What SHOULD have Happened in AtLA Book 2: Chapter 19 & 20, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

So, Toph, remember how I said I'd get you back for hitting me with rock?

Toph: Err… Yeah.

Well it's not today!

Toph: Whew.

Because today is the season finale of Book 2 and there's no way I'm dampening any spirits now! I'm ready to tear into The Guru and demolish The Crossroads of Destiny! I get to do more scenes with Azula! I get to mock the chakras! I get to treat the Dai Lee's take over like it's a joke! Have a final laugh at Long Feng! And, by the spirits, I finally get to show why Zuko's choice was what it was!

Toph: Glad to see you're in such a good mood. Although I have to admit, even I'm excited with the fact that you're able to pull this off. I mean, getting to the end of a season in an AtLA fic is a feat in-and-of-itself, but the fact that you've done it twice with a solid update schedule is just impressive.

You got that right! Now lets get the fires burning and Ba Sing Se falling, 'cause it's time for…

What SHOULD have Happened in Avatar the Last Airbender: Book 2: Chapter 19 & 20

Appa flew Aang and Sokka down to a hill that overlooked Chameleon Bay as the midday sun shined overhead. When the large beast landed, the bald monk smiled.

"You haven't seen your dad in over two years!" The boy turned to his friend. "You must be so excited!"

The Water Tribe boy clutched his stomach and held his mouth. "I know I should be, but I just feel sick to my stomach."

The Avatar simpered. "Don't be nervous." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "He's going to be so happy to see you."

Sokka smiled for a moment. "So what about you? Are you nervous to meet this guru?"

"Not at all. I'm ready to master the avatar state. I'll do whatever it takes." The air bender cringed. "Well, except all that stuff that General Fong wanted me to do back when he wanted me to do whatever it took to get control of the avatar state."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inside The Council of Five's war room, Katara and Momo sat at a table with a large map of the world painted onto its surface. As the generals sat across from her and the lemur, stone tokens, representing Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation forces lay placed at various points on the atlas. As the water bender sat calmly, General How spoke.

"General Fong's base will serve as the launching point for the attack. In exactly two months,…" the officer waved his arms and three green tokens slid towards the Fire Nation and a red token. "… the army and navy will invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun." Just then, the Avatar's lemur jumped onto the map and tackled the red token.

Sokka's sister laughed as her friends pet knocked over more red and green pieces. "Or we could send in Momo to do some damage." All five generals remained stolid as she giggled. "Cause… the…" She lowered her head. "Sorry."

The commanding officer raised his hand and clenched his fists, causing the table to shake and the tokens to stand up as Momo shrieked and fled. How then pulled out a rolled-up scroll. "All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to execute the plan." He placed the parchment on a stone block and slid the block to the water bender. "And, though it would be more appropriate to send an official messenger or one of the Council of Five ourselves to get the Earth King's seal, along with several body guards, I will send you, the girl who I've never met or heard anything about until a few days ago and will not provide any guards for you while you deliver this crucially important document."

Katara picked up the paper and stood. "I'll get these scrolls to him right away. Thank you, General How."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

With a euphoric smile on his face, Aang flew his sky bison through the mountainous region of the Eastern Air Temple as he approached the citadel and the old man who sat outside on a terrace with his legs crossed in a meditative pose. The boy then landed his large beast a few steps below the veranda and glanced up. "Um… Hello?"

When the man didn't answer, the Avatar slid off his beast and walked up the stairs. "You're Guru Pathik, right? The person who attached the note to Appa's horn?"

The guru nodded. "Indeed. I was a spiritual brother of your people and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso."

Aang stared at him blankly. "What?"

Pathik smiled. "It's true. I have meditated in these halls and-."

"No, I mean the 'personal friend of Gyatso' part. If you're so close, how come I never met you? That was 100 years ago and he was my personal tutor and then he died almost immediately after I left. How is it that your name never came up and he never talked about you?"

"It was-."

"Seriously, you'd have been my age when he was alive? What kind of relationship did he have with someone that young that he won't have introduced you to me?"

The guru's smile grew even wider. "A truly magical one born out of love."

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Born out of lo-?" His eyes then widened as he threw his hand over his mouth. "If you'll excuse me, I need to throw up for 7 different reasons."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As another customer entered the luxurious hall of the Jasmine Dragon, Iroh smiled beside his nephew. "Who thought as we came to this city as refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop? Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward-."

