Hola, mis amigos. :D I have returned to you with yet another chapter of my one (and only, might I add) Zutara fic. We delve yet again into the depression that is Team Avatar...well, without the Avatar. :/ Maybe it's just The Team, now...God, why did Aang have to die? DX But anyways, the story is most definitely going to pick up next chapter, and I think you'll all be very intrigued by what I have in mind. Until then, please enjoy and review! :D

And for those of who are avid fans of mine (whether I know it or not. XD), I do have a oneshot in the works right now, which I hope to have up by next weekend. The only thing I'm going to tell you that it has LOTS of humor and that it's totally going to be nuts. :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show and its characters belong to Mike and Bryan, the brillant geniuses behind one of the greatest cartoon shows in the history of cartoons. Their work is legendary, and I salute them for it.

Misery Loves Company

As Katara and Zuko neared the others, Toph furiously shouted, "For the last time, Sokka, shut up before I smash your face in with a rock!"

"I'm only trying to help you!" protested Sokka, trying his hardest not to flinch under the blind Earthbender's death-like glare.

"I don't need any help!" defiantly declared Toph as Zuko and Katara stopped behind Sokka.

Suki sadly frowned at the petite girl's aggressive behavior. "Toph, we're all upset about Aang, but-"

"But what, Suki?" screamed Toph as she snapped her head towards the Kyoshi Warrior. "What?"

Suki heavily sighed. "Maybe if you would just talk to us about how you're feeling, we can try to help you."

"You really wanna know how I'm feeling?" scoffed Toph. "Fine, I'll tell you! I'm so mad that I can rip apart a hundred mountains with my bare hands! I'm so angry that I could wipe out a thousand legions of Fire Nation soldiers over and over again! You wanna know why I'm so bloody mad? It's because Aang is dead!"

"We know that, Toph-" began Sokka before he was promptly silenced by Toph's fist to his nose. Katara frightfully gasped as the Water Tribe Warrior fell back on the floor, clutching his broken nose. "OW!" he painfully screamed as blood gushed out of his nose. "What ya do that for?" he angrily shouted, wincing at the sharp pain shooting through his body.

"I told you to shut up!" shouted Toph, her fists curled up in their unending rage. "All of you need to just shut up and leave me alone!" Before anyone could stop her, Toph rushed towards the door they had come in from, harshly slamming it shut behind her.

"I'll go talk to her," quickly said Katara as she followed in Toph's footsteps.

"What about my nose?" demanded Sokka, causing his sibling to stop and look back at him. "Aren't you going to heal it?"

"Toph needs more healing than you do right now," reasoned Katara, turning her back on Sokka and making her way towards the door Toph had gone through.

"Oh sure," Sokka sarcastically drawled from behind her, "when the little Earthbending maniac gets angry, everyone goes to help her, but no one thinks to help the guy with the BROKEN NOSE!"

"Now's not the time for jokes, Sokka," chastised Zuko as Katara opened the door, bringing her into view of the courtyard where the Agni Kai had taken place.

"I wasn't joking!" exclaimed Sokka as Katara shut the door behind her. She looked out over the courtyard, seeing the commandeered airship in front of her and Appa off to the left side. Katara walked over to her animal companion, who was lying on his stomach and sadly moaning.

Katara sorrowfully frowned as she walked up to Appa, who looked at her with empty, mournful eyes. "I miss him too, Appa," she sympathetically said as she gently petted the Bison, who let out a sad growl at her touch. Appa's large brown eyes seemed so void of life, as if someone had taken out a vital part of his spirit and left the rest to slowly die. Katara didn't even know if Appa would survive Aang's death; the Avatar and his Animal Guide had been bonded from the first day they met, forever bound together in spirit by fate. She had already lost Aang, leaving Appa and Momo to be her only connection to the deceased Avatar.

