"Bosco!" I cheered, throwing my arms wide as the bear stood up and growled happily when he saw me, lumbering over from the Earth King's side in order to stand up on his hind legs so I could hug him around the middle. We'd become rather friendly when he'd come back with King Kuei after travelling the Earth Kingdom together. He was a cute and fluffy animal after all, so we got along famously. Giggling softly as Bosco snuffled at my hair, King Kuei smiled, at ease to see his pet so comfortable with us. The ministers looked alarmed by such a big animal, but I knew Bosco was a total softy and happily scratched his neck and back for him.

"Welcome! Please join me, Fire Lord Zuko. Everyone, enjoy this banquet which we hold in honour of our guests. To peace and prosperity." Everyone answered in kind, raising their drinks and toasting as Zuko joined the king who sat at the table in front of his throne, which had several seats available made ready for Zuko and several others. I'm guessing one of them was for Aang, some advisors and such. I looked around until I saw Iroh, who had also been invited as a guest and quickly made my way to him, giving him a hug in greeting.

"You look ravishing, little Kayo. So grown up like a young lady. I feel very proud." Iroh said to me truthfully as he admired my gown and the gold flower ornaments in my hair.

"Well, I have some very skilled hairstylists and artists for this." I shrugged, lifting my hands to look at myself. "Though I don't really feel like myself. Honestly I'd much rather be drinking your special home brew playing Pai Sho with my favourite opponent."

"Another time, when there are not other responsibilities and obligations awaiting us." Iroh nodded in gesture to the top table where King Kuei and Zuko sat with Aang and several others. "How is my nephew? These last few months must have been challenging for you both."

"That's one way of putting it." I sighed, shoulders slumping under the weight of it all. "But I wouldn't have it any other way. Zuko doesn't see it, but he's doing a great job just as he is. He's under a lot of pressure and he's stressed, but so far nothing's really gone wrong. He visits his father about once a month, asking about his mother but Ozai still won't talk. I think that's getting to him a bit."

"Hm, my brother is unlikely to willingly give up any information he might know. He knows it is the only leverage he has over Zuko, and once he gives it away, he will no longer have any use." Shrugging slightly, I wondered if I should try rattling it out of Ozai by force. "My nephew is lucky to have you beside him, Kayo. I am grateful for all you do for him."

"It's not so bad. I mean, I get to live in the palace, eat all the food I want, take naps when I'm not in a meeting or running errands, plus I get paid. I'm living the dream really." Though, I will admit I do miss dancing. Part of my had already planned that the first vacation chance I get, I'm going to go travelling with nothing but a bag slung over my shoulder and dance through every town and village I go through. Seemingly knowing what I was thinking, Iroh rubbed my head before suggesting we take our seats. "You go ahead, I have something I need to do first. We'll talk more after and I'll be sure to bring Zuko to visit the teashop before we leave."

Breaking away from Iroh I signalled Katara who quickly kissed Aang's cheek before hurrying to join me, where we left to go and get ready with the troupe who were preparing for the performance. The throne room had been especially prepared for the show, so all we had to do was get changed into our Water Tribe styled outfits which showed off our midriffs, arms, and legs through the skirt slits with knee length skin tight pants underneath. We were excited to get started, so as we stood in the ground chamber underneath the throne room, our earth benders pushed us up and opened the floor so that we all rose up on an elevated podium, revealing ourselves to the audience.

Katara and I stood with our ankles crossed in the air, one arm curled in front of our waist and the other arcing upwards, holding the pose until the music started. We danced slowly and elegantly, mimicking the flow of water as the earth benders and fire benders all danced around us with powerful kicks and flicks. Katara and I stayed in the inner ring, circling one another with our wrists interlocked before turning and leading ourselves forwards. It was amazing to be dancing with the troupe again, smiling at familiar faces as Sorna and Seyla both leaped after being propelled from an earth podium each and somersaulted before bringing their heels down with a fiery kick. Everything went just as we'd rehearsed, moving towards the finale which had our audience completely captivated. The three element dragons were a huge hit, and when we finished with our swimming fish along with everyone else's finish, the audience all rose to their feet and applauded for the show, King Kuei and Bosco especially animated by the display.

