Chapter XXXVI: Reconciliation

Jin let out a pained groan as he came to. His head throbbed violently, as if someone were driving nails into his temples. He sat up, massaging the sides of his head with his head as he tried to figure out what happened. He wasn't in thee streets of Ba Sing Se anymore, but some sort of small room- he identified it as an earth tent. He was brought out of his thoughts when a voice said to him, "You're awake." He looked over at the source- it was Toph, sitting in a corner of the earth tent. She seemed to be okay- there were a few tears in her clothes, and she had a few new cuts and bruises, but she didn't seem any worse off that when he had left to fight Rei. "So, you feel any better?"

"My head is killing me."

"That's no surprise. Nina told me you fell pretty hard when you passed out."

"Speaking of Nina, where is everyone? And where are we, anyway?"

"We're back at the camp. After we brought you back here, that king said he was going to negotiate a treaty with the Grand Masters- Kohta went with them. That was a few hours ago. Yu and Nina are around, somewhere." Toph paused for a moment before saying, "You look awful." Of course, Jin couldn't see, but he certainly did feel awful. So he asked, "Do you have any water?" Toph nodded before handing Jin a skin of water. He pulled the water out and hardened it into a mirror. He looked just as awful as he felt- the cut under his eye was still there, and his jaw had swollen where Rei had punched him.

Rei…

Jin then looked down at his right arm; nobody had thought to take it off before putting him in his sleeping bag. It was covered up to the elbow by some dark red substance. Jin knew what it was- blood. Her blood. A wave of nausea washed over him, and as quickly as he could, climbed out of his sleeping bag and ran out of the tent before Toph could stop him. He didn't get very far before falling to his hands and knees and vomiting on the ground. He caught another glimpse of his arm, and suppressed another wave of nausea before unplugging his arm and tossing it away.

The gravity of what he had done was starting to sink in.

He killed Rei. He killed her without hesitating in the slightest. He might have been in the Avatar State when he delivered the final blow, but that only made everything worse- he might not have been in control of his actions, but there was nothing to prevent him from seeing everything that happened. The worst part, though, was how she just hung limp in his arms, without any trace of the fury or strength from the battle mere minutes before. And what had he done? Nothing- he simply watched as she died a slow, painful death

He felt Toph approach through her vibrations in the ground, and heard her ask, "Jin, is everything okay?" He didn't respond. She walked over to his arm and picked it up. "You should take better care of this, you know. If you--" She stopped all at once when she noticed the substance coating the lower half of the prosthetic. "Jin? Is this… blood?" She knelt down next to him, and held the prosthetic out in front of him, but he wouldn't look at it. "Well… is it?" He nodded.

Toph went into a panic. "Jin, if you're really hurt we need to find someone who can heal you! You could bleed out and--"

"…it's not my blood."

For a moment, Toph thought she hadn't heard him correctly. "What?"

"I said, it's not my blood." His voice wavered.

"Then, whose blood is it then?"

Jin's response was almost inaudible. "…it's Rei's." He glanced over at her- she stared at him with a nonplussed expression on her face. "Nobody told you?"

"Told me what?"

"I… Rei… she's dead."

"What? How?"

"I killed her. Rei's dead, because of me. Because… of… me…" He fell silent, his entire body shaking. A few moments passed before Toph asked hesitantly, "Jin?" His only reply was a shuddering gasp. She draped her arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Come on, Jin. Let's go back in the tent." Toph guided Jin back to her earth tent with difficulty- Jin refused to cooperate in spite of her promptings, and she had to half-drag him back to the tent. All the while, he made those odd, shuddering gasps. Finally, they reached the inside of the tent, Toph closing the tent behind them; as soon as the two were alone, Jin wrapped his arms around Toph and sobbed into her shoulder. At first she was too stunned to react- after a few moments, she regained her composure and hugged Jin back, whispering in his ear, "It's okay, everything's gonna be okay Jin…"

He said back through his sobs, "No, it's not okay! You don't understand! What have I done!?"

"Jin…"

"I watched her die, Toph! And I didn't do a thing to help her! Now she's dead! Rei's dead and it's all my fault! All… my… fault…" he degenerated into another series of incomprehensible sobs. She continued to hold him, at a complete loss for words as her shirt began to soak through with Jin's tears. His sobs softened gradually, until he finally fell silent. Then, he pushed Toph away. "I'm sorry," he said, "But there's something I have to do."

