Chapter 1
Hi everyone! I just finished rewatching ATLA and I wanted to write about what happened after the war ended as everyone grew up and had to like fix the whole world. This wasn't ever really covered in the show or in LOK but there was a lot more the Gaang would have had to do even after Zuko took the throne. I'm not really going to follow the comics that have come after the TV show just because I want to write my own stories so I hope that's alright with you all. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy this new story!
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Aang sighed and leaned back against Appa's soft coat. The air blowing against him was cold and bit at the bits of skin that weren't covered by his robes. The inky blackness of the sky before him and the calming feelings of the wind currents around him led to quite the feeling of serenity. This was his third trip to the earth kingdom capital in as many weeks and no matter the strategy he and the Earth King attempted, nothing seemed to be improving.
Aang wasn't even sure how much could be fixed in the earth kingdom, but he was growing more and more confident that any major successes wouldn't be happening any time soon. He had just... assumed that things would work themselves out once Zuko took the throne and the war was over. In the last two months he had discovered just how very naïve that thought had been.
The young avatar closed his eyes momentarily as the tasks ahead of him began to weigh on his shoulders once again. He unconsciously slouched down slightly against his bison as if the tasks before him were so insurmountable they physically weighed him down. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, there was absolutely no way he would be able to do any of it alone. Throughout their travels they had gained much goodwill with leaders of nations, but not necessarily with the people. Much of their time spent in the Northern Water tribe and the Earth kingdom had been spent with nobles and generals; people who could help Aang and his friends learn the elements and contribute resources for their battle against Ozai. But Aang now realized that may have been a crucial mistake on their part. It was the people of these nations that had fought the battles, who cherished their traditions, and who had truly suffered in the last century. And to them Aang was a child. A child who yes, was the avatar and had defeated Ozai, but a child nonetheless.
Someone slid down next to Aang on Appa's neck, the rough blanket wrapped around them scraping against Aang's exposed arm as it rubbed against him. Aang opened his eyes and smiled as he was met with Katara's warm expression. Leave it to her to sense when he was getting just a little too wrapped up in his own thoughts.
"Aren't you getting tired?" she asked quietly so as not to wake up Toph who remained asleep behind them in the saddle.
"Not really, it's nice to think up here. It's peaceful" Aang shrugged as Katara arranged her blanket so it was wrapped around the both of them. Aang was aware she knew that he could control the air currents around him so that he never really got too hot or cold, but the gesture caused his chest to tighten slightly.
"Much more peaceful when we're not worrying about the Fire Nation spotting us" Katara giggled, and Aang laughed quietly in return. The water below them remained completely calm and seemingly devoid of life. It was here that the two benders felt the safest. Aang could soar through the sky, surrounded by unrestricting air and Katara could feel the vast expanse of water below her, ready to be summoned at any sign of danger. Not that there was much danger for them to be wary of anymore, but peering into shadows and peeking around corners seemed to be a habit neither of them would ever be rid of.
"You know, you and Toph didn't have to come with me to the Earth Kingdom" Aang started and Katara opened her mouth to protest.
"But" Aang cut her off before she could say anything, "I'm really happy you did."
Katara rolled her eyes at the young airbender and elbowed him playfully, "you know it wouldn't be right of us to make you deal with all of this alone. We're better together, we always have been."
Aang smiled and leaned into her, "you're right. We need each other. But sometimes, it just feels like it won't be enough. Like the world is just a little too broken to fix, even if we do try to fix it together" He frowned, eyes unfocused as they started out at the vast expanse of horizon before them.
"Trust me, I know what you mean. You may feel like Toph and I are doing you some sort of favor, coming with you to meet the Earth King, but really Aang you're helping us as much as we're helping you" Katara huffed, looking down at the young monk beside her.
"Are things down in the South really that bad?" Aang asked, feeling a pang of guilt for leaving Katara and Toph down there alone for as long as he had.
"I mean, not really. Toph hates it of course. It's cold and half the ground is ice so she can't see very well. But the reconstruction is going well. Having so many waterbenders come in from the North has really helped speed the process along, but they're also just so..." she trailed off brow furrowed.
