It was raining when the sky bison landed on the beach of Kyoshi Island. Azula raised an arm to shield her eyes against the incoming droplets, while reaching back with her other hand to pull up the hood of her traveling coat. The rain might not be coming down too hard yet, but it had been steadily increasing during the past ten minutes or so, and showed no sign of letting up. Wouldn't be surprised if it started pouring soon.

As Azula stood up in the bison's saddle, the airbender next to her sat back and eased a tired sigh. "Alright, here we are."

"Yes, thank you, Jinora." Azula turned to her other side to pick up Kanna into her arms, and with one swift movement she leaped down into the sand of the beach, landing nimbly on her feet. "Feel free to leave now. I know you need to get back to your family, or whatever."

Jinora leaned in close against the edge of the saddle, looking down at the other woman with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't want me to wait?"

She nodded. "We'll be fine. I'm sure I can find another way back."

"Well, alright then. Good luck." Jinora gave a parting wave, and pulled back on the bison's reigns. "Come on, Pepper. Let's go."

Once Jinora and her bison were gone, Azula led Kanna up the path from the beach, a path that winded through trees and dense brush. The walk wasn't long, soon arriving at the entrance of a small village. Despite its small size, the village was more active than she'd expected. Children ran to and fro, chasing after each other and playing, while their parents ran behind them trying to reign them in. She spotted customers shopping in the outdoor market, some of them stopping to chat with several carpenters working on repairing damaged buildings. Outside the central village dojo, a group of Kyoshi warriors stepped through various training forms. Only eighteen hours since Sen had been defeated, and yet this tiny little village went along as though nothing had happened.

Perhaps that made sense. Doubtful these people had put up much of a fight against the dark spirit that had attacked them, even with their Kyoshi Warriors. Sen most likely hadn't been the size of a skyscraper then, either. Aside from their initial confusion waking up with their essences returned to them, there wouldn't have been much for them to do except get back to their lives as normal. How nice that must have been, to have that kind of simplicity in their lives.

Azula asked around for nearly an hour, questioning every person she came across if any of them had seen Anraq. No one knew the name, and her descriptions of him didn't help either. Annie had only been staying here a short time, and despite probably being the only Water Tribe native to spend any length of time on the island in the past few decades, no one could recall much about him. One of the market vendors thought she might have seen him once, but didn't pay him much attention. The Kyoshi Warriors knew the most about him, having seen him quite a few times when he'd brought Kanna by to watch their training sessions, but none of them had seen him since they'd awoken. He might as well have vanished completely from the island.

The longer her questioning continued, the more Azula's mind raced. What if Annie had been too injured when his essence was stolen? What if his body had expired before his spirit returned to him? Or what if Sen had simply killed him outright? Those thoughts compelled her breaths into panicked exasperation. No, no don't think like that. That couldn't be the case. If it were, Anraq would have been there when the Mother of Faces brought back Sen's other victims. No, Annie was still alive, he had to be. But then where was he?

As they came to the far end of the village, Kanna tugged on Azula's sleeve and looked up at her. "Mommy, where's Daddy?"

Azula swallowed the anxious knot in her throat. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere, Sweetie. We just have to look a little harder."

Kanna said nothing else, but she nodded and followed Azula out of the village. They followed another path and made their way down to the beach again, coming out on an area of shore quite a distance from where they had started. Maybe Annie had come this way after he woke up, or maybe he'd been attacked on the beach itself. If he'd been injured before he lost his essence, he might not have had the strength when he woke up to make it back to the village. Or maybe he just didn't want to return to the village. Or maybe he had already left to go find her…

Azula grumbled, squinting her eyes shut. Damn it. Too many possibilities, too many variables. Trying to think of them all made her head pound. She just had to keep looking. If she didn't find him here, she would search somewhere else. She wouldn't stop until she found him. No matter what, she would find him.

A heavy shadow darted above her. Azula blinked, tilting her gaze upward to find the source. Several raindrops stung her eyes, but still she could make out the scaled figure descending from the sky towards the beach below. Her heart jumped at the sight of the dragon, and as much as she tried to remain calm and stoic, she couldn't stop the smirk from curling across her face. Druk landed in front of her, immediately lowering his face to nuzzle his snout against her. The force of the great beast knocked her back a step, but she caught herself and gave his snout a welcoming pat.

"Yes, it's good to see you too, you lazy dragon. Did you enjoy your nap?"

The dragon replied with a snorting growl that sounded somewhat like a scoff. He lowered himself farther, enough so that Kanna could reach up and pet the tuft of fur that covered the scales across his jaw.

Kanna giggled, looking up at her mother. "Look, Druky's okay!"

"Yes, I suppose he is." Azula held her smirk a moment longer, and gave the dragon a more serious stare. "I don't suppose you know where Annie is, do you?"

Druk shrugged off the question with a simple grumble, turning his head to look further down the beach. The dragon's gaze settled on the line of tropical trees and grass at the edge of the sandy shore, where a man had just stumbled out into the open. A heart-meltingly familiar man, limping across the sand with a long stick shoved underneath one of his armpits as a makeshift crutch.

"Heeeey!" Anraq raised an arm to wave at them. "Over here!"

"Annie..." Azula's breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. She stood half-frozen on the beach, staring at him with a rush of relief washing over her the closer he came. Oh thank the spirits, there he was.

"Daddy!" Kanna yelled in excitement, a big grin spreading across her face. With a delighted giggle, the little girl raced across the sand towards her father. The moment she was close enough, she leaped into Anraq's arms and wrapped her own tight around him. He caught her, sinking down to his knees with his arms hugged around her in return. Kanna buried herself against his chest, tears already flowing down her cheeks. "I missed you!"

"Hey, Sweet Pea." Anraq brushed his fingers through his daughter's hair, and gave the top of her forehead a gentle kiss. "I missed you too. So much."

As father and daughter reunited, Azula approached them with an amused smirk. "Well, looks like you've seen better days."

"Oh, this?" Anraq glanced down at the makeshift crutch he had discarded when he caught Kanna. He scoffed at it and returned to his feet. Despite his best efforts to appear well, he couldn't hide the way his legs quivered to hold himself upright, or the numerous bruises blotching across his body. That and his torn clothes, which didn't help his image much. Still, he played it off with a dismissive wave. "Please, I'll be good as new in no time. Spent most of the afternoon healing myself up. Granted, I couldn't make it very far from those trees over there, but I managed. So, I take it you guys showed that overgrown insect who's boss?"

