UNKNOWN BOOK: TITANS, VOLUME 2: MUTOS

by Anonimosx

Avatar Aang and his friends believed they found the peaceful life that all them wanted to achieve at last. However, that is far from being true. Two prehistoric giant creatures awaken from more than a decade of slumber and start bringing destruction wherever they go. Now Aang and his friends must join forces with an ancient alpha predator to stop the parasites before its too late.

1. Chapter 1

1- The Tragedy of Ignus Janjira/Beginning of a New Era.

Ancient times, long ago before 345 BG (long before Year 345 before the Air Nomads Genocide.)

It was thousands of years ago when humanity was separated into the four nations, each divided by the respective bending arts. The Air Nomads learnt the art of airbending from the flying bisons, the Earth Kingdom learnt the art of earthbending from the badgermoles, the Sun Warriors learnt the art of firebending from the dragons and the Water Tribes learnt the art of waterbending by observing the pull of the moon on the ocean tides. That's how the four nations began, as well of how they were founded. But despite of having some control of the natural elements, the world was still some strange and mysterious place and full of dangers, even with the new guardian of this new world: the Avatar, master of all elements and the bridge between the physical world and the Spirit World. The one whose role was to ensure the order and harmony of the nations and maintain balance in the world. In those ancient times people from all the nations began exploring the world, wondering what they could find and share it with others. But…one of these discoveries was destined to change their perspective of their world from then on. Shortly after the foundation of the four nations, a great number of fleets from all nations traveled and congregated at an unknown destination far away in open sea near to a new atoll, a place nearly forgotten by humankind, except for its natives. These scouts had no idea about the nature of whatever was what they were looking, when then…something awakened. In the course of the next days, reports of many disappeared ships on that region started coming, meaning that something could be attacking them and not being accidents, something huge. Others also swore that they saw something unlike anything they had ever seen: some giant creature that came from the bottom of the ocean to the surface and moved across the atoll swimming like a living island. As time passed, sightings of said giant animal kept going, coming from across the ocean located very far south of the Fire Nation. Because of this, the very first leaders of the four nations created together a secret group for this and other things related to this matter: a secret scientific organization called Monarch, the very first scientific organization of the world, which duty was to study the giant creature and keep an eye on it, all this with the Avatar being unaware of it. In time, most of the united military forces of the four nations prepared some operation alongside Monarch in order to terminate the monster preparing an ambush for 'him'. The day of the event, once they spotted the giant reptile awaited for when he came swimming close enough to the target sight for ignite the trap while they put on some protecting googles. Their long patience was rewarded in the end, and when the great animal rose from the sea in the center of the atoll the only thing that followed it was a huge blinding and thunderous explosion that covered the entire place and devastated everything, with everyone else watching it from a safe distance. It was similar of some big meteor or asteroid impact, but from some different source.

84 AG. Unknown Island, Fire Nation sea territories. 16 years before the Avatar's return.

Millennia have passed since then, but now the world was passing through its worst and darkest era, a time of worldwide war. Many decades have passed since Fire Lord Sozin and the Fire Nation declared war to the rest of the world. The Air Nomads are long gone; the waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe are no more and the Fire Nation had been advancing across the Earth Kingdom territories, invading and occupying them. Despite that, the people of the earth nation have managed to counter them and resist with great force and will, but even with that things are not going well for the factions that are against the Fire Nation. On all those decades of global warfare the Avatar has not been seen or heard from anywhere. Only a few special and secret groups could see the effects of the war like no one else during all that time. They witnessed everything that happened during said dark times, acting and watching very deep in the shadows. One of these groups had a crew that couldn't have been more different from the rest, which against all the odds had prospered from thousands of years, been from times before the war started. A very ancient society-like organization that transcended the boundaries of the nations, just like the Order of the White Lotus which had some similar qualities with, but with a very different objective. The same secret organization: Monarch, which mission was to hunt and contain strange and enormous unidentified creatures from ancient times and make their best to ensure the world never knew their existence, especially on those hard times. On that time and with the rest of the world unaware of it, Monarch was already the most advanced organization with technology and scientific equipment in the planet, being way ahead of its time, but of course they had to keep up appearances. At some peacefully morning, there was some big red air balloon who had the Fire Nation emblem at its sides flying over the jungle area of some new island found at the south sea region of the Fire Nation territories, but this balloon didn't belong to the Fire Nation. In fact, it was Monarch's property, a disguise to ensure nobody of the Fire Nation could suspect of them, as they had members infiltrated there, but with orders to not interfere in the course of the war. Inside the balloon was a man with glasses looking at some kind of medallion that he had on his hand with a face of some sorrow and nostalgia, caressing it with care. The most curious thing was the medallion, which had the signature emblem of the Air Nomads, so it had to be one that belonged to some airbender from long ago. When the Air Nomads were wiped out from the world, also were the members of Monarch who belonged to that nation, who perished trying to protect their people when Fire Lord Sozin attacked for the first time. It was a great loss for Monarch, something that man knew very well. Since that moment Monarch was forced to act and stay in the shadows more, with its people unable to do anything against the increasing war without risking themselves, only allowed to watch the passing events of the decades of war while continuing with their mission. He was accompanied by a woman of long dark hair who observed him concerned and sad, knowing what he was thinking about. Next she turned her sight at her right and saw the reason why they were there: the place of a mining collapse of some excavation site of the Fire Nation on that island. All the working crew of the Fire Nation and people kept their distance from the mining site, being the Monarch linked members the ones now monitoring everything there, having the place under control. Once the balloon reached the floor, the man, who was a Monarch representative, landed followed by the woman, who was his assistant. They were received by the one in charge there.