"Jin--" But he simply pushed past her and opened the earth tent. "Toph…" he began, before taking a deep breath. "This is something I have to do on my own. Just… let me do this. It wouldn't… be right if I don't." Without another word, he left the earth tent. Toph, of course, had no intention of letting Jin go off anywhere by himself- in spite of his best efforts to hide it, he still hadn't recovered fully from his fights with Rei and Rao. She watched his vibrations through the ground. Once he was far enough away, she began to follow. She followed him as he made his way out of the camp and around the outer wall of the city. Jin's progress was slow, and he stumbled every once in a while over his own feet. He walked north alongside the wall for some time, with Toph following, until he finally came to a stop. Toph closed the distance, creating a small wall of rocks for cover when she was close. She peered out from behind the rocks, watching Jin.

He stood for a few moments, apparently lost in thought. He looked out over the distance to the west, and Toph followed his gaze. Something rose up from the ground some distance away- Toph couldn't identify it, but apparently Jin did, because at that moment, he turned into a blur that streaked toward the mound. After a few moments, Jin returned, dropping several large plates of metal before dropping to his knees, gasping for breath. Toph figured out what that mound must have been- the Mobile Fortress, that Jin had singlehandedly brought out of the sky. Eventually, he was upright again, and he set to work. Toph watched as he took the metal plates and pounded them together into a box. What struck Toph the most was the ease with which he did it; he'd struggled in the past, but now it seemed he'd somehow mastered metalbending. She had no way of knowing that after Jin had literally torn three entire decks off the Mobile Fortress, Aang himself implanted the knowledge of the technique directly in Jin's head.

Jin set down the box, looking over it briefly; he'd left one side open, with another metal plate lying nearby. Apparently satisfied, he then turned to the wall and, to Toph's amazement, began to literally sprint up its face. He disappeared over the top for several moments, before jumping down from the wall. He floated down slowly, using the air to slow his fall. He landed softly- it was only when he landed that Toph noticed he was holding something in his arms. He laid it down on the ground for a moment, allowing Toph to see what it was- a body.

Rei's body.

Jin picked up Rei's body again- Toph noticed there was now a large spot of blood on the ground where she had been. Then, as carefully as he could, he lowered Rei's body into the box, before picking up the last metal plate and laying it on top of the box. Then, he twisted the edges of the box and the plate together. Jin stepped back, and raised a section of the ground up before closing it around the box, encasing it in a sarcophagus of stone. To finish, he bent down to the bottom edge of the sarcophagus and painstakingly carved a character into the stone with his finger… "Rei." Then, he sat down, crossed his legs, and fell still. Toph decided then to approach. He must have been aware of her, because Jin then said out loud, "I thought I told you not to follow me."

"Jin… I know you're the Avatar, but… but that doesn't mean you always have to handle everything alone. We're here for you- me, and Nina, and Yu, and Kohta. We'll always be here when you need us."

"I know Toph. Believe me, I know. But, what happened… what I did to Rei…" He sighed. "You weren't there. You didn't see what I did. I know you want to help, but… I think this is just something I have to deal with alone." He paused. "I'm sorry, but I need to be alone for a while." He fell silent again. For a moment, Toph was about to say something but decided against it, before leaving Jin alone in his meditations.

"Okay, I have done what I can," Kohta said as he lifted his hand from Jin's face. Jin had returned to the camp some time later to come across Kohta, who insisted on healing his injuries. "You should have come to me sooner, though. I might have been able to do more for you." Jin brought his left hand up to his cheekbone; although he was healed, Jin could still feel a groove in his skin where the bullet from Rao's pistol had grazed him. Kohta had already healed the burn on Jin's shoulder to the best of his abilities, wrapping in bandages what wouldn't heal.

"Thanks Kohta," Jin said. "But what about you? Are you okay?"

"I am unharmed." He lightly touched a spot in the center of his chest, wincing slightly from the pain. "Well, mostly unharmed."

"So how are the negotiations going?"

"They are going well, but you do not need to concern yourself with that."

"Don't need to concern myself? Are you kidding? I thought being the Avatar meant I had to be involved with things like this as a mediator, or something like that."

