For the second time in a month, Suki ascended the steps of the Firelord's Palace in Caldera City.
Firelord Zuko, as expected, had been very interested to hear about their arrival. He had immediately sent back a second messenger hawk inviting them back to the Palace, and this time he invited their crews too. Where before they were there to give him information, this time they were here for an enormous event thrown in their honour.
Zuko had called it a "function" on the invitation, but it was just an enormous party, "in honour of the heroes who defeated the Pirate Menace Azula."
Suki was joined by Sokka, Katara and Toph, as well as Mingzhu as she entered the palace, where she was greeted in person by the Firelord, Fire Lady Mai alongside him.
"Hello again!" He greeted them heartily. They bowed formally, a gesture he waved away.
"No need for that. I owe you all a great debt of thanks. You did in three weeks what the Fire Navy failed to do in three years- but don't let them hear us say that. Such an immense achievement deserves an immense party. I invited everyone, so be on your best behaviour."
"I don't know any etiquette!" Sokka protested.
"There's the truth," Katara replied. Sokka glared at her.
"Ha- Ha."
"Don't worry, I know," Toph told him. "If it's anything like Earth Kingdom etiquette I can guide you through it."
"Remember, if all else fails, just smile and wave." Zuko leaned in and told them in a low voice.
"Are all the guests from the Fire Nation?" Suki asked.
Mai only smiled enigmatically. "You will have to wait and see."
"I do not like the sound of that," Sokka muttered under his breath, as they bowed again and moved into the reception area.
They were greeted by a sea of red, and a wave of faces turning towards them.
Sokka raised his hand nervously. Suki knew that they were going to be quite in demand as the heroes of the hour- meaning it was probably going to be a very long night.
Sure enough, the first well-wisher soon sidled up to them.
"Are you the reason we're here then?" A middle aged man with a thin face and a ceremonial military uniform asked.
"We are."
"My name is Admiral Yi, and I'm the overall commander of the Fire Navy. I just wanted to congratulate you on your work, and thank you for returning our flagship to us."
Knowing that either Sokka or Toph might put their foot in it by saying something they shouldn't if she didn't, Suki replied quickly, thanking him for his kind words. She didn't remember much of the rest of the conversation after that; something about respect from one Navy to another, but then she saw Zuko and Mai making their way towards them. They had a third person between them, who Suki did not recognise.
This third person was an air Nomad, who looked to be a few years younger than her, judging by his clothing and the tattoos that ran down his forehead and along his arms. Each culminated in a large blue arrow. He carried a long staff.
Yi was not a fool, and realised that their attention was not on him any more. He turned to see what they were looking at, and chuckled when he saw.
"Ah, of course, I can't compete with them. I'll leave you to the Firelord then. Until we meet again."
With that, the Admiral left just as Zuko and his two companions reached them.
"I have someone special I would like you to meet. He travelled from the Air Temples specially to meet you. Everyone, I am proud to introduce my best friend, Avatar Aang."
Aang looked at them all, and Suki saw his stormy grey eyes sweep over them. He smiled, and bowed.
"Aang, this is Suki, Sokka, Katara, Toph Beifong, and Mingzhu," Zuko finished his introduction. They all bowed in turn.
"Please, no need for that."
"I can see why you're Zuko's friend, he said the same," Sokka said.
"Well, we are both trapped in this world of ceremony, and we both hate it."
"I can see why," Katara said, her eyes fixed on Aang. I've been here in your world for about five minutes and it is already quite boring."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Aang replied.
"Don't worry, there are certain perks," she replied, and didn't notice Sokka turning away muttering "oh spirits," with a disgusted look on his face.
"Anyway, I just have to join everyone else in thanking you all for what you did. Azula was a menace to society and it's good that you stopped her. I know the Avatar is traditionally meant to keep order in the Four Nations but it's too big a job for me to do alone. You've helped me, personally, enormously by doing this too."
"I'm glad to hear it. Anything to be of service to the Avatar," Suki bowed again, casting a pointed look at Katara as she did so.
Just then Zuko looked away, and did a double take.
"Goodness, is that the time? I need to be off now, I have a few announcements to make. I'll see you all in a bit. Look after the Avatar, please, he can't handle the excitement very well."
