Toph Bei Fong, I am daughter of a prominent family in Gaoling, I'm blind, and I can earth-bend. You're the previous Fire Lady, wife of Fire Lord Ozai and mother of Zuko. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

She sighed dramatically. "Can we get right to the interesting questions now?"

Ursa waved her hand around, playing along. "Well, I don't see why not."

"Good. So, how could you stand Ozai? He was, like, psycho crazy!"

"Toph!" Katara yelped.

She tilted her head over to where the water-bender stood, her eyes looking - but not seeing - lazily in that direction. "What? It's a simply question – aren't we all wondering it?"

"How couldn't you?" It was Ursa who spoke this time. Zuko was glad he wasn't drinking anything – he was almost positive it would've caused him to choke. "My husband didn't become as you all know him, unfortunately, until the Great War kicked up and Fire Lord Azulon started the attacks against the heart of the Earth Kingdom." She glanced at Iroh when she finished this. Zuko caught the look. It was one of sympathy; sympathy for Uncle's lost son, Lu-Ten. Zuko briefly glanced downward. "And then Azulon died and he had free reign and got power-hungry." She shrugged as though she was talking about something trivial. "That's the downfall of everyone – everyone that's not an Avatar, I mean.

"Which brings me right back to you, Avatar. How in the world did you stay frozen in an iceberg for a century? Is it true you had your flying bison with you, too?"

Aang grinned. "Yep. His name is Appa."

"Can I meet him?"

Suki spoke up this time. "Why don't we all go out to the beach after lunch, okay? He and Momo are there."

"Right! I have lunch ready. Is anyone hungry?" Celeigh asked.

"Me!" Toph and Sokka said at once. Suki laughed and followed her Aunt as she led the way, the other two trailing closely behind.

"What is a 'Momo'?" Zuko heard his mother ask as she passed, walking with Aang behind the others.

He and Katara pulled up the rear, intentionally waiting for each other. "Ursa is going to be like a celebrity."

"Even if you hate the family, meeting royalty is still meeting royalty." Zuko smiled reminiscently. He changed the subject abruptly, asking, "How were the Southern Air Temples? Was the place full of people?"

"Actually, it was! Shocking, right?" She giggled softly. "No, it's great. The people are great. They basically worship Aang and… there was something that happened. It was before I got there."

"What?"

She glanced worriedly to the rest of the group. Leaning up, she whispered in his ear, "Another air-bender was born."

He startled. "That's not possible."

"Hah. I had the same reaction too." They fell a good ten yards behind the others. "Trust me, it _is_ somehow possible because it happened. Aang's teaching her. This has to stay a secret within our Gaang, okay?"

"Of course. Wait," his brow wrinkled. "The air-bender is a girl?"

"What, girls aren't as special as boys?" She put her hands on her hips and slightly narrowed her eyes, daring him to say more.

They had completely stopped by now, at the edge of a line of bush trees that stretched along the streets. They were only a block from Suki's house. "No," Zuko risked a smirk. "I didn't say that. You didn't let me finish."

"Then finish."

"I was going to say I didn't expect that. I guess just only seeing Aang air-bend and never a girl, my first instinct is to say 'he'."

Katara relaxed in a second and pushed her palm against one of his shoulders before leaving it there, holding onto him. "I'm teasing you!"

"You always tease."

"_We_ always tease."

"When have I teased you recently?" He asked.

"'We' doesn't necessarily include you, you know." She countered.

Zuko laughed. "You mean Aang and Toph and Sokka," he nodded with her. "I concede – you guys always tease." He glanced around and quickly pulled her close. "So do I get the kiss you've been teasing me with?"

She laughed heartily. "I haven't been teasing you with a kiss!"

"No?"

"Nope." She tried to keep a straight face as she talked but failed. Her eyes were bright, mirth dancing behind them. "I was teasing for the sake of teasing."

"So there's nothing behind it?"

"Nope."

Zuko grinned and met her halfway. It was a short kiss, too short, but they would have time to catch up later. "They're going to send a search party if we don't get to that house soon," he said, resting his forehead against hers.

She rolled her eyes. "They won't even notice we're gone. There's too many of us all."

He almost laughed at that. Instead, he pecked the corner of her mouth, and said, "Then we'll miss all of the food."

Katara sighed louder than necessary. "Okay, then in that c-"

"What's going on?"

They sprang apart. Zuko grimaced and they glanced guiltily at each other before seeing who caught them. Both of them realized, at the same time, that they hadn't told anyone of their... _dating_.

It was Sokka who caught them, of all people. Zuko felt like groaning but Katara beat him to it, speaking first. "Sokka, let m-"

"Please tell me you two weren't just… making out!" He found the words after a long second. The fellow teen looked ten seconds from billowing steam out of his ears.

Katara walked a few cautious steps towards him, holding out her hands in a pleading and calming gesture. "Sokka." She said it as though she were talking to a child. And Zuko would know, too. They had visited the orphanage at Rhange a few times together. "Sokka, there's something we haven't told you. Anyone, really."

"Almost five months ago you can't stand him, don't want Aang to let him into the group, and now you're…." Sokka faltered.

"A lot can happen in five months." She said weakly.

Zuko stepped behind her as he made a circle around them. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder in silent support. Thankfully, Sokka was rubbing his hands over his eyes – probably trying to erase the image from his mind_; sorry, Sokka_ – and didn't see the gesture. "I'll leave you two to talk."

"Yeah." Zuko knew Sokka meant to say it with venom, but it didn't come out that way it out. It sounded almost… resigned.

He trudged down the rest of the block and found the house. It was easy to see which one was which, what with all of the windows and doors thrown wide open and all of his friends and family making a racket inside. Aang's voice rose the highest of all of them. He was telling a story. Zuko smiled, briefly, before glancing back worriedly at the two he'd left behind. They were all but consumed in the foliage growth now. He couldn't tell how their conversation was going.

It was this kind of reaction the two of them had been hoping to avoid.

_***Flashback – 3 ½ weeks earlier – Temporary Inn, Rhange**_

Katara tapped her pillow, her fingers dancing. He sighed and looked over. "Can't sleep?"

"Thinking."

A beat passed. "About what?"

She shifted off of her stomach and rested on her side instead, facing him. "About what to tell them."

Even in his half-asleep and altogether – mentally and physically – exhausted state, Zuko was almost positive he missed something. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Katara took a deep breath. "When do we come right out and tell Sokka and Toph and Aang and Suki that we're… dating? Is that even the right word?"

That got him awake. Zuko leaned up on his elbows. "Sorry. I know we haven't gone out on a proper date yet, because of…. Do you want to go out on a date with?"

She looked at him in bewilderment. "A date?" She echoed it, the corners of her lips turning up. "Like with the flowers and the theatre and dinner?"

"Yeah. But don't forget the escorted walk home and the kiss," he replied cheekily. Katara poked him. "Yes, a _real_ date."

"Then yes – _when_ we get back to the capital."

"Why not here?" He suggested innocently. He gestured with his hand to the windows and the streets below. "Rhange has a beautiful theatre. Yeah, it was shut down ten years ago, but with a couple weeks of work and sweat we can return it to semi-glory again." She giggled; he grinned. "And there are plenty of food stands around."

"I'm serious, not until later. Plus, there's something else on my mind."

"It has to do with revealing our secret escapades to the others, doesn't it?" He guessed.

"You make it sound…." Katara blushed and shook her head. "Stop distracting me!" She said with faint laughter. "Anyway, when should we tell them… is my question."

Zuko lay back on his backside and seriously thought, staring up at the ceiling. "If we tell someone before the others, it'll be a-"

"-disaster. Yeah."

"Okay." He turned his head to face her. "When are we all together next?"

Katara pursed her lips. "Uh…Sokka and Suki's wedding. It's in, what, three weeks, four weeks?"

"I think four."

"We are not telling them then," she said as she moved around again and rested her head on his shoulder, her arms crossed over the right side of his chest. She picked at the grey shirt he was wearing.

"Why not?"

"Because if someone does flip out – we haven't told them for two months now, you know – then Suki will get pissed off too, because it's during her wedding, and then Sokka will get pissed off and it'll be a whole… thing."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "When did we all become children?"

He could feel a rumble in her throat build until she burst out laughing. Tears pooled in her eyes. "Really? We _were_ children; we've only been growing up recently! I know you've only been with Aang and Sokka and me for the past three months but come on – we did a _few_ shenanigans with you. Now remember that and multiply it by, like, ten."

"Yeah, dumb question."

"Dumb dumb."

"Hey!" He protested by pulling her falling hair over her eyes jokingly.

She smoothed her hair back behind her ears, still smiling like someone who knew an inside joke. "Okay, okay. So after their wedding. Which would be…."

They both stared off into space, thinking. Zuko frowned. "Seven months from now in Ba Sing Se."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop joking."

"I'm serious. That's the only time we've planned to meet up again."

Katara frowned. "Because of the anniversary of ending the Hundred Year War. Right."

"Yeah."

She clasped her hands together and shrugged. "So we'll do something else in the meantime. How about a month after their wedding? We call them all over and set up a party and just come out with it."

"You keep making me feel like we're doing something very wrong," he teased with a hurt voice.

Katara laughed again. "You have no idea how funny you are when you do that! Stop it," she said in faux-anger before kissing him lightly. "One month. Now all we need to worry about is coming up with an excuse."

"We could just tell them we're 'coming out with it'."

She giggled again.

_***End Flashback**_

_Well, all bets were off at this point._ Zuko couldn't say he was completely disappointed. He was still worried about how Sokka was reacting but, for now, all he could do is wait. Katara is Sokka's sister, so it wouldn't do any good for Zuko to go back and ask to explain himself, too.

And then there was the fact that Zuko just wanted _one_ quiet moment. He was a little happy at not having to throw that hosting party now.

He climbed the steps and walked into the excited madness that came from people having a good time.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	57. Siblings Can Be Hypocritical

**A/N: **Another long chapter. Only two scenes, too. Katara and Zuko really are hijacking Sokka and Suki's wedding, huh? Lol. Well, they'll have an extra-long chapter with their wedding ceremony, so it will make up for it.

I hope Hakoda is well enough in character and not OOC much at all! I found him really hard to write in this scene. Maybe I should go back and watch some old episodes that he's in...

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_You ask why Spring's fair first-born flower is white:_

_Peering from out the warm earth long ago,_

_It saw about its head great drifts of snow,_

_And blanched with fright._

_~'The Snowdrop', _by Clinton Scollard

* * *

><p>Katara felt frustrated as her brother continued to rant, bordering on lecturing her. He wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise. It was mostly huge disbelief on his part and a blooming protective side. Katara would normally be thankful for that, if she wasn't so annoyed at the subject he was getting upset about. Sokka finally stopped for a minute. He sucked in a deep breath and shuffled on his feet, moving the throw his arms out again in a meaningless gesture as he spoke. She put a hand on his forearm and said, rather forcefully, "Sokka! Stop, please."<p>

"You're dating the Fire Lord! I'm not just going to get over that, Katara. This is ridiculous," he repeated.

"He's not the Fire Lord," she said emphatically. "He's Zuko, our friend."

"And the same Zuko that tried to capture Aang for a whole year without any care to our lives! " Sokka huffed angrily, the memories brought to the surface once more. It seemed to fuel him more and he went off again, talking in tongues for all she could tell; he was her brother, and she was used to his weird behavior but her head was spinning at how quickly he kept changing his attack. First it was on Zuko, then it was on her dating at all (she just shook her head at _that_ one), then it was at the power Zuko held in his position, then it was to Zuko, and now... _I give up trying to keep track._

Katara couldn't be very surprised about his re-found anger at Zuko, though, and indeed she wasn't. Her brother shared many of her same sentiments when Zuko was initially let into the Gaang and he was cautious about accepting Zuko until Katara could at least forgive him. After all, she had had more contact with the Fire Prince-turned-Fire Lord during his pursuit of the Avatar. "And that's the same Aang who offered Zuko a spot in our Gaang half a dozen times before he came crawling to us on his knees," she interrupted. "Please, Sokka. Remember how we've all changed? If we were all judged by our past ignorance, then what would that say about me?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked, confused at the turn in the conversation. It was the first time he hadn't been the instigator.

"Jet."

It was a simple name, but Sokka suddenly adopted an expression of hurt. "Katara, don't. You couldn't have known – none of us did. But when we found out, we stopped him."

"He almost broke my heart, Sokka, because I almost gave it to him," Katara said sincerely. She sniffed. "But Zuko's different."

"No he-"

"Sokka!" She stamped her foot like a child but it got his attention all the same. A few people walking past glanced before continuing on, not wanting to intrude on an intense conversation. "Just listen to me for a second, will you? Give me one freakin' second to explain before you go off on me again!"

"I'm not going of-" He stopped at her fierce look. "Sorry."

"Thank you." She took a deep breath. Katara had thought over how to explain it a thousand times and each time it came out differently. While explaining it to someone who hadn't been there these past sixteen months would be mind-bogglingly hard, explaining it to Sokka, who had been there, should be easy. Except, it wasn't. Katara bit her lip. "You know I am the one that has had the greatest apprehensions about Zuko and everything to do with the Fire Nation. Half of the reason I wouldn't accept him was because of my hatred towards the Fire Nation, because of Mom..." A few tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them away. Sokka looked down briefly. Katara thought back to how Zuko had helped her find peace with that. She almost had half a mind to tell Sokka. _We promised_, she thought. "But he's different, Sokka, and I'm starting to think that the Fire Nation is a lot like more like us than we thought; like Toph and Suki, too. There are a lot more people like Iroh and people that are innocent, than we thought. We just kept seeing the crazy," she chuckled shortly. The memories flashed across the back of her eyes. "Remember when Ba Sing Se was taken?"

"Of course."

"Remember... remember when I told you and Aang how I had been trapped down in the Crystal Catacombs for a while before he came and rescued me?"

"You were with Zuko," Sokka said, confused as to where this was headed. There was some indication of his wind working fast, though, as his eyes narrowed and scanned her face, his head tilting. His mind was working fast to put the pieces together.

Katara smiled at him, a tinge of sadness in it. "I didn't tell you guys a lot about what happened because – trust me, it wasn't much beside talking," she assured him quickly, "but, I know it might sound crazy, but it was the first time I saw that Zuko was... _human_. If he didn't have so much loyalty then to his completely mental sister, I think Aang and I would've been able to talk him over to our side."

Sokka shrugged. "That just means he was weak. I can't blame him, his family was crazy – duh, he wouldn't side with them."

She scowled. "But he _did_, Sokka, for a _long_ time." She sighed, took a deep breath, and blinked. It did the desired effect. "What I'm trying to say is that I didn't forgive him at Sozin's Comet because he saved my life from Azula. I'm saying I forgave him because there were a lot of times where he was kind, normal even, and didn't take the shot to hurt me or us. Just forget the stupid title of his for five seconds and who is he? He's our friend. You got over the wrongs he did far before me. Why are you having so big of a problem with him now?"

"Because he's dating my sister," Sokka said tersely.

"So I'm supposed to be a nun?" She shot back.

"No," Sokka said, fumbling with his words. "But I get a say, don't I?"

"Not really! It's my life, Sokka, and if I want to date The Duke, I will!"

That remark took some of the wind out of his sails. He blinked a few times. "The Duke? Seriously? Where did that come from?"

"I don't know!"

"Why are you still yelling?"

"I don't know!" Katara heaved and balled her fists. "You just piss me off sometimes, okay?"

A beat passed. Sokka smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

She calmed down a little too. Her voice leveled out once again to its usual soft tone as she spoke cautiously. "For what, exactly?"

"For yelling at you."

"Thank you. But that's not enough."

"I can't just pretend I'm okay with this, Katara. Zuko's our friend, yeah, and he's helped us a lot lately, and yeah, he's a great guy, but I can't just forget that he's the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation. I can't just forget that you're my sister, either."

"No one's asking you to, Sokka," she said, pleading.

Sokka glanced away. When his gaze returned to hers, it was one full of calm frustration, if there were such a thing. "What happens if you stay together?" She furrowed her brow. "What if you marry like Suki and I are doing? You'd become the Fire Lady, did you ever think of that?"

She looked at him meekly. "A few times."

"But then what if you two break up? It could tear us all apart." He gestured between her and himself, waving his arms back at the house across the street and behind the shrubbery. " Aang will want to mediate and you will be nursing a broken heart, angry like you were with Jet. Toph will side with Zuko, Suki will side with us, and it will be awful."

Katara clenched her jaw. "Don't make this about you. Don't make this about everyone else!"

"It is about everyone else!" He fired back.

"I'm sorry, but I love him, and I don't think that's something that has anything to do with you or Suki or Toph or Aang, okay?"

Sokka reeled. "Love? Like, love-love? You mean-"

"Yes, Sokka, I mean I love him!" She crossed her arms defiantly, thoroughly fed up with his objections. "And as far as I'm concerned, any arguments of yours pale compared to that."

He sank onto a crate – one of many stacked against the wall they were standing next to. His face was frozen in shock, his hands clasping together before being pulled apart in an almost nervous action.

Katara sighed and went to kneel next to him. "Please, Sokka? All I'm asking is that you respect this and be happy that I'm happy. And maybe don't try to clobber him with your boomerang," she added, trying to lighten the mood. He grumbled something and she leaned in, listening intently. "What?"

"I said 'fine'. Just don't expect me to walk you down the aisle any time soon."

"Thank you, Sokka!" Katara threw her arms around his shoulders with a sudden grin and squeezed him in a crushing hug. When she pulled back, she said, "And you don't have to walk me down the aisle – Dad's back."

Sokka didn't bother to hide half of a grin when she actually did pale. "Good luck with _that_ talk."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_All the tiny abandoned halts along the Irwell  
>have been re-opened, their clocks<br>set ticking. And everyone  
>is here―<br>but not yet everyone:  
>across the bridge, past the terraced cottages<em>

_a last couple appear, he in khaki,  
>she in a red print dress, her blond hair<br>rolled immaculately._

_There is a whistle in the valley.  
>Huffs of smoke move this way across the fields<br>like dropped clouds  
>and they start to run, holding hands<br>or try to run in her impossible heels  
>down the steep street, back<em>

_to where the others are already waiting  
>on the platform.<br>It happens so quickly_

_that the parting is over  
>before they know it is a parting.<em>

_The whistle comes again  
>and a shiver,<br>the ground trembling in anticipation._

_~'Re-enactment'_, by Caroline Price

* * *

><p>When Sokka and Katara walked in, Zuko's eyes immediately riveted on their shadowed forms, him seeing them out of the corner of his eyes. He did a once-over of Sokka, trying to assess the other teen's mood. Sokka was looking at him as Zuko's eyes rose to the other's and he saw a glare in them. It was a lot more relaxed than it had been half an hour before, though, so the Fire Lord sent silent thanks to Katara for that. Sibling bonds were stronger than all else and even more temperamental.<p>

Sokka separated from his sister and walked over to where Suki and Toph stood, talking with Iroh, Ursa, and Celeigh. Zuko took his chance and met Katara halfway as she walked across the room, to where a little buffet was set up. He had been standing there but a minute before. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah," she said. "Just tired. He raged for fifteen minutes before I could get a word in."

Zuko grimaced. "So he's stil-"

"No." Katara shook her head, a brief, soft smile on her lips. "No, he's cooled off. Just expect him to be very... wary, of us, being together."

He smirked. "But then he and Suki constantly-"

"-make-out? " Katara finished his thought with a roll of her eyes. "I know. I was thinking the same thing. But, whatever. Siblings can be hypocritical with each other."

Zuko thought back to they way Azula could be; usually during their childhood, before she grew up and became smugly vicious. "I know." He nodded behind him, gesturing to the food. "Come on, you look pale. Get something to eat."

She smiled thinly. "Trust me, I'm not pale because of that. Take my hand," she all but ordered, holding it out.

He did it anyway, not caring as much as before about who saw. They were in a more secluded place in the room anyway, with how the furniture is positioned. "You're worrying me."

"How did you say it; just 'come out with it'?"

"Something like that." Zuko's mind raced. "You don't mean-"

"Yes. Right here, right now." Katara tried to joke, saying, "What do we have to lose?"

"Your father could cut off my head," he said bluntly. "I was really thinking more of a scenario where we tell our friends and you _write_ your father about it."

"Dad won't hurt you if you stand behind me."

"Not funny, Katara."

She dropped the impish smile. "Sorry." Katara kissed his cheek. "Come on."

Zuko took a painful breath. "You're doing all the talking," he whispered in her ear.

"I expected to anyway," she said back, almost teasing. They both knew what he meant, though – if it came from her, it would be better received than from him. Especially since Hakoda was there._ I really don't want to die today,_ he thought, honestly a little more than mildly concerned.

Katara walked with him around the side of the buffet table and to the back door, where the sunlight wasn't coming in directly yet and therefore wasn't blocking their view of the others. It was around noon, so the sun was high up in the middle of the sky. Katara cleared her throat to try to get some attention. Only Sokka looked up and then he wore an expression like a gaping fish, shocked that they were going to announce so soon as he instantly figured out what their intentions were. Zuko steeled his expression from letting the grimace through. Toph looked over, too, but of course no one else make any indications of speaking or gathering the others' attention, so she went back to talking with Ursa.

The Fire Lord let go of Katara's hand and picked up a glass from the buffet table and tapped it, as he had been taught in his upbringing to do if going to make an announcement. "Thank you," she whispered once he came up to grasp her hand again. He wouldn't let her do it alone, no matter the discomfort he'd expressed before and still felt now. Everyone was looking over quizzically by now and Katara smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, Suki, for interrupting our reunion on your wedding anniversary. In light of Sokka knowing, we-" She glanced over at Zuko. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "-thought everyone else should know too.

"Zuko and I are dating. We have been for two months. And we love each other."

He smiled slightly at the blunt delivery. At least half of them gasped. Zuko glanced anxiously over at Hakoda during this, but the other man's face was unreadable and he didn't want to be caught staring, so he looked away again.

Iroh whispered something over to Ursa and they nodded in agreement but it was Toph that spoke first; and rather loudly, at that. _Of course,_ Zuko thought with dry amusement. "You told Sokka before you told me? I'm the only one of us that actually _called_ _it_."

"Hey!" Suki started to interject but then flushed.

"Seriously? " Sokka asked incredulously, already knowing what she had been able to say.

Suki only sighed and shrugged, caught. "Sorry, but the writing was kind of on the wall. At least I didn't try and take bets," she said, staring pointedly at Toph.

The earth-bender knew shew as being spoken of and immediately jumped to defend herself. "Hey, that was only an offer. And I was _joking_!"

"Toph," Aang said, drawing out the word as though he was asking _'really?'_, shaking his head the whole time.

Zuko glanced over to Katara. They each wore mirrored expressions of raised eyebrows and wide eyes. "You were betting on how soon we would start dating? " Katara asked Toph slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

Toph held up her hand. "Hey, I said it was a joke. We never actually did it, you know."

Katara was still reeling when Aang spoke up. He studied his two friends standing in front of him with uncertainty. "So you two are... dating?"

"I'm going to go check on the iced tea I have cooling," Celeigh spoke up rather abruptly and promptly fled, not sure what the dynamic was between the cast of characters that were friends with her niece but feeling it was none of her business to overhear. A s_mart move._ The discussions amongst the Gaang could become heated; fast.

Blais coughed. "Yeah, I've got to go to the bathroom. Excuse me."

"Ew, Dad," Suki said with a wrinkled nose. Her father was gone in another five seconds' time.

"When? How long?" Aang asked, trying to piece it all together himself. Toph perked up at this trail of questioning.

"Almost two months ago, when we were on our way to Fuschen," Zuko said to take some of heat away from Katara. As he predicted, all eyes swiveled to him.

"Ah, so you two were together then." Ursa smiled warmly. She said, facing Katara, "I thought I noticed a hesitance when my son spoke of his relationship with you." Katara blushed.

"I still can't believe you told Sokka before you told me," Toph huffed again and crossed her arms.

"Sorry Toph," Zuko apologized with a faint shrug. "He actually stumbled onto it."

"Not something I ever want to do again," Sokka grumbled almost inaudibly.

"So you two are... together?" Aang asked slowly.

Toph elbowed him. "Jeez, you're slow."

"I guess you will be my advocate at the Fire Nation, huh?" He joked. His smiled widened and it was genuine. "I'm happy for you guys. Both of you." Zuko shared a smile with the Avatar too. "Now, did I understand that right – did Sokka freak out like a banshee because he caught you two together?"

"Aang!" Sokka growled.

Toph snorted. "Suki, do you have popcorn? This is like a free show!"

"Toph, don't be insensitive," Iroh warned affectionately.

"Actually, I was just thinking that popcorn was what we were missing. Toph, would like to help me with it?" Ursa suggested subtly. "Then I could finish that story about the dock fire."

The two females left to the kitchen. Iroh trailed behind them, clasping Zuko on the shoulder as he passed, saying, "I'm proud of you, Zuko."

"Thanks, Uncle," he replied sincerely.

Katara was the one to squeeze his hand this time. Then she let go and stepped down to say something in a low voice to Aang. He nodded and turned back to Sokka and Suki, who were standing a foot behind him. "I almost forgot; I have a gift for you two – for your wedding."

"Really?" Suki grinned. Just like that, she was caught up in the wedding fervor again. "Come on, Sokka!" Aang led the way out of the room and to the yard behind the house. Suki's voice drifted back, "Are you sure you can show us before tomorrow?"

Zuko realized why Katara had done what she did – clearing the room – when Hakoda promptly stepped from where he'd been standing in the corner. "Dad-"

"You love him?" Hakoda asked with a stern voice. Zuko suddenly saw the side of the South Pole Chief that he'd seen back in Gaih-Fo Valley. Evidently, Katara hadn't seen this side of her father in a while, as she swallowed thickly.

"Yes." Her voice held strong, though, and Zuko was proud of her for that. He took a step up to the pair. However, it was only a small one as he was unsure whether he should intervene with his own explanation here. He knew Sokka far better than he did Hakoda. It was like walking up a volcano without knowing if it was active or extinct. He really didn't want to ever do that. "Dad-"

"And he's courted you – for two months?"

"Yes. Dad-" Katara made to add her own words for the third time, but once again her father interrupted with a question.

"And you let him?"

"Dad!" She objected hotly at his insinuation.

Hakoda stood his ground. "He's the Fire Lord, Katara." The other man glanced to Zuko. "I mean no offense to your leadership skills, boy, but I can't say I am happy about this."

"I'm not asking you to be happy. I'm asking you to accept it," she said, her chin held high.

Hakoda sighed. "You have your mother's stubborn streak." She faltered a little at the mention of her mother. Zuko stepped forward quickly and placed a hand on the back on her neck for comfort. This didn't go unnoticed by the South Pole Chief's hawk-like eyes. "Do you realize the repercussions of this?"

"Sokka outlined them _perfectly_."

There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. Hakoda narrowed his eyes but he wasn't unkind about it. "You're my daughter, Katara, and the unofficial princess of the South Pole. Y-"

"And I plan to spend my life with Zuko, the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation. _I know,_ Dad."

Zuko blinked. Hakoda stared over at him, after gazing at his daughter's face for an intense moment, and Zuko was glad he had kept his features carefully schooled the entire time since he and Katara announced their bond. He nodded at Hakoda. While he had never heard Katara say it quite that way before, Zuko did feel the same. _More than she knows._

The fire-bender quickly removed his hand and Hakoda pulled his daughter in for a loving hug. "You know I only want your happiness," he assured in a hushed tone.

"I know," she responded with tears in her eyes. They resounded throughout her shaky voice.

"I was gone from you and your brother for so long and for that I am sorry." He pulled back and cupped her face tenderly. "You've grown so much, Katara." She smiled. "When I was imprisoned, I met many people who were in the same situation as I and some of them were fire-benders. Despite what you may think, I do know that people can change and be different than their stereotype. I just don't want you to be hurt."

Katara's smile turned sad. "But I already have been, before. It's my choice. Trust me, he's kind and good."

"I've had a glimpse of that," Hakoda admitted with a small smile. "Maybe one day I will see what you see." He turned to stare at Zuko over his daughter's head. His voice changed; it became low and calm but there was a fierceness to it that didn't make Zuko doubt his words for a second. "If you ever hurt her, I will kill you. Maybe not personally, and maybe not the first time I try, but I will have someone infiltrate your guard and stab a knife through your heart."

"Dad!" Katara objected, horrified.

Zuko nodded. "I won't," he promised.

Hakoda nodded, kissed his daughter's forehead, and made a comment about going off to find his son and see what the Avatar presented them with. Katara frowned.

When he was out of the room, Katara smacked Zuko on the shoulder. _Hard_. He hissed, glancing down to the offended shoulder. He had been relieved now that Hakoda's presence was no longer around, but he was questioning that relief when he felt the tingle in his shoulder.

"What t-"

Her lips smashed onto his and Zuko quickly gripped her arms, steadying her momentum. Katara curled her arms around him and, after an ever-brief moment, he did the same. One of his hands trailed up into her hair, lazily tousling the carefully done loops wrapped in beads. A few fell and hit the floor; neither noticed. Katara moved her hands to his neck and slowly the kiss lightened.

Zuko was nearly in a trance when they pulled apart. "What wa-"

"Thank you for promising my father, but don't _ever_ make another one like that."

"Why not?" He asked, taking a shallow breath.

"Because," she said, pulling her forehead back from his. An amused smile graced her lips; she tried to press it down, making it look like an amused frown. "Dad said 'hurt', he didn't say 'kill'. That could mean anything from you dumping me to accidentally burning one of my fingers. And I really don't want to see you die."

Zuko pressed his tongue against his left cheek, thinking. "_Oh_."

"Yeah." Katara said, taking a step back. She smoothed her hands down her hair and her simple Kyoshi tunic. She smiled impishly. "Plus, I think at this point that I'm the only that's allowed to kill you and I don't want to do that either, so we kind of have to keep you alive."

Zuko raised an eyebrow at that, smiling at how breezily she made the comment. Before she could suggest that they go outside, too, or to the kitchen, he pulled her in for another kiss. It was slower this time, and he took greater care not to completely ruin her hairstyle. _Not that it takes that long to put back together,_ he knew.

Sure, Toph or Suki could walk in on them within the next few minutes, but neither of them cared. Katara grinned against his lips.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

**A/N2: **Yay, happy endings again. I really don't make you guys wait long for those, do I? ^_^ Thanks for reading! Have a great week – until Thursday!


	58. A Shooting Star

**A/N: **Ugh, hectic week. Sorry for any typo's, my eyes are completely blood-shot as I look over this one last time.

Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love writing the dynamic of Iroh and Ursa? Yeah, I have. Just stating it again. I think I'm going to keep them friends throughout this ficlet but all the same; I like them.

Thanks to everyone that's reviewed and story-alerted and that's just reading this in general! I'm glad you're liking it so far :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."_

~Confucius

* * *

><p>After abandoning the others back in the living room, Ursa proceeded to tell a very riveted Toph of her encounter with a lightning-caused burning dock when she was a young child. It was Autumn, full of terrible storms, and there had already been several fires caused by lightning. Most put themselves out, but the lightning hit a ship carrying barrels of oil and... well, it didn't end well. It was that part, though, that Toph was fascinated by. Her parents sheltered her for so long that the truthfully gritty and hard tales of life still fascinated her. The story in and of itself was fairly simple; the Fire Lady just had a knack for embellishing.<p>

Ursa had banged cabinets and spilled dried corn kernels as she moved effortlessly around the kitchen. _Effortlessly maybe but definitely clumsy_, Toph thought with a small smirk. It was all done with an unapologetic attitude, too.

"What?" Ursa stopped mid-sentence, spotting the other female's expression.

"Nothing," Toph was quick to say. Iroh chuckled. Her smirk turned into a genuine smile.

"Okay, trouble-makers, keep your little secret."

"It's not a secret that Toph has an active imagination," Iroh pointed out and then shrugged.

Ursa stood. "Be right back; I have to go to the bathroom. And then," she said with a mischievous glint in her eye, "I'm going to spy in on my son. Just a peek, I promise."

"Ursa," he warned but it was to no use. The door closed behind her with a small click.

Toph pushed the kernels around in her bowl. "She's nice. Not who I expected to be Zuko's mom."

"She's not a person anyone would associate with the Fire Nation royalty," Iroh agreed.

"What's your story?" The earth-bender asked, pushing the bowl aside and resting her chin on the heel of her hand, regarding him with a curious expression.

"What do you mean, my 'story'?"

"How well do you know Zuko's mom? Were you friends before or after she and Ozai married?"

Iroh paused. "We were childhood friends-"

"Because she was a noble-born," Toph interrupted.

"Yes. And she was... I don't know, a real child." Toph's brow furrowed, so he tried to explain further. "The traditional upbringing of a noble or royal child in the Fire Nation doesn't include learning or giving in to emotions. The kind of child you were, playing dolls and stuff like that, is rare to have. It's a treat for those without bending."

"And those with the fire-bending ability?"

"Their treat is more practice," Iroh stated bluntly.

Toph frowned. "That sucks."

He chuckled and she smiled. "That it does. The few years that Zuko and Azula got to be children was often overshadowed by Ozai pushing for them to keep practicing, become better. Azula fared worse than Zuko when it came to being a child – she didn't have much of an opportunity." He paused before tapping the counter. "But, life is life. Culture is hard to change when it's been there for generations upon generations. All we can do is try and move a brick here or there if we want any change."

Toph sighed. It was true and she knew it to be true and it was still a depressing thought. Yet, they'd all been witnesses lately to how Aang was rebuilding the foundation for his lost brothers and sisters and how the Kyoshi warriors were accepting outsiders and were becoming less hostile and then there was Zuko, who was turning his country back to its roots for the first time in a century or more.

_Roots_, Toph thought, mulling over the word in her mind. _Yeah, roots are what you're born into, but they can be made, too_. She shook her head. _The only ones people are remember are the stupid ones that stick around. Well, and then that brick thing Iroh said_. She went back to eating her popcorn out of boredom. Only a few scarce seconds passed before a hand landed on her arm, in the crook of her elbow, startling her. It was Iroh. She turned to face him, the skin crinkling around her slightly narrowed eyes - enough of an indication of her confusion.

"I meant to say it sooner but we were always in a group discussion or going off to another event. I'm sorry, Toph, for betraying your trust. I shouldn't have written to your parents. You were right, it was something I should not have interfered in. My own upbringing should have told me that parents can be overbearing, to say the least," he chuckled for a second but stopped himself, nervous. "Can you forgive me? Can we go back to being friends like before?"

A slow, affectionate smile slid across her face. "I should have told you before but... I already did forgive you, Iroh." With that, she hugged him spontaneously. He startled slightly but quickly joined in, rubbing her back soothingly. "And I'm _really_ sorry about how I overreacted. Hormones, I guess," she laughed. "And I really should have had Aang write you when I cooled down."

Iroh chuckled normally this time. "Don't worry about it. As long as you don't storm away again without any word, I will let you get away with destroying all of my tea."

"All?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot!"

"You're like a surrogate daughter to me, Toph, and I believe a daughter is more important than tea."

She beamed, a few tears pooling in her eyes. "Iroh!" She laughed and reached out, patting his upper arm.

"You know you can visit or stay with me any time, okay? If Aang pisses you off, you can come cool off in Ba Sing Se," he said, teasing evident in his voice.

"I'll visit so much you'll wish you hadn't said that!" Toph's grin lowered to a contented smile. "I like it at the temples. I like helping Aang built new housing and make house calls and run to emergencies - like someone stealing from another or a child going missing; I can really help with those because of these honed senses," she said while holding up her hands, wiggling her fingers. "But yeah, it's cool. I've never done anything like this before."

"You were with Aang and Katara and Sokka for quite a long time," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was different. Everything we were doing was to help Aang defeat Ozai." It came out smoothly and she didn't have to apologize about bad-mouthing the previous Fire Lord – or even being hurtfully honest, like now. Iroh simply smiled sympathetically in return. "Whenever we helped out a family or a town, it was something we stumbled upon. Now it's like... like we have charges," Toph said with an eyebrow, running a hand across her forehead. "Jeez, that sounds weird!"

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy. Are you happy?"

"Ecstatic. The occasional bored day is worth it – just like it was when I was traveling with the rest of the Gaang." Toph nodded. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes twinkled and sparkled with life, showing her happiness. "Oh, and I got a letter from my parents."

"They know where you are?"

She rolled her eyes. "You think they'll come running to the temples?" Toph scoffed. "Please; it doesn't have the right accommodations for their stay. Nah, I just told them to either accept me or disown me but if they don't accept me, I'll disown them."

Iroh raised an eyebrow of his own this time. "Oh really? And what did your lovely parents respond to that?"

Tohp smiled impishly. "They said that they were 'humbled by their behavior' when we last spoke – notice there isn't an apology there? - and then with a few more letters we agreed that if I visit them twice a year and go with them to at least one of their annual functions while I am in Gaoling, then they won't disown me."

"That's... kind of them."

"It's because I'm their only child. If they had a son, I would be so screwed," Toph said flippantly. She remarked, sarcastically, "Then what would I do for a last name? I can barely write 'Bei Fong'."

Iroh laughed quietly. "And then there's that. How di-"

The door to the kitchen banged. It was Ursa. As soon as it sounded against the wall loudly, she cursed under her breath and closed it, taking careful care to be quiet. She took a deep breath. Toph listened intently, knowing there was a story to be had.

"Are you alright, Ursa?" Iroh asked with concern.

"Fine. Fine." She added under her breath, "I never want to see what I just saw before, but I'm fine." She sat on her previously-used stool.

The earth-bender girl was unable to contain her curiosity. "Spill!"

Ursa took a deep breath. "I saw my son and Katara kissing. _Intensely_."

Toph giggled at the emphasis. "If ever there was a time where I could have eyes! I totally called it that they would date. So, those two have to be going gaga eyes at each other constantly, right? Am I right?"

"There are just some things a mother shouldn't see," Ursa shook her head, seemingly shell-shocked.

Iroh pat her hand sympathetically. Toph snorted and grabbed a handful of popcorn. Around chewing, she dryly stated, "It was your fault for spying in the first place. 'There's a consequence to every action' - boom! I think I just hit an Avatar saying. Anyone; anyone?" Crickets met her response. She sighed and held out her bowl. "Popcorn to bleach the brain?"

Ursa took a handful.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."_

~Hans Christian Anderson

* * *

><p>"Please remind me why we're doing this instead of going to the Peach Garden for exotic tea like my Aunt suggested?"<p>

"Because this is a new tradition we are starti- ow! Who hit me with a blanket?"

"Sorry," Katara smiled sheepishly. "That was my fault."

Suki sighed. "Really, Toph, I would be happy drinking loads of tea and going pee five times this evening. What's the point of sitting out here?" She gestured to the deck, looking it over herself.

Her house was a small, two-story beach house. Meaning that half of it – the half on the beach – was built up on stilts and the combination of the living room and the kitchen took up the entire bottom floor, leaving the bedrooms to the second, barely separated by a hall that would do better business as a closet. There were, somehow, a total of three bedrooms on the top floor.

Her father, confined to a wheelchair, spent money cutting the kitchen in half and turning the new room into his bedroom, so the extra bedroom upstairs was a sort of make-shift office. There was a wrap-around deck on all four sides of the bottom floor and a deck on the top floor, jutting out awkwardly in the direction of the sea. The roof went over half of it, creating a weird kind of railing. There was a real railing, though. That was something.

Now, the three off them were in various positions of sitting down or lying down out on the narrow-in-depth deck, with pillows and blankets scattered about. "Because," Toph began to explain-without-explaining again, "it's a secr-"

"Toph, stop!" Suki warned with a screech but it was too late. The pillow went out under the slip the railing afforded and somersaulted down two short stories to the beach. It hit the sand with a shimmering sound. Toph's elbow had been the offending limb that pushed it over just enough.

"Oops."

Katara starting giggling. Suki stared bemusedly. "I'm sorry," the water-bender said, rubbing a hand to her chest. "I can't stop! This is just so ridiculous."

Suki shook her head. "You two are insane."

"Hey!" Toph protested taking the engaged girl's pillow and stuffing it under her own head. She leaned her head back on her crossed arms. "My parents never tested me."

"I'm dying!" Katara bent over awkwardly from where she was sitting, gasping for breath. "_Seriously_, Toph, you _need_ to go into theater as a comedian!"

Suki sighed. She turned to the earth-bender. "You were saying something about us being up here because 'it's a secret'?"

The youngest girl sighed in a long and drawn out way to showcase her annoyance. "I was going to say that, but if you're going to be so temperamental, I'll go ahead and tell you that Iroh told me that there's supposed to be a shooting star in the sky around midnight and I thought that instead of doing whatever stupid tradition you do, making a wish to start off your first married day would be way cooler."

"Really? A shooting star?" Suki squeaked, furtively gazing up at the starry night.

Katara pat the other girl's shoulder, commending her on the nice forethought. Toph just shrugged, tilting her head up at the sky too but for an entirely different reason – to feel the nightly breeze. Katara laid down beside Toph and pulled a heavy quilt over them both. Their shoulders bumped so Katara extended her arm around the other girl's shoulder. "Come on, Suki, come over here."

"Wh- oh, I see what you're doing!" She brought the rest of the pillows and blankets over, covering them with unneeded layering. She sighed once they were in position. "Now this is a true girl's night."

"You guys aren't going to go all weird on me, are you? Like talking about pedicures and stuff again, because I can only handle that ever once in a while."

Katara laughed. "Don't worry, Toph, we won't hold you down and paint your toes. We'll do that together with Suki."

"You two won't have to hold me down; I love getting my nails painted." Suki grinned. "But if I do get a preference of color, I like nude pink."

"Nude colored or pink?"

"There's such a thing as a combination of the two, Toph."

"Why is it called, 'nude pink'?"

"Yeah!" Katara interjected just for the fun of it. She laughed as Toph rolled her eyes. Suki didn't even respond.

"Nice. I should have the job of naming stuff," Toph prattled on. "If someone comes to me and says 'we have a nail color here that is a combination of pale skin and pink, what do we call it?' I would suggest names like 'pink sand' or 'fresh scallop' or 'dead coral'."

Suki wrinkled her nose. "Okay, you had me up until the last one. How do you know that much about naming colors, anyway?"

She shrugged. "Noble upbringing. Plus, my parents wanted me to expand my color vocabulary from a young age so I didn't seem 'detached' or anything like that," she said, using her fingers as air-quotes like usual. "Idiotic, right?"

"Very," Suki and Katara said at the same time. Suki pat the other girl's hand. "I happen to like who you are. You're the most genuine person I've ever met – you speak honestly. I think that blindness is a gift for you, Toph; especially since you have your earth-bending. You can see past all the lies and fake smiles. Your honest and that's a very valuable quality in a person."

"Here-here!" Toph thrust her arm up, grinning.

"Here-here!" The other two did the same. They all burst out laughing.

A minute passed. Katara gasped suddenly. "Look, Suki! Okay, shooting star time!"

"Yay, everyone make a wish – and that includes you, Toph!" Suki squeezed her eyes shut as her mind raced for something to wish for that she didn't disregard immediately as silly or petty.

Toph shook her head – a hard feat, considering it was smashed between the other twos'. "No, no, this is your moment."

"Make a wish, bride-to-be!" Katara giggled.

"We all have to make wishes," Suki began to protest, her eyes fluttering from holding them closed so tightly.

"No, you're the one that should have it. This is your last night as a single-ish woman, so wish up! It's almost gone!"

"But we shou-"

"Just make the damn wish, woman, before it leaves the sky!" Toph yelled. A bird sprung into flight from where it had been down on the beach, very much startled.

"Okay, okay!" Suki said, biting her lip as she thought what to wish about.

"It's almost gone." Katara whispered excitedly.

Suki let out a breath and opened her eyes, catching one last glimpse of the shining trail made from the shooting star. "There. Wow, that was exhilarating." She giggled. "My heart's still racing."

"Did you wish for a happy life or something like that?" Katara asked, shifting to look over at the other teen.

She smiled, sighing as she stared out at the mass of constellations. "Something like that."

Toph pulled a big knitted blanket up over her chest and tucked it under her chin. "Remember that you can't tell us what your wish was." She smiled. "Okay, now tell me what it looked like," she asked softly.

Suki's smile widened as Katara promptly, in length, fulfilled the youngest's request. Toph relished in the descriptions. Her tell was of how much she made fun of the water-bender's words. T_his is much better than the Peach Garden,_ Suki thought happily.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_On this strung-out strand where once the Saracens raided _

_and the bishop defended, now only surf whirs in―_

_tumble, soothe, and seethe of waves at a slow boil. _

_We lie motionless and cracked as driftwood. _

_Middle age has tossed us here. Salt sears each wave, _

_sand crusts your eyebrows and the rim of each ear, _

_and the sun licks hunch-backed breakers with a tongue of fire._

_Hypnosis of foam: the surf sounds endless. _

_Nothing is endless. The cathedral of Maguelone _

_hulks, a battered shell on a wind-roughed island. _

_Seagulls perch on the rafters in the shadow of cypress. _

_And if we two, sprawled below on the sand, are burned _

_and offered, it is to no god we will name _

_and the sea that lulls us is spelling its own end._

_~'At Villeneuve-les-Maguelone_', stanzas #1-2, Rosanna Warren

* * *

><p>A yell sounding suspiciously like it came from Toph resounded shakily through the still night, only disturbed by other, more natural sounds like that of crashing waves and loud crickets. Iroh shook his head, wondering what antics the three teen girls were up to. When nighttime had rolled around, they had all said goodbye to each other, going off to their respective residences. Toph then dragged Suki off to something she had planned for their "bachelorette slumber party" - Toph's words, not his - with Katara trailing behind them merrily.<p>

Iroh had declined Sokka's invitation to share the house he'd recently bought, as Aang and Zuko were staying there too. He said he'd already made reservations at the local hotel, but that wasn't entirely true. Sure, he had, as a backup, but now he planned to let the three close friends have privacy to get away with whatever shenanigans they wanted to do. Getting married changed every dynamic one already had and the group of six were just beginning to realize this.

Now the "Dragon of the West" was waiting on the beach - incidentally, the western edge - for an old friend.

"Boo!" He broke his intense gaze from the sea to see Ursa coming up from behind him. She wore an inquisitive smile. One came naturally to his own face. "What were you thinking about just now?"

"Nothing."

"Ah, but if it were nothing you would be fighting sleep. I know that gaze – that's the 'gaze of deep thought'," she said, deepening her voice as though she were narrating it. "You forget that I saw you look that way a lot when you were planning battle strategies with Ozai and Fire Lord Azulon."

He conceded to her raised eyebrow with a nod. "I was wondering who shouted."

"Probably one of the kids," she said, glancing to the beach house they were at just that afternoon. It was a ways away, but the light-blue paint was plainly seen.

"I believe I promised you a return token a few letters ago when you sent a gold ribbon," he said, holding out an arm.

She crooked her right arm into his elbow and they walked lazily down the beach. "I almost forgot about it," she tried to say nonchalant but a small tell he had known of hers for many years – the upturning of her ears – gave away that she was secretly happy.

Iroh smiled wide. "I've known when you were lying since you were fifteen, Ursa." She didn't even bother pretending to be offended at that. He pulled the promised gift out of his pocket and held it over for her. The Fire Lady took it, eying it with keen interest.

"A Pai Sho tile," she remarked after a minute. Ursa flipped it over a few times. She ran her fingers over the painted grooves. "What does the image stand for, Iroh?"

"Traditionally it means anything to do with the sea, usually more to do with fisherman, but for you it has the meaning of traveling," he explained with the smooth rhythm of someone that spent many years lecturing – and indeed he had, through his highly ranked military service. The light wood seemed dull as the white painted symbol of a ship's wheel went almost illuminate in the dark night. "What do you think?"

"I think my gold ribbon pales in comparison!" She smiled over to him. "Thank you, Iroh. I'll treasure it." She kept it in her hand and they let the silence overtake them for a good ten minutes. Finally, she spoke again, commenting, "Now you've put me in the terrible situation of having to get something new for you. You know I'm not very creative."

Iroh laughed, surprised. "If you're not creative then I'm a block of dull wood!"

"You _are_ kind of square," she quipped back.

Iroh loved that they could fall into their usual banter so easily. He missed having an old friend to do that with. He responded, "Now that you mention it, you don't seem to be very daring either."

Ursa gaped. "I am too! I used to be very daring when we were teenagers – you forget that I was the one that set you and your late wife up on a blind date."

"That wasn't blind, that was two people not even knowing they were on a date, thinking they were waiting for a mutual friend who never showed. That was very different... but thank you for that." Iroh smiled, remembering his wife and son. He shook himself from those thoughts though, determined to trick his dear friend into doing something ridiculous. Plus, he knew her well enough that the subtle remark was only suppose to distract him onto a different subject. "Ha! You said 'used to be'. I'm afraid that past tense doesn't count, Ursa."

She frowned, annoyance flitting across her features. Then she brightened for a moment, before an embarrassed flush came up from her neck. "Okay. I actually have done something daring recently. Don't tell anyone else or I will clobber you with a _real_ block of wood!"

He held up his free hand. "Promise – I will keep the tale till my time in the Spirit World."

She took a deep breath. "My last month in Hemero-Callis, I was dealing with an order of flowers for a funeral and the widow was adamant that his wife need to be buried while a dozen bouquets of blooming lavender surrounded her. Problem was, the bloom cycle was already passing and the little I had for the bouquets looked horrible so I..." She hesitated, taking a steadying breath. "I stole some."

"You stole _lavender_?"

"It is a little ridiculous," she admitted. "But there was this one person in town, a _grouchy_ old man, who had dozens upon dozens of lavender plants on his mountain acreage and refused to sell any to me! And it was up in the mountains so he had the perfect weather to grow them – they were all so healthy and beautiful! So I went on his property in the dead of night with my scissors and basket and took what I needed."

Iroh laughed aloud. "That's insanely ridiculous!"

Ursa bat her eyelashes, looking down with pink cheeks of proud embarrassment, and they continued to walk down the beach. A couple of moments later, he controlled himself and they walked in silence. The ocean waves crashed against the sand again, surprisingly loud against the fine granules.

She gasped. "Look!"

"What?" He asked, but she had already lifted up the hem of her long-sleeved and sashed silk dress and scrambled across the beach to the surf line.

"It's a little turtle duck," she said in awe, bending down on her knees to get a closer look. The sand stuck in clumps to her dress but she didn't notice nor care.

"Really?" Iroh asked, bending to see. "I didn't think there were any here. Look at that," he whispered as she bent to pick it up. He hastened to warn her, but she only chided him for thinking it would bite her.

Ursa cooed at it. "How coincidental is this?" She asked him without expecting an answer, glancing over to meet his eyes. "I was just wondering this morning how my turtle ducks were doing and then here this one appears." She turned back to the turtle. "Are you a little lost?"

A quack resounded down the beach, snapping both of them out of their stares. A few other, softer quacks resounded and only a minute later a mother turtle duck made her presence known, roaring up the coastline.

"Go back to your mother, little guy." Ursa set him down and nudge him across the sand. He happily joined his brothers and sisters in formation behind his mother. The adult turtle duck sized Ursa up warily a few yards away before loudly quacking and turning her heel. The small family was gone in another fast minute. "Well that was..." She giggled.

"Interesting." Iroh finished.

"Watch the waves with me," she said, patting the sand beside her. The Fire Lady stretched out her legs, not bothering to fix where the hem became bunched at her knees. Her rarely seen, maroon-colored slippers were bold against the sand. Iroh was hesitant at first but, after another pat of her small hand, he sat down next to her, folding his legs so the knees bent out at the sides.

"How can you still do that?"

"What, sit in this position?"

She nodded and laughed. "My body is already protesting doing anything like that! How did you get younger than me?"

Iroh chuckled. "I'm not younger than you, Ursa, I just practice meditating every day."

"So _that's_ your secret," she whispered playfully. With a sigh, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Don't let me fall asleep."

"Okay."

"Oh, and thank you," Ursa murmured, already drowsy.

"For what?" He turned his head, cocking an eyebrow at her.

She smiled softly, her eyelids half-closed as her gaze stayed riveted on the surf. "I don't know. Just thank you."

Iroh smiled. He tucked her loose hair behind her ear from where it had been swept away when she leaned against him. "Your welcome, I guess." He watched the waves come in and recede again with her, honestly thinking of nothing as he appreciated the simplistic beauty of the motion.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	59. Abated Fear

**A/N**: Okay, this is just a one-segment chapter. The next two will be about the wedding. This is just... fluff? Nah, that's not the right word. See for yourself. And big apologies for posting this ten minutes to midnight. Another long, jam-packed day of school/work leaving me with blood-shot eyes. And here I thought Summer was supposed to be an escape ;P

Thanks for reading this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter! And, also (as I don't say it near enough), sorry for any typos! If they especially bother you, feel free to point them out :) I'll fix them immediately.

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I was a heavy heart to carry_

_my beloved was weighed down_

_My arms around his neck_

_My fingers laced to crown_

_I was a heavy heart to carry_

_But he never let me down_

_When he had me in his arms_

_My feet never touched the ground_

_I'm so heavy, heavy in your arms._

_~'Heavy In Your Arms', _lyrics snippet, Florence + The Machine

* * *

><p>"It's been forever since we've dueled."<p>

"You woke me up at five to ask me to do a fitness competition?"

"No... A _bending_ competition."

He yawned. "Your brother's wedding is in six hours."

"I slept like a baby," she responded with a smile and a nudge. "Now, are you going to back to sleep or can you just stand there so I can beat you up with water?"

He shook his head and followed her down the front porch steps. It was barely approaching five o'clock in the morning - he'd checked the sundial in the front yard by the wilting azalea bushes - and he'd been startled awake by a tip-toeing person who promptly covered his mouth and shook him awake. Of course it was Katara, so he neither broke her wrist then or yelled at her later. "How did you even know where we were staying?"

She shrugged. "He's my brother. He couldn't keep the secret more than an hour when I first got here." She turned to walk backwards, with her front facing him. "I am surprised he's still letting you sleep there. Not afraid he's going to start hitting you in the middle of the night with his boomerang, are you?"

Zuko smirked. "I'm good."

"I don't know, that boomerang could cut right through your neck before you wake up," she replied with wide-eyed innocence and a hint of worry. He knew she was fooling him. _Well, trying to._

"Says the woman who I scared to death because after one shake I'd already pulled you to the ground and disabled you."

"Okay, first," she held up a finger. "You didn't 'disable' me, since I wasn't a criminal with a weapon. And second," she said, holding up an accompanying finger. "I wasn't 'scared to death' because I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Unless I'm seeing a ghost. That would suck."

Katara slapped his forearm. He winced. "See? I'm almost positive spirits can't do that. You're off the hook."

"Do you always have to hit my arms?" He just rolled his eyes at her twinkling eyes and nonresponse of turning back around. He looked around them finally, noticing where they were going. "We're going to duel at the beach?"

"There's no one here. Ah! Remind me if I forget - I have to wake Suki up at seven; she told me to last night."

"Okay," Zuko nodded.

He hadn't taken the opportunity to put on more than a pair of worn wooden sandals and the fine gold sand from the beach was grinding between his toes and the shoes. He looked down to see his big toes already slightly red. Katara, however, was barefoot and only had to watch where she walked so she didn't step on a bulging rock. He decided that was worth it and bent down, removing his shoes. He had nowhere to put them so he carried them in his hand.

"Okay!" Katara said suddenly, half a mile after they'd turned to start walking at a slightly diagonal but parallel path along the beach.

It was an island and curved, so where they ended up stopping was sort of like a corner on the eastern side. This beach was more narrowed, had a short cliff along its edge before the land went up, and the sand was mixed with a light kind of dirt. On the plus side - and it was a big one - it was more secluded. Spirit World forbid that anyone should think they were fighting and come rushing with half the town.

"Do you want to do a wager like our first duel?" She grinned as she asked. "Stakes?"

Zuko shook his head with a small smile. "Nope. Why not just an old-fashioned duel?" He held his hands above his head and stretched his spine. Three seconds later, a pop sounded from the middle of his back. He smiled; it felt better. "What was that?" He asked. Katara's voice was muffled because she was leaned over, lying the backs of her hands on her feet in a similar stretch.

"I said," she explained in a louder voice, coming back up, "that I'm fine with that. But by 'old-fashioned duel' you mean fight to almost death, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

He frowned. "We need a code word."

"Like a giving-up word?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "You pick it. I'm not creative."

Katara laughed. "Yeah, you're so not creative. Idiot. You're creative in strategy," she pointed out.

Zuko bit back an embarrassed smile. "Is that a compliment?"

"Yep. And I'm proud of it," she said back with teasing.

"How about that word," he suggested suddenly. She wrinkled her brow. "'Proud.' It's fitting; the only one of us to forfeit is the one that's not too proud."

She snorted. "And that would totally not be you, right?" She remarked sarcastically.

Zuko smirked. "I guess we'll see. Ready?"

"Hold on," she said and walked over to the shore. She took on a simple position - feet a few inches apart, the right one directly in front of the left, hands pressed down flat at the ground by her sides. She slowly manipulated the water higher and higher, testing it out.

It fell back to the sea in a loud, salt-spraying crash. Katara turned back to him. "Just checking. I haven't used my bending like this in weeks and salt water is always a little different." Her expression briefly morphed into that of reminded pain but passed in a blink of an eye. Zuko frowned at that. "Ready?" She asked with some fake cheer mixed in with the real bits. He knew her emotions enough; he could tell there was something she was hiding.

He didn't say anything about it, though, and simply nodded, responding, "Ready."

Katara flashed a grin. They stood there like two statues, immediately going on the defensive with each other. When they realized this, she was the first to act, as he thought she might. Her legs were already in a stance spread wide apart and she pulled her arms up in a half-circle. Leaning them back and then forward in a sweeping motion, she pulled a massive wave with her.

"I see you're starting slow," he quipped before bending a fire shield around him as the wave came crashing down. Some of the water broke through and a heavy bucketful of it came pouring down his spine. When the bulk of it hit the sand again, it went rushing back into the tide. The water that didn't return to its ocean turned to steam, fogging his vision.

She came out of nowhere with short water whips dashing around her and towards him. Zuko flattened on the beach as she lashed out. When Katara moved to pull them back, he fire-bended thin spirals of fire out of his fingertips and cut the water in a crisscross pattern in a smaller, more focused version of fire blades. All but the water hovering on her arms fell limp to the sand, slowly soaking in.

Zuko kicked out a stream of fire. She leaned back to dodge it, losing her balance in the end and falling on her back. He went to bend a blazing ring of fire around her. It only made it halfway before Katara pulled a large vortex of water from the ocean. It destroyed the fire he'd set. She rose herself in the air and then daintily leaped down onto the sand again.

She quickly stood again, he hand coming up from where it had balanced her in her drop. Her wrists flicked and a glittering sheen covered the sand. Zuko found he couldn't walk. She'd frozen the floor of sand. "Unfair."

She smirked again. "If the shoe fits…."

He laughed at that and shot fire out of his feet and into the sand. It heated up his feet and melted the ice around him just enough that the water began to bleed a shelf of droplets at an angle to where the ice ended and the sand began again. The sand underneath him began to feel cool and Zuko knew that anymore heat and he would burn his own feet.

Jerking his ankles to the side, long cracks in the ice suddenly formed and burst it apart. A ragged edge left a small cut on the top of his foot. Zuko hissed at the sensation. He slid his uninjured foot back into position and almost slipped on the ice. Leaning back, he rose his arms up and then into his chest, forming a dome of flames around Katara. She lost her hold on the ice and it rapidly began to liquefy, running downhill to the ocean again.

The fire was far enough away from her that he knew it wouldn't burn her. Nonetheless, he was still worried when he lost view of her face and only saw her form wavering behind the licking flames.

A voice echoed. It sounded like it was inside of them. "What?" He tried to quietly yell out. It wasn't an easy task: trying to be heard over an inferno and yet not wake anyone nearby. Fleetingly he wondered if anyone sleepy nearby would wake from the sound of their antics.

The top of the dome burst up, the flames losing formation to lick up into the sky. Katara came spinning out and up in a casing of ice. It was liquid on the inside and he watched, fascinated, as her fingers moved and seemingly directed the cool element. She clumsily fell back down to the sand. The ice turned completely to liquid and she blinked away the large droplets across her forehead. The water cemented into ice in a slate at her feet and she leaped to the side, launching it at him.

The slab caught him in the shoulder and Zuko went plummeting down to the sand with momentum keeping him going. He lifted his head and spit sand out. He looked over to see Katara panting, hands on her knees. For a minute, no one attacked the other. "Sokka is going to be thrilled at these bruises."

She soon began to giggle. "Sorry about the cut," she smiled over.

"I didn't even think you noticed." Zuko stood and straightened his back. He continued to chat as he formed a fireball behind his back.

Katara wore a strange look for a moment and then shrugged. "Your face gave it away."

He nodded. His head tilted and he regarded her with a smug smile. "Still don't give up?"

"Nope," she clucked back and, in a second's notice, sent a spike of ice towards him.

Zuko dodged it and it hit the cliff behind, splintering. "My turn," he remarked and launched the fireball at her. She missed it easily, just like he knew she would. Zuko quickly went into formation and bent his arms and pulled them back in a jerking movement. Katara watched him, puzzled, and then looked behind to see the fireball avoiding the water in a large arc and coming back at her. She ducked as it whizzed past her head. In truth, it wasn't closer than five feet but the heat it radiated would make anyone on the receiving end think otherwise. That was his plan.

It continued to follow her as she ducked, water-bended an ice wall, leaped over stray rocks, and finally dove into the salty water. There, she stayed, languidly paddling to stay afloat. Katara huffed out a laugh as Zuko gave up and let the fireball fall into the water, melting into steam by her side. "Nice… move," she panted out.

"Need help there?" He offered, walking up to the shore. He cautiously slipped a few toes in, wondering if she'd try to freeze them.

"I could… easily… drown you… right now," she pointed out.

Zuko looked at her pointedly, amused. She could barely stay afloat; he took that little victory. The Fire Lord waded into the sea until he was more than a little waist-deep, a few feet from her. "I think we're both too exhausted to continue. Tie?"

Katara swam closer until her feet touched the shifting ocean floor. He waded his way to her and she let him hold her up. "One of these days, I _am_ going to beat you."

He grinned. "And one of these days, I'm going to beat you; but for now, I guess we have to agree to disagree." Zuko walked them backwards to solid ground. They both collapsed on the beach, leaning on their backsides to watch as the sun now started to show its face. Its adorning bright colors of hot pink, mellow orange, misty purple, and a brief burst of teal at the edges of the dark, starry sky had been present the whole time they walked and then dueled. Zuko guessed it was nearing six-thirty. She sighed. He looked over, the sand caking in his damp hair. "What's wrong?"

She regarded him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting off ever since we got back from Natsuno and it hasn't gone away since you went to visit Aang and Toph. Weird triggers bring this pained look to your eyes – there," he interrupted himself, spotting it again. Katara's eyes slid to the side and away from his probing gaze. "I know you told me you didn't want to talk about and was just glad it was over but…." He sat up and placed a finger under her chin, making her face him again. After a moment, their eyes locked. "Katara," he pleaded softly.

She hugged him and buried her head into the crook of his neck. "I blood-bended Wahyn." It came out as a barely audible whisper; he wouldn't have heard it but for the fact she was speaking into his ear. A chill went down Zuko's spine – not of fear, but of understanding. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I didn't mean to – you know how much I hated mentioning it when it came up…." Katara shuddered.

Zuko remembered; it had been a week after his coronation and they - the full Gaang - had all been sitting around when the topic of Aang energy-bending came up and from there it led into a discussion of how mastering each of their elements had led to another ability they hadn't realized before. With Zuko, it was obvious – lightning. Toph brought up again how she could metal-bend (she had first mentioned it in a conversation with Zuko nearly two weeks after the group had accepted him; they had bonded quickly). The topic then turned to Katara and suddenly she, Aang, and Sokka went quiet. Toph had found it fascinating when they'd first told her, so she shared it with Zuko – water-bending can lead into blood-bending. Aang gave him the brief version of what happened with Hama after Katara fled the room. Zuko was sure there was more, but he hadn't been wanting to pester then and certainly wasn't going to now.

"He just came at me so fast and I was so tired and I didn't mean to it just... happened. It's a horrible excuse." He rubbed circles across her back with his thumbs. Wetness stung against his neck; _tears_. Katara sighed and hiccuped. "I thought it was fine…. Wahyn was an ass, right?" She tried to laugh and failed miserably. "But of course it's the one that deserves it that haunts me. You know, Yon Rha hasn't made me feel guilty once. I'm glad I didn't kill him - he's the one that deserves it the most."

"You didn't kill Wahyn, Katara; you protected yourself," Zuko comforted. It was a canned excuse for most but he did believe it himself. The older they all became - through both age and experience - Zuko saw that not everything was black and white. Life was full of different shades of grey; his own family was a perfect example of that.

"Yes, I did," she said adamantly, pulling back to look him in the face. The tears pained him and he swiped them away with his fingers. "I killed him because it was him or me and that hasn't made me feel better because I _blood-bended_, Zuko. I promised myself that I would never do that after I saw how crazy Hama was. She was psychotic!" Katara hissed, her eyes wide with fear.

Zuko saw right through to her greatest fear about blood-bending; he understood her completely. "You will never become that crazy woman. You hear me?" He cupped her face. "You will not _ever_ become her. All you have in common is you're both from the South Pole and are both water-benders, okay? That's it."

Katara squeezed her eyes shut and another few tears escaped. He wiped those away, too.

"She was broken and demented because she was a prisoner of war at the worst time possible." Katara moved to say something but he interrupted her. "Okay, say you were in the same position. If you used blood-bending to escape capture, would have then pretended to be a nice old lady in a village only to lure innocent Fire Nation citizens into the woods and kill them _just_ because they're Fire Nation?" She sniffled and shook her head. "No. You're kind and you have empathy, Katara. Even when you have nothing left to lose, you continue protecting." Zuko smiled at her softly as he spoke just as gently. She blinked her eyes open to watch him warily, not wanting to believe his words so easily. "Remember when I was chasing you and the Gaang and I taunted you with your mother's necklace?"

She huffed. "Yeah. You were working with pirates. Rookie mistake."

He laughed breathily. "Yeah, tell me about it. But remember how you wouldn't give up Aang or Sokka? You just stood there, spitting in my face. I wouldn't have killed you but you didn't know that; you were willing to die for them. You've done that many times for people that you don't even know and sometimes I've been able to see that happen." Zuko caressed her cheek. "Now, does that sound like someone who's a killer at heart? Because that's what Hama was. Hama was a killer who didn't see any wrong in her actions."

Katara sighed deeply. She leaned her head awkwardly down on his shoulder again. "You make it sound so simple."

"Because it is, you just don't want to let yourself off the hook so easily."

His hands came to rub circles on the back of her head and Katara smiled against his neck. "I'm going to fall asleep; stop."

"I'm helping you relax," he responded. "Feel better?"

"Tell me again."

Her voice was a bare whisper, desperate. Zuko leaned his head against hers. "No matter what happens, you will never become a deranged old woman like Hama."

She almost laughed but sobered. The description was true, after all. "Why?"

"Because you're kind and compassionate and so selfless it makes me feel guilty sometimes," he admitted and she did laugh this time. "My father used to tell me that everyone can be broken, but I don't think so. If there's anyone that will always spit in the face of the enemy, it's you."

Katara leaned back. "Sorry about that; that must've been awkward in front of the pirates."

Zuko shook his head. "I deserved it."

"Yeah, you did." She sighed again. This time, it was full of purpose and not resignation. "Thank you."

"Tell me if you have a nightmare again, okay?" She nodded.

"Promise. Who else can I make feel guilty?" She tried to joke and he smiled that she was back to joking at all. He brushed her loose hair behind her ears and wiped away the remnants of moisture on her cheeks. Katara blinked and her eyes widened as she looked off into the sunrise. "Dammit!" She suddenly cursed.

"What?" Zuko asked, lost.

"I have to wake up Suki; Celeigh told me to last night and then Suki told me to let her sleep in another hour!" Katara rambled as she scrambled off his lap and stood. "I'm so screwed if I wake her up late; you have no idea how much effort it takes for a wedding." She spun back around to him as he stood up. "See you at the ceremony?"

"Don't work yourself to death before then." Zuko smiled.

"I'll try not to!" She called back and then ran down the beach, taking a faster route to Suki's house. Zuko shook his head and started to make his way back.

He looked back at Katara's fleeting form along the sand and stopped for a moment, frowning. He wished he had known sooner. He should have asked sooner. _But I'm here now_, he thought, _and I'm not going to let her down_. He trudged up the side of the cliff again. Zuko wondered if Sokka was up yet, taking initiative from his bride. _No, probably not_, he thought. The Fire Lord chuckled.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	60. Bustling Preparations

**A/N:** So I did some research for this chapter and, per consulting Avatar Wikia, the Earth Kingdom is heavily influenced by Chinese customs and culture but Kyoshi Island is much more in line with Japan. So, I have extensively researched Japanese wedding customs and used them here. It will probably sound a little weird, but please bear with for the next two chapters. I wanted to stay as in line with the depictions on the show as possible

The only thing I have changed is that usually it's a _maiko_ (apprentice geisha) that serves the sake (an alcoholic drink that, in this case, is basically the same as exchanging rings) but I gave this job to the Junior Kyoshi warrior Layir, whom I've made up previously. I figured it was close enough.

Also, an Anonymous reviewer mentioned that both Katara and Zuko would be electrocuted if Zuko bended lightning during their duel last chapter - yes, they would be. But, he didn't lightning-bend - he stuck with fire since straight from the get-go she pretty much drenched him (lol). Plus, they love each other; he wouldn't risk using lightning like that. He was only ever comfortable around it when he used it with Iroh (and then that one time in Natsuno, because he was beyond pissed off) so, when playing around with Katara, it wouldn't even come to mind :)

Thanks, everyone, for reading!

**Disclaimer: Don't own. (I wish I didn't have to put this disclaimer here anymore...)**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_If Zeus chose us a King of the flowers in his mirth,_

_He would call to the rose, and would royally crown it;_

_For the rose, ho, the rose! is the grace of the earth,_

_Is the light of the plants that are growing upon it!_

_For the rose, ho, the rose! is the eye of the flowers,_

_Is the blush of the meadows that feel themselves fair,_

_Is the lightning of beauty that strikes through the bowers_

_On pale lovers that sit in the glow unaware._

_Ho, the rose breathes of love! ho, the rose lifts the cup_

_To the red lips of Cypris invoked for a guest!_

_Ho, the rose having curled its sweet leaves for the world_

_Takes delight in the motion its petals keep up,_

_As they laugh to the wind as it laughs from the west._

_~'Song of the Rose', _Sappho

* * *

><p><em>Seven AM, four hours from Ceremony….<em>

"I will kill you if you get me up this early again, hea- ow!" Suki gasped as her Aunt pulled the sash on her kimono tightly and promptly tied it. She felt like her lungs were trapped in this state of max capacity being reduced to half of what it normally is. Somehow, in the mirror, she could already tell that the obi – the sash – was fluffed perfectly. It seemed impossible. A misting of tears came to her eyes from the constraint. "Do you have to compromise my lungs and make me look pretty at the same time?"

"No," Celeigh said simply. Suki scowled. Her Aunt proceeded to smooth down the back and Suki did the same in the front, patting any potential creases out. In the sunlight and out of the lantern light in the dress shop, the pale yellow almost looked completely white and Suki could now see that in the band running down the length of the dress and up the sides of the sleeves, there was a medium blue that shared in the stripes of the black and the green. The blue was for the colors that the Kyoshi citizens wear.

The green in the obi sash, though, was still very much the same.

Celeigh knocked on the door and Ishi came bursting in, a cloth satchel in her hand. "Please don't tell me what's in there," Suki groaned immediately.

"Why tell you when I can show you?" Ishi teased and proceeded to set it on a stool next to Suki and unthread the opening. Inside was an array of paints ranging from the bold ones the Kyoshi used to complete their warrior ensemble to more muted varieties that were put directly on the skin when the white coat was foregone, creating an illusion of a constant blush and bright eyes.

However, that wasn't that part that made Suki groan. On the contrary, she loved the makeup. It was the hair utensils she saw that made her cringe. Combs, pokes, and metal claw contraptions made to be heated and then basically burn your hair into place. "Please go easy on me; I have the worst headache," she explained and pleaded to her best friend.

"That's what happens when you stay up," she clucked. "I told you not to let your Avatar friends make you stay up - I told you to go right to bed, just like I was doing - but you didn't, did you? Sorry, Suki, but my job is to make your hair as gorgeous as possible today and I'm not going to stop because you have a headache."

Suki glared at her through the mirror. In the three months since Sokka proposed to her, she had let her hair go uncut. The Kyoshi hairstyles for weddings were always up-do's and she hadn't had enough hair to manage that before. She didn't even have enough for a braid; a simple one, at that. She wouldn't defy that tradition. Now, Suki's chestnut hair hung brushing against her shoulders. Unfortunately, all she could think about was how much more of a blank canvas her friend has to work with.

"Now what can we do…" Ishi mused, thinking as she tapped her lip with an innocent-looking comb.

Celeigh patted her niece on the shoulder and kissed her cheek before it was painted. "I'm going to go talk to Oyagi now and make sure that Layir knows what to do. Just sit there and try not to scream if you're head's sensitive – I don't want Sokka to come running and break tradition." She smiled knowingly. "That's what you get for sleeping on a deck all night."

"It was comfy at the time," she grumbled.

Ishi took the comb away from her lips with a gleaming expression. "I know just the one to do! I'll pull your hair up and fold it so curls are just starting to cascade down over the bun. You don't have hair long enough yet to be able to do the full bun, though."

"That's okay – less work," Suki joked. "And I am totally cutting my hair again when this wedding is over so do your best."

Her friend clapped her hands. "I will protest the scissors tomorrow but you just gave me permission to 'do my best'! Oh, I'm going to have so much fun with this." Ishi then raked the comb through Suki's hair for the first time. Suki stifled a yelp. "Oh, relax. There's not _that_ many knots," Ishi chided.

Suki wished her glare was deadly.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change."_

~Earl Nightingale

* * *

><p><em>8:30 AM, two and a half hours before Ceremony...<em>

Ty Lee came hustling over, the kimono pulled awkwardly up to her ankles so it wouldn't be dirtied too badly. She was in full paint, just like all the other Kyoshi warriors participating, but her Kimono was different today. The armor was no longer and the dark green kimono matching the one Avatar Kyoshi used had changed into one of the blue colors that the people of Kyoshi Island normally wear.

The spots of green on the dress were like the branches of pine trees depicted against the varying light - or dark - blue sky scene the dress is supposed to represent. Dark stripes of green seal in the image along the edges. She still had her fan, though, as do all the other Kyoshi warriors. They all wore similar outfits and it was an enrapturing sight to behold. Not one of them participating was wearing their fighting garb.

"Hey," she greeted them. "What are you doing waiting over here?"

"We're keeping a safe distance," Toph supplied.

"From who – Suki?"

Katara nodded. "She was not a happy camper when I woke her this morning."

"Oh, don't worry. Ishi's in with her now, doing her hair."

"Didn't she start that like an hour ago?" Masie asked.

"Who cares! I know I'll screw up; why does Suki trust _me_? She should have given the job to someone else." Layir's carefully painted face instantly became buried in her hands.

"Layir," Ty Lee said, rubbing the other girls back. "You'll do great."

"I won't be a Kyoshi warrior any longer," she all but sobbed. Katara frowned worriedly - for the girl and for the upcoming ceremony.

"Is she always like this?" Toph asked warily.

"Toph!"

The earth-bender rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "It's true! So you pour some kind of buzzed tea or whatever; big deal. You've been practicing with normal tea for years now, right?" Layir sniffled. "And you've practiced fighting people and being deadly with that fan of yours, right? Now which one's the harder one?"

"The fan," Masie interrupted and answered.

"Point made." Toph screwed up her face. "And really? An _hour_ for _hair_?"

"It takes a lot of oils and creams to keep the hair in place," Ty Lee explained. "That was the third thing I learned when I can here."

"What were the first two?" Katara asked, genuinely interested. She glanced over and saw that the Layir girl was recovering. She discreetly breathed a sigh of relief that Ty Lee noticed.

Ty Lee grinned and continued on to her story.. "The first was how to apply the mask makeup and the second was to never leave your fan out of sight. But the hair thing isn't something that's part of the Kyoshi warrior training, it was just something I learned by accident.

"Seriously, that stuff is hard. And don't even get me started on if you have to do guard duty for someone and you all take shifts sleeping. We have to use this weird neck holder so our hair doesn't get all messed up because even though we don't style it too much in our official outfit - most of us leave it all-natural - it will still get in the way if we sleep on it and mash it to one side. Had that happen a lot." She grimaced and shook her head.

"She's not joking," Layir spoke up this time, tears all gone. She smiled impishly. "She had a bruise on her forehead from one of the head-pieces the first time she did that. It made a big imprint."

Ty Lee blushed scarlet. Toph laughed.

Katara decided to mediate before Toph made any kind of snarky comment. "Come on," she offered, herding the four other females. "Let's go see if we can help Celeigh set up."

The strip of beach that Suki's family claimed was where the ceremony would partake. An inch-thick stage had already been inlaid into the sand so that now it wasn't above the sand or even really on it. The house only had a small patio, so this added onto it, giving the needed room so everyone could partake comfortably. A low table had been placed in the center with two cushions in front of it. Stands with candles half-melted in them were placed at the sides; they were unlit.

Suki's Aunt was in the kitchen and they could hear her before they walked through the open back door. "Hey, Celeigh. Do you want us to help you with something?" Katara offered sweetly. "It looks like there's still a lot to do."

The middle-aged woman looked up, startled. Her face morphed into a smile. "Thank you for offering, Katara. You girls are so kind. Actually, can one of you go check on Suki?" Katara nodded and moved to the door. "And then I need two of you to go help Blais; he's in the living room. And then can someone else, or I guess whoever's left, go stand by the front for when your friends start arriving? We're going to gather on the beach first and anyone that's only going to be in the reception will wait there. Thanks for the help," she beamed and went back to check on the small feast she was making for the reception and what would basically be everyone's dinner.

Masie and Ty Lee agreed to help Blais, knowing him well, and Toph went with Layir to stand out front. Layir was only passively tagging along because she knew that when Oyagi was back from whatever her went off to do thirty minutes before, he would probably call her back over around back and lecture her some more on how to make sure it all goes 'just so'.

Katara mounted the narrow staircase and knocked on the faded door. "Come in!" A female voice called through the door; she didn't have to be told twice.

"Wow, Suki, you look beautiful!" She gasped.

Her brother's fiancé blushed and shook her head. Ishi slapped her shoulder for that as a few strands of hair came out of Ishi's thin hands that were currently making last-minute alterations. "You should be complimenting Ishi, not me. She did all the work."

"That's right; thank you for the recognition." Ishi grinned and misted her friend's hair one last time with a subtle rose perfume. "What do you think, Katara? You're the first one that's seen it."

Suki turned around so that the water-bender could inspect her full view and not peer through the mirror. "You look… stunning. And you're already so beautiful! I'm speechless!"

"I would hug you right now but I don't want to mess anything up!" They shared a laugh. Suki went to pat her hair, inspecting it, and Ishi just swatted her hand away. "Next it's time for us to get the veil in place but that can wait."

"What does it look like?"

"I'll get it!" Ishi rummaged around for in the messy vanity while Katara and Suki continued to inspect Suki's outfit. Suki turned around to look at herself in the mirror. The dress was stunning and blended together perfectly; especially since, per tradition, Suki's face was painted white. No blush or eye-liner – plain white.

Her hair was pulled back to tie together in a very short fold, turned so that it was underneath the pinwheel curls flowing downward. They stopped an inch below the fold, two or so above her hairline, so it did classify as an up-do. There was a comb adorned with pearls on the handle stuck into her hair on the right side, matching the sewn-in necklace of her dress. Her favorite part of the outfit.

"Found it! Bend your knees or something, Suki; you're on a pedestal, you know." Suki did so with a small giggle and Ishi pinned the veil in place. She slowly extended it down over her friend's face. It was very thin and easy to see through, but the lace stole the attention, casting the illusion of it obscuring the face underneath more than it actually did.

"Aw, Suki!"

"Are you tearing up?" Suki asked Katara, shocked. "I can't imagine what Sokka's reaction will be!"

"I'm tearing up _because_ of Sokka. You're so beautiful, Suki, and you guys love each other so much. Seeing you all dressed up just kind of makes it more real." Suki laughed. Katara fanned her hands in front of her face, laughing. "Now what are you going to do? You've still got two hours before the wedding."

Suki groaned, something that was becoming a habit in her make-shift dressing room in the upstairs office. Ishi leveled a finger at her. "Don't you dare sit down and crease that dress."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Amid this hot green glowing gloom_

_A word falls with a raindrop's boom..._

_Like baskets of ripe fruit in air_

_The bird-songs seem, suspended where_

_Those goldfinches-the ripe warm lights_

_Peck slyly at them-take quick flights._

_My feet are feathered like a bird_

_Among the shadows scarcely heard;_

_~'Interlude',_ stanzas #1-4 of 7, Edith Sitwell

* * *

><p><em>Nine AM, two hours from Ceremony...<em>

Sokka startled awake, wide-eyed and heart thumping. "There! I told you he'd wake up." Aang said proudly next to him.

"Look at that," Zuko commented wryly. "I thought he was dead."

Sokka glared. "What in the Spirit World is wrong with you two? You almost gave me a heart-attack!"

"It's two hours to your wedding, Sokka! Up, up, up!" Aang urged, pushing against his shoulders.

"Wait, you guys are already ready?"

"What's that saying?" Zuko asked before snapping his fingers. "Right – 'early bird catches the worm'. I was already up, that's just what prompted Aang over there. He's a _little_ excited."

"A little?" Sokka raised an eyebrow to where Aang was running a hand across his smooth, bald head again. It was an anxious thing the boy did sometimes. "You don't have hair, Aang."

"I know!"

Sokka stood, shaking his head, and looked around the wide expanse that was the barely furnished living room. "Where did I set my clothes last night?"

"I thought they were in the bedroom."

"My normal clothes are – I'm talking about the ones I picked up. You know, I got them washed and ironed?" Sokka said but Aang's face remained blank. The boy shrugged. Sokka frowned and looked around the room, glancing over to other man in the room.

Zuko shrugged and continued to pull up his collar. He then picked up the last layer to his Earth Kingdom outfit, one similar to the one that he used when he and Iroh were running the Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se. Not his uniform, but rather the one that held more yellow and brown earthy colors with gold swirls, marking the person as rich or noble. Sokka frowned at the lack of assistance and went searching for it himself. "Sokka," Zuko said with a level voice, amusement in his eyes that the groom couldn't see, "it's in the hall closet where you left it because it was the only place you could hang it up and not wrinkle it."

"Uh, thanks," Sokka said when he opened the loose door and found the clothes hanging on the wooden hanger, the rest of the closet empty. He reminded himself again that he had to replace the closet door, along with a few cabinet doors. _Unless we just have shelves_, he thought suddenly. _Awesome idea! _Sokka reluctantly pulled himself out of his designing-house thoughts. "I'm going to take a bath before we head over to Suki's."

"Okay," Aang said, opening up the front door. "I'll see you guys over there; I'm gonna feed Momo and Appa."

"Wait," Zuko said suddenly before the South Pole teen could close the door and after Aang closed the door behind him. Sokka turned with a suspicious gaze. "I know we haven't really spoken much since, well, yeah, but we're still friends right?"

"Why not?" He replied calmly; it was his promise to Katara to not judge the two that made him hold back a more snarky reply.

The Fire Lord flushed, looking very embarrassed at that moment. "So we're okay? Because I know you said to Katara that you wouldn't kill me-"His attempt at a joke didn't even make Sokka fight back a smile. "-but she's your sister and it's different."

Sokka set his clothes on the feeble wooden table in the bathroom and then turned in the doorway to face the other man again. "Look, Zuko. You're right, Katara's my sister and I'd always forgive her and back her up in whatever she wants to do because I love her. And, yeah, we're friends. Just don't do anything to make her come to me crying and I won't get in your and Katara's way. Okay?"

He said it calmly and with an edge of protectiveness that Zuko commended. "Okay." He took a step back to go find Aang but then stopped. "Oh, and you should probably know that your father already threatened me like four times over." He smiled, amused.

"That's funny?" Sokka quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

"No, not really, but I just think it's great that Katara has so many people that care about her happiness."

Sokka chuckled, shaking his head in astonishment. "My sister has you so whipped."

"Says the guy that complained all night that he couldn't see his lov-" Zuko ducked and bustled around the corner, away from Sokka's deadly attacks with his boomerang. Sokka caught it quickly back in his hand. Zuko's laugh reverberated through the bones of the small house.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	61. The Ceremony

**A/N: **I also added in here that Suki will walk with her father down the short aisle, although I don't know if having a male companion escort you down the aisle is something that's traditionally done in Japanese culture (or if there is even an aisle). It's just something I thought fit well.

Long poem in here at the third segment. Sorry! I was going to only use the last segment or the first segment, but it all went together so perfectly, in my opinion.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and thanks so, so, so much for reading this far :)

**Disclaimer: I do not feign, for even a millisecond, that I own anything relating to A:LA besides this fanfiction.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_If the heart of a man is deprest with cares,_

_The mist is dispell'd when a woman appears;_

_Like the notes of a fiddle, she sweetly, sweetly_

_Raises the spirits, and charms our ears._

_Roses and lillies her cheeks disclose,_

_But her ripe lips are more sweet than those._

_Press her,_

_Caress her,_

_With blisses,_

_Her kisses_

_Dissolve us in pleasure, and soft repose._

_~'If the Heart of a Man', _John Gay

* * *

><p><em>Nine minutes before Ceremony….<em>

"Nervous?"

Suki rolled her eyes. "Aunt! How can I not be? I have warring butterflies in my stomach." She took a deep, calming breath. "But, I'm happy. Is this normal? It doesn't feel normal at all."

Celeigh smiled. "Perfectly normal. I felt the same thing when I married your uncle. Now relax so I can see my surrogate baby girl walk down the aisle without stiff shoulders; they will come back to haunt you."

She laughed. "Because that's the thing you should be worrying about." Suki pulled her Kyoshi fan out of the fold at her waist and closed her eyes against the lovely cold breeze wafting its way through the open doorway. "I think I'm going to throw up."

Her father came through the kitchen doorway and into the living room where they were waiting. The door to the backyard area was open so this way they were around the corner and away from probing eyes - namely Sokka's eyes. _The groom shouldn't see the bride on the wedding day,_ she recalled. "What's wrong?" He asked immediately.

"Nothing, it's just nerves," Celeigh explained.

Suki smiled warmly and tucked her fan away. "Is it time?"

"Yep. Are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?"

"Perfect."

Blaise regarded her carefully, like any father does when he wants to be sure of his child's words. Whatever he found must have comforted him because her took her elbow and escorted her through the kitchen. Suki threaded her arm through the crook of his. Celeigh went along ahead of them, quickly and discreetly taking her place in the small gathering.

Suki couldn't believe how nervous she was. The whole time she was planning the ceremony, it was kind of surreal and left her with this sense of impatience each time she laid down to go to bed. She would wish that tomorrow was the day where she and Sokka could be married and start a life together completely, where no barriers were separating them. Tradition was everything to her.

It was a warm, sunny day outside; a nice change from the cold. There was the deck from the second floor that covered half of the area that her family and friends had prepared, however, so without the sun it felt just like any other day. An ocean breeze swept towards her and Suki steeled back a shiver.

There were two poles staked into the ground a little bit ahead of where the deck ended and they had covered the rest of the makeshift roof with a white cloth. It sunk in the middle and Suki loved that, for some odd reason. Even she herself couldn't pinpoint it. _Maybe it was because it's neat to look at,_ she mused.

A few bouquets were set up on the sand, along with on a table here and by a chair there. They held cosmos flowers – a generally hot-pink flower with short but fat petals and a very raised and spotted yellow center – ginger blooms – which heavily resemble orchids – and, in the center, a tall stalk with small, curled-inward white blooms. They're called 'Frost columns' and Suki thought they were lovely.

But her mind didn't stay on the décor or the flowers or even how the whole scene came together perfectly, because her mind instantly went blank when she saw Sokka. He was standing next to the low table set up for the sake ceremony. He was grinning with un-obstructed joy and warmness. A slow, broad smile spread across her face like the sun peeking out of the clouds.

She and her father arrived far too late for her liking. Suki bent down and kissed his cheek in thanks. He moved one of her hands to Sokka's, and her fiancé promptly covered it with the other. Blaise then squeezed them together. He nodded to Suki and turned to take his position a yard or so away.

She beamed excitedly at Sokka. "You look beautiful," he whispered. She bit back a girlish giggle; it vibrated in her throat instead. She felt like a young girl again, in the middle of her first crush.

They sat on the cushions. Suki tucked her dress so it hopefully would not wrinkle too badly, glancing over at Ishi as she did this. Her best friend only grinned at her and gave her a quick thumbs-up. _Ridiculous_, Suki thought, slightly shaking her head. Oyagi stood in front of them and he opened with a speech, sending their best wishes to the Spirit World and hoping the Spirit World blessed her and Sokka. Suki didn't pay much attention as he lit the candles and then gave them a small pine branch that he then lit the end of for purification. It was part of a ceremony, purifying them - as the name obviously suggested - before they were figuratively bound together.

Sokka bit his lip, watching the fire intensely. It burned slowly and when Oyagi took it back, the white smoke making a little trail, it had hardly moved up the branch. He made the Kyoshi symbol in the air with the smoke and then blew it out, setting the branch aside on a plate between two candles. It was closer to Suki and she promptly stifled a cough. She was fascinated by the ritual. She'd never witnessed a wedding before as no one in her family and none of her closest and dearest friends had married. It was a ceremony kept amongst only the most intimate people in the bride's and groom's lives.

She looked over to Sokka. He caught her eye. They shared a loving smile before Suki glanced shyly away, not wanting Oyagi to see them and then be momentarily distracted from recalling his practiced speech, accidentally interrupting the ceremony. The island's mayor finished quickly and then bowed to them. He walked over to where the others were standing.

Layir came around with a ceramic flask and a stack of three wide cups, each smaller than the last. There was another stack of two tea cups, same size, already on the table. She placed the flask and its tray down between the couple before setting down the stack of tea cups. She then picked up the smallest and filled it with sake. Suki peeked over at Sokka; he was watching it with thinly covered curiosity. Suki had been shown how the ceremony without partaking (as that would be bad luck) and knew more or less what happened now. The young Junior was doing perfectly.

Layir gave the small cup to Sokka first and nodded. He dutifully sipped three times. His face briefly clouded with a reaction of disgust at the bitter taste. Suki did giggle this time. He handed it to her next and she did the same. Her reaction to the fermented drink was much more subdued, growing up around it her whole life.

Layir took it back, placed it to the side, and filled the second-smallest. They did the same thing with that one, too. The ritual was repeated with the last cup - the smallest - and the couple had to ration the drink carefully. Sokka was loud, sipping on air and stray drops for ten seconds before finally getting a sip. Suki shared an amused look with Layir.

The young Kyoshi warrior stacked the bowls neatly and then walked around and behind them, out of their line of vision. Suki immediately jumped to continue the next part of the ceremony - binding their families together. She remembered her mother telling her - whenever she'd asked with her wide eyes and vast child curiosity - that a marriage was as much a bond between the couple as it was between the family.

Suki reached for the flask a second before Sokka did and her fingers brushed his. He grabbed the cup he was going to use and waited, letting her go first. She smiled to her. Suki filled the wide, shallow cup and turned to kneel in front of her father. Blaise took it and sipped the sake down quickly. She shared a quick, proud smile with him before sitting down again. The Kyoshi warrior leader watched out of the corner of her eye as Sokka did the same thing with his father, Hakoda. In front of them was the ocean and she breathed in salty sea air as a wave lopped at the sandbar.

She felt a pang of loss when she thought of the two mothers not partaking in this important event. It was probably weird, but she had never thought of her and Sokka being particularly motherless. Sure, they had both lost their mothers at young ages, yet their lives had changed a lot since then and they grew both because of those and in spite of that. They could look back on the familial memories without pain.

Still, Suki had her imagination and it left her wondering over all the possibilities. For a minute, she was lost just wondering what Kya looked like. _I bet a lot like Katara_, she thought.

Oyagi came to stand in front of them once Sokka was seated again. He said a few words about living their lives together in unity and they both murmured agreements.

Suki shared a happy grin with Sokka as they stood again. Public displays of affection were traditionally not very common during wedding ceremonies in the Earth Kingdom - and, at one point in time, even shunned - but that was one tradition that Suki didn't care at all about breaking. Her family and her friends were around - she was happy. The Kyoshi warrior wound her hands around her new husband's neck and kissed him sweetly. Sokka cupped her cheek with a gentle caress; she smiled.

"Inside!" Celeigh called and ushered everyone around them towards the back door of the house. "You too, lovebirds. We can't start the receptions without you and you, Suki, still have to change."

They pulled apart reluctantly. "Is your family always going to tell us what to do?" He whispered in her ear with a joking tone.

Suki chuckled. "Chop-chop," she teased and let her Aunt take her arm, leading her inside.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Mingled aye with fragrant yearnings,_

_Throbbing in the mellow glow,_

_Glint the silvery spirit-burnings,_

_Pearly blandishments of woe._

_Aye! forever and forever,_

_Whilst the love-lorn censers sweep,_

_Whilst the jasper winds dissever_

_Amber-like the crystal deep,_

_Shall the soul's delirious slumber,_

_Sea-green vengeance of a kiss,_

_Teach despairing crags to number_

_Blue infinities of bliss._

_~'Blue Moonshine'_, Francis G. Stokes

* * *

><p>Sokka spun her around again. Suki giggled, just as he thought she would, and he grinned happily. When she was happy, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. When she was elated, she couldn't stop that sweet, shy giggle from escaping. They lazily danced to the beat, hands clasped, half a foot apart. The mild tune was performed by a few Kyoshi warriors and friends that partook in musical classes on the side of their more <em>physical<em> training.

The reception was open to many more people from the Island than the ceremony had been - anyone that stopped by and could still fit into the room, truthfully. Not all had stayed - a great deal of people had simply dropped off gifts and/or congratulations - but there was a sizable crowd milling around the now-seemingly-cramped living room. Suki drew close and kissed him lightly on the cheek before saying, "I'm going to go check on my father."

Blaise had continually brushed aside his daughter's attempts to get him more drink, food, or pull him into a conversation with others if he was not already in one, telling her to go off and enjoy herself instead. Suki didn't want her father missing out on having as much fun as everyone else was, just because he liked to sit in the corner. Sokka nodded to her words. "I'll go check and see if Celeigh needs any help."

"I think I saw her go back into the kitchen a few minutes ago," Suki called over her shoulder as she was already moving apart, navigating her way through the pockets of groups milling about. He turned toward to the kitchen when he could no longer see her and her casual blue dress of the Kyoshi Island colors.

Celeigh was in the kitchen but not for long. She was trying to balance a large wooden tray on her hip and it wasn't working at all. It held an assortment of desserts - small cakes, iced cookies, tarts - and if Sokka knew even an ounce about the food - particularly _sweets_ - he loved so much, he knew that it took a long time to prepare all of these. A solid day, at least. He cringed to think of them all falling to the floor, ruined.

"Let me help you," he offered kindly.

"Thank you, Sokka. You're a life saver."

"No, call me 'Sokka: sweets sav-' ah!" His right hand slipped against the wooden tray and it dipped dangerously. Luckily, it caught against the counter. He breathed a sigh of relief and flushed, embarrassed at yelping.

The middle-aged woman raised an eyebrow. "What were you going to say before?"

"Nothing," he responded sheepishly.

She clucked her tongue but otherwise didn't chide him. Celeigh held the door open for him. She warned him as he passed," Don't drop those."

Sokka nodded. "Kyoshi warrior's honor," he vowed. She smiled amusedly at that. His few days as an honorary Kyoshi warrior were hard to forget. He walked over to the few thin tables set up against the left wall of the living room, where no windows resided. The thing was more awkward to carry than he'd imagined before. He found an empty space after a minute of teetering on his feet and clumsily set it down.

"I was looking for those; thanks!" Aang said with a satisfied grin. He squeezed in front of his friend and piled a good ten pastries onto his plate.

"Don't take all of them!" Sokka protested. He sought out one of the plate stacks, grabbed one of his own, and put two of each on his plate. The amount of sweets on his plate heaped over the Avatar's.

"Relax - I'm getting some for the others."

"Yeah where did everyone go off to? Hide in a corner?" He joked.

"Sort of," Aang responded a nod, too engrossed in licking the icing off of a cookie to do little more than speak and walk. "Follow me," he offered and Sokka accepted.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I drifted (or I seemed to) in a boat_

_Upon the surface of a shoreless sea_

_Whereon no ship nor anything did float,_

_Save only the frail bark supporting me;_

_And that - it was so shadowy - seemed to be_

_Almost from out the subtle azure wrought_

_Of the great ocean underneath its keel;_

_And all that blue profound appeared as naught_

_But thicker sky, translucent to reveal,_

_Miles down, whatever through its spaces glided,_

_Or at the bottom traveled or abided._

_Great cities there I saw; of rich and poor_

_The palace and the hovel; mountains, vales,_

_Forest and field; the desert and the moor;_

_Tombs of the good and wise who'd lived in jails;_

_Seas of a denser fluid, white with sails_

_Pushed at by currents moving here and there_

_And sensible to sight above the flat_

_Of that opaquer deep. Ah, strange and fair_

_The nether world that I was gazing at_

_With beating heart from that exalted level,_

_And, lest I founder, trembling like the devil!_

_The cities all were populous: men swarmed_

_In public places - chattered, laughed and wept;_

_And savages their shining bodies warmed_

_At fires in primal woods. The wild beast leapt_

_Upon its prey and slew it as it slept._

_Armies went forth to battle on the plain_

_So far, far down in that unfathomed deep_

_The living seemed as silent as the slain,_

_Nor even the windows could be heard to weep._

_One might have thought their shaking was but laughter;_

_And, truly, most were married shortly after._

_Above the wreckage of that silent fray_

_Strange fishes swam in circles, round and round-_

_Black, double-finned; and once a little way_

_A bubble rose and burst without a sound_

_And a man tumbled out upon the ground._

_Lord! 'twas an eerie thing to drift apace_

_On that pellucid sea, beneath black skies_

_And o'er the heads of an undrowning race!_

_And when I woke I said - to her surprise_

_Who came with chocolate, for me to drink it:_

_"The atmosphere is deeper than you think it."_

_~'A Morning Fancy', _Ambrose Bierce

* * *

><p>"That is a big, fat lie," Katara scoffed and leaned back in her chair. She rolled her shoulders in a stretch.<p>

"It is not!" Toph protested against her friend's disbelief. She swiveled her head face the person sitting directly across from her. "Zuko, you believe me, right?"

He shrugged. He really did not want to choose sides and Katara saw that quickly. "It is kind of weird, Toph."

She crossed her arms angrily. "I can't help that all cabbage sellers are mental."

"Maybe it was the same guy," Iroh suggested. He took a gentle sip out of his tea cup and Katara could tell he only said what he just said to stir things up and watch it all unfold. The man was for peace, first and foremost, but what is a little argument among friends? She bet he was thinking along those lines right now

Katara rolled her eyes. She glanced to Zuko to try and decipher what his thoughts were and found him fighting back a grin, almost bruising his lips as he bit them. They'd gone from having an almost-serious conversation about Toph's travels to now complete silliness. _How does this always happen? _She half-wondered before clearing her throat aloud. "Why would _one_ cabbage seller travel the Earth Kingdom? There are _hundreds_ of them!"

Toph leaned forward, intrigued by this idea of Iroh's. "But we've only ever encountered _angry_ ones."

"Then maybe they're all related!" Katara suggested wildly.

"Interesting," the earth-bender sat back in her chair, hand under chin, contemplating. Her grey-blue eyes twinkled.

"Oh come on, I was joking! They've only ever been mad at us because we accidentally destroy their produce every single time we stumble across them - and a couple of times we literally did _stumble across them_."

"What are we talking about?" Aang asked, approaching the table. Powdered sugar was faintly smeared across his lips.

"Cabbage sellers. What's your take, Aang?" Zuko asked. He was just a hair's width away from laughing.

Aang huffed and sat down. "I pissed off one when playing with Bumi on the monorails. I kind of smashed all of his cabbages."

"I remember that story," Katara added in. She glanced over and her eyes did a double-take. "Sokka!" She jumped up and hugged him tightly before pushing him towards the booth where Toph and Iroh were sitting. It was the only place left with available seating. "Come up for air?" She teased.

"Ha-hah," he rolled his eyes before wrinkling his nose. "Now why are we talking about cabbage? That stuff stinks."

"Toph was tell all of us about her adventures with The Duke and Pipsqueak when she was on her way to the Souther Air Temples and mentioned being chased by the authorities because of an angry cabbage seller."

"And for the record," Toph hastily said before the other girl's brother could speak, "It was because of something The Duke did in the past. I just made the observation that they all seem really angry and now nobody believes my story."

"I believe you!" Sokka volunteered and smiled over to her. Toph beamed and then swiveled to the others. She regarded them with a scornful gaze.

"Okay, I believe you too," Zuko offered up. "We all have weird stuff happen to us and it seems to happen all the time so I don't see why that's more difficult to grasp than you punishing a zoo-keeper in an earth-bended cage because he refused to give you, Aang, and Katara Appa back."

Katara shrugged. "What the hay, sure. It wouldn't be the weirdest story I've heard." She reached out for her tea cup absentmindedly and sipped. She gagged and was barely able to keep from spitting it over everyone at the table. Zuko reached out and rubbed her back, concerned. "Jeesh! What in the Spirit World is in this? This isn't my cup!" She spun it around in her hands. "Who has the cup with the leaf painted on it?"

The others shared confused expressions and glanced around the table. Toph's brow wrinkled. "Does it have a chip above the little design?"

"Yeah," she answered. Katara's expression clouded as she put the dots together. "Wait, thi-"

"So _that_'s what that design was. I couldn't tell. Gimme," Toph held out her hand and wiggled her fingers.

"Uh-uh, not so fast." Katara pulled it back and sniffed it. Her nose wrinkled. "What do you have in this cup?"

"Let me smell," Zuko held out his hand and she gave the cup to him. He swirled it around, smelled it, and then took a sip. He pulled it away quickly. "That has to be some kind of alcohol."

Katara flushed, appalled. Her big blue eyes zeroed in on the small earth-bender. "Toph!"

She sighed as though surrounded by idiots.

"Let me?" Sokka asked. He smelled it and then grinned. "Sake? I thought only Celeigh was giving out the sake."

"Yeah, well, Blaise gave me some. It's not that big of a deal, people."

Katara sighed and leaned forward, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. She regarded her friend's put-off attitude. "Toph, why are you drinking sake? We had this same kind of talk four months ago at Aang's party - you can't have alcohol. You're too young!"

"Nope!" Toph wore a Cheshire grin and poked Iroh's arm. He had the decency to look slightly guilty as she spoke. "Iroh read me the Earth Kingdom guidelines on that and anyone over age ten can have sake. It's a traditional drink or whatever. Now gimme!"

Zuko shared an amused look with Katara before handing the cup back over to Toph, as it was still in his hand. His attention slid over to Iroh. "Is that what you've been doing, Uncle?"

Iroh smiled this time, his eyes twinkling unabashedly. "Anything to help out a friend." The earth-bender seemed to grin wider, if that was even possible. Katara had to admit that there was nothing she could do and expelled a deep breath, leaning back again.

"There you all are!" Ursa exclaimed. The group startled at the sudden and loud voice behind them. The former Fire Lady pulled up a stool and nudged between Katara and Zuko, as they were on a corner and had the biggest amount of space available. Katara moved over a little more to accommodate the older woman the best she could. "I've been looking everywhere. I brought some sushi and tarts if anyone want some but they were all out of the cookies. I talked to Celeigh about it and she said you just put out the tray, Sokka. Did you steal them all?"

Sokka flushed at her joke. "Well, uh, no, I mean, there were some still there when I left."