Katara looked past Appa to see a small rock dome at the end of the courtyard. She knew that was where Toph must be, so she begrudgingly left Appa's side and made her way over to the rock dome. She kept her wits about her as she approached Toph's hiding spot, not knowing if the blind Earthbender would lash out at her like she did with Sokka.

"Go away, Katara," commanded Toph from inside the dome, causing the Waterbender to stop a few feet away.

"I just want to talk, Toph."

"Go away before I hurt you!" demanded Toph, causing Katara to jump slightly at the harsh tone in Toph's voice.

"You would never hurt me," stated Katara, knowing all too well that Toph considered her to be like a sister.

After a long moment of silence, Toph defeatedly muttered, "You're right…" A muffled sigh emanated from the rock dome. "Talk if you want; I don't care."

"Why are you being so angry?" nervously asked Katara, afraid that she might be broaching too many boundaries already.

Toph humorlessly scoffed. "You should know by now, Sugar Queen. Aang's-"

"Dead," finished Katara, feeling a bitter poison linger on her tongue from that one vile word. "I know…" A long silence passed between the two girls, somberness taking hold of their hearts.

"Nothing's ever going to be the same without Twinkle Toes, is it?" softly asked Toph, her voice slightly cracked from grief.

"I'm afraid so," gloomily replied Katara, sitting on the ground just a few feet from Toph's rock dome. "It's going to be hard to get by without him."

"No kidding," sarcastically droned Toph, an edge of bitterness in her tone. "It's already begun."

Katara blinked her confusion. "What's already begun?"

Toph humorlessly laughed. "Oh come on, Shugs! I can see it happening already, and I'm blind!"

"I don't get what you're saying, Toph," helplessly said Katara. "What's happening?"

"Aang was the only thing keeping us together," explained Toph. A trace of anger seeped into her voice as she forcibly said, "Now that he's dead, we're all going to drift apart."

"Toph-"

"Don't even try to convince me, Katara!" violently interjected Toph. "I can feel the doubt already starting to grow in everyone's hearts! We're all going to leave each other now that Aang is dead!"

Katara could hear something in the proud Earthbender's tone, something that she usually never heard…

Fear.

Toph was afraid.

"Toph…" hesitantly began Katara, "…are you scared?"

The blind Earthbender hotly scoffed. "That's like asking me if the sky is blue, and I don't even know what blue looks like!"

"That's not what I'm asking you," pointed out Katara. "I asked you if you were scared about the team drifting apart?"

"So what if I am?" defiantly snapped Toph, causing Katara to jump slightly. "No one would miss me anyway!"

"Toph-"

"It's true, Katara! I'm just the little blind runt who helped teach the Avatar how to Earthbend! That's the only thing I'm going to remembered for! No one's going to care about whether I'm lonely or not, about whether or not I need friends!" Katara was surprised to hear such vulnerability in Toph's usual snarky tone; Aang's death was clearly affecting the blind Earthbender on a far deeper level than she initially thought. Katara knew that, in her own heart, she was forever grieving and mourning for Aang, but she would try to stay as strong as she could for her friends…

At least that way, she could outpour her sorrow on her own terms.

"You guys are the only real friends I've ever had," sorrowfully said Toph, her voice broken by the unbearable weight on her young heart. Her voice grew quieter as she said, "I've never even felt a dead person before this day, but now that I have…I never want it to happen again, not to my friends. Aang didn't deserve to die, not after everything he's done for the world, but I'm scared that our friendship is going to fade away because of Aang's death."

Katara said nothing, letting Toph get all of her pent-up emotions out. "You don't know what it's like," sadly murmured Toph, "not having any friends for most of your life. When you, Aang, and Sokka came along, I felt like a part of me was…I don't know." The petite Earthbender sighed. "I guess a part of me just felt like it was filled up, completed now that I finally had friends to call my own." She paused. "The only times I feel happy is when I'm Earthbending or when I'm with you guys…and without you guys in my life, life is just miserable and empty…just like now…"

"Toph…" softly said Katara, her heart aching with sympathetic pain for her friend. Toph's rock dome crumbled around her, falling into a neat ring around her before sinking back into the ground. Katara could see that Toph's head was held down, her shoulders slightly shaking from her silent crying. Katara crawled over to Toph's side, trying to see the dead and blinded eyes that used to hold the lively and proud spirit of an unstoppable Earthbender past a wall of raven bangs. Katara took up Toph in her arms, holding the young girl against her shoulder as she comfortingly said, "We're not going to drift apart, Toph." With a light squeeze of her arms, she added, "I promise."

