A/N: It's like I've fallen off from the face of the planet. I'm so sorry for keeping you all waiting, my updating schedule sucks. Final year at uni is a real handful, I just can't wait for graduation! Anyway, I found that I had a few moments to spare to edit this chapter that I wrote ages ago and I hope you enjoy it, even though it's a bit of a filler chapter. If you don't reach the bottom of the chapter for whatever reason, I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

"Yeah, not until you're better." Zuko quips, before I can retort my legs tremble again and so I sigh and nod in agreement. I take a seat once more and everyone sits as we have dinner.

Katara's POV:

Soon everyone's plates are cleared away with the exception of Aang's who just picks at his food. I sigh silently, 'I want so badly to know everything that he's hiding. But unfortunately I know we won't find out anything until he gets used to being open with us again.' As Sokka comes back from the kitchen we move to the living room to talk more.

"So who wants to start first?" My brother asks but as expected no one willingly volunteers. I watch as Aang furrows his eyebrows and looks at everyone in confusion. "Hmm Zuko you go first." Sokka decides. Zuko looks up at us and sighs.

"Fine. Well you guys know about the rebellions, the near miss, my father's passing, reuniting with my mum but then she decided to go back to living with my half-sister somewhere in the Earth Kingdom because the Palace held some bad memories. That's about it." I cast a sideways glance at Aang, wondering whether he knew any of this but the open mouth and vigorous shaking of his head implies he didn't.

"Woah woah woah! That's it?! That's lots, you found your mum? That's amazing!" The young Airbender looks at everyone's expressions but upon seeing the lack of surprise, his eyes widen slightly as realisation swiftly dawns. "But by looking at your faces I assume you all knew this." Sokka glances at me before nodding hesitantly.

"Yeah we went on a hunt to look for her; it was one of the two times that we all got together." I see the disappointment shinning from the young Avatar's eyes at being left out and I can't help but feel for him.

"Oh. Well erm I didn't know Ozai passed, he wasn't that old was he?" At this I share a look with Zuko, shaking my head slowly so as to not attract Aang's attention and fortunately the Firelord gets the message as he scratches his head in thought.

"No he wasn't, but I guess prison life was a big step down from royal life, so I think it took its toll on him." The young Airbender's eyebrows furrow for a moment but I sigh in relief as soon as he starts nodding in understanding. 'Aang doesn't need to know that on top of the bad prison conditions, Ozai's chi was getting weaker since he lost his bending, it would break him.' I chance another look at the Avatar taking in his slumped shoulders, 'that's if he isn't already broken.'

"I see. Well erm I'm sorry...not sure if that's appropriate to say..." But Zuko merely waves away the matter with his hand.

"Forget about it. The world is much better off now that he's gone; there's less worries about him taking back the throne, but now I have Azula to worry about." Toph reaches over to the living room table and picks up an apple from the bowl.

"So how was the crazy witch? I was hoping that over three years in a mental institute would've cracked her open and dry." The blind Earthbender snorts and I find myself nodding my head in agreement, half hoping that would've been the case and we wouldn't have to worry about her any more, but it seems optimism doesn't get very far with her. I watch as Zuko drums his fingers on his lap in agitation.

"Believe it or not she was...better. At least she was doing better and she reminded me of...when we were really little before she spent so much time with Ozai...she was nice." I observe as a pained expression takes hold on his face and I push back the urge to give him a hug, not wanting to look feely touchy especially with the history we had. "But now, I guess that was just an act. I don't know why I was so surprised, Azula always lies." Silence ascends as we sympathise with Zuko's shattered family. I direct all my attention to him.

"Zuko, don't blame yourself." I start but Zuko quickly interrupts me.

"How can I not? I reduced the number of guards around her because I really thought she was getting better. She played me just to break out. Knowing her she probably conned herself out with the remaining guards. When we catch her I'm sending her to a remote island with my most loyal guards." I choose that moment to interject.

"Zuko you're being too hard on yourself. Some people change, like you." I stop briefly to give him a warm smile, but from the corner of my eyes I see Aang move his head to look away and my heart breaks slightly for him, 'I so badly want to talk to him but I can't bring myself to do so.' I internally shake myself and continue. "But some people unfortunately don't. Azula is one of those people, but it's not wrong to give people a second, even third chances. It's not wrong to want to have your sister back. So don't regret the kindness you showed her. It's her who should be ashamed. If it was us we would've behaved more...harshly." Fortunately my words seem to get through to him as he throws me a smile and nods.

"You're right. Well that's what I've been up to. Who's next? Toph?" We all turn our attention to the Earthbender as she munches on her apple. I hear her groan and I feel compassion run through me as I remember her telling me a bit of what she was going through.