"She's joking," Zuko reassured and picked up an apple tart from his mother's plate. "Really, mother? Sushi and tarts? How do you not get sick stomaches all the time?"

She brushed off the question gracefully. "I have an iron stomach. Besides, they are not that far apart. They're both mushy; one is just full of raw protein while the other's full of sugar."

Aang grimaced. "You lost me at the 'mushy' part."

"Or are you stuffed because you've been eating as much as Appa?" Katara teased and bumped shoulders with him. "You are not going to feel good later, Aang."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." His face already got a little green at the thought of throwing up.

"Can I have one?" Katara turned and asked, eying the plate. Ursa held it up and the water-bender took a slice of raw tuna, dipping it in they soy sauce bowl. "What?" She asked around a full mouth as Zuko stared at her with a strange expression. "We eat this kind of stuff all the time at the South Pole - we have an icebox to keep them preserved."

He didn't manage to hold back a smirk at the joke. "Isn't it slimy?" He asked, curious.

Sokka cut in. "Yeah, but you get used to it. If you rinse it off enough and set it out to dry, it will get a dry film on it so then it's like you bite into a juicy center. And, down South, since we rinse it in sea water, we hardly use sauces - it's salty already, get it?" He frowned at Zuko's expression. "You guys in the Fire Nation never have sushi, do you? I don't think we ever saw one when we were there."

"Not really. We cook everything."

"Okay girls, don't squabble over semantics." Toph spoke up and held out her chop sticks, smacking them together noisily. "May I?" Ursa held out the plate for the earth-bender and she snagged a roll. It was wrapped in thin seaweed and coated with rice on the sides. She chewed slowly. "This is good. Not slimy at all - you're a baby, Zuko. What is this kind?"

"It has carrots, cucumber, and squash. It's a vegetarian roll."

The other burst out laughing and Zuko's smirk widened. Toph swallowed before protesting, "Oh come on! Iroh," she turned to him and gave him her chopsticks. "Can you get me a roll with raw fish? I want to see what all the fuss is about."

"Just don't throw up on me - I'm right across from you, Toph," Zuko warned.

She stuck out her tongue. "Maybe I'll barf this squash up right on you. That stuff is nasty when it comes up - the smell never really goes away."

Sokka laughed heartily. The Fire Lord shook his head and leaned back against his chair; he frowned at the thought. "Here," Iroh said after a moment, putting the roll on Toph's plate and handing her back the eating utensils.

She popped it in her mouth and everyone - including Ursa and now Suki, who had wandered over and gotten the brief rundown from Sokka - watched avidly. Toph tasted it first and a strange look crossed her face. She took a few more bites and then bit into the fish. They all heard the squishing sound and Zuko grimaced. Katara almost laughed at him. Toph swallowed it, her tongue flicking around her mouth a few more times. "Not bad," she spoke slowly. "Not bad at all. I think it's an acquired taste," she said, setting her chopsticks down. "Definitely better than living on tree nuts for days."

Sokka's good humor was still going as he said, "If you could see your face, Zuko!"

He responded, bemused, "Sorry, but I cannot imagine eating raw meat."

"Right, because you eat everything cooked." Katara threaded her arm through his. "That's okay, we understand." He quirked a brow at her. Not a second later she held up a roll with a raw scallion in front of his nose. "At least try it? Once?"

"No! Never," he shook his head and leaned away.

She laughed. "Oh come on!" He dodged it over and over again. She sighed and popped it in her mouth. "See?" She chewed loudly. "Mm, delicious."

He shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Thank you for respecting my opinion."

Katara smacked her lips. "I'm here for you."

The two jumped back into conversation with the others - this time on the topic of how many people they would be able to prank if they dyed Momo red, spurred on by one of the people at the Southern Air Temples accidentally dying his foot blue last week - and Katara sipped from her tea cup. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to see Ursa holding up a tart, asking her silently with raised eyebrow. Katara nodded and took it, smiling in thanks.

Ursa stared at her a moment longer, looking at her thoughtfully. The water-bender decided to ignore that before she got all worried and flushed at the thought of the Fire Lady not liking something in her, and instead went back to the conversation again.

"-uld work if we set up a scene and everything - like make him out to be some kind of demon-monkey! When he was flying around the temples, people thought he had lost a foot 'cause it blended in with the sky," Aang explained with a chuckle. Everyone shared a laugh. The conversation continued to flow easily and the joy was not lost for one second, teasing arguments aside.

**XxxxxxxxxxxX**


	62. Three Discussions

**A/N:** I feel like this chapter's not as well-written as the others... Oh well. I guess that's just because not much happens. Plus, I've been feeling like writing narrative lately. Maybe I should create a blog, something like: 'Mood Swings of a Writer', lol. Sorry, these Author's Notes get kind of rambly, huh? Okay, I'll stop.

Feedback appreciated, as always :) and thanks for following this story. Happy weekend!

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Your own proud way, O eastern star, _

_Grandly at last you followed. Out it leads _

_To that high heaven where all the heroes are, _

_Lovers of death for causes and for creeds._

_~'Nogi'_, stanza #3, Harriet Monroe

* * *

><p>The sun dipped low and Sokka wondered, not for the first time, if this perfect day would ever end. Their friends were around them, he had just married the woman he loved, and everyone was happy.<p>

Most of the people they knew on the island only through acquaintance had left after an hour or two of celebrating. Several more people didn't stay but rather just stopped by to drop off congratulations. It was an event for Kyoshi Island; after all, they did have a relatively small population. Celeigh and Blaise had taken care of most of the conversations with people that both Sokka and Suki hardly knew; the newlyweds only had to make pleasantries for a few minutes.

Now, Sokka closed his eyes and relaxed his throat for a minute. Besides the ceremony, he felt like he had been talking the entire day. He basically _had_. Sokka didn't hear the footsteps approaching until a familiar and beloved voice sounded, startling him forward in his seat. "Congratulations, son."

"Thanks dad," he said sincerely and gestured to one of the chairs beside him. They – Celeigh and the Gaang – in preparation, had pushed the seating in the living room off to the side and brought in many more cushions from odd places around the house. Hakoda patted his shoulder and then sat. "I don't think this day can get any better. I love Suki and I just _fit_ here. Kyoshi Island has become like a second home – but I will always love the South Pole and that is my true home. There's something special about this place, I just don't know what it is; I guess there's too many things."

Hakoda shook his head. "You don't need to reassure me, Sokka. I know. I'm proud of you for carving out your own life. I do admit that if I had still been there for you and your sister, I don't think I would have let you run off with the Avatar and travel the world like you have. I'm losing both of you."

Sokka frowned briefly. "Dad, we're st-"

"-still here, yes, you are. I admit that I always assumed you two would stay at the South Pole." Hakoda glanced to Katara, who was standing off near the other side of the room. He smiled back at his son. "But, just ignore me. I'm sentimental. Your happiness is all that matters and I'm glad you've found it, Sokka. Finding love may seem easy but it's hard to keep a hold of. I always wished you and Katara would have that opportunity but didn't think it was possible because of the War. The past few decades, we've been fighting for our survival," Hakoda said with a headshake.

"It's not easy – finding love." Sokka remembered Yue. He smiled warmly at his father. "And hey, the Great War is over now. Traveling the world is a little safer."

"Just a little," the other man joked, a rare occasion.

The boy shrugged, joy lighting his eyes. "The biggest thing was starvation but you would be surprised to know how long you can live on nuts. And then there was Zuko, but, between you and me, he was easy to avoid for a while. Aang was able to get better at air-bending and learn earth-bending and then we had a chance."

Hakoda shook his head, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately. It was the universal sign for disbelief, confusion, amusement, and a handful of other emotions, all of which he seemed to be experiencing at a variety of levels. "I'm proud of you, Sokka. I'm very proud."

His son flushed from the praise.

"Now, since I only have a few days left here, tell me all that you can remember of your travels. I don't want to miss anything in your lives."

Sokka beamed and dove in with the first thing that came to mind: the Gaang's journeys through the Great Divide and Aang's lie about the two boys, Jin Wei and Wei Jin. That experience still left Sokka in a state of confusion at how Aang was able to pull it off, but it was also mixed with high props of admiration given to the clever Avatar and his quick thinking.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Clear in the vistas of memory, _

_The peaks of a world long unremembered, _

_Soared further than clouds, but fell not, _

_Based on hills that shook not nor melted _

_With that burden enormous, hardly to be believed. _

_Rent with stupendous chasms, _

_Full of an umber twilight, _

_I beheld that larger world._

_~'Remembered Light',_ stanza #2, Clark Ashton Smith

* * *

><p>"Hey Aang," Katara called and smiled in greeting. She wandered over from where she had been helping Celeigh at the food tables, tidying up a few things. Celeigh was now finally – much to the relief of her niece – going to sit down and relax and catch up with a few friends she knew that were still in the house. The Avatar was by himself and Katara realized they hadn't had a chance to talk, friend to friend, the entire time that they have been back on Kyoshi Island - not there was anything to talk about that was specifically constricted to just the two of them, but still.<p>

He looked up from where he was refilling his glass of water. "Hey! I'm not the only one that finds this kind of surreal, right?"

"In what way?"

He shrugged and she guessed he was feeling a little embarrassed as he said, "Out of all of us, I wasn't expecting Sokka to be the first of us to, you know, take _that step_."

She laughed. "Oh no, I was _definitely_ expecting this. _It's Sokka_," she said as though her brother's name was enough of an explanation for the reason why. She conceded to his earlier comment by adding, "But it is weird, yeah. I didn't think it would be this soon. I thought he would be first, yeah, but not six months after we could all take a breather."

Aang grinned wryly. "It's Sokka."

"Aang, you're going to spi-" She went to say, too late, before he glanced down and scrambled to clean up his mess. "-ill," she finished. Katara grabbed a few towels from the table next to her and started sopping up the mess on the floor while he took a towel to the thin tablecloth and the pool forming around the bottom of the water jug.

"Oops," he acknowledged simply. "I'll remember next time not to talk and pour at the same time."

She folded the soaked towels into the damp ones after they got everything but a small sheen of moisture wiped up and then stood. Katara deemed the floor safe enough that anyone walking by wouldn't slip and fall. "I've been meaning to ask: are you and Toph going back to the Southern Air Temples after this?"

Aang followed her through the kitchen - now deserted and no Celeigh in sight, thankfully; Katara was sure the bustling woman would not be able to keep still for more than five minutes - and outside to where they were going to drape the wet towels over the clothesline Suki's family used on the beach. "Yeah. I have to finish up a few things, make some arrangements for Raja and her family, but then I'm off to the Eastern Air Temples and I think Toph is going. I haven't talked to her about it."

"Really?" Katara quirked an eyebrow and glanced sideways at him. "To me, it looks like she's attached to your hip. What are you doing, secretly teaching her how to air-bend, too?"

"You know I can't do that," he said with a high voice of annoyance but a smile broke his face anyway. "And it's not me - it's the people. She likes helping them. Underneath all that hard exterior, she's a kind person."

"Yeah, but she uses sarcasm all the time."

Aang's face adopted a playful expression as he finished pinning the last towel and turned to face his best friend. "And she pulls the weirdest pranks at the weirdest times."

"And sometimes she can turn something you said into an insult and try to trick you."

"But she does joke about it," he added.

"Yeah," Katara nodded. "And she does come up with the funniest stories." She studied Aang for a moment. Her eyes narrowed with inquisition as a thought occurred to her. It was strange and completely impossible, she knew that, but for some reason she could not help voicing it. _It could be true_... "Is there something going on be-"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about the Eastern Air Temples," Aang interrupted. She waved her hand for him to go ahead and continue. "Okay, well, now that I'm going there and it's going to be used soon, I've been thinking about the gender rules at the temples."

"You mean the ones that put the females at the eastern and western temples and the males at the north and south?"

He slightly nodded, his eyes gazing off at somewhere over her shoulder. Aang was thinking how best to word his troubles aloud and Katara could tell; he had been thinking about this long and hard. She gave him silence, allowing him to continue, and filed away her absurd questioning for later. "I let anyone in at the Southern Air Temples because I wanted them to get used to it and then whoever thought they fit right in to being a monk or a nun or anyone wanting to stay would be used to the way the temples are. But, I've been having a little problem with how to organize the families. I talked to Raja's parents and I told them that she needs to either be moved to the Eastern Temple or the Western Temple and that they can decide now or later. The... the _stuff_ is there for her to learn properly; books and things like that."

"Because she's an air-bender," Katara added in.

"Yeah." Aang walked up the small incline to the back porch and sat on a worn wicker chair. Katara followed suit, sitting in one placed near him. She turned it, the curved legs scrapping against the porch floor, to face him. "And then I talked with everyone that has become a monk or a nun about the same thing - in the past, they've always moved to one of the two temples. None have lived outside of those choices. I just don't know what to tell the families that are already there."

"Why do you think they should move at all?"

"Shouldn't they?" Aang asked her in wonderment. He looked to be talking himself into circles and he blinked, all but figuring that out himself. "I don't know, maybe I'm over thinking it. This is all new territory, you know?"

Katara smiled. "I think you are over-thinking it. Maybe you could set up a rule or something that if some children of these families want to go into training to become monks or nuns then they have to go to one of the temples for them; or, if they're already there, then they start training like you did. You started from a young age, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm an orphan. I was given to the monks – it wasn't a choice."

"You don't _regret_ it." She reached out and laid her hand on top of his, reinforcing her words. "It was the best thing for you."

Aang nodded. "No, I don't regret it."

She leaned back in the chair. "Remember, just take a deep breath and talk to me. I'll be your counter-arguer," she joked. He smiled. "So, what do you plan on doing at the Eastern Air Temples? Same thing?"

"Pretty much." He chuckled airily and briefly. "Being a nun is a lot different than being a monk. It'll be… weird, teaching Raja."

"Oh come on, it can't be that much different."

"You'd be surprised. And even if they aren't, the female air-nomad customs are. Geranu checked out, like, ten books for me that were on loan a hundred years ago from the Eastern and Western temples and trust me, the customs are _very_ different." Katara laughed. He threw up his hands. "I don't know what it's like being a girl!"

That tickled her funny bone harder and she laughed for a long minute. "Good thing you have Toph," she stifled a gasp for breath.

Aang leveled her with a look exuding disbelief. "And when is she a girly-girl unless around you and Suki? And that's only a quarter of the time."

"Talking about me? I know, I'm awesome, deal with it," Toph teased with a smirk as she pushed off from the kitchen doorway and came over to sit on the edge of the low table between the inhabited chairs. It was awkward since, like everything in the living room, they were pushed off to the side. She didn't seem bothered. "And I _am_ a girl, Aang, but that doesn't mean I have to be a girly-girl."

Aang gave her an once-over and Katara watched the two of them, intrigued. Everyone in the Gaang had a unique dynamic and she found it fun to watch. _And is that look_…. Her thoughts were interrupted when Aang spoke. "You kind of look like a girly-girl right now."

"You said it wasn't that bad!" Toph swiveled to the water-bender. She looked almost offended.

"It isn't; you're very pretty. Like that time we dressed up in Ba Sing Se."

"You put makeup on me that time! And I only did it because it was a fun joke to play on the idiot boys," she said with annoyance lacing her words. At the words "idiot boys", she threw her hand to the side, gesturing to Aang. He simply rolled his eyes.

Katara sighed. "It's Sokka and Suki's wedding – of course you're going to be dressed up."

"Fine." Toph grumbled. She truly did look pretty – well, prettier than usual – with the peach-cream colored ensemble, outlined in a lime green, and with a double collar that held together a tucked-in cape behind the dress, featuring a pattern of fans. The makeup she was so bemused by was a simple dusting of blush and eyeliner that made her blue-gray sightless eyes striking; not that they needed any help.

Katara stole a glance at the only male in the room. "So," she began to ask, turning her head to face Toph. "Are you going to go with Aang to the Eastern temples?"

"Yeah. It sounds fun." Toph smiled genuinely, a complete one-eighty turn from her attitude moments before. "Once we get it all set u,p we're bringing Raja's family over. Have I told you how cute she is? And I don't call someone cute lightly," she said suddenly, serious.

The water-bender recalled the first few nights after she'd arrived at the Southern Air Temples. Aang and Toph had gone on and on about Raja, along with everything that was going on in the temples and what their next plans were. She had met the young air-bending female a few times and the girl was extremely cute. Her two friends had taken care of her very well. "No, I guess it slipped my mind," she responded coolly and Toph launched into story after story about Raja.

Katara listened and was nodding, smiling, and laughing during the stories, all the while watching her two best friends' dynamic as they swapped details and narrative, reminiscing together. She wore a secret smile the entire time that had nothing to do with the air-bending toddler.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_O' generation of the thoroughly smug _

_and thoroughly uncomfortable, _

_I have seen fishermen picnicking in the sun, _

_I have seen them with untidy families, _

_I have seen their smiles full of teeth_

_and heard ungainly laughter. _

_And I am happier than you are, _

_And they were happier than I am; _

_And the fish swim in the lake _

_and do not even own clothing._

_~'Salutation', _by Ezra Pound

* * *

><p>"Boo," Suki whispered beside him. Zuko glanced over with an amused smile. He was standing and leaning with his back against the wall, surveying the room. He had been standing where he was for a while now and seemed to be lost in thought, his eyes lazily scanning the room with no focus whatsoever in them. "What are you doing over here? Tired of schmoozing everyone?"<p>

"If anyone should be doing the schmoozing, it's you. Didn't you just get married?" He smiled at her.

"Ha-ha. Mind if I, uh, stand with you?" He nodded and she took a place next to him, crossing her ankles as she leaned against the wall. "Is it just me or has this day gone by very slowly?"

"It has. I'm happy I'm not the only one that thinks so." Zuko glanced at her with amusement. "But you're like the guest of honor - can you even say what you just said?"

She smiled wistfully. "I just want to go to sleep and wake up again so Sokka and I can leave for the South Pole."

Zuko's head turned and she saw confusion on his normally passive face. "You and Sokka are going to the South Pole? I thought you were living here."

"Oh, we are. We're going to the South Pole for like a honeymoon kind of thing," she explained. "We want to hold a ceremony in his home village; he can see old family and friends again and it was nice down there before."

"If you get past the cold," Zuko half-joked, remembering his own first time there, chasing Aang.

"I'm sure Katara feels the same way – except, you know, about it being hot."

"It's not _that_ bad."

Suki giggled slightly. "No, it's not. And neither the South Pole, nor the North Pole are too bad once you get used to it." Zuko surrendered to that. She yawned and changed the subject. "You and Katara hijacked my party yesterday, huh?"

"Sorry about that," he apologized sheepishly.

She waved it off good-naturedly. "You two happy? You not going to be angst-y teenagers anymore? I don't have to worry about Sokka leaving in the middle of the night to go chop of your head, do I?"

Zuko genuinely laughed at her quick firing of questions. "Yes, no, and hopefully not! If Sokka tries to cut my head off with his boomerang then I think I have an advantage on him."

"Ah, but Sokka's been teaching the kids here in self-defense and combat and they've been using more weapons than a boomerang," Suki commented. "He's even got himself a little prodigy. So, you know, if he misses you, you could have another person after you."

"I heard about that; Katara mentioned his new career choice."

"He's happy – he likes being the teacher. But, that's not what I wanted to say when I came over here," Suki sighed and looked him in the eye. He tilted his head, acquiescing to her. "You're different around Katara and I like it – and I think everyone else does, too."

"I'm different? How?" Zuko's eyes narrowed in complete befuddlement.

"You're relaxed." She smiled slowly and nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Happy and joking. For a while there it seemed like you'd always be this stone-masked person; and I know that that's the way the past Fire Lords have always been and blah, blah, blah, but you're still our friend." The Kyoshi girl's smile upturned into a smirk for a moment. "I figured I should come and tell you that in my words before Toph says it in her own funny way and makes you blush."

"I don't blush!"

She breathed out a laugh of amazement. "Everybody blushes. Really, what is with boys? They think they're so better – it's because you guys can't talk about your emotions that you get so angry sometimes and get into so much trouble."

Zuko smiled wide. "Says the woman who's a professional warrior."

"I do it for defense. Anyway, I'm off." Suki stretched her arms out in front of her and bounced off from the wall. "What I was trying to say was Katara brings out the best in you and I'm happy you two are working out."

"I'm very tempted to tell Sokka of our conversation about my intentions towards Katara at Bane's Port. But-" he said hastily, holding his hands up, as she narrowed her own eyes at him and his teasing haughtily. He smiled sincerely. "-that can be our secret because you were on our side. Thanks for being a good friend, Suki."

Suki's eyes twinkled with pleasure at the compliment. "You're welcome. Don't stay in the corner forever, okay?"

"Promise."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	63. Two Months Later

**A/N:** This chapter skips ahead now from the wedding because, while I could have gone on writing dialogue forever, I didn't think it was necessary. Plus, I think I've fluffed up this story enough, eh? I figured I would go ahead and give a heads-up here too that time-skips will be happening more often than they were before. Many of the initial struggles and such are gone now so less of their mundane lives will be shone like they were before, since that served the purpose of largely being filler between eventful chapters. Not that things will be too dramatic, though :) Well, not usually.

Sorry for the late posting. Most of you will be reading this now on Friday (it technically is anyway). Nonetheless, I hope you are entertained by this chapter :) And big thanks to everyone that has reviewed and is reading as of late! You guys/gals rock!

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Dark brown is the river,_

_Golden is the sand._

_It flows along for ever,_

_With trees on either hand._

_Green leaves a-floating,_

_Castles of the foam,_

_Boats of mine a-boating-_

_Where will all come home?_

_On goes the river,_

_And out past the mill,_

_Away down the valley,_

_Away down the hill._

_Away down the river,_

_A hundred miles or more,_

_Other little children_

_Shall bring my boats ashore._

_~'Where Go The Boats', _Robert Louis Stevenson

* * *

><p><em>2 months later….<em>

Ursa waited anxiously behind the tall and black wooden doors. She adjusted the folds of her dress once more, patting down the pleating and shaking out the non-existent wrinkles in the silk. She had forgotten how heavy and complicated the Fire Nation royalty ensembles were. Living in the background for nearly a decade, blending in with those around her, Ursa had become use to the light, plain dresses – and sometimes pants – without the complications of a cape or waistband or a big, fluffy knot of gorgeous cloth creating a train behind her. _I can't breathe_, she complained inwardly.

"Ready?" Zuko asked with a calm level voice but it echoed through the long hall as he walked towards her. _Perfect timing._

"Yes; remind me, why am I doing this again?"

He smiled. "You were the one that wanted to announce your presence with a party, Mother. I suggested making a statement."

"It is more polite to let everyone talk on and on at a party like this than to have them read a general letter addressed to no one. Besides, I haven't seen anybody here in at least nine years and half of them were what I _like_ to think were my friends – at least socially."

"And the other half-" he said while offering his arm to her. Ursa crooked her arm through his elbow and straightened her back like her strict upbringing had taught. "-haven't ever met you. A lot changes in a decade."

"Unfortunately," she sighed and shared a commiserating smile with her son. "Wait. I forgot to say – the Fire Lord crown looks good on you, Zuko. I always thought it looked like an obvious attempt at intimidation, but you wear it well."

"So I _don't_ look intimidating?"

Ursa smirked slightly at his look and placed her free hand over the arm of his that she was leaning on. "Not in the way your father did. Now let's go; we have a party to start, introductions to make, and people to entertain, remember?"

Zuko knocked once on the door and they were opened away from them in a flourish by a servant. All the people milling around a few steps below them – as the room sloped down to be two feet lower than the building's foundation – all but stopped talking and bowed greetings. Zuko walked with her down the steps and Ursa smiled at everyone.

There were indeed people she knew from before, both friends and acquaintances, and then there were the people she had always heard of or seen but never knew personally, and finally there was a number growing to be more than half of the room, from what she could tell, of people that were a bit younger than the rest and evidently new to the political scene. Whether they jumped between classes and became nobles recently or were the children of families already existing for decades – or centuries, in other cases – Ursa had no doubt she would find out tonight.

Tonight was her introduction back into the 'scene'. The scene of politics, war, and power all held by the rich and the noble or the poor and the noble; regardless, they all had roots, and it was like a minefield as she tried walking between them. She couldn't stay hidden in the palace forever, though, and nearly three months back in the capital without announcement of her reappearance by someone else was a miracle. It was time.

Ursa watched the people starting to mill around her again with greatly veiled interest. Zuko whispered a man's military occupation and family history in her ear – Colonel Zenan Jaipal, someone she knew advised her son – and then guided her to meet the man and his family.

"Fire Lady," Jaipal greeted and bowed. His wife curtseyed.

She smiled and tipped her head briefly in greeting as well. "Please, call me Lady Ursa. I'm not the Fire Lady to the Fire Lord anymore."

"True, but there is no one else to take your place." His wife cleared her throat. "What?" He asked her kindly. "It is true."

"There's not anyone to take my place _yet_." Her smile promised a hidden meaning behind it that Zuko, Jaipal, and Jaipal's wife, Reine, all interpreted differently. "Would you like to get a drink with me, Mrs-"

"Call me Reine; we are all friendly here. And yes, I would." Ursa kissed her son's cheek and went to walk with the other woman. "Clever what you did there. Even when the event has nothing to do with politics, men always make it about them."

"I overheard my son speaking with one of his advisors ten minutes before we walked out here – I do _not_ want to be talking budgets all night."

Reine laughed lightly. "But that's where all the fun is."

Ursa smiled. "That's what they keep trying to convince us, I think. Mind if I stick with you tonight? I admit it: I hardly know anyone else and those that I do know were mostly just friends with me because of my status."

"Not at all," the other woman responded. "I can introduce you to _my_ friends; some are a little loose with their gossip and secrets, but you'll have to forgive them with that. I've known these women five or more years and they haven't changed one bit."

All through the evening, her smile stayed. It was a practiced one, hinting at interest and kindness, but there were many times that night where those feelings were completely genuine.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I opened my eyes_

_And looked up at the rain,_

_And it dripped in my head_

_And flowed into my brain,_

_And all that I hear as I lie in my bed_

_Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head._

_I step very softly,_

_I walk very slow,_

_I can't do a handstand-_

_I might overflow,_

_So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said-_

_I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head._

_~'Rain',_ Shel Silverstein

* * *

><p>Toph breathed steadily as she focused on fusing the earth back together again; it was tricky work. She had to earth-bend not the rocks themselves, but their particles. Aang had been there earlier, alternatingly water-bending and fire-bending between the cracks. It worked much easier than what she was doing now. <em>Ugh, stupid sweat<em>, she thought with misplaced venom as a tickling trickle made its way down her forehead and across her left temple.

Aang hadn't gone into much detail about how damaged the Eastern Air Temples were before they had first arrived. She had assumed they would be in much the same condition that she'd seen the others in, as he had traveled to the eastern temples by himself. _Stupid_, she chastised herself before breathing a hesitant sigh of relief when she felt the rock column halves slide together as one. _Hardest puzzle ever._ Toph slowly released her hold on the column; it stayed firm.

In truth, the Eastern Air Temples were the most damaged. Roofs were caved in or swept away completely, floors were crumbling, walls were sliced every which way, columns were scarily chipping, and every crack, every now-uncovered place, was providing life to abounding weeds and ivy. They were hard for Toph to sense, as they weren't a very blunt solid, and therefore made it hard for her to get up and go to work alone if Aang was off doing something else.

Nearly a month and a half now since they'd started working on repairing the eastern temples and only the smallest of the three linking temple peaks was habitable. There was a forth peak - more of a plateau, really - that held no buildings and was now being used as a landing place for anyone traveling with them. Any travel would have to by air here, unlike the work-around of using ships at the Southern Air Temple.

The plateau had a large tree stump on it that was at least two hundred feet in diameter. Toph secretly thought it would be great for duels - it would certainly level the playing field since she couldn't have the advantage of feeling the earth crush and crumble beneath her earth-bending feet.

Toph earth-bended small chunks of rock, preparing to move them across the room. Little footfalls, soft against the stone floor, alerted her. They sounded familiar. Toph speedily set the rock pieces down in a careful pile before a small body hit her knees, jarring her earlier concentration. She smiled. "Hello there, Raja. How are you doing?" She was well aware that she was cooing like an idiot - she just didn't care.

"Hay-woh," Raja giggled out in greeting. She could walk upright now without any help and promptly showed it by pulling back at the earth-bender's legs. Her chubby baby fingers tickled at Toph's nerves on the back of her knees. "Appa!"

"Do you want to go see Appa?" Toph scooped the girl up and smiled at her adoringly while she walked out of the room and through the open halls. The place would be a challenging environment to raise the small child as there were large balconies and arches along the wide rooms, along with arches at the end of every single hallway, no matter how short, to promote a steady flow of air breezing through the temples.

Toph walked around the corner to the main activity room on this level - the third story - of the middle peak's temple. Halona was there; she sensed the mother before hearing her speak. "Oh, there she ran off to! Thank you, Toph; she disappeared as soon as I looked away."

"No problem." She hesitated and then handed Raja over to her mother. "She wanted to go see Appa."

"Thanks. I'll take her - Perry is outside now. The flying bison is down by the first story, outside, right?"

Toph nodded. "Yep. I think he's made himself a pad between the trees. He loves moss because it's a nice cushion on his joints, you know?"

Halona shifted Raja onto her other hip. "I would have thought he had enough hair for that." A few seconds passed and the young girl only nodded. Halona coughed. Toph didn't know why, but the woman always seemed awkward around people - her and Aang especially - but Toph couldn't blame her; life was hanging in the balance for just about everyone until only six months ago. "Uh, well, I'll see you around... Good luck on-"

"Thanks," Toph interrupted with a smile, saving the woman from possibly making any clumsy or maybe embarrassing word slips. "Have fun - and you too, Raja."

"Bah-bye!"

The earth-bender listened to the mother-daughter duo go down the hall and out of her seismic line of sight. Something about Raja pulled at her heart strings. _It is impossible not to find her cute_, she thought. Toph stood there a few minutes longer, full of awkwardness. She splayed her hands on the top of her thighs for a minute and then settled them on her hips. She turned around… and smacked right into Aang. "Jeez, what were you doing behind me?"

"Trying to sneak up on you," he responded with a laugh. "Did it work?"

Toph grimaced and felt where she had banged her shoulder against his surprisingly muscular chest. It was lean muscle, but that didn't mean the impact was any less jolting. "No, I ran into you on purpose_; for fun._ Use your brain, Twinkletoes."

"Sorry; and can you lay off using the 'Twinkletoes' nickname for a while?"

She smirked. "What, does it embarrass you in front of the walls, Aang? In front of the birds?" He just huffed and his heels spun on the ground. "Where are you going?" She asked, suddenly confused, and almost hurried behind him. _Did I hurt his feelings with my sarcasm? That would be a first - and this is so not the worst I've ever spoken to him_, she thought with irk.

"Follow me; I want to show you something."

"So many jokes I can make right now with that!" She called and hurried along after him.

Aang went down the main staircase to the ground level of the tower intricately carved into the peak. He walked across the length of the expansive floor plan and down another staircase that she didn't know existed. Toph reminded herself that she really needed to do another pass-through of the temples as it was interrupted before by Raja's family's early arrival.

The sound of bristling leaves and singing birds perked up her ears. "Where are we going, your secret catacombs or something?"

"No; this is your new room." Aang walked through a narrow doorway at odds with the rest of the architecture but it quickly opened up into an expansive room.

She felt out and saw three arches on the left side of the doorway, leading out onto a balcony. In front of her, in the middle of the room, was a strewn sitting of cushions. Behind it and against the far wall was a chest, then a diagonally-turned bed that she imagined could catch the sun easily in the morning since this room faced the east; Toph found that slightly ironic. A candle holder was beside the bed and then a dresser was against the wall opposite the balcony.

Toph was speechless as she walked around slowly, absorbing the place and then all the sounds and smells from being so close to the forest located below the balcony. "I thought," Aang continued, almost fidgeting where he stood, "that you might like this room more because you can actually hear things. The other rooms are a little claustrophobic."

"Thanks, Aang," Toph said with sincerity and rushed to hug him to prove it.

He lightly laughed and responded with a "you're welcome."

She stayed with her arms around him just a minute too long as she noticed he smelled like citrus, for some reason, and smoke. She knew where the latter came from. Toph pulled back self-consciously. She cleared her throat quietly and asked, "Have you been fire-bending today?"

"Yeah. I was clearing some of the woods away from the dorms on the first floor. There's a section of the roof broken, but other than that it's pretty sturdy. That's half of the temples ready."

"Close," Toph commented. With those rooms done, that completed the first floor of the second peak. There were only the third to fifth floors to finish then but the fifth was, by all accounts, only a quarter of the size of the first so that was no big deal; two days' work. "There was a piece of roof missing there too? I thought we fixed them all."

"I think it's recent. Help me fix it?"

"Sure." Toph turned back to the doorway. "And then we're meeting Raja's family for dinner."

He made an agreeing sound and bounded up the steps of the narrow staircase beside her.

"Really, thanks for the room. It's very nice. Just don't tell anyone you spent time cleaning it up when we could've been focusing on the other floors - we won't have this place ready in time for next week's opening."

"You know me, Toph; I can't keep secrets," he said sagely. She smiled with good-humor at his honesty principle. For a reason she could not entirely explain, she reached over and grasped his hand in hers, squeezing it assuredly. Aang squeezed back. She let it stay right where it was.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The Frost performs its secret ministry,_

_Unhelped by any wind. The owlet's cry_

_Came loud, -and hark, again! loud as before._

_The inmates of my cottage, all at rest,_

_Have left me to that solitude, which suits_

_Abstruser musings: save that at my side_

_My cradled infant slumbers peacefully._

_'Tis calm indeed! so calm, that it disturbs_

_And vexes meditation with its strange_

_And extreme silentness. Sea, hill, and wood,_

_With all the numberless goings-on of life,_

_Inaudible as dreams! the thin blue flame_

_Lies on my low-burnt fire, and quivers not;_

_Only that film, which fluttered on the grate,_

_Still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing._

_Methinks its motion in this hush of nature_

_Gives it dim sympathies with me who live,_

_Making it a companionable form,_

_Whose puny flaps and freaks the idling Spirit_

_By its own moods interprets, every where_

_Echo or mirror seeking of itself,_

_And makes a toy of Thought._

_~'Frost At Midnight_', stanza #1, Samuel Coleridge

* * *

><p>"You think I don't follow the rules?" The little girl asked - sounding more like she was accusing - her friend, standing beside her.<p>

"No, I didn't say that," he quickly defended himself.

She looked at him doubtfully, her earlier assumptions now verbally proven wrong. "Then what did you mean when you said it was 'unfair'?"

"I think he meant," Suki cut in, crouching behind the six-year-olds and placing her hands on their shoulders; "that you were winning and he wanted to distract you because you were throwing so many snowballs at him that he had no chance….."

"They were fast," the boy rushed to add.

"Really?" Suki cracked a smile at the girl's sudden shyness.

"Yeah; you know I'll always tell you the truth – we're friends." He smiled too, showing a gap-filled set of teeth.

The small brunette grinned and held out her mittened hand in front of her. "Besties?"

"Besties!"

Suki watched on as they performed an elaborate ceremony of banging and clasping their hands together. Whatever it meant, she guessed it had something to do with their continuing friendship. She shook her head ever so slightly. The two children then hugged and ran off with promises of more games and adventures.

Walking back to the main path used in the South Pole village, Suki thought of Kyoshi Island for the second time that day and, more specifically, her childhood. By all accounts, she had had a good one. Nothing tragic happened beyond her mother's passing and the grueling, all-time-consuming training that went hand in hand with becoming a Kyoshi warrior. But that was something she had volunteered for; she was happy about doing it. And now, despite all the fun she was having while learning another island's culture that was actually - surprisingly - quite a bit similar to her own, Suki found herself missing home.

She yelped when she pulled her head up from staring at the crisp-white snow and ran straight into another person. "Hey, slow down." Sokka regarded her with an almost-laugh.

She reacted the same way, despite herself. Seeing him again for the first time that morning, well over six hours before, reminded her of the happiness she felt now that they were married. It was a strange feeling, she thought, since they had basically been the equivalent of a married couple before. "Hey there yourself," she replied back teasingly.

"What were you doing before?"

"I was just playing with your cousin's little girl and her friend. They're very cute, the way they act like a couple; they even have the fighting down."

Sokka smiled and took her arm in his as they started walking again. "They reminds me of when I was a kid and I would tease Katara a lot because she was always so brooding at times." He laughed. "But I did have a lot of childhood crushes, too."

"You did?" She asked with a faking attempt at surprise. She could barely contain her grin but managed to because joking around with him was so much fun. The blush she expected crept up along his jaw and to his cheeks. It was more like a flush, but it still showed his embarrassment, which made her smile; making someone like Sokka embarrassed did not happen very often... unless you called them out on every silly or goofy remark.

A minute passed and neither of them said a word. They walked in silence through the village and stopped a good five yards from his family's igloo, loitering there, neither wanting to go in just yet. It was a beautiful day outside with the snow falling in a smooth pitter-patter down onto the gray, treaded, and ice-covered land. The sky was not its typical gray, but rather it was a great blue that was almost faded at the edges where it met the dark sea, a good distance away from the village.

Suki loved it here, as it was completely at odds with her own island. Kyoshi was very green and lush and warm. Sokka's was cold and barren... and light. She couldn't exactly say it was dark because everything around her was light but it had a quality in it that made it positively isolated - beyond the fact that it was, of course.

Enjoying the landscape reminded her of her earlier thoughts maybe ten minutes before. Suki regarded her new husband. They had been there two months now, with their original trip only planned to be a month. But she loved it so much, hearing and getting to know the people that had shaped Sokka's life and had since created their own - like the cute little children that she had just been playing with in a snowball fight.

Everyone pulled their fair weight because there were not such things like the markets and the parenting power of the Earth Kingdom government that she had back in Kyoshi. If you wanted dinner, you had to catch it yourself; if you wanted warmth, you had to knit your own blanket; if you wanted company, you had to seek out your own friends, comfort them in their trials, and then you would receive the same in return.

"Sokka, you know I love it here-" she began and immediately he interrupted her, smiling in a way that showed her that he knew exactly where she was going with her words and what her thoughts were now. Another funny thing she found from being married was that, because they were near each other more than before, something that didn't seem like it could be possible, she was learning more and more the small signs that showed his thoughts - and he was doing the same to her. It seemed almost natural now that she should know what half of his thoughts were and hers in return.

Sokka interrupted her with "you want to go home."

He said it simply, and yet she felt like she needed to add something more because though it covered everything she was going to initially say before, there was more. "Yeah. You know I love it here, and it's just... it's just so different and amazing. I don't know how but I imagined it would be different; like in the Fire Nation, where everything was different than in Kyoshi, but everything had the same kind of structure, I guess. Here, you're all on your own and I find it inspiring. I want to be able to teach our kids that."

Her eyes teared up slightly for no logical reason and the cold air quickly made them sting. She wiped them away with the back of her mitten and he grinned at her. "We will teach our kids, whenever we have them, the best of both of our worlds," he said. "I promise you that."

Suki smiled and then hugged him warmly. "And we'll also teach them everything that we learned about the world - the good and the bad. Promise?"

"Promise," Sokka vowed. "Now," he began by taking her hand and leading her up the small walkway to the igloo; "my father invited over a few neighbors for a celebration because I told him earlier today that we would be leaving tomorrow."

"Why did you say that? You didn't know that I would want to leave so soon."

"Didn't I?"

She just laughed at him and his antics. Clearly, he had guessed what her thoughts would be before she had even really thought them. Sure, she had thought them up before, but not seriously. Instead of being disturbed by that - at all- Suki just smiled, laughed, and pushed against his shoulder as they walked through the doorway.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	64. We Are Equals

**A/N:** _HUGE_ credit goes to spoilerlover for the idea of Ursa snooping around the palace to learn about Katara's standing among the servants and house-help. I promised you about a month ago that I'd write it in; fabulous idea! :D

Not a particularly eventful chapter, but the next one will make up for that; promise. (Plus, I think there's something wrong with me - I keep posting on what is technically half an hour into the next day. I'll blame it on marathon-watching TV shows this past weekend; it's messed with my internal clock a bit.)

Both poems are from the same poet but I just loved them - hope you don't mind.

I do hope you are pleased with this next chapter :) If you're new to reading this story or have been for a while but haven't done the following yet, please drop a quick review or click the little 'Follow Story' box so I know you're reading! Immense thanks from me for that.

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I opened my eyes_

_And looked up at the rain,_

_And it dripped in my head_

_And flowed into my brain,_

_And all that I hear as I lie in my bed_

_Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head._

_I step very softly,_

_I walk very slow,_

_I can't do a handstand-_

_I might overflow,_

_So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said-_

_I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head._

_~'Rain', _Shel Silverstein

* * *

><p>Ursa awoke to a slight pitter-patter of rain beating sideways against the palace walls. There was only a trace of light escaping through the clouds from what she could see through her window, so she guessed it was only mid-morning. She yawned tiredly and stretched before sitting up in bed. While her 'welcome back' party wasn't particularly eventful, she did stay up long after midnight to continue entertaining. She had forgotten that was how the Fire Nation could be sometimes: once nobles got together for a variety of gloating, celebrating, and sharing their newest accomplishments, they did not disband easily.<p>

She pulled back the curtains as a knock sounded at her door. The maid on the other side didn't wait for a response before slipping through. The young woman smiled at her, not at all startled by the relatively early start, given how late Ursa had been up. She liked to take her time, but she also liked to get a head start. After a year of getting up early because she had to open her flower shop, it was a hard habit to break. "Lady Ursa," the maid greeted and set a bowl of water on the side table before going to make the bed.

Ursa's title wasn't 'Fire Lady' anymore, as her husband was not the one currently on the throne. She couldn't find herself missing it. "Morning, Airi. How many times do I have to tell you, you can call me 'Ursa' if you want; we are equals."

"I doubt that - you are royalty," the young woman said it matter-of-factly and even kept her smile intact. While that was true, Ursa had acted just as normally as she had back in Hemero-Callis and it seemed to win a lot of favor with the palace's staff. Therefore, she hadn't met one servant or maid yet that begrudged her or was unfriendly to her in any way.

Ursa bundled up her hair loosely and clipped it into place there purely out of habit. "Well, that's sort of true - I did marry into royalty. But, here, we are equals. Promise." To show an example of this, she walked over and gripped the other side of the comforter to help the maid fluff it out. _I have been doing it for myself for the past decade_, she thought; _what should change now?_

Airi cast her eyes down and smoothed out the blankets. She turned to the pillows. "Okay then... _Ursa_."

The former Fire Lady left the pillows and went to wash her face. While she was patting her skin dry, she thought of her son; and the sweet Southern Pole girlfriend of his. She shook her head out of pure embarrassment of what she'd accidentally witnessed back in Kyoshi. _Never. Again._ She vowed._ I learned my lesson there. At least Iroh didn't harp on about it, _she thought, inwardly knowing that he never would anyway.

_***Flashback - 2 months earlier - Day Before Sokka and Suki's Wedding**_

Ursa stood. "Be right back; I have to go to the bathroom. And then, I'm going to spy in on my son. Just a peek, I promise," she swore more for Iroh than for Toph. _He gets so worked up_, she thought. _I just want to congratulate him on being open about his relationship. What could be so wrong with that?_ And with those thoughts, the former Fire Lady had sold herself on the idea.

"Ursa," Iroh warned and she waved him off, patting his arm resting on the counter before walking lightly out of the room. The door closed behind her with a small click.

She walked down the hallway first and to the small bathroom. When she was done, she washed her hands dutifully. Back in the hallway, she walked passed the kitchen door and to the double doors leading in to the living room. They were cracked. The light wood flooring allowed her to move softly, her cloth slippers whispering along the ground. She wasn't even trying, either.

At the door, Ursa halted. She heard giggling on the other side. _If Katara's here, then that's two birds with one stone_, she mused and, making up her mind resolutely, pushed the doors farther apart. The momentum stopped them at halfway open, the space of one doorway. She gasped, her jaw hanging open at what she saw. In less than second, she was in the mode of mother, setting at 'lecturing'. "Zuko! In public? Really?"

"Mother!" He practically yelped as the two sprang apart and he had claim of his mouth again. Katara emitted a squeak at nearly the same time.

She tilted her head dramatically to the side, eyes rolling. "What if someone else had found you? I know I wasn't imagining those looks you got from her father and brother - sorry, that's not meant as an insult, Katara."

"Sorry, Ursa," she said sheepishly, adjusting her kimono closer to her neck. The young woman pressed the back of her hand to her flushed face.

"It's alright, Katara." She appraised them both mildly before turning back to speak to her son. "Zuko."

He sighed warily at her tone. "What were you doing in the doorway?"

Ursa frowned. "I wasn't just standing there; I actually came to ask you something..." The words died off when a new thought occurred to her.

"What?"

She saw him exchange a questioning look with Katara; the blue-eyed girl subtly shrugged, admitting she didn't know what it could be. Ursa pasted on a smile and directed it at the two of them. "Nothing. Never mind. Just don't get caught, okay? Making out is all fun and games until someone comes in and gets upset at the sight and you end up with a black eye; _or worse_."

She turned to leave and thought she heard her son say something like "not this talk of death again" but didn't turn around, not really caring. Her point had more or less been made, even though it was not the point she had gone there intending to make or, at the very least, talk about.

Ursa decided not to right-out ask if her son had any plans on marrying the South Pole girl. She did approve of their relationship, but she had to admit how much she honestly didn't know about the girl. But, she did concede that it was entirely possible that Katara's life hadn't been very eventful until grouping up with the Avatar. S_till, a mother needs to know these things. It's the mother's approval that counts, _she thought, the image popping into her mind of her own mother's smiling face when she had told Ursa who she was to marry: Ozai.

Ursa abruptly banged the kitchen door open. She realized what she'd done a second too late and let out an un-lady-like curse to the Spirit World at her accidental action. She closed it quietly.

"Are you alright, Ursa?" Iroh asked with concern.

She looked up and over at him. Somehow, she had forgotten that her two friends would still be in the kitchen. _Oops_. "Fine. Fine." She then muttered, going back to the stool she used before, opposite the Fire Nation royal and earth-bending girl, "I never want to see what I just saw before, but I'm fine."

Toph's face lit up. It reminded Ursa of the women she used to be involved with before in certain social circles; they all vied for the biggest and juiciest piece of gossip. "Spill!"

Ursa took a deep breath. "I saw my son and Katara kissing. _Intensely_." _Something a mother should never see her child do_, she added to herself mentally.

The young girl giggled. "If ever there was a time where I could have eyes! I totally called it that they would date. So, those two have to be going gaga eyes at each other constantly, right? Am I right?"

"There are just some things a mother shouldn't see," Ursa shook her head and repeated the sentiment a little more firmly. Her mind was still thinking about the other side of the coin: if Zuko was this passionate about a girl and publicly admitted it too, it was much more serious than she thought. _Not that that is a bad thing_... Her mind was warring with itself. _Snap out of it and think up a plan._

Iroh reached over and patted her hand sympathetically. She shared his smile of understanding. Toph snorted and chewed popcorn, saying, "It was your fault for spying in the first place. 'There is a consequence to every action' - boom! I think I just hit an Avatar saying. Anyone; anyone?" Ursa just shared a grin with her friend since childhood; the earth-bender was always the light of the room when she was pulling out all the stops when it came to her snark and dry, humorous remarks. Toph sighed, resigned. "Popcorn to bleach the brain?"

Ursa took a handful.

_***End Flashback**_

"What do you think of Katara, Airi?" Ursa asked suddenly as she turned to her wardrobe. She absent-mindedly picked a standard kimono like those she was used to wearing in the past. The whole thing was made up of solid colors, like usual, with the body being red, the sash and undergarments maroon-colored, and the trimmings were gold, symbols of fire balls sewn in at the corners.

"What do you mean, mi- _Ursa_?" The other woman unnecessarily went over and wrung out the washcloth her lady had used. She draped it across the top of the bowl to dry.

Ursa attached her gold collar. "Well... do you think she's kind?"

"She's always very nice. Loya jokes about her constantly because the water-bender likes to help us with our chores when she's here. She's a lot like you, too," Airi added the last sentence after a few seconds.

The older woman's eyebrows shot up. She turned around to watch the maid as she felt back and rearranged her hair. She pulled it into a cross of her former Fire Lady hairstyle and the one she liked to use now. The bun was clipped in place, spilling over the black clip, and she left the hair around her face to drape down loosely in a curve along the edge of her cheeks. "What do you mean by that?"

Airi seemed to realize her words. "I just mean, she's very relaxed, you know? Like, she'll go out and sit by the old pond for hours. Sometimes, she and the Fire Lord go out there together. They're a lot different than what Loya told me about Fire Lord Ozai."

Ursa nodded; the girl was new, thankfully, so she didn't know the employment in the Fire Nation palace used to be a lot more strict and impersonal. "Help me with this?"

"Of course," the young woman said and picked up the shoulder-cape. She carefully passed it over Ursa's head and then helped the other woman smooth it down.

"I've always envied normal people like you for your clothes. An insane amount of time is spent just so we look 'presentable', but what's wrong with a simple dress?" Ursa rolled her eyes playfully and Airi clapped her hand over her mouth when a giggle escaped. "Do you know where Loya is right now?"

"In the kitchen, last I saw. She was taking inventory with the cook."

"Thanks, Airi. You're a dear."

Ursa left and quickly made her way through the halls. She found they were so much easier to navigate than those she had found when she had first arrived at the royal palace twenty years ago. She did find the nearly-elder woman in the kitchen. The cook was walking out to receive a delivery - it was that day of the week, she knew - when Ursa walked in, so the man only nodded in greeting when he passed.

She did a quickly curtsey to him and then sank to lean gracefully against the counter opposite of the other woman. "Honestly, Loya, how has this place not driven you crazy yet? The track record isn't much for both the royals and help here."

"Ursa! I thought you'd be up sooner," she teased good-naturedly and then swept up her old friend in a quick hug. "Do you want something to eat? I can get you something - there's some leftover fruit from the party last night."

"No, I'm good; thanks, though. Actually, I wanted to ask you a few questions - but they have to remain confidential, yeah?"

"I'll swear on my parent's lives."

"Your parents passed after my daughter was born," Ursa reminded her with an arched brow.

"That's right, they did." Loya winked at her. She gestured over to the kitchen table and they sat across each other, abandoning proper etiquette and leaning in conspiratorially. Loya had helped Ursa adjust when the Fire Lady first came to live in the palace. They were a good twenty-five plus years apart in age, so their relationship was less of a sister-to-sister and more of the aunt-to-niece variety, and Ursa was thrilled to have that back. It was what she missed about her old life, after her children. "So, what do you want to question me about?"

"Katara."

Loya grinned. "She's a beauty, isn't she?"

"Yes, but that's obvious. I wanted to ask you about her... _fit_."

"Fit?"

Ursa huffed. "I don't want to spell it out but I guess I have to - her fit in the palace; you know, as a _permanent_ fixture."

"You were never good at subtlety, Ursa." Loya commented. She leaned back in her chair and draped her left hand under her chin in a contemplating gesture. "Hm. I could see that. She does 'fit' in well - all of my employees love her - and she takes care of the place. And then there's the fact that she and your son are deeply in love. Sometimes they remind me of those books I caught you sneaking when you use to come and visit with Iroh and Fire Lord Ozai as a young teenager."

The former Fire Lady laughed. "You read those when you were a teen too! And don't act like you didn't take them from me just to read them yourself."

"Guilty as charged," she confessed and held her hands up. She then rubbed them together and leaned her elbows forward to rest on the edge of the table. "Seriously, though, you should talk about this with Katara herself. I would recommend her for my sons, but I do not get in the way of love. Remember, Ursa, you can only trust the feeling you get from a person, not the second-hand comments from other people."

"Can I trust your comments?"

"Of course - I always double-check _my_ facts."

Ursa reached over and gripped Loya's arm. She squeezed and smiled affectionately. "I missed you."

"Yes, you've said that about a dozen times since you've come back," Loya commented dryly because she could get away with it. When she was around people she knew, her sarcastic and gushing, gossip-like personality came to the surface.

The other woman half-grinned. "I always did like a baker's dozen better."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_There is a place where the sidewalk ends_

_And before the street begins,_

_And there the grass grows soft and white,_

_And there the sun burns crimson bright,_

_And there the moon-bird rests from his flight_

_To cool in the peppermint wind._

_~'Where the Sidewalk Ends'_, stanza #1, Shel Silverstein

* * *

><p>Katara closed her eyes and inhaled the air. It was cold, with a slight snap in the air, and it reminded her of the herb called mint that she had learned about when she and Aang and Sokka first visited the Earth Kingdom; it was in a pastry. However, more than that, she was reminded of the South Pole. <em>The air here isn't near as cold.<em>

"What are you doing out here?"

She snapped her head up and a sensuous smile grew on her face. "I was feeding the ducks but they fell asleep on me." She held up the half loaf of stale bread as evidence. "Join me?"

He sat beside her and reached out, taking her hand in his. "Without you there last night, I almost lost my mind," he said casually, yet she knew he was half-serious about it. His thumb caressed the top of her hand.

Katara shook her head. "And I used to think _you_ were smug and pretentious. Most of the people you surround yourself with are brats." She held up her hand before he spoke. She wasn't looking at him at the moment, instead opting to stare at the sleeping turtle ducks, but she already knew what he was going to do: speak. "I know, you have to keep them close because they're powerful too. I'll try to understand it but I don't come from... _this_. Last night just wasn't my 'scene'. Plus, it was kind of Ursa's party and I didn't want to ruin it for her. Is it just me or does it seem like anywhere I go around here now, people are staring at me?" Her nose scrunched up cutely. "And why is it called a 'scene' anyway?"

"Because something always happens," Zuko dead-panned. She laughed and he smiled, shrugging. "I don't know!"

"There's probably a funny story behind it." He nodded. She stretched out her fingers for a moment and then reclasped his hand in hers, staring down at them. "You're going to visit Azula soon."

He looked at her with a confused expression. "How did you kno-"

"I overheard; it was unintentional, I swear. I know you would've told me, but... are you sure? She tried to kill you!" Katara couldn't keep the heat from her voice and the worry off her face. She was pissed off at Zuko's sister and could never see a time in the future - near or otherwise - where that would change. She may not have been on the best of terms with him back then, but seeing his sister shoot him with lightning and not feel any remorse for doing it after the fact inflamed the protective streak in her. "What's to stop her from trying again?"

"Guards; she's chained up; she's in a cell; and she's on an herbal concoction that basically loosens her control over her fire-bending." Zuko gently moved a stray hair away that cascaded over her forehead. "And I've seen her since then."

The water-bender startled. "When?"

"On my way to Rhange. Part of the reason I traveled separately was to go visit her in prison."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Katara stared at him, astonished.

He shifted her hand in his and held it with both of his now. "Because... because I didn't want you to worry, okay?"

She huffed. "No. No, that's not okay. We tell each other everything and you should especially tell me about anything to do with Azula! You took a lightning bolt for me because of her!"

"And she's still my sister!" Zuko let out an unstable breath. "You only knew her when she was losing her mind but I grew up with her; past all the pain and the hurt she just wants attention and love and to be appreciated. Yeah, I didn't tell you, but that was only because I knew how you were going to react and I did not want to admit that I don't know what to do here. I can't just turn my back on my sister; even if she did try to kill you and almost killed me. I want to believe she can change."

"You have to draw a line somewhere, Zuko," she whispered fiercely, if a bit shakily. Tears welled in her eyes.

"And it's my decision where to draw it."

She looked away from his blunt response.

The turtle ducks were peacefully floating on top of the peaceful, almost-still pond water. The adults had their brown necks tucked over their shells, eyes shut closed. None of them sensed anything wrong. Katara sighed. She did not have any right to judge Zuko; she knew that. _And I'm not judging him,_ she thought. I_ just... I don't want to see him go through that pain again. _

_But how can I tell him that without sounding insensitive? Sokka didn't have a mental breakdown and almost kill me. I don't..._ "I don't want you to get hurt._ Emotionally_," she added when a slight look of impatience flashed across his face. "And I don't want to see Ursa anymore devastated than she was when we found her in Hemero-Callis and you told her about everything that has happened the last ten years she was missing. She's so sweet, Zuko; she doesn't deserve to be treated badly by Azula."

"She wants to see her daughter and how can I say 'no' to that?" After a minute, Katara simply nodded. She did not have a good, argumentative response to that._ Even if my dad had changed into a maniac, I still would've done anything to see him again during all those years_. "Trust me, Azula's... she's _better_. Still a little... crazy... but she is getting better."

"I _do_ trust you. I always will. I'm sorry, it isn't my place to yell at you because you're trying to do the right thing with your sister."

Zuko put his hands on her shoulders and she let him turn her so that her back was sideways against his chest. He placed a gentle kiss on her neck and she leaned her temple against his. "Katara, it is your place. I trust your opinion the most; the only reason I didn't tell you is because I didn't want to upset you... How are the nightmares?"

She took the change of conversation gratefully, even if it was a subject that, just a month before, she would not have wanted to talk about for even a minute. "Have you ever had a dream where you can control everything in it?"

She felt him smile against her cheek. "I don't think so."

"They're like that now. If I feel them going into that direction, I just say 'I don't want this dream' and I wake up."

"Are you sleeping at all?"

Katara laughed off his ebbing concern. "They only happen, like, once a week now! I'm fine, you're fine, the feisty turtle ducks are fine; can we just enjoy the day and talk about, I don't know, the sky or something?"

"It is a pretty sky out today," he teased.

She grinned. "Hey, shouldn't I be the one asking you about sleep?" She turned in his arms and traced the bags under his eyes delicately. He stared at her softly. "You should be sleeping right now. How late did you stay up?"

"Didn't you know that the Fire Nation is infamous for their parties?" Zuko joked. "Good luck getting anyone out of the room before two in the morning; they will keep eating your food for as long as they can, even if they don't like you."

"That sounds a little mean."

"They're sharks."

Katara sighed. A smirk formed no her face. "Maybe that's why it's called a 'scene'. Anyone smart knows it's a bunch of idiots trying to play each other."

Zuko laughed. "That's a dark way to look at it."

"Now that's a little ironic. Fire, light, you know?"

He just shook his head and kept smiling wryly. "So does that make you the dark and me the light in this relationship?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, _dear_." He commented sarcastically, his smile morphing into a smirk.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	65. Sweetheart

**A/N: **I don't want this one to feel OOC at all. I'll cut this rambling Author's Note at the bud and bite my nails, waiting to see what you all think!

Thank you to everyone reading the story – reviewer, silent reader, alert-follower, favoriter (I know, not a word) or otherwise! ^_^

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,_

_Dreaming in the joys of night;_

_Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep_

_Little sorrows sit and weep._

_Sweet babe, in thy face_

_Soft desires I can trace,_

_Secret joys and secret smiles,_

_Little pretty infant wiles._

_As thy softest limbs I feel,_

_Smiles as of the morning steal_

_O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast_

_Where thy little heart doth rest._

_O the cunning wiles that creep_

_In thy little heart asleep!_

_When thy little heart doth wake,_

_Then the dreadful night shall break._

_~'Cradle Song'_, William Blake

* * *

><p><em>Three days later….<em>

Her hands were still to the naked eye but she could feel them tremble. Grateful for the use, she dismounted quickly and handed the reigns over to the guard who was standing next to her, waiting. He took them and led the ostrich horse out of sight. She and Zuko had decided to travel low-key, as this trip was personal.

She regarded the tall, large, and bleak-looking building. It sat along a rock cliff-edge that grew up out of the ground. The first floor and a half had walls of solid rock that she doubted held any success for attempted escapees. The rest of the place, four stories total, was covered in metal, the windows barred with iron bars suspiciously blackened; some holding obvious scorch marks.

Ursa swallowed. "You put your sister in this place, Zuko?" Ursa asked in a hushed voice.

"This was the best place for her. There are worse places that Father used for innocent people." She grimaced at that. "Follow me, stick close, and don't look at the prisoners we pass; okay?" He reached over and squeezed her hand, searching her eyes.

She nodded. She followed him through the front door, only to discover there was a checkpoint (which did not apply, as he was the Fire Lord) and a series of three doors, all barred and with different types of locks. Ursa wondered absently if all the prisons in the Fire Nation were like this. Admittedly, this was the side of her beloved country that she had always shied away from and never been remotely proactive about learning of.

Their walk down the halls was a long and echoed one. "Hey honey!" One shouted out. She startled and turned, catching the eyes of a large, muscled man with a dark, scraggly beard. His expression was menacing. Ursa turned away. _Vile_, she thought. "Help," was a repeatedly muttered word from someone nearby that she focused on as a few other convicts began shouting. Brief flames of light flickered beyond the glass on either side of them; Zuko's step never wavered and his head never turned. She envied her son in that moment.

"Help." She heard it louder when they reached the end of the hallway. She glanced quickly out of the corner of her eye; an old man sat in a cell, his left shoulder against the bar, regretful eyes watching her. Ursa turned away.

It was another dizzying set of gates after that. When they passed through, Zuko turned to her and explained, in four simple words, "The mentally insane wing."

"Oh."

They reached another door and Zuko waved his hand to the guard; with a few creaks, it was opened. He looked back and her and nodded before stepping aside. She glanced back at the guards through the doorway one last time before her son pulled the door closed. "No one can hear us," he told her then and she nodded, knowing that the reassurance he was giving her on that was to hide that fact that the precaution was also for their own safety.

She couldn't think of her daughter that way; it wasn't right.

Ursa wrung her hands and followed her son down the winding stairs to the lone cell in the carved-out room. _I cannot think of my baby girl like this,_ she chanted in her mind. But, looking at her surroundings, she could not help herself. _My baby… in a _prison_…._ She blinked back tears.

The sound of a chain scrapped shallowly against the cold stone floor. Zuko walked out from in front of her line of sight and lit the unused torches, one on each wall other than the one the cell was against. Ursa knew from what she had overheard that it was against protocol when dealing with such a volatile like her daughter. It was still hard for her to wrap her head around the fact that her daughter was described as 'volatile'.

The flickering flames illuminated the room better than the one thin and barred it held, positioned near the ceiling because the room was so deep underground. The former Fire Lady spotted her daughter sitting in the middle of the cell. All she saw was her little girl, hopeless. Azula watched them both with narrowed, nervousness etching her features. Her hands were splayed across her knees, fingers dangling down, and Ursa started at the sight.

"Are you _burned_?" She ran over to the bars, placing her hands instinctively against them in order to lean in as close as possible. Ursa pulled back with a pained gasp; they were hot.

"Don't act like you care," Azula retorted briskly. She jerked her head, flicking some hair behind her shoulder, and then turned her golden eyes to her brother. "A month or two, huh, Zuzu? It's been _three_! So much for your promises." She spit on the ground near his feet.

"Things came up." He shrugged non-apologetically and patted Ursa's shoulder, gesturing to a chair he'd pulled up behind her. He chose to stand. Ursa couldn't recall seeing her son quite this remote before, but then the rational side of her mind told her it was his defensive mechanism. The emotional part, however, was aggrieved by this. "And please stop heating up all the metal around you; at least be polite when your own family visits you."

"No, because this way, every time you try to reach out, you feel _exactly_ what I've been feeling!" Her eyes flashed with rage. Azula looked to her mother; tears sprang forth. "I'm sorry, Mother. I didn't mean to burn you."

Ursa reached her hand delicately through the bars and held it out. Her daughter hesitantly touched it. They squeezed each other's hands. "It's the meds," Zuko murmured close to his mother. "They will cause mood swings for a while before she levels out. We had to change them again because the other ones weren't holding."

"Don't talk to me like I'm not here," Azula hissed and removed her hand from her mother's. She stood. Her mood shifted as quickly as the winds in a desert. "Why did you come here? To see how right you were, to see that your son is the perfect child and that I'm the one destined to be the _big, bad sister_, the one _humiliated_!"

Ursa's heart broke a little at her daughter's words but she tried to steel herself. "You know that's not true, sweetheart."

"How? _How_ do I know? And why did you come back? You took the first opportunity you could to leave us because everyone was busy with Grandpa Azulon's death. Why?" The young princess suddenly let out a crying sob.

Zuko shared a glance with his mother. She shook her head and nodded to the door. "Are you sure?" He mouthed to her. She nodded again. The Fire Lord looked at them one last time before he shuffled out of the room and up the staircase quietly. The door opened with a soft shudder.

Now that the mother-daughter duo was as alone as they could be for the foreseeable future, Ursa tried to plead with her daughter again. "Azula, it was more complicated than that."

"Because you murdered him?"

She swallowed. That was not a question she had expected. "I had a hand in it; I won't deny that."

"Oh, so now we're being honest?" Azula laughed hysterically, tears making wet paths down her face. "I know you never loved Father and that you were always unhappy with me-"

"That's not true!"

"-but did you ever really love _me_? Or was that just all an act to help me sleep at night so I wouldn't _disturb_ you?"

Ursa choked back a horrified reply. "Where is all this coming from?" She managed to ask calmly. "This isn't the daughter I know."

"Yeah, well, maybe you never really knew me."

She slid off of the chair and kneeled in front of the cell. She studied her daughter for a long time. With a calm hand, she reached into the cell and brushed Azula's oily strands of hair back from her face, tucking them behind her right ear. The teenager's lip quivered at the kind and motherly touch. Ursa guessed, with resigned regret, that the girl hadn't received attention like that since she had left, nine years ago. "You're right, Azula – about me not knowing you. I know you as the sweet, ambitious little girl who was fiercely competitive with her brother because she loved her father and wanted to prove that she was the perfect child.

"But there is no such thing as a perfect child, sweetheart. I love you because you are my daughter, you are my own; and no matter how many things you do that I don't approve of, I will never stop loving you. Now please, please let me trust you so that you can trust me." Tears pooled in her light eyes and Ursa cupped her daughter's cheek. "I'm begging you to give me a chance to help you, Azula. It was a chance I never had when I left and I want to show you I can make up for that.

"Ask me anything."

Azula sniffed. "Anything?" She suddenly sounded very much like the child Ursa remembered.

She smiled comfortingly. "Anything."

"And you'll stay? You won't leave again?"

Ursa reached her other hand through the bars and gripped her daughter's tightly. "I will never willingly leave you again."

Azula edged closer to the wall separating them. She leaned her right side against the bars and shook her head to move her hair some more. Ursa thought that her daughter might need a haircut. It was a thought reflecting on the more normal side of this situation and she smiled one of near-relief at that. She directed the warm, kind smile to her daughter. Azula sniffed again, recovering from crying. Gold eyes met gold eyes. "Why did you leave?"

"To live. I don't want to go into details, but I helped someone get close to your grandfather because he wanted your father to kill Zuko and I couldn't bear it; I couldn't bear losing a child. You will understand that feeling one day. Your Uncle Iroh passed on the crown as your father thought he would and your father ascended to the throne. But… he couldn't protect me from those that figured out I had a hand in the tragic mess." She decided then and there to not tell her daughter the whole story. _Azula deserves to hold on to some memory – _any_ memory – of Ozai's love._ "So, I left, hoping that one day I could come back and pick of the pieces.

"I didn't want you or your brother to see me carted off to prison, Azula. And… you know the likelihood of… of my survival, after helping someone like Azulon pass on. I wouldn't have stood a chance. Please tell me you understand?"

Azula eyed her mother for a long, tense moment. She nodded subtly and then more rigorously. She cast her eyes downward, almost sheepishly. Her mouth opened a few times but the words died in her throat. Finally, she said, in an almost-whisper, "I understand, kind of, I just… I just …. I forgive you, Mother." Ursa wept happily. "I'm so sorry about what I became, _what I am,_" Azula apologized brokenly between sobbing. "I'm just so mad at the world sometimes. I did everything right! I followed Father's orders, I was ruthless, just like an heir to the throne should be, and everyone hates me!"

"I don't hate you," Ursa hushed. "Zuko doesn't hate you."

"Yes he does! I can see it in his eyes!"

"He's hurt! But he doesn't hate you," she said and squeezed her daughter's hands. "You will be alright. Ask for his forgiveness and he will give it to you. I promise."

Fear flashed across Azula's eyes and she pulled her hands from her mother's, as though she was burned. "You hate me too!" She screamed, panicked.

Ursa tried to calm her down with positive words, but Azula suddenly went hysterical. She threw her head in her hands, raking her nails across her scalp as she began muttering unintelligible words. Ursa reached her hand through once more but Azula shrank back. She could only watch on as her daughter fell into another manifesting fit of her mental breakdown. Ursa held a hand over her mouth to keep the mournful wail at bay. She whimpered.

A flash of an idea came to her and she quickly bound up the stairs, loudly banging on the door. Azula didn't acknowledge anything happening outside of her ball of depression. Zuko pulled open the door further in an instant. "What's wrong?"

She saw the worry on his face but didn't have time to assure him. "Give me the key to her cell."

"Mother, no-"

"Now." She said sternly.

Zuko stared at her. She saw the resigned disapproval in his eyes before he brushed past her and hurried down the stairs. Ursa did not think much about what he was doing and only sighed in relief when he took out the small ring of keys, found the right one, and unlocked the door. He left it closed, taking a step back to watch his sister with hawk eyes. She knew he had every right to distrust his sister, but that didn't mean she felt the same.

Ursa didn't feel like she was in danger; she needed to be there for her daughter the way every mother should. She rushed into the cell and bundled her daughter up in her arms. Azula pushed at the contact roughly, to which her mother only cooed and shushed her some more. The young woman let out another cry and then clung to her like a drowning person to a life-raft. Ursa rubbed comforting circled up and down her back. Together, they cried. "I'm here, I'm here; I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. I promise you that; I promise it on my life and on the Spirit World's entire existence."

"Help me," Azula squeaked out and buried her head in the crook of the older woman's neck.

"I will, I promise."

"I don't want to be alone anymore; I don't want to be afraid."

"You don't have to be afraid of anything or anyone, sweetheart. You will always be protected by me and your brother."

Azula's body shuddered. "You… you don't hate me? I thought…."

"Of course not!" She soothingly ran her hand down her daughter's hair. Running her fingers through it gently, she tried to straighten it from its tangled mess. "I love you; nothing will change that. Don't be afraid, Azula. You don't have to be strong anymore. Don't ever think we hate you; _we love you_. "

Before, Ursa had cried for her daughter's condition and state of mind. It was for all the thoughts she had had, wondering what became of her daughter, and then the many times that she had wondered worriedly if it was permanent, if she could even help at all. Now, she cried for what had caused it. She cried for the lack of love her daughter had received and the pressure she had put herself under and the poor life lessons she had been instilled with.

The tears running down her face came from the pain she saw on her daughter's face, from the lack of trust in her eyes, and from the desperation for love echoing from her childhood-like reaction of curling up on Ursa's lap. And the entire time Azula cried with her, giving her body the stress release it so desperately needed.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	66. Sketch Pad

**A/N:** There's a flashback in here involving Zuko and Azula so I just wanted to point out, in case anyone forgot, that the siblings have a 2 year gap in age with Zuko being older. So in this Azula is 7, making Zuko 9, which makes it a year or a year and a half, more or less, before Ursa left.

Also, there was a time jump between last chapter and the chapter before that. So basically, Aang's last segment was 5 days before while Ursa just visited her daughter the other day, or two days before. I wanted to point that out just in case anyone was confused by the different time-passing references used.

This story has reached a hundred reviews! Crazy, right? I mean, I can't be too shocked since this story does have 60+ chapters. Still, you guys are awesome; I love getting feedback :D

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Sadly.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_These are the clouds about the fallen sun,_

_The majesty that shuts his burning eye:_

_The weak lay hand on what the strong has done,_

_Till that be tumbled that was lifted high_

_And discord follow upon unison,_

_And all things at one common level lie._

_And therefore, friend, if your great race were run_

_And these things came, so much the more thereby_

_Have you made greatness your companion,_

_Although it be for children that you sigh:_

_These are the clouds about the fallen sun,_

_The majesty that shuts his burning eye._

_~These Are The Clouds', _W.B. Yeats

* * *

><p>The sun was still peaking over the curved horizon with its rays illuminating streaks of orange, pink, and purple in the sky. The nighttime fog hung low in the air and was lit up, looking as though it was made of clouds of golden smoke. As though you were looking through yellow-tinted glasses, the Eastern Air Temples only caught the pale creams, gold, and browns of the sunlight. Aang held a hand against his forehead, shading his eyes, while his other hand loosely gripped the reigns of his animal guide.<p>

After having dinner with Toph and Raja's family five days ago, Aang woke up early and flew nearly nonstop to the Southern Air Temples. There he had stayed on a day, helping those people that had signed up to move to the eastern temples with their possessions. On little sleep, he then dead-headed it back.

Most of the people didn't seem to mind the wind and speed, which Aang attributed to the fact that Toph had suggested the idea – which they then implemented – of building a sort of shack onto Appa's saddle. It was only a temporary thing – for this trip only, really – but it still worked remarkably well. It reminded Aang of the train rides Toph talked about taking across the Earth Kingdom, the first country to use such a thing. _Probably where she got the idea,_ he thought.

In what was surely a record time, Aang guiding Appa down from the sky to land on the plateau accompanying the temples. Toph was standing there, waiting with Momo resting comfortably on her shoulder. Halona and Perry were nowhere in sight. They landed quickly and he held out a hand, helping people disembark before doing so himself. When everyone was down on the ground, Aang spoke, telling them about the status of the temples and where they could get settled. The female earth-bender warned them about repairs not yet made to the third peak, in case any of them wanted to go exploring. They all looked like they did.

"There they go," Aang commented with a smile.

"Did the kids take off?" She asked, catching on to his meaning.

"They started running once they got halfway over the bridge."

Toph laughed as she massaged Appa's broad forehead. "I bet their parents are grateful; they get some alone time. How was the trip?"

"Fine. I think I have bags under my eyes."

She impishly smiled. "You sound tired. Two days there, Aang? You'll kill yourself."

He shrugged. "Nah, I just wanted to be fast. We still have a lot more to do here and it's not fair to ask you to do it yourself." He reached over and pulled his animal guide's reigns down from the saddle. "Come on, Appa."

Toph patted Appa's cheek, helping her friend guide the flying bison across the bridge and to the temples. First thing first was they needed to remove his saddle and everything that came with it. "Who said I was going to work while you were gone? This was the most relaxing five days I've had in, like, a month."

"Hah-hah," Aang commented. "So where's Halona and Perry? I'm surprised you didn't have Raja with you."

"She's still sleeping and her parents said something about cleaning before you guys arrived. You're early, you know." He made a noncommittal sound and shared in her smile. "So where are we taking Appa?"

"To the empty space behind the first temple. We have to remove his saddle but I thought we could make him a bed too after everyone settles in. He's been sleeping outside and it's going to rain sooner or later. You've gotta remember how musty he smells when he's wet," Aang said with an eye roll.

She laughed. Toph scratched at Appa's ear and he groaned appreciatively. "Yeah, you smell like a wet dog! Same goes for you, Momo," she added when he swooped down from the sky and chittered at them. When Appa had landed, he had greeted his buddy exuberantly and then promptly taken off to do big circles in the sky. "How'd it go at the Southern Air Temples?"

"Good. I put G in charge of running the place."

Toph smiled approvingly. "He's a nice guy. Hey, I got a letter yesterday with the Earth Kingdom seal on it. Do you mind reading it for me later?"

"Sure, no problem. Now onward, Appa, so you can get rid of all this weight!" Aang air-bended himself up and sat in the saddle. He shook the reigns.

Appa groaned and kept going at his snail-crawl pace. Toph laughed.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Weary am I of the tumult, sick of the staring crowd,_

_Pining for wild sea places where the soul may think aloud._

_Fled is the glamour of cities, dead as the ghost of a dream,_

_While I pine anew for the tint of blue on the breast of the old Gulf Stream._

_I have had my dance with Folly, nor do I shirk the blame;_

_I have sipped the so-called Wine of Life and paid the price of shame;_

_But I know that I shall find surcease, the rest my spirit craves,_

_Where the rainbows play in the flying spray,_

_'Mid the keen salt kiss of the waves._

_~'Free',_ stanzas #1-2 of 3, Eugene O'Neill

* * *

><p>Azula sat in her cell, eerily calm. She didn't feel calm inside; no, it felt like she had bugs crawling up her arms and butterflies trapped inside her stomach. Her head was a little bit lighter than usual but she could not complain about all of this, even if she desperately wanted to claw at the walls around her for escape from it - as impossible as that was - and to scream obscenities to the guards she was sure were up the staircase and standing outside of her little personal prison.<p>

She couldn't complain because this was the best she had felt in months. She was _feeling_ again.

Azula only remembered snippets of everything that had happened during the months leading up to her imprisonment. The stupid little doctor that came and checked on it, via Zuko's orders, said that was because a mental breakdown usually happens for a while before the actual catalyst that leads to the break happens. _Whatever_, she had scoffed then and still did now, though it was done half-heartedly at best.

In truth, it freaked her out. Badly. She had commended herself on being a strong leader ever since she was a young child and tried to prove herself against Zuko. Not that he put up that much a fight.

The Fire Princess remembered all of the demonstrations her father had made them to do to their grandfather Fire Lord Azulon, and then to their father when he was Fire Lord. Zuko never had a chance.

And yet, she was always scared that he would get better and would overshadow her_. I'm not crazy_, she told herself, her lips moving but only her mind speaking the words. _He's the stupid elder son; if he is suddenly as good as I am, I lose out on everything! I don't want to be treated like a pawn!_ She had watched all of her sort-of-friends that were nobility go through a system of being moved around and married off once they grew up, as if their existence was only to further the family; the family _lead_ by the _son_.

Her best friends - _who I _thought_ were my best friends _- Ty Lee and Mai didn't have to go through that because of a combination of lenient parents, long lines of nobility that made their families lazy, and personal defiance against any marriages at all. Azula almost envied them now_. I gave up everything for Father's love - and now what? I'm crazy and treated like a psychopath!_

She screamed aloud for release.

Fast, soft footsteps sounded coming down the staircase. She wiped at her wet face; she wasn't fire-bending as much as before, learning to control her impulses a little better as she came to grips with what transpired the past year, but tears replaced the sweat. Frustrated, scared, and lonely tears.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Her mother's voice faintly echoed as she drew closer.

Azula, however, was still lost in her thoughts. _Now I'm the banished one; the forgotten one; the scarred one. Sure, I don't have a scar across my face but can I trust myself anymore? How ironic._ A giggle started in her throat and worked its way up until she burst out in hysterical laughter. It was as high as a hyenadog's and somehow just as guttural, too.

She heard the sound of scraping metal distantly. Warm, comforting arms closed around her again, just as they had the day before yesterday. Azula sunk into them immediately. She breathed in the flowery scent of her mother there, in the dark cell, and listened to her mother's cooing words as her mind was in an entirely different place.

_***Flashback - 94 ASC - Fire Nation Palace**_

The array of bowls, scrolls, and glass bottles flew to the floor, tumbling and cracking. Azula's breath came quick and heavy and she stared at her young, seven-year-old face in the mirror for a brief moment. She looked away, shocked at the anger she saw there. Her gaze traveled down to the destruction she had caused.

Azula sucked in a shaky breath and quickly grabbed towels off of her vanity table and fell to her knees, soaking up the perfume liquids. She hadn't any need for them, being so young, but they were given to her at every birthday and some were even passed down from previous generations. When she grew older she would have a use for them when it became a requirement to go to politically-motivated parties and balls. She found a sliver of satisfaction then, knowing that she had rebelled a little at that without meaning to.

The glass shards were pushed haphazardly into a pile. She stood and only walked two feet over, saved scrolls in hand, when she yelped and hot pain slashed across the bottom of her foot. Azula stood still for a long minute. The pain turned a bit dull and moisture pressed against her foot's pad. Slowly, she lifted her foot up and looked down. Blood dripped steadily where her foot had rested on the wooden floor.

"Azula!"

Her head shot up and her terrified eyes spotted her mother in the doorway. "Mother, I-"

"You're hurt! Hold on, stay right there." Ursa took one of the towels from her daughter's hand, found a dry corner, and dabbed at the girl's foot. Azula hissed. "How did this happen?" Her long, soft fingers wrapped around her daughter's foot. The glass shard was slowly removed, to the mixture of relief and annoyance from Azula.

"I... got upset. I didn't do it on purpose, I swear!"

"Azula..."

"I didn't, Mother!" She nearly screeched. "You've got to believe me!"

Ursa stared at her for a brief second with an unreadable expression and then Azula found herself being lifted up and carried to her bed ten feet away. She was set down on the fluffy comforter. The pillows behind her were fluffed up again by her mother and she leaned back, holding her foot up in the air to stop the bleeding. "I do believe you, sweetheart, but you must remember that even when you do something in the heat of the moment, _you_ still did it."

"That's not what Father says." As soon as the words left her mouth, Azula regretted. "I mean, he says they're forgivable, that you didn't have control..." Her voice trailed off. It was no use defending her father to her mother; it never worked.

Ursa shook her head and sat on the bed beside her. "Then you must learn control. Aren't you being taught that in your lessons?" Azula didn't say anything, afraid now to speak of the wrong thing. She knew immediately that her mother knew this as she sighed that specific way meaning that she would go and have an argument with Ozai next, for which Azula would have another grueling fire-bending lesson tomorrow that would cut into her etiquette and dance lessons as the teacher would have been chewed out by her father. Azula just sighed in a way similar to her mother, although that part was unbeknownst to her. "What's wrong? What made you so upset, sweetheart?"

"Zuko learned how to do the fire streams from his foot today."

"Okay, and?"

"And I only figured it out yesterday!" She exploded, face flushing.

Her mother frowned, a perpetual expression she could always count on her mother to make at least once a day. "That's alright, sweetheart. Don't you want to be able to train together with your brother instead of using separate teachers?"

"No! It's not that! If Father finds out, he'll..."

"He'll what?"

Azula bit her lip and looked away from her mother's soft face. "He'll make me focus more on stupid dresses and stupid dancing. I don't want that, I want to continue learning fire-bending!"

Ursa cupped her daughter's chin and, after a minute of stalling, Azula looked into her mother's face. "You are my baby girl and I don't want to see you worked up over these things, okay? Let me worry about them. For now, just remember that you're strong. You are a strong girl who will grow into an even stronger and even more powerful young woman. Okay?"

She bit her cheek. "Okay."

_***End Flashback**_

'_You are a strong girl who will grow into an even stronger and even more powerful young woman. Okay?' _ Azula turned her previously sightless eyes to her mother, who was staring at her worriedly. "I'm not strong," she whispered.

Ursa's forehead wrinkled. "Yes you are."

"No I'm not!" She screeched and pushed her mother's arms off of her shoulders. "I'm weak!" She balled her hands at her sides where she sat on her knees. In an effort to calm herself down, she stretched out her fingers and the flames burst forth from her palms. "Look at me! I'm a monster; everyone hates me all because I was following Father! Look what he did to me!"

Her mother winced at the shrieking words echoing.

"Stay away from me."

She moved her hands in front of her mother and Ursa caught her wrist deftly, directing the emotional bursts of flames to the walls on either side of them. "Stop it!" She said it sternly but with a level voice. Azula sniffed and snapped a little bit out of her grief-stricken haze. "You will stop this this instance, you hear me?" Her mother's face softened. "I wish I could have been around you longer so I could teach you better. There are so many different ways to be strong.

"A Liger may be strong because of its bite and a turtleduck may be strong because of its shell and even a purple pentapus is strong because it can make someone sick if it's attached to you long enough, but you know what? They're all strong in their own way.

"You, my dear, are beautiful and smart. Take everything that happened this past year and learn from it; I'm begging you. You can be better than all of us, Azula," she suggested eagerly. "You can host the best parties, have the best friends, advise in the best plans, run the best of the nation's institutions and you have all the potential in the world to have the best possible life ahead of you. _Take it."_

"How?" Azula asked, awe and confusion battling on her face. Her eyes were wide now and she was listening intently. A promise of a better world; a promise of a time when she wouldn't have to fight to prove herself. It was captivating to her.

"Firstly, come with me." Her mother held out her hand and Azula quickly took it. Ursa unlocked her wrists and feet. Not once did the thought cross her mind during this to run, to fight, to escape. _Escape to where?_ She thought later as she held on to her mother tightly and they walked through the halls of the prison. They went up two levels, plus the third that led down to her private cell, to what she assumed was the main floor of the metal and rock prison. _I have nowhere to go._

Her eyes wandered and took in their surroundings with only mild interest. "Where are we going?"

She stared at her mother and the other woman glanced at her with a smile as they took a corner. "You don't need to be kept down there any longer; you understand what's going on around you and you're not a danger to innocents. I'm moving you."

"Is Zuzu okay with this?" She asked mockingly.

"Don't call your brother that unless you mean it with affection," Ursa quickly scolded. The young teen shut her mouth at that. "And yes, we agreed on it together. If you continue to do well, you can leave in a month. For now, I want you to get comfortable in your new home."

"It's a prison, Mother, not a ho-" The words died from her throat as her mother opened the guarded double doors. She didn't even care that there _were_ guards outside because inside was a room decorated with the Fire Nation colors but it was... different; not like her room at home much at all. It was changed in all of the most suitable of ways. The bed was more modest and instead of solid curtains, translucent ones hung from the ceiling around it. There was thin window across from it that, although barred, had functional glass.

Azula ran over, opened it, and stuck a slender hand through the bars. The sun's rays lit up her pale skin. It sparkled with warmth. She almost cried. Azula turned around and took in the rest of the room. A modest dresser was to the side, along with a standing table and a char. On another table was a stack of books; she almost laughed at the titles, all having to do with peace, acceptance, and even one she recognized that Uncle Iroh used to carry around. It was about mastering the calm side of fire-bending. _Hah._

"...and you'll also go out two times a week to see Miss Thao."

'_Miss Thao'? Oh, right, mind-shrink lady._ It took a moment but her mind seemed to process all that her mother had said. "I can... go... _outside_?"

"That's what I just said," Ursa commented gently.

Azula's eyes narrowed with held back tears. "And I can... I can come... home... soon?"

"If you continue down this path, yes, sweetheart." Ursa let out a quick 'oof' of a breath when she was squeezed into a hug. "Shhh." She rubbed up and down her daughter's back while Azula unabashedly buried her head and its watery eyes in the crook of Ursa's neck.

They stayed together for another half-hour. During that time, Ursa helped her get better aquainted down the room and answered any questions her daughter had, which were not that many. She was simply stunned. She hadn't thought she would ever leave that place; even when her memories slowly became understandable about all that had happened – including her unfortunate use of lightning that fateful day six months ago – Azula had thought she would have to live the rest of her life with those haunting her, in a dark prison, all by her quite insane lonesome.

When that half-hour came and went, Azula asked her mother to leave, saying she was tired. Truthfully, she just wanted to sit and think. That was not something she used to do often before; she always had places to go, things to do, people to see, plans to make. Thinking was reserved only for the split-second decisions of where she should turn her eyes filled with visions of destruction and chaos and power.

But now, with everything that happened, she only had time to think. It was painful, yet it did help. And with all this new change, thinking was the best thing to do that she could think of.

"The second step you should know is that you can't forget. Believe me, I've tried to forget a lot of things in my life," her mother said as she stood next to the door. She had been going to leave but paused and turned back. "The best thing you can do is think of the future. Make plans - happy plans - and focus on doing one thing at a time to get yourself there." Ursa smiled and then ducked her head, turning to leave.

"What did you do?" Azula blurted out. "The first thing, I mean?"

Her mother paused and stared at the wall for a moment, contemplation clearly etched into her face. Finally, she said, "I started a daily journal. It helped remind me that things can be worse and have been. And yes, I still have it today." Her mother gazed at her one last time and then closed the door softly behind her.

The sound of the guards locking the door from the outside didn't bother her for the first time in six months. Azula stood where she was, in the middle of the room, for a long time. Moving her eyes to the book stack, she caught sight of an ink jar, a quill pen, and a few empty books along with the others printed. She walked over and picked them up. Two were journals, two were sketch-pads, and one was a canvas book that had other colors of ink in a panel inside. _Watercolors,_ she recognized faintly.

_A choice._

She hadn't felt like she had that in a long time. Azula picked up a sketch-pad.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	67. Grocery Shopping and Hay Cuts

**A/N: **Nothing to write so instead I will once again thank everyone that reads this story :) I'm glad you're liking it or_ at least_ moderately enjoying it! And then extended props to those just now stumbling across it and are willing to read 65+ chapters! Marathon reading; gotta love it ^_^

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_I am not a librarian of my own work. It's a good thing not to be too involved with what you have done.__"_

~Mick Jagger

* * *

><p>Katara ran her hands through her braid while unhooking the band. Her mane of hair fell apart almost instantly. She massaged her scalp a little and then went to work on doing another braid, as the other one had been uncomfortably messy. She followed behind Loya, the head housekeeper for the Fire Nation Palace, dutifully as they walked down the street. Today, she had decided to wear her native clothes. A few eyes riveted her way as they walked but otherwise she was surprised at the amount of people <em>not<em> staring.

"So, where are w-"

"Shh" was all Loya responded with. The water-bender frowned but didn't say or ask anything after. "There it is," the other woman mumbled to herself a brief minute later.

It was a jewelry store; an expensive one at that. The bell over the door dinged softly as they entered. Katara abandoned the housekeeper and went to peer into all of the glass cases. There were jewels of all colors set in gold, silver, and some other metals she didn't recognize. There were necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and even hair pins that looked way too fragile for her to even consider wearing them.

She looked up to see Loya dropping a small bag of coins into a man's hand and taking a wrapped parcel. The wrapping paper over the box even seemed expensive, with its cream linen and gold inscription. "Let's go," she called. Katara followed her out the door.

"What's in there? And how much did you pay for it? The prices in there were the highest I've ever seen – more than an ostrich horse!"

The other woman smiled slightly. "As far as I know, it's something Ursa bought and the price was modest... for what's in there. Between you and me, I don't see the need for excessive jewelry like that. But then I don't have to go to the parties they do. Trust me, these aren't things you wear every day."

"I can see that," Katara said quietly, a little startled with awe. She and Toph had dressed up a few times in Ba Sing Se for events but compared to the stuff she'd just seen, what they had picked out was demure. Though, now that she thought of it, they hadn't really picked it out - it had been recommended by the sales clerks in the stores they'd been in. It was Katara's first time in a big city and she had had no idea what to wear or pick or do differently in order to fit in better. "How many events does Ursa go to a week, anyway? It seems like she's always rushing off now that everyone knows she is here."

"She sits on four committees - three from her previous years - two charities - she helps out at the two orphanages in town - and then she gets, oh, two or three invitations to a party a week," Loya answered matter-of-factly.

"She does all of that?" Katara gasped. It was an incredible plate-load; even when she'd been helping Aang delegate his plans and respond to all of his letters – he didn't want to leave one untouched – during the first month after the nation's found peace, it was hardly as busy as what Ursa apparently signed on for.

"Oh, no, she doesn't accept all of the party invitations. Usually only one. Here, give me a hand," the other woman shifted the bags and passed off two to Katara. "Thank you. If I can ask, why did you want to come? Errands are boring; and I would know, I've been doing them for as long as I can remember; childhoods are different between social classes."

Katara paused sympathetically before responding; she knew what the other woman meant. Down in the South Pole, she had had chores to do her whole childhood; it was simply a matter of more or less depending on your age. No hands could go unused. "I was already bored," she quipped. "I just wanted to get out and do something. I _would_ like to sit still and do nothing but I don't think my body will let me."

"Case of the never-stopping mind, hm?"

"I guess." Katara smiled shyly.

The housekeeper stopped at the entrance of a side street; it was filled with stall after stall of fruit, vegetable, and meat vendors, all lined up along the backs of the tall two-story buildings. "If you want to pull your own weight then take those two baskets and get enough food for dinner tonight; and be sure to pick stuff that the cook can actually put into a dish, okay? I have to run two other errands real quick and we'll meet back here. Deal?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

Loya winked at her. "Have fun." She then brushed past Katara and the other woman turned to watch her disappear into the crowd flowing like a steady stream down the street.

"Dinner, right." She looked uncertainly at the carts. Her shopping with Iroh was called to mind and her smile wavered. _Great, I'll probably benefit thieves today. Just… great_. She stepped into the frenzy.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Oh, earthly pomp is but a dream,_

_And like a meteor's short-lived gleam;_

_And all the sons of glory soon_

_Will rest beneath the mould'ring stone._

_And Genius is a star whose light_

_Is soon to sink in endless night,_

_And heavenly beauty's angel form_

_Will bend like flower in winter's storm._

_~'Earthly Pomp', _Nathaniel Hawthorne

* * *

><p>"You're the Avatar and yet we're <em>still<em> standing in dirt; literally."

His joyful voice gave away the grin he wore. "Come on, it's fun! You know there's nothing you'd rather do right now."

Toph just bit her lip to keep the smile at bay, not wanting to admit that, yeah, it kind of was fun. The two friends were currently cutting bales of hay apart - collected earlier that week - to pad Appa's indoor bed. Truthfully, it was not really indoors; it was in an alcove that was connected to a hallway that the flying bison definitely could _not_ walk through that then led indoors. He had been sleeping outside under the trees before now. If last week's rain - even if it was only brief - had told them anything, it was that Appa needed somewhere to go before he got soaked and stunk worse than a skunkfish.

She used the dull knife in her hand to saw a handful of hay in half so that it was manageable within her grasp and then she proceeded to stack it onto the pile. "How often do you think we'll have to replace this? He'll crush it all down the first time he lays on it."

"I don't know. I guess we'll see when we have to replace it," Aang replied calmly. She almost envied his cool behavior, how he was able to go with the flow of events around them. She loved going on spur-of-the-moment adventures as much as the next gal - more, probably - but sometimes a plan was also helpful.

She held her tongue because they had enough on their minds as it was. A minute later, he asked, "Have you seen Raja lately?"

"No. I haven't been over to visit them; and I don't think Halona likes me."

"She likes you," he quickly assured.

"No, she doesn't." Toph sighed with a roll of her eyes. "To be fair to the neurotic mother, she doesn't like people easily. I get it - how trusting would you feel if you had a kid that can change the world like she has?"

He thought about this for a while. "Yeah, okay."

"Why do you ask?"

"Because she was supposed to be dropped off for lessons this morning in the other peak but they didn't show up." He grunted, dragging another bale over to stack up in the corner; it was easier to store it here than bring over again, they realized.

"It might be Perry," Toph suggested. "Maybe you should have a heart to heart?"

"I don't know, Sokka's the only one that I've ever tried to do that with and he... didn't."

She rolled her eyes at Aang's nervous tone. "Sokka _loved_ talking about everyone's feelings, he just didn't want to admit it; and there was Zuko. You had a couple of discussion with him before he switched to our side."

Aang stomped on the hay they had spread out. She took a break and leaned against the balcony, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "Do you remember how all of those went? Terrible, that's how."

"I swear to all spirits in the Spirit World, you worry more than any other person I've met."

He had the gall to laugh. "I don't worry that much!"

"Uh, yeah, you kind of do, Twinkletoes. Take a breath; you air-benders are good at that, right?" She smirked and went to grab a few more strands of hay in a pile at her feet. "Ouch!" She hissed out of habit, jerking her fingers back. She popped them in her mouth, tasting the tell-tale metallic signs of blood. They didn't necessarily hurt, but paper cuts – or hay cuts, as it now was – were painful in their own odd way.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just basically got a paper-cut, like an idiot," Toph scolded herself, fumbling her words as she spoke around her fingers.

Aang reached out and wrapped a hand around her wrist. "Let me see."

"They're fine; how's Appa's bed coming along?"

"_Toph_."

She narrowed her eyes at his sugary-sweet tone full of patience and firmness. _It's not fair how the Avatars get all the charisma, _she thought and pulled her fingers out of her mouth. "How bad is it?"

His fingers grazed over hers. "It needs a bandage but I can heal it if you want. Three of them have scrapes and one cut is pretty deep. Sorry."

"Don't apologize; it's not your fault." She took a long breath. "Would it be wrong if I asked you to just heal them? It's just that paper cuts are _so_ annoying to work around."

"Happy to do it," he replied and lifted his hand from her fingers. She winced as the exposed edges of the small wounds pulled and tugged. "Sorry."

Toph ignored the last apology. A tingling of heat blanketed her fingers. She blinked and the pain left her. "Is that it?"

"Yep. You had a lot of saliva on your fingers so I just used that." The rustling of cloth told her he shrugged.

Her cheeks inflamed. "You are the one that slobbers, bucko."

"I don't _slobber_."

She snorted. "Ask Katara in your next letter - she'll tell you."

Aang leaned on the balcony siding next to her. "I think his bed is good enough."

"Lots of hay?"

"Check. Where is he, anyway?"

Toph tapped the stone half-wall. "I don't know where he went after he abandoned us but I think I heard him flying. Either that or Momo is really able to part the wind. And _that_ would be scary." He chuckled. She held up her hand and wagged her fingers one-by-one. "Thanks. I won't have scars, will I? Because if I do, I want to make up a real kick-ass story to go with 'em and not the lame truth of 'I was picking hay'."

"I don't know, let me check," Aang stifled a new round of laughter and grabbed her hand. He turned it palm up and she flattened her fingers out. His thumbs rubbed her skin. An odd tingle rippled down her spin and the hairs on her neck stood up. "Nope, I think you're good." He must have looked up and at her face because, a moment later, he asked, "What's wrong, Toph? You look... flushed."

The last word dropped an octave or two. She swallowed and pulled her brows together. "Aang..." She cleared her throat and tried again. "Aang, I..."

"Right, sorry." He dropped her hand.

"No, that's not-" She smiled and shifted on her feet, facing him, at the same time he made to take a step closer. Their cheeks brushed. Awkwardness slammed into her and made her flush more; she could feel the heat behind her cheeks and in her armpits.

Aang put a hand on her shoulder and, after standing face-to-face with her for a few seconds longer than necessary, turned away. "I should, uh, I should go see Perry. Thanks for the advice."

"Yeah, no problem," Toph said quickly and all too soon listened to his fast footsteps as he all-but ran away from her. "Sorry for wanting to kiss you, too," she whispered disparagingly and rubbed a clammy hand across her neck.

As though a bucket of cold water was dumped over her head, she froze. _What th- Crap! I want to... to kiss Aang?_ All at once the reactions she'd been having to his laughs, his compliments, and above all the brief and friendly brushes and touches they had that stood out to her made sense. _Crap, I want to kiss Aang_, she thought. Toph threw her head in her hands.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Softer than silence, stiller than still air_

_Float down from high pine-boughs the slender leaves._

_The forest floor its annual boon receives_

_That comes like snowfall, tireless, tranquil, fair._

_Gently they glide, gently they clothe the bare_

_Old rocks with grace. Their fall a mantle weaves_

_Of paler yellow than autumnal sheaves_

_Or those strange blossoms the witch-hazels wear._

_Athwart long aisles the sunbeams pierce their way;_

_High up, the crows are gathering for the night;_

_The delicate needles fill the air; the jay_

_Takes through their golden mist his radiant flight;_

_They fall and fall, till at November's close_

_The snow-flakes drop as lightly - snows on snows._

_~'The Snowing of the Pines', _Thomas Wentworth Higginson

* * *

><p>Loya watched, amused, as the girl in front of her babbled on about what she had bought and for what reasons. She didn't even glance down into the baskets Katara was holding. She already had a dinner planned in case the task she assigned didn't quite work out, but now she was genuinely surprised – though not so surprised, as this girl did come from humble, get-your-own-food beginnings, after all – and already had new ideas churning in her head to share with the cook, Maik. The man loved to think up new twists on old dishes to both appease his creativity gene and impending boredom after having done the same job and made the same dishes for forty-some-odd years.<p>

"Stop," she interrupted and held up her hand. The water-bender did so haltingly. "It all sounds great and you did a good job; now let's get back before lunch." She didn't wait for an answer before she started walking off.

Katara followed. "This was a test, wasn't it?"

"Maybe."

She grinned, proud of herself. "Why did you test me?"

Loya paused for a few beats. She sighed. "There are a lot of answers to that."

"Okay," Katara responded slowly. She was obviously confused. Loya couldn't blame her but didn't help her, either. "Can you tell me one of them? Does it have something to do with Ursa, because I thought she liked me?"

"She does," the other woman quickly reassured her. "And it was actually her idea that you tag along." She paused. "Nearly twenty years ago, when she first became my employer, Ursa would dress up in these ridiculous peasant outfits to tag along with me. She wanted to learn the household from its inner-workings. Bless her, she wanted to know everyone that worked for her, directly or indirectly, and wanted to help out any way she could; but being Fire Lady is demanding in terms of social appearances and in the early years she constantly traveled with Fire Lord Ozai, so maybe she wanted to make up for that, too.

"I can't believe how much time has passed." Loya shook her head morosely and then recovered herself a little, realizing the little history spiel she had been giving the wide-eyed young lady beside her. "I'm telling you this because in a little way she sees herself in you. I am helping Ursa by bringing you along so you can see what she saw, not that it's much."

She glanced over to Katara and saw that the girl seemed a bit speechless. _Job succeeded_, she thought, and continued weaving her way through the crowd. They were on a side street now so the population of the people around them was lessening, thankfully.

Loya took off the small shawl she kept around her shoulders whenever she went out on errands; the added heat – though this time of year it was a blessing – was a much better deal than having to change again if, say, a pigeon's droppings fell on her shoulder. That had happened before and it was so _not_ fun to explain.

A beat passed and she didn't expect it when Katara spoke again, asking, "Did you like working under Ozai?"

"It was a job," she answered back evenly. It was a tricky thing, determining if she could really share her personal feelings with someone that was technically above her ranking; and Katara was - above her rank that is. She had seen others do it before and they, well, sometimes they lost their jobs and possible future employment, too.

"But you liked working under Ursa; that's why you let her join you years ago, right? And why you're friends?"

Loya cocked her head. "I let her come with me on errands because she was my boss and we're friends because we found we had a lot in common and like each other's company. If I can ask, what is with all of the questions?"

Katara bit her lip. "Nothing. Nothing, I was just curious."

The other woman could practically see the thoughts turning and running in the water-bender's mind and smiled ever-so-slightly. "Don't worry, everyone loves you; including the staff."

Her smile quirked at Katara's self-conscious blush.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	68. Youth Shadowing program

**A/N:** This chapter does not have much going on; sorry! It ties up a few ends character storylines; Ty Lee won't be having much storyline time after this and this is Geranu, Shaepa, and Natima's last (and Miya!) for the _near_ future, though they'll pop up somewhere later; probably. And then, well, we needed to see what Sokka's doing with his work/mentoring-Fen-work.

I also admit that I needed a breather between the other characters' happenings :)

It is insane the amounts of research I put into little things that are mentioned for only, like, two paragraphs; like Pau buns. I spend too much time double-checking the 'Cuisine in the World of Avatar' page on Avatar Wikia. Although, I recommend looking up Pau buns (as they're a real recipe) – they look delicious!

Apologies for any mistakes; feel free to point them out. I added more to this chapter than I thought I would so since I just typed some of it, there's probably something I missed here or there. Again, sorry!

Also (and then I'll finish this up!) I hate how faded the horizontal line has become that separates the quotes from the text; I've noticed that within the past week, so I'm sorry if sometimes it can be confusing to read at a glance because of that.

Thanks for reading/alerting/favoriting/reviewing! It means a _ton_.

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."_

~Martin Luther

* * *

><p>Sokka walked down the street at a leisurely pace, not in any sort of a rush; though the same could not be said for his companion. Fen hurried ahead, his feet scuffling quickly and quite clumsily. "Slow down," Sokka said. His eyes sparkled with amusement; he understood the kid's excitement but he knew the kid would have to wait anyway. The next drafts wouldn't be for another few months and by then there probably would not be that much excitement in the 'field'. There was no need to hurry to sign up; it wouldn't rush anything.<p>

The boy cast back to him an annoyed look but obeyed all the same. "Do you think they'll accept my volunteering by the next quarter?"

"Maybe, but they probably have a lot of applications too."

"Hm. I don't care; it's still cool what they're doing. And I'm just turned eleven so even if I have to wait a year or two, that's still sooner than my brother! He was fourteen," Fen informed him for the umpteenth time.

"It is cool," Sokka agreed. His student started rambling on about all the ideas he had of the different programs and Sokka only smiled and nodded. Even if he had anything to interject, the kid left no room for it. He was having a one-sided conversation and was plenty content with that.