"We certainly did." Azula's smirk faded the longer she stared at Anraq. What had been overwhelming relief in her eyes shifted, overtaken by sudden panic as thoughts of what might have been nagged at the back of her mind. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms tight around him and pulled him close into a hug. He tightened his arms around her in return, and her relief restored. "Annie, I'm glad to see you're alright. I wasn't sure if…"

"Hey, don't talk like that," he said, looking her square in the eyes. "Everything's fine, see?"

With a deep breath, she stared back at him and managed another smile. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Their lips locked in a passionate kiss. Azula reached down to hold her hands around Anraq's waist, while he reached up to cup his hands against her cheeks. Warmth exploded through her. In that moment, nothing could be more perfect. Not even the rain could ruin it. She melted into the kiss, put all her passion into it, and she could feel Annie doing the same. If not for Kanna standing next to them, no doubt that kiss would have surged into something far more intimate.

When they finally pulled out of the kiss, Anraq stepped back and softened his gaze, as a warm, almost distant smile spread across his face. "Heh, this is it, isn't it? Has to be."

Azula raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? What's 'it'?"

"The moment. The right moment." Anraq looked down at himself momentarily, reaching into his pockets and fumbling around in search for something. He found it soon enough, but when he pulled his hand back into the open he didn't reveal what it was he was holding. Not yet. Instead, he looked up at her again and stared deep into her eyes. "Azula, I know when we first met, things were more than a little rough between us. Being enemies trying to kill each other generally has that effect." He offered a small chuckle, and continued. "But since then you've become one of the two most important people in my life. I never want to let you go. I want to be with you for as long as we live, I want to wake up next to you everyday, and I want us to be a family. Officially."

Azula blinked, narrowing her eyes with curiosity. She had no idea where he was going with this, and quite frankly that made her stomach start to flutter with wolf bats. "Annie, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I love you more than I'll ever be able to show, but maybe this will be a good start." Anraq brought his hand forward to reveal what he was holding: a small velvet box. One agonizing moment of silence lingered between them, before he finally reached down and opened it. "Azula… will you marry me?"

Azula's throat turned so numb she struggled to breathe for a solid five seconds after seeing the wedding ring within the small velvet box. A beautiful ring of garnet, with a gold band inscribed with coiling dragons. The most perfect ring she ever could have imagined. The wolf bats in her gut raged harder, lifting an intense tingling into the back of her mouth. She swallowed it back down. Spirits, how long had she been staring at the ring now? Too long, by her accounts, but Anraq never pushed her to answer before she was ready

"Annie, I…" Azula paused, allowing the words to linger. Her brow furrowed in deep thought, and she couldn't help the disbelieving chuckle that found its way out of her throat. "Throughout my whole life, I never thought about being a wife. Much less, a mother. I never imagined having anyone show me the kind of love you have, or loving them in return just as strongly." She managed another chuckle before looking up at Anraq again with a loving smile. "Ever since I let you into my life, everything has been like a dream. Of all the ways for my life to go, I never would have imagined this. But now, I… I can't ever imagine my life being any other way."

Anraq raised his eyebrows expectantly, leaning closer to her. "Is that a yes?"

"Well, it is a lovely ring. I suppose I wouldn't mind wearing it." Azula promptly plucked the ring out of the velvet box and slipped it onto her left ring finger. She held it up and tilted her hand to get a better look at it. The gold band gleamed, highlighting the twisting pattern of dragons with exquisite beauty, while the perfectly cut garnet almost glowed with its deep blood red color. Annie knew her so well. With a teasing smirk, she returned her focus to the man across from her. To her new fiancé. "Yes, Annie, I will marry you."

"Ha, yes!" Anraq shouted with excitement, throwing his arms up in triumphant jubilation. He managed to calm himself a moment later, but that didn't stop him from reaching forward to grab Azula by the waist, lift her up, and swing her around, all the while laughing with joy. When he finally set her back down on her feet, he leaned forward and pulled her in for another kiss.

Kanna looked up at them with big eyes, reaching forward to tug on her father's pant leg. "So you guys are gonna get married? Like really, completely married?"

Anraq chuckled, pulling out of the kiss to look down at her. "Yes, Sweet Pea. We're getting really, completely married."

"Awesome!" Kanna gave a big, excited grin, only to shift moments later into a surprised revelation. She looked back up at her father again, this time with a pleading gleam in her eyes. "Oh, oh! Can I be the flower girl? Can I?"

"Of course you can," Azula said, with a matter-of-fact nod. "But I want to have this wedding as soon as possible, no waiting around for a year and planning every little detail. I want to be walking down that aisle while I can still fit into a dress."

Anraq blinked, squinting curiously at his fiancée as he attempted to piece together what she meant. "While you can still—wait, what?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Azula smiled, and reached down to grab Anraq's hand. She promptly brought it forward and pressed it against her abdomen. "We're having a baby, Annie."

"You're serious?" Anraq blinked again, trapped in a moment of shock that saw him staring forward with steadily widening eyes. Excitement shattered across his face moments later, and he let loose a delighted laugh. "Haha! That's fantastic!" He dropped down to his knees, and held his head gently against Azula's stomach, as if trying to listen to the growing baby inside. "You hear that, Kanna? You're going to have a little brother or sister!"

Kanna grinned. "Yup, Mommy already told me!"

Azula snorted a small laugh, smiling down at Anraq in front of her. "Honestly, Annie, you're excited enough for all three of us."

"You're damn right I am!" Anraq returned to his feet a second later and reached forward again to embrace his future wife. The rain picked up harder around them, but they didn't let it bother them. Anraq merely smiled and leaned in closer, while brushing away a few wet strands of Azula's hair out of her face. "I love you, Azula."

Azula softened her smile, and leaned in the rest of the way to once again embrace their lips together in the pouring rain. "And I love you, Annie."

