Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Reunifacation of Kingdoms

Chapter one:

Fire Lord Zuko

The rejuvenating rays of the sun shone through windows covered by large red and black curtains.

Two servants entered a large bedroom. There was a bed in the center of the room with two large nightstands on both sides. A drawer stood in the corner farthest from the door and windows. A red carpet led from the entrance to the bed. Hanging on the opposite wall were two broadswords crossed over a scabbard hanging vertically.

The servants walked in and pulled back the curtains. The sun bathed the room with warmth.

The man sleeping in the bed stretched his arms and yawned, awakening from a pleasant nights sleep.

"Wake up, Fire Lord Zuko. You have business to attend to." A raven haired girl said somberly.

Zuko looked at the girl. "Morning Mai." He grunted as he shifted the covers off and swung his feet over the edge of the bed.

The servants rushed over with Zuku's robes and held them up, expecting Zuko to let them dress him. Instead he grabbed the robes himself and put them on.

Mai looked at him oddly. "You should let them do that. That's what there here for."

Zuko looked at the servants. "Thanks for the help, now leave us."

The servants bowed and left.

Zuku finished putting the robe on. "If I depend on them to much I'll be useless. Besides, I have to start acting differently if we are to rebuild."

Mai shrugged and wrapped the belt sash around Zuko's waist. "You don't have to act that differently. Come here, at least let me help a bit."

Zuku smiled at her. "Fine." He stood still while Mai tied the sash.

"There. All done." She said smiling.

Zuku smiled at her. "Thank you."

Zuku and Mai walked down the hall into the dining hall, Zuku had redecorated after his coronation and down sized the dining hall to be more intimate and humble. He didn't like to brag about being fire lord, He was concerned he'd become his father if he started to let it go to his head.

The servers came into the room with several plates, one of which was roast duck. Zuku had developed a taste for roast duck on his travels with his uncle. He sat down and took a few different items from the table.

Zuku's consular walked in and bowed. "Lord, I'm here to remind you that you have important guests arriving at mid-day to discuss the peace treaty."

Zuku nodded. "Thank you Sao."

The sun reached the mid-day point. Zuku and Mai waited on the newly built airfield were the airships and war balloons landed. Zuku had allowed engineers to modify the balloons and airships designs into passenger craft, even though a small portion was still used for self defense.

The large airship landed. It was painted in the colors of the fire nation with the familiar black flame on it. The passengers disembarked and walked down a ramp and were welcome by several fire Nation soldiers.

Dressed in his Avatar clothes; Aang, with Momo perched on his shoulder, looked around. This was still very odd feeling to him. Only a year had passed since Zuku was crowned Fire Lord and the fire nation capital still looked the same. Of course, he knew it would for a while, but what was important was that Zuku was in charge. He'd make things better.

Momo flew off Aang's shoulder, flew around the field, and re-examined everything.

Behind Aang walked a tan brunette. Her hair style was more formal and was worn without her trademark hair loopies. Instead, she decided to respect the fire nation style and wear it long, much like she did when she had to disguise herself last year.

She took Aang's arm, walked up to Zuku, and they both bowed.

Zuko bowed as the other representatives walked up. "Welcome friends of the four nations. Today I will keep my promise and help hearken in a new era of peace."

The Water Tribe representatives were Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's dad, of the southern tribe and chief Arnok of the northern tribe. They bowed.

The representative of the Earth Kingdom was a rotund gentleman with a large mustache. His robes were long and colored with golds, greens, and blacks. He wore a peasant's sun hat, which contrasted strongly with his higher class. He bowed.

Katara was acting as a consultant to her father about the Fire Nation, as he'd only been here to attack it during the Day of Black Sun. He did attend Zuko's coronation, however he had to go back to the southern tribe for his chiefly duties. This was his first time as an invited guest.

Aang of course was there as the Avatar. The one who'd be the final word should things go south. Zuko had asked him personally to come. Aang wasn't sure at first but soon changed his mind, wanting to help Zuko the best he could.

Zuko pointed to the palace. "This way please."

The others followed him and enjoyed the scenery.

Katara was especially impressed. During the time Team Avatar, as Sokka called it, was undercover here it all looked so hate filled and intense. It had changed a little bit, though. She noticed more soothing colors creeping in here and there. "Did you change all this Zuku?" she asked pointing at the random blue or yellow thrown into the color palate of the city.

Zuku turned toward her. "Yeah, I wanted to distance myself from father, so to remind myself not to turn into him."

Aang smiled widely. "That'll never happen, Zuku, you're not Ozai."

Zuku sighed. "I wish I could feel that way, Aang. Every time the servants come into my chambers or I look at the vastness of my throne room it seems like I'm just him in a different package. I feel like I'll never escape his shadow."

Aang walked up to Zuku and patted him on the back firmly. "You'll do fine Zuku, I know it. Your goal is peace. That makes you different from your dad right there."

Zuku sighed again, the heavy weight of being Fire lord bearing down on him.

