All right loyal readers, good news and bad news. The bad news, is that there is still one more death in this story. Sorry. The good news, is that this is the last one. And just remember this little bit from the world of comics; Nobody stays dead, except for Uncle Ben.

Chap. 6

Reunions and Departures

"Have they arrived yet?" Desierto asked the lookout.

"No sir. Still no sign of any of the other Knights." The lookout replied.

The wolf sighed, and then said "Send word to me or the Fire Lord the minute they arrive on the horizon."

The lookout nodded, as Desierto turned on his heel and marched back down into the bowels of the ship. The rescue effort had gone on for nearly two hours now, with bittersweet results. The search had located many of the native populace, including several healers that were working hard with the Fire Nation healers to aid the wounded and dying. But they had also brought back many bodies, and most frustrating of all, no signs of what kind of enemy they were facing.

Desierto pounded his fists as he marched through the ship to the room designated as the hospital. Of all these things, it was the last that angered him more then anything. Of all the Knights, the wolf had the greatest bloodlust, albeit one that desired to punish the guilty, and drink of their damned blood. When tragedies such as this occurred, his temper blazed, and the only way to cool it was for him to gain revenge on those who had unleashed such evil. But now, he had no target for his rage, and so he was forced to bottle it, even as it ate away at him like acid in his bloodstream. It was only his desire to help those suffering that kept his rage in check. But even he was not sure how long it would last.

That thought weighed on his mind as Des turned the corner and entered the hospital room. It was a large room, filled with beds and a large cabinet of medical supplies. The beds were also filled with injured Water Tribesmen, as the healers of both Nations worked to help them. Despite his bottled rage, the wolf still took some pleasure in watching a Firebender bandage a man's wound, while a Waterbender used his natural skill to heal another wound.

Wouldn't have seen that back in the day. The wolf thought, as he walked over to a specific bed, where some of his friends stood, watching as Tierra attempted to use his power on the occupant.

"How is she?" Desierto asked.

"Still unconscious." Zuko answered, as he stood watching over his sister with Baku and Illia at his side. He and Jin had found Azula buried under the remains of a building it had taken much Firebending from Zuko to melt it enough to pull her out. The Princess had been badly beaten; her face was bruised in so many places it was almost completely a brownish-green color. A long cut stretched from her lips to her forehead. Zuko and Jin had done what they could, and then he had brought her back to the ship for further treatment, while Jin stayed to keep searching. Azula had been determined to have broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a concussion. Without the Water Tribe healers, there was only so much that the ship's doctors could do. But then, Desierto and his group had returned with Katara's body and had been able to work their magic on Azula.

But they had also had to tell Zuko of Katara's death. He had been shocked, and demanded to see her body, but the Knights had both refused, not wanting him to see the damage done to his sister. He had fought them over it, to the point where they had been forced to restrain him. Thankfully at that point, Jin had returned to the ship, with Azula and Sokka's children in tow. The children had some minor injuries, which had been quickly dealt with by the healers aboard. But seeing them alive, and watching them see their mother injured and unconscious had been enough to break the. Fire Lord's grief, at least temporarily. Jin had also helped calm him, before going back to continue helping with the search.

"Is she going to be all right?" Baku asked, as Tierra continued to dispense his healing magic onto Azula. The dog had done some good- Azula's face had regained much of it's color, and the cut had vanished. But despite that and his continued efforts, she had not yet awakened.

"Yeah kid, she'll be fine." Tierra answered, as he moved his glowing hand over the Princess's body. "Your mom got hurt pretty bad, so my magic is taking longer to work. The fact I'm miles from any real earth doesn't help either."

"If we found you some, would that help?" Illia asked.

Tierra chuckled, then said, "Naw, don't worry about it. I've seen and healed a lot worse then this. Remember that guys we pulled out of the booby trap in that temple in Africa, Des? God, he'd been there for hours, with his guts hanging out of his chest and almost of his blood gone and I still…."

"Tier, could you maybe not use such a graphic example?" Zuko asked, seeing the frightened look his niece's face.

"Oh. Sorry." The dog said sheepishly, as Des shook his head in disgust. But a second later, Azula suddenly drew in breath with a sharp gasp and sat up straight.

"Wha… Where am I….." she gasped looking around at everything around her.

"It's ok Lula. You're safe." Zuko said, grabbing his sister's shoulders to calm her.

"Mommy!" Illia yelled out, as she hugged her mother hard. Azula winced, then gently moved to see her daughter.

"Illia..uh.. Are you all right?" she asked, even as her ribs cried out in pain.

"We're fine Mom." Baku said, as he moved and gently pried his sister off their mother.

"We were more worried about you." Zuko said.

"Zuzu? What are you doing here?" Azula asked, finally noticing her brother.

"Oh sure, I spend all this time healing you and I don't even rate a 'hi'" Tierra mumbled.

"Tierra? Desierto? How did you two…"

"The same way as always." The wolf answered. "As for you, Zuko and Jin found you under a building after the battle."

"The battle…. Yes." Azula said, finally remembering what had brought her here. "It was Ozai's ships, but… he didn't have Firebenders. He had something else….

"What? What did he have?" Desierto asked, coming in close to Azula. "Who did he bring with him?"

"Jeez, back off a little bit." Tierra said, but the wolf took no notice.

"Tell me Azula, anything you can remember." He said, his tone more urgent now.

"I'm not sure." She replied slowly. "It's all fuzzy, but I remember… big yellow eyes….. blackness…… they moved like insects. Is that…"

"The same report we've heard from everyone." Des said with a sigh. "No one can paint us a clear picture yet. But there are still others searching the village for survivors."