"Fine. Well you know I was promoted to Chief of Police and I started my own Metalbending School." We wait for more but Toph seems to think that's enough. However, Zuko seems to ignore the red flag and pushes onto a sensitive topic.

"What about your parents? Have you seen them since the end of the war?" I cringe as Toph's eyes harden at the question and she clenches her hand.

"That's personal." The Firelord reels back slightly at Toph's abrupt response and he fortunately gets the message to back off. The young Avatar shifts in his position and leans closer to Toph.

"But why not? Maybe it will help to get it off your chest." Toph snorts at the young Airbender's question.

"You're one to talk, aren't you Twinkletoes?"

"Nothing will help me with what I'm going through." Aang says so darkly that it makes not only me but everyone pause, but he seems to not realise as he continues. "But we can help and give you advice. We've all had parents or guardians." However the Avatar's reasoning seems to fly over Toph's head as she whips round to face the Avatar seated on her right.

"You are the last one to talk about giving advice! And for your information have you ever thought that maybe I don't want to talk about it?! That maybe I'm hiding it for the same reason you're hiding things!" Sokka sends me a pointed look with a silent message, 'we should stop them.' I bite my lip but shake my head, hoping that this is the release that Toph has been looking for regarding her problems. Aang's eyes flash in rage.

"You're talking as if what you've been through is so much worse than what I've been through!" Toph in return punches the ground and chucks her half eaten apple randomly. I duck out of the way as I find it hurling towards me.

"Try having your parents disowning you! My own father actually h...it me. I'm no longer the heir to the Beifong estate! How would that make you feel?!" Toph's voice breaks mid-sentence before picking up in volume again. I half expect Aang to back down but defiance radiates strongly from his eyes.

"At least you still have parents, some day you could make amends. I lost everyone I knew before the war, not one single person in the whole world knows how to Airbend. What happens if I die or get killed? The Air Nation ceases to exist. We'll just be a story, a myth! Someday forgotten." Aang whispers out his last statement, and my eyes sting at his obvious pain, 'I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, but to lose everyone? That's hard. But I had so hoped the years would've mellowed down his feelings towards the topic, but as my eyes search his own which are still fixed on Toph, I can see that if anything the years have made it worse.' "My advice to you is that you go back and apologise..." Toph slams the table in frustration.

"Apologise?! You must be joking, I didn't do anything to them! They don't deserve one." I watch as the young Airbender takes a deep breath in and out to calm his nerves, he folds his legs into his old meditation form, and a sense of nostalgia hits me.

"Imagine what it's like to have a child running around the world with a group of strangers? Imagine not knowing where they are for months on end? Imagine them being thrown into dangerous situations with dangerous people to help the so-called Avatar that abandoned the world? They must have so scared. And then when you come back you act as if nothing happened, as if you weren't constantly giving them heart attacks. They must have been pretty mad. How can they let their irresponsible, reckless bratty kid..."

"Hey!" Toph cuts in with a shout but Aang continues on regardless.

"...who just saved the world and ended the war be allowed to inherit the Beifong estate without any form of punishment or retribution? Can't you see Toph? They want you to realise what you did was wrong, they want you to take notice of their feelings for a change instead of forcing your own on them. Yes they did that to you and you did it back, but now it's time to walk on equal ground. For once apologise and show them you were being ignorant of their feelings. Then you'll see the result." As the young Avatar ends his speech silence ensues amongst us, as we all drop our mouths wide open, jaws slack at the sudden calm advice. Fortunately, Toph is the first one to regain her ability of speech as she shakes herself out of her self-induced shock.

"God Twinkletoes I forgot that you live on this philosophical mumbo junk." The young Airbender blinks rapidly at the unexpected comment and tilts his head to one side.

"So is that a good thing or a bad thing?" She releases a bark of laughter.

"Usually a bad thing, but today it might be just what I needed." We all simultaneously sigh in relief and Sokka laughs joyfully whilst slinging his arm around Aang's shoulders.

"Well what can he say? Aang's got thousands of lifetime's worth of advice." I roll my eyes at my brother's attempt to joke as mirth dances across his eyes. Soon Aang and Zuko joins in with Sokka's laughter.

"I can't help it; it just comes to me! But honestly that was my own piece of advice, no influences." I look at Toph and both of us shake our heads at the same time.

"Alright Air Head zip it, before more air gets into that thick skull of yours." This time amusement dances across Aang's eyes at Toph's response.

"Can't do anything about that, since I bend air." Toph and I snort at his reply.

