Hey guys! First fic here. Sorry if the story's a little.. i dunno, weird? :))
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Aang.. dangit
One Last Challenge
Prologue:
"I don't deserve to be in this place, I am the princess of the fire nation. I should be the Fire Lord, not my traitor of a brother. I am perfect; I don't need to be in a facility, and, best of all, I am the greatest fire bender in the world. Just you wait peasant girl, I will get revenge..."
"Princess, it's time" I heard my door being unlocked and I looked up. A smile suddenly appeared on my face.
"Excellent"
Chapter 1: Surprise
It's been a year since the war ended. Everything has changed. The world is slowly being reborn again. Aang's mastered the 4 elements and the world has come to forget about the traumatic experiences from the war.
"Katara, can I talk to you?" I heard Zuko's voice from behind. It was already dark and he's probably going to ask me to come in.
"Sure. What's up?" I glanced at his eyes and noticed that he still had the same sad glow as from last week. "It's about Mai, isn't it?"
"I just can't believe it happened." He turned around, probably trying to hide his tears. "It was all so sudden. I-I-I didn't mean it"
"We're all upset, too. But I guess you're just not really meant to be" I tried to say comfortingly.
He looked down.
"It's the thought of being in an argument with Mai, as my last time with her" He paused for a while, "Why can't I ever control my anger?!"
"Zuko," I placed my hand on top his shoulder, it always seemed to calm him down. "I know that the past couple of days have been really tough for you. And having that memory in your head, as your last time with her must really hurt. I know how you feel. It's like the universe hates you. Everything that reminds you of the person, just stings your heart. It's like-"
"OK, I get it, Katara"
"But remember that everything that ever happens has a reason, maybe, maybe something better is coming. Or-"
"I don't think anyone can replace Mai" He sat down on the floor and buried his head in his hands. I squatted beside him.
"It's gonna be okay" I whispered, "We'll all be here for you."
"Knock, knock. You better get in you two. Toph's almost done cooking supper"
Zuko looked up, "Oh, it's you. Yeah, we're coming…"
Finally, my brain processed what my brother just said. "What?! Toph can't cook!" I rushed inside. "Toph! What and why are you cooking food? And more importantly, our food?!"
I heard Sokka giggle, but I didn't mind him; I couldn't let Toph cook anything that we had to eat.
"Re-lax!" She finally shot back, "I'm not gonna make twinkle toes puke this time. I did everything right!"
"I'm not taking the risk." I peeked in her cauldron, "What is this?"
"Oh, it's just-"
"Ugh. I don't wanna know"
Once I convinced Toph to stop whatever she was trying to cook, I was finally in charge of the food. A couple of minutes later, supper was ready. I called in Aang, Zuko, Sokka, Iroh, Suki and Toph. Later on, we were all sitting happily, laughing and eating our food.
"And that time when I dropped Toph's belt on her head…" Aang said while laughing
"Yeah, I remember. I had a bump on my head for days!" We laughed some more. "You owe me big time for that twinkle toes!" Toph playfully punched Aang's arm.
I love little times like this, when we're all together in one table, sharing memories, reminiscing on the days of our journey. If you come to think of it, a LOT has changed. The misunderstood person who was obsessed with "redeeming" his honor and tried to kill us once is now a dear, dear friend of ours. The playful little boy that I saw from the iceberg has matured and turned into such a powerful bender. He grew up and had even come to save the world. The little tomboy kid who we all loved, well, is still the same, but hey, she's loosening up. And me, the weak little girl from the southern water tribe, has fully transformed into a brave water bending master. We all dreaded this war. But we owe a lot to it as well. It made us into one big family, a family that truly loves and cares for each other. Yup, that's definitely us- Me, Zuko, Aang, Toph, Sokka, Suki and Iroh.
"Oh! Oh! And that time when-" He started laughing his maniacal laugh. "AHAHA! AHAHA! AHAHA!" We all just stared at him, waiting for him to continue what he was about to say. "AHAHA! AHAHA! AHAHA!"
"Uh-oh. Here we go again." Aang said in a teasing tone. "Calm down Sokka" He added, this time, while laughing.
"AHAHA! AHAHA! AHaha…" His voice started to drift away.
"Sokka?" I called. But his mouth just dropped open. I raised my eyebrow a bit and found the courage to speak again. But words couldn't find its way out my mouth, as much as I tried to. Of course, I needed to say something, anything.
This time, we were all quiet. Sokka pointed at the door but none of us dared to look.
Dead silence…
"Awww, having a family dinner are we? Why wasn't I invited? Technically, I'm family too, right Zuzu?"
Oh no. She's back…