We ended up spending a number of days with my family and troupe, completely losing track of time until Aang suddenly announced that it was time for them to go, that they had commitments to take care of and the Earth King would soon be returning to the throne and needed help keeping the peace. I was startled at first, having completely forgotten about all that and as I watched the others pack up and climb aboard Appa I stayed put for a moment, wondering what to do. "You'll be staying here, right Kayo? We'll make sure to tell Iroh, he'll understand." Katara said to me kindly, though I couldn't help but feel a little reluctant.

Part of me wanted to go, knowing that there was still a lot of work that needed to be done calming everyone down now that the war was over. There was still a lot of tension, especially in the colonies, and not enough people to go deal with every single fight and riot that popped up. Additionally, there was so much that needed to be rebuilt, and I wanted to go to the Southern Water Tribe to be a part of that, but I also didn't want to leave my parents now that we had finally found each other.

"Yeah, we'll be sure to drop by on our way back, or we'll see you around somewhere." Sokka said as he hopped up Appa's tail with Suki's help.

"But I…" Now I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, feeling obligated to stay and make up for lost time with my family, but I also wanted to continue having these amazing adventures with all my friends and do my part for the world. I'd made the commitment to join them, isn't quitting now a little selfish? My friends blinked, seemingly surprised that I would hesitate at all so Zuko stepped forwards.

"There's always a place for you in the Fire Nation. I'd be glad for your help maintaining the peace and your advice has always been invaluable to me. Come whenever you're ready, if you want to." That was great and all, but still…why am I hesitating to stay? I looked back at my parents, seeing them standing with my dad's arm around my mom as she fiddled with her new betrothal necklace that he had carved for her. They looked at me, glanced at each other before coming forwards and placing a hand each on my shoulder.

"You should go with your friends, Kayo." Dad said to me, giving my shoulder a firm squeeze of reassurance. "It's where you need to be."

"But we only just found each other. I don't want to lose you guys again."

"You won't, dearest." Stroking at my hair, mom gave me a hug and kissed my face tenderly as I sniffled. "Your father and I are going to stay a little while longer until things have settled along the coast, then we're going to the South Pole in order to return to his tribe. You'll be able to find us there waiting for you, whenever you're ready to come home."

"Home? Is that where we're going to live now? Mom, it's really cold down south, will you be okay?" Laughing at my concern, mom promised that she would be fine as she had her fire bending to keep herself warm. "But that means…you're leaving the troupe?"

"Don't worry Kayo, you can always come back and visit us!" The troupe all promised me, grinning. "We're planning on going to Ba Sing Se eventually to set up our own dance school there, and you're always welcome to come and perform or help us train new dancers, benders and non-benders alike. We wanted to start an all elemental dance group." It sounded amazing and I felt a little more settled, looking back at my parents who both hugged me together.

"We understand that you want to continue with the task you've begun, it's not like our family to ever leave something unfinished. I'm proud of you Kayo, so proud." Dad told me and I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of his voice as I was engulfed in their arms. "We've found each other, and we're never going to be truly parted again, but we don't want to tie you down to our sides when you're still so young and should be out there experiencing life to the fullest. Just make sure to look in on your old man every now and again." He joked, ruffling my hair so I nodded.

"I'll come home soon. I love you guys, so much."

"We love you too." Embracing once more, my parents then let me go in order to allow me to roam freely, turning around with a grin to rush to my friends and I launched myself at them, hugging them all together as Sokka sniffed up on Appa, wiping away a tear.

"That was just beautiful."

"Sokka, you're not crying are you?"

"No! I just got dust in my eye. Lots and lots of dust." He protested, making us laugh as he pouted and turned over so that none of us could see his face. I hugged and said goodbye to all of my troupe, thanking them for everything before I ran back to Zuko who smiled and cupped his hands, allowing me to put my foot into the hold where he boosted me up onto Appa with enough lift that I could somersault, landing lightly on his back.

"Goodbye! I'll miss you all, but I'll see you again soon!" I promised and waved, everyone else joining in.

"Thank you for everything! We had a great time with you all!"

"See you around, take care!" Aang looked back at me, waiting for me to give a nod to signal that I was ready and only then did he ask Appa to take off. Momo chittered as he flew up to join us, having stolen a couple of fruits to eat as a snack as he landed in my lap and hoarded his prize. I continued to look over the side of the saddle, watching as everybody ran below waving and my parents stood together, looking so utterly happy that I didn't even feel a little regretful to be going again so soon. They'd found each other and they were as much in love as they were when they first met. They won't be lonely with each other beside them, so I could allow myself the comfort of knowing that my mother wouldn't miss me too much whilst I was gone.

"What a crazy couple of days. Kayo found her family, met her dad and we had an epic battle with pirates!" Katara breathed as she lay back for a moment to take it all in. "You must be feeling the most overwhelmed, are you sure you're okay leaving so soon?"

"My dad was right, now that I've gotten a taste for what the world is like, I can't help but want to see more. Besides, there's a lot that we have to do in order to help restore balance, even with Ozai defeated. I'm going to be there to help you all make peace, because there's no way I'm letting you all have all the fun without me. I know where my parents are now, and where they're going to be, so I can always go back to them whenever I'm ready."

"That's great, we're really glad you came with us." Katara told me as she moved over and gave me a hug. "We're your family too, so you won't ever be lonely or sad so long as we're here."

