Author's Note: This chapter steals a few lines from the graphic novels Imbalance. The Rift and The Legend of Korra were also clear sources of inspiration.

This chapter is dedicated to Sycamore17, whose story "The Minister" showed me how intriguing and dramatic a political story in the ATLA universe can be, and whose modern AU story "Apartment 3E" has taught me many things about how to end a chapter and juggle several storylines. Check out these fics if you haven't already!

After the independence referendum, Aang and his friends moved to Cranefish Town, so that he and Sokka could participate in the formation of the new government. Though younger than Yu Dao, it was more centrally located; for that reason people were suggesting it as a possible capital for the new United Republic. Additionally, the recent discovery of iron ore nearby had spurred rapid industrial development.

"Cranefish Town?" Toph made a face at the name as they traveled to their new lodgings on Appa's back. "That name smells like rotting fish and bird droppings."

"I know, right?" Sokka agreed. "Cranefish are not exactly the most dignified animals. Their honks are so obnoxious! And it's too big to be called a 'town' anymore, isn't it?"

"Why don't you think of a better name?" Suki suggested, nudging her boyfriend affectionately.

Sokka stroked his chin. "I'll work on that. If it does become the capital, that would be a good reason to rename the city."

When they flew into the harbor, Aang was astonished to see a giant statue that he remembered from his childhood: a stone noblewoman with an elaborate headdress. His people had celebrated Yangchen's Festival here annually, bowing ritually to this statue. The memory made the place feel like home to him already, before they even landed.

Upon arrival, Team Avatar was greeted with the usual fanfare. The boom town's leaders offered the Avatar and his friends temporary accommodations near the harbor, and they found themselves quickly swept up into the life of the city.

Suki's skills as a fighter, investigator, and instructor were sorely needed by the local police force, especially since tensions between benders and non-benders were increasing. Chi-blocking was a necessary self-defense, and Suki was one of very few people who understood and could teach the art.

Similarly, Katara's medical knowledge was in high demand. The local clinic was always overrun with patients, especially since the end of the war had led to a baby boom. She was appalled to find that a population this size didn't have a real hospital to serve it, but did her best to help in the busiest clinic.

The election of the first United Republic government was much less eventful and controversial than the independence referendum, and happened only a few weeks afterward. Several of the council members who had worked together to write the country's constitution won office; Aang and Sokka, who had spent endless hours in meetings with these people as delegates, considered them capable and fair minded. Most importantly, they were committed to making their governing theories work in practice, and to working as a team for the common good, even when they disagreed.

In addition to his time-consuming correspondences with his father, Zuko, Piandao, Chief Arnook, and the Mechanist, Sokka was constantly wanted for informal consultations with the leaders of the new government. When they did choose Cranefish Town as the capital, as the rumor had predicted, Sokka was the one who suggested rechristening the place Republic City, to focus attention on the new state's representative governance, and the city's role as its center.

As if they weren't busy enough, the Order of the White Lotus requested its newest recruits to open a safehouse as its base of operations in the area. The surface, stated purpose was to serve as a haven for brothers in need, but the Order also recognized the importance of the new United Republic to world peace, and hoped to strengthen the infant nation with its wisdom and underground intelligence. Sokka and Suki visited the local taverns until they found one they liked, where a pai sho table was always set in a back corner, ready for a newcomer to use a game to prove his bona fides. There they contracted several upstairs rooms to keep reserved for Order business. Until a permanent office could be bought, or built, the tavern could serve as local headquarters for the ancient brotherhood.

Toph was the first of the group to decide to stay permanently in Republic City. Her father already owned a factory and mine on the outskirts of town, so her parents had traveled there as soon as they heard Toph would be coming. Their relationship had been steadily improving over the past year, thanks to the distance and time, and to the way Lao and Poppy Beifong had proven they had changed by respecting their daughter's boundaries. Toph's father had offered to build a metalbending school for her, suggesting that the students could also use the factory and mine as a kind of exercise gym or laboratory.