The Earth King Kuei had just this past month begun creating and implementing all of these programs, which are geared towards educating and training children and teens throughout the nation interested in military service. Now with the dust settling, the Earth Kingdom could focus on keeping and recruiting their subjects that wanted to have careers in the military versus doing draft after mandatory draft as fast as they could get new of-age citizens. All the others that volunteered because of the Hundred Years' War, or had to partake in mandatory service, could now leave and go home to pursue the lives and jobs they really wanted.

However, the programs weren't only to entice those young teens who wished to be a protector of their country. It was also to train any that had that dream or wanted that experience but, at the end of the day, went off to do something else with their lives. The Earth Kingdom learned the hard way that it was unprepared for a long, lasting war. Many of the small villages or under-populated provinces across the largest nation in the world didn't have the means to protect themselves – people, resources, or otherwise.

The real blow to that revelation, though, was the fact that the people of Ba Sing Se were too isolated in their lives; most had never even traveled outside of the city and those that did had enough coin to travel peacefully to resorts where no violence could be seen or felt. The programs were a smart move by Kuei, but Sokka suspected he knew that already.

A small storefront on Kyoshi Island now held a recruiting office for both the Earth Kingdom military and these programs which tied into it. It would only be on the island for one month every three, hence Fen's eagerness to go today, a day that was normally a relaxing Saturday for Sokka.

"There it is!" Fen pointed to a nondescript place. The walls on either side of its door were layered with posters full of slogans like "Serve Your Country!", "Be Prepared!" and "Learn the Life of a Soldier Today!" Sokka grinned at them. They were ridiculous but somehow inspiring too. They walked in and Fen immediately ran up to the low counter to the left. "Hi, I'm here for the Youth Shadowing pr-"

"Fill these out," the stout woman interrupted and replied, smacking down two clipboards on the counter. Instead of thin paper for scrolls, they held a starch paper Sokka didn't recognize and they had thin coal sticks attached to them via a chain instead of the usual ink and quill. He picked up one and studied it curiously.

"He's not signing up too, he's just my teacher here for support," the boy explained.

"Like a sponsor?"

Fen and Sokka shared a confused look.

"A sponsor," the woman explained with a bored expression, "is someone that can vouch for fields of certain skills. You like to cook, we can get you the job of camp cook with the team you're grouped up with and stuff like that. If you have a skill, we can utilize it. If you've had any kind of offensive or defensive training, you can skip the month of training required. The kids that have that get preference; they cost less." She narrowed her eyes at Sokka. "What did you teach him, history or something?"

"I'm a fight instructor," he answered proudly.

"Huh. Good for you, kid, you might be able to get in after you turn ten."

"I'm eleven!" Fen protested.

The woman just nodded along, not caring on iota. "Here's the sponsor papers. Write down his name and form name on yours so they get matched up properly. Chairs are over there. Return them before you leave; have a nice day."

Sokka frowned as she went back to reading a book he didn't recognize. "Come on, Fen." They walked over and took the seats closest to the candle-stand.

"Who would've thought signing up for the military would take so many forms." Fen shook his head and them. "Hey thanks, Sokka, for being so cool about this. If my Dad had been able to come he would've been mad at this government data stuff." Fen held up the ends of the pages. "Now, how do these work?"

Sokka shrugged and smiled genuinely. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. Don't worry, it won't take long. I'll buy you lunch, deal?"

"Deal." They shook on it and then launched into their thin stacks of paperwork. Even though Sokka usually liked to lounge around and generally do nothing on his free Saturdays, he found himself not really minding this small adventure.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_When I have fears that I may cease to be_

_Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,_

_Before high-pilèd books, in charact'ry,_

_Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;_

_When I behold, upon the night's starred face,_

_Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,_

_And think that I may never live to trace,_

_Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;_

_And when I feel, fair creature of an hour_

_That I shall never look upon thee more,_

_Never have relish in the faery power_

_Of unreflecting love;-then on the shore_

_Of the wide world I stand alone, and think,_

_Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink._

_~'When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be', _John Keats

* * *

><p>"They just weren't meant to be, I guess," Geranu heard Shaepa said with a sad sigh when Miya came shuffling into the library after her friend, Natima.<p>

"Are you still moping?" Natima asked.

Geranu frowned at the bookshelf; the book was not in its allotted spot._ Probably a return someone put back themselves. Where would it be,_ he wondered. He snapped his fingers with a small smile and crossed the library. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shaepa pick up Miya and settle the Koala-sloth on her lap. She rubbed the animal's sensitive spot behind her ears. Miya purred in the back of her throat. "I can't help it – it's sad!"

"What's sad is that now we're stuck with that animal. Do you realize how hard it is to care for an animal in Ba Sing Se?" Natima asked. She brushed off her shorts and heaved herself up on the table next to her friend.

Geranu rolled his eyes at the same time that the other teen rolled her eyes, though she was facing his backside by this point and he didn't see them. He continued to weave his way between the tall bookshelves, unwillingly listening to the girls' conversation. "How are we going to get to Ba Sing Se, Natima? We don't have any money and we're still technically _kids_. Let go of the idea for now and focus on this cutie!" Geranu spotted the red-leather-bound book and slid it easily out of place. He doubled back.

"We do ha-" She went to argue but was interrupted by Monk Geranu.

"I found what you were looking for. Now make sure to drop it back by the librarian's desk when you're done, okay? I don't want to have to hunt for it again. Now I'm off; I have a class to get to." He handed the thankful girl the itinerary of native plants to the temple islands and stopped in his frenzied activities to smile at Miya. He ruffled her fur and waved to the teens. Gladly, he tottered off.

He hurried out of the library and up the steps outside to the main air temple. _These steps are going to kill me_, he thought while wiping his sweating forehead with the back of his hand. He may not be old as in being accurately called an _elder_, but he wasn't young anymore either. The place he was going to was an expansive room on the second floor, a room that Aang told him had been used as a 'meditation room'. The room was a whole building's size compared to the abbey where Geranu became a monk.

Since the Avatar had left the Southern Air Temples, not much had changed. Many people came to him, Geranu, now instead of Avatar Aang, as Aang left him in charge. Well, that and he was the only monk around. The Avatar had been somewhat disappointed when Geranu said he was staying there but the older monk had been able to show the boy that it was better this way.

He was now making a home and establishing a life that held him in contentment. Everything was good.

Except that he would be late to his fifth meeting. _Great_. Geranu had started these meetings more than a month ago in order to establish a place for any of the men or boys at the temples that wished to become monks, practice the meditative teachings, or any women and girls that were curious about becoming nuns; to which, if they were, they would now be taken over to the Eastern Air Temples if they chose that course of life instead of merely dabbling in it for a week.

Geranu quietly opened the large wooden doors. He had seven postulants – those considering becoming monks; a step below novices – and they were already sitting in their separate places. Knees bent outward, hands clasped, eyes closed; they were meditating.

He whispered apologies for his absence to them, not wanting to interrupt, and crept forward to sit on his own orange cushion. Three of them nodded to his words, acknowledging them.

He kept a small smile to himself at their movements. He doubted that any more than one or two would decide to not become monks. They all seemed to have deep faiths in the Spirit World and, truthfully, their lives would not be much different than they were now. Geranu relaxed his shoulders and slowly began blocking all thoughts from his mind. Slowly the view of clouds came into his mind. Calm, slowly floating clouds.

He sighed. One of them began to morph and within a second, a minute, or an hour - as the time seemed to speed past and yet stand still when he was meditating - Geranu saw the face of his son. Just that week he had received a letter from his sister-in-law, telling him of his boy's accomplishments in school and eagerness to sail; he even volunteered with a friend, helping a local fisherman.

Geranu felt unabashed pride in his chest. He smiled peacefully; as much as it had hurt at first, everyone had worked out for the best.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Hasting on, the springlet flows,_

_Licking up its dark brown bed;_

_More and more its crystal grows_

_As its course is sped._

_Stirs the grasses, moists the sand,_

_Plays a thousand tricks a day;_

_Wave on wave its face is fanned_

_With laughter light and gay._

_Couch of down it lends the vale;_

_Cool its fan the birch-trees find;_

_Reeds its quiet pathway trail_

_To rest and shade resigned._

_Bursts it on the open sky!_

_What was all its running for,_

_If beneath the cliff it die_

_Engulfed forevermore?_

_~'The Springlet', _José Zorilla

* * *

><p>Ty Lee ripped off a corner of the steaming pastry resting on the dish in front of her. She forewent blowing on it and popped the hot wheat concoction into her mouth. It stung against her gums and the roof of her mouth but she tossed it around with her tongue enough to cool it and chewed it quickly. Child hands reached over and roguishly tore a hole into the side of the Pau bun. "Hey!" She protested but it was in vain. There was nothing she could to do to keep the filling of Crab, cabbage, onions and soy sauce from messily spilling out, looking like a chunky natural oil spill.<p>

Eito just stared at her with his child-like innocence while chewing on the soft bread in his hands. His sister and Ty Lee's friend, Akako, turned back around from where she had been at the counter. She picked up her now-baked order and immediately took in the scene. "Eito, what did you do? Ty Lee, I'm so sorry; you know how he can be."

"It's okay." She flashed the Kyoshi a smile. Akako picked up her little brother seven years her junior, moving him a seat over so that she could sit in her original place, across from her friend. "Continue what you were saying before. Are you really going to consider dating him?"

"No!" Ty Lee exclaimed somewhat quietly, careful of the few customers around them, but did so with a wink. "But I won't let _him_ know that. I have a bet with Hue; she thinks he would be more of tongue kisser but I told her he's way too shy for that. A peck for the first time; at most!"

"You're horrible!" Akako laughed and poked at her egg custard tart with a pair of chopsticks; it wasn't conventional, but she had a weird thing about eating food with her hands. Ty Lee ducked her head to take a sip of tea, hiding her smirk_. She would fit in so well back in the Fire Nation if she were nobility_, Ty thought.

She watched the other Junior Kyoshi warrior's lips move and shook her head, snapping herself out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I knew it! You can't get your mind off of Daono." Akako shook her head, cheeks pink with humor.

"I wasn't thinking about him," she protested back. "You would do great in nobility with your quirks."

"What?"

That caught her off-guard. Ty Lee grinned and gestured. "Your eating habits." She glanced up. The door to the café was propped open and she spotted Layir coming through the doorway. "Hey!" She waved the two girls over.

Layir took a seat in between the two already sitting while Hue, another of their mutual friends, pulled up an extra seat between Eito and Ty Lee. Layir ran a hand through her hair in a gesture full of nervousness but none of them noticed. "Hey, guys."

"Hey yourself. You two are late, what took so long?"

"That's my fault," Layir apologized with a brief roll of her eyes. "I had an errand to run for my parents and it took longer than I thought 'cause I ran i- never mind, not important. So Hue had to wait for me until I came back and we got over here as soon as we could. Oh, and Suki said she wasn't feeling well; she looked kind of pale when we went and saw her. Anyway, have either of you heard of the storm coming in?"

"No, what storm?" Ty Lee frowned. She had lived on an island too all her life; she knew what potential ocean-born storms could hold and it generally wasn't good.

"Supposedly there's a storm coming in from the north; if you look, there's like a dark line you can see kind of above the horizon. All the stories coming from the villages up from us say it's a storm 'cause they've seen lightning."

"Do you think it will move down?"

"It'll be no big deal," Akako interrupted casually. "How many times have we all heard 'duck and run' for nothing? We last had a storm four months ago; it's not even in season."

"So, it's been a while. That could make it the perfect time to have one," Hue argued.

"You can draw parallels anywhere but they don't always hold up." She stood. "I'm getting another Pau bun. Anyone want one?"

Layir waved her hand. "I'll take a tofu and radish one if you're buying."

Akako wrinkled her nose at the combination but nodded and walked over to the counter anyway. Eito jumped at this momentary lack of supervision and reached for another bit of Ty Lee's pastry. "Uh, uh!" She said quickly and lifted the plate in the air. He pouted.

"Do you want one of your own, Eito?" Hue asked him, distracting him as she acted like a shield between him and her newest friend's fluffily stuffed pastry. He sat back in his seat, arms crossed. "It is not fair to take other people's things, okay?" He just conceded with an understanding nod. By no means did it mean he would follow that rule, though. "Okay." She was satisfied with this and turned to face her friend. "Hey, Ty Lee?"

"Hm?" She asked, tossing her short hair attractively in the same manner of someone with long hair. It was done without much thought, though, and she looked up, popping her thumb, dripping with soy sauce, into her mouth. Her Pau bun was falling apart to the point that it was almost unsalvageable.

"That guy is checking you out. _Seriously_." Hue nodded not-so-subtly to the side.

Ty Lee looked over. The boy, somewhere around her age, blushed at the eye contact but surprisingly didn't look away. She grinned slowly.

"How come you get all the guys' attention?" Hue complained without jest. She leaned lazily back in her seat. "At this rate I'll never find a first date."

"Trust me, you don't want to stick around with guys our age too long. Enjoy them while you can and just enjoy life. Who says you have to settle down?"

She laughed. "Settle down? I just want a date!"

"What's a date?" Eito asked sincerely.

Hue ruffled his light-brown hair. "It's when two people who like each other go out to eat together or see a play or something. You'll understand when you're older."

Ty Lee tore her winking gaze away when Layir coughed. The Kyoshi took a sip of tea before taking advantage of the lull in conversation. "Hey, uh, I've been meaning to tell you guys, I have so-"

"Here's your gross tofu and radish, Layir, and I got a few tarts if anyone else wants some." Akako deposited them on the table and sat down. Her nonchalant attitude froze rigidly in place when she noticed her friend's attitude. "What's wrong?"

Layir fiddled with her thumbs, leaving the Pau bun to sit cooling on its plate, untouched. Eito took the opportunity to snag a bite. She didn't notice. "I meant to tell you all before 'cause you're my best friends but I kind of chickened out…. I'm moving in with my brother."

Silence descended while everyone glanced back and forth, processing what this meant. "That's a bad thing because he's a boy, right?" Ty Lee asked, frowning. She glanced around at her friend's face. _Obviously I'm missing something here,_ she thought bemusedly.

"No, it's a bad thing because he lives three villages south," Hue informed her with a deep frown.

"But it's not forever!" Layir interjected, suddenly smiling. "He just needs help while he expands his fishing company and he can't afford to hire anyone right now because my little nephew was born. I'm only gonna help him run the place until he gets back on his feet."

Akako broke the silence by lightly slapping the girl's shoulder. "You sly girl! You just want to check out the fish in a different pond!"

She broke out in a relieved giggle. "I do not!"

"Aw, we'll miss you, Layir! When are you leaving?" Ty Lee gave her a half-hug.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" They all exploded.

Layir at least looked sheepish about it. "I told you I was chickened!"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	69. Terra Team Offer

**A/N:** I've looked at a lot of pictures of Aang from the show and I remember his eyes being brown but the pictures range from light brown to grey to grey-blue and even one that looked suspiciously green so I'm just going to say hazel. If you've ever met or known someone that has hazel eyes (I have 2 in my family) then you know that one day they can be more dominantly brown and the next more blue; they have flecks of all different colors in their eyes. Long explanation again, not needed, but I didn't want anyone to review "oh, his eyes are grey" or "oh, his eyes are brown", rather I'm saying now that they seemed to have changed a few times in the show (whether a goof or intentional) so this is just how I'm choosing to portray that. It's the little things *sigh*.

There actually is such a thing as 'sesame seed cookies', by the way (mentioned briefly below).

I figured I would mention in here an update on the timeline: Sokka and Suki's wedding was a little more than 5 months after Zuko's coronation so now we're 7 months after it, six into this story (because of the initial 1 month time skip).

Alright.

I'm done talking now. Please enjoy and thanks for reading :)

**Disclaimer: I wonder if the creators and writers of A:LA even check the fandom. Yeah, doubtful. In any case – no, I do not own anything related to the series. If the series had not gone in the direction of pairing Aang and Katara (who I personally see more as a brother-sister deal) then I would've bought the DVD's but no thank you. **

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter."_

~Oscar Wilde

* * *

><p>Sokka had had a busy day. Since coming back from his former home, the South Pole, it had taken a while to get used to Kyoshi again. Not that he had trouble adapting, of course. He was the master at that – drop him into any setting, any setting at all, and he could navigate the place and figure out how to survive within a handful of days. It was why he had loved traveling around with Aang – except for the nuts. <em>Those gross nuts<em>, he thought with a shudder. Still to this day he abhorred having nuts as a snack, which usually meant by themselves.

_In something_, yes. _Plain_, no. If he had to be on the brink of starvation again, Sokka would do it with apples or something else like that. _No nuts._

Today had been his first lesson with his class since the honeymoon and it had been… hectic. There was no other teacher doing in-depth defense and offensive attack training like he was doing (though there was one class now that was a very basic one and was added after he got approval for his) so, basically, he discovered that his whole class, with the exception of three or four mixed in there, had been sitting on their butts and doing nothing for the two months he was gone. _Awesome._

Instead of covering new material as he expected to be doing, Sokka gave up fifteen minutes into it. Half of them had forgotten entirely, three-quarters stumbled, and all of them were a little rusty here or there. He went through everything – besides the basics – that they had learned so far and that had turned out to be a much more draining process than he realized. Fen had been a breeze, though, and helped him with it so much that he was proud to say that tomorrow's class would be with _new_ material. And no excuses this time, either.

Of course, that was almost exclusively because Fen had been practicing and training to be sure he was prepared, should he be chosen for the military training program he signed up for yesterday_. So much support,_ the teacher thought dryly while walking up the short stone path to his new front door.

As soon as Sokka opened the door, he heard the tell-tale sign of female giggles. Curious, he shut the door, pulled off his South Pole coat, and walked around the curve of the hall to the living room. Suki was sitting in a corner of the loveseat, cradling a small cup of tea, laughing so hard that it spilled. Layir was standing in front of her and gesturing wildly to something that Sokka could not decipher. The living was still sparsely furnished but a few things had been added since that time, slowing him down in his path a little.

"What are you doing out of bed? Layir, she's sick," he chided and rolled his eyes, walking further into the room. He knelt next to Suki and kissed her flushed cheek. "Are you warm?"

"Wha- no, I've just laughed so much I can't breathe!" Suki waved at Layir, who came and sat down next to her. "Tell him the story exactly like you just did; it's hilarious!"

"Nah, that's okay, you probably had your hands full, right Sokka?" She glanced around. "I should probably get going anyway – early bird catches the germ or something stupid like that." She smiled regretfully.

Sokka bit back a grin. "It's 'early bird catches the worm'."

"Oh," she said, narrowing her eyes. "That sounds weird."

"Not as much as what you just said!" Suki said with a light giggle.

Layir blushed and went to stand. "Get well soon, okay? And I'll be sure to write you, but you will probably hear every word of my letters to Akako and Ty Lee anyway."

"No, stay! You don't have to leave until noon, do you?"

"Well…."

Sokka glanced to his Kyoshi warrior wife, who only widened her eyes at him and not-so-subtly gestured to Layir. He sent her a 'what?' look, to which she frowned at him. "Uh, you can stay however long you want, Layir. You're not intruding or anything."

"That's right. Sokka," she began, turning to face him. She pat his hand sweetly. "Can you make us some sesame seed cookies? We haven't had a proper goodbye yet. And," she went to add, seeing his hesitant look, "they make me feel better."

Sokka pecked her forehead lightly and stood. "Okay, fine, but no doing whatever Layir was doing when I walked in, okay?"

"You mean impersonating a whale? No way, she does it best!" The two females laughed and Layir shrugged.

"What can I say."

"Exactly! Thank you, Sokka!" Suki called. She pat the cushion next to her. "Now what happened to the letter?" Layir sat next to her with a small amused smile.

He waved a hand over his shoulder, walking into the kitchen that was slightly separated from the living room by both a half wall and the fact of its more-than-normal deepness, trapping sound in – and out. "Yeah, yeah." Sokka reached up and grabbed the recipe book his wife had from her mother's compilations and thumbed through the pages. Absently, he shuffled around the kitchen grabbing all the ingredients. _So domesticated,_ he scolded himself but smiled all the same. If it made Suki happy, he was happy.

Speaking of Suki - as he spun around to place the brown bag of sugar on the counter nearest the doorway, Sokka heard whispering and stepped a few feet over, straining his ear unabashedly. "Liar!" Exclaimed the young Kyoshi that would soon be leaving town.

"What?" Suki asked without any admonishment in her voice whatsoever. "I like those cookies and he dotes constantly; it's great."

"I heard that!" He called out. All he got were more muffled giggles in response.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_It seems like noon, so bright the lustre shed_

_On the damp forest by the moon's white glow._

_The breeze scarce moves yon oak tree to and fro,_

_That mid a thousand others rears its head._

_O'er Zempoala, on an azure bed,_

_The evening star rests just above the snow,_

_And dimly in the fields the brooklet's flow_

_Shows like a silver ribbon far outspread._

_The heavens shine; the hoophoe's note of pain_

_Sounds on the mountain, and the echoes send_

_Its wail across the broad plains plaintively._

_Phyllis, come follow me, for I would fain_

_Enjoy this night; shut up the cot, my friend;_

_Upon the hillside I will wait for thee._

_~'In The Night'_, by Joaquín Arcadio Pagaza, translated by Alice Stone Blackwell

* * *

><p>"Hey, Toph; here you go," the young woman, probably mid-twenties, said across from her.<p>

Toph took the small bundle of scrolls with a pleasant smile. "Thanks, Rue."

"There's a letter in there for you; it's the one with the Earth Kingdom seal," Ruriko pointed out before turning around to continue sorting.

The earth-bender paused for a moment, feeling the seals, before continuing on her way. The mail came weekly from carrier crow-pigeons. Toph usually volunteered to go down and fetch what was theirs unless it was convenient for Aang; which, now that this Sunday morning was taken up by his sessions with Raja, was usually a 'no'. There was only one letter with an Earth Kingdom seal but it felt slightly different. _Earth King,_ she recognized. _Strange._

Her curiosity was certainly peaked.

Crossing the sidewalk connecting the temples together, Toph entered the second and mounted its wide staircase. Her feet thudding against the stone created a nice steady rhythm that she used to distract herself from inevitably speculating. She stopped at the third floor. The staircase was located near the front of the temple's entrance so from its arrival at the third floor, the hallway was shaped like a 'T'. Two large rooms lie on either side and the end of the 'T' was like a room in and of itself with long, almost never-ending balconies stretching across and along the edge. She went to the room at her right.

The doorway was open; no one besides the two of them lived in this temple at present as parts of it were still being refurbished and fixed-up. These temples were definitely proving to be more challenging than the Southern Air Temples. Toph leaned against the arch. She allowed herself a moment of peace to fully use her seismic sense, watching Raja as she stood on her soft, wobbly feet and let Aang move her arms. She watched as Aang held his hand in front of the little girl's face and suddenly there was a blur of gray. Air-bending.

"I thought you wanted to keep her gift a secret?" Toph asked as she walked in.

"They don't know what it means," Aang responded lightly.

She set the small pile of papers down on a long table pushed up against the wall shared with the door and moved to the middle of the room, kneeling. The three-year-old in front of her worked on a wood-carved puzzle and didn't even notice her presence.

Aang's babysitting of Raja did attract a little attention. He now had three other kids he was watching on Sunday's and they were all perfectly poised at that age where they had just enough of their motor skills learned and just enough of their brain developed so that they never let you rest. Toph was lucky two of them had been dropped off tired or otherwise it would be just like any other usual Sunday, with her only being able to get the mail in the afternoon.

Her seismic sense was almost better than having eyes; at least it didn't cross like Aang complained about his eyes doing by the time the end of the day drew near. "Hey, what do you think you're doing, young one?" The toddler in front of her started crawling on her lap, reaching out with chubby hands. He reached for her bracelet; the one Sokka had made out of meteorite and promptly given to her. "Sorry, dude; no one gets that but me."

"Nap time," Aang announced.

They chased the four toddlers around for a good fifteen minutes before the young ones all finally gave into their schedule-induced drooping eyes and desires to suck their thumbs silly. Aang fixed the blanket on Raja before coming over to where Toph sat on a stool next to the table. "Read this for me?" She tossed him the letter.

"Sure." He cracked open the seal and glanced over it. "King Kuei?"

"What?" Toph asked, pulling the stool closer. It vibrated along the tiles loudly.

"Shh; you'll wake them again."

"Sorry," she said without processing or caring what he just said. _King Kuei?_ "What does it say?"

Aang cleared his throat. "Here goes:

'_Toph Bei Fong,_

'_As you and Avatar Aang are aware, I and the rest of the Earth Kingdom government have been opening programs for our younger citizens to train with our already existing soldiers. I began this because I thought of you and your extraordinary self-taught mastery of earth-bending. You are a perfect example of the Earth Kingdom's fierce spirit. As the first person I have ever heard of that has the ability to metal-bend, I'm very interest in better seeing what else you can do._

'_I am extending an invitation for you to come to Ba Sing Se and train with some future Terra Team members. The Terra Team is responsible for the upkeep of the city's defensive walls, as you probably remember. It is an elite position and I would be very excited if you chose to participate. It would be for four months and all training would occur in Ba Sing Se._

'_There is another offer I would like to discuss with you, if you decide to come. If not, I will happily accept that too._

'_My best wishes to your health and please send my regards to our mutual friend, Avatar Aang._

'_King Kuei.'_

"I wonder what he means by 'another offer'," Aang mused out-loud thoughtfully, rolled the letter back up.

Toph sat, numb.

"Toph?"

"Training wi-" she cleared her throat as it was strangely wispy and somewhat scratchy. "-with the Terra Team. Can you believe it?" She grinned suddenly and jumped up, impulsively hugging him. "That's awesome!"

"Shh," he reminded with a hushed laugh and patted her back. "Congratulations."

"The Terra Team is the most important job in the whole of the Earth Kingdom military. That's, like, last-stand status! They don't let amateurs touch those walls!" She sighed, pleased with herself. Toph took the letter out of his hands and laid it flat on the table, running her fingers over the dried and soaked-in ink. She couldn't feel it as being any different than the paper it was on but it was still cool. "I have so many ideas; and a 'second offer'? Do you think it'll have something to do with this one? Like a position or something he wants to give me?

"What do I do, Aang?" She asked, finishing off her line of rushed questioning.

"Whatever makes you happy. Do you want to be a soldier?"

"I don't know. I do want to go see what it's like, though. I mean, do you ever want to say 'no' to something only to regret it later?" Toph sat down again on the stool; he leaned against the edge of the table. "Everyone I grew up around always seemed to have all of these regrets, like they didn't live life the way they wanted to, and I don't want to have that; _we_ don't have to have that. We can do anything we want."

"Then go for it," Aang said, reaching across the space between them and squeezing her shoulder. "It sounds like an awesome opportunity."

"Yeah, it does," she murmured, suddenly realizing the most fundamental part of accepting: she would be leaving the temples. Even if it was just for four months, Toph already knew how much could change in four months. She knew Aang's plans already – by the end of three months, he wanted to be finished renovating these temples and only spend one more month here before going to the Northern Air Temples, unless anything else popped up.

But then, stuff happened all the time. If it wasn't in their circle, like Sokka and Suki's wedding, then it was natural disaster stuff, like the drought in Gaih-Fo Valley. _Everything will be different in four months_, she thought with an almost sorrowful heart.

"Hey, what is it? You just went from being giddy to frowning."

"I'm not giddy," she snapped. Toph waved her hand. "Sorry. I was thinking of what it would be like here without me and my cynical cloud," she tried for a joke.

Evidently, it failed. "Don't think you have to stay here, Toph. And you don't have to think it's your job to help me forever. We're still young; our paths were bound to… to _split_… eventually," Aang said with a thick swallow; it sounded as though it was almost painful for him to say it.

She scoffed. "It's not that. It's…."

Pause. "What?"

A flush crept up her neck. "Forget it. It's nothing." She stood and held the scroll up. "Thanks and thanks for the advice, too. I'm going to go take a walk, think it through. You are right, it's a great opportunity." She smiled wanly.

He sighed, sounding somewhat exasperated. "Wait, Toph-" he began, grabbing her wrist when she went to walk away.

_Can't a girl have a pitiful exit scene without being interrupted_? She thought, aggravated. She didn't want to admit that it wasn't obligation to Aang keeping her around, working her butt off nonstop at these temples, but it was the people in general; and _him_. It was _fun_ here. It was fun bonding with little Raja and meeting all of the other people that came along with them, to listen to Aang chatter on about the handful of females their age and older deciding to become nuns and deciding to take care of these temples long after they – she and Aang - left in a number of months.

It was fun to joke with Aang and to hang out with him all the time in a kind of one-on-one contact that doesn't occur much when there is a group of six of you and the conversation changes as often as someone takes a sip of tea. And it was weird to feel all these new things she was feeling. _We're friends and nothing more, right?_ She had asked herself more than a few times_. Not quite, _her brain – her whispering subconscious – answered back.

It wasn't like her crush with Sokka; he had seen her more of a little sister, which had been not amusing at all. Annoying, actually. It had been damn annoying but then Suki had joined their group again and as she got to know the Kyoshi, the crush faded. Toph saw the ridiculousness in it and how perfectly those other two melted together. It was weird, but by the time of Zuko's coronation, she didn't have an ounce of more-than-friendly feelings towards the South Pole boy. _It was more of a phase,_ she guessed_, than_ _anything else._

But now things like those feelings were coming up again and for a different person at that – you know, those weird sensations of stomach butterflies and a sensitivity to touch, to attention. Only that now it wasn't so baseless; and if his wide berth lately was of any indication, any indication at all, it was not one-sided. At least, she hoped not.

Toph would really be a pissed-off woman if another of her crushes turned into nil. "What?" She asked, whipping back around a little too quickly. She banged into his chest again_. Idiot, stop doing that,_ she scolded herself.

"Sorry," Aang apologized, removing his hand.

"It's fi-" she went to say, lifting up her face out of common courtesy, only to band her forehead into his as he went to look down. She kept forgetting that he'd had a little bit of a growth spurt lately – an unfortunate one of nearly two inches. It kept throwing her off. Toph clenched her jaw. Her senses were doing their little electricity dance again and it was really freaking her out how well she could sense the heat coming from his body. _It isn't like he's warmer than me_, she told herself in vain.

"Sorry again," he said sheepishly. Toph sighed, letting out a breath to try and collect herself. It didn't work. _Stupid crushes and thoughts of kissing_. For some reason, even though she felt like she was completely splotched and in the desert - and probably looked like it too - Aang wasn't saying a word. When she breathed, she felt the breath bounce off of him and come back to lightly fan her face.

_I need to get space_, she thought. _Right, a walk_. "If you're just gonna stand there, then I'm going to go take that walk now." Her voice sounded a little snappy but Toph didn't apologize.

She went to leave and once again Aang reached for her. "I'm sorry, again, I-" he continued on, somewhat flustered.

"Ugh, stop apologizing!" She said, turning back to him. "Just-" _Oh, screw it, _she thought, and rashly closed the distance. _He probably doesn't feel the same; is it wrong that I just want to feel what it, well, feels like once?_

It was a soft kiss and gentle in a way exactly as she had expected. His lips were chapped, she noticed, and the movement of the kiss, though strange, felt… right. The warmth that flooded her and caused goose-bumps to run up the length of her arms and spine wasn't what she'd expected, though it was pleasant all the same. The brief thought of '_I'm kissing my best friend and probably ruining our friendship'_ fleetingly crossed her mind but Toph didn't pay any attention to it. She would deal with the consequences when they came; she lived in the moment.

And in that moment Aang finally moved from standing still like a statue, cupping her face as though she were a fragile baby. She nearly teared up at the tenderness. It was another thing she expected but nonetheless Toph wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer. Aang broke it a minute later only to kiss her more squarely on the lips. Her kiss had been clumsy; his had been perfect.

It was fantastic….

…And only about the worst thing that could've happened in that moment.

When they did separate, her eyes fluttered open and they uncannily met his hazel ones. Her mind felt clouded and her skin scarily alive – reminding her of the days she spent learning earth-bending from badger moles and awakening that wonderfully open ability inside of her – and both feelings felt like they were warring with each other. She didn't know what to say.

_Here I have a life-shaping decision to make and I go and kiss my best friend? Way to make it more complicated, Toph, real pat on the back there_, she commended herself sarcastically. _Damn, you're crazy, girl. Crazy, stupid idiot._

"Sa-sor-ry," she managed to stutter out in between her mental scolding.

"Toph, wait!" He called immediately but she already left, jogging down the stairs. Aang didn't follow her. She didn't want him to.

_I need time to think_. A part of her knew he knew that too. It was almost uncanny how all the time together had synced up their minds. _Damn, Toph, what did you do now?_ She groaned and went to take solace in her room. Kuei's scroll was still clenched in her fist.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	70. Crown Braid

**A/N:** There is a letter from Aang in this and hope it doesn't sound OOC. While he's his usual self in letters to Katara, to Zuko, especially about business, I think he would write a little more formally. Does that make sense? I sincerely hope so :)

So now that I've researched it, I have realized that the Republic City in Legend of Korra is located where I placed Lixange Village on the map I added to of the Avatar World (link on my profile). It's halfway between The Abbey and Makapu.

For story continuity's sake, I'm going to go with the idea that Lixange was one of the founding villages that conjoined to later become Republic City (something that I may mention later, in case you were wondering).

Side note, Lixange is where Monk Geranu's from! Kind of excited I'll get to actually describe the village now XD

**Disclaimer: Ná féin. An é seo atá riachtanach fiú níos mó? Ní dóigh liom. Osna.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself."_

~T. S. Eliot

* * *

><p>'<em>Zuko – <em>

_The renovations are coming along great; thanks for asking. It's slow coming because the damage here is a lot more extensive – whole rooms have collapsed into themselves in some places. But, Toph and I are making a lot of progress and now that we have some people here, there are more hands to help out with the little things._

_King Kuei is helping us with the food since we moved over in winter instead of waiting – keep yours! I was there, remember? I know the Fire Nation will need everything it has while it gets used to only having Fire Nation land. How is that transition going?_

_That's sort of why I'm writing you back so early. See, Kuei wrote me – the Avatar me – about concerns he's having over the Harmony Restoration Movement. The western colonies of Yu Dao and Hu Xin Provinces you had under your country's control are experiencing disruptions and the people aren't moving as soon as he'd hoped._

_These were some early colonies and the Fire Nation citizens there are apparently unwilling to move back to their native home. Kuei would like to know what you plan to do about that. I told him in our last letter that I would mediate it for him. He's still a little… distrustful of you. Sorry._

_Do you want my help? I can visit him with you or go to those areas if you need it – anything to help._

_Let me know soon, okay?_

_-Aang'_

Zuko dropped the paper back down on his desk; it floated for a second and landed near the corner edge. _'Harmony Restoration Movement'_? He thought, puzzled. A light bulb went off in his head as he paced his room. _The repossession of the Fire Nation colonies on Earth Kingdom soil_, he remembered.

He walked the length of his room, stopping at the wall opposite his desk, and looked at the large and detailed map of the world. Within a few tense minutes he found the places Aang had mentioned. They were located to the west, yes, with them both residing in the separate northern half of the Earth Kingdom.

_Dammit,_ he thought tiredly. The troubles, kinks, and conflicts arising in the peace after he ended his father's and grandfather's war wouldn't stop coming for many years, he knew, but that knowledge didn't make it any less frustrating every time they arose.

He would need to visit. It was still his area, sort of, and he definitely had some of his country's people there. _I don't want to visit,_ Zuko thought a little tiredly, _but Kuei would only think less of me if I did anything else and those _are_ my people_. _As much as you help the world, Aang, this is something only I can take care of – with Kuei and full Fire Nation cooperation with the Earth Kingdom._

The Fire Lord studied the dates listed on when the colonies were captured under Fire Nation rule. Hu Xin had been taken under his grandfather Azulon when he – Azulon - had been young; possibly even only a short time after his General days. Zuko couldn't remember completely. Regardless, the colonies had been under Fire Nation control for at least two generations now, going on an easy three. _Of course there are conflicts there,_ he thought, placing his palms in his pockets as he stared out the windows. _Those people aren't Fire Nation; they've grown up with a completely different culture. The history, the environment, the food, all of it._

_But,_ he conceded with a bereaved sigh, _they aren't Earth Kingdom either. They're…._ He couldn't think up the right word. The people were a blend but there were also a new kind – _one, _he realized, _without a bending ability to unite them._

Maybe he would need Aang's help with this problem after all.

"Orez," he called out.

The assistant was in his doorway in less than a minute. "Yes, sir?"

"I need you to clear my plans next week and a few days after that. I'm leaving for Ba Sing Se; make sure to pack tonight. You'll have to come with."

"Of course." A pause. "Uh, when?"

"Hm?" Zuko turned to face the doorway.

"When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow evening."

"Should I notify anyone else beyond the port and your guards?" The young teen, the same age as the Fire Lord he served, asked it with thinly veiled curiosity. It wasn't even picked up on by Zuko; he didn't care for gossip. Rather, he thought about the other's question for a long moment.

"No, I'll do that myself. Thank you, Orez," he said, giving his assistant a rare smile – rare as it was during work. Few things beyond the occasional charity made him smile during his promised-to-be-a lifelong job.

He cast his gaze to the windows and the view beyond one last time before he went to draft a hasty – but meticulous – response to his Avatar friend. He had many plans to make after, too, and a few conversations he wasn't looking forward to much at all.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Where she is now, I cannot say-_

_The world has many a place of light:_

_Perhaps the sun's eyelashes dance_

_On hers, to give them both delight;_

_Or does she sit in some green shade,_

_And then the air, that lies above,_

_Can with a hundred pale blue eyes_

_Look through the leaves and find my Love?_

_~'Where She Is Now', _stanza #1/2, W.H. Davies

* * *

><p>Utter blankness that shifted between white and a very light-blue. Serene, it was the image he was used to when meditating. Green tinged the corners, creeping upon him as he tried to remain focused. Grey orbs washed into view. He ignored them, too.<p>

Suddenly, her face filled his mind in a quick minute, blocking out any peaceful relaxation he had been hoping to achieve earlier. Aang snapped his eyes open. He sighed audibly for a moment before realizing his mistake and trying to hold it in; all that accomplished was making him look like a blowfish.

_One day. No, not even that._ Fourteen hours since he had last seen her and been… _surprised_. If there was one emotion circulating through his mind that he could identify, it was the confusion. He understood her actions well – she was crushing on him and was both scared to admit it and frustrated at, well, feeling it. He remembered quite well when she had so blatantly been crushing on Sokka. Everyone had – _except Sokka._

Aang shook his head. Although, he only understood it because at one time he had felt the same and he was sure that Toph probably picked up a few signs here and there, now going on eight-plus months ago (as it was at Zuko's coronation that they had agreed to remain friends and a few weeks thereafter that his feelings had then completely faded), regarding his own crush.

His, just like hers, had been one-sided. A great learning experience, sure, but it was only because of whom Katara was that the group hadn't been all-but destroyed by it. And everyone's different. It was a fact that was making him surprisingly giddy. He found himself feeling unabashedly giddy with a sudden realization, one he had half-had when her lips had suddenly been on his but his mind had been too clouded at the time, processing what happened, to distinguish what it meant.

The crush _wasn't_ one-sided. He liked her back.

Aang smiled. The failed meditation had worked to clear his mind, at least.

Except, his liking her was not exactly in the way of a crush, where suddenly you have an infatuation with the person that you can't rid yourself of and their interests are yours. With a crush, you can't find any physical faults in them and you can see no blockades stopping the two of you from getting together - like, say, that the other person _doesn't_ feel the same. Rather, Aang cared for Toph. Not in the way he cared for all the people in the world, or how he cared for those under his watch at the air temples, or even how he cared for his close friends; it was deeper. He _cared_ for her.

If he was honest with himself - the kind of honesty where one combs through all their past interactions with a strict and unbiased eye - then Aang knew he had felt this coming on for a while. It was perfectly natural that he and Toph should grow close. Currently, they were working alongside one another in both restoring and running the temples, they were great friends, best friends you could even say, and they were closer in age to each other than anyone else. Aang had had his fourteenth birthday a while ago now and Toph had just had hers last month. Though technically young, they both recognized they were wiser than their years – _both_ by experiences, too.

And yet, it was more complicated than that. _The world is more complicated than it seems_, Aang thought, the brief memory of his visit to the Spirit World regarding Raja coming to mind. He understood her - truly - and she in turn; though Toph _definitely_ had a funny way of showing it.

Aang sighed - nearly inaudibly this time - and unfolded his legs. He stood and walked from the plateau. At the moment, he had chosen it as a place to meditate and quite a few others had joined him - with most partaking in similar practices like prayer and contemplation; a few did meditate. With the hours he and Toph were pulling inside of the temple buildings, it sometimes left him with a feeling of claustrophobia. Meditating outside with the rustling of leaves, chirping of insects, and smells only fresh air held was the best way to counteract that.

As if he were hit by a bucket's worth of cold, icy water, Aang realized another important fact that, this time, wiped off his half-smile and tore away his calm, cheerful mood as though it were only a mere a blanket resting comfortingly on his shoulders.

_Kuei's letter. To Toph._

Gone was the little bubble of happiness floating around him at the revelation that he cared for Toph and would alleviate her fears/concerns over their impromptu kiss next time he crossed paths with her; a day's time at most if he was distracted or she was intent on avoiding him. In its place was the feeling of dread and a fear of his own - a mild despair creeping upon him. _She will take the offer_. Aang knew her too well; this was what she'd been waiting for and dreaming about since the War ending and her earth-bending mastery no longer put her in danger - at least, not a danger she was unable to oppose by herself, like an army.

No, she would take the position and he would continue reviving his temples, continue overseeing the world, and what would become of them in four months' time - or more? Aang had no semblance of an idea when it came to what Kuei's second offer could be.

_Anything,_ he thought_. Truly anything._

Aang crossed the wooden bridge uniting the two temple peaks. He would have to tell her his thoughts on them, on the _kiss_, _very_ soon. Even if it made him nervous to lay his soul bare - especially being that it was the first time he could rationally see a happy ending to it - it was a very necessary thing. The chances of him losing Toph from his life in physical form for any real length of time were slim; Kuei's offer was only for four months' time and they had five mutual and close friends between them. However, that wasn't what he was afraid of.

Aang felt an emotional connection with Toph - they had sort of grown together in a way that left him wondering what the next four months would be like without her there beside him - that he knew would leave him with wallowing regrets if he let her slip away.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair-_

_The bees are stirring-birds are on the wing-_

_And Winter, slumbering in the open air,_

_Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!_

_And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,_

_Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing._

_Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,_

_Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow._

_Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,_

_For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!_

_With lips unbrighten'd, wreathless brow, I stroll:_

_And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?_

_Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve,_

_And Hope without an object cannot live._

_~'Work Without Hope'_, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

* * *

><p>Ursa walked through the halls without any particular destination. She had an off-day today - nothing to do, nobody to see - and was reveling in using it as a time to think. Except, of course, that she wasn't thinking much. Her mind was staying odd blank. Ursa stopped along the wall and ran her fingers along the peach-colored walls. It was a pretty contrast against the dark browns and blacks of wood along the borders of the ceiling and floor, effectively boxing the stucco in.<p>

She kept moving. Six times now she had seen her daughter; three times while she was in her cell, the fourth time moving her out of her cell, and the last two when Azula was staying in her new, more comforting room. She had stayed down near where Black Rock Prison was located for a week exactly; only one day she hadn't visited Azula and that was because she was readying the room her daughter now resided in.

It had been difficult to leave, but her daughter did need space; she knew that. It was a fragile game of tug-of-war at this point. How much can you give without being too sheltering and causing an accidental reversion from progress? How long can you stay away before it hurts their progress? Realistically, how much are you really helping versus the fact that you're simply giving them the tools to dig their way out if they want to?

The worries and possibilities plagued her mind. It was suffocating. Ursa felt the same heavy heart that she had for the years after she left her children in order to protect herself; it was a selfish act wrapped up in selfless reasoning. That didn't make it any less worrisome, though.

Ursa stopped again but this time at a set of double doors. She opened them and slipped through, leaving them cracked. The room was in a state of casual abandonment; the kind that said the person residing had only just stepped out and would return in an hour or two. But the resident didn't; _she_ didn't.

The vanity was a little out of order with some bottles and cases knocked over, the closet was messy with pieces of outfits thrown with some force to the floor, scattered, and the bed sheets were made in a rush. _Like the maid was afraid of her employer,_ Ursa thought with a shake of her head. She wasn't so naive to think that her daughter hadn't become cruel - she could see it in the way emotions crossed others' faces when she talked of Azula and when she had heard it in the stories Zuko had told her back in Hemero-Callis.

She ran a finger along the headboard. A light layer of dust came up with her finger, a lone mark on the faded-looking wood. Ursa sat on the bed and looked around the room again with sad eyes. The memories played in her mind again, as they had for the past two weeks without much relief beyond fleeting moments, events filled with distraction, and the occasional dreamless sleep.

_***Flashback - Fire Nation Palace Courtyard - 92 ASC**_

She was sitting with her feet curled underneath her, side leaned into the corner curve of the sofa. She was in the Sun Room. It was a beautiful place that, unlike most other estates she had seen with them in, had only half of the ceiling and the two walls under that half lined with glass. The rest was a normal roof with normal, thick walls free of windows. It convinced her she had a small ounce of privacy left.

Ursa was starting to wonder though. She wondered about the glances she caught; the stares, the whispers. She wondered about how Ozai knew so much of her schedule, and yet they hardly seemed to speak anymore; they certainly didn't share a bed. They hadn't for going on two years now.

Her concerning thoughts - _paranoid_ thoughts - were interrupted when she saw a flash of red out in the courtyard corner she had a view towards. It was seven year old Azula and her friends. She smiled.

Young Ty Lee, all smiles and sparkles, folded her arms and announced something proudly to the little group. Ursa looked on as any loving mother would as she watched her daughter put her hands on her hips in that cute, somewhat bossy way she did. Azula pointed to the tree by the pond. Ty Lee grinned at whatever challenge the other girl's words held and she jumped up the trunk, starting to climb.

Ursa frowned when Azula walked over to the trunk; a frown only innocently filled with curiosity. She shot out of her chair in horror when she saw her daughter flash fire under the other girl's foot. Ty Lee yelped, surprised, and fell down to the ground on her back.

"Azula!" The Fire Lady shouted as she burst out of the archway further down the hall from the Sun Room and into the courtyard. Her daughter turned to her with an innocent face. "Ty Lee, are you alright?" She caught a flicker of annoyance and irritation on her daughter's face - a look she knew all too clearly from Ozai - but didn't process it then. It was only later that evening that she let herself think on it with haunting worry. She turned her attention to the girl that was potentially hurt.

"Yeah, I'm okay." The other girl was helped up by Ursa; she smiled weakly.

"Come with me, I'll have Loya get you some ice for your head; does it hurt? It looks like you came down hard."

"No, no, I'm tougher than that. You should see how much I used to fall climbing up my family's the roof!" Ursa brushed that off as Ty Lee just laughed at the memories; she was always a very enthusiastically athletic girl. She led the girl to the house, soon to the kitchen. Loya was already in the doorway, blocking her path, ready to assist in any way.

Ursa let the more-experienced woman examine the knotted bruise while she marched back over to the tree. She knelt in front of her daughter. "Azula, what were you thinking? Never scare someone in such a precarious position like that!"

"She's fine, Mother," Azula dropped the act once her 'friend' was gone and rolled her eyes.

"You are lucky she's alright because if it were any other situation you would be punished; by me and your father!"

That kicked some fear into her. Ursa left the wide-eyed girl, feeling guilty at the harsh words but knowing they were needed, and walked back over to help Ty Lee. Loya looked up at her, shaking her head ever so subtly, and started guiding Ty Lee through the halls. Ursa breathed a sigh of relief.

_***End Flashback**_

Ursa shook her own head back in the present. She preferred to think of the good times with her daughter. While there had only been few, and often those were the ones that her children didn't remember anything about because of their young ages at the time, they were during the time before Ozai saw the great potential in his daughter. _Before she became his prodigy._ Ursa could pinpoint the exact time her daughter began changing.

When she had been allowed into her father's confidence. When he taught her the politics of the world, of the military, and of their country. When he let her sit in on meetings he had with advisors regarding everything from future strikes to dealing with traitors_. Azula had always been her Daddy's little girl_, Ursa thought with a stab of pain_. She would have given him the moon if it were possible._

_Why? _She wondered now, still, after all this time. Ursa would never fully know. It was a loyalty born out of blood and that was strengthened with attention and secrets. _A bond very, very close to those that are thick as thieves. They were._

_***Flashback - Azula's Room - 89 ASC **_

"Oh? And what did Mai say?" Ursa enquired, running the brush through her daughter's long silky strands of hair again soothingly.

Azula giggled. "She told him 'dragons are extinct now and wishes don't work so move on' and everyone looked at her really funny but she just kept eating her food! Isn't she weird?"

"She sounds honest, but remember that wishing never hurt anyone; sometimes your wishes do come true. I wished for a beautiful, smart girl and you know what? My wish came true." Ursa leaned to the side and snaked an arm aorund to tickle the girl's stomach. She got a few giggles out of it and went back to brushing her daughter's hair, grinning. "Do you like going with your father to these parties and meetings?"

"They're okay," Azula shrugged. "But I don't understand what they're talking about. There are some other kids; like I told you. So it's okay."

She nodded. In her mind, never to be said aloud, she was wondering what her husband's motives behind this was. Their daughter was only four - _and a half,_ as she reminded them every time - but Zuko was coming up on his seventh birthday. It was a perfect age for the boy to learn more about the world, to hear about what grown-ups do and think about.

As much as Ursa didn't want him to change from the big-hearted young boy she raised, she knew at some point he would have to. At some point he would get serious about his fire-bending and Ozai would become the sun in his universe. At some point, Zuko would dream of being in the military and being the best Fire Lord for his nation.

Only... he wasn't. It was not anything Zuko was doing, but rather Ozai. It made Ursa frown but she refrained herself and focused back on her lovely baby girl. "What kind of braid do you want?"

"The one where it crowns your head," Azula said, gesturing to her scalp.

"We can do that. Tell me more about what you saw today, hm?"

"Well, we saw this one guy on the street and he was kind of dirty and asking for money and I told Father we should give him money..." Ursa listened to her daughter while nodding, smiling, and murmuring little encouragements and comments here and there while she finished up the braid.

When she was done, she pat her daughter's hair to make sure it was secure and then stood, pulling back the sheets. "Come on, sweetheart, time for bed." Azula groaned but didn't verbally protest. Ursa pulled the thickly layered sheets up to her daughter's chin.

Azula situated herself , bringing her arms over them, and pulled her upper body over the pillows more. "Story?"

"I thought you would be too exhausted for a story tonight," Ursa teased and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her daughter. She brushed a few strands of already-loose hair away from the girl's big gold eyes. "Which one?"

"The one about the nun girl that finds the record of the magic king who saved his kingdom by making everyone forget about him 'cause he was the one that brought all of the trouble on them in the beginning."

She laughed. "I think you already know the whole story!"

"Nu-uh, you tell it really good; I don't expect the surprises!" Azula insisted.

"Okay then," Ursa smiled demurely. "Hundreds of years ago, in a time a lot less civilized, there was this girl who was orphaned at a young age because of a terrible plague. She had the brightest red hair, which was common then, and the prettiest gold eyes. One day, when she was cataloging all the books in Shadow Keep's – the castle grounds where she lived – library, she stumbled…." Half an hour later, her daughter was fast asleep. The Fire Lady leaned over and gently kissed the girl's temple before blowing out the lone candle-flame illuminating the room.

She stood to leave and paused at the door, peeking in one last time. _She'll be just fine_, Ursa assured herself. She believed it whole-heartedly at the time.

_***End Flashback**_

Ursa fingered the red and gold striped bed covere, picking at a thread that was somehow pulled loose and out of line; like a tree that managed to survive in a desert. _This room won't do at all_, she thought when an idea came to mind. _Perhaps the northern wing? Zuko said there are a few rooms down there, for guests and what-not, but they're not in use right now._

She stood up off of the bed that she found herself sitting on and in the exact same position that she had been in all those years ago, telling the story of the red-headed nun uncovering a beautiful history. Azula always loved that one the best. Ursa never really knew why; there were so many reasons, really. Was it the story of power or the story of love or the descriptions of the places; maybe just the exoticness of all of it? It didn't matter.

_Yeah, the northern wing might do_, she thought.

Ursa straightened the sheets, fluffed the pillows, organized the vanity and folded the clothes in the closet. She stopped at the double doors and surveyed the room once more. Satisfied, she nodded. She gripped the handles, facing outward into the hall, and walked backwards slowly until she heard the click and felt the jolt of the doors locking into place. She was content with remembering the room in that condition.

She headed down the hall to talk to Loya. There was no reason that her daughter's former room couldn't be stripped and cleaned. Her daughter would not be using it ever again.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	71. I'm Trusting You

**A/N: **Thank you for reading. Feel free to drop a review or PM me if you have any questions/comments on the story. Enjoy.

Warning for any spelling or grammatical mistakes – I only edited this twice; sorry :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"The sun goes up and the sun goes down  
>I drag myself into the town<br>All I do I want to do with you  
>Everyday I'm at my desk<br>At my desk I'm like the rest  
>All I do I want to do with you"<p>

_~'Cell',_ lyrics, The Servant

* * *

><p>Aang was disappointed when the sun set and rose again before he was able to talk to Toph. Sure they had crossed paths all throughout yesterday, but they were always around other people and a moment never came up where he could say 'hey, can I speak to you for a minute?' and not draw attention to the both of them. And drawing attention to the both of them was not something he wanted to do because he really didn't want to set off Toph right now. She had been eerily quiet; a clear indicator that just about anything he said could do the trick.<p>

However, it wasn't that she was just quiet with him. She was largely only nodding or murmuring along with other people when he had seen her the four and a half times yesterday afternoon (half because he hadn't seen her but rather only heard her a ways away). It could mean nothing, Aang knew. He just wanted to talk to her.

Bounding down the steps to the basement-like level in the second peak, he listened closely. No movement. _Probably missed her again_, he thought. Nonetheless, he stopped the few steps off the foot of the stairs and knocked on her door. It was cracked and his like-usual enthusiastic knocking pushing it open half a foot. Aang frowned. _Should I go in? But what if she thought she closed it all the way – wouldn't that be invading her privacy? _He mulled this over. _I was the one that gave her this room and I have been in it before, so-_

"You can stop standing in the doorway like an idiot," Toph called out from inside.

He put his tongue in his cheek and huffed in a little bout of embarrassment. He pushed the wooden door open further and stepped in cautiously. His shoulders relaxed. She was standing out on her balcony in the farthest corner, leaning over casually. Aang crossed the room and went through one of the three arches, sidling up beside her. At that moment, the awkwardness hit him. He swallowed it.

Contrary to what he had been expecting, Toph was exuding calmness and her relaxed posture suggested to him that it wasn't an act. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't; however, he liked to think himself a good judge of character. _I was right on Zuko,_ he thought with a small bit of smugness; the most he would ever feel, being so humble.

She swiveled her neck, lips open and poised to begin speaking, but he beat her to it. "Toph, I'm sorry."

There was a tense pause. "What are _you_ sorry about?"

"I shouldn't have let you run off yesterday, we should have talked an-"

"No, I _needed_ to think. You don't have to apologize, Aang, I'm the one that acted out of my mind," she said with a shrug. It was then that he noticed her eyes darting about nervously and her right hand was gripping the half-wall. Her face was not calm – it was completely _impassive_. Toph was never impassive or neutral about anything.

"Was it really crazy?" He persisted.

"I'm taking the offer," she interrupted. The Avatar pressed his lips together, racking his brain for what she was talking about. Toph clarified it herself, continuing to say, "It's a great opportunity and even if I was back in Ba Sing Se with Iroh or out helping you and Katara with some rescue effort, I would still take it. I want this, Aang; I want that kind of future. It's... it's just an awesome opening."

He opened his mouth, licked his lips, and closed them again. Staring at her, he looked for a sign that would reveal what she was actually feeling – or even feeling at all. No sign came. "That doesn't change anything."

"Doesn't it? That puts me in Ba Sing Se for the next four months and maybe longer because of whatever his other offer is." Toph leveled her head on her shoulders and turned her whole body to face him. "It was just a kiss, Twinkletoes," she said with a raised brow; trying to joke.

Aang glanced away and out at the lush landscape across and below the stone balcony he stood on. He sighed frustratingly. Closing his eyes briefly, he looked back. "Can I speak to the actual Toph now? Because this isn't her."

She startled at that. "Wha-"

"The Toph I know would not go on about her future with a flat face and the Toph I know would definitely not kiss someone – _her friend_ – without feeling something. So can I talk to _her_?"

"You have a lot of nerve to tell me what I would do-"

"Yeah, I do," he responded, letting some of his annoyance into his voice for the first time. Little passed far enough into his walls to upset him but when something did, it was not rid of easily. "I'm your friend and I'm entitled to call you out when you're acting weird!"

"Oh, yeah? Like it isn't obvious why I'm acting weird!" She fired back, her stone mask slipping. "Look, I don't want it to be weird and for us to tip-toe around each other, okay? I'm doing you a favor! What can you complain about?"

"Maybe I don't want to completely discard what happened," he responded, his voice going down a notch.

Toph rolled her eyes. "Oh great, let's go down that path for a moment. We'll be awkward and unable to work together and for every week we give it more attention than it should have, our friendship deteriorates so much that by the time we _are_ done restoring these temples, even Katara and Sokka and the all the ot-"

Aang listened with half an ear. She didn't understand what he was _saying_. She was so bent –_ there's that stubborn trait,_ he thought blithely – on thinking that he had come to mend their friendship, pretend to never remember the kiss again, that she failed to see – _no pun intended –_ the truth in front of her. As she continued to describe how their acknowledgment of the kiss in a weird alternate universe where they would be avoiding each other and all paranoid of seeing the other (he scoffed at that), Aang smiled._ If she won't listen to my words, I'll show her what I really mean._

He reached out, cupped one of her shoulders, and pulled her to him while he brushed her hair from her cheek with the other. She let out a small squeak of indignation at the movement and inhaled on small, breathless gasp seconds before his lips descended on hers.

Though she had railed at him about how they couldn't work out moments ago, Toph now mumbled something he was not giving half a brain cell towards deciphering and quickly molded against him. It was just a brush of their lips, but monumental it was all the same. Aang slid his hand resting on her cheek back into her short bob of hair, threading his fingers through. She squeezed his shoulders before wrapping her arms around his back.

Where their first kiss has been part frustration on her part, part hesitation on both of theirs, this one was chock full of emotion and… _sweet_. They clung to each other without remorse for it sweet it was.

Aang felt his pulse thudding in his neck, his lungs unfulfilled by the air he drew in with his nose, and, reluctantly, he pulled back. She felt this and broke their kiss completely. They both expelled hot breaths in the small space between, staying in a clumsy embrace. "Maybe I don't want us to just be friends," he said a little breathlessly, completing his thought from earlier. "And maybe I _want_ you to take the offer Kuei gave you." He stared into her gray eyes. "I know you're cynical a lot of the time but we have all the time in the world. What's between us only has to be as hard to deal with as we make it out to be." He drew back a little bit more, watching her intently, waiting avidly for an answer. He could hear furniture scrapping three stories up.

"You are such an Avatar sometimes," Toph finally said. A slow grin spread across her lips. "Does that mean you... feel the same?"

Her voice was stark and bold, the Toph he was used to. It was a challenge; she was asking if he was willing to accept the commitment – to accept _her_. "Yeah, I do. I really care about you, Toph." He smiled crookedly. "Was the kiss not enough?"

"Eh, you slobber a little, Twinkletoes," she said, lifting and dropping a shoulder as though admitting something that was actually true (which was yet to be proven, seeing as it was squarely only a lips-on-lips kiss). Aang just laughed. "What about four months from now? I'm leaving for Ba Sing Se in five days."

"Five days? I'll try not to cause you to ignore me again," Aang scoffed. He shook his head and said, "Then four months from now you visit me at the Northern Air Temples or if the offer you get is for something there, then I'll visit you. I promise."

"So, like a long-distance relationship?" She wrinkled her nose. "I've never heard positive things about those – don't they usually end with, like, someo-"

Aang rolled his eyes._ Always the pessimist, Toph. Enjoy the moment_, he silently told her and kissed her again. She did not hear his thoughts, yet she did 'enjoy the moment' just fine. The kiss was short, but it still did the trick perfectly. "We still have a temple to finish repairing, you know." He held up her hand.

She dropped it, with his now pressed against it, and started walking. He strode beside her. "Yeah, yeah, just don't think you're getting out of that discussion."

"I look forward to it," he said teasingly.

"Shut up, Twinkletoes."

"I _will_ get you to stop using that nickname one of these days."

She smirked at him, eyes full of mirth. "And I will just come up with another one if you do, _Twinkletoes_."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_In spite of all the learned have said,_

_I still my old opinion keep;_

_The posture that we give the dead_

_Points out the soul's eternal sleep._

_~'The Indian Burying-Ground',_ stanza #1/10, Phillip Freneau

* * *

><p>The late morning sunlight filtered through the simple white curtains and set the room alight with pale glows. The room's furnishings truly revealed the differences between the past Fire Lords, as the current one removed the blood-red sheets and accents and the many Fire Nation emblems. In their places were muted grey sheets and a large masking of innocent-white across the room. The fire-ball carvings were removed and replaced with nothing, leaving the beaver-brown – a pale, bland color reminiscent of earth dried and cracked from a drought – stucco plain on the walls.<p>

Zuko waited out on the balcony, standing a few steps behind the black-metal railing. He could see his city below a few hundred yards, as the palace sat back up on a hill. The people in their distinctly red outfits stood chatting with some here, others walking along the roads there – quite a few hurried, others not so much. He was waiting for Katara to return to the suite they shared so he could tell her of his impending trip to Ba Sing Se.

During the previous night, against his wishes, the time had slipped away from him and in a rush to tidy up most of his open work and commitments, Zuko had worked late into the evening, missing dinner entirely. He might have been able to catch her still awake if he hadn't been distracted in the halls. A handful of servants were coming from the northern wing, working much later than required. He ended up spending an entire hour chasing down what they were doing and who had asked them to do it, only to learn the vague information that they were clearing out his sister's room and re-opening the northern wing, courtesy of Ursa's request.

His mother was also gone when he had woken. Zuko would say goodbye to her, but he was well aware of the fact that he probably would not be able to learn all of what she was doing and why until after he came back. He did not have time for an interrogation.

The large door back in the suite behind him clicked open and sent a gust of air into the room that even he felt. The circular knob banged against the wall as the door flung back. Zuko turned around and saw Katara stumbling into the room, arms piled with books. He rushed forward and wordlessly took half of the pile, helping her immensely. She nearly collapsed onto the bed and pushed the books aside. Setting those in his arms also on the mattress, he sat next to her.

"What's this?"

Katara yanked her hair out of its now-mused bun, done Fire Nation style. Quickly, she set about braiding it. He loved it like that more anyway. "All the books I could find at the library on the educations laws." She saw his look and gave one of her own teeming with exasperation. "Zuko, I am going to help; you need a hand with this! You can't change everything you want by yourself or you'll end up dying of starvation."

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry about last night. I had to make… preparations."

As always, she picked up on his choice of words immediately. It was like a talent. "Going somewhere?"

No hesitation. "Yeah. I'm going to Ba Sing Se." Zuko stood and started transporting the books to his – _their_ – large and rather unused desk set diagonally in the corner of the room. If she was going to be helping him, then he would help her any way he could, too. "King Kuei kindly told me of setbacks he's dealing with in some northern coastal territories but it's more complicated than the Fire Nation citizens not wanting to leave. I finally got to my current reports-" He rolled his eyes at that. Something he had not anticipated with his new 'job' was the constant fight just to stay up-to-date with everything going on in his nation, let alone the world. It was a choice each week – learn and deal with the happenings in his country or spend all his energy trying to get maybe _one_ law changed. It was more draining than fire-bending practice. "-and the Earth Kingdom citizens don't want to be under their former country's law either."

He glanced over to see her face twisted in thought. "You have to tell Aang; he can help with this." A pause. "_Really_? They don't want to go back to the country they were cut off from? I thought that would make them... happy."

"Same," he agreed. "But apparently, both sides of the people are in agreement to be _independent_."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh. _Oh_."

"Yeah." Zuko placed the last of the books on the desk and sat down next to her again.

"Then maybe that's best," she said suddenly.

His own thoughts had been going that same way, but he wanted some confirmation from another person and Katara was the best yin to his yang that he had ever encountered. "You don't think that would be risky? Even if Kuei agrees, we would be cutting off those people. They wouldn't have any idea how to rule themselves."

Her lips curved upward. "You constantly underestimate people, Zuko. They can take care of themselves – they aren't babies."

"Maybe not some of them," he conceded only fractionally. The Fire Lord took the opportunity to change the direction of their conversation a bit, seeing in her eyes that she was ready to argue. His view of people would always be more morose than hers because of his experiences and now more than ever – after the Natsuno rebellion – he was not willing to change his mind. "I already sent a letter to Aang; hopefully he will get it within the next two days. Orez is organizing everything; I'm leaving tonight. Sorry," he added sheepishly.

Katara took a shallow breath. "You need to go, I know."

"You're not going to fight to come with?" He was genuinely a little surprised by that, though he already knew the reason for it.

"Someone's got to keep the ship afloat," she joked.

"I'll write up an order giving you control over the educational changes. It's just a piece of paper," he shrugged, "but it gives you more power than anyone else. Technically."

Katara grinned. "You know you'll get in trouble for that."

He smirked. "Probably, I just don't care. I've hit a dozen roadblocks each time I try to do anything. The ones at the head of the schools and on the committees may be more qualified but they're not more willing to do anything differently."

"Well thank you for the work load," she sarcastically remarked. He smiled; he could see that she was genuinely excited about it. If he knew her at all, which he did, Zuko knew that she could get bored easily and this accomplished three things – it kept her busy, it gave her a sense of righting wrong, and _when_ she succeeded, she _would be_ fixing the system. "Be right back."

A knock sounded on the door as soon as she stood but Zuko shook his head, going to answer it instead. Katara closed the bathroom door behind her a few seconds before he found himself face-to-face with his mother. "Zuko," she greeted somewhat distractedly. "Can I come in?" He held the door open.

"What are you doing in the northern wing?" He asked as soon as she walked in. He didn't think they would be having a particularly long discussion; however he did close the door – for privacy. "And why did you clear out Azula's room?" That part had struck a strange chord in him – it may have brought up bad memories, but there were some good ones he had had with his sister and he had still wanted to sort through his sister's things one last time, decide what stays and what would go. Zuko had no illusions about his mentally-unstable sister coming back anytime soon.

"I wanted to run something by you, son." It was not often that his mother called him 'son' and he always tensed a little at it – nothing to do with her, but rather mostly to do with his father's previous actions. Nonetheless, he narrowed his eyes and took in her constantly moving hands, her waning smile, and her somewhat paler complexion. _Oh here we go,_ he thought, a feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him he would not like the next words out of her moth.

"I'm listening."

"I want to move Azula into the northern wing of the palace."

There was a long, uninterrupted pause. Zuko didn't even swallow.

"To keep her under better observation," his mother continued on, taking his silence as a positive thing. He wasn't even sure himself. It was so outlandish of an idea. Zuko was having trouble wrapping his head around it. The idea of his lunatic of a sister walking around the palace, running into Katara…._ Not good._ "I have obligations here but I need to stay near her, Zuko. I can't keep traveling between here and Black Rock – she needs to be in a stable environment with loving people and she can't recover in a prison."

"There isn't a more stable place than a prison and she's been recovering. Choose between your responsibilities, Mother, because she is _not_ coming back into this house." Zuko's tone was brusque.

Ursa, however, had dealt with that tone for many more years than him and she was not deterred so easily. "She is_ your _sisterand _my_ daughter! I am not leaving her in a prison for the rest of her life! Now I know she is not well, we have both seen it, but she is getting better and she needs to be out. She needs to live an actual _life_. She needs a chan-"

"Don't say 'chance' because I gave her more than you ever saw and she _always_ stabbed me in the back," he ground out suddenly, his eyes misting ever-so-slightly. "Mother, she-" He took a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "-she cannot be completely trusted."

The former Fire Lady crossed her arms. "Progress doesn't come without trust – it's the first step." Zuko looked away from her gold eyes. "She needs an olive branch, Zuko. Please. I'm begging you, _please_."

The desperation in her voice cut to his heart. After a tense moment, he looked back at her face. "Can you say 'no' to her?"

"Yes," his mother said immediately, understanding what he meant. "I won't let her hurt anyone."

"You cannot promise that; she can bend, you can't." Zuko ran a hand through his hair. "I'll give you a team and she will be under _strict_ watch. Even if she is remorseful, Azula is still the most manipulative person I've ever known."

"Not more than your father," Ursa commented.

"Yes. _More than him_," Zuko reinforced. "Father was… he was many things, but greed and his stupid lust for power always overran his ability to manipulate." He walked forward and took his mother's hand, squeezing it affectionately. "I do want Azula better, we just have to be careful."

"She's coming _here_?"

Their heads swiveled almost in unison to see Katara standing outside of the bathroom door, her silent approach not noticed by either of them. She had a fire in her eyes he recognized well but also a hurt he would not like to ever see again and wouldn't, if given the choice. But he didn't have that choice. With a jolt, Zuko realized that she had likely heard the whole thing. _She probably thought she wouldn't have to say anything because she thought I would continue saying 'no' to Mother_, Zuko suddenly thought with regret. Regardless of his horrid past with his sister, she was still his sister and with her mental breakdown, he was not as convinced to let her go as Katara was. "Katara…."

"She tried to_ kill you,_ Zuko, and you're going to let her just walk right in the front door?" She switched her gaze to the older woman in the room. "I'm sorry, Ursa, but you haven't seen the side of Azula that I have and she is _not_ someone that changes overnight."

"Katara…." He warned.

"What is wrong with you, Zuko? She's your sister but come on!"

"Katara!" He nearly shouted. She startled and he instantly regretted the outburst. Zuko shut his eyes briefly. "Mother?"

"I'll go," she muttered back and when he reopened his eyes, she was closing the door behind her.

"This is ridiculous. I've seen a lot of stupid, ridiculous stuff with Aang and Sokka and Toph but this is just…." She huffed and crossed her arms.

"What if this were Sokka."

A glare flashed in her eyes. "That is so not even possi-"

"Katara, please," he requested softly. She relented after a minute. "If it were Sokka, you would want anything to get him back. Right?" She nodded slowly. "Azula was destroyed before she even grew up and yes, I remember every single horrible thing she's done, more than I will probably ever tell even you, and yes, I don't want her to get off easily, but…. My mother is heartbroken over this whole thing and a part of me wants to know if it's even possible for Azula to be… normal." Zuko placed his hands on her upper arms, holding her in a semi-embrace. "But you're right; she's not someone that can change immediately. I need your help."

Katara relaxed. "I'm not talking you out of this, am I?"

"Probably not, no."

"Great," she muttered sarcastically. She met his eyes. "You want me to spy."

Zuko's worried grimace shifted into a sort of smile. "Exactly. Azula's at a kind of crossroads with Mother back and I want to see what will happen but I won't be here, so I need you."

"She will try to kill one of us, that's what will happen."

Zuko knew he couldn't argue with that – while she was being negative, it was also a scenario that was entirely possible with his sister. He moved a hand up and squeezed her shoulder. "You were the only one that was able to chain her up-" Katara's eyes fluttered with acknowledgment. "-and had no problem with doing it. If you think you have to, I won't have any problem with it."

Katara stared at him. Surprise mixed in with the turbulent emotions mixing behind her eyes at his last sentence. "Fine, but you owe me one, _big time_. And even if Azula manages to convince you she's changed, I will never believe it so don't try to change my mind. We clear?"

"Crystal." Zuko held her gaze for another long minute. Neither said anything. He squeezed her arms and then turned andwalked to the door, going to draw up the document he had promised Katara. She needed time to digest and, frankly, so did he. His mind was warring with itself – one half telling him this was a great chance to see if his sister's true colors shone and the other telling him they already had that fateful night when she had all but revived him from Azula's lightning bolt. It was almost surreal to him, having chosen the path he did. If there were any two people that could change his mind about something, it was Katara and his mother.

Ursa may be able to bring Azula into the palace but he was going to be giving Katara the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. If she saw one thing strange with his sister, he would trust her instinct and judgment. It had been right many times before. "Zuko."

He turned around, stopping from closing the door behind him. "Yeah?"

"I'm trusting you." She said it pointedly.

He nodded after a second. "I know. And I'm trusting you too."

There was no doubt they trusted each other – they had ever since, coincidentally, their fight against Azula – yet this was different, _bigger_. It meant _more_. She was trusting his choice above her own preferences and opinions on the matter. Zuko hoped to prove to her it's a good call. Katara's warm smile appeared back on her face. "You better say goodbye before you leave."

"I will," he smiled back.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	72. Black Nothingness

**A/N: **So, a lot is riding on Azula's recovery now, isn't it?

I'll mention it now, as you will probably notice it soon: there is going to be a shift of focus regarding the characters. Sokka, Suki, her family, and Fen will be in fewer segments for a while as the spotlight they held turns to Azula instead. I never planned to write her POV but I admit I have become fascinated with it and I think it's the only way I can really give an inkling of justice to this amazing character (not necessary in greatness, but just in how she was molded and how her complex mind ticks).

The time jump in this will amount to a four days difference from last chapter and the next one. It took Ursa one and a half days with little stopping to get to Black Rock Prison and then her and Azula two days to get to the capital, making it three and a half days. The second segment is also at night, making it roughly four days later in the next chapter.

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_From morning suns and evening dews_

_At first they little being came; _

_If nothing once, you nothing lose,_

_For when you die you are the same;_

_the space between is but an hour,_

_The frail duration of flower._

_~'The Wild Honeysuckle', _stanza #4/4, Phillip Freneau

* * *

><p><em>Thirty-six hours later….<em>

Under the cover of dawn, she entered. There were faint dark circles under her eyes, their presence peeping through even under a doubled application of masking clay. Her legs felt strange from ill-use and her spine ached from where it connected to her hips all the way up to the base of her head. She never had liked ostrich horses much; they were uncomfortable to ride, in her opinion. Whatever her physical complaints were, though, Ursa kept mum. The day and a half's ride was worth it. She would not lose any more time with her daughter.

Black Rock Prison looked strange during dawn. It wasn't illuminated on the outsides and the guards seemed to morph from the blanketing shadows across the dry, rocky plains. It was definitely a place she - if she were an innocent civilian - would not like stumbling upon. However, with the sun peeking out over the horizon behind it, the place looked almost… _hidden_. Hidden in the similar-looking rocks around it, hidden in its exact purpose, hidden in the power its somewhat-rusting appearance holds.

Ursa's mind was too focused to take in such details.

Instead, she walked purposefully through the halls, tuning out the few calls out from the inmates – the few that were awake – and arriving at her daughter's door in minutes. A simple nod to the pair of guards outside and she was let through. The door wasn't locked behind her; she had already handed the scroll with permission, courtesy of her son, to the warden as soon as she walked up. He had been waiting and had respectfully bowed.

Azula was sleeping, looking almost… peaceful. Her hair was shining again from cleanliness now and not from exhausted sweat and the ends were trimmed up. She had done so the previous week, much to the guards' dismay. Ursa refused to take their demands of "no sharp objects, including scissors" seriously. She had, however, taken them with her when she left. That was only common sense – she had brought them, she would leave with them. As she predicted, her daughter made no move toward them.

The former Fire Lady sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand down her daughter's cheek. "Azula…. Azula…." She said softly.

Her daughter woke with a jolt, shooting up into a sitting position. Her breathing was ragged, eyes wild. They focused within a minute while Ursa cooed soothingly. "Mother?"

"Hey, sweetheart. Sorry for waking you."

"Uh… no problem." Azula pushed the sheets aside and Ursa stood, letting her stand as well. "What's wrong?"

She smiled. "Nothing. I have a surprise for you; come, get dressed." She went to the dresser ahead of her daughter and started withdrawing all of the clothes, placing them on the bed. Azula looked on with disbelieving hesitation but smartly withdrew a few pieces and dressed. Ursa found an empty box pushed underneath the bed. She started loading it. Pausing after loading half of the clothes, she looked to her daughter. "Is there anything you want to take?"

She could see practically see the gears working behind her daughter's eyes at the choice of words she had used. "Th-the sketchpads."

Ursa picked them up from the desk and noticed one with an already worn edge; it had been bent backwards and the fibers of the cloth were easily becoming frayed because of it. She refrained from looking inside of them and instead just smiled at her daughter and put them in the box, piling the rest of the clothes on top of it. She put the lid on tightly.

Zuko would have flipped through the pages if he had been with them, searching for any signs that his sister was reverting to the…_ unattractive side _he had seen. But no, she wouldn't do that. If she paid for it later in the end, an outcome she was not considering seriously, so be it. The fact that Azula was using one of the creative outlets she had provided for her was a positive enough sign for the former Fire Lady.

"What are you doing?" Azula asked when her mother got to the door.

Ursa held a hand out, palm up. "_We_ are going home. Do you want to go home?"

Azula stared at her hand. Ursa watched closely. The tense seconds passed. Her daughter's fingers were crunched up in a clawing-imitation of a fist against the side of her thigh. Her shoulders were hunched, head low, eyes riveted to the hand though it would look more natural if they were staring at the ground in a kind of shy, submitting pose. _Maybe I was wrong, _Ursa thought suddenly, doubting if her daughter was ready for the change so soon. In her own haste to re-establish a normal life, the life she had always wanted, she was afraid she had overlooked her daughter's wants, needs, and most of all _capabilities_. Her features remained smooth despite her inside turmoil that was in no way even close to her daughter's. _Maybe sh-_

A cold, clammy hand clasped onto hers as though she were a lifeline. Their gold eyes met. "I'm glad," Ursa whispered softly in response.

After giving the guards a brief look into the box – _because Spirit World forbid she take things with her_, Ursa scoffed silently – they then walked down the halls. It was silent this time as the passed the cells. Azula's head was hung low in a way the former Fire Lady hadn't seen her daughter behave, _genuinely_, in many years; certainly a good two or three before she had been all but banished from her childrens' lives. She nodded to the warden as they passed and he did the same; an unspoken farewell. If Azula returned, the man would certainly be surprised.

Few left and it was _never_ a process done lightly.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Dark to me is the earth. Dark to me are the heavens._

_Where is she that I loved, the woman with eyes like stars?_

_Desolate are the streets. Desolate is the city._

_A city taken by storm, where none are left but the slain._

_~'The Desolate City',_ stanza #1/12, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt

* * *

><p><em>2 days later….<em>

Through the past half of a year, Azula came to understand that the shadows were her friend too. Sure she had reached new levels of power and control with her fire and the lit paths it provided, but it was also that fire that left her unstable and – in a sometimes metaphorical, sometimes literal way - left her burned. It was the fire that captured her father's eye, it was the fire that drove her life and truly, it was the fire she had relied on the most only to be let down by it. The deepest betrayals in her life had come as nearly a direct result from it or with it.

She couldn't blame the act of bending those beautiful licking flames in her hand that destroyed her; _that_ she had done so perfectly well on her own. Sure, she had been brought down by the greed, the lack of trust, and the fear in the people's eyes and hearts around her. Azula recognized that. It was those emotions that she had caused within them. She just could not decipher how exactly she felt _about_ it.

The shadows washed, advancing and retreating around her and in her vision. Tossing the sheets aside, she stood on surprisingly stabilized feet and stalked to her door, pushing it open slowly. The hall was not lit either. Azula slipped into it, using the open space to pace. So long confined, the act of walking calmed her.

When the two women and a small group of accompanying service people – _guards_, Azula recognized clearly – had arrived at the Royal Palace earlier that day, she had been surprised to find the palace so remarkably _changed_. The old bones were there, along with many of the old rooms' layouts and, from what her mother had said, her old room had been kept completely intact. It was not a _pleasant_ surprise. A slight tickling of anger was being harbored behind her ribcage. Azula worked to temper it down.

She paused outside her mother's room. With their moving into the northern wing, Azula had not been too shocked to find her mother announcing that she would be moving in too, to be around in case Azula needed anything – help, support, a sounding board. She found herself speaking few words to her mother; she didn't feel like talking to anyone. _About what? Where to start?_ She wondered. _Talking about how I feel little control over my actions and how everyone's thinking I'm crazy? No._

Azula continued down the hallway. She paced, over and over, minute after minute, not truly thinking anything. She was numb. At this hour, she could clear her mind, breathe a deep breath and watch the waves of light particles dance through the shadows. It was odd, feeling numb and yet actually _feeling_ for the first time in a while. She had half a mind to blame Zuko for the numbness, what with his stupid doctor's herbal 'remedies' for her 'instability'.

She could not find enough energy for that petty fight.

A tall shadow separated itself from its engulfing backdrop when she reached the double doors closing off the northern wing from the rest of the house. It was a man – _a Fire Nation guard. _"What?" She snapped, annoyed at finding she was not peacefully alone after all. _Of course I'm not, I'm a liability to them. To Zuzu._

The man just stared at her. She moved to go around him, now suddenly wanting_ very much_ to get into the rest of the palace, maybe snoop a little. It was her right. She had always been a nosy person at heart, except instead of gossiping with that information, she had manipulated and emotionally tortured people with it. _Semantics_, she thought then and again now, waving it off. She had never been one to take 'no' as an answer and this guard was testing her patience. Another guard emerged from the shadows, blocking the hole in the other's wall tightly. "You're not permitted to pass."

"I'm the Fire Nation princess, I can go _wherever_ I _want_."

"Fire Lord orders," is all the only one that is apparently aloud to speak said.

_Zuzu_, she mentally seethed. The acid in her stomach was rolling a little, hunger yawning awake. Keeping her face in check, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and waved a hand at them. "Fine, but there's no kitchen here. Does the Fire Lord want me to _starve_, too?" The two traded glances. "I thought so. I expect something within a half hour," she finished curtly and walked away. There was no room for her to make demands and yet she did so anyway. Azula felt a little smirk gracing the corner of her lips and she all but stomped back to her room.

A few feet from her mother's bedroom door she checked herself. She lipped quietly into her room. Picking up a pillow from the bed, she let out a frustrated scream._ Still caged and locked up_, she thought bitterly. _Why don't they just throw away the key? Stupid Zuko's only entertaining Mother. I'll never be perfect enough for them_. Her fingers itched, a voice in her head calling and pleading for the fire to be used._ No, no,_ she vehemently thought, palms pressed against her temples.

Her peace was gone. _Fire_, the voice whispered seductively.

She spun around and shot a hand out, a small burst coming from a finger and alighting a candle. _It's just a candle,_ she reasoned resolutely after a moment, dark gold eyes staring at the tall column of wax. Her gaze finally moved and settled upon her sketchpad. Azula snapped it up. Her fingers flew through the pages to a new one. Curling up in the side chair at the corner of her room, feet tucked securely underneath, the Fire Nation girl randomly and absentmindedly ran the coal tip hard across the parchment. Her mood calmed, the voice left, and she was left huffing out heavy breaths for no reason at all.

Vision swimming into focus again, she gasped at what she had done. The whole page's surface was black. No picture, no doodling, no meaningless swirls at least. Black _nothingness_. She ripped the page out jaggedly and with a shaky hand, went intently to sketching something of meaning. The past pages were filled with memories, buildings, landscapes, even little symbols.

_Symbols_. A twist of a smile grew upon her thin lips. Azula touched the coal stick to the paper – lightly this time – again and slowly, carefully, outlined the symbol she knew by heart. _The Fire Nation flame symbol._ Her nightly peace came to her again.

Azula did not notice when her requested meal was ten minutes late.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	73. Republic

**A/N:** In communication with a reviewer and reader, **Mermaid166**, I realized that some of these names for characters that I make up can be a little hard to figure out how to pronounce so if anyone's curious, feel free to ask and I'll explain any name's pronunciation (from my POV, at least) that you wish to know about :)

To all other readers and reviewers, thank you so very much for following this story :) This story is so very close to reaching the beginning of the end, I'm nearly itching to write it! But I digress. I've talked in these Author's Notes about the ending many times and yet it keeps getting longer... and longer... and longer. Incorrigible!

Also, the segment with Iroh in this is a little random and there isn't much point to bring in the characters mentioned (except for the one with the cane – you'll see) but I figured it was a situation that sounded very Iroh-like, as he's a good man, and I wanted to write a scene with him having a friend but I did not want him to suddenly have one explained through narrative only. I'm a sucker for prologues and origin stories. Plus, I just really wanted a reason to have scene with Iroh again. LOVE HIM!

Last thing - this is the longest chapter in... a while. 5k+ words. The total word count on this fic is... insane. Very, very insane.

**Disclaimer: Sadly, don't own anything but my own words. Do feel free to enjoy the quotes, though.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Nothing to strike but a gait;_

_Everything moves that goes._

_Nothing at all but common sense_

_Can ever withstand these woes._

_'The Pessimist', _stanza #6/6, Ben King

* * *

><p>"Higher! Almost there!"<p>

"This is way too awkward," Toph huffed, pulling with all her puny arms' might. "Why couldn't-" She panted. "-you use your air-" She hissed when her toe was jammed against the edge of the saddle; it finally gained enough momentum and jerked forward. "-bending? This is ridiculous!"

The saddle lurched to the side one last time and then Aang shouted over, "Stop! It's good." He fastened the huge buckle against Appa's underside and then leaned against his hairy animal guide to catch a breath. "I didn't use my air-bending because this saddle is heavy and hard to move."

"Harder than doing it by hand?" She raised and eyebrow at him as she climbed up the side of the flying bison once more, settling into the large riding seat.

"Yeah. The flaps never situate the way they need to," he defended.

"Mhm. Whatever you say." She yawned, stretching her now-sore arms. "Now do you have your stuff? 'Cause I don't want to be late."

"Yeah, I strapped it in earlier." Aang took one last look around the Eastern Air Temples. He would be back soon to finish renovating the third, to continue helping the people, and to keep slowly warming Raja up to air-bending - but, most importantly, doing so with control. A small crowd of people were gathered off to the side. He had announced their plans the previous morning. Halona and Perry were among those that still decided to see their Avatar off, with Raja balanced happily on her father's hip. He nodded to all of them, waved, and climbed up on the saddle. "Yip-yip!"

Appa soared.

"Oof."

He spun his head back. Biting his cheek, he held back a laugh. "You okay?"

Toph was sprawled against the back curve of the saddle, back bent over the few bags they brought - two hers, one his since he would only be traveling and she would be more or less moving to another place altogether. Her jaw was clenched but a small curve on her lips told him she was nearly laughing at herself too. "I forgot how fast the lift of- ahh!" She ducked when something ghosted over her head, summoning the startled yelp from her lips when it bumped her with it's wings.

It was not a bird and therefore had no real wings but was actually Momo, the flying lemur with excellent timing for an entrance. "Hey, Momo, there you are," Aang greeted him when he circled and swooped down to land on Appa's arrow-dyed head. "Where have you been? I thought we were gonna have to leave you."

Momo chittered away.

The Avatar glanced back at his friend - _er, girlfriend_? Aang suddenly had no idea what exactly to call their relationship, but it didn't matter - in time to see her rolling her eyes at the whole incident. He grinned. The whole night before up until they bid each other 'goodnight' and retired to their separate rooms, Toph had gone on and on and on about all the different possibilities of what the training for the Terra Team could entail, where it would be held -_ Ba Sing Se or outside of the city? _- and what kind of people would be in it. She was practically itching to show them what she could do. Mastery of earth-bending at such a young age would bring her scrutiny, of course, but Toph only addressed that possible situation with glee. She could not wait to blow their expectations out of the water.

And Aang, listening to all of this, could not be any happier for her.

At the moment, the earth-bender was abnormally quiet and this available silence left his mind alone to wander to his own reasons for leaving the temples he was currently reviving. Zuko's letter back to him had been rather plain - that he would talk to Kuei himself, that yes he would need Aang's help, that he would need Aang to be at those provinces within the next week, as that was his own time table, and that he was confident the people would be able to receive exactly what they were requesting: independence.

The demands and consequent ideas Aang had about them and those peoples' request brought up an idea; an idea he had first voiced outside of Ba Sing Se and up at Bane's Port an even four months ago. The idea of a country without ties to any form of bending. A place,_ a land_, where normal people could go and not be influenced by fire or water, earth or wind.

The young boy had not been expecting Zuko, of all people, to be the one to set those cards into motion. He could not say he was completely surprised, however. Zuko continually surprised him and yet continually showed himself to be the friend Aang saw he could be.

If these provinces of the Earth Kingdom/Fire Nation would be the first to take this step, Aang would be there to help and guide them no matter what. He couldn't wait to see how the world could be shaped by this movement forward and move past the belief that the one with the bending capability ruled all others without it. He wanted to see a peace between all people, a co-existence really. There was so much room for improvement in all aspects of life now with the peace he was the catalyst of bringing upon the world.

Aang was ready to watch on with bounding happiness as the world _grew_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The lonely farm, the crowded street,_

_The palace and the slum,_

_Give welcome to my silent feet_

_As, bearing gifts, I come._

_'Madness',_ stanza #1, Joyce Kilmer

* * *

><p>It was a beautiful day in the Earth Kingdom capital, Iroh was thinking as he bustled around his apartment's kitchen. Today was one of the few days that came when he simply had no wish to go to 'work'. Truth be told, Khan, his manager, was more than capable of talking care of the tea shop and cafe and the Fire Nation man's presence had not been truly needed for the past three months. Nonetheless, he <em>liked<em> being there. It was a calling he discovered to be becoming quite good at and enjoying it immensely – not counting the metaphorical fruits he got out of it.

Today, like on most of his 'off' days, Iroh decided to visit one of the Lower Ring's soup kitchens – shelters offering the homeless, poor, and newcomers to the city a free meal. The one he visited most frequently and planned to go to today was located closer to the Middle Ring's walls, a convenient placement for him as it was only four blocks off of the main monorail system. It was not that he was unwilling to go farther, as indeed he often did, but instead it was because it was one of those that he visited where they actually needed more people to help out on a consistent basis.

Locking the fourth container's lid into place, Iroh slid the lid onto the top of the box and picked it up. Plain brown and with some worn-looking edges, no one would want to rob him of it. What valuable things could he, changed into his now-grungy clothes, have inside it? A handful of times he had been mugged – _well, they attempted_, he thought with a chuckle – and Iroh learned his lesson well enough.

He closed and locked the door behind him. Walking down the back alley entrance stairs that let to and from his apartment, the middle-aged man walked only two doors down to a ground level place across from his. Gently, he knocked on the door. An elderly woman with neatly pinned hair and an old but still expensive dress opened the door. As soon as she saw him, she shook her head and opened the door wider. "Khan came running to you again, didn't he?"

"He's a proactive one," Iroh grinned and walked in, easily going to her kitchen squirreled into the corner. He set down the box and lifted it up, pulling out a bundle tucked into the side of the four deep containers. "I only brought a few things from the market. Khan told me you're not getting out a lot lately."

"He worries too much. And I went _yesterday_."

He unwrapped the vegetables. "Then you might appreciate that I saved you some ginger root."

Her brown eyes lit up. "Thank you, Iroh."

"You're welcome, Li. What are neighbor's for?"

"Usually nothing," she wittily replied instantly. "Now go, I know you're going to volunteer today. Don't make me delay you anymore."

"Take care of yourself," he said with a pat on the shoulder before leaving, closing the door shut behind him. His neighbor, he had discovered, was actually the grandmother of Khan, the Jasmine Dragon's manager. Iroh was always one to be friendly and, upon discovering this, took it under his responsibilities to check in on her from time to time. When she had fallen a month before – with, thankfully, nothing broken - Khan had been worried sick and the Fire Nation man hated to see his employee like that.

He wasn't one to get involved in his employee's personal lives, he just wanted to be sure that they were, well, 'okay'.

He made it to the platform quickly and right on time the monorail screeched into place. Iroh took his place in his usual seat. It was a moderately busy day for most; the monorail was halfway full. By the time he reached the particular stop he was looking for, though, it was packed tightly and he had given up his seat a minute before to a young woman with a toddler.

The soup kitchen looking like nothing out of the ordinary on the outside, blending in with the brown tiled floors, chipped walls, and grungy streets around it. On the inside, it was remarkably _cleaner_ than many of the buildings and homes that could be found in the Lower Ring. Furniture was sparse besides the many scratched tables and chairs placed in space-conscious lines. The goal was to help those in need, both homeless and plainly poor, but they had to be careful to avoid being stolen from. The counters were built into the walls and there were three fire pits carved into said walls, one against the other.

"Iroh!" A young woman with gray eyes called over from behind.

He smiled and kissed her cheek in greeting, avoiding the hot dripping wooden spoon in her hand. "Beik, how long have you been here? You look... exhausted."

"I look horrible, you can say it!" She smiled wryly and set the spoon down, helping him unpack his box. He did not even plan on asking. Iroh's smirk quirked. "Do I have bags under my eyes yet?"

"Some, my dear," he responded delicately.

She half-giggled without much humor. "I was here all night; probably fourteen hours by now. No one showed up to clean last week and you know how messy it gets. Don't worry," she said quickly, seeing his face. "I'll go home after we get you set up." Beik grabbed a large pot stacked on one of the counters and carried it over shakily.

Iroh dumped all four of the dishes' contents into it, as they were all from the same batch, and he took it this time to place it over the fire. He made sure its handle were secure over the hook; regrettably, he had spilled it once, his first week helping, and the mess was _difficult_ to clean up to say the least. Wiping his hands, he was startled by a large, warm tap against his back. He turned to see another regular, Lao Jin, nod to him as he walked past. "Jin," he greeted warmly. "I thought you had studies today."

The younger man rolled his eyes and moved to dump some dishes in the sink, jerkily pumping the handle on the faucet to obtain some water. The brash movements did not faze any of them after their first week in the place. He was an emotional man – a kid, as Iroh saw it – and had not yet developed the art of _subtly_. "The University is a bunch of old hacks giving boring speeches. Half of the class falls asleep. I just had to get out of there, you know, and my parents can't stop me from helping – canyou believe they don't want me to volunteer anymore? It's hurting their 'image' or whatever."

Iroh held his tongue, remembering his experiences with Toph. Interjecting in defense of the parents was not a good idea. He developed his own bias as he was once a father but his experiences with his brother and, more recently, Toph's parents, taught him that not all parents viewed their children with such devoted and no-strings-attached love as he had Lu Ten. "I'm sure they just want to protect you," he settled with. "Parents can be one-sided sometimes."

"I'm off!" Beik took a deep breath, shoulders slacking. She removed her apron and left it on the counter to be picked up by another volunteer that came in after her. There were always more. "Don't wear yourself out, you two," she waved and turned to leave.

"Get some sleep!" Iroh called after her. She laughed as if it was the funniest joke in the world.

"Your stuff is boiling," Jin threw over his shoulder, alerting him.

He quickly picked up a stray spoon – a _clean_ one – and stirred the stew carefully. Another few minutes and it would be done, he knew. While converting the boiling bubbles to a much more calm simmering state, Iroh cast his gaze around the room.

Admittedly, he knew only a good dozen or so that either frequented the soup kitchen to volunteer or frequented it to eat. Most of the people who needed the place liked to keep to themselves. He understood that. They still left thanks and tried to give back in their small way, but he knew it was more of the act that they needed and less of the people. However, that by no means meant they forgot the place when they stumbled upon a better fortune or way of life. In fact, many that could would later come back and help others in their former situations. It was an amazing thing to watch.

"Have you heard about the latest help the Earth King has sent to the Avatar?" Jin inquired.

He lifted his head away from the pot, searching for a cloth within the drawers. "Yes, he is extending the rations until the first of spring, right?"

"What about all the trouble within the city?" The young man asked more to himself, not expecting an answer. Iroh could feel where this was going. Inevitably, _something_ had riled the boy up today and he would go off another of his rants. Lao Jin was a good kid but he had some… _buttons_. Easily pushed buttons at that. "Nothing's gotten better for us since the war ended. Half of the capital's thrown into poverty when the Earth King lets it fall into the Fire Nation's hands and now? Just the same," he grumbled.

"It takes a lot of effort and work and most of all _time_ to change a city's circumstances. I'm sure the Earth King is doing everything he can." He cleared his throat as he lifted the pot off of the fire and set it down on one of the tile-faced counters. "And when it comes to the Avatar, you would do wise to know his actions are helping people."

"What about us, here? He should be helping us instead of taking people off to destroyed temples." Jin scoffed. "What, are those people suddenly going to be air-benders after moving there? We need that food _here_."

Iroh counted to three as he usually did when listening to an argument he could not agree with. "Have you forgotten that the Earth King is the King of _all_ of the Earth Kingdom? Ba Sing Se has stabilized but most of the country still hasn't, Jin, and you should take that into account before you complain about his methods. I have met him and he is a nice man."

"That's what they all say," the man muttered after he stopped stuttering for a comeback. "I'm gonna go help Jene; he looks like he's about to fall off his chair." And with that, the high-tempered, well-educated semi-friend of Iroh's was gone. He couldn't help but breath a fresh sigh of relief at that. The kid could be... _overwhelming_ sometimes.

The pot was covered and he went to proactively collect a few of the dirty dishes left on the counter. An older man, probably ten or fifteen years older than him, kindly picked up his own plate and those around him, helping Iroh with his task. He set them down on the island counter. Leaning against it, he seemingly waited for something. When Iroh came back through, he smiled kindly at the man. "Thank you for the help."

The man waved it off. "If I'm eating your food then it makes us even. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with that man." He gestured with his left thumb over his shoulder and towards Jin, who was currently sitting down at one of the tables and listening patiently to one of their 'customers'. "How do you know so much about what's outside these walls?"

"I have… traveled," Iroh settled for simply saying. It was widely known in the higher circles of society in the city who he was – former heir to the Fire Lord throne – but here, where the people had been the most devastated by the brief takeover of Ba Sing Se, Iroh liked to keep that part of his identity hidden. He filled the basin up with soapy water from a jug and watched the other man out of the corner of his eye as he started scrubbing. "And what about you?" He deflected. "You have to have some education – it's in the way you walk."

The man smiled. "My name is Tung and yes, I did have some education when I was younger. Through a stroke of bad luck during the war I lost my little fortune. Couldn't travel the world anymore," he said, shrugging.

"Nice to meet you, Tung. I'm Iroh."

"I think we have a lot in common," he said, smiling wide. A few teeth were missing and the Fire Nation royalty member was reminded fleetingly of the stories of King Bumi of Omashu that Aang had told him and the rest of the group. Beyond the teeth, or lack thereof, there wasn't much resemblance. No wild hair, no splotchy skin, no mis-colored eyes. "Catch a cup of tea later? It's been a long time since I've met someone not from this city."

Iroh dried his hands on a towel while he spoke. Instead of feeling a little offended or afraid at that comment, as he would have during his time in the city with Zuko at the start of the last year, he found himself happy with the same reason. After all, Tung apparently was not from Ba Sing Se either. _Sort of like two kindred spirits,_ he mused thoughtfully. It would do him some good to have a friend his own age, who has seen the world as he has. He had Ursa, but with everything going on with Azula... and the fact that she lived across the world... Iroh smiled at the man. "I own a tea shop," he proudly stated. "The Jasmine Dragon. It is in the Upper Ring but stop by closer to the evening and I can get you in no problem."

"I look forward to it. Oh," he turned back. Iroh noticed for the first time that the man used a cane. "Can you thank that woman for me, the one that just left? Her noodles were perfect."

"Will do," he promised with a twinkle in his eye. Beik would appreciate that immensely and he would be sure to tell her when she visited the Jasmine Dragon herself later this week; she loved to visit his shop. She often sampled his teas to recommend with dishes. She was, after all, a _chef_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."_

~Thomas Jefferson

* * *

><p>Zuko tapped his fingers in a smooth rhythm against his leg as he waited. The Royal Palace in Ba Sing Se was much larger than he remembered, but then again there was the fact that the past seven and a half months were spent in a downsized Fire Nation palace. His few experiences inside or near the Royal Palace had not been with his attention focused on it or its size, either. He hadn't been around huge faunts of luxury in a while – though that was a debatable fact for most on the outside looking in.<p>

His mind, however, was not on the palace he was currently sitting in while waiting for the Earth King to give him the light of day. Zuko was worried. He had left before his mother came back, as he wanted to be able to visit Ba Sing Se before meeting up with Aang at the Hu-Xin provinces, continuing then onto Yu Dao. The worry and anxiety nearly made his stomach hurt with both their intensity and how much attention his mind was giving it. His decision regarding his sister was the reason for it.

_A pass/fail test_. That was what he was doing.

Almost desperately, he wanted to be able to put all of his faith in his mother's judgment but he would be a fool to forget all of his experiences with Azula. The _few_ good, the _many_ bad, and the portion of the bad that could only be described as the instance where he had been thrown to the _wolves_. _But_, he thought, torn, _I did give Mother control over Azula's care. She is the one closest to Azula; she's seen the most of my sister's actions in the past months._

He wasn't his father; he wouldn't govern with so strict of a hand.

Unfortunately, Zuko was starting to see that that meant basically giving the person enough rope to hang themselves with and then only watching on to see what they would do instead of intervening if they made the wrong call. He couldn't stop them before they made a choice if he thought the call was indeed wrong, because what if _he_ was wrong? He wanted everyone to be happy, he wanted everything to be stabilized and prosperous. Getting one hundred percent of any group on board a solution or idea was impossible, but he would try his hardest... even if that meant he had to put faith in another person nearly blindly sometimes. He would do his own checks, have his own eyes watching the scene carefully, but he would not interfere... Unless it was necessary, at least.

He took a slow breath, shoulders relaxing a miniscule amount._ Katara will do anything that's necessary,_ he knew, he was simply anxious to see what would _happen_. If his sister's true nature was to be as cruel, manipulative, and conniving as he knew in the past, Zuko regretted one thing above all else – his mother's pain. He was genuinely afraid it would break her.

"Fire Lord?" Hyun-Shik, King Kuei's assistant, called from where he'd stepped out of a large pair of double doors. "The Earth King will see you now."

"Thank you," Zuko responded kindly. The boy closed the doors behind once he entered.

The room was reminiscent of the Fire Lord Throne Room back in his own country's palace – the country's colors covering every inch proudly, symbol emblems along the walls, and a large, throne-like seat upon a platform. It was mostly for intimidation, Zuko knew. Unlike a throne room, there was a square U-shaped desk around the chair and no one else was in the room, yet he was sitting there and working steadily.

Zuko approached until he found himself standing in front of the lightly colored desk. A growling groan nearly startled him and his cool facade, sounding from his right. The Earth King's pet bear, Bosco, was sleeping fitfully in the corner. The corner of his lip twitched in amusement but the younger man held the smile – and potentially laugh – back. He took the liberty – _risk_ – of sitting in one of the flanking chairs uninvited, instead. Kuei merely signed something and began stacking a pile of papers. He didn't even look up.

"Earth King," he greeted after a handful of minutes passed and they lapsed into silence.

"Let's drop the formalities, Zuko," Kuei said in greeting.

"Okay."

"Avatar Aang's letter back to me was only vague on what your plan was. Are you going to tell me now?"

He had thought on it long and hard. It was a bold choice and one he knew would have his grandfather and father rolling in their graves – or, in the case of his father, his cell – but Zuko knew it was the best course of action. It would save a lot of headaches down-line between the both of them. "We give them their independence."

Kuei guffawed. "They don't all want independence; this is rash call."

"Then they can move into either the Earth Kingdom or my nation and no, I don't think it is, _Kuei_." He leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on his knees. Looking young in that moment, Zuko could practically see the thoughts regarding that spinning in the other man's head.

King Kuei would always be wary of him and his family, he knew, and Zuko couldn't blame him; he, if able to speak frankly, would advise everyone to steer clear his father and his sister. But he _wasn't_ his father, _or_ his sister, and the Earth King's dramatically cold demeanor against him versus his normally warm and joking demeanor around their mutual Avatar friend was getting... _old_.

