Chapter 15: Every End is a New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

A week after the battle against Ozai, things were starting to calm down in the city. With all of the chaos that had been going on lately, the city had needed a responsible temporary mayor, and Aang suggested Chief Hakoda for the job. With Hakoda's help, Aang and the Gaang slowly returned the city to what it used to be, helping its citizens get back on their feet from Ozai's cruelty. It was a time of celebration as the people finally had what they should have had long ago: their freedoms. They were now free to do what they pleased without worrying about being kidnapped. A new age had started, one that Aang hoped would last a while. The people had been afraid for too long, and he would make sure that everything was set right. "Hey." He looked up to see Katara sit down next to him at the war room table. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the celebration party?"

Aang smiled softly and shook his head. "I'll be there soon. I've just had a lot of things on my mind lately."

"Like what?" she asked curiously with a hint of worry in your voice. "Is everything alright?"

He nodded slowly with a sigh. "Yeah… it's just… I feel horrible for what happened to Zuko," he admitted with downcast eyes. "I can only imagine the pain that he's going through right now."

Katara looked down sadly as she remembered what had happened to her friend. Mai and her weren't super close, but they still had become good friends over the time they knew each other. She had been very sad to hear what happened. "Yeah… you're right," she sighed in agreement as she looked down at her feet. "I thought I had lost you, but at least you came back. I hope he's doing okay."

"Well, if you call being locked up in your room and crying your eyes out 'okay', then I guess he is," Aang chuckled bitterly. "It's all my fault," he whispered after a few moments of silence.

She looked at him in surprise. "Aang, it's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done. There just wasn't enough time."

Aang shook his head slowly, refusing to look at her. "Maybe if I had been faster, maybe if I had tried to take two people down at once, then maybe she would still be alive."

Katara wrapped him in a hug which he returned after a few moments. "Aang, there was nothing you could have done," she repeated herself with a firm tone. "They understood the risks of what could happen and they accepted them. You did everything you could, and that's what matters." Aang let out a long sigh before she pulled back and kissed him on the lips. "I know it's not easy to accept, but there are some things that are just out of our control. I'm sure Zuko understands that you did everything you could." Aang still didn't look sure, so she gave him a reassuring squeeze of his hand. "Come on. We should be celebrating, not moping. Mai wouldn't want us to be sad over her death."

Aang let out one last sigh and nodded slowly. "Yeah… you're right," he admitted reluctantly. He looked at her with love plain in his eyes. "Thank you, Kat. I love you."

"I love you too," Katara smiled before giving him a kiss. She took his hand and tugged him up. "Come on. The party needs its leader."

"I'll be down there in a few. There's something I've got to do first," he told her. She looked unsure, but he gave her a reassuring smile and she relented.

"Okay. But if you're not down there in ten minutes, I"m coming to get you," she said jokingly, making him chuckle a little.

He raised a hand in the air. "Don't worry. I'll be there. Stormborn's Promise." She smiled and gave him another kiss before going to the elevator and making her way down. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way over to Zuko's room, hoping he wouldn't be too much of a burden. As he reached the door, he hesitated. Should he really do this? Zuko was in enough pain right now. Should he just leave him alone? No. Zuko needed someone to be there for him, and right now Aang was the man for the job. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. "Hey Zuko?"

There was no response for a moment before he heard footsteps and the door opened to reveal a puffy-eyed Zuko in his pjs. "What, Aang?" he asked tiredly, sadness dripping from his voice.

"Look," Aang started as he looked down at his feet. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Zuko raised a brow in confusion. "Sorry? What are you sorry for?"

"For not getting there in time," Aang explained with a sigh as he looked down at his feet. "Maybe if I had been a little faster, maybe I could have saved her."

Zuko was silent for a moment before he shook his head. "You did everything you could, Aang. I know you did, because you're not the kind of guy to slack, especially for something like that. I'm sorry that I yelled at you that day, but I was just in so much pain…" he trailed off sadly.

"Hey, it's okay. I understand," Aang said quickly. "You had every right to yell at me. You were hurt and sad. I get it."

Tears started streaming down Zuko's face as he thought of his lost love. "I joined this group so that I could have a life with her. A free life with her. I got my freedom, but I lost her in the process." He looked down as the tears started hitting the ground. "I'm so sorry, Mai," he whispered brokenly. Aang awkwardly gave him a hug which he returned, wetting Aang's shoulder with his rapidly falling tears.