"He started talking about the school like a business, but then I insisted that I didn't want to charge the students any money, just like I didn't charge you, Aang. I don't think I've found a single student who'd be able to afford to pay me anyway." Toph explained her new venture to her friends. "So now he's going to consider the school a philanthropic project. About time for him to start using his money to help people."

The others congratulated her, sure this would be the perfect project for their friend. They were also glad to see that Toph's father now saw her as a kind of business partner, rather than a helpless little girl.

Among the first acts of the new government was the founding of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which put many of the bitterest Earth Kingdom partisans somewhat more at ease. Their discomfort with the coalition government was soothed even more when Avatar Aang was named as chair of the Commission. He would be tasked with uncovering and publishing the crimes committed by the Fire Nation during the colonization of the area that was now the United Republic. Monuments to colonizers would be removed and placed in a proposed museum; memorials to victims and survivors would be planned and erected. Accountants and historians would research the companies and families that had profited from exploiting the land and people; fortunes amassed this way would be dismantled and redistributed. The commission would also weigh in on policies under consideration by the United Republic Congress, to eradicate all lingering discrimination and ensure that new laws would only have the effect of making the society more equitable and fair.

When Aang first got word of this appointment, it felt right, like a calling, a concrete way he could work to make reparations for the injustices allowed by Roku's inaction, and the oppression that had taken place during his own lost years. But he realized he would have to stay in Republic City indefinitely for the position, which meant he needed to get Katara to agree. He felt nervous: he didn't want to choose between her and this job, which felt like his duty. But separation from his love would be intolerable.

To make the proposal, Aang flew his girlfriend to an island in the harbor where they could survey the entire city. He thought the expansive view might help her to see the momentousness of the work he had been asked to do.

As they stood on the beach, looking back at the buildings and boats of the burgeoning metropolis, he gave her his news. "The new government is making a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and they want me to lead it." He briefly described the mission of the organization to her.

"That's wonderful! Congratulations! I'm sure no one will do a better job than you." Katara gave her boyfriend a proud hug.

"That means I'll have to stay here." He cautioned seriously. "For a good while, anyway. Is that all right with you?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "There's a beach where I can waterbend, and a clinic with people who need healing. As long as you're here too, that's everything I need to be happy."

Aang's chest expanded in relief. "Then you'd be ok if Republic City became our…..home base?"

"We're each other's home, no matter where we are." She reminded him. "And Sokka, and Suki, and Toph are all here. I'm making new friends in the clinic too. We can always travel to see family."

"Of course. We can visit the South as often as you want. The Fire Nation, too." He assured her.

"I know. Appa might get restless if we go too long without taking him on an intercontinental flight. So, yes." Katara grinned, taking his hand. The decision was a relief to her, too, since she'd started to wonder whether or not it was safe to start making long term plans. They had spent more than two years travelling almost constantly, and she was ready to stay in one spot for a while. "I'd like to settle down here. This is a place I can picture myself living happily for a long time."

"It's a place where we could do a lot of good." Aang should have known there would be no conflict between Katara and his vocation. She was so much a part of him that she seemed to feel the same call he did; their life's work could only be done side by side.

"I agree. This city needs you."

"I think it needs us." Their fingers laced together, they looked across the harbor at the outline of the growing city, their chosen home.

With Aang and Katara's decision to stay in Republic City, they encountered the issue of exactly where in the city they might live. The apartments the new government had given to them to use had been meant as temporary residences. The city administrators had even hinted a couple of times, asking when they might move out. The couple thought that between their savings from the play, Katara's salary from the clinic, and Aang's modest stipend, they could afford a house large enough for the two of them, but it was hard to find one with space for Appa as well. They also knew that the Avatar's presence in a particular neighborhood might be seen as a kind of political favor or endorsement, so they were afraid to make anyone feel slighted or upset. And Katara dreaded explaining her decision to live alone with her boyfriend to her conservative older relatives.