"All of the Fire Nation's territories on Earth Kingdom soil have the people operating under Fire Nation law and living with Earth Kingdom customs but these provinces are different," he hurriedly explained. "They have existed for so long as a place or places without a true government that they've built something… new."

A pause. "So what are you saying?"

"They and their land belong to _neither_ of us."

Kuei pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Zuko, I admit some of them will obviously have trouble transitioning but this is not something we can decide to do one day; it takes planning."

"It will be more than a difficult transition and you know that," he argued back. "For the past century our nations have been swapping control of land with each other – we can do something _different_ here. The two most powerful nations in the world giving a group of people what they want and a chunk of land to do whatever they want on it? They want this change, not the choice between _red_ or _green_."

"Why are you so invested in this?" The older man asked, curiosity teeming from his narrowed eyes.

"I want to make a difference," Zuko replied back simply. He leaned against the chair backing once more. "Look, this war messed up both of our countries enough. It will take all of my lifetime to fix mine and the same for you; you know that, I know that." He took a breath and was relieved to find no argument. "Our people deserve peace - it's the least I can do to make up for the petty war my ancestors started and continued. Acceptance of the Fire Nation won't be achieved overnight – I fully expect it to take longer than my reign – and this is something I can do to get two birds with one stone. It's selfish, I know, but I'm only being truthful."

The Earth King stared at him for a long while. Finally, with a nod, he removed his glasses to clean them and spoke. His eyes stayed trained out of habit on the frame in his hands. "Everything can be seen as selfish – a kid steals a loaf of bread to feed his sick mother so he can hold onto her longer. Technically, that's selfish." He smiled slightly, a wave of understanding in it. He put his glasses back in place, eyes fixing tightly on the Fire Nation teen in front of him. "You want to do something globally for goodwill because it helps your country and your people…. Now, if it gives your reign a bump too…." Zuko let a smile grace his lips. They stayed like that for a moment, them both relaxing as they finally had a real moment of acceptance and agreement between them. "What are their demands?"

With ease, the Fire Lord pulled a flier from the movement out of his pocket that he had managed to obtain. It was folding in at the edges as he'd rolled it up to fit. "Here," he handed it over. "Independence, economic support, withdrawal of troops, stuff like that. I was thinking we should give them all a choice of citizenship at either nation if they don't want to be in this 'republic'."

"That's what they're calling it? A republic?" Kuei eyed the flier. He took out a journal and dipped the gold pen in ink, scrawling some notes down quickly. He paused. "Does the Fire Nation have any objections to these demands?"

"No."

He continued scrawling before a spare drop could fall from the pen's tip and mar the paper. Zuko ran his hand along his throat, loosening his collar. It would be a long day.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	74. Hopeless Baby

**A/N:** Not much to say here. I got up at 5 so I'm exhausted, hence posting this earlier in the evening than usual. Yay for you guys :D Had a blast writing these segments, exploring the new dynamics. A little shout-out to reader/reviewer **cyathula**. You mentioned in a review a while back how some in the Fire Nation might object to Katara's closeness to Zuko, so here's your answer! ;P

HUGE HUGE HUGE (yes, three times – wait no, _infinite_!) thanks to everyone reading, alerting, and reviewing this not-so-little fic. Even if you just click the little 'follow story' button, I get an alert for it and fell all warm and fuzzy knowing someone's reading but more importantly ENJOYING the story.

As always, though I don't mention it much, all grammatical errors – spelling, tense, whatever – are my fault. I noticed a few more than usual in the last chapter so sorry about that! :S

For those in the USA, have a great Labor Day Weekend!

**Disclaimer:**** Nada.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."_

~Thomas Jefferson

* * *

><p>When she walked in, she would've been a fool not to see that their faces changed. Every single one of them adopted an impassive mask mixed with annoyance; with some it was easier to see than with others. Katara ignored this and raised a hand, smiling apologetically. It felt a little false on her face now given their obvious dislike of her being there, but she hoped it came across with sincerity. "Sorry," she mumbled, moving to sit on a chair against the corner and not at their table. She was afraid it would break one of their rules.<p>

Her intention on coming here tonight had been to sit in and, if she was able to without interrupting them, state who she was and what she would… well, what she would be doing. Unfortunately, it seemed like the ship of 'not interrupting' had already sailed. _Oops_, Katara mentally thought with a tugging frown on her lips.

A minute passed after she sat and they said nothing. Papers shuffled between them and nudges were exchanged. They weren't very subtle, in her opinion. Finally, an older man – _he looks near Iroh's age_, she decided - cleared his throat. All of the heads at the Fire Nation Teacher's Council turned. "Why don't we wrap up early?" They all nodded. "Anyone have another item to mention?"

She had been meaning to step in at the end of the meeting, really, but that time seemed to have come all too soon for her liking. And she had really wanted to prepare by observing them first. Katara raised her hand and stood. All heads turned to her now, too. However, this time it was with worried curiosity and a little bit of... did she spot dislike? _Yep, that it was_. Katara swallowed that.

She was a friendly, amicable person at heart and being shunning was not something she was a fan of. However, she _was_ the one that had wanted to help Zuko change the education in his country and also help take a load off his shoulders. What was the point of being by his side if she couldn't do anything to help? Katara hated feeling useless. Plus, if she was going to continue living here then she would do everything she could to improve the system she was now in. She was not a quitter... even if everyone else on her 'team' wanted her to quit.

"The Fire Lord-" She started, feeling slightly uncomfortable at calling him by his title only. It was almost foreign on her tongue. "-has repeatedly tried to speak with all of you but with conflicting schedules and all, he sent _me_ instead. This document," she placed it on the table; "makes me his appointee for the Head of Education. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but The Fire Lord does have some issues with the system right now and I'm to_... address them__…_ for him."

She took a deep breath, her back still ramrod straight. _How she hated_ giving speeches to strangers. That was Aang's, Zuko's, even Sokka's business sometimes, but definitely so _not_ hers.

"Because of the Hundred Years' War's end, the Fire Lord thinks too much attention has been focused on a child's fire-bending abilities – both in the past and now the future. Only one in five kids-" She said, placing the study on the table also, another paper pulled from the thin stack of files in her arms. "-can fire-bend, leaving the other four at a disadvantage when it comes to their education. Most people in the lower and middle class don't have an education higher than elementary and that should be fixed. He, the Fire Lord, believes the next generation should know more about the world and have a chance to be trained in professions instead of being cast aside if they turn out to be, well, _normal_."

Glancing around them expectantly, she clenched her jaw shut when three of the eight at the table scoffed. Another two shared looks with those, rolling their eyes, leaving the remaining three to look rather... nervous. _They think I'm going to tell Zuko about this,_ she saw. She hadn't been going to but now... _No, _she reaffirmed within her mind._ I can handle this myself._ The man that reminded her of Iroh, who was also apparently the head of the board, fixed his eyes somewhere on her forehead. It made her a bit uncomfortable that he wouldn't look her in the eye. _And here comes the rejection speech_, she thought almost bitterly. "Mis-"

"Katara," she corrected him. "I'm going to be here for at least the next couple of weeks, the least we can do is drop the formalities," she offered lightly with a ghosting of a smile.

He looked very uncomfortable at that. Nonetheless, he followed her wishes. "Katara, I know this document makes you our overseer," he said it with a wince; "but we have all been doing this a lot longer than you. We know how the system works and you coming in, trying to fix it... Since you want to be casual, I'll speak honestly: you don't know anything about the system in the first place. There's nothing to fix."

"The Fire Lord thinks otherwise," she interjected.

A middle-aged brunette with hair cut into a straight bob and eyes as cold as gray ice leaned forward in her seat. "Is this the same_ Fire Lord_ you share a room with?"

Katara couldn't hold back the small gasp. She cursed herself for it.

"Abhita," he warned with a gravel voice.

"It's the truth, Ren," she snapped back.

He leveled her with a glare. A very tense minute passed that left Katara wondering if they would still think less of her if she gave into her water-bending instincts and put a protective wall around her. She was only inwardly joking about that... mostly. Finally, the 'Abhita' woman relented and leaned back in her chair, flipping her bob to the side of her shoulder. It fell right back into place. Ren now squared his pale, yellow eyes back on Katara. "All of us are former teachers and I will admit that there is some unfairness between the children with an ability and those without it, but that's life. _Life_ is unfair."

Memories of her mother being ripped from her life at a young age sprung to the water-bender's mind. She swallowed hard. "And that's the first lesson you want to show the kids? There's a difference between teaching something and making a kid learn it through a hurtful experience; trust me, I know."

Another member at the farther end of the table slapped his hand against the polished surface. "Please don't launch into the whole sad water-bending spiel and how tough that was for you," he mocked.

She caught herself from reeling back as if slapped; instead, she narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. "Then _please_, why don't you shut that _useless mouth_ of yours."

The man rose in his chair quickly, mouth open and poised to let out an explosive response, but Ren was quicker. He held out his hands over the table he now leaned over and yelled, "Silence!" When the attention of the board was on him, he steeled his gaze across them all. "Everyone out. Except you, Katara," he said unnecessarily. She had no intention of leaving anyway.

Her hands balled into fists, she didn't know if she would be able to control herself out in the hall with that guy. She – and Aang and her brother and the others – had dealt with some real idiots in the past but she could usually pass it off as just that – an ignorant person's words, someone who doesn't_ know her_ or even _laid eyes_ on a water-bender before. That guy, though, went too far and her nerves felt frayed after only ten minutes of being in the board's meeting room.

With feet firmly against the pristine wooden floors, she watched all of them shuffle out. Two glanced back worried, something close to an apology across their faces, and Katara made note of them. Those two and Ren - _maybe Ren_, she corrected - would probably be her only shot at getting anything done. Sure, she had expected it to be hard to get to these people on her side - she was well aware of the stark differences between them, the first and foremost being her chilling ability - but she had not seen it being like _this_. This was downright rough.

"Katara," Ren said once the door banged shut. "Please, sit." She did so, pulling up her own chair to the head of the table inadvertently. He did not seem to notice once she realized what she had done. "I understand what the Fire Lord is trying to do; really. I've seen a lot of children filtered through this system and then spit out when they don't have fire-bending or those that have it and don't want to go into the military but that is what is expected of them and what they are trained for. But we all make sacrifices for our nation; all of us. Don't think you can change that system."

She smiled wryly but it came out as more of a grimace. "With all respect because you're right, you and everyone else on this board has experience I don't, I think that disadvantage is actually a... well, an advantage. You are in the system - I'm _outside_ of it. I can give you a perspective you can't." She leaned forward against the table. "Hold on... do all fire-bending children have to be trained for the military?"

He sighed warily. "As it stands right now... yes."

"But there are dozens of professions they can go into!" She protested to no one in particular. "Blacksmiths, welders, cooks, even doing an act at a circus or carnival."

"Even a teacher?"

She stared at him. There was a tell-tale look in his eye. She gaped. _He's a fire-bender,_ she mused in a moment of awe. "Yes," she said heartily. "Even a teacher. Their life doesn't have to be defined by their bending ability if they don't want it to be."

"Like yours isn't?" His yellow eyes landed on the table, almost lifelessly. "Katara, I must explain to you the grudge everyone else holds against you. It's... I'll be blunt."

She nodded.

"We are a nation built on tradition. We believe in our leaders because they were born and trained to be the best. We believe in fire-bending because it pulled us, a small island country, into becoming a contender with the great Earth Kingdom. But to have you, a female water-bender, come to our country without your Avatar friend by your side, has raised some... eyebrows." He met her eyes for the first time since he began his explanation. "You stay in our Royal Palace, travel with our Fire Lord, share a room with our Fire Lord - every household has a gossiping servant," he confided at her wide eyes. Katara had shrugged off the other woman's exact jab because she thought it was just that, a jab; she was grasping at straws. The brunette was stunned to find that those straws were very much so out in the open for everyone to see. "You are an outsider to us, Katara, and most of us do not like that."

She pressed her lips into a thin line. They tingled with numbness. "And you?" She managed to choke out, not quite sure where to begin. All of it was true - she could not convince them that her view of it was better than theirs when it was a situation that was so personal._ In their minds, they probably think I'm trying to control their Fire Lord or something like that._ She shuddered with the thought.

He held up his hands. "I give the benefit of the doubt with everything. Just know - your two offenses against them out there are that you share a room with a powerful man whom you have no legal ties with, and you are a water-bender. Now, your personal life is your business, but I suggest you start doing everything you can to show them you are committed to this country, the _Fire Nation._ And for the _Fire Nation, fire _is a large part of it. Water... is not." He stared at her for a dragging moment and then stood. "I have no grudge against you, Katara. Think of it as some friendly advice."

She nodded and murmured out a thanks.

"I will convene another meeting tomorrow at noon, alright?" Ren smiled at her from the doorway, watching her carefully.

"Of course. I will be here," she promised.

"Good."

Katara sat there for several minutes. Maybe she had been wrapped up in her head too long, maybe she had been so eager to stay by Zuko's side, but she had never even had a _thought_ beforehand about how the Fire Nation would react to their... closeness. Except, she had traveled with Zuko while searching for his mother and again down to Natsuno and Rhange and there had been plenty of people who recognized him, whether he wanted them to or not. They were of the poor to middle classes - average, everyday people. The people who held the nation up. They had no problem with her closeness to their Fire Lord.

It was then, staring across the empty conference room and to an equally as blank wall, that she began to laugh. "Of course they didn't have a problem, they weren't the ones that wanted the war," she murmured softly, a stray giggle escaping through words here and there. Katara sobered quickly. "It was the nobles, the powerful. The people I have to deal with," she finished aloud.

Slipping into her thoughts again, the blue-eyed female's face morphed into a pinched expression. _The normal people have no grudge against me and my people and Toph and hers because they don't understand. All they know is that their country wanted more land, wanted to expand. That the Fire Nation was bringing their _culture_ to the rest of the world. Meeting us has usually changed their minds. So I just have to tiptoe around causing class, uh, clashing. Right,_ she thought, feeling overwhelmed. _I just __have to deal with all of these stuck-up people who hate me because I'm different and don't follow their culture guidelines to a stupid 'T'._

"Fantastic," she thought with mild concern. Helping Zuko out entailed a situation_ a lot different_ from what she had imagined.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie track_

_I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black._

_I suppose I've passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute_

_And look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it._

_I never have seen a haunted house, but I hear there are such things;_

_That they hold the talk of spirits, their mirth and sorrowings._

_I know this house isn't haunted, and I wish it were, I do;_

_For it wouldn't be so lonely if I had a ghost or two._

_'The House With Nobody In It',_ stanzas #1-2, Joyce Kilmer

* * *

><p>The day dragged on hollowly, like usual. Azula ran a hand through her hair tiredly before patting down any frizz that might have occurred. Her tossing and turning night left her exhausted when she woke up this morning, despite the fact that she had fewer worries than this time last week - a bed her own, a room her own, no cell, no chains, no locked door, and only <em>two<em> guards this time instead of the typical four back at Black Rock.

The word 'doctor' stilled on her mind's imaginary tongue as that was proved false when she had eventually dragged herself out of bed. Her mother had so _kindly_ informed her over breakfast that they - _if_ she wanted to - would be visiting a 'therapist' today. _If I want to; hah. There isn't any true choice_, Azula thought, thoroughly convinced in her forever pessimistic mind.

The Fire Nation princess sighed deeply and propped her back against the wall. The hall was devoid of any other people of course. It had been hard work convincing the guards to let her wait – she could feel their hawk eyes on her, watching ever minor movement like a rabid animal would - for her mother in the alcove-like hall outside of the northern wing of the palace. Ursa had somewhat easily agreed to it. Azula smiled a little at that. Her mother was so... _pliable_, she settled on. She did greatly enjoy all the time she was spending with her mother and she was also grateful for having her mother back. Although, sometimes, she could see in her mother's gaze a sort of desperation to make up for the lost time.

There's no way to do that. Azula didn't expect her to, but she did not so say it aloud to her mother either.

The looks kept on coming.

A figure walked past, trailing along the corner of her line of sight, never turning their head. She guessed a maid or nurse or something. What she had not been expecting as she tilted her head, bored eyes following the person, was the flash of recognition running across her mind. _The water-bender. Wearing Fire Nation clothing. _Expensive_ clothing._

Her eyes narrowed darkly.

The guards still stood opposite of her, standing rigidly only two feet from her, one on each side. She had half a mind to confront the water-bender and find out what exactly was going on that she had the ability to both wear those clothes and walk around the palace without an escort, seemingly with free range. _It's not fair_, she thought a second later. The idea was lost when the South Pole girl was no longer in her sights and Azula decided that, if she had to, she was in no position to take down the guards by her sides long enough for her to have her girl-to-girl chat. _Too bad._

"Azula!"

She whipped her head around to the sound, instantly summoning a small smile to her lips for her mother. Half of it was indeed genuine, her mind slowly focusing back on the scene at hand. Lately, however, she had been trying to focus on smiling more often; her normally impassive face sometimes concerned or hurt her mother. She wasn't very... _used to displaying _her emotion so openly. The largest instance where she had done so had been during her manic, mental-break days. Azula had no wish to repeat those.

"I've got it all set it up, we'll be in the study room..." Ursa babbled on, coaxing her daughter along as she slung her dainty arm over the girl's shoulders. The girl let herself be led.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_'Twas noontide of summer,_

_And mid-time of night;_

_And stars, in their orbits,_

_Shone pale, thro' the light_

_Of the brighter, cold moon,_

_'Mid planets her slaves,_

_Herself in the Heavens,_

_Her beam on the waves._

_I gazed awhile_

_On her cold smile;_

_Too cold- too cold for me-_

_There pass'd, as a shroud,_

_A fleecy cloud,_

_And I turned away to thee,_

_Proud Evening Star,_

_In thy glory afar,_

_And dearer thy beam shall be;_

_For joy to my heart_

_Is the proud part_

_Thou bearest in Heaven at night,_

_And more I admire_

_Thy distant fire,_

_Than that colder, lowly light. _

_~'Evening Star', _Edgar Allan Poe

* * *

><p>"Just say what's on your mind," the woman responded calmly, the same as before. "Whatever you say to me is in confidence. No one else will know, I promise."<p>

Azula's eyes kept rolling around the room, landing fleetingly on the books, desk, rugs, windows, and et cetera that were position ever-so-carefully around. The Northern Wing's study room - more like a library space with a desk squeezed into it - was the same as she remembered as a child. She had only visited the place three, maybe four times, hunting for books tucked away from her small hands; books on the Fire Nation's gruesome political history. It was definitely not the white-washed stuff that all the kids learned at the academies. No, she had wanted _all the details _that were recorded for the Fire Nation Royalty and for them only. She had found it eventually in one of the war rooms flanking her father's office. It had been... captivating.

"Let's dive right in; tell me about how you feel when you think of your metal break," the woman prompted again.

Azula laughed bitterly. "How I feel? That's what my mother's paying you to listen to? Me talking about my feelings?" She paused and leaned forward, shoulders hunched over her knees as her back arched. "Okay, fine. I feel... I don't know. I guess you could say I'm _detached_, okay? I'm not a psycho and I'm not that person that everyone whispers about when they think I'm not listening. I mean, I lost it a little but I don't remember much of it. I was becoming the Fire Lord and my father was ascending to the highest throne in the world - _ruling the world_ - and everything was stressful."

"Were you happy?"

"Yeah," she answered resolutely. "I have dreamed of being Fire Lord my entire life and my father trained me for it. What else is there for me to do?" Azula scowled. The woman had very nearly trapped her. She had felt herself relaxing; she wouldn't let her guard down around strangers. She may have had a 'traumatic' experience and still be figuring out her own mind but she wouldn't let this other woman's mind manipulate her. She had never been so gullible and certainly wouldn't stop now. "The stress just got to me," she finished abruptly, closing off the discussion.

The therapist was not deterred so easily. "You let the power consume you, define you, and the stress of everything crashed down on you. It happens to the best of us and it _is_ _alright_ to admit that."

She scoffed, unable to stop herself. "Doctor Sri-"

"Chirah."

"Whatever," Azula continued, snippy. "I don't care about your little theories. I know what..." She held her tongue and smiled at the other woman sardonically. "If I don't want to tell you, that's my business. I'm just here because my mother thinks I should talk to you for an hour a day but if it's okay with you, I would like to sit here -_ in quiet_."

"Unfortunately, I don't allow that."

"Of course you don't!" She threw up her hands. She had not meant it to be in defeat, she just didn't realize how close to that she was.

Doctor Chirah continued on smoothly. "Running away from admitting that you got swamped will only hurt you more. You can either choose to look at this horrific event you've been through as a life-changing chance, or you can shove your head in the dirt. I have counseled people for more than three decades now and I know that if you do deny that this happened, that this has affected you, then it will happen again." She shrugged lightly. "Now, if I may, how did you feel when you discovered what had happened to yourself? Take me back to the first time you woke up in your cell." Her words were slow and carefully enunciated.

Azula stared at the black-haired, green-eyed woman sitting across from her. Her own gold eyes riveted to the blank spot between the woman's eyebrows, on her brow. If she had to sit here and endure this practice of 'therapy', she would choose not to look into another pair of pitying eyes. Something about the emotion of pity left her both pissed off and deeply saddened. Like as if she was a helpless baby... but still a baby who _deserved_ help.

Her hands rocking on her lap, fingers clasped, Azula shuddered out a breath.

"Helpless," she whispered, finally giving in. Nervousness knotted in her stomach and she felt her hands burn with surface heat. It hurt to admit. "I felt helpless for the first time in my life. Whenever things have gone wrong, I've always had a plan, always had a goal in mind. If something goes wrong, I can always fix it... I don't _ever_ want to feel that again."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	75. Biscuits

**A/N:** 'Cataract', in terms of a waterfall, means a large and powerful one. I used this in the name of the school you will see below, because Shu Jing was on a lush island with a large and wide waterfall running through the valley behind it. I didn't want the name to be boring, although it does sound decidedly weird :P

I'm going to go ahead and put it in here now that I'm currently passively writing a collaboration project with a friend whom I beta for and my writing style in that project is a lot different than mine here, so if the flow in this story changes a little, I apologize! I am trying very hard for it to not bleed over but… well. It's hard to switch mindsets.

The usual apologizes for any misspellings or grammatical errors in this document. It is self-edited and sometimes my eyes get tired :S

Thanks for reading! Hope you continue to enjoy the story!

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Life is a stream_

_On which we strew_

_Petal by petal the flower of our heart;_

_The end lost in dream,_

_They float past our view,_

_We only watch their glad, early start._

_Freighted with hope,_

_Crimsoned with joy,_

_We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;_

_Their widening scope,_

_Their distant employ,_

_We never shall know. And the stream as it flows_

_Sweeps them away,_

_Each one is gone_

_Ever beyond into infinite ways._

_We alone stay_

_While years hurry on,_

_The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays. _

_~'Petals', _Amy Lowell

* * *

><p>Toph ran a hand through her hair and felt Appa descend at the same moment. Aang had informed her just ten minutes earlier that they had reached Ba Sing Se's walls, but she had thought it would take longer to reach the Ba Sing Se Zoo tucked inside the outer walls of the city among the Agrarian Zone. She was wrong. The city was massive but Appa was fast. It had only been a three day trip to the city, after all. "Woah, Appa," Aang called out and the flying bison began hovering, circling around the ground for what she presumed was a free spot. "Down; you're good, buddy."<p>

The flying bison groaned and dropped. Toph jolted upright. "Rough landing there, Appa," she scolded without any heat in her words, reaching over the saddle's edge and rubbing his back. He went to work righting the fur on his paws with his tongue as most of it was standing on end.

"Here," Aang said near her. She couldn't wait to get back on solid ground so she could feel the thrum of energy waves through the rock and use her seismic sense to see the world around her. Up here, on the animal guide's back, she was a bit frazzled. It had been a while since she had used Appa on a steady basis. Wordlessly, Aang took her hand and helped her down. She slid down the side of Appa's white, fluffy coat and landed the heels of her feet with a small "ooph" on the ground. She wiggled her toes, momentarily slipping her feet out of her sandals. Dusty dirt covered them. Toph put her shoes back on.

"Avatar Aang!" Someone called from the distance, fast footfalls announcing their rapidly approaching presence.

"Kenji!" She could hear Aang's smile.

"The famous zookeeper?" She whispered over to him.

"Yep," he said back and then, more loudly, called out, "It's good to see you!"

"This place is a huge success, thanks to you."

"We tried to stop by last time," Toph interjected, the memory of it making her smirk. "But we had to deal with this real a-"

"It was just a misunderstanding," Aang cut in.

Kenji rocked on his feet, now next to them. She could easily guess he had an eyebrow cocked in curiosity or maybe interest. "Yes, I heard about that. I'm sorry about Irat - he can be pigheaded sometimes."

"No problem," he assured. "It all worked out."

"Are you staying in the city for a while? Need me to keep the flying bison here?"

She heard Aang shake his head next to her, his collar rubbing against his neck. "Nah, I'm just dropping my friend Toph here off. Thanks for the offer, I'll take you up on it sometime."

Kenji said his goodbyes and trotted off to tend to one of the cages. The small crowd of people - small as it was not yet the afternoon and people were still in the city, hard at work and caring for other responsibilities - continued to walk around them like before but paused a little more, their treads across the dirt slowing. Now that the zookeeper was not with them any longer, Toph could practically hear what they were thinking - could they approach the Avatar? She shook her head. A presence among the crowd tingled at her memory. She smiled happily.

"Iroh!" Aang called out before she had the chance.

"Aang," he greeted back with a chuckling baritone. "It's good to see the both of you. I assume you're going to the Hu-Xin provinces?" He chuckled again for a moment, probably at Aang's face. From what Toph could tell, the Avatar had the most incredulous faces sometimes. Well that and Iroh was easily amused, it seemed. "My nephew's letter mentioned problems with the area. Nothing like Natsuno, I hope."

"No, no, nothing like that," he rushed to say. "I promise they'll be resolved peacefully. In fact... they might change the world." Toph impishly grinned at that and ducked her head, knowing how her favorite tea enthusiast would react to that.

"Really?" Iroh all-but exclaimed. "I can't wait to see how. Now go before I change my mind about asking too many questions!"

Aang laughed. Toph placed her hands on his shoulders when he turned to her. "Good luck," she said before adding, "not that you need it, Twinkletoes."

He groaned yet bent to kiss her anyway. Sweet, chaste, and all too brief. "You'll do great," he vowed with conviction. A brief wind kicked up and Toph no longer felt his presence on the dirty earth. A small pat against Appa's saddle told her he air-bended himself up on it. Aang gripped the reigns. "See you later Iroh, Toph."

Iroh gave his own farewells and joined the female earth-bender in waving the Avatar off as he lifted into the sky with a "yip, yip!", the flying bison soaring easily. Toph gripped the bag's strap and removed it from resting on the ground, pulling the thickly-veined cloth to ride diagonally across her chest instead. "So what is this program you were offered by King Kuei?" The Fire Nation man asked as soon as they started walking, leaving the Ba Sing Se Zoo behind.

"It's a training offer," she explained. Her cheeks flushed pink and her eyes shimmered with excitement. "I get to join the new Terra Team's training! I mean, first I have to go see Kuei and he has some other offer but then I get to go off for four months to train with the elite of the _elite_! Isn't that awesome?"

Iroh slung an arm over her shoulders. "I'm very proud of you, Toph."

She beamed. "It's nice being back in Ba Sing Se, Iroh. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer's hand."_

~Khalil Gibran

* * *

><p>A tapping echoed throughout the room, resounded at a steady beat. Katara's fingers moved to a rhythm all their own, keeping her frustratingly focused on the documents, books, and stacks of scrolls in front of her. Nonetheless, she could feel her concentration slipping – slowly, steadily, but surely – with no real progress to show for it. The second meeting with the Fire Nation Teacher's Board hadn't been much better than the first in terms of tension. This time, however, she decided to keep quiet and try her damnedest to blend with the wall, choosing to listen to how they usually operate instead. But nothing of value had come out of it and the next meeting wasn't for another week. So much free time and yet <em>not enough.<em>

Her bright blue eyes took in rule after rule, guideline after guideline, operating procedure document after document of all the schools in the Fire Nation and all she saw was a prejudice. Only, the more she read about the way that fire-bending children were given higher placement, stricter schedules, and heavier workloads – what with now having all of these fire-bending students on an array of classes ranging from the teaching of fire-bending to warfare history – Katara found herself only feeling more pity for the children.

They didn't choose to fire-bend, it was just the way they were.

Katara always felt extremely blessed for being a water-bender – the last of the South Pole. After discovering how dangerous it made the world for her, she dreamed of being able to avenge her mother, to right the wrongs of the world she would never be able to touch, to see, or even to breathe in. Those dreams slowly morphed throughout her young childhood and into her teens, but they stayed _true_. Only, she was given the opportunity to see the world when she and Sokka had stumbled upon Aang.

Having to hide her own ability from the world for her own safety had left her with feelings of frustration, annoyance, a tingling of unreasonable regret, and a drenching of sadness over everything else. She could easily imagine what it would be like for someone that had the world knowing of an ability they didn't necessarily want to use in the mandated way – frustrated, annoyed, and a little sad.

Similar, and yet so different.

However, this knowledge and what she was currently reading about to the beat of her own fingertips was nothing Katara did not already know at some _level_, her common sense and previous observations already clueing her into it. The trick was finding something she could use – a case where it was different, perhaps more lenient – and when it came to that, she had no _new_ knowledge.

She took another deep breath, shuddering at the effort. Her back had been bent over the desk for a number of hours she could only guess at, letting the time slip away. It ached.

Katara didn't know what she had been expecting when she began pouring over the large schools' texts. _Of course they're strict_, she thought morosely. _W__hat a w__aste of time. Hopefully the smaller schools will be different._ She paged through a stack of ten small academies placed seemingly at random along the far western edge of the Fire Nation mainland and then scattered throughout the islands eastward. After a minute, both of her hands stilled at one particular name. The silly beat tapping along the table-top stopped.

_Cataract Betterment Academy._

It was located in the village of Shu Jing, which was built on the fourth island up from Ember Island, and that fact made her smile. It was in that village that Sokka had met the instructor Piandao and learned much of his expertise in sword mastery and combat. She thumbed through the description of the place further. The usual classes were there – the study of classical music, history which she could only assume was censored like the rest of them, etiquette, fire-bending, warfare – but another caught her eye: dancing. The art of dance was not taught in any of the other schools; she found their reasoning ridiculous, too – because it was a 'form of self-expression' and 'threatened the Fire Lord's reign'.

_Pfft._

Katara took this a good sign. She stood from the chair and began sorting through the stacks upon stacks of books strewn across the desk. A few she had picked up after Zuko left for the Earth Kingdom and those were stacked on the floor; she went through them too. After a grueling half hour, she gave up. She had no textbooks or manuals from this particular school. _Of course not._

A knock startled her out of her simpering reverie. "Ye-" She cleared her throat and tried again. "Come in."

It was Loya. The older woman poked her lined face through the door, eyes flitting between the desk and the girl without any attempt to shield the curiosity shining in them. "Are you still hard at work on your project to save the education system?"

Katara smiled. "Something like that," she responded. A sigh rushed from her throat before she could stop it. "I'm actually missing some books."

"You look like you have plenty there," Loya quipped, fully coming into the room now, albeit uninvited. It didn't matter. The water-bender saw her in much the same light as she did Ursa - and she both respected and liked the former Fire Lady quite a lot. "Would you like to take a break? I could use a hand with a project of my own."

She didn't have to consider the offer for long. Her mind was throbbing from the concentration and her eyes swam around the room, watering from the now somewhat-foreign act of blinking. "That sounds great." She walked to the door and the other woman was already holding the knob, waiting to close it behind her. "How long was I in there?" She asked absently, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.

"Five hours."

"Five hours?!" Her eyes widened to a size rivaling saucers. "Wow."

"Yep," was all the head housekeeper responded with, a click of her tongue accompanying the answer.

With those five hours, that made it nearly thirty hours – total and consecutively, not counting any breaks at all – that she had been researching through schools across the nation_. That's n__ot much for a day_, the water-bender thought sullenly. She mentally slapped herself_. I_ _sorted through almost sixty schools in three days with little __sleep__; never mind, I _did_ get a lot done._ Katara focused her mind back to the present once more and turned her head to face the other woman. "So what's your 'project'?"

"Biscuits."

She paused. The woman was completely serious. With a bit of hesitation, not wanting to misunderstand her, she asked, "Biscuits?"

"It's just one of those days," Loya answered with an emotional sigh. "Some people like to read, others like to exercise, but I like to make biscuits and have them with tea."

A slow smile spread across Katara's face and she nodded. She didn't completely understand the biscuit and tea part of it, but she did kind of understand the concept behind it. Sometimes, she just had days where the urge to water-bend made her nearly jump out of skin. It was like a…. "Like a craving," she added aloud.

The older woman shared her smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

They walked through the archway leading into the kitchen and the younger female was surprised to find it empty. No one was in sight and none of the candles mounted alongside the walls were lit, either. "Where's-"

"He has the day off," Loya said immediately, already knowing her thoughts. She bee-lined for the counter island. "There's only three of you living here right now and we have plenty of leftovers – do you mind?"

"No, not at all."

"Good," she said, obviously relieved at that.

Katara felt a strange urge to giggle when she saw all of the ingredients – flower, sugar, and eggs, to name the basics – already lined on the countertops. "I'll just follow your lead," she suggested.

"Alright-y then," Loya sassed back with a wink. This time, she did giggle.

For the next half hour, they worked in near silence and the water-bender found herself enjoying the task immensely. It was silly and simple and _fun_. She had never really baked anything before and Loya was like a soaring bird in her movements around the kitchen, unlike her own clumsy hatchling-like awkwardness in comparison. "Thanks," Katara blurted out when they slid the first pan of the batch into the closed oven. "I needed a distraction; my mind was getting all fuzzy."

"I guessed. I've served a lot of powerful people in this house and I discovered that paperwork is the fastest way to make someone normally cool turn into being completely cranky," she said impishly. Katara half-smirked. "What are you working on?" She saw the younger girl's expression close off a little and amended her words with, "The biscuits will be a while and I might be able to help you out with a thing or two."

"Okay…. I'm trying to find a school that hasn't followed the usual fire-bending propaganda rules so that I can convince the members of the Fire Nation Teacher's Council that… well, that my way is better. That sounds awful, it'll never work," Katara admitted her own fears, half-jokingly rolling her eyes as she turned her gaze down to the tiled floor.

"_Those_ people." Loya scoffed. "All of them have visited her at least once while I've been around and none of them are pleasant…. You know, I have a few of their secrets tucked away in my memory… maybe you would like to know some _insider facts_?"

"Oh, no, no, I'm not a blackmailer," the water-bender rushed to say. She saw the mischievous glint in the other woman's eye and a small part of her _was_ eager to know… but she stopped herself. It wasn't her place to listen to eavesdropped gossip. Katara was trying to do a serious, country-changing thing that would not only change the educational system but hopefully part of the mentality in the country too, steering the people away from thinking that those with fire-bending automatically had to fight, and cheap blackmail had no part in that process – more like a struggle, really.

"Who said anything about blackmailing? I can just give you some tips on what buttons to push," she offered. At the young girl's continued hesitance, she softened. Reaching out, Loya patted one of the water-bender's shoulders the way she had done to her son so many times in the past. "It's not blackmail if you point out that, say, mister Zeisch was kicked out of the prominent school his father sent him to because he didn't have any fire-bending skills. Most of those idiots on that board want the system to be different, they just don't have the guts to do it themselves. _And_ they're pompous pricks."

Katara laughed.

Loya arched an eyebrow at her, letting a grin slip through. "What? It's true."

"Okay," Katara conceded. "I _might_ be interested in some of the information you have. I just… I want to be able to point out to them that we're all only looking out for the best of the country and the world, you know? I don't mean to step on their toes."

"Leave out the 'and the world' part and you'll get along with them great," she firstly advised. "Now, where to begin…."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	76. A Teacher

**A/N:** I caved and made a **deviantART **account. I took the presented opportunity to re-upload the now _three_ maps that are related to this story. The links are on my profile if you would like to check them out. My references to the Avatar World can be random at (_most_) times in this story so I _really_ recommend taking a look at those, if you haven't already :)

It is at this point, seventy chapters in, that I realize Toph's last name is Beifong and not Bei Fong. The last one still looks better to me, IDK why. I will add that to my list of things to change later :) Apologies to both anyone that has noticed this error before and also to those that have read this story and unknowingly had to put up with it. My fault! :S

Thanks for reading, everyone!

**Disclaimer: Sadly, do not own anything related to the Avatar universe. **

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The noblest name in Allegory's page,_

_The hand that traced inexorable rage;_

_A pleasing moralist whose page refined,_

_Displays the deepest knowledge of the mind;_

_A tender poet of a foreign tongue,_

_(Indited in the language that he sung.)_

_A bard of brilliance but unlicensed page_

_At once the shame and glory of our age,_

_The prince f harmony and stirling sense,_

_The ancient dramatist of eminence,_

_The bard that paints imagination's powers,_

_And him whose song revives departed hours,_

_Once more an ancient tragic bard recall,_

_In boldness of design surpassing all._

_These names when rightly read, a name [make] known_

_Which gathers all their glories in its own._

_~'Enigma', _Edgar Allan Poe

* * *

><p>"Aang." The Avatar turned around to see Zuko striding calmly towards him, a slight smile on his face. It was one of those instances in which you would normally be unable to tell that his face was anything other than impassive unless you were a friend and not a stranger. He returned the facial expression with a broader and starker one of his own.<p>

"Zuko," he greeted in return. "Did you just get here?" He turned his head over his shoulder, pleased to see Appa still slovenly moving through the fields behind the town, just where he had left him. Momo hopped up on the flying bison's head and plopped down, content with the ride.

"Arrived yesterday. I have something to tell you."

"Okay." Aang turned back around from watching his animal guide and best animal friend. He fell in step beside his Fire Nation friend as they walked into the town of Chiami.

"While you were coming, I stopped in Ba Sing Se and talked with the Earth King," Zuko began to explain.

He blinked. "Kuei? No way, I was just there two days ago!"

Zuko's head jerked in his direction, a few loose strands of ever-lengthening hair falling out of place. "Wait, _what_?"

"Yeah, Toph got an offer to join the Terra Team for a while so I dropped her off. She was super excited."

Aang looked at his friend's still-confused face and almost laughed. "What's the Terra Team?"

"The soldiers that guard the city's walls," Aang explained with a deliberately slow voice resembling that of a teacher talking to a young student. "You don't know that? You lived in Ba Sing Se for like a month."

"There were other more pressing matters going on at the time like trying not to be found out so I wouldn't be imprisoned," he deadpanned. Zuko's smile became noticeable then as he said, "Good for her; she deserves that."

A few beats passed as they walked through an alleyway and found themselves in the center of town. The bustling center was located within the Hu-Xin Provinces and was a sea town, placed along the grassy cliff edge that then dropped down into the Mo Ce Sea. Aang looked around, both admiring and taking in the view. There were a sizable amount of people that stood in the doorways of shops or along the streets, a large handful around the center fountain, who stared at him and Zuko. It was expected; their appearance was, well, rare and a special occurrence. Not to mention neither had sent forward notification of their visits beforehand, probably making it all that more strange for the citizens.

The two friends stopped along a pale, brown-brick wall of a building that he recognized to be an inn. He guessed this was where Zuko was staying since he had not been paying attention to the direction of their walk, leaving Zuko to lead the way. The sight of two Fire Nation Royalty guards standing at the entrance verified this in his mind. Aang rocked his head sideways again, facing his friend. "Sorry, I interrupted you - what did you talk to Kuei about?"

"We came up with a new idea," the older teenager said obstinately. "If these colonies are up for it, we will give them what they want - independence. They'll get a helping hand in the beginning; don't worry, we fleshed out most of the details already." He paused and slid his gold eyes over to meet Aang's hazel-gray ones. "What do you think?"

If he wasn't so elated, he was sure the grin rising on his face would split the skin in two. "That's fantastic! I had this idea before but I didn't think it would happen so, so soon." His eyes widened slightly when a resulting thought came to him in a rush, toppled by more and ever more. "What about citizenship? Th-"

"Everyone in the colonies will have dual - or triple, I guess; it will be their new country, my nation, and the Earth Kingdom. And try to stay quiet," Zuko chastised good-naturally. "Everyone will know before we have a chance to announce it."

"We should talk to the mayor first – they will get mad if we don't."

"Already on it," he nodded. "I already talked to her assistant and she's free this evening after some meeting or forum is held in the town hall."

"Good, good." Aang bit his cheek, thinking. After the War, he had a bad taste in his mouth when it came to how the people of the three – four, though his was currently inactive – countries were treated because of petty political differences between each other. Inevitably, the differences in bending capabilities came into play and when they did it then it came along with a guarantee that those abilities would eventually be used as weapons in some shape or form.

It was in Bane's Port, outside of Ba Sing Se, that he had first voiced aloud the idea of a nation without some bending ability being rooted into its framework, running the risk of overtaking it completely like had happened with the Fire Nation until Zuko came into power and slowly starting righting the metaphorical ship. The idea was a promise that stuck in his mind, all these months later.

His mind continued to race with all the checks and balances that should be thought of and considered before they rushed into the idea. He had no doubt Zuko – and Kuei – had thought of most of these already, as they were rulers of countries and had far more experience in that field than him, but he didn't want to run the risk of forgetting anything. Or worse, leaving anything behind. "This will be for both Hu-Xin and Yu Dao, right?"

"I thought so but who knows if others will want to. This area was the first place that the Fire Nation took over and now they're completely different." They shared a knowing look. "Do you know how many people I've seen wearing green and red - _together_?" Zuko asked suddenly.

"I noticed that too," the younger teen said with a short laugh. "Isn't it great?"

"It's... different. It is taking me a while to get used to," he admitted.

"What, adverse to change? Don't tell me the Fire Lord seat is starting to make you think everything is supposed to only be done _one_ way," Aang joked.

"Not likely," he responded sharply. He ran a hand across his face in an act of tiredness and Aang noticed for the first time the bags under his eyes.

"Hey, you okay? You look worn out." Zuko stared at him for a minute. The Avatar shifted on his feet as he faced his friend fully now, a tickling of un-comfortableness running across his skin as he didn't like how he was being almost sized up.

Finally, after a strange minute passed, Zuko's shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily. "Azula's out of prison."

The four words were mumbled but once he comprehended them, he sprang away from the wall and towards Zuko. "What?!"

"Sh!" He glanced around at the people who now openly stared at them a little longer, continuing to glance out of the corner of their eyes.

"Sorry," Aang mumbled, a little embarrassed at his impromptu response as well. Worriment tickled at his gut and he suddenly felt a bit antsy. "Did she escape? Why in the Spirit World are you here?"

"She didn't escape, she... she was _released_."

"Wh-"

"Sh!" Zuko quickly interjected, cutting him off from yelping again. "She was released on my orders and my mother's watching her. And no-" He added with a raised eyebrow at Aang's expression. "-my mother's not alone. She has four guards watching at all times, two of those with them so that my sister knows she can't get away with anything."

Aang shook his head feeling all kinds of bad feelings about this. "Katara told me everything that happened when you guys went up against her; do you really think she won't be able to take down a couple guards? Zuko, I don't know what you're doing here, but you are potentially putting a lot of people in harm's way, including your mother; including you! Wait, where is Katara?" He thought suddenly. At the guilty look on his friend's face, he rolled his eyes and huffed. "Jeez, Zuko, you're even putting Katara in danger!"

"Katara was the one that was able to take down my sister, remember? She can do it again." Zuko stared at him, face suddenly hardened. "It was my decision, okay, and if anything happens then it's on my shoulders. _I get that._ Think of it as an experiment - if my sister is able to adjust, then she'll be watched by guards the rest of her life and if she isn't then she will go back to prison." He huffed as well, mimicking Aang's action a minute earlier. "You don't have to worry about it; I was telling you as a friend, not as the Avatar."

He frowned and stared at his friend as Zuko leaned against the brick wall, turning his own gaze upwards at the sky. He looked tired and like he had been wound up a notch too tight. With the little Aang knew about why Azula was released, he suddenly realized what his words sounded like. She was still his friend's sister, even if she was a complete 'fruit cake', as Toph would so _eloquently_ put it.

He sighed but it came out nearly inaudible. He had been at the Air Temples for the past two months, hanging out with Toph and bonding with the people, getting into all sorts of hijinks if the truth was known, and here his friend was, running a whole nation, dealing with having to now invest in helping a new country out because it was the right thing to do, and also having his insane sister released. Aang honestly could not even begin to wrap his head around that mess of a situation.

"Sorry, Zuko, I didn't mean to sound... you know what I mean. I'm here for you as your friend, you know that."

"Yeah, I know, Aang." His lips morphed into a lopsided half-smile. "_And_ as the Avatar?"

He laughed. It was said as a joke yet he knew there was always that possibility. "Yeah, yeah. So what are you going to do? If it, uh, doesn't work out?" He asked seriously.

Zuko sobered and shot him a look without any emotional walls up this time. He looked more vulnerable than the young air-bender ever remembered seeing the Fire Lord before and he was struck by just how much happened that he, the Avatar, did not even know about. "I don't know. I'm doing this for my mother because she thinks there's... I don't know, a shot. A shot at redemption, I mean. But if it doesn't happen then she will be devastated." His face twisted into a grimace. "Now I understand what my Uncle meant when he said 'between a rock and a hard place'."

"Welcome to the club," Aang commented sarcastically. They exchanged a remembering smile.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste."_

~Marcel Duchamp

* * *

><p>The blunt curve of lead poking out from the bottom of the stick smoothed a bold second layer over the sketch paper once more. The curve of a nose came into shape. Azula withdrew it from the page and tapped the dull bottom against the paper, regarding the image with a critically artistic eye. She placed the stick down and ran her fingers over the handful of others, withdrawing one that held a thin, stark point this time. Slowly and steadily, she outlined the other woman's wide green eyes, copying them over onto the page.<p>

Dr. Chirah sat still like a perfect subject, taking this time to observe her patient. Azula knew that was what she was doing; in the back of her mind, that truth was repeating steadily, reminding her to stay vigilant even as she focused most of her energy on the sketch. Out of the corner of her eyes, she kept close watch on the therapist. The raven-haired woman ducked her head and scribbled a few notes into her own pad. "Ah," the royal princess muttered out. The doctor lifted her chin back up with an apologetic smile.

"Habit," she answered. Azula only nodded curtly. Silence fell between them again – for which Azula was grateful – only accompanied by the arguably soothing sound of the high-pitch whine that the pencils made across the paper surface. "Do you do this a lot?"

She shrugged and watched absently as the other woman pursed her lips.

"Did you always _use_ to sketch?"

Azula sighed, her patience wearing thin. The woman was breaking her concentration. When the annoying doctor had mentioned hobbies and asked about any little activities she made a habit of doing recently because they got her through the day, Azula had offered to show the older woman her sketches. In exchange for that little nugget of knowledge - which she personally thought was worthless - she would get to use Dr. Chirah as a sketching subject. _In silence. This is not silence_, she thought, subtly clenching her jaw. "No," she answered after a long minute, voice low and whispered. "Picked it up recently."

"Your mother's idea?"

She nodded lazily this time. The other woman's lips quirked upward before settling back into a professional straight line._ Proud of yourself? _Azula felt a strange urge to laugh. _Another of my mood-swings_, she guessed. Like clockwork, she took a deep breath and awaited the other sensation that would come, all the while aware of the hackles rising in her throat_. Another hot flash. Perfect._

Dr. Chirah must have heard her groan aloud as she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Mhm." The lead pencil stilled. She stared at it for a couple of long moments before pulling it away and putting it back in its box, satisfied. "There," she said, handing the sketchbook over.

The picture held a strong amount of accuracy, the cheekbones shaded in along with the woman's brow that poked a little over her eyes. The eyes she had spent the last five minutes on were the only objects colored, a forest green placed in lazy circles inside the iris. The lack of evenness in its application added depth, drawing the doctor's critical eye to them. She threw a smile over to Azula. The young teen let a streak of her cocky nature shine through as she straightened her shoulders and half-smirked. Dr. Chirah proceeded to open the sketchbook all the way and began fanning through the pages, making occasional notes on the images here and there within the margins of her _so-secretive_ journal.

Azula wished she could see what exactly the woman was writing down, but that wasn't allowed. _There's a rule for everything_, she thought morosely. She shifted in her chair, the backing rubbing her spine the wrong way.

"These are really good. Does it come naturally for you?"

She thought on that for a moment as she found a comfortable position. Her snark-filled response would have been _'I'm a natural at everything_' but she willed herself to refrain. It was already written on every inch of the other woman's face that she disapproved of the Fire Nation princess's usual attitude. _Make that _former_ attitude_, she corrected inwardly. It would take some time getting used to the fact that she had to be, well, _different_. That was something she would have to work at every day. But, if it bought her freedom and a life outside of four cell walls in a basement, then she would keep up the charade until it became so ingrained in herself that it was part of her natural self. Instead, in the end, Azula settled for answering with a noncommittal shrug.

Dr. Chirah nodded. "You draw the Fire Nation symbol a lot." Azula tensed. "Do you know why that is?"

'_Because it's in my dreams a lot_' was the truth. However, she knew the weird 'doctor' enough to know that that particular answer would only worry her. Inevitably, it would be brought up in her stupid progress report to Ursa. Oh, Azula knew her mother was keeping tabs on her. It was my no means surprising. So instead, with teeth grinding in the back of her mouth, she quipped, "Because it's a big part of my childhood? Sorry doctor but I don't usually psychoanalyze myself. Isn't that what _you_ are for?"

The other woman pursed her lips again, the only sign of her disappointment, and redirected her eyes back down to the pages. Azula chose to see it as annoyance because of her flare reappearance of smarminess. She smiled. _Hit a nerve_, she thought_. I still have it._

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down_

_You know the one that takes you to the places_

_where all the veins meet yeah_

_~'Bittersweet Symphony' _lyrics, The Verve

* * *

><p>"Good luck," Iroh said, squeezing her shoulder one last time before letting go and stepping away from the large entrance doors leading into the even bigger Earth Kingdom Palace. There was no doubt in her mind that it was like a maze inside. Her senses picked up on dozens of people going to and fro inside.<p>

"Hey, I don't need luck," she threw back over her shoulder with a sweet smile before walking up to the open doorway and next to where the Earth King's assistance was waiting. They walked in silence for a minute before she spoke up. "So how did you know I would be here?"

"The Earth King's good at guessing," he responded lightly. It humored Toph. "You're part of the Avatar Gaang?"

"Why, want an autograph?"

She smirked when he choked back a laugh. "No, I was just curious. I've met the Fire Lord, the Avatar, and Katara before at different times but everyone knows there's six - the Fire Lord, the Avatar, the South Pole water-bender, the noble earth-bender, the South Pole warrior and the Kyoshi Island warrior."

"You've seen the play, haven't you? What, are they on a traveling circuit now?" Toph rolled her eyes. There was a very telling silence after her words. "No way! They _are_, aren't they?"

"Yeah," he admitted sheepishly.

"I knew it!" She snapped her fingers. "I've got tell Aang; he won't believe it. Hey, what's your name?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're name, dumb dumb, to tell Aang? I'm not going to start the story with 'I heard from the Earth King's assistant'. Besides, we might meet again."

"It's Hyun-Shik. Nice to meet you-"

"Call me Toph," she immediately interrupted. "I _hate_ formalities."

"I see," he responded with mirth echoing throughout his voice. "Right through these doors," he said suddenly, pulling on a metal latch.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later, Hyun-Shik."

"Probably."

She found the answer rather cryptic but said nothing else, instead focusing her attention on feeling out the wide and long room in front of her. It reminded her of the way the Fire Nation Palace used to be before Zuko had torn it all down and built it anew. Her seismic sense did not do well with huge, open spaces, therefore making her the most vocally pleased with the remodel. He had found that funny, for some reason. Come to think of it, he always lightened at her behavior. She reminded herself to get Iroh to send another letter on her behalf. The last time she'd spoken to her great friend was at Sokka and Suki's wedding and that was months ago now.

Toph swept aside the memories of her month spent living at the Fire Nation Royal Palace with her friends around and each meet-up between all of them the many times afterwards and instead forcefully focused on the place she was in now and the reasoning behind her presence here. "Toph Beifong!" The skinny, peculiar man with the bear named Bosco greeted her from across the room, voice booming and sounding a few pitches higher than usual. She smiled warmly.

"Earth King Kuei."

"Take a seat, take a seat."

"Thanks," she said, settling into a chair. "And, uh, thanks for the invitation to join the Terra Team. You don't know how excited I am to start!"

"I can see it on your face," he responded, making her giggle nervously. "Now, what I wanted to talk to you about isn't actually related to my other offer; I hope I didn't mislead you at all."

"No, you didn't. What is it?"

She crossed her arms and settled in as he began talking. "I know you have been traveling with the Avatar and helping him rebuild his temples but my offer to you would probably upset any plans you have already made and while I would be disappointed if you turned it down, I will accept it." Her ears perked up at that though she kept her face remarkably impassive. "You are the first and only person I have heard of that can metal-bend-"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He cleared his throat at the interruption. "I still don't know how you came about being able to do that but if you can, I think others can too. My offer is for you to open up your own school. My advisors," he said with a guilty tone, as though admitting something he wished did not exist in the first place; "want to see your skills first with this Terra Team offer since we will also help financially support you in the beginning, if you need the help, but from what Aang has told me you are more than qualified in earth-bending already."

"A school?" Toph interrupted again. She was almost positive that it annoyed him this time but she didn't care. _A school?_ She had never even spent a day in a school; she had no experience with them at all. The idea left her feeling a bit frazzled.

"Yes, a school. It would be your own academy where you could teach metal-bending. Because of its material, it would be the elite of the elite - think of yourself as a... uh, pioneer, of sorts. You would be changing earth-bending forever." She shifted in her chair. "So, what do you think?"

"Uh, I... I don't know. It's... interesting." Toph spun her meteorite bracelet around her wrist as she thought. 'Interesting' didn't even begin to describe it. The concept was out there to begin with - _me, a teacher?_ - and then the thought of other people metal-bending as well left her mind in a half-shocked state. She hardly knew how she was able to do it the first time and, regrettably, had not done it more than a handful of times since. An all of those times had been small.

'_I'm not a master at_ it' she almost argued back but held her tongue. Why should she argue? This was a major acknowledgement of her skills. If she could run this school, as weird as that sounded to her own ears and mind, then she could change not only earth-bending like Kuei said but the Earth Kingdom - _the world_ - too. Her thought shifted back to the train system that the Earth Kingdom was experimentally implementing across its lands. All of those trains were made of metal. She, as a metal and earth-bender could, say, move the train along. The thought excited her.

Her face didn't have the chance to brighten as a few seconds later she thought of Aang. _What does this mean for us?_ She wondered. He was the Avatar, he could go anywhere and do anything - _peacefully_ - that he wished. He was tied to his temples but he himself had admitted to her that after the temples were all up and running, their revitalization fully under way, his time at the temples would largely be spent at the Eastern Air Temples, looking after Raja.

The baby girl was still only a toddler and her abilities were weak; it would be another good three years before he could even begin to really teach her. Now, the most he was doing was working on her imitation skills which mostly meant finding ways to get her to control the instinct to air-bend. It was comical to listen to him get all flustered.

However, the majority of his time then would be spent across the world, not really doing anything unless a crisis occurred. _What am I worried about?_ She mused, quite committed now that she mulled it over long enough. _Aang will always be travelling, duh. He's not tied down anywhere and... maybe I _want_ to be. He could join me_, she inwardly concluded. Any of her possible future ponderings were interrupted by Kuei, who said, "There's a lot to consider, I know. How about you join the Terra Team during their training and in four months we'll talk about it again?"

Toph nodded and smiled. "Thanks, I'll think it over but... I think I will accept."

"You could change your mind," he said with obvious joy in his voice at her answer.

"Yeah I could but I don't think I will," she responded.

"Then I will be glad in four months." He pushed back his chair and stood. Hearing this motion, Toph stood as well. "It is good to see you again; the last time was back at the Avatar's party in the Fire Nation, right? When was that, five months ago?"

"Six and couple of weeks," she responded with a grin. "How's Bosco?"

"As happy as ever!" The door creaked open behind them. "Oh, right. My assistant, Hyun-Shik – whom you just met - will escort you to the training camp tomorrow. It's located a long ten miles away."

"That's just a day's ride - less if I had Appa," she said, waving it off quickly.

He actually relaxed enough to laugh which relaxed her as well. They shared a few more words and then said goodbye, Toph with the promise of passing along his good wishes to Aang. She knew they shared a steady correspondence anyway; the Earth King held the Avatar in great respect. She walked out the door and then fell in step with Hyun-Shik, following him as he led their way out of the maze that was the ginormous palace.

"_Now_ I know what you meant earlier," she said with obvious satisfaction, resuming their conversation for a short while.

"I was trying to be mysterious." A short beat passed. "Did it work?"

She smirked. "Yep."

"Cool," he breathed with obvious pride. "Here you are," he said as they walked out of the entrance doors. Toph could feel the sunshine back no her skin again, tickling and warming in an altogether unique sensation. "We'll leave tomorrow morning, first of dawn; you'll be just in time for the introductions at dusk. The address I have is for place called Jasmine Dragon - is that right?"

"It's my friend's tea shop," she confirmed.

"Okay, good." She wondered briefly what kind of trouble he would have found himself in if the address had been wrong. "Remember - _dawn_."

"Aye, aye," she said with a mock salute before nearly skipping across the palace grounds. Iroh was waiting nearly right where he had dropped her off. "You won't believe what the offer was!" She nearly yelled to him.

He caught her when she ran up, keeping her from skidding to an almost face-plant. He laughed. "Oh really? And what, dear Toph, was the Earth King's second offer?"

"Did you wait here the whole time?" She asked out of the blue, righting her hairband that had been knocked askew.

"No; I went around the corner and picked up a dish of Mei Fun from one of the carts. Want some?"

Her stomach growled at the same instance her mouth watered, her sense of smell - and by default then her taste - detecting the bean noodle dish that was being waved in front of her. "Gimme!" He acquiesced. "You won't believe how awesome the offer is," she said, finally responding to his earlier question, mouth stuffed full of noodles. "I'm going to be the most badass teacher in the Earth Kingdom!"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	77. Strange Meetings

**A/N:** I don't want to spoil anyone so all I will say is that I am taking some small creative liberties with the character Kori Morishita, who is in the A:LA comics post-series. But really, I've taken a lot of creative liberties with things; for example, the Harmony Restoration Movement. (I like my version better, lol. I know, that doesn't sound egotistical _at all_….)

All errors are my own, et cetera; only edited it twice this time and sure something will be wrong. *Dramatic sigh* _Oh well_. Short Author's Note so go and skip to reading the chapter! I hope it entertains :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"…_there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth when two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth."_

~Rudyard Kipling

* * *

><p>"Meeting is called," a man near the front began to say. Aang awkwardly slipped through the door opening and stood near the back, looking around for Zuko, whom he had no doubt would be expertly hiding in the shadows. <em>Old habits die hard<em>, Aang guessed. After meeting up with Zuko when he had arrived in the town of Chiami - the largest among the Hu-Xin Provinces - they parted ways, agreeing to see each other at the town hall later that evening. Aang wanted to take a walk around town and get a feel for the place and talk to the people; Zuko had joked at that, saying he 'had never met a stranger' to which he had replied cheekily 'once they get to know me'.

He had done just that and come to the conclusion that the town was a very conflicted place. Most people were unsure whether Fire Nation citizens could indeed mix with Eartherners and yet those that had were not treated so differently. In fact, most of the people were very accepting of them and their usually multi-colored clothing. Dusk was falling now and the streets were emptying out, most of the people coming to the town hall building. Aang, seeing this and realizing the time, followed them.

He glanced around, feeling mildly worried. Zuko was supposed to have showed up by now. It wasn't like his friend to be late; especially to something like this. _Unless he's being held up_, the Avatar thought with a half-shrug. His friend did run a nation after all; there were bound to be matters that would come up and interrupt him from time to time. He leaned against the corner wall. The man who had opened the forum now stepped aside and down off of the half-a-foot stage. A petite woman with hair graying at the edges and bright hazel eyes took his place. She was the mayor.

The unintentionally inconspicuous Avatar surveyed everyone around her. She was well-respected and liked among the community. That was good for him and Zuko because, if she accepted the offer (which he had little doubt about, having discussed it further in length that morning), then not many people would fight it. And Aang really didn't want to have to mediate between a fight at the moment.

While most were pissed off at having to go back to either one nation or another, there were still some - albeit a diminishing minority - that would rather have that choice than be stuck in an independent country. Tradition and history was a hard thing to break, especially in a mentality. Aang had seen that a lot over the past year and a half.

"Hey," a familiar voice greeted beside him. It was Zuko.

"Where were you?"

"I had to respond to an urgent matter with the military; it's nothing now," he said preemptively. The young teenager just rolled his eyes at the assumption that he would immediately question it. He trusted his friend and so far, everything was good. "I didn't know there would be a meeting tonight; is that the mayor?"

Aang nodded, turning his eyes' line of sight back to the podium where the sixty-year-old woman was standing and speaking. "Yep; she's Mayor Jhou. They just introduced her."

Zuko shook his head slightly, acknowledging the name, and they both quieted, focusing in on what the woman was saying.

"-time to have something new! Mayor Morishita is right: we are all people of this land. So what if my grandfather brought his family here as a Fire Nation citizen? So what if I was born Fire Nation too? My mother was the daughter of a successful Earth Kingdom merchant-" She paused with a toothy smile as an echo of hooting and clapping resounded. "-but am I not a citizen of the Earth Kingdom too? Why should I be forced to 'return' - in _their_ words - to a country that I have never been to? My husband's father is an earth-bender and we are proud of our mixed heritage!" Another round of clapping commenced and several people even stood, shouting agreements over the rambunctious crowd's elicited noise.

Zuko shared a look with Aang. "I didn't know people opposed the Harmony Restoration Movement so much," the younger teen said, unable to keep some of the hurt from his voice. He had teamed up with the Earth King a little over a month ago on spear-heading this. Several times he had sent letters to Kuei when asked, as the Earth King would publish them. They voiced his support for the movement and the good it could do. Aang now couldn't stop himself from feeling bad about not knowing of these consequences; he was the Avatar, he was supposed to take every angle into account. A frown very un-Aang-like landed on his face.

"Me neither," Zuko murmured back. "Do you want me to give the offer instead?"

He scratched his bald head, eyes squeezed shut for a minute. "Yeah, that might be better."

"Hey-" Aang looked over at him when he heard the Fire Lord's light tone. "-when did you think you'd see the day where people actually wanted _me_ to speak?"

It was a joke and he half-smirked, half-grinned, giving Zuko the sought-after response with genuine emotion. "Yeah, right? Hey wait, I think it's wrapping up."

The forum was indeed finishing up as Mayor Jhou stepped off the stage and stood to the side. The people fortunate enough to have seats in the cramped room now stood and they, along with several that had been standing before, rushed over to speak with her. She smiled and shook hands, fervently exchanging words of agreement. Slowly but surely the crowd began to trickle out. People yawned and the two friends standing in the shadowed corner could hear loud proclamations about how dark it had become outside in so short a period of time. Aang rolled his eyes, amused at that.

He shuffled over to the door to close it when the last of the crowd had left some fifteen minutes later, leaving Mayor Jhou and the man who had spoken before her now behind and standing near the front of the room, speaking in low tones. She raised her head when she saw the boy appear suddenly in the candlelight. "Can I help you?"

Zuko stepped forward. "I'm Fire Lord Zuko," he said first, noticing how the woman immediately shifted to address him more fully, a wary glint in her eye. "And this is Avatar Aang."

"Right, the Avatar." She looked him up and down and Aang's welcoming smile turned timid. He now knew what it felt like to get the blunt of the blame when someone didn't agree; well, that is when in a _civil_ setting. Many times in the past he had received that response when hostile people had found out he was the Avatar and most of those ended with him and the rest of the Gaang running.

The Harmony Restoration Project was good on paper and in theory, all of its components quickly drawing him in. When it came to the people on the ground, however, Aang was seeing clearly just how black-and-white it was in such a grey setting.

The old woman turned her attention back to Zuko. "It's a surprise to see the Fire Lord in person. I'm humbled."

"Don't be," he said with a small smile. If they were in front of the crowd, Aang knew he would give her a tight-lipped smile and continue to be polite, however when it was just a handful of people and he had one of his friends with him, he preferred it a little more informal.

Aang knew the blame for that was thoroughly on him and all the small ways he'd shaped his friend's mind to be a bit more open. There were too many stark differences in his preferences before and after he had joined the Gaang. His smile became a bit brighter at that remembrance.

"We have an offer for you-"

"What's the catch?" She interrupted, ignoring the nudge against her arm from the man beside her.

Zuko's posture relaxed minimally. "I don't think there's a 'catch', unless you continuing to get support like you are is a 'catch'."

Her eyes flickered over to Aang. He nodded enthusiastically. She looked back again. "Okay; what's your offer about?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The fen had every kind of bloom,_

_And for every kind there was a face,_

_And a voice that has sounded in my room_

_Across the sill from the outer gloom._

_Each came singly unto her place,_

_But all came every night with the mist;_

_And often they brought so much to say_

_Of things of moment to which, they wist,_

_One so lonely was fain to list,_

_That the stars were almost faded away _

_~'In a Vale', _stanzas #2-3/5, Robert Frost

* * *

><p>He took one last look back through the opening and then closed the double door entrance to the town hall. The meeting had occurred differently than he had intended it to but that seemed to be story of all of their lives - everything that was meant to happen just happened and they did the best they could to keep up with it. Frankly, Zuko was surprised he and the rest of the Gaang were able to put up with it as much as they did. Some things that happened to them were downright weird, if they weren't completely seriously, like this.<p>

Aang was sitting with Mayor Jhou when he looked last and they were getting along much better than before. Once the older woman had heard their full proposal and read the copy of the joint-agreement for a new country that he had made with Kuei, she was considerably more calm and understanding.

_***Flashback - 30 minutes earlier - Chiami Town Hall**_

"The two colors represent our mixed ancestry," the man, Jhou's son as Zuko has learned just a moment before, explained to him. "Mayor Morishita of Yu Dao helped spread the idea for them a couple of years ago and ever since then, children of different-country parents have been wearing them. It's not right for us to have to pretend to be part of a country that we're only half made up of."

Hey eyed the man's outfit, noting the dark red pants and gray, long-sleeved shirt he wore underneath. The overlay, however, was green and yellow; the Earth Kingdom's colors. It was an interesting blend, he would give them that, and an idea he found surprisingly smart. The Hundred Years' War had severely messed with the dynamics between the four countries of the world and biracial children, like this mayor and her son, were a result of that. They needed representation too. "You're right; it's a good idea."

The man blinked at him, clearly surprised at the shared opinion. Zuko found himself becoming incredibly desensitized to that reaction; people would forever think he was a snob, apparently, and he would be sure to prove them wrong every chance he got.

"Do you understand the consequences of your Movement now? The Fire Nation isn't my home but neither is the Earth Kingdom the home of my son," Mayor Jhou intercepted, speaking up. "We both grew up in these colonies where the laws are Fire Nation and the customs are Earth Kingdom; it sounds crass but I'm too old to adjust to anymore changes. I'm tired."

"I do and I'm sorry, I hadn't realized." Aang said soothingly, a voice that came naturally to him. "But that's why the Fire Lord and the Earth King are giving you this offer."

"It sounds perfect-" She began. Zuko counted the seconds until the 'but', already knowing by her tone. He was not let down. "-but Mayor Morishita is more capable in this area than we are. I would feel better if you got his approval first." She smiled, pleased. "Thank you for listening, Avatar - and you, Fire Lord."

_***End Flashback**_

He stepped away from the main road running through the town and used a network of alleyways as a cut-through back to the Inn. His guards had been persistent that they stay with him at all times, as was their job and duty, but his word as Fire Lord was the law and he gave them a firm negative in response. His trip here was supposed to be low-key. In any case of danger, only a short list of people knew where he was going. It was Ba Sing Se that theoretically would have given him the most trouble and yet he had no problems there.

The Fire Lord slowed his steps to push a bottle to the side; anyone in sandals or just plain barefoot would cut themselves on the sharply jagged glass. A shadow slithered away from the dark roof out of the corner of his eye but he was not fast enough to look, let alone react, until a tall, lean body pounced on him. Zuko's instincts kicked in and with a grunt he threw his elbow back.

An obviously female squeak came forth in the vicinity of his ear. He startled, allowing the attacker enough time to ram a rock spike against where his spine hit his neck. A shot of a numbing tingle coursed through his body. Zuko dropped to his knees. Using this to his advantage, along with the fact that the female was now relaxing, thinking she had gotten the upper hand, Zuko let himself fall backwards. Jabbing the opposite elbow towards the attacker this time, he used his right hand to reach over and grab a fistful of hair once she leaned to avoid another hit.

"Ow!" She cried out. He winced at both the noise and the action. Zuko let go and stood, within seconds standing face-to-face with his attacker. Her form was half hidden in the shadows. Each of them were standing still, eyeing the other with a mix of confusion and sharp vigilance.

"Who sent you?"

"No one," she spat back. "Except you. You have betrayed your people!"

He comprehended just in time that she could earth-bend, leaping to the side when she sent a clustering of sharply pointed rocks his way. She removed a chain from around her waist and nearly expertly whipped it at him. Zuko stood to his full height, legs in a battle stance, and caught the end of it. Her body jerked forward. "You think you can take me down all by yourself? I'm the Fire Lord and what are you, a peasant?"

His words got the desired effect, though he took no pleasure in saying them. It was a good thing then that the alley was so filled with shadows or she would have plainly seen his grimace. She faltered just enough for him to yank on the chain. It had been a bad call of hers to wrap her hands with the ends of it in an effort to keep them steady. Now she launched towards him desperately and he twisted the chain, making her spin.

With her back to him, he threw the length of the metal string around her. Zuko pulled her arms around to her back, leaving her sufficiently disarmed. She tried in vain to weasel her way out of his grip. For good measure, he bound her fisted hands in another loop of the metal rings at the cost of a more tightened hold. She breathed shallowly. "Traitor!"

Her yell screeched in his ear and he let go of her. She stumbled back against the wall across from him. "I'll ask again - who sent you?"

"How could you give up on your people?!"

She was nearly hysterical - just like he remembered Azula. _Another crazy girl to deal with_, he thought with some pity. It was then that he noticed her clothes. They were more revealing, like Ty Lee's had been, except they were green and yellow with the Earth Kingdom colors. However, it was not that small, quite strange revelation that meant anything. No, it was the red cape, sash, and nearly black shoes she was wearing. _She's biracial_, he realized. "Where are you from?"

"One of your colonies," she answered, much to his surprise. Her voice was still overflowing with venom. "But you're _abandoning_ us. We are of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom and you are making us choose Earth Kingdom!"

He shook his head. "That was not what I meant to do. Other things are happening right now that are going to help you and the rest of these people." Zuko sized her up. She was probably his age, if he had to guess, but the hatred rooted in a feeling of betrayal and abandonment flared bright in her eyes. It reminded him of the way he had been during his banishment. "I promise."

She faltered once more, yet not for long. "The promises of a traitor mean nothing!"

"I'm not a traitor!" Zuko finally snapped back, letting his voice rise.

She seethed. "Yes you are! Do you even realize what you're doing to families like mine? My father has to go back to the Fire Nation but my mother can stay? How twisted is that?! And what about people like me - where do we end up? _In the sea_?"

"Your father can stay," he argued back.

"No he can't! That's not what the Movement says!"

"The Movement won't apply to the Hu-Xin Provinces for long," Zuko persisted. He knew he shouldn't make promises like that when the possible future existence of any new country relied now apparently on the mayor of Yu Dao but this girl in front of him had nearly all of his pity. Clearly, she was hurt. That had never been his, Aang's, or Earth King Kuei's intentions, nor had splitting apart families been part of their plan. The whole situation had layers upon layers of complicated, extenuating circumstances. Every decision they made would hurt _someone_, whether they liked it or not.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't live here, what difference is this place to me? Everyone here will be uprooted too. I should have killed you when I had the chance!" He sighed, remembering the rock jab she had pressed against the back of his neck. If she had hit him over the head with it, then there would have been plenty of time left for her to finish him off. "My home is Yu Dao, not the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom," she seethed.

"You live in Yu Dao?" He blinked, surprised. Zuko steeled his face when she grunted out loudly in frustration, giving in and sinking to her knees as her protestations against the chains were only resulting in chaffed skin. He knelt down to maintain eye-level with her. His gut was telling him that towering over her as he spoke would only result in being spit at. "Does it change your mind about me being a traitor if I tell you that… tomorrow the Avatar and I are going to Yu Dao to speak with the mayor about forming a new country?"

She blinked. A beat passed. The reality of what he said finally dawned on her as her eyes widened and she gasped. "Wh-what?"

"A country for anyone of any origin," he continued quietly. Her approval shouldn't matter to him, he was well aware of that in the recesses of his mind, but it _did_. He was fatigued of people thinking ill of him and more than ready to prove his worth in their eyes. It would be a life-long process but no one put any limitations on when he could start it. If he could help it, Zuko would prove everyone who thought him a traitor - _or worse_ - wrong. "It would be a country for benders and non-benders to thrive without color restrictions." When he said it, he boldly pointed to her outfit. She flushed. "Who are you?" He asked after a minute of silence.

"Kori... Morishita."

It was his turn to be surprised. "You're the daughter of Mayor Morishita." She nodded demurely. "Well, uh, Kori, do you think your father will turn us down?"

She stared at him. "Why are you being so, so, I don't know, understanding?"

Zuko's lips quirked upward. "Because unlike what most people think they know, I've sort of been where you are right now; and I know it sucks." They shared a long look as the hate finally melted away from her eyes, replaced by perplexity. He stood and grabbed the makeshift chain-belt, helping her up as well. "If I take this off, will you try to kill me again?"

Kori pursed her lips. "Does your promise still stand?"

"Always," he answered readily.

She gave a short nod in return. "Then I promise not to kill you."

"Then we're already helping each other."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	78. Old Friend Tea

**A/N:** The name 'Noake' is pronounced like 'Roake', only with an _'n'_ – that is, _'_no-uhk_'_. I'm seriously considering compiling a list of all the characters' names I've made up for this story and how to pronounce them. If I do it, I'll post it on my deviantART page. What do you think, is that something you all would be interested in/want?

I hope I'm not boring anyone with the attention I'm giving the Fire Nation Teacher's Council! :) I'm viewing it as a big Rite of Passage for Katara in terms of her immersing herself in - and understanding the - Fire Nation. If she is to be with Zuko for the rest of her life, she has to find that happy medium between her South Pole origins and embracing her future with the Fire Nation.

Plus, she's developing a foothold in the FN outside of just being with Zuko (though he did get her the job, lol) and the character growth is important in terms of showing that she's still a stubborn leader when she has something to lead with – like she did a lot/all the time in the Gaang.

As usual, all errors are my own.

Thank you for reading! And again to those that review! :D

**Disclaimer: Do not own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Over the edge of sleep _

_I bring but a trace _

_Of the chants that pulse and sweep _

_In the Singing Place._

_~'The Singing Place', _last stanza, Lily A. Long

* * *

><p>Hyun-Shik had not been lying when he had said he would come to pick her up at 'dawn'. Toph's sense were muddled this particular morning and she was hoping against practicality to be able to have a few minutes of shut eye on the back of the ostrich horse she was riding. They were going through the streets at the moment, currently approaching the Outer Wall, and all throughout the ride her sense were telling her the streets were quite literally dead. Then, of course, there was her internal clock, which felt like it was screaming at her to get some impossible-to-be-had sleep. She shifted in the cloth saddle.<p>

"We're about to go through the Outer Wall," Hyun-Shik said, notifying her out of courtesy. She had heard the loud grunting noise of the walls sliding up from the dirt before he had said it. As they approached and went through, she could feel the huge shadow it caused in the weak early morning suns' path. They were under and out on the other side within a minute. Toph was passively alerted to another pair of ostrich-horses after the wall came down again, riveting into place. They stayed at a normal pace, following ten feet or so back. Her escort didn't act concerned either so she accurately guessed they were more guards. That would make four, if she counted properly – two in the front, two in the back.

"So where is this place?" She asked. If they continued puttering along in silence throughout the whole rest of the day she was pretty sure she would want to die of boredom and eye-twitching exhaustion. Staying up until roughly one or two hours after midnight had _not_ been a smart move. _Not at all._

"In the middle of nowhere," he readily replied, breaking the hanging stillness surrounding them. "Nothing's around so the students can practice without worrying about disrupting anyone."

Toph nodded with a tinge of a knowing smirk. "Let me guess – it wasn't always like that?"

A few beats passed. "A couple decades ago there was an incident where a student got upset and dropped a portion of the wall," he admitted. "The tremors that came from it led to a shortage of crops in the Agrarian Zone that year; the plants didn't seed right. That was the last year they did it in the city."

"Wow... Did the student pass?"

"No." There was obvious mirth in his voice. He sucked in a breath; she waited. "If it's okay for me to ask, what was it like traveling with the Avatar?"

Toph almost laughed aloud but instead refrained with a tiny grin, genuinely thinking about his question. It was complicated; there were many times she had wanted to pull her hair out she was so bored and yet when the action started, she felt... exhilarated. And when the action stopped, the mundane periods that followed after were actually a great relief. She settled with saying, "Well, the first months after I joined them, I was teaching him earth-bending. But mostly it was pretty boring and simple."

"Boring?" He asked doubtfully, interrupting her.

She shrugged. "Yeah, we would be traveling a lot, looking for trainers and trying to avoid the Fire Nation so most of the time that meant blending in. We were just trying to survive; it would be weeks between an adventure." The memories revived and burst forth into her consciousness from where they had been stored in her brain, the clearest ones making her lips curve, morphing her face into a more relaxed and pleased expression. "I remember there was a lot of crazy stuff that happened; more than most people get to experience. It was just a long series of really tall highs and long lows. There's nothing I regret, boring or not. It was great."

The sun was beginning to steadily rise from the horizon now and Toph could feel the rays warming her elbow-length sleeves, their energy finally breaking through the hazy layers of cool fog. Hyun-Shik said nothing in response to her words and she let her mind wander as their pack of ostrich-horses trouped through the open ground of the eastern Earth Kingdom. Unfortunately, with everything happening almost immediately after each other, her time spent at the Jasmine Dragon had been minimal – a few hours at most. Iroh had closed the place up early and from there they sat on stools in the back kitchen, making pot after pot of green tea and talking. They had stayed up swapping stories of what had happened in their separate lives over the past two months, along with sharing a few tea secrets.

She had discovered – purely by accident – a weed's flower, chamomile, and found wonderful flavor success when combining it when two-fourths green tea and one-fourth white tea, the remaining going to the ground up flower. Iroh had tried it and been very praising. As soon as he acquired a reliable source, he'd said, the blend would go on sale at the Jasmine Dragon, namely used for special occasions. It was titled 'Old Friend'. She found herself grinning again.

"You're really lucky to have such great friends," Hyun-Shik droned low, his voice almost blending in with the crickets' chirps.

Toph swiveled her head over, nodding briefly. "I know; they are pretty great." Unbeknownst to her, he was smiling a ghost of a smile as they were both lost in their own thoughts.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_You shall remember dimly, _

_Through mists of far-away, _

_Her whom, our lips set grimly, _

_We carried forth today. _

_But when, in days hereafter, _

_Unfolding time shall bring _

_Knowledge of love and laughter _

_And trust and triumphing,—_

_~'To a Child Twenty Years Hence', _2nd stanza, Arthur Davison Ficke

* * *

><p>Katara took a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves. It really was ridiculous, to her at least, how uncomfortable she was when it came to speaking to this particular crowd of people. She had done much heftier tasks - like pretending to be the Painted Lady. Of course, she had been so happy afterward that it had worked and so determined beforehand to help the people with the disguise, that the usual hesitance was washed away. Now though, the success or failure of this basically self-appointed job reflected most on another she cared about: Zuko. A fact that she was intrinsically aware of.<p>

Not to mention that this crowd wasn't very, er, _receptive_.

The cleansing breath worked. Katara gathered her stack of papers and books and slipped into the room she was now becoming familiar with. The next meeting for the Fire Nation Teacher's Board would be held in an hour. None of them - besides Ren, whom she had informed vaguely, in case he turned around and told the rest - knew she would be here. Katara took this free time while the room was still empty to set it up the way she wished.

The rapidity of these meetings was not normal but Katara had asked a favor of Ren and he agreed to hold them every week instead of two weeks. He had confessed to her that mostly they were only fifteen minutes long, a quick catch-up for everyone on the board. Well she planned for all of these to be spent working out the kinks and discussing – and hopefully later implementing – the plans she had for future changes. The first step in that was convincing the six of them to help her, though.

There were six members on the board total along with a free chair at the end of the table for the Head of Education. She had not known this before but would now take full advantage of it since she is the Head of Education at present. The six members on the Teacher's board held appointed positions. She had nearly gotten a headache the night earlier when trying to understand the complicated structure that the branch of government had. Basically, everyone but the Fire Lord had a supervisor or manger, though the Fire Lord did have the Fire Sages which could be counted as such.

She found it weird; it was the opposite spectrum of her freely-done South Pole methods and upbringing.

Each member was a head of a district and they were split up as the following: the mainland, the northern peninsula (not technically a complete peninsula, actually) including Ember Island, the southern peninsula, the southern-most island where Zuko had found her Yon Rha (her mother's killer), the largest eastern island holding the Fire Fountain City, and finally the string of islands stretching eastward.

Ren ran the mainland district and because of that is the most influential because it holds the capital city. The largest populated was the southern peninsula which was run by Zeisch, a member she had yet to meet but was told a lot by Loya a couple of days earlier. Katara had in no way been surprised to learn that Abhita - the woman who brought up her living arrangements with Zuko in her first meeting - had the district island where the Fire Fountain City was located. When she and the Gaang had visited and later left, she had departed with the impression of them being a bit rabid there. Abhita seemed to live up to that perfectly.

And yet, a part of her couldn't get mad at the woman's reaction. It was, in a large way, justified. The Fire Nation was the most conservative nation of all that she and the Gaang had visited and they took their customs very, _very_ seriously. She was becoming extremely aware of how much some of the little things she did might be stepping on their metaphorical toes.

_And now I wait,_ she thought as she straightened one of the last books laid out on the table. Loya had been an great help with her research about the Cataract Betterment Academy, too. She had only been able to find two of their main textbooks in the capital's library. Loya had connections that still stunned Katara and, in two days' time, was able to get her all the ones she wanted. In front of every seat at the table, including her own, was a general textbook from the academy and a small, three-page scroll on the dance course they taught.

Dance was a silly thing in her mind but she had to start somewhere and diving right in to the area that she wanted to fix the most would take much more time. That area was the _history lessons._ They were grossly redacted and bias.

The Southern Water Tribe raids were painted out to be a retaliation because the South Pole water-benders were attacking ships and building armies, when in truth their fishing ships had been the ones attacked and they had attacked as a defensive move when the Fire Nation landed their massive army and navy on the water-people's shore. She couldn't even begin to go into length about all the misconceptions written regarding the Air Nomad Genocide. That subject was one of the most sensitive; it could even pop an eye blood-vessel in Aang.

The time passed quickly and, before long, Katara heard shuffling of feet in the hallway and Ren's voice. She swept the notepad containing a doodling of a turtle duck underneath the textbook in front of her and waited. She smiled at the first person who walked in, a woman she didn't recognize. The next to enter was Ren, Abhita, the man who had insulted her South Pole origins, another man and woman she didn't know, and finally Zeisch, or who she guessed to be Zeisch from the description she was told by Loya. She would have to work on their names and made a mental note to that effect. All six look at her anxiously; even Ren.

Katara simply smiled back at them sweetly, the picture of innocent kindness.

"What are these?" Abhita was the first to speak and promptly the first to ask about the textbooks. Three of the others were already checking them out and the remaining two waited, listening for the water-bender's response.

"They are general textbooks for the Cataract Betterment Academy; it's lo-"

"That's under my jurisdiction," the man she had yet to formally meet spoke up. He was a bit younger than Zeisch, his salt and pepper hair being the common distinction.

"Thank you; yes, it is on the island, in the town of Shu Jing." Katara stopped herself from continuing and turned her head back around. It would probably look bad to some that she was asking, but it was better than getting caught flat-footed later, she mused. "I'm sorry, my mind's gone blank. Your name i-"

"Noake," he immediately responded with a pleased smile.

She mentally repeated it five times fast while smiling back. "Nice to meet you, Noake." Katara began again, address the entire board. "This academy is different than most of the others. They don't have separate, special classes for fire-benders - they have those classes at another location. But, that's not the only thing I wanted to mention; they teach dancing." She half-grinned at their faces. "I know, it doesn't sound like something _big_ but look at their stats - they are in there."

The six adults on either side of her dutifully, though some with a bit of a dumbfounded expression on their face, opened the books to find a tucked scroll behind the outer flap. Most read them as she continued on.

"The students are doing much better in this school than in most others. And yeah, I think it has something to do with the simple class of dance. Ren, have you ever danced?" She asked the last sentence smoothly, directing her attention to him. Her palms felt a little clammy; it didn't show by any means.

"At my wedding," he supplied after a beat. A chuckle was heard around the room; his wedding had easily been _many_ years ago.

"And?" She persisted.

A small splotching of pink dotted along his cheekbones. "And I took some lessons before, for it."

Katara tried to hold back a triumphant smile at the next question. "And it was _fun_, right?"

"Yes, yes it was."

"And this has to do with your reformation plan how?" Zeisch asked tiredly.

"Because I'm trying to show that these students are having more fun in class and are learning more useful things." Katara cleared her throat, picked up the statistics-holding scroll, and resumed explaining about the school's academia, mentioning how streamlined the classes were versus most others.

Her biggest pet peeve – the history - was on national and world events, not specifically on wars, though there was an advanced warfare class. That was a requirement for all schools at present. When it came to the 'wars' part, she refrained from mentioning how their history lessons were much more accurate than most, going for the factual details and not the Fire Nation boasting propaganda. How they got away with that minimalism under Fire Lord Ozai was beyond her, though Katara knew that a lot more important objectives had been on the blood-thirsty ruler's mind.

After a handful of minutes passed, she delved into what she hoped would actually catch their critical interest: the statistics on a _whole_.

The youth-crimes' rate of the students was eight percent lower than in most other schools and so too was the career-participation rate in the military down, but she mentioned that with a lot of hesitance. She saw that as a good thing for two reasons and she only mentioned one to them: if less people were joining the military because they were trained for it from an early age, then that left more people to continue the thriving Fire Nation economy.

No one sitting across from her could deny what Zuko had told her and what they were also already seeing: the loss of the Earth Kingdom colonies was causing many businesses and markets to pull back or dry up. There would be a delayed effect of a small recession, but there would be one. It was only a matter of time.

From what she could tell, her words were received with a solidly '_okay_' reaction. Several times she had pointedly mentioned facts that would be of interest to the others via her gossip-like discussion with the palace's head housekeeper. "I want to take two schools in each of your districts and change their curriculum around, better matching this school. There will be some changes to it that we _all_ will plan but you get this gist." Katara finished her speech, shifting in her seat. "So, who wants to vote on it?" Everyone exchanged glances. She sighed and decided to go negative first. It would be an easier blow if they all raised their hands against it anyway than making her sit there like an idiot, only her hand raised for it. "All against, raise your hands."

Abhita, the man who had insulted her the first meeting, and the woman who she had yet to meet raised their hands. However, there were seven on the board.

"And those in support." Katara raised her hand, as did Zeisch, Noake, and Ren. She breathed a silent sigh of relief at that; it was four to three. "Great," she smiled brightly. "Any questions?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_There are within us lives we never live_ _By sense or soul, for being does not know_ _To tell their depth or breast their flow_ _Or to taste the sweetness that they give._ _And now in distance, now in voices still,_ _In pity or in harmony, in sleep,_ _We lead unconscious lives, old, deep,_ _Upon the far slope of an unknown hill._

_Is it not here that life walks wreathed at last?_ _Many a soul meets many a soul with this:_ _That muted lips and wistful eyes are passed_ _In silence; yet a sign there is_ _Burning in air, though but a shadow fall_ _Or some pale sunbeam steal along the wall._

_~'There are within us Lives we never Live', _Zona Gale

* * *

><p>Iroh dropped a few more tea leaves into the mortar and started grinding them with the pestle. His new friend, Tung, was going to be stopping by in the evening and he planned to test a new tea out while he was at it. It was called 'Old Friend' and was a blend Toph came up with. He smiled, remembering her enthusiasm when showing him how to make it. Standing beside him, his manager Khan now removed the uniform's apron and hung it on one of the free hooks mounted into the wall. Today they had closed at three in the afternoon, as they did once a month, and spent the rest of the time in the afternoon doing a deep clean of the shop. Khan had stayed last, waiting to clean the equipment that had been soaking all day.<p>

The Fire Nation royalty member was grateful for the help - normally he would have to do it and that would usually keep him up until late in the evening. He had just done that and did not wish to have a repeat performance, complete with waking up with a sore neck and pounding head at his usual, early in the morning time. "Alright, everything's done. Sure you don't need me to come in tomorrow?" Khan asked while scratching the back of his neck in an awkward motion.

"No, no, take the day off. You deserve it. The place will continue to run smoothly without you."

"Thanks, uh, see you to- _later_." He nodded and then pushed out the door. "Make sure to lock it!" He called.

Iroh chuckled after him. When the tea leaves were ground into a loose form, he put the water on to boil and, on his way past the doorway, locked the back door's bolt. With supplies in hand, he set about the mundane yet odd task of making one's own tea bags. His favorite tea pot - a green-dyed porcelain piece with a white lotus flower painted on the outside - didn't have a screen before the stem and therefore couldn't catch loose tea. _Such a shame, _he always thought. Beyond that, it was perfect.

A loud and long knock sounded at the front door. He finished the task of pouring the hot water into the tea pot. Dropping in the bag to steep, he then walked to the front. Tung was in the process of knocking again when he opened the door. Iroh half-grinned at the other man's slightly startled expression. "Come in, come in. I just finished making a new pot of tea."

"What kind?" He asked, removing his overcoat after entering. The winters in the Earth Kingdom generally made for the most uncomfortable season. The varying climates - from jungle to desert to grassy, rolling hills - led to the average perception of it being 'cold to the bone'.

"One a very good friend of mine has just come up with. I never even thought of it before - you know what chamomile is?"

"Of course."

"Please, take a seat," Iroh said, hurrying to the back doors. "I'll be a second!" He grabbed one of the wooden trays stacked to the side and placed the tea pot on it, along with two of its matching cups. Balancing it professionally, he bustled back out into the main dining room. "It is two fourths green, one fourth white, and one fourth chamomile. Try it." He dished out the cups and poured the tea; Tung's cup first.

The other man sipped it. He smacked his loops, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. "It almost tastes sweetened."

"That would be the chamomile," he responded proudly. He wasn't proud in himself - he was proud of _Toph_ for having such a quick talent for tea. "There's no honey in it; not a drop." During one of their first meetings of the few they had had before she had joined the Gaang and later when Zuko had too, the young earth-bender had laughed at tea and its potential variety. And now he had converted her to being a true believer. For that, Iroh was secretly a bit proud of _himself_. "So how much did you travel? You said you had when we met earlier in the week."

"Ah right, I used to travel a lot." Tung's expression went soft, his eyes looking down into his tea. "I inherited a small fortune from my parents; they ran a very successful plantation near Gaoling. I mean, they did until their deaths ten or more years back. I spent that money traveling and making small investments; nothing I got much of a return out of but I like to think I helped some people. I lent money to merchants, small and family-run farms, shops, stuff like that. I traveled, oh, most of the Earth Kingdom I think. Everything except for around Chameleon Bay. Traveling through the desert is _rough_."

Iroh chuckled. "I know exactly what you mean. Did you ever visit other countries?"

"Oh yes; once I visited... I can't remember the name," Tung said, a perplexed expression flitting across his face. "The two islands the north-west of Crescent Isle, do you know what those are?"

He sipped his own cup of tea. "I'm _familiar_ with them."

"I never visited the mainland; travel was heavily restricted to us Eartherners."

Iroh cleared his throat after a beat passed where his new friend seemed to be collecting his thoughts. If he truly wished to make a new friend, honesty was always the best policy. He had been honest with Toph the first time he met her, she just hadn't believed him. And still, theirs was the best friendship he had – beside Ursa's, that was. "I have a... confession to make."

"Hm?" The man sitting across from him glanced up from refilling his tea.

"I'm Fire Nation born." He paused. "My nephew is Fire Lord Zuko."

Tung stared at him for a long minute. "I thought you looked familiar," he said after a beat. Raising his cup, a lopsided smile swam over his features. "To new and interesting friends."

Iroh grinned with relief. He raised his own cup and clinked them together. "To new and interesting friends," he repeated earnestly.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	79. Stick Bug's Bully

**A/N**: Jook is the equivalent of porridge, but made with rice. Also related: I updated my FF profile again, this time with the link to a map for the districts mentioned regarding the Fire Nation Teacher's Council. I figured my explanations were in no way completely clear, so that map is a visual outline; I encourage you, if you're interested in that storyline, to go check that map out.

Warning: I made up three more characters. I know, I have issues! Trust me, they were needed (or at least their names being mentioned was needed). I'm enjoying writing this story - though I still feel somethings off in this chapter. Penny for your thoughts? Anyway, now I just need to think up an excuse to write for Sokka for a bit…. I miss him.

I had a dream/nightmare/imaginative-vision last night that it was Tuesday and I had been unable to post up a chapter today. Talk about weird; I swear I have the strangest anxieties. Rest assured, however, the chapter is here; I hope it lives up to all your expectations. Enjoy! ^_^

**Disclaimer: I do not believe, pretend, or say that I own anything related to the A:LA show or franchise.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Because I see at the end of my rough way_

_That I was the architect of my own destiny_

_And if I extracted the sweetness or the bitterness of things_

_It was because I put the sweetness or bitterness in them._

_When I planted rosebushes I always harvested roses._

_Certainly, winter is going to follow my youth_

_But you didn't tell me that May was eternal._

_I found without a doubt long my nights of pain,_

_But you didn't promise me only good nights._

_And in exchange I had some peaceful ones._

_I loved, I was loved, the sun caressed my face._

_Life, you owe me nothing, Life, we are at peace!_

_~'At Peace', _lines #4-15/15, Amado Nervo

* * *

><p>Aang rubbed his neck as he finally relaxed and settled around the fire pit. A log tumbled down the side of the wood pile he had just added to and he nudged it away from the licking flames with his foot. The pit was more than big enough for the three of them; Zuko's six guards had built two for themselves, one on either side of the trio. Aang eyed the young teenager sitting across from him with wonder. She was either Katara's age or a little bit older but regardless, she definitely had the water-bender's stubbornness. Zuko had originally been going to go with Aang to get fire wood when she said she was going with; she trusted the Avatar much more than the stone-cold guards who didn't speak. It had led to a cluster, eventually leading to him staying by their traveling mounts and waiting.<p>

For his part, Aang didn't think the guards were stone-cold. Quiet, yes, a little creepy with their shadowing presences, sure, but that was their training. There were still people behind those masks and he had struck up a short conversation with one of the men when he accompanied the Avatar, just in case.

The girl in green and red clothing was Kori Morishita. His eyebrows had almost rearranged themselves onto his bald scalp when Zuko had told him both her name and how they 'met'. It was now a day since then and he was still shocked. Aang was also having a hard time comprehending that the young girl would kill the Fire Lord, throwing her life away, because of the Harmony Restoration Movement. It was named 'harmony' for a reason - any objections or altercations to it could be addressed peacefully. _Or not_, he mused, conceding. At least, it had been the intention. He guessed he would not ever fully understand her reasoning behind it.

However, that was alright. She was here now, more or less planning on helping them, and so too was Zuko, very much alive and breathing.

"Jerky?" He held out to her.

She shook her head. "Not hungry," she mumbled.

Aang put the small pack off to the side, just in case, and broke a hardened strip of his own. He continued to stare at her curiously. Despite her strong facade and actions, she was still a hurt person. He decided not to pry, instead letting her warm up to him on her own merits. As it stood, she was well lost in her own thoughts for his words to make any good impact, or perhaps an impact at all. Aang shifted to better face his friend. "Did I tell you about Toph?"

Zuko raised his head and stopped trying to brush the powder-like dirt off of his pant legs, as he had been doing the past ten minutes absent-mindedly. "Yeah, the Earth King offered her training spot. When she comes back, she'll be ten times as smug." He half-smirked as he spoke the last line.

"Yeah there's that. But, I mean-" Aang's lips curved upward a little. "-we're dating."

The Fire Lord's eyebrows rose in a way mirroring his own from the night prior. "Uh..."

His smile dropped a little. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing, that's just... You shocked me."

"How?"

It was Zuko's time to smile this time; his eyes danced with amusement. "You're still a kid, _kid_."

If he was able to truly glare at a person, Aang sent his best one across the pit to his friend. "Hey, that's unt-"

"Relax, relax!" He chuckled, holding up his hands in a surrendering fashion. "I'm kidding, Aang; take a joke! I'm happy for you. As long as you two are happy and don't screw up the group, I am okay with it. Toph's like a sister to me."

Aang grinned. "That's obvious to everyone." He tore off another strip of jerky and massaged it into a softer form with his fingers as he spoke. "We are happy. It is kind of weird but it just, I don't know, grew. Hey, now we can all triple-date!"

He shuddered. "Oh no. No, no, no. Sokka will be an idiot with the food and Katara will lecture Toph about something and you'll bring Momo, who will destroy something, an-"

"-And it will turn out exactly the way it is when we group up anyway? Yeah, that way."

Zuko cocked his head. "Okay, I see your point."

"Hey Kori," he asked, swiveling his head around to face the girl traveling with them. She was already watching them with thinly-veiled interest. "Do you have anyone special?"

She bit her lip and blushed a violent shade of pink. "It's, uh, complicated."

"Life is complicated," Aang responded in turn. "But we just have to do our best and hope we don't regret our decisions... What's complicated in your dating world?" Zuko poked him with a stick from the wood pile but the Avatar ignored him and his warning look. His friend was much more wary of setting off Mayor Morishita's daughter and his attempted assassin than Aang was, but Aang was much more interested in knowing about her and her life; what makes her tick, why she did or tried to do the things she had done. He wanted to help all people. And then there was the fact that he was just a genuinely curious and friendly person.

"We got into a fight before I left for here," Kori said, opening up at the same time as she lifted her head from her inner musings. "His friend wanted to organize a protest in Yu Dao against the Movement and got a really good group together too. They want the Fire Nation out and to keep the land in the Earth Kingdom. They're probably doing that right now." She scowled. "He wanted me to choose between my Earth Kingdom and my Fire Nation heritage, said that I couldn't be both..."

"Ouch," Aang drawled after a long moment of silence. He focused on her problems at the moment, imprinting into memory what she said about a protest. "Sorry, that's rough. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, I'm glad you did. It feels so good to get it off my chest." Her scowl lightened a little.

"What did you tell him?" Zuko asked, speaking up.

Kori's eyes crinkled, obvious pride showing when she straightened her shoulders. "I told him that I'm an 'earth-bending Fire Nation citizen'."

"Good for you."

She frowned at the Avatar's encouraging words. "But then _I_ was the one that really messed up. I let my emotions overrun me and that's when I planned to..." She glanced to Zuko and left the sentence open-ended. The other two could easily fill in the blanks. "I gave him an ultimatum, too. When I get back, Sneers probably won't even want to see me." Kori plopped her head down in her hands. "How could I act so rash? I screwed everything up for myself; now I have no boyfriend, soon no home, probably no family either when they find out what I did..."

"No one has to know," Zuko suggested hesitantly.

"What?" Her head snapped up.

Aang watched his friend closely. Zuko shrugged. "You said it yourself - you let your emotions guide you. I've done that in the past and I know how much damage it can do. You haven't tried to kill me again and I know you couldn't take the shot when you attacked me last night or I wouldn't be standing here. You caught me by surprise; it was the perfect attack."

She flushed at his words, an obvious mixture of embarrassment and burgeoning pride in them - pride that she could have and was capable of taking down someone as powerful as him. "But..."

"We'll-" He said with a hand waved between himself and Aang. Aang turned his head and nodded enthusiastically at Kori, not even knowing yet what Zuko was going to explain but trusting him all the same. "-say that you came to us and told us the truth about the unintentional side effects of the Movement and we'll say we told you about our plan because you said your father, the Mayor, would be on board."

"You'll play into the fact that my father is _my __father_."

"And forget how we really met," he offered. "Deal?"

Aang smiled kindly over at her when she looked to him. "Okay, deal." She glanced down at the sleeve of jerky by his side and he handed it to her wordlessly. _Talking can work up an appetite,_ he knew.

The jagged puzzle pieces in his mind clicked together, fastening in place, while they munched in peace. Aang spoke. "Wait, did you say 'Sneers'? He didn't use to be part of a group called the Freedom Fighters, did he?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The day is done, and the darkness_

_Falls from the wings of Night,_

_As a feather is wafted downward_

_From an eagle in his flight._

_I see the lights of the village_

_Gleam through the rain and the mist,_

_And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me,_

_That my soul cannot resist:_

_A feeling of sadness and longing,_

_That is not akin to pain,_

_And resembles sorrow only_

_As the mist resembles the rain._

_Come, read to me some poem,_

_Some simple and heartfelt lay,_

_That shall soothe this restless feeling,_

_And banish the thoughts of day._

_~'The Day is Done', _stanzas #1-4/11, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* * *

><p>The training camp was unlike anything Toph had visited or even passed through before. When they had come upon it, round a low-hugging mountain range, Hyun-Shik warned her about their security measures as she had already sensed – and commented – that the camp was all out in the open. They had dismounted when coming around the bend, hence her ability to know this.<p>

The walking up had seemed unnecessary – _had_ being the key word – until large earthen spokes rose sharply in a circular figure in front of them, forming a deadly wall. They had come up a foot from Toph's face.

They were lowered soon thereafter when a trio came to their position and welcomed the both of them (and the guards) in. Toph was excited to start her training and yet sad to depart from the other teenager's company when that time finally drew near. He was a good person and funny with his stories, once she got him to open up. He was her only familiar person around; now, she was on her own. Toph was used to it, yes, but had not actually been alone for a prolonged period of time in quite a while.

The small welcoming committee turned out to be the Head Training Officer, the representative for the Terra Team itself, and the equivalent of the student body head, though this was not a traditional classroom and these students fluctuated mostly within the 25-35 years old age range, from what she could decipher. Toph had been a bit annoyed that the electing – or choosing, however it was done – process for her fellow participant's title elevation had been done before she arrived. No, she was stuck with arriving at the period of introductions that promised to last long into the night, only interrupted by a breaking for dinner.

Toph now enjoyed the break as she sat at a table with her sole companion, Aroon. She lifted the clay spoon from the bowl and spun it in her hand between her fingers, listening with disgust as the sloppy mush fell back down with a distinct 'pop'. "What is this crap? This is worse than when I was traveling with Aang and survived on nuts. At least then we knew what the nuts _were_."

Aroon snorted. "It's just Jook."

"I didn't think I had high standards but…." She pushed the bowl aside.

"Hey, Stick Bug. Got yourself a girlfriend, huh? She going to protect you?" Her ears perked up at the sound of the voice that appeared at the end of their occupied table in the cafeteria. Toph's jaw clenched.

_***Flashback – Thirty minutes earlier – Assembly Hall**_

She was not a particularly friendly person. If she was to make friends or companions then they would have to make the first move. Once she made friends with someone, though, Toph was loyal until the end. Unfortunately, that was hard for most to see because of her brash and abrupt attitude during first meetings. She was a pessimistic hardened by experiences and yet whom melted in an instant when reunited with the company of an old, or at least close, friend. Therefore, Toph found making friends to be a hard task.

Only, no one here knew her. She had no conversations since she arrived and her expression was largely kept in a curious though neutral expression as she took in the place around her. And still, no one even came up to meet her or invite her to sit with them or indulge her in a conversation. _Nothing_.

Even without her heightened sense, Toph could smell something fishy in that.

