When the day of Iroh's coronation finally arrived the royal palace was buzzing with activity. It was hours before the sun would rise, and the only light in the palace was provided by lamps and braziers. Amiku had arrived to take Chiara to the spa where she would be prepared for the occasion, while Zuko would be assisted by servants of his own. After they were dressed in royal clothing, the couple met at the palace entrance. Though they preferred their comfortable commoner clothing or even their casual royal clothing, their eyes lit up upon seeing each other. Zuko was breathless when he saw his wife in the deep red gown, and his heart stirred at her elegant beauty. Part of her hair had been pulled up into a top knot bun allowing the rest of her long, dark curls to flow around her, and the silver of her mother's diadem gleamed upon her forehead disappearing into her onyx-colored hair. As he approached her, he was drawn into the sea that swirled in her eyes submersing himself in their depths. Chiara was no less thrilled to see her husband standing tall and majestic in his dark red royal regalia, his hair in a neat top knot on his head, and his golden eyes sending fiery rays straight into her heart. In his left hand he carried Roku's headpiece. He bowed deeply.

"My Lady," he said making her own heart stir.

He stood erect and offered her his right arm which she took. He escorted her out of the palace and into the courtyard where they climbed into a carriage where Iroh had been waiting for them with Ezo and another Imperial Firebender on each side of him.

"Good morning, Daughter, Nephew. You look like quite the royal couple," he said pleasantly as they were seating themselves. "I see you have the headpiece as I requested."

"Yes, Uncle."

Other carriages were being filled by the very tired guests who were not used to such an early morning event. Even Sokka was too tired to complain that they were not served breakfast first.

The door of the royal carriage opened and a tired-looking Aang climbed inside and sat next to Zuko.

"Wow, you guys do things really early," he said. "I know firebenders rise with the sun and all, but the sun isn't even up yet."

Zuko and Chiara softly giggled, and even Iroh chuckled.

"Today we must be ready to greet the sun as it rises," said Iroh.

"You look very nice, Aang," Chiara complimented him as he wore the bright yellow Air Nomad robes Iroh had made for him.

"Thanks, Chiara." He looked up at the soon-to-be Fire Lord. "And thanks for these new robes," he said. "I still can't believe you did this for me."

"You're quite welcome," said Iroh. "I must say, that is a fascinating necklace. I don't believe I've ever seen you wear it before."

"Yeah." He lowered his eyes looking sad. "I found it in a market in the northern Earth Kingdom when we were on our way to the North Pole."

"Really?" said Iroh. "How interesting." In all his travels, Iroh had never seen any Air Nomad relics in the marketplaces. He had only ever seen such items in the palace's secret collection—a collection he intended to go through in order to return them to the Nations from whom they were taken. He was surprised to learn that after a hundred years there were relics pillaged from the air temples still floating around the markets.

Aang gently ran his fingers over the large wooden disk which bore three swirling insignia of the Air Nomads. "It was actually a trap by Admiral Zhao," he said softly.

Everyone's eyes were immediately on him.

"Zhao?" asked Zuko. "You got caught by Zhao a second time?"

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "Second time?" he asked.

Zuko looked up at him and Aang's eyes went wide as both teenagers had flashbacks of arrows and spears, and Aang could even feel the cold steel of two blades against his neck.

"Uh...," started Zuko.

"He...uh...," stuttered Aang. "...he...Zhao that is..."

"He...uh...attacked us...at...at Crescent Island," said Zuko.

"Yeah!" agreed Aang a bit too enthusiastically. "At Crescent Island! At the Fire Temple."

"Ohh," said Iroh with a sparkle in his eye. "Of course. Please go on, Avatar Aang."

Chiara was softly giggling to herself.

"Yeah...uh...," started Aang continuing his story. "...this was a different time than the...uh...Fire Temple. The merchant I bought it from said it was found in the mountains. I thought there might be other airbenders hiding there, so I waited until Katara and Sokka were asleep and I flew around the mountains searching for any sign of them. I really thought I found others when I saw a shrine. It was filled with airbender stuff."

"But it was a trap," stated Iroh.

Aang looked down and nodded. "By Zhao."

Zuko glared at Zhao's name.