The prince's eyes shot open as he slapped his hand over his uncle's mouth. "Don't call me that, you idiot." He glanced around and lowered his voice to a whisper. "It's Li here, remember?" The boy groaned as he lowered his hand. "Geez, it's like you're trying to trick me into thinking this is my home."

Iroh cringed and gritted his teeth as he glanced left and right. #`*&! He's on to me.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

With the battle plans in her hand and the white lemur on her shoulder, Katara calmly walked towards a large, extravagant tea shop. "What do you say, Momo, shall I, the member of the group who personifies responsibility, take a break from simply walking across the upper ring and giving the Earth King this super-important document?"

The lemur chirped as the water bender walked towards the restaurant.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inside the Earth King's throne room, dressed in her Kyoshi disguise, Mai sat on the floor, along side her two friends, facing away from the throne itself. The knife-thrower glanced left and right and, seeing no one else in sight, raised an eyebrow. "What are we doing here?"

Azula simply smirked as her acrobatic friend tilted her head.

"What do you mean, Mai?"

"I mean, why are we here? Look at us: We're in the Kyoshi disguises, we have the overthrow of the king to plot, we have the follow-through of that overthrow to plan, and we have to make sure we can warn the Fire Lord about the solar eclipse! But instead, we're just sitting here!"

The princess continued to smirk as the knife-thrower scoffed.

"What are you smiling about, Azula? We still need to make sure we have the Dai Lee on our side! We could be rehearsing how we're going to do that! We could be making sure we know what to do if they don't agree to follow us! Heck, we could just be doing basic training drills, but we aren't!"

Ozai's daughter continued to smirk.

"What is wrong with you, Azula? There's no reason for us to be here! There's no one else in the room, so we aren't meeting anyone! We aren't facing the throne, so it's not like we're waiting for an audience with the king! If you ask me, this looks horribly suspicious that we're here and anyone who sees us will report it!"

The fire bender continued to smirk.

"WHY ARE WE HERE? Our mindset would literally have to be: Hey, everyone, what's say we throw on our Kyoshi disguises, head over to the throne room, and just sit for a few hours? Not train! Not plan! Just! Sit!" The young noblewoman crossed her arms. "Well? What are we waiting for, Azula? What 'great' scheme could you possibly-?" Suddenly, the Avatar's water bending teacher burst into the room with his lemur.

"Thank goodness you're here, Suki! Something terrible is going on. The Fire Nation has infiltrated the city. I just saw Prince Zuko and his uncle!"

Azula glanced at her knife-throwing friend as her smirk grew into a wide, sly grin.

Mai's eyes narrowed. "Say one word, Azula… One. Word. And every dagger I have goes into your throat."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Under a starry sky and atop a stone tower, the Avatar sat across from Guru Pathik as the young boy lowered his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't let go of Katara."

The elderly man stared at the boy. "Aang, to master the avatar state, you must open all the chakras." He spread both his arms. "Surrender yourself."

The monk stared back and lowered his head. "Ok. I'll try." Folding his hands and legs, the boy closed his eyes and let his energies flow.

"Now think of your attachments…"

Aang saw the visage of Katara smiling at him as if flew through an open field in his mind.

"… and let them go. Let the pure cosmic energy flow."

The air bender then watched a sky filled with purple stars and nebulas appear in his conscious before seeing himself above the world and standing on a walkway made of pure light. He then turned around and beheld an enormous version of himself with glowing tattoos and eyes and black skin at the end of the pathway. The young monk's mouth lay agape as he steadily approached the being.

As Aang moved closer to the entity, his own tattoos illuminated and a smile washed over his face. At the same moment, a circling sphere of purple energy appeared between the giant's hands. The young avatar stepped into the ball of light and closed his eyes.

Just then, Aang heard Katara cry out and his eyes shot open. He turned frantically and saw a fleeting vision of the girl he loved chained to a wall. His head turned left and right before darting out of the light sphere.

The giant Aang faded slowly and the real monk's tattoos ceased glowing as the bald boy hurried back down the purple pathway. But just then, the light bridge disappeared and the air bender fell to the Earth below.

Back in reality, the Avatar's eyes shot open. "Katara's in danger!" He stood up. "I have to go!"

Pathik reached out as the boy ran off. "No, Aang!" He hurried after the monk as he slid down the side of the roof. "By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra! If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the avatar state at all!"

