Chapter 1

"Fire Lord. I have to announce you something important."

Zuko opened his eyes. What now? It was the first time he slept peacefully in months –Mai's absence made his brain restless. He had completely cleared it up to the Kyoshi Warriors; nobody should wake him up.

He turned around and saw Suki standing in front of him, shaking. It seemed serious; she had a terrified look in her face. Zuko felt a chill in his chest. He had a feeling that something was totally wrong. "What is it?"

The woman burst into tears. "Zuko, it's…it's Aang." She paused. "He is very sick. Katara sent us a message; we need to get to Republic City. Aang wants to meet you before…" She sighed. "I don't even want to think of it."

Zuko's eyes widened. He got up, shocked and speechless. How could he believe what he had just heard? Aang…dying. "No," he muttered, having lost conscience of his body and his mind.

"I…I'm afraid that yes, Zuko. I'm sorry." Her face fell. "We have to leave as soon as we can. Everybody is waiting for us. Aang is waiting for us."

He took a deep breath. "Let's wake Rongyu up. With him, we can get to Republic City really fast..." Rongyu was his dragon; some years ago, he and Aang decided that both Air Bisons and Dragons should not become extinct. Aang found a pack of Bisons in the Eastern Air Temple and Zuko helped Ran and Shaw mate. The dragons had many children, and Rongyu was one of them.

Zuko and Suki rushed out of the man's bedroom, running towards the small building in which Rongyu resided. Suki looked at Zuko in surprise. "Aren't you getting dressed?" He was still wearing his pyjamas. He looked at her angrily. "There is no time!" he shouted.

Eventually, they found Rongyu. Zuko caressed the top of his head. "Wake up, pal," he whispered. The dragon opened its eyes. "You have to take us to Republic City as fast as you can." They rode him, and began flying.

"My best friend," he thought, gazing at the horizon. "The savior of the world. The savior of myself. He is dying."His eyes filled with tears, but he wiped them off. He was shimmering; it was cold in the sky, and his thoughts made the weather even colder. What would he do if Aang really died? He couldn't imagine his life without him. He was his best friend, the only one who knew how to keep him sane. If he left, how would the Fire Lord survive?

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that they had reached the Air Island. "Zuko," Suki whispered, fondling his shoulder affectionately. "We're there." He suddenly raised his back up, getting off Rongyu and running at full velocity towards the temple. Suki followed him.

Zuko opened the door of Katara and Aang's house. Everybody was there; Sokka, Toph, Tenzin, Lin, Bumi, Kya… All of Aang's closest people had gathered there to say goodbye. He hadn't seen them for about two years –they hadn't changed at all. Toph was pretending to be strong, but it was obvious that she wasn't; so did Lin. Tenzin had leaned on Katara's shoulder, while Kya and Bumi were hugging each other. Sokka was shaking. Katara was holding Aang's hand and he, he was just staring at them, peacefully. He looked at Zuko and Suki. "It's great to see you here, my friends. It's been a long time."

Zuko burst into tears. Yes, it had been a really long time; they hadn't met for two years, which means since Mai got sick. It was ironic; first, he lost Mai. Now, he was losing Aang…

He rushed to him, and held his other hand with all his strength, as if he was trying to keep me from leaving. He looked at Katara. "Can't we do something?"

A tear flowed to her cheek. "I'm sorry Zuko. I tried my best."

Aang sighed. "Why are you all so depressed? After all, I'll come back in about a second after I die."

They all looked down silently. Aang didn't like to see them like that. "Come on…" he whispered, weakly. He felt a chill in his neck. He knew it was time.

He looked at Zuko. He smiled; it was like he was trying to tell him something, something above words. The man felt a warm wave of affection and appreciation in his heart. Then, Aang gazed at Katara, his eyes slowly closing. The tears were falling off her eyes without her even understanding it. Aang grinned. "I…I need to ask you something…"

"What?" Katara sighed, her voice shaking.

"Please... come closer… " he whispered.

Katara went closer to his face, feeling the air he breathed coming to her face. "What is it, Aang?"

He grinned weakly.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

At that moment, his eyes closed forever.