"Very interesting," said Iroh thoughtfully. "That was the same tactic employed by Fire Lord Sozin."

All three teens looked at Iroh.

"That's what Zhao said," said Aang, his eyes wide. "He said Fire Lord Sozin used the relics to attract the airbenders that escaped the temples. He made it look like airbender refugees were hiding in caves, and he would lure them in."

Everyone in the carriage was visibly disgusted by Sozin's strategy, even Iroh despite his familiarity with the Fire Lord's scheme.

"How did you get away?" asked Chiara.

"Airbending," said Aang. "There were a lot of airbender relics in the cave, so I started spinning a dorje really hard and it created a windstorm. Zhao and his men got caught up in it, and I was able to escape."

Suddenly, the carriage lurched forward and they were heading away from the palace.

After leaving the palace grounds and traveling through Royal Caldera City, the carriages arrived at the Coronation Temple and Plaza. The damage caused by Zuko and Azula's comet-enhanced battle had been repaired and it was ready and decorated for the ceremony that was to take place there.

Iroh, Zuko, Chiara, and Aang were ushered into a back entrance of the temple accompanied by Kaito, Nai, Izin, Ezo, and the rest of the Royal Procession. The rest of the Gaang and other guests were escorted into the plaza where many citizens from all over the Fire Nation had gathered.

In the temple, the High Sage greeted Iroh. "Prince Iroh, it is nearly time," he said as the sky was slowly lighting up. "We must hurry."

The group quickly climbed the stairs until they made it to the upper level where Iroh was rushed towards the front entrance. Below, the crowd waited in the plaza.

"Keep your speech short," said the High Sage. "The sun will rise over the horizon soon."

Chiara straightened Iroh's robes for him. "You look very regal, Father." He broke into a smile, and she reached up gently replacing some stray strands of his gray hair. "The moon is still up and will be shining its light on you too."

"That is a good omen," he said.

"Prince Iroh..."

Iroh quickly glanced at the High Sage before smiling at Chiara and Zuko. He turned towards the front entrance and slowly stepped outside to see shades of red, green, and blue as people from the three Nations filled the plaza. A gong sounded and the crowd cheered, but Iroh raised his hand.

"The real hero is the Avatar."

He looked back at Aang and beckoned him to come out. The Avatar obeyed, walking out to stand next to Iroh.

"This war is finally over!" announced Iroh. "We must work together to restore the honor of the Fire Nation. The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting have left the world scarred and divided. But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love and peace."

"Ahem," the High Sage interrupted softly.

Iroh looked at him, and the Sage nodded his head indicating that it was time. Iroh faced forward, and as the sun peaked over the horizon, the first rays of light fell upon him. He slowly knelt down. The High Sage stepped behind him and placed the royal headpiece into his top knot.

"All hail Fire Lord Iroh!" the Sage announced.

Iroh stood while the cheers rose up from below. The crowd was happy that the war was over and that a dictator had been replaced with someone in whom they hoped would be more benevolent.

Iroh looked back at Zuko and Chiara and now beckoned them to come out. They glanced at each other with puzzled expressions. The High Sage took the headpiece from Zuko, and then the couple obeyed their new Fire Lord's gesture.

"Kneel, Prince Zuko, Princess Chiara," he said to them.

Again, they obeyed his order. The crowd quieted down as everyone watched the scene. Fire Lord Iroh motioned to the High Sage who brought out the headpiece of Avatar Roku. Standing before Zuko, Iroh placed the headpiece over his top knot securing it with the pin. He then took another headpiece offered by the Sage.

"This is the headpiece of the wife of the Crown Prince," he said while placing it in Chiara's hair. "It belonged to the late Princess Mina."

A tear slid down her cheek as she realized he was giving her the headpiece of his late wife.

"Rise, Crown Prince Zuko, Princess Chiara," he announced loudly before presenting them to the cheering crowd.

When the cheers were dying down, the High Sage stepped forward. "To celebrate the coronation of our Fire Lord, there will be a grand banquet in the plaza."

One loud "woohoo" could be heard among the crowd that was clearly Sokka's voice. Zuko and Chiara looked at each other stifling their giggles.