One afternoon, Sokka and Suki asked Aang and Katara to follow them on a mysterious outing. The older couple showed their adopted siblings a townhouse near the harbor with three floors, an outbuilding that could be used as a stable, a large backyard, and a big, open room on the first floor that could be used as a ballroom, or a practice gym, as the occasion demanded.

"We just bought this place, and we wanted to see if you two would like to live here with us." Sokka explained. "It has five bedrooms, one for each of us and one for guests. You know, even if we don't, uh, sleep separately, it's nice to keep up the illusion, you know. And nice to have our own space."

Katara and Aang instantly understood what Sokka was offering them, and accepted gratefully. She had started to worry about how she would explain her living arrangements to her father and grandmother, if she started living openly with Aang, and realized that this was the perfect solution. At least for now. She assumed that eventually her brother and his girlfriend (someday his wife?) would want a place to themselves, but until then, she was happy to put off a confrontation with her family. Besides, they were so used to spending time with Sokka and Suki that they would miss them if they weren't nearby.

"How could you afford this, Sokka?" Katara wondered. It was a much nicer place than any she and Aang had considered.

"Well, the guy selling it is a friend from the council, so he gave us a good price. Suki and I had our savings from the Banished Prince royalties, and I had some money from patents I worked on with the Mechanist. She's got her cop salary, and I have my consulting fees and ongoing projects, and we're both getting paid to manage the new White Lotus safehouse."

When the four of them sat down together and worked out the numbers, they realized that they could afford to live in the large town home, with plenty left over for travel and entertainment. Sokka and Suki would own the house, but Aang and Katara would pay their share of the ongoing upkeep and maintenance as long as they resided on the third floor. Since they would be saving money by living together, they agreed to send some money back home to help the rebuilding efforts in the South, and on Kyoshi Island. The other three insisted that Aang set aside his portion of the savings to restore the Air Temples. As his roots in Republic City grew deeper, he began to nurse a secret hope of someday building a new Air Temple in his adopted home.

Suki's police force was struggling to handle the underground bending matches that kept springing up in various secluded locations around the city. They were sometimes fought to the death, and even when surrender was allowed, the matches usually did not end until one of the participants was seriously injured. Riled up by such violence, the spectators often broke out into fistfights, especially when they felt they had been cheated in the bets they had lost.

One night, Suki came home exhausted and frustrated after another long shift trying and failing to apprehend the organizers of the underground fighting rings.

"I don't think you're ever going to get rid of these bending matches, Suki," Sokka told her, his pessimism and pragmatism coming together for this assessment. "It's just too much fun to watch people fight!"

"I never saw the appeal of watching people get hurt," Aang objected.

"That's because you're a square." Sokka waved dismissively at his younger friend. "Normal people think it's awesome!"

"Do I need to describe to you some of the injuries I've seen?" Katara shuddered.

"I mean, obviously it's not fun when people actually die or get maimed." Sokka allowed. "That does cross a line. So, instead of trying to stamp it out, what you have to do instead is establish a safe and legal alternative."

"Like Earth Rumble." Toph put in. "We don't have any underground fighting in Gaoling because everybody just goes to watch the earthbenders pound each other out in the open."

"Exactly!" Sokka gestured agreement. "But we don't only have earthbenders here. We also have firebenders."

"And a few waterbenders," Katara reminded him.

"Right." Sokka scratched his chin. "I think what we need is a healthy competition that forces people to work on a team with different kinds of benders. That would bring the whole city together!"

Katara recalled something she'd read in her history books about an ancient Avatar who had started a series of athletic competitions as a way of bringing the nations together for diplomacy and friendship. Those contests had consisted of mostly of footraces, a skill that both benders and nonbenders could perform. Perhaps these bending matches could fill a similar function for the divided city. The fact that each team needed three benders of different backgrounds meant that this unifying purpose was almost built in.