The boy began to twitch as he stood on a ledge that overlooked the Eastern Air Temple. "It's… not… about that…"

"What?"

"Don't you think I know the avatar state could help me save her? Of course it can! It could probably take me back to Ba Sing Se faster than Appa would be able to on the best day of his life! Not to mention the fact that it would guarantee that I could save her from whatever danger she's in! To not take a few minutes to get that kind of power, which would allow me to save hours of time in travel, would be just stupid and self-defeating! But I can't help it! I need to stop training right now!"

The old man raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Aang spun around. "Because I'm a 12 year old boy who is constantly around the hottest, most amazing women in the entire world when they are sweaty and panting and exerting themselves as hard as they can and I don't get a moment of privacy! Not a single second to myself! Now the girl that I want more than any of the others, the one that is constantly around me in wet clothes and glistening skin is the one that I just saw in chains! Chains! JUST GIVE ME FIVE MINUTES, ALRIGHT?"

Pathik eyes bulged out of his head as the Avatar jumped off the roof and landed on another ledge. Seconds later, the sound of furious pounding filled his ear.

"And get some new pants for me too!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

On the coast of Chameleon Bay and under the night sky, Sokka gathered his weapons as Hakoda approached him.

"Ready to go knock some Fire Nation heads?"

"You don't know how much this means to me, Dad. I'll make you proud! And I'll finally prove to you what a great warrior I am."

The Southern Water Tribe's chieftain put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Sokka, you don't have too prove anything to me. I'm already proud of you. And I've always known you were a great warrior."

"Really?"

"Why do you think I trusted you to look after the tribe when I left?"

The two warriors smiled and nodded to each other before heading towards one of the boats that lay docked on the beach. However, before they stepped on the deck, a loud roar and whoosh came from behind them.

The Water Tribe boy turned to see his air bending friend looking back at him with a long face while sitting atop his bison. "This can't be good news."

Aang trembled. "It's Katara! I don't know what, but something bad has happened to her and she's in trouble! We need to help her, now!"

Sokka steeled his face and clutched his war club. "Right. Come on, Dad!"

Hakoda raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I'm not going anywhere."

The chief's son shot his eyes open and spun around. "But Katara's in trouble. Your own daughter needs your help."

"Yeah… but I'd rather take out these Fire Nation ships. The men need me here, you know?"

"Can't Bato or whoever else take the lead? Isn't that what second-in-commands are for? I'm pretty sure they'll understand you leaving to help one of your children rescue the other one from danger."

The chieftain cringed. "See… thing is… I don't really like your sister. There's no way I'm abandoning this attack for her. So I'm not going."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

With the dark sky above the Jasmine Dragon, Zuko swept the floor of the now-empty restaurant as his uncle cleaned off a table. Suddenly, the teen stopped sweeping as a man in eloquent attire entered the shop with a scroll in his hand.

The man approached the shop's owner. "A message from the royal palace." He handed over the parchment, bowed, then left.

Iroh opened the scroll and read. A second later, his eyes widened as he smiled. "I don't believe it!"

The scarred prince ceased his sweeping and stepped towards the former general. "What is it, Uncle?"

The older bender clutched the rolled-up scroll. "Great news! We've been invited to serve tea… to the Earth King!"

Zuko's mouth dropped. "And you're excited about this?"

"Um… yes, why wouldn't I be?"

The teen groaned and smacked his forehead. "Oh, I don't know… Maybe because you used to be the most feared enemy general of this city and now that we're living in a place where your opposing generals could have spotted you, this could very easily be a trap."

Iroh blinked twice. "Oh yeah. Good point."

Zuko groaned and smacked his forehead.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Beside his nephew and under a midday sky, the former Dragon of the West exited a beautiful brown and gold wagon in front of the Earth Kingdom palace. As the wagon hurried away, the old man held a white, cylinder case in his hand as he and the scarred prince approached the castle. "Many times I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace. But I always thought I'd be here as a conquer. Just think, we are the Earth King's personal guest, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

As his uncle finished speaking, Zuko glanced left and right. "Hey, do you notice how there are no guards outside right now?"

[It's true. There are no guards stationed outside the castle.]