The two girls said nothing for five minutes, letting their hearts meld together as a sense of comfort passed between them. Toph slowly stopped crying in that time, her pale eyes staring ever so vacantly into the endless distance. Finally, Toph sniffled and softly said, "Thank you, Katara…"

"You're welcome, Toph," replied Katara with a small smile, trying desperately not to cry as she thought of Aang once more. If only he knew how much pain they were all in because of his death…could he even possibly know, even from his new home in the Spirit World? Katara had no idea, and it was that sad fact alone that made her heart ache with even more grief. Helping both of them to their feet, Katara said, "I guess we should get back to the others; Sokka will be waiting for me to fix his broken nose."

Toph gave a slight smirk, sniffling once as she wiped away her tears. "Knocked him up pretty good, didn't I?" she asked with an edge of pride. Katara gave Toph a smirk in return, glad that she was slowly coming back little by little. The two girls made their way back to the building they had come from, stopping briefly to give a morose Appa their love and affection. Soon they made their way through the wooden door, finding their companions right where they had left them.

Sokka, who was sitting against the wall with a rag held up to his nose, looked over at the newcomers. "About time you guys got back!" he forcefully shouted, wincing slightly from the shooting pain in his fractured nose. "Suki had to tear off some of the curtains in the guest room so that I could use it to stop this bleeding, and I'm not even sure if it's working!"

"Of course it's working, Sokka," said Suki, who was sitting next to her boyfriend. Zuko leaned against the wall on the opposite side of Sokka, his amber eyes focused on Katara and Toph as they walked towards him, Sokka, and Suki.

"How can you be sure it's working?" doubtfully asked Sokka. "Last time I checked, blood was red." Using his free hand, he pointed to his makeshift rag and added, "This cloth is red too! For all I know, it could have soaked up all the blood it could take. I could be bleeding to death right now!"

Katara sighed as she stooped down in front of her brother and said, "You're not going to bleed to death from a broken nose, Sokka." As much as her brother had grown during their journey, he could still be that little boy who always made a big deal out of unimportant things.

"I sure hope not!" exclaimed Sokka as he turned to look at his sister. "I'm not gonna die after going through at least two dozen amped-up Firebenders!"

"Come on," Katara said as she took hold of Sokka's free hand, pulling both of them to their feet. "Let's go fix your nose." The others were silent as Katara and Sokka went into a room that was opposite of the one that Aang was in, another guest room with a crimson couch in the middle.

As Katara closed the door behind her and Sokka, Zuko heard Suki say, "I wonder if they're going to talk about Aang while they're in there."

"You mean about her feelings for Aang," stated Zuko as he looked down at the Kyoshi Warrior. Toph plopped down beside Suki, her pale eyes hidden once again by her black bangs.

Suki nodded. "Sokka always knew that Aang had feelings for Katara, but he never said anything about it to either of them."

"Why not?" curiously asked Zuko.

Suki sighed as she glanced down at the maroon carpet under her legs. "Sokka told me that he would just let them figure it out on their own; after all, he only wanted what was best for Katara, and he knew that Aang was the best thing that she could possibly have."

"At least he had the right idea," helpfully put in Toph, her early bitterness gone. Suki glanced up at the blind Earthbender with a sad smile. She knew that Toph and Sokka were really good friends since their personalities were so similar; even when they had their disagreements, they would always work things out.

Zuko looked up at the door that Katara and Sokka had gone through, imagining what was going on behind that closed door.

