AN: I know that I published the start of a new story yesterday, but here's the start to yet another one. Fair warning, this takes place after both the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. It basically follows the next Fire Avatar, after the Earth Avatar, Toran, that came after Korra. It also follows Kadaria, the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, the great, great, granddaughter of Iroh II.

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognisable affairs from the Avatar Universe.

What was it, about the Spirit World, that terrified Avatar Toran? As the old, Earth Avatar looked around the beautiful green pastures, and odd looking trees, he knew that he shouldn't be scared of the place, and yet, at the same time, knew that it was for a very good reason that this time, this time he was scared. Terrified, even.

A young woman with short, brown hair, and blue eyes, with blue, water tribe clothing on swooped down to rest in front of Toran.

"Avatar Korra." The girl bowed her head.

"That is correct!" She announced, gleefully.

"Why am I here, Korra?" Toran asked. Korra looked down at her feet, coughing awkwardly.

"Aang!" She called out, into the darkness of one of the trees. The Airbender in question dropped quietly out of the tree, his red and orange cloak flicking up in the wind. "You're late."

"Sorry, Korra." The Airbender rubbed his head, sheepishly. "I didn't mean it."

"Why are we here?" Toran demanded.

"Calm down." Korra smirked. "You Earthbenders, you're all the same. You always want to get to the point, and never stop to smell the flowers."

"I have never found that there is a point. You get from A to B in the quickest and easiest route possible, and the job is done." Then, Toran realised. That might be the reason that he had never been one of the more great Avatars. Why he hadn't been up there, with Korra and Aang.

"How very… earthy of you." Aang muttered, flicking the tip of his staff.

"Is it time?" Toran looked back at Korra.

"I'm sorry." The Waterbending avatar muttered, looking down at her feet.

"It never stops, does it?" Toran asked, turning away to look into the wilderness of the Spirit World. "I can never stop being the Avatar, even after I die."

"No." Aang replied. "You have to mentor the next Avatar, and even then, you have to watch over all the Avatars after them."

"Tell me. Who is it going to be next?" Toran asked. "I know they'll be Fire, but who? I have heard that the Fire Lord and Lady are expecting a child. Shall it be them?"

"I do not believe so. It is going to be a male." Aang replied. "They will have a girl."

"Lovely." Toran replied. "You know, Fire Lord Zuko II's grandfather and I never got along, because he was jealous of the fact that I learnt Fire faster than he did. When will the child find out that he is the Avatar?"

"Actually, this time, he isn't going to know that he's the Avatar until he turns fifteen." Toran looked up at Aang.

"Why?" He asked.

"Well, from what I can tell, he will live a happy childhood, not having to deal with the pressures of being the Avatar." Korra replied. "It is something that none of us have experienced. It is good that he is getting a chance."

"It isn't fair." Toran muttered.

"Existence isn't fair." Aang shot back. "You know, someone once told me that selfless duty calls us to sacrifice our spiritual needs, and do whatever it takes to protect the world. That is what it means to be the Avatar."

"I was never allowed to love. I was never allowed to have a wife, because I could never find the balance. Was that why I was not a great Avatar?" Toran mumbled, half to himself. His white hair hung down in front of his face as he looked down at the ground.

"This boy will have a chance." Aang replied. "Katara has seen it. He is going to love, and be loved in return, shocking for an Avatar. He will perhaps be one of the greatest Avatars of all time."

"Like you?" Toran asked. Aang looked away.

"Perhaps. But I made many mistakes. I did not see what was right in front of me, and it hurt my best friend. That was not fair." He replied.

"What happened?" Korra asked, looking at him.

"Nothing, Korra. Stay out of it." Aang shot back, at the Waterbending Avatar.

"Avatar Aang. What was it that you meant, when you first spoke with me after I became the Avatar?" Aang looked at him. "What did you mean when you spoke of the Lion Turtles, and that I should find them?"

"You'll understand soon enough. You did not find them in this lifetime. Perhaps you will, in the next." Aang replied.

"Yet another thing that this next Avatar shall achieve greater than I." Korra smirked.

"Quit putting yourself down. That is not fair. You ended the Great Sandy War, something that I did not achieve in my lifetime. You helped make Republic City even greater, and you did not sit by during the Steam Revolution." She told him. "I am sure that those are great achievements, and shall not be forgotten soon. It is the way of the Avatar, to downplay one's successes. However, you cannot deny that they are there."