Two days after the defeat of Sen, a ship from the South Pole pulled into Republic City Harbor. Korra waited near the edge of the dock, nerves jittering as she watched the ship's gangway lower for passengers to disembark. Kuvria and Tonraq stood next to her, both of them waiting with equal anticipation, as well as Tenzin, Jinora, Katara, Opal and Bolin, along with the entire Beifong family. Hari, too, stood at the ready. The past couple days had been agonizing, waiting for the arrival of their friends and family who had been attacked down South, but at least the steady radio communication from the ship had served to ease their nerves in the meantime. With the ship now arriving, that anticipation had built near to bursting once again.

Korra's stomach bolted when the first individual appeared at the top of the gangway: Senna. She ran forward, Tonraq following close behind, to greet her mother on the dock with an eager hug. "Mom!"

Senna sank into the embrace, holding her daughter close. "Oh, Honey, I'm so glad to see you're okay."

"Me too, Mom." She held tighter, squinting her eyes shut in attempt to hold back her tears. "Me too."

"Hey, aren't you forgetting someone?" Tonraq stepped forward with a grin, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

Senna eased away from Korra and turned to her husband with a pleasant smile. "You too, dear. It's so good to see you safe."

Tonraq reached forward to embrace his wife, pulling her in for a deep kiss. When they pulled apart, he gently caressed Senna's cheek with his hand and gazed into her eyes with a loving smile. "It's good to see you too, Hun. I missed you."

A larger group of individuals appeared down the gangway—a familiar family of airbenders, in Pema, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. Both Ikki and Meelo looked to their mother in the midst of deep, excited conversation, while Rohan trailed slightly behind, pulling on Pema's robes. Pema attempted to placate them, with a few tired responses and a deep sigh. Evidently, the trip to the South Pole had been a long one. The exhaustion on Pema's face vanished when she heard her husband's voice calling to her, immediately perking up to look around the dock.

"Pema!" Tenzin ran to them, followed closely behind by Jinora. When the two reached their family, the entire group sank into a loving embrace. "Thank goodness you're all okay."

"Oh, Tenzin…" Pema held her husband tight, resting her head on his shoulder. "I was so worried."

Jinora sucked in a deep breath, tightening her arms around her mother. "It's so good to see you, Mom."

"Hey, what about us? We all had our spirits sucked out too, you know." Ikki folded her arms and huffed, offering a mock pout. Both Meelo and Rohan mimicked the action, as they seemed to go unnoticed by their sister.

"Yeah, yeah, you too," Jinora said, giving her siblings a sidelong glance.

"So, I hear you all beat the big bad spirit, huh?" Meelo sucked in a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest, which he made sure to puff out as best he could. "Took you long enough. But I guess that's because you didn't have the Mighty Meelo to help you out."

"Dork." Jinora turned to her brother and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. With a chuckle, she came forward and wrapped her arms around all three of her siblings. "It's good to see you."

A moment into their embrace, they were interrupted by a new voice. "Now there's a beautiful girl I haven't seen in a while."

Jinora bolted upright with a gasp, immediately spinning around to the man standing behind her. "Kai!"

The fellow airbender grinned. "Miss me?"

Jinora lunged into her boyfriend's arms and pulled him in for a deep kiss, prompting immediate groans and gags from Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. She ignored them. They certainly weren't going to ruin this moment.

The next few to make their way down the ship's gangplank were Bumi, Lin, and Kya, all three of them engaged in conversation. Bumi spoke emphatically, his arms waving around to drive home his point, while Lin marched beside him with her arms folded across her chest, a look of grumbling annoyance plastered across her face. Kya strolled alongside, appearing wholly amused as she wrapped an arm around Lin's waist. Throughout all this, Bum-Ju perched atop Bumi's shoulder, chirping quietly as he watched the other three interact.

"No, I'm serious!" Bumi insisted, as he held his arms up in a boxing pose. "I could have taken that ugly bug if I'd just had one more good opening. A little one-two combo, and bam!" He threw a couple of quick punches, punctuating them with successive blasts of air. "Would have knocked him for a loop."

"Riiight," Kya replied, giving her brother a skeptical stare. "Bumi, you're lucky you didn't pull something when that spirit handed you your ass."

"Handed all of us our asses," Lin muttered. "We're all lucky to be alive."

Kya smiled, and gave her wife a gentle kiss on the cheek. "But we are alive, so there's no point in complaining."

Lin grumbled. "If you say so."

As the three arrived at the docks, Katara approached them. Her focus lingered intently on Bumi and Kya, giving them both a loving smile. "Well, there's a couple of sights for sore eyes."

Kya looked up, easing out a deep sigh of relief when she saw her mother standing there. Pulling away from Lin, she came forward to give the woman a hug. "Mom, it's so good to see you."

Bumi joined them, wrapping his arms around the two of them. "We missed you."

"I know," Katara said. "I missed you too."

"But you're, uh…" Kya paused, taking a step back to look over her mother. A frown creased across her face. "Still so young."

Katara chuckled softly, taking a moment to look down at herself. "Yeah, looks like that's one thing from this whole Sen debacle that isn't going to change. Not that I'm complaining too much."

Kya released a loud groan, while taking a look at her own silver hair. It had lost its color nearly two decades earlier, but now her mother's hair had returned to a rich, deep auburn. "That is just not fair."

"We're going to die before you now, aren't we?" Bumi muttered, with a deadpan.

In spite of Bumi's comment meant mostly as a joke, Katara actually paused a moment to consider the words. They had truth in them. Katara was much younger now than any of her children, no older than her mid-twenties. Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya were now all at least thirty years older than her. What that meant for the future... She didn't want to consider it. Shaking the thought away, she renewed her smile and pulled her children along with her down the dock. "Let's not think about that right now. Let's just enjoy this. I love you both."

"Yeah, we know," Kya replied, with a gentle sigh. "We love you too, Mom."

While Kya and Bumi reunited with their mother, Lin broke away from the group to meet the rest of her family on the dock. Almost everyone was there waiting for her—Kuvira, Opal, Bolin, Toph, Baatar Sr., Baatar Jr., Wing, Wei, and Huan. She managed a small grin when she saw them, and offered a wave of greeting. "Well, I see you all managed to pull through no worse for wear."

"Meh, it was nothing," Toph replied, with a simple shrug. "That Sen was a real dunce. Never stood a chance."

Opal ran forward and wrapped her arms around Lin. The moment her arms tightened, she buried her face against the woman's chest and choked in a deep sob, despite her best attempts to stifle it. "I'm so glad you're alright, Aunt Lin! I was so worried."