Meanwhile, Katara was seated next to Sokka on the couch, her hands aglow with healing light as she worked to mend the warrior's broken nose. "Try not to talk," instructed Katara as she continued her work, having already wiped up all the blood that had been loosed from Sokka's nose. "I need you to be as still as possible, otherwise your nose might not heal properly." Sokka gave an affirmative grunt in reply, making Katara smile a little. She knew that Sokka wasn't mad at Toph anymore. After all, those two were completely inseparable.

After several long minutes, Katara was finally able to mend Sokka's nose. She bent the water back into her flask, sealing it up with the cap. Sokka gripped his healed nose, wiggling it a little in order to test it out. When he was satisfied, he dropped his hand and cheerfully said, "Good as new! You really got the healing touch, sis!" Katara smiled at her brother's praise, but her smile fell as a familiar and painful ache took hold of her heart. She sadly glanced down at her lap, where she folded her hands on top of her legs. Sokka's cheery smile fell, having noticed his sister's sudden change in demeanor. "You're thinking about Aang, aren't you?"

Katara merely nodded her reply, too grief-stricken to do anything else. Hundreds of memories flashed through her mind, constantly reminding her of the unbelievable journey she had taken with such an incredible young man. "I really miss him, Sokka," she quietly said, her voice weighted with unbearable sorrow.

Sokka knowingly nodded. "I miss him too, Katara," he sympathetically replied. He gently took Katara's hands in his, something he did when she needed to be comforted. He felt his heart twinge with pain, remembering that the last time he had done this was when their mother died. "I'm sorry that you never had the chance to tell Aang how you felt about him," he softly said, trying his hardest to stay strong for his beloved sibling.

Katara felt her eyes fill with tears, her lips slightly trembling with misery. "How long did you know about how Aang felt about me?" she painfully asked, her heart feeling as if it would give out at any moment.

"Probably since Makapu Village, maybe earlier," replied Sokka. He gave her a slight smirk. "I wasn't kidding when I was teasing Aang about being in love; I could tell that he really liked you." He paused, waiting for Katara to say something. When she didn't respond, he said, "Do you remember that Aang and I went to the top of Mount Makapu?" Katara nodded. "We went up there because Aang wanted to get a Panda Lily. I think he wanted to give it to you as a gift."

A sad smile took hold of Katara's lips, her tears falling onto her arms. "That's just like Aang; risking his neck by going up to the top of a volcano just to get a flower." Her smile fell once more, knowing that she would never receive such a gift from Aang…not now, not ever.

Sokka lovingly squeezed her hands. "I'm sure Aang wanted nothing more than to tell you how much he cared about you, to show you how much he loved you." Katara let out a choked sob strong enough to make tears appear in Sokka's hardened eyes. "I wanted nothing more than for you two to be happy with each other."

"I know…" brokenly muttered Katara, her pain redoubling in her fractured heart. "It's not fair…why did he have to die so soon, Sokka? Why did he have to die before I could tell him that I loved him?"

Sokka heavily sighed, his tears threatening to break loose. "I wish I knew, Katara," he solemnly replied. "I wish I knew…" He gently squeezed Katara's hands again, trying to send as much comfort to her as he could. They were silent for nearly five minutes, the only sounds heard being the stifled sobs that Katara tried so hard to contain. Finally, Sokka lovingly kissed Katara's forehead, trying everything he could to make her feel better. "Come on," he tenderly said as he sat back up. Katara's eyes drifted up to him as he said, "You need to get some rest." He carefully, softly wiped away her tears, just like he used to when they were little.

"I want to be with Aang," said Katara, her eyes full of a pleading light.

Sokka sighed. "Katara-"

I need to be by his side," interjected Katara. "Please, Sokka…just this once…please…" Her eyes were so full of longing and begging that Sokka couldn't take it, for it truly broke his heart to see his proud sister torn down like this. After a few long moments, Sokka nodded his approval. Katara gratefully smiled at Sokka, who returned the small smile.

