Disclaimer: I'm not in charge here. I don't own this. I just manipulate preexisting characters to suit my outline.

Chapter Six: Reunions and New Memories

Toph

I've never liked the Fire Nation. It gave me some serious chills. Maybe it was spending way too long on the run trying to defeat the man in charge. Maybe it was all the bad things they'd done. I don't know, but I knew I didn't like the Fire Nation.

I tried not to like Zuko either. I spent ages trying to dislike him. I knew he'd hurt Katara more than anyone else, and I didn't like that. Katara and I could fight, but we were close enough that being around Zuko really irked me.

So, I didn't quite understand it when I was the first one to trust him. Back in the beginning of his time with us, when Katara couldn't stand to be around him and everyone else watched him like a hawk, I was the one to trust him. Until he burned me, that was when I was actually able to dislike him. I'd trusted him, and he'd hurt me.

I don't know what the turning point in our relationship was. I don't know when I stopped disliking him, started trusting him again, or even started seeing him as a good match for Katara. Actually, I do know when I realized he and Katara were a good match. It was when I realized I liked Aang, but he was in love with Katara.

It was an interesting situation actually. I liked Aang. Aang liked Katara. Katara liked Zuko. Zuko liked Katara. So, a little bit of prompting and plotting from Suki and I had Katara and Zuko getting together. That left Aang free, albeit mopey.

Anyway, back to the Fire Nation. I thought it was a creepy place, full of people who wanted to eradicate the world and rebuild it with a disturbing set of values. Now, under Zuko's rule, I realized what kind of place the Fire Nation could be.

Now, approaching the Fire Nation from the sky, I couldn't see anything about the place because I couldn't feel anything. I needed my feet to touch ground before any judgment could be placed.

My sighs must've drawn Aang's attention, because Twinkle Toes adjusted his hold on the reins to wrap an arm around my waist and keep two hands on the reins at the same time. I felt myself relax just a little. Aang's side could be quite comfortable to lean against and take a nap. He wasn't having that though.

"What's wrong, Toph?"

Sometimes I was amazed by Aang's ability to recognize female emotions. Sokka was totally hopeless at it, and Zuko was only in tune to Katara.

"I just want my feet on the ground."

He nodded slowly.

It was always an interesting experience to be around an airbender. I was an earthbender. I liked my feet firmly planted in dirt, stone, and above all: earth. He was an airbender. He wanted to feel the wind on his face, and never set foot on ground. I think him being the Avatar was the only thing that made us able to work. Air may've been his natural element, but he could understand and respect all the others.

"You want to be able to see."

"Yes."

"Would it help if I distracted you?"

I shrugged.

"Go for it, Twinkle Toes."

I knew he smiled.

"Katara and Zuko are going to get married in a few months. He's already Fire Lord. That'll make her, what, Fire Lady? Can you imagine that? The Fire Lady is actually a water bender?"

I chuckled a little bit, mostly because Aang was almost making fun of our friends.

"The people will have a conniption."

"We can hear you!" Katara shouted from the very back of the… saddle. Was it a saddle? It could've been. When a seat is placed on an animal's back, it's a saddle, right? So, yeah, Katara would be at the back of the saddle.

"You were meant to," I responded loud enough for them to hear over the wind.

We didn't wait for anyone to meet us. We landed in one of the courtyards of the Palace, and Zuko jumped off Appa's back. He was obviously ancy, but he stood calmly ready to help Katara down.

The moment we were all standing on the ground, Zuko took off running.

"Where are we going?" I heard Katara ask.

"To my mother's suite."

I frowned. How could his mother be in there, and he not have known?

Minutes later, we stood outside a set of tall doors. Most of us were panting. By most of us, I mean Sokka and Aang.

"Zuko, how could you not know where your mom was if she was in her own bedroom?" Suki asked the question we'd all been wondering.

"Because I haven't been in her bedroom since I discovered she was gone. There were too many memories, and there were many things I had to focus on in response to my mother's absence. My place in the kingdom was not set in stone, and I had to work to ensure it."

He turned to face the doors. A moment of hesitation. He pushed them open.

I gasped at what we saw. Laying on a bed in the middle of the chamber was a sickly woman old enough to be our mom. Stupid Toph, of course she's old enough to be our Mom. She's Zuko's!

"Mother?" Zuko whispered.

The woman stared at him.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

Katara

I thought Zuko was going to curl up and die. It was obvious that his mother's words killed him. I couldn't imagine that. It suddenly occurred to me that losing my mother wasn't the worst possible thing in the world. Having my mother lose her memories was.

An elderly woman wandered into the room from an area off to the side. "What are you doing here?" She asked us.

"Ozai told us that his mother would be where he least expected her to be," I softly explained. I took a step forward and slipped my hand into Zuko's. He needed support right now, something he wasn't going to get from anyone but me.

"I'm so sorry, Firelord Zuko. I wasn't expecting you to ever come," the woman said. "I am Li Fan, your mother's caretaker. I know what you must be thinking, but allow me to explain."

Zuko nodded curtly.

"Your grandfather, Firelord Azulon, ordered an attack on your mother. I believe they were meant to kill her, but Firelord Ozai actually prevented that. Unfortunately, he could not prevent the damage to your mother's mind. She lost her memories. I believe that she could know you again, because she can retain memories now. It's just that she has no memories before her attack."

"Li, who are they?" Zuko's Mother asked.

"My Lady Ursa, this is your son, his intended and their friends."

Ursa looked each of us over, one by one.

"Well, come here," she ordered.

Zuko approached her slowly, pulling me along with him. I tried not to feel awkward in this situation, but I truly felt that this reunion should be between Zuko and his Mother. That's how I would've wanted it.

"You are Zuko, my son," she said calmly. Zuko nodded. She looked at me. "And you are my son's intended?"

"I'm Katara, my Lady, and yes, I am your son's intended."

"He treats you well?"

"Very well."

"Good. And why have you not visited me sooner, young man? I imagine I've missed quite a bit."

"I didn't know where you were. I don't know why you didn't leave this room."

Li Fan moved forward to answer that question. "I was instructed that she should never leave this room, lest she be targeted again. There were a select few who knew of her continued survival, but she was not to be known by anyone outside them."

"Who?" He demanded.

"Firelord Ozai and myself."

He breathed sharply. I rubbed his back.

"Zuko, there is nothing you can do about any of this now. What's done is done. Ozai is never going to interfere in our lives again. Don't try to rationalize his actions. Even the darkest man can continue to love."

He wasn't looking at me. He needed to look at me.

"Look at me, Zuko."

His movements were slow and strained. I felt better after his eyes met mine.

"Your Mother is here now. We," I gestured to my friends and myself, "are here with you. You have a chance that I will never get. You can rebuild your relationship with your mom, and have a complete family. You have a kingdom to run and a life to live. Do you understand that?"

His next move was completely deliberate, if instinctual.

He hugged me. He buried his face in my neck, and wrapped his arms around me as tightly as he possibly could.

"Thank you," he said softly.

I think he finally realized that he was his own person now. There was no one for him to please. He wasn't being controlled by any form of blackmail. He could be who he truly was. He was free to love and live. He could be happy.

Somehow, I'd helped him get there.

AN: Okay, one more chapter? The story is actually kind of finished, so there's just an epilogue left. I think everything is resolved rather nicely (?), please let me know if I left any gaping plot holes behind that need to be filled. I will gladly do so. Other than possible slips, yeah, this is over and is only waiting on its epilogue. Also, Chapter Two's perspective shift has been fixed.