"Well, if that is how you feel, then I suppose that you could come to the palace with me. Negotiations have been suspended for today, but they will resume tomorrow."

"I'm not going to have to make a speech or anything like that, right?"

"That is entirely up to you to decide."

"Okay. Oh, and Kohta? Why are there so many guards posted around the camp?"

Kohta thought for a moment. "King Zhi believes it is the best course of action to ensure the safety of the White Lotus forces. The guards should be removed once negotiations are concluded."

The next day came. In the morning, a group of guards came to escort him and Kohta to the palace. As they walked through the streets on their way to the train station, the procession drew all kinds of attention- he could overhear snatches of conversation as they passed by:

"…is that one the Avatar?"

"…it's the one on the right, with the prosthetic arm."

"…he's the Avatar? But he's so young."

"…don't care what they did; I don't like having an army of benders waiting right outside the gate."

"…I wonder if the King's gonna explain what happened on New Year's…"

After a short ride, they finally arrived at the palace. The guards led Jin and Kohta through numerous winding corridors, until they finally reached a large room with a massive table in the center- on the table was a map, depicting the seventeen nations of the world. Gathered around the table were the Grand Masters of the Order of the White Lotus- King Zhi himself sat at the head of the table. "You've arrived, Mr. Kohta," Zhi said. "And I see you've brought the Avatar with you as well. Well, once you take your seats, we may begin negotiations." Kohta and Jin took their seats at the end furthest from Zhi- Kohta sat to the left of one of the Grand Masters- Qiang, was it?- while Jin sat next to him at the very end of the table.

"Now that everyone has arrived, we can resume negotiations. Master Shengxian, I do believe you were emphasizing your concerns about this treaty before we concluded negotiations yesterday. If you would, please restate them so that everyone is up to speed…"

The negotiations went on for what felt like hours. One of the Grand Masters would bring up a point; they, Zhi, and the other Grand Masters would debate about it, and eventually come to an agreement before repeating the process all over again. Jin was silent throughout the entire proceeding; Kohta would occasionally throw in his own ideas but otherwise remained silent as well. Jin should have taken Kohta's word when he said everything was going well- things seemed to be moving smoothly without his intervention, and in truth it was just so boring- he yawned, straining to keep his eyes open. He was sure that… nobody would notice if… he closed his eyes… for… a few… minutes…

"Jin. Jin." Jin snapped upright upon hearing his name. He asked, still slightly disoriented, "What? What happened?"

"The negotiations are over for today," Kohta replied. "Everybody is leaving."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I guess I dozed off." He paused briefly before adding, "I guess you were right."

"About what?"

"That I didn't need to worry about this. It looks like you're handling it pretty well."

"Indeed. In fact, we have nearly finished with negotiations. After we make a few more finishing touches tomorrow, King Zhi will be ready to present the treaty to his officials. He has already sent out letters asking them to come to Ba Sing Se, so they should be arriving in a few days."

"Officials?"

"Yes- local governors, influential noble families… even a few foreign dignitaries will be coming here from all over the nation."

"Will we be going?"

"Of course. You are the Avatar, and the world should be able to meet him and his allies." Kohta shook his head. "But that's in a few days. You should rest while you can in the meantime. We can handle the rest of the negotiations."

The day passed. Jin Toph, Nina, and Yu were resting in the White Lotus camp outside the city- Kohta had left with the other Grand Masters early that morning to finish negotiations with King Zhi. Jin was trying to explain everything he remembered to the others when a guard approached. "I don't mean to intrude," he said, "but a messenger hawk has just arrived with two letters." He pulled two letters from his pocket. "The first is to one 'Grand Master Shengxian.'"

"Master Shengxian is in a meeting with King Zhi," Jin replied.

"I see. The second letter is addressed to one 'Yu.'"

Yu looked up. "I'm Yu." He stood up, and with an airbending technique, pulled the letter from the guard's hand. The guard jumped slightly from surprise, looking down at his hand as though to ensure it was still attached. The guard recovered quickly, and bowed slightly before continuing on his way. Yu sat down and opened his letter- he read in silence for several moments before his eyes widened in shock. "I don't believe it…" he muttered.

"Don't believe what?" Nina asked, looking over his shoulder to try to get a better view of the letter.