Aang laughed, and then Zuko was gone.
"So, what's it like being the Avatar?" Katara asked.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be, trust me. I mean sure, I get the wisdom of hundreds of past lives, and the ability to bend all four elements, and a certain status in society, but there's a lot of pressure that comes with all that- and a lot of boring meetings. Sometimes I envy people who can just retire to a farm or something."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because the world needs its avatar, and I can't just stand by when people need my help. That would be selfish."
"Of course, I feel the same," Katara replied.
Just then, Zuko's voice came from behind them, and they turned to see the Firelord standing on a raised platform asking for quiet. He was the Firelord, so he got it.
"Five days ago, I received a messenger hawk from the port of Himiko, on the Southern Coast of our country," he began. "It contained the best news I've heard for quite some time."
He looked directly at them. "Thanks to the heroic actions of the crew of the Earth Navy ship Kyoshi and the Water Tribe privateer Tui, my sister, the pretender to my throne and the pirate who has wrought such misery upon the southern sea, has been brought to justice. My most heartfelt thanks go out to every man and woman who helped bring this about."
"But the job is not done! Azula was not the only pirate to operate in these seas, only the most notorious. They take advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes to take what they want. They, too, must be stopped, and they will be. That is why I have personally authorised the creation of a specialised Anti-Piracy Squadron. For too long, the Fire Nation has neglected its duty in sweeping the seas clean of this menace, but no longer!"
He took another look around the room before continuing. "I have dispatched Messenger hawks to Ba Sing Se and the Poles, inviting the Earth King and the Water Chiefs to another round of peace talks. I did mention what the Tui and the Kyoshi did, as evidence of what happens when the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes work together as opposed to in opposition. And it worked! I am pleased to announce that great progress towards a ceasefire has already taken place, and a meeting to discuss a full peace treaty shall be arranged shortly. At long last, the end of this war is in sight. This is a day we have all worked towards for a long time. But it's not over yet, and so we should not get complacent."
"All of that, though, is in the future. For now, Azula has been dealt with, and peace is on the horizon. Things are looking up, and we shall celebrate this fact tonight. We have the finest food, the best musicians, everything we need, in short, to make this night one to remember. Now, let's get started, shall we?"
With that, the speech ended with a tremendous cheer. One of the loudest cheers came from Aang. Suki couldn't help but notice the naval minister, Yi, didn't cheer, but before long she put it out of her mind. She looked around to find that Sokka had gone from her side; she worried for a second, before she saw a familiar blue uniform and "warrior's wolf-tail" standing over the buffet.
Meanwhile, Aang and Katara had resumed their conversation; Aang was very interested to hear about Katara's naval stories. Because of their decentralised system of government, their reliance on sky-bison for travel and their pacifism, the Air Nomads were the only one of the four nations not to maintain any kind of navy (or any kind of army either, for that matter). Aang was clearly fascinated to know what it was like.
Katara was similarly fascinated by tales of the air temples, and so was Suki; there were four air temples scattered throughout the world and they were so unlike anything she was used to. Plus, Aang was the Avatar, and his Avatar duties had taken him all over the world. He was clearly close friends with the Firelord, and had met all manner of fascinating people. Suki listened with some interest, but it was clear the conversation was just between Aang and Katara, who were focussed on each other.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp blow on her arm. She swivelled, half-expecting to have to fight, but instead only found Toph.
"Hi Toph, are you enjoying your night?"
"I'm enjoying it a lot more now," she said mischievously.
"Why?"
"Sugar Queen is in love."
"Sugar Queen? Where did that come from- You know, never mind. What gave you that idea?"
"Her heartbeat is going absolutely crazy. So is his for that matter. Besides, they're totally focussed on one another. It's quite obvious, really."
"I see," Suki mused, looking at them again.
"I don't," came a very unamused voice from beside her. Suki immediately realised her very poor choice of words.
"Oh, sorry."
"Did I miss anything?" Sokka had returned, his plate piled high with meat.
"Your sister is in love with the Avatar," Toph told him, before Suki could stop her.
"WHAT?"
The meat that Sokka had spent so long collecting went flying as he jerked the plate up in shock.
"Toph! Why did you do that?"
