Part 4: Epilogue

"I was happier than the larks

That nest on the downs and sing to the sky—

Over the downs the birds flying

Were not so happy as I.

It was not you, though you were near,

Though you were good to hear and see,

It was not earth, it was not heaven,

It was myself that sang in me."

-Sara Teasdale, excerpt from "On the South Downs"

"Take that!" Kazia kicked a leg out, sending a ball of compressed air toward Kelsang. Kelsang dodged, narrowly missing the full impact of the blast as it shook a palm tree.

"She almost got you that time, Twinkletoes!" Toph called from her seat on a rock nearby.

Kelsang laughed. "You're getting really good at that, Kazia. But remember to follow through with your arms. They're delivering just as much power as your legs."

Katara sat next to Toph, watching the girls airbend. They were practicing in the shared courtyard of several houses on Kyoshi Island. Sokka and Suki had graciously opened their home to them after Kazia had been announced as the Avatar, but Toph had quickly erected new buildings to accommodate the growing family. Now they all lived within shouting distance of each other. Sokka, Suki, and their four children lived in the original house. Toph had her own cave-like structure a little ways past the courtyard. Kelsang and her airbison lived in a nearby converted barn. And finally, Katara, Zuko, and their children lived together in a small house Toph built for them.

Kelsang had received permission from the spiritual centralists and the Order of the White Lotus to train Kazia in airbending after Kelsang's eighteenth birthday. Kazia, now sixteen, had passed the proficiency tests in water, earth, and firebending, but she still had a long way to go before any of her teachers were satisfied with her progress.

"Don't tire yourself out too much, kid," Toph called. "We still have to practice your boulder-throwing form."

Kazia bended her sweat off her forehead. "I know. And Dad's still getting onto me about my fire streams. No other Avatar has had to learn three elements at once!"

"That's not true," Zuko said as he stepped off the porch. Katara hadn't noticed either him or Sokka coming back from the Kyoshi market. "Your mom, Toph, and I all trained Aang at the same time." Katara bent her cheek up so he could kiss her hello.

"Get a room, you two!" Kazia groaned. "At least no other Avatar has been trained by her parents. Yuck."

Katara smiled as Zuko sat beside her.

"Any letters from Fire Lord Zhenzhu?" she asked him.

"Not since last week. But our mom wrote to say the council is very pleased with her. Crime rates have been dropping. Apparently she's adored as Fire Lord too." His brow was relaxed, and his amber eyes looked content. She had never seen him this peaceful when he was Fire Lord, and once again she thanked the gods he had stepped down from the throne in order to be a firebending teacher and a father to Kazia.

After a few minutes, the back door to Suki and Sokka's house burst open, and Katara counted five children as they spilled out. They hollered and ran toward the girls who tossed them up with airbending gusts before gently bringing them back to the earth. The smallest child tottered up to Katara and Zuko.

"Dada, Dada," he said as he tried to climb into Zuko's lap. Zuko pulled him onto his lap.

"Hi, Urson," Katara said, kissing her son. "Did you have a good nap?"

The little boy with a shock of jet black hair stuck his thumb in his mouth as he snuggled into his father's chest.

"So, firebender or waterbender?" Toph asked, leaning over to tickle Urson's chin.

"Maybe he takes after his uncle!" Sokka called from an open window of his house as he skinned fish for dinner.

Katara laughed. "I hope he's a nonbender! I don't think I could handle another child almost burning down the house."

"Hey, I said sorry about that!" Kazia called as she looked up from carrying two of her cousins.

"Nonbending kids are enough of a handful," Suki sighed as she came down the porch.

"Someone just forgot the ko-nuk tea," Toph joked, bumping her shoulder into Suki.

Katara felt her body relax as she reached out to touch Zuko's back. She watched her daughter and her brother's children play in the courtyard as her husband rocked their son. Kelsang and Kazia clearly adored each other, and their occasional glances and blushes made Katara briefly wonder how intimate their love for each other would eventually become. But that was a thought for another day.

She knew this moment of peace and joy wouldn't last forever. One day Kazia would be grown, and she'd make her way in the world as the Avatar. One day Urson would be a man. Maybe he'd get married and have his own children. One day Suki, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, and even she herself would grow old and pass back into the earth, joining Aang in the spirit world.

But for now, this was enough.

THE END

AN: Thank you so much for reading my story. The comments, likes, and clicks I received have pulled me through the worst writer's blocks. I started this story in July 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and 15 months later I'm happy with the work I have created with your support. Over the last 15 months, I adopted my first dog, finished graduate school, lost a job, moved, spent five months unemployed, and next week I'm starting a new job. This story has carried me through all of that, and I couldn't have done it without readers like you. Thank you.