A/N: Thank you everyone for your patience with me! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Aang's POV:

"Listen here! The Fire Nation has dutifully and humbly payed more than enough reparations to the world, we even gave supplies and tools for the nations to rebuild what has been broken down. It's not fair that you keep placing the blame on us. Most people in the Fire Nation didn't even want to be part of the war. Your terms are unjust and unfair and are only valid against the former Firelord Ozai, if he were still in power, which he is not. Your treatment is just a backlash and vengeance against him. Not me. So I suggest you reduce the reparation amount that have been increasing every month unfairly!" Zuko shouts, who is spitting in rage.

"You are still your father's son and you are still the one who formally went after the world's only hope for peace, the Avatar!" an Earth Kingdom noble hisses.

"That is unfair and you know it! I have made amends towards the Avatar by joining him and teaching him Firebending which has helped in ending the war." Firelord Zuko fumes.

"Yet, I seem to remember you being the one to turn against the Avatar in Ba Sing Se which led to his downfall!" Zuko sits back on his chair in shock, his mouth moving wordlessly at the biting words. I stare in shock at what has unfolded. I know Zuko was worried about this meeting but I certainly hadn't anticipated the bitterness amongst the nations, time to step in.

"If I may be so bold to interrupt Head Councilman?" The Head Councilman shakes his head as if in a daze and then turns to me and nods.

"Of course Avatar Aang, you may proceed." I nod my head and turn to address everyone.

"Thank you. If I remember correctly the monthly payment that the Fire Nation is required to pay is meant to be fixed, so why has it been increasing?" The same nobleman from the Earth Kingdom passes me a paper which I scan over quickly, it's not long before I find my mouth hanging wide open, shaking my head I quickly snap it shut. "You had a meeting without asking for the attendance of Firelord Zuko and I?!" I hiss in a state of controlled anger. The nobleman sticks his nose up in the air in an arrogant manner.

"The discussion of the tax is not up for debate. Therefore the Firelord's presence was not required."

"And what about my attendance?!"

"We all know how close you and the Firelord are. We knew you wouldn't accept the increase in tax so we excluded you from that meeting. It was only fair to bring justice to the other three nations. Oh wait that's right its two nations, because the heinous Fire Nation are the ones to conduct the genocide of your people!" I widen my eyes in shock at his brutal words. Then I grind my teeth together to stop myself from shouting at the man. The Head Councilman bangs his hammer on the table to get the attention of the audience who have since erupted into a turmoil of arguments.

"That is quite enough nobleman Koch! Words such as these should not be said at all, let alone said in the presence of an audience. Would you please apologise to the Avatar for your disrespect." The nobleman sighs and nods his head.

"I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect Avatar Aang. I just wished to show you what I meant." I tighten my jaws some more before releasing the tension. His words are still hurting me, yet I refuse to show everyone in the hall my feelings. I give a tight nod to the man as a show of acceptance of his apology, but I don't say anything else, in fear I won't be able to control my words.

"Councilman Sokka, what do you think of the Fire Nation tax?" The Head Councilman questions to get a feel of the Water Tribe's point of view and to reduce the tension in the air. I sit back down on my chair without looking at anyone or anything and I stare at my hands on the table in front of me, more specifically the blue arrows on the outer parts of my hands. For a moment the air catches in my throat and my eyes sting, before I blink rapidly, and focus onto what Sokka is saying.

"The Water Tribe doesn't see the purpose of the Fire Nation to keep paying needless tax. Have they not helped rebuild all the buildings that was destroyed during the war?" One of the Earth King's advisors scans over a piece of paper and nods. "Has the Fire Nation not helped in bringing up the economies of our nations at their own expense?" Some other people nod their heads along with that same advisor. "And have they hesitated when any nation required resources or tools?" That advisor shakes his head. "Well there you have it. Tax is no longer required." A different nobleman jumps up from his seat in rage.

"But the Fire Nation must be punished!" I watch from the corner of my eye as Sokka shakes in head in frustration.

"They are being punished, and have been punished for more than 3 years now! We need to give them a chance to re-build themselves otherwise we could well be heading into another war. We need to open trade relations with them again, so that not only the Fire Nation can benefit but you all can benefit too! There are things that the Fire Nation has that the other nations don't have and could very well use."

"So you are suggesting that we open trade relations with the Fire Nation with no more reparations?" The Head Councilman asks at which a tumult of voices can be heard arguing over this injustice.

"I think there should be a new reparation. I've been thinking about cutting the Fire Nation army in half. That way the nations don't have to fear any more about being attacked as the Fire Nation army will be much smaller than their own." At this suggestion mummers of agreement are heard throughout the hall. The same nobleman though is quick to be critical.

"And how will we know they are abiding by this rule?"

"We simply get a group of three people or so to do a monthly investigation and keep tabs on all army officials and new recruits." Sokka states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Alright, those in favour of opening trade relations with the Fire Nation, stopping reparation payments and cutting the number of their army in half raise your hands." At this the majority of hands go up. "Firelord Zuko, do you agree with these terms?" Zuko glances at Sokka briefly, sighs and nods his head.

"Yes, I do Head Councilman."

"Then it's settled. The Fire Nation meetings have finished for the time being. Tomorrow our meetings will be concerning the Air Nation. Thank you Avatar Aang, Firelord Zuko, Councilman Sokka and King Kuei for your time here. This meeting is adjourned." Everyone moves to get up and leaves the hall in an orderly fashion. I get up slowly and trudge out of the room, being the last one to leave.

"What am I doing with my life?" I mumble to myself.

"Yeah what are you doing with your life?" I snap my head up at that oh so familiar voice and let my eyes rest on Sokka, who has his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall beside the door to my bedroom.

