Disclaimer: I own nothing but the conceits and headcanon.
Notes: And this is the end. You can imagine that Aang talked to the lion turtle and did what he did in the show, or that he manned up and killed the Fire Lord.
Notes2: Assume each season of AtLA is a year, not just a few months.
Notes3: I want you to imagine that the Tortallan universe is on one hemisphere of the planet and the Avatar one is on the other.
One of the things the foreigners had been doing, in particular Sokka, was meeting with sailors and anyone with sea maps that might give them a clue as to how to get home. Time was running out, but none of them wanted to do was simply throw themselves at the mercy of the sea without some notion of where they were going.
Unfortunately, none of the sailors they contacted, none of the scholars and none of the resources in the university of Corus or from any other resource was able to provide anything reasonably useful for a course to be set going back to the lands the six called home. In a fit of creative desperation, Aang proposed that he see if he could contact their 'Great Spirits' for some sort of guidance.
Curious, as much as anything else, Numair, Alanna, Thayet and Jonathan joined the six in the small chapel temple to the Horse Lords on the palace grounds. They watched as Aang settled himself cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes and clearly sank into meditation. It was only a moment or two before his eyes snapped back open, empty and glowing white, his tattoos flashing to the same glow a moment later.
There was an interminable pause, and then the chapel was filled with the scent of an ocean breeze. The air rippled and in the place where Aang had been seated stood a woman with golden skin and eyes that seemed filled with the blue of the ocean depths and who was dressed simultaneously in the worn, hard-wearing clothing of a sailor and the rich robes of the Yamani's wealthy.
"Lady Oinomi Wavewalker," the king spoke, bowing deeply to the goddess.
She smiled. "King Jonathan," she said. She turned to the visitors. "I am glad you contacted me," she said. "As with your spirits, we gods too have . . . rules. Limits. Your Avatar has allowed me to circumvent those. First, I can help you to return to the waters of your lands. However, since the great sundering we have not been able to cross the lines drawn between our places and yours. However, your Lady Yue and I have been able to speak over the divide. It was she who contacted me to ask my help in ensuring your safety, and it is through her that we can ensure guidance for you once you pass the border. The urgency of the need for your return to face the Fire Lord has, shall we say, superseded many of the usual constraints on us."
She reached out a hand and on the wall, as though illustrated in blue ink, a start chart and map presumably showing the way to the foreigners' lands was drawn into existence, lines and dots appearing as though sketched out by an invisible pen.
The Wavewalker then turned back. "One more thing," she said. "We are all unlikely to have this freedom again soon, and thus Yue asked one more message to be passed along."
Sokka spoke. "What's that?" he asked. He looked sad for some reason.
The goddess' reply explained that. "Sokka, Yue wished you to know that she does not blame you for what happened. It was not your failure. More, she wishes you to be happy. Your destinies were never meant to be entwined more than briefly, and though she regrets, she was happy to have had what little time you did and she wishes you to have what more you desire with whomever you desire. Be happy, Sokka."
"Can you tell her I love her?" Sokka asked, his voice briefly cracking.
The goddess was already fading from sight, the ocean breeze fading with her. "She knows."
Then Aang was shaking himself out of his meditation and Sokka was leaning on his sister who was hugging the young man.
Suki broke the solemnity of the moment saying something in the foreigners' tongue that made Toph cackle, Zuko and Katara wince in embarrassment, Aang's jaw drop and Sokka to turn red and start flailing. Within moments he and Suki were involved in an intense discussion. Katara and Zuko both hastily edged away while Aang stared at them with a betrayed look on his face, trapped as he was between the altar and the arguing couple. Toph was just as clearly observing with a look of inordinate interest on her face.
Katara spoke in Common as they arrived at the Tortallans' sides. "Sokka and Suki are 'discussing' the fact that Sokka fell in love with Princess Yue before she had to sacrifice herself to become the Moon Spirit."
Zuko shook his head. "So, one more thing to add to Zhao's account."
"Become the moon spirit?" Numair inquired. He paused, clearly thinking. "Did that have something to do with the . . . event that caused an unexpected lunar eclipse two years back?"