"They should find Dad soon." Baku said hopefully.

"Darya, Sokka!" Azula gasped. "I've got to find him! Let me out of…"

"Easy now." Zuko said, as Azula winced and grabbed her ribs. "Looks like you aren't done with your healing yet. We've got plenty of people out there; we'll find him."

Azula gritted her teeth at that, but as she laid back down and Tierra resumed his work, she asked, "What about the others? Who's managed to come out of this mess alive?"

At that, the three men looked at one another, each wondering who was going to break the news. Finally, Zuko cleared his throat and prepared to speak. But before he could even get a word out, Des suddenly said, "Agua!"

Thanking Darya for the brief respite, the Fire Lord turned to see the cat Knight standing at the door, looking at the full hospital room with a heartrending look on his face. But then Zuko's thanks to Darya faded as he saw the girl standing next to Agua.

"Who's your friend?" Tierra asked, but before Agua could answer, the girl recognized the people before, and leaving the cat's side, ran to Zuko and grabbed him, yelling out, "Uncle Zuko!"

"Uncle?" Agua spat, looking at the sight before him amazement. "You didn't tell me that, Kyla."

"You didn't ask." The girl replied, as she slowly broke away from Zuko. Seeing the others around the Fire Lord, Kyla cried out, "Baku! Illia! Aunt Azula! You're all ok!"

"For the most part." Azula said, grimacing as Tierra's power realigned one of her ribs.

As the family reunion took place, Tierra managed to break away from the pack and move to his wolf brother.

"Kyla… why is that name familiar?" he asked.

"You really don't know? After that?" the wolf said in disbelief. Speaking in low tones, he whispered back, "Don't you remember? Aang and Katara's daughter was named Kyla. How else could she be Zuko's niece?"

"Oh. Oh." Tierra said, realizing what that meant for the girl now. Des nodded grimly as the reunion continued, with Agua telling of how he had found Kyla.

"But how did you manage to stay safe?" Baku asked. "You don't even have a scratch."

"Oh I hid in the house." Kyla said. "What I heard the battle getting closer, I went over to my secret hiding place. I was just lucky that no one followed me."

Baku nodded his reply, but something didn't seem right. If the battle had gotten close enough to hear, Kyla world never have run out into it; even she had more sense then that. And since when did she have a secret hiding place? But Baku supposed that luck could've played a big part, so for now, he let it go, as Kyla asked about their own escape.

"You can thank Uncle Zuko and Aunt Jin for finding us." Baku said. "They found us in the village."

Kyla nodded and turned to thank her Uncle, but then she noticed the Knights standing by her aunt. The two of them managed to quickly disguise any sign of their discussion and looked at the girl as cheerfully as they could.

"Oh my… wait… Tierra and Desierto?" she said, pointing at each Knight as she named them.

"At your service." The wolf replied, while Tierra nodded.

"Wow. I can't believe you guys are all here. My mom used to tell me stories but I never thought…."

At that, Kyla's face grew distressed. Turning to Zuko, she asked, "My mom… did you find her…"

The Knight's faces grew dark, as Zuko took a deep breath. "I suppose I should tell all of you." He said, as he knelt down to Kyla's level.

Looking right into Kyla's eyes, Zuko said, "Kyla, your mom….. your mom didn't survive the battle."

"What?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"It's true. Desierto and Tierra found her dead in a snowdrift. She'd… she'd been badly burned. There was nothing we could do. I'm sorry Kyla, I am so very sorry."

Kyla stared at her uncle for a moment, her eyes wide. Slowly, she backed away from him, shaking her head.

"It's not…. It can't…." she said. Her head whirled around to look at the knights, hoping for some word of refute from them. But instead, their faces were filled with sad, pitying honesty.

"No….. NO!" Kyla screamed, as she suddenly ran at the Knights. Reaching Des, she began pounding at him, screaming as tears began to fall down her face.

"You didn't find her! You couldn't have! That can't be my mom!" she cried, as the wolf silently took her blows.

"You go out there and you find her! FIND HER!"

As everyone stood and watched, too full of shock and sadness at the news to move, Baku stepped forward. Moving to his cousin, he gently but firmly pulled her away from the wolf. She turned on him then, her fists flying as she screamed curses at him. But Baku suddenly released her, then wrapped his arms around her tightly. For a moment, she fought him, but then Kyla finally stopped and just collapsed into her cousin, who held her as she wept into his shoulder.

As Zuko watched the horrible scene unfold before him, he wished there was something he could say, could do, that would erase this nightmare. But he knew there wasn't. This was the most god-awful ting he had ever had to do, and he knew that there was nothing else that could come close to equaling it. Still, he watched his nephew comfort Kyla, and felt pride at the boy's wisdom and compassion.

"Fire Lord?" a voice suddenly said. Zuko turned and saw the lookout man from the top of the ship.

"Sorry to interrupt sire, but two of the Knights have returned. They have something that you need to see."

Zuko nodded silently, and quietly left the room, leaving his family alone in their new grief. He and the lookout man moved through the bowels of the ship, neither one saying a word. Finally, they reached the top. Zuko blinked for a moment in the bright sunlight, then looked out upon Oscuridad and Luz standing by the gangplank. The bat had removed his cape, and wrapped it around a bundle that Zuko immediately recognized as a body.

He started to ask who it was, but then stopped as he saw what Luz held. As he started at it, he realized that there were worse things then what he had just had to do. For now, as Zuko looked at the blackened metal boomerang, he knew he would have to tell a family they had been deprived of both husband and father.