She weaved her way through the building's standing crowd. Most were seated but the place was small and the fifty to seventy she could estimate was a baker's dozen more in number than the seating space provided. Not that she was bothered by it. She ducked under a man's elbow and slid to the side. Her new position was leaning along the western wall. She relaxed and tilted back on the heels of her feet, sinking against the cool and porous standing rock slab.

The speaker's voice was low and dull, droning on and on with so much boring force she was ready to go to sleep right then and there. Toph sighed. He explained unendingly the camp's rules, etiquette, training plans, lessons, and the restricted actions, along with the _do's and don't's_ that get someone booted out. Those were the only ones she cared enough about to listen to.

Everything else didn't really matter to her – she would be doing the lessons or whatever anyway, forewarned or not.

She yawned. _Man, is this guy a buzz kill_, Toph thought. _Maybe I could slip out,_ she mused, running the theoretical scenario over in her mind. _I'm by far the shortest one here; no one would see me and if anyone did, __who'd__ care?_ The seventh yawn she'd heard in the crowd within the past thirty seconds cemented this belief for her_. It would be easy to find the dorms from here 'cause they showed me earlier. Who would get upset at the blind girl if she grabbed the wrong bunk? Hopefully no one_. She felt a burgeoning pull on her lips, the pull that was a wolfish grin.

But then her stomach growled. _Where am I going to find food around here?_

"-convene until the next quarter hour. Dinner will be served in the community hall's 2nd wing – the cafeteria." The drone stepped away from the stage he had been speaking on. _Dinner_? She pushed away from the wall and shuffled her way into the small mob that was rushing out of the narrow building's doors at a slovenly pace, ironically enough.

She managed to slip out and ahead of most of the crowd in the doorway. She remembered where the cafeteria was and instead of following the main group's path, she stepped off to the side and garnered her bearings with her seismic sense. There was a cut-through to the right, behind a row of dorms. It would be so easy for her to get away for the night and obtain some greatly-needed sleep, but sadly it was not meant to be. Food was more important at the moment.

Toph followed the back-way path at a leisurely place. She wanted to be sure she understood the camp and everything in it and what every inch of it held or was used for. Being here for four months would more or less make it her home. If she went into the wrong building, it would leave the wrong impression – like maybe that she didn't care or was ignorant. Which, apparently, people already thought about her anyway. She frowned. No ideas came to mind for why everyone was giving her such a wide berth. _U__nless__…._ Her eyelids fluttered with a hot rush of indignation_. It's because I'm a girl! And probably because I'm blind, too_. Her shoulders sagged. _And I'm really young compared to most of them._

_Great, I've got no similarities with these guys. I might as well be a badgermole. _

She shook her head. When she accepted the training experience, she had simply been excited and optimistic. No thoughts had passed through her head at the time about how unusual and probably insulting her presence would be to those who worked their whole lives to get here. _Great. At least I'm used to solitude…. Sort of…. Damn you, Twinkletoes.__ You made me a people person._

A rustle ahead of her put her senses on high-alert. She heard the distinct sounds of the scuffing of shoe heels on the dirt, along with a few grunts. She drew closer cautiously, hugging the side of a building. There was no doubt in her mind she could take whatever danger might lie ahead of her, it was more a matter of _surprise_ being the greatest advantage.

"Please," a voice stuttered out. The same one barely finished the pitying word before letting out an 'oof' and wheezing in a breath soon after. Toph winced for the poor kid. _What's going on? _She wondered but listened close at the same time.

"You're so weak, Stick Bug. What, can't even stand up for yourself? Jeez, you're just as pathetic now as you were in school. When are you gonna grow up, huh? These are the big leagues; your daddy can't help you here. Get up!"

She recognized the scuffing sound – _kicking_. Toph felt bile rise in her throat. She focused on picking out the figures ahead of her; this 'Stick Bug' was on the ground in a fetal position. Three others were around him. Toph moved forward in the shadows, preparing to strike. Every bully should be punished, she had always thought with conviction. Suddenly the figures shifted and took a couple steps back. She stilled.

"Come on guys. You're not worth it, Stick Bug. Think of this as your lucky day."

She paused in her battle stance. The three figures were walking away. They were gone down the makeshift alleyway within another minute passing. She silently approached, not wanting to startle the kid. His voice was weak before; she guessed he had to be young like her. _Maybe we could be friends? _She banished the thought as soon as she had it; making sure he was okay was more important than her potential loneliness. Plus, her eagerness to have a friend here so soon was concerning even her own mind.

"Hey, you okay?" She called out a couple of yards from him. He startled back on his behind from where he had been moving to sit up. She held out her hands in an attempt at a reassuring gesture. "Sorry. Tried not to startle you but… I guess I'm not good with this stuff. So… you okay?"

"Who are you?" His voice was a bit deeper this time after he coughed. _Okay, so the age thing is wrong. Huh._

"Toph Beifong. Nice to meet you." She nodded awkwardly.

"Yeah." He stood and shuffled on his feet, getting his bearings. A few beats passed.

She rocked on her feet, arms crossed in front of her. "What's your name?"

"Oh, right, sorry." The boy's voice was slightly muffled as he moved from where he was bent forward, brushing off her clothes. She could have pointed out it would be a waste of time with this sandy dirt but didn't. It was of no importance. "I'm Aroon. Last name's Montri."

Toph rolled the last name in her mind but couldn't think of who his father could be, as the bully has suggested. She shrugged it off, instead adopting a smile to appease the man in front of her. She hoped it worked, since her next question would probably be... odd. She could just blame it on her slightly off social skills. "Can I ask you something?"

"I guess."

"How old are you?"

"Uh," he laughed briefly. "Twenty-three"

She nodded, eyebrows raised. "You don't _sound_ like it."

"…Thanks?"

Toph waved her hands by her sides in no true direction. She was making herself uncomfortable at this point. _Where's Aang or Sokka when you need 'em? I suck at 'breaking the ice' or whatever this is called._ "I don't mean that as a rude thing or whatever, just saying." She held out her hand. "How about a deal, Aroon? Friends? No one seems to like me here either."

"That's because you're a girl – and young. Not many girls get admitted and, you know, you're friends with the Avatar so…." She heard cloth rub; he shrugged.

She frowned. "I forgot about the Aang angle. Double-damn," she muttered under he breath. Of course, that was what it was. They were upset that she got preferential treatment. It didn't feel like it to her, she personally thought she was an excellent earth-bender, but no one else would think that. _I'll just show them, _she vowed.

"What?"

Her smile widened. "Nothing! So, friends?"

His hand gripped hers in a surprisingly firm handshake. _So there's hope for you yet,_ she thought lightly. "Yeah, sure."

"Come on, we'll be late for dinner and I do not want to be stuck with warm leftovers." Toph reached out a hand, only to find it collide with the side of his stomach instead of back. "How tall _are_ you?"

Aroon ruffled her hair. It reminded her of Zuko and she impishly grinned at the comfortable gesture. "Twice your size."

"And you couldn't take down those bullies earlier? You might be a stick bug but you could pummel them into the dirt."

"It's… complicated. Did you see the whole thing?"

She turned her head. "Blind."

There was a beat. "Sorry, I didn't know."

"Don't apologize, it's not _your_ fault... Or is it? Just kidding." She reached out and took hold of his arm this time as they made their way into the line outside of the cafeteria. "Now remember, it's your problems we're going to fix first."

"Oh yeah?" Aroon asked skeptically.

"Yep," she said with strict conviction. "Haven't you heard? I'm the best earth-bender alive. Those idiot bullies won't be able to touch you if I'm around."

_***End Flashback**_

"Taro-" Aroon began to say.

She interrupted him. "What's your problem?" She addressed her question to the bully standing next to their table, leaning over with her elbows planted firmly in front of her. She straightened her back confidently.

"What?" Taro, she assumed, asked back. He leaned over the table separating them and pushed himself dangerously close to her space – dangerous for _him_. She could feel his stinky breath wafting into her face. She didn't back down.

"I asked: what is your problem? Why do you have to pick on people, huh? Get a life."

He chuckled humorlessly. "Look, girl, you don't want to get on my bad side."

"Or what? You have some parents that will take care of me? Gonna make me feel all insecure and let you dictate my life? Sorry, bud, I don't answer to anyone or let anyone tell me what to do – especially stupid-heads like _you_."

"Spoken like a true child," he shot back. "How did you get in here – sneak in?"

Toph ground her teeth down and her eyes narrowed dangerously, cheeks flushing with anger. "Watch it."

"You're just a child," he boldly repeated again.

In the blink of an eye, she shot out her foot and collided the heel with his specifically-male sensitive spot. Taro stumbled back and hunched his back over his stomach, clutching below his below. She swept her feet up so she was crouching on the bench one moment and the next she launched on him, straddling against his back. "Apologize!" She hissed in his ear. He fell to his knees and she pulled on his hair, acquiring a deep hold via gripping right at his scalp. His two friends launched into action then, struggling to haul her off by grabbing her arms and waist.

She struggled against them, not letting them win so easily. She may be little but she had an overflowing amount of inner strength and right now, the female earth-bender had just the _wrong_ buttons pushed. "Toph!" Aroon yelled, scrambling away from the table and to her side, unsure of what to do. He pushed against those trying to remove her savage form off of the bully but his efforts only served to help them more.

Toph hardly heard him or registered what he – or anyone else besides Taro, for that matter – was doing, her black vision flooding with white crackling spots as the rage flowed through her veins. She hated _bullies_, she hated _insults_, and most of all she hated _idiots_ who saw her as less of a person than someone with something more than her – age, vision, money. It pissed her off, clawing the once-in-a-blue-moon vengeful monster out of her otherwise always calm and tough being.

_Everybody_ has a dark side.

Toph ripped herself out of the arms of her victim's friends and swept them up in cocoons made of earth. They were already bending themselves out but she didn't care. Taro was lying on his back now, having lost his balance when she wasn't on him anymore. He leaned up on his elbows to rise. Toph jumped on him, this time jabbing her knees into his chest muscle, the same muscle and ribs protecting his lungs. The air whooshed out of him immediately. "Apologize!" She yelled this time. The whole of the cafeteria was stunned into silence around her.

"You freakin' craz-"

Toph pulled back her fist, ready to punch that selfish prick's face. Instantly, she found herself suddenly chained to the earth with a rock encasement. She earth-bended herself out easily but only barely in time to hear Aroon's murmuring of "oops". Leather-worn hands bruised into her upper arms, holding her into place. "Stop it," the stern voice commanded. She stilled, body still wound and tense. The adrenaline slowly ebbed away from her nerves, though not fast enough. Toph's breathing was fast and ragged. "What happened here?"

"Sir, Taro ca-ame over and star-arted insulting Toph here, and wou-ouldn't leave-"

"I don't care about name calling, Aroon," the man said calmly. Too calmly. There was anger underneath it and she bit back a shudder from rippling down her spine. If only she could get her brain to recognize the voice. "Who hit who first?"

Aroon mumbled.

"Speak up," the man growled.

"Toph, sir."

She flushed. "But he beat up Aroon earlier! I was… helping."

A few seconds passed but Toph swore it could have been an eternity. Sweat trickled along her brow, underneath her hair line. She was now distinctly aware how her headband was skewed aside and if these hands weren't on her arms, she would have straightened it with clumsy, shaking hands of her own.

"Is that true, Taro?"

"Sir, I ju-"

"Save it, Taro. One day and you can't…." He sighed frustratingly. "All three of you, to your dorms right now."

"What about the introdu-" Aroon started.

"Go. _Now_. You two, did you have a hand in this?" He asked, addressing the two friends standing off to the side. They must have shook their heads because all he said was, "Fine. Finish your food." He let her go and she quickly stepped forward, searching for Aroon. He was still standing at the table, shocked if she had to guess. Toph gripped his elbow and tugged. He slid his arm down further for her and quickly stalked out; she almost skipped to keep up.

She preferred to take it as a good sign that he had both defended who to whoever that was and also didn't shrug her off. She kept her mouth set in a thin line and her head set straight on her shoulders as they walked out, one ear listening for Taro. They were alone. He had crossed to the other side of the room, leaving through a separate door from the one they used.

"Who was that?" She asked as they emerged from the cafeteria and into the road.

"Basu – the student president." He let out a long, suffering breath. "We're lucky but there's no telling if he punishes us later."

"I attacked Taro, not you."

"It doesn't matter... But thanks. That was great... especially to watch him get beat by a girl."

She swallowed back the proud smile, hesitation and dread taking over her emotions instead. A worrying expression appeared on her face. "What, is this Basu a tough guy or something?"

Aroon grunted airily, a sound that was suspiciously like a laugh but without any mirth in it whatsoever. "You have no idea."

She frowned. _No, I guess I don't_. Toph racked her brain, thinking back to when she first met this 'Basu'. Hyun-Shik had spoken the whole time, not her. She was taken straight to the Assembly Hall by the Earth King's assistant after a very brief tour and then left after being told who the others were. She had already been trying to commit the place to memory then. Unfortunately, the names had fallen to the wayside then_. So much for good first impressions,_ she pondered with anguish.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	80. Suspended Rain Drops

**A/N: ** I'm so drained – mentally. This week has been a tough one. Here's to hoping everyone enjoys their weekends :) Have fun!

Oh, and thanks for review/alerting/favoriting. It makes my day each and every time! Thank you so much for reading.

**Disclaimer:**** I own it! *silence* Did you believe it? *crickets* Yeah, I thought so. If I'm writing fan fiction for the show, does anyone seriously think I own anything close to its rights? ****If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing this. ****Stupid disclaimers. Eighty chapters in and I officially hate them. (That was fast!)**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Tremble for yourself, my man,_

_You know that you have seen this all before_

_Tremble little lion man,_

_You'll never settle any of your scores_

_Your grace is wasted in your face,_

_Your boldness stands alone among the wreck_

_Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck_

_~'Little Lion Man', _Mumford & Sons

* * *

><p>Azula watched the water dance. Truly, it was fascinating. Her whole life, she watched fire dance. She knew how unpredictably the tendril flames jump up and retreat low, licking out here and there with curled tips, attempting to catch a reaction in turn. Log turned to ash, smoothness turned to rippling burns, cold surface turned glowing hot. It was now fascinating in a way she hadn't expected to see the droplets pitter-patter down from the skies, against the grass-covered compacted dirt. Perhaps it was because if she shot out one hand and one burning jet, those liquid pockets would evaporate. Gone to the sky again, out of reach to all except water-benders.<p>

Only the glass separated her and the water. Her fingers twitched. It was enough of a barrier.

Azula leaned back further against the cushioned seat and sunk relaxingly into it. The sun room was one place she honestly could not say she had spent much time in before – or at all, though that fact she was unsure about. Her mother had frequented this room when she had lived here as the Fire Lady.

She had wished to go outside. To feel the sun bounce and warn against her pale skin, to see the bright, thriving blue that was the daytime's sky, to even experience the tickling grass against her limbs and smell its earthen perfumes waft upward from the ground. She wasn't so lucky, though.

Her mother had no objections to it. In fact, she had been delighted, commenting over and over how this was progress. Azula was unsure what kind of progress this could be exactly; all she was doing was taking a moment to enjoy the simple pleasure that is partaking in nature, leaving all her - mental - troubles behind. But then, what had her mother said? _"__Trust me, sweetheart, I know," _she had cooed at the time._ "You don't see it when you're on the inside looking out. I'll help you." _

Well, whatever that did mean, she still decided to play her whole life by ear now. Planning a future would only lead to disappointment when part of it proved untrue or unattainable. Case in point, it was _raining_. Her only 'future' plan was to go outside and appreciate the typical Fire Nation sunny weather. That wasn't working out.

She watched the pitter-patter continue. From this location, she could see clearly – the blur induced by the rain aside – the hollow between shallow hills that formed the turtle duck pond. Its inhabitants huddled beneath the large branching canopy provided by the old tree beside it. A few dared to swim, bathing their ruffled feathers in the water constantly rippling with shocks from the raindrops. Azula chuckled when she watched a young adult turtle duck flip on the surface.

It went underwater for a brief coupling of seconds, its white underside bright against the dark water. When the duck emerged, it high-tailed back to the safe solidness of the pond's embankment as quickly as its webbed feet could muster the feat. Whatever had made it lose its balance, Azula couldn't say. The show was humorous to her and that's all she cared about.

Her golden-eyed gaze was distracted from the fluttering mess of turtle ducks snapping at each other and the one who had nearly drowned as movement to the right called her attention away. A door opened and closed and a young woman walked into the courtyard. Azula sat up to get a better look. It was Katara. She scowled. _Every time_, she thought, reflecting on seeing the certain water-bender the week before. The view cleared up as the water-bender held out her hands and the raindrops promptly stilled in place.

_Now that's unfair,_ she mused with a flash of awe covered up by annoyance. Her hands itched to bend again; she couldn't stop that, it was an innate part of who she was. To see this girl do it so easily and over something so frivolous…. Katara had a plate in her hand, the Fire Nation princess surmised now that the view was unblocked. It was amazing that Katara had yet to look up or over and see her_. Just one glance…._ _And nothing_. She bent down to pet a few of the ducks.

_Well this sucks,_ Azula thought sullenly. Their confrontation was long overdue; and so too was the drama it would bring. Oh, did she crave drama. Her life was so mundane lately; she felt cooped up. In that way, she craved the confrontation. The one who had taken her down at her most insane was now flitting around the palace – and apparently out with Zuko – at whim. There was a story there and damn, did she want to know it. Though, with her imagination, she could easily guess what it was.

Still, seeing the water-bender get all riled up about it would be fun to watch.

Her mother gave her a general rundown of all that had happened after her imprisonment but nothing was mentioned regarding the Avatar and his traveling companions. That was what she really wanted to know about – what became of the Avatar and his friends who used to wear an expiration date above their heads. Instead, her mother had spent way too much time delicately telling her about what was changing in the Fire Nation government. Azula had no chance of taking any high-ranking position now, let alone Fire Lord, unless she stole it with force.

With her instability, that was impossible. She knew that. And then, with what happened last time, Azula didn't even know if that was what she wanted. She didn't know _what_ she wanted in general.

Azula found herself - before she comprehended it – pushing open the sunroom's door and walking down the hallway. She paused herself at the double doors to the courtyard. Yes, she wanted to talk to the water-bender. And she wouldn't be averse to reigniting her fire-bending for a minute, either. But… what would her mother think? And if word got out to her brother, she could go back to that dungeon-like jail, never to see the light of day again – even if that light was dim and amidst the falling water screen rain brought about.

_Everything was so much easier when I didn't care_. A large part of her was still selfish, so more than anything that 'caring' was about protecting herself. However, it was still _something. I should tell the__ stupid doctor__ that_, she thought with a smirk, referring to her therapist. The unfortunate truth of her life now was that people's opinions about her would now reflect on her 'mental stability' and if their opinions were bad, well, they might eventually strip away her newfound freedom away from her. That was an inconceivable notion, one Azula would never let happen again.

With that line of thought, she released her hand from the door knob and let her nimble fingers rest lightly on it. The confrontation wasn't worth it.

"Princess," a voice said warningly behind her. It was Loya. Azula slowly turned around, looking at the older woman expectantly. "You're not allowed outside right now, _remember_? It's raining."

_And Katara's out there,_ she finished the woman's sentence for her silently. She smiled slightly. "I know. I was just going to get lunch."

"I'll bring some to you," Loya suggested.

_Of course you will_. The kitchen was part of the main wing but the sunroom was off to the side, making her accessibility to it reasonable. Instead of voicing these mild frustrations, ones that were slowly boiling down into being simple acceptances at this point, she nodded and moved back down the hall. She could feel the housekeeper's eyes on her back but ignored them.

The older woman had always played favorites and therefore her opinion didn't matter to Azula. No, the princess knew she had made the right choice – for her _own_ well-being – and did not care what anyone else thought. At the moment, she was quite pleased with herself.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_In its caves__  
><em>_the salt moans, mountain__  
><em>_of buried light,__  
><em>_translucent cathedral,__  
><em>_crystal of the sea, oblivion__  
><em>_of the waves._

_~'Ode to Salt'_, stanza #2/3, Pablo Neruda

* * *

><p>"No, no, no, the bay leaves cover up the sage, so what's the point?"<p>

"But sage is a mellow spice and it brings out the chicken flavor."

Beik shook her head vigorously. "Nope, salt works for that."

"Not if you want an herb-y body in the dish."

Iroh shook his head as he listened in on the conversation as the two approached the back wall's kitchen. He stopped pumping water and set about scrubbing the sides of the deep sink. "What are you two arguing about?"

"The dish I plan on submitting for my culinary competition and we're not arguing, we're respectfully _disagreeing_," Beik corrected before turning back to resume her conversation with the other man. "And I don't want an 'herb-y' body, I want the focus on the chicken. And I can't believe you said 'herb-y'; it's not a word!"

"It's a word if you understood what I said." She and Iroh tried to hold back smiles in amusement at the argument. "I'll see you two later. If I don't leave now, I'll be late for dinner with my parents. Beik, bring in some leftovers for us to try? _Pretty_ please?"

"With a cherry on top?" She teased.

"Of course," he replied, not missing a beat.

"Then I'll make up an extra pot, okay? Hey Iroh, why don't we have dinner at your tea shop?"

He shot them both a grin, twisting around from his position. "Sure. I can close down early Thursday night, the day after your competition."

"Sounds great." He watched out of the corner of his eye as Beik explained to the new volunteer, someone he had yet to meet, where the Jasmine Dragon was located. Either the two knew each other from before or they had developed quite a banter within the last few hours since Iroh had arrived. From developing such a strong friendship with Beik since his first day volunteering, he was almost positive that she had just met this volunteer as well. He smiled a secretive smile. Iroh knew what that meant.

The thirty-something year old waved goodbye and Iroh nodded to him, hands rubbing a towel to get dry. Iroh turned around to lean against the counter. It was a slow day with only three people in the building and all three knew each other, talking animatedly at one table. That left them to do whatever they like in the meantime. He smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Alright, what's the story?"

"What story?" She asked innocently.

"The story with the guy."

"He's new here because he's taking care of his great uncle, his name is Morio, and I like him."

Iroh tossed the towel at her and she caught it with a giggle. "I knew it."

"You just love to live vicariously through other people's lives, don't you?"

He clucked his tongue. "You get more experience that way."

"Like you need more experience," she mocked. Beik set the towel back down on the counter. "So," she said a few octaves quieter, conscious that while there were only a few in the place, there were still other ears. "Did you visit your nephew while he was in town?"

The skin around his eyes crinkled in perplexity. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I thought you knew. The Fire Lord was here for, like, two days sometime late last week. Met with the Earth King," she explained.

Iroh shook his head. "No, I didn't. I'm sure he didn't have time to visit – if he met with the Earth King, it was certainly serious." He thought back to his brief encounter with the Avatar when he went to pick up Toph at the Ba Sing Se Zoo. He had said something about him and Zuko making new plans for the Harmony Restoration Movement, though he had no idea what that could mean. There were a thousand different speculations one could make and once he let his mind start wandering, he had trouble stopping.

His nephew had last written over a week ago, warning him then that he would be traveling to finish a deal. If it worked, he would tell Iroh about it. Now the tea enthusiast was intensely curious. It was no secret that Earth King Kuei was immensely suspicious and wary of the new Fire Lord, so why they would meet in private, without Aang, was a mystery. It had to do with the Movement, that was all Iroh was sure of. "I'm sure he wanted to visit," Beik said sweetly. "I can't imagine what it's like to run a country; his plate's probably full _all_ the time."

"Think of it like running a large kitchen," the Fire Nation royalty member volunteered.

She grimaced and he laughed shortly at it. "Spirit World, that's _scary_. My kitchen is hectic enough!"

"Exactly." He nodded to the door, gesturing to her. "You can go, I'll wrap everything up here?"

"You sure?"

"Completely. Don't you have a dish to perfect?"

They shared a smile. "Okay fine," she said, pointing a finger at him. "But don't keep the place open too late and kill yourself. You have a restaurant to run too."

"It can run without me, but fine, I promise. Now go," he nudged her shoulder playfully.

She gave him a quick hug. "See you Thursday!"

Iroh patted her back and then waved as she left. "Good luck on your competition!" He turned back to grab the towel once again, wiping down the counters unnecessarily as he thought. It wasn't planned but now he was apparently hosting a dinner. He smiled in good humor._ Might as well make it a dinner party_, he thought, already forming a plan to invite Tung and, while he was at it, the grumpy Lao Jin. It would be an interesting grouping, for sure. He couldn't wait to see how everyone mingled.

It would be the best dinner party he had gone to in years, of that he had no doubt.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality."_

~Elizabeth Cady Stanton

* * *

><p>Loya pushed the cloth hard against the wooden panel, rubbing in the polishing oil with swirling circles. While her arm used its hidden strength in the long, forceful, and quite repetitive task, her mind was far away.<p>

Just an hour earlier, she had been walking by the sun room on the way to remind Roshk, one of the maids, about his agreement to help the chef later as the kitchen went through its annual cleaning – the kind of cleaning one does until their whole body aches from wiping down every nook and crany and sponging off every surface, leaving every inch looking brand new in its wake – when she spied Azula. The princess's guards had been at the end of the hall and right away, from their lack of action, made it obvious that they didn't know the princess was _only_ supposed to be in the sun room.

She had watched the girl stride to the door that opened into the middle courtyard. Loya already knew that Katara was going to stop by the turtle duck pond sometime in the afternoon to feed the ducks caught out in the unfortunate weather. She had mistakenly forgotten about Azula's visitation to that certain room, otherwise she would have advised the water-bender against it.

The water-bender and royal princess had yet to actually meet since Azula returned, as she recalled, and without anyone else there –_ namely Ursa_ – Loya shuddered to think what would happen. She knew all about their history, having been in the palace at the time of Azula's coronation. The ceremony took place at the Coronation Plaza, just a short way to the southeast of the palace. Everyone had breathed a sigh of relief when she had left, if only for a moment. And then Zuko arrived with the water-bender and the group of guards and such that the princess had left with and suddenly everyone knew, with startled faces, that everything would be different.

The change that ensued was welcomed with open arms.

Still, she remembered watching with the rest of the staff, huddled on the large front walkway, as they tried to decipher the movement happening across at the plaza. When the present Fire Lord had stood in front of her later in the day, his top clothing unsuccessfully pulled together over his chest, she could clearly see the red, scarred flesh. There were rumors about how he didn't die - that Katara had saved him. Though that's just what they were: rumors.

The power shifts that had occurred that day were enough to make everyone's heads jumbled.

Loya would never forget seeing that scar for as long as she lived and continued to shudder when she thought about it, knowing it was from the young princess she had had a hand in raising - albeit a much _smaller_ hand after Ursa fled into the dark night. Azula was crazy. There were no other ways to say it as simply put, that was what she believed.

And yet... the royal princess hadn't gone out into the courtyard. More importantly, she had so far not _attacked_ anyone. _Yet_. Loya was sure there would come a time she would relapse; Loya would not be in any way, shape, or form surprised if it happened. And then there was the therapy angle, which even she had trouble believing completely. It was just plain bizarre. Therapy was like a taboo; few people believed it worked and only the incredibly rich or incredibly insane used it. Azula was both, in her mind.

Steps sounded down the end of the hallway, drawing near. She cocked her head to the side and kept an eye out. Soon, the figures came into focus. It was Azula and her two accompanying guards. Loya always tried to spot the others - there _had_ to be others - whenever she was near the girl but she never could spot them, or there truly _weren't_ any others. She found that hard to believe. The princess had gone up against a water-bender and a fire-bender, arguably two of the best in the world, and only just barely lost, nearly ending one's life_. No, the Fire Lord has others,_ she just knew it.

She blinked out of her thoughts and comprehended, with a start, that she was staring. Azula was standing in front of her, staring right back down at her. "What?" The teenager asked flippantly, sighing as she put her hands on her hips.

"You aren't supposed to have contact with miss Katara," she remarked boldly. Loya scolded herself for not biting her tongue. Too late; it was already said.

"I haven't," the other girl responded, bristling a little at the comment.

Loya stood and folded her arms across her chest, the oiled rag forgotten as it made a stain against her apron. "You almost did. If you have a problem with her living here, talk to your therapist about it but think twice about starting anything you'll regret."

"Who are you to warn me?" Azula spat. "I didn't start anything so you telling me _not to _is ridiculous. And I'm not jealous."

"No one said you were."

The royal princess blinked. "Good."

Loya nodded curtly, flushing a little. "Well that's good; Katara's fighting an uphill battle of her own so you have nothing to be jealous of."

"What uphill battle?" The black-haired woman asked, curiousity suddenly peaked as her golden eyes sparked. Loya could practically see the rapidly manipulative wheels spinning in her head. She pinched the inside of her arm as punishment for her slip up. The girl was almost calm in front of her just then and so many things – her features, her hair, her eyes, her posture – reminded Loya of Ursa. But she would never be Ursa; _never_.

"I shouldn't have interrupted you," she said, taking a step back.

Azula narrowed her eyes at her. "Why are you so protective, _servant_?"

It was Loya's turn to bristle at the comment. "Go back to your wing, Azula," she ordered this time.

"You can't tell me what to do, so tel-"

"Neither can you," she countered quickly.

One of the guards grunted, clearing his throat pointedly. She glanced to them and then back to the girl in front of her. Azula pursed her lips. "I'm going into the courtyard after I change."

"You're no-"

"-not allowed?" Azula scowled. "Yeah, a prisoner's not allowed to do a lot of things, aren't they? The water-bender's not out there anymore and the rain stopped." They locked eyes for a minute of silence. She rolled her eyes, suddenly morphing into an innocently ignorant teenage girl right in front of Loya's gaze. Ignorant, that is, to why she had the boundaries she had. Azula wasn't truly ignorant, though; no, it was just a glimpse. A glimpse into what was or rather _could_ have been, once upon a time. Loya shook her head. These thoughts were _not_ good for her to have. She needed to stay objective with the dangerous female fire-bender. "I just want to go _outside_. What am I going to do, torch the place?" She threw up her arms at the other woman's unrelenting look. "Oh come on! You people are insane; I wouldn't do that."

"You shot your brother in the heart with a lightning bolt," she calmly reminded, wincing along with Azula. "Don't throw stones about mental capacity at me or anyone else; you have no right from the position you're in. You're lucky the Fire Lord let you back into this house and you should thank your mother for that every day." She swallowed and slid her line of vision off the girl and towards the guards. Azula had no way of punishing her for saying that, unless she attacked her and Loya doubted that now. She jerked her head, gesturing behind her. "She has two hours but if anyone else comes out, she has to return to the wing. Lady Ursa would approve of this." The two guards turned their heads slightly inward, looking at each other, but then nodded.

She looked back to Azula. The other girl's expression was impassively intense. "Why?"

"Everyone deserves to smell fresh air once in a while." It was a pathetic reasoning; the truth she wouldn't dare say outloud. The truth was that she pitied the girl. She shouldn't, no, but she did. She folded the rag back in her hands and picked up the bottle of oil resting against the baseboard. Loya regarded Azula cooly, pausing in her steps to leave. She let the formalities slide away for a minute. "You can't continue getting upset at us when we doubt your sincerity or intentions; you built that groundwork and it will be a long time before you're able to build anew. Accepting that will make your life a lot easier, you know."

She spun on her heel and stalked out of the hallway, unbelieving that she had actually had a raw conversation with the other woman. It was only with Ursa and rarely with Katara or Roshk that she slipped out of her formal tongue to speak frankly.

"Thanks," Azula mumbled behind her. It was so faint that, for the next ten minutes, Loya wondered if the words were spoken at all.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	81. Wall

**A/N: **Nothing much happening in the chapters, simply two updates, really. I did post a link on my profile of a character list for those that are interested; I talked myself into it, lol. It is for secondary characters both past and present and also has pronunciations of their names in it. It's updated at the moment and I will continue to do so but I may not say it in these Author's Notes or not, so if I do introduce a new character (heaven forbid but it's possible because I'm crazy) then it will be put down there.

Now I must go prepare for an exam!

All errors are mine; I didn't do the most thorough edit this time around. Thanks for reading C:

**Disclaimer: Don't own or wish to – my plate's full enough.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Too brief, thy life on highland wolds_

_Where close the glaciers jut;_

_Too soon the snowstorm's cloak enfolds_

_Stone byre and pine-log hut._

_Then wilt thou ply with hearth ablaze_

_The winter's well-worn tasks; -_

_But spin thy wool with cheerful face:_

_One sunset in the mountain pays_

_For all their winter asks._

_~'Mountain Life', _stanza #5/5 , Henrik Ibsen

* * *

><p>Toph had quickly decided that her lack of prompted socialization was most likely the age factor; frankly, it was a relief. She had observed the rest of the earth-benders training for a part on the Terra Team and found that they all did this. Listening in on conversations and keeping her ears open to the others' continually told the short female that the only people making friends were within the same age brackets. It was because they shared the same experiences and therefore felt less threatened around each other, she guessed, since they were in a competitive environment, after all.<p>

Aroon confirmed this when she brought it up during breakfast, filling her in on his own observations. "It's nothing; they always do this," he finished.

"How do you know?" She asked curiously, spooning a helping of Jook into her mouth. Though Toph was still wary about it, she had to both admit to her need for food, even if it was a basically nutrition-less staple, and that once she tried it, she found it to not be so bad. The pasty, thick gravy-like texture of it still made it hard to imagine being edible at all. However, she had had worse before.

"I've been here three times before."

Toph guffawed at his nonchalant answer. "What? _How_?"

"Do you know how people get here?" She flushed, feeling mild embarrassment flaring within her despite his honestly wondering tone. She shook her head. "Okay, so it's a safe bet that almost everyone here is military or in local militias but it's rare that someone in a militia gets accepted; that gets them into the military, and from there they can apply. Everyone can do it in the military; I can't imagine how many requests they get. That's how people are able to, you know, get in."

She heard him shake his head, loose hair ruffling and brushing on his scalp. "That sounds way too easy."

"It isn't. That's just the most someone can do to apply." He paused and took a bite out of his own bowl. She ignored his loud eating sounds. Toph leaned an elbow against the table, cradling her chin in its curled palm. "But you can up your chances if you plan for it and stay out of trouble. A person is accepted because of their file – history, abilities, uh, recommendations, placement, stuff like that. There are a lot of people that have been here more than once. Sometimes we get stuck patrolling one of the inner wall sets or teamed up with a, well, I guess another town. I had a friend who did that."

"Wait, people that pass the Terra Team training sometimes _don't _get paired with the Terra Team? Ouch, that's gotta suck."

"Think of it in this way – they're ready backups." His voice was light and quirked up at the end. She smiled along with him. "Seriously. I mean, there are a lot of towns across the Earth Kingdom who've put up walls during the way and if these places are – sorry, _were_ – in active fighting zones, they'll use all of their Terra Team training anyway."

She opened her mouth to voice another question, fascinated, when one of the sets of doors leading into the cafeteria banged open loudly. The abrupt interruption stalled her train of thought, along with everyone else, apparently. The entire room shushed. "Dorm one reports to the mountain side in ten, Dorm two-" A gruff voice rattled out the rest of the roll call, five dorms in total.

When the guy stopped talking, she heard a great rustling begin around her. Everyone hustled to stand and leave, obviously not wanting to arrive late. Toph grabbed her bowl as they moved to stand, quickly shoving another spoonful in her mouth. She didn't feel hungry now but then she hadn't eaten much, talking most of the time. In truth, she did not feel that hungry at all, a jumble of nerves knotting and clenching in her stomach.

She had tossed and turned all of the previous night, fretting over the fight she had caused. Really, the idiot Taro had instigated it with his snide remarks, but she did have her half of the blame – she had punched him _first_. If she was smart, she would have ignored him. But she hadn't and was second guessing her intelligence at the moment, waiting for the metaphorical other shoe to drop. The shoe by the name of Basu, their Student President.

"This way," Aroon said, his voice tearing her away from her surprisingly anxiety-ridden thoughts. She followed alongside him as they weaved their way through the rock buildings.

"So what do you do in the military?" She asked, picking up the thread of their conversation from five minutes earlier.

"Hm? Ah, I'm just a grunt."

"But you want a career?" She guessed. It seemed that was what everyone wanted one these days. If they weren't strangers or new friends, then it was Sokka and Suki or Katara and Zuko or even Iroh, but really he was just relaxing and finally doing what he loved so could that be called a career? A job? Everyone she corresponded with as of late was looking for that purpose, that quest that would fulfill their life's ambition or whatever the true purpose was. Aang was already set; he had had a destiny since he was born. For everyone else it was becoming the way of the world and Toph was doing it too, going with the tide for once.

"I want to contribute more, be part of the system, you know?" Aroon suddenly laughed and tapped her shoulder with the elbow she was gripping. "For thirteen, you understand a lot."

"Nope," she quickly shot back. "I _pretend_ to understand a lot. From there it's easy."

He choked on another laugh while she grinned.

"Something funny?" A foreign voice asked, calling over to them loudly as they approached.

Her brow furrowed. "Instructor," Aroon coughed out, bending down so he was at level just above her head. She nodded imperceptibly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing; sorry sir," he quickly said, excusing himself from their teacher's attention. They both moved to stand behind the small crowd of people that made up around fifteen students.

"Then let's get started." He clapped his hands together once. _Weird dude_, Toph thought. She focused on listening to his walk-through of methods to use, along with intently feeling the vibrations from his earth-bended examples. It was rough at first – really rough. He talked extremely fast once started and ended his long, run-on sentences with one loud, huffing breath.

Toph was positive she missed a couple pointers. Shockingly, the demonstrations went smoother. Her seismic sense helped her craft and easily picture of what he was doing, to the point that she almost dared to reach out and touch it for confirmation. All she needed now was the popcorn; it was close enough to a show. It was a pleasing kind of relief to know that the bits she truly missed or plain didn't fully comprehend were likely missed by other as well. He would call out to them, asking if they understood, and when she was lost in something the other students usually dropped their voices to indistinguishable grunts and murmurs.

Toph didn't want to drag anyone down with her if she failed. Second to that was the fact that she didn't want to fail. _Period_. Then she would not get the school King Kuei had talked about.

"No, you over there." Their instructor corrected one of them, lining everyone up so they were at a width of fifteen feet apart.

Toph rolled her head on her neck, eliciting a few pops in response. "Stances." They did. He grumbled something under his breath. She caught the words "wrong" and "field day". The lack of sense in them just made her ignore them. "Now raise a wall twenty feet high and a foot thick; _together_. I don't want any individual pieces or you'll get a mark."

_Mark? Oh right, the marking system._ In the introductory speech that sent everyone into a coma, Toph remembered a mark system being mentioned. For everything you did that wasn't only wrong but what they deemed 'beginner's course' wrong, they would put a mark on your sheet. From what she understood, because there were always so few spots available for those with Terra Team qualifications, one mark on your record and you were done for.

_Great._ She ground her heels into the smooth dirt and took a deep breath. On the teacher's word, she raised her hands. Immediately, she was met with resistance. Toph raised her tongue to the roof of her mouth in concentration. Her grip on the earth was solid and a rumbling from her efforts sounded directly in front of her. The ground she was trying to pull the slab out of shook slightly upward; it was going to come up by itself if she kept going. Removing her pull, the female earth-bender investigated with her bending sense, puzzled. She cocked her head.

The group was supposed to draw a wall up _together_; working _together_. It was the other people that were her problem. She frowned. The friction at the edges of the wall's area caused a tingling sensation to roll down her spine. She resisted a shiver, maintaining focus. Toph tried to branch out her earth-bending web but it only got harder the closer she got to the others' possessed areas.

_Can we link together? _She wondered. _That's probably one of the things I missed. Crap._ At surreal times in her earth-bender adventures – the ones her parents knew nothing about – Toph had encountered other earth-benders and put her ability's strength to the true test. Fighting for dominance over earth was a tricky thing. As far as she knew, the only other element where this was common practice was water; Katara had told her stories about the North Pole. Toph had taken control over many rock slabs launched in her direction, oh yes, but _sharing_ that power?

_Sharing_ was not one of her strong suits to begin with.

"Pathetic!" The teacher barked out. Toph's concentration slipped and so too did her hold. She grunted in frustration. "Five laps around the camp, all of you. Go!"

She followed along with the rest of them, running a hand through her hair. _How does that work – do I take half? Can I j__ust talk to the other person and get, like, their permission? _She contemplated it with a scowl implanted deeply on her face. _No, that can't work. It has nothing to do with othe-_

"Hey," Aroon breathed out beside her. She startled out of her thoughts. "Couldn't get the wall, huh?"

"You couldn't either. None of us did. What's with that – the guy lectures us on how to build a wall but he doesn't tell us how to do it with another person. No wait, he doesn't tell us how to do it with multiple people. I know how to build a wall, okay? I learned from badgermoles!"

He shushed her. She realized her voice had raised a few notes higher at the end and clamped her mouth shut. "Be careful what you say, people might actually believe you about the mole stuff."

He obviously meant it as a joke. "I'm serious," she snapped.

Aroon was silent for a moment. "Wait, for real?"

"Yes, a thousand times yes, I'm serious!"

"Sorry, that's... Huh, that's pretty cool."

"Thank you," Toph responded without much thought. "Okay, so you can do the wall, right? I'm a lone earth-bender, that's all I know – how do you do it?"

He scratched his cheek, fingers scraping across stubble. "It's complicated, I can't explain. Why don't I tea-"

"Run! Did I say walk?" Their instructor growled out as they passed back around the first time. "Get moving!"

Toph rolled her eyes. "Living up to all bad teacher stereotypes, great job," she muttered under her breath. Her new friend snickered. They jogged around the side of a building and she slowed her pace. Aroon caught the hint and abruptly moved to a walk. "I accept your offered help."

"Okay then, but I'll show you tonight. Every session is-"

"Don't say it!"

"-a day long."

"No, you had to say it," she sorrowfully moaned. "Ugh, I take it back, this isn't as fun as I thought it would be."

"Don't worry, this is just the endurance test," Aroon said jovially, as if it was as simple as eating a fruit tart.

"I thought we had some kind of endurance class, too."

"We do," he calmly replied.

Toph was stuck between letting her eyes pop out of their sockets and letting her jaw drop to the floor. Neither happened.

"Come on, Toph, don't let the man get you down. Power through!"

"Hey!" She yelled warningly at him. Aroon only laughed at her outraged response to his teasing and lengthened his strides, jogging away from her. "Where are you going?" She huffed and pushed off in a full-out run in order to keep up with his long legs.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook."_

~Henry David Thoreau

* * *

><p>"Thanks for inviting me out, I was kinda turning into a mum or invert or something like that," Katara joked.<p>

She smiled warmly and smoothed her hands along her skirts, sliding into the seat across from the water-bender's place. "I noticed. It's a little selfish, but I wanted to get out too. Ever since I pulled back from all my charity stuff to be with Azula, I find myself lost when she's at therapy or just wants to be alone." Ursa stilled as she opened her napkin. "Is it okay if I talk about her?"

She watched the other girl's expression closely. It was guarded but Katara attempted to smile reassuringly, which she took to be a good sign. "Yeah, it's okay; she's your daughter. It would be mean of me to tell you not to. So, is she in a therapy, uh, session right now?"

Ursa nodded.

"I thought those were only Monday. Loya told me," she explained.

"They were but sometimes she goes a second time in the week; voluntarily. The first one she has to go to."

"That must be a good sign? That she's willingly going?" Katara proposed lightly, eyes downcast on the small slip of a menu in front of them. The restaurant they were at only had a select handful of dishes with their daily special; it was the simplicity of the menu and high-quality of the meals that made it so popular. Ursa knew she was doing it in an attempt to distract yourself – it was easy to read human behavior after spending ten years on the run, looking for even the slightest disturbance in a crowd telling you someone's following you. She wasn't bothered by it.

Instead, she only picked up her own menu, stomach rumbling. "Yes, it's a very good sign."

Silence lapsed between them, fortunate timing for their waiter. The two of them ordered. When they were done, Ursa searched for a topic to bring up with the water-bender in her company while simultaneously studying her. Katara fiddled with the chopsticks at the side of her empty, face-down tea cup. Most of her conversation starters had to do with Azula lately but Katara was obviously uncomfortable at that. She sympathized, though not near the level necessary to fully understand – that was the problem, being the mother: you side with your child out of love and not objectiveness.

She cleared her throat. "Any progress with your education project? Loya told me all about it – be careful what information you use that she told you; she's a sneaky gossip."

The brunette smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guessed. It's going okay. I found this school in Shu Jing that uses more, um, unified curriculum so I'm using that as an example and we're implementing coursework like it in a couple schools across all the districts. Now I just hope it actually works." She shrugged. "So it's going, it's just kind of bumpy."

"Well hey, at least it's moving along. We can't all get the smooth ride we want," she responded with a knowing smile. "Good luck. If you ever need any help, you can always come to me. I hope you know that. I've had some experience with these people."

"You've been on the Fire Nation Teacher's Council before?" Katara's forehead creased in surprise.

"No," she hastily said, shaking her head. "But I've dealt with – I guess you could say people like them. Entitled and close-minded. It's like a virus; most people in the capital have it."

Katara giggled. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She picked up the iron pot and poured a quick strain into her cup, sipping the steaming tea. "Have you heard from Iroh?"

"Constantly." Her smile turned wistful. "If the messenger system between countries was better, we would be talking every day."

"I miss him. He always knew what crazy, inspirational thing to say. Not much of it makes sense at first but I think that's 'cause he just likes to mess with people."

They shared an impish smile at his quirky ways. Ursa clasped her fingers together under the table, leaning back against her chair. "You know, this future we're living is just... it's so different from what I pictured as a young girl – at your age, in fact. Ever since being back here and talking with Iroh again, I think about those days constant.

"What could have been done differently, what were powerful forces in my life, ones I didn't understand at the time... It's strange." Ursa's golden eyes were unfocused as they were subconsciously pulled to the wallpaper over the water-bender's shoulder, her memory flashing snippets of moments over the backs of her eyelids. "But this is the best future for him, I think. The Spirit World has a complicated and hard path for all of us to reach our destiny, it's just our job to make the right choices..." She blinked and shook her head, meeting Katara's eyes again. "If there's two wishes I could have granted that wouldn't change all the good we have now, it would be for Azula to have had a stronger mind and for Lu Ten to still be alive today.

"He was such a sweet boy, so determined to follow in his father's footsteps. He and Iroh were wonderful together. If only he could have met you and the Avatar and seen how his two cousins have grown. Zuko would surprise him," she added with a soft laugh.

Katara was saved momentarily from saying anything as the waiter returned with their food. Ursa pushed the large carrot slices around with her chopsticks, letting them soak a while longer in the caramel colored sauce pooling at the bottom. "I really would have liked to meet him," Katara said suddenly, drawing the former Fire Lady's gaze upward. Her face was open in an affectionate expression, blue eyes resembling peaceful pools of water. "Iroh doesn't talk about him much but... it was sad, knowing how he lost a son like that. No one should go through it."

"No, no one should," she said while her heart tightened in sadness at the own years she had lost. She had time now to make up for them. Lu Ten was ripped away from Iroh; there was no second chance possible. It was heart-breaking to think about.

"Especially," the water-bender added after a beat, twirling the tea in its cup; "because he's basically like family. Iroh's like the whole Gaang's Uncle."

Ursa laughed merrily. "He would be grinning right now if he was here."

"He knows," she responded sweetly and then dug into seaweed-wrapped rolls.

"Yes, I bet he does," she murmured to herself.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	82. Mayor Morishita

**A/N: **This was extremely hard to write. Ever get an idea and you know exactly how you want it to be done but going through the steps is just, well, draining? And you're afraid that it won't come out the way you meant it to? Yeah, it was like that. First chapter in a while that I'm a bit nervous about *bites cheek without realizing it*

Like I did with one other chapter quite a while back, a line break in a segment means a change in point of view (though it is quite obvious anyway). All grammatical errors are mine. I don't think there are any - I've read it over at least a dozen times - but if there are then I'm sorry about that!

Thanks for reading! C:

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Men are born to succeed, not to fail."_

~Henry David Thoreau

* * *

><p>"You weren't kidding about the protests," Aang commented dryly, apprehension snuffed to reside just under the surface. It had taken them two and a half days of travel to reach Yu Dao. Their trip had many stops brought on both by acquiring Kori Morishita her own mount (Aang insisted) and taking the route sticking closest to passing towns instead of heading in a straight line (Zuko insisted).<p>

Kori gasped beside him from her position on the opposite side, now nearing the corner close enough to bring the protesting crowd into view. "I didn't think there would be so many…or so _soon_." Her voice became hard and her expression, when he looked over, was pained. Aang guessed that was because she was expecting Sneers to be in there with the rest. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

As he had guessed, Sneers was the same young kid he remembered from the Freedom Fighters, previously led by Jet before Jet met his unfortunate end. Aang hoped as well that Sneers wasn't in the protest. He hoped all of the former fighters could put their brains and talents to better use outside of causing violence. With a tight line of a mouth, he remembered clearly how ruthlessly and fiercely they could fight. He hoped it didn't come to that and that, hopefully, nothing would set them off. Disruption in a crowd was a tricky thing.

It really was unfortunate that they were protesting this way since they did not know how close the Avatar and the Fire Lord truly were to bringing them peace – something set in motion before they began protesting. _The sooner, the better,_ he thought, leading the ostrich horse ahead to stop along an empty, closed-up shop and following Zuko's suit in dismounting.

"How do you want to do this, Aang?" Zuko offered respectfully, letting him decide their forward course.

He surveyed the crowd, mulling it over. "We can't meet him out in the op-"

"There he is!" Kori interrupted, pointing her father out, his figure lost from the other teenagers' lines of vision as the cluster of protestors successfully blocked their view. She was still astride in her seat and could see far ahead rather well. "I think he's talking to them."

"Another Chiami situation."

The Avatar nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I was going to suggest we go in the back way to his office but now we have to get in in there somehow and still grab his attentions. No way we're speaking out in public. We'll have to wait until he's done… or talk him into meeting with us privately."

He clasped Aang on the shoulder, smiling, faking being cheerful. "Time to do your thing, Aang – tell everyone it'll all be okay."

Aang shrugged and shared a bemused look with Zuko. Moving forward, he signaled to Kori. She understood and quickly jumped off the saddle, hurrying to reach their side.

"Let me explain why I'm with you guys to my Dad, okay? I think I can get him to meet. He can be very, uh, untrusting outside of family and you have no idea the grudge he holds against you," she said once next to them.

The disjointed murmurs emanating from the temporarily silenced protestors began shifting once they came around the building's bend. They tried to keep a wide berth and Aang stayed vigilant along with Zuko and the guards. So far they were simply curious, speculative wonders voiced next to his ear each time he passed a person; which was _every_ step. It was almost disconcerting since two guards were at his side, separating him from the crowd, protecting him against any possibility of something going wrong. Which made him think something _would_ go wrong. Aang turned to look at Kori, distracted. His brain caught up to what she had said. "He has a grudge against Zuko? I tho-"

"No, no – _both_ of you," she answered with a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah, he hates you, Avatar – thinks you and the Earth King are bullying Fire Lord Zuko into agreeing with the Movement. He just thinks you're weak," Kori told Zuko the last part directly.

"That's great," the Fire Lord muttered back under his breath.

The protesting crowd was by this time gaining vocal traction amongst themselves, announcing Aang's presence clearly. They rounded the edge of the packed-together bodies, on the same side with Mayor Morishita now. There was still a good thirty feet of distance between them and while they crossed it, Aang unwillingly thought about Kori's words. He – and Zuko, he knew – came into this expecting the Avatar to have to be the voice of reason again, the calm and neutral one that could gain support from both sides. That was wrong, apparently.

He slowed his steps, falling back behind a guard to instead walk beside his friend. "I think you're going to need to do this one; he won't listen to me."

"He might," Zuko offered before meeting the air-bender's eyes. "Okay, he probably won't."

"What do you think?"

A beat passed and it was enough time to stop the Fire Lord from saying anything that he might have thought up as they arrived in front of Mayor Morishita. Aang schooled his features, trying to look powerful, though his smile was warm and bright. "Mayor Morishita."

"Avatar; Fire Lord," he greeted curtly, posture straightening stiffly at their presences. His black coals for eyes moved to the side of their entourage to find his daughter slipping out from between. "Kori, why are you wi-"

"Can we talk in your office, Dad?" She asked softly. It was obvious that her exterior portrayed forced politeness in an attempt to mediate. Aang crossed his fingers, hoping it would work. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with the man if he thought they were here to strong-arm him or something like it, yet the second-to-last thing he wanted was for it to be in front of a crowd, for all to see.

Mayor Morishita glanced between all of them – eyeing the stiff, intimidating guards a particularly long time – before nodding curtly. "This way." He motioned to the wide front steps of the building behind him, which Aang assumed and took to be the city hall. He turned back around to address the crowd shortly, waving his hands in a shushing gesture.

It only made it worse.

He could now hear several calls distinctly apart from the mass of people, one saying "Do your job, Avatar" and another, in a squeakily high voice, yelling "A weak Fire Lord is no Fire Lord of mine". He grimaced slightly. Besides a clenched jaw and flared nostrils, Zuko seemed to be taking it all in stride. Aang refrained from patting his arm. For his part, Mr. Morishita didn't egg them on or even acknowledge their words. A few, quieter among the rest, shouted out pleas to meet the Avatar up close, which made him feel a bit better, though not by much.

Inside the building, they were met with barren fixtures, floors, and walls, along with the typical dank, musty smell found inside a dark hole. It was already fresh on his mind because of the more isolated rooms at the core of the air temples. The windows were few and far between both there and here. Morishita's wide, gray pant legs rustled and flapped together. Kori glanced furtively back at them and the guards behind them a few times, otherwise ducking her head and whispering quickly with her father.

The Mayor's office was modest, decorated largely with reminiscent pieces – awards, two amateur-level paintings, small statues placed across on his desk, and so on. All gifts, Aang saw as he glanced at a few here and there, some with names left carved or draw on, from family (he knew this because it was the same last name). It was oddly heartwarming. And then Mayor Morishita turned his hard eyes on the two other men in the room and Aang backtracked on that thought. It was not heartwarming if the room's resident looked to barely be controlling an urge to tell you off.

"Thank you," Aang started in. "We are both troubled by the problems from the Harmony Restoration Movement. It was supposed to be peaceful and help everybody but we… we were wrong. We should have visited before and better, er, explored everyone's rights here as residents and not just put you all in categories of Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation. I'm sorry."

He paused and let a beat of silence fill the air. Mayor Morishita took this in with his jaw set, obviously still perturbed, but Aang took it as a good sign that he was still staring with vigilance, listening to his words.

"But we have a new proposal for you and I hope any anger you have against us can be set aside so you can look at it objectively. It's _independence_. You, Yu Dao, and all of your people would have a new country, if you choose it. Fire Lord Zuko here and the Earth King have agreed that uprooting people is wrong and so is having one of their governments rule you when you don't want or agree on either of them." Aang expelled a breath, careful to keep the relief out of it as he finished his short speech. "What do you think?"

Morishita seemed to be in shock. After receiving a few whispered concerns from Kori, who stood beside him, he spoke. "So, you're offering us abandonment."

Aang blinked in surprise. "No, that's not at a-"

"First you bully our Fire Lord into abandoning us and now instead of compromising you get the Earth King to do the same?"

He flinched at the insult to Zuko in his words. Sure enough, the Fire Lord bristled beside him and let his voice be heard. "Mayor, I didn't _abandon_ anyone. I made a good will gesture to the Earth Kingdom and when I saw the repercussions, I proposed this independence idea to both help you and the Earth Kingdom citizens here."

"You put your tail between your legs, is wha-"

"Dad!" Kori admonished.

He shrugged her off, stepping closer to Zuko. Barely kept-in-check anger radiated off his face. "You let the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar push us around at _our_ cost and for what?_ A favor?_ Good opinion from the _Earth Kingdom_? You're selfish just like your father."

"Hey," Aang objected hotly, trying to keep the mayor from saying anything further on the former Fire Lord. Zuko was simpering beside him. It was still only seven months since Zuko took over the ruling seat and only a few more still since he had broken from the man completely, joining the Avatar's Gaang for good. The subject of Ozai was one they, when all together, still tried to keep in the 'discuss at a minimum' category.

"Don't dare compare me to my father again," Zuko spoke, his voice deceivingly cold, almost aloof.

Aang swallowed nervously, watching the both of them carefully.

Morishita, though, didn't hear what the tone meant. He had worked himself up quite well. His cheeks and nose, along with a few splotches on his neck that were visible, were flushed positively red. He jabbed a finger into the air, pointing at the scarred teenager across from him. "You have no place to threaten me, not anymore. I will take back what I said – you're worse. Fire Lord Ozai at least stood up for his people, you're a coward, yo-"

It happened so quickly that Aang stood still, gaping and rooted to the ground, in shock. Zuko shot across the small sliver left separating them and slammed into Morishita's wide form. Zuko pushed him across the room and up against the opposite wall. His forearm brushed against the other man's windpipe, eliciting gasps and wet sputters of words coming out at near random. Morishita tried to recover but he was unable to move out of Zuko's grasp, truthfully able to do little more than feebly struggle. Zuko's free hand raised menacingly overhead, a dagger shaped from fire clutched in it from where it appeared out of nowhere.

The whole time he moved, from the first hit up until he had the mayor trapped, he spoke, breathing fast from adrenaline. "_I'm not my father_! My father is insane; he didn't do anything for you or the citizens, he did it for himself. He would send hundreds – _thousands_ – of soldiers, your brothers, into a trap he knew was there just to have recent anti-Earth Kingdom propaganda to use! He did things like that so the people would keep supporting the war and keep joining the army and _he_ could get more power, not you. Do you think he _cared_? Do you think he was _haunted_ by any of the lives he led to _slaughter_? Never compare me to my father again! _Never!_"

* * *

><p>Zuko could feel his lungs expanding and deflating rapidly – so rapidly that each time it became more painful and he seemed unable to suck in enough air, enough oxygen to properly comprehend. Pinprick pains jumped across his forehead and behind his eyes and black spots danced in his line of vision. But still, despite his own physical symptoms, he held his golden eyes fixed fast on the man in front of him with long, dark-haired sideburns and currently a very stunned expression.<p>

He was angry now, too. No, more than that. He was _furious_.

How dare this man compare him to his father? He was nothing like his father and never would be. No, he was _determined_ not to be. That, beyond losing beautiful, wonderful Katara, was his worst nightmare. Those two things could come hand in hand, too, and that he was aware of more than anyone else. In every change, there were signs beforehand. He watched for those every day, every hour, going as far as scanning every thought that crossed his brain in a subconscious, meticulous way. He looked for signs of himself becoming selfish, violent, or power-obsessed in the way his father was – is; or crazy, the way Azula had become.

Red mixed with black in his sight as he squeezed tighter against the mayor of Yu Dao's windpipe. The man deserved to know _– to feel_ – how badly his words affected Zuko, how much they open up his own fears. Morishita should have heeded the warning. But, a second before orange and yellow blurred into the corner of his vision, one sole thought flashed in his mind and he relaxed on his pressure. _Katara would say it isn't worth it._

"Zuko!" He heard suddenly, the rushing sound in his ears falling away. "Zuko, stop or I'm going to stop you myself!" Aang warned tersely.

A whooshing gust of air extinguished the sculpted flame in his hand. He turned his head. His friend's face was stern. A meaningful look passed between the two and then Aang's gaze softened slightly. Zuko turned on his heel, releasing Morishita abruptly, and he stalked across the room, putting distance between him and the others, along with a desk and a few chairs_. She's right,_ he thought with resolve. _It's not worth it. _He rubbed his forehead where he now felt a headache coming on, left from the adrenaline rush ebbing away.

Morishita spluttered out a few foul-mouthed words but Kori shushed him, though she did shoot Zuko a glare from her kneeling position. He took a deep breath. "Are you alright, Mayor?" Aang asked.

He nodded. Zuko stared down at his hand, flexing his fingers before rubbing his forearm. That would be bruised, too. He took in the mayor's disheveled appearance and inflamed skin without any remorse in him. It took too much energy. Coolly, he spoke. "I apologize for attacking you like that, Mr. Morishita, but I did warn you. We all have our… triggers." He smiled tightly at that, offering another good-will gesture. "Change takes a long time and lot of effort in a world this, this _traumatized_. Maybe you should think of how hard it is to make plans with a world that doesn't trust your or your country before you judge what I'm doing wrong, okay? So don't tell me how easy it's for me to help my colonies out with this Movement.

"The side effect of splitting up families was completely unintentional and I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner." He frowned. "What you don't realize is how much I've had to sacrifice for my people. Now that the Earth Kingdom is in peace and the North Pole has opened up its walls to select people, do you realize how much those on the mainland are losing? Islands and neutral towns across the world don't have to use Fire Nation merchants anymore and are now _afraid_ to. Like it or not, I need the world to trust me or just not be afraid so that we can all stay afloat.

"I saw an opportunity to do that with the Harmony Restoration Movement and I took it. I'm not going to apologize for that and that doesn't make me a _coward_." Morishita stared at him from where he was now standing, eyes stretched wide in the stunned silence. "My offer that the Avatar told you about is sincere; I only want what's best for Yu Dao and the rest of the Fire Nation colonies." Zuko found his voice was scratchy when he was done speaking, the impromptu ramble surprising everyone – even him.

"We already spoke with Mayor Jhou of the Hu-Xin provinces and she agrees if you're on board," Aang offered. He seemed to be trying to pretend the little attacking-episode didn't happen.

"Dad?" Kori Morishita placed a hand on his arm. He moved his gaze off of Zuko, finally, and looked to his daughter. He had looked almost jolted when the youngest amongst all of them mentioned Mayor Jhou. It looked to Zuko like he had been reminded that there were others to consider outside of those standing in his office. At least, that was what he hoped. He hoped it changed the man's mind for the better. If he didn't accept the deal as it came, Zuko was alright with that; they could tweak it and modify it however was needed; as long as Morishita didn't spit in his face.

"Dad, I don't trust the Fire Lord either-" Kori said, casting a quick wary look to Zuko this time. He figured it was a step up from the glare before. Hedidn't deserve either – he had just attacked her father; _in front of her_, too. "-but I think we can believe him. Why would he lie about this? He already gave our land over to the Earth Kingdom."

She shook her head nervously yet adamantly as he began to speak his own objections and opinions once more. Zuko bit his tongue to keep from interjecting. It was the same things they had heard before, those this time more resigned.

With one long suffering-sounding huff, she burst out, "I tried to kill him and I'm still here!"

That stopped Morishita. He looked, alarmed, at his daughter. "W-What?"

"She attacked me – in Chiami," Zuko explained. Kori stared at her father anxiously, lips pressed together until they took on the shade white. Morishita glanced between her and the Fire Lord several times and so fast it resembled someone watching a Ping-Pong match. "When I found out why, I spared her of any repercussions." At this, his eyes flickered to the closed office door where his private guards were waiting on the other side. "We weren't going to tell you; all I asked of her in return," he said to put Mayor Morishita at ease; "was a meeting between the three – four – of us."

"Kori," Morishita started, addressing his daughter _only_. "I am glad you are alright and so will your mother be but what have I taught you? Think every action through; never act rashly. Especially against Fire Nation. The Fire Nation are cunning people who always keep a black book – I should know."

"But that's the thing, Dad! I'm _not_ Fire Nation," she said sadly. "I'm an earth-bender so, I mean, I'm really _more_ Earth Kingdom – but I do respect my history. I want to build on it." A tiny smile appeared on her face. "I want a future like the Avatar and the others are offering. I want to not be asked to choose all the time between one country or another; why can't we have one for anyone left over? Please," she simply finished with her face desperate, tone high and begging for him to see her point of view.

The tender moment was awkward to witness. Zuko felt like he was encroaching on something very personal; in a way, he was. Sharing a glance with Aang, he saw he wasn't alone in his thinking.

Morishita sighed and, with a comforting pat on his daughter's head and a look shot to the other two in his office, he swept out of the room.

Kori wore an expression twisted between relief and panic. Her shoulder's shook. "What just – I don't understand – did he, did he just leave?" She stutteringly asked Aang.

"He's going to speak to the protestors," Zuko answered. It was truthfully only a guess but he could feel it in his gut and in his mind. It was what he would do, too. He turned and left, his guards falling in around him.

Aang came up to his side with Kori quickly trailing. "Are you sure?"

"Almost positive." He saw the sidelong gaze his friend was sending him. "We'll talk later," he added; "on the other… thing."

Aang looked to want to say something more but by then they reached the doors and walked out of the building to find Morishita was indeed on the front steps, addressing the crowd. "-nd I have accepted it." He paused, seeing them appear from behind him, coming around to his side. The groupings of people in front of him stayed mostly abnormally silent, trying to decipher what their mayor just said, aka what it _meant_ for them. A few clapped maniacally; well, they did until they realized that others weren't going to join in and make it a crowd-wide move, and then they too plunged back into silence. "Here's the Fire Lord to explain it further."

Zuko stilled. Yes, he and Kuei had sat for half of a long day in the same stuffy room, crafting all of the details. He would never be able to forget them. But…he had relayed them to Aang earlier, and Aang was the Avatar. He meant peace, hope, security, and prosperity for most of the people in the world, most definitely the people standing in front of them right now. Despite their shouts just half an hour earlier, Zuko knew they would still trust their Avatar more than the Fire Lord. He would always be on their side, first and foremost. If anyone in the world besides themselves would be shaping their new country, it would be the Avatar. The people deserved to hear it all from the person would guide them most throughout their lives.

He shifted to face Aang, waving him forward. He raised his eyebrows. Zuko shook his head softly, relinquishing his place. Beaming, Aang went in his destined place to talk to the people.

Morishita shuffled uncomfortably past him and began to speak in hushed whispers with his daughter once more. That was fine with Zuko.

His mind wandered momentarily to the ink jar still out on his inn room's desk. Out of habit, he thought through all of the people he would have to notify - and quickly - of these latest developments. Orez would draft his letters to the Earth King, all of the top appointed in the Fire Nation government, and then to the few that his government often used to inform the people, the few they used in the press. His Uncle, though, he would inform himself; and his mother.

And Katara, whom he would write first. _She'll be thrilled._

A round of belated cheers erupted as Aang spoke, reaching the punch-line, and he laughed, stopping and letting them take over for a minute as he voice became lost in the rush. Zuko smiled, clapped some himself, and tuned into the listen as his friend commanded an audience mesmerized and relaxed as only an Avatar could ever achieve.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	83. Star Shower

**A/N: **Alright, back to regular posting days! I should have put a note in the last A/N (oops) but I went out of state this weekend to visit family so I knew I wasn't going to be able to post on Thursday. But I'm back! And cutting it a little close, too (45 minutes to midnight!). Anyway, chapter time!

I was going to say that this one is a tad shorter than usual but FF's word counter disagrees with me. So, never mind. Next chapter we'll have a time jump, BTW.

In Azula's segment, the stars description I give is actually something I've seen before out in places like Arizona and Wyoming. In places without large cities or lots of electrical lighting present, the nighttime sky is _beautiful_. Sometimes, you can even seethe faint lighting of the Milky Way. It's amazing.

Thank you so very much for reading :-)

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except my own creative musings.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I built on the sand_

_And it tumbled down,_

_I built on a rock_

_And it tumbled down._

_Now when I build, I shall begin_

_With the smoke from the chimney._

_~'Foundations', _Leopold Staff

* * *

><p>Azula blinked awake from a peculiar dream. All she remembered was that she had been running in it. <em>Maybe running away from something?<em> It didn't matter - it was lost to her now. She groped around in the dark, pushing against the mattress in order to sit up properly. Whether she had a a good rest or not, she had always been a deep sleeper. Once she was down, she was _down;_ it went both ways, too, as once she was awake, it was nearly impossible to go back asleep again. Naps did not happen to her. It was because of that that she knew something had awoken her.

Or someone. A flame flickered to her left as a shadow slipped through her doorway. She turned to look, squinting into the darkness. The small particles of light danced over objects here are there fleetingly. Soon enough, recognition dawned on her. "Mother?"

"Sorry, sweetheart, I didn't mean to startle you. Come with me, I want to show you something." Ursa smiled warmly at her, visible in the wavy light, before stepping back to allow her room to get up.

Azula pushed back the sheets and stood. Out of habit, she grabbed her dressing robe draped over the vanity stood and pulled it over her shoulders, hugging it closer in the chilly room. "Can it wait?" She asked unnecessarily. She was already ready to follow her mother wherever she led.

"Nope; it's time sensitive. I think you'll like it." Ursa was unusually vague on the subject. It was likely unintentional, some attempt to pleasantly surprise her. It was almost funny to watch her do that – try to surprise. She wasn't so good at manipulating. It sort of calmed Azula, knowing that.

She followed her mother through the corridor and out of a back patio door in the corner of the wing near a set of rooms they never used; she had no idea before now that it was there. Just two weeks ago, she might have used it, making a run for it. It would be easy. Knock the other woman to the side, snuff out the lamp, slip into the night, find the valley dipping down into the town and disappearing into the alleyways, stealthily enough changing her appearance and slipping away on a form of transportation, like a cart.

Contrary to what a normal person might think, she had not once taken a second to dwell on thoughts like that this past month. No, that was stuff her father would talk to her about: spotting escapes. It was second-hand nature. She didn't seriously consider one step of it.

Azula reached forward to held her mother's elbow.

"Hm?" Her mother asked, looking back to her.

She shook her head.

Ursa kept on walking once they stepped outside, not pausing for one second. She knew exactly where she was going. Azula wondered how long her mother had been up. They were behind the palace and in a patchy valley. It rolled a little bit but otherwise the dip stretched wide ahead. It went for some time until, at the edge of her vision, she spotted an erected wall. From the way the palace sat up on ridge higher than the capital city, she guessed it was to separate the two perimeters.

The grass was dry and damp with tinkling frost. Her bare feet crunched down on top of it with every step, feet feeling numb from the cold tingling after only a short minute of contact. "Here," Ursa gestured, unfolding something from underneath her arm.

Azula hadn't even noticed she was carrying something. She felt a little sleep deprived, rubbing her bloodshot eyes in an ill-guided attempt to fix that. She took the walking candle from her mother's hands to help. Ursa smiled at her again from across the flame's light.

"There'll be a star shower," she explained while laying out a cream sheet across the cool ground. Ursa sat down and held her hand out. She gave the lamp back. Ursa set it in the middle of the blanket.

The young raven-haired princess had not one minute of hesitation as she joined her mother. She drew her knees under her chin, hands resting over her feet to provide warmth. Her golden eyes gazed up at the sky curiously. The white dots that were stars twinkled, poured across the sky in thick clusters, reminding her of spilled sugar on a dark counter top. The sky was so covered in places that the black backdrop lightened often, taking on the color hues of navy with swirls of dark teal. It resembled thread, weaving in and out of the space separating the bright stars.

The view was spectacular.

A zig-zagging burst of lighter blues curved a low arcing stream from the tip of the horizon at her left, slowly rising along it, and then shooting in a curve upward, meeting the center point over the city below them. She craned her neck, leaning back to take every single star above her as best that she could, not wanting to forget any of what she was seeing for virtually the first time. A spattering of lilac appeared within the light blue sky, stretching even further upwards for the curve and towards the south pole.

Azula didn't recall ever noticing the sky looking like this before. Though in the past, learning things like the quickest ways to achieve fatal fire-bending moves and the history of all Fire Lords topped her priorities list. She never looked up at the sky much before, truth be told. "There, it's starting," Ursa pointed out. A small, mist-looking streak burst across the sky. It was gone within a minute.

She gasped quietly. "Woah."

More starting come after, picking up numbers quickly. Some sped fast while others lagged and others still went slow and steady, her eyes following them as they crossed for one side of the star-littered expanse to the other. The two women, mother and daughter, sat in silence, watching with enraptured attention. Azula felt her mother reach over and squeeze her knee comfortingly. She tore her gaze away to stare at Ursa. It was an oddly sweet thing to do, bringing this meteor show to her attention. There was something secretive in it; this moment was reserved for just the two of them, a memory that she felt to be their first since in a long while that wasn't, in some way, related to her break from sanity. Rather, it was a _new _one.A _fresh_ one.

She leaned over and pulled her mother into a tight hug. Ursa didn't say anything, only laughing merrily. Azula felt a tear slip down from underneath her eyelashes. This small act, right here and right now, would mean more to her than her mother would ever truly know.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him."_

~James D. Miles

* * *

><p>The first thing she noticed when she woke up was an acute lack of air. The dorm room she was staying in was long and narrow, leaving it hot and the air feeling somehow heavy every time she slept in it, which had been for a week now. There were only three other people staying in the room. Toph wasn't one to feel claustrophobic – she slept underneath a <em>rock-slab tent <em>when traveling with Aang and the others – but with sheets around her, it could be uncomfortable. So, she opened the only window for a breeze. The air problem should have been remedied.

The second thing she noticed was the lack of a breeze wafting over her covered form.

She slowed her breathing to listen for the disturbance.

Large hands clamp around her ankles from the foot of the bed, and two others pairs around her wrists, over her mouth. Fear flushed under every cell of her skin. Toph immediately thrashed, dislodging one of her feet to kick up high, hitting a pointed jaw. It snapped back with a disgusting 'pop' sound. The person winced but quickly regained control of her foot, much to her protestations. Her heart sped up dangerously and her mind stuttered out incomplete thoughts as she failed to grasp the complexities of the situation. Survival instinct took hold.

_Who? What the- Where are they- Touch the ground!_ The last though zinged through her befuddled mind clearly – if she could just get her bearings, she could fight them off with earth-bending. They rolled her off the bunk suddenly and she let out a growl of agitation. A piercing crack of pain spread from her ribs up to her shoulder and then hotly down to her hip.

"Bastards!" Her scream was muffled by the ground as she now laid on stomach, the sheets preventing much movement while whoever was trying to kidnap her shuffled over to the other side of the bed. Her petite hands groped for a way out of the sheets that were now peculiarly strangling. Her toes brushed across the cold slab of stone. _So close,_ she complained inwardly.

"You idiots, grab her; don't let her touch the ground," a voice hissed. It was familiar. Rage grew inside of her. "Stick to the _plan_."

Toph freed a hand, digits sliding over loose granules of dirt. Her kidnappers grabbed for her shoulders and legs again. Feeling out with her senses, struggling to focus on conjuring up an image, she saw it. Three in eerily similar hunched positions. _Damn bullies,_ she thought as the adrenaline flowed freely through her veins. She reveled in it for a moment. Nails clawing against the earth, palm twisting against the brown dirt, she attacked.

The one standing by her feet, grappling for her distractedly flailing, twisted legs suddenly jumped in place. "What the-"

She twisted again and this time didn't stop. _Take _that_,_ she thought.

He howled in pain and kept jumping, which only served to hurt his feet worse. Knobby spikes emerged from the stone under every place he jumped to, drawing droplets of blood. Toph felt like laughing at his idiocy; if he just sat on one of the many free beds, he would be fine. But he did not do that.

"What's going on?" A groggy voice asked from the other end of the room. It was one of her roommates, Lee something. _There's always a Lee,_ she remembered thinking when she first heard some of the names at role-call during the introductions. "Toph?"

She bucked against the other two trying to pin her down now instead of lifting her up, as they had been trying. They were distracted by their friend and now this new person messing with whatever their 'plan' was. She managed to raised her lips from where they had been kissing the ground. "_Help_!"

"Who's there?" Her other roommate asked. Fast shuffling of feet told her they were coming.

The two intruders let go, heading for the window in an attempt to escape out into the moonless night. She wouldn't make it so easy for them. Toph jumped up, shedding the blanket that now tumbled away from her as though it were soft silk. "Hey!" She yelled, launched a foot out and slamming it down on the stone.

The window closed itself shut. She could feel them pulling on that earthen slab, trying to grab it from her control and open it; she held firm. "I'll get the student president," the Lee something suggested, hurtling from the room quickly.

She heard muttering in front of her and suddenly she was knocked on her feet. One of them had earth-bended a slab against her, pushing her down flat. Toph tried to ignore the revived shooting of pain going through her left side. _Ow, that's going to leave a mark. A really, really big one. _There was a shuffling and with her seismic sense, she saw her other roommate getting unwittingly trapped into a rock box, muffled cries for help hardly distinguishable. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself up. "You're a sore loser, _Taro_."

To her mild surprise, he did respond to her. And here she was, thinking he was too cowardice to admit he was attacking her like a _brainless dweeb_. "You won't last long here, you hear me?"

She swiveled her wrists and pulled her bent arms forward from where they'd been stretched out in front of her, part for protection and part in pose. It was one of her favorite moves. A wave of rock crashed over the two, swallowing them up. It crumbled away when it his the ground again. The two were left lying there, gone from the world of consciousness. Sweeping her legs out, Toph raised her hands up, found control of the earth trapping the other female in the room, and lowered it back into the ground, arms falling close to her chest as it too slid into place. Her roommate stumbled out, eyes adjusting to the slightly higher level of light, and then kicked Taro for good measure.

Toph smirked.

She could hear Lee's voice from down the hallway grew near. With a weary and sleep-deprived sigh, she sat down on the bed beside hers, clutching at her bruised side. Something was wrong with one of her ribs, she could feel it. And she was just beginning to think that the camp she was in would be easy. An almost hysterical urge to laugh gripping at her throat. She refrained, wondering where Aroon was. She hoped he was alright. But then, he was an excellent earth-bender as well; he could take care of himself. She was only hurt because of her petite form. Toph really hated that fact sometimes. Times like _now._

Her roommate came over and the mattress dipped from the other girl's presence. "What was that?"

"A bully," Toph simply replied. The adrenaline was falling away from her muscles now. They throbbed achingly and her nerve endings revived with piercing clarity. She cringed.

A beat passed and Lee was almost at their doorway now, his steps much louder than when she first started listening. "Hey, you okay? You look pale."

"-and then they-" Lee's voice continued saying, now decipherable in their circle of hearing.

"Quiet!" Basu snapped. He stalked forward until coming to a stop at Taro and Taro's friend's unconscious slumps of forms, muttering indistinguishable words to himself all the while. She could hear the tone, though. He was pissed off. Toph felt irritation swell up in her. "You, Toph Beifong, explain to me what happened."

"I was rudely woken up and attacked, that's what _happened_," she said snappishly. She couldn't see, yet the world felt like it was suspiciously swaying.

"Well I can't ask them, now can I?" He snapped back.

Toph stood and made to retort. Her nerves were frayed thin at the moment. His were too, she suspected, but frankly she didn't give a _damn_ right now. _She_ was the one woken by an attack, not a complaint like he was, and _she_ was the one with a bruised hip, shoulder, and handful of ribs, not him. The most he had was a freaking headache. Which, incidentally, she also had from a nasty hit on the floor. It tingled down to the base of her neck.

Standing was a bad choice. A muscle in her hip jerked and produced a spasm that made her feet trip over themselves. Her head's throbbing knocked her equilibrium off, destroying her superb sense of balance. Throwing an arm out and more from the power of mind than from an actual concentrated position, Toph managed to earth-bend a chair. She promptly fell into it.

Basu sighed irritably. "Marku Lee, get her a medic!" _So that's his name,_ she thought distractedly, deciding she was becoming a bit disoriented. She was just so _tired_. Basu approached, crouching at her side. "Come here." His tone was like that of an annoyed older brother and she felt like laughing at that, too. She did, in her mind. He slid an arm behind her shoulder and another under her knees. With two short strides, her deposited her carefully on her own bed. She rolled over when he slid his arms out and then winced, sightless eyes rolling back in her head for a split moment. "The left side?" Toph nodded, clenching her jaw together tightly to stave off expressing how much it _hurt_. He sighed again. Striding over to the still unconscious fools, she heard him mutter out, "Great, two more babies to deal with."

"I'm not a baby," she said hotly, voice much louder than she realized. Dots danced in her non-existent vision and her left side now felt worth removing. If it was cut off right now, it would be a relief. It felt as though needles were dancing on every inch of the skin. Her unnamed roommate tried to reach out and comfort her, only to draw back when she caused Toph to hiss, her arm jerking away. "If you listened to Aroon, these idiots would cause me to break a freakin' rib!"

"Nothing's broken or you wouldn't be talking," he retorted without actually responding to her. _Ha_, she thought before suddenly slipping into a relieving slumber.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_You have to know the past to understand the present."_

Dr. Carl Sagan

* * *

><p>The sun hung heavy in the sky, it's large orange globe searing into the blue atmosphere. Zuko stood under the shade of a large oak. Aang was beside him, feeding Momo peach slices alternatively while eating some of them himself. Zuko stared out at the curved horizon, consumed in his thoughts. He shook his head slightly, rejecting an offered slice.<p>

The plans for a new republic were going well. Zuko had not met with Mayor Morishita in private after the last incident, though Aang did a few times. He was ashamed at losing his temper. If there was one lesson his father gave him that was now useful, it was that of how to adopt an impassive face. During his banished years, he didn't care about restraint – what good was it when he first had to _find_ the Avatar? When he was _already_ banished? And then, when the Avatar was uncovered and running from him, there was no room for much of a calculated edge since the Avatar didn't plan his moves seemingly at all. Finally, his emotions got the most of him when he was first with the Gaang, constantly trying to prove himself and frustrated when it never worked with _Katara._ Several times he had agonized over his past choices, his past rejections of her. Aang was a very understanding kid – of course he was, he was the Avatar. _Katara_? She was a _normal_ person. He had obliterated her trust and it would take a long while of working hard to get that back.

Now, things were different. The world was different. Everyone was changing in their appearance, their livelihoods.

But inside, they were all still the same. An impassive mask was just that: a mask. His father had lost his temper many times in the war rooms, too. Remembering this told Zuko that yes, occasionally that simple lesson failed as well.

The possibility of becoming like his father frightened Zuko. He didn't ever want to become so delusional, so power-thirsty, so hurtful to people he was supposed to love. His mind wandered from Morishita to Natusno and when he had killed Kaol Lee Shinu without much of a second _thought_. That had been to protect Katara, to right the wrong that was done to her through the reliable way of vengeance. An eye for an eye.

Morishita was really just caught saying the wrong thing without knowing it. He was understandably angry at Zuko and Aang. For all that the six of them had gone through, they were all still sensitive in their own ways. Not many of those had evolved much in the past eight months. Behind hating his father, Zuko hated how much the damned man could affect him.

"Aang?"

"Yeah?" He asked, giving Momo the last piece. The flying lemur took it in his nimble fingers and spread his wings into flight, sweeping around the tree's trunk beside them and soaring upwards through the limbs, disappearing into the sky.

"About attacking Mori-"

"It won't happen again," Aang finished for him, his tone light.

Zuko startled. "But if it does, I wan-"

"If you get angry like that again, I'll stop you." Aang looked at him, expression soft, caring, yet firm on what he was talking about. "My duty as Avatar is to protect everyone in the world first, so I have to be able to choose whether or not to keep a leader in power, but Zuko... You're also my _friend_. If there's ever another way, I'll take it. We'll take it – Katara and Toph would kill me if I didn't. And I think Sokka would miss glaring at you when you point out his over-exaggerations. Suki would miss laughing at it, too."

Momo fluttered past them, around them, and landed on Zuko's shoulder, sitting with his nose delightfully sniffing the air. Aang grinned at that.

"See? Even Momo'll miss you." He breathed in the crisp and cool air deeply. "You won't become Ozai. We'll all make sure of that."

Zuko removed his golden faze from his friend and instead fixated it on the landscape once more. A flush of humidity rose from the earth with another passing breeze. He would never have anything to fear with Aang at his side, with his _friends_ at his side. His shoulders relaxed and for the first time in a while, he embraced the day. He left the worry about his hectic life behind for the moment. He and his friends could take on the world together; they already _had_. "Thank you, Aang."

"Any time."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	84. Fitting Colors

**A/N:** This chapter skips ahead, as you will see below, which makes this chapter and onward progress forward to around 10 ½ months after the finale. This will likely be the last major time jump until the epilogues :-)

Oh, and 'meadow voles' are, like, mice. I figured going for something in the recorded Avatar-verse would be better than saying 'mice' though. Details, details, details; they kill me.

There's a Sokka segment in here! Okay, that's a bit of a lie - he's IN it. Suki's the POV character. I apologize in advance for that, for anyone that wanted more _Sokka!awesomeness_; she was just easier to write at the time :S

Huge thank-yous out to everyone that reads this fan fiction piece!

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own anything Avatar or related to it, nor do I ****feign to own**** even a piece of it****.**** Really, though, who would think I do?**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_A house of cards _

_Is neat and small: _

_Shake the table, _

_It must fall. _

_Find the Court cards _

_One by one; _

_Raise it, roof it, - _

_Now it's done: - _

_Shake the table! _

_That's the fun. _

'_A House of Cards', _Christina Georgina Rossetti

* * *

><p><em>2 months later...<em>

Katara uncrossed her legs from where she sat on a seat in the back of a classroom. She was in the etiquette class of the northern peninsula school she had been observing for coming up on six weeks now. She sat in on this particular class twice a week. It was fascinating to her that they actually had a class on how to behave; everything she learned was from her parents – mostly her dad – and from everyone else around the small Southern Pole village. It wasn't directly taught, it was picked up. To assimilate, you watched and understood from those around you, your peers.

She scrawled down a note about the teacher leading the class she was sitting in on. The teacher was good; firm, yet compassionate. Looking back up, she caught one of the children on the other side of the room near the bank of windows, probably around ten years old, watching her. The small boy quickly diverted his eyes back to the front. Katara shook her head, amused.

It had been like that since she arrived: everyone just _looked_ at her. She wrote it off; hardly any of them remembered a time when they would have seen a person of the Northern or Southern Water Tribe just walking through a Fire Nation town. She grew up hating the Fire Nation; she understood the, at the very least, _awkwardness_ of her presence. Most were adjusted to her now but the students, though, still saw her as someone exotic, or something like that.

Their reactions made her want to laugh. And blush. Usually, there was a mixture of the two in her response.

The door to the classroom opened and a Fire Nation Royalty guard came in, stoically walking along the edge of the classroom so as not to disturb. The teacher eyed him warily but kept on going. Katara raised an eyebrow at the guard.

When Zuko wrote her, telling her of the deal he had accomplished in Yu Dao, she had felt… the emotions were overwhelming. Relieved, happy, optimistic, and anxious, to name most of them. He then told her of his intentions to stay in the now-independent land for a while longer to offer help. Aang was with him too, her friend's short letters coming often, keeping her constantly updated on the details of the area's progress. He was reaching out to the people – of course – and several of the other surrounding colonies seemed to be leaning towards wanting a deal like that of their own.

The Hu-Xin provinces came on board as soon as hearing of Yu Dao's acceptance. Zuko wrote to her about how relieved Mayor Jhou had been. He had traveled to deliver her the news himself, leaving Aang up in the former colony. She had written him in turn when his first letter from the colony had come to her, telling him of her plans to supervise one of the schools.

She and Zuko looking for Ursa, along with the time she traveled with Aang, gave her a pretty clear understanding of the people living on the islands branching away from the Fire Nation mainland. At the very least, she liked to think it did. For the past ten months, on and off, Katara had lived at the capital, too. She didn't wish to go to an institution in the southern peninsula, it being so soon after the nasty rebellion attempt she had helped Zuko deal with in the town Natsuno. Instead, she went to the northern peninsula, in a nice town near the upper-most point of the nation.

Zuko insisted she take a few guards with her, kicking up his insistence after she described to him the few troubles she had experienced amongst the Fire Nation Teacher's Council. He was much more distrusting than she was. She told him it wasn't necessary. He said it was. She was the one to insist _that_ time.

The day before she was set to leave, two guards from the palace started following her around. She had just shook her head. She would get him back for that blatant going-over-her-head later; after all, he did it with the purest of caring intentions.

The guard in the classroom stopped three feet from her chair in the corner and rolled his head to indicate the door_. Whatever it is must be important_, she thought and nodded in response, standing. She left her stuff on the chair; she would be back. Katara knew more than to try to talk to the silent guard, even though they were now out in the silent hall, away from prying children – and a teacher's – ears. Goosebumps ghosted over her forearms and she shivered, pulling the red Fire Nation cloak more securely over her body. The weather was cold but not cold enough for her to wear her usual heavy skirts and jackets. In actuality, it was warming up again, the month of May bringing forth the typical warm humidity of springtime. The only thing staving off early summer now was the daily rain showers keeping the temperature low.

It was a bit sad that she had only used her heavy South Pole clothes as many times as those she could count on her fingers - with _one_ hand.

Holding the door open for her, the guard waited patiently as she passed. Katara murmured out a thanks but it dropped to a mumbling of the lips when she saw who was waiting outside, eyes widened. "Hey," was all he said.

"Zuko – how, when did you get back?" She skipped down the steps in a hurry. "You didn't tell me you were coming here!"

He smirked at her, reaching out to take hold of her hands. "Not happy to see me?"

She rolled her eyes and jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and bringing him in for a crushing hug. "Of course I am!"

Zuko kissed her temple when they pulled apart. "How're the students?"

"They think I'm an exotic person," she answered with a beaming half-smirk. "Isn't that cute?" He chuckled. "Now-" She said before he could comment, resting her hands on his shoulders to look him square in the eye. "-what about Kuei? Did anything else happen with the rest of the colonies?"

"The Earth King agreed to extend the offer the rest, if they want it. Aang's traveled to a couple in the past week and already has four colonies that are considering it. Even through a letter, I can tell he's hardly containing his excitement." Zuko said it with a raised eyebrow and it was Katara's turn to laugh this time.

"That's great. Domino effect, huh?"

"Yeah, domino effect."

She took a deep breath, lungs expanding with the cool breeze. "There will be a new _country_ in the world. Can you believe it?"

He reached out, moving one of her hair loops away from her blue eyes. "It's surreal but it was inevitable." His lips twitched with a soft smile. "You know, the daughter of Yu Dao's mayor wore two colors, too. Her parents were Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation."

Katara looked down at her own outfit and then back to him, realizing the ill-matching ensemble she put on. "What, do you think anyone would ever get it wrong and think I-"

Zuko's lips widened to a grin. "No, I just meant – I like it. It's fitting."

"The red and gold are kind of growing on me," she admitted with a small smile.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_All all and all the dry worlds lever,_

_Stage of the ice, the solid ocean,_

_All from the oil, the pound of lava._

_City of spring, the governed flower,_

_Turns in the earth that turns the ashen_

_Towns around on a wheel of fire._

'_All All and All The Dry Worlds Lever'_, stanza #1/2, part 1/3, Dylan Thomas

* * *

><p>"-member not to sleep on your stomach and you should make a full recovery; it all looks great."<p>

Toph nodded at the doctor's words, feeling hugely relieved. "Thanks."

"Well, we're done." She heard him shuffle, standing. "Anything else?"

"I'm good," she responded and stood as well, clasping her belt back into place. The pressure against her now-fading bruises wasn't as bad and she was able to hold back the wince this time. She walked as quickly as she could out of the medical shack, having made plans to meet Aroon out by the ridge as soon as she was done. It was difficult to walk too fast since, soon, her heart would beat faster and her lungs would require more air, which she couldn't give them as expanding her lungs too much hurt. It was kind of funny, all the little things she was noticing now.

Still, her recovery was well on its way. She had only a few weeks at most before she would be able to go back to full physical exertion.

It was annoying that she was basically benched by freakin' bullies. There was only a month and a half left in the program and she had just spent almost the first three getting orientated and soon after recovering from sprained ribs. At least she didn't have to run into Taro and his friends again. If that had happened, Toph could not guarantee she would refrain from attacking them. Which would have only made her injuries worse. Which would have led to a longer recovery time. Which meant she probably would have had to leave the Terra Team camp altogether.

Which would have sucked.

The earth-bender wondered whether Kuei had heard about this yet. She wasn't able to write herself but she had Aroon and, if the camp allowed for mail, she definitely would have vented to him what she wanted in writing to Aang. Aroon was a great friend but she was missing her other friends; the Gaang. If she could get homesick, she was homesick for them.

The more she thought about it, the more she doubted the Earth King knew and, if he didn't, she probably would not tell him. There was not much point to it now, was there? Besides, wouldn't that make her look weak, running to someone else for protection? 'Weak' was the last thing Toph wanted to be associated with her name.

She rounded around the corner of the last building and then it was open ground from there. She stopped to earth-bend a slab up from the ground to carry her the rest of the way, wanting to rest for a free minute, but she stopped. _Footsteps._ And then there was a voice. "Toph Beifong; did you just come from the doctors'?" It was Basu's voice.

She turned around with a masked aloof expression. "Yeah, I did."

"You're recovering well?"

"Yeah," she answered shortly again. "Anything else?"

There was a pause. She almost cringed a little at her tone; it was off-putting. She had meant it to be but, well... He turned around, saying, "No, nothing." He was gone less than a minute later and she continued on with what she was doing. She guessed with annoyance that he was just asking to cover his own liability or something stupid like that. The guy was _weird._

***Flashback – 2 months earlier – Terra Team Medical Shack**

She felt an oppressive force pushing down on her but it was impossible to identify. It loomed over her, gaining traction and becoming heavier. Her muscles clenched, mirroring her unsettled mind. With a start, Toph woke, jerking upward only to receive a quaking of pain across her chest as a reward for the movement. "She's up," a voice called out near her right. "Don't move too much, okay, Miss Beifong?" The person was talking to her now; she nodded. "We'll just adjust these pillows for you."

She frowned and complied. Instead of sliding a pillow behind her back to lean her up or one behind her head, relieving what was sure to be a crink in her neck, the person nursing her slid one under her rib cage The jittering pains dancing across her chest slowly ebbed away. She hadn't realized how much it _hurt_ until now. "What happened?" She groggily asked. Her voice was slow to even her own ears while her mind felt sharp as a tack. But it obviously wasn't, if she was having trouble recalling what put her… wherever she was. "Where am I?" She asked, voicing her internal questions.

"You're in the medical shack in the camp – you know which camp you're in, right?"

"Yeah, Terra Team," she said, unknowingly relieving the nurse of going to get a doctor for a head examination. "Was I- _oh."_ _Taro... Waking up in my dorm room... Being almost kidnapped... Great_, she thought sullenly. _The idiots got me_ injured.

"You were attacked in your dorm and sprained three ribs from the incident. If all goes well, your recover should be two or three months but we'll monitor you closely, look for any changes. I'm going to go get the doctor, 'kay?"

She had no other questions so Toph simply responded, "Okay."

A shuffling of feet and the pulling back, then closing, of a curtain signaled the exit of the nurse._ So that_ wasn't_ a drea_m, she mused. It had been like a kind of initiation, based on what she had always heard on the subject, except she wasn't being let in on anything, she was being _purposefully_ hurt. Toph wondered now, thinking back on it, what their plan had been for her. Humiliate her by stringing her up some place? Dumping her miles outside of the camp? Whatever it was, it probably wasn't an intelligent plan. The Taro guy struck her has being a pompous prick used to getting what he wanted. The two other bullies he surrounded himself with were low in intelligence, too.

She snorted, remembering how they had passed out in a heap because of her, the _small_ earth-bender, the weak one, the one with 'connections'. They could call her anything they wanted, she could still own their butts any day of the week. Toph snorted derisively again.

"You're up," Basu observed.

She tensed, rolling her head over to where he was coming into her curtained-off room. "What happened to Taro and the other two that attacked me?" She immediately asked. Toph tried to sit up on the bed again in an attempt not to look as injured as she was; she winced after a brief second and stopped trying.

"They've been taken care of. Kicked out. Broke the 'bad conduct' rules," he answered stiffly.

"That's the understatement of the week."

He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, you can't tell everything about a person by what's on paper. I spoke with your doctor – he said you should be good in a couple of months."

"Two," she answered quickly, low-balling it. _Will they kick me out too? _A bit of panic coursed through her.

"You can stay at camp if you can keep up with everyone else." She sighed. A beat passed. "I don't have any doubt you will."

_Is that a… compliment?_ Toph felt confused but mumbled out a "thanks" all the same.

"Just try not to get into anymore trouble," he quickly added before turning to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute!" She yelled after him. What nerve of the guy, to act as if she had it coming or had some hand in it. It wasn't like she asked to get attacked – she was just trying to get a peaceful nights' sleep in, prepare for the next days' regiment. And yeah, she had brought on some 'trouble', but they had just been asking for it. No one else was standing up for Aroon, it was only _fair._

"We know it's not," he responded and she sensed him moved away quickly, watching with her seismic sense. It was weakened slightly by her lack of physical contact with the dirt but it still worked. _What a weirdo_, she thought with a huff. Vowing to ignore him, Toph ran a hand over her chest to assess the state of her ribs. Something popped when she pressed down with her fingers. _Ouch._ She felt the area grow hot as it inflamed and grimaced, hoping for the doctor to come by soon.

***End Flashback**

She landed the slab carefully, pushing it down into the ground. "Hey, there you are," Aroon said from her left. "You ready?"

"Yep. Got a clean bill of health from the doc – I can do 'mild' activities," she responded, holding up her fingers to do mock air quotes around the word 'mild'. Toph rolled her eyes. "So, what's the secret to the wall?"

"I told you, I can't explain – bend one up. I'll bend my own and then, you know, teach you."

Toph did as he said, erecting a thin half-wall to start off with. One of his own came up beside hers and she could see it stopping an inch from hers, but otherwise perfectly aligned. "Now what? I can't grab it."

"Don't try to."

"What?" She felt out with her earth-bending, meeting friction immediately. Just like last time. "How can it be a solid wall if we can't join them?"

"We can," Aroon answered calmly, aggravating her for a moment. "You can't just grab the rock, you have to break it down to the particles. You know how to do that?"

"Yeah," she answered, thinking back to the time she had found herself inside the metal cage prison, running her hands along the walls. It had been a shot in the dark but concentrating with all her mind then, she had been able to sense all the way down to the elements inside of the metal. _That was harder than this_, she thought, her seismic sense hovering over the inch gap_. Just focus on the bits, Toph._

Her tongue pressed against the inside of her cheek as she focused, feeling it out layer by layer. The black image in front of her rippled, gray and white outlines coming into her blind eyes' view. She could see it… _almost._ Something was off. There was something she couldn't grab, was unable to see. Pulling her hands in and up, she tested it. The earth struggled free somewhat. Otherwise, it was locked in tight.

Toph smiled as she realized what she was unable to grasp. "Aroon, stop it." With a jerk, she drew the short column up. She stood still, stunned. "That's _it_?"

"Teamwork; yeah. You've got to know who's going to take what piece," he explained. "With more people it gets complicated and you have to identify their power."

"But that was_ it_? You could've explained that!" She reached out quickly and punched him not-so-lightly on his forearm.

They shared a grimace. "You okay?" He asked, immediately concerned.

"Perfectly," Toph said with a grin, cracking her knuckles. "You up to practicing?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_When love was a question, the message arrived_

_in the beak of a wire and plaster bird. The coloratura _

_was hardly to be believed. For flight,_

_it took three stagehands: two_

_on the pulleys and one on the flute. And you _

_thought fancy rained like grace._

'_Ex Machina', _stanzas #2/7, Linda Gregerson

* * *

><p>"You're early - what did you bring?"<p>

Suki held out the wooden box in her hands, lifting off the cover for a minute. "Dumplings with pork."

Celeigh patted her shoulder. "Yummy! I'll go put them in the kitchen."

"It's okay, I'll do it. Sokka's coming in, he just got sidetracked," the Kyoshi warrior leader explained with a small, tickled smile.

"Ah, okay," she responded with a knowing wink.

It had become a tradition now of sorts for them to come over to her father and aunt's house for dinner once a week. Initially, it started off as them stopping by randomly for a visit and getting caught up in the time, their stomach growling when they voiced their goodbyes. These goodbyes always turned out to be lies. Then Celeigh started inviting them over, usually coincidentally during the weeks that they were swamped - Sokka with teaching as he had now officially been given two days a week and three new students along with it, and Suki with running the Kyoshi Warriors which was self-explanatory. Those weren't true coincidences as Celeigh had many ties in the community after so many years and knew their schedules as well as they did.

And then, of course, there were also the quite often times that the couple was lost in their marital bliss as a slow week rolled around.

Suki was finding herself enjoying the settled life quite a lot. Not that she ever doubted she would, that is. Traveling with the Gaang for the short time she had, along with the couple of 'missions' or whatever they could call that she was involved in, had been exciting and fun in the wow-everything's-happening-so-fast-and-there's-that-adrenaline-rush kind of way. At that time, paths promising a more fast-paced life looked to be too alluring to resist. Suki smiled, spotting her father out on the porch through the kitchen window. She knew now that she wouldn't give this choice up for anything.

She walked back into the living room to find her aunt entertaining Sokka, who was telling her something quite animatedly. "What's going on?"

"Sokka," Celeigh rushed to say first, wearing an indulging smile; "was just telling me about the meadow vole living outside our house. Don't worry, Sokka, it doesn't bother us. Tha-"

"Oh, that's just Val." Suki breathed out a brief chuckle at his expression. "She's lived there for, what, ten years?"

Celeigh murmured agreements.

"You named a rodent?" Sokka asked with furrowed brows and widened eyes, obviously confused. "Did you keep it as a pet or something?"

"Yeah... in the _beginning._ But then she gave birth and they all look the same, so I just call them all Val." She glanced to her aunt. "There was this one time that I painted them different colors when the litter first started getting big. It was yellow for Val, orange for the first born - who was that?"

"How could I forget?" Her aunt half-joked. She held up a hand and started ticking off fingers with each name. "Orange was Von, a boy, Red was for Vel, a girl-"

"-and pink was for Vess and purple for Vuppie. Those two were girls as well. That's why we just call them 'her'."

"Where did you come up with those names?" Sokka's eyes lit with merriment.

Suki grinned, tapping her head. "A childish mind. It's amazing what weird stuff you can come up with as a kid."

"You two are early!" Blais called over as he came back inside, unintentionally interrupting the flow of the conversation.

She smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah, dad, we've gone over that. Sokka and I wanted to check up on you guy after the storm last night. It doesn't look like anything's damaged but..."

While it was mild, an unexpected hurricane had brushed up against the coast of Kyoshi Island for a good six hours the prior evening and that was pragmatic as much of their village lies along the coast. The damage was minimal and nobody was seriously hurt, thankfully. Suki had found it unfortunate though that she had spent all of the day checking on the island with the mayor, Oyagi, and had not had a chance to check on her aunt or father, though those that knew them that she had the luck of running into had told her they were alright.

"We're fine, we're fine. The foundation rattled a little when it started and we went to stay at a neighbors since they have a bunker," Celeigh explained.

Blais huffed. "First time since we were children I had to share a room with my sister. Women." He received a glare straight away from said sister.

"I feel your pain," Sokka nodded sympathetically. Suki elbowed him in the ribs, silently warning him. "Wha- I was talking about _Katara!_ She snores really loud."

Suki rolled her eyes. "No she doesn't, she sleeps like a _cat_. You are the one that snores and you get so loud you wake yourself up!"

Blais barked out a garbling of laughter obnoxiously. Celeigh giggled along, too. Suki grinned at their humored states.

Sokka flushed. "Liar! I sometimes… _choke._ That's why I wake myself up."

"Yeah, you choke because your snoring disrupts your breathing," she quipped easily. The other two kept on laughing, though her aunt tried to hide it behind her hand this time. It didn't work.

"Come on, it's not that funny." He stared at them. They kept on behaving the same. "When's dinner," he asked flippantly, trying to change the subject.

"Oh baby," Celeigh said, cooing in her usual mothering tone. Suki had been on the sulking-end of that many times and couldn't help thinking it was sweet. Her aunt was trying to calm down her nephew-in-law, who was for all intents and purposes the outraged child in this mother-child hypothetical situation. "No one can help if they snore; we're not laughing _at you_, we're laughing _at the snoring."_

Sokka, on behalf of the remaining two in the room, took on a look of great confusion. Blais snorted, likely ready to protest his sister's words, but one glare from Suki and he said nothing. Her husband, however, picked up on it quickly. "What?"

"Good, wh-what she said," he remarked clumsily. _Great, so subtle,_ Suki thought, running a hand over her hair.

Sokka either ignored it or didn't pick up on it – and as much as she wanted to say it was the later, Suki knew it was more likely to be the former, as he had the ability to be uncannily observant at the times you least expected it. "Why don't we all go and, uh, watch the sunset?" She suggested. "I've been on my feet all day and they're killing me."