Katara sighed and Zuko winced. "It's a long story," Katara told them, "But the spirits of the moon and ocean have a physical form. Admiral Zhao knew that waterbenders take our power from the moon, and if he destroyed it there would be no more waterbenders because we wouldn't be able to bend anymore. He killed the moon spirit during the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe and took away our bending. Yue was able to sacrifice herself to take the place of Tui, restoring the moon and our bending."
"I'm assuming it was the ocean spirit that took him after the moon was restored," Zuko commented. "I was fighting with him because he'd tried to have me killed when the water started to glow and a clawed hand came out of the canal and dragged him down."
Katara made a noise of anger. "And another thing to Zhao's account. Why would he do that?"
Zuko scoffed in dark amusement. "I was just a banished prince," he said. "My own father doesn't want me. He also realised that I'd set Aang free after he'd captured him that time because my only chance at return was to bring the Avatar in myself." He sighed. "And now I'm a traitor."
Elbowing the young man Katara snapped. "Yeah, if you consider not wanting to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground to be a bad thing."
He shook himself. "You're right, I'm sorry."
"And you can just remember that," Katara informed him.
The King chose to focus on something more immediately pertinent. "I assume, now that you have the map, you will be returning to your homeland?"
The couple turned to him. "Yes, your Majesty," Zuko said, inclining forward in a bow of, once again, the precisely perfect degree for a prince to the monarch of another country. "Could we ask-"
"I'm gonna need to check out the boats," Sokka cut in. "I don't wanna have to try to figure out how to jury-rig that Fire Nation monstrosity to run with only six crew and I'm not sure I really trust anyone but Katara and maybe Jerkbender here not to screw it all up anyhow."
The pained look on Zuko's face had the Tortallans suppressing laughter. Zuko's point-perfect protocol was sometimes intimidating and the poisonous glare he levelled at Sokka made Alanna and Numair exchange pained glances and then both turn and duck hastily out of the chapel temple abandoning Jonathan and Thayet to carry the mantle of dignity.
The King silently vowed that this was the time he'd get frogs into Alanna's bed for once. Clinging to his dignity, if only for Zuko's sake, he replied, "I'm sure, Sokka, that we can arrange for a vessel that meets your needs as well as provisioning for it."
As Sokka began rattling off his requirements, Zuko began tempering those with practicalities of storage space for fodder and bedding for an animal as large as Appa. Just as they were about to come to blows, Katara and Suki stepped in, mediating.
It was clear to see how the group made such a good team.
While Sokka and Zuko planned, Katara, Suki and Toph discussed the potentials for opening a relationship with the Tortall and its allies. Katara calmly held her own in discussions, making it clear that either her experiences travelling with the Avatar or else her position as the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe had given her a clear understanding of both politics and being politic. Her role as daughter of the Chief she had dismissed with a wave of the hand as unimportant, and yet she spoke of the daughter of the Northern Water Tribe as a princess, and so Jonathan and Thayet both decided to judiciously grant her at least the consideration of an important noble of a foreign land. Her betrothal to a Crown Prince also granted her a certain authority when discussing such things.
Toph proved to be a merchant's daughter as her considerations in discussions tended more to the mercantile, but the possibilities of opening trade were worth consideration and new silks, spices and even the skills of benders stood likely to interest the more conservative members of the Tortallan nobility.
Suki, while lacking the breadth of understanding Toph had of economics or Katara's burgeoning political savvy, brought a stable element of pragmatism to various discussions.
Aang meanwhile closeted himself with Numair, among other things finally achieving two breakthroughs. The first was in gaining access to his Avatar State in a controlled manner. One of his greatest fears had been a loss of control, but Numair's powerful magecraft had given Aang the safety net he so desired, someone who could prevent the damage an uncontrolled Avatar might cause.
Numair later admitted quietly to George his fear through the whole process that he wouldn't be able to stop Aang if the young man had gone so fully over the edge. He had barely been able to stop him that day in the courtyard and had been faking his confidence. George, who knew well the value of a good bluff, had toasted Numair's bravery and handed the mage a bottle of the best Tyran rum he could find and promised to never tell anyone.