After the Sage had made his announcement, tables were carried out into the plaza and set up, and servers began laying out food.

Iroh turned to Zuko and Chiara. "This is my favorite part of the coronation."

There had been no banquet at the last coronation, and Zuko silently wondered if it was a new addition to the ceremony by his uncle or a tradition that was just skipped by Ozai.

Iroh offered his arm to Chiara. "Shall we go, Princess Chiara?"

"Yes, my Lord," she said taking his arm.

He looked at Zuko. "Are you coming, Prince Zuko?"

"I'll catch up with you, Uncle...I mean Fire Lord," he corrected.

"I still prefer 'Uncle'," smiled Iroh. He leaned towards Chiara. "And 'Father,'" he added.

Zuko took one last look at his princess before the Fire Lord and his daughter turned to descend the temple steps followed by their guards and the sages leaving only him and Aang at the top while Kaito remained inside waiting for him. The prince's eyes moved to the multi-colored crowd below. While traveling the world on his ship or living in exile in the Earth Kingdom he had never imagined that one day he would be standing next to the Avatar at his uncle's coronation.

"I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down," he said in a soft, thoughtful voice. "And now..."

"And now we're friends," finished Aang.

Zuko turned towards him. "Yeah, we are friends."

"I can't believe over a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice," said Aang. "The world's so different now."

Zuko placed his hand on his shoulder. "And it's going to be even more different...when we all build it together."

They embraced each other.

"We'd better get to the food before Sokka eats it all," said Aang.

"And my uncle," smiled Zuko.

After everyone ate their fill at the banquet, the people who were present lined up to personally congratulate the new Fire Lord, something unheard of among the citizens during previous reigns. Many, too, wanted to meet the Avatar, and even greet the Crown Prince and Princess, and by the afternoon, Iroh, Aang, Zuko, and Chiara were exhausted.

During the week after Iroh's coronation, ships set sail from the Fire Nation returning the various guests to their homelands. Suki sent her Kyoshi Warriors back to Kyoshi Island where she planned on meeting them later after most of the negotiations among the Nations were completed. Only after meeting with Fire Lord Iroh and agreeing on peace terms did Chief Hakoda and his men finally prepare to return home to the Southern Water Tribe. Future negotiations were planned as Iroh offered to help rebuild the South Pole in reparation for the damages done by the Fire Nation's previous rulers. Hakoda would have to assess the needs of the Tribe, and he agreed to give Iroh time to work on stability in his own government before making any requests. Fire Lord Iroh had to maintain order in the Fire Nation and prevent any chaos that might arise in the aftermath of the war. There was an overwhelming amount of work for him to tend to, and even with his newly selected council, there was much consulting and planning to do in his own Nation before he could begin giving aid to the others.

Since Sokka and Katara decided to remain with Aang and assist him in his duties to the Nations for a while longer, they spent as much time as they could with Hakoda before the Water Tribesmen set sail for home.

A week after the coronation, Iroh sent Zuko to the Earth Kingdom as his personal delegate. He and Chiara flew with the rest of Team Avatar on Appa to celebrate the end of the war in Ba Sing Se. Kaito, who returned to his duties after bringing his family to the Capital, and of course Nai, traveled with the Gaang much to Izin's dismay that he was unable to be present to guard the couple.

During the Prince and Princess's absence from the Fire Nation, several of the former Boiling Rock guards made arrangements to bring their families to Capital City since they had been invited to serve as guards in the palace.

When they arrived in Ba Sing Se, each of the Gaang was offered their own luxury accommodation in the Upper Ring, but just as they shared a house before, they chose to share one again. A much larger house was provided since Zuko and Chiara decided to remain with them and refused a house of their own.

Throughout the week, Aang, Zuko, Sokka, Toph, and Suki met with Earth King Kuei to discuss peace terms, while Chiara and Katara visited the hospitals.

On their last day in Ba Sing Se, they all decided to enjoy their own little field trips. Zuko and Chiara left their room dressed in civilian Earth Kingdom clothes with their swords on their backs. Neither was wearing their royal headpiece. Chiara's hair was pulled back and braided, and her diadem was around her neck, and Zuko's hair was hanging carelessly around his shoulders and face partially covering his eye patch.