Celeigh immediately jumped to apologize and Blais backed up and turned around, leading them to the open archway he had been on the other side of just minutes before. The young couple helped Celeigh bring the small dishes outside where they all gathered to eat at the narrow patio table. It was a beautiful night, the crickets not too loud yet just enough to provide background noise, the sun dipping to hover low on the horizon for a lot longer time than it seemed like it usually did.

Suki laughed at the absurd story her father told, knowing it to be true as she had been there herself. Sokka immediately jumped in to debate it. She and her aunt shared a knowing look, laughing quietly to themselves. She leaned back, wiping her hands on a free napkin, and drank in the cheerful moment. Her life was like this now, light and almost carefree. A year ago, she wouldn't have dared to even dream it could be this way.

It was _nice._

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	85. Jinxed

**A/N: ***sigh* I made up _another_ character. The scene was awkward with the continual 'other woman' and 'head administrator' identifiers so I gave the character a name. However, she won't pop up anywhere else so you won't have to worry about remembering it ^_^

Aang's segment feels a little short to me but I just wanted him to reflect on the republic, so that's probably why…. Also, me mentioning 'factories' is because I just couldn't resist the foreshadow mention ;)

As always, any errors in the document are mine, so sorry about that. Thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own the show. *sniff* Soooo looonneeeellly. **

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Gone were but the Winter,_

_Come were but the Spring,_

_I would go to a covert_

_Where the birds sing._

_Where in the whitethom_

_Singeth a thrush,_

_And a robin sings_

_In the holly-bush._

_Full of fresh scents_

_Are the budding boughs_

_Arching high over_

_A cool green house:_

_Full of sweet scents,_

_And whispering air_

_Which sayeth softly:_

"_We spread no snare;_

"_Here dwell in safety,_

_Here dwell alone,_

_With a clear stream_

_And a mossy stone._

"_Here the sun shineth_

_Most shadily;_

_Here is heard an echo_

_Of the far sea,_

_Though far off it be."_

_~'Spring Quiet',_ Christina Rossetti

* * *

><p>Katara tied the clasping knot on the satchel bag she had become used to carrying the past month and looked around the temporary office one last time. She had all of her notes and books in her bag. The room looked barren again. It was kind of funny, but she would miss it – not necessarily the room but talking and learning from the teachers, helping the students, pouring over page after page in the thick books and scrolls. She liked the atmosphere of the academy. It wasn't strict and punishing, it was open and knowledgeable.<p>

_Like Iroh._ She smiled and wondered what new friend he had made this week. She would try to remember to ask Zuko; he was the one that corresponded with the wise, self-professed tea expert on a regular basis.

She put her bag's strap on her shoulder and walked out, carefully closing the door behind her. The halls were packed with kids rushing to and fro, the end of the day drawing near for them. She weaved her way through the crowds and knocked on the door to the head administrator's office. She opened the door when she received a "come in" response.

"Miss Katara; you're all packed up?" The orange-haired woman asked, pushing her thick glasses up on her nose as she turned around in her chair.

"Not much to pack," Katara responded, gesturing to her bag. "I just wanted to thank you – for letting me shadow the teachers and talk to the students and all that. I know it wasn't easy at first and I kind of put you out."

She smiled. "It's actually a bit sad to see you go; it was like you were becoming a fixture in this place." She took a quick breath. "I wanted to ask you about the history classes. You've been sitting in on a lot of those. Uh, please, sit."

"Okay." Katara let the strap fall from her shoulder and shifted it onto her lap. She leaned on one of the arm rests. "Well, with the history I noticed a lot of, uh, ill-truths in the past about the Southern Water Tribe so I wanted to see if it was at this school too." She bit her lip, afraid to offend the other woman.

Emiko Yoon's brow creased. "And were they in our books?"

She nodded once. "They're the same books," she answered.

"I see." Emiko rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well, now that the Council isn't controlled by the Fire Lord and the Avatar is building bridges across the world, maybe we can get rid of the propaganda…. What?" She asked the last part when she saw Katara's lips press downward, stifling a smile. "A lot of us are aware that some of it is propaganda, you know."

"No, it wasn't that – I mean, that's a surprise, but you don't know how _nice_ it is to hear a stranger speak of the Avatar in a good light," Katara explained. "A lot of the Fire Nation people I talk to are wary about him because he took down their Fire Lord. Some even think he's violent – which he's not, really, he's far from it. He just wants peace and… it's nice to see that acknowledged."

The other woman leaned back in her chair. "Eh, it depends on where you're at. We don't have a lot of influence up here from the capital; we never have, so we aren't as… biased."

She nodded again. She had gotten that same impression from her time spent at the academy the past month and a half. "Thanks, _again_."

"No problem. If you ever want to come back, the door's always open."

"I'll keep that in mind." Katara stood and so did Emiko, who held out her hand. She shook it awkwardly. "Good luck with the end of the school year; I heard some of the teacher's complaining about it."

Emiko Yoon smiled. "Hah, yes, that's the busiest time of year – we all have to work."

She walked back out into the hallway and to the entrance. Crossing the street, Katara decided to cut through the park in town, which was located just across from the academy. It was filled to the edge with bushes, flowers, and trees of every native sort. Springtime made it look like something a painter put together – a painter who's overenthusiastic about nature. It was lovely. She slowed her footsteps along the cobblestone path, finding Zuko sitting off to the side ahead of her. He was talking with Orez, who was sitting on the bench next to him. As soon as Orez saw her, he jumped up and bowed. "Hey, Orez," she greeted with a warm smile.

"Miss Katara," he greeted back.

Zuko sent a small smile her way before turning his head, saying to Orez, "And remind them that it falls under Military Advisor Jaipal's purview. No one should go around his back again."

"Yes, sir." Orez walked away and Katara sat on the bench, taking his seat from a minute earlier.

"What's that about?" She immediately asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing; the _usual_. There's a lot of upheaval in the military still and occasionally someone times to make a power grab."

Worry instantly jumped to invade her empty stomach. "Against you?"

"No, against someone else – usually their superior or the rank they got passed over for." Zuko sighed and smiled at her. "How did it go?"

She smiled amusedly at his quick change of subject. "Fine. It's kind of sad to leave; I was just getting used to it. _Now_, don't change the subject – are you sure you were able to stop up here before returning to the palace? Because I don't want you to miss anything important." Her eyes watched him closely, concern evident in the action.

He took hold of one of her hands, reading her like a book. "Yeah, I'm _sure_. For the first time in months nothing's about to explode."

"You don't know that – you could've just jinxed us."

His smile turned genuinely sunny at her joke. She scooted over and shifted, leaning her head to slightly rest against his shoulder. She took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of pollen in the air, the flowering bushes and trees on full display around them. Zuko pulled his other arm over her shoulders, rubbing her arm comfortingly. A sudden thought occurred to her and she pushed down a laugh but not before a squeak of one came out. "What?" He asked softly.

"I was just thinking about how scandalous it is – you know, you and me. Fire Lord and Water Tribe princess." She turned her head and pulled it up, leaning her chin on his shoulder. "Technically I am a princess – my dad is head of the tribe."

He raised an eyebrow at her, smile morphing into a smirk. "You just thought of that?"

She giggled. "You've thought of it _before_?"

"Will that question get me in trouble?" Her laugh became full-fledged. She snorted and covered her hand over her mouth, embarrassed. "You okay?" Zuko grinned.

She bit on her lips and nodded. A beat passed and she was able to control herself again. "Yeah," she breathed out. "You just have no idea how much that got my funny bone – your face, the delivery of what you said… I wish I could've saved it. It was hilarious."

"I'll take your word on that." His eyes flickered off to the side and back. His expression was suddenly different, more careful. She sat up straighter. "I was going to ask you yesterday… when you were at the palace… how was Azula?"

Katara shrugged, trying to keep her reaction light. "I barely saw her so she didn't do anything like try to leave." She paused before offering, "Loya told me she's been to the sun room a few times."

Most days when she was still at the palace, the water-bender had tried to block out the fact that she was sharing space with the Fire Nation princess. Inside, she all but seethed that the girl could play the 'mental breakdown' card and get out, coming back to the place where it all _started_, no less. She knew it was unfair, judging the other girl like that, but she couldn't help it. She was there when Zuko jumped in front of her and took the lightning bolt. Azula had showed no remorse.

Maybe she _was_ different. Katara would just have to take Ursa's word for it. Until she saw for herself, though, something she admittedly did _not_ want to do, then Katara would continue to keep her guard up whenever she was in a near vicinity of the female fire-bender. It was unfortunate that the courtyard was in the middle of the all the wings of the palace and thus she felt conflicted going there. It was the closest she would ever get to the northern wing, where Azula was staying. However, it was one of her favorite places – something that came about both because of the time she spent there with Zuko and because it was a nice, lonesome place to escape to when she had originally stayed at the palace the month after his coronation.

She felt conflicted. Katara looked at Ursa and wished for Azula to somehow be able to be normal and not a sociopath anymore. She looked at Zuko and then she thought of the scar he had on his chest and she wanted Azula to pay for that. He had almost _died_ – she had felt his weakened heart-beat underneath her fingertips as she healed him and felt frightened all the way down to her bones. She had had no idea, in that moment that seemed like a lifetime ago, if she was going to be able to save him.

She cleared her throat, pushing her thoughts away. "If your sister tried anything, Loya would have told me. She's become a bit… protective." Her lips quirked at that. "She's taken a lot of interest in Azula's 'recovery'."

Zuko stared over her shoulder, consternation written all over his face. When his gold eyes flickered back over to meet hers, his shoulders relaxed again. Hers did too, taking comfort in his undistracted presence. "That's a good sign; I was expecting her to freak out or try something. She always hated not being the one in control when we were kids."

"I bet," Katara replied curtly. She sighed. "Zuko…."

He smiled at her dolefully. "I know."

"I don't want you to get your hopes up," she said anyway. Just because he knew what she was going to say wouldn't stop her from saying it. Katara felt better after she did. She squeezed the hand still intertwined with hers. "You know what I mean; I don't want her to fail. I _don't_. I do not want her to hurt you or Ursa – I really like your mother – but it's not like she's done anything to tell me she's _sorry_ about what she did."

Zuko snaked a hand up to take hold of a strand of hair, playing with it contentedly. "I understand."

Katara turned her head and tucked it back in against his shoulder. She breathed out loudly. "Okay, _enough_ depressing talk. I want to enjoy the spring weather." She could feel the rumble of his chortle against her cheek and smiled again.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_All these kinds of places_

_Make it seem like it's been ages_

_And tomorrow's sun and buildings scrape the sky._

_I love this country dearly_

_I can feel the latter clearly"_

_~'Take a Walk',_ Passion Pit

* * *

><p>Aang walked down the streets of the small village of Lixange, feeling happy and carefree. Pausing at an otherwise abandoned corner, Aang put down a few coins and took a couple Mochi in exchange, acting carefully not to wake the sleeping merchant slumped in his chair. He wasn't a thief and the guy looked exhausted. As if on cue, Momo came swooping down from the sky. He gave a rice cake to the flying lemur. They munched peacefully as they weaved their way through the streets leisurely.<p>

He thought back on his conversation with the pseudo-mayor of Lixange just earlier in the day. It was so small of a village that the mayor was mostly there for pretenses and then the occasional serious business, like now. Lixange made it nine towns, if you counted all the ones inside of the Hu-Xin Provinces, that were on board with the republic idea. As soon as it started, it just kept _going_. At this point, Aang wasn't even having to make much of a pitch anymore when he traveled to a new place. No, the communities were talking with each other outside of his reach and mostly made up their minds before.

Two had refused. He accepted that – as much as he wanted to, he couldn't please _everyone_. But he did know that nothing was ever set in stone. So while for the moment they didn't support the idea, they might change their minds later down the road.

This news of rejection wasn't as bad as it could have been months before. With the towns so close together, the Fire Nation citizens that would be forced to go back to their distant homeland could now relocate only a handful of miles away and into one of these new independent colonies. Zuko had suggested that to Aang, who had taken it to Mayor Morishita, who agreed to implement it in Yu Dao – the idea, in its entirety, was open immigration to those leaving colonies affected by the Harmony Restoration Movement.

Aang was waiting for word back from Earth King Kuei on whether or not he would support officially disbanding the Movement. He could go either way. Zuko supported disbanding it whole-heartedly, believing that either some could join the budding republic or some could go back under Earth Kingdom control, with those from the Fire Nation allowed to stay. Kuei had made the valid point that if the Fire Nation people stayed in his country while keeping their status in their home country, then what were they? Visitors? Squatters? Citizenship wasn't a cut and dry thing and Aang was finding problems in both of their arguments.

That was the only issue, though, and it was a small one at that. The three of them could handle it.

Instead of dwelling on that last detail, Aang let himself feel giddy as the afternoon rolled around, the sun waning in its place up high in the sky. It was _happening_. The world was changing and he was helping it change in a good way. There would always be bumps in the road but he was the Avatar – he could _fix_ them.

Momo bit into another rice cake and broke it in half. Little hands grasping in vain, the other half fell down onto the dusty dirt. "I can get you ano- okay then, never mind," he said with a shake of his head as his animal friend jumped down from his shoulder and picked it up, stuffing it into his mouth without as much as smelling it or dusting it off. He just shrugged at it.

This north-western section of the Earth Kingdom was one place Aang didn't remember traveling much with the others. They had mostly been flying on Appa, trying to reach the Northern Water Tribe. But there had been quite a few towns they had stopped in at along the way. Most of those had been more strictly Fire Nation led than the colonies were now. His friend running the Southern Air Temples in his absence, Monk Geranu, came from here – from Lixange. Aang took the time to look around; visiting the only café in town, noticing many of the small details Geranu had told him about. It really was a small place, just like he had said, but Aang liked that.

What he was consistently noticing in the north-western Earth Kingdom was how the Fire Nation's influences was helping them accomplishment. They were a solid leap ahead of everyone else in the world when it came to mechanics and technology. There was much more industry development here and some places even had factories because they manufactured at a high rate. Thinking back on it, Aang wondered how much that happened here influenced Ba Sing Se.

He found it amazing.

A whizzing sound appeared at his right and Aang turned in time to see small, patchy-leather ball come flying at him. Aang quickly air-bender it up and then in a circle, so it lost its momentum. It came to rest in his hands. He looked up to see a group of children staring back at him, wide-eyed. He smiled and lightly kicked the ball back. "Be careful," he warned playfully.

The kid that had kicked the ball his way - on accident - was immediately bombarded by his friends, all whispering at him furtively. The Avatar kept on walking, trying not to laugh in front of them. Their reactions were funny to him. On his shoulder again, Momo started wheezing. He jumped down to dunk his head in a water trough nearby, sucking up the water quickly.

Aang did laugh this time. He chided, "Dirt's not the best thing to _eat_, Momo."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	86. Youth Shadowing Program Take 2

**A/N: **Much shorter chapter than usual. Was planning on including a third segment per usual but I'm still working out some kinks, so this is really a fluff chapter – not very exciting for the weekend, eh? Sorry!

Good news for Sokka fans – he'll have a few segments coming up, including this one C:

All errors are mine. I've edited this, like, three times but I'm rushing now (live in the USA so there's the VP debate on tonight!) so it's very likely that I've missed something. Sorry about that, too :P

Thanks so very much for reading, especially for coming this far in the story! And I hope this chapter is at the very least mildly entertaining!

**Disclaimer: *….crickets….* Oh right – nope, don't own the show. Carry on.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Dear dreamer, help me to take off_

_Into my pathless, pure delight,_

_By always holding in your glove_

_My wing, a thin pretence of flight._

_~'Another Fan',_ stanza #1/5, Stéphane Mallarmé

* * *

><p>The lesson was the third spent so far in his classes on the practices of jumping kicks. The coordination needed to jump, kick, and thrust out your sword at the same time was proving difficult. Sokka couldn't blame any of the majority of his students who had yet to do it accurately. In fact, it was something he had added to his make-shift curriculum at the last minute, after practicing it by himself. It was more of a distraction-geared move and less known for true effectiveness, anyway.<p>

The South Pole warrior stacked up the rest of the mats in the corner of the room. It had been a tiring ordeal. He was looking forward to going home but then, he always was. He kept feeling like he was riding a high, that it couldn't last. It was, though, and he wasn't one to complain… okay, he wasn't one to complain about things going _well_.

Since Suki was hosting a Kyoshi Warrior meeting later in the evening, meaning she wouldn't be home for quite a few hours, Sokka decided to take a detour instead and visit Blaise. His father-in-law liked to hang out by the docks, occasionally taking a fishing pole along with him. He would check there first. The man was a constant joker but Sokka was getting used to it by now, even predicting his line-of-thought. That only seemed to amuse him further.

He wiped his dusty hands on his sleeves and pulled the room doors closed behind him. Exiting the school, he found it to be a sweetly warm day. Clouds were moving in from the west, warding off the mild rays and plunging the place into being coolly neutral. He hurried down the street.

The fast thudding of footsteps approached from behind him and up to his side. Sokka turned to see their source: Fen, who was grinning wider than he ever remembered seeing before. He was clutching a letter tightly in his clenched-white fingers. "Sokka, lo-look what I go-got!"

He stopped walking, seeing that Fen wanted him to stop, and smiled down optimistically. His student promptly kneeled over, recovering his breath. Sokka wondered how far he'd run. "What's your good news?"

"It's _great_ news!" Fen breathed out, recovering. He leaned back, straightening up his form again, and fumbled to unfold the roll of parchment for Sokka. "I got into the Youth Shadowing program! It says I'll get to travel with a group along the ridge up by GaoLing. Isn't that _awesome_?! My parents were so proud! I had to come show you, you know, since you sponsored me and everything. Thanks a lot!"

Sokka read the letter over once and then over again for good measure, eyes wide with shock. Fen was indeed accepted into the Youth Shadowing program with a squadron called by an incredibly long number. He grinned and looked back to Fen. "This _is_ great!" He patted the boy on the back enthusiastically. "Wow, I can't believe you got in so soon! Does it say what you're going to be serving as?"

Fen shook his head, stuffing the letter back in an inside pocket of his kimono. "Nope but I bet it might have to do with animals, you know?" Sokka nodded – the boy's father ran a farm on the other side of town. "Or maybe – maybe I could be on the front lines! Show off my mad fighting skills!"

He laughed good-naturedly at Fen's excitement. "I don't know, maybe. Hey, why don't you come over for dinner sometime this week, yeah? Celebratory dinner! Whatever time your parents can come, we'd love to have you. This is huge, Fen." He grinned and shrugged. "You getting accepted so early opens a lot of doors and... I mean, you're my first successful student at this."

The gray-eyed boy shifted on his feet. "It's not that big a deal, you know, the whole _successful_ thing."

Sokka crouched. His grin softened into an approving smile. He knew that Fen, for all his confidence gains as of late, was still very much embarrassed at the attention once he got it. "Hey, it is a big deal – you get to travel, learn stuff from the pros. I'm proud of you, Fen. I _mean_ it. Congratulations on this. Celebrate your pants off."

Fen laughed.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_A cold rain starting_

_And no hat -_

_So? _

_~'A cold rain starting',_ Matsuo Basho

* * *

><p>"…try again!"<p>

Toph, Aroon, and the other students of their dormitory turned around from where they were in position, moving towards trying the wall again. If she hadn't practiced the handful of times she had with her new friend, Toph would be very behind after her bed-ridden recuperation. The rest of the class knew how to erect the wall; the lessons were about a whole other thing now: _holding_ stability. Their teacher wanted them to hold the wall up instead of letting it lock into place above ground.

No, they were supposed to _keep_ complete control over it. It was a lot harder than it sounded, straining muscles that something like earth-bending should, conceivably, not be _able_ to strain. Toph moved into position and lifted her arms into sync with everyone else. The compact earth in front of them cracked, gave a heaving sigh of trickling dirt, and rose in a thick, tall rectangle across from the dozen and a half people lined up several feet apart from each other.

She took in a deep breath.

"Steady…." The instructor warned sharply.

The invisible yet oppressive weight of the rock slab pushed heavily down onto her arms. She still held it. To distract herself, Toph focused on the rock itself and not the compact force of the wall she was holding onto. The shimmer of tension outlined it in her seismic sight. At no point along its wide expanse did the surface bow or weaken. She felt an inexplicable pride rise in her chest at that.

The people at this camp really were good; _all_ of them. They all deserved to be here. Toph found herself feeling a little disappointed at only being here because of that academy offer King Kuei made her. The likelihood that she would see these people again was slim.

Her meteorite bracelet, courtesy of Sokka, slid down her upper arm as a sheen of humidity-induced sweat descended along her skin. It distracted and stole away her mind's sharp focus. A slight tickling sensation rubbed along her inner arm, where it was now coming to a stop an inch above the inside of her elbow.

She bit her lip.

"Gonna crack, BeiFong?" The teacher called out, weaving his sauntering self between their forms. She stopped biting her lips and shook her head. She didn't want him to take her expression as one of pain or weakness. He grunted and moved on.

The young woman beside her let out a yelp and the rock groaned, about to slip back into the hole of earth that was open beneath it. Toph moved her right elbow over, pulling her hand inward, closer to her chest. She took hold of the rock and held it up. A few beads of truly work-induced sweat broke out on her forehead. The invisible tension increased on her shoulders.

"What's wrong?"

"Water in my eye," the woman was quick to answer, voice loud yet still managing to hold a twinge of subservience under their intimidating instructor. Toph didn't blame her – the guy could be extremely cold.

"You, BeiFong – you helping her?"

"No." A beat passed. "_Sir_," she added.

Persistent tugging on the right of her wall alerted Toph back to her task. She slowly passed the responsibility back to the other female.

Their teacher, finding no evidence to vocally doubt his student's words as being other than the truth, moved on. When he was three students down, the woman at her right whispered out a soft word of thanks. Toph turned to her with a curt nod, not wanting to be seen by the teacher.

"Uh, sir?" A man on her far left called out.

"What?"

"I think it's going to rain."

"Hold your positions," he snapped back irritably. "Lesson's not done yet; not supposed to rain for a week."

Toph furrowed her brow. She could feel a light dusting of moisture coming down steadily on her arms but had previously simply assumed it was the humidity. With the camp located behind a ridge, blocking the winds in a semicircle from the east, south, and most of the west, the spring rain's moisture was trapped, hanging unrelieved low in the air.

A large drop fell down on her forehead. She blinked at the contact, startled. _Hah, no rain; suuuurrreee._

It slid at a lazy pace down her skin. Her fingers twitched to wipe at it. Testing with one hand, she moved it back. The pressure of perpetually earth-bending an object up ten times her size tilted from her shoulders to lean on one half of her body. It was insane, of course, but the possibility of falling over popped into her mind and Toph immediately straightened.

Another large drop fell down on her hand.

The instructor slapped the back of his neck and muttered something.

A long moment passed... and then the clouds opened, sheets of torrential rain falling without hesitation.

"Dismissed; back to the cafeteria hall!" He yelled out.

They didn't have to be told twice. Everyone immediately dropped the wall, rock slamming back into the ground in the length it took for her to huff in relief. She pumped her legs hard to keep up with everyone sprinting in front of her. She didn't bother to lift her hands up to cover her face; the cold rain felt good and it wasn't like the water was blurring her vision one bit. Toph couldn't help but grin at how fast they left the aging instructor behind them, panting along in their wake. It was mean but that was his fault; he didn't have to be such a _prick_ all the time.

She thought of her months earlier words to Aroon, about how lacking-in-fun the Terra Team camp was turning out to be. Toph shook her head, sopping black hair shedding water as fast as it came down.

_It has its moments._

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	87. Fireworks

**A/N: **Oh-em-jee. I have no rant this time; it's shocking.

PS: Next chapter things get intense so this time I won't apologize for the little bit of fluffy-fluff this time ;P

Thanks for reading! Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_In the museum_

_It had no name:_

_It was only the life work_

_Of one almond-eyed heathen-_

_Just one of a million!_

_Look closer_

_And you will see_

_A soul,_

_Unique and beautiful._

_~'A Vase of Chinese Ivory',_ David O'Neil

* * *

><p>"Plate, please," Celeigh requested.<p>

Sokka turned quickly and passed his aunt-in-law the serving dish absent-mindedly. Just as fast, he went to finishing his pitch to Suki. "I got the fireworks just this morning, too; you don't have to do anything." She rolled her eyes. He caught the tell-tale sign of a smile straining against her still plum-painted lips and continued. "And Fen did pick out the _big_ ones."

That pushed it over the edge; she couldn't say 'no' to the young kid. He just made the biggest achievement of his life (so far) after all. "Okay, fine, I'll do a few fireworks with you. But I'm keeping my distance with the bigger ones – I don't want to get my hand blown off."

"That only happens one in a thousand – or a _million_."

She pointed a finger at him, capturing his full interest pointedly, even as she already had it. "You laugh at that but one of my friends had that happen to them."

Celeigh made a pitying noise behind them. "Poor boy; afraid to go near simple fires today."

Sokka moved to say something else but instead bit his tongue thoughtfully. Suki leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I'll take the rolls out," she told her aunt, picking up the dish and carrying it with her as she went out the kitchen door. She set the plate down in the center of the table, draping a towel over the steaming bread in order to keep it warm. Straightening, Suki spotted her father sitting over by the windows, per usual.

She walked over and crouched next to him. "Watching the sunset again?"

"Sunsets and sunrises are beautiful things to watch and they can clear up your thoughts," Blaise responded.

"But if you watch them all the time, don't they get boring?" She cocked her head, moving to look at him instead of at the lowering orb of yellow on the horizon.

He smiled wryly. "Not if you appreciate them."

"You're weird." She laughed faintly.

"Thank you." She rolled her eyes again at that. "So, how are the wonderful Kyoshi Warriors?"

"Same as usual."

"You hardly talk about your duties," Blaise noted.

She shrugged. "What's to tell? The crimes are down a lot and our numbers have decreased a bit, too. A few have left to join the military – they want political positions, you know. Kyoshi's too small."

Her father nodded. Suki stared out at the sparkling ocean. "Do you want a bigger playground as well?" He asked, tone carefully light.

She internally smirked at his 'playground' comment. Somehow, her father managed to reduce everything big or powerful to nothing more than an elementary example sometimes. It was a useful talent. Everything then was so... _simple_. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I like _small_ Kyoshi."

"Good, good." He patted her hand.

"Fen's here!" Sokka yelled as he came into the room, distracting her.

Confusion bloomed in her as she watched him dart across the open living room like a chicken with its head cut off. "How do you know?"

"Saw him through the window," he explained breathlessly before opening the door, a bright smile evident in his voice as he greeted their three guests.

"Come on," Suki beckoned to her father, standing up. "Time for dinner."

"The favorite part of my day," he replied with a wink.

Everything else food-related was already on the table so Celeigh came out of the kitchen empty-handed a minute later, immediately enthusiastically greeting Fen's parents. He quickly deserted them, rubbing his stomach as he did, and went to grab a seat, stealing a roll from under the cloth.

"Busted," Suki whispered, taking her set next to him. Despite her words, she slid the butter dish his way. He beamed. "Congratulations; are you really excited to go?"

It truly was an unnecessary question. "I've been dreaming about it all week." He swallowed loudly. "Hey, do you have any tips? 'Cause you're a warrior too – more than Sokka, really; you're a Kyoshi Warrior, all official and everything."

Her smile softened. "Yeah, I might be able to give you a few. What are you worried about?"

Fen opened his mouth at the same second his mother took her seat on his other side and spotted the dinner roll in his thin hands. She launched into a hushed, chastising speech. Suki sent him a pitying glance before looking around the rest of the table.

Sokka smiled at her, full of energy. She sighed quietly. She could honestly say she hadn't met anyone as energetic as he was. If he was excited, he nearly bounced off the walls. If he found something worthy of complaint, he would go on a useless rant about it for over an hour. Everything he did was full of heart, regardless. It seemed impossible for him to act without vigor. Suki smiled back with endearment.

He stood, cleared his throat, and picked up his glass. "A toast to Fen – my brightest student and a great kid. I hope this is just a stepping stone to even greater opportunities for you, Fen."

They all clinked glasses as the boy in question blushed the shade of a beet.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The sea hath its pearls,_

_The heaven hath its stars;_

_But my heart, my heart,_

_My heart hath its love._

_Great are the sea, and the heaven;_

_Yet greater is my heart,_

_And fairer than pearls or stars_

_Flashes and beams my love._

_~'The Sea Hath Its Pearls',_ stanzas #2/3, Heinrich Heine

* * *

><p>Aang brushed Appa's left forepaw for the third time that day, astounded as the fluffy bits kept flowing off of him, almost unending. He opened his mouth to take a needed deep breath – his eyes were drooping dangerously, muscles worn in his arms, tiredness induced by boredom hanging over him – when an untimely tuft came off. He spluttered on the long white hairs. Aang turned away, wiping his hands down his tongue.<p>

He was only rewarded with tasting his animal guide's muddy oils, courtesy of his dirty hands. He gagged. "Okay," he muttered, dropping the brush down on the ground next to the pack it came from, using his now free hands to wipe off his pant legs. "No more brushing for you."

Appa licked his back affectionately as he turned away. The Avatar couldn't help but chuckle.

They were paused in the outskirts of Makapu. He was in the process of deciding where to go next. The rushing waterfall of towns and colonies addressing the idea of a new republic now slowed to a bare, trickle-down effect. It was obvious that whatever else would happen in the region with the others would be independent of what he decided to do at the moment. His next step was hanging in a sort of limbo. He could go back to the Eastern Air Temples, but the situation across the world was changing so fast right now, Aang didn't want to be caught out of the loop. He would regret it if something happened – good or bad – and he was not there.

He packed the brush away and tied the clasps of the bag together tightly. He had been only mildly surprised when Earth King Kuei wrote back, saying he would keep the Harmony Restoration Movement up and running. As they had calculated before, it did make sense for some. The Fire Nation colonies as recent as two or three decades had both sides still warily hostile towards each other; it was easier for them to pick up their newly-developed roots and move on to the metaphorical calmer waters.

Zuko had accepted this decision but Aang guessed it had more to do with the respect he was trying to lend Kuei instead of actually agreeing with it. With the Movement still afloat, there would always be opportunities for issues to arise until every colony made their choice – republic or Movement. Still, now that they settled Yu Dao, Aang was confident they could deal with any other debacles.

Mayor Morishita hadn't written him in over a week. There weren't any problems in Chiami, either. If there were problems anywhere, it would be in those two places.

Aang sat down and rubbed the flying bison's cheek. Appa groaned. Once more, now that there was nothing else to distract him, he thought about how much it sucked that he couldn't, at the very least, write to Toph. He had no doubt she would already know someone in camp that would be able to read her the letters and transcript. He knew that she would have at least a dozen ideas of what to do, where to go. She hated being immobile or confined to boring places. He smiled at that.

Selflessly, he just wanted to know how she was _doing_. She had been thrilled when she left. However, four months of potentially doing the same thing over and over could be enough to drop anyone's spirits. He was ready to admit he didn't know much about the training camp; Toph had not known much either and most of what he knew came from her, with a few pointers from Iroh, when they wrote each other.

Aang missed her. A lot. He knew of one anonymous phrase that would be perfect for the situation: _absence makes the heart grow fonder_. When Zuko was around and they were constantly going here and there between colonies, he was distracted with the people or with catching up with his newest old-friend. But now, without that, Aang realized it wasn't just a human companion he was missing.

She had arrived at the Southern Air Temples awkwardly, stuck inside of a wooden cargo box with The Duke and Pipsqueak, because of a temporary fallout with Iroh. _She would flush at the memory_, he guessed with a secretive smile. Over time they developed a routine of doing nearly everything together, becoming much closer than they were at any point before. Kuei's offer for her to come to Ba Sing Se for a training group position was unfortunately timed at the same time they realized their… _feelings_. He blushed a little himself, thinking of how it was so much deeper than that.

Yes, it was safe to say he missed her. Aang wasn't quite sure, looking back, how he would've been able to get through the past three months without the mess of creating the new republic and dealing with the people that were hesitant, hostile.

_She would say something mocking that, too,_ he thought, reflecting on how reluctant she was to admit she liked company_. Ah screw it_, he mused now. _I'll go see her. That's not breaking any rules if I'm the one doing it, right? Nope, I'll just visit as the Avatar._

He ran his hand through Appa's fur again. "What do you think, Appa? Do you miss Toph too?" Momo chittered from his place on the flying bison's shoulder. "What about you, Momo?" He chittered some more, one of his large ears lifted up, alert from their previously folded-over position. "Okay then. I think we're in agreement." Aang grinned to himself.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."_

~Voltaire

* * *

><p>Fen pushed his plate away from the edge of the table, taking in a loud breath. He looked around the table. His parents were both talking; his mom with Celeigh and Sokka, his dad with Suki and Blaise. He smiled proudly at them all getting along well.<p>

He was what others would call a shy kid and had angst-worries for, really, no apparent reason. He could not even pinpoint the cause – if there was one – himself. It was because of his insecure and still largely childish tendencies that the twelve year old didn't have many friends, something that came to mind now with family – and his favorite teacher's family – around him. It was weird how all the other kids in class crowded around him as soon as Sokka announced his – Fen's – acceptance. Weird and a bit unsettling, too; he knew it was fake, their pushes for friendship. They were only anxious to see his letter and fascinated to know what the 'inside scoop' was with the programs.

He wondered if the shadowing program would make it easier for him in regards to the whole making-friends business. His dad always told him that childhood buddies shaped your early life but they hardly ever lasted _for_ life; it was that token of advice that he got every time they picked up on his morose attitude. That attitude usually stemmed off of the lack of an invitation to a slumber or birthday party, the common times that he realized his lack of a social circle.

The Kyoshi boy glanced up and down the table again. Last time he'd had dinner here, Suki's warrior friend Ishi had been here too. She wasn't now.

"Why're you quiet, Fen?" His mom asked from his right-hand side.

He raised his eyes to her, smiling at having someone to talk to. His shyness also lent itself to an acute un-comfortableness when it came to interrupting. Much of the time, his politeness delved into loneliness. "No reason." He grinned expectantly. "Can we do fireworks now?"

She rubbed his arm. "Ask Miss Celeigh, okay?"

Fen leaned over the table, shoulders hunched. "Celeigh?" He asked, calling over. She looked up from where she had been intensely speaking with her brother. "Can we set off some of the fireworks now?"

The older woman smiled impishly. "Sure. You and Sokka go get them, we'll clear away the table – is that okay, Kiet, Sanoh?" He stood as his parents nodded and agreed to help. "Oh Fen – remember, fifty feet away from the porch because of the launching ones."

He and Sokka raced outside to the small shed they had stored the exploding toys in just earlier that day. Sokka grabbed the bigger ones. To make up for the weight difference in their loads, Fen filled his arms so high with sparklers, smoke bombs, and crackers he almost couldn't move a step without dropping something. He made sure to double back and get them all. "What're you doing?" He asked, following behind the teenager as he walked rigidly down the beach and closer to the oceanfront.

"Counting out the feet – forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, okay, drop it right here!" They spent the next fifteen minutes organizing the fireworks into little piles – little because they sorted them so exactly. The two boys discovered with disappointment that they only had about three to five a piece, if you counted it out in colors, and only a handful of those that flew up and into the sky. "Did I tell you about the first time I saw fireworks?" Sokka asked conversationally. Fen shook his head. "It was in the Fire Nation. There was this town that had a gre- er, _pretty good_ festival. What they celebrated wasn't good but they celebrated in really cool ways – fireworks, bonfires, buffets, dancing, stuff like that. You really-"

"-get caught up in it," he finished. Sokka agreed. "I hope I can do stuff like that – be part of stuff like that – _someday_."

Sokka eyed him for a fleeting moment. "Of course you can – we will right now." He flashed a smile as he stood from where he'd been crouching down in the sand. "Over here!" He called to the others.

"It got dark fast," his mother noted as she walked up.

He and Sokka immediately launched into explaining what each firework did to the other four. It wasn't needed but they had fun doing it anyway. Before long, all of them were complaining about the sand and wind, engulfing the crackling little bombs and turning the foul-smelling smoke back around on them, a nasty side effect from the colored balls.

"Ready?" Sokka asked, thin torch in hand and ready to light all the big rockets lined up in a semi-circle.

"Wait!" Fen looked around; he couldn't spot the cool wheelchair guy. Peering through the darkness of a quarter moon night, he saw someone wave from the back porch. "Hold on," he said, taking the torch from his teacher's hand and packing a handful of the small fireworks into his shirt.

He ran across the sand. It was harder than it sounded; his feet sinking with every step, Fen was panting when he got to the porch. "Hey, kid." He was greeted with.

"Sparklers?" He held out the bundle.

Blais's eyes twinkled. "Hand 'em here."

When the old policeman took hold of the sticks, Fen lit the ends with the torch. The yellow and white sparks jumped and danced away from their grounding stick, harmlessly captivating. They shared a grin.

"Now?" Sokka asked as Fen handed the torch back. He nodded.

With a few seconds delay, the fuses all began to hiss and splutter. Their small crowd backed up, Fen moving to hold his dad's hand, reassuringly, as he eyed them warily. Suddenly – so suddenly even he, the one most anticipating it, jumped in place – a flash of colors in a kaleidoscope form launched from the ground, whizzed up into the sky, and burst out in random shapes. Fen couldn't remember ever seeing fireworks to this magnitude before. And it was sort of happening because of him.

He watched, riveted, pride draining away his earlier lonesome fears.

It was amazing.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	88. Scars and Bandages

**A/N: **Aaaand, things swing right back around to Azula again. I'm finding it immensely humorous – like a sort of inside joke – that I was pretty neutral about her on the show and yet I'm falling in love with her (platonically) in my story. Alternate Universes are fun ^_^

THANKS FOR READING! I'm feeling giddy right now so shout out to all readers/reviewers! You're amazing :)

**Disclaimer: Sadly, don't own one bit of the show. **

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_My soul is a dark ploughed field_

_In the cold rain;_

_My soul is a broken field_

_Ploughed by pain._

_Where windy grass and flowers_

_Were growing,_

_The field lies broken now_

_For another sowing._

_Great Sower, when you tread_

_My field again,_

_Scatter the furrows there_

_With better grain._

_~'The Broken Field',_ Sara Teasdale

* * *

><p>It was warming to see the capital again; it was one of the things, or rather places, he missed now without realizing before. The starkest example of that feeling was when he returned from his banishment. Five years of absence altered memories more than most realized. Zuko exited the stables and looked over to where his mother and Katara were talking at the entrance of the palace. "It's good to be back," Ursa said with a large smile once he approached. "If you two excuse me, I'm going to go see Azula."<p>

Katara stiffened at his sister's name. He held out his hand in front of his mother before she could take a step. "Let me – we have some _thing__s_ to talk about. We haven't seen each other since she was let out of prison..."

Ursa glanced to Katara, to the large regal front doors, and then back at him again. She nodded, tight-lipped but with a hesitant smile on her lips all the same. He knows that she wanted him to get along with Azula and to accept that she's changed, likely why she quickly agreed to wait. Zuko chose to ignore this implication, though, and instead kissed her cheek in thanks. Turning to Katara, he opened his mouth to speak to her privately but stopped when she said, "Go ahead, I have something I want to go check on too." He sent her a small smile.

He left them both there on the steps, walking into the palace and heading straight toward the northern wing. It was hard for Katara to be in the same space as Azula, let alone acknowledge it. He wasn't quite sure how to bridge that gap. Of course, he would have to do that for _himself_ before he began to help the water-bender he loved. He needed to judge the sincerity of his sister first, solidifying the gray lines of enemy and family, redemption and manipulation.

The few times he had physically visited Azula at Black Rock Prison, her truly deeply flawed person was on full display. She knew all the horrifying things she committed but at the same time continued to fall back on old, taunting patterns that she thought would protect her mentally from the responsibility, the blame. When they didn't, she would simply break down again.

With everything that was happening in the world at the time, he was reluctant to admit he hadn't seen his sister since she was released – courtesy of the form he signed. Another _gray_ decision.

He hated relying on eye-witness reports in order to know what was happening on the ground – something that only escalated after the rebellion debacle and Major Wahyn's deceit. His mother was deeply biased and hadn't seen any of the moments when Azula was at her worst. Yes, he knew his sister had always been of the same manipulative mindset of their father – something that only later matured into causing pain and violence – and he remembered well the stories Ursa told him after the fact, stories she said were supposed to have been indicators, signs of tendencies. However, Azula had only truly become violent and showcasing her sadistic persona after their mother left.

It was something in her most likely cultured by their father. But Zuko could not be _sure_ of that; he couldn't be positive that it was entirely their father's doing instead of the alternative, where a part of Azula... _liked_ it. Was it truly always in her nature? Or did she morph into that, an innocent victim with a pliable mind whose right-and-wrongs were flipped and then unfortunately cemented into place?

He sighed as he turned the corner in the endless halls. Despite his mother's loving bias, he was well aware of the fact that most of the progress she wrote to him was true. His guards reported to him too, and their information was mostly the same. While he doubted his mother saw how Azula lashed out at the guards, it also gave him the full story. His sister was struggling but she was dealing with it on her own. Her 'recovery' was not something being completely led by his mother, which would leave him worried. She had to spot the truth with _hersel__f_, with only _her_ two eyes and no one else's.

If she did that, it gave him hope yet that she would not revert.

And that hope, oddly, scared him. He wanted his sister to recover, but at the same time did not know how much she would be able to. And sadly, he didn't know if he would recognize her afterward, or if she _could_ be different.

He wondered if her... _transformation_, for lack of a less used word, was something that could happen all at once or if it would be a slow, constant process that eventually leads to a point down the road where she won't have to consciously judge herself, consciously control herself, because it would be instinct – it would be _learned_ instinct. A point down line perhaps where she wouldn't remember what ideas were in her head at the time she acted so insanely.

All these possibilities he had thought of a thousand times – _and more_. And still they circled through, running over and over without any new answers.

Because of his sister's mental instability, he also received reports from the therapist he hired, the Dr. Chirah. At first, they had been displeasing. His sister hardly ever talked, hardly ever participated. Rather, she seemed to be sulking in a sort of alternate world where nothing was happening around her. It was to be expected, he was told by Chirah, because of all the change and turmoil that happened for her over the past year. But that had not lessened his fears.

And then slowly, gradually, at a pace so slow he wasn't even sure when exactly it surprised him or if it surprised him when he looked back, thinking of his sister once more, Azula began to cope. She managed it herself; she found what the nice doctor would call a 'touching stone'. _Sketching_. He almost couldn't believe what she had said in the letter, but it was true.

In a way, he could see it. Maybe not the sketching part exactly but he could see how she had the eye for it. Because though she could be violent and volatile, holding a tendency for the sadistic and possessing highly manipulative abilities – more than any person he had ever met, including his father as his father was manipulative but to a level that was so self-preserving it ended up hurting him in the end – Azula also had a fascination for devastating natural occurrences, for nature's cycles. She could see _raw beauty_ in anything, including in the flames that caused the pain, the flames she conjured up and the flames she wished to be able to conjure up – once upon a time, when she had been just young and inexperienced, a time that Zuko could hardly ever believe existed.

_Perhaps her touching stone,_ he thought, musing now as he paused outside of the northern wing, staring at the black-stained wooden doors. _Perhaps her touching stone is also a way she reminds herself, cons__ciously or not._

He stayed still, wondering what he was going to ask her. His mind left behind his recent musings. All he knew was that he had to talk to her, had to see her, and sadly, he knew that part of him had to _assess_ her, clinically, devoid of any emotion regarding who he was: her brother. It was not the fairest thing and he knew it would not be the easiest thing, but he also knew he could do it because he did it to himself, and just a short nine months before, he had done it to his father, too.

Zuko walked down the main hallways of the northern wing and stopped at the third door on the right, knocking curtly.

Slight commotion could be heard on the other side. Azula opened the door a minute later. She startled, eyes wide. "Zuko."

"Azula," he replied with a tiny smile. He looked her over. She appeared tons better than she had the last time he saw her. Her hair was left long, back pulled into a neat top-knot. The bags under her flitting golden eyes were minimal; skin its usual pale shade instead of _deathly_ pale. "Can we talk?"

She nodded and opened the door, standing aside. He eyed her as he made a full circle around the room. It was surreal; by now she would have usually told him off, called him by the nickname 'Zuzu', or made some predatory advance on him. She was usually the one circling him, not the other way around. "You can sit," she offered quietly, dropping onto the bench seat in front of her bed.

He sat in the room's corner chair. "You're not wearing your crown," Zuko noted. She absently reached up to touch the top of her head quickly; she said nothing. "How are you doing?" He asked softly, changing the subject into the direction he originally intended for it to be.

She stared. "Why haven't you visited before?" She countered.

His lips quirked downward at her tone. "I was… tied up." He debated telling the full truth. She was not acting anything but reserved. He divulged, "There's going to be a new country – a _republic_."

Azula's mouth opened in surprise. Soon, she pressed her lips shut tightly. He knew that reaction well – she was speechless. "That's impossible," she finally remarked.

He smiled. "No it's not."

"But there aren't any other bending elements," she argued further.

"Exactly." Zuko could practically see the cogs turning in her head. She blinked, leaning back a few inches into the seat. "How are you doing?" He asked again.

She stiffened. "You sent me to a 'therapist'." Once again her tone was accusatory, mocking the doctor's title.

"I did."

Her jaw clenched. "I've never even _heard_ of them before – did you make it up? Why pays to 'talk out their _feelings'_?"

He quipped back patiently, "A lot more people than you'd think."

"Well it's a waste," Azula said flippantly, crossing her arms.

He leaned forward, elbows pressing into his thighs. "But you're going an extra day willingly," he pointed out. "From my view, it's not a _waste_. Yeah it's a weird method but it looks like it's working if you're using it."

"I'm just _bored_. I'm basically locked up," she argued again.

Zuko sighed frustratingly, patience now wearing thin. It was a remarkable feat that it had held up this long; he usually had a quick temper. "Why do you have to make this so hard?" Azula laughed. She actually _laughed_. He bit down on his tongue to keep from lashing out at her. _This_ was the Azula he was used to. "I wouldn't give up on you and I won't now but this has to go both ways – you can't keep fighting me at every turn because if you do, you only hurt yourself." Her chuckles died out. "Look-" He whispered calmly. "-you need to accept that I'm a powerful fire-bender just like you but I'm not a competitor, I'm your _brother_."

She huffed and glanced away, standing to pace the length of the room across from him. Zuko tensed, waiting. After several long minutes, she finally turned on her heel, regarding him with the metaphorical fire in her eyes. Something was different about it; it wasn't _cold_. "I'm not good at this – this connecting, caring, whatever thing, okay? I don't make-" She stopped and huffed again.

Zuko tilted his head at her, giving her a small smile once more. "I don't know, you do well with Mother." Despite all his hesitations and worries, reassurance rolled through him when she smiled slightly at the mention of their mother. It was the first he'd seen, genuine and honest, in a long, long time. "No one's good at expressing themselves, especially us in the Fire Nation; the best we can do is try. I just want you to _try_."

Azula looked down at her hands. The two siblings stilled there – one standing, one sitting – for a long while, the piercing quiet leaving them unaware of how much time passed. When she raised her head, Zuko was the one shocked this time. Her eyes were filled with tears. He pushed back to urge to comfort her; she would likely push him back now and he wasn't exactly the best person at that…."Is it – is the lightning bolt…. Is there a…."

Her voice was low and raw. It broke his heart. "Scar? Yeah, there is." Zuko stood when she nodded several times over in quick succession, lowering her eyes again. He couldn't help it; he reached out slowly with one hand, treating her like a scared animal. When she made no move to object, he held her thin hand in his, squeezing it warmly. "Azula? Look at me," he requested softly.

"I'm so _sorry_ for that, Zuk-"

"You have my forgiveness," he interrupted, stopping her rushing words. Their nearly identical eyes met.

Confusion rippled across her face, almost instantly followed by appreciation. It almost threw him off, coming from her. He never knew his sister to be thankful for someone's assistance, let alone admitting she wanted it, needed it. She squeezed his hand this time. "Thank you," she whispered.

Zuko just smiled at her, open and honest without any more barriers up; they fell away and he didn't mind. Anything could happen – he was well aware of that painful life lesson – but as it stood right now, he couldn't help inputting some trust into his sister. Just an _apology_ was a huge accomplishment. And yet, it was somehow… _more_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured."_

~Mark Twain

* * *

><p>Katara had gone to see Ren as soon as she parted ways with Ursa. It turned out that he wasn't at his office, the only address she had for him, so she left a note on his desk about calling together a new meeting within the next week. She had been gone from the capital for two months – she didn't know where the rest of those on the Fire Nation Teacher's Council were, for sure. It was best if she left it to Ren.<p>

When she returned to the palace, it was nearly dinnertime. Out of respect for Ursa and sensitivity towards whatever talk Zuko had just had (they would talk about it later), she grudgingly agreed to let Azula participate. They picnicked in the courtyard, to the side of the duck pond.

It was _awkward_. An hour later, them now lounging on the strewn blankets, chatting amicably, Katara moved her gaze from the turtle duck family walking past and over to the Fire Nation princess sitting across from her, on the left. Azula averted her gaze again just a smidgen too late. That was the fifth time. She bit her cheek, saying nothing about it.

Ursa glanced between them, not even attempting to try and hide her inquisitive curiosity. Katara looked at the pond again. She wouldn't talk to the other teenage girl, no matter how much over the course of an hour that Ursa tried to push them into a conversation. Even if it was a topic that she could interject, the water-bender didn't. Zuko at least didn't object to this. She did not see how he could; he knew her too well. Her feelings weren't surface only.

***Flashback – Hours after Azula and Zuko's Agni Kai – Fire Nation Royalty Palace**

"Ouch! It's still tender, you know."

"Yeah, I do know – hey, sit _still_."

"Katara, I have meetings to ge-"

"Oh yeah?" She snapped, pushing him back down on the bed forcefully, small hands wrapped around his bare shoulders. "Well how are you going to get to those meetings, let alone stay awake during them, with a wound right over your heart? Hm? Now stop being a baby and let me heal you."

Zuko said nothing, only staring at her as he leaned back into the pillows willingly. She sighed loudly and then continued to peel back the temporary bandages she had used to cover his scar, courtesy of her customary South Pole arm wraps. She was tired of his protesting so much. It was his body and he was bound to feel that something was not quite right – and yet he kept fighting her on it. _Still a stubborn idiot,_ she thought with a distinct lack of hate compared to what she had felt only a month earlier. When she discarded the white cloth, it falling limp at his sides, her blue eyes took in his scar. It looked like a rigid fireball had hit him. Straight tendrils with abrupt, squared turns seared their mark into his flesh. It darkened noticeably, the middle a maroon ball about two inches in diameter. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it. It was permanent._ Another scar from another family member,_ she thought absently. She ran her fingers over it lightly, just as she had done back in the crystal caves under Ba Sing Se with his eye scar. He winced.

"Sorry," she murmured. Unclasping the top of her cantina, she expertly flowed the water over his skin and set to work.

While she had healed him back in the Coronation Plaza, she had only healed the source of the fatal damage. His heart had begun beating irregularly, immune system working overtime and actually killing itself as the cells stuttered, trying to work furiously but residual shocks from the lightning stopping them. As emotional as she had been at the time, Katara hardly healed the surface skin, focusing instead on keeping her new – what would she call him? – _friend_ alive. His scar largely formed during her and Azula's battle.

The tissue revived and was soothed under her hands. She directed the water back into the cantina. "How's that?"

He took a deep breath; no wincing this time. "A lot better, thanks."

"It'll still hurt," she told him as she picked up the real gauze she brought in with them. "The scar's still forming so it will be sensitive for a while – sorry about that... I wish you didn't have to have another one."

"Guess this one will mark me now too, huh?" He asked with a breathy chuckle.

Katara tried to smile and failed. She cleared her throat. "Sit up." He obliged. She carefully snaked the gauze over his shoulder three times for support and more flexible movement. Her lessons up at the North Pole were paying off in spades. "Just a few more wraps," she promised as he arched his back again so she could pull the cloth under his chest. He may not want to admit it to her, but she could see how he was biting the inside of his lip. At the very least, it was uncomfortable. "There." She tucked it in securely.

"Thanks," he said, sitting up.

She nodded and took a few steps away, giving him room as he took a breath and moved to stand. She shifted on her feet and looked out of his bedroom's window. She could see the Coronation Plaza off in the distance; it made her frown. "Zuko… I know we're not exactly friends, bu-"

"Then what do you call that back there?" He asked quietly. She met his eyes. "I am sorry for everything I did, Katara. I hope one day you can forgive me; you seem like a great friend to have."

"I know you are…." She stared into his golden eyes, clearly seeing the pain – for a different reason this time – and how genuine his apology was.

Suddenly everything was real – _starkly_ real – and with devastating consequences. Zuko just defeated his sister in an Agni Kai, Aang was probably right now facing off with Fire Lord Ozai, and Sokka and Toph were leading an assault on the Fire Nation military to liberate Ba Sing Se. Hadn't Zuko proved after all this that he was different? All her reasons for hating him and not forgiving him now seemed dull, almost stupid. So much changed over the last couple of days and more than a few realities were seen for what they truly are.

She pushed that away to mull over later, wanting to be sure in any answer she gave. Instead, she said, "I just meant to say that – I'm sorry you got stuck with the family you got. Now you have a scar from each, huh?"

He half-smiled at her lame attempt of a joke.

"Anyway, I can't believe she was so… crazy." Katara shook her head as she folded the medical supplies back in their satchel bundle, courtesy of a kind elderly maid she'd met just ten minutes earlier. "I hope Azula never gets out of prison. She's not safe, not for _anyone_."

"I'm not putting her in prison," he said quietly.

She looked over her shoulder at him, confused. "Why not?"

He remained calm as he spoke, despite her almost-demanding tone. "Because she's mentally unstable but she's still my sister."

Katara just looked at him, saying nothing. She couldn't. She would not be a hypocrite – if she was in a situation even remotely similar with Sokka, she was not sure what she would do – but at the same time, she couldn't help wanting to argue with him. Azula was insane and vindictive – she didn't care about the repercussion of anything she did, _especially_ the repercussions against innocent people.

Azula represented everything Katara hated about the Fire Nation, all of the reasons she had forced herself to hate Zuko. The water-bender had her fair share of life-or-death situations over the past year but this... what just happened, what she just witness... it was cold beyond anything she could remember seeing before. No care, no consideration, no _regret_. Azula, in all her insanity, didn't even deserve pity for not understanding what was right and what was wrong. In Katara's mind, all she deserved was a prison cell and someone to throw away the key.

"I'm not judging," she said at last; "I just can't forgive someone for doing something like that against someone they're supposed to care about – someone I care about." Zuko's brows rose. She shrugged, trying to pass it off as something one says lightly. "You're part of the Gaang, as much as I… objected."

"Thank you – for caring."

"You're welcome," she replied softly. Katara lowered her eyes before she could get sucked into staring into his again. It was almost addictive – she could stare at him and think through all the emotional and physical problems she had without a worry for what was going on around her, at that moment. "I'll leave you to get dressed-" He stood there in the same half-burned kimono as before. "-and I'm going to go outside, wait for Aang. Maybe he's sent a letter," she remarked hopefully. She would not let herself think Ozai defeated him. She just wouldn't.

"You know Aang; he probably jumped right on Appa and forgot he _could_ send a letter."

She smiled at Zuko's attempt to reassure. "Yeah, I know."

***End Flashback**

Katara startled when the dishes in front of her clanged, someone picking them up. It was a servant. Loya was behind them, stacking dishes of her own.

The memory of that day still seared through her mind, even as she blinked it away. That moment itself was not packed full of drama but rather emotions. She had felt worry for the others, anger at Azula and Ozai, a remaining inkling of fear for Zuko in case of complications or his own stupidity to run until exhaustion caved him in, a more extreme streak of fear for what would happen if Aang and Sokka didn't come back, confusion at what was going on in the rest of the world, and nervous calamity as she mentally reorganized her own priorities during the still ,yet anxious, spells.

With all that rising up inside of her, she could not stand to be near Azula right now. If the water-bender caught the other girl staring one more time, she was sure she would snap. She saw her out – and she took it. "Let me help you," she offered to the servant. She picked up her own plate, added them to the ones in the servant's arms, took those, and headed off for the kitchen.

Loya fell in step beside her. Thankfully, she didn't say a word until they reached the clattering kitchens.

The kitchen staff was there – a total of four people – and there was enough commotion to drown out their quiet conversation from the rest of the noise. "I used to have a lot of animosity towards the princess – the help see the sides of people that even families don't see. But I will say that there is something genuinely different this time around," Loya remarked. "Her 'recovery', or whatever it is, is different."

Katara re-stacked the dishes so they wouldn't fall over on the countertops. She thought her words through carefully before she responded. "I just don't want Zuko to get taken by surprise and be hurt again. I want to spot it and stop it…." The memories fresh in her mind, she saw in almost slow motion how Azula turned to her, launched a lightning bolt at her, and she had just stood there, _paralyzed_. Zuko risked his life then for her and she had been struck with fear. She had regarded herself as the quickest of all of them and she had lost it then.

"In this case, I'm not even sure princess Azula knows what path she wants to take," Loya said, confiding her observations with a raised eyebrow. "She's at a crossroads and not even I, arguably the most _objective_ one here, can guess what she'll do."

Loya brushed past, leaving her in the kitchen. Katara couldn't help but think of the choice of words – _a crossroads._ Zuko had been at a crossroads once. She had tried to help him and she had been scorned. That was the root of their problems up until he had nearly given his life for hers. That was why she hadn't trusted him with the rest of the Gaang. He had chosen his sister at that moment, only to try to grovel his way back into the Avatar's – and her – good graces months later.

_Everyone makes mistakes_, she thought, stepping aside as another member of the staff moved past. She made mistakes, Zuko make mistakes, Aang made mistakes – everyone. However, as she thought back to the look on Azula's face when she began the Agni Kai with Zuko and at the moment she sent the lightning bolt and again when she continued to attack after he was lying on the ground unconscious, Katara could not help think that it was _not_ a mistake. Azula made a clear decision while mentally out of it, but it wasn't a mistake.

Katara rubbed her neck tiredly, stepping out of the bustling kitchen.

The only thing Azula could do was apologize. Ursa and now apparently Zuko had bought that – hook, line, and sinker. Katara felt a wave of déjà vu roll over her again. Back in the Fire Nation Royal Palace once more, contemplating her past, present, and future priorities.

It was draining.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	89. Day Care

**A/N: A **couple days' time jump between this chapter and the last. Also, I'm rushing to post this before the debate so my usual edits are not being done so therefore I apologize if the quality is not as up to par :S

Thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer: Don't own the show. Or the quotes and poems, now that I think about adding it. That's probably important.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."_

~Tom Bodett

* * *

><p>Katara listened thoughtfully to what Naoke, the head of the Fire Nation Teacher's Council's island district, was saying. He droned on about how his own tested school had done through their small experiment. Though his tone was dull and boringly factual, she found herself excited by the reports.<p>

Two months earlier, she had proposed – and they had agreed to try – a test: one school from each of the six teaching districts would add a dancing class to their curriculum, along with cutting some time off of the strict etiquette classes (those were two hours each day from the time the kid can speak to age fourteen; Katara was pretty confident that they would learn it all with only an hour and a half a day). Since she was the head of the council and didn't have one specific district, Katara piggy-backed off of the Northern Peninsula one, overseeing the chosen school. While there wasn't really all that much you could determine about a student body's mood change after introducing a simple dance class, they could take initial surveys.

And those were encouraging her right now.

"-most are alright with it; I haven't had any complaints. Changing subject material will bring a stronger reaction, but as of now... no objections; from me either," Noake finished pointedly.

She smiled and nodded. "Thank you. Ren?"

He ran a vein-y hand over his chin. "The capital will be more difficult. This is where our most powerful officials reside and send their children to school and it wasn't even a year ago that Fire Lord Ozai was still in power with the majority of support from them." Abhita – the head of the Southern Island district and whom despised Katara – shifted in her seat. Katara guessed she had been a supporter too; it certainly fit with the resistance she got from the other woman. "I've had a handful of complaints – nothing I can't handle. I do suggest that whatever change we do, it comes at a slower pace to my district." He shook his head, staring at her. "I am behind what you are doing but having parents – ones with significant clout in this city – storm my schools wouldn't be... wise."

She nodded again. "Thank you, Ren; I'll remember that."

He leaned back in his chair.

There was no one else left to speak that hadn't already, so she leaned forward, forearms resting along the edge of the conference table, and spoke again. "I hope I'm not the only one that finds these encouraging. I move for extending this extra class to all other schools that don't have it. Vote?" They all murmured agreements. "Those for?" This time Ren, Zeisch, and Noake, the woman that ran the Northern Peninsula district, raised her hand. She called for those against out of courtesy. It passed, five to two. Katara glanced around the entire table. "Meeting adjourned – oh and if anyone has any problems with the schools like Ren described, bring them to me, okay?"

They nodded, some vocally agreeing, and moved to leave. Katara had felt cooped up this past week at the palace. Now, she had an active role and she would never give that up. In fact, though, she had a place to go right now. Gathering her stuff, she startled when she heard someone speak next to her. "Miss?" She turned. It was the woman from the northern peninsula.

"Yes?" She inquired politely.

"I just wanted to tell you that the students really enjoyed your stay – none of them have met a non-Fire Nation person before. I would say foreigner but-" She pointed to Katara's distinctly red clothes; she shrugged. "It just meant a lot."

"I'm glad," Katara responded.

The other woman glanced to the door and back. She hesitated for a minute before speaking again. "Actually... I wasn't going to approve of what you're planning to do with the textbooks but... I don't know, if the Avatar was frozen in ice for a century and still came out as a peaceful person, then I guess our history has some holes in it."

Katara was stunned. Did she just get a pre-approval for what she wanted to do – changing their re-telling to a more accurate account? Instead of blubbering like a happy fool like she wanted to, she managed to maintain her composure and say, "Thank you for telling me that – I don't want to come across as an outsider. I just want the best for the kids and they deserve to know the truth, not propoganda."

With a departing smile, the other woman left.

Alone, Katara let herself grin proudly. Another step closer.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_So far, and so far, and on toward the end, _

_Singing what is sung in this book, from the irresistible impulses of me; _

_But whether I continue beyond this book, to maturity, _

_Whether I shall dart forth the true rays, the ones that wait unfired, _

_(Did you think the sun was shining its brightest?_

_No—it has not yet fully risen;)_

_~'So Far, and So Far, and on Toward the End,_' lines #1-6/12, Walt Whitman

* * *

><p>"I can't wait for this crowd to move – I love the distraction methods class," Toph divulged, groaning as they skirted around an aisle of tables. The two friends were moving through the cafeteria halls' crowded lines; as expected, the pace was agonizingly slow.<p>

"Same here," Aroon agreed. He leaned over and tapped her shoulder. "Oh hey, from today on out we're supposed to be dueling."

Her heart very nearly skipped a beat; she loved dueling. "Really?"

"Yep!"

She grinned satisfactorily. "Awesome! I can't wait."

He sniggered. "Want to pair up?"

"What, you think it'll be easier for you?" She asked, poking fun at him as only a friend can do and get away with.

"Hardly," he threw back immediately. "I offered to make it easier for _you_."

"Hah! That's good. Okay deal, we'll team up – _and_ I'll kick your butt and show you just how wrong you are." She held out her hand sideways as they now emerged from the cafeteria building.

He shook it. "Deal's a deal – no take-backs."

"You're the one that's going to regret that."

Their friendly bickering was cut short a handful of minutes later when they came upon their 'classroom'. Unlike the defense class, which was nearly a mile away, this one was only a dozen or so yards away from the camp. Their instructor began speaking as soon as the first person arrived; the others hustled to catch up. All of those in the group assembled in front of her quickly. She liked to give them long-winded and thorough explanations of different techniques and moves. The saving grace for Toph was that she demonstrated everything she talked about. Every _single_ thing.

Toph loved a good show.

After a solid half hour, their teacher instructed them to pair up of because today they would be dueling – and she would be judging on how much they remembered from what she said. 'Practice makes perfect', she had told them, 'but there's no better mind than the one that can be creative' – more or less – 'on the spot'. Toph immediately sought out Aroon and they walked off to the side.

"Begin," their instructor called to everyone.

Toph began first, going on the offensive by pushing a wall up from the earth and propelling spikes out at Aroon. Her friend dodged them expertly and fought back by blindsiding her with a localized earthquake. Stumbling back from the area of shaking ground, she managed to skirt away from his earth bomb, a ball of rock that explodes apart when it gets near enough to the desired object. It was a nasty move.

Their teacher blew her whistle. _No, I haven't even gotten a blow in yet,_ Toph nearly cried out. _And I haven't broken a sweat, either._ When the woman spoke, though, Toph quickly realized she was calling foul on another dueling pair.

Taking advantage of this lull accidentally brought about, she assaulted Aroon with a dust cloud. That made her sweat. Manipulating the dust particles was a tricky business, them being so fine and therefore usually elusive. Not to mention, of course, that they were suspended out of her reach. He coughed and spluttered, succumbing to its affliction. Next, she rose a column of earth up from under her feet. Column after column rose from the sandy ground, higher and higher, as she relied most heavily on her seismic sense jumping from on to the other, climbing further into the sky. The dust cloud was still settling; it would take Aroon a few minutes to see her.

In the meantime, Toph took advantage of his distracted state by joining all of the jagged columns together with a thin, mesh-like fence of chain. He coughed once after emerging from a protective – though useless against a more motivated earth-bender – rock slab shelter. She pressed her fist down to the raised floor, wrapping a fist of hard earth up to her elbow. Riding a wave, she launched down to attack.

Her heart rate was speeding up now, exhilaration-fueled adrenaline coursing through her veins. It made her grin in anticipation. _This_ was her comfort zone.

Her high-powered punch collided with his armored chest. Still propelled forward by the motion, Toph almost fell. Recovering, she spun around behind him. He was quick, she would hand him that. He instantly shackled her feet, pushing her down into a pit of quicksand. She let herself be pulled. When he stopped, seemingly confused, she took over and sunk all the way through, closing herself in with a resounding thud.

Tunneling down through the ground reminded her of when she ran away as a small child for a brief time to hide out in the caves outside of Gaoling. The badgermoles had been fond of burrowing deep in winding tunnels that anyone with sight would get lost in. Those were some of her happiest childhood memories. Obviously, she had different standards than most people.

She burst up inches from Aroon's side, bending the rock previously pulled around her to now encase him. Pushing her hands out and then against each other, Toph compressed him into a virtually inescapable tube. Just when she was going for the final blow, fully asserting her victory, their instructor blew her whistle again.

"Toph Beifong?" She asked, coming up beside them. She didn't act at all fazed by her other student locked into the rock.

"Yes?" Toph turned to address the teacher, brow furrowed. Aroon struggled to regulate his rapid breathing while pushing against his rocky binds. She kept some pressure invisibly intact. He wasn't in any harm's way, so she bit back a smile of amusement at his efforts.

"The, uh-" The woman paused, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. "The _Avatar_ is here to see you – in the main office."

Her hold dropped. Aroon fell out of the earth encasement, hitting the hard with a hard "ooph". "Seriou- I mean, uh, thanks – for telling me. Can I… go?" Toph's nails bit into the palms of her hands. Shock, thrill, and happiness burst at once, swimming through her, dangerously close to the threshold of containment. She knew she would regret it but she really wanted to hug her teacher right now for bringing her this news right away.

"Yes, you're excused."

She really didn't need to be told twice. With Aroon still recovering and befuddled behind her, she all but ran to the camp, weaving through the paths to the main administrative building. She burst through the door, not even bothering to feel guilty about the dent in its slab. All of them were earth-benders; it could be fixed in one second and would be soon enough. She focused on locating him with her seismic sense. "Aang!"

He jumped up from his chair at her disruptive entrance.

A swooping of air over her head, accompanied by the most distinctive chittering vocals she had ever heard, made her grin widen. "And Momo! Why – how-"

"We wrapped up everything in Yu Dao," he explained in a rush. "You have no idea how much you _missed_."

"It's only been three _months_," she admonished teasingly as he drew near.

Aang wrapped her into a tight hug. She circled her arms around him, savoring the moment that was the first in quite a while. "Yeah and it feels like three _years_."

She laughed into his shoulder at that, thinking about his being frozen for a hundred years. How could he know what a year feels like other than the fleeing-and-fighting of this past one? That wasn't by any means 'normal'. "I missed you – I have some stories of my own too, you know."

"I missed you too," he said, capturing her in a sweet kiss. Toph sighed. "Have you gotten in a lot of trouble?" Aang asked when they pulled apart. Momo came to rest on his shoulder and she, on his tapping insistence, rubbed his head affectionately.

Her lips morphed into a lopsided smirk. She rolled her eyes evasively. "Funny you should say that, Twinkletoes…."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."_

~Gail Sheehy

* * *

><p>Katara walked down the streets of the capital at a leisurely pace. She was one of few. Most were rushing past, seeming to be mid-way into something else – reaching a destination, shopping on a list, conversing with companions, eating out of a cardboard container of noodles. Because of this, she was reminded of Ba Sing Se. Ba Sing Se was the only other large city she had been to – really the only other one there was to visit in the world. The Earth Kingdom capital was much bigger in size, of course, but she measured it on the attitude of the people within.<p>

No, the two weren't that different after you stripped away the prideful prejudices. People weren't that different. That was the fundamental element it all boiled down to – the people.

She pushed open the single door leading into a modest, narrow building. It had three floors, all rented out to different companies She climbed to the second. The little sign with painted hand prints in the hallway made her smile for the second time she saw it.

"Miss Katara!" She was greeted with by a rarely-gray-eyed woman. All of her other features were purely Fire Nation.

Katara smiled warmly, amused at the continued politeness she received wit the 'Miss' title. The Fire Nation was large into formalities. "Hey, I was in the neighborhood; do you need any extra hands today?"

"Not really but I won't pass up the help! I must say, I'm surprised you're back – forgive me, I thought it was a one-time visit." Her cheeks flushed.

The water-bender had found the place the day after arriving back at the capital. It was also the day after they had all – Azula included – dined in the courtyard of the palace. That had been the deciding factor in her going for a walk and thus finding this hole-in-the-wall place. What made her enter the day-care was a sort of accumulation of experiences over the past two months.

At the school in the northern peninsula, there was also an attached day-care. As an observer, she kept her distance from becoming too acquainted with the teachers, as well as the students. However, it was also as an observer that she had half of the day to herself. And _only_ herself.

So, she had begun volunteering at the day-care. Katara loved helping out with the kids. She'd never done anything like it before. While she was generally a stickler for the familiar, her personality was also quite a contradiction – she liked a _challenge_.

Not to say that was all it was.

The kids were cute and even in the middle of their temper-tantrums, they lightened her mood. They gave her perspective. For as bad as her problems could be or at least seemed to be, others had problems too. Communities had problems, countries had problems, the world had problems. _Aang probably has the most problems_, she thought as the administrator directed her over to a bald child playing with a set of wood-carved animals. _Maybe not now but he will. He juggles the world._

She sat down in a cross-legged fashion. The boy looked up at her for a long moment, openly quizzical. His still developing mind discovered he did not know her and he innocently held out a tigermonkey shaped toy. Katara imitated a growl as she moved it in a walking gesture over to his panda bear. He giggled. Katara smiled happily.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	90. Confrontations and Blue Flames

**A/N: **Well this is just Fire Nation/Azula/Katara all the time, now isn't it?

Both quotes are lyrics – I was lazy (even went to the same site for them) ;P

Sorry if the quality is not as good as usual, I was having trouble writing the transitions between the scenes' emotions in such a way that I liked it and even now only feel like I'm half-happy with it – and it's been a crappy week (which probably relates to the former problem). But it was made all the bit brighter when I saw this morning that someone favorited this story! So thanks to everyone reading How Things Change; it means a TON! *large virtual group internet hug*

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_She believes that life is made up of all that you're used to_

_And the clock on the wall has been stuck at three for days, and days_

_She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway_

_But outside it's stopped raining"_

_'3 AM', _Matchbox Twenty

* * *

><p>A tickle formed at the base of her neck. Ursa cleared her throat loudly. It didn't help much. She continued to read her letter, holding it open awkwardly with one hand, the other reaching up to rub just above her collarbone in relief. The letter was from Iroh.<p>

Nothing different in terms of time-consuming things were happening for either of them but nonetheless, their correspondence was becoming a bit erratic. He was working more at the Jasmine Dragon, business picking up because of some Upper Ring festival happening within the month. It was only a strain because he didn't sacrifice any time spent at the soup kitchen, either; she encouraged him to keep his focus there, too. She was spending much more time with Azula. It sounded like nothing, but when she brought her daughter back to the palace more than three months earlier things were different. Azula often wanted to be left to her lonesome self. Ursa let her because after a few tries to comfort, Azula had snapped that she was being coddled.

It was true.

A mother's instinct was a mother's instinct, the child's need for independence usually not regarded by accidental default. However, now it was much different – her daughter seemed to want her around all the time. Even now in the sun room, with Azula sketching quietly in her chair and Ursa across the room in hers reading a letter, they were together.

The true test of seeing if you like the company of another is if you're both collectively quiet, going about your own things, and still find the other's company comforting. Sometimes, just the other presence – a _known_ one – is the nicest.

Ursa smiled as she began reading a particular paragraph in Iroh's letter. He was talking about Beik, some young woman whom also volunteered at the soup kitchen; the two are friends. She hoped to at some point she could meet the girl. She was contented to know that he was not isolating himself. As if he was the type of person to do that in the first place. Maybe at one time – _maybe_ – but no, Iroh was the type who opened up; he shared, honestly and completely. She continued reading through the letter.

Azula's fingers slid between the thick cloth page she was sketching on and the one behind it absently. They stilled as a muted growling sound echoed starkly through the room. Ursa looked up. Azula glanced over, an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry – that was, uh, my stomach."

Ursa smiled understandingly. Her own stomach was feeling increasingly empty as well. "Want me to get us a snack?"

"Uh yeah, sure."

She stood and folded up the letter scroll, setting it down lightly on the seat of her previously occupied chair. "I'll be right back," she promised.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_I been trying to do it right_

_I been living a lonely life_

_I been sleepin' here instead_

_I been sleepin' in my head_

_I been sleepin' in my bed_

_So show me family_

_All the blood that I will bleed_

_I don't know where I belong_

_I don't know where I went wrong_

_But I can write a song"_

_~'Ho Hey',_ The Lumineers

* * *

><p><em>Maybe it's not fair,<em> Katara thought pensively. She approached the double doors to the courtyard. Pushing them open with her back, the water-bender continued looking down at the pile of papers in her arms as she thought. _No, it's not very fair,_ she decided. She wouldn't force a school that's hesitant to her plans to then cater to her whims, as she's head of the Fire Nation Teacher's Council. That meant now three of the five schools were out. She had wanted to begin volunteering at one in the capital. It had been fun when she did it in the northern peninsula. It was supposed to be easy, eliminating the schools. She thought there would be more choices than just _two_.

She was wrong.

Narrowing it down was a stricter process than she automatically assumed. Any place with people at the head that hated the water tribes? Definite 'no'. Any place initially rejecting the dance class? Definite 'no'. Any place where lying propaganda is _literally_ lining the walls? Definite 'no'. Turned out that all of the reasons she crossed off the three were ones she wouldn't go back on. Would not, could not – it was relative. But she would stay firm on it.

She yearned for the distraction volunteering at a school or academy would bring.

Katara stopped, feeling a distinctive prickling sensation. Someone was watching her. She just knew it. Katara felt eyes on the back of her neck. She glanced up halfway across the now revived, blossoming courtyard, scanning the walls around it.

_Azula_. In the sun room. Staring right at her.

For a minute, she wondered if they were having an unofficial-official contest of who-blinks-first. It was ridiculously petty and childish and almost made her laugh. However, she did not because all she could think of after that very short – _seconds short_ kind of short – train of thought ran out of her mind was: _that insane fire-bender has the nerve to watch me like a stalker._

Katara couldn't help herself – all rational thought left her mind. Long-simmering frustration burst forth. Stomping across the courtyard, detouring her path (actually erasing it completely), she threw open the double doors to another hallway and then marched into the sun room, whose door was invitingly open. "What are you doing?" She demanded.

Azula blinked from her chair, suspended in a half-stunned state. "What?"

She huffed, folding her arms. "I asked – what are you doing? You were staring at me."

The minute ticked by. "...So?" Katara almost threw up her hands but managed to contain herself. The message of her high-strung emotions carried across perfectly. In the span of one second, Azula's gaze switched from confused to annoyed. She stood and glared. "I can 'stare' wherever I want. Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do, _water peasant_?"

She felt like she had been slapped. Her blood pressure skyrocketed in her veins and Katara clenched her fists together, glaring defiantly back. "I am not a _water peasant_ and my opinion does mean something considering you're _crazy_ and would say anything. If I said you even tried to fire-bend _against_ me, you would be right back in prison. Where you _belong_."

Azula smirked, reminding the water-bender in a quick flash of what she had seen the Fire Nation princess look like during her and Zuko's Agni Kai. "Wow, threats; I didn't know you had it in you." Her lips twisted into a scowl, body stalking a few feet forward. "This is my home, _not_ yours, so stop getting all possessive mother cat on me, got it?"

'_Possessive mother cat'?_ Katara almost laughed. But she refrained from doing so because now really was not the time; she had no idea how the teenager in front of her would react. Why was she here again? Oh right, she had been an idiot. That's why. This was why she tried to avoid the other girl at all costs. "How can you think this is your home?" Katara asked, deceptively calm. A large part of her wanted to egg the other girl into doing something disastrous – for her – and the other part of her just wanted to get it out. All of her opinions, all of her frustrations and anger with the princess out in the open. No more hiding it or pretending it isn't there when it obviously won't go away any time soon. "A home isn't where you hate and undermine your brother for the first how many years of your life? A home isn't where you sit down with _psychotic_ Ozai and plan to kill people and ransack land! How can you still see this place as a home when only a block away you tried to kill Zuko! Your brother!

"I can't believe he's _understanding_ about everything you've done that I know about just this past year, _let alone_ the maybe half that he's told me about your childhood. Tell me, were you always _insane_ or did you think letting go of reality would make Ozai, the_ worst man on earth,_ 'love' you more?" Her words were all but dripping with sarcasm during the last sentence. Katara held the golden eyes in front of her the entire time, passionate cries dying off and making way for cold, stabbing words.

Azula's hands came ablaze with her signature blue flames. Her look was positively murderous. Still, tense, she stood there. One wrong move on Katara's part and she would be in big trouble.

But despite the trickling of instinctual fear in her chest, Katara could not honestly say she was _scared_. It felt good to finally drop all this truth on the table. Azula needed to know the truth; it didn't seem like anyone else was giving it to her. And Katara was more than happy doing it. "Do you wish you'd killed him?" She whispered out, voice shaking slightly when she spoke of Zuko. "Because you came _really_ close. Did you want to be Fire Lord so badly, did you want to personally send _your people_ to their _deaths,_ did you want to order the _genocides_ of people so badly that you would kill your brother for it? How is any of that _worth_ it?

"You gave him a scar – just like _Ozai_ did." Katara curled her lip in disgust. No matter what changed, no matter what teetered away in her mind to become an unimportant grudge years downline, she would _never_ forgive Azula for that. She knew only a miniscule amount of how much he had struggled with the branding scar on his face and it pained her. It had pained her even after he had chosen his family over their Gaang in the crystal caves. She had seen him as human and it wasn't easily washed away. That was why it had taken her so long to forgive him. But she had. Azula? _Never_. "I wish I'd killed you in that plaza but the only thing keeping me from regretting it is that if I was _one_ minute late, Zuko wouldn't be here today. And that will always be on your conscience."

Her blue flames cracked, flamed brightly, and then extinguished. Her shoulders hunched. "You should've," Azula said with a voice strangely devoid of emotion.

The brunette and raven-haired teenager stared at each other intensely. Katara pulled her arms down to her sides as she assessed the other person across the room. It made no sense – why would she just… _stop_? Dozens of questions ran through Katara's mind, stumbling over each other.

Azula simply dropped back down in her chair, feet lifting away to show unblemished pads among the charred radius of tile. "Go." It wasn't a request, nor a complete order. As stubbornly defiant as she usually was, Katara turned and pushed against the sun room's door, giving Azula that small and lonesome bit of satisfaction. She just wanted to be away, _get_ away. It had been stupid to come in all high-and-mighty like she had. There really was no point.

A headache swam on the edge of her mind, throbbing against her temples.

* * *

><p>"Excu- <em>Katara<em>; what are you-" Ursa began, corrected herself, and then stopped all within a few seconds, realizing who exactly it was that she was talking to. And whom she had left in the room that the sweet water-bender was now coming out of.

Katara brushed past without a word. Ursa almost called her back but, again, stopped herself. _Katara wouldn't_…. Shaking her head of that like of thought, she entered the room with trepidation. Her heart leapt into her throat as she took in the scorch marks on the floor. The lump subsided, slipping a little lower than the nausea-inducing spot when she spied her daughter sitting exactly where she had been before, looking wholly untouched.

"What's wrong?" She asked hesitantly, setting the tray with two soup bowls aside. Her appetite was gone now. _Why would Katara come here? _She wondered on that and couldn't help feeling a little upset with the normally well-tempered water-bender. Obviously something happened; the tension hung in the air like the humidity now returning with Spring. Her daughter was fragile; she wouldn't bring up the other girl. Not right now. Not when the only person that could have made those dangerous marks was also the one that's fragile – _emotionally_.

Azula's eyes were transfixed on the wall to her right.

Ursa pulled up her chair. "Sweetheart? Tell me and we can fix it." She reached out to hold her daughter's arm comfortingly.

Azula whipped her head around. "There's no 'we' – you can't fix it," She bit out. Her face was in a mask, eyes downcast on the hand resting on her arm. Ursa pulled it away, frowning. Her daughter hadn't snapped at her like that more than a handful of times within the past year and each one hurt more than the last. Azula sighed nearly inaudibly. "I caused it, I have to deal with it." She turned to stare back at the wall.

Ursa scooted backwards against her chair, biting her lip in consternation. A large part of her wanted to track Katara down and ask her just what in the world happened in the fifteen minutes she was gone. There was no way she would ask her daughter now – Azula was... well, she was obviously wounded. Not physically; _psychologically_. With a hopeful heart, she took that as another good sign.

_Zuko_. Her son would have to know about this. _Where were the guards? _She wondered briefly. Except – _right, at the end of the hallway._ Where she had asked them to stay. The same guards who, apparently, didn't know how disastrous a Katara and Azula meeting would be. She would have to tell them about that later...

For now, Ursa reached out again and placed her hand on her daughter's upper back. Azula stayed in her position, making no move or sign of rebellion against her. Ursa rubbed her hand in circles, comfortingly. She would deal with everything else later. Her daughter came first. Always.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	91. Musings and Towels

**A/N: **Not much happening this chapter - think of it as sort of a 'catch up' one. All the same, hope it entertains at least a smidgen. Swear I've gone over this document 4+ times but there are probably some grammatical/spelling mistakes so, as always, my apologies! Thanks for reading :-)

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_A caterpillar,_

_this deep in fall-_

_still not a butterfly._

_'A caterpillar', _Matsuo Basho

* * *

><p>Zuko paced down the hallway, memorizing the facts on the page in front of him. He was outside of the Crescent room, a meeting room in the palace, counting down the minutes until his sit-down with the local government of the capital. Five minutes left. It was a quarterly report; completely standard. Unfortunately, because of all the time he had recently spent away from his desk and away dealing with other matters, it had been no small feat to simply prepare. Normally, unlike the last time he'd done this (he had only been to one of these meetings, the one after his coronation), he felt like he was playing a juggling game.<p>

Soft, recognizable footsteps thrummed down the hallway. He glanced sideways to see his mother coming around the bend. "Zuko," she called with obvious relief pouring through. He half-smiled at her and straightened, tucking the paper away. "Are you busy?" She added seemingly as an afterthought as she drew near. Her head tilted as she looked past him and to the doors along the wallpapered walls. The Crescent room was the farthest down.

He shook his head, taking her in. Something was... off. "Is something wrong?"

She hesitated, hands wriggling in her clothes' pockets out of nervousness. His mind gave the mental version of shrugging, a gesture he wouldn't let his shoulders do. He was already exhausted enough. If he let go of his ramrod posture, Zuko was not sure he could recover it today. Regardless, he had the answer to his question just by watching her. "Maybe," Ursa settled on. "Katara-" He tensed. "-saw Azula... Alone."

"When?" He immediately questioned.

"Yesterday."

Zuko wracked his brain for a reason why should would go see his sister. A suffering expulsion of air came from his lips. There were several reasons, none of them particularly good. In fact, he only things he could think of were negatives that did not sound like her at all. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she admitted, appearing as disturbed by that as he was feeling. "I left to get us lunch and when I came back Katara was rush- I mean, leaving."

He caught her slip up. His lips tightened into a white line. "Was she upset?"

"Zu-"

"Did Azula fire-bend?" He immediately countered, the other thought occurring to him at random.

His mother blinked and shifted on her feet. He gave her credit for not breaking eye contact.

Still, he groaned at her denial of an answer. "Mother…."

"Yes, she did, but-" Ursa held a hand up, warning him not to say anything. He acquiesced with a tightened jaw. "-she didn't do it against Katara; she fire-bended against the tile floor. She had some control."

"She still fire-bended and she's not supposed to at all!" He rubbed a hand against his un-scarred cheek. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" He switched sub-topic, focusing on a less aggravating train of questioning. He focused on reigning in his hot-headed tendencies. He needed to stay calm; he had a meeting in less than two minutes and arriving disheveled and in an out-of-mind state would not be good. And besides, his mother hiding information about his sister mostly made him sad and wary, not angry; though he was a healthy amount of that, too. He just wasn't sure who to direct that at.

"Orez said you were busy and Azula is fine, sh-"

"Family is more important – you can interrupt whenever you need, I've told you that." Zuko stopped. He knew his mother was simply confused, worried, and full of the same positive-bias with Azula that she had been as of late. That, compiled with the friendship she developed with Katara, clashed into becoming a cringing combination. His attention was better focused elsewhere – like talking to Katara. Or his sister. Whoever he could get to first.

Knowing what they said was the most important thing. He really didn't want to walk around on tip-toes waiting for Azula to explode because a little thing like the wrong bread sets her off – he would not walk around on tip-toes for her. His mother might be happy to do that, but no way in the coldest parts of the world would he be doing that. This was the perfect storm for him to explode but he wouldn't. Not now. He was better than that... at least he was doing better than that lately. No more Shinu's or Mayor Morishita's in front of him at the minute.

"I have a meeting that I'm probably late for so promise me you won't go to Katara, okay? She hates Azula – asking her about it will probably make it worse. And tell me if this happens again, okay? Immediately. I'll talk to Azula and Katara as soon as I can..." He sighed and took hold of one of her hands, letting it hang in the air between them. He tried to comfort her with, "Whatever she said didn't have Azula exploding like, well, like I thought. Take that as a good sign, I guess."

Ursa nodded and flashed him a small, fleeting smile. She was more worried over this than he had originally assumed. He would have to make sure to remember to take her out somewhere soon; one on one time. She needed some time away. He couldn't help thinking how dramatic all of their lives were. _Maybe it's a curse on the palace_, he thought, going back to when it originated. It almost distracted. _Almost_. He should not be distracted right now, though.

"And don't freak out – I'm going to put more guards on my sister. Visible ones."

"You don't trust your sister," Ursa stated morosely but this time resignedly.

He squeezed her hand. The hard truths were, to be redundant, always the hardest to execute, too. "No, Mother, I don't. But this is also to keep Katara away in case, I don't know – just until I've spoken with her. She's more stubborn than me when it comes to forgiving an enemy-"

"Azula's not an enemy," Ursa objected, forever defending her daughter. _Like a guardian angel. _That thought made Zuko smile. It's the little things.

He shook his head. "I know. Katara doesn't have the blood of family to make that difference, okay? Azula's an enemy to Katara and that's not going to change anytime soon. I've got to go – promise me you'll just try and be sensitive. With Azula," he added as an afterthought in case she misunderstood.

She nodded once curtly. "Go, the Fire Nation needs you."

He squeezed her hand one last time and headed down the hallway, trying to push all thoughts about these new developments in the mess that was what his sister did out of his mind for now. Except this time, strangely enough, it wasn't his sister. It was _Katara_. And Katara hated Azula. So why would she go confront her?

_Stupid question, _he chastized himself. He knew she had a lot to say to his sister – and none of it pretty. He grimaced. Yeah, his sister was probably pissed off right now. It was better to go to her first, although he knew he would get a mouthful for it. He already regretted it.

The one thing he was unable to wrap his mind around was the timing. _Yesterday_. Twenty-four hours ago, give or take – leaning towards the 'take column. A day and Katara hadn't said anything? He didn't understand that part. And now he really wanted to know what was exchanged. Unfortunately, he would have to ask Katara about that. And he wouldn't be talking to her first. Zuko determinedly pushed all of that out of his mind and focused, again, on the meeting room in front of him as he walked in.

He didn't apologize for being late – family interruptions didn't get an apology.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I meditate_

_So that I can inundate_

_My entire being_

_With the omnipotent_

_Power of peace._

_~'Power of peace'_, Sri Chinmoy

* * *

><p>Iroh glanced at the door again worriedly. She was now officially late, somewhere near being ten minutes late. "Do you think she was robbed?" Lao Jin threw out recklessly, saying it with a bored look.<p>

He rolled his eyes. Tung was the one that spoke. "That's one of the worst case possibilities, now isn't it?"

Lao Jin looked over to the cane-holding man. "Yeah... What?"

"I just find it strange that you went 'there'."

"There?" He asked the other man, ignoring his girlfriend, whom opened her mouth to answer for him.

Tung waved his hand around, using his other to balance his cane against the table he was sitting at. "Yes, the darker side, the negative, and so on."

_He always does, _Iroh almost said but refrained, too distracted as he thought over Beik's absence. Jin's girlfriend closed her mouth.

Lao Jin wasn't five words into his exasperated response before a rapid succession of knocking on the Jasmine Dragon's front doors sounded. Iroh stood quickly to answer them. Beik stood on the other side, along with three other girls, looking flushed in a bundled coat. She burst through. "Sorry we're late – kitchen was a mess. Who's hungry?" She offered, setting a covered dish on one of the tables. Iroh smiled as he closed the door behind her, relaxing again. In the two months since they started having these weekly dinners, the Fire Nation prince grew fond of all his friends; perhaps the most of the young chef. He liked to be a mentor, doing it often with Zuko, and she certainly loved hearing all of his clichéd phrases.

Beik introduced her three friends, fellow food-enthusiasts she met at past competitions. One of the girls, Raven, was the newest to the group, having met Beik at one just two weeks ago, and her dish had received an honorable mention. She had been happy with that, especially as she was so young and therefore considered naïve. Lao Jin snorted at the unique, unusual name and Beik slapped his arm.

Introductions over, they each took a bowl and dug in; Tung more vigorously than the rest. Iroh waited expectantly as Beik scooted her chair closer to him. Morio walked past them, excusing himself to use the bathroom. "What's the deal with Jin's girlfriend?" She whispered.

"What do you mean?" He inquired right back, amused at her questioning and also at the situation she was talking of.

A smirk tugged softly at her lips. "It's _Jin_; he doesn't have the best personality. We're all friends with him but he's more like the family member you cannot get rid of - if you do, you just end up missing him. But a girl finding him _attractive_?" Beik wore a dumbfounded expression. "I don't _get_ it."

"Everyone has someone for them, whether we realize it or not," he answered vaguely, admittedly not understanding it much himself.

Beik twirled her cup in her hand. "I never really believed those destiny saying but I don't know anymore. Maybe you're growing on me," she joked.

"Maybe," Iroh smiled back. "To your win." He held up his own cup for a toast, referencing the competition two weeks ago.

She grinned. "Stop congratulating me so much – but thank you!"

They clinked glasses.

He could relate to her feelings - he had not always had the same mindset, though he was always more inclined towards wanting to believe all the fancy, wise sayings about destiny, paths of life, necessary personal struggles, power versus love, and so on. There were numerous reasons for his belief in the greater power concept but ultimately the first one starting him down that path was Lu Ten's death. It had been devastating. For a long time after, he had been angry. Who wouldn't? Self-loathing had taken over his being.

It had been a struggle to recover himself but he had, slowly yet surely. Iroh chose his beliefs and he sent his young friend silent well-wishes for her to have success finding her own way as well. There was always a catalyst for instances like that. He had a suspicious feeling it had to do with Morio, one of their fellow volunteers, whom she had a crush on. He smiled, hoping her catalyst was much more positive.

"So what about you?" Beik asked absent-mindedly, turning her attention back to her dish. "Anyone for you – like family? Or love?" She glanced surreptitiously across the table to Morio.

Iroh chewed slowly, contemplating what she said. He took a deep, cleansing breath before responding. "I don't know, Beik. You love family."

She looked over at him again, rolling her shoulders back as she straightened. "True." Beik lifted her cup. "Then another toast – to all forms of love."

Iroh smiled and nodded to her.

"Who are you two toasting?" Morio asked, leaning across the two tables' width, as they were pushed together.

Beik blushed furiously and she fumbled with setting her cup down. Iroh simply grinned and listened in on the conversation the majority of the table was participating in already. Beik went back to her food as Morio tried to send Iroh a quizzical stare.

"You told them who you were, right?"

"No!" Tung chuckled. "And it was a good choice, I found out later. I managed to skate by without anyone knowing except old Mr. Wasthi but he had gone traveling, remember, so I kept my promise to my friend. The Avatar Day festival was organized and to this day I don't believe anything went wrong except me. You see-" He said quickly when Beik's friends opened their mouths, eagerness present on their confused faces. "-my _friend_ hadn't told me what Chin Village's Avatar Day entailed and I think he had back out when he found out. As soon as I found out, I left as well but it threw the whole town into confusion and my poor buddy could never step foo-"

Beik yelped and jumped up. A dark rail announcing absorbed moisture ran down her stomach to pool on top of her thigh. As soon as she stood, it continued down her legs. "Rave, you spilled tea on me!"

"Sorry!" Her friend guiltily squeaked, jerking around for something to give Beik apologetically, so she could clean her clothes – at least temporarily.

"I'll get a towel," Iroh suggested and stood, moving to the kitchen quickly. He pushed through the dividing doors. The towels were usually held in the second cupboard drawer next to the back door but it was with an unfortunate slip of memory that Iroh found it empty. Since making these friend dinners, Iroh scheduled the restaurant's laundry cycles at the same time, taking advantage of the half-day loss already. He sighed and grabbed his key-ring hanging on a hook by his right.

He mounted the steps to his second floor loft quickly. The dead bolt hadn't been locked tonight and the former Fire Nation General was glad to have made that decision earlier. He grabbed two towels from his cupboard, pausing hastily to smile when he caught the shimmer of a glassy rock, the same one lying atop a recent letter from Ursa. Another of their trading trinkets. He made a promise to himself to reply to her letter when he locked up behind his friends later that evening – most of her news lately was about Azula and he could not help but feel wary about her actions. However, he also knew the bond a parent has with their child, something his nephew was obviously having a hard time walking the line between – to judge or not to judge. Iroh shook his head and he continued back down the steps hurriedly.

"Here you go," Iroh said, handing his friend a towel and setting another off to the side, just in case. She thanked him and cleaned herself up again. A few minutes passed and they sat down to resume their dinner. Tung was at a loss, unsure where he had left off in his story.

Raven turned to Lao Jin. "What is the Avatar Day festival?"

Tung blinked. "You don't know?" She shook her head. "Then none of my story made any _sense_! Here, you explain," he gestured to Jin.

The university student cleared his throat loudly. Iroh shared a winking glance with Tung as the young man sitting across from them sat up straighter and launched into his explanation almost smugly. Beik snickered. "…celebration of desecrating the Avatars because Avatar Kyoshi defeated their leader, Chin the Conqueror. They aren't doing it anymore; the present Avatar saved them from a Fire Nation invasion, so now they just honor him."

"Whoa, they must've really hated Avatar Kyoshi." Raven frowned and poured herself some more juice. "I thought everyone _loved_ the Avatars."

Beik leaned over the table sideways towards the middle, propping her elbows up. "So Jin, where did your girlfriend go?" Iroh looked up. Indeed, in the time he had gone to get a towel it seemed the light-haired student had left.

Jin bristled slightly at her tone. "Studying; we have end-of-year exams coming up and she forgot the first one was tomorrow."

"Good luck with those," Tung interjected, full of sympathy. "I went to the University too and those can be quite hard."

He looked unsure how to take the well-wishes. "_Er_, thank you."

"By chance, is the vine-carved fountain still there?"

"Yeah, why?"

Tung smiled conspiratorially. "I have another story – this one time, me and my young friends pranked a teacher with the fountain, his stolen robes, and lots of ground up soap bars…."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	92. Advice

**A/N:** Aw yeah, replacing my 6 years old home office furniture. I'm way more happy than I should be :D

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this chapter. No Zuko and Azula convo – I'm still polishing that up so it'll be next chapter; sorry!

Thanks for reading :-)

**Disclaimer: I own a new desk and bookshelf but no, I have no claim on A:LA or its characters. So sad, disclaimer, you crush my dreams.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Sisters of the tuneful train,_

_Attend your parent' s jocund strain,_

_'Tis Fancy calls you; follow me_

_To celebrate the Jubilee._

_~'Roundelay', _stanza #1/9, Richard Jago

* * *

><p>Momo swooped down over the crowd again, chittering obnoxiously as he disrupted groups walking and holding conversations. Toph found it funny. Aang left her side in order to chase after him, corralling him away before he could cause any real trouble. That was part of the agreement made behind him staying in the Terra Team camp – no disruptions.<p>

Aroon spoke up from her other side, approaching from another group. "You and the Avatar are cozy, huh?"

As irrational and out of character as it was, Toph found herself lighting up with the tiniest bit of a blush. "Yeah," she settled on.

"That's pretty cool."

"Uh, thanks?"

He snorted in amusement. "So do you get to call in favors?" Toph huffed, offended, and reached sideways to punch him. Not slap – a full on punch in the stomach. "Ouch! What, it's an honest question!"

"It's a stupid question!" She fired back.

Aroon chortled. "Yeah, okay, so you don't see a little bit of value in dating the most powerful person in the world?" She could almost see him cocking a smug eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"I don't see him like that, got it?" She crossed her arms.

"Really?" He repeated.

"Yes, really – it's what happens when you know someone and don't stalk them, like you've been doing with Suzie-what's-her-name. Drop it." Toph was becoming increasingly annoyed at his pestering. She may have her sarcasm firing at full force most of the time but her use for it was completely different than his – he could be a bit of a... well a 'playboy' was too strong of a word, given how shy he could become. Still, they had their sarcasms for different reasons; she felt like punching him again for asking her about Aang like that.

Thankfully, he did drop it, instead taking offense to her comments about his love – _lust_ – life. "I don't stalk Suzie – and her last name's Whon, you know."

"Nope, didn't – and _total_ stalker."

"Hey," he objected indignantly.

"Just calling it how I hear it." Toph's lips molded into a satisfied grin over the fact that she managed to get him riled up. And she hadn't even used five percent of the ammunition she possessed on the matter – he really had no idea how many conversations she had overheard of him talking with another friend or, worse, the Suzie girl herself. His confidence left him with nothing in return when it came to flirting with a girl for the first time since she'd known him; the Suzie woman would not be charmed so easily.

After his petty comments about her relationship with Aang, Toph couldn't help feeling a bit happy about his upset mood, too.

"Momo," she heard Aang warn the flying lemur once they were within earshot of each other again. "Sorry, he wouldn't stop terrorizing this one guy. Bad Momo," he scolded.

"Aw, you're not being punished, Momo, we just don't want you getting in trouble." She reached out to rub his down-turned ears. They perked right up.

"No-" Aang warned but it was too late. Her words were the magic ones, apparently, because now Momo took off again, leaving the three of them in the dust. "Toph!"

"Sorry," she gave him an apologetic smile. He rushed in the direction of the mischievous animal once more. This time, however, she was pretty sure he used the aid of air-bending.

"I love that guy – where can I get one?" Aroon asked, half-joking.

"Flying lemurs are extinct – he's the last of his kind," she informed solemnly.

His tone changed, delving softer. "Really? That sucks."

"Yeah, try not to dwell on it," Toph advised. "Come on, I want to get seats this time – and try to get one for Aang, too."

They walked into the same hall she remembered from their introductions, three months ago. Yesterday they had all been given notice of an announcement occurring today but no information – literally _nothing_ – was given or at the very least leaked to them about what it was regarding. They snagged three seats in a middle row. The place was barely keeping itself from erupting into speculative buzz.

Aang arrived a couple minutes later, sliding into his seat with a disgruntled huff. He was hardly ever like this. She guessed it had to do with the animal-caused bulge he was wrestling with between the folds of his robes.

"Give him here," she requested.

He hesitated for a minute. Momo's large ears sat up ram-rod straight as soon as he was let out; they bumped into her forearm. Toph took him and firmly held him in her lap. He squirmed at first, excited by the activity and new people around him. However, one massage behind the ears later, he curled up like a baby in her lap. She smiled at how he purred like a cat.

Aroon chuckled at her side. Aang simply continued to pet Momo – they had done this several times at the temples. She managed to find the lemur's special spot that got him purring and only she managed it.

The room quickly descended into silence as scuffing from the opposite side of the room, in front of them, could be heard. She leaned forward a minuscule amount in her seat, as did nearly everyone else in the room – except Aang. He sat calmly, enjoying the show without any sense of trepidation whatsoever.

She was almost envious.

The person at the podium tapped his fingers on the wooden piece of furniture in front of him, gaining the rest of the peoples' attention who somehow missed his entrance. She recognized his voice when he began speaking; it was the Head Training Officer of the camp. "Thank you all for arriving promptly – I see we aren't missing anybody." Toph swore she could hear a hint of laughter in his voice at that remark. "Good." He cleared his throat. "The Terra Team representative and I have teamed together throughout the past month and have successfully put together a new final test for everyone, courtesy of the active Terra Team – it's dueling."

A murmur swept through the student body. Aang leaned to the side. "Do you know what this means?" He asked. She knew by his tone that he was genuinely clueless as well, not that she expected him to know. She shook her head. Leaning to her other side, she asked Aroon the same thing.

"It's a qualifier – what we, well _they_, used to do before the war. It got scrapped because the Earth Kingdom started trying to put them, the Terra Team, up at all the port cities but that failed, so they never brought it back," he explained.

"But who do we duel?" She persisted.

"-from the Terra Teams will be arriving within the next two weeks." She caught the Head Training Officer say.

She put the pieces together at the same moment Aroon responded, "Some of the existing Terra Team."

"Awesome," Aang said, petting Momo awkwardly underneath her now-leaning position, the same Momo who was now grumping at her limp hand. She absently started rubbing his ears again.

Toph felt elation course through her – she was way more excited than she ought to be, but she didn't care. She could fall failing miserably onto her behind during the duels and grin all the while doing so. She was going to be meeting someone, some people, from the Terra Team – the elitist of the elite in the Earth Kingdom. And she was going to duel them. She would get to duel _elite_ earth-benders!

"Awesome," Toph echoed Aang's words, gaining some stares for her loud voice. She didn't care when Aroon pointed it out.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Oh, days of beauty standing veiled apart,_

_With dreamy skies and tender, tremulous air,_

_In this rich Indian summer of the heart_

_Well may the earth her jewelled halo wear._

_The long brown fields - no longer drear and dull -_

_Burn with the glow of these deep-hearted hours,_

_Until the dry weeds seem more beautiful,_

_More spiritlike than even summer's flowers._

_But yesterday the world was stricken bare,_

_Left old and dead in gray, enshrouding gloom;_

_To-day what vivid wonder of the air_

_Awakes the soul of vanished light and bloom?_

_Sharp with the clean, fine ecstasy of death,_

_A mightier wind shall strike the shrinking earth,_

_An exhalation of creative breath_

_Wake the white wonder of the winter's birth._

_In her wide Pantheon - her temple place -_

_Wrapped in strange beauty and new comforting,_

_We shall not miss the Summer's full-blown grace,_

_Nor hunger for the swift, exquisite Spring._

_~'Prevision', _Ada Foster Murray

* * *

><p>Loya had had a busy day. It seemed the whole palace's staff had heard about Katara and Azula's not-so-little run-in – which meant, of course, that she was one of the first to know. It was amazing what being the head of something entailed; if someone knew something, they ran to you as if it, well, got them good favor. Unfortunately, being one of the few that knows meant she had repeated it to others somewhere within the vicinity of five times today. It may not sound like a lot, sure, but it got old real fast.<p>

However, although everyone knew at least one version of the story, no one was certain of what exactly transpired. No one had been there when it happened – which was very disappointing to Loya. What could she say, she liked gossip – but this stuff had hardly _any_ facts in it at all. The only reason they, the staff, knew was because a servant had been cleaning a nearby room when the Fire Lord and former Fire Lady had argued.

