"Sokka?"
"Never gonna happen."
"Suki?"
"Forget it."
"Toph?"
"Are you kidding me? I'd rather go toe-to-toe with a pack of scorpion-bears."
Zuko sighed. "Katara?"
Katara shook her head mutely.
Without much hope, Zuko addressed the last of the group: "Aang?"
The Avatar sighed. "I'm sorry, Zuko, but approaching Azula is just too big a risk for me. I know she's your sister, but..."
"I get it," Zuko replied, and he did. He really did. "I guess I was just hoping..."
"It makes sense," Toph interjected in a detachedly rational tone. "You've lost everyone in your family. You're looking for a lifeline. Someone to anchor you to who you were, after all the 'transformations' you've had."
"Zuko, if you need closure, go back to the baldy ponytail," Sokka suggested. "Don't meet with crazies who happen to be related to you."
Zuko stared at Sokka blankly. "Thank you for your council," he deadpanned.
"Uh-oh," Suki sighed.
"He's gone all dead-in-the-head," Toph observed in the same tone. "Someone get Mai."
"Mai isn't here," Zuko answered abruptly. "She's at Ember Island, consoling Ty Lee's family."
An uncomfortable silence fell.
"I heard about Ty Lee," Aang said at last. "I couldn't believe it."
"I could," Sokka said.
"The war is supposed to be over," Aang continued.
"We defeated the fire nation. That doesn't mean we've defeated every bad person ever." Sokka shrugged.
Meanwhile, Aang let loose a sigh. "Am I the only one who feels like we haven't won anything?"
Suki looked down at her wrists, which still bore marks from handcuffs. "Yes," she answered simply.