"It's… from Master Tenzin. He says he's okay! And that he and a few White Lotus moles were able to drive the Order out of their fortress!"

"Really!? That's great!" Toph said excitedly, looking over Yu's shoulder as well.

"He says that the White Lotus moles are holding the fortress, and that he's on his way to Ba Sing Se!"

At this time, another guard (or possibly the same guard- nobody could be sure) approached them. "Excuse me, is the Avatar here?" he asked hesitantly. Jin replied, "I'm the Avatar. What do you need?"

"Avatar, there's someone who wishes to see you. For security reasons, I had them wait at the edge of the camp."

"Someone wants to see me?" Jin stood up. "Okay, I guess I'll go see them." The guard escorted Jin to the edge of the camp, to this mysterious visitor who wanted to see him. After a few minutes, he came to the edge of the camp, and saw his visitor. It was a woman, one slightly taller than he was, with such familiar features- so familiar, in fact, that they could belong only to one person. But it was just so… surreal to see her, here and now. He asked unsurely, almost certain his eyes were deceiving him, "…Mom? Is that really you?"

The answer was immediate, and purged any doubts from his mind: "Yes, Jin." For a moment, Jin was too stunned to react. Then, his mind returned to the promise his mother had made to him those many months ago- a wide smile cracked across his face and he threw his arms around his mother. "Mom, it really is you! I'm so glad to see you!" He pulled away so he could look at her. "But how did you get here so soon? I thought it would take another week before you got here."

"I left home the week before New Year's. I wanted to get here as soon as I could."

"I almost forgot that you were coming. But this is great! You can finally meet my friends! Come on!" He took his mother's hand and brought her into the camp, half-pulling her, completely oblivious to the protests of his escort. Eventually, he came back to his friends. He said excitedly to them, "Guys, you're not going to believe what happened!"

"What?" Yu asked. "And who's that?"

"This is someone I've wanted to introduce to you for a while now. Guys, this is my mom. Mom, these are my bending teachers." He pointed to each on of his friends in sequence. "This is Nina, my firebending teacher… he's Yu, my airbending teacher, and she's Toph, by earthbending teacher."

Lin bowed to Jin's friends and said, "It's very nice to finally meet all of you." She looked back at her son. "I thought the Avatar knew four elements. Don't you have a waterbending teacher?"

"I do, but he's not here right now. I'll introduce you to Kohta when he gets back." Something just occurred to Jin at that moment. "Toph, I just remembered, I haven't seen your mom since the invasion. Is she doing okay?"

"She's doing okay. I mean, the healers are still trying to fix her, but they say she'll be fine."

"Can we go see her?"

"Sure, I think the healers will let us. Come on." She stood up, and began to head off into the camp. Jin and his mother followed. Eventually, they came to a large tent; Toph went in first, followed by Jin and his mother. The inside of the tent was filled with numerous cots, nearly all occupied. A few people moved back and forth amongst the beds- doctors, apparently. Toph approached one and spoke to him in a voice neither Jin nor Lin could hear. After a few moments, she signaled for them to follow, and they all came to a bed near the rear of the tent. Laying in it was Toph's mother; from what Jin could see, everything below her neck was wrapped in bandages. "Toph," she said. "You came to visit again."

Toph nodded. "Yeah. But there's someone else who wants to see you." She motioned to Jin. It was several moments before Jin said, "Well, it's just that I haven't seen you since you were hurt during the invasion. So… how are you feeling?"

"I've felt better. But the healers say I should be on my feet again soon." She noticed Lin. "I see you have a guest."

Lin was able to respond faster than her son. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm Lin. I'm Jin's mother."

"I'm Toph. Toph Bei Fong. I see that you've already met my daughter. So, you're the Avatar's mother. If I may say so, you have a fine son. If it wasn't for him, I doubt that I'd be alive right now."

Lin circled around Miss Bei Fong's bed and sat down on a nearby, empty cot. "Well, it's flattering to hear someone think so highly of my son. But, if you don't mind, I noticed that you and your daughter share a name. Why is that?"

"It's a tradition of the Bei Fong family. It started when the first Toph, who traveled with Avatar Aang…" Jin glanced over at Toph, who looked back and gave him a small nod. Then, the two left their mothers alone to get to know each other better.