"How about a hug before we go?" asked Sokka, and Katara agreeably chuckled as the siblings embraced one another. In her ear, Katara heard Sokka whisper, "If you ever need someone to talk to, you'll always have me. Don't you ever forget that."

Katara chuckled as she smiled and lightly squeezed her brother with her arms. "You're the best, Sokka," she sincerely said.

"Eh, I try," modestly admitted Sokka as they separated from their embrace. Katara merely rolled her eyes at her brother's attempt to be smug, but she still smiled nonetheless. Despite his sometimes obnoxious attitude, Sokka was still her brother, and he always made her smile no matter what. "Come on," he said as he nudged her elbow with his. "I'm sure Aang's eagerly waiting for you." Katara's sullenness immediately returned, and she mournfully gazed down at the carpet. Realizing his mistake, Sokka quickly said, "I didn't mean to upset you. I was just saying-"

"It's fine, Sokka," assured Katara as she looked back at her brother. She gave him a feeble smile. "I'm sure Aang's watching over us right now, and I'm sure that he's waiting for me in that room."

"Just don't do anything crazy," warned Sokka, and Katara could sense what he meant by the overly-cautious tone in his voice. "One of us dead is bad enough; you don't need to be joining Aang anytime soon."

"You don't need to worry about me doing that sort of thing," asserted Katara, a deadly serious tone in her voice. "I may be grieving because of Aang, but I'm not about to do something as insane as that."

"I would hope not," firmly stated Sokka as he rose from the couch, followed shortly after by Katara. The two siblings made their way out of the room, coming once again into view of the others. Turning to Zuko, he said, "Katara's going to spend the night watching over Aang. I think the rest of us should stand guard out here while we decide what to do next."

"Sounds good to me," replied Zuko with a nod, watching as Katara slipped into Aang's room without a word to the others. The Firebender immediately became worried about Katara's safety; would she do something drastic while she was watching over Aang. Turning to Sokka, he asked, "Are you sure she'll be fine in there by herself?"

"Yeah," said Sokka with a quick nod. "She may be going through a lot right now, but she's still able to keep a clear enough head as to not do that sort of thing."

"Besides," interject Toph, "I'll be able to feel if she's about to do something crazy."

"Then I'm counting on you to be on Katara duty," said Sokka, turning his attention to the Blind Bandit.

Toph tilted her head up towards the Water Tribe warrior. "No hard feelings about me breaking your nose?"

"Nah," replied Sokka with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We've got more important things to worry about than holding grudges over harsh words and broken noses." Toph smiled at Sokka, glad that he was able to keep a straight head in all of this unforeseen madness. "Though it really did hurt when you punched me!"

"As it should," sardonically replied Toph, giving her friend a devious smirk that made him smile in return. Sokka glanced over at Zuko and noticed something on the Firebender's midsection, a circular scar that hadn't been there when they were at the Order of the White Lotus' camp outside of Ba Sing Se.

"Where'd you get that scar?" asked Sokka, gaining him the Firebender's attention.

"The one on my face? You already know the story behind that one."

"No no," quickly said Sokka with dismissive waves of his hands. Pointing at Zuko's midsection, he said, "I'm talking about that new one." Suki looked up to see the scar that Sokka was indicating, her eyes widening a little in surprise as she saw the marred skin.

"Oh, that one," said Zuko as he briefly glanced at his midsection. "During my Agni Kai with Azula, she started to generate her lightning. I got ready to redirect it, but when she fired, she wasn't aiming for me."

"Why wouldn't Azula be aiming for you?" incredulously asked Toph, confused by Zuko's story. "That witch has been trying to kill you for like…ever. Why wouldn't she want to zap you out of existence?"

"I was just as confused as you are now," patiently replied Zuko, "but then I realized why she wasn't aiming for me; she was aiming for Katara."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" screamed Sokka at the top of his lungs, his eyes wide with shock and horror. "You're not being serious, are you?"