"Dr. Serizawa? Jerry Boyd." The man in charge introduced himself to the Monarch representative shaking his hand and welcoming him and his assistant. "I'm warning you, it's a mess. It's just a total mess." He next leaded them two to the collapsed place while everybody else was busy helping with all the excavation duty. "Monarch sent me in this morning. Took a look around, but I told them we needed you. They picked up a radiation pocket out here last month. They got excited, thinking they had found some new important resources deposit for exploiting. They started stacking up huge amounts of explosives in order to increase the digging and then…well, the valley floor…collapsed into a cavern below after the combined explosions. Just dropped away. Just gone."

The three members of Monarch looked in shock at the ginormous hole that stood in front of them. It was like if it was the Avatar's doing.

"Best guess right now is about 40 Fire Nation miners went down with it. Luckily, we ensured all this didn't get to the Fire Lord's ears." Jerry reported.

"Well done." Serizawa thanked.

Time later, the three of them were deep down inside the large underground cave exploring it with a group. They all had some kind of white protective suits in order to protect themselves as the cave was highly and dangerously radioactive. Everything was totally dark so they had flashlights to illuminate their way in as they advanced into some strange and mysterious ground.

"This way." Jerry said leading the group. "When they first discovered this pocket, the radiation levels were only half as strong. It's almost as if contact with the outside air…started catalyzing something."

While they kept walking, they spotted some strange huge formations everywhere. At first, they looked like some rare and huge type of stalagmites but that wasn't the case. In fact, they got surprised of realizing what they really were: the fossil remains of some giant creature.

"Some kind of fossils, right?" Jerry expressed amazed. "I've been digging holes for 30 years, I've never seen anything like it."

However, said bones were not scattered, but were part of something much bigger, as collectively formed a colossal fossilized skeleton (Dagon, another member of Titanus Gojira species), especially when a group of spotlights started illuminating the cave and their discovery. Jerry had the same reaction as the others, but both Serizawa and his assistant, Dr. Graham, became shocked at seeing the gigantic skeleton, recognizing which species it belonged to. It was very similar to some other important giant animal that they knew, one that nobody had seen since thousands of years ago.

"Oh, my gosh." Graham said in disbelief. "Is it possible? Is it him?"

"No. This is much older." Serizawa identified.

"Hey, guys." Jerry called from another part of the cave. "You gotta see this."

Serizawa and Graham walked to where Jerry called to check out what he found. Then the pair saw that the giant fossilized skeleton was not the only thing inside the cavern, there was…something else. Anchored to the ceiling of the cave were two rare black egg-like structures, some kind of…giant spores that gave off radiation from them, something recorded in some radiation detecting device that Graham was holding by pointing it to both giant cocoon-like things. One looked intact but the other one looked open, like if something hatched from inside and both were connected by some giant organic tube-like structure made by some kind of resin. That Graham and Serizawa didn't expect it.

"What is it?" Graham asked curious. "Some kind of egg? A dormant spore?" But Serizawa, who was her superior and mentor, didn't know what to say at the moment as he shook his head. "The bones are fossilized…but this formation seems to be perfectly preserved."