Ursa was nowhere outside of the northern wing, therefore nowhere in the vicinity of Loya to talk to. So besides hearing everyone else's take on the events, their outrageous speculations included, the day continued on much the same. That was until she accidentally walked into Katara as she opened the door of the room she was just leaving. Katara had been entering; in Loya's defense, she was pretty sure the water-bender did not look out for her, either.

Loya apologized, alert to the other woman's mumbled response and distant, furrowed gaze sweeping around the room without purpose. "Upset about your fight with Azula?" She asked, taking a stab in the dark with her presumptive nature. The water-bender – and Ursa, once she had gotten to know her all those years ago – let her with the feeling that they could level with each other. Title or how many high-powered friends they had meant nothing.

"Yeah," Katara confessed. She finally looked Loya in the eye. Her eyes focused. "Wait, how did you know about that? Ursa?"

She shook her head. "Servant overheard. What happened?"

The brunette wrung her hands, rolling her eyes simultaneously. Loya could already see the answer in her face. "My being stupid – she could've, well she _almost_, burned me to a crisp and I still marched in there, almost yelling in her face."

"We both know she couldn't burn you – you're a master water-bender." That brought a smile to the other woman's lips. "Did it feel good?"

"...What? I don't understand what you mean."

"Yelling at her," Loya explained. She repeated, "Did it feel good?"

Katara adopted a quizzical expression. "Yeah, kind of, why?"

"Well then you know you got something out of it, don't you?" Loya gestured her to take a seat on the sitting room's loveseat. She sat opposite, on the other matching one. "Don't beat yourself up over it; you needed it. And not to step in the middle of anything, but it looks like you still kind of do…." Her voice trailed off as she recalled how the water-bender had looked just a few minutes earlier. "It's a messed up situation."

"That's obvious. I feel like…."

"What?" She prompted.

Katara sighed, air nearly exploding from her mouth from the built-up force. "I feel like we're all stuck in this stupid situation where we're running around in circles and nothing changes 'cause we're all…. I don't know. Ursa's a mother and I get it, she wants to be there for Zuko and Azula – I saw that when I first met her in HemeroCallis – but it's not that simple and I don't want to tell her that because I don't want to crush her hopes, you know? Sometimes it just, just _looks_ like she's hanging on to Azula as some kind of last thread. That's stupid, I know, but now I can't stop thinking about it like that.

"And Zuko's stuck between helping Ursa and going with his instincts so instead he's compromising and I can't help but thinking how guilty he'll feel if Azula does slip up and go back to being her normal self. He's never this trusting but it's Azula and Ursa. I don't want to compound on his stress further but then I go and confront Azula like that…. I didn't even really confront her, I just _vented_. And somehow that made things worse when nothing happened – besides her fire-bending against the ground and me kind of threatening to kill her," Katara unloaded, turning sheepish at the end of her long spiel. "Sorry, I didn't mean to vent on you either. It just felt good to let it all… _out_. Saying it, it sounds a lot different… than in my head."

Loya chuckled airily. "Oh I know – next time you need to see how something sounds, just come to me, okay? Do you want to hear what I think?" She offered.

The other woman slumped in her seat. "Yes, _please_."

"I think all of you are on a different page."

"A different page?" She was confused.

"Yes – you're all tip-toeing around eachother and Azula's stuck in the middle – and no, I'm not going to describe her as 'poor'," she said laughingly when watching Katara's face morph into displeasure. "– but it's true. You need to talk to Zuko and Ursa and I think Azula, too. I'm with you on not trusting her, but something's got to give in this situation."

"Yeah, her," Katara bitterly droned.

"Even you don't want _that_." Loya raised an eyebrow triumphantly, knowing she had hit the nail on the head. "Azula turning back into a delusional monster isn't good for anyone."

"How do we know she's not still that way?"

The older woman leaned her chin on her knuckles, shifting sideways against the armrest. "Monster, no. Delusional – who knows? But treating her like a porcelain doll isn't helping anyone."

A slow, strange smile brushed upon Katara's lips. "If I was Zuko, would you be telling me this?"

She shook her head. "But you're not the Fire Lord – and you're also in the middle of this. Look," she leaned forward. "The princess being incarcerated again isn't good for anybody and it's even worse when I have to deal with half of my staff unsure about going anywhere the northern wing is, waiting for something bad to happen; and I can't give them any reassurances. I only want you all to figure this out, okay? It affects a lot more than you think."

"No, I think I know how much something can affect a lot of people."

"I never said you didn't," Loya countered, standing up. Before the water-bender said anything else, though it did not look like she would, Loya left to check on another matter in the western wing; she had been headed there before anyway. There was nothing left to say that hadn't been before.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The dew is on the grasses, dear,_

_The blush is on the rose,_

_And swift across our dial-youth,_

_A shifting shadow goes._

_The primrose moments, lush with bliss,_

_Exhale and fade away,_

_Life may renew the Autumn time,_

_But nevermore the May!_

_~'Youth', _Georgia Douglas Johnson

* * *

><p>Sokka was easily contented. Okay, so that wasn't something new – everyone that met him managed to deduce that within the first half to a full hour – but it was imperative to restate. It was because Sokka was so easily contented that he could also be content with one thing going right in a sea of dozens of pitiful losses. Mr. Optimism at his best.<p>

Of course, mood swings were also common. Human behavior – a constant contradiction.

So here he was standing, feeling pretty calm and relaxed, watching from the sidelines as Fen and his family was talking to the same rude woman as the two of them had experienced before, the same one at the front counter in the military recruitment office. Suddenly, his boastful – if slightly ridiculous – pride in Fen's selection deluded dark into some sniffling sadness.

The past year made everything of the one prior come into stark clarity, almost as if it had only then caught up with him. In his constant back-and-forth with his sister, Aang, Toph, and Zuko, Sokka knew they felt the same way. They all knew the life and death consequences of what they had attempted and achieved. If they hadn't, they certainly wouldn't have been so calm when planning it. If they hadn't, they would have seen it as some sort of exciting – or terrifying – challenge. No, they knew, but perhaps it was experiencing the peaceful moments in the world and separate nations since then that had cast everything in a different light.

Sokka was loathe to admit how sheltered, in an inexperienced sense, and _un_-know-it-all he truly was when traveling with the Avatar and Co. But now he was aware, having lived a truly domesticated life – and in an entirely different country, at that. The South Pole was like a desert compared to Kyoshi Island; wilderness and civilization. He was, at this time, realizing the family around him that he had. Marrying Suki told him that he would be welcoming in new family members, and vice-versa, but there is something to be said for sudden re-examinations.

His dad was able to keep in surprisingly frequent contact – around once a month or so. Hakoda praised him in all of his responses to Sokka's rambles about teaching and training. Having his father back was more of a blessing than he could ever attempt to express. There weren't enough words to describe the loss and subsequent discovery to someone who was inexperienced in the same. He was, as such, constantly picking his dad's brain about this or that. He was an accomplished master of his own and yet that didn't mean he would turn down his dad's metaphorical fountain of wisdom.

It was that pride he found himself having for Fen and that behavior he now realized that, on similar levels, he was getting from the boy. It wasn't done consciously – for him anyway – before but now he understood it.

A warm presence enlightened him from his half-musings – one of Suki's hands resting on his upper arm. She looked mildly concerned at him. "Are you... crying?"

Sokka realized he had been sniffling – more from the pollens in the air than any feelings induced by his inner line of thoughts. "No!" He protested in spite of his non-guilt, perfectly meeting the males-don't-admit-to-crying stereotype even as he was honestly truthful in his answer. "It's just, you know, kind of sad. We got to know him and now he's leaving."

"Fen's home is Kyoshi Island; he's not going to leave forever." She nodded towards the building. "Come on, let's say goodbye. And try not to cry," she teased.

He groaned – live that misconception down anytime soon, he would not. They walked over when Fen and his parents exited through the building's door.

"All signed in?" Suki prompted.

Yeah," Fen's mom replied, handing off a roll of parchment to her husband. He put it in a pocket. Now it's off to Ba Sing Se – Fen's really excited."

"Mom," he whined, straightening up to his full height and distancing himself from his parents by a few steps.

She ruffled his hair, making him squirm away further. "You keep acting like that, I won't let you go – you're still my little boy. Now say goodbye," she directed.

Fen's dad headed off to get the last of their things and Fen's mother pulled Suki to the side to ask her about something relating to the Kyoshi Warriors. Sokka looked to Fen, who was awkwardly stretching his arms out in front of himself. "Excited, huh?"

"Yeah," he confessed immediately. "I've never been outside of Kyoshi."

"Never?" Sokka asked, mouth hanging open in faux-surprise. "You'll get to see the world! Kind of. It changes people, you know; changed me."

"It did?" Fen asked with all of the childish wonder still left in him.

"Yep; I used to accidentally hit myself in the head with my boomerang. Traveled the world and now? I never lose it and only sometimes hit the wrong object with it," he said, patting it where it hung securely on his belt. Though he hardly took it out now, the boomerang was a special object. His first weapon. He would _never_ part with it.

The kid laughed at his words. "Thanks; for everything. You're my best teacher ever!"

Men did not blush, but if they did…. Sokka's chest swelled with pride. "Well thanks, Fen. That means a lot. Now come back, you hear? Or travel the world – but no compromises, got it?"

"Got it," Fen said and then rushed him. He hugged the South Pole teenager quickly and abruptly. "See ya around."

"Yeah," was all Sokka replied as he watched him go, tugging his mother along as they headed to the docks.

Suki walked up next to him and slipped her arm through his. "Crying yet?" She looked at him sweetly, sympathy in her gorgeous eyes.

He shook his head with a lopsided smile. "No." _Only a little._

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	93. Popcorn and Adjusting Expectations

**A/N:** To answer BoogieBoy's question – no, this story at least won't be following Fen's adventures. However, we will be seeing him one last time ;-)

Thanks everyone for reading!

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Before the white chrysanthemum_

_The scissors hesitate_

_A moment._

_`'Before the white chrysanthemum', _Yosa Buson

* * *

><p>As the day came to a close, Zuko found himself glancing every few minutes to his office's door furtively. The sun's rays were still coming through the windows and into his office at a strong rate when he closed the file he was looking through. That new law proposal would have to wait; he had read it over half a dozen times in the past thirty minutes without processing one word of it. Clearly, he was preoccupied.<p>

As if it was hard to guess what he was preoccupied with.

He walked out, informed Orez he was taking a do-not-disturb break, and traced his way through the palace halls. The place was just big enough not to induce a stir-crazy mood within him but he was feeling a different kind of stir-crazy rise up within him right now. He tampered it down. The northern wing was closer to his office than the southern one, where the Fire Lord residence resided, so he opted to visit Azula first. At least he knew she would be somewhere within the wing; Katara could be out and he wouldn't know.

Besides, he was feeling marginally more prepared for a talk with his sister than he was with the woman he loved. Which was strange. It was as if the sun was now rising from the west.

Zuko found her in the stuffy and shadowy dark library after knocking on her bedroom door and receiving no answer. He hadn't even been aware this wing had a library. Huh. He leaned against the doorway, watching her carefully. "Can we talk?" He asked.

She startled on the leaning ladder, her eyes glowing in the darkness as she looked at him. Azula snapped the bind of the book closed and slid it into its former place on the shelves. "Look, I didn't do anything, so don't start lecturing me-" She began as she backed down the steps.

He held a hand up, waving it slightly. "I'm not going to."

She stared. "…That's a shock."

Refraining from showing any outward signs of disappointment in that answer, he walked into the room and half-sat on the arm of a stuffed chair. His sister still stood where she was, at the base of the ladder. He decided to bluntly dive right into the conversation; she already had. "What happened?"

Azula whipped her hair over her shoulder unnecessarily. It was the first sign he'd seen in several months that was one hundred percent the way he knew his sister to be. "Your water-bender girlfriend stormed in after seeing me through the window, that's what happened."

Zuko's eyes narrowed. He didn't recall ever telling her about his and Katara's involvement. "How did yo-"

"I know about you and her? Here's a secret – the servants talk," she whispered the last three words, leaning forward for a moment. Azula smiled almost mockingly; he couldn't be sure. "Not that it's not obvious. Living in the palace, no one else from the Avatar's group around, reforming the schools? You can't actually think it's a secret."

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back a few inches. "What did the two of you talk about?"

His steering of the conversation back where it had been before worked. Azula walked over to sit on the sofa to his left. "She accused me of being obsessed or something stupid like that – as if I even _care_ about her life – because I was looking in her direction. I was in the sunroom – half of the walls are windows," she argued. A flush crept up onto her face. Zuko was surprised to see her genuinely emotional about the incident. That was something un-Azula like. "And then she…." His sister faltered. She cleared her throat and strengthened her rigid posture anew. "She _threatened_ me."

"Really?" He asked doubtingly. He wouldn't let his sister know how much he believed that Katara would do that; it would only make her smug. Which would be annoying and also haunt him for a week, wondering if she was only playing all of them. He already felt a headache coming on. Life was way too complicated.

"Yeah. She said she wished to kill me but didn't to save you, acting all pretentious about it."

"That's not pretentious, Azula, that's the _truth_."

She frowned at his even tone. "I thought you were all about family – isn't that why you let Mother take care of me and took me out of prison? Why are you letting her stay close by when she would gladly _kill_ me?"

"Katara is _family_," he argued with a hard voice.

Azula laughed. She glanced around the room in her version of an eye roll. "Right and the Avatar's family too, right?"

"Yes."

Her chuckles were cut short. "_What_?"

"The whole Gaang is family to me," he clarified.

She stood, turning her back on him. "Of course…." Her tone was sarcastic.

Zuko took a deep breath and rubbed his hands frustratingly against the chair cushions on either side of him. He had expected her to be aloof about the statement; so was her reaction now good or bad? Deciding to leave that for further analysis later, he stood, facing his sister. "Is that all she did? Threaten you?"

There was a lengthy pause that engulfed the stale air between them. "…No," Azula said at last. She turned around with a satirical half-smile, tilting her head. "No, your _girlfriend_ asked me if I wished I'd killed you."

His heart skipped a beat and not in the good way. He watched her closely, simultaneously wondering why Katara had said that and wondering if she'd simply been caught up in the moment. He guessed the last one was right; that was the only reasoning that made sense. He liked to think he knew the answer to that question but…. "And that made you fire-bend?" He inquired after instead.

Azula bared her teeth, lips pulling back tightly over them. "It made me stop." She cocked her head in the other direction, shadowing the other side of her neck. "Feel better? _Little__ sister_ doesn't want you dead – I'll let you absorb that _shocker_."

"Azula," he called to her softly.

"I know I'm just this _horrible_ person to everyone and okay, whatever, maybe I deserve some of that, but I'm a person too. I'm not a monster. I've never _fantasized_ about killing you or Mother. And yet everyone's always acted like I'm this crazy, murderous person. Why, because I followed Father's orders? Because I was a _good little girl_? Because I wanted power and wasn't afraid to admit it?"

He kept his mouth shut. He had nothing to say to that.

She smiled again; this time it took on a pained edge. "I didn't yell at your _girlfriend_, she yelled at me. And I didn't fire-bend at her, I just got riled up. Okay? I hope that answers your questions." She stalked out, brushing past him. Zuko sighed, watching her round the corner.

He knew she was upset and had said it mockingly. But she was also spot on with the comment. Their exchange had answered his questions – when it came to his sister.

They all needed to adjust their expectations a little.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_There is a way between voice and presence_

_Where information flows._

_In disciplined silence it opens._

_With wandering talk it closes._

_~'There is a Way', _Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi

* * *

><p>Aang watched his friend with completely visible amusement dancing across his face. She had hardly been able to contain her excitement after the announcement was explained and eventually ended. Aroon's historical explanation had been reiterated with slightly greater detail by the speaker. However, the only new information they got after sitting for an extra hour in the room was a timeline on the duels. The Terra Team soldiers, eight of them, would be arriving in a week. The duels would take place the day after they came.<p>

He felt the vibrations of a wave of tumbling earth coming at him. Aang rose from his cross-legged position in an airy leap, redirected it, and, with air-bending, blew it into a leveled state across the ground. "Come on, Twinkletoes," Toph invited with a grin. She'd launched it at him on purpose; of course she had, she had amazing control.

He wandered over. "Don't you think you should relax? The duels aren't for a while."

"Nine days," she corrected. "And that's just _enough_ time to get a lot done – Aroon said if you don't beat them in the duel then they'll fail you." She crossed her arms, lifting her chin proudly. "And I'm _not_ failing."

"Really?" He asked to Aroon.

Toph opened her mouth to speak but Aroon's voice went first, saying, "Yeah, they're ruthless. But that's okay; I'm training with Toph more for me."

"Practice is always good," she interrupted.

Aang's lips twitched. "You taught _me_, Toph – you'll do great."

"I don't want to do great, I want to do _perfect_. These are my peers." Her voice went a little quiet at the end.

The two guys shared a curious look. He put a hand on her upper arm comforting. "They're not your peers if you taught me and I'm their peer."

"You don't count," she said, continuing to argue with every reassuring word he uttered. "Yeah I taught you how to do the moves but you're the Avatar – you've got more strength than all of us."

Aroon shrugged. "That's true."

"Not helping," Aang complained to him.

"What, it is true."

He simply rolled his eyes at Toph's new friend without further comment. He smiled at her. "Alright, Toph, duel with me."

Her face lit up, contrasting with her earlier one in the same way moonlight does with sunshine. "Awesome, let's start now – Aroon, you referee."

"What?" He asked from his place off to the side, laughing.

Aang let himself get dragged by Toph as she returned to the open ground she had been practicing at before. He looked around. Many of the students of the camp were doing the same and it reminded him, in how structured and disciplined it was, of when he and Katara had taken water-bending classes up in the North Pole. It made him happy again to think of all the similarities that stretched between countries and across different lands. It made him think of the independent republic still in its limbo state; it encouraged him. When the year was done and they all grouped up together again at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, Aang would be sure to focus all of his attention from there on out towards building the republic up. He was overflowing with optimism about it.

"You know, referee," Toph scolded her newest friend, answering his earlier objection. "Just call foul or whatever."

"Okay; 'foul'."

"Not funny," she said as Aang giggled under his breath.

"It's kind of funny."

Toph ignored Aroon's comeback. He sat on a boulder he'd risen from the ground just for the use and hunched forward, an extremely bored expression on his face. "I'm gonna warn you, Aang, I've been practicing a lot lately."

He bit his cheek to keep from laughing again; the expression of almost pity on her face was oddly amusing. "Yeah, so?"

"So don't use other elements like air-bending, got it?"

"I haven't done that during lessons since I first learned!" He protested.

Toph's lips cracked into a smile. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Good times, eh?"

"No, not good times – I mean, I learned earth-bending but I still went up against one of those massive Saber-tooth moose lion's!"

"Yeah but I got to pull Sokka out of that wedge he got stuck in and you got to admit, _t__hat_ was pretty funny."

Aang recalled that time. Toph had been using negative reinforcement, only discouraging him, and he was hardly able to earth-bend at all. That wasn't a shocking thing once he listened to all she had said about earth-bending. It took force, stubbornness, unyielding stance. All of that was the opposite of air-bending, something engrained inside of him for arguably over a hundred years. Taking a defeated break from their lessons, he'd found Sokka stuck in a ground fissure and Sokka had also been entertaining a Saber-tooth moose lion cub. And then the mother had found them and gotten… protective.

When Toph had later pulled the South Pole teen out, he had been dropped on his face. Aang grinned, relaxing his tense body. "Yeah that was funny."

A rock pillar slammed into his chin, knocking his onto his butt.

"Hey!"

"Gotta keep on your toes, Twinkletoes," Toph smartly remarked.

Aang recalled how rigid earth-bending was against air-bending, where you could literally stay on our toes all the time. He rolled his eyes, a mild glare in them. "I'm so using air-bending now!"

Aroon sat up straight. "Oh good, a show. Hey, think you guys can wait until I can find some popcorn around here? I know a smuggler on camp-" Neither of them heard him.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_A cold rain starting_

_And no hat—_

_So?_

_~'A cold rain starting', _Matsuo Bashō

* * *

><p>Fire. Yellow, orange, red, blue, white. Flames.<p>

Treating it like an addiction; that was what she'd been doing. How could she not realize it? Azula snorted in contempt, largely directed at herself, and shot out another healthy dose of burning tumults of flames into the drapes hanging over her lone window bank. The electric blue casted the room into an eerie glow for brief seconds. The drapes now laid loosely on their metal hooks, sections tapering off to rest on the dresser or floor, turned to ash.

But it wasn't an addiction. At least, she was not addicted to the _fire_. How could she, when it ran in her veins? Fire built her family, it didn't destroy it.

Control; a fickle thing. It was so deceptive in its illusions. Azula snorted again. Control – she had always taken it for granted. The princess and future heir of the Fire Lord throne diminished to nothing but a girl locked in a prison cell for months, doubting her own sanity. Life was full of ironies; she had known that for a long time. Her father had loved them. She too loved irony, especially pointing it out to others. She hated when it was used against her.

Azula burned the rest of the drapes down to a gray, dusty pile atop her hand-carved dresser. It was a beautiful piece. Her fingers twitched.

Maybe it was more complex. It had to be. She wasn't a _simple_ person – that was an insult and one of the worst, in her opinion.

Power; the larger picture to control. Control was temporary, subjective; a small piece _within_ power. Power was built, blocks upon blocks of connections, knowledge, strength, and position; all accumulated and combined to complete the puzzle. All destroyable; but then everything was. From expensive cloth to one's position on the most powerful throne in the world, everything could _wilt_ and _burn_ away, becoming ashy nothingness.

Not power. Power blinded its host body. Azula saw that – she had _experienced_ it. Power was addictive, yes, but not once you were out of it; it was in no way still appetizing to her rolling stomach. Azula left the dresser alone and instead opted to sit on the edge of her bed. Her legs felt a hint feeble.

Strength. _That's it_. Knowing you have the strength to achieve power, control, evolve defense into offense, create, manipulate, placate without conceding. Strength was the building block for all independent decisions – something she was in short supply of these days. She did not have strength – the mental kind, not the physical; fire-bending took care of that for her. She had blocked it away, a now tangible attribute just inches out of reach.

Strength was what she wanted. _Balance_ was what she needed. Balance was what her mother wanted for her, what her therapist was hired to coach, what her brother was hesitant to believe, and what Katara so unwittingly disrupted.

Or had she?

People described being blinding mad as 'seeing red', so what was it when you felt drenched in cold, immobilizing truths? The other teenager had not said much in their short conversation but she hadn't needed to; that door was opened up in Azula's mind all the same. Of course, she was still a healthy dose of angry. Katara was a water peasant, in and out. Traveling with the childish, baby-faced Avatar suddenly put her on the 'map', made her _important_. She was not of noble birth, not even close to the royal birth Azula held next to her name. She had no right to so plainly lay out her opinions as she had.

Though, she was just a peasant – _plain_ was the normal for them.

Azula would never admit to how much she felt… appreciative (grateful was too great of a word). The young water-bender was honest. It would be refreshing, if she wasn't who she was. Regardless, the Fire Nation teenager was garnering a wholly new perspective in her head because of their impromptu… meeting.

Balance was not something taught or inherited, nor something one paid for or eventually developed anyway. Some never had it, not even close. It was learnt through experience and truly experience alone. So maybe that was her flaw – one of many in the past – this time. Azula expected she could binge one minute, break the next, and after that simply jump straight into cold-turkey mode. A mode she never – _ever_ – had use for before.

Her stomach rolled again; it was from _stress_, she recognized. She was stressed. She never had been before. Her body – not her own. Her mind – not her own; not really, not anymore. Her primal instincts – questionable.

She wished to summon the water-bender in front of her this instant. That was a purely _Azula_ move. The next was not. Hurt, kill, fire-bend against – she would not do any of those things. Azula wished to… _talk_? A scarcely believable thought, even to her own being.

There always was and would always be an element in honesty one could not replicate with another action. It brought with it revelations, heartache, facts, and above all else a certain shade of reality completely original. There existed a wide gap from one's usual imaginative abilities and the reality of the world around them. Azula had been relying too heavily on imagination; she saw that now. Fantastical visions constantly setting her up for disappointment; or worse, for madness.

Her life would never be the _same_. She was a princess in name only and had been for a long time now. She had a mental breakdown and would for the foreseeable future be regarded as a certain degree of instable. She nearly killed her brother and that would always remain an unforgivable, if unspoken, thing; if not for _him_, then for _her_. She would forever be seen as violent for having pursued war instead of the peace now descended. She was imprisoned, albeit in a mental ward, and would forever deal with this new-found insecurity causing her to look over her shoulder.

Strength. She lost it. And it was her fault.

And it was not because of an addiction or a blameful defect within her that she was unable to control as her mother so wished it to be.

It was simply because of her. It was because of _decisions_ she made that snowballed and escalated to the point of unrecognizability, to the point where now she could not pinpoint an exact origin for them. They just started, at her permission. And she had to accept that.

She did. In a way, a part of her died that fateful day she had planned her coronation on. Her _ambition_ died.

Floating between a stilted old life and an undefined new one, she had to choose only one. This limbo was killing her and the sanity she had left.

But then, she already had chosen, hadn't she? Azula simply needed to execute it – finally, absolutely. Put everyone out of their side-stepping misery already.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	94. Life is But Practice Compounded

**A/N:** I didn't tell anyone this but figured I should mention it – past two weeks I've had a nasty writer's block so I apologize if there were more errors than usual or something like that. Getting back into the stride of things now and am not rushing for posting days anymore. So basically, I'm passionate about this story again. Go Avatar love! XD Oh, and looking at Avatar fan art on deviantART may have helped just a little bit of a _lot_; highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading C:

**Disclaimer: I don't have any claim to A:LA.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Now this big westerly's _

_blown itself out, _

_let's drive to the storm beach._

_A few brave souls _

_will be there already, _

_eyeing the driftwood,_

_the heaps of frayed _

_blue polyprop rope, _

_cut loose, thrown back at us—_

_What a species— _

_still working the same _

_curved bay, all of us_

_hoping for the marvellous, _

_all hankering for a changed life._

_~'The Beach',_ Kathleen Jamie

* * *

><p>Zuko walked into the suite when he heard the inviting answer to his knock. He found her at what was fast becoming her usual place – the desk. He pulled a chair up near the bank of windows it was under and sat, waiting. She looked to be writing a letter. She raised her eyes in a quick glance, smiling. It gave him the feeling that she was more worried than relieved to see him. He knew why. "Hey," she greeted.<p>

"Hey."

"I'm writing Sokka back – he's complaining about Suki mocking him for crying about one of his students leaving for one of those Earth Kingdom training programs." She lifted herself a bit further away from the desk, shoulders still hunched over the edge. "How do you I tell him it's 'okay' without him thinking I'm babying him?"

Zuko smiled slightly. His South Pole friend really was a rare one – it was when he didn't try that he made you entertained the most. "It's Sokka, so I don't think it matters what you write, he'll just read what he wants to read."

She tapped the quill against the paper. "You're right. Oh, whatever." She scribbled down a few more lines. When she tapped down a period, ending the paragraph she had been working on, she lifted her head again. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about… something." He skirted around the subject of the issue in his reply. He had watched with gladness at how happy she was over the last couple of months; no more drama. And then everything with his sister started up. He didn't want to see her darkly emotional again anytime soon (if he could help it, then never), like the way she'd been for a few months after the end of the War, unsure of what she wanted to do and where.

Unfortunately, his words gave him away anyway. Katara's softly cute face dropped and she set the pen down with a sigh. "So you know."

"Yeah." He leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. It didn't close the distance between them much, but it was enough. "What happened?"

"I… snapped," she said, expelling the words with a weary breath. "I don't know." She shrugged. "But she didn't hurt me, if that's what you're thinking – I'm the one that was mean," Katara confessed with a guilty pursing of the lips. He was surprised that she came to the defense of his sister so quickly. But then, she was the compassionate type – she defended your true innocence, even if she didn't like you. "I kind of… harassed her… about your _scar_."

Zuko closed his eyes.

***Flashback – One week earlier – Azula's room**

Reassurance rolled through him when she smiled slightly at the mention of their mother. It was the first he'd seen, genuine and honest, in a long, long time. "No one's good at expressing themselves, especially us in the Fire Nation; the best we can do is try. I just want you to _try_."

Azula looked down at her hands. The two siblings stilled there – one standing, one sitting – for a long while, the piercing quiet leaving them unaware of how much time passed. When she raised her head, Zuko was the one shocked this time. Her eyes were filled with tears. He pushed back to urge to comfort her; she would likely push him back now and he wasn't exactly the best person at that…."Is it – is the lightning bolt…. Is there a…."

Her voice was low and raw. It broke his heart. "Scar? Yeah, there is." Zuko stood when she nodded several times over in quick succession, lowering her eyes again. He couldn't help it; he reached out slowly with one hand, treating her like a scared animal. When she made no move to object, he held her thin hand in his, squeezing it warmly. "Azula? Look at me," he requested softly.

"I'm so _sorry_ for that, Zuk-"

"You have my forgiveness," he interrupted, stopping her rushing words. Their nearly identical eyes met.

Confusion rippled across her face, almost instantly followed by appreciation. It almost threw him off, coming from her. He never knew his sister to be thankful for someone's assistance, let alone admitting she wanted it, needed it.

She squeezed his hand this time. "Thank you," she whispered.

***End Flashback**

Uncomfortable pain sat heavy in his stomach as he remembered his sister's reaction the week before. She had felt awful about the scar; it was obvious and real. He wondered if some of that was the reason for her behavior when he saw her the day before. Not that she needed a reason for her previously typical behavior, of course, be he could not help re-evaluated it now. He looked at Katara again. "She feels horrible about that."

"Yeah, I kind of saw that," Katara murmured. She reached over to him; he took her hand in his. "You know I'm telling the truth when I say I'm sorry I was so mean – I never want to be that kind of person." He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. He would never doubt that in her.

"What else did you say?" He inquired.

"I asked her if it was worth it – all the pain she caused people just because she wanted power. I only told the truth." She blinked several times, long and slow. "And… I told her I wished I'd killed her but I'm also glad I didn't because I saved you instead."

Zuko stared at her as she rushed out the last part. She looked back at him expectantly, big blue eyes studying his reaction hesitantly but with firm confidence in her words. As confusing as the situation was around them and as strange as it sounded, his lips curved into a small smile. "Azula left that part out." She huffed in response. "I wish you'd told me that before."

She smiled back, taking his words as the good sign that they were. "Yeah, well, I didn't want to sound mean about your sister…."

"Well then you failed," he commented dryly.

"I figured," she responded back lightly before sighing. "I hate that I'm saying this but I never felt… _scared_. I never felt like she'd try and hurt me." Katara raised a finger to point at him. "But I'm _not_ buying her redemption stuff, got it? I just don't want to lie to you."

"Thank you – for telling the truth." He leaned back. "I don't know what to do about her; this is such a mess."

The water-bender casually leaned back against her chair as well. "What _can_ you do?"

He racked his brain, thinking her question through. Her blatantly clear point was made well; there was nothing he could do. Short of giving his sister her full freedoms, there was nothing else to do. And he wouldn't do that unless he knew what she would do with them. It was with that same mentality that his father was in prison, despite his lack of fire-bending; he was still dangerous. Azula was still… well, _Azula_. "Wait and see what she does," he answered simply. Zuko stood and pulled her up by their clasped hands; their arms had been stretched out between them before. He felt relaxed in her presence now more than he had in the past few days. He really had to manage his time better. "Let's go do something. I'm going crazy sitting in my office, _waiting_."

"Oh, you don't have enough work to do?" She asked, rolling up her letter to Sokka after quickly signing off in it. "Wait, I want to drop this as we leave."

He nodded in confirmation of hearing her. "I'm not doing any work if I can't remember one line of what I just read."

Katara nodded, pulling her arm through his. "Ah. I see. Well that is a problem." She smiled cheekily up at him. A sudden thought struck him – his conversations with Katara never went the way he thought they would. As much as he knew her, she still managed to surprise him. And he liked it.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."_

~Helen Keller

* * *

><p>Toph heard the dismissal after they finished their exercise. They, the class, disassembled and called it a day. Many headed off in separate directions, finding their own private area to practice for the duels. The classes had been cut to only half-days, each person now basically responsible for honing their own style and skill. She walked at a slovenly pace back to the camp instead for a quick breather before she practiced on her own.<p>

She did not bother in the slightest to move courteously for those approaching; the paths were wide enough. It wasn't much of a conscious decision, as she couldn't help feeling a little rueful that she would be practicing alone. It was being projected outward.

Aroon took separate classes than her now because of the change-up in schedules announced two days earlier and, while hers were still in the morning, his were now in the afternoon/evening. Appa had, for the past couple of days since he, Aang, and Momo arrived, been lounging in the rocky, foot-tall thin grass plains around the camp. Her new friend had actually been the one to notice his restlessness and had pointed it out to Aang. He was subsequently out in the sky with the flying bison for the day. Turning down his impossible offer to join had been hard; the classes were mandatory, if now repetitively dull.

There was only so much you could learn about something like earth-bending, where it only worked with set rules and methods.

"Oops," someone muttered to her side, their foot squashing over her bare foot half a second earlier. She hissed at the pain, nearly positive one of her toes popped. They apologized but she hardly heard it, cursing under her breath and focusing on her injured body part.

She was still bent over, evaluating if the pop was a good or bad thing, when she noticed the person was still standing there. She stood and focused in, ignoring the inflammatory heat rushing from toes all the way up to her ankle. It was Basu. "You stepped on my foot," she said lamely.

"Sorry; again." He moved to walk away.

"Wait!" Toph protested, shuffling in front of him. This wasn't how she wanted to talk to him but she _had_ wanted to talk to him, regardless of his weird prejudice-indicating behavior towards her. "The duels – have, uh, you done them before?"

Either he didn't comprehend that she was trying to pick his brain about them or didn't care. She guessed the latter. "No; they haven't taken place in a century."

She persisted, leaning a little less on her foot now as it began to throb. "I know you're only Student President but Aroon's been here like four times; haven't you ever met one? You know, maybe dueled it out? You don't hang out with the rest of us, you might as well be a member," she pointed out.

Humor softened his voice. "No, I haven't walked up to a Terra Team earth-bender and asked to duel. They don't look any different when out of uniform, by the way."

"What does the camp usually do then?"

"Duel each other," he said, voice relaxing. She sensed his body doing the same in her seismic sense.

Toph did the same a bit as well, falling into the pattern of a comfortable conversation instead of an intense exchange. "Only each other? What about if it's a crappy year of picks?"

"No," he uttered, shaking his head slightly. "After that then we duel the Terra Team rep. That's mostly why he's here; the training isn't much different than the other military training camps, just here the focus is on defense and endurance."

She shuffled her feet, taking her weight all the way off of her foot now. Toph, with half of her mind, wished to the Spirit World that the swelling dissipated so it didn't affect her come five days from now. "How do we duel if it's defense?" She asked casually.

Basu waited a beat to answer, seemingly contemplating his words. That was what she'd thought until he asked, bluntly, "worried?"

"No!" She brushed it off immediately. He was close, though not right – she was simply feeling a smidgen unsure; and _only_ a _smidgen_. It was fair – with this stuff, she was actually being graded. And it mattered to her, too. She'd participated in both random and judged duels before, but she got more than a belt and a title with this one. _Maybe_. Toph wasn't quite sure what Kuei would be watching for to determine his 'evaluation' or whatever. She still wasn't even sure if he was serious about it or not. That was the problem with seeing someone at their most relaxed and most serious; the lines kind of blurred. "Just wanted to know what to practice more. Jeesh."

"Fine," he responded. "They'll attack, relentlessly, and you have to hold up your defense. You choose what it is but obviously higher marks go to the one with the wall." _Obviously; we've only been practicing it every day for four months_. "Don't tell anyone this," he said, voice lowering. Her brow furrowed; was he about to be _nice_? Give her _advice_? "You win if you get them off their feet. Defensively-offensive, got it?"

"Yep." _I think so._

"Good." He straightened; she realized only now that he'd gradually leaned over, lowering his voice to a slightly-loud whisper. "Excuse me, I've got something to do."

She listened to his steps for three seconds before turning around to face him – or his back, really – again. "Wait!" She said for the second time. "Why'd you tell me that?"

Toph watched in her seismic sight as he half-rotated his body and folded his arms over his chest. "Whatever the Earth King sent you here for is important, right? And it's not for a Terra Team position – we'd _know_. So whatever it's for, I'm not going to screw up your chances. You've already kind of passed the test."

"Wait, what _test_?" She interrupted, dumfounded.

"Go practice, Beifong."

She frowned as he shuffled far away from her. With a grunt of frustration at him and her foot (and him again, for the foot's pain), Toph went to the other side of the camp near the ridge to practice – but not because he said so. She was planning on doing so anyway. She bypassed the cafeteria. She left the test remark to be forgotten, not bothering to dwell on it. Whatever he meant, she didn't care – okay, only a _little_. But there were more important things to focus on right now.

Like figuring out the 'defensively-offensive' remark, too.

The only thing that came to mind for her, move-wise, was using the wall to slam into the opponent. It was a stepping stone for practicing, at least.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism."_

~John C. Calhoun

* * *

><p>"How are you feeling?" Dr. Chirah asked, folding her hands on her lap.<p>

The patient took notice of how the doctor had yet to pick up the worn notebook. She liked the improvement. Instead of the usual games, she decided to change up their usual routine. "I don't know," she answered honestly, without any sniveling or sarcastic tone in it. "How do you feel when it's like you're feeling nothing?"

For once, the doctor didn't seem anything more than curious at being asked a question in return. "_Calm_ might be what you're looking for. Maybe acceptance or contemplative?"

Accepting - that was true. Azula merely murmured vague sounds of agreement under her breath. Her golden gaze was directed at a painting on the wall, slumped posture indicating her thoughts-absorbed mind. She had at least noticed that it was a watercolor sketch of a harbor; it looked to be the capital's harbor. It was pretty, though not beautiful; there was too much red.

"You're unusually quiet. Has anything shocking - or perhaps disruptive - happened recently?" She leaned forward slightly in her chair, the very picture of reassuring poise.

Azula knew she was fishing about the 'incident', as she coined it – to no one. There was no way the therapist couldn't know of it. She mentally rolled her eyes at the plainly visible attempt. In truth, she was a teensy bit looking forward to discussing this with her therapist – new perspective, unbiased audience, and all that. But she wouldn't spill it suddenly. She had to get a feel for the other woman first; it wasn't like she was paying attention so much before. Seriously, Azula really hadn't. She spoke, in an aloof manner, "I've been thinking about something lately."

"What's that?"

"Moving." She tilted her head back around, looking to the woman sitting across from her in the makeshift office. With a bit of satisfaction, she saw that she'd hooked the other one with her un-explained responses.

"...Moving? Do you mean living somewhere else?" Dr. Chirah asked, confused. And yet, she still managed to conceal her emotions so well. Azula found a bit of respect forming inside of her for the other woman.

She confirmed this. "What do you think?"

"It's interesting," the older woman settled with, having only a faintest idea of how much Azula was betting on her answer. "What gave you this idea? Is it serious?"

Azula relaxed into the chair, propping her ankles up on the chaise lounge's edge positioned to her left. "I don't know," she said for the second time in the past ten minutes. "Do you know, I haven't lived anywhere else?"

"No, I didn't know that. Is that uncommon?" She indulged.

The Fire Nation princess knew very well that the doctor was only encouraging her to talk more; again. Good thing she accepted it with open arms. "It's not but think about it - how oppressive this place is. It's a lot different now thanks to my brother but it's still massive. I can't go anywhere without remembering something in this place; it looks just close enough to the old one..." She scratched a small itching spot on her temple, lost in thought. "I was thinking of my father this morning," she remarked after a brief few seconds, tone suddenly mournful in nature.

"And what were you remembering about him?"

"Energy-bending – the Avatar removed his bending abilities by energy-bending them out of him. I was thinking... if anyone thought I did something bad or hurtful... that's what they'd do, wouldn't they?" She stared hard at the doctor. "Zuko would support it, Mother would, everyone. That's one path of my father's I don't want to follow."

Dr. Chirah remained silent, presumably to see where she was taking this.

"I got the idea," Azula said with a small sigh, answering the earlier question; "when I was thinking about how much this place still reminds me of... the past. I recognize everything when I look outside, when I'm cooped up - I want..."

"You want a fresh start." The grey-eyed woman gave her the answer without any question in their words.

She nodded. Secretly, she was thankful to have had the words provided for her; they were hard to admit. She was a perfectionist like that. "Yeah, I do. I really do." A lump unfamiliar to her formed at the base of her throat. "No more judging or responsibilities or dealing with... I want... to be alone. _Have_ my own."

Dr. Chirah sat quietly across from her as she rubbed a hand along her collarbone and straightened in her chair. The back suddenly felt like it was pinching into her spine. "Okay," Dr. Chirah finally voiced. "Then let's focus on that."

Seventeen minutes later, they parted ways in the hallway. Azula watched her doctor go, internally both realizing and admitting that it was helpful, what the therapist did. talking through some things made them clear and precise. They talked about where she would go, what she would do, who she would be. Though the answers to those questions were far from concisely revealed and sure in her mind, she had an idea. And an idea was a start.

But there was something more important to gather first. She backtracked farther into the northern wing. The door was cracked leading to the sitting room, voices filtering out from behind it. Pushing it open fully, she found her mother and Loya on the other side. "Azula," her mother greeted, cutting short the conversation she had been participating in.

"Can we talk about something?" She asked hesitantly, glancing back and forth between the two older women in front of her. She knew they were close friends and it was because she cared for her mother that she didn't wish to interrupt.

Loya took the initiative anyway. "I've got to go check on something - I'll leave the two of you alone."

Ursa smiled and nodded farewell to the head housekeeper. She patted the cushions beside her welcomingly to Azula once the room dwindled to being occupied by only two. "How was your session?"

Azula sat. She took a deep breath and garnered a smile with the most conviction and determination that she could find within herself. She wanted this; she _really_ wanted this. At the end of the day it was an escape, she saw that, and it was the escape that she wanted. She just hoped her mother would want it too.

She spoke.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	95. Ports

**A/N:** I'm actually late posting this. First time in, what, over a week? Two? Month? Huh. Well, that's what happens when you're roped into helping your brother's move and don't have back-up transportation. Ah, well. Sorry! :-)

This chapter is largely a re-hash but some scenes needed to be had and as you'll see, two enemies might be coming to an agreed upon cease-fire (which is actually a needed scene). Nonetheless, I hope it's a worthy read! Thanks for sticking around C:

**Disclaimer:**** Own this story's word-order, however you want to say it, but hold no claim over the series**** (still have yet to watch Korra!)****.**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The life you lead_

_Conceals the light you are._

_~'Unnamed', Sri Aurobindo_

* * *

><p>Ursa looked at her son out of the corner of her eye. He truly was different. It was intriguing to watch him simply be; she, even now, was occasionally struck by the differences of how he behaved nowadays from the way he'd been when she left. She switched her glance back out to the bay. They were standing off to the side of the capital's port's extensive docks. His invitation to get out of the palace for a while had been a sudden one but a welcome one all the same.<p>

Besides, she had something she wanted to talk with him about anyway. Something related to Azula. Something she was hesitant to bring up now.

So far, the day's outing had had no bumps or quarrels. It was nice. Though she never had anything beyond a polite, respectful quarrel with her son, those were usually because of her daughter, his sister. So, as it stood, she wouldn't bring it up now. The day was much too nice.

Zuko glanced over at her. "What?" He asked, smile playing on his lips.

"Nothing." She continued staring at the supplies ship leaving port in front of them.

"I'm sorry-" He said suddenly, making her shift her vision again in confusion. "-that we haven't done more things together; just _us_. I didn't think everything would be so busy after we... found each other."

Ursa rubbed a hand on his arm gently. "Don't be sorry." She debated within herself for several long seconds before sighing, smiling. "I was speaking with Azula about something," she broached the subject carefully.

He didn't so much as tense up at the mention. "About what?"

"About moving," she expelled in a quick breath. She counted to five before continuing; she only made it to three before he said something.

"Moving?" This time he did tense, staring straight at her with an intense expression.

She wondered, ever so briefly, if he really could read her facial expressions well, or if it was simply habit. She decided upon it being a little bit of both. "Yes, moving; as in changing residence."

"That's what I thought you meant – why?"

The former Fire Lady shifted her stance to face him more fully instead of further craning her neck. She settled her smile into one of fulfilled acceptance. When Azula told her yesterday, she had at first been shocked. It was understandable. She stared at her daughter for a long while, making the young teenager nervous. She hadn't meant to do that and, when she then told Azula that she liked the idea, the girl was skeptical. That was her fault. Persistence helped with righting that.

Admittedly only to herself, she was uncertain her daughter was speaking truthfully. Was Zuko right – was she 'playing' them? The thought, even the fact that a small part of her thought it at all, made her cringe. Her expectations for improvement so soon and change so drastic were unrealistic and really they were impossible; she saw that now. However, it was that they weren't met that led to a seed of doubt being planted into her mind.

The look in Azula's eyes, posture, and pure vulnerability on her face told her that no, it was true. She was speaking the truth. It was just so... unlike _her_. Maybe that was a wrong calculation on Ursa's part, though – she figured her daughter would want to come back to her home. Of course, maybe that was another miscalculation – was the palace her daughter's home? There were too many times that her daughter looked uncomfortable, awkward, and discontented inside the palace, instead of the opposite that she should be.

The 'pitch' Azula gave her was matter-of-fact; nothing more, nothing less. It was _all_ Azula.

Drawing herself out of her thoughts pointedly, the former Fire Lady met her son's eyes with her own, raising them from where they had been looking slightly off-center and at his cheekbones before. "It was her idea, so I don't really know. She only told me what she wanted. She wants to move and have a sort of fresh start. Do you blame her?"

He shook his head, eyes narrowed. "No, no." Zuko merely asked, following up, "Where?"

Ursa gestured behind them with her hands. "West; opposite of the capital. Maybe north, since it's less populated."

"The coast?"

She shrugged with a sad sort of a smile. "Yeah, I think close. She likes beaches."

"I remember."

Ursa stared at his changing expression, eyes adopting a glazed look. She remembered the few times they went to Ember Island on vacations. It was one of the only times during the years that he and his sister got along – not only passively, but sometimes quite wonderfully. Maybe there was something about the place; she had always gone back to contemplating that. Of course, it could also, likely, be that the place simply _wasn't_ the palace. On vacations, everything related to ruling the Fire Nation and holding the Fire Lord throne faded away. No classes, no huge expectations, no war meetings, no every hour of every day influences. Her smile widened, mostly with effort. "What do you think?"

Zuko's eyes cleared and he focused back on her. "If she's genuine, I like it."

"She is, Zuko; you didn't see her face. She is serious."

He sighed, golden eyes flicking out to the bay again. The ships were stagnant, docked, and the wind awfully still. "She'll still need guards," he commented after a minute. "For protection."

She liked the change. Yes, she knew they would also be there to keep an eye on her daughter's behavior, but she still appreciated the change in wording all the same. Her son didn't lie to her; they would be for protection too. Hopefully Azula would have no more than a _few_ small qualms about it. "Thank you. This time, the absence will be my fault," she remarked, sadness seeping into her voice just enough.

"I won't even know you're gone," he protested, pulling her into a tight hug. It happened quick enough that she hadn't even blinked before she found herself in his arms. Ursa contentedly rested her head against his shoulder; he was tall, like his father. Her motherly instincts took over – never fully gone – and her hands smoothed comforting circles across his upper back. "I'll' visit all the time and you can too."

"After you sister is settled."

"Right," was all he said in response to her reminder. "And Uncle will definitely visit. See, you – _both_ of you – won't be alone."

"Okay, don't make this feel like a goodbye," she chastised good-naturedly, pulling back out of the hug. "And we're moving somewhere with _population_. We won't be _alone_."

"I know." She couldn't help noticing his cheeks were a tad splotched with pink. Perhaps it was from the wind that by now had picked up at last, two-fold the speed that it was ten minutes ago, but she preferred to believe it was from embarrassment. It reminded her of him as a sweet child. "It's just different."

Ursa slowly turned her back on the bay and towards the capital. He followed the motion. "I'm hungry; lunch?"

He nodded and matched his strides with hers. "Did Azula come up with this one her own?"

She responded promptly, diffusing his business-like tone, "Yes. She told me she was thinking about fresh starts, new lives. You should talk with her _yourself_, Zuko. I won't be a middle-man for you two. However, I am your mother and you needed to know."

"When are you leaving?"

"Azula wanted to as soon as possible; there's nothing left here of hers, she said." Ursa brought a curled hand up to rest against her collarbone. She had brought her daughter back, only not enough. At least, not yet. "I was thinking a week; two if she doesn't like any of the places I've found." It broke her heart to be split apart from her children again. However, she would take a small bit of selfish gladness this once in the fact that that she was not totally split from them. She had her daughter, the one who needed her the most. Her son was set and happy. He had a nation he was comfortable with ruling, a network of friends more like family that would always have his back, politically or personally, and finally he had a self no longer emotionally scarred.

She reached over to pat his elbow; he intertwined their arms, acting like her escort. Surprisingly, Zuko smiled in response to her answer. She could read him quickly and knew it was more sad than happy, just as hers was. They weren't separating now, though, and they would never truly be apart. She wouldn't let that happen again. "How about that place?" He asked, pointing forward.

Ursa accepted the change in conversation with an approving look cast his way. "Sure; looks great."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Imagine you're on Mars, looking at earth,_

_a swirl of colors in the distance._

_Tell us what you miss most, or least._

_Let your feelings rise to the surface._

_Skim that surface with a tiny net. _

_Now you're getting the hang of it._

_Tell us your story slantwise,_

_streetwise, in the disguise_

_of an astronaut in his suit. _

_Tell us something we didn't know_

_before: how words mean things_

_we didn't know we knew._

_~'Mars Poetica',_ Wyn Cooper

* * *

><p>It wasn't an easy decision. In fact, beyond all the debating she did with herself regarding it, there were also the logistics to be concerned about – like the guards. Zuko and Ursa were out for a get-together and likely wouldn't be back for a while; hours, actually. It was good for them. So all she really had to wonder about was the guards and whether they'd barred her entrance.<p>

Katara shuffled down the hall, unbelieving even in herself right now. However, a small part of her knew she had to make it right. Not because of who Azula is, but because of who she, the water-bender from the South Pole, is at heart. She liked to think herself a good person. And good people didn't yell in another's face without an apology.

That was what she had been taught by her Gran Gran. If her grandmother knew about this future situation, though, she might think twice about that advice.

* * *

><p>Azula had stared across her room for a good hour this morning, simply <em>staring<em>. Her bedroom in the northern wing of the palace was different than the one she had spent her first fifteen years in. This one was largely decorated in gold and little red, while the other was the opposite. This one also had small and sporadic accents of colors like white, brown, and yellow – the gold without the flakes – whereas her other one was purposefully devoid of any such colors. Her father had always told her to take pride in their nation; red and gold, the fire and the blood in it, was who they were. Never apologize for it.

If he could see her now.

This new bedroom of hers wasn't actually _hers_. It was a place holder; she had been the guest. And yet, a small part of her liked it.

It was unsettling, in her mind. Her father would, instead of finding hope like a normal person, berate her for being confused at all. He meant well; she believed that. Yet his ability to show affection and to nurture was so low it might as well be counted as zilch.

Instead of dwelling further in her mind along those musings, Azula packed her clothes. They were the proving to be the easiest to do, despite her inexperienced in that field. Normally – well, _before_, she corrected herself feebly – the servants would come in and pack her things for a trip. A snap of a fingers was all it took for her to do. She thought about, stalling for a whole four minutes after she finished packing, if the servants had done that after her imprisonment. That is, come in and cleared out her things.

She moved away from that thought quickly as well.

Next was her vanity. In contrast to a year before, she had hardly anything on it. Azula decided to pack everything just because she could.

She was halfway through with that stop in her efforts when a knock sounded on her open door. Standing in the doorway was the water peasant, who was looking surprisingly nervous. It wasn't an astute observation on Azula's part – it was obvious in the way the other fidgeted and turned her head a few times to either side. She walked in and cracked the door closed halfway. Azula wondered where her guards were; probably at the end of the hall, as usual. Probably why the other teenager was so nervous.

Rolling her eyes at the unexpected presence, Azula simply said, "Go away."

She continued to move her things. "We need to talk," Katara greeted anyway.

"Uh, no, I don't feel like being lectured; I have things to do." She turned her back on the other, fingering a vial she didn't recognize. It took her a minute of silence, _thankfully_, but then it came to her – birthday present, fifth year. She usually shoved it towards the back of her collection, finding some now-unknown prejudice with it. Azula took off the cap and sniffed. It smelled like a dusty flower.

"Why are you moving your stuff around?" The water-bender's tone matched her voice. Genuine confusion.

Well, it was to be expected. What was not to be expected was _why_ she was asking.

An exasperated breath escaped her lips. She hoped the other girl would just leave. She didn't want to deal with this right now; she wasn't _prepared_. Azula didn't want another… outburst. That was just what she needed – her mother and brother out wherever and then coming back to find her sitting in her burnt shell of a room, the blue-eyed one screaming her stupid little head off about being 'threatened'. Or worse, the blue-eyed one extinguishing her with a drowning amount of water and chaining her up again, like a wild animal.

Against her better judgment, she looked over her shoulder. "Think I'm running away?" She smiled mockingly when the other's face flashed into one of annoyance. It was way too easy to turn the 'well-meaning' ones into a pissed-off mode; way, _way_ too easy. She spun her body this time, fully facing the other. "My mother and I are moving out, relocating, whatever you want to call it. Will you _miss_ me?"

To her disappointment, Katara was still hung up on the 'moving' part and missed her jab altogether. "Why are you moving?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, even as she knew it had almost nothing to do with their previous meeting when she had been practically ambushed and yet the teen across from her would think exactly that. She was right; Katara made to speak, protestation clear on her face.

Azula threw up her hands, fuse wearing thin. If she was honest, she was a smidgen annoyed at herself too; she felt like she was a hair's width away from spilling her reasons in way more intimate detail than necessary and then asking the other's advice, just because she was a face Azula didn't care about and knew did not care about her in return. That whole line of thought made half of her downright sick, the other scarily curious to try it out. "Just say what you wanted to say and leave already!"

Katara, to her credit, didn't recoil from the unexpected – by both parties – tone or glare accompanying it. "Fine. I wanted to say-" She stopped briefly, biting her lip. The teenager was uncomfortable. Azula wanted to call her out on it and quip 'join the club' but somehow, magically, managed to refrain. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for yelling at you like I did."

Her eyebrows rose upon their own accord. "You're _apologizing_? To _me_?" A near laugh bubbled up in her throat at the absurdity of it all. She was the bad one, the wrong one, the one who doesn't get things like apologies. Arguably, they aren't even deserved. But the water peasant was extending one to _her_?

"You're still a person," the other woman continued, stating it matter-of-factly. "And I like to think I'm a good person. But this doesn't mean I'll ever trust you or believe you or forgive you, got it?" She asked, stance morphing into being rigidly straight.

Azula could have fished a threat out of there somewhere but there truthfully wasn't one. She knew that. "That's fair." She gave a short nod._ I won't forgive myself. _Azula spun around to pick up the last of the miscellaneous items on her vanity, depositing them into the basket she set off to the side.

A pause filled the space almost _comfortably_. An unexpected understanding was established, built upon long layers of near-intersecting and intensely-intersection roots. Finally, Katara said, "Are both of you moving? Just… _leaving_?"

She took a deep breath. She felt tired, though physically she had no right to say she was. It was her emotions; they left her drained, feeling almost battered, broken, and bruised. In a way, she almost was. Beating herself up over things in her past to the point of making her psych partially numb. She was just so tired of… everything. Was it too much to ask for peace, albeit even temporarily? She had wondered that often. For her, maybe it was. Nonetheless, that wouldn't stop her from trying. "Why do you care?" Azula countered, listening intently for the answer, throwing a question back.

"I care about Ursa; and Zuko. And what you do affects all of us-"

The answer stating one was thinking of others and yet somehow manages to circle it back around to themselves was a near-classic. _Oh, great._ She rolled her eyes again. "Yes, we're both moving, way to make it about _yourself_."

"I wasn-"

"I asked her to come and she agreed," Azula talked over her with a narrowed sight. Katara silenced.

She sank onto her vanity's stool. It felt surreal; all of it. Most of all, the conversation – and with whom she was having it with – felt surreal. If someone had told her about this a year ago…. No, she wouldn't look to the past. It only hurt. Painful reminders not only brought that flash of hurt, they brought the ensuing aching straight thereafter. She glanced to the water-bender again, whose own eyes looked lost in thought, focused across the room at a blank wall.

Azula ignored that 'older' half of her body and spilled; it was easier and she was all for reverting to that habit right now. "I didn't realize how much of a shell of my father I'd become," she remarked honestly. It was easier to unload on those you didn't know or frankly did not care about, she came to find. And once you said it out loud, you didn't want to stop. "I don't want that. I _want_ to be…. I want to do whatever I want for why I want to do it; be my _own_ person."

Katara regarded her with a quizzical eye in return. Nothing more and nothing less. "What kind of person is that?"

Azula relaxed. "I don't know."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	96. Duel

**A/N:** Yeah, I'm posting late. In sorta-defense, birthday was yesterday and am still kind of high from birthday cake; I REGRET NOTHING.

Anyway - Toph centric chapter! I had so much fun writing this up. I just love taking advantage of the chance to write about bending the elements. *contented sigh* Another plus side, I think this is the first time I've written 'dramatic action' (air quotes because how can you critique your own work? Not very accurately, that's how) for characters besides Katara and Zuko. So that was a nice change.

Here's a question for all the readers – what element in the Avatar universe is your favorite; which one would you like to have power over?

For me it's water all the way; you don't just get liquid water, you get steam, ice, and blood as well. Although let's look at the others – earth also potentially encompasses sand and metal; fire has lightning; air has…? Energy-bending is an Avatar thing.

Okay, another question – what other advantage does air have? O_o Drawing total blank here.

Also, two other notes – one, lots of FF breaks in this chapter, and two, the poem quoted really has no significance but damnit, I wanted to include. So there, lol.

(Totally on a sugar high right now, hence the rambling. Sorry 'bout that.)

Thanks for reading! :-)

**Disclaimer: Earth-bending is dangerous!**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Silent and soon,_

_Like a broadened moon,_

_It passes in sheen,_

_ Asopus green,_

_And bursts on Cithaeron gray!_

_The warder wakes to the Signal-rays,_

_And it swoops from the hill with a broader blaze._

_On, on the fiery Glory rode;_

_Thy lonely lake, Gorgopis, glowed!_

_To Megara's Mount it came;_

_They feed it again_

_And it streams amain-_

_A giant beard of Flame!_

_The headland cliffs that darkly down_

_O'er the Saronic waters frown,_

_Are passed with the Swift One's lurid stride,_

_And the huge rock glares on the glaring tide._

_With mightier march and fiercer power_

_It gained Arachne's neighboring tower;_

_Thence on our Argive roof its rest it won,_

_Of Ida's fire the long-descended Son!_

_Bright Harbinger of glory and of joy!_

_So first and last with equal honor crowned,_

_In solemn feasts the race-torch circles round. -_

_And these my heralds! - this my SIGN OF PEACE;_

_Lo! while we breathe, the victor lords of Greece_

_Stalk, in stern tumult, through the halls of Troy! _

_~'The Beacon Fires', _excerpted from 'Agamemnon', stanza #1/2, Aeschylus

* * *

><p>To say the place was swept up in the buzz of excitement would be an <em>overstatement<em>, for once. Aang looked around curiously, only to constantly see faces with serious expressions, worriedly bitten lips, or stressfully drawn eyes blinking away the wafting dirt's dryness. It was quite the contrast to Toph. She was like a bursting bubble. In random intervals, she would try to impress upon him the seriousness of the situation in response to his teasing; every time, however, he was able to get her to smile and relax. As if she was even worried. It was Toph he was talking about here.

The comparison, though, was interesting – right now everyone else was cynical, whereas she was the positive one. Many times in the past – _most_ times in the past – it was the opposite.

"What do you see?" She asked by his side.

He looked around again, refreshing his 180 degree angle view. There was an elevated platform of rock slab next to the mountain ridge where they – the three of them – had been practicing before. Stacked rows of seating were positioned in a near ring around the platform. It was the first of that he'd ever seen before. A large crowd – most of the camp, he guessed, the last bit trickling in behind them – was piling around; some in the stands, some off to side, many pacing. Almost all, he noticed, had split apart into different groups and clicks.

All of this he relayed to Toph, who managed to have a ready comment for each detail, or rather _about_ each detail.

"There they are!" Aroon nearly shouted.

"What, who?" Toph startled, stopping in her strides.

"The Terra Team! They're off to the side, behind the stadium."

"Stadium?" Aang asked this time.

"Yeah, the stage," Aroon explained.

Toph snorted, failing to look uninterested as she crossed her arms, commenting to her friend, "When did you get so excited about the Terra Team, Aroon? I thought you didn't care."

He guffawed. "Just 'cause I said I haven't met one before doesn't mean I don't care about doing it." He let out a deep breath. "They look so awesome, like they know everything about everything."

Aang did a double-take of the Terra Team members again. Nope, they still looked the same to him; _normal_. Maybe he had seen too much, maybe it was because he had already been around some during the brief fall of Ba Sing Se more than half a year ago. Or maybe, just maybe, he was spoiled.

"They don't feel any different," Toph threw out with a voice holding the edge of frustration on it.

"Do you realize how weird that sounds?" Aroon questioned with a grin.

She swiveled to face him. "What, it's how I see!"

"And sometimes it gets creepy; just saying."

"You-"

Aang held up his hands, stepping between the two and facing the earth-bender dear to his heart. "Guys, let's go grab seats, okay?" He offered, breaking up their bantering, almost-argument. "They're filling up fast."

The other two complied with him and before long, Aang found himself squeezing between low backs and high-level knees bunched together, navigating his way through the staggered rows of seating. He received more than a few stares – positive ones – along the way. Most were simply curious. He smiled back. Toph huffed anxiously as they dropped into the medium-high seats they managed to acquire – it was _close_. In the other aisle, a group of three spun around to look through another bleacher.

As soon as they sat and Toph opened her mouth, a ready complaint or comment on her lips, a man at the foot of the seating began calling out names. "… Fujikoma, Yu, Beifong, Koita…."

"Sweet," she said, blinking over at him with a grin. "First round picks! Wish me luck."

Aang gave her a peck on the lips as she stood. "Knock them out!" He approved.

She blushed sweetly.

"Knock 'em dead," Aroon added. "Then you win _instantly_."

She laughed as she continued down the aisle and was soon lost within the sea of people – and peoples' heads – seated around them. Aang scooted over to sit between the two seats, reserving hers. "Hey," he called over to Aroon. The lanky guy that he guessed was a couple years older than Zuko leaned his way. "Didn't get to really meet you before – how do you know Toph?"

"She didn't tell you?"

He shook his head.

Aroon wore a half-smile on his lips as he recalled, "She kind of saved me from a group of bullies. They got pretty hostile after against her. Don't worry, they're gone."

His face scrunched up as he remembered the stories she told him when he first arrived. She had spoken in her usual blunt, condensed way. Aang had been so happy and relieved just to see her again, he hadn't asked many follow-up questions – though the bullying stories, as he'd told her then, were alarming. "Wait, do you mean the same ones that tried to prank-_kidnap_ her and got _expelled_?"

"Hah, 'prank'; that's what they say but she was really banged up in her ribcage," Aroon explained with wide-eyes. "She was in the infirmary for a couple weeks."

"What?" His breath hitched.

"Yeah, almost broke 'em…. You didn't know? I know they don't allow correspondence but… thought she'd, you know, tell you. She was very mad for a while; limited movement and all. Made earth-bending hard."

The Terra Team applicant's words ended almost with a note of hesitance, as if he was afraid to divulge too much and accidentally spill something he didn't have permission to talk about. Aang tried to smile reassuringly. After all, she was fine now; perfectly healed. If she did not feel like talking through the whole story, he understand. She was tough but sometimes, things just affect you. "Toph only told me she got some bruises – but that's her, you know. She doesn't like to admit she's hurt; or worse, needs help."

His new-found friend snorted. "Yeah, you could say that."

* * *

><p>The past two hours gave her a whole new perspective that, yes, she was <em>lucky<em> to be in the first draft. Because this was going freaking ice-melting-in-mountain-hills kind of slow. There was some progress, however it was also agonizingly slow. Maybe if she was the one fighting it wouldn't seem so long. In fact, it might fly by _much_ sooner. Which only made her want to be chosen even more. There were twenty-five people picked in the 'draft'. So far, twelve had gone up to duel and show their range of abilities. Toph had no idea how they could get these duels done in a day's time. They probably wouldn't – today was Saturday, after all. They had the full weekend by normal standards.

A loud smack resounded. She wriggled her toes along the dusty ground absently. The fellow camp member was slammed into the ground, knocked off his feet, locked into his own airtight casket. Only his face and feet were open and clear from it. A minute passed with nothing else happening. The Terra Team member was the winner.

She knew why; she could sense it clearly. The fool had made the mistake of clasping his hands together, likely to do the ground-tunneling move. But the Terra Team person was quicker, trapping him with his palms pressed against his stomach. He couldn't earth-bend without touching the earth and his feet weren't either. The duels were quickly escalating in complexity, almost as if going at the pace that the Terra Team members were warming up.

Toph tsk'ed silently. Or maybe not so; the person to her left shifted away a few inches. She didn't care.

"Beifong!"

She straightened, adrenaline jump-starting the blood rushing through her veins. Was it really her turn? And she was _just_ becoming comfortable judging everyone else! If only there really were judges for the dueling 'test'. She would like to know her scores.

"Beifong," the Terra Team liaison called again, clearly annoyed and pointedly, unsparingly, making it show.

"Here," she affirmed, skidding to a quick stop at the edge of the sidelines. He shushed her. Seriously _shushed _her. Toph felt like crying out in outrage but refrained, tasting the blood from her tongue mixing with her saliva as evidence of her efforts. It would not do good to get emotional now, not when her 'moment' finally came. She swallowed, hoping it didn't make her look nervous.

Basu walked over; she deciphered quickly that he must have signaled the liaison person to wait. They are stilled, sort of shuffling on their feet. "She's a spy from the Earth King, testing our program. Her marks don't matter."

Toph glared into the dark space's general vicintiy in her vision she knew he was inhabiting. Of course her marks mattered – she wanted to know what they were! _And a spy? Hah – that would _never_ work._

"Beifong, platform." She was ordered.

'Thanks for the introduction', she almost voiced. It was difficult to stop herself; the remark was wittily awesome in her mind.

She was pondering whether Basu was trying to be nice or was acting passive-aggressive as she mounted the platform when the bell rang. The _commencing_ bell. She had paid attention to all of the duels and, like protocol, earth-bended a wall between them. The Terra Team members rotated within each other the duels so there was never one of them participating in two duels back-to-back. She had kept an eye on them, tracking their movements. This signature of this person she recognized. He hung back, preferred sneak attacks on those that were big; on the small, he was direct, if not full of distracting methods.

She wondered which category she fall in. She hated sneak attacks; unless she was the one doing them, of course. But even then they were a pain in the behind.

Toph waited. He sent a clustering of earth mannequins up from the ground, on her side of the wall. It was a test, not an attack. Keeping hold of the wall while sending an attack at the boulders carved into creepily moving statues would be difficult. A small smile lit up her lips. She wouldn't have to. Toph morphed her stance, drawing back. Her arms raised and parted proximity as the wall lengthened in her direction. The earth rumbled ever so slightly under her feet.

Friction lit white sparks in her seismic vision as the wall came into contact with the statues. Throwing her shoulder back pulled the rock just enough; the mannequins were enveloped, one by one, after struggling for a minute. She kept a close metaphorical eye on her competitor as she did this, noting that within two seconds he'd risen himself up on a column. She took hold of the last mannequin, molding it into the solid wall, when he earth-bended a large wave over the wall, headed towards her.

Okay, that was an attack. It wasn't sneaky, but it was surprising. Apparently, she fell into the second qualification – he saw her as small. That was disappointing. She only had a split second to act against the wave. Toph bent low and pushed the additions she had made to the wall upwards, arching them over her. She grimaced, preparing herself for the impact of the wave on her make-shift shelter that, really, had _no_ support beyond her own earth-bending strength.

It was worse than she expected. A loud booming sound echoed a split second before a force at least ten times larger than she had ever felt pushed against her slammed down from the wall and through her limbs. Her muscles twitched. Toph gritted her teeth and held it as friction-inducing white blurred her seismic sense where the wall was. Her foot threatened to slip.

A flash of an idea came to her. It was risky but she was all for those, wasn't she? With her permission, the wall lowered carefully on top of her. The wisps of loose hair from her scalp soon curved under the presence of the looming rock. Losing control would be _deadly_. She hadn't used this technique for a while; since the fall of Ba Sing Se. Toph shifted her weight haphazardly; a headache was coming on, sweat pooling at her forehead. Her arm raised, fisted knuckles grazing against the hard rock. She pushed smoothly forward; earth-bending armor came to wrap around her, all the way to just below her elbow.

Seconds ticked by and with each one she increased the diameter of the armor, building it up. She would need it. Toph did the same with the her other arm, shifting the weight of the earth to her other half. Her knees locked together. With a suddenly burst of energy, she punched the wall. It surged upward, back into the sky, cracking and splitting along the way. The Terra Team member let go and the wave went crashing off the sides and through the cracks, dust consuming the area and threatening to make her cough.

She punched the ground this time, leaving the original wall standing alone for a minute as she opened a ring pit around herself, directing the dirt and rock residue back to its rightful place. The worst part of _everything_ really was the cleanup.

Her competitor reached out for control of the wall, tingling her senses into alertness. She was faster, though she bet that was because he wasn't even trying. Weakening your opponent with small moves is the easiest and most predictable offensive strategy, after all. Good thing she didn't weaken easily. She struck large blunt spikes out from the wall. One of them caught him in the jaw, knocking him down to his knees for a moment. Unexpectedly funny, she pulled them back in and closed up the pit around her, grinning.

Toph let out a long breath she had not realized she was holding and adjusted her stance for more. This _was_ fun.

* * *

><p>Aroon whistled low as they watched the Terra Team man recover, his arms tense at his sides after feeling his hit jaw. Aang smiled satisfactorily. He was not one for advocating fighting, nor did he like it for sport, but this was… <em>different<em>. Toph was proving something here, so he wouldn't say anything. Besides, she was doing a wonderful job. And it was always fun to watch her being proud about something. "That's Toph," he commented.

"You think she did that on purpose?"

Aang chuckled. "You don't?"

The other man leaned forward, watching avidly. "That was insane; none of the duels have escalated that fast before. One test and _boom_!" He smacked his hands together. "Tidal wave; my favorite move."

Aang glanced over, showing his grin, as the Terra Team competitor made an attempt at walling her in. He focused back on the duel

* * *

><p><em>Really? A trap?<em>

Toph went through the usual precautions – she took hold of the earthen floor within his secondary walls and, after raising her own elevations, crouched low to the ground. She began stomping her feet against the ground. An earthquake rumbled and rippled through the earth. His wall weakened somewhat, though not near enough for her to rid of it. It was tricky.

Movement underneath the ground obscured by her earthquake made her pause. A second later, an earth line came up. Twisted columns propelled at her with a high speed, she only just realized she had lost control of the earth by shaking it via earthquake before she spun on her feet. Her feet sunk down into the earth, body still spinning, a cylinder of rocks and dirt flying to the surface around her, encapsulating. The ground swallowed her up.

_That_ was a sneak attack that she had not seen coming.

She had to surface and fast. Her lungs were rapidly expanding and retracting, heart pumping against her ribcage. Toph hadn't taken the chance to save a breath. A grievous mistake. Earth-bending several columns up on the surface at the same time, she half-rose inside one, dozens of small pin-prick holes in the rock providing her with the much-needed oxygen her body craved. It was only a temporary fix. Her Terra Team opponent began slicing column after column with thin, sharp slabs, looking for _her_. She can't stay tunneled forever, after all.

If she could have a sidebar for just a minute, she would admit than this duel was definitely shaping out in a way completely contrary to what she'd expected. She had expected tests, evaluations, not a full-out onslaught of attacks. Maybe she should have paid a little more attention when a couple of the people earlier were injured. Oh well; she _could_ get out of this.

Toph thought up a fast plan and, with a slow and long breath, slipped underneath the ground once more. Ten seconds later, her column was the next to be sliced. Swimming through the ground, she opened up several tunnels in the earth. Through each one, she sent an earth bomb up to the surface. She carved a ring around her opponent. From the vibrations, she knew he was earth-bending his own defensive walls. She rose to the surface outside of his enclosure as she simultaneously sank the earth underneath his feet. An explosion of rock pellets coming from the walls assaulted her, making her duck.

She tipped on her heels and lost balance, falling sideways.

* * *

><p>"No!" Aroon shouted. His voice was lost in the mingle of the rambunctious crowd.<p>

The Avatar bit his lip worriedly.

"Get up, Toph, or he'll-"

"Too late," Aang interrupted, deciphering his train of thought. He clenched his hands together to keep from yelling as well.

* * *

><p>Toph really <em>hated<em> shackles. It was a smart move on his part – there was no way she could break these without focusing all her attention on them. There were too many moving pieces to do that without it being the dueling equivalent of suicidal. _Well, at least I have some leash._

He rocketed her up in the sky, floating on the makeshift platform. Toph leaned over to keep her hands on the ground. It was unsettling, being this far up in the sky without control over it. Her seismic sense came in handy as she felt out for the earth not connected to her soaring piece, focusing intensely on the compact particles below. She waited a moment to see what he'd do. It was a dangerous play; he could encase her, slam her down, drop the earth out from underneath her feet. And she would be, for all intents and purposes, subdued, without anything she could do about it.

A mesh-like net approached her, columns spawning in the sky around her to stop her movement; as if she had much. It was hard to see but she gathered that he was basically sending a net to trap her in. With so little earth touching her skin, earth-bending out of that would be difficult. She could push against it – unless he holds it together with earth-bending, a force more powerful than her physical muscles.

Toph jumped. The chaffing shackles around her ankles jerked her back down. The hovering slab vibrating somewhat dangerously. She jumped again, pushing all her earth-bending power into it this time. The slab broke, her opponents power turning slack. The net came at her the same time the columns began deteriorating, launching a shower of dirt over her, pelting her. She curled inward, covering her chest over her knees, and dropped down. The shackles cracked with the impact of the ground. Her shins ached with spattering pinpricks of pain; the more she moved, however, the less she felt them. Whether it was the adrenaline or movement, she didn't know. It did not matter right now. She had a duel to win.

Running, she paused for a split-second here and there in order to earth-bend walls up along the sides with her, racing like waves. This defensive stuff was starting to bore her now. It was her turn to attack; _hard_.

The earth softened under her feet from his tactics. She paid no mind and, his distraction failing, launched herself up with an earth wave intended to consume him. He burst through a crack before it tumbled down on his head. She swept her feet out, throwing a dust cloud his way. Coughing, he covered himself in a rock shack again.

He emerged though and when he did she turned his own technique on him, spawning quicksand beneath his feet. She would have thanked him for the idea if this was a friendly fight. Locking his legs together, she cut a square out of the ground around the man-made pocket of quicksand, hardening it, and earth-bended him up. When she got him halfway over to the wall of hers still-standing, he knocked her off her feet by shifting the layer plates of rock under her feet.

Toph stumbled up, managing to slam him down on the wall when he did it again. Her feet slipped, toes curling to hold balance. And to think she liked earth out of all the other elements because of its _stability_. Earth-bending the casing off his legs, she molded it into looking like a large bracelet cuff, an accessory common in the Fire Nation, and locked it around him. The Terra Team member had just managed a sitting position when she slammed him back down.

Rock poles came up and clasped shackles of their own around his elbows, keeping his hands secure.

Within half a minute, she had him down for the count.

The stadium silenced in confusion. Toph leaned over, panting. If there was one thing that sucked about element-bending, it was the physical exertion; she lost her breath really fast.

He struggled up there, on his perch, for a solid minute. She thought what she did was pretty clever – he couldn't bend his arms enough to touch earth, the pads of his feet were only touching air, he was on his back and therefore unable to do any kind of stance, and she hadn't needed to knock him unconscious. If she was honest, she basically stole the idea from the guy that locked the fellow contestant into a rock coffin in the previous fight. Besides, she had never wanted to knock them unconscious. If had to, then yes, but it had been done quite a few times that she had listened to and watched before. All cards on the table, she'd winced at a couple of them. Her falling-from-the-bed incident caused by the stupid bully two months back was still fresh on her mind.

The bleachers erupted in several different sounds, a cacophony of noise blending and meshing into a roar as conversations, comments, and yells overlapped.

The Terra Team liaison walked up. He announced the end of this duel and used his earth-bending to lower the guy; she didn't have any control over the earth anymore, so it happened without incident. Toph took a deep breath and let her arms, for the first time in fifteen minutes, fall limp at her sides. She'd won. _Wait_ – she'd _really_ done it. _Really, truly..._

Admittedly, there was a part of that was genuinely shocked. There was always the possibility… she hadn't known… but that didn't matter. Toph had won her duel. The liaison ushered her off to the side with a small comment about her sitting back in the bleachers now. "Wait, when will we know – about the scoring or whatever you're doing?" She inquired after.

"Graduation."

Toph stayed standing where she was for another minute as he called the next one onto the dueling platform. Basu's earlier comment about her marks not mattering popped into her mind. Everyone else would know at the 'graduation' ceremony in a weeks' time. Would she, though?

Tracking him down wasn't easy with the vast amount of people around, yet she managed it. He was standing against the side of a pack of bleachers, leaning against the railing, presumably watching it all intently. "I want to know how I did," she said by way of greeting.

"You won."

She folded her arms across her chest; her upper arms felt unusually sore. Well, no, that actually made _sense_. "My marks – you said they didn't matter. They do, to me; I want to know what they are. And I'm not a spy," she added bitingly.

"All you have to do is graduate," he responded with an insufferable sigh. "That's all you're here for, isn't it? The marks don't matter – you passed it."

"It does matter – to me," she insisted.

He sighed again. It was annoying. Toph held fast, mouth drawn into a tight line. "Fine. _Fine_, I'll find out and let you know when I do. Will that get you to leave me alone?"

"Maybe. You better not be lying to me."

He straightened. "If you're going to attack me like that, I won't."

She smiled at the sort-of compliment. Had to get them where you could, even if when confronted she would say they don't matter. Toph almost thought, by his comment, that he _respected_ her. She took it and its ego boost, confirmation of its truth unnecessary. "I will. Don't avoid me," she warned before walking off.

* * *

><p>"Awesome!" Aroon said, going in for a high-five with the hand she was holding up over the row of seats she was inching past awkwardly.<p>

"Thanks." She rolled her eyes with a wide smile, taking her seat again. Aang made sure to slide back over to give her room. "I'm so exhausted."

Aang leaned an arm on the back of her seat and rubbed her arm. "You did _great_, Toph; see, told you you'd win!"

"'Course I was! There was no doubt," she proclaimed confidently.

"Any tips?" Aroon asked eagerly.

Aang grinned at his eagerness; the whole time Toph had dueled, her friend had been next to him, screaming in support or outrage. Aang had several times almost done the same, too. Regardless of that, it was nice to see as he had throughout the past week or so that she had made a good, lasting friend here. He had no doubt they would be seeing more of Aroon when she graduated. "Only one," Toph confessed, leaning near him conspiratorially. "Whatever you do, _don't pee_."

The Avatar burst out laughing.

"I'm serious!" She called out, sounding outrage, in no way actually serious at all. She had her lying tells as well and he knew them all.

Aroon groaned at the response. "Come on, something _real_."

"Okay, okay!" She complied, sobering up as a smirk twitched on the corner of her chapped lips. "All that wall training we did? It doesn't come in handy at all; like _literally_ at all. You might as well just go on the offensive."

"Thanks," he replied with an intentional bump against her shoulder before resting his elbows on his knees, quickly focusing in on the fight heating up in front of them.

"You're welcome." She slumped back against the chair and the Avatar's arm.

"So," Aang began, bowing over in her direction; their shoulders rubbed. "The peeing thing, huh? Get that idea from Sokka or something?"

She openly leaned her head on his shoulder. "I was completely serious."

"Wait, _wha__t_?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	97. Mops and Maps

**A/N:** This is the chapter of playful, non-plot-adding moments! So much drama and angst; I'm lightening it up, okay? C: Sadly, though, it's short. _Two short segments_. Writer's block is kicking my butt.

No chapter on Thursday on account of it being Thanksgiving and all. Sorry; happy holidays, everybody! I can't believe it's that season again – feels like it should still be Spring. Curse you, fast summer/fall. You're never long enough.

*slaps self* I made up another character! This perfectly represents how my original novella for NaNoWriMo is going right now – I'm making it more complicated every time I sit down to write. *slaps self again* Don't worry, she's another one you don't have to remember the name of.

Thanks for reading! :-) Hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: Don't own! *ducks***

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_In summer dusk the valley lies_

_With far-flung shadow veil;_

_A cloud-sea laps the precipice_

_Before the evening gale:_

_The welter of the cloud-waves grey_

_Cuts off from keenest sight_

_The glacier, looking out by day_

_O'er all the district, far away,_

_And crowned with golden light._

_~'Mountain Life', _stanza #1/5, Henrik Ibsen

* * *

><p>The day was shaping up to be a warm and sunny one, with humidity clinging in the air again. They were in full-blown summer now – had been for a month, actually – and yet Katara still found herself comparing it to the South Pole's seasonal climates. She supposed she always would. It took a long time to decide but it felt right and she knew in her heart why – the palace and the Fire Nation are <em>home<em> because she's with Zuko. She finally found an answer to that question; truthfully, she'd always had it.

Smiling to Orez as she walked down the hall toward his office, she gestured to the open doors. He shook his head, giving her the sign to go in. She walked in without any preamble.

Zuko was standing at the far end and holding a file or something like it in his left hand, tracing with his right along the world map, pointing to several paths between the Fire Nation and what was still shown as the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. He turned absently to see who came in. He smiled. "Katara."

She smiled back softly and walked up to his side. "What are you doing?"

"Another of the colonies split," he explained, pointing. "They asked for aid; I'm mapping out the routes. They won't get much but I'll try."

She knew he would. It was important to both of them; all of them. "How many is that, ten?"

"Twelve towns – they have three," he explained.

"That's great. I can't believe everything that's changing." She studied the map in front of them as she murmured; it was kept in good condition but was nonetheless a bit more yellowed than usual and showed things like an unfriendly North Pole (though they still mostly were, they _had_ opened trade to at least the Earth Kingdom), Fire Nation colonies, and ancient relics in form of the air temples (granted it was only this year that Aang was changing those temples' statuses). "I wonder how Raja's doing," she thought aloud.

"Who?"

"Raja. You know, the little girl living at the Western Ai-"

"Air Temples that has air-bending," he said in unison with her as he recalled. "Right." Zuko glanced over to her. "There's a lot changing," he agreed.

She nodded. "You should update your map."

He half-smirked at her teasing. "Yeah, probably."

Katara crossed her arms, facing the windows and their bright, crisp view across part of the city as he went to his desk to set down the letter and file filled with the information he had pulled about the previous colony now part of the still unnamed republic. There was so much to do and while sometimes it felt like there wasn't enough time, there truthfully was more than enough. And then there were the things that took a lot of time, like... "How's Azula?" She asked him, trying to be casual.

The water-bender had not told him about her second meeting with the Fire Nation princess and did not really plan on doing so now, either. Her secret was not held out of deceit; rather it was because she didn't think it was important. She was in no way wrong in having her suspicions about the dangerous, previously (with a big question mark at the end of that) insane fire-bender, but she did have to admit she found Azula's behavior last time they 'met' somewhat encouraging. Not hopeful, just encouraging.

Nothing would be hopeful with the other because Katara didn't have any positive feelings about a recovery beyond that it would mean a break for all of them and peace for Zuko. Call it cold, but it was true.

Zuko raised his head, leaning back away from his desk. He turned around and sat on the front edge. A look of wonderment crossed his face. "Azula wants to move – _out_, she wants to move out. West or someplace like that. Mother said they were going through possible places and she'd let me know before they leave."

Nodding, she commented, "Yeah, I, uh, heard about that." She closed the distance between them across the large room so she was standing in front of him, only a foot away. "That's good, don't you think?"

"Yeah; I'm surprised _you_ do."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "I may hate her but I'm not blind!"

His lips curved into a playful half-grin. She liked that they could talk like this without stepping on the other's toes – they understood one another. "Have I ever thanked you for your honesty?"

Her chest squeezed a little. Still, Katara said, "I don't think so since you usually got frustrated at my honesty."

"What, like that time I saved you from falling rocks and you yelled at me for not getting up fast enough?" He recalled aloud.

Katara scoffed. "Come on, that was _deserved_."

"Really?" He reached out and pulled one of her dangling hands into his, threading and un-threading their fingers slowly. "How was that possibly deserved? I saved your life."

"But that made it too easy for me to _trust_ you – I still had your siding with your insane family on my mind," she said, explaining the convoluted logic she had used back then. She wouldn't tell him that the incident had confused all her wits out of her for a good couple of hours as she had felt both appreciative and comfortable with him for saving her. She wasn't supposed to feel so comfortable with him in their group already. In a part of her mind it was almost instinctual that he'd done it; which was scary, since she was still incredibly pissed off at him.

Zuko laughed, corners of his eyes crinkling ever so slightly. "I guess I should thank you for trusting me."

"Not needed; you trust me too."

"With my life," he immediately responded.

Her smile widened shyly.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_But look, a steading nestles, close_

_Beneath the ice-fields bound,_

_Where purple cliffs and glittering snows_

_The quiet home surround._

_Here place and people seem to be_

_A world apart, alone; -_

_Cut off from men by spate and scree_

_It has a heaven more broad, more free,_

_A sunshine all its own._

_~'Mountain Life', _stanza #3/5, Henrik Ibsen

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Someone with a high voice called through the echoing room, knocking on the open door jamb as they spoke.<p>

Sokka looked up from where he was cleaning – a chore he utterly loathed but unfortunately someone had to do it and this was _his_ classroom. He spied a woman standing in the alcove of the classroom's door that led directly outside. She looked to be maybe ten years older than him and she was standing there with an expectant expression. She had brown hair, tan skin, and blue eyes, which he noticed immediately. He straightened and leaned the mop against the wall with raised eyebrows. "Hi – who're you?"

"I'm Chiya – Suki told me to meet her here...?"

He quickly deciphered that whatever she was here for, it was related to either Kyoshi Island or the Kyoshi Warriors, and that she was from the North Pole. If she was from the South Pole, he doubted she would be indifferent to his name... That is, of course, if she has heard his name yet. "She'll be here in a minute – she's just running behind," he lied,covering for his wife. "I'm Sokka, by the way."

Chiya nodded in recognition. She gestured with her hand as she spoke. "Suki told me about you – you're from the South Pole, right? That's great what you did for the Avatar, traveling with him."

He smiled brighter from the praise. "Thanks. So what are you doing in Kyoshi – you're from the North Pole, yeah?" He held up an apologetic hand, sheepishly bowing his head half an inch or so. "I mean, if I can ask you about it or if it's 'super secret'."

She laughed lightly at that. "It was the blue eyes that gave it away, wasn't it?"

"They are unique," he admitted.

"I'm here," she began, stepping into the room finally and away from where she had been standing in the doorway before; "to talk about a trade alliance. I'm talking to Suki and then your mayor; he values her opinion a lot."

_Trade?_ Sokka picked the mop back up and took it over to its bucket, dumping it in. He wasn't one to sit still too much. "Trade between Kyoshi and the North Pole?"

"Yes." She side-stepped near the wall when he put the mop down on the tile ground again, mop now sopping wet. "To be honest we're hesitant but we trust the Earth Kingdom and this island did hold out until the end of the war; we like your island's loyalty."

Honor and tradition meant more than most anything to the North Pole people, he remembered. As such, he wasn't surprised that they were looking at Kyoshi Island for trade. He remembered not too long ago Aang mentioning something about that in his letters. Sokka usually skipped over most of those paragraphs, though; what, they were boring! And Aang didn't have the best explaining skills when he got excited; it was like Momo gibberish sometimes.

However, he did read it to keep up with worldly news and there was definitely something about the North Pole and trade in there. _Good for them_, he had thought at the time; they were isolated before but now they didn't have to be, it would only be by choice. He found himself feeling a bit intrigued at what their process was for choosing trade partners.

The door from the main school building to the classroom clicked open and Suki entered, full warrior make-up and robes on. Every time it reminded him of the first time he saw her, then when they met. He smiled a different kind now; affection mixed in with the pleasantries. "Sorry I'm late – something popped up. I see you met Sokka," she said, stopping at a point in the room roughly halfway between them.

"I did, yes."

Suki smiled, glancing over at him. "Great – can I have just a second?"

Chiya nodded patiently. "Sure. I'll be outside."

"Thanks." When the other door closed, the Kyoshi warrior spun to face him. "Sorry about that! I thought I'd get back here in time to introduce you."

"Nah," he admonished. "What's this thing with trade?" Sokka leaned against the mop handle.

"Isn't it great?" She suddenly grinned, placing her hands on her hips. "We'll get so much business, it'll be a great boost for the island. Oyaji sprang the visit on me this morning; I didn't get a chance to tell you."

Sokka's lips spread to match her expression. "I don't fully understand it but if you're excited, I'm excited."

"Wish me luck – I have to be 'convincing', Oyaji said. I'm not very good at that." She said it as though she were confessing something.

He kissed her on the cheek to keep from smudging her make-up. "I don't know, you're better than you think; and good luck."

Suki walked backwards with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Good luck on your mopping."

"Ha, hah-_aah_!" He stepped forward, only to slip on the puddle that formed unbeknownst to him when he rested the mop on the ground. Sokka groaned; his chest hurt in sort of a familiar way. He really had to work on his clumsiness. Hearing Suki laughing on her way out, he could only 'wittily' grumble, "It's not _that_ funny."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	98. Settling

**A/N:** So here's a clue as to the weird 'research' I sometimes do for stories – the town I mention that Azula and Ursa are going to? It's called Aldamura and I spent 15 minutes coming up with that name. '-mura' in Japanese means town/village and 'alda' in Icelandic means a hilly ridge. I chose the Japanese translation for village because I thought it sounded the best with 'alda' and I chose that one because the Fire Nation landscape was modeled after Iceland's geography. So yeah, that's what I spend my time on….

Apologies for any typos, as there always seem to be some sneaky ones!

Sort of a short chappy; sorry! I like it as it is and hope you feel the same. Thanks for reading – the below story, I mean :-)

**Disclaimer: I should put in a disclaimer for the quote below – I can't find where it originated. If it's yours, thank you for not suing! (*crosses fingers*)**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

"_Letting go is easier when we have someone to rebuild with us one brick at a time."_

~Unknown

* * *

><p>People and choices that lead to places here – and sometimes <em>there<em> – are what made memories that shaped lives. So while truly starting over is not a hundred percent possible – as memories will stay with a cognizant and mindful person forever, guiding them in their logical and illogical decisions – starting afresh with existing ingredients is a possible, viable option. His mother had told him that in as many words before, he was only hesitant to believe it. Seeing is believing. Now, however, Zuko stared at his sister as she slowly paced the room through some sort of 'one last time' ritual. She really was leaving. Probably the most shocking part of it was that leaving was her choice, her proposal, _her want._

He respectfully stayed off to side as she paced, making her own kind of peace. This wasn't the bedroom of hers he remembered from childhood, but it seemed to have just as many searing memories. He couldn't begin to guess what this leaving meant to her. So he waited patiently, quietly. _Respectfully._

She paced the room again after having stood still for a few breaths, this time laying her hand on the dresser, then the bedpost jutting from the left corner end, and finally bending to run her fingertips along the cushioned bench at the foot of the large bed. Azula appeared in behavior and facial expression the most peaceful he'd ever seen her before. Oddly enough, that was saying something monumental as he had always believed she looked calmest when in the midst of a winning scheme or manipulation. Different circumstances comforted him this time. He felt like he had already thought that a lot lately.

She bent to pick up her bags – a small satchel he didn't recognize, along with one long trunk and a much smaller one similar in style. Those he recognized as they were expensive pieces close to his own; their father got them for his two children not quite a year before Zuko's banishment. Azula fumbled with the handles of the large trunk.

"Need help?" He offered.

She stopped in mid-motion and looked at him over her shoulder, long hair carelessly loose today. She nodded shortly.

Zuko took hold of the trunks by their side handles, lightening the load for her significantly. She simply stepped back without complaint, pulling her purse strap over her shoulder. This time, he did not mind grabbing the majority of the load. As she breezily meandered her way out the door, though, lost in her own head, he did have a reminiscent thought – some things never change.

A pretty large part of him would miss the little things, too, no matter how aggravating they used to be in the past.

* * *

><p>Ursa couldn't help but think that right here and right now was <em>awkward.<em> She was displeased at – or rather _with_ – herself at the fact that she was thinking that at all. They were only standing in silence, after all. She had seen for a while now something of herself in the water-bender, making it sort of ironic in a way that her daughter was the one making Katara feel uncomfortable. Was it ironic, though, or was it just a _given?_

They were standing in the front hall of the palace as they waited, Ursa having respected her daughter's privacy and gone ahead, verifying that their arrangements were being carried out. Now she was standing here, waiting with a slight anticipation-fueled flutter in her heart to say goodbye to her son. Bittersweet was one way to say it yet it wasn't enough; no words were. Katara was waiting along the wall beside her in a way a lot more demurely than the other had ever seen. It was bizarre. Almost like she couldn't stand to be away and yet was uncomfortable being here – that, however, the former Fire Lady could understand. She knew well from her son about the two females' history and though she was thinking mostly of her daughter these past couple of months, she wasn't blind to how it all was affecting Katara. She could simply say 'family is family' but she was never that person and besides, she was starting to see the water-bender as family.

So really, it was not that the moment right now is awkward. Rather, it is that all of the events these past months snowballed into greater events of awkwardness.

Ursa made sure to spend a few minutes earlier in the day sharing a heartfelt goodbye with Loya. The head housekeeper was dear to her heart, having acted almost like a surrogate mother when she first arrived all those years ago. The former Fire Lady was stronger than many had originally thought and their friendship soon delved sisterly, where it – for most instances – stayed ever since. If Ursa didn't know the other woman's family was still in the capital city, alive and well and happy, she would invite her to join them on the countryside. But Loya was happy just where she was; letters would be enough.

Katara was staring down the hallway again, stepping away from where she had been leaning against the wall, shifting into any pseudo-resting position. Reaching out a hand, Ursa clasped the girl on the shoulder. Katara moved her eyes away and placed them on hers, instead, surprise mildly evident in them. "I wanted to thank you for keeping me company these past months," Ursa began. "You always went out of your way and it was nice. You are a very nice person, Katara."

The young woman smiled, blue eyes widening; her cheeks reddened ever so slightly. "You're welcome; friends?"

"I thought that was already established!" She removed her hand after a final pat. "I'm also sorry that Azula's absence has been so, uh-"

"Awkward?" Katara supplied.

She nodded; there really was no other appropriate word for it. "Yes, _that."_

The teenager surprised her with a hug, the other's arms coming around in a sweet embrace. She quickly reciprocated the action, somewhat puzzled all the same. She would miss how often she would get to see the South Pole girl here, around the palace – her son was a lucky man. She was more proud of him than he could ever surmise or understand; yet another instance where words failed to fully convey the enormity of certain emotions. "I should apologize – my behavior was sometimes mean and Azula and I have…"

"Issues?" Ursa volunteered this time, returning the favor.

"We have _issues_ but I never wanted you to see them. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry things are happening like this," Katara apologized.

"No, don't be," she insisted with a broadening curve of her lips. "I like my country's rural north and_ I'm happy._" She pulled back, lightly cupping Katara's cheek the same way she found she was doing with her own daughter quite often. "My daughter's starting anew – baby steps, right? _Everything else_ was baby steps."

She laughed. "No one in the Fire Nation does anything without drama, huh?"

"A very small few." Ursa grinned, laugh kept at bay in her throat. "You fit in well here, Katara, and I'm glad I get to be one of the ones to tell you that." She had no doubt the girl had heard it before – if not from anyone else, then from Zuko. Still, she insisted,"You're passionate. At the end of the day, it's the passion that drives this place. Not the fire or ambition – it's the _passion._ _Never lose it_."

* * *

><p>"You're sure?" She heard her brother ask. Azula pursed her lips at the persistence.<p>

"We triple-checked and then Loya checked and you know how _thorough_ she is – we have everything, Zuko," Ursa confirmed with exasperation lacing her voice. "Now come here."

Azula turned sideways soon enough to see her mother pull him into a tight hug. He buried his head on her shoulder, just as he always had when they were children – only then he buried his head against her shoulder, as he wasn't tall enough to do as he was now. She remembered how for a long while she was taller than him, her growth spurts having come quicker than his. And then he had become lanky, thin, and tall, no longer the cherub face who preferred feeding turtle-ducks and tagging along with their Mother during social events over fire-bending lessons and war room meetings. And yet still after that physical growth spurt he was mentally unsure of himself.

She wondered now, for an absent-minded minute, what would be so different if she had been unsure of herself at that age, too. But no, she always knew she was going places – like before, with the Fire Lord throne. She was still that way – her sureness just a trait of a person, as it turned out – only this time the location she was going to is the village of Aldamura. It was small, out of the way, located on a lake, and had a community spread out enough not to ask too many questions. They didn't plan on announcing who they were, though that was inevitable; especially with the guards staying around them. Azula did like that Mother had agreed to a place near the region's lake. The main reason behind that for her was that she would have a place to practice fire-bending without destroying anything.

Everybody needs and outlet.

Hearing her mother murmur something more nearby than before, she blinked and focused her attention on the scene in front of her. Ursa smiled at her and said more directly, "I'll be waiting outside." Azula watched her walked out the held-open front doors and down the stone steps.

Apparently, she was expected to say goodbye. Azula stepped back around and stared uncertainly at her brother. They'd never had a close relationship – emphasis on the word 'never' – and she was unsure now what to say. He wanted her to regret more than she did and at the same time she was feeling more conflicting emotions than she could express. To him, she was a cold-faced, ambitious betrayer. To her, he was her emotional, snappy older brother. There was more than that, of course, especially with everything going on lately - stuff that felt like it should be spread out into a lifetime instead of condensed into a year - but that was the gist, more or less.

Sure, she could easily _decipher_ emotions. _Saying_ them was a whole different thing.

Azula's lips quirked. She supposed this would be the last time for a while that she would see Zuko. If she had observed enough of their father in the past, and she certainly had, the Fire Lord's job was never _done._ That was a small part of why she wanted it – push away the power and domination control for a moment and here you have a job that distracts you from everything else. She never feigned to believe she had friends; she had people that wanted to stand in her shadow. Part of that was her fault, of course, and the older she became the more it was. She had preferred it; it made them easier to control.

Maybe… a _smile_ would be alright. She smiled hesitantly, causing it to come out a bit lopsided.

Zuko smiled right back in a comforting way; for the _first_ time, she felt like the little sister in the equation. "I'll visit soon, okay?"

"To check up on me?"

His expression didn't waver at her slightly snappish quip at all. "Something like that." He stepped forward, holding a hand out. "Handshake?"

The two of them had never been much for hugs. That wouldn't ever change and she was relieved with that development, or lack thereof; some things needed to stay the same to keep everything from feeling bizarre. She had enough strangeness in her _mind_ already. They shook hands. "I'll see you soon then," she responded stiffly.

He nodded and with that uncomfortable episode over, Azula walked to the door. An actual smile graced her lips as she paused on the second step. She didn't look back as she called, "Hey Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't screw up the nation, okay?"

Zuko suddenly laughed. "Okay."

Azula went to join her mother. Some things would never change but some things _had_ to change. Not always to liven up a life or to keep up with the world surrounding, but rather for peace of the collective mind that was a family, a community, or even the world. Because while it was hard for her to admit that certain things could be too large of a burden for the mind, and therefore apparently her sanity as well, some things had to change to bring out the best.

And she was willing to settle with that.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	99. Graduation

**A/N: **Hello, _lovies_! Haha, sorry, I had to use that – I've seen several authors I follow use that introduction and I'm in the playful mood today!

This week's been busy so especially big apologies for the lateness of this chapter.

As always, all errors – grammatical, canon, or otherwise – are my fault and I will fix 'em if you point 'em out! Otherwise they'll go down in the mass edit I'm doing in about a month (4 weeks, guys! 4 weeks left of posting twice a week and this story is done! I'm doing a happy-dance every post 'cause I have the ending cemented. _Seriously_. I _mean it_ this time).

And also as always, thank you _so very much_ for reading – and reviewing! I'll respond to the reviews of last chapter first chance tomorrow C: (it probably wouldn't do good to fall asleep on my keyboard and wake up with a neck crick, ey? No, probably not... But do I dare try?)

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except my own written word – the series and everything it entails belong to those that created it; the quotes and poems used and found on free, independent website and are assumed free for use – if they aren't, they can easily be taken down. I MEAN NO HARM *waves white flag***

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I don't like walking around this old and empty house _

_So hold my hand; I'll walk with you, my dear _

_The stairs creak as I sleep; it's keeping me awake _

_It's the house telling you to close your eyes_

_~'Little Talks' _lyrics, Of Monsters and Men

* * *

><p>Graduation came with agonizing slowness. If she had not had both Aroon and Aang nearby, she very well might have stabbed something in her eye to dull the boredom, as odd as that sounded. Okay, that was an <em>extreme<em> – she might have stubbed her toes, though.

She already knew she wasn't being 'graded' in the same context that everyone else was – that is, for a job or recommendation. However, she was happy to find out she would get to participate and sit in the front row like everyone else. If she wasn't, today would be a guaranteed buzz-kill, since she was also leaving. They give you the metaphorical gold star and push you out of the classroom right thereafter; Toph found it kind of funny.

Blaise was actually the one that told her she could join in, fulfilling part of his promise to her; she was a teensy bit surprised at that. It was nice to be pleasantly surprised every now and again.

The words from the stage were muffled as they traveled through the crowd; by the time they got to her row, second from the last, it sounded like nothing more than mumbling and grunts. Claps initiated in a lukewarm manner She joined in after Aroon nudged her, urging her to actually follow through with the 'participating' part of the deal.

Toph leaned to the side, bumping shoulders with his. "What are they saying? I can't hear them."

Aroon snickered. "Don't ask me, I can't hear them either."

"Tell me when you go up there," she insisted.

"Got it," he vowed, making a mocking salute with his hand against her forehead. She swatted him away.

"Idiot."

"Yeah, yeah," he simply dismissed in a friendly manner.

Another round of claps went through the crowd. He awkwardly got up from his seat – they were all sandwiched in there, the seats moved to form a circle around the stage instead of two long rows in front like before. She wished they had kept it like before but it didn't matter.

"They're gesturing for me," Aroon explained in a half-whisper, leaning over. "Be right back."