"Your Highness, where are you going?" asked Kaito as he spotted them heading towards the door.

They stopped and turned to him.

"We're going out," said Zuko. "We all have the day off. You can go do what you like."

"Prince Zuko, as your guards, we never have the day off. You two can't just go wandering off in the city alone."

The Prince shrugged. "We've done it before."

"We used to live here," said Chiara. "We know our way around."

Kaito tried to hide his sigh of exasperation. "And that was before everyone knew who you were."

Toph was laughing loudly. "And ol' Stalky ruins another date."

The guard knew that frowning at her was useless, but he could not seem to stop himself.

"We're dressed like civilians," said Zuko. "No one'll recognize us."

Kaito looked back at the couple and crossed his arms. "Then why are you armed?"

"Why not?" asked Zuko.

"I suspect you're not going to be staying in the Upper Ring."

"If you must know our itinerary," he started, "we're going to visit the firelight fountain and the zoo. And we might enjoy sword practice while we're in the Agrarian Zone."

Kaito heard Nai suppressing her laughter.

"You're not helping, Nai," he said.

She straightened her back and forced a more serious expression.

"I doubt anyone will recognize us, Kaito," said Zuko. "Prince Zuko doesn't wear an eye patch—Lee does." He pointed to his left eye. "See? I'm Lee, not Prince Zuko." Kaito respectfully restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Besides," continued the prince/Lee, "these people have more important things to do with their lives than look at every face walking by them."

"Sir, it would only take one person with a grudge to attack you..."

"And we're armed..."

"Which is why we should go with you," insisted his persistent guard.

Sokka and Suki walked through the room heading towards the door. "Prince Angry Jerk, didn't you say some loser tried to rob you guys when you were living here?"

Kaito's eyes grew wide at the news.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was in the Lower Ring, he was unsuccessful, and shut up, Water Tribe," he said in one frustrated breath.

"Hey, I don't want anything bad to happen to the Princess," said Sokka as they were walking out the door. "Too bad you're not a peasant. Enjoy your day," he called as the door shut behind him.

"Sir, I must insist you don't travel alone..." Suddenly, Kaito's arms were waving out to the side as he tried to maintain his balance having found himself a bit shorter, his feet stuck in the floor. He struggled futilely to pull his feet out of the hard stone.

"You're welcome, your Highnesses," said Toph.

Zuko wanted to laugh, but he also understood that Kaito was just doing his job, however inconvenient he personally found it.

"Fine," said the prince, failing to hide the dejection in his voice. "You can go..."

"Oh, come on, Sparky. I'm giving you and the Princess a chance to break out on your own for a while."

"I know," he sighed.

Toph started laughing again. "Oh, you give in too easily."

Zuko looked at his guard. "But...you both need to be in civilian Earth Kingdom clothes. Otherwise you'll be dealing with a formidable little earthbender."

Kaito did not like the condition, but he agreed.

Though their trip to the Earth Kingdom had only been two weeks, Zuko and Chiara were happy to be back home in the Fire Nation. After Appa landed in the courtyard of the palace entrance, they began unloading the saddle. Izin was there to greet the royal couple.

"Prince Zuko, Princess Chiara," he bowed.

They found it strange to see him dressed as a guard.

"Why'd they put you in a uniform?" asked Zuko.

"I'm training to be an Imperial Firebender, your Highness."

"I think it's better for you to remain in civilian clothes," he said.

"Yeah, like an undercover guard," added Sokka who was throwing a bag from the saddle down to Kaito.

"That's probably not a bad idea," said the guard as he caught the bag. "No one would expect a soldier out of uniform."

"That sounds like a job for you, Kaito," said Zuko.

"I'll take care of it, sir," he said.

Zuko turned back to Izin. "How's that project coming?" he asked him.

"It's looking good, sir. It'll be ready on time."

Zuko and Chiara shared a smile.

"How was your trip, your Highness?" Izin asked him.

"It was good to see everyone celebrating instead of fighting...except in Omashu," he added in an undertone that made Toph laugh.

She punched him in the arm. "Come on, Sparky, where's your sense of adventure?"

He just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I thought the whole trip was exciting," said Aang lightly landing next to them. "There were fireworks and food..."