"Yeah, I'm glad too." Lin returned the hug, while looking around at the others. What began as a curious stare narrowed into one of concern, as her gaze swept back and forth across the group. "Where's Su?"

Kuvira looked back at her with remorse. "Lin…"

Kuvira didn't need to finish her words. The tone in her voice was enough for Lin to grasp the meaning. Air rushed out of the older woman's lungs, as though something solid had struck her gut. Silence followed. The entire family looked on, sharing in the steadily deepening sorrow.

"I knew it was too good to be true, Su coming back like that. I should have… I should have expected this." Lin closed her eyes, as her voice began choking in her throat. Despite her visible attempt to stifle her emotions, she couldn't keep her voice from cracking. "And I still didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

Lin held herself together a moment longer. She squeezed her arms tighter around Opal, offering her niece as much comfort and support as she could possibly give. The others came forward and joined in the embrace, the entire Beifong family supporting each other. Within seconds, the old resilient woman let her wall crumble, and her tears flow free.

The final pair of individuals emerged onto the ship's gangway shortly after. Eska and Desna shuffled along towards the dock, their expressions remaining as indifferent and unamused as always. Neither twin showed any sign of intrigue until they reached the dock, where they were greeted by the one person they had come for. Hari smiled at the pair, and offered them both a respectful bow.

"Ah, Hari," Desna stated. "It is good to see you unharmed."

"Yes, we would have been most displeased had you fallen to Sen," Eska added.

"Thank you, Chief Eska, Chief Desna." Hari straightened out of his bow and offered both twins a pleasant smile. "I'm glad to see you both alright, too."

Eska returned an ever so slight smile of her own, the corner of her mouth barely turning upward. "We heard how you assisted in bringing down the terror that was Sen's assault against humanity. This pleases us."

Desna nodded. "Indeed. We were right in taking an interest in you. You have done well."

Both of the twins leaned closer and planted a kiss on either of Hari's cheeks. The young sandbender stiffened in surprise at the show of affection, unable to respond with anything other than a deepening blush. By the time he realized the twins had both grabbed one of his hands and begun pulling him along, they were halfway back up the gangway towards the ship.

"Now, let us celebrate by copulating together while we return to the North Pole," Eska stated.

Desna concurred with a firm nod. "Yes, it has been far too long since we've had intimate relations with one another."

Hari's blush intensified. He stumbled along, as his feet caught up to the pace at which both twins were leading him. "O-oh, okay." When he finally pulled in stride with them, his lips curled into a delighted smile, and the three disappeared into the ship.

As the reunions began to come to a close, Kuvira wandered back over to Korra. She offered Senna and Tonraq both a warm greeting, before pulling her wife aside for private conversation. They stood together in silence for several moments, simply watching the others on the dock. After all the pain and torment Sen had caused, balance had finally been restored.

"Looks like things can finally start moving forward," Kuvira said, as she wrapped her arms around her wife's waist. "Mostly, anyway. There's still a lot more work to do."

"Yeah, but we'll handle it," Korra said. "We always do."

Kuvira grinned, leaning into give her wife a tender kiss. "Yeah, we do."

Later that night, Bolin and Opal returned to their apartment. Miraculously, their building had been spared during the battle against Sen, even though several other buildings in their neighborhood had been decimated. That had been an overwhelming relief, knowing they wouldn't have to dig through piles of rubble in hopes of recovering any of their belongings that might have survived, or have to find a new place to live in the meantime. Granted, the view outside their window was anything but pristine.

Bolin sat at the window, watching the streets down below as construction crews worked to clean up the street. Earthbenders moved the rubble into neat piles and loaded dump trucks, which hauled it away to be recycled into raw materials needed for reconstruction. It was a laborious process, but the crews were diligent. With the efficiency at which they worked, the streets would be clear in a couple of days or so. Then, the rebuilding process would begin.

"Looks like things are really coming along down there," Bolin said. "Asami and Varrick should have Republic City back to normal in no time."

Opal glanced over her shoulder at him, a distant glaze in her eyes. "Yeah, looks like it."

For the past hour, Opal had been playing with baby San, holding out toys to the young child and making funny faces. The pleasant laughter from the child brought a warmth to the young mother that had been sorely missing the past few days. Ever since Suyin had gone once again, a small piece of Opal's heart had hollowed out. An emptiness that wouldn't go away, no matter what other small joy she found. Losing her mother once had been awful enough, but losing her a second time? That ate away at her like some kind of gradual disease eating at her health, slowly whittling her down into a husk.

Bolin turned away from the window to look at his wife. He paused, watching her curiously before getting up from the window and making his way over to the couch to sit next to her. "Hey, are you doing okay?"

Opal held out a small, jingling bell above her son's face, causing the baby to wiggle with delight. In spite of this, Opal's expression drooped. "I don't know. It's just... I was getting used to having my mom back, having her alive again, and now she's gone." Opal's grip weakened on the bell, letting it fall lower so San could reach up and grab it. San giggled, shaking the small toy to make it jingle louder. "I shouldn't have been stupid enough to think she could stay."

"You weren't stupid." Bolin leaned closer to his wife, bringing his arm around her shoulders. "You just missed your mom. Anyone would. Besides, it's not like it's every day that people come back from the dead, right? I don't think any of us knew what to expect."

"I know that, and I know why she did it, why she left, but still..." Opal swallowed, reaching up to wipe away the growing tears at the corners of her eyes. "I've lost her twice now. It was hard enough the first time around, but now this..."

"Hey, hey, come here." Bolin tightened his arms, pulling her into a warm embrace. Opal fell against him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, Opal. We're here for you. Both of us."

Opal managed a smile, as she shifted her attention towards their son now gnawing on the toy bells. "Thank you, Bolin."

A knock thudded against the apartment's front door. Bolin pulled away to answer, but Opal assured him she would be okay to answer it. So, while Bolin continued entertaining San, Opal made her way to the door. After taking a second to make sure her eyes were clear and dry, she pulled it open to see who was on the other side. When she saw the two women standing there, she snapped to attention and gave a welcoming smile.

"Oh, Aunt Lin, Kya!"

Lin offered an ever so slight smile, as though the act was a great effort for her. "Hey, Opal. How you holding up?"

"I'm... doing okay," she said. "How are you?"

"Doing about as well as I can be," Lin sighed. "All things considered."

