Well this, quite honestly, is a bit embarrassing to come back to. Let's see, I was- what? Thirteen? Maybe, I can't remember. But I have decided, along with the sequel, to redo the other chapters so I can be spare my sixteen year old self the disappointment. Though this was intended originally as a romance, it's changed much in the last few years.

Note: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, though sorely wish I did.

And let us begin.

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I remember dreaming about her when I was in the iceberg, though at the time I didn't understand. I remember thinking that she was beautiful, feeling the connection between us even though solid ice. The day we met I was shocked when I realized that this was her- destiny.

Many think the Avatar shouldn't marry. They believe he- or she- is incapable of loving someone wholly, because the blood of a thousand others flows in our veins. Katara and Sokka never knew about what went on within me, even when we finally settled in our last destination six years after I met them.

The Fire Lord's defeat was something I can never forget. Even when I have died and my spirit is passed onto the next Avatar, to a Waterbender like Katara. It's a hard thing to accept, sometimes. Being the world's protector.

But things have changed since I was twelve. I found the other Airbenders, a struggling group of no more than ten that had built a fifth temple, one so far into the ground it was almost impossible for them to survive.

Why am I thinking these things, now of all times? I'm eighteen years old today; Katara made me this so that I could record my life's story and pass it on to the next Avatar. It's past midnight now, and I can hear everything.

"This is ridiculous," Aang murmured softly, dousing the flame that balanced on his open palm. The faint light faded and disappeared; it cloaked him in darkness as he slipped out of the tower. Momo chirped and flew from the bed to his shoulder, purring gently while he nuzzled him. Aang stroked the soft fur but walked on over the shifting sand, his emotions churning wildly inside.

"Momo, what am I going to do?" The lemur chirped again and snatched a bug out of the air; he ignored his master. Aang didn't notice. "I just feel so different…than I have in a long, long time."

He climbed the sloping rocks and perched at the highest peak. His head rested on his knees as he gazed out onto the rippling waters of the ocean's tide. The moon illuminated most of the bay; it left only a small part shaded. No fires tore the hushed silence, no screams for help clouded the night. Today should have been a good day, yet it wasn't. Aang had puttered all morning and afternoon, even when the gifts had been heaped before him.

Sokka had hauled the presents away, probably to open a few himself in his home. The boy- now a man- was married and had recently become a father, still a rebel without a cause.

Aang stared out over the island. Countless houses and trees dotted the seaside, nestled in the heart of the isle and shielded from the view of travelers on the ocean. Sokka and Yue's home rested in the farthest corner, on the opposite end of the island. Aang shivered at the remembrance of Katara's quick hands, healing what was already dead. He shook his hand hard and cast the thought to sea.

Appa roared in the stables, immediately answered by several of the others grazing in the fields. His master jolted at the sudden sound; he laughed when he realized where it had come from. Starting towards the creature, he slowed and stopped, eyes focused on a hermit crab scuttling across the pebbles towards the ebbing waves.

A memory blinked into focus, the day of his eldest child's birth, Seion, a charming little girl now three years old. She was an Airbender like her father, the first born since the end of the Fire Nation's reign of terror. She had been brought into the world so quietly, and he had taken her in his arms, gazing with silent fascination at his child. His wife had chuckled at his expression so unreadable with undying happiness.

"I miss my kids," Aang whispered to the sky, as if by admitting it they would come back; Seion and Haine.

Their mother was with them. Aang hadn't been able to accompany them on their trip- there had been too much to do on the island. They had been gone over two months, and his heart ached as if they were dead, instead of only on a short journey to the foreign lands, where he and the others had once thought of as home.

Foreign lands. We visited so many places when it was just the three of us, met so many people. I wish… Aang didn't know what he wished. He wanted to soar into the clouds and never look back, but at the same time plant his feet among the poppies and never move. The foaming white-caps lapped the cliff walls, echoing with the beating of his hollow heart.

He waited for a time, not thinking of anything except the sea and the moon, the spirits Tui and La. The sounds of the night became a rhythm that lulled him into a state unseeing, peaceful, so calm, so desperately sought…

Then it reared, the horrid memory he never wanted to relive, wished it had never happened. But it had had to. If it didn't, the world would still be in chaos, and more likely than not he would be dead.

The thought eclipsed into a scene of the Fire Lord, asleep in his enormous chambers, unhearing of the Airbender's light steps on the tiles. Aang remembered feeling it beneath his boots and wondering how many firebenders had grazed the exact ones. Ozai did not stir, even when he was nearly on top of the man, the sword of four elements clutched in his sweating hand.

The Fire Lord's eyes lashed open in an unexpected instant and he was up like a flame; it was so sudden Aang was caught off guard and thrown into a wall by a blazing rush. The battle raged for hours, it seemed; in the end, Ozai was pinned to the ground, his shrouded face splaying droplets of sweat onto the sleek flooring.

"So the young Avatar has finally come to accept his defeat," Ozai snarled. "How kind of you to deliver yourself to me. My son could not bring you. His sister was your brutal murder victim in her attempt." He spit acid into the air. "It seems fitting."

No! Aang shouted, fighting the memory. He didn't want to keep watching. He didn't want to see himself kill Ozai again. He was lying. Azula hadn't died by Aang's hand, but Roku's. The fiery spirit had attacked before he could do a thing, slaughtering the Fire Nation princess. Aang's sword hand had fallen lifelessly to his side, though the opposite was still aimed at Ozai's throat. The weapon in his grasp dissolved.