"This one looks broken." Jerry observed, referring to the hatched spore. "It's like something…came out of it."

Then, Serizawa spotted some big light coming from some big tunnel of the ceiling, but this tunnel wasn't natural, something big burrowed its way out of the cave, directly to the outside. That was definitely not good news, because it meant that some giant creature was awake and free, and it couldn't happen in the worst time possible. Maybe that creature was in some larval state, whatever it was, but that didn't make things to look better. Out of the cave there was some huge trail of destruction left by the larva creature, very recognizable from both near and far, one that reached to the sea. That meant that said giant animal was already long gone and on the loose. The question was…where it would be? Or where it could go? And most importantly, what it would be capable of? Wherever it could go, the damage would be catastrophic.

Ignus Janjira, Fire Nation colony in Red Sand Island of the Earth Kingdom.

Days later, at some big island place of the Earth Kingdom territories near the continent's shore it stood the splendid Fire Nation colony of Ignus Janjira, the most recent of the colonies. At some fancy looking house, there was one of the members of the royal family of the Fire Nation laying in the bed waking up thanks to the morning sunlight: none other than Princess Ursa, who was now a young adult woman. After getting up she turned her attention on something else that was in the bedroom, and not just anything, but a cot. Quite a while, she was blessed with a baby boy. The little one that was inside there had gold eyes, light skin and black hair, and he also woke up in a good mood. Ursa smiled at her son taking him in her arms and cuddling him before going outside to the balcony. She stood there watching the sea, with the wind blowing her hair while caressing her son's cheek with most care. Maybe her life was different since she become princess many years ago, but this was one of the good and best things that ever happened to her: her very first son. The new and future prince of the Fire Nation. She wanted to become a mother from quite some time, and now her wish became true.

Ursa kissed the forehead of her baby with all her love followed by an eskimo kiss. "You're so cute. Maybe you're too little to realize it yet, but this is your very first birthday, little Zuko. I swear…that I'll do my best to give you a good life."

The baby prince touched his mother's face gently while laughing, making her chuckle by the tickles. Then she heard the door of the room opening and saw her husband, Prince Ozai, entering and sitting down on the bed, and he didn't look happy, showing a frowned face. On the following days the colony and its people had been experiencing some strange seismic activity which had been increasing little by little all over those days. Ozai and the ones in charge of the protection and order of the colony thought it could be thing of some earthbender troops that managed to infiltrate in there, but despite all their efforts they had no success in finding the culprits. That's why the prince was so mad.

"Ozai?" Ursa asked, getting his attention.

"Oh, Ursa." Ozai said softly. "I expected you still being sleeping."

"Are you alright? You look tired."

"I'm fine." He said gritting his teeth.

"Come on, Ozai. You know you can't fool me."

The prince knew what his wife meant, so he sighed in defeat before explaining himself. "As you know, there had been some strange tremors in the colony since we came here. People talk about it all around the place."

"Earthbenders?"

"Perhaps. Yes, its possible." Then Ozai got up and walked to the other side of the room. "You see, Ursa? I've been investigating, more than any other time about anything in my life, thinking about any possibility! Anything that could be avoiding me! In order to discover the culprit of these increasing tremors." He said looking at some picture of his father, Fire Lord Azulon. "Every time I think I'm close to the answer, it escapes all over again. It's so frustrating."

Ursa put a supporting hand on his husband's shoulder. "Easy Ozai. You're under so much pressure. I know you're determined to find out the reason of this strange situation, but stressing yourself is not gonna help either."

Ozai sighed again; this time calmed down a little. "I guess you're right."

"Besides, you hadn't seen your son at the morning yet." Ursa insisted, showing Zuko with the same cute and happy face. "Isn't he lovely?"

Ozai smiled at seeing at his son, touching his head gently. "Indeed. Look at him, Dear. The new prince of the Fire Nation. I see the future of our glorious nation in his eyes."

"Yes. He's special, without doubt. By the way, we've received some new letter of Iroh. It tells there he's planning some future campaign that could be crucial to end the war. It seems he…had some vision of himself conquering Ba Sing Se." Ursa said.

Ozai chuckled at hearing that. "Really? If he ends conquering the Earth Kingdom's capital at the end, I'll let him be our father's only successor as the next Fire Lord, just like that."

"My, Ozai. I can't believe you just said such thing. That doesn't sound like you." Ursa expressed surprised.