The other breakthrough had come in one of the philosophical discussions Aang had turned out to be partial to. Numair had been amused to discover that the Avatar, along with power, inherited wisdom and a love of animals also had a deep respect for intellectual and artistic achievement. Not in the practical bent that Sokka had, but for art, philosophy and literature. Numair rarely got to indulge in discussions of the complexities of moral and ethical philosophies, the practicalities of his life so often having to take precedence over many of his interests.
"Numair," Aang said as they stood on the shore, surrounded by the evidence of Aang's use of his Avatar powers. There had been need for a small village settled near the ocean to have a long retaining wall put in to prevent erosion into the sea. It had seemed a good test for Aang's abilities to put up the wall alone, using the power of the Avatar state to have the breadth of control needed to do so alone. Aang had done it and had briefly stared in satisfaction at the work that he had done that would have taken several benders to perform as quickly and cleanly as he had done alone. "How do you know when it's . . . when you have to kill someone? I mean, when it's necessary. The monks all said that all life is precious, that it all has to be respected."
Numair had heard the occasional arguments between Aang and the others about killing the Fire Lord, Zuko's father. Without the on-the-ground information he couldn't take sides, although Numair was inclined to ultimately agree with the other five. However Aang, despite his occasional bouts of temper, was ultimately a gentle young man who disliked violence and his upbringing as part of a religious and peaceful community was ever in evidence. "They're right," he said. "I can't argue that. I also want to be clear that without my having access to the places and information you and your friends have, I can't say how you should weight the scales of your decision-making. I just want that to be clear. This is a decision you'll have to make," he said firmly.
Aang nodded. "Okay," he said. It was something Numair had noticed. Aang was getting better at understanding those subtleties that had eluded him at first. Probably because he had been so young when he'd lost the chance at discussing philosophy and then the next three years that he had been conscious had been spent on a mad dash of survival with little chance to let that sink in, he hadn't been genuinely able to make the step from childish simplicity of thought to the more textured and complex patterns of adult thinking.
"So, I think the question about the Fire Lord boils down to one thing. While every life is precious, is finding a way to avoid killing the Fire Lord worth the lives that will be lost when you don't?" Numair asked. "Assuming you can capture him and have him tried, imprisoned, whatever else might be done, will there be a loss of life consequent to those efforts, and are those lives worth the Fire Lord's?" He cautioned, "If you can imprison him without consequences, without further loss of life, I agree. But therein lies the question. First, can you do that without others being hurt and killed? And after, what are the political consequences? Think of how the Fire Nation will react when their rightful ruler is put in prison. Will there be violence? Protests? Further war because they are rallying behind him?"
The grey eyes widened. "The propaganda," he breathed. "They tell the children in the Fire Nation that the Air Nomads were planning to invade so that they think Sozin was protecting them. They don't know," he said. He looked at Numair, troubled. "You're thinking that, even if I can stop him, other people might keep going."
Numair nodded, regretful. "They might," he said. "Again, I don't know. It might be worthwhile talking to Zuko about it, and maybe Toph. She seems to have picked up on some political things the others haven't."
Aang sighed, looking away at the ocean. "I just feel like I shouldn't be judge and executioner," he said. "One time we found a village that had been holding a grudge against the Avatar ever since Kyoshi had stopped Chin the Conqueror. The headman of the village said I should stand trial. Katara and Sokka went and found proof that Kyoshi hadn't killed him, but the headman said they didn't take evidence. 'I say what happened and then you say what happened and then I say who's right!'" There was a wry quirk to Aang's lips as he quoted the headman. "I never want to be that, and if I do this how am I better than Ozai?"
"For one thing," Numair told him dryly, "I very much doubt that Ozai ever asked himself that question." He wrapped an arm around Aang's shoulder. "It's not easy and it shouldn't ever be easy. Even if something is cut-and-dried self-defence those are the questions you ask. If not before, then right after. But in this case, it's clear your gods - spirits - have said that it rests on you."
The Avatar nodded, sombre and thoughtful.