They were both clapping speedily as we all bowed to our honourable hosts before the podium was lowered and we were brought back down to the underground caves, Katara and I squealing as we launched at one another to embrace. "We did it! That was amazing, I can't believe I did all that, I thought I was never going to keep up with you."

"For a beginner you were amazing. I'll make a Golden Dragon Bird performer of you yet." Beaming, well shared in a swift congratulations before the others had to return in order to continue entertaining the guests whilst the banquet continued, so Katara and I hurried to change back into our formal gowns before heading back up to the throne room where everybody was waiting for us.

"You were amazing Katara, and I thought you said you didn't know how to dance." Aang said as he stood up, completely besotted as Katara blushed.

"Well, I had a good teacher." She gestured towards me so I grinned, slinging my arm across her shoulders to pull her in close.

"A master is only successful if the student is diligent. Perhaps you and I should tour, I think we could make quite the name for ourselves. 'The Two Beauties of the South'! I think I can roll with something like that." Laughing at my playfulness, I let Katara go so that she could sit between her boyfriend and her brother whilst a seat had been kept for me next to Iroh, who was on the left hand side of Zuko who was sat beside the king. "Your majesty." I bowed respectfully as I passed, giving a smile at the bear. "Bosco." He growled and patted his paws together in a clapping motion. "I'm glad you enjoyed the show."

"It was marvellous, quite the surprise from such a new group. When the Avatar recommended these performers to me for tonight's banquet, I was uncertain that such a new group would be up to the task, but I am glad to see that my trust in Avatar Aang was not misjudged, but how was it that you came to perform with them, Miss Kayo?"

"Those performers are my family, your majesty. I was raised by them with my mother, who used to be the star dancer in the troupe. I requested that we allow to perform especially for you as a token of our goodwill and hope for a longstanding relationship between our nations." I explained to him with another bow, feeling perfectly at ease conversing with such a notable figure as a king. Mostly because he and I had talked before, first when we'd fled Ba Sing Se after it was taken, and then again after he returned to his throne. "It was a surprise for you and Bosco, your highness."

"Well, Bosco and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. We will be sure to request your family's presence again the next time we have a banquet." He assured me so I smiled, grateful that everything had gone as planned so far.

"It would be an honour." With a final bow I also turned to Zuko in order to pay my respects to him for the sake of imagine. "Fire Lord Zuko." Then I straightened up and walked around the long table in order to take the seat beside Iroh, however as I reached him he scooted across in order to offer me the seat he had been occupying.

"I kept your chair warm for you, little Kayo. Have something to drink and eat, you must be tired after your performance."

"Oh…okay." A little confused as to why he moved, I sat down next to Zuko who was meditating whilst sitting, eyes closed and listening to the world around him, however when I sat down his head tilted slightly towards me.

"It's been a while since I saw you dance like that." Humming softly in agreement, I turned away the offer of wine from the server and accepted tea instead. "Thank you for doing it."

"I'm your to command, my lord." I joked with a chuckle before I sipped at the tea then scrutinised it with a frown, arching an eyebrow at the taste. This was the best the royal had to offer? I was actually a little disappointed.

"I know, it's not the same as uncle's." Zuko agreed, seeing the expression on my face as I held my tea.

"I think you've raised us to have too high a standard for tea, Uncle Iroh." I mused as I looked across to him. "Even royal tea doesn't taste quite right." He chuckled richly at that, telling me that there was no such thing as too high a standard for tea before explaining that the royal palace must use teapots which are expensive and ornate but dull the flavour and fragrance if not boiled properly. King Kuei caught onto the conversation and expressed an interest in our tea preferences, attempting to make small talk but in the end, we spent more than an hour talking about tea and how to properly brew it.

"Fascinating. I never knew there was such a process to making tea before. Whenever I order for tea, it just appears in my hand." He said, frowning as he looked at his palm. "You will have to make tea for me sometime, General Iroh. To hear it being so highly praised, I cannot help but be curious."