"Yeah" Aang laughed quietly, "I'm guessing your goodwill with them from that Fire Nation attack last year only goes so far."
"Exactly. They'll listen to me to be polite because I'm Hakoda's daughter, but they think I'm just a precocious little girl who doesn't know her place. Which is ridiculous! I've traveled the entire world, I'm a great waterbender, and I helped Zuko beat Azula and take back the throne. If that doesn't make me worthy of their respect than nothing will."
"I remember how frustrating it was back when we tried to get Master Pakku to teach you. I'd never met people so ingrained in their beliefs before. Teaching you would have done nothing but benefit them in the long run and they still refused to do it" Aang replied his hands tightening on the reigns a little as a fraction of the anger he felt then reignited. Katara was one of if not the best waterbender in the world, and they still refused to give her the respect she deserved just because she was a girl. People treated him the same way because they saw him as a child and it was endlessly frustrating.
"I mean, they're not completely hopeless. A fair amount of the women who accompanied their husbands down are water benders and a few of them seem interested in learning more about bending outside of healing. I think they're just scared that it'll reflect badly on their families if they actually follow through.
Sokka's been making progress though. Him and Dad make a great team. We've already rebuilt most of the homes and Sokka's been working on plans for the city's defences. We wouldn't be anywhere near where we are without the Northerners, but they isolated themselves for so long it's hard to get any of them to open up to new ideas; even if they do come from their sister tribe."
"At least Zuko's been making some good progress in the Fire Nation. Last I heard he had finally gotten a good list of corrupt nobles" Aang replied, letting go of Appa's reigns to let his hands rest for a moment.
"Really? He's been working on that since the war ended. I still can't believe his father let everything get so out of hand" Katara shook her head.
"It wasn't just his father. Ever since the war started, Fire Lords were more concerned with troop movements then the everyday going ons of their country. With how bad some of the nobility had gotten on top of all the war reparations it's surprising the country is still as stable as it is."
"Zuko will pull through" Katara stated, matter of factly, "he's a good leader and his people like him. At least the peasants do, but their vote is what really matters."
"When it comes to keeping power yes, but last time I talked to Zuko he told me that most of the nobility in the Fire Nation stood to lose quite a lot from the war ending. Their families had all turned quite the profit in the last hundred years. And without their support it may be hard for Zuko to do anything drastic as the Fire Lord" Aang shrugged.
"You've become quite the politician Aang" Katara smiled and the boy beside her. Aang still carried some of his baby fat on his face, and his eyes were still so young and innocent. But she knew better. As much as Aang hated all the backhandedness that came with politics he was rather good at it. As the Avatar he had to be.
Aang rolled his eyes and frowned, "ugh I know, I hate it. All this scheming and backroom dealing that goes on makes me feel dirty. I'd rather not get involved but I don't really have a choice."
"Never forget you have all of us here to help you Aang" Katara said, wrapping her arms around him under their shared blanket, "Sokka's always been good at that stuff and you know Zuko will do as much as he can outside of his duties as the Fire Lord. Toph and I may not be as good at the whole strategy thing but we'll do what we can. You're never making any of us do anything, we want to help."
Aang felt his cheeks heat up slightly, "thank you Katara."
The girl beside him gave a warm smile in return, "now go get some rest, you can't try to fix the Earth Kingdom without sleep."
Aang squeezed her hand as he stood up and floated up into Appa's saddle. Toph lie spread eagle on the other side, snoring and completely unperturbed by her friends' conversation. Looking up at the twinkling stars, Aang estimated they would reach the Earth King's castle in four hours time. As he like down against the smooth bottom of the saddle a small smile unconsciously found its way to his face. No matter the future held for each of them they would face it together, as a team.
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Aang opened his eyes and squinted against the bright rays of the morning sun. He groaned and pulled the blanket over his head, flopping back down in the saddle.