In the end, however, there wasn't time to waste. Powell's Comet was approaching and the group had to return to their homeland. A small fleet of ships accompanied the travellers on the first leg of their journey, all the way to an island closest to the boundary defined by the Wavewalker in her map. It was a place often used by fishermen for reprovisioning and refilling water as there was a remarkably large fresh spring on the island. Once there, the accompanying ships helped them load up extra provisions, finish rigging the ship to travel with only the six crewing it, and the travellers left.
The question of whether their mission succeeded was a mystery that would remain unknown unless and until they returned.
It was a year later that they finally received news.
Word came to the palace of a large ship with blue and white sails and of a design no one had seen before approaching Port Caynn from the open ocean. When Daine and Numair headed out together in hawk form to see who the strangers might be, they were greeted by a welcome sight. Sokka was on board the ship, directing the sailors who were all of a similar physical type to him, though the details and shades of blue were different on about half of the sailors.
There was a small crowd of young women dressed in dark green dresses with some sort of armour overtop and heavy face paint turning most of the face white and extending the eyes in a dramatic and stylised fashion. Sokka's affectionate attempt to kiss one gave away the identity hidden behind the masking paint. To the side was a much older man with a shock of white hair, conversing with a middle-aged one with dark hair in a tail. Both were in clothing of darker shades with red accents. There were several in very formal-looking clothing in shades of yellows and greens and Daine was excited at the sight of some new strange animals she had never seen before.
There was also a young woman with a blank look on her face dressed in a black dress, but something about her told Daine she was pretty dangerous.
In accord, Daine and Numair turned and headed back to the palace, landing in the stables where they had their clothing stored, both hastening to the king's office. "So?" Jonathan asked as they entered.
Numair grinned. "It's Sokka, Suki and what looks to be an envoy."
With that advanced warning, when the envoy disembarked they were met by Raoul and a coterie of the King's Riders to act as escort, as well as Numair and Daine. Numair because one of the last things he had done before the six left had been to get their language for himself, and Daine because she would be helpful with any startlement or upset on the part of the creature that looked half wolf, half polar bear, not to mention the giant bird and the ducks with turtle shells.
"Numair! Good to see you again!" Sokka said. "Aang says hi, but they needed him to sit still and try to look impressive at the latest set of reparation negotiations."
Off to the side, one of the people in green and gold, an older gentleman with a flamboyant hat, was staring with deep interest at the horses, slowly drifting towards them. One of the women in the heavy face paint reeled him back in.
Sokka continued. "I'm sorry about showing up unannounced, but getting a messenger here was an unjustifiable expense unless we just took the whole surprise diplomatic route to begin with."
Raoul had joined them by then. "We understand, Sokka. So, any royalty or anything that we need to cater to?"
"Well, if you could give the guy with the hat Common quickly and then lock him up with a naturalist, I'd appreciate it," Sokka said. "The fact that he was the Earth King's tutor suddenly makes King Kuei and his bear make so much more sense."
He had managed to wangle Suki over to one of the horses, and the perplexed look on the face of the rider suddenly made sense. Numair smiled. "I know just the person, my old friend Lindhall will be delighted to talk to him as long as he's willing to talk about the animals you brought."
"Great," replied the younger man. He pointed to one of the men in blue, saying, "That is Sage Paklat of the Northern Water Tribe," He gave them a wry grin, "I'm here semi-officially as the representative of the Southern Tribe."
Numair nodded, watching Raoul make mental notes as to who was to be treated how. "Not really unexpected."
"Nope," Sokka said. He pointed at the man in red accents with the ponytail. "That is Master Piandao," he said, respect very clear. Numair recalled that Sokka had been introduced as having been the man's student. The young, dour woman in black was pointed out as Lady Mai and the older man with the messy white hair was named Master Jeong Jeong. "They're here to represent the Fire Nation and Jeong Jeong is here on behalf of the White Lotus as well."
"The White Lotus?" Raoul asked.