Another day passed. Early that morning, Toph left the camp and walked north along the wall. Eventually, she arrived at Rei's tomb. In front of it, as she expected, was Jin. His mood had improved after he built Rei's sarcophagus but even then, every day, at any time he could spare, he would come to meditate in front of the sarcophagus for about an hour. She stood behind him in silence for several minutes, until she finally said, "Jin, we need to talk." He didn't answer. "Look, about what happened four days ago… I know I wasn't there. I didn't see what happened. But, wheat happened… you have to let go of it. Sitting out here every day isn't going to bring her back. I mean, if it was you who got killed, and she survived, do you think she'd be sitting out here right now like you?"

Finally, Jin answered. "It was just so… easy," he said. "When it happened, I didn't even have to think about it. I don't know if you heard, but… I almost did the same thing to Rao. If Aang hadn't stopped me, I would've killed him… right in front of all those people…"

"I… I didn't know about that."

Jin paused for several long moments before asking, "Toph, can I tell you something? Something personal?"

"Of course."

"Now, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

"…Okay, I promise."

"The thing is, about Rao… I wanted to do it. I really, really wanted to. And I would have, too, if it hadn't been for Aang."

"…Jin, I know you're… nobody should have to do what you did. I mean, you're only… um…"

"Twelve. I appreciate your help, I really do, but… what I did… that's not how an Avatar is supposed to do things. Imagine if Aang had gone around killing anyone he didn't like. That's just… it can't be that way."

"Jin…"

"I didn't even think about what I was doing. I just sort of did it. Toph, what if… what if I'm becoming like Rei?"

Toph bent down and embraced Jin from behind. "Jin," she said, "I know you. You're not like Rei, and you never will be. I mean… you actually feel bad about what you did- if it were the other way around, I don't think Rei would feel the same way as you. I know you might not think so right now, but you'll get past this." She paused for a moment. "Do you know what you are?"

"Yeah. I'm the Avatar."

"Well, that is true… but I want you to think more basically."

Jin thought for several moments until the answer came to him. "Is it that I'm an earthbender?"

"Exactly. You're the Avatar, and that means you're a waterbender, an airbender, a firebender… and an earthbender. Thing like this pass eventually- they always do. You just need to remember what I taught you, and be steady and strong until then."

"Thanks Toph." In spite of himself, Jin earnestly did feel better.

"Oh, and one more thing- Kohta wanted me to give you this." Jin felt something being pressed into his hands- he stood up and held it out in front of him to get a better look at it. It was a coat, much like the he had before, but with several differences: it was an almost pure white, and lacked the high collar his old coat had possessed. And he saw that on the back was a diamond with a single horizontal line drawn within- the character for "one." He looked over it until Toph finally asked, "Well, aren't you going to try it on?" Jin put on the coat, surprised by how well it fit him. "Wow, this is really nice," he said. "Where did Kohta get this?"

"He didn't say."

"Oh. Well, do you know why he got it?"

"He said something about presenting a treaty or something like that. He said if I told you that, you'd understand."

"Oh… oh! Wait, they're presenting the treaty already?"

"I guess so. Kohta said all of us we're going to the palace this evening, even our moms, so he got all of us some nice clothes. He also said a lot of important people were going to be there."

"So, this evening?"

"That's what Kohta said."

"Okay then. I guess we should get back to the camp."

"Ugh. I swear if I have to shake one more person's hand, my arm will fall off." Jin said. Nina replied, "I wouldn't say that too loud if I were you." The two were in King Zhi's palace, along with the others. They were in a meeting room on the upper level of the palace, the same room where the king and the Grand Masters had negotiated the treaty. Zhi was now presenting this treaty to the numerous guests which had arrived. When Jin had first arrived with Kohta, the King was the first to shake his hand. Then, one of the many noble in the nation of Ba Sing Se had come to introduce himself, followed by another noble, and a foreign dignitary, and what Jin thought was a general for the country's army- at this point, all the people who came over began to blur together. Now, whenever someone came over to introduce themselves, his response was automatic; he held out his right hand, and after the person took it after a moment of hesitation- everyone hesitated for a moment before doing so- he said to them, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Jin. I'm the Avatar."

Jin's mind, of course, was elsewhere. Once this person had left, he turned to Nina and asked, "Nina, have you seen Toph around anywhere?"

