.

*0o

.

"Hey, Melvin, what's keeping Raven so long?" Melvin shrugged her shoulder and shook her head in response, having just returned from the kitchen. Rena, Melvin, and Timmy, each held their own small backpack filled with their personal items that they would need over the next week. Holly, holding Teether with her and Raven's shared pack strapped to her back, was standing in front of the flickering vortex created by the transporter. Five minutes later, Raven stepped into the room, gripping the telephone tightly and in a daze.

"Something came up, I have to go. It won't take long. You all should go ahead, and I'll meet you at the cabin in an hour or so." She said before wrapping her body in her soul self and vanishing, leaving no time for further discussion.

"What's wrong?" Rena, asked Holly.

"I don't know, but we should go. She wouldn't like it if she found out we waited. Rena, you'll go first, it should drop us off near the Dojo." She told the children. An instant later, Rena was drawn into the portal followed by Melvin and Timmy, with Holly and Teether going last.

.

*0o

.

"I see you picked up a few kids while you were away." Suki noted with a grin as Holly exited the portal.

"Just a few." She responded with a smirk as she readjusted her hold on Teether. "Good to see you both again."

"Where's Raven? I thought she was coming too." Yuna asked, standing next to Suki.

"She'll be here a bit later."

"Okay, let's get you kids settled in then." Yuna said, leading Melvin and Timmy to Holly's old cabin. While Suki's hand on Rena's shoulder told her to stay behind.

"How have things been going?" Holly asked her former leader.

"You wouldn't believe it—should I wait for Raven?"

"I don't know how long she'll be, I can fill her when she gets here."

"Well, for starters the Avatar returned."

"That isn't funny."

Suki laughed. "I'm not messing with you! Seriously, he arrived here with two people from the Southern Water Tribe."

"Okay, let's say he came back. What else has happened?"

"Well, the war's ended." The news took Rena and Holly by surprise.

"Damn." Rena whispered, earning herself a glare from Holly.

"Now Suki," Ko said as she approached them, "If you told them you had a boyfriend first, the war being over wouldn't have that far-fetched."

"Oh shut up."

"Well spit it out, what's his name?" Holly asked, hiding her delight in Suki's discomfort.

"It doesn't matter." Suki let out a huff and walked away.

"Sorry, good to see you back. We've been having too much fun with harassing her about him. His name's Sokka, by the way, one of the ones that came here with the Avatar."

"Oh, is he here now?"

"Nah, he's with the Avatar for something. He and Suki helped end the war, would ya' believe it?"

"That's impressive. I'll have to get her to tell us about it sometime."

"Indeed, it is quite a story." Ko said as they started walking to the cabin. "Actually, the coronation of the new Fire Lord is set for next weekend. We'll be attending, why don't you stick around for it?"

"That would be nice, I'll check with Raven when she gets here."

"Of course."

"Hey," Holly said before they went into the cabin, "could you and Yuna watch the kids for me? I wanted to wait for Raven, she said something came up, but didn't say what."

"Sure thing. They already know how to swear, right?"

"Only Rena, and if you teach the others, I won't stop Raven from gutting you."

.

*0o

.

"Have you been waiting the entire time?" Raven asked, exiting the portal to see Holly sitting on the ground a few feet away.

"Yup."

"You didn't have to, you know."

"I know, but I. So what happened?"

"We should talk, are the kids taken care of?"

"Yeah, Yuna and Ko are with them."

"Good, let's take a walk." Raven said, offering a hand to Holly, who took it and pulled herself up. Holly didn't say anything, wanting Raven to start the conversation when she was ready. Their walk took them to the small hill overlooking the bay—the same where they shared their first kiss nearly a year ago. The couple sat down, the soft grass flattening beneath them.

"That was Mrs. Suzuki on the phone before you left." Raven ran her tongue over her upper lip, thinking. "Mr. Suzuki, he went to the hospital last night. He had a heart attack last night. They think he'll recover, but Mr. Suzuki took as a sign to finally retire."