"Speaking of food," started Sokka rubbing his stomach, "with all that flying I really worked up an appetite."

"Yeah," said Katara wryly, "because sitting in a saddle for a few hours is a real workout."

"Hey, when there's nothing to do but think about food, it is a workout," he insisted before jumping off the saddle. "I'm working out what I'm going to eat first when I get food. Besides, one of the cooks in the kitchen used to work on Zuko's ship, and he promised us another story—one about an 'angry jealous prince'...," he emoted in a deep, dark tone, "...forcing a 'sweet young Chiara'...," he said in a light, airy voice, "...to work in the galley."

Chiara giggled at Sokka's performance, but Zuko cringed as he felt everyone's eyes on him, including Toph's which he thought odd.

"Hey, that would make a good Ember Island play," said Sokka.

Everyone groaned.

"I'll take care of Appa, Avatar Aang," bowed Izin anxious to disappear before hearing anymore suggestions for Ember Island plays.

"Thanks, Izin," said Aang.

"Come on, Appa," said the guard patting the bison's neck, "we've got fresh hay for you in the stable."

The bison let out a low groan and followed him.

Sokka took Suki's hand and pulled her along with him towards the palace. "We're heading to the kitchen," he called back.

Momo leaped from Aang's shoulder to follow Sokka.

Katara just shrugged. "Well, I've been looking forward to the spa. Anyone care to join me?"

"That sounds like fun!" said Aang. "As soon as I meet with Iroh...I mean Fire Lord Iroh," he corrected himself, "I'll join you."

"Chiara, Toph?" she asked.

"I can't right now," said Chiara.

"I'll go," said Toph. "My feet could use a soak in those hot springs...unless a certain Crown Prince could use his special firebending heat massage?"

"You should've asked for that before you tried to kill us all in Omashu," he said, his tone grim.

"Hey, nobody died," she said defensively. "And that old man kept talking smack, so it was a matter of honor." He cringed at her stress on the word 'honor.' "I had to prove that I'm the greatest earthbender ever."

"If you're going to compare yourself to King Bumi," he started, "it should be asking yourself which one of you is crazier."

The others started laughing, including Toph.

"So does that mean I'm not getting a foot massage?" she asked him.

A smirk broke out on Zuko's face. "No massage. I have to see the Fire Lord. You know...real Crown Prince duties and all."

"I'll let you go this time," she said. "But don't forget who can keep Stalky distracted when you want some quiet time with the princess."

Kaito rolled his eyes, but the others were snickering.

They split up going their separate ways. Zuko smiled to himself enjoying how they all made themselves at home in the palace. With the Gaang there it felt more like a home to him than it had years earlier. Aside from the downtime they shared together, the group usually met for breakfast, some days for lunch, and always for dinner, and the prince was secretly not looking forward to the day the others left the Fire Nation.

After traveling through the maze of halls, Zuko, Chiara, and Aang reached the Fire Lord's office where Ezo bowed to them.

"The Fire Lord is expecting you, Prince Zuko," he said as he opened the door.

Zuko nodded his thanks and they entered the office while Kaito and Nai remained in the hall. Iroh looked up from behind a mountain of paperwork, his eyes growing bright at the sight of them.

"Nephew, Daughter," he greeted them as he stood up. "Avatar Aang, come in, come in." They all bowed respectfully to him, but Iroh merely took Chiara in his arms and hugged her before doing the same to Zuko. "Make yourselves comfortable." He pointed to the table.

As they knelt down, Ezih entered the room carrying a tray with two pots of tea, a plate of cakes, and several cups.

"Thank you, Ezih," said Iroh.

"Prince, Princess, Avatar," he bowed to them.

"Ezih," they responded nodding their heads.

He bowed to the Fire Lord and left the room as Iroh removed the lid from one teapot and inhaled. He did the same to the other pot before picking it up and pouring the tea into one of the cups. He placed it in front of Chiara before pouring the ginseng for Zuko, Aang, and himself.

"Thank you, Fire Lord," said Aang.

"You're quite welcome."

"What kind of tea is Chiara drinking?" he asked.

"It's a special blend I made for the royal mothers," he answered.