"It would be an honour, your majesty." He bowed acceptingly as I lowered my voice to murmur to Zuko under my breath.

"At least this time it'll be the real Earth King we serve and not your sister." He smirked slightly, trying to remain reserved and dignified but I didn't exactly help as I took every opportunity to be sarcastic and make jokes which Zuko struggled to hold firm against. All in all the banquet was a success, paving the way for a comfortable negotiation the next day where all the ministers, leaders and honoured guests gathered. However, to get straight to the point we first had a meeting with just Zuko, King Kuei, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and myself.

We met him in the throne room a while before the real meeting was scheduled to take place, where a map had been set up signifying all the colonies along the Earth Kingdom border. "Wow, I never realised the Fire Nation had built so many colonies in the Earth Kingdom." Aang said as he touched the map, his finger following the coast where the majority of the colonies had been built.

"Yes. For the Earth people, they're a constant reminder of the war, like a scar." King Kuei said without thinking as I played with Bosco and Momo, keeping them entertained whilst also listening to the meeting. Suddenly realising what he said, King Kuei hastened to correct himself. "Oh…uh…Fire Lord Zuko, I meant nothing personal!"

"No, Earth King Kuei, you're right." Zuko answered, sounding as grave as usual. "After all the pain my father caused, it's my duty to bring healing to the world. I'll remove the colonies. I'll do whatever it takes." It's not as easy as it sounds, it's going to take a while to get to everyone and also persuade them to leave.

"But removing the colonies won't be easy." Aang supplied and I smiled to myself, glad that he was on the ball. "A lot of people's lives are going to be disrupted, so we need someone to oversee everything and make sure it all goes peacefully. Someone like me." He volunteered himself as I threw the ball I had across the throne room for Momo and Bosco to fetch.

"Really? You'd want to do that?" Zuko smirked at Aang who grinned back at him.

"Yeah! I'm the Avatar, so making things go peacefully is kind of my thing."

"Wonderful!" King Kuei cheered with a clap of his hands. "The Avatar's involvement will give the entire process an air of hope." I couldn't help but laugh, making people look at me strangely.

"I'm sorry, King Kuei, it's just you made a great pun. An air of hope? You know, since Aang is an air bender…" No one other than Sokka laughed, finding it hilarious so I shrugged. "At least Sokka and I have a sense of humour."

"Sokka and I can help." Katara then offered, drawing back to the focus at hand.

"Aw, I was gonna visit Kyoshi Island!" Was he missing Suki? Poor guy. Deliberating on what to call the movement, King Kuei wondered out loud, muttering about it being a movement for harmony, so Sokka popped up with an answer, shouting a little too loudly for comfort. "The Harmony Restoration Movement!" Only Kuei liked it, Toph folding her arms at Sokka, unimpressed.

"What's with you and your goofy names for everything?"

"It's a gift." Well, it was something, I'll give him that. With the idea now in place, it formed the foundation of the meeting between our nations to discuss how best begin returning Fire Nation colonials back to the Fire Nation. Aang stood up first, being the one to lead the negotiations and act as mediator between our two nations who sat opposite one another along the table which had been prepared in the council chambers.

"We all know why we're here today, and I want to thank everybody for their attendance and dedication to this movement. Our goal is to begin the healing process to recover from the effects of the war, and to restore the harmony between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation." Solid start Aang, great job. I felt so proud of him like he were my little brother presenting his first school project to the class.

"The Fire Nation has long been occupying Earth Kingdom territories. The first order of business should be to discuss how we are going to relocate your citizens back to the Fire Nation." One of King Kuei's ministers began, facing Zuko who faced him calmly.

"I agree, however we can't just uproot so many people all at once. They should be given time to prepare and gather their belongings and be assured that they have a place to return to, with a roof over their heads and the means to return to a normal life." Zuko discussed, raising some excellent points that we had discussed previously. "We have already begun making room for all the colonials, but we need more time."

"This is reasonable." King Kuei mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "After all, there are a great number of people who will need to move, but what if they are not willing?" That was a little trickier to answer. There was a slight hesitation of silence, everybody pausing to answer so I took up the reins and continued in order to keep the discussion moving forward.