"I understand that." The Avatar of Earth muttered. "I never spoke to Kyoshi, you know."

"Is that important?" Korra asked.

"I had hoped that I would. The Kyoshi Institute hoped that I would." Toran replied.

"Ignore them. It is not what others hope that is important, it is what is right for the world, what is right for you." Aang said. "In my lifetime, the Fire Lord attempted to take over the known world. I stopped him, but I did not kill him."

"We all know the stories. You are a legend, Aang, and I shall be forgotten." Toran replied.

"You shall not be forgotten. No Avatar was ever forgotten. There will always be those who remember." Korra said. "I was not forgotten, even though my achievements were overshadowed by Twinkletoes's here."

"Your achievements were just as great." Aang looked at them both.

"You are both doing wonders for my ego." He grumbled.

"It's almost time." Korra ignored him. "You have one day."

"I understand that." He muttered. "Will I die in my sleep? Or will someone kill me?"

"You shall just have to find that out." With those words, both Aang and Korra began to fade, along with the rest of the Spirit World. They faded away, into blackness.

OOO

Avatar Toran immediately felt the aches and pains of his old bones return, as soon as he opened his eyes. He had not noticed it, but in the Spirit World, his aches and pains had halted, not hurting as much as he knew they were.

Looking up at the sterile, white tiled ceiling of the hospital room, he noticed a soft beeping. A heart monitor. Looking over at the red and black screen, he knew that his heart was slowing down. Ever so slightly, as the moments ticked away.

"He's awake…." There were whispers, now, of nurses and doctors.

"What… What happened?" Toran asked, his ghost of a voice hissing softly.

"You collapsed." Toran looked over to see the Chief of Police, Toph II, leaning over him, her brown hair falling into her face, and her milky, sightless eyes not meeting his own.

"T… Toph… What are you… doing… here?" Toran struggled out.

"I am here because you were friends with my mother. I had a duty." Toran looked away.

"Is… Is that all?" His face struggled into a smile. Everything was a struggle, now.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

"N… No." Toran lied.

"Don't be such a stoic, gramps." She muttered. "You're always like this. It never ends well." Toran tried to grin, again, and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"I'm… I'm the Avatar… I have to be tough… otherwise the bad guys will get out!" Words became easier, as he once more became accustomed to the pain.

"Lie down!" Toph insisted, trying to push the old man down, but he didn't comply, simply resisting the weak attempt.

"Bring me that wheelchair. I'm not going to spend the last day of my life stuck in a bed." He insisted, the pain of his lungs dulling.

"I don't think…" Toran cut her off.

"Bah!" He grunted out. "I don't care what you think."

"You're being awfully direct today." Toph muttered.

"Well, I haven't done much with my life, and I'm going to use my last day to rectify that!" He leant past her, and pulled the wheelchair over to him himself, and slid himself in, grunting.

"I don't think…" Toph repeated, trying to stop him, but failing.

"I don't care what you think." Toran re-iterated, pushing his wheelchair along. He grunted, again, realising that it was too hard for him, and flicked out a fist, causing his wheelchair to move forwards.

"Aren't you too weak to bend?" Toph asked.

"The Avatar is never too weak to bend. It's my job." He flicked out his other hand, opening the door so that his chair could slide through. The chair rocketed down the corridor of the hospital, the blind Chief of Police running after him.

"Avatar Toran! It isn't safe!" She insisted, trying to catch up with him, but he simply sped up, out of her and the reach of her grappling hook.

"Greatly esteemed chief of police, I am busy!" Toran replied, grunting out the words.

"Catch him!" Toph called out. "He can't be out of bed!"

"Chief Toph II, why have you let him out of bed?!" One nurse demanded.

"I didn't let him, he got away from me!" The old man in the wheelchair sped down the hallway, the wheels of his chair turning frantically, trying to keep up with his bending. The chair slid into an elevator, and he bent the doors shut, before Toph could get in after him. There was banging on the metal door, however it did not buckle under the frantic pounds of the metal bending chief. "Toran!"

"Avatar Toran, you must return to bed immediately!" Toran smirked, and bent the elevator down the shaft, his bones creaking in protest. It clicked into place on the ground floor, and he slid the doors open with a flick of his fingers. Sliding out on the chair, a few nurses looked up from their stations, but most just continued to work. The sight of the elderly Avatar was nothing new.

Toran headed for the doors, but immediately halted upon the sight of nearly running over a young woman.