"Well, I still can give you a few surprises."

"Then how about we prepare the celebration of Zuko's first birthday? It'll be something that everyone here will be glad to celebrate, and I know you would want it too."

"Of course, Ursa, but I'm afraid it will have to wait." That answer concerned her a little. "If I remember well, some of our scouts recalled of the recently discovery of some hidden tunnel network that connects directly to the mountain's underground. That's where the earthbenders must have their secret hideout." Ozai deduced. "I have to leave. We'll have this resolved before more complications can happen. Meanwhile you can prepare everything for the celebration. I swear you…that I'll be back right before the event begins, and everything will be just like our son deserves, like it must be: worthy of a prince of the Fire Nation." He proclaimed leaving the room before giving a smile to his wife and son.

"I hope so, Ozai. I hope so." Ursa said, now worried of what could happen next.

Then the princess felt the little hands of her baby son touching her face with care without losing his smiling face, thing that made her smile again. Ursa cuddled Zuko while going out back to the balcony and having a great view of the colony, wondering what was gonna happen from now on. Meanwhile, Prince Ozai reunited with the high-ranking officers of the military forces of the colony regarding the increasing seismic-activity issue in the military headquarters.

"So, any news about our seismic problem, General?" Ozai asked sat down on some throne with the others gathered at his sides.

"It's complicated, Prince Ozai. We've already sent searching groups to the caves in order to search for any possible earthbenders hiding underground." The general reported. "However, we're starting to believe that none being the case."

"What do you mean exactly with that?"

"We mean the tremors." Another general said. "Now we're convinced that is not earthbending. It's some kind of anomaly. Yesterday the tremors were a little stronger than the day before yesterday, the same as today regarding yesterday."

"The thing is, Prince Ozai, and thanks to all our experience dealing with earthbenders that this is not how their bending works. Even earthquakes don't happen like this." The colonel added next. "They are random, jagged. But this…this is consistent, increasing."

"Then we thought that it could be…him, but this cannot be thing of the Avatar neither as his power is supposed to be bigger."

"Yes, I see what do you mean. This is some kind of pattern. But what could be causing it is what I don't get it." Ozai said, starting to get a little concerned and more frustrated.

At the same time, at the tunnels entrance, the searching groups gathered around and prepared themselves for their task.

"All right, everyone." The captain in charge of the mission began. "Let's make this quick and find those earthbenders."

And with nothing more to add they went inside the caves. What they and nobody else knew was that the entire colony was established over some huge underground radioactive material deposit connected to the mountain by the tunnels. Because of the increasing tremors said depo now had become unstable, besides of the recently risk of becoming highly more unstable or something worse. Just one more big earthquake and the disaster would be ready…and inevitable. Back with Ozai and the military officers…

"I…can't believe it. How can this be possible?" Ozai expressed, frustrated still with no clue of what was going on.

"Indeed, Your Highness. With all respect, but maybe not such good time for a celebration." One of the generals advised.

"Then…what do you think it could be the source of this tremors? And don't say this is some spirits thing because I don't believe that. I'm sure it cannot be that."

"We don't know, but…we all agree on one thing. Whatever is it, it keeps getting stronger."

"What's its origin? Something must be making those tremors, I'm sure of it. What do the reports of our scouts say?"

"Not much." Another one of the generals answered. "They've inspected around all the areas of the colony, including its surroundings and limits and found nothing. The only exception is the recently discovered cave network, which entrance is on the mountain side."

"Yes, that's it. Whatever is causing them must be down there. Once the troops get there, they'll find out the responsible sooner or later." Ozai said confident with a smirk on his face.

But then…everything began to shake violently: it was an earthquake, and a big one. Strangely it didn't last long, but it was enough to put everyone in alert and panic. Because it did not last long no damages were done, however…that was not the worst. Then, another big tremor was felt all around the colony, and this time some debris fell down, forcing all citizens to get out of their homes, besides of lots of big cracks that started to form all across the ground, like if the entire place was going to collapse from one moment to another. Some curious thing was that some kind of weird loud noise could be heard this time alongside the earthquake, something that sounded like…a roar. Regarding the soldiers that were inside the tunnels, those tremors signaled that the place was no longer safe and they had to get out of there as fast as they could.

"Did you hear that?" The male firebender asked looking at his surroundings.

"Yeah, I heard that too." The female firebender said doing like her partner.