"So long as we can promise a safe and suitable environment and home for our people to return to, with plenty of space for their family and a means to support themselves upon their return, they will comply with the order that all colonies will be evacuated." I informed everyone confidently, knowing that even if I wasn't too sure of this being the case, I needed to sound like everything was going to go to plan so that an argument wouldn't break out from uncertainty. "Of course, we should consider that some might not wish to leave due to personal reasons. Perhaps they are unable to withstand the journey, or were born in the colonies and have never left. I wish to put forward the motion for the possibility of the Earth Kingdom adopting those who wish to remain into their own nation."

Some of Zuko's ministers rejected the idea outright but Zuko lifted his hand to silence them as Kuei blinked to me in surprise then listened to the counsel of his advisors before answering. "This is an unprecedented motion, the nations have always been separate until now, but never has one moved from one nation to another by choice."

"King Kuei is right Kayo. The Fire Nation do not belong in the Earth Kingdom." Aang agreed as he looked at me seriously.

"I understand that, but there may be families who are made up of both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens. Take me. My mother is a fire bender and my father from the Southern Water tribe. You could not be more opposite if you tried, but they live together peacefully in the south. I am not saying that the colonies should remain, just certain families so that they do not have to be separated from one another. Please give it some thought, your majesty." Standing up in order to bow at the king to show that I meant no disrespect, he nodded his head and promised to consider it before we moved on.

The meeting took hours, deliberating on hundreds of tiny details and I struggled not to yawn throughout, soon becoming bored. I gave my opinions when they were asked for, Zuko listening to all of his advisors equally, though it was harder when even we didn't agree with one another. All in all, we accomplished very little in a very long time, so in the end we chose to adjourn until the next day so that we could rest and come back tomorrow with fresh eyes. Toph had already fallen asleep so Sokka carried her away to rest whilst Aang stayed with Zuko in order to talk together properly, so I went off with Katara to take a walk in the gardens, Momo and Appa following us to stretch their legs.

"Do you really think that your people will leave their homes willingly?" Katara asked me as we walked together, both of us feeding Momo treats as I had already filled Appa up on watermelons.

"Not at all." I answered truthfully, glad to finally be able to speak what was actually on my mind. "Why would they? To them that's their home. Would you leave your home just because someone says that you don't belong there anymore?" I reasoned and Katara shook her head, starting to frown with worry.

"I understand what you were saying about families being from both nations. I've met a few already, there was even some twins and one was an earth bender and the other was a fire bender. It's going to be difficult trying to find the right path for everyone." She sighed heavily. "King Kuei is adamant that all Fire Nation colonials must leave. I think he's worried about the riots and demonstrations, some got pretty violent and Aang had to step in as the Avatar to help."

"We've had similar problems in the Fire Nation. There are still a lot of Ozai supporters we can't pin down. They haven't tried anything yet, but Zuko tightened security at the prison holding Ozai and there are protestors saying that we own the land we occupy in the Earth Kingdom and we shouldn't give it up." Pinching the bridge of my nose as I stroked Momo's head with my other hand, I felt a slight sting in my head from the stress. "They call Zuko weak and a coward. I try to limit the spread but some of it got to Zuko and he was visibly upset when he heard. He doesn't want to disappoint his people, but he knows he can't allow things to go back to the way they were."

"Things have changed too much to go back to how they were, even before the war. There's only three nations now, and the world won't be balanced again until people start understanding that they need to live together in harmony." We stopped for a moment to just consider all the weight of the world pressing down on us until Appa growled and nudged us from behind, as if to offer comfort and encouragement. "Thanks Appa. Maybe we should go flying for a while. Clearing my head sounds like a good idea."

"I agree." Getting up onto Appa's back, Momo landed on my shoulder to join us as Katara guided Appa up into the air so that we could surf among the stars, letting him take the lead so that we could lay down on his back and just stargaze whilst flying. "You know, there is something good about all this." I began to say, a thought having occurred to me.

"What is it?"