"My!" She cried out, trying to move aside, but her heavily swollen belly not allowing for it. Toran backed up a way, and bowed his head to the young, Fire Nation woman.

"My apologies." He said, looking up at her. "I was not watching where I was going."

"Avatar Toran." The woman attempted to bow, but her pregnant belly got in the way once more. "It is an honour, and a privilege."

"No, no, the honour is all mine." He replied. "What is your name?"

"My name is Li Yang." She replied.

"When is your child due?" He asked.

"Soon, I suspect." She replied, hastily. "Especially from the kicks I am receiving from the little tyke." Toran let out a bark of laughter, and the woman allowed a small smile to spread across her face.

"May I?" He asked, reaching out his worn hands.

"I would be honoured." The woman allowed him to touch her belly, and the old Avatar moved his hands over it, feeling a slight kick. "Oh!" The woman gasped. "He likes you."

"Well, I like him. I am sure that he will grow up healthy and strong." Toran replied. Placing his hands either side of the belly, he bowed his head. "May Agni bless this child, and may Raava watch over him for as long as he may live."

"Many thanks, Avatar." The woman said, smiling at the blessing that he gave her child. "I am very hopeful that my child will grow up healthy and happy."

"I am sure that he will." The avatar replied. He removed his hands from her belly, resting them on the armrests on the wheelchair. "Do you have any plans on what you are going to call him?"

"Why, yes!" The woman exclaimed. "I want to name him Aang, after the legendary Avatar."

"That is an excellent choice, ma'am!" The elderly Avatar replied. "I've met the original Aang. Let us just say that he lived a fulfilling life, and that he is very… er… eloquent!" The woman got a faraway look in her eyes.

"That sounds… wonderful." The woman murmured. "My husband wishes to name him Zuko, after the two Fire Lords."

"I am sure that both of those names will do your young man justice, as they were both great, great men who I have always respected." Toran grunted out.

"Avatar Toran!" A shout came from behind him, and Toran immediately began to spin the wheels of his chair.

"My apologies, ma'am, I must be going!" He called out to the woman, and then swept through the doors of the hospital, the wheelchair groaning in protest at the abuse.

OOO

After many hours of rushing around the city on his wheelchair, Toran eventually found himself on the high observation deck of one of the soaring, silver towers of Republic City. He looked out over the sparkling blue bay, the sun beginning to set on the horizon, at Air Temple Island. It still had the Old Temple parts left, however it was dominated by the soaring, silver spires of the Air Nation. They glinted in the orange light of the sun, and if Toran squinted, he could make out the orange and red flashes of colour, soaring around the spires, the Airbenders.

He began to wish that he could fly out there, with them, even if it was just one more time. He knew that his time was coming, and he had next to no regrets.

No regrets, but one.

"Toran!" The call of the Chief of Police came from behind him, and Toran turned the wheelchair to regard Toph II with a wise, old eye. "I have been running around the city, all day, looking for you! For a man on his deathbed, you sure are sprightly!"

"What do you expect from an Avatar with regrets?" Toran asked, jovially.

"What regrets?" Toph asked.

"Your grandmother was a wonderful person, you know that?" Toran said. Toph bowed her head, but narrowed her eyes.

"Don't change the subject!" She insisted.

"I'm not." Toran replied. Toph's eyes widened.

"My… My grandmother… and… and you…" She whispered, half to herself. "Are you my grandfather?"

"No." Toran replied. "I could have been, but I blew it."

"That is a shame. You would have made a great grandfather." She whispered.

"Thank you, Toph." He replied, turning the wheelchair once more to face the setting sun. "But I would have never been around. I would have always been working, and I would have never spent any time with you."

"You're spending time with me now, aren't you?" She asked. Toran smiled.

"I guess I am." He replied.

"It's more time than my actual grandfather ever spent with me." She said, bitterness colouring her tone.

"Don't be like that, Toph." Toran told her. "You know, you were named after a great Earthbender, the first ever chief of police."

"I know. I've been told that my whole life. The original Toph was great. The original Toph was the greatest metal bender ever. The original Toph was blind, and she didn't let her hold that back." She muttered.

"You are your own person. Don't let the expectations of others define who you are, Toph. I know for a fact that the original Toph would have never let anyone force their own expectations on to her." Toran told her. Toph began to gently smile.

"Thanks, Gramps." She whispered. "I needed that."

"I know." He replied.

"Tell me. Did you meet the original Toph, or her spirit, I guess?" Toph asked.