Aang beamed at Iroh's fatherly affection.

"You left Yu Dao this morning?" Iroh asked them.

"Yes, Uncle."

"I received your letter concerning the situation there."

"King Kuei was insistent that we remove our people from all the colonies," said Zuko, "but the families in Yu Dao have been there for generations and don't want to leave."

"It is the oldest colony in the Earth Kingdom," said Iroh. "Chiara and I stayed there many years ago."

"And it hasn't changed," she said. "Mayor Morishita and his wife showed us around."

"He's a firebender and she's an earthbender," said Zuko. "Most of the families are mixed Nations. It'll be impossible to remove just Fire Nation without breaking up homes."

"And after talking to them, they're pretty adamant about staying," said Aang.

"We will not break up households," said Iroh. "We'll just have to research alternatives to uprooting families."

"I'm not sure what alternative we have," said Zuko.

"We'll work something out," said the Fire Lord confidently. "So tell me about the rest of your trip. How was your stay in Omashu?"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me," he grumbled deeply.

Chiara and Aang were softly giggling.

"Surely King Bumi didn't put you in prison?" asked Iroh.

"Prison would've been better," said Zuko. "Instead, he and Toph decided to have their earthbending battle to prove who was the alpha earthbender."

"I placed my bet on Toph," said Chiara. She saw Iroh perk up. "And I placed one on Bumi for you," she added making Zuko playfully glare at her.

"And who won?" asked Iroh excitedly.

"Considering we all nearly got crushed to death, no one won," said Zuko tersely. "They about took down the whole palace. If it wasn't for all the other earthbenders and Aang, we'd be dead."

"No one was judged the winner then?" asked Iroh.

"Uncle!"

"Oh...of course, I'm happy none of you were crushed."

It made Aang nervous to hear Zuko rebuke the Fire Lord, and though Iroh responded good-naturedly and did not look like he was about to shoot lightning across the table, the Avatar decided to steer away from the Omashu fiasco. "It was a lot safer at Earth Rumble in Gaoling."

"It's been a long time since I've seen an Earth Rumble," said Iroh reminiscently before taking a sip of his tea. He peered over his cup at Chiara. "Did you place any bets on that?" he cautiously asked her.

"Prince Zuko wouldn't let me."

Zuko let out a little growl of frustration over his uncle's obsession with betting and his wife's enabling him.

"Did Lady Toph participate?" Iroh asked.

"Yes," said Aang. "Her parents weren't too excited about watching her fight, but this time I think her father was really impressed to see how strong she is."

"I'm not so sure about Lady Beifong, though," said Chiara. "She had her eyes covered during most of the fight."

"Ah, yes," started Iroh, "when I met Lady Toph she told me she ran away from home because of her overprotective parents. I'm pleased to hear they reconciled." He set his cup down. "Has she remained in Gaoling then?"

"No," said Zuko. "She came back with us."

"I would've thought she'd want to get reacquainted with her parents now that the war is over."

"She told them she'd return in between her duties to the Fire Nation," said Chiara, smirking.

Iroh raised a curious eyebrow. "Duties to the Fire Nation?"

Zuko looked down. "I sort of gave her the title of Gaoling Ambassador to the Fire Nation."

Iroh let out a chuckle.

"But it was only because she didn't want to stay there," he offered as justification.

"And how did they take that?" asked Iroh.

"They seemed to accept it," said Chiara. "They didn't try to stop her from leaving."

"It really helped that the Fire Nation Prince and Princess were there," said Aang. He sat up with his back straight and stiff. "Zuko talked to them like, Ambassador Toph is required to attend meetings to discuss the ongoing relationship between the Fire Nation and Gaoling."

Chiara was holding back her laughter at Aang's serious and deep-voiced impersonation of Zuko.

He continued, "And Chiara was like, Toph is a war hero, and she's been involved in negotiations with King Kuei and she's assisted Fire Lord Iroh. You should be very proud of her." His voice was now higher and regal sounding in imitation of Chiara.

"I see," said Iroh letting out a little chuckle. "I guess we will need to have the paperwork drawn up to make it official then."

Aang's face lit up at Iroh's simple acceptance of what Zuko had done for Toph.

