Sokka lays Zuko gently on the lush grass beside the turtle duck pond. He sits beside him and stares out at the turtle ducks skimming atop the water elegantly, their heads held high. They have no idea a war had been going on for over a hundred years, that it had now ended and that Zuko had now just died. They have no war, no turmoil churning inside of them, just freedom.
"What's this all about?" Sokka hears Iroh ask curiously in his booming voice.
Sokka turns around to see Iroh, Aang, Toph and Katara walking down the palace's steps and toward where he sits. Sokka braces himself for what is about to come.
No one answers Iroh and he chuckles. "Is this some big Fire Lord surprise or…Prince Zuko," he finishes quietly as he sees the body of Zuko looking grief stricken.
"Prince Zuko," he whispers.
Iroh is immediately by Zuko's side and brings him into a bone crushing hug. He then holds Zuko at arms length and shakes him softly. "Nephew, please wake up. I can't lose another son! No, please, no."
Iroh begins sobbing against Zuko's body and Sokka places a comforting hand on Iroh's shoulder. He shrugs it off violently but Sokka soon enough returns it on his shoulder.
"Why? How did-?" Iroh questions unable to form a complete sentence. And then he lifts his head and turns around to Sokka. An upset but angry demeanor plastered on his face he asks darkly, "Who? Who did this?"
Seconds pass and no one answers. He says louder, "Who did this?! Was it Azula?"
Still no response.
"WAS IT?!" he screams.
Sokka recoils his hand and nods solemnly.
Iroh looks toward Katara and asks quietly, "Is there nothing you can do?"
No sound can escape her lips, so she merely mouths a 'no' and looks downcast shaking her head. She kneels down beside Iroh and says, "I'm sorry."
To Iroh it was like losing Lu Ten all over again. Losing his own son, taken away from him by Zuko's sister, Iroh's niece but also Zuko's father, Iroh's brother. Everyone, the fire nation, they took his nephew, his son away from him. And now he has no one left.
Iroh bravely stands up but doesn't have the heart to leave the body of his nephew, not like this he can't. "Where's Azula?"
"Bound to a grate where-"
"I know where it is. I'll see her get taken care of."
Katara gulps but doesn't say anything. He wouldn't do anything too drastic. Right?
"Can we take him inside?" Iroh asks shakily.
Sokka nods and picks Zuko back up into his arms. No matter how heavy he is Sokka's definitely wasn't going to give Iroh that job; it'll be more like a burden on his shoulders. They walk back inside the palace grimly and Iroh shows Sokka Zuko's former bedroom.
He opens the door slowly and stifles back another sob. He hasn't been in this room for years. It floods him with old memories of Zuko as a small child, the war meeting, Ursa's departure and finally the day Zuko was burnt. The room is quite dusty and dank. It hasn't seen the light of day in years. The bed and dresser drawers are still intact and Iroh leads the others inside.
"I have to attend to some business," Iroh states formally.
The gaang understands perfectly what he means and lets Iroh leave to attend to the matter of Azula.
Zuko is laid down on the left side of his made bed, its quilt covered in reds. Katara falls into a chair and cries. "She's a monster!"
Toph in whom the gaang had never seen cry, sat on the end of Zuko's bed and let the tears stream down her cheeks freely.
Aang looks up to see Mai and Ty lee arrive over the threshold. They stare at Zuko's body and before they can react Sokka points at them accusingly out of sudden impulse and shouts, "See what you're crazy friend has done! She's killed him, and she doesn't care."
More tears are shed but no more fingers are pointed. Pointing fingers can't bring back Zuko. But what crosses through their minds is, but revenge is the closest thing to it.
But none of them really mean it. Especially Aang and Ty Lee, the most fragile caring people of the lot would never dare to retaliate with revenge. But they're definitely able to glimpse the thought in their mind.
Minutes later Iroh walks back in shutting the door behind him. He addresses them all as if Mai and Ty lee had been there the whole time, "She is being locked underground in a high security prison cell."
His eyes are red and pudgy but his face still stands strong as he catches a glimpse of Mai sitting next to the body of his nephew.
And the rest of the week wasn't to tribute the new Fire Lord it was to pay respect to the passing of a boy who had found his place in the world and knew the path he was going to take and what he was willing to do when taking that path.
Well seeing as though I hadn't originally planned to continue this I don't know where to go with it, sorry guys and girls. So this was in fact the last chapter. 3 chapters, yes weird I know :P But I do hope you enjoyed reading it. It was pretty deep for me lol plus at the moment I'm not a huge fan of reading/writing anything after the finale. Don't ask me why. But I do hope you review and I'll get some more fics up soon :) Thanks a lot to Angsty Anime Star and