Iroh blinked twice. "By the spirits…" He looked around. "You're right. We better be on our guard or get out of here, because this is terribly suspicious."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Iroh screamed as he leapt out of a hole he blasted in the outer wall of the palace. The old man fell until he landed on a bush shaped like a bear. Immediately after the impact, he rubbed his head and stared up at his nephew, who stood in the newly-created exit. "Come on! You'll be fine!"

Ozai's son narrowed his eyes. "No. I'm tired of running. It's time I faced Azula!"

The former general smacked his own forehead and ran off.

Meanwhile, back inside the palace, Zuko stood before his sister, who wore green robes, and a legion of Dai Lee agents.

The princess of the Fire Nation smirked. "You're so dramatic… What, are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?"

The prince glared back. "Yes! I challenge you!"

Ozai's daughter shrugged. "No thanks."

The scarred teen paused for a second and thought to himself, Ok, Zuko, don't panic. Your little ploy to lure her into a one-on-one didn't work but you can still get out of this. Remember your fight with Jet? You were dodging and ducking his swords without sweating a drop! Surely, you've got the reflexes and speed to get out of here. Just shoot a fireball to distract them and run. Even if you don't decide to run, any attack they use will be almost fruitless, as you can evade it easily.

Zuko then conjured up a ball of fire that he shot at his sister. But two agents pulled up a chunk of the floor to stop the blast and then launched their rock gloves at the teen. Before the prince could move, the gauntlets pinned his feet to the ground. Iroh's nephew shouted as he felt himself being forced down. "Does fate just roll dice every minute to pick my skill level?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In the catacombs underneath Ba Sing Se, Katara paced back and forth, occasionally staring up at the blocked entrance. Suddenly, she heard a rumbling and watched a Dai Lee agent pull back the boulder in front of the cave.

"You've got company."

Another Dai Lee forced a young man forward and then shoved him into the hole.

The water bender stepped back as the figure tumbled and grunted as he rolled down the slope leading to the exit. However, when the teen landed, the Water Tribe girl stared at the scarred face of the prince of the Fire Nation. "Zuko?" She saw him stare up at her as the Dai Lee closed the door. As he looked on, she simply raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't your sister put me in a metal prison?"

The teen blinked twice. "What?"

"The metal prisons that the Earth Kingdom has. Why am I in here, in a wide open cave, instead of a cramped metal prison?"

The fire bender blinked twice. "That is a very good question."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Slowly and steadily, Aang and Iroh traveled downward through a green-stone tunnel that the young bender created with his earth bending, while the old man created a small fire in his palm, which illuminated the pathway. Once the Avatar bent the end of their tunnel forward and elongated the path, the monk and the former general continued forward with the tattooed youth cringing and the Dragon of the West remaining calm.

Suddenly, Aang scratched the back of his head. "So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice. And great tea."

Iroh smiled. "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?"

The air bender lengthened the tunnel again and then frowned as he and his new ally continued walking. "I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the avatar state and control this great power." He smiled, but then looked down. "But to do it, I had to let go of someone I love." The boy stopped walking. "And I just couldn't."

"Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love."

Aang earth bent the tunnel once again and resumed walking. "What happens if I can't save everyone and beat Azula? You know, like my friends and I did back in that abandoned town when we were horribly sleep deprived, she was at her peak, and we had to worry about Zuko too? Or like how I beat her one-on-one when she tried to use the drill to get into Ba Sing Se?"

The Avatar and the Dragon of the West stopped and stared at each other for a few moments.

Then, Aang put his hands on his hips and smiled. "Wow. Now that I think about it, I have nothing to worry about."

[[Aang should have realized that. Here's something else he should have realized.]]

Suddenly, Aang scratched the back of his head. "So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice. And great tea."

Iroh smiled. "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?"

"My boy, if you were anyone else or in any other situation, I'd say that perfection and power are overrated and that you were very wise to choose happiness and love. However, you're the Avatar and you need to clean up a 100 year-old mess before a comet comes. Take the power for the sake of everyone else's life, please."

[[But we aren't done yet! Now there's something Iroh should have done in that scene. Read on and find out what it was. And believe me, he really SHOULD have done it.]]

Suddenly, Aang scratched the back of his head. "So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice. And great tea."

Iroh smiled. "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?"

"Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love."

Aang earth bent the tunnel once again and resumed walking. "What happens if I can't save everyone and beat Azula? Without the avatar state, what if I'm not powerful enough?"