"From now on, entire generations of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe children will grow up never knowing war." Her eyes widened at the realisation before softening as I turned my head to look at Katara. "The war will just be a part of history to them, and if we teach these kids not to carry on the scars and grudges of before, they won't know any prejudice or hate towards the Fire Nation. They won't lose their loved ones, be separated from their families or live in terror of invasion. They'll grow up peacefully, safe and happy in the new world we're trying to build for them."

"That's amazing, I hadn't even stopped to consider that. I've been so focused on helping Aang keep things from getting out of control, I forgot that the war really was over."

"Maybe…we need to celebrate that." I suggested, looking back at the stars. "We need to all celebrate that the world is entering a new age, and that there is no longer any war. People need to laugh, sing and dance and feast to truly celebrate the future, and all nations need to do it together. I think that would be a good thing."

"You're right. We should tell Aang, Toph and Sokka about this. If we all present the idea together, then the Earth King and Zuko might actually consider it. We can make it into a festival, something that everybody can get involved with. There should be parades and fireworks, more food than you could ever eat as well as games, performers and everything you could ever imagine." Katara breathed as she spread out her hands to picture it in her mind. "If it's a festival celebrated all over the world, then everyone will feel connected."

"And we could have ships fly over the Earth Kingdom dropping posters and confetti to announce the festival. It could be an annual thing."

"Where would the Earth Kingdom get airships from?"

"Oh I already talked to Zuko, one of our gifts was the schematics for airships and we gifted a few to King Kuei, though we changed the insignia to the Earth Kingdom one so that people wouldn't panic." I explained to her and she smiled.

"You're really good at this. Advising. You always did seem to have an answer for everything and were great at breaking up fights. It's like you knew everyone so well you knew what they were thinking and why we did things the way we did."

"That's part of it. Performing for so many years, I got used to reading people since we travelled a lot. You get pretty aware of your surroundings. Besides, the fights I broke up were mostly between you and Sokka getting on each other's nerves. Well, Sokka on your nerves, but that's just siblings for you." She giggled, recalling some of the ridiculous arguments they would begin to fight and argue over until I'd push them away from each other and mediate when Aang became too afraid of Katara's wrath to step in.

"I'm really glad you chose to come with us that day in Ba Sing Se."

"Me too. You, Toph and Suki are like sisters to me, I wouldn't have that if I hadn't gone with you. Aang's like my little brother, and Sokka is like my brother that I pretend isn't related to me because he's such a goofball." Again Katara laughed at my joke and I chuckled too. "But in all seriousness, I love Sokka like a brother too. Sometimes after you guys had all gone to bed and I couldn't sleep for one reason or another, usually because I missed my mom, he'd stay up with me and tell me stories about when you were both kids and made up jokes until I laughed."

"Sokka really did that?"

"Yeah, he asked me not to tell you though." Turning over onto my side I reached my hand towards Katara who did the same, weaving our fingers together as we lay close side by side. "I miss us all being together."

"Me too. Part of me wishes things would go back to the way they were before." She agreed as Momo flew down from where he'd been chasing clouds and snuggled between us, purring sleepily. "We should go back to the South Pole together soon. I miss Gran-Gran, and I want to help rebuild our village. I know Sokka wants to go too, but he keeps quiet about it."

"My mom and dad are there as well. I even met all my uncles last time I visited. There's a lot of people there now, most of them from the north. My Uncle Kormak has started dating this nice lady who came down with the others to help rebuild. They were all so happy to meet me, being the only kid in the next generation so far, though I think I might be getting some cousins in a few years."

"I guess maybe we're too focused on the negatives. There's a lot of good things happening in the world all around us too, but we're just not paying attention." Katara mused thoughtfully and I smiled sleepily, starting to feel the long day catch up with me. "Everything will work out just fine, after all, we're all working towards the same goal, it's just not going to happen in a day."

"True, it's going to take a long time. Years probably, but we'll get there." I agreed until slowly, we both fell asleep with our hands still woven together. Appa sensed us fall asleep so returned to Ba Sing Se, landing in the gardens softly then lay down as Zuko, Sokka and Aang came to investigate, where they found us curled up together with Momo, having fallen asleep among the stars.