"Once." Toran replied. "And your great, great, great, great, great grandmother is just as stoic, and incredible, and callous as you would expect from the matriarch of the famous Beifong clan."

"Really?" Toran didn't look back, but he knew her eyes were as round as saucers, the incredulity shining in them.

"Really." He told her. "It is something that I shall never forget. For as long as I may live, which is probably only a few more hours."

"Don't say that. I'll… We'll help you pull through it." Toran shook his head.

"It's predestined. I don't have many regrets, and the regrets that I do have cannot be solved in this lifetime." He said, simply. "I shall see our grandmother soon, Toph. And your great, great, great, great, great grandmother. I shall tell her what a wonderful person you are, how good you are at metalbending, earthbending and lavabending, and how much her memory should be honoured by you."

"You would do that?!" Toph almost whispered, almost croaked.

"Of course, Toph." Toran replied. "And she will be so, so proud of you. You know, from what I have heard, I do not think that Toph the original mastered Lavabending as well as you have."

"Really?" Toph asked. "I thought the original Toph knew all forms of earth bending. Like an Earth Goddess!"

"That's a little bit of an exaggeration." He smiled.

They sat there, in silence, for some time, just watching the orange sun set, and the lights begin to flicker on in the city, and then in the Air Temple Island. Toran knew his muscles and bones were weakening, his heart slowing down, as every single second passed.

"Tell me something." Toph muttered. "Why, for the last few weeks, you've been lying in a hospital bed, but today you decide that you want to do something?"

"I'm a crazy old man. Of course I choose the last day of my life to actually start doing something with it." Toran barked out a laugh. Toph grinned, and stood, her black armour jangling.

"Come on then, crazy old man. Let's go eat dinner down at Tiana's Palace, and then you can go back to your deathbed." She said, grabbing the back of his wheelchair and pushing him towards the elevator on the observation deck, now completely deserted.

OOO

Toran looked up at Toph's face, streaked with tears from her sightless eyes. He could no longer manage words, and simply squeezed the hand of the young chief of police.

"I don't want you to go." She whispered to him.

"Well… Well I do… I'm tired… Toph… so tired…" He whispered out, his hoarse, old voice barely able to form the sounds. "Thank… thank you for… for dinner…" She let out a laugh, that was muffled by tears.

"Anytime." She replied. "There isn't anything I can do to stop this?"

"I… I don't want you… you to." He whispered back.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"I… I told you…" He whispered. "Take care… take care of the new Avatar…"

"Of course I will." She replied. "I will look for him, and I won't stop searching until I find him."

"Don't… Don't look until I… I have been gone for… For fourteen years…" He told her. "Let… Let him have a normal… childhood."

"Fine." She whispered. "Anything you want. I can stop the White Lotus from looking until the boy turns fifteen. Is there anything else you know about him?"

"I… I am sorry… I… I do not know… anything more…. that could… help you." He struggled out. "It's almost… almost time…"

"I know." She whispered. The beeps of his heart monitor were fading into nothing, and he knew that his time was up. Allowing his eyes to slide shut softly, he simply listened to the sounds of his raspy, dying breaths.

"Toph Beifong II." He whispered, his voice faint on his last few breaths. "Thank you. You will be great, just like the original Toph. You are great, better than the original Toph." His beeps picked up a notch, quicker and quicker. "Goodnight, sweetie." He felt the soft, warm liquid of tears splash onto his face, and that was the last thing he felt before everything faded into black.

OOO

On the other side of the hospital, a woman cried out, in pain. Then, the doctor, a young man in Water Tribe clothing, lifted the small, soft looking white boy with a tuft of black hair on his head into the air. The boy didn't cry, just opening his shocking, blue eyes, and regarding his mother.

"He's… He's perfect…" She whispered.

"What do you want to call him?" A young man beside the bed, also dressed in cool, Water Tribe clothing, with dark skin and blue eyes, his brown hair done up in a wolf's tail.

"I was thinking… Aang, but now that I see him… another name comes to mind." She replied.

"What is it, Li dear?" He asked.

"I want his name to be Zhiren." She told the man. He bowed his head.

"It's perfect." He told her. She nodded.

"It is, isn't it." She said. "Hey, Zhiren." She waved at him. "It's nice to meet you. The Avatar says you're going to have a long, happy life. I'm glad." On those words, the boy grinned up at her, his small, toothless mouth showing, and he giggled a little.

REVIEW!

Please, I want to know what you all think of my new story, should I keep going?