"Enjoy!" When he was a couple steps away, she put her forefinger and middle fingers in her mouth, causing a loud and splitting whistle to erupt from the action. Both supportive and irritating at the same time – that was her unofficial _motto_. She heard him shush her before he quickly skittered up to the stage. Toph clapped louder than everyone else was as they offered nonverbal congratulations. "Go Aroon!" She hollered, snickering the entire time.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Roses, Bel Air, take me there, _

_I've been waiting to meet you, _

_Palm trees, in the light, _

_I can see, late at night, _

_Darling I'm willing to greet you._

_~'Bel Air' _lyrics, Lana Del Rey

* * *

><p>"What do you think?" Ren finished with the simple question.<p>

Katara smiled, biting the inside of her lips minimally to keep from smiling wider. "I like it – nope, I love it. Go for it!"

His face, creased with hesitation before, melted somewhat into a pleased expression. "I'll roll it out tomorrow then."

"Good – I think that gradual implementation in the city and then to the rural districts will work a lot better for the students, too."

He began gathering his jacket, closing the portfolio he'd brought along to show her his plans with. She followed, standing and pushing her chair in. "I'll talk about it with Abhita tonight so she has time to get used to it."

That was an understatement. Abhita, the head of the Fire Nation's southern district, was able to grasp everything they'd put in front of her just fine. She simply made a fuss about said _everything_ to make Katara's job even harder. It was either because of Katara being a water-bender, young and therefore supposedly inexperienced (she had dealt with being hunted, protecting the Avatar, and almost being killed several times over – running a national school board was only hard because of the initial learning curves), or her dating the Fire Lord and also living at the Fire Nation Royal Palace. She still hadn't figured out which servant was the one leaking their shared living quarters situation…. In her defense, both the room and bed are really quite _large._

Regardless, Katara was not as bothered by Abhita as she probably _should_ be. The conflict kept her on her toes every couple of days, a nice happenstance given that even though it was a year later, her instincts were still 'bolt or fight', as if she was always expecting danger. A small part of her was. Ironic, then, that she was living in the previously-believed _Liger's den._

"Thanks, Ren."

He made a small waving gesture. "I shall see you again tomorrow."

"Right. Have a good day."

"You too," he agreed, holding the door of the small hole-in-the-wall tea shop open for her as they left, turning their separate ways. The tea shop was a quaint place with a sampling bar that they'd met up at – Toph would love it. Iroh would too, but that was a given. Katara thought of her young earth-bending friend as she walked to the square she would be meeting Zuko at – he was participating in several different long-overdue meetings today at various government and otherwise buildings across the capital; they had half an hour at most now, otherwise she probably wouldn't see him until tomorrow. She quickened her steps when the foot traffic along the road lightened up.

Toph's letters – via Aang's fast scribbled hand – came to a sharp drop in number nearly four months ago because of the program she entered and so too had Aang's just recently. The last one of his was him telling her about visiting their mutual earth-bending friend – and that a province in the far northwest Earth Kingdom formally seceded from the Earth Kingdom, opting for the new republic instead.

That she would have to talk with him about soon – at the scheduled reunion, probably. It was only less than a month away and with how fast everything has been happening, she hoped that Aang and the Earth King didn't react right away. Others outside of the original provinces wasn't something expected – _another_ thing to talk about. She may not be Aang's travel companion like she had expected to be 11 months prior but they were still all friends who shaped this and brought it about.

Katara kept coming back to their Gaang. Her contact with her brother and Suki was often and lengthy because they were both stable – at the very least _he_ was. That still befuddled her to no end – she was the caretaker, the organized and serious one of the two siblings. Regardless of that, they all seemed to have split off inadvertently into pairs since their last reunion; she missed everyone. The end of the month couldn't come soon enough.

"Hey!" Zuko called out, straightening from where he had been leaning against a stone statue that, since it wasn't a person, she guessed stood for something symbolic. Only the Fire Lord could get away with treating such a thing casually. Six guards shadowed him at a relative distance; she noticed them as she approached. She was becoming so used to them being around, it surprised her to spot them now.

She greeted him right back with a chaste kiss. The place was so busy with people passing by in a hurry that it didn't raise much attention. "Ren came up with a great, step-by-step plan to slowly introduce everything we talked about," she said, launching into a quick explanation. With a smile, she then inquired, "How did your meeting go?"

"There were two this morning – the second sucked." A grimace appeared. "The man holds a grudge with Father and extended it to me." He sighed.

Katara rolled her eyes. "If only he knew." The man standing across from her only muttered something snarky about getting a document drafted detailing the conflict between him and his father. She tried not to smirk at his behavior as she changed the topic. "Have you heard from Aang lately?"

"Uh-" His brows knit together briefly. "-no, not since you last did. Why?"

She tapped her foot against the worn stones. "Wanted to know how he and Toph were doing; her test for the Earth King is ending soon, you know."

Zuko's lips quirked. "I know. That reminds me – Uncle told me about something he heard in Ba Sing Se."

"Hm?"

"An Avatar fan club."

Her face burst into a grin that was laughing gleefully in its own way. She would say she couldn't believe it but that wasn't true – she could very well believe it. A large part of her actually wanted to learn more, too – like who they were, if they met up, how they fawned over Aang. She would definitely have to tell him about that. Best to keep that under-wraps until they were in person, though. The chance to catch his surprised face would not be a wise thing to _miss_. "We're totally checking that out next month," she vowed.

"_We_?"

"Aang and I – he'd be so happy!"

Zuko chuckled. "No doubt."

She could see his face right now – the same elated one she had seen several times over in the past. Aang would want to go see them at once. And if Toph was there, she would make a snark-laced comment. _Definitely_ something to wait for in person.

Katara raised her head from where it had tilted during her thoughtful imagining of different scenarios in Ba Sing Se. The fire-bender in front of her was awfully quiet. His eyes flickered over the crowd around them, alert but without any real emotion in them. So she wasn't the only one lost in her head. She could easily guess what his thoughts regarded.

Reaching around and placing a comforting hand on his wrist, she managed to catch his attention. "Heard from Ursa yet?"

Zuko shook his head. "It's only been two days; they're still traveling. She said they weren't rushing."

The water-bender nodded and let the subject drop for now; she knew it was the reason for his subdued moods the last two days but until he heard from them or he brought it up to talk about, then she would respect not pushing further. Besides, if he didn't bring it up then he didn't want to to talk about it – she was that way sometimes, more so in the recent past, and he had respected that every time for her.

He suddenly grabbed her hand, encasing her fist awkwardly. Katara's smile lifted once more at the touch. "I've gotta go – _wait_, I wanted to ask you something," he added when she nodded and made to step back. He was smiling somewhat awkwardly too and she couldn't help thinking he was acting nervous, though that was likely because of the meetings. She brushed it off. "The small beach on the northern end we visited the first month you were here – remember it?"

Katara snorted playfully. "You mean the one you _bought_ me? Of course I remember it – I still go there sometimes. Why?"

"Do you want to go on a picnic? I'm free all day Wednesday."

There was the reason for the nervousness she detected – he was asking her out. She realized with stark clarity that they had never really had anything classified as a date before. "I'll go on a date with you, Zuko," she said in acceptance.

His cheeks dusted a subtle pink. For good measure, she rested her free hand on his shoulder and kissed him again, this time a little more lasting. This moment would only be here once and with the way they had already done things, a second date would be a hard thing for them to remember to _achieve_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_I'm a man on fire_

_Walking down your street_

_With one guitar_

_And two dancing feet_

_Only one desire_

_That's left in me_

_I want the whole damn world_

_To come and dance with me_

_~'Man on Fire' _lyrics, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

* * *

><p>Tying the straps on her bag, she easily detected the oh-so-sly footsteps at her doorway. "I can see you, you know."<p>

"Right, the seismic sense," Blaise remarked.

Her fingers faltered as she took hold of the bag's strap; she was expecting Aang. So much for paying close attention. She recovered in only a few seconds and threw it over her shoulder, facing his way, making known that she was on her way out. "Come to see me off?" She asked somewhat curiously, fishing out his motives.

"Nope; delivering on our promise. I spoke with a guy in the Terra Team..."

_Awesome! _"And?" She tried to keep her voice casually neutral.

"And if you were being tested... you would have _passed_," he deadpanned. Toph's breath caught in her throat. Happiness washed over her – her first thought was that she had to tell Aang. What she just heard was only reaffirmation, in her mind, but it was _glorious_ reaffirmation. She wanted that academy and she had admired the Terra Team greatly. "Good luck on whatever it is you do next. You're a good earth-bender."

She swallowed away her thoughts for the moment. She knew Blaise hadn't liked her well at first – probably didn't much still, though she really was not sure about anything regarding him – so it meant a lot, what he had just said. "Thanks. I mean it."

"I know."

When he stepped away from the doorway, likely to be the last time the two encountered each other for the rest of their lives, she let her painfully wide grin out to play. Her next stop was Ba Sing Se, the Earth King's office. As much as she didn't want to leave, this place acting as a sort of vacation – not that she needed one – the other half of her could not leave fast enough.

* * *

><p>Aang ran his hand over his animal guide's scalp affectionately. Appa only groaned. It wasn't his '<em>I'm tired'<em> or _'that felt good'_ groans; rather it was his '_give me a minute and I'll get up'_ one. Maybe he was reading too much into it – nope, scratch that, he wasn't. They had the bond where the other just... knew. _Everything._ Aang smiled and air-bended lightly off Appa's back. "Be right back, buddy."

He backtracked to the dorm buildings' area, looking for his other furry friend who had disappeared again; like usual. The flying lemur was a curious friend who liked to know all, see all, and more importantly partake in all. "Hey Aang." It was Aroon; and he had Momo in his arms.

The Avatar stopped his brief search and joined them as they backtracked – _once again _– to the center of the camp. "How did your ceremony thing go? I couldn't really tell, sitting in the back."

Aroon's face grew tight with forced impassivity. It was a look he had seen on Zuko's face many times. "I passed, _again_, and they recommended me for outpost work, _again_, but no job offer. I think I'm just going to go into the military instead – work my way up, you know?"

He didn't, but he nodded along all the same, ever supportive. Everyone moved around them, some quickly and some merely meandering their way out, taking their time. Aang glanced over at the older earth-bender walking beside him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do you want to go into the military at all?"

The answer he received was prompt and firmly decisive. "It's what I _know_. I grew up defending my village from the Fire Nation patrolling others all around us. It just feels weird starting over now from complete scratch. There's nothing else I'm passionate about."

Aang pondered this as Momo continued to chitter in Aroon's ear while sniffing through his hair, as if he hadn't circled the new acquaintance steadily throughout the last week. This earth-bending guy was genuine and a great friend to Toph – and he was basically a friend of Aang's now, too; Momo had certainly gotten _cozy_. He knew Toph would get the academy Earth King Kuei was offering her. Kuei wouldn't offer it if he did not think she was capable. And Toph wanted it so badly, he wasn't quite sure if she would take 'no' for an answer.

Setting up her academy, though, would be tricky and altogether time-consuming. She would need extra hands and Aang was likely to have to travel to the new and as of yet still _unnamed_ republic soon, let alone getting back to working on the air temples and visiting the miracle air-bending baby Raja.

He cleared his throat. "You can ride with us back to Ba Sing Se if you want... And if you're interested, Toph might want your help with something."

"Way to be vague," Aroon quipped. "Okay; count me in. Nowhere else to be, right?" He paused. "Now how do I get this lemur to stop licking my neck?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	100. Gold Tassels and A Scroll

**A/N:** OMG this is_ Chapter 100_, guys! I don't even know what to say - icnlientgintliglhtphw - it wasn't supposed to be this long but I REGRET NOTHING. Hehe :D

Onward with an actual Author's Note now - I had a lot of fun writing this, but I'm not quite sure why... Not much happens and Aroon gets a POV segment – yay for him XD Alright, I'll just keep this short and let you read now :-) _Thank you_ for being the one reading it!

Oh, PS – I'm not sure if I should apologize or not...? There's a slight writing-style change with the first segment 'cause it kind of bled over from one of my other stories but I liked it and changed it and I'm mentioning it even thought it might not be too obvious because I can't tell since I see all mistakes in blaring clarity... So, is that something to apologize over?... My brain hurts.

**Disclaimer: Don't own or pretend to have any claim on this series; I just write fanfiction! *waves white flag* (Yeah, I'm having too much fun with these disclaimer's now.)**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Water, moonlight, danger, dream._

_Bronze urn, angled on a tree root: one_

_Slash of light, then gone. A red moon_

_Seen through clouds, or almost seen._

_Treasure found but lost, flirting between_

_The worlds of lost and found. An unjust law_

_Repealed, a wish come true, a lifelong_

_Sadness healed. Haven, in the mind,_

_To anyone hurt by littleness. A prayer_

_For the moment, saved; treachery forgiven._

_Flame of the crackle-glaze tangle, amber_

_Reflected in grey milk-jade. An old song_

_Remembered, long debt paid._

_A painting on silk, which may fade._

_~'Tiger Drinking At Forest Pool',_ Ruth Padel

* * *

><p>The room was eerily quiet. That fact made it similar to last time, but this was different in a couple of ways. Firstly, she was the only one in the room, causing her senses to be heightened by such things as the footsteps passing by the door and her own heartbeat pattering away beneath her ribcage. Secondly, the last time she was in this room she was feeling eager, almost whimsical in her excitement. And while the excitement was still there, as well as her <em>confidence<em>, it was decidedly different.

Toph was used to waiting like this though, having done so several times with Zuko during the time she stayed at the Fire Nation Royal Palace. She only relaxed further in the chair, tapping her foot against the tile in order to distract herself from boredom; it echoed loudly.

A door on the other side of the room opened and she heard three pairs of feet walking. One closed the door behind them, staying out in the hall, and another promptly took up a standing position next to the door. _Guards_. The third approached the desk and she easily recognized his footsteps and form to be that of Earth King Kuei.

"Sorry for the wait," Kuei greeted by way of apologizing as he entered.

Toph straightened a bit in her seat, leaning forward. She drew her hands away from where they had been scraping against the underside of the chair's armrests absent-mindedly. "It's nothing."

He pulled his chair back a few inches and sat. "I heard all about your time in the Terra Team camp; I'm sorry for what happened between you and those three other _expelled_ participants. I was upset to hear about it."

She held up a hand casually, waving it in polite dismissal. "I'm fine and they handled it – the instructors, I mean." Kuei nodded. "So… the offer?" She raised her brows expectantly.

He opened a drawer and extracted something. She heard the scroll slide across the top of the desk. She waited, unsure if she could grab it. "That's yours – it's the deed to the property. The academy is located in Yu Dao, so it's really in the new republic."

Toph's smile came lightly. "_Can_ you give me this building?" She reached out and took the scroll, running her fingers over it as she held it in her lap. She would annoy Aang to now end later, making him read it over and over for her. 'Annoy' was a strong word, though; he was an exceptionally easy-going person. Still, she would make him read it over and over – _and over._ The location of the place couldn't come more perfectly – the republic was where Aang would have to go next. He, Zuko, and Kuei still had to come together on the new republic, yet that wouldn't happen until Aang had a chance to get back to the freely governed provinces, as he had told her, and he also wanted to bring Hakoda and the North Pole into the mix, too. He wanted everyone's opinion. Regardless of that, though, she was just happy that they'd be together a while longer before his next trip, whenever that would be. She wouldn't dwell on it. She knew how long just they had been away from the rest of their friends.

"After the war, when the Harmony Restoration Movement was still ongoing in those areas, that was one of few properties our government bought back up. It was owned by Fire Nation citizens who were forced to abandon it," he explained.

She nodded and smiled appreciatively. "Thanks a lot, Kuei."

He only leaned back in his chair, presumably not bothered by her informal address of his name. "No problem. Tell the Avatar I say 'hello'."

"Will do," Toph promised.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Cool summer nights._

_Windows open._

_Lamps burning._

_Fruit in the bowl._

_And your head on my shoulder._

_These the happiest moments in the day._

_Next to the early morning hours,_

_of course. And the time_

_just before lunch._

_And the afternoon, and_

_early evening hours._

_~'The Best Time Of The Day', _stanzas #2/3 (excluding last line on 2nd), Raymond Carver

* * *

><p>"You ready?" Suki hollered throughout the small house.<p>

Sokka pulled the simple green band over his head, swatting away the gold-colored tassels that bounced against the side of his face. "One minute," he responded back with an equally raised tone.

"You said that five minutes ago, and five before _that_!" Her voice came closer, distinctly light steps going nearly unheard along the flooring. She couldn't fool him since he had been living long enough with her already that his ears were finely tuned to them.

He scrambled to pull the forearm cuffs over the bunched green sleeves.

"I swear I'll leave without-" She pushed open the door and he turned around, happily expectant smile on his face. Hands behind his back, he finished tying the ribbon to the leather armor plates that rested over the bottom portion of the outfit. "Oh my Spirit World," she simply said, a bit under her breath, mouth parted slightly as she took in his long-forgotten uniform. Her eyes danced with humor. "Have you kept that this _whole_ time?"

"Yep," he answered proudly. "I'm going to represent at the ceremony with you. Thought it'd be fun."

Today, a small ceremony was taking place to initiate two new Kyoshi Warriors. It had become more than the simple act he had partaken in when he joined, both because it was two people instead of only one and this was the first instance of initiation since the end of the war. Some saw it as a bit of an excuse for celebration, for some reason he didn't completely understand. Sokka had thought up the idea he'd now followed through with as soon as he heard about the ceremony. He pulled his Kyoshi Warrior uniform out of the proverbial closet, having left it packed for more than a year, and put it on.

Suki placed a hand on her hip lazily. "I'm not sure if I should laugh at your adorable thoughtfulness or at the memories you're bringing up of when you joined the Kyoshi Warriors." By the time she finished talking, a grin had risen on her lips.

His expression morphed in the same way; he shrugged. "I don't like being called adorable but I can deal with it if it's by you. _I'm still manly, _just to be clear," he added not-so-subtly, puffing out his chest slightly.

She noticed. Turning back into the hallway, she remarked over her shoulder playfully, "Aang would disagree 'cause you're wearing a skirt."

"That wasn't funny then and it isn't now!" Sokka objected as he followed her into the living room.

She picked up her own unique headband, pulling it into place. "Come on or we'll be late." She kissed him on his powdered cheek as she passed by. "And relax, I was just teasing. You look good."

He held the door open for her. "Thank you."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Amber husk_

_fluted with gold,_

_fruit on the sand_

_marked with a rich grain,_

_treasure_

_spilled near the shrub-pines_

_to bleach on the boulders:_

_your stalk has caught root_

_among wet pebbles_

_and drift flung by the sea_

_and grated shells_

_and split conch-shells._

_Beautiful, wide-spread,_

_fire upon leaf,_

_what meadow yields_

_so fragrant a leaf_

_as your bright leaf?_

_~'Sea Poppies', _H.D.

* * *

><p>Aroon dropped the carton container into the curbside trash bin, casting his gaze about alertly as he did so. Going from the Terra Team camp, with it's under a hundred population, to Ba Sing Se, the largest city of the Earth Kingdom, was an <em>adjustment<em>. He walked back to where Aang was standing within the Earth Kingdom Palace's courtyard. The young Avatar was playing with Momo, messing with his flight direction as he air-bended around the flying lemur. Momo's ears were standing up, mouth chittering away rapidly.

The earth-bender paced slowly around them, loitering as he took in the palace once again. He had seen this monstrous building several times in the last couple of years. Since he moved from his hometown to the capital, he had used the palace as inspiration. Like every other eligible, of-age male in the Kingdom, he had joined the army. And every time he had a break off, whether it be for a week or a month, he would return to the capital city.

What Toph and the playful yet powerful boy in front of him didn't know was that his hometown had eventually been overrun by the Fire Nation. It had only been a matter of time. A passing unit had been flagged down by the soldiers that terrorized his family and, with a minor detour on the unit's part, torched their farm to the ground.

He honestly had no idea what he would do if he didn't go into the military. It wasn't simply what Aroon knew, it also consumed his thoughts. He knew vengeance would never happen; peace was descended in the world now and those Fire Nation mongrels were either back in their home nation or they had been killed in the line of duty between the years since he had last seen their smug faces. So what would he do? 'It is never too late to start over' he had heard many times, but he couldn't afford the time it would take to learn something new. Could he?

For now, he pushed those thoughts aside. Aroon leaned against the palace's outer wall. Aang turned around when Momo flew upward and over his head, escaping his grasp. The flying lemur landed on the earth-bender's head, paws stretches down the sides of his head and grabbing onto the ends of his ears. "Ow," he objected with a sharp gasp.

Aang grinned happily, just as he usually did. "Okay, Momo, you got me. I give up."

Momo only kept laying on his head. If it wasn't uncomfortable because of the fact of his claws and awkward shape and then the tail that was ghosting back and forth over his shoulder blades, then it was definitely uncomfortable because of the heat now radiating over his scalp. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end in reaction to the odd sensation. "Off, Momo," Aroon commanded.

The flying lemur paid no heed.

"I'll get him," Aang suggested.

"I really don't thin- ow, stop, stop!" When he reached to grab Momo, the animal only hung on harder – meaning he pulled on Aroon's ears harder. Aroon swatted the Avatar's hands away. "Ouch." He rubbed his ears, lifting up Momo's little hands on he went. He was surprised to find that the other allowed it. He lifted the flying lemur up fully, pulling him down to chest level. "This guy's got a weird fixation with my ears."

Aang laughed, finding his serious comment hilarious. Aroon smirked slightly and shook his head, handing over the animal to its rightful companion.

Out of nowhere, the bald kid launched forward, teetering on his legs after taking a startling step forward. Aroon slid to the side to get out of the way in case the other one fell. Aang recovered quickly, however, and Toph suddenly appeared, clutching his back, revealed to be the driving force behind his lurch. "I got it! Read it, read it!" She held out a scroll in front of the other's face.

Aang took it, laughter thickening in his throat, and choked out, "Ticklish."

Toph removed her hands from across his stomach. "Right – sorry. Now read!"

He did so and, when he finished, Aroon was the first to comment, hurrying to do so as soon as Aang moved to raise his head. "It's in Yu Dao?"

"Yep! Isn't that great? You'll have to spend a lot of time there anyway," she said, directing the last part to Aang. The boy hugged her sideways, with one arm draped over her shoulders. "What do you say, Aroon?" Toph turned her head to face him again. "Do you want to come with us? I could give you a job – but it _probably_ won't pay well at first but you could bunk in the back of the place or something."

"I don't know," he reluctantly admitted, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

"Well, think about it. What else do you have here?"

_Nothing._ And she knew that. And she knew where to press with that innocent question. Aroon sighed, chin falling downward a few inches. Aang had asked him back at the camp why he didn't focus on doing anything else and as much as he stood firmly in his stance of going into the military, the question hung in his mind regardless. Maybe he could still do it – just not in the Earth Kingdom. "What's your academy going to teach?" He asked instead.

Toph bit her lip, contemplating that. "I don't know. I kind of just wanted it to boss people around," she confessed with a shrug. Raising her hand to scratch the side of her face, she paused. She grabbed the bracelet that bounced on her other wrist. "Remember when Sokka gave me this?" She questioned Aang abruptly

He nodded. "It's meteorite."

"Wait, _meteorite_?" Aroon interrupted. "That's really cool."

"Yeah…. It's different…." Toph's face lit up. "I know! I could teach _metal-bending_."

"Metal-what? You mean you can bend metal?" He scoffed. "No one can do that."

She only raised a judging eyebrow at him. Aang grinned again. "She's a master at it."

"And the _first_!" She boasted proudly.

"And that."

Toph dropped her hand to her side. "If there was metal around, I would show you, but you believe me, don't you?"

Aroon considered that. It sounded implausible. He was never taught that metal-bending was possible, therefore he should consider it _im_possible. And yet… he kind of believed her. She was nothing if not honest; _both_ of them were. "Yeah, for now, but you still have to _show_ me."

"Okay fine; if you come along to Yu Dao with us," she negotiated.

"I don't know…." Even as he said it, he already knew he was leaning towards her side. He had nowhere else to go, nothing else to do. Limbo was a dull and lonely place; why would he give up the chance for company now? Especially company that he _liked_?

She waved her free hand around, the other resting along Aang's back. "You told me yourself that you don't know what you're gonna do; don't you want to have some _fun_? Maybe you could help out in the new republic, find something there that you can't here? Maybe you should just _start fresh_. Take a chance – I could try to teach you metal-bending, too. First student!"

Aroon smirked slightly, amused. "Okay, _okay_. Let's go."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	101. The New Necklace

**A/N:** Hey! Really excited to get feedback on this chapter – tweaked it and tweaked it and tweaked it and jeesh, romance is hard to write without feeling awkward or cheesy. Or maybe that's just me. Thanks for reading! :D

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything related to Avatar: the Last Airbender except this little (big) fanfiction piece; no stealing!**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_From Tsukuba's peak_

_Falling waters have become_

_Mina's still, full flow:_

_So my love has grown to be_

_Like the river's quiet deeps. _

~Unnamed poem, Emporer Yozei

* * *

><p>"Behind you," Katara indicated as the older woman reached around on the counters in front of herself.<p>

She went back to re-braiding her hair as Loya spoke again, continuing on with her task of arranging the picnic basket. She had offered, even begun volunteering – Loya declined help, taking the whole task over. "At the beach, huh?"

Katara paused in the process of threading the three separated lines of hair together. "Yeah..." The head housekeeper already knew that – in fact, it was mentioned specifically four times before. Loya had a small secretive smile on her face, something she had not seen in a while. The woman was usually straightforward with her emotions unless there was political company in the palace – usually coming to see Zuko – and then she would go mute. "Why?" Katara inquired after, resuming and finishing the last loops of her braid.

"Nothing," Loya only responded, feigning ignorance. Knowing something was there, Katara simply let it drop and respected the other's secrecy. "Candy?" Loya asked, holding up a small pouch of flaming fire flakes.

"Sure. Thanks a lot – you know you didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

Smiling at the woman's insistence, Katara took the basket and set about tying the handles together, tucking in the blanket. Loya rinsed her hands. "We'll be back soon," she promised.

"I won't wait up," Loya joked.

* * *

><p>After arriving at the beach, they debated for nearly ten whole minutes about where they should set down the picnic basket. Zuko felt more relaxed than he had in what seemed like ages. Everything felt like it should have taken longer, like it should last <em>longer<em>. He was finally adjusting to it – at the time when, now, everything was officially mellowing out. The world is peaceful, his nation is stable, the new republic is figuring itself out slowly but surely, every one of his friends was settling into something – except Toph but she sort of was, with her mention of running an academy of all things, and, really, if anyone was going to be unstable the longest then it would be her. A bit ironic, considering her bending fluency.

Zuko looked over at the water-bender by his side from where he was crouched, opening the basket up. She was staring across the beach and towards the ocean, much as she had done when he first took her here – the only other time they have _both_ been here. Katara was beautiful. Eyes reflecting the radiating sun, illuminating her blue eyes more intensely, her face was awash with awe.

"What?" He blinked and found her to be looking back at him, amused smile alighting her face further. It was in moments like this that he reminded himself just how lucky he is – beautiful, strong, smart, playful, vulnerable, and most of all someone that understood him as he came to understand her: fully. She resembled a breath of fresh air that never went away.

"Nothing," Zuko brushed off and stood.

She crossed her arms. "Where'd you go?"

"My mind."

She scoffed lightly, still smiling. "Fine, don't tell me." She glanced to the gentle waves crashing against the cream-colored sand behind her. "Want to go for a swim?"

"Right... _now_?"

Katara only turned and bent down, untying her boots. He watched, mildly stunned, as she then set about untying her sash. He spun around immediately. She only laughed at his reaction. "I'm not naked, it's called _undergarments_, Zuko."

He kept his mouth shut so he didn't say anything embarrassing. He cautiously turned around.

She held out her arms. "Nothing you haven't seen before." They both seemed to catch the blush-worthy undertones hidden in that innocent comment at the same time. Katara faced the ocean again and walked to the shoreline. "Come on," she called encouragingly over her shoulder.

Zuko shook his head. _It's never simple – just a picnic isn't simple_, he thought. While this wasn't going along with any sort of 'plan' that he had, that was alright. Most of the time going without a plan was better; everything was more...natural. He carefully laid his pile of clothing next to the basket, stripping down to his pants. Already in the water, she rose from the underneath as he approached, eyes still closed to keep the salt out of them. With a little sigh, he waded in.

"Scared?" She asked teasingly, wiping the water off her face.

"No. I love beaches," he added for good measure.

Katara lazily paddled up in front of him. "Then why do you act so nervous?"

He only smiled. "I bet I'm a faster swimmer than you are."

Tossing her head back for a laugh, she remarked, "You didn't just say that! I could water-bend to slow you down and you'd never know – it's kind of dangerous to say stuff like that, _you know._"

"I stand by it," he said, egging her on.

She nodded, lips pursed. A smirk graced the edges. "Okay, let's do this. To that rock formation thing," she pointed to a land-form sticking out from the coastline two hundred yards away, give or take some.

"On your word."

* * *

><p>"No, that's definitely not called the <em>Citadel<em> constellation!" Katara clutched lazily at her gut, laughing.

He grinned at her reaction, swiveling his head against the pillowing sand in order to face her properly. "Yes it is," he vehemently persisted.

"What does it even _mean_ then?"

He shrugged his shoulders at her challenging tone. "I don't know, I've just heard of it."

That made her laugh even harder, tickling her carefree, metaphorical joking bone, her knees bending as she brought her legs up. "You're ridiculous."

Zuko reached over and tucked a loose curling of hair off to the side so it didn't obscure her face.

They had swam a lot longer than he expected, at least more than two hours flying by in a flurry of fun. After many races, water battles (with her blatantly using he water-bending as an advantage in the splashing and him in turn heating up the water around her in flashes, making her squeak in a cute manner), they'd simply floated on their backs, staring up into the bright sky. She had had to teach him the art of maintaining buoyancy without sinking; he had enjoyed that a lot. He teased her seriousness, making her laugh with his weird and random comments. He truly did unwind – only with her.

Raising herself up on one elbow, she affirmed, "That constellation is part of _Kai's Belt_ and the _Loreaux_."

He leaned into her personal space. "Agree to disagree," he murmured.

She slapped his arm and laid down again on her back. "_What-ever_," she commented, drawing the word out slowly.

"Our countries have different constellations – there's no right person here."

"Pffft!" She only responded.

Zuko grinned. He easily noticed that she could hardly keep her lips together. Reaching over swiftly, he tickled her stomach.

She burst out laughing. "Stop! Idiot!" She squeaked.

"Not until you admit I'm right," he prodded, sitting up so he could move his hand and keep tickling her as she tried swatting him away. It wasn't so easy. Katara practically curled up in a ball from the muscle convulsions, legs now kicking out at him. He fell to the side, losing his balance.

"Fine! You're-" Gasping, she began another round of laughs. "-right. You're right!" He stopped and she sat up, rubbing a hand over her mouth, giggling dying down slowly. "Okay, so maybe we don't agree on the stars either," she remarked with an amused smile, lone giggle escaping through at the end.

"I think we agree on a lot." He sat up again too.

Katara brushed a tan hand along her scalp, pulling at her hair, some of it falling over across the other way. Her smile changed, becoming altogether smaller but full of many different emotions, too – like love. "We do."

Staring into her eyes, a familiar feeling ran across his mind. _Perfect_. "Be right back."

"Okay." She gave him an odd look.

He stood and hurried over to the abandoned picnic basket, glancing back as he did so. Katara was staring out across the ocean glimmering from the mid-afternoon waning sun. He bent next to his clothing, extracting the gift he had for her from an inside pocket. His heart felt like it was hammering in his chest, the thrumming of blood along his veins becoming more persistence as he walked back.

He extremely disliked admitting his weaknesses, especially during times when he felt like he was powerless, but it was a fact he couldn't hide from all the same. Katara was a large weakness for him – she had his heart in hers – and right now he was, for all intents and purposes, powerless.

Zuko snaked his arms around her from behind, kneeling down onto the rough sand. She twisted to look at him questioningly. When she did so, she caught sight of the necklace he was holding out in front of her. Katara gasped. "Marry me," he whispered.

A long period of thought went into the necklace he was now giving her. A nontraditional low-hanging necklace, the chain was replaced with thin gold plating, ending at the neck to become a simple gold-dyed ribbon, similar to how her mother's necklace worked. He knew betrothal necklaces were what's used in the South Pole. He was also well aware of how important her mother's is to her. While the sentiments would be completely different, he could think of no better way to show her – really show her – that he cared. She's different; they're different. A raised plating of gold resting at the lowest point of the necklace, too, holding within it a ruby cut oval style, resembling a water drop, specks of the same jewel spattered around it.

"I love you," he continued as she reached out to softly run her fingers across the betrothal necklace. "And whenever I think of how we used to be when we first met, me first joining the group, I realize – I can't lose you; I don't _want_ to ever lose you. You're my best friend, Katara, my closest confidant. Every future I think of, you're right there, Katara."

She cast her eyes back and he spied tears in them. She had the sweetest look on her face that he'd ever seen, causing relief to bloom inside of his chest. "I don't want to be without you either," she whispered back.

Taking that as acceptance, Zuko cupped her cheek and kissed her, trying to convey every emotion coursing through his body right now. Convincing himself that she'd say 'yes' was a lot different than actually experiencing it.

Katara pulled back after a short minute with a giggle. "Necklace," she said, breath mingling with his.

Nodding in understanding, he tied the ribbon in a tight knot at the base of the back of her neck after she pulled her hair up and out of the way. She ran her fingertips along it; it hung below her collarbone, taking special care not to block any part of her mother's water tribe necklace. She turned and embraced him.

"I love you."

They stayed like that for a long while afterward.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	102. Home

**A/N: **Heavy apologies are in order here ;_; I pulled an all-nighter to get some studying done Sunday night so Monday afternoon I got the chapter all prepared and told myself 'okay, I'll post it in an hour after I do blah-blah' and then pulled another all-nighter Monday night and managed to forget posting the chapter altogether! I'm so, so sorry for that; I must be out of my mind right now. So here's the chapter that should have been posted earlier this week.

This is the last chapter with Ursa and Azula. I'm just going to go ahead and say it's the last for Ursa, too, depending on what I do with the epilogue – still deciding on that one. Honestly, I think Azula has been the most fun to write, POV-wise, and I hope you liked reading her story arc :-)

Thanks for sticking with the story!

**Disclaimer: (….)**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Hold on, to me as we go_

_As we roll down this unfamiliar road_

_And although this wave is stringing us along_

_Just know you're not alone_

_Cause I'm going to make this place your home_

_Settle down, it'll all be clear_

_Don't pay no mind to the demons_

_They fill you with fear_

_The trouble it might drag you down_

_If you get lost, you can always be found_

_Just know you're not alone_

_Cause I'm going to make this place your home_

_~'Home',_ lyrics by Phillip Phillips

* * *

><p>Glancing outside again through the room's window, Azula finished pushing her suitcase into the far back of the large closet and stood. She dusted her hands off on her pants unnecessarily and then crossed through her doorway, into the hallway. Her mother occupied the room across from it, the second bedroom and technically the master. They were practically the same size. Azula found herself mildly impressed with the place – the descriptions and sketches she and her mother had looked through while picking it were actually fairly accurate.<p>

More wide than deep, the rooms in the farmhouse-looking two-story were lined up along hallways. Straightforward and convenient; she liked that. The house was also already furnished – another positive. Nearly every piece was made of wood – beds, cabinets, side tables, chairs – with elegant carvings of landscapes, dragons, or symbols. The Fire Nation Royal Palace was furnished with sturdy, solid pieces, completely unlike the wardrobe she just walked past, of which the legs were carved almost excessively to the point that they looked dainty, the wooden vines that were wrapping around each other serving as the piece's support.

Minute observations that shouldn't matter, yet did all the same.

Azula stepped under the threshold of her mother's bedroom. Ursa was in the process of re-hanging a mirror. The Fire Nation princess remembered that it used to hang over the bed; it was being moved to the empty wall. "I'm going to go out. Need help with anything…?"

Ursa looked over at her with her ever-present soft smile. She wondered how her mother always seemed so… _content_. It took her a lot of effort just to _sort of_ smile. "No, go ahead. Remember the guards."

"I know, they'll be following me around," she recalled. She stared at her mother a moment longer before nodding awkwardly and exiting the doorway, padding down the open staircase. Just as she was reminded, as soon as she stepped out the front door one of the guards from the front yard post started following her. At least he kept a reasonable distance.

They had four guards with them – her mother seemed optimistic that with enough time going about their lives, she could convince Zuko to knock it down to two. Azula didn't expect that anytime soon. Her brother was more or less compassionate in the past to her and she, back then, had only responded to him as though it were a competition. It was in her and her father's eyes. Regardless of the ties that blood brings, there was a fair lack of trust built up from those moments. That was alright. Time's supposed to heal wounds, right? That was one of the cliché things Dr. Chirah had told her.

One of the two guards at the back door left their post to join the one following her. And she had almost thought about how ridiculous it was to only have one guard with her. Azula veered off the main pathway to the house, which was nestled back slightly from the highway and into the trees. The town of Aldamura was a few short miles behind them, located on hills in this patchy wood. The oblong-size lake was located somewhere between. Azula meandered her way through the trees without care. There were some well-worn paths she stumbled across. Following them, she came upon the sandy edge of the body of water a few minutes thereafter.

It was pretty. A slow ripple radiated across the dark surface, caused from the subtle breeze in the air.

A worn, old dock extended into the lake a few hundred feet away from her. She crossed to it, ignoring the sound of the military-stiff footsteps behind her. Azula walked to the very end, casting her gaze down. All she saw was her own reflection. Holding out a hand, she experimented – though already knowing the truth – with fire-bending a small, rather simplistic ball of the hot element at her mirroring face. The water steamed for a brief minute, fire being doused out. Her face was still there.

She sat, folding her legs underneath, continuing to stare.

_***Flashback – Fire Nation Royal Palace – One week earlier**_

Azula picked at the lint on the cushioned arm chair that kept pulling her attention away. She was distracting herself on purpose. Glancing outward furtively for a second, she found Dr. Chirah smiling back at her, ever pleased expression on her face. "Since this is our last session, you don't have to see someone of my profession again. I can refer you to someone out there, if you want to continue…."

"You know someone?" She asked, mildly curious about the doctor's popularity, especially near the rural town she was headed to. She had never heard of her, but then again the whole idea of 'therapy' was new and she wasn't exactly keeping up with anyone else's events while she was in Black Rock Prison's mental ward.

"I can look around."

A twitch of a smirk danced at the edge of her lips. She let her eyes drift to her hand once more, nails still scratching away at the piece. It wasn't lint, she found – it was a loose thread. She kept digging at it anyway. "Okay, sure."

If she looked up again, she had no doubt she would see the doctor's smile widening at what she would obviously deem a 'success'. The woman sitting across from her wrote a few notes down in her bound journal before closing the pad and fastening it closed.

Azula pulled her hand back down into her lap at the action. Their session was over, Chirah would be leaving soon. For conceivably the last time. She decided to ask about it anyway. "So – this is the last time we'll see each other?"

"Probably," Dr. Chirah shrugged lightly.

She nodded understandingly. She'd thought so. A strange melancholy swam inside her nerves at the confirmation from another source. The woman was a good sparring partner – she could take Azula's sarcasm, mocking comments, and outright personal jabs without faltering much, usually only blinking or pausing before continuing on. And, admittedly, she had opened up to the doctor more than she had to her mother, especially more so than she had to anyone else _b__eyond_ her mother. She was still unsure whether the other woman was judging her but she had never seen an inkling of fact making that the case. So it was easy – to talk to a stranger. It would be easier to talk to a stranger who doesn't know who you are, but you can't have everything.

Dr. Chirah stayed seated in her chair, seeming to contemplate something. Finally she leaned her elbows on her knees, tilting her body towards the Fire Nation princess in a disarming manner. "I know how resistant you were to this – and you were intentionally closed off for most of our sessions. But you obviously want better, to tap into everyone else's 'normal'; you told me that." She smiled patiently again as it had faltered before when they talked. "The truth is that the idea of 'normal' is _relative_. Your reaction to having it, though, to grabbing onto it, is insecure – and you may not like that, but that is a truly normal response. And that makes you capable of being _normal_, if that's what you want." She stood, holding her notebook under her arm. "One day at a time, Azula – I believe you can get the new start you want.

"Goodbye."

Azula watched her go with a slightly parted mouth of surprise. Outside of Katara, that was as blunt as anyone had ever been with her before. Now she knew why she had the melancholy – she genuinely liked Dr. Chirah. It was a shame they wouldn't be seeing each other again; but she would get a referral out of it.

She decided right then and there that she would follow up on it, too. It was worth it.

_***End Flashback**_

Back in the present, Azula smiled with a somewhat reminiscent edge behind it, ducking her head. Moving her eyes away from her own watery reflection, she skimming the surface of the water. Another reflection out of the corner of her eye startled her. Nearly jumping out of her skin after letting herself get carried away, she made to stand, turning around. Unfortunately, she misjudged how close she was to the edge of the dock. Foot slipping, her balance tipped towards the lake.

There was a blur of movement in front of her at the same time someone wrenched her away from the edge. She swayed dangerously one last time before righting herself. A man, probably in his twenties or so, stood in front of her, eyes wide. Acutely aware of the contact on her elbow, she pulled away roughly. "Let go," she fiercely commanded.

"Sorry-" He released her and took a polite step back. "-didn't mean to startle you like that."

"So you were going to startle me a different way?" She countered, narrowing her eyes.

He blinked at her, skin wrinkling with confusion. "What? No. Sorry, we must've miscommunicated here or something." He attempted to hold his hands up in an innocent gesture. The difficulty came from his hands being full – one had a case in it, the other a fishing pole. "I just fish here every weekend and I saw you here and I didn't want to startle you so I stayed quiet."

Azula smirked mockingly at him, crossing her arms. "That has the opposite effect."

"Yeah, kind of figured that out." He sheepishly rubbed his neck, fishing pole banging against the back of his skull. "Are you new in Aldamura? I don't think I've seen you around here before."

She took in his profile. He didn't look like a threat – she would be surprised if he had fire-bending. He was quick to apologize, easy-going, and apparently someone that fished, meaning he was either poor or content with the status-quo of life, routinely partaking in things like hobbies. She seriously doubted he could be a threat to anyone if he tried. "Just moved," she reluctantly admitted. Azula walked around him. "I'm leaving now," she announced, following up her last sentence quickly before he could respond, asking more pesky questions she was wary to answer.

"Okay." He spun around, following her movements with his gaze. "Hey, maybe we'll see each other around," he pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe."

Azula started down the dock. Dr. Chirah's comments about her being insecure rang in her mind. The doctor was right – she didn't like admitting to it. Regardless of that, it was true, and she knew it was. Those with insecure tendencies shied away from creating relationships, friendships – like she did all her life. Life wasn't a political game anymore, though, it wasn't day in and day out a task of manipulating people (which she had enjoyed, yes, because she's so good at it) in order to stay a step ahead, to complete a goal, to _conquer_ something. Insecurities may make her normal, but they were also another obstacle to overcome.

She turned sideways at the end of the dock, looking back. "I'm Azula."

He raised his head from where he was fiddling with his box. He smiled politely. "Heizu."

She took a step back, saying, "I look forward to seeing you again, Heizu." Azula continued on her way quickly before any anxiety bloomed within her.

* * *

><p>Ursa descended the steps, crossing through the kitchen downstairs to reach the dining room. It had a large window facing the backyard, natural light brightening up the pale yellow walls. She pulled out one of the six chairs and sat sideways in it, taking in the abundantly green landscape for a moment. She recalled Azula's initial reaction during the trip; her daughter was morose, quiet. With no appropriate things to say, the situation uniquely complicated, Ursa did the next best thing a mother can do and simply held her daughter's hand most of the time.<p>

She was only a little surprised that her daughter let her.

It would be different out here; like Hemero-Callis was, probably. She could easily see it – the _future_. Azula was different now. She was still Azula, simply… different. The little things, the _reactionary_ _things_, were the ones that mattered and it was those things that Ursa saw progress in. She was seeing her daughter again, the one that when she was four would still want her hair braided in special styles, the one that when she was five would fight for Ursa's attention yet was still respectful to her older brother, the one still naively unaffected by Ozai's mood swings and ambitious strive for power.

Reaching a hand in between the folds of her kimono, she removed the letter she received from Iroh. It was the last one they had exchanged, her receiving it half a day before they left and consequently put in a position where she was unable to respond to it, other last-minute things to do or double-check. She had read it several times over in the meantime. Ursa skimmed down it now, reaching the part about her daughter.

'_I must admit your news about Azula startled me. The last news I heard about her was from Zuko and he mentioned her being calmer. But there was that incident with Katara. Whatever happens, I hope it's the right decision. I hope that you are right about my niece. If you decide to move away from the capital with Azula – which I agree would be better for her – know that I will still visit you first chance I can. I'll see you both.'_

He could always assure her, somehow, in some way, even if his words were the same ones that everyone else had told her. She observed with a smile now that a delayed letter can definitely keep someone out of the loop a lot. Ursa left the letter on the table, standing up. The day was quiet, Azula was out walking, there was nothing she was required to do right now – she would go ahead and write him back. The sooner the better. Walking back through the hallway, she headed for the staircase. She remembered she had tucked her ink and paper away in one of her bedside tables.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs, catching a glimpse through the windows next to the front door of one of the guards regaining his post at the edge of the small property. As she expected, Azula opened the door immediately thereafter. "Mother," she greeted as soon as she came in.

"That was fast."

Azula only shrugged. "I went to the lake – you'll like it." Ursa smiled at that compliment. She had made it a habit since seeing her daughter again to keep an eye on her expressions, to know them better. Azula's face was set in its typical neutrality, but her eyes were softened. "What's for dinner?"

"I don't know." She gestured to the stairs. "Loya gave me a recipe box – do you want to pick something out with me?"

Azula smiled back at the offer, unusually relaxed. "Meet you in the living room," she agreed.

The former Fire Lady continued on her path. When she got to her room, she only tucked away her writing supplies inside her pockets for later in the evening; not now. Right now, she and Azula would stumble their way through cooking which would surely be a disaster, considering her daughter never had to prepare a meal for herself before in her life. Ursa had not looked forward to anything else as much as she did now since she had brought her daughter home from Black Rock Prison.

But even then, the palace was not home. This place was now – because they would make it their home; _together_.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	103. Sponging Wallpaper

**A/N: **Aaaaand making it just under the wire. Twenty minutes to midnight – still on time! Special part of a scene added in by request for demongurl111 ;P It's not anywhere near as 'intense' as you wanted it but it was the best I could do without taking away from the flow of the scene. I hope you like it, all the same.

Back to using Asian poetry for the quotes; I'm in that mood again :)

Thanks for reading, everyone! And thanks to those that review (you're awesome; take a chocolate chip internet cookie – sorry, you can't actually eat it).

**Disclaimer: Okay I'm tired of putting the disclaimer here and I really don't think it's necessary and I'm just being repetitive so I'm done. See the previous 100+ disclaimers if it wasn't clear. (Really though, who would sue someone for not having a disclaimer in last 4 of 100+ chapters? Someone with no life.)**

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The butterfly is perfuming_

_Its wings in the scent_

_Of the orchid._

_~'The butterfly', _Matsuo Basho

* * *

><p>"What's that?" Loya asked after she propped the pillows up in the chairs, doing a double-take of Katara as the girl straightened, taking off her bag and setting it on a side table.<p>

"Hm?" Katara only murmured back. She was on her way out to monitor a school for the day right here in the capital. Currently though, she was in the palace's front sitting room, trying to get her satchel's front flap to close properly. Unfortunately it was small and she was pretty sure it was the notebook inside causing the issue, it's height slightly above the bag's. She was still getting used to carrying a bag almost all the time; it wasn't like she'd used them all her life – the most she'd kept was the canteen still on her hip. But she needed it because it made it easier to take her journals which she took note of anything regarding the Fire Nation Teacher's Council and the schools sort of run by it. Her fingers slipped on the clasp again.

The other woman had a slight curve of a smile across her face that she noticed when she looked up. "That necklace is new."

Katara's hand reached up on instinct to touch it – only 'it' was her betrothal necklace and not her mother's. "Yeah, it is," she replied vaguely, if not a whole lot _awkwardly_. She and Zuko had agreed to not announce anything until they saw their friends in a little over a week's time. Just as they had with announcing the fact that they were dating.

It would be different, announcing the upcoming marriage to their friends versus to the world – and more _specifically_ the Fire Nation. To their friends it was an evolution of projected hate to forgiveness to friendship and then love that they'd observed and been warmed up to – the most encouraging of their friends being Toph, who could easily pull Aang (not that he was so resistant) and Sokka to her side with enough nagging, teasing, and mocking (all done is good jest, of course).

To the world and citizens of the Fire Nation, it was simply a water-bender and fire-bender – complete _opposites_. It would be incredibly awkward at first, explaining how he the banished prince turned Fire Lord came to marry – at the opposite spectrum of what's _expected_ – the last remaining water-bender from the South Pole who helped the Avatar evade the Fire Nation's clutches.

But they would deal with it. And Katara kept it on the surface of her mind that really nice, nonjudgmental people existed in the Fire Nation – like Loya, Ren, and Ursa. She smiled sweetly, if not a bit secretively, at Loya and removed her hand from the jeweled necklace. "Yeah, it's a gift."

Loya nodded softly and moved towards the doorway to leave again. "Well it's gorgeous; congratulations."

"Thank you." She watched the head housekeeper go, wondering if Loya had figured out the significance behind it. Such a thing was possible – _really_ possible. She was smart and very observant. Well, if she did know, that was fine; she was going to be the second person Katara would tell when they – she and Zuko – returned to the palace; second, after Ursa.

Katara managed to latch the clasp together, now taught with tension, and swung it across her body, diagonal style. She had a school to get to, teachers to meet. She loved her new day job but would love the break from it in just a few days even more. Her hand reached up to grasp the new necklace once more. It was comforting.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The spring wind comes from the east and quickly passes,_

_Leaving faint ripples in the wine of the golden bowl._

_The flowers fall, flake after flake, myriads together._

_You, pretty girl, wine-flushed,_

_Your rosy face is rosier still._

_How long may the peach and plum trees flower_

_By the green-painted house?_

_The fleeting light deceives man,_

_Brings soon the stumbling age._

_Rise and dance_

_In the westering sun_

_While the urge of youthful years is yet unsubdued!_

_What avails to lament after one's hair has turned white_

_like silken threads? _

_~'Before the Cask of Wine', _Li Po

* * *

><p>"Cool place," Aroon commented as Appa circled, ready to descend.<p>

"What's it look like?" Toph asked. She hated feeling out of her element and flying was a prime example of that; not to mention that the anticipation was eating her up inside. She hadn't been this excited since – well there were no good examples; her life was pretty exciting, even when it wasn't intended to be. Which was awesome.

"Up on a tall hill; lots of rocks."

She rolled her eyes at his plain description.

"We'll have to repaint it," Aang pitched in. "It's all red; Fire Nation."

Toph nodded. "Kuei said they got it when the Movement pushed all the Fire Nation out of here."

Appa plopped unceremoniously down on the grounds. She was the first to disembark, eager to feel out the area. Sliding down Appa's furry leg, she landed on the grassy patch. As soon as she touched the ground, the contact with her bare feet on dirt snapped her seismic sense alive. They were behind the building, which was deep in length. They were definitely elevated quite a bit up and it steeped further to her left. She guessed a mountain or at least bigger hill; maybe a cliff. "Come on, let's go in."

"Be right there – I'm going to unsaddle Appa," Aang told them.

"Okay; hurry up!"

The other two trekked to the back door only a short couple yards away. She already knew that the windows were locked shut. Trying the door told her it was in the same state, much to her excitement's disappointment. "Did you get a key?" Aroon inquired.

"Nope." She led the way around to the front, noticing that there were several windows along the sides, too. Lots of light but lots of fresh air, too. That was good to know; Sokka complained constantly to them about the mats he uses for his classes smelling like dirty feet. "Just a deed."

"Seriously, no key? How are we supposed to get in?"

"I can just get new locks after we break down the door." She smirked slightly when they approached the front, her seismic sense spreading out across the open ground and really flourishing. There were indeed lots of rocks – they formed a sort of wall across the stair entrance up to the building. The 'hill' was more like a cliff; like she kind of thought. She made note of the sign thing at the bottom of the steps – she guessed it was some kind of announcement board or maybe a welcoming sign. They'd check it out later.

Toph tried the front doors and found them thankfully unlocked. The double doors folded open with little resistance. She gestured to them melodramatically. "No key needed; see?"

Aroon only shrugged.

She paused before going inside, spinning back around when she sensed people coming up the tall, carved staircase. Heavy breathing and their actual footsteps could be heard not long after. "Are you the new owners?" A high-pitched, raspy voice asked on the third from the top step.

"Uhh-"

"Yes," Toph answered with a polite smile, greeting the elderly group of women. "Why'd you ask?" She elbowed Aroon once in the side. No sense turning off the locals. And Aang _had_ said the place was full of good people; not that he didn't say that most of the time.

"What's it going to be?" One countered.

"An earth-bending academy – of sorts."

"You better look out for yourself then," another interjected quickly. Most of the six murmured sounds of agreement.

Toph's brow furrowed. "I can handle myself."

"But you didn't know the guy who ran this place before – got booted with the Movement. This was a fire-bending dojo. He might come back," the first one wisely observed.

Aroon leaned down and whispered, "There's a plaque next to the door – they're right."

She smiled pleasantly at them again. "Thanks for your concern but it's fine; we can more than take care of ourselves."

They tutted in disbelief. It reminded Toph briefly of how her parents never believed her. Frankly, it grated on her nerves more than a little bit. Her parents were still distant – reachable, but distant.

"Hi," Aang greeted, coming around the corner of the building and almost managing to startle her as she was becoming consumed with her thoughts. At least she didn't jump. The elderly group in front of her, on the other hand, was a whole _different_ story.

"The Avatar!"

"Look who it is!"

"Oh my-"

"Can you believe it?"

"Look at his air temple tattoos-"

Aroon sniggered beside her as Aang was soon overrun. "Uh, thanks – guys?" He called out.

"No, you're doing great, Twinkletoes! Real charismatic!" She couldn't help smirking; not that she even tried to stop herself. The charismatic thing was partly true – he just never had to try _hard_ at it. _Lucky_.

A tap on her elbow sprung her from her briefly wayward thoughts as the crowd of women in front of her all seemed to talk rambunctiously at once. "I'm gonna go check out the town; never been here to Yu Dao before. It'll mean something later, being here during its inception, or whatever."

She scoffed. "You're leaving me and Aang with those women?" She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder to make her point. "Now I'll have to help him out – stay and make fun of it with me."

"No can do."

She rolled her eyes. Hearing Aang telling a story from the time they traveled in the Si Wong Desert, Toph only said back to her latest friend, "Go; we'll see you later."

"I'm gonna get some lunch, too," he added for taunting benefit.

"Don't forget the Mochi," she reminded him sternly.

"The what?" Aroon mockingly asked, backing down the staircase quickly. She knew the kind of balance he had from training together; he wouldn't fall. Knowing that was kind of sad, considering how meanly he was taunting her right now with the thought of food after a ten hour straight ride without anything except _jerky_.

"Mochi – _Mochi_!"

He was already gone. Toph huffed and turned back to where Aang was being hoarded with questions – _still_. Yep, it was time for a little rescue. She cracked her knuckles and headed over, plastering the sweetest smile she could onto her face. She didn't care if it probably looked a bit like a grimace.

* * *

><p>Two hours later and Aang wasn't sure that the job of stripping walls of their wallpaper was all that better than talking to some gushing and maybe a bit <em>pushy<em> group of older women. But they were gone now, courtesy of Toph's scaring distraction, and the two of them had work to do.

As soon as they entered, they discovered how messy the place had been left. Chairs and tables broken or tossed aside, floors dirty, mats torn or stained, the door to the backroom on its hinges, and a puddle of something wet in the corner. Toph had joked about it being pee but he soon discovered it was from a leaking patch in the ceiling mysteriously torn out; that was a close call. Toph guessed it was all done intentionally by the disgruntled and misplaced fire-bending teacher; he was inclined to agree.

"Why are we doing this again?" She inquired again pointlessly.

Aang guessed she just wanted to talk; it was kind of quiet here, a good half mile from the edge of the actual town of Yu Dao. Even the silence seemed to echo throughout the place. He stopped sponging the wall for a second to peel back a loose piece. He only got a few inches off before it ripped from his fingers. The task ahead of them was time consuming and incredibly _boring_. "Because the wallpaper is all red and has lots of Fire Nation symbols on it," he answered matter-of-factly.

"Right – and that wouldn't match my academy?" She sarcastically asked.

"No," he said with an amused smile; "it _wouldn't_."

"Good to know…."

Aang re-dipped his sponge in the now-murky bowl of water. "So how are you going to teach them?"

"What – my students?" She tilted her head over in his direction distractedly.

"Yeah."

Toph paused and then shrugged. "I don't know. I guess like I taught you."

He smiled. "You can be kind of rough," he confessed, remembering how she yelled at him mercilessly for a solid week. She tried to throw him right into it, forgetting – or rather _ignoring_ – that his native element was the complete opposite of hers. And he was learning earth-bending on the heels of learning water-bending, which was also quite similar to air-bending, only furthering his lack of adeptness at the rock element.

"Really?" She stopped pulling at a strip of wallpaper, turning to him with a hand on her hip. She was inadvertently causing a water stain to develop on her green and yellow robes.

He glanced over at her. "Yeah," he reaffirmed.

One of her eyebrows rose, challenging him. "But you were a kid; you needed a kick in the pants," she countered.

He stopped sponging at the wallpaper, realizing he was doing it on the same spot more than enough. He rung the sponge out and the set it on the table next to the bowl. "If I'm a kid, what are you?" He grinned, curious about her answer.

"I've always been an adult," she said proudly. "You just had to catch up." Toph spun around to face the wall once more. "And I said you 'were' a kid, remember?"

"I may've been a kid but you're still small," he laughed, teasing her the same way she does everyone.

"No one thinks I can kick their butt this way!" She played along, lips spreading wide as well. "And make another comment about my size and you're dead, _Twinkletoes_."

Aang shook his head, trying to spell away the laughter. Instead of egging her on further, a good long banter ensuing, he put a hand on her shoulder and leaned over, kissing her. She dropped the sponge at the chaste action, shocked. He found that funny, smiling against her lips. He would find anything small and deemed irrelevant funny right now – he was happy. Toph was grinning at him too, cheeks no doubt rubbed lightly with a blush. He moved his hand up to her warm cheek as she placed hers on his shoulders.

A whoosh of air in the time it takes to blink was the only indicator of Momo's incoming presence before he swooped down between them – _literally_. Trying to squeeze himself in the small space left between their faces, Toph made a sign of protest as Aang regrettably pulled back and accommodated him. Momo managed to hang himself across Aang's chest. "Hey, Momo," he greeted awkwardly. What do you say to an animal friend who just accidentally or purposefully broke up a close moment? There was no advice for that.

"Did you come over because we were kissing, Momo?" Toph teased with a slight tone of annoyance clear in her voice.

The flying lemur chittered away. Reaching out a small hand, he leveraged and climbed on her shoulder.

She reached up to pat his back. One of his long ears flicked sideways, tossing a part of her hair. "Yep, I think it's official," she droned sympathetically. "He misses _Miya_."

Aang watched as his animal friend did something resembling a hiss and then sprang away, flying out of one of the open windows along the back in less than a minute. "I think you made him mad," the Avatar observed with a laugh. Momo had been loath to get along with the KoalaSloth residing back at the Southern Air Temples and then when he had begun to, they left and brought him along with them. That probably didn't help any possibly budding friendship.

Toph rolled her eyes and let her smile bloom again. "Remember that that works for next time he does that – he wants you to himself."

"Okay," Aang agreed with a chuckle, filing it in the back of his mind. It was rude what the flying lemur had done, anyway.

She pulled him in for a kiss this time and Momo was nowhere near to interrupt it again.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	104. Forms and Ports

**A/N:** This chapter's more of an intermediary – short segments building up for later. And this will likely sound weird but I apologize if any of the dialogue is OOC – I'm looking it over right now with a completely fizzled brain after being awake for 18 hours straight (ala immediately get up and go, no stops or breaks – except pee breaks, lol), on feet for the past solid 4 hours (that's not a joke), and with a headache the whole day. So, my mind's kind of fuzzy :S

Anyway, who's excited for the holiday season? Everyone should be – even if you celebrate nothing, it's an excuse to be lazy. Which can be quite nice sometimes. Like at the end of a year. (How very convenient...) Speaking of holidays, if the world doesn't end tomorrow (here's me, expressing my utter-most doubt) then the chapter usually posted on Monday will be put on hold because that's Christmas Eve and the whole entertaining relatives/baking sugary cookies/cleaning whole house will be well under way. I'll be lucky to even touch my computer.

Thanks for reading! C:

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The inky clouds fly in, but do not hide the hills,_

_As random drops of white rain leap into the boats._

_A sudden wind arrives and sweeps across the earth,_

_Below I see the lake a mirror of the sky. _

_~'Unnamed',_ Su Shi

* * *

><p>"Tea?" Ren politely asked her as he was refilling his own cup.<p>

She shook her head in a negative response, vocalizing, for good measure, "No thanks." Her cup was getting cold in her hand, liquid inside only lukewarm, but she wasn't thinking of that right now. Flipping through the thinly bound pages from beginning to end once more, Katara finally spotted it. On page five, no less; clearly her mind was elsewhere. On the page was a report from the school she visited just two days ago. It was an in-house thing that they let her take a copy of. There was nothing special about it. She passed it across the table to Ren.

He was sort of like the Fire Nation Teacher's Council's storage keeper – he would file away everything for that 'just in case' scenario years down-line where they would need it and no one remembered where they misplaced it. "I was going to call a Council meeting next week – two months since you joined us," he noted with a smidgen of a smile. "Do you have anything scheduled I should work around?"

Katara closed her notebook with a nod. She had forgotten about that. Well, they'd have to postpone any 'celebrations'; not that there were any, it was only an excuse for them to unofficially-officially hang out. Maybe she could even bond with Abhita, the woman on the council that hated her... Yeah, no, that was not going to happen. "Actually, yes. I'm going to Ba Sing Se for the next two weeks. I'm meeting up with friends for a sort of reunion. But call the meeting anyway," she hastily added. "Tell me what's new when I get back."

"Alright then." He took a sip of his steaming tea, staring contemplatively into the cup when he was done. She waited, knowing he was about to comment on something. She was right. "Katara, friends are the family we make _ourselves_. Never let them go."

She smiled sweetly. She had figured this out already through experiences more complicated than he probably would ever know; there was a personal reason for him saying those words, though, and she would respect whatever that is. "I won't," she promised more to herself than to the man sitting across from her. All the same, he smiled right back.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Over the wide sea_

_Towards its many distant isles_

_My ship sets sail._

_Will the fishing boats thronged here_

_Proclaim my journey to the world?_

_~'Unnamed', _Ono no Takamura

* * *

><p>Aang glanced around, letting his gaze wander from where it had been attached to Momo's antics for the past five minutes. His favorite flying lemur had seen the local birds coasting overhead and apparently decided to partake in their activities. The flock predictably became annoyed and dropped to their homesteaded trees. Momo followed. And from there it evolved into a confusing display of motherly protectiveness pitted against amused non-understanding. He had relayed every observation to the young earth-bender sitting beside him where they were lounging behind her unopened metal-bending academy.<p>

Now, the Avatar leaned against the large fluffy mound that was Appa sleeping and he lazily watched the clouds. They swayed and parted, joined and morphed. Toph was still occasional chuckling from her makeshift seat.

Their trip to Ba Sing Se would be the shortest compared to everyone else's – unless you counted Iroh, who lived there. It was only two days' trip from Yu Dao; easily three to four if you took your time and didn't sleep-deprive yourself on the way. Of course they had Appa, cutting down on the time quite immensely. He knew from letters with Katara and Sokka that Katara had nearly a full week's journey through a complex system of boats to land-mounts to the one of three newly-tested railways and on, meaning she and Zuko were probably leaving today. Sokka and Suki were planning on just trudging along by way of ostrich-horses once hitting mainland Earth Kingdom, which would also take a week if they worked it – they thought they could. Toph hoped they'd be able to make it within a day of when they all agreed – she wasn't very optimistic about their plan.

Aang was amused, however, by what he'd gathered from correspondence with Zuko and Suki – they were both taking a passive approach while double-checking almost literally everything. They could hardly help it – it was in their nature. They were quite similar, which was a bit ironic given Zuko burned Kyoshi Island and more accurately Suki's town a year and a half ago.

The past was indeed in the past.

"What are you thinking about, _scholar_ Twinkletoes?" Toph asked, abruptly breaking the silence.

His brow crinkled. "Scholar – _what_?"

He cast his eyesight away from the clouds and over to where she was sitting. She rolled her eyes, crossing her feet at the ankles as she changed positions. "You know what I said. What's Momo doing now?"

Aang turned his attention back to the flying lemur. Smiling wide, he informed her, "He's curled up next to Appa." Limbs folded underneath, spine curved like a crescent, ears tucked down, Momo lay between Appa's giant left paw and Appa's snoring face, his own large eyes fluttering between sleep and consciousness. It was a heart-warming sight.

"They're like brothers," Toph observed thoughtfully.

"Yeah, they are."_ Speaking of brothers_, he began to think, reminding himself. "Sokka and Suki are leaving tonight. One week and we all get to hang out again... Have we been with those two since their wedding?"

She pursed her lips slightly. "Uh...wow, nope. Huh... That's weird. I don't think we have... Have we? Where'd the freakin' time go?" Facing him, she leaned back as well.

"We were saving the world," he deadpanned bluntly.

"Nice," she complimented him on his somewhat sarcastic, holding up her hand for a high-five. He accepted it, grinning all the while. She was, after all, kind of teaching him how to do it. He was only learning to better understand and especially _tease_ her.

"Thank you. When do you think we should tell Aroon we're leaving?" They had yet to even tell him they were meeting up with the rest of their friends in Ba Sing Se and would basically be, on all accounts, abandoning him here in Yu Dao for a few weeks. The earth-bender was either in town roaming around or all three of them were busting their butts fixing up the place. The topic didn't exactly ever really come up.

"Do we have to?" She asked with fake innocence. Even her gray eyes twinkled – or maybe that was his own interpretation. "We could just leave and see what he does... Think he'd wreck the place?"

Shaking his head, Aang declared, "That's cruel; we're not doing that."

Toph threaded her fingers together and laid them on her stomach, lolling her head back. "...Okay."

He eyed her suspiciously. She was very clever, he'd give her that. "And _you_ aren't doing it either."

After a short beat, her lips split wide, revealing a previously concealed grin. "Fine, Twinkletoes, _fine_."

Aang went back to staring at the clouds once glancing to Momo, checking up on him; he was fast asleep now. It was adorable. "I'll never get you to stop calling me that, will I?"

"That's what I've been saying!" She reached over in a fast move and took his hand in hers. Touched, his smile softened. "But we'll see."

"...Maybe I should make up a nickname for you." He couldn't resist.

She immediately replied, "I have to approve it or you're a dead Avatar."

Not sure if she was joking or not, he let it drop and simply enjoyed the day. They had the time.

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Swelling clouds sweep by. Returning birds_

_Ruin my eyes vanishing. One day soon,_

_At the summit, the other mountains will be_

_Small enough to hold, all in a single glance. _

_~'Gazing at the Sacred Peak_', stanza #2/2, Tu Fu

* * *

><p>"Am I late?"<p>

"Early," Ishi corrected with a smile. "I just got here... Isn't it nice?"

"Which part?" Suki inquired after, planting her feet against the gusty ocean winds. They were meeting near the small, somewhat isolated dock in their hometown. It was a moderately short walk from the center of town and longer than how far they usually went; they usually met around the corner from the town square or from each other's houses. It was nice to get out, see things. Even if said things were only a few more blocks over.

"The activity."

They – more specificlly the island – was importing and exporting more than usual. Theirs is an island with a mindset previously firm on isolationism but now, with peace residing across the rest of the world, that sentiment was thawing. It wouldn't truly go away for a long time – not that it ever truly would as nothing did. Signing a trade treaty with the city of Gaoling, though, was a step in the right direction. Today was the first day that this new activity was converging on the docks at the same time – every piece of the dock was being used by somebody else. Its busy sight was certainly unusual against the backdrop of quaint, monotone Kyoshi.

Suki breathed in a full breath of the sea air. The salty breeze was unique, even after all the places she'd been to. "You know we're leaving next week-" The other Kyoshi warrior nodded. "-and I was gonna put you in charge again. Is that okay?"

"We're like partners – of course I'm 'okay' with it!" Ishi nudged their shoulders together in a playful manner.

"How's your-"

"My mom's doing great – I told you not to worry, remember?" She smiled. "She's not even getting short of breath anymore when she does her usual stuff."

Relieved, Suki smiled. Ishi's mother was a great influence on her childhood and also a friend of Suki's mother, which was nice to know. She hadn't visited the older woman as much as she would like to and that was, of course, all her own fault. She was determined to rectify that as soon as they got back – she and Sokka would be leaving in only a few hours. "I'm glad."

"Make sure to get the full update on worldly events; and I want to know all about that new country. We still get like no news here," the other teenager complained.

"You and the rest of the world," she replied dryly. "Come on, I tell you about everything the Avatar writes us – there's nothing else."

Ishi looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "People don't write _everything_ in letters."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_While worldly matters take their turn, _

_Ancient, modern, to and fro, _

_Rivers and mountains are changeless in their glory _

_And still to be witnessed from this trail. _

_Where a fisher-boat dips by a waterfall, _

_Where the air grows colder, deep in the valley, _

_The monument of Yang remains; _

_And we have wept, reading the words. _

_~'On Climbing Yan Mountain with Friends',_ Meng Haoran

* * *

><p>Zuko stared at the papers on his desk. More accurately, he stared at the papers in front of him and in his hand. Not until the past year, combing through many of the governing laws for various reasons all connected to absences, did he realize just how complicated – and convoluted – they were made to be with the intent of keeping the Fire Lord the most supreme in charge. It was <em>insane<em>.

For this matter, which had to do with a series of public works' projects he had loaned the money for in order to start, Zuko had to acquire two forms, of which one he'd never even heard of. Zuko had already given his assistant Orez every contingency plan reaction possible for this project, and everything else too – but that wasn't enough. Of course it wasn't.

As Fire Lord and therefore '_supreme'_ and '_ultimate'_ ruler of this nation, then he'd put it on his metaphorical 'To Do List' to fix this system. After he managed to get around and completely repair the military and economy and that weird fund-accounting problem with the treasury right now regarding past expenses and then the village town to the south that flooded in a freakish natural disaster and whose local government have since fallen apart.

One step forward, one step back. Not losing, but not gaining anything either. Sometimes, it felt like he was constantly managing chaos. The life of a ruler: similar to that of a juggler.

Zuko stood and crossed the room to the cabinet on the far end. He knew one of the needed forms would be there, collecting dust.

"Hey," an instantly recognizable voice greeted tiredly from the doorway.

He stopped in front of the cabinet and spun to face her. "Hey; when did you get back?"

"Two hours ago. Finished packing my stuff," Katara returned, smiling with a bit of a pride. "But someone hasn't even started."

He chuckled briefly. Speaking simultaneously as he located this particular form, he said, "Loya volunteered. I'm still just setting Orez up as my liaison."

"Really?" Back turned to her, her voice sounded confused.

"The Fire Nation runs on paper," he commented. Zuko blinked at the slight, sort-of irony in that statement before starting back to his desk. "And no, we don't burn it."

Katara sat in one of the chairs across from his desk. "Didn't even think that." She smirked slightly, bright and wide blue doe eyes speaking the truth. "How much do you have left?"

He looked down at his desk. It was cluttered, but that was an often occurrence. He'd clear it all off in an exhausting week and then it would pile up once more in two days. There was no point trying to stop it – so he didn't. Zuko sat. "Probably an hour; then I'll grab my stuff and we can get out of here."

"And your guards," she reminded with a breezy smile. She was incredibly well adjusted to them being around – sometimes it surprised him.

"Okay; I'll grab my stuff and then my guards and then we can get out of here. Better?" He teased.

Katara nodded, playing right along, and leaned back. "I'll wait."

One of his eyebrow's rose. "Wait... _here_?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. Spreading her arms wide, gesturing, she remarked, "I'm all ready – nothing else to do, nowhere else to go. Need help with anything?"

A slow, affectionate smile came across Zuko's face. "If I do, I'll tell you."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	105. Beginning of the End

**A/N: **I'm splitting the reunion chapter up into two both because it's a long one when joined together and because I figured I'd use the weekend to add some more segments in, try to squeeze in as many conversations as possible so hopefully everyone gets the moment they are looking for!

Two more chapters left in this story :) Ah, it feels so weird saying that and knowing it's true instead of just guessing. What will I do without this story? It's become like an integral part of my week planning! It's been over a year since I started this – I feel like it's my baby... *sniffles*

Ignore me, I'm just the moping writer here. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it)! Thanks for reading; I'm glad you find it worth the effort! :3

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_Truly, this is where_

_Travelers who go or come_

_Over parting ways-_

_Friends or strangers- all must meet:_

_The gate of "Meeting Hill"._

_~'Unnamed', _Semimaru

* * *

><p>"Iroh!" Beik beckoned, grabbing a small table that was free near the corner after navigating her way through the densely populated tea shop.<p>

He had seen her come in; his friends from the shelter usually did every few days, since they knew he ran the place and that meant they could usually spend a moment or two with a familiar face. He finished refilling the cups on the table in front of him and went to the kitchen to get the group he was serving a fresh pot, as promised.

"Darjeeling?" Khan asked somewhat distractedly, bustling about by the stove fire.

"With white rose," he corrected. Iroh loosened his apron tiredly. "Table seven – can you take care of it?" He pointed to the waiting-to-be-refilled pot, letting Khan delegate the duty to a member of the waitstaff instead of tracking one of his employees down himself.

"Yeah; fine. What're you doing?"

"Seeing a friend; be right back." He smiled and pushed back out into the main room. Navigating through the small aisles between the full tables, he found her in a quick minute and dropped into the chair across from Beik with a small, somewhat tired sigh.

She looked up from where she was crudely doodling in a small pile of salt she had created. She smiled in return. "There you are! Jin was going to come but he had something family related to do-" She shrugged at his absence. "-and Morio's with family until tomorrow, so it's just me. This place is really busy, huh?" Glancing around, Beik commented, "Haven't seen it like this for a while. It's good."

"It is good," he agreed quickly, smiling more warmly in kind. "But we'll definitely lose some of this business next week."

She piled the salt up again, brow characteristically creased in slight bewilderment. "Why will you lose business? No, wait, let me guess... Traveling? How could you go away and not tell us?!"

A bright shine of joy lit upon his face as he laughed. "No! _I'm_ not traveling. My nephew and his friends are coming."

"That's next week? Already?" She leaned the elbows of her crossed arms on the table, hunching across its width.

He leaned back in the chair in turn as he relaxed, feeling wistful and excited about the event at the same time. "It can't come son enough," he confessed to his close friend. "I haven't seen my nephew in many months and everyone else, too. I've been looking forward to this reunion for a while."

Beik's creased face softened, mirroring his affectionate expression, though to an obviously lesser extent. "I'm happy for you – _really_. I say it a lot but I'm serious." After a beat, she rolled her shoulders back, shifting position again slightly. "So, where are you all gonna meet up – are you going to have dinner or go someplace in the city? Wander through the streets? That wouldn't be safe, right?" She rattled on.

Gesturing a hand to the space behind him, he replied without hesitation, "My tea shop. And _yes_, we're having dinner. Fishing for an invitation, my dear?" He grinned mischievously, yet wisely.

"No," she airily protested. "I'm angling for a catering job."

_That_ he had not predicted. A slight tilt of the eyebrow was the only sign beyond his eyes that indicated this; but the eyes always told the truth, and sometimes _easily_, too. "You're catering now? What about your job?"

She shrugged mildly. "I was thinking about it. The restaurant's extending its hours and they're bringing a second head chef in. I mean, I don't want to sound whiny, but it's just not the same; that is my kitchen. Well, _was_ my kitchen. It's not as special. Now it kind of does feel like work – and the last two people they've tried out moved my stuff around! How can we cook while hunting for the basil or the skillet, you know?"

He reached across the space between them and patted her hand sympathetically. Though her specific situation wasn't one he could say he'd ever encountered, many elements of it – the second start, loss of individualism – were ones he knew well. Because of that, he reassured her honestly, "I know."

She smiled thankfully at him. Iroh liked Beik – he saw a part of himself in her, similarly to how he saw some of himself in his nephew, the Avatar, and Toph. Having as tumultuous a life as he had for a while, he could relate to many – from the Fire Lord to a poor thief in Ba Sing Se. Letting Beik cater his friends' and family's small get-together was complicated. Mainly because she was an outsider. But when had they ever denied a friendly outsider?

Iroh renewed his assuring smile as he asked, "Can you make fluffy pastries?"

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_A moment of happiness,_

_You and I sitting on the verandah,_

_Apparently two, but one in soul, you and I._

_We feel the flowing water of life here,_

_You and I, with the garden's beauty_

_And the birds singing._

_The stars will be watching us,_

_And we will show them_

_What it is to be a thin crescent moon._

_You and I unselfed, will be together, _

_Indifferent to idle speculation, you and I._

_The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar_

_As we laugh together, you and I. _

_In one form upon this earth,_

_And in another form in a timeless sweet land._

_~'A Moment of Happiness', _Mewlanan Jalaluddin Rumi

* * *

><p><em>One week later...<em>

"Aang!" Katara nearly screeched as soon as she saw him. It was almost a full day that she and Zuko had been with Iroh; they were clearly the fastest ones to arrive at Ba Sing Se. Which made no sense, considering Aang and Toph were only a hop and a skip on Appa's back away from the green capital city. She hugged him tightly as soon as Iroh let them pass through the door.

"I can't breathe!" He heartily laughed, defying his words.

She pulled back anyway, immediately questioning, "Where were you two?"

"It's my fault," Toph spoke up from near the front door of the Jasmine Dragon. "We left a day late 'cause I wanted to check a few more things out in Yu Dao – and Aroon was pretty clueless with the academy. It's going to need a lot of repairs," she added.

"Right, your friend from camp; how was that?" Katara felt a warm hand on her lower back. It was Zuko; he nodded to a large table off to the side. She grinned and turned around to their other two friends. "Why don't we sit first? Instead of, you know, standing here awkwardly."

"Okay," Aang agreed. They moved to the tables but the scarred fire-bender was stopped by Toph, who blocked his path with crossed arms.

"Don't I get a 'hello'?"

"I don't know, do you?" He countered teasingly.

Before she could counter her own response, he scooped her up. Aang and Katara grinned as Zuko spun her briefly once, Toph squealing the whole time in a very girly fashion. "Not fair – _I can't see_!"

He set her down and she giggled, egged on by embarrassment. "Just messing with you."

"I know," she grinned. He patted her on the shoulder as they came to join the other two. Katara shared one last secretly entertained look with Iroh and Aang at the others' exchange. She made room on the booth side, where she sat, while speaking. "So how'd it go, Toph? Aang wrote _nothing_ about your time in the training camp the Earth King sent you to. Was that really necessary, anyway?" She asked doubtfully.

Toph rolled her gray eyes. "Yeah, 'course it was – what, would you give someone something like an academy without testing out their skills first?"

Katara acquiesced with a shake of the head. Aang pulled his hands out from underneath the table and held up his hands a few inches from the table. "Well, you did get hurt there, so she kind of has a point..."

The water-bender's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

The earth-bender's jaw opened in a small gasp as she turned on him. "Uh – she _didn't know_ till you just told her, _Twinkletoes_!"

"What happened?" Zuko asked, inquiring with an inkling of sternness under the surface, leaning into the conversation.

She wasn't at all surprised when Iroh did the same though more blatant concern graced his voice. Zuko cared for the smart-talking friend of theirs like she was family, only Iroh was more vocal about it; she imagined that was partly because of their shared past before the rest of the Gaang entered the fold. "You were hurt?"

Toph sighed impatiently, trying to downplay it. "It was nothing-"

"She bruised he ribs," Aang blurted out.

She socked him in the shoulder. "_Aang_!"

"They should know," he insisted firmly. "It scared me when I found out and you were mostly recovered by then."

Katara's strained and worried smile at the knowledge of Toph's injury began to morph when she saw the glance of pure adoration pass between her two younger friends. Secretly, she nudged Zuko with her foot; he didn't look over, still in his one-track mindset right now. He likely hadn't even felt her kick him. "How did you get hurt?" Zuko inquired, interrupting the moment.

Toph swiveled her head back to the rest of them, leaning against the wooden frame of the lone seat. "Just some bullies. I took care of them. Last chance they'll ever get at that training camp." She and Zuko wore mirroring smirks at that one.

The water-bender sucked her lips into her mouth to keep from smiling wide. They were talking about people here, bullies or not – she didn't want to look like she was garnering too much pleasure at the thought of them getting a bad case in life. Really and truly, though, she was. Equality got skewed when it came to friends and family, people you cared about.

Everyone's heads rose when Iroh stood. "Tea, how about some tea? Toph, want to help me?"

She jumped right up and followed him to the kitchen. "You have no idea how much I've missed your blends – any new ones?"

He chuckled. "A _few_..."

Katara immediately shifted her focus to Aang when the kitchens' double doors flapped closed. "What?" He asked under her intent stare, cheeks splotching a pale pink.

Zuko leaned over to her, arm draped across the back of the booth. "The blush confirms it," he playfully remarked, whispering loudly so the boy across the table could hear without a doubt. She grinned at his playing along, glad to see he made the same observation she did. So clearly, it wasn't _all_ in her head.

Aang's cheeks only redden further, arms crossing clumsily in defense. "What?"

"Oh come on, Aang, you're terrible at keeping secrets!" Katara laughed softly. "You _like_ her."

"Yeah, we all do," he said quickly, a little _too_ quickly, darting a furrowed glance to the kitchen. _A mutual secret?_ She wondered. _Or just nervous..._

Zuko shook his head. "Not like _that_."

"you care for her... _romantically_," Katara persisted, feeling mildly embarrassed at having said the last word, embarrassed for no particular reason.

Aang dropped his head down the table with a sharp thud and a quiet groan. The couple winced and looked to each other. He huffed loudly. "How did you know?" He finally admitted with the question.

"Yes!" Katara squealed in a shushed manner. Zuko smirked again and Aang rose his head briefly to cast her an unamused eye. "Sorry, I just kind of... nevermind." Honestly, she was hoping for this turn of events. Toph had had a crush on Sokka for a while but that had never panned out for obvious reasons. However, Toph and Aang always had this kind of teasing rapport – she even gave him a nickname to go along with it – much like she and Zuko developed with their closeness. When you know someone that well, it's just _there_. And while that wasn't her only reason for watching out for their interactions, it was the first sign in her mind. Katara shook her head once to better clear it. "I guess it's just easy to spot; I don't know. You two are so... cute?"

"_Cute_?" Aang asked dubiously, voice pitch high. He didn't know whether to be flattered by that or find something wrong in that; would Toph?

"Yeah-" She said cheerfully, hand subconsciously holding the jewel hanging from her red necklace. "-like a little old married couple!"

Zuko coughed loudly, covering up his sudden burst of laughter. It didn't work very well.

"Go the kitchen," she chastised, trying for a serious moment with her Avatar friend who was now groaning in what she guessed to be slight humiliation.

"I'm laughing because it's true," Zuko explained.

Katara only stared sternly at him for a long minute. He did not break eye contact with her until after he stood. She knew he only went as a service to her wishes and not because she made him. Any and all battles between them would end in a tie; they were too perfectly matched, in everything from bending abilities to stubbornness.

When she returned to focusing on Aang, he had his chin resting on his wrist, a small smile on his lips. "_That's_ old married couple behavior."

Katara rolled her eyes.

* * *

><p>"We should've left earlier," Suki insisted.<p>

"We made it here on the right day, " Sokka argued in return.

"No, we're in the _city_. Do you see what I see? Because I'm seeing packed streets!"

"Relax," he coaxed. He received a deadly warning glare in return. Indeed, the streets were packed, as they were most days. The warm temperatures of summer only aided this further.

She navigated around an oblivious man with several over-piled knapsacks on his back and strung through his arms. Thank her parents that she became a Kyoshi Warrior and went through the balance training or else she might have lost her equilibrium and fallen over in the streets, lost amongst the sea of high-traffic feet. "I'm not on edge, I'm just saying we may not get there in time."

"Aren't we meeting at the Jasmine Dragon because we're going to be up late? We're fine – right up here."

Suki pursed her lips. "This turns into an _alley_."

He nodded, hand on her shoulder. "Shortcut!"

* * *

><p>"I remember how to do it – who do you think has been making tea for Aang at the temples and in Yu Dao?"<p>

Iroh tapped a free finger to his chin. "Alright then."

Zuko viewed the exchange between his Uncle and the earth-bender he regarded as a sort of sister with mixed feelings of nostalgia and sadness. He was reminded of his mother and Azula at this moment. All that effort and worry over finding his mother only to now have her living on the other side of his nation? It felt slightly unfair, which he knew possessing those feelings was unfair in and of itself. It was his mother's choice.

In that way, he was jealous of his sister. She may have nothing powerful left, no hopeful future under her birth name, not much of a surviving anything when it came to friends, and a mind that had violent tendencies and therefore doubted itself, yet she had their mother with her. The only person Zuko thought loved him unconditionally, unabashedly.

That was before he really got to know his Uncle, though. Before his complicated relationship with everyone in the Gaang. Before his understanding with Katara bloomed into something much deeper than he'd ever.

"We'll be out in a bit," Iroh told Toph.

She paused at the door, tray in hand. "Family talk?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Toph left without another word, respecting them both, and Iroh crossed the kitchen to where Zuko was sitting on a stool in the corner by the back door. He leaned against the side of a counter in front of his nephew. "What's wrong?"

Zuko pulled his head from the dark-cloud recesses of his mind at the address intended for him. "Nothing."

"So it _is_ something."

Zuko smiled wanly. His uncle knew people well; knew him and his moods well. He was still partly amazed, looking back with renewed clarity, that the older relative was able to stand his brash behavior when he was banished with that lone ship only those few, but very _long_, years ago. "I was thinking of Mother; I wanted to invite her to come."

Iroh nodded slowly.

"Actually... you reminded me of her."

He raised his head to find Iroh wearing a woebegone expression. "She told me she moved to the countryside with Azula. Is it your sister that's gotten you upset?"

Zuko shook his head. "I accepted Azula's apathy a long time ago; it's only Mother that's gotten through to her. No, I guess... I guess I was just thinking about _family_." He rubbed a hand across his eyes. "I feel like everything was perfect last year – I had you, Katara, my friends, I was looking for Mother, the world was peaceful... Then I found Mother but now she's not-"

"-here," Iroh quickly surmised.

"Yeah." His lips thinned. "And the Avatar and the rest are scattered across the earth, there've already been several hiccups in world peace. Uncle, do you think the world will stay peaceful?" He questioned, abruptly shifting the conversation. While the world was on large quiet and recovering, his mind always brought to light the squashed attempted rebellion from war mongers in his country, the instability in the formation of the new republic, and the continued isolation of the North Pole.

Iroh smiled, truly, this time. "Peace, you must remember, Zuko, has to be fought for. Not with war, but with our other actions; sometimes even the threat of war, in the right circumstances," he conceeded. "And it, like everything else, comes and goes. We've fought for a century; peace won't be going away anytime soon. No one will let it in our lifetime, or the next."

He met his uncle's twinkling eyes this time and returned the expression.

"Now, what was that necklace I spotted on young Katara's neck?"

Zuko chuckled shortly. "You figured it out."

"She's the best niece-in-law I could ask for."

He reached up to pat his uncle's hand, still resting on his shoulder. "You're a good father."

Iroh's eyes watered.

"I'll visit his grave with you this week – if you want?" Zuko volunteered. He had never truly known his cousin Lu-Ten, too young at the time for an impression to stick, but that part didn't matter. It did not matter that he didn't have a ready face for the name because he had a ready _impression_. He knew how much Lu-Ten mattered to his uncle, and if it mattered to Iroh then it mattered to him. Because they're family.

"I would like that." Lips curving in a tiny smile, Iroh replied, "You're a good son."

* * *

><p>"So much for announcing it," Toph commented dryly.<p>

"Sorry," Katara apologized sincerely. "But if you want, we can fake it...?"

"I know you suck at playing it cool – and Zuko?" Toph laughed. "Not, it's fine; it's out in the open. Hey," she bumped Aang's shoulder. He was holding Momo, scratching the flying lemur's ears without paying much attention. Momo purred contently, enjoying the group's almost-completion once again. "We could not tell the other two. See how long it'll take them to figure it out."

Katara shook her head, standing. "Where are they, anyway? They're pretty late."

"Bet you they're lost."

"They aren't," she fired back at Toph. She hated to think that; Sokka was good at planning but his directional skills weren't the most reliable and she didn't know much about Suki's.

"If you say so."

Katara ignored the other's skepticism.

A rap of knocks echoed on the solid wood of the front door. Katara smiled triumphantly. She quickly unlocked and opened the door. Immediately, she faltered. Her brother and Kyoshi Warrior friend weren't the ones on the other side – instead it was a girl a few inches taller than her, dressed in the Earth Kingdom garb that was almost required in Ba Sing Se, her black hair pulled back in an un-styled ponytail. She had a bright smile of her lips, eyes wide with expectancy. "Hi, I'm Beik. Can you let me in – these are kind of heavy."

Katara opened the door wider to see that she had two large pots propped against her hips. "Oh, uh, do you know Iroh?" She stepped aside out of courtesy as the woman began to let a cringing expression seep onto her face.

"Yeah, we volunteer together at a soup kitchen – he didn't tell you about me?"

She picked up the box she noticed on the stoop and closed the door behind her. It was heavy; a few already baked wheat products peeked out from underneath decorative tissue paper. She hurriedly set it down when Beik pulled her hands away from the sides of the metal pots, revealing red hands. "Are you okay? Are you burned?" She instinctively tugged the top off of the canteen on her hip.

Beik kept smiling breezily. "Nah, I'm fine. I have a lot of callouses from cooking, see?" She held up her hands when the water-bender approached. "didn't even feel it, really. It was just uncomfortable." She glanced around. "So, is Iroh here?" Her eyes abruptly stopped on Aang. "You're the Avatar!"

He sheepishly responded, "That's me."

"I've been dying to meet you!" Beik rushed over.

Katara bit her lip and moved to the kitchen, making a bee-line for Iroh.

* * *

><p>Iroh and Zuko sat in silence together, each in his own thoughts, enjoying the other's comfortable familiar presence. Where Zuko was focusing on unburdening himself of the worried thoughts surrounding his mother, Azula, and the world as a whole, the quiet moment only an inhibitor for his constantly consumed mind, Iroh was reflecting on his son, his times as a father, and his friendship with Ursa. His nephew next to him had said he <em>is<em> a good father; he was right.

At the time the young heir received his fateful scar, Iroh's protectiveness took over in a strongly and distinctly _paternal_ manner. He was always there for his niece and nephew because they are family, and family is very important to him, as well as because of how much they mattered to Ursa, his best friend that disappeared into the wind. However, that day changed those premises, shifting them in a way forever changed. He had never truly admitted that before, but he would now. Because being a parent didn't depend on blood; it depended on love and care.

And he would never abandon Zuko.

The door from the kitchen to the dining room opened, Katara strolling in with a confused look in her blue eyes. "There's a woman named Beik out there-"

He stood "Great! I'll have to introduce all of you-"

Two sets of knock pounded against the back door, making both of them jump slightly. Zuko merely answered it, looking at them like they were crazy. Iroh watched as Katara scoffed at Zuko. When he had opened the door, he promptly quipped, "Get lost?"

Sokka appeared through the archway. "We did not," he protested testily.

"Sokka!" Katara ecstatically hollered and engulfed him in a squeezing hug.

Suki answered Zuko, "We almost did."

"'Almost' doesn't count," Sokka insisted. He hugged Katara back, grinning.

She let him breathe again after another few seconds and moved on to quickly hug her sister-in-law. "I've missed you guys. How's the trip?"

"Long and tiring," Suki replied with a deep breath expelled at the same time.

Sokka held up a fingers. "But – we met some interesting characters!"

"'_Characters_' alright," she muttered under her breath. Zuko smirked, scratching his cheek in an attempt to hide it.

Iroh watched on as Katara joined in, Sokka protested, and Suki tried to tell him that magic wasn't real. He felt like laughing at it all. Nothing about the scene was particularly funny compared to how they all usually acted together – in fact, this was right on part with their norm – but instead it was because he was happy. This was a family, unequivocally and undeniably so.

He clapped his hands together once. "Who wants food? I have someone I want you to meet, too."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


	106. The Second of Many Reunions

**A/N*Updated: **The poem for this chapter is a quite simplistic haiku, yet I felt it was a perfect way to sum up the story. This story's mainly been about continuation – the cyles repeat, beginning and ending only to begin anew, bringing happiness and angst and happiness again, set to forever repeat in the Gaang's lives until their very end. And this story was only an intermediary showcase into their sorrows and triumphs.

*Updated - An epilogue is in the works but for now, with my own personal problems and the kinks I'm still working out with said epilogue, this will be the end of _How Things Change_. The epilogue will be posted as a separate story - sequel style.

Thank you _so very much_ to everyone that has read this story and more importantly has read to this end; I hope you love it at least a smidgen as much as I loved writing it :3

**XxxxxxxxxxX**

_The spring sea rising_

_and falling, rising_

_and falling all day._

_~'The spring sea rising',_ Yosa Buson

* * *

><p>After Beik arrived and was introduced to everyone by a rambunctious Iroh, food was served and the conversation commenced somewhat haphazardly, people constantly splitting from one discussion and joining another, wandering casually between friends. Sokka was sitting off at a table with Toph, chatting away about something almost vehemently. Suki and Iroh were playing Pai Sho quietly, while Beik and Katara stood next to a table littered with used plates, getting to know each other quite well. Zuko was a few feet away from them, playing with Momo. Aang was in the kitchen, collecting a special treat for Momo that Iroh had managed to collect after scouring the produce markets.<p>

Everyone was, of course, drinking from the practically endless supply of tea inside the Jasmine Dragon.

"Your move," Iroh informed his Kyoshi Warrior friend, moving a tile on the circular board after much contemplation. He was surprised at how good she was at this game; he didn't know she played it. Clearly, however, she not only played it but played it often, or had up until recently.

She turned her line of sight away from watching Toph and Sokka across the room. "What do you think they're talking about?" She asked, eyes sweeping across the board. Her eyebrows lifted. "You moved the orchid."

He only looked pleased with her observation, sipped from his steaming cup, and answered her question. "I overheard Sokka asking Toph about her academy."

Suki cautiously moved a tile with a secretive smile hovering. "He's gotten really good as a teacher – and he loves it."

"I can tell," Iroh commented, having observed that prideful sentiment in the South Pole boy with the boomerang several times since their reunion two hours earlier. Each of his nephew's friends seemed to be hitting their stride in life, finding their purposes and choosing the paths those purposes led down. It was an inspiring thought to know that they were all mastering their lives and shaping successful destinies from them.

She waited, propping her elbows on the table, as he calculated his next move. He knew he would have to sacrifice a tile for the longer game, but picking which one was a tricky process. One wrong move and the game was over in nearly a blink of an eye. "They look pretty serious."

He glanced over. "They do," he agreed after seeing Toph shrugging at Sokka's mini lecture – the boy had a distinct way of gesticulating when he was trying to convince one of something. "He does know her academy will be bending oriented, yes?" Iroh teased.

Suki opened her mouth to speak in confirmation but then she paused. "No, you don't think – _well_..."

He replied, picking up his next move's tile with a satisfied grin, "Maybe."

* * *

><p>"That doesn't have <em>anything<em> to do with metal-bending."

"Yeah it does, it's about teaching. It's important to be _centered_ before fighting, I teach that technique all the time," Sokka argued back.

"Who'd you get that from, Katara?"

He huffed derisively.

Toph held up her hands in an apologetic gesture before picking up a cream puff from her half-eaten plate. "Okay, too far. _Come on_, Sokka, I'll let you ride along with me and Aang to help out with the academy if you _stop_ trying to give me advice on teaching."

He nodded in concession, still unconvinced. "You'll want my advice later."

"No, I _won't_."

"Yeah you will."

"I taught the Avatar earth-bending," she retorted smugly.

"He only got his break-through when you took Katara's advice," Sokka reminded.

She narrowed her grey eyes until they were only dangerously thin slits. "Oh, shut up."

He chuckled. "Too far, yeah yeah. I still have that invitation, right?"

"Not if you keep talking." Toph cradled the shallow tea cup in her hands, its warmth tingling through her hands. "You know, you haven't said how sweet it was of me to invent metal-bending in a while."

"I haven't?"

"Nope; and it totally saved your butt last year."

"Stupid me," he slapped his forehead. Her lips pulled back wide. "It's really sweet of you – metal-bending's the _coolest_ element."

"Damn right it is."

"So – still have that invitation?" Sokka ventured to ask again.

She sipped her bitter black tea. "It's being _considered_."

* * *

><p>"Hey," Aang called as he finally surfaced from the kitchen.<p>

Zuko met him nearly halfway, disengaging himself from Katara and Beik's conversation that had slowly morphed from telling the Earth Kingdom citizen's life story to discussing the many faces of Ba Sing Se that existed in the three sections of the city. Momo casually lounged between his folded arms.

The Avatar pulled his arm out from where it was held behind his back, hand closed around something with a spherical shape. Momo's interest was caught, large eyes snapping to it as he was already well aware of where his friend had just come from. Aang turned his hand palm side up to reveal a moon peach inside. He didn't so much as give it to Momo as Momo took it from him greedily, immediately biting into the juicy fruit's flesh. Aang smiled.

Iroh was really great; he had, in anticipation of their visit, found a few moon peaches left at the market and saved them for the last living flying lemur. It was on the tail end of their growing season, their fruit-bearing bushes only grown in a few pockets around the Earth Kingdom, making the act all that kinder. They held a few bruises along the sides that Momo didn't even begin to notice, nor care about. He still cradled a rare moon peach in his paws.

Letting Momo float down to the ground, sitting on the rug as he munched his fruit happily, Zuko smiled at his human friend. "Are you planning on sticking around Yu Dao?"

Aang nodded. "I'm gonna help set up the new republic – I owe it to them, and I'm a great mediator."

Zuko smirked slightly at that, as he usually did – of course Aang was a great mediator, he was the Avatar; that was his job, for all intents and purposes. "If you need anythi-"

"I'll let you know." Zuko would always offer and Aang would always remember – it was almost a routine – because the fire-bender would always feel that smidgen of residual guilt and the air-bender would in return always understand that and be patient enough to reassure his friend. He walked a few steps over to the table set with tea; the Fire Lord followed him. A small laugh breathed through his lips. "Do you know how much a country relies on a _name_?"

"All of it does," Zuko responded swiftly.

The air-bender paused, freshly poured cup of tea poised inches from his lips. A bright smile rested on his face. "Okay, so _you'd_ know that."

He only smirked in response.

"I was thinking about something... blended."

"Blended? You mean for the name?"

"Yeah," Aang agreed. "Something that represents how the republic is a place to bring everyone in the world together in harmony. Something united."

Zuko gestured, tipping his cup towards his friend. "I think you have the name right there."

The Avatar stared at the ground, brows furrowed, thinking on a mental plane not conscious of his surroundings, something that was revealed when Katara walked over. "Hey, what're you guys talking about?"

"The new republic," Zuko volunteered as her free hand slid into hi. He looked expectantly to Aang, only to find him still staring off into space.

"Uh, Aang?" Katara cast her gaze back and forth between the two. "Is he okay?" She asked with an underlying worried tone.

The Fire Lord groaned mildly, unsure how to respond to that. Aang was find only a second ago.

"The United Republic!" Aang exclaimed suddenly. He looked to Zuko delightfully. "You're right, it's perfect. The United Republic – _of Nations._ It could represent everybody, like the peacekeeper where the Avatar can't be, where_ I _can't be. That's great, Zuko!"

"Hey, you thought of it," he quickly corrected, eyes smiling as he spoke. "And you're right, it is _perfect_."

"You guys named the republic?" Katara clapped her hands together joyfully. "That's great, Aang!"

Aang rolled his shoulders. "It's not set but yeah, I think we just did. I'm getting so many ideas in my head just thinking about it; it's like I can see the whole puzzle coming together..."

Zuko rested a hand on the other's shoulder proudly.

* * *

><p>Toph laughed as Momo whined, leaping around the small, spinning air ball. "You're so easy to tease, Momo."<p>

Aang agreed with a chortle, shifting the air-bended ball around once more, directing Momo near Toph's side of the table.

"Hey, uh, guys?" Katara called out to them warily, standing up from the chair she had occupied for the past half hour at a table, in the corner, with Zuko.

"We have an announcement," Zuko confessed, standing too.

Toph propped her jaw on the knuckles of her hand. "You're engaged?" She threw out.

"What?!" Sokka immediately asked, voice a pitch higher than it should be and therefore quietly cracking. "And I'm only just hearing about this?"

"Sokka, we don't even know if it's true," Suki shushed.

Zuko shifted on his feet but stayed standing next to their mutual water-bending friend. "_Actually_-"

"Called it!" Toph punched her hand in the air. It was nice to have confirmation that she wasn't seeing – well, metaphorically – things that are not there. For a while, she had thought she was only wishing for Zuko and Katara to date; but then it _did_ happen. As strange as most people found it, or _could_ find it, she was very observant. It was the little things she picked up on, collecting their details like stones used to build a road. Once she had all the pieces, picking up on the last thought-inconsequential fact, the road immediately formed in her mind.

"Toph," Aang began, shaking his head. She imagined he was smiling by the slight inflection in his tone.

She pulled her arm down and leaned back in the chair. "It's true."

"Wha-wha-" Sokka stuttered, his perplexed reaction at the peripheral of everyone's attention except Suki, who was rubbing his arm, confused regarding how to comfort him as he processed both the information and quick exchange simultaneously.

"How did you know?" Katara asked, basically admitting to it, still caught completely off-guard.

Toph shrugged. "You're wearing something new; Aang told me it was a necklace. You've touched it a lot tonight and I keep hearing it; it jangles weird." She scrunched up her nose. "It's got a lot of hanging stuff on it, doesn't it? It's a weird noise, just saying."

"But how di-"

"That part was _easy._ Your mother's necklace is a betrothal one, you told all of us that. You normally touch that _constantly_ – your nails usually scrape across the carved stone," she informed them matter-of-factly. That was a given for her, while everyone else was still processing that she even _heard_ that minute sound. "But tonight you'd only touch the new one. Why would you do that if it isn't special? So someone gave you it; obviously that was Zuko. If it's a necklace, and _you're_ touching it a lot, it's a betrothal necklace. _Duh_. _Zuko proposed_."

Silence descended upon the room.

Sokka broke the ice by whistling a high note. "Wow; that's _genius_, Toph. You should get an award for that; we all need to make you an award. Anyone else a little bit scared by her genius-ness, too? Or is that just _me_?"

"Don't make it weird, Sokka," his sister was quick to chastise, normalcy descending again.

"It's _already_ weird; the Fire Lord marrying the only South Pole water-bender is just weird." He snorted. "And you're also my sister – did you ask for our dad's blessing first, _Zuko_?" His tone was carefully neutral, though all of them could decipher that it was at least a teensy bit threatening.

"Sokka!" Suki interjected with her own warning tone.

"It is a valid point."

"Uncle!" Zuko objected with a clearly flustered tone and likely flushed face to accompany it.

"It was too easy an opening," Iroh responded by way of apology.

Katara sighed in an exasperated way, making Toph think that she was definitely rolling her eyes right now. "Toph, your influence is making Iroh sarcastic like you."

Sokka and Zuko burst out laughing at the strangeness of her comment, Zuko trying to hide it horribly behind a clasped hand, only making Sokka laugh harder as the sounds turned from chuckles to blubbering snickers. Suki made a strangely confused squeaking noise with her vocal cords at the same time Iroh argued against Katara's comment.

Toph simply giggled. "I love you guys."

**XxxxxxxxxxX**


End file.