"Believe me, Sokka, I would never kid about something like that," firmly asserted Zuko. "When I realized that Azula was going to kill Katara, I jumped between her and the lightning, letting it hit me instead of her. I was able to redirect most of the energy, but a lot of it managed to pass through my heart. After Katara defeated Azula, she healed me and saved my life."

Sokka was silent for almost three minutes, letting the fact that his sister almost died sink into his shocked mind. He finally managed a dry gulp, hoarsely saying, "That…that's just messed up."

"No kidding," deadpanned Toph as she blew an annoying bang out of her face.

Sokka looked up at Zuko, his eyes shining with a sense of newfound respect and trust. "I mean, if it weren't for you, Katara would be…you know…" Zuko understandably nodded, not needing Sokka to finish his grim statement. "I owe you an enormous 'thank you', Zuko."

"I just did what I thought was necessary," admitted Zuko with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"I mean it, Zuko," firmly stated Sokka as he walked up to the Firebender. He placed a strong hand on Zuko's shoulder, a solid clasp that emanated admiration and respect. "I owe you because of this. Sure, Katara can be annoying to me sometimes, but she's still my sister, and I love her because of that. If you hadn't done what you did…well, let's just say I'd be one very lonely brother right now." He gave Zuko's shoulder a tight squeeze. "Consider yourself part of my family now; if you ever need anything, we'll be there for you."

"Do you really have the power to make that kind of decision?" asked Zuko, a bit surprised by Sokka's admiration of him and by his offer. "Would your Dad be as willing to accept me into your family as you are?"

Sokka smiled. "After he hears what you did for Katara, he'd practically be begging for you to be part of our family." He patted Zuko's shoulder as he said, "Seriously, man, I can't thank you enough for saving Katara."

"All right, we get it!" impatiently interrupted Toph, causing both boys to look at her. "Either cut it out with the mushy praise or give Princess a kiss!" Sokka profusely blushed as he quickly dropped his hand from Zuko's shoulder, backing at least five feet away from 'Princess', as Toph sometimes called Zuko. "Much better," said Toph, satisfied with her predicted outcome of the situation. Tilting her head up towards Zuko, she asked, "What now, Sparky?"

"Now, we wait," stated Zuko. "Since my father's dead and Azula's been imprisoned, I'm the only one left to ascend the throne, so I'm sure that I'll have to meet with the Fire Sages in order to confirm that I'll be crowned Fire Lord. Other than that, we'll have to wait for word from the Order of the White Lotus in Ba Sing Se. Once we know that the city's been secured, we won't have to worry about any Fire Nation forces making their way back here to seize the Capitol."

"What about Aang?" asked Suki. "Now that he's dead, how is the world going to survive without him?"

"The world survived without Aang for a hundred years," reasoned Zuko. "I'm sure the world can wait another sixteen years before his successor is revealed. Until then, we'll have to hold on without the Avatar. The road ahead will be difficult and treacherous, but if we stick together and strive for peace, we can make it."

Meanwhile, Katara was lying on the floor next to Aang's couch. She could hear the low murmur of her friend's conversation outside of the door, hearing all the details of what was to come now that The War was over. She heard of all the peace talks that would take place, all the different international processes of peace that would seek to mend the horrendous scars that this war had left behind.

She glanced up at the couch, seeing Aang's bald head just above her. It was a strange feeling, being around Aang's still body; she still felt as safe with him as she had felt before, despite the fact that he was dead. In a way, his presence, alive or not, seemed to bring a sense of comfort to her, as if reminding her that not all of Aang was gone from this world.

"Aang," she whispered, "I don't know what tomorrow's going to bring, but whatever comes, I'll try to be ready for it." She sighed as she rolled onto her side, letting her front end face towards the couch. "Good night, Aang," she quietly said, closing her eyes as she tried to get some rest, whether it would come easily to her or not.