"It's not your fault, Zuko," Aang finally said after a few moments of letting Zuko get it out. "She knew what could happen if you guys joined us and she accepted it. You did everything you could." Zuko was silent as he listened to Aang's words, wanting to accept them but not being able to. "I'm sorry that you lost her, but she wouldn't want you to be this way. She would want you to be strong and move on with your life. She would want you to be happy."

Zuko shook his head. "But I don't want to move on with my life. I'm empty inside without her." Aang gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "I don't want to forget her," he whispered sadly.

Aang pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Then don't," he responded simply. "Keep her where she belongs: in your heart. Even if she's gone, she'll always be with you Zuko. And one day, you will see her again." A few moments of silence passed before Zuko trusted himself to speak again.

"Okay," he finally agreed reluctantly before he took a deep breath. "I'll never forget her. For the rest of my life, I'll never stop thinking about her."

Aang smiled a little. "She knows that. And I'm sure she can't wait to see you, too." Zuko smiled with a sniffle and nodded slowly before Aang took a step back. "Come on. How about we go celebrate our victory?"

"I'll be down there in a few minutes," Zuko promised as he looked back into his room. "There's something I need to do first." Aang nodded and walked away, leaving Zuko alone. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to a picture of him and Mai back in high school. "Mai," he said aloud with a shaky breath. "I am so sorry for not being able to save you. I should have been the one who died." There was silence in the room. "But I know that you would want me to live and move on with my life, so I will." He paused and looked at her small smile in the picture. "But I want you to know that I will never forget you for as long as I live." A small breeze went through his hair, making him smile a little as he stared at her picture. "I love you, Mai." The breeze flowed again before it disappeared, making him sigh heavily before he turned around and got some clothes on. Although he knew that it would take a long time before he was really okay, he knew that Mai would always be there for him, and he would never forget her. Taking one last deep breath, he walked out of the room and made his way to the party, feeling a newfound courage for what was next in his life.

The party was going well as everyone talked and ate in the lunchroom. It was an odd mix of happiness and sadness as they remembered all that had happened since the team was formed. Everyone had grown close over the time they had worked together. They were truly a family now as they sat around the table. "Remember the time Toph wouldn't jump down for the air strike?" Sokka joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Toph glared at him. "You really want to do this, Meathead?" Sokka gulped and shook his head quickly. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Toph smirked before she leaned back against her boyfriend.

Aang couldn't help but laugh at their antics. "Are you guys ever going to get along? You've been like this ever since Sokka called you a chicken."

"Maybe if he apologizes," Toph shrugged with an uncaring yawn. "But otherwise, no. No one calls me a chicken and gets away with it."

Sokka couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. "I was trying to get you on the team, so sorry that I wounded your pride."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise as they looked at him. "You actually thought of that?" Aang asked in disbelief. Sokka nodded with a smug smirk. "Wow, I gotta hand it to you, Sokka. That was pretty slick," he laughed as Katara leaned against him and he wrapped her in his arms, making her smile and sigh in contentment.

"Yep, I can be pretty smart sometimes," he responded proudly with a grin. Katara just rolled her eyes and decided to let her brother have a moment. He so rarely got them that she decided to be nice for just this once. "So, how's Zuko holding up?"

"Why don't you ask me that yourself?" Zuko broke in as the elevator doors opened and he walked into the room. The room cheered for him, making him smile as he took the open seat next to Jin. "Thanks guys. I appreciate it."

"Anytime," Aang grinned as Katara snuggled into him. "Are you hungry? We've got twenty fresh pizzas over there on the table."

Zuko's stomach growled at the mention of food, much to his embarrassment as everyone else laughed. "Yeah, I guess I could eat," he admitted sheepishly before he got up to get some food.

"I could go for some food too!" Sokka said excitedly as he bolted up and ran for the table, making everyone once again laugh at him.

Suki looked over at Zuko as he sat back in his seat. "How are you holding up? Do you want to talk about it?"

Zuko shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you though. Aang helped me out of it." He looked over to Aang with a soft smile. "Thank you."

"Hey, what else are friends for?" he grinned as Katara kissed his cheek. Zuko grinned back and dug into his pizza as everyone started chatting again.

"So how's your father liking it as interim Mayor?" Teo wondered as Toph started falling asleep in his arms, making him chuckle.

Sokka stopped eating for a second and laughed. "He's doing a great job, but he much prefers to be a police chief. He says that being Mayor is too boring because of all of the paperwork." The group laughed together as Zuko unwillingly laughed with them, not being able to hold himself back.