"What was that? Was the earthbenders?"

"That…wasn't earthbenders." Their captain in charge responded intrigued. "We're turning back. Let's go." He ordered at his partners before something caught his sight. "By the spirits."

He and his companions widened their eyes in shock and fear by what he saw in front of them: some kind of poisonous radioactive fog was spreading all across the cave, coming right at them and fast. The earthquake indeed provoked some serious impact on the radioactive depo, and the venomous radioactive gas escaping was the proof of that. If said deadly mist could reach the outside, the entire colony would be doomed for sure, something that the captain suspected and began running back to the entrance as fast as he could alongside the other soldiers.

"What's that?!" A female soldier asked scared looking back at the mist while running.

"I don't know, but it's coming right at us and fast!" A male soldier responded scared, not wanting to look back.

"I know that already, rookies!" The captain said. "It's some kind of breach. That's gotta be some kind of poisonous gas! We must head back to the entrance and hurry! We need to get out of here. I don't need to be an expert to know that we won't last long inside that fog. Follow the torches of the walls, they will lead us back to the surface."

Then another huge tremor shook everything, making the trio to fall to the ground, but at least forced the gas to go through another hole for the moment, giving them some time to put it behind.

"Aye aye, sir! Then what we're gonna do once there?!" The male soldier asked after getting back up and reassuming the escape.

"We'll wait there until everyone is out. Once it's done, we'll block the entrance with all our firebending power before that deadly gas could leak out."

"Are you sure of that, Captain?!" The female soldier asked, concerned about that kind of plan.

"It's the only way to safe the colony from disaster. Come on, we're almost there! Keep running! Remember, we'll not block it until everyone is out!"

Just like them three, the rest of the squad made their mazing run through the tunnels back at the entrance as fast as they could with the dangerous fog after them. Meanwhile, back to the surface, the rest of the military forces were escorting everyone out of the city right to the harbor as they were also aware of the incoming threat from down below the caves in time. It was some chaotic situation too, but they were doing their best in order to avoid a bigger chaos incoming. After a long underground race, the captain and the rookies managed to get to the entrance and just in time. They stood there holding at their knees catching their breath while staring at the inside of the tunnel.

"Captain, I don't wanna be pessimist but…what if the gas reaches first before the others? What will we do?" The firebender boy asked concerned.

"He's right. We would be in danger then." The firebender girl added worried too.

"We're here. Soon as they're out, we'll close it, but we've to wait until everybody is out." The captain reminded while he turned his sight back at the tunnel. "Come on, come on."

The rest of the troops were still scattered and on their way back to the entrance, but the tremors and the cave-ins were making that much harder, even making some of the groups to trip on and lose some precious time. The truth was that…things weren't looking good for them. The trio who was at the entrance felt another big tremor, almost making them to fall to the ground but they managed to hold their balance.

"Captain. I think…I'm afraid that they're not gonna make it." The male firebender confessed.

"He's right, sir. We have to close the cave's entrance! We must seal it or the whole city will be exposed." The female firebender supported.

"Not yet." The captain insisted, starting to become more worried about the bad-looking situation. "Come on, everyone. Where are you?" He said for himself, gritting his teeth in tension and overwhelming concerning. "Come on, people. Don't give up, pals! Don't you dare to give up! Run as hard as you can. You can do it!"

"Captain! There's no other choice!" The boy rookie insisted, although it sounded more like begging. "We have to close the entrance. We have to in order to save everyone else."

Then the three of them finally saw something coming through the tunnel, but it wasn't what they were waiting for. They became stunned seeing the fog coming right at them.

"No." The captain whispered in disbelief and fear.

"Captain, we have to do it now!" The girl rookie begged. "We have to seal it! Now!"

"It's now or never!" The boy rookie yelled.

