A knock sounded through the cabin. It was late, not a social visit Katara guessed. Standing in tight formation in front of the cabin stood a troop of Fire Nation soldiers.

Instinctively, she tensed, but relaxed when the leader removed his helmet. It was General Tokki. Katara had never spoken to him personally, but she and Aang had been living in the Fire Nation at the time of his promotion. She knew Zuko trusted him.

"Lady Katara." Tokki bowed his head in respect and Katara imitated him.

"What brings you here, General Tokki?"

"We seek council with the Avatar."

"He left this morning for the Southern Air Temple. I don't know when he'll be back. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Tokki's eyes were sad as he answered, "His presence is requested at the palace of our Fire Lord Zuko. As is your own."

Though the air always smelled faintly of smoke, it was much cooler in the Fire Nation. The face of the sun was hidden by thick, roiling clouds, and Katara sensed a storm. They had traveled fast, but one of their ships had been sent off at an even quicker pace. That ship had headed south, hoping to meet Aang either at the temple or on his way back. It was important that Aang made it for this, and Katara mentally urged the lieutenant Yaku's boat to go faster. The three-day trip had seemed to stretch into weeks. Her thoughts went to the conversation that had led to the trip….

"It's lady Mai," Tokki explained as the soldiers took Katara's hastily-packed bag from her. "She's been sick for weeks. It seemed like a simple cold at first, but got worse. They pushed back the wedding because of it. That's why you didn't receive an invitation."

"Well, we wondered, but it seemed rude to ask…. How bad is it, General?"

"Really bad. That's why we came for you. The court physician said last week that she was dying. Fire Lord Zuko was angry. He hasn't lost his temper like that for a long time now. He fired the doctor and shut himself in Mai's room.

"For almost an entire day we heard nothing, but then he just came out. He called the physician back and handed me five envelopes. 'Take these to my friends,' he told me. He mentioned you and the Avatar by name. But I sent the other three to your brother, his wife, and Lady Toph. I didn't know what else to do.

"Lord Zuko returned to Mai's bedside and still hadn't said another word when we left," Tokki looked to Katara, as if for commendation for his actions.

"Dying…" Katara breathed the word out slowly, trying to let it sink in. "How long?"

Tokki seemed relieved that she didn't criticize his decision on the letter recipients, and his expression turned again to sadness at her question. "Not very. We may be too late, even now."

The ship had left port then. The general had work to do, and Katara was left to roam the ship as she pleased. Mostly she just sat and thought. The sea air was cool and dry. With the ocean stretching out around her, Katara felt calm and peaceful.

But she grieved for Zuko and his loss. Katara had met Mai. She and Zuko had been good together, with her calm demeanor balancing out his fiery temper.

At night Katara sparred with the young soldiers on the ship. Only the young ones though. The others wouldn't fight while knowing that they would lose. She reminded herself that fighting was mostly unnecessary now with Aang keeping the peace. Still, water bending was not a part of her that she wanted to forget.

Besides, though the greater evil was gone, but the lesser ones were still out there. With her bending, Katara could stop petty crime as well as she had stopped major evil. Several times since the end of the war she had stopped a robbery. Sometimes Aang had been with her. Sometimes she had been alone.

They would reach the palace before nightfall. Katara was sad to leave behind the peacefulness she had experienced on the journey, especially now that each emotion seemed to be more. More complete, real, and capable of leading her somewhere new. But Zuko was her friend and he needed her now, needed all of them. With a sigh, she released her peace and embraced the sorrow she felt for the Fire Lord.

When they arrived, the setting sun was casting a blood red light over the city. She saw the flags and knew they were too late. The party sent to greet her carried flags with the traditional fire emblem on them. But instead of black on red, these flags had a red emblem on a black background. The Fire Nation was in mourning.

The greeting party led her through the city to the palace. All along the way, richly dressed people bowed respectfully to her.

Zuko had done well as Fire Lord. At first, it seemed he wouldn't be able to do it. A vast majority of the people had been fine with the war. Fire Nation citizens in the bigger cities hadn't even been taxed.

Zuko had changed that right away. He started taxing everyone, even the nobles. Especially the nobles. Of course, the economy faltered a bit. Zuko explained it all to his people before putting the tax into effect: It was for war reparations. The Fire Nation had destroyed so much, it was their duty to help rebuild what they had burned down.

At Iroh's insistence, Zuko began opening up the palace courtyard once a month for festivals. That seemed to boost morale among the people, and soon the slumping economy began to level off. The people still weren't happy, not like they had been during the war. But they began to deal with it. Zuko's real breakthrough had been negotiations with the other nations.

The Earth Kingdom had agreed to drop most of the war debt—in return for ships. They wanted to be able to protect themselves on water as well as on land, so they were building a navy. The peace time seemed a great opportunity to train a few ships for defense not offense. They decided to start small. Zuko agreed and gave up five of the Fire Nation's biggest ships. The commanding officers would stay with their ships to teach the newly-founded Earth Navy how to run the ships. However, the other two hundred soldiers were out of a job.