"Too bad he can't be our actual Mayor," Haru said as he held Ty Lee's hand. "Then we would never have to worry about him being corrupted."

Aang laughed a little before an idea came to mind. "Well, maybe we can get him there," he thought aloud, taking everyone else by surprise.

"Really?" Katara asked as she looked up at him from his lap.

He nodded slowly in thought. "Yeah… I mean he's already got a great reputation from being a police chief. If he would be okay with it, we could run a campaign for him and make him the Mayor. Then we wouldn't have to worry about corruption for a while."

"That would be interesting to have our dad as a Mayor," Sokka mused as he thought it over. "I guess we could give it a shot and see if he would want to."

Katara thought it over and nodded her agreement. "Yeah, he might be willing to do it. Especially since he won't want to have to go through what happened over the last couple months." Everyone nodded in agreement as the room became quiet, memories of their time flooding over them.

"We've been through so much in such a short time, haven't we?" Suki asked as they all snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, you could say that," Teo agreed as he Toph finally fell asleep against him, making him softly laugh to not wake her.

Aang looked around the room at all of his friends. "It's kind of funny how big our group has gotten," he thought aloud as he looked them each in the face. "At the beginning, I thought I would end up doing everything on my own. I never wanted anyone to get involved because I knew how dangerous it could end up being." He smiled as Katara dug her face into his chest. "But now, I'm glad that you guys are here. I don't think I could have done it without you."

Katara smiled and looked up at him. "And we couldn't have done it without you."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed with a smile. "We wouldn't be where we are without you as our leader. If it wasn't for you, none of this would ever have happened. We might all have been under Ozai's thumb if it wasn't for you."

Zuko looked at Aang with a small smile. "If it wasn't for you, I don't think I would ever have gotten my freedom from my father. I was pretty much planning on spending the rest of my life working for him." He paused and let out a long sigh. "I just wish I had a family to go back to." He became surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jin looking at him with a warm smile.

"We're your family now," she told him with her smile intact. "We'll always be here for you, no matter what. Right guys?" Everyone nodded in agreement as he smiled a little.

"Thanks guys," he said gratefully before he returned his attention to Jin. "And thank you."

Jin smiled and gave him a hug. "No problem," she whispered as he hugged her back. The group gave each other knowing looks, but neither one of them saw what was happening. After a few moments, they pulled away and watched as Aang stood up, much to Katara's disapproval.

"She's right," he grinned as he looked around at the group. "We're a family now. We'll always be there for each other when no one else will. Right?"

"You bet!" Ty Lee said cheerily as Haru laughed and kissed her cheek.

"I don't know about always... " Sokka said before Suki glared at him. He gulped and nodded. "Of course. Always!" Everyone laughed at him before they stood up.

"Come on. How about we go have some fun?" Aang asked them. They all cheered and followed him out as they made their way to the dance floor, ready to celebrate their victory with some fun.

Several hours later, Zuko sat at the top of the rooftop entrance, thinking of his lost love. Even if he knew that he would have to move on with his life, he would never forget her. He never wanted to. She was his everything and he would hold onto her memory for as long as he could.

"Hey."

Whipping around quickly, he was surprised to see Jin standing there with an embarrassed blush. "Oh," he sighed in relief before he sat back down. "It's just you."

She laughed a little and sat down next to him. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

"It's fine,' he assured her as he went back to his thoughts. She wasn't finished, however, and decided to push further. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your fiance."

He let out a long sigh and didn't speak for a moment. "Thanks," he finally replied shortly, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

She knew she shouldn't be bothering him right now, but she could see the pain he was in and couldn't bear to see him like that. Her instincts wouldn't allow her to just leave him alone. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gingerly, not wanting to make him more cross with her.

His eyes looked down at the floor as he pondered what she asked. Zuko had never been one to open himself up to others, least of all to people he barely knew, but something about her made him open up to her as he poured his heart out. "I'm worried," he admitted slowly, reluctantly letting his barriers down.

"Worried?" she asked in confusion.

He nodded slowly. "I'm worried. I know that I won't ever forget her, but I'm worried that I'll forget the little things that I love. I'm worried that I'll forget who she really was."

Jin was silent for a moment. "I think I know what you mean," she admitted, taking him by surprise as he looked at her. "I loved this guy when I was in high school, and I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him." She paused and looked down sadly. "But he ended up dying in a car crash. The last thing he told me over the phone was that he loved me. I'll never forget that day."