"Get up Twinkle toes, we're almost at the palace" Toph yelled at him, banishing any remnants of sleep clouding the Avatar's mind. Aang grumbled something in response but sat up, stretching out his back. Katara and Toph sat at Appa's reigns, sharing what seemed to be some of the food Katara had packed when Aang had arrived at the Southern Water Tribe to pick them up.
"What's the plan when we land Aang?" Katara asked, turning around to face the monk.
"Well I have to meet with the Earth King again, I want to know how Ba Sing Se has been fairing and what they're planning on doing with all the villages that were basically anilliated during the war. I was hoping you two could go out and help with some of the rebuilding that's been happening near the outer wall. Toph, they could probably use another earthbender and it would be great if you two could talk to some of the people living down there and see how the subjects of Ba Sing Se are really feeling about everything" Aang listed, counting down the tasks on his fingers.
"Sounds good" replied Katara with a smile.
"I'll leave the interviewing part to Katara" Toph frowned, crossing her arms.
The three of them looked out towards the horizon as the massive walls of the Earth Kingdom capital came into view. The massive hole still remained from the White Lotus's liberation, but much of the rubble had been cleared away.
"I guess they haven't needed to repair the wall now that the Fire Nation isn't attacking any more" Katara commented as Appa soared over the fields below and Aang leaned over the side of the saddle to wave at the farmers looking up at the massive sky bison.
"They haven't fixed it yet?" Toph asked, "you'd think they'd still want to feel as secure as they could. The war only ended a few months ago."
Five minutes later Appa passed over the outer wall, drawing the astonished looks of the guards. Most had heard stories about the Avatar, but it was another thing to see the boy who had stopped the Fire Lord in person.
Aang laughed as a gaggle of children below yelled and waved up at them. He raised his hand high in the air and waved back, wishing he could go down and join in whatever game they were playing.
"I still can't believe it was less than a year ago we were staying in one of those houses in the upper ring and trying to tell the Earth King about the eclipse" Katara said wistfully, "not saying times were better, but I do kind of miss when it was just the five of us."
"Five?" Toph asked.
"I'm including Zuko" Katara smiled.
"I agree" Aang chimed in from his seat in the saddle, "I miss Team Avatar being together and traveling the world."
"You two are such pansies" Toph teased with a smile, giving Katara a punch in the arm.
Appa drifted past row after row of Earth Kingdom homes until the three finally reached the palace. It was still rather magnificent to Aang, no matter how many times he saw it.
Reaching for his glider he stood in the saddle, "I'll see you two in a few hours. Good luck!" and with that he leaped into the air, forcing the currents up under the wings of his glider to carry him down towards the palace.
Gliding through the sky like this was another time Aang always felt at peace. He might have been the Avatar, but he would always be an airbender at heart. As the air soared past him, he could feel every pocket, every vein of wind as it moved over his body.
As Appa turned to head back towards the outer wall, Aang's feet floated gently towards the ground and the wings of his glider retracted back in. The massive doors before him stood open, and dozens of people were walking in and out of the palace.
He smiled and waved at all of them, greeting the ones he knew by name. In the shadows he noticed Di Lee agents, lurking. Why the Earth King hadn't chosen to disband that particular branch of the government he would never really know. Aang had a feeling the King did not want to disrespect Avatar Kyoshi's legacy, and felt that by doing so he would estrange many admirers of the Earth Kingdom's last Avatar.
"Avatar Aang" someone called out to him as he made his way towards the King's throne room. Aang turned to see a young man dressed in servents clothes running towards him.
The man seemed to be having a difficult time catching his breath as he approached Aang with a look of wonder in his emerald green eyes, "the uh, Earth King is expecting you sir!" he managed to squeak out, "he's waiting in one of the strategy rooms. If you would follow me." He gestured off to his left and waited.
Aang gave the young man a warm smile, his round face emphasizing just how young he was, "sure!"
As the two walked Aang turned towards the servant, "so what's your name?"
"Oh! Uh, I'm San!" the servant stuttered out, seemly baffled at being addressed by the Avatar in such a way. However Aang had never been one to pay any attention at all to class differences.