Nina looked down at him and replied, "She stayed behind so she could come with her mom. She'll be here as soon as she can."

"I hope so."

"Jin, don't worry. Everything will be fine." She leaned against the wall. Jin looked over at her; she was wearing a simple red dress, a black sash tied around her waist. It was the first time he'd ever seen her in a dress, and in all honesty, she actually looked rather pretty. He himself was wearing his new coat, along with a fresh pair of pants and shirt, both beige. "After a few moments, Nina finally said to him, "Would it help you feel better if I went to go find her?"

"If you want to." Nina then pushed herself away from the wall and disappeared into the crowd. Jin's mind wandered to the others. When he'd last seen Kohta, he'd been wearing his old parka, probably to make his stand out as a member of the Water Tribe. Yu had done the same, ditching his clothes for his old apprentice robes of red and saffron. After a few moments, Nina returned. "Well, she's here," she said. "And she'll be right over." It was only a few moments before they came into view. He spotted Toph's mother first. She wore a simple green dress with no embellishments, and carried herself gracefully as far as Jin could tell, but her stiff movements obviously indicated she was in pain. But the person walking alongside her literally took Jin's breath away.

The person was Toph. There was no mistaking that. But it was Toph as Jin had never seen her, and for a moment, he couldn't believe that she was the same Toph from only a few hours before. Toph wore a plain, dark green cheongsam, with the edges fringed with gold. It hugged her body tightly, showing off the few curves her body had. Toph obviously had worn something like that before- after all, she was from a relatively wealthy family, and she moved with ease while wearing it. But it was just so… different from the dark green pants and dark green shirt, with the tan sleeveless shirt on top and the dark brown belt that she normally wore. The whole image brought a dark red blush to Jin's face. Toph was, quite simply, stunning. Even the bandages over her right eye did noting to detract from how beautiful she was at that exact moment.

She noticed him, and whispered something to her mother before leaving her side and approaching him. As she moved closer to him, he noticed she'd trimmed her hair- it now stopped just above her shoulders, almost the exact same length as when they had first met. When she finally closed the distance between them, she leaned against the wall alongside Jin and said to him, "You look nice." Jin, even in his new clothes and his coat, suddenly didn't feel quite adequate standing next to Toph. "You look… um…" Many different adjectives filled Jin's head: magnificent, stunning, radiant, heavenly… but Jin finally said simply, "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." At that moment, Zhi called out, "Everyone, may I have your attention please. I would like to thank you all for coming to the presentation of this treaty, and it gives me great pleasure to say that from this time forward, the city and Nation of Ba Sing Se will forever hold its doors open for the Avatar and his kind. And, I have an announcement. In a few days, I will be forming an envoy between myself and the Grand Masters of the Order of the White Lotus to present the treaty to the other nations of our continent. Our first stop will be…"

Jin hardly listened to the King's plan as he made his way toward the balcony at the far end of the meeting room. He stepped out and rested his arms against the balcony's railing, looking over a beautiful garden within the palace walls. Everything was bathed in the soft orange light of the setting sun. He felt a hand lightly rest on his; he looked to his left to see Toph standing next to him. She looked back at him and smiled warmly- he couldn't help but give a shy smile in return. If Toph had been stunning before, she was absolutely radiant in that soft orange glow; her remaining eye seemed to sparkle in the light of the setting sun. Then, she leaned toward him a kissed him on the cheek; a small gasp escaped his throat and his hand shot up to the place her lips touched. "W-what…?" was the only coherent thing Jin could make himself say.

"You saved me. On New Years," she replied. "I guess that means we're even now."

Jin regained his composure. "What made you change your mind?"