"So how was your visit to Ba Sing Se?" Iroh asked them.

"Aang and I spent most of our time working with King Kuei," said Zuko.

"And how is the young Earth King doing after his travels?"

Zuko was not sure how to answer. "He's...he's certainly...strange."

"Oh? How so?"

"He's not really what I expected of a king," he said.

"Not surprising if you're idea of a king is Ozai," said Aang.

Zuko frowned at the Avatar. "It isn't," he said flatly. "I...I guess I expected him to be more...wise? Like Uncle."

Iroh let out a hearty laugh. "After all these years, my nephew finally thinks I'm wise."

Chiara and Aang were giggling.

"Yeah, sorry, Uncle," said Zuko rubbing the back of his neck shamefully. "It's not that I didn't think you were wise...it's just..."

Iroh raised his hand. "I understand, Prince Zuko. You just had to do things your way."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

Iroh chuckled. "How did the negotiations go?"

"It was a bit intense at first," said Zuko. "General Sung voiced his displeasure that the Dragon of the West was the new Fire Lord and not serving time in prison for the Siege."

Iroh remained silent. He had expected his past to cause controversy.

"Yeah, he wasn't too happy about that," confirmed Aang. "But General How was more reasonable," he added in his upbeat way. "He said that your fight to free the city could be accepted as a form of justice if you prove yourself to be an honorable Fire Lord."

A soft laugh escaped Iroh as he listened to Aang repeat the general's words.

"Well, I will certainly do my best," he said.

Zuko looked less optimistic. "Unfortunately, General Sung had King Kuei worried that we were planning to overthrow the city again when he learned just what the Dragon of the West had done years ago." Zuko was still astonished that the young king had only recently learned about the war and had no idea what had been going on in his own city or the world.

"I suppose I should've remained in the city to meet with the Council of Five before leaving for the Fire Nation," said Iroh.

"They said Admiral Jeong Jeong and Master Piandao met with them that day and explained everything to them, but they still seemed apprehensive," said Zuko. "And it didn't help that I fought on Azula's side after she took over the city either." His voice was softer as it reflected the shame he felt for his actions.

"We've all done things we regret, Nephew. All we can do now is try to make it right. And that you're here and not imprisoned in the Earth Kingdom is a good sign."

"That's mostly because of Aang," he said. "He convinced them that people can change and that we're working for peace now."

"And we won't let them down," said the Fire Lord.

"You might change your mind about that when you see their list of demands," said Zuko.

"All in good time," he said pleasantly. "For now I want to hear about your trip." He looked at Chiara. "Did you enjoy yourself in the city?"

"I did. Katara and I spent time working in the hospitals."

"It is wonderful to see all the Nations working together," he said. "And speaking of hospitals...there was an unfortunate...uh...incident at the asylum."

"What kind of incident?" asked Zuko.

"Azula was quite distressed to hear that you had left for the Earth Kingdom..."

"I was worried about leaving her for so long a time," said Chiara. "I knew I should've told her in person."

"There wasn't any time," said Zuko. He looked back at Iroh. "What did she do?"

"Just a few minor injuries to the staff, but they've taken some precautions. I'm sure she'll be quite relieved to know you've returned."

"I should go see her today," she said.

"No," said Zuko not ready to deal with Azula's attitude. "You've been traveling all morning. She can wait."

"Yes, one more day will make no difference," said Iroh.

"But what about the injuries?" she asked.

"They're not serious," he said. "In fact, Amiku might do more injury to me if I don't insist that you rest," he added with a dark smile.

Zuko appreciated that Amiku's motherly concern for Chiara had even the Fire Lord yielding to her commands. He was also grateful that Iroh was far more benevolent and tolerant when it came to family.

"Now, I would like to hear more of your recent adventure in Earth Kingdom."

"A diplomatic mission is hardly an adventure, Uncle," said Zuko dryly.

"Welcome to running a country, Crown Prince Zuko," said Iroh with a big smile.

A/N: The history of Aang's necklace is based on the comic "Relics" found in The Lost Adventures. There are some theories about the one he wears in the last episode being the one Monk Gyatso's skeleton is wearing, but I thought I'd take it from the comic since it's the exact same necklace he's looking at in the market.