"That's right. Besides, if you left, who's going to cook all those delicious meals you make?" Toph reasoned, making Sokka cry out in fear.

"I totally forgot! If you left, who's going to supply me with meat?"

"Uh…you could always go get your own meat Sokka." I looked at him then rolled my eyes with a laugh. "But it's nice to know I'm appreciated, even if it's just for my food."

"It's more than that." Zuko spoke up, reaching over and placing his hand over mine between us as we sat side by side. "It wouldn't be the same without you. I'm glad you're here, and I know uncle will be looking forward to seeing you too." Feeling his hand on mine my cheeks naturally grew warm, the both of us seemingly realising at the same time that we were holding hands and quickly pulled apart and turned away, hiding our faces and Katara smirked knowingly at me, so I silently begged her not to say a word.

"Alright people, next stop, Ba Sing Se! Appa yip-yip!" Aang called out and Appa growled in answer, flapping his tail and soaring through the skies. I must admit, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this way of travelling the world. When we got to the great city's upper ring we landed in front of Iroh's teashop where he was busy brewing away where I quickly ran inside.

"Uncle Iroh!"

"Little Kayo! It is so good to see you again." He greeted as I hugged him around his belly and grinned at him, the both of us embracing before I took the teapot off him.

"Let me handle that, you should take a break." I told him as Zuko entered, relaxing with a smile when he saw his uncle and the two immediately went to one another in order to embrace. It was a heartfelt moment and I watched them both lovingly before I took over the tea, serving the customers and getting a fresh pot for everyone else to relax for a while. It was close to closing time so Katara, Suki and Aang helped me to quickly clean up where Iroh then led us to his new home, where we all took the time to refresh ourselves and rest.

I talked with Iroh for hours, telling him all about my dad and mom as well as facing the pirates and he listened with a smile before telling me that he was glad I had finally found my way home. "You did not have to leave them so soon you know, little Kayo."

"I know, but they were okay with it and I knew I needed to be here. There's still a lot that needs to be done around here." I said to him as we played Pai Sho together. The girls were all getting changed into Earth Kingdom dresses and both Sokka and Zuko also changed their clothes in favour of something other than their travelling gear. It was peaceful and a perfect evening as we finished our game where I finally defeated Iroh, victorious over the master which made him laugh and congratulate me on blossoming into such a wise and splendid young woman. After that I went to make us all some more tea which Zuko handed out to everyone as Uncle Iroh played the sungi horn to create a tranquil ambience.

All of us were content to do our own thing, though Sokka was sat at a table with a brush and ink in his hand, scrawling away quite happily until he looked up and berated Zuko. "Zuko, stop moving! I'm trying to capture the moment." He announced which made everybody look up at him. "I wanted to do a painting, so we always remember the good times together." Returning to his work, Katara walked on over to him to take a look as she spoke.

"That's very thoughtful of you Sokka." She started, but when she took a good look at the painting, her face dropped and she quickly pointed. "Wait, why did you give me Momo's ears?"

"Those are your hair loopies." Now curious, I walked on over as Zuko and Suki did the same to see the result of Sokka's hard work only to find a rather childish scrawl of people's outlines which were both exaggerated and not exactly realistic.

"At least you don't look like a boar-cupine. My hair's not that spiky!" I giggled at Zuko's presentation, thinking that actually, it suited him quite well before I looked at me.

"Why do I have a tail coming out of my head?"

"It's not a tail, it's your braid when you have that weird bun thing undone." I frowned, tilting my head to try and see it. Also, why did Sokka think my hair was weird?

"And why did you paint me fire bending?" Suki questioned, seeing her character was the one holding the fan but also shooting out a jet of flames. As I leaned over the table to get a good look at everybody in Sokka's painting, I had to admit I thought that Toph looked the best and most accurate, with a toothy grin which looked rather evil and threatening. It was just like her.

"I thought it looked more exciting that way." Just then Momo jumped onto the table right next to me, forcing me to pull back slightly and Zuko naturally put his hand around my back and pulled my shoulder gently to draw me away as Momo urgently chittered and squawked, hopping up and down as Sokka gave him a look. "Oh, you think you can do a better job, Momo?" At that moment Aang got up in order to go outside for some fresh air, making me glance his way before Iroh arrived to see what everyone was looking at before his balked.

"Hey, my belly's not that big anymore, I've really trimmed down."

"Well, I think you all look perfect!" Lifting her hands up, Toph's joke earned a round of laughter as I unthinkingly started to lean against Zuko, his arm still around me as we all stood around Sokka and his painting. Although the execution may not be perfect, the idea was sweet. Katara left us in order to follow Aang outside and I couldn't help but smile after them, getting the feeling that they were coming to realise their mutual feelings for one another. It was easy to see, and I was happy for them both. It was really rather romantic, if you think about, since Aang ended up falling in love with the first girl he sees after being asleep for a hundred years. It's almost like a fairy tale.

As the ambiance of the evening continued to linger even in the quiet hum of dusk, I closed my eye and just immersed myself in the sounds and feelings of being together with everyone, who I had grown to love and cherish like my own family, all the while resting against the guy who made my heart race and my mind melt until there was nothing more than a knot of feelings which I was steadily beginning to untangle and understand the more I allowed them to straighten.