"Not my fault he reacted like that, is it?" Toph replied, laughing.
"Yeah, it is. You told him."
The outburst finally caused Aang and Katara to take their attention away from each other. They looked questioningly at the rest of the group.
Suki waved at them, while Sokka glared at Toph. Eventually, seeing that there was no problem, they returned to their previous conversation.
Sokka muttered something under his breath, and then made his way to Suki and whispered in her ear.
"Why don't we find somewhere private?"
Suki looked around. Made sure nobody else was watching. Then she turned back to face him.
"Yeah, alright then."
This would be the first time they were entirely alone together since their time in Azula's prison, and their first since their true feelings for each other had been revealed on the deck of the Firelord's flagship.
"Besides, my sister is clearly getting a little too comfortable with the Avatar already."
"Is that a problem?"
"No- she's her own person and free to do as she likes, and the Avatar seems a perfectly nice man. I just don't want to watch."
"And how is that different from what we're doing now?" She challenged him.
"We're not going to do it in public this time."
Despite herself, Suki blushed, remembering their first kiss, which had been in full view of the entire crew.
By now they had managed to duck away from the crowd and were making their way through the palace, looking for a dark room where they could be alone. Eventually, they found one, and went inside.
They wasted no time in kissing very passionately, and Suki was just getting into it when-
"Wait! Do you hear that?" Sokka whispered, breaking away from her suddenly.
Sure enough, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor.
Suki frantically motioned for Sokka to be quiet, earning a silent gesture along the lines of "yes, I'm doing that" back. They were on the verge of getting into a full silent argument when the footsteps stopped, just outside the door.
"Sokka? Suki? Can I come in?" Firelord Zuko's voice came from the other side of the door.
They looked at each other with resignation.
"Yes!"
"Good." The door opened and Zuko stepped through.
"Firelord! What are you doing here?" Sokka asked.
"Can't a man enjoy a stroll in his own house these days? Even if he is the Firelord?" Zuko chuckled, firing a small flame into one of the lamps, igniting it.
"But seriously, I have something I want to discuss with you."
"Go on," Sokka told him. "It's not like we were busy or anything..."
If Zuko picked up on the sarcasm in his voice, he didn't show it.
"Earlier, during my big speech, did you hear me mention my plan to set up an anti-piracy squadron?"
They both nodded.
"Good, but there's one detail I neglected to include in that speech," Zuko told them.
"I don't want it to just be made up of Fire Navy ships. Piracy can only be truly dealt with by all nations working together."
"What does this have to do with us?"
"Well, if we are to take this threat seriously then I obviously only want the best for my new squadron," Zuko said. "And taking down my sister surely qualifies someone as 'the best.'"
"You want us?"
"Of course! I've already formally requested your secondment from your admirals, and they accepted. Of course, I may have forgotten to inform the Earth navy that you would be working with the water tribes, and vice versa... that information should probably wait until the peace."
"Why?"
"Like I said, I want the best and that's you. Besides, from your point of view, I would imagine you two would want the opportunity to fight on the same side more often?"
He had a point.
"Alright, I'm interested," Suki said.
"As am I."
"Now, don't get me wrong," Zuko became stern for a second. "A lot of resources are going into this, so don't just think this is an opportunity for you to go gallivanting around the southern sea together canoodling."
The sternness didn't last long as a smile returned to his face.
But, as long as you do your jobs properly, and I have every confidence that you will, there will be plenty of time for that too."
He made to leave.
"Anyway, I've probably imposed on you enough for one night. I'll leave you to, well, enjoy yourselves."
He gave them a little awkward wave, and then left, snapping his fingers as he left. Immediately, the lamp he had lit extinguished itself, plunging the room back into darkness.
"Looks like we're officially on the same side now," Sokka's voice said happily.
"I like us being on the same side," Suki replied.
"I just like us."
With that, they kissed again, and didn't come up for air for a very long time.
Author's Note: Well, it's done. And just in time for Christmas too! Thanks to all who read, favourited, reviewed orfollowed, but a special thanks to DisneyFreak010 for their most enthusiastic reviews. I feel this story stands on its own quite well but I would not be opposed to doing some kind of sequel in the future, if I can think of a good enoughstoryline. Thanks again!