Zuko's breath got faster and heavier. He felt as if somebody was strangling him. He felt like the people around him were suffocating him, like below Aang's dead body, there was a black hole, wiping out all of the Fire Lord's hopes and emotions.

He ran away from everybody, banging the door behind him.

Suki looked at the door. Toph touched her shoulder. "He needs some time on his own. You know how Zuko is; he wants to seem like a brave and strong person, but when he has to deal with loss, he is uncontrollable." Her voice was shaking. They all felt like Zuko did; they just didn't use to express themselves in that way.

Katara kept holding Aang's hand. Will you go penguin sledding with me? This line killed her. He was too young to leave. He was only 66 years old! Damn time in the iceberg. But of course, if it wasn't for that, they would have never met. In fact, she wouldn't have even met Toph or Zuko. The world would be totally different. She glared at her children. They wouldn't exist either if Aang wasn't in that iceberg. She smiled at them, while tears were still flowing off her cheeks.

Sokka came closer to his sister and hugged her. Toph held her other hand. Suki looked at them. They were such a beautiful family –she never had the chance to have one. She never really enjoyed being romantic with anybody –whatever she had with Sokka had stopped being romantic decades ago, and since then, she devoted herself to the Kyoshi Warriors, who had unexpectedly become the Fire Lord's guards –a nice job, indeed. The Fire Nation was entirely different from the Kyoshi Island and it was nice living there. But all of this didn't matter; Aang was gone. Her face fell, but then, a thought came to her mind; at that exact moment, a new, young Avatar was being born in one of the Water Tribes. Aang was coming back. She sighed. "I'm going to see what Zuko's up to," she announced, leaving the broken family alone.

There was a beautiful, soothing breeze outside. The air was blowing among the branches of the trees and the sea was really calm. It felt like all the spirits had come to Earth, welcoming Aang back giving the breath of life to the new Avatar.

Suki looked around her. "Zuko! Where are you?" she shouted. After a while, she spotted him inside the meditation pavilion.

He was gazing at the ocean which was separating the United Nations from the Fire Nation. It was a long time since he last crossed this ocean. He was wielding over Mai's death; a waste of time indeed –his wife's death couldn't be reversed. He could have just as well spent these two years with his best friend. They could remember how the good old days, when they were restless and eager to change the world. He owed so much to his friend –if it wasn't for him, he would probably still be craving for something as stupid as restoring his honor.

He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" It was Suki's voice. Zuko had got quite close with her since the Kyoshi Warriors became his official guards –Suki was the one who protected him, the one who made sure that everybody was as the Fire Lord wanted them to be. She could easily tell whether he felt bad or not, so this question was practically unnecessary.

He didn't answer. He just sighed. He was incapable of crying; it was as if everything had dried off inside him. "Zuko, come on; Aang is going to be reborn, don't you know it? In fact, he may have already been reborn. He is still here!" she smiled.

Zuko looked at her angrily. "What is it that you don't understand? The Avatar is being reborn. Not Aang. Aang is dead. I don't really know what that means, he might be chilling in the spirit world or just floating around the air, but what matters is that HE IS FREAKING DEAD, SUKI!" He turned to the sea and released some huge fireballs to extinguish his anger.

Suki frowned. "I…I know he is dead, Zuko. It was a great loss for me too. He changed my life. Well, maybe not as much as he changed yours, but he did."

Zuko looked at her again. "We're not staying here for a long time," he whispered. "We'll stay for the funeral, and then, go back home. I have to rest. I need to rest." He was going crazy. It was obvious. Suki had understood it, but she wouldn't dare pointing it out –that would destroy him. But how couldn't Zuko lose his sanity when he just kept losing the people he loved?

"Maybe you should avoid attending the funeral, Zuko," she said. "It'll just make you feel worse."

"I will attend the funeral!" he screamed. "And I'll make a speech about my best friend. He deserves to be honored and I'm going to honor him, Suki!"

She sighed. "As you wish. I'll leave you alone now."

When Suki turned her back to him, Zuko began hitting the poles of the pavilion with fireballs, thinking that the woman couldn't see him. She closed her eyes, hoping that the Spirits would show the man a way to find salvation.