Kya smiled, giving her wife a gentle nudge with her elbow. "Fortunately, she's one tough old woman. Plus, she has me."

Opal returned the smile, and took a step back into the apartment so they could enter. "Well, that's good. Please, come in. What brings you here?"

"Well, since downtown was mostly spared from the battle, Lin and I thought we'd head to a bar tonight," Kya said, as she followed Opal into the apartment. "Thought maybe you two might want to join us."

"Oh..." Opal eased a deep sigh, and glanced back over her shoulder at Bolin and San. "Well, thank you for the offer, but we can't exactly bring San with us, and it's a little short notice to get a babysitter."

Lin gave scoffing chuckle, pointing towards the still-open doorway with her thumb. "We got you covered, kid."

On cue, Bumi poked his head into the open and waved to them. Bum-Ju followed a moment later, fluttering around the corner through the air into the apartment. "Not to worry there, Uncle Bumi's got everything taken care of! Bum-Ju and I are great with kids. The little guy and I will have a blast together."

Opal blinked in surprise, taking a step back as Bum-Ju flew by. "Oh, uh, then yeah. I suppose I could use some time out to clear my head. What do you think, Bolin?"

Bolin watched a moment longer before standing up to join the others. "Sounds good to me. We haven't actually had a good night out in a while."

"Well, alright then!" Bumi announced, on his way towards the baby. Bum-Ju had already made it there, and San had taken to tugging at the dragonfly bunny spirit's floppy ears. "You kids get going and leave everything to me. You got nothing to worry about, that's my honest soldier's salute to you."

"Okay, the instructions we leave for the usual babysitter are on the fridge, so just follow that," Opal said.

Bumi replied with a firm salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

Lin waved them along, already heading towards the door. "Alright, let's get going before I fall asleep. Not as young as I used to be, you know. Unlike my mother…"

Opal quickly followed, grabbing her coat off its hook on the way by. "Right, let's go. And Aunt Lin?" A smile flashed on her face. "Thank you."

P'Li stood motionless in front of the heavy metal door. She'd been staring at it for the past five minutes now, unable to look away. The entire several weeks since Sen's defeat had been leading up to this moment, and yet now that it was here she couldn't bring herself to proceed. Her stomach churned, coiling into a tight knot that threatened to rupture. Had she ever been this nervous before in her entire life? And with no real reason to be. Deep down, she already knew exactly how this would play out. Should just go through with it and get it over with already. Even so, no matter how much she repeated that fact to herself, she stood frozen and unable to take a step forward.

As the minutes continued to tick away, Mako took a step next to her, eyeing her curiously. He had come with her, of course. After all, he'd been the one who actually made this happen. No idea why, but best not to question it in any case. This wasn't a moment she would have ever expected to have, so there was no point in trying to analyze it when it was already here. Just had to accept it and go through with it. If only she could take that next step.

"What are you waiting for?" Mako asked.

"I don't know," she muttered. "I guess I didn't expect to ever actually be here. Just need a minute to prepare myself."

Mako folded his arms and smirked at her. "Didn't take you as one to get flustered in the face of big moments."

P'Li shifted attention towards Mako, narrowing her gaze with annoyance. "Shut up."

Mako simply shook his head, while turning to look at the heavy metal door in front of them. "You know, I pulled a lot of strings and called in most of the favors people owe me to make this happen, so don't waste it."

"I'm not going to waste it. I'm ready." P'Li took another deep breath inward and finally stepped forward. Time to rip off the bandage. On command, the pair of White Lotus guards on either side of the door activated the locking mechanisms. Slowly but surely, the metal doors began to slide open.

"Just keep in mind," Mako said, "the interior steel walls are ten feet thick and reinforced with concrete. Even you can't blast your way out of there."

This time, it was P'Li's turn to smirk. "What's the problem, still don't trust me?"

"Just obligated to inform you."

She rolled her eyes. "Riiight."

As the first set of doors opened, P'Li made her way into the next small antechamber. The doors closed behind her, and the next set opened. Again, she stepped through the doors, waiting for them to close behind and for the next set to open. This continued four times until finally the main doors opened into the prison cell beyond. The cell itself wasn't large, a mere ten foot by ten foot, with the walls, floor, and ceiling all composed of concrete-reinforced steel. Mako had been right, in that regard. If she tried to blast her way out of here, it would take hours if at all. A good thing, then, she didn't plan on trying.

When the final set of doors closed behind her, P'Li looked to the center of the cell. A lone figure floated in midair, his legs crossed and eyes closed—meditating into the Spirit World, no doubt. That was fine. She could wait. With a deep breath, she made her way forward and stood patiently in front of the man with her arms crossed. The moments carried on in silence, nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat to keep her company. That, and the steady breathing of the man in front of her.

"Zaheer..." she said, with a deep breath. Perhaps her voice, if anything, might rouse him from his meditation early.

Another moment of silence, as Zaheer sat up straighter, his brow furrowing in confusion. Or was that recognition? Perhaps both, as his eyes quivered, still shut. Almost as though he didn't dare open them, afraid he might be imagining things. When at last his eyes opened, a shocked breath rushed out of his lungs. His hovering form stumbled and fell, only barely catching himself on his feet. The chains connected to his ankles rattled, shattering the silence of the prison cell. For a long moment, he simply stared at her, his eyes wide beneath his bushy brow, all framed by a mane of unkempt hair and long beard. Same as he'd looked so long ago, back when he'd come to free her from the Northern prison during their previous excursion. Nothing like the clean-shaven, monk-like man she'd come to love.

Zaheer took a few steps forward, as far as he could before the chains around his legs tightened and prevented him from going any farther. "P'Li?"

She nodded, offering a sweet smile as she came forward to embrace him. "Yes, Zaheer. It's me."

Zaheer stared a moment longer, his eyes flared in astonishment. Disbelief. When she embraced him, he uttered a quiet, shuddering breath and tightened his arms around her. P'Li's entire body pulsed. While she had to brush aside his hair and fight through the bristled mass that was his beard in order to find his lips, the kiss they shared in that moment was everything she'd imagined, a reunion she had long awaited for since returning to life.

If only she weren't about to destroy it.