While the deadly mist was almost there the captain shouted in shock before unleashing all his firebending power at the entrance's ceiling. The rookies joined him and the impact of the combined fire power provoked the ceiling to collapse quickly, right a few seconds before the fog could reach there. The trio made it in time, but…not like they wanted it to happen. They did what they had to, but not without a cost. They still stood there, devastated in sadness and tears as they were forced to sacrifice their companions and friends and leave them inside there in order to safe the citizens. The three of them gathered in some hug of sadness without moving from there. But then a new shake of the earth caught their attention, as this one was stronger and bigger that all the previous ones, and also sounded like some roar. This earthquake was so big that literally it looked like it was cracking the entire mountain in order to end shattered in countless pieces and debris, with the radioactive gas leaking out from the cracks without much difficulty. Fortunately, all the citizens were evacuated just in time and onboard the boats, which already sailed off harbor and put as much distance as they could from the colony and setting course to the Fire Nation capital. Everyone stood at the ships deck watching at the distance in sorrow and shock how their city and homes got engulfed by the disaster. The mountain of the island ended crumbling down, and with it the mist got free and began covering the entire city, the island and all its surroundings. It was like a limnic eruption, but said deadly gas was visible and radioactive instead of carbon dioxide. That indeed meant the fall of Ignus Janjira and its end. Ozai watched with a frowned and angry look how one of the colonies of the Fire Nation fell so easily because of a natural disaster. That was not some individual, army or enemy's doing, but the act of a force of nature. All that lost so easily like nothing. There was nothing more humiliating than that for him. If this incident reached ears of the enemies of the Fire Nation, the entire world would see them not as powerful as them considered themselves anymore, but weak and vulnerable, more than everyone believed, and that would give more motivation and strength to their enemies on fighting against them. There's no way he could allow that to happen and he would ensure that the rest of the world to never knew about what happened there. His wife Ursa, on the contrary, looked at the doomed place with a concerned face. While they were evacuating, she swore of hearing some weird sound that looked like one big roar: a roar of some kind of creature. But that wasn't familiar for her, it wasn't like the ones she heard before. Even if many years passed since when she was a teenager, she still remembered very well how creatures like the ones that she knew and saw sounded (King Kong and the Skullcrawlers) and that definitely didn't sound like one of them, and that concerned her. Did that meant that it could be more unknown and gigantic creatures like those out there? Somewhere…in the outside world? Could that be the reason of what really happened to Ignus Janjira in front of her eyes? She couldn't be sure of that at the moment, but said thought left her concerned. But that wasn't the only bad thing that happened that day, as all the preparations for the first birthday of her son were now ruined. Well, that could be done instead back at home, but after what happened it wouldn't be the same. That was not how she wanted it to be for her little one. As for baby Zuko, he looked at the falling city with curious and innocent eyes, without no idea that he would return to that place one day in the future.

16 Years Later.

It was another day in the Fire Nation capital, midday in fact, but there was something very different about it. A few days passed since the Hundred Year War ended, thanks to the efforts of Avatar Aang and his friends of Team Avatar. Together, they finally put an end to the fight at the Day of Sozin's Comet: Aang defeated Phoenix King Ozai by taking away his firebending with the long-forgotten power of energybending; Sokka, Suki and Toph Beifong stopped the air fleet from burning the Earth Kingdom and Zuko and Katara defeated Azula in the royal palace. Zuko became then the next Fire Lord and swore to help healing the world from 100 years of war with the Avatar. Shortly after Zuko's coronation and after interrogating his father Ozai about his mother's whereabouts, he and Team Avatar went in search of his mother Ursa and found her with their new family. Later, they brought his mother and the new members of the family back to their home on the Fire Nation, just when Azula disappeared with no trace and nobody knew anything more about her from then. It seemed like things were now going good for the heroes of the Four Nations and the world since then. As for Zuko, who was now a teenager and the new Fire Lord, besides of surely being the youngest Fire Lord in history, he was in Fire Fountain City wearing his outfit of Fire Lord with crown and burn scar included supervising something important. While most of the soldiers of the place were keeping the citizens far enough of the fountain place, the rest of them had tied the statue of Ozai, the previous Fire Lord and Zuko's father, and hooked the cables to 2 or 3 tanks in order to pull of it and bring it down, as an act of the beginning of a new era of peace and kindness obviously. It didn't take too much in order to bring down the statue, something that made the crowd to cheer surprisingly. It looked like deep inside all citizens of the Fire Nation were also tired of their cruel and ruthless leader and now they celebrated their defeat too. Everyone also acclaimed Zuko after this action, something that gave him a warm smile on his face looking at his people grateful with their new Fire Lord. The tanks took away the statue in the meantime.

"It's done, Fire Lord Zuko." The captain in charge of the task reported to his new leader, walking at him and bowing in respect.

"Well done, captain." Zuko congratulated. "That's all. Let everyone to continue with their lives, and return to your posts or take a good deserved rest. Whatever you prefer." He said turning around and leaving.