"I'm really sorry," Zuko said with sadness and understanding evident in his voice.

"It's okay," she sighed as she looked over at him. "But I went through the same thing as you did. I understand that you're scared you'll forget about certain things, but let me tell you, they'll never go away as long as you think of them."

Zuko was silent for another few moments before he nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I guess that's all we really can do, isn't it?"

"Pretty much," she agreed with a small smile. "But if there's one thing I know, it's that he would have wanted me to move on with my life and be happy." She paused and put her hand on his, making blush a little as he avoided her eyes. "And I'm sure that's what Mai would want for you, too."

Zuko sighed again and nodded slowly. "Yeah, she probably would. But not yet. I need some time to let everything settle down before I try going back out there again."

"Of course," Jin replied with an understanding smile. "Just remember: We'll always be here for you if you ever need us."

He looked at her gratefully. "Thank you. I'm glad I got to talk about this."

She smiled and gave him a hug which he returned, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. "No problem," she murmured as they continued to hug until someone cleared their throat behind them. They turned around quickly to see their friends there.

"What are you guys doing up here?" Sokka asked curiously as he moved to sit next to Zuko. Suki sat next to Sokka with Aang, Katara, and Toph to her left while the rest went to Jin's right.

"Oh we were just talking," Jin said before Zuko could speak up. Not that he was complaining.

"Okay," Sokka shrugged. He looked up at the stars and gasped in amazement. "Wow, the stars sure look beautiful tonight."

Aang looked up and smiled. "They sure do. I've been up here a lot, but I don't think they've ever been this clear before."

Katara leaned against him and let out a content sigh. "I've always loved watching the stars. Even when I was a little girl in the South Pole, the stars were just so bright and captivating."

"Is it easier to see them in the South Pole?" Suki wondered.

"Yeah," Sokka spoke up. "There's so little pollution there, it's like you could reach out and touch them."

Aang smiled as he thought about that. "Maybe we could go down there sometime."

Katara looked up at him in surprise. "Wouldn't you be worried about the city?" she asked curiously.

"I'm always worried about the city," he dismissed her worries. "Besides, now that Ozai's out of the way, the city's going to be back to as it should be. As long at least a few people stay behind, we should be okay."

She smiled and kissed him. "I would love to go. What do you think, Sokka?" she asked as she looked at him.

"That sounds like it could be fun," he pondered as Suki snuggled into him. "What do you think, Suki?"

Suki thought about it for a few moments before she shrugged. "Sure. Why not? It could be fun, and I've always wondered what it was like at the poles."

"It's incredibly cold," Sokka laughed as he saw the expression on her face at his words. "We would have to wear a lot of clothes, but it's absolutely beautiful down there."

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. "I'm not looking forward to the cold, but if you really want to, then I'm okay with it." He smiled and kissed her cheek as they all sat in a comfortable silence.

After a few minutes, Zuko turned to Aang. "Hey Aang?"

Aang looked over to Zuko without moving. "Yeah?"

"I never thanked you for letting me join the group," Zuko started with a small smile as he looked back up to the stars. "So thank you."

Aang became puzzled as he looked at him in surprise. "You want to thank me for that? But-"

"I know," Zuko cut him off, feeling a little sadness return as he thought of his love. "But before I joined your group, I never thought that I would actually have purpose for my life. I thought that I would just end up working for my father until I wasn't of use anymore and he threw me away. What I'm trying to say is, being in this group has given me a purpose that I never thought I would have." He looked at him gratefully. "So thank you for giving me that chance."

Aang grinned and nodded. "Of course. Thank you for helping us. We couldn't have done it without you."

Zuko smiled and nodded before looking back to the stars as Jin scooted imperceptibly closer to him, though he didn't notice. The group fell into a comfortable silence again as they all thought about what had happened over their time together. Even though there had been a lot of bad, there was a lot of good too. Although Aang hated that Katara had to be tortured, he would forever be grateful that he got to save her from the warehouse. He might not have ever met her if Ozai hadn't had her kidnapped, and he didn't want to think about what life would have been like without her. As these thoughts went through his mind, his phone buzzed. Curious, he took it out and his eyes widened as he stared at the screen. Zuko noticed his surprise as he looked at him. "What's wrong, Aang?"

Aang was frozen in shock for another moment before he looked up to him. "I just got a text… from your mother. She's alive."