When they pulled apart from their kiss, Zaheer took a moment to look her over. "I don't understand. How? I saw you…"

"It's a long story," she said, with a shake of her head. "The gist of it is that I was brought back to this world by a powerful spirit. Since then, I've been given a second chance at life."

"You mean Sen." Zaheer's gaze shifted momentarily in thought. "I'd heard news, the rumors about what happened. I even saw the catastrophe his very presence wrought on the Spirit World. After a while I couldn't even meditate there anymore. But I never imagined this…"

P'Li offered another smile, as Zaheer looked back to her again. This time, her smile was more reserved. More strained. "Yes, it is... certainly remarkable."

Another moment and it happened. Zaheer's eyes shifted, glancing downward to take in more of P'Li than just her face. When he recognized the clothes she wore, his eyes flared with a different kind of shock. "That uniform—it's United Forces military."

"Yes, it is." P'Li took a step backwards and looked down at herself. "I enlisted last week."

"You what?" Zaheer's stance faltered. He stumbled back a step, staring up into P'Li's eyes with dawning confusion. "Why?"

"Because I needed a job, and this was really the only position suited for someone of my kinds of talents," P'Li said, with a small shrug. Hardly the kind of answer Zaheer wanted to hear, no doubt, but she wasn't prepared to launch into her full explanation. "It was either that or the police, and I don't like paperwork."

"I mean why did you conform to a poisoned society?" Zaheer shot back. His expression warped with sudden ferocity. What had been surprise became defiant anger, only barely contained from flying into a full rage. "Our whole lives, we've fought against oppressive governments, made it our mission to bring the world back to its natural order, into chaos! And now you're telling me you've forgotten all of that? You've become part of the very thing we stand against!"

P'Li remained unshaken at the accusations. She took another deep breath, steadied her nerves, and finally mustered the drive to deliver the news she had been building up to this entire time. "No, Zaheer. That is what you stand against. I believed in it because you believed in it, because I loved you and vowed to follow you to whatever end. I never had any other option when I was younger, when we were first brought into the Red Lotus. I grew up with it, never knew anything else. I thought it was the only way. But now that I have a chance to do things differently, to take a step back and look at the world in a new way? I realize how foolish we always were. Our methods, our goals, our mission—what did any of it get us?"

She let her eyes close in distant thought. "I died, Ghazan and Ming-Hua are still dead, and you're in prison for the third time. The Red Lotus has been beaten time and time again, but still you never change." She opened her eyes again, softening her gaze at the man she loved with a mix of sorrow and regret. "We were never going to make a difference, Zaheer. We were always doomed to fail. I'm not going to keep chasing a fool's dream. I'm going to find a new way to help people, a new way to change the world, a better way. My way."

Zaheer took a moment to digest the information. An angry grimace twisted across his face, as though the information had poisoned him. "Then why did you come here? Why restore my heart only to shatter it again?"

"Because I needed to see you. I needed closure. Zaheer, I will always be grateful for having you in my life, and I will always love you, but our time together is over. After today, I don't think we'll ever see each other again." With another deep breath, P'Li swallowed the growing knot in her throat. "This is goodbye."

Zaheer didn't say anything. He stared at her a long moment, pain and anger shifting back and forth across his face in spiking waves. Eventually, he looked away, still silent. With several small steps, he returned to the center of his prison cell and hovered into mid-air with his legs crossed, his back to P'Li. Only then did he finally respond. "Then go."

"Zaheer…" She tried to reach out to him, but he quickly shrugged away from her touch.

"Goodbye, P'Li."

That was it, then. That was the end of things between them. P'Li swallowed her breath and turned away towards the entrance of the prison cell. The journey through the series of doors was an agonizing one, somehow taking far longer now than it had on the way inside. She barely even registered each set of doors as they opened, far too absorbed in her own thoughts to care. Even as she finally made her way through the final set and out into the long hallway beyond, her focus remained lost and unsteady.

"So, how did that go?" Mako asked, taking a step next to her.

P'Li said nothing, remaining silent as she walked by the police chief without giving him so much as a glance. Mako watched her a moment, before offering a deep sigh and following her out of the prison.

Shayu gawked as the elevator doors opened up to the top floor of Future Industries Tower. She had seen sights of grandeur all the way from Ba Sing Se to the Fire Nation royal palace, but she'd never been to the top of a skyscraper before. Especially not one of this magnitude. This building was nothing short of an engineering marvel, a fact that even she couldn't miss. Gazing up at the top of the building from far down on the streets below had been awe inspiring enough, but being at the top looking down? That was a whole different story. An entire wall of windows lined the wall to the left of her, giving a clear view across the entirety of Republic City. Dear spirits, it took her breath away.

As Asami led the way down the proceeding hallway, Shayu quickly shook out of her astonishment and wheeled herself forward to follow. While Asami had offered to push the chair herself, Shayu had politely refused. A kind offer perhaps, but she had to prove to her future boss that she could get around just the same as anyone else. When they reached the end of the hallway, Asami stopped in front of a large pair of doors with the Future Industries logo painted across them. A semi-circular desk sat just outside the doors, positioned against the wall.

"And this is my office," Asami said, planting her hands on her hips. "The desk out front is where you'll be working most of the time, unless I have to go out and need you to come with me. I do have to split my time between here and City Hall. Running a company and being president keeps me quite busy, as you can imagine."

"This place is so amazing." Shayu continued to stare, as her gaze wandered from the doors of Asami's office to her new desk. By the time she managed to focus on the president again, her body practically shook from excitement. "Thank you so much for this opportunity, Asami! Oh, I mean, Miss Sato. Uh, wait, I mean Madame President?"

Asami chuckled softly. "'Asami' is just fine, thank you."

"Right, okay." Shayu eased a nervous breath, sinking slightly in her chair.

"So, how are you and your mother settling into Republic City?"

"Pretty well. It was sad to leave Fire Lord Izumi and the Fire Nation behind, but this is too good an opportunity to pass up. My mom is fixing up our new apartment right now." Shayu paused, huffing out an exasperated breath. "Which is something else I won't be able to thank you enough for."

Asami merely held up her hand and shook her head. "Think nothing of it. Just work hard, and you can consider the debt repaid."

Shayu smiled, and gave a respectful bow of her head. "Thank you, Asami."

"So, should we head out now? I have a limo waiting out front."

"Yeah, I think it's time."