Iroh patted the boy on his shoulder. "If you are so worried, I should quickly teach you a little technique I learned while studying the water benders…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

With his friend's lemur flying behind him, Sokka and the blind earth bender climbed the steps of the palace of Ba Sing Se. When they reached the top, the Water Tribe warrior saw the leader of the Council of Five walking through the halls. "There's General How." But the teen then stopped the girl beside him and froze as he spotted three Dai Lee agents clinging to the pillars that lined the corridor. In the next second, Hakoda's son yanked the short girl behind one of the pillars and the lemur followed.

Katara's brother then clutched his chest as he watched the elite earth benders ambush and hand cuff the general with long, metal claws before dragging him to the ground. "The coup is happening right now! We've gotta warn the Earth King!"

Toph shrugged. "Or we could just kick their butts."

"No, we need to warn the king!"

"Sokka, there's only three of them. I remember back when we were under Lake Laogi, I had three Dai Lees attacking me at once and I still held my own. With you here, we can easily defeat them."

"Quickly, let's move and warn him!"

"We don't even have to beat them all at once. If we get one that's holding the cuffs by surprise, General How can back us up and then help us take them out."

"Hurry, Toph! There's no time to lose!"

"Sokka, for spirits' sake, we can beat them up really easily!"

"Come on!" Sokka grabbed the young girl's shoulder and dragged her off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Azula stood in front of the Earth Kingdom throne as the Dai Lee dragged the Avatar's friends as well as the Earth King and his bear to the prisons. A few moments later, Long Feng walked through the doorway of the throne room with over a dozen of his agents at his back. The leader of the elite earth benders calmly marched towards Ozai's daughter until he stood only a few yards away from her.

"Now comes the part where I double-cross you. Dai Lee, arrest the Fire Nation princess!"

However, none of the agents moved.

Long Feng spun around and glared at his men as he pointed at the young bender. "I said, arrest her!" As the Dai Lee remained still, the grand secretariat furrowed his brow as he stared at all of them. "What is wrong with you?"

Azula smirked. "It's because you thought the Avatar and his friends were just going to play nice and not stir up trouble, didn't insure your agents were competent enough to look into that boy with the hook swords screaming about my uncle and brother being fire benders, lost against the Avatar and his friends when you had them out numbered 5-to-1 in your secret headquarters, and, worst of all, you couldn't keep a pathetically naïve king under your thumb when an almost equally naïve boy exposed your lies.

"Honestly, you were never, ever, ever, ever a player of this game."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inside the underground catacombs below Ba Sing Se, Katara stood a few feet away from the prince of the Fire Nation as she folded her hands behind her back and lowered her head. "I'm sorry I yelled at you before."

Zuko turned away. "It doesn't matter."

"It's just that, for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face."

"My face…" The teen lifted his hand up to his scar. "I see…"

"No. No. That's not what I meant." The water bender slowly approached the boy.

"It's ok. I used to think this scar marked me." Iroh's nephew lowered his arm. "The mark of the banished prince: cursed to chase the avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"Maybe you could be free of it."

Zuko's eyes widened. "What?"

"I have healing abilities."

The prince turned away. "It's a scar. It can't be healed." However, he turned back towards the Water Tribe girl when he saw her reaching into her tunic.

A moment later, Katara pulled out a small vile of water with a crescent moon on the lid. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole."

"'Water from the oasis?'" The scarred teen blinked twice. "How do you have that?"

The water bender calmly stared up at the prince. "That man who taught me water bending gave this to me as a parting gift."

Ozai's son shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. You told me you were thrown in here by Azula, right?"

"Yeah."

"The same Azula that's my sister, right?"

"I don't know any other princesses of the Fire Nation."

"So how did she, my sister, my absolutely-careful-to-account-for-everything sister, let you down here with any water on you at all, regardless of where it came from?"

Hakoda's daughter blinked twice. "That is a very good question."

[[It's the moment you've been waiting for, folks! Zuko's choice to side with the Avatar and his friends or side with his sister. Which will he choose? What path will he follow?

Meh, who am I trying to bluff? I've been building this up for 18 chapters.

Toph: You may wanna add a disclaimer, though.

A disclaimer? For what?

Toph: For the second half of the scene. May reduce some of that hate mail you're worried about.

Oh, yeah. Good call.