Sokka wrote the rules and designed the arena. Each team would include an earthbender, a firebender, and a waterbender. The arena consisted of a platform suspended over water; the object was to push the other team into the pool. The earthbenders would use clay discs that broke apart on impact. They would all wear fire-retardant clothing to prevent serious burns. Once he had the plans written, he presented the concept to investors he'd met from his connections on the council. Suki and her friends on the police force spread the word among the underground fighters they had apprehended that there was a safer way for them to make money using their talents.

An exhibition match was planned in the city's largest gymnasium. The investors wanted to start it off with a bang, and were confident that the star power of the Avatar and his famous companions would draw crowds. That was how Aang, Katara and Toph became the first professional bending team, under the obvious name, Team Avatar. Though he was biased in favor of his friends, Sokka was asked to serve as the event's announcer and master of ceremonies. The opportunity to fight the Avatar and his famous companions was a great draw to the best of the underground brawlers, and the event tickets sold out almost instantly.

Aang felt a little uncomfortable playing as a firebender, typically the team member who used the most aggressive offense. And Katara didn't like that many of her most effective attacks, like ice daggers, were not allowed, though she knew how to use them safely.

Toph grumbled about the limitations that the arena put on her bending. Using only clay discs, instead of the ground she stood on, made her impatient with the matches that dragged on. Sokka had to explain to her that if the competitions were over too quickly, the crowds could get bored, or feel cheated, and that the extra time could be used for trash talking, which would only increase the entertainment value of the whole event. Mollified, Toph began brainstorming new insults for the brawny contestants she would face.

Despite their discomfort with some of the rules, Team Avatar soundly defeated all challengers, allowing them to score only enough points to make the matches fun to watch. A new sporting sensation was born, and the people of the city found a unifying force in their support of the new league. A permanent arena was built to Sokka's specifications. Since the teams themselves were integrated with players of different backgrounds, their supporters were as well, and fans often made friends across ethnic boundaries. Even when they didn't support the same teams, the citizens of Republic City appreciated the way that the pro bending tournaments provided a common outlet for their energy and enthusiasm.

Team Avatar went into semi-retirement after their debut, to allow the league to develop without a single team dominating all the time. Besides, they were too busy to train regularly as a team. But Aang, Katara, and Toph had so much fun exercising their bending skills in competition that they decided that on Zuko's next visit to Republic City, they would have to have another exhibition match: the Avatar, unrestricted on his use of all four elements, against his three bending companions.

Author's Note: The idea and name of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission come from actual real life organizations working to heal the wounds resulting from apartheid in South Africa and the abuses of Native Americans in Canada. These are ongoing, unfinished, and continuous efforts that may never be truly completed. Similarly, I imagine that Aang's work to resolve the effects of colonization on the people and lands that now compose the United Republic will take several lifetimes. I felt the establishment of an institutional mechanism for ensuring equity in a place marked by colonization was vital because I could not portray the United Republic as a just society without creating an organization like this focused on protecting the vulnerable and working to undo past injustice. It is probably not sufficient by itself to achieve that goal, but it was the best I could do in this limited format, in a story focused more on romance than on politics. I am open to critique on this issue; I know that my imagination is limited and my exploration of the political issues in the world of Avatar is underdeveloped. I only hope I have not harmed any real life victims of colonization or exploitation with this fictional portrayal set in an idealized fantasy world. If I have caused harm despite these intentions, I apologize sincerely.

Also, I want to give fair warning and plenty of advance notice: later chapters of this story will incorporate lore and spoilers from the Kyoshi novels (The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi by F. C. Yee). So I hope you are able to get these great books and read them in the next few weeks if you want to avoid spoilers.

Please leave me a review! Your thoughts and feedback are what keep me going! I truly appreciate each one.

Next chapter turns to Zuko, with his long-awaited Reparations Tour.