They walked into the palace and were all seated in the lounge. The hall was smaller looking somehow, almost homey. The walls had new décor and several of the same blue and yellows that were outside.

Aang looked around. "It's so different…"

Zuku nodded. "We did major renovations on the entire inside of the palace after the coronation. You should see the dining room." Zuku said excitedly. The renovations helped him relax, somehow.

"My room's still gloomy though. Just the way I like it." Mai droned in that familiar bleak tone.

Zuku pointed to the chairs. "Please sit. Would you some tea? It's not as good as uncle's but it's palatable."

The others nodded.

Zuko left the room for a few minutes and the others sat down.

Katara looked at Mai. "So how are you and Zuku coping here?"

Mai shrugged. "Fine. But he seems insistent on doing everything himself. He won't even let the servants do their jobs. He says tha id he relies on them to much he'll become useless and spoiled."

The others understood about Zuku fearing becoming his father, but they didn't understand not letting his servants tend to him.

Zuku returned to the lounge, handed out the tea, and laid a plate of cakes on the table in front of where Katara and Aang were sitting.

Aang looked at Zuku. "Why don't you let the servants help you Zuku, isn't that there job?"

Zuku took a cup of tea and sat down. Somehow he looked calmer than before. "I can't let myself become accustomed to this lifestyle, not when my people need a lord more in touch with their needs. Besides, I like doing things myself."

The others accepted the answer and pursued it no further.

Zuku cleared his throat. "I called you all here to discuss the peach treaty that we will be putting into effect. I need your input and ideas on what you'd like to see that will benefit all of us."

The Earth Kingdom representative put his tea cup down. "I suggest trade should be the first thing. All those years of isolation from each other has hurt relations, not to mention the war. I also propose more shared holidays. For instance perhaps Ba Sing Se could host a festival one year and the next year the fire nation and so on."

The others looked at each other.

"That's a great idea." Aang said. "Like Avatar Day or something."

Katara giggled at him.

Aang looked at her. "What? It's a good idea."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, but maybe not calling it Avatar Day. Remember the unbaked cookies?"

Aang laughed at the memory. "I couldn't forget it if I wanted to."

Zuku nodded. "Trade is, of course, necessary. And shared celebrations would allow people a chance to experience different cultures."

Hakoda and Arnok both had the same idea. "Fishing areas opened past our tribe's shores." They said in unison.

Zuku nodded. "I'll put it under trade. After all the fire nation might need to import something."

Aang raised his hand. "How about more fun stuff? Like sports. Change earth rumble to world rumble; some fire nation games, balloon races, and any games with a ball. Also, change the fire festival to allow all the nations to participate, call it all nations day or something. "

The others talked amongst themselves.

Zuku sipped some more tea and placed the cup down. "I like that idea. It's been a while since the Fire Nation had a sport competition; the Agni Kai was as close as we got and I'm asking people to refrain from it. They're also no longer allowed as a form of punishment." He wrote down competitions under shared celebrations.

Zuku really was serious about fixing what his father did, Aang thought. Good for him.

Zuku finished his tea. "Lastly for today, I'd like to sign the treaty in Ba Sing Se. It's been the focus of war for too long. It's time to make it a focus of peace."

The others agreed. The Fire Nation's enemy during the war was the Earth Kingdom so it made the most sense to have such a large gesture performed at its capital.

Zuku stood up. "Now my servants will show you to your rooms, I'm sure you're all tired from the trip. After you rest please, visit the city. Talk to the citizens get to know them but don't mind those that can't get used to the peace. I hope to reassure them soon."

The others rose and started for their rooms.

"Aang. I need to talk to you for a moment." Zuku said as Aang started to follow Katara.

"But my room." Aang pointed toward Katara, who had stopped a second.

Katara stepped forward. "It's alright Aang, just ask the servants again and they'll show you. I'm going ahead."

Katara caught up with the others leaving Aang and Zuku alone.

Aang sat down again. "What's the matter Zuku?"

Zuku sighed. "Nothing's wrong. I wanted to ask your opinion of something."

Aang looked twitchy, though he tried to control it. "What is it?"

Zuku laid out a map of the world and pointed toward all of the air temples except the northern one. "I'd like to declare these temples historical sites and forbid anyone from destroying or building anything there. What do you think?"

Aang smiled relieved. "I thought you'd ask me about something else. I'd love that, but I think people need to be allowed to see them also, including the northern one. It's not right for me to keep them all to myself or to deny people seeing them."

Zuku nodded. "I thought you'd say that. Thanks for the input."

Aang stood up. "Is that it?"

Zuku nodded.

Aang smiled at Zuko, that wide childlike smile of his got on Zuko's nerves sometimes but Zuko began to admire it more everyday. "You'll make an awesome Fire Lord Zuko." He said re-emphasizing his earlier point. "See you later."

Zuko rolled up the map and sat on the chair to decompress. That went better then he expected and he didn't lose his temper once, he was making progress.