*Clears throat*

We here at WShH in AtLA are not against nor have any problems with people who wished that Avatar: the Last Airbender had taken a different route romance- or otherwise. We are only against those who choose horrible places and times for romantic interests to begin. This includes, but is not limited to, the following scene under the following circumstances. Once more, we are not against people who wanted certain aspects of the show to turn out differently, just those who would wish for horrible things to befall innocent people so it can happen.

Also, for another group of my fans, I know the targets of my satire are usually Mike and Bryan + whatever writers they have helping them, but there's another group of people who really need a wake-up call.

And for one last group of people: I'm Jewish, so it's cool.]]

A shockwave shook the Crystal Catacombs and caused Zuko and the Dragon of the West to stumble. A second later, a wave of green gemstones shot out of the cavern floor and snagged the former general, pinning him in place. The prince immediately dropped into a fighting stance as he watched two Dai Lee agents flank his sister as she slid down the cavern's entrance.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle. But Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor. Are you?"

The scarred teen glared at his sister. "Release him immediately!"

The princess stood calmly and stared back at her brother. "It's not too late for you, Zuko, you can still redeem yourself." She smirked.

Behind his nephew, Iroh furrowed his brow. "The kind of redemption she offers is not for you!"

The general's niece narrowed her eyes at him. "Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?"

Azula then turned back to her scarred sibling. "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day." She closed her eyes and raised a fist. "This glorious day in Fire Nation history." She opened her eyes and relaxed her palm. "And the only way we win,…" the princess put her hand over her heart. "… is together.

"At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

Iroh forced himself to speak calmly. "Zuko, I am begging you,…" he watched the teen turn towards him. "…look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

Azula watched her brother tense up and lower his head. "You are free to choose." She raised her hand and her Dai Lee agents slid away. As the princess began walking down the path the Avatar and the water bender used to escape, she heard her brother shout out.

"Wait! Where are you going? Of course I'll help you!"

Both the princess and the former general spun their heads around as their eyes shot open. "WHAT?"

Zuko shrugged at his sister. "Well, yeah. I mean, sure you've attacked me, tried to kill me, and threw me in this dungeon, but that doesn't mean I'm not the prince of the Fire Nation. And it also doesn't mean that the Fire Nation consists of only you, me, Father, and Uncle. There're hundreds of thousands of people who see me as the son of a god and treat me as such. Not only that, think of all the families who have lost loved ones: fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters to this war. People's lives have been sacrificed and others ruined. I have a chance, here and now, to not only stop the losses, but to make sure those brave men and women didn't die in vain."

The prince then turned to his uncle. "And I'm certainly not going to give that up for a country that's full of people who don't care if a homeless old man is getting hacked at by swords, who's wealthiest and elite are cowards who give up everything at the first sign of violence, who'd demonize a man who risked his life to save their town even when they're his enemy, or who'd stupidly not investigate a potential threat to their last city of hope."

The scarred teen sighed. "I'm sorry, Uncle. But I really don't care much about the balance and peace you're always talking about. In fact, at the end of the day, I'm probably only going to be worried about your opinion and Father's. Not the fate of balance, not the fate of the Earth Kingdom. Just you and my dad. You two are probably the only people I'll even when this is over. There's no reason for me to pick any other choice."

Iroh gritted his teeth as he watched his niece pat his nephew on the back. "What about the Avatar's water bending teacher?"

Ursa's son raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"

"Didn't you become really close with her down here?"

The banished prince scratched the back of his head. "I won't say 'really close'… As of now, I'd treat her to a few cups of tea, but the talk that I just had with her was literally the first conversation we ever had that didn't involve either a threat to hand over the Avatar or that something horrible should happen to me. I'm not going to betray my people for that."

Azula crossed her arms and nodded. "As you shouldn't."

The Dragon of the West fidgeted. "Well, what I mean is, I saw you two standing rather close and… thought you might be in love."

Zuko's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "Are you serious? Are you $%^-ing serious?" When he saw his uncle nod, the scarred teen narrowed his gaze and barred his teeth. "You piece of #`*&!"

"Wha…? But, Zuko…"

"'Don't 'But Zuko' me you bastard! There are thousands of people and countless families who have sacrificed for the sake of the Fire Nation! There are untold generations to come who are going to be burdened by this conflict and it's all coming down to my choice, right here, right now! But you! You sick, sick monster! You want me to sell them all out SO I CAN GET SOME PUSSY?