"You are pathetic, boy. Worse than my son, a disgrace as the heir of the Fire Nation. I have been watching you the past year, waiting for you to think you had mastered the element of fire. But you have never seen power like mine." The black eyes glistened menacingly. "I am not going to kill you now, Avatar. Not you, but your friends, the little Waterbender and the boy- they will not make it through the next ambush; I will personally see to it. All that you love in the world will be gone, and you will join my nation."

The golden flame had clattered to the ground and clipped off the wall, clanking harshly, ringing for years afterwards in his ears. Aang's breath seared his lips as he drew another and swallowed; he wiped the blood off his cheek and staggered out the doorway, down the empty stairway to where Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko hid in the corridor. Aang handed the headdress to Zuko, the new Fire Lord.

He hadn't been able to sleep for weeks after it; all the Airbender could see was sucking the air from the man's lungs, scorching his covered face, filling his chest with water, and raising a jagged rock from the depths of the castle through his stomach. It had been done in a matter of moments, but it would haunt him for a lifetime.

Suddenly, he heard it. The deep lowing of a flying bison bouncing off the cliff walls, racing up to where he sat, startled by the shrieking of children.

"They're back!" Aang cried. He leaped off the rocks and dove into the sea, skimming over the water like an elephant koi being hunted. He hurtled himself into the black sky again and again. He waved hysterically, laughing and struggling to keep afloat. If only he'd thought to bring his glider!

"Dad!" They shouted. Arms encircled his neck immediately; two voices chattered excitedly at once, their mouths unable to move faster than the other. Aang hugged them both, fearing his heart would melt in joy, talking just as quickly, holding them close to him. Gradually, they calmed and settled into Kua's saddle beside their mother. Their grey gazes locked on him. It seemed to their father they had made a promise to go to bed as soon as they reached the island, and he knew he had to let them go.

He lingered by their beds a time later, watching them in the firelight in his hand as the beams washed over them. The room had been depressing without their liveliness. He hadn't been in there for an entire fortnight, except to shoo Momo out. The lemur adored Haine, and couldn't understand why Aang had barred the entrance, keeping him out.

"I've missed you guys," he whispered. Aang caressed his son's tiny hand as it rose and fell on his chest. Brown tufts of hair smoothed his scalp and tickled his father's hand when Aang brushed it. He began to quietly creep from the room. Toys littered the floor, though, and the Avatar ducked to avoid hitting a wisteria plant suspended from the ceiling.

With a last look at them, he shut the door and snuck into the hallway, stretching tender muscles so ready to relax. His ears perked when he heard water running in the other room along the wall; a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. For thirty-seven days exactly he had waited her to come home. At last, he had what he wanted.

She was kneeling by the basin, her hands dipping into the streaming liquid and cleaning her face, her arms, her feet. She seemed oblivious to his presence as he lay on the bed, studying her.

His wife finished and emptied the washbin, but still wouldn't look up. Aang knew she was playing. It was in her nature- part of the reason he loved her. The smile widened when a lick of air lurched out of his fingertips and unsettled her long hair, blowing it over her head. She laughed and gave up the game to slide beside him, hugging him and resting her shoulder on his head. Her fingers teased the fine hair on his cheek with her breath. Aang's heart fluttered as he remembered the sensation of her in his arms the first time.

For a while, they said nothing, only held each other in silence. Finally, he propped himself up on one elbow and gazed at her below. She kissed his chin. Fire bounded from his lips onto the wall above their heads and lit a candle, bathing them in warm light.

"So how was it?"

His wife shrugged and edged closer. Her hand ran along his wrist. "Too long. Seion was ready to come home by the third day. I'm sure Kua was ready to drop her off somewhere." She grinned. "I know I was."

"Besides," she murmured softly against his lips. "I missed you more than I thought I ever could miss anyone. I didn't even miss Sokka as much."

"Well I'd hope not!"

Aang hugged Katara, pulling her nearer, gathering her in his arms. The Waterbender kissed him gently and pressed the emblem on her palm to her husband's, the moon to the sun. The pale yellow orb and rays spreading out of it glistened on her skin in contrast to the ashen white of his, the stars framing it like a painting. They were the marriage symbols that marked their unity.

She fingered the necklace at her throat. "Zuko commented on your handiwork. He said he's never seen an insignia like it." Aang nodded modestly. The pendant was amazing, a blend of water and air. Katara's mother's necklace had been passed onto Seion; the little girl wore it proudly, though the significance of it she knew nothing of.

"So what happened while I was away?"

"Oh, the usual. Yue gave birth to a girl; they named her Riette, for the sun. Sokka was thrilled. He told me to tell you he can't wait for you to see the baby." Katara's eyes lit up at the prospect of being an aunt.

He scratched her shoulders absently. "Haru visited too. He's doing fine, ever since the Fire Nation troops were brought to the capital again. They've freed all the Earthbenders they could find."

They talked quietly for a while, simply enjoying the feel of the other near. Aang glanced about the small room while he held her and admired its decorations, the things that made the house a home. A tapestry cut from the Earth Kingdom's walls, a dragon-headed teapot crafted by Zuko's finest potters, two small fountains from the Southern Water Tribe, and half a dozen ornamental gliders designed by the Air Nomads. Katara followed the sweep of his gaze and smirked.

"I can't believe how much I love being in this place with you."

"I love you," he whispered into her ear. "I love you too," came the reply, and another kiss, sweet and childlike and simple on his lips that made the Avatar want to hold in this moment forever.

Aang sunk deeper into the covers and sighed, content with every bit of his being. Today was supposed to be a good day- and it was.

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All right, all done with the revisions. I was decent at thirteen, but I like it better this time around.

And Auiq was changed to Riette because I can actually say that in my mind. Hopefully it won't be too confusing now, seeing as I can't really do much about it and I have school in a few hours.