The drive from Future Industries to the Republic City prison was a short one, but for Shayu it might as well have been an eternity. The more she tried to ready herself, the more she fidgeted, fingers repeatedly gripping and letting go of the hem of her skirt. If she still had any use of her legs, they'd most certainly be bouncing with the same jitter she'd had when she got nervous as a little kid. Nowadays, her anxiety warped with the tapping of her fingers rapidly against her thighs. Dragonfly bunnies had swarmed through her stomach, and for a moment her gut wrenched as though threatening to heave. Just her nerves. That's all that was. This was something she had planned, something she needed. No backing out now.

When they arrived at the prison, Asami helped her out of the limo and into her wheelchair. This time, Shayu allowed herself to be pushed inside through the front lobby, where they met with the warden. After a brief introduction, the warden led them deep into the prison, towards one of the more isolated cells. At one time, this very same cell had housed Kuvira. Now, it was home to a different resident.

When they arrived outside the cell door, Asami took a step back, leaving Shayu to her own devices. "Take as much time as you need."

Shayu nodded. "Thanks."

After the warden unlocked the cell door and stepped aside to let her through, Shayu wheeled herself inside. The door slid shut a moment later, locking behind her. There, in the center of the cell with her back to the door, sat Yula. The former Dragon Empress slouched in a chair, painting careful black lines across the white canvas in front of her, set up on an easel. The lines made no particular pattern or picture, but that's not what they were meant to do. They were merely an outlet to exercise her creative mind.

Ever since being separated from Sen's essence, Yula had lost not only the increased power that it gave her, but also her ability to bend entirely. She was little threat to anyone anymore. No need to keep her in a special prison. Shayu had convinced the powers that be of that with minimal effort, allowing Yula to serve the rest of her sentence in a normal prison cell. Nothing more than an ordinary prisoner now. From what she'd been told, Yula hadn't given anyone any trouble so far, and spent most of her time sitting there painting at her easel. Dozens of finished paintings hung around the room on the walls, a menagerie of her deepest emotions.

The moment that the doors closed, Yula's hand stopped cold. Silence followed. Five seconds. Ten seconds. After fifteen seconds of awkward pause, she lowered the paintbrush and set it on the front of the easel. Another pause, and she finally turned around. She blinked in confusion, as though unable to believe Shayu had come to visit her. While Shayu had insisted she would visit eventually, saying and doing were two different things. No doubt Yula had believed her sister's words to be empty, merely a way to ease her sorrows.

"Shayu, you... you actually came."

Shayu offered a gentle smile as she wheeled herself over to the table next to the easel. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a small box along with two pairs of chopsticks. As she opened the box, she glanced up to her sister and warmed her smile. "I brought some sweet dumplings. They're your favorite."

Yula turned to sit at the table, staring at the box of dumplings in front of her as though it were the most unbelievable thing in the world. When Shayu passed her one of the pairs of chopsticks, she didn't reach out to take them. She continued staring at the dumplings, while her expression soured in dismay. "Shayu, you know I don't deserve this."

Shayu sighed, as she pulled out two plates and began to separate an even amount of dumplings onto both. "Maybe not. After everything that happened, I know I should probably hate you forever and never want to see you again. I was mad at you for so long, it ate me up inside. But you're still my sister. There's a lot of work to do, a lot of things to fix between us..." When all the dumplings were settled, she slid one of the plates over to Yula, and snatched up one of her own dumplings with her chopsticks. "But that doesn't mean we can't try, right?"

"I... I suppose." Yula slowly reached for her own chopsticks, but stopped short of taking one of the dumplings. Her gaze lingered towards Shayu. Towards the wheelchair. Her demeanor shattered, forcing her to look away in disgust. "I'm so sorry, Shayu. I did this to you."

Shayu paused, looking down at herself. "Oh... yeah. It's okay, though. I've gotten used to it. Mostly." Another awkward pause drifted between them, causing her to fidget nervously in her seat. With a gentle breath, she steadied her nerves and continued with a change in subject. "So, um, President Sato just hired me to work as her personal assistant. I start next week. I've never really had a big official job before, so it'll be a challenge, but one I think I'm ready for."

At this, Yula looked back to her again, and even managed a smile. "That's wonderful to hear."

"Thanks. I'll bring Mom by next time to visit, by the way. She just... well, she needed a bit more time." When Yula looked away again in shame, Shayu frowned and reached back into her bag. She pulled out a small, folded board, as well as a stack of several books. "So, uh... I brought a Pai Sho board with me. And a few books. Maybe we could play a couple games? Or we could read to each other like we used to when we were kids?"

Yula tentatively reached for one of the books, her hand shaking as though she was afraid it might bite her. When nothing nefarious happened, she took hold of the book and flipped it around to look at it. A flash of recognition lit across her eyes, and Shayu knew that she had recognized it. As well she should have. It was one of their favorites, after all. Within seconds, Yula's expression softened, and her smile returned. "I'd like that. I'd like that very much."

In the three months following Sen's defeat, Zaofu had mostly returned to order. A few lingering vestiges of the spirit's attack on the city remained, but construction crews would have them restored within the next couple days, if Kuvira's daily reports were accurate. As for her, she had settled back into her role as matriarch with little difficulty. Life went on, and so did her job. Within a matter of days, her routine returned to the daily governing of the city, not to mention getting the Zaofu dance troupe back in order. Plenty to keep her busy in the months to come.

But there would be plenty of time for that later. Right now, Kuvira had taken some time to relax for the evening, watching from the balcony of her room in the Beifong mansion as the sun set over the horizon. While Zaofu's domes were still functional, they only closed for dire emergencies now, allowing a clear view of the sunset painting pink and orange colors across the sky above the mountains.

When she'd had her fill of the evening sky, she shifted her attention down to the courtyard below. Huan was busy bending more of his metal sculptures near the edge of the gardens, while Baatar Sr. spent time trimming the hedges. Farther beyond the gardens, Kuvira had a perfect view of the power disc arena, where Wing and Wei continued to take on their toughest opponent yet.