It was then that Zuko went to the Water Tribes. They agreed to drop the debt altogether in exchange for workers. The Water Tribes' primary building material was ice, and they had plenty of it, so all they needed was labor. The soldiers had lived in the Poles for two years, building in the South and rebuilding in the North. When the time came to return, some chose to stay, so the Water Tribe population was growing.

Now the Fire Nation Economy was stable. Its people were happy, not having realized how much they missed having friendly neighbors. Instead of eying her warily as they once had, the people of the Fire Nation greeted her warmly and viewed her as a war hero. Their praise-filled gazes made Katara uncomfortable, so it was a long walk to the palace.

Iroh met her at the main entrance. Hiding her surprise, Katara greeted him with a hug. As far as she knew, Iroh hadn't left his tea shop in Ba Sing Se since the war's end. But he and Zuko were very close. Of course he would be there in Zuko's time of need.

Sokka and Suki were right behind him. She hugged her brother and his wife for a long time. She still wasn't used to not being with Sokka every day. He was here, same as ever, but his usually confused face had a serious look on it. Suki hugged her like always, but she seemed different somehow, bigger maybe.

Katara pulled back to look her sister up and down. "Suki! You're pregnant!" Suki smiled at her shyly, and the serious look on Sokka's face was replaced by pride and happiness.

"I know. It's great right? I told you I had a big surprise for you!" He had told her, but Katara had never expected his from Sokka. To him a big surprise was just as likely to be an ingrown toenail.

Katara couldn't hide her sudden excitement, "Oh my goodness! I'm going to be an aunt!" Katara looked at Sokka and Suki, so happy in each other's arms, and felt some of the peace from the boat ride return. "We should celebrate!"

"Thanks," Suki smiled, but looked uneasy.

Sokka explained for her, "Perhaps now's not the best time, Katara."

"Nonsense," Iroh insisted, a smile brightening his kind features. "The world has always been this way. Peace during war, love amidst hate, happiness hand-in-hand with sorrow, and new life after a death. Katara is right, we should celebrate. Especially now while all your friends will be here together."

Just then something occurred to Katara. "Wait. Where's Toph? I thought she was living with you guys?"

"Oh she is!" Sokka said without answering Katara.

"She had a special friend to introduce to her parents, so the soldiers had to go farther inland to find her," Suki explained, a mischievous look on her face.

Katara was confused for a moment, then she smiled. "Teo?" she whispered to Suki, and Suki nodded with a quick glance at Sokka. He was almost as protective of Toph as he was of his real sister Katara.

Iroh led them through the palace as they caught up with each other, but Sokka and Suki left as they passed their room. Katara had been able to get straight onto the boat, but the two of them had had a bit of a land journey first. Besides, they assured her, they had already visited Zuko that morning. It was then that Katara realized where Iroh was taking her, and she suddenly felt nervous. What if she said something wrong and upset him more?

Iroh knocked once on the door before letting them in. Katara could easily see why Sokka and Suki hadn't come to visit again. The grief in the room was almost tangible. They had stood in the room looking around for a few minutes, and Zuko still hadn't spoken. Katara wouldn't have noticed where he was if he hadn't been meditating with a candle in front of him. The flame flickered as his breath hitched in his throat.

No longer nervous, Katara went to him and pulled him into a hug as she had other friends that night. Words weren't necessary, so she didn't worry about upsetting him. Her embrace told him that they were there for him, and his arms tightening around her were his thanks.

Katara pulled back to look into his face. Instantly, she was reminded of the sky earlier that day. The grief over his face was like the clouds over the sun. His golden eyes were flat and empty as her blue eyes searched them. Something flashed there, and he looked like he wanted to speak. But he opened his mouth and nothing came out. Katara quietly pulled him back into the hug, feeling helpless and desperate for the silent comfort of a few moments ago. If he spoke, and she found she wasn't helping him at all, she didn't know if she could take it.

From the doorway, Iroh watched their embrace with shadowed eyes, then shut the door on them. Seeing his nephew in such pain was hard for him. He had taken care of Zuko, treating him like his own son as he tried to teach him wrong from right. He had seen the boy struggle with good and evil. But seeing his boy barely reach manhood and have to struggle with such grief was almost too much for an old man to bear.

A/N: So I hope you like the story so far... it has alot more to go! Special thanks to MadnessinmyMethod. She's betareading this for me. This is my first story to ever use a betareader on so she's been great! As always, reviews and constructive criticism are muchly appreciated!

Also, my story called Name is kind of like a... prerequisite for this. You'll understand even if you don't read the other, but in one of the coming chapters there are several references to the earlier story. If you choose not to read Name and they are referring back to something you don't remember from the series, that would probably be the part I'm talking about!