"You know, when you told me you loved me two weeks ago, I didn't know what to think at first. But now, I'm glad you did. It made me sit down and think about how I felt about you." She paused. "You know, after we escaped from the Order's fortress, you were unconscious for almost two weeks. I thought you weren't going to come back, but… I was so… happy when you woke up. I think… I think that was the exact moment I fell in love with you." Very slowly, she began to lean toward him; Jin felt his body lean toward her in response. His heart raced; he was finally about to do something that until now he had only experienced in his dreams. Now, their faces were close enough that they could touch; Jin, strangely (to him at least), noticed that Toph was wearing the plain silver headband he'd given to her while they had been travelling to the North Pole. Their lips were just about to touch when suddenly, Jin pulled away. Toph blinked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jin shook his head and leaned against the railing again. "I don't deserve this." He said. "You're just such a great and amazing person, but… I'm not. I'm sorry that- mmph!" At that moment, anything else Jin could have said was silenced when Toph turned his head toward her and pressed her lips against his. Jin was too stunned to pull away, and too stunned to even enjoy the kiss. All he could do was stand there, paralyzed, eyes wide as Toph kissed him, feeling as if the breath was being pulled right out of his mouth. After several moments, Toph pulled away, leaving Jin gasping for breath, his face a bright shade of red. "Jin," she said in a low, but comforting voice, "you're the Avatar. You're the most powerful person in the entire world. You could have chosen anyone, but you chose me. If anyone doesn't deserve anyone, I don't deserve you."

"Just so you know, I didn't choose to fall in love with you. It just kind of… happened." At this, Toph gave Jin another warm smile, and he gave one in return. They began leaning toward each other again when the heard a cheer from the other side of the balcony. They looked over; Yu and Nina were cheering them on with Kohta nearby, face in his hand, his expression either of disgust or a very poor attempt to suppress a smile. But they weren't alone- King Zhi, the Grand Masters, all the nobles and other guests, and even their own mothers had gathered around the balcony's entrance, watching the two curiously. Toph let out a groan of disgust and swung her arm back, preparing to make a wall to block off the onlookers' view, but Jin grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Toph, don't," Jin said. She looked back, surprised. "But, this is sort of a… private moment."

"There'll be plenty of other times for that. I just… want everyone to see how much I love you." Surprise lingered on Toph's face for a few moments before she gave Jin a sultry smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. The act caught Jin off guard for a moment, but he wrapped his arms around Toph's back and gave Toph a confident smile in return. Toph gazed into his eyes, and Jin gazed into her eye, before finally, they kissed again. Jin felt every hair stand up on end and his entire body tingled, as if hot wires had been pressed against his skin. He felt Toph's tongue prod his lips curiously, as if asking for entry. He complied happily. His tongue met hers, and they slowly began to circle each other in an awkward, clumsy dance. Although he had no possible way to compare to anything, Jin felt as if he were doing a terrible job, and cursed his lack of experience; he had no way of knowing that inside her head, Toph was doing the exact same thing. But regardless of how awkward it may have been, there was something special about the intimacy of their kiss, something that made every nerve in their bodies light on fire. Jin would have wanted nothing more than to remain in this special moment forever, but the need for air soon overpowered these desires, and he had to pull away.

They broke apart, gasping for breath, looking into each other's eyes until finally, Toph said breathlessly, "…wow." They were completely oblivious to the crowd of onlookers watching them nearby, their entire worlds shrinking to encompass only each other. Jin held Toph tightly, nuzzling his face against her shoulder, feeling her do the same. It felt… right to hold Toph, and to be held by her. He couldn't help but feel as though they fit together perfectly, as if Toph had been shaped specifically to him and him alone, little knowing that Toph thought the exact same thing about him. He heard Toph whisper in his ear, "I love you, Jin." He planted a kiss at the base of Toph's exposed neck before replying, "I love you too, Toph."

There was still much that they would have to do. There was an entire world out there, one scarred and ravaged by a three hundred year old war, whose echoes dug themselves deep into the new world that had taken the place of the old. It would not be easy to undo the damage, to end three hundred year's worth of fears and prejudices, and there would be no way that they would ever be able to erase all the scars of the past.

But they had a beginning- in a few days, they would be travelling to other nations, displaying their treaty and encouraging others to make treaties of their own. Of course, there was no guarantee that any other nation would follow suit, but any that did would be powerful footholds, that would hopefully lead to change, and peace. And they had their friends- Kohta and Yu and Nina. Though none were related by blood, all had come together into a family. And they would have each other. They would be able to rely on each other, to share their successes, to support each other after their failures.

All of this would take time. But the most dangerous threats to their mission had been destroyed. Rei was dead. Rao was locked away in a Ba Sing Se prison, completely powerless. The Order had been broken, its remaining fragments hunted ruthlessly by the White Lotus. The road would be long, and difficult. But as long as they had each other, they felt that they could face anything. Now, there would be time.

Jin and Toph would have all the time in the world.

THE END