"Aang?" The blind Earthbender starts in which Aang looks at her with a question on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Zip it." The young Avatar blushes bright red and nods; the act causes us all to laugh. Again another sense of nostalgia hits me, and I realise all the times we've missed to just fool around and be ourselves. But I quickly push the ache away, not wanting to ruin the joyful moment with my friends.

"Alright, you guys had your laugh at my expense. Now who wants to go next? Katara? Sokka?" Although Aang's question is innocent enough, it dredges up some very unwanted memories. I share a look of remorse with Sokka before he sighs and takes a deep breath.

"Well since Katara and I stayed the first year with each other, it's pretty much the same, we differ in the last two years. Katara and I started rebuilding our tribe to give it some semblance to the Northern Tribe. But...only a month later we...l..lost Gran Gran..." I close my eyes as I hear my brother's voice break with emotion and I can't help but feel the same emotion of loss bubbling through me. I swallow hard trying to forget the day when I came to wake Gran Gran to find she wouldn't respond. I vaguely hear the collective gasps coming from probably Aang and Toph since Zuko was the only one I told.

"God Sokka you never let on." I open my eyes at Toph's statement to see her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Sugarqueen, you should've told me." I shake my head, rejecting the notion.

"I couldn't tell you. You were so busy with your own problems with your family that I didn't want to burden you with this on top of that. We barely saw each other as it is, I didn't want to dampen the small amount of time we had with each other." I say remorsefully. Toph frowns and shakes her head.

"Katara you shouldn't have thought that you couldn't tell me something like this. We're friends and friends tell each other things so we can lean on each other." I look down at my lap, guilt quickly consuming me from hiding things from her.

"You're right Toph. I'm sorry. I guess I just didn't want to make it any more real than it was." A gentle hand on my arm makes me look up in surprise to Toph's gentle expression.

"Trust me, I get it. Just make sure you talk to me in future Sugarqueen." I give her a small smile and nod. I turn to my right when Zuko clears his throat, his clear eyes boring into mine.

"So do you want to talk about it? You never said how you felt about it, just what happened." I sigh and cradle my arms to my abdomen.

"It was...hard. It took me so long just to deal with losing my mum and I know I'll never really get over it. Losing Gran Gran was...a bitter blow. Especially as I felt so guilty." I shake my head trying to rid myself of these negative emotions.

"Why were you guilty?" Aang's question makes me turn to him in surprise and dread, 'oh no I hope he hasn't caught on.' I swallow hard but hold his gaze.

"I felt guilty because I could've spent a year and a half with her before she... passed. I felt like I lost the time I could've spent with her." The atmosphere slowly becomes tense as everyone pieces together the implications of my words, but I continue to direct my attention to Aang who releases a soft 'oh' as he drops his head down and avoids eye contact with me.

I quickly hurry to fill in the silence. "Afterwards I withdrew a lot from everyone. I had wanted to see what Republic City was like, but I couldn't bring myself to leave so soon and then I found myself throwing myself into the work in the tribe, I even took up teaching Waterbending to students who came from the North to live in the South. Dad taught me how to run the tribe in his absences. And that's how I filled my time." Sokka glances between Aang and I before clapping his hands together.

"Right, well after... Gran Gran, I decided to leave the South Pole. I guess I was getting antsy about doing the same routine all the time. So I went to the Earth Kingdom, spent some time with friends we made there, went to the North Pole to sign some treaties. Then I went to the Fire Nation to see Mr Firelord..." At which point Zuko shoots a glare to Sokka who pays him no mind and continues on. "...I went to Republic City after being voted in as the councillor representative for the Southern Water Tribe. And I just commuted between there and the Fire Nation for meetings and whatnot." My eyes stray to Aang, who fortunately is no longer tilting his head downwards, yet I spot his agitation as his fingers fidget. I look around and find that I'm not the only one looking at the young Airbender, as everyone's attention are now focused on him. He seems to realise this as he sighs and grasps his knees tightly with each hand till his knuckles go white.

"I guess you guys are silently telling me that it's my turn to talk, right?"

A/N: Yes I know, a cliff-hanger…sorry! I hope you enjoyed that little fill-in about what the gang has been up to since Aang left. Next time, we'll hear what Aang has gone through, kind of, as you'll expect it might be a little emotional.

Want to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all have a wonderful & blessed day. If I don't update before January, then wishing you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope this coming New Year is a bright one. On the note of it being Christmas time and Christmas is all about giving, it would be really awesome if you guys could please review! And if you've been reading my other story WTEU, (which I have completed) then please review that one too, the last two chapters are review-less and it's making me think everyone has stopped bothering with it. Anyway, the next update will likely be in January.

20/12/18