"Do you live in the city San?" Aang asked, his default friendly smile remaining on his face.
"Uh, yes I do! I live with my mother and father and sister in the lower ring" San replied, face a bit red from surprise.
"How has the reconstruction been going down there?" Aang asked, innocently, "I know a lot of damage was done when the White Lotus fought the Fire Nation."
"Well..." San began, trying to come up with the right words, "rebuilding has definitely been...slow. But the people from the palace have been trying their best to make sure everyone has a roof over their heads. And food allocation has been going smoothly, so that's another worry off everyone's minds."
"I'm glad, but why has it been going so slow?" Aang probed.
"Uh well, I'm not really sure. Too much to do and not enough people probably. People here are doing well compared to the rest of the Earth Kingdom if the stories we've heard about some of the smaller towns are true."
Aang nodded pensively, and the two stopped in front of a large set of double doors. He gave the young man another smile, "it was nice to meet you San!" and walked right through.
Immediately Aang was faced with a mass of brown fur, which caused him to open his arms wide and embrace the giant creature blocking his way.
"Bosco!" he yelled jubilantly. The giant brown bear roared in response, licking the top of the Avatar's bald head.
"Hello Aang!" the Earth King called from across the room, and Bosco moved to sit beside his owner. Aang waved to the Earth King and his advisors and took a seat in one of the empty chairs. Aang always appreciated the King's choice of furniture. By choosing a circular table instead of a round one, much of the power dynamic in the room was dispersed. Aang was still the Avatar and Kuei was still the Earth King without being forced to sit at the heads of a long table. Every advisor was included and seemed more inclined to share their ideas.
"So what's the update?" Aang asked, folding his legs beneath him in his chair. Katara always chastised him that it wasn't the proper way to sit, but Aang always felt most comfortable with his legs tucked up safely beneath him.
"Repairs in the city have been going well" an advisor (Kang was his name, Aang remembered) off to his left began.
"Efforts to give the citizens shelter have been going well and most resources are plentiful at the moment so there are no worries about the homeless starving or going cold" a new advisor who sat next to the King added. Aang had never seen him before, he looked to be about 40 with the green eyes of an Earth Kingdom native.
Aang nodded, that aligned with what he had learned from San. He hated never being able to trust the Earth King and his advisors completely, but Sokka had always told him it was better to hear things directly from the source instead of a middleman who could mix up the message and he was right. He also knew that government bureaucrats tended to be slightly unaware of how their subjects actually felt.
"I heard repairs aren't going as fast as some may like" Aang commented, looking at the men and women before him.
"We're doing the best with what we have at our disposal" the woman sitting next to him replied, pulling out a few sheets of paper from the bag she had at her feet, "many of our able bodied men are still coming home, so we're moving as fast as we can all considering."
"Thank you, uh..." Aang faltered, not knowing the advisor's name.
"Poppy" she supplied helpfully.
"Thanks Poppy" Aang continued, "when is the next round of soldiers supposed to arrive back?"
"Well one of the outer squadrons returned last night and some more troops should be returning later this week" she answered, reading from the papers she had before her.
"We want to give them time to get settled in again before we start asking them to help with repairs" the Earth King added.
Aang nodded. Many of the Earth Kingdom soldiers had been fighting for decades and had families they hadn't seen in years. It was only fair to give them time to rest before asking them to rebuild, if they were willing to help at all. "It's good to know that the city is doing well but how about the rest of the Earth Kingdom?"
At this many of the King's advisors huffed, a general aura of frustration settling around the room.
"That's where our real problems lie Aang" the King said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "many of these towns have nearly been destroyed by thugs and Fire Nation soldiers over the last century and the people living there aren't willing to abandon their homes just yet and relocate to somewhere a bit more developed."
"We may have enough resources to help the people inside the walls but we just don't have enough to rebuild these villages, and we don't have enough manpower to provide a stable government for all of them" Kang chimed in again.
"Well it would be best if they could choose their own leaders" Aang said with a frown, "not to be blunt but many of those people had to fend for themselves without any real assistance from the Earth Kingdom during the war. I don't think they would take kindly to a government bureaucrat suddenly showing up and telling them what to do."