"I see."

"Right now, they have him on a blood thinner, they're concerned about him having a stroke. I think he'll pull through; he may be seventy, but he hasn't shown any signs of stopping until now. He…also mentioned the bookstore."

Raven began to lightly massage one of her temples. "I've known him and his wife since I came to Jump, and he became one of my few non-Titan friends. He also has a hatred for the larger stores, the companies in the business. He believes that you should have a passion for what you sell, and if you're doing it for the money then it's a waste of time. I mean, that belief is how his store became well known. When he first started, he would read every book that he sold. Eventually, he couldn't keep up with it, so his wife started helping him. A few months after I met him, we became close acquaintances, and I started helping him read the incoming titles too. By that time, he had an entire wall of his store for indie-books, and spent hours reading just those. Sometimes he would have me read one of his book if he wasn't sure of it, then we'd discuss it over tea…"

"Raven." Holly interrupted her and gave her a telling look.

"Oh, yeah. I'll get to the point. He, um, is retiring, and he never had children, so he kind of sold us the store. The papers will be delivered next week."

Holly's eyebrow shot up in surprise. That was…unexpected. Think you'll be able to handle it?"

"With some help, I don't see why not. In reality, he had trained me for most of the responsibilities from when I started working there. And a few of them when I was still just helping him read the new books. I have a feeling he had this planned out for a while."

"Hey, doesn't he and his wife live above the store? How would that work out…?"

"I'll have a talk with the Mayor…" Raven gave a laugh as Holly's face paled. "Nothing formal like last time. I don't think he would have a problem if we moved to the apartment above the shop, and Mr. and Mrs. Suzuki lived in our old one. Or a smaller one that would suit them better, and the city could pay for that one instead of ours."

"Will the one above the store be large enough?"

"It should be. They only ever used the second floor of the building for their apartment, there's a third floor that they never touched."

"We'll have to find a place for the transporter."

"Yes, we will…I didn't consider that."

"Well, when do you want to tell the kids about this?"

"I was thinking once we got back to Jump."

"Okay. Speaking of which, that may be a bit longer than we thought."

"How so?"

"There's a whole ceremony thing going on next week. The Warriors will be going, and I thought it might be nice to tag along…"

"Ceremony? For what?"

"The war ending."

"W –" Raven let out an exasperated sigh. "Why didn't you start with that?" Raven stood up and shook her head before starting to walk back, not bothering to listen to Holly's excuse as she stumbled after her.

.

*0o

.

"I wonder which one of us they used to model it after." Holly said, looking the statue of a Kyoshi Warrior erected in the town center. The statue was three-quarters the size of the Avatar Kyoshi statue it stood next to, and featured a Kyoshi Warrior, crouching and reaching for her katana. On the other side of the Avatar's statue stood another one, this time of a farmer. His bowl shaped shield protecting an invisible man next to him as he gripped his spear tightly and thrust it forward.

"…I really can't tell. One of the mentor, perhaps?" Raven said as she studied the wooden face.

"It was actually all of us." Akiko said, jogging up to the two girls. "See? They used my eyes for it. Your nose, I think. Glad to see you two back, by the way." She gave them both a quick embrace, and continued. "There's also a statue closer to the bay, on top of one of the mass graves. It's for the Fire Nation soldiers; a couple of the villagers didn't want it there, but Suki pushed it though. Wanted to honor the dead, no matter what side."

"I knew she was an idealist, but that's a bit…much."

"Maybe, but I think it's the right thing. I mean, I hate to say it, but a lot of those soldiers that day were younger—kids that we would probably be friends with if there wasn't the war." Akiko said with dreamy expression as she looked at the statues. "Such a shame. Anyway, are you two sticking around long enough for the coronation?"

"Yes, I believe we will be." Raven answered after Holly gave her a questioning glance.