Sokka shrugged. "I'll let him explain that, because I still don't really get what they're doing. I just know they were kind of important in ending the war and retaking Ba Sing Se. But basically they're a group trying to maintain and create ties between the various nations." He turned to the ones in green and yellow. "There's one diplomat from the capital city Ba Sing Se here to speak on behalf of the Earth King," a middle-aged woman was pointed out having the serious and formal look of the Yamani Islanders who tended to be most put off by the supposed informality of the Eastern kingdoms like Tortall. "That one is here on behalf of King Bumi of Omashu." This was a young man who was frowning and concerned as he repeatedly unrolled some sort of letter, read it, shook his head in apparent confusion as he rolled it back up and then repeated the process only moments later.
"And the others?" Raoul tilted his head at the other green and yellow characters.
"University scholars," Sokka said. "They're here to look at weird animals, art, history. . ." Sokka trailed off his hand twirling in the air, gesturing out the implied, 'and so on and so forth'. He grinned as he pointed to the young women in their dramatic face paint. "Suki brought the Kyoshi Warriors to stand as official bodyguards for our group."
Given the clearly significant differences between the wildlife of Tortall and her neighbours and the lands Sokka and the others had come from, this was both an encouraging and wise choice to include with any envoy. Raoul and Sokka took a few moments to work through the names, titles, ranks and people being represented before a messenger was sent at full speed towards the palace in Corus. Once that was done, Sokka said, "If you'll excuse me, I have to get everyone organised." Suddenly he looked at the man with the shock of white hair who was approaching. He switched back to the travellers' Common. "Master Jeong Jeong. This is Master Mage Numair Salmalin."
"It is an honour to meet another of the Avatar's teachers," Jeong Jeong said. "More, I wished to speak with the man who could suggest such an interesting philosophy of the two sides of the elements."
Indeed, Jeong Jeong was a philosopher, but of the pessimistic type. His long experience of corruption and the dangers of firebending had given him a deep understanding of the worst of human nature. Numair enjoyed their talk as they travelled the road to Corus, but found him to be almost a dark reflection of how the mage might have wound up feeling had he stayed on the traditional path of the Black Robe in Carthak. As they arrived at the palace, he was intrigued as the other man said, "I see now how you led the Avatar to such hope for both the Fire Nation and all our peoples. Perhaps I might have been one such as yourself had I not stayed out of loyalty to the crown for so long."
Upon formal entry to the Great Hall, Sokka acted as translator for each of the emissaries as they read letters from their respective leaders, greeting King Jonathan. Surprise rippled around the court as Master Piandao and Lady Mai both indicated they were present to represent the interests of the newly crowned Fire Lord Zuko. When it came time for Sokka's speech Numair rather fancied he could hear both Katara and Zuko's hands in keeping it appropriate. Sokka also approached the throne bearing a very formal sealed scroll which he announced was the personal greetings from the Fire Lord to his fellow monarch. Numair also didn't miss that Sokka slipped Jonathan a second letter that looked to be a more personal missive.
It was a very short time before the mage's skills were called upon to provide the language to the members of the envoy, something that took the rest of the day. It was much later that Jonathan and his closest advisors were able to meet. "So?" Numair asked.
"Among other things, I have a formal invitation to the royal family of Tortall to visit the Fire Nation as the personal guests of the Fire Lord," Jonathan said. He did not discuss the second letter in which Zuko had sent his sincere thanks to Jonathan for every lesson in statecraft and kingship and stating his inability to ever put words to the depth of his gratitude. It was a letter not between two monarchs, but from one person to another on a matter of shared experience, and Jonathan rather thought he wanted to maintain that one thing, a new friend who could understand those burdens as no one else could. Instead he continued, "And if any of the children were a little older I would absolutely be considering sending them. As it stands, I am planning to send a returning envoy myself."
"I note," Gary said, "That Ambassador Menitako was in serious discussion with several members of the envoy."
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "As the Yamani do appear to be a lost colony of someone from that side of the ocean, I suspect it's best if we stay out of any political overtures happening there."
They settled in to talk, all in tacit agreement that the relationship with these distant lands bore the marks of a strong alliance and even friendship between peoples.
End notes: That's all I've got, folks. I know you probably wanted more, but I didn't want to actually rewrite the end of AtLA, and I didn't really have any more adventures, so that's all she wrote, and thanks to everyone who took a chance on reading this.