By all accounts, it wasn't a fair match-up. Wing and Wei worked as a perfect unit together, synchronizing their attacks on the opposing net with relentless assault. Against most opponents, they would have dominated. This was no ordinary opponent. Now with her youth and vitality restored, Toph Beifong had taken quite a liking to the game of power disc, allowing her an outlet for her competitive edge while being just about as brutal as she wanted. In fact, both Wing and Wei had taken to wearing protective gear ever since their grandmother had started playing, something they had never needed before. In spite of their best efforts, the twins might as well have been helpless children trying to take down a behemoth, as the disc hit the back of their net and set off the score buzzer again, and again, and again.

After the tenth successive buzzer, Toph planted her hands on her hips and unleashed a wicked laugh. "Ahahahaha! I win again!"

"Oh come on!" Wing groaned, lying flat against the ground. He hadn't bothered trying to get back up since his last missed dive, which had seen him land face first into the dirt.

Wei doubled over, his hands against his knees as he huffed in deep, tired breaths. "This… just… isn't fair."

Toph grinned with delight, raising her fists above her head in triumph. "Keep practicing boys, and you might have a chance against your dear old grandmother sometime in the next seventy years. Why, you might even score a goal soon!"

"Ugghhh," Wing muttered, flopping his head flat against the ground. "Huan, come help us!"

"Yeah, we need you over here!" Wei affirmed.

Huan straightened himself, glancing back from his sculptures with a disapproving grimace on his face. "How about no?"

Kuvira watched the scene a moment longer, chuckling quietly under her breath as she turned back into her bedroom. "Looks like things are finally starting to get back to normal."

The Beifongs had required a good deal of time to move beyond their grief of losing Suyin a second time. That went double for Baatar Sr., who had been a reclusive shell of himself in the first few weeks following Sen's defeat. As time went on, he gradually rejoined his family more often during the day, until at last the Beifongs were more or less back to their old selves. At least as much as they could be without Su. Time went on, and with each day their loss became a little easier to bear.

Korra sat cross-legged on the floor a short distance away in front of the bed, her fists held together in meditation. When her wife spoke, she eased one of her eyes open and smiled. "The whole world is getting back to normal. Sen really did a number on us, but we came through."

"Yeah, I still almost can't believe it." Kuvira let out a long, soft breath, as she knelt behind Korra's spot on the floor and wrapped her arms around her wife. "So, how's it feel to be master of all four elements again?"

"Like I got a part of me back that I didn't even realize I was missing," Korra replied. "I just feel so much more whole. I know I was ready to give up being the Avatar, but this is still who I was always meant to be."

"No argument here. Plus, I still get to say I'm married to the Avatar." Kuvira grinned, leaning in closer as she continued her words. With each new statement, she added a new trail of kisses along Korra's neck. "I get to say I make the Avatar happy. I get to say I kiss the Avatar. I make her moan." At this point, Kuvira's hand slipped beneath the front of Korra's pants, eliciting a pleasant hiss of air from the Avatar. "Make her squirm..."

"Mmph…" Korra attempted to retain her meditative pose, but the growing activity from Kuvira's fingers between her legs made that increasingly difficult. "Kuvira, I'm trying to meditate."

Kuvira smirked, promptly removing her hand. "Just a little preview for later. Maybe you'll hurry up with your meditation, hmm?"

Korra uttered a relieved sigh once her wife's hand was gone, although her body continued to tremble in lingering delight. "Well, I suppose I can try."

"I'll be in the shower." Kuvira made her way towards the bathroom, already removing her Zaofu robes as she went. By the time she made it to the door, the robes dropped, leaving her in nothing but her underwear. She glanced back over her shoulder with a wink. "Don't keep me waiting too long."

After Kuvira disappeared into the bathroom, Korra sucked in a deep breath and attempted to focus more on her meditation. As much as she wanted to get up and join her wife in the shower as soon as possible, she hadn't had a chance to sit down and meditate like this in ages. Not since before the whole Sen conflict. She needed this. The ability to finally fall deep into herself once again. Deep into her own spirit. For a time, she floated there within her own consciousness, enjoying the peace her meditation brought her. Brief instinct compelled her to push forward into the Spirit World. Ultimately, she decided against it. No need to go that far right now. For the time being, she was content within her own spirit.

As she continued to meditate, a growing warmth ignited around her. A familiar warmth. One she'd experienced many times before. Yes, she was certain of it. So why couldn't she place it? This sensation—so familiar, and yet so distant, as though she hadn't felt it in a long, long time. She focused harder, pushing her spirit towards the source of the warmth. It darted farther away, but she pursued. Deeper and deeper into the depths of her own spirit. Darkness spread around her, a void of emptiness as far as her mind's eye could see.

For a brief moment, the warmth faded. Her heart leaped, and she looked around in a panic to find it. Had she lost it? Was it gone? She'd been so close! So close, and yet still not enough. As her hopes began to sink, a bright light exploded like fire before her. Shadows burned away, melting with such intensity she had to squint her eyes and shield her face with her arms. The light burned brighter, and the shadows all but disappeared.

Just as soon as the light appeared, it faded away. In that moment, the sense of familiarity ruptured with sudden recognition. In that moment, it all made sense. This feeling, this connection—no wonder she hadn't experienced it in so long! Warmth returned to her chest with renewed strength, lifting her heart at the sight of the man standing before her. A man with orange and yellow robes billowing around him, as though picked up by a gentle breeze. She'd seen this man only a short few months ago in person, but his appearance here held so much more significance. By the time she could bring herself to say his name, she was on the brink of tears.

"Aang...?"

The previous Avatar smiled at her, and nodded his head. "Hello, Korra."

In the following instant, another light exploded behind Aang, this one more intense and far more encompassing than the first. In the wake of the glow, the spirit of Avatar Roku appeared, followed by Kyoshi, and Kuruk, Yangchen, and thousands more. The crowd of Avatars spread deep and far, until Korra couldn't even see them all. With each new Avatar that appeared, the overwhelming joy in Korra's heart erupted to new heights, until she could no longer hold back her tears. She found herself rushing through the crowd, pulled along as though by some invisible force that drew her by every single past Avatar. All the way to the very end, where one Avatar in particular waited for her.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" he said, offering a playful grin. "It's good to see you again, Korra."

"Avatar Wan..." Korra reached up to wipe her eyes dry, but she did little more than smear her tears across her cheeks. They flowed freely, fueled by the elation burning bright in her heart. Now more than ever, beyond simply joining with Raava once again, she felt complete, as though the final missing piece of her soul had been restored.

Her connection to her past lives had finally, at long last, returned.