"Erm excuse me?" I say, half convinced I've fallen asleep and therefore must be dreaming.

"I was asking you a question based on your own question." I bite my lip in worry, 'what am I meant to do? He's meant to be hating and ignoring me, not talking to me!'

"You weren't meant to hear that." I find myself mumbling before I could stop the words tumbling out of my mouth.

"Well I did."

"Aren't you meant to be hating and ignoring me?!" I bite back in annoyance, 'he shouldn't be talking to me. This will destroy what I've been trying so hard to prevent!' I watch Sokka's expression, hoping to see him get angry and stomp off in a huff, but instead I see something completely different, his eyes actually soften into concern.

"Aang we don't hate you." Sokka whispers slowly. 'Oh no, not what I had in mind.'

"Yeah like what you and everyone else has been doing to me for the last few years is not enough evidence for that." The ponytailed warrior narrows his eyes at my comment, 'perfect, just what I wanted.'

"Hey we had a reason for that! You're the one who left us if I remember correctly!"

"Well it doesn't matter anymore. We are done. Now, I'm sure you've got better things to do than staying around here." I step towards my door, my hand grasping the handle.

"Did our friendship really mean that little to you?" The broken whisper from my once best friend causes me to take a sharp intake, 'Sokka why are you doing this to me? You won't ever know how much I treasure our friendship, all of our friendships. But I can't risk your lives, not anymore.' I turn to look Sokka in the eye, only half a metre separates us, yet I feel like we are separated by miles and miles of land which strikes me hard as I've never felt such a distance with any person in my whole life.

"Sokka why are you here really?" I watch as he pushes himself off of the wall and turns to look at me directly. His deep blue ocean eyes pierces into my shadowy grey ones, as if they are holding me captive.

"I wanted to see if you were alright after what that stuck-up nobleman said to you." I press my lips together tightly, having surprisingly forgotten about that incident, until now that is, the words repeating in my mind sends another aching pain into my heart.

"Why do you care?!" I snap at him, losing control on my emotions. I widen my eyes at the harshness of my attitude, but too late the damage is done, I see it from the Water Tribe man's face, his expression scrunching up in anger. He steps that half metre into my personal space, his finger jabbing into my chest.

"You know what Avatar? That's what I've been trying to do for years. I kept convincing myself I couldn't possibly care about a backstabbing, lying jerk." I observe sadly as Sokka starts pacing in front of me, taking angry steps as he walks. "But every time I see you, my heart twists in that ugly way, every time I see you I can't help but feel some sort of pity for you! So after all these years of so called hating you, I find that I still care. Then I ask myself how can I possibly care about someone I hate? How?!" He shouts, looking at me as he yells the question. I shrug in response, in which he grabs hold of both my shoulders, 'what's he doing now?!' I internally question with a touch of panic entering my mind. "Let me tell you it's because I never really hated you to begin with. And I can honestly tell you that neither does the gang. No one hates you, we all still selflessly care about you. It's not fair that we can't stop caring after all you've put us through! NOT FAIR!" I swallow and blink at the raw emotion emitting from his words and I try my best to ignore the feeling of my heart plummeting down into my stomach. 'Sokka I didn't mean to cause you all so much pain. I thought you'd forget about me and that this would be all so easy, how wrong was I? But I can't help you. Nothing you say will change my mind.' With that thought in mind, I shake Sokka's hands off me and step closer to my door, I make sure to avert my eyes away from him.

"I appreciate your concern. But our friendship is gone and it's not coming back."

"Why?" 'Ah such a simple word yet requiring such a complex answer.'

"Because that's just how it is. Our friendship is dead, gone and buried. You all just have to accept it." I twist the handle of my door and open it up to reveal my room. I step inside, but I still feel two eyes burning a pair of holes into my back; I refuse to turn towards them though.

"I know you're hiding something." I freeze at his words, before forcing myself to relax, 'he doesn't know, he couldn't possibly, right?'

"Think what you like." I say with as much carefreeness as I can muster.

"I will. And not only that but I'm going to find out what it is."

"Good luck." A sigh from behind me indicates that Sokka is indeed giving up in continuing this conversation with me any longer.

"Fine, be like that." I hear a shuffling sound before it stops. "Good luck for the meetings tomorrow, you're going to need it." I swallow, knowing exactly what he means. I sigh before finally turning round to face Sokka, but I find the spot he previously stood in is empty. I frown and then whisper so quietly that it's barely audible a small "Thank you." Yet I get a weird feeling that Sokka heard me anyway. I go and close the door. I turn back and flop onto the floor, before deciding to sit cross legged and put my head in my hands. 'What am I going to do? Tomorrow's meetings will be absolutely brutal. By the looks of today's meeting people are itching to have a right go at me and tomorrow provides them with an excellent opportunity to do so!' A tear rolls down my cheek and drops down onto the palm of my hand.

'Why do I have to go through this? Why did I have to give up my friends? Why did I have to be the reason for their hurt?' I take my hands off my face and glance up at the ceiling. 'I wonder why Sokka came to see me, he's been doing an excellent job in ignoring me, so why not now? I wonder if Zuko had some say in this, just like he had a say in their questioning a couple of days ago. I hope they never find out the truth. That's what Sokka's trying to do, well I'm not going to let him or them. Not now, not ever.'

A/N: Hopefully this chapter has managed to satisfy your reading hunger for now and I hope that you've enjoyed reading it. As always review, review, review! Your words really do mean a lot to me and I love hearing from you, they give me such a confidence boost that you wouldn't believe. Thanks for reading and my next update should hopefully be soon, especially as I've already written it and only need to edit it. Until next time… :)