Okay so I'm extremely sorry for this outrageously delayed chapter. It has been nearly 2 months since the last update! A combination of technical difficulties and just really bad writer's block is really the culprit along with just enjoying the summer. Anyways, I shouldn't take this long to update with upcoming chapters. Again, sorry!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender and all rights belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 10

There was a brief period of silence after the mentioning of Zuko's father. Once he had taken in the fact that Ozai had escaped, he immediately questioned Aang and Katara.

"How did he break out of prison? We had him under maximum security with many guards…" Zuko said.

"Well, he did tell us something regarding the Fire Nation too when he pulled us over," Aang stated.

"What did he say?" Zuko said in an anxious voice.

"He just kept on being extremely ambiguous, hinting that the Fire Nation was in trouble and needed me… Zuko, what is going on?"

Zuko takes a few seconds to collect his composure and to think of a way to explain the political turmoil that the Fire Nation has fallen into since he last saw Aang, which was nearly a year ago if he recalls correctly.

"Aang, the Fire Nation is not in the best of shape, and I myself have been struggling to be the leader it needs. Some noblemen still cling to the idea of an all powerful Fire Nation and have started to conspire against me by supporting rebel groups such as the one my father currently leads."

Aang frowned slightly, and then replied to Zuko. "What have you as Firelord done to try to stop these people from conspiring against you?"

Zuko scoffs at Aang's question, "What can I do? Sure I can try sending royal soldiers to quell their assembling, but what will it accomplish? All it will do is just stir the pot more and make them more aggressive. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure some of my own guards are a part of these ultra-royalists…"

"That would explain how your father got out, if some of your troops on the inside are working for him they must have busted him out," Katara pointed out.

Zuko looks at Katara with a countenance that could only express surprise.

"Katara, you are exactly right, I need to get to his old prison cell right away then!"

At that moment, Sokka, Suki, and Toph all enter the throne room and start running up to Aang, Katara and Zuko. Just a few seconds later about ten royal guards bust in after them.

"Sir, these people ran through our blockades and illegally entered the city! They need to be detained!" the guard stated.

"Let them go, these people you see in front of me are friends of the Fire Nation and will not be treated as criminals. Now, please excuse us."

"As you wish, my lord"

After the guards left, Sokka turns and looks at Zuko. "Hey! What's the big deal? We had to sneak in and fight a ton of your soldiers just to say hi!" Sokka yells at Zuko.

"We've had to step up on security for… certain reasons" Zuko says back to Sokka.

"Yeah well you could have told these guys to step down when they see some old friends of yours coming to visit captain hothead," Toph stated.

Zuko looked at the group of his old friends, all of them staring back at him wondering why he had been so paranoid. Sure, his father had broken out and their had been some uprisings, but was it not a little bit much to even try to detain his own friends?

"Yeah I guess you are right, I'll make sure everyone knows from now on not to arrest you. Anyways, since you all will be staying here for a little while, allow me to show you to your rooms," Zuko said.

At once the whole group started to follow Zuko out of the throne room and down a hallway towards the area of the palace that housed the bedrooms. The palace itself was massive, with many sprawling hallways, all decorated beautifully with tapestries and murals. Finally they found their way to everyone's rooms. Zuko directed Sokka and Suki to their rooms, Toph to her room, and then was about to assign separate rooms to Aang and Katara before Katara butted in telling him otherwise.

"Actually Zuko, Aang and I would prefer to stay in a room together, if that is quite alright," she told the Firelord.

Zuko simply gave a slightly surprised look. He had not visited them in a while and thus did not know how far the couple had truly grown together. "Very well, that should be fine then."

Zuko was about to walk away until Aang shouted out after him.

"Zuko! Wait up, there is one other thing we needed to tell you. Something regarding Katara and I," the airbender said.

Zuko stopped abruptly in the middle of his walk cycle and turned around. He looked at Aang with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, we were originally going to simply send you an invitation via messenger hawk once we had gotten to the South Pole, but since we are here we might as well tell you now," Aang said with a smile on his face. He looked over to Katara who was standing right at his side and looked up at him, smiling just as he was currently. "Katara and I are engaged."

Zuko's expression suddenly changed from one of interest to one of happiness. He walked up to Aang and did something quite unlike his usual self: He gave him a hug. Aang did not have the slightlest hint as to how he should react considering the current situation. Zuko, after all, was not known for being the type to give hugs. After it was disbanded, Zuko turned to Aang. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to investigate the site of his prison break. As for the rest of you guys, you all are probably exhausted from the traveling. How about you take the rest of the day off? We will start discussing plans tomorrow," Zuko said in a matter of fact tone.

"Sounds good to me," Aang replied.

Zuko then walked off while the couple then retreated to their quarters to go unpack. They opened up the door and looked at their room and it was quite opulent, at least by their standards it was. The room had a big bed against the far wall, along with nightstands on both sides. There was a bathroom on the left side of the room and to the right of the bed there was a walkway out to a balcony that overlooked the royal city. The room was also decorated with hanging tapestries and artwork.

"Wow, Zuko sure knows how to give us the royal treatment," Katara stated, taking in the whole room.

"I can't say that I can complain. Can you help me unpack?" Aang said to his soon to be wife.

The two unpacked their things until they were comfortable in the room. Aang then walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the entire city. The sun was beginning to set behind the hills the engulfed the city inside the basin that it sat in. The streaks of sun bounced off the roofs of the many beautiful buildings below. The clouds in the sky began to give off a pink hue as the low sun was beginning to fade. He faced northbound, with the setting and orange sun to his left and the darker blue sky starting to twinkle with the many stars and moon in it to his right. The scene was one he wanted to capture in his mind forever.

Then his favorite girl in the world came out and joined him. She walked up to him from behind, snaking her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. Aang started to smile as he realized who it was. He then turned around and faced his true love. They locked eyes for what seemed like forever but of had truly only been a minute. Finally, Aang and Katara both leaned in, and kissed each other meeting each other halfway. The locked lips for what again felt like an eternity, Aang slowly gliding the tip of his tongue against her lips, until she opened her lips allowing the two of them to then explore each others' mouths. Aang had his arms wrapped around her hips while she had her arms snaked around his neck. Their tongues continued to keep performing their dance for a few more minutes, until finally they slowly broke the kiss.

Katara looked into Aang's eyes, taking in his whole expression. He looked happy, genuinely happy at this moment. She never thought she would have been nearly good enough to be with someone like him, yet she always knew that he loved her unconditionally. Finally she softly whispered the three words they always enjoyed hearing from each other.

"I love you," Katara said, her mouth barely an inch away from Aang's ear.

"I love you too," Aang said warmly back to her.

The couple retired back into their room, just as the sun had completely retired below the Earth's horizon. The last rays of the sun gleamed off the backs of the lovely couple just before they were completely hidden from sight. The war may not have completely been finished, and while problems did still persist throughout their world, Aang and Katara both knew that they could be solved and that they would be fine as long as they had each other.

So please give me your honest opinion of this chapter. I myself have no idea how I did as I felt a really bad block with this chapter and on top of that I felt a little out of it writing it. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed the kataang moment at the end. Figured there hasn't been much kataang in recent chapters so hope you enjoyed. Remember to review as it really helps me out and lets me know how I am doing!