"How could you be so awful? So horrible? So sick and twisted as to even think about praising someone for betraying the people who worship him and look to him for protection, JUST SO HE CAN GET LAID? In our nation, Small children have lost their mothers and fathers! Parents have had to bury their sons and daughters! Husbands have lost wives! Wives have lost husbands! And I could end it!

"But you think I should let all those people down, SO SOME GIRL WILL GO DOWN ON ME?"

Iroh frantically waved his hands. "No. No. You have it all wrong. I thought that what happened here was the blooming of the seed of true love, which had been lying in wait for the right moment and-."

"Oh really?" Fire burst out of Zuko's hands as he shouted. "And if that were true, what was I supposed to say to all those people who sacrificed for their nation? 'Hey, everyone! Sorry I had to make all your deaths and losses amount to nothing when we were so close to victory! But I had one decent conversation with this totally hot water bender who I was in love with despite her previously trying to kill me and went: "Dang, I gotta take this chance to break me off a piece of that!"' Is that what I was supposed to say? Should I put that in my speech when I'm crowned Fire Lord?"

"Well, no… What I thought was…"

"You know what, Uncle? $%^ your sick and twisted lack of morals! And $%^ anyone who'd condone them!"

Zuko let out a loud snarl as he glared at the older bender. "You know, it was one thing when you were talking about balance and the greater good of the whole world; not just the Fire Nation. I could see that. I could understand that. I might even be behind that. And let me make myself clear: If you believed that upon me helping the Avatar because of balance for the world and afterwards, a series of events occurred that resulted in me and the water bender falling in love, I wouldn't be mad. I could be ok with that. But what you are saying right now boils down to me betraying my country, my people, and everyone I care about so that I can bang some chick!

"This is so terrible, so awful, so Agni-damned horrid, that I can honestly say that if there were ever a man so evil and vile that he orchestrated the mass execution of over 6 million people by means of painful poisonous gas chambers, just because he didn't like the way they prayed to their god, I think that man, upon hearing what you just said, would look you dead in the eye and scream, 'WHAT THE $%^ IS WRONG WITH YOU?'"

The prince then steeled himself and walked away with his sister beside him.

A/N: And. That's. A. Wrap for season 2! I have to say, I love this ending so much more than the end for season 1. There isn't any false worship of horribly selfish spirits. No culture was preserved despite its blatant stupidity. And, most of all, we don't have to deal with the fact that the climax should have been foreshadowed somewhere in the past 18 episodes, but wasn't at all. Plus, I got to have so much perverted fun with Aang and show off so many reasons why the Crystal Catacombs shouldn't have happened and were not romantic in the slightest bit.

Toph: And you know why you have all that? ME! Toph! The Greatest Earthbender in the World!

Heh… Really? Is that why?

Toph: You're darn tootin' right it is! Who constantly made it clear the Ba Sing Se was a bad place? Me! Who gave Mike and Bryan an excuse for Aang to go underground? Me! And who showed everyone how awesome earthbending, and thus, the Dai Lee could be? Me!

Ha ha! Of course! It was all you!

I'm in too good of a mood to dampen spirits. I'm two-thirds of the way done and no signs of slowing down. And now I've got an entire new season, new country, and new characters to turn on their heads and laugh at till I split my sides along with every one of my readers'!

Toph: Then how 'bout letting those readers in on what they're in for?

Why not? Ozai! Combustion Man! The Painted Lady! Bloodbending! The space sword! The Day of Black Sun! The Western Air Temple! A scene in Book 3 that I consider to be the single dumbest moment in all of AtLA! Yon Rha!

And, of course…!

The most important moment of the show…!

The time that changed everything…!

THE FINALE!

Toph: 'The finale'? I thought you'd say something dumb like 'The Avatar and the Fire Lord.'

Please, I'm not going to make the same joke twice. Not when the finale will be full of such things as: Aang's no-death rule! The White Lotus's plan! Zuko and Azula's battle! The war balloons! The other avatars! The numerous ways this show could have end! WHY OZAI'S DECISION IN THE WAR ROOM ACTUALLY MADE SENSE! Suki's 'blimp bending'! Toph's needless and sporadic sand bending!

Toph: Hey!

And, last but not least: What Iroh was planning all along!

Toph: Wait, I thought his plan was to get Zuko to join the GAang and the White Lotus?

No. Uh uh. Not. Even. Close.

That's all for today, folks. Hope you enjoyed it and be sure to join us next week for

The Second Special Treat