"Em…excuse my curiosity, Your Highness. Is…everything alright? You look to be in a little hurry."

"Yes. My mother has returned. After 5 years of banishment, I've found her at last, thanks to the Avatar and my other friends. I owe them a lot."

"Princess Ursa is alive? I mean…she has been it all this time? But…Fire Lord Ozai said…"

"His lies don't matter anymore. That is the past, and now is the starting of a new era. And I want to start it trying to make up for lost time."

"So, all the family is waiting for you?"

"Yes, for tonight. I want it to be special for her."

"Well, if I can give you some advice, Your Highness, take it easy. It will be best before the entire nation could know about the former princess' return."

"Thanks captain. I'll keep it in mind. You can leave now. Went home with his family too."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The captain bowed again before him and left with the rest of the soldiers. Zuko gave one last look to the fountain that now only have some water jumping all over it before leaving back to the royal palace. That same night, in the palace's garden entrance, Zuko, who was now wearing the same clothes from when he joined Team Avatar, was guiding his mother Ursa to their old special shared bonding place. She was wearing her old royal outfit once again, which surprisingly still suited her well after all those years, and had her eyes covered by a bandage and her hand grabbed by Zuko's and having the other one searching for any possible obstacle while walking slowly at wherever her son was leading to. She couldn't avoid chuckling a little, she was excited and anxious, having no idea of what her son wanting her to see.

"Where are we going, Zuko? Can I untie it already?" Ursa asked excited.

"Not yet, mother. We're almost there." Zuko said entering in the garden with her.

"Oh my, I wonder what it would be."

"Alright, hold right there." Zuko said, making her stop. "Now you can untie it."

Ursa removed the bandage and opened her eyes, and then…

"SURPRISE!" Many voices shouted at the same time.

What Ursa saw surprised her a lot, gasping in excitement. There was a lot of people gathered in the garden receiving her: her new husband Noren, her daughter Kiyi, Iroh, Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee and the elder members of the White Lotus. The entire place was covered in ornaments, illuminated by lanterns everywhere and full with chairs, tables and food over them. This was the surprise that Zuko had prepared: a welcoming party for her, just like she deserved.

"Welcome home, mother." Zuko declared smiling at her.

"Oh Zuko. Thank you." Ursa said touched hugging her son with all her love.

And thus, the celebration began. Everyone there enjoyed the event. Some ones talked about some personal stuff or facts and other things while others preferred to have some fun, but of course everyone was there to welcoming the former fire princess back home. Even Appa and Momo were having their own way of having a good time, mostly by eating.

"I can't believe this is all for me." Ursa said still in disbelief but happy anyway.

"Well, I wanted it to be worthy enough for you. You deserve it after all you have passed through." Zuko expressed.

"I'm not the only one that deserves happiness after everything that have happened." She said, referring to him.

That made Zuko feel a little sad and take a depressed face, but it was not for him, but for another person that he remembered and knew of his family, something that his mother saw and concerned her then. "Mother, listen." He sighed in sorrow. "It's about Azula. I…tried my best to help her, but I guess father's influence over her was already too much. I thought that knowing that you were alive could start…I don't know, give her the push she needed to become someone better, a better version of herself. But it didn't work. Believe me, I didn't want her to go down the same path that our father went. I should have tried harder in making her to see that…"

But Ursa closed gently his lips with her fingers. "Shh. Zuko, it's not your fault. You did all what you could. Sometimes, it's not up to us to make other people to realize about it's right or wrong and change themselves. In the end, it's up to them to make the change. But I always knew that you were a good person deep inside. Always. The best of this family." She said caressing his hair.

"It was not easy for me. I mean my path. I had a lot of help after all."

"But it was you who managed to make the difference in the end, by not going the same path as your father, all by yourself. That's how you really defeated him: being different of him…and being yourself. The one who redeemed the Fire Nation. I'm already the proudest mother in the world."

Zuko was touched by his mother's words, making him to smile like he never did before. He maybe said previously that he was never happy, but that moment was totally the opposite. Now he was feeling happy for real.

"Also, I still can't believe you became Fire Lord. But I know you're gonna be the best one after one hundred years." Ursa confessed too.

"Thanks mother." Zuko thanked as he gave her another hug. "Anyway, I want you to meet some good people of mine."

Then some iconic and well-known group of heroes approached them. Nothing more