GAH! My first subscriber has become... sob!... a Zoph fan! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Starts writhing in a corner! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ALL OF YOUR TOKKANEER FRIENDS LIKE THAT!? SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB!!

Also, Empress of Pudding, you and my little sister Isabelle have completely ruined Sozen's Comet for me. I am at Duke, I don't have TV. I have to wait for it to come out on iTunes, which it hasn't yet. SO YOU TWO JUST COMPLETELY RUINED IT FOR ME!!

Anyway, this is another chapter you people will kill me over... it is a sad one. But Dato is mentioned here again.

This is a short chapter, and it's the second to last. Thanks for bearing with me through these long thirty six chapters. Only one left after this.

Disclaimer: As a matter of fact, I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Chapter 36: Fallen Heroes

Aang's POV: We collected the bodies of the deceased. We also let some unarmed nonbenders from the Fire Nation collect their bodies so those soldiers on the opposing side could have a proper funeral too. If they were Earth Kingdom, they had an identification tag that we could use so we can return them to their hometown. I carefully picked them up on slabs of rock and laid them down in a line so we could have a ceremony for them.

I especially remember carrying one soldier who was stabbed in the back. His name was Dato, and Katara had told me that he had died protecting her, Mai, and Zuko. When I heard that I vowed that he would have a stone statue built in his honor in his town.

Toph, Bumi, and I mechanically picked up one after the other. At one specific point, Toph called me over while standing next to a particularly bloody body. This soldier had clearly put up a fight. By the clothes, I could tell it was a Water Tribe Fighter.

"Aang, I can't identify dead people, but I'm worried that I know who this is… could you confirm it for me?" I nodded curiously then bent down and pulled out a bit of water and washed some of the blood away from his face. When enough blood was washed away for the face to be identifiable, I moved the water away, then dropped it in shock at the pale, lifeless face in front of me.

"So I can guess I was right." She said it as a statement instead of a question. I could barely nod. We just looked at each other.

"We should tell them." I finally said. Toph sucked her cheeks in before agreeing silently.

Katara's POV: Aang said he had something he needed to show me. At first I was excited, thinking it was a romantic thing, then I saw the look in his eyes and I automatically knew it was a grieving related topic.

My heart was breaking for the long lines of unmoving faces, embraced by death. They seemed to be getting bloodier and gorier as they went on. A about seven corpses down, there was a mangled body that was so attacked and bloodied, I couldn't identify who it was.

Aang grasped my hand as he lead me to that tortured body, and I begged my eyes to move away. They wouldn't listen. As it grew closer and closer, a face became distinguishable.

Oh Spirits!

I spun around and started crying into Aang's shoulder, hugging him tightly. He stroked my hair and whispered soothing words as I just stood and cried.

Sokka's POV: Toph dragged me though the sea of bodies as if there was something she was trying to show me. She stopped for no apparent reason, then turned to me.

"Sokka, I need to show you something that I really wish you didn't have to see." She said to me with full seriousness in the tone of her voice. I frowned in worry. What did she want to show me?

She pulled me over for a bit until I saw Katara crying ino Aang's shoulder. I run over to her in worry, yelling in the meantime.

"Katara! What's wrong!? Are you ok!?" I yelled to her as I ran down. As I came closer I saw a damaged, beat up, and bloody body. This guy must've put up a big fight, he was stabbed repeatedly.

She just continued sobbing. I ran up to see what was going on. I came closer until I was right next to my sister, rubbing her back and asking her what was wrong. Aang looked at me in an upset, grieving, and sympathetic look, then shifted his eyes, telling me to look over at the corpse. Slightly worried, I complied, then gasped when I saw who this person was.

"No!" I was able to gasp out. I ran right over to his face, tears were coming down my cheeks now. "No! No! No! No!" I started screaming and crying all at once, tears racking down my face. My throat tightened, leaving me with a need to cough, but I ignored it. All I could think of was the face in front of me.

Dad.

Toph kneeled down next to me and rubbed my back so lightly. I collapsed onto her, tears running down my face I collapsed and continued crying into the crook of her neck. She lightly stoked the back of my head and let me cry without saying a word. She tightly wrapped her delicate, but strong arms around me as if trying to block out the world.

The sobbing was less now, but I was still lightly crying into her neck, whispering to myself.

"No, no, no!"

Toldja you'd hate me. Sorry! Anyway, only one more chapter left! It's the epilogue.