"Lord Zuko, we are honored by your presence."

The buzzing crowds of airbenders and guests surrounding the Northern Air Temple grew suddenly still as Master Tenzin swept down the stairs from the sanctuary to welcome his old friend. Murmurs drifted through the air: could it really be Zuko? The Zuko? Fire nation hero and friend of Tenzin's father, Avatar Aang? The former firelord ignored them all and smiled at his host.

"Remember when you were a boy, Tenzin, and you used to call me 'uncle?'"

Tenzin stood up straight once more, regarding Zukowith one raised eyebrow.

"Yes, and as I recall, you would scowl and say 'I'm not your uncle—'"

"—and Katara would scold me for upsetting you and oh, why couldn't I just let you call me uncle—"

"—and Dad would laugh and tell you both to relax—"

"—and turn to you and say 'Uncle Zuzu doesn't mean it, Tenzin. He's just a grumpy old firelord.'"

Tenzin finally smiled. "And yet even after all these years, you're still not a bit grumpy or old."

"Perhaps not," Zuko laughed. "But if Jinora is getting her tattoos, maybe I really am getting on in years. I still remember when you got yours." His voice acquired a low, wistful note. "Aang would be so proud."

Tenzin bowed his head and silence fell for several long moments. The smell of sandalwood incense began to drift down the steps of the temple, and Tenzin started out of his reverie.

"What are they doing in there?" he shouted. "We're not ready to start yet! Why are they burning the incense?"

He turned back to his companion. "I'm sorry, I have to go see to this."

Zuko nodded. "Of course. Tenzin."

"Yes?"

The fire lord spread his arms. "It's good to be here."

Tenzin's face softened, and for a moment, Zuko could see the little boy who had sat upon his knee and called him Uncle Zuzu.

"It is," said the airbender, and he too opened his arms and embraced his old friend.

Then the gentle smell of incense changed to acrid smoke and Tenzin practically leapt out of the hug and ran, yelling, up the stairs.

Zuko laughed, and thought of Aang. Korra would be here soon, and even though Zuko knew her connection to her previous lives had been severed, he hoped his old friend somehow knew that, today, his granddaughter would become an airbending master.

. . .

The ceremony began. Zuko's knees protested as he moved to kneel; he was getting too old for these airbender events.

"Why can't we just sit like normal people?" he remembered grumbling whenever he visited the air temple.

"It's airbender tradition," Aang had explained patiently, levitating for a moment on a puff of air before settling down on his knees.

"It's uncomfortable."

"Comfort isn't the most important thing in the world, Zuko..."

He could still hear Aang's voice, eager and earnest, full of reverence and childlike enthusiasm for the resurrected ways of his people. No matter how much Zuko grumbled, he had always knelt in the end. And he knelt now, as the incense began to waft around him, a convenient excuse for the mist that was forming in his eyes.

Tenzin stood and began to speak, his voice strong and thick with emotion as he intoned the words of initiation. They resonated in Zuko's breast; he half expected to look up and see Aang himself, bursting with the same pride as on the day when he bestowed upon his youngest child the first airbender tattoos in over a century.

Then, the figure who had been kneeling behind Tenzin stood up, her hood falling back from her face, and Zuko could not restrain the audible gasp that escaped his lips.

It was Aang.

Wide eyes, shaved head, pale blue tattoos. She was the very image of Zuko's greatest friend, once more young and proud and so very alive.

The aged firebender bowed his head and wept.

I cry so hard at this scene every time. And then I think about Zuko being there, and I cry some more. CRY WITH ME MY MINIONS.

-Vic