"They are still under control of the Earth King" an older woman scoffed, looking a bit affronted. "It's not like we had many people to spare to help some inconsequential village."
"I understand that Madam Yi Ming, but if every inconsequential village suddenly loses the autonomy they've become accustomed to over the last century and decides to revolt against the monarchy they aren't very inconsequential anymore" Aang placated.
"The Avatar is right" the Earth King nodded, "these people have managed to survive a brutal war without any help at all from their leaders. It's unfair to treat them like children that need to be managed. That being said, many of these villages don't have any sources of income and the people are suffering because of it."
Aang hunched over slightly and looked down at his ankles crossed below him, deep in thought. The Earth King and his advisors continued to discuss the current state of things, from the possibility of opening up trade with the Water Tribes to attempting to negotiate higher reparations from the Fire Nation.
"I don't think that would be fair" Aang finally spoke up, when Madam Yi Ming mentioned taking advantage of the new Fire Lord's inexperience to negotiate a trade deal with the Fire Nation that would only benefit the Earth Kingdom.
"All this mess is their fault! Why shouldn't we be trying to make the best of a bad situation?"
"Fire Lord Zuko is good man and a smart leader. He may be new but he's not stupid, and by submitting a trade deal that would rather obviously undermine the Fire Nation you would only continue to reinforce the bad blood between the two nations. And besides I think you may have the solution to your problems right under your noses" Aang replied, taking a deep breath to keep himself from snapping at Madam Yi Ming. She may be rather irritating, but he knew she was just trying to do what was best for the Earth Kingdom.
"What do you mean Aang?" the Earth King asked.
"Well" Aang started with a smile, "reconstruction in the city has been slow because of a lack of manpower right? And you have all these people in these villages that are suffering because there's no way for them to bring in money." A small sense of satisfaction burned in Aang's belly as a few of the people seated around him began to form an idea of what he was suggesting.
"Are you suggesting we hire people from the villages to come in and assist in the reconstruction of the city?" Poppy asked, adjusting her glasses and looking on at the young Avatar with intrigue.
"Exactly. That way you have more manpower, the villagers have a source of income, and the villages get to remain autonomous" Aang smiled at the people around the room. He was proud of himself for coming up with a solution that could help everyone, especially those suffering the most.
"Excellent! That is a fantastic idea Aang" the Earth King exclaimed and Bosco sat up on his back legs and clapped along with his owner, "I think we can call this meeting a success for now. Kang will you please begin to draw up plans for such an operation? And Aang thank you for flying all the way out here to meet with us."
Aang stood and bowed towards the King who returned the gesture, "of course, send me a message if my assistance is needed again."
With that he grabbed his staff and exited the room as the King and his advisors packed up their materials. As he made his way back towards the gardens outside the palace he groaned and rubbed his neck. The meeting had taken at least five hours judging the sun's position in the sky. There was still a few hours until dusk, and Aang decided to wander towards his favorite tea shop while he waited on Katara and Toph.
He knew not everyone in that meeting had been satisfied with his solution. It would drain much of the Kingdom's resources to create travel routes for the villagers, and then accommodate and feed them once they arrived in the city. But every party involved would benefit from the deal and that was what really mattered to Aang. He wasn't here to just help the Earth Kingdom, but to help them with solutions that helped the King and his subjects without detriment to any of the other three Nations.
Pushing the stressful thoughts of diplomacy from his mind, Aang smiled when the beautiful building that housed the Jade Dragon came into view. Iroh was always one to dole out good advice, which was always made better over a fantastic cup of tea.
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Wow yeah so this chapter is a lot longer than I thought it would be. Apparently I like writing about political dealings, so I hope that chunk wasn't too boring for you all lol. I'm really excited to write more about what team Avatar gets up to after the war ends. Expect the second chapter soon and please leave a review with thoughts you had reading. If you have any ideas about my story please let me know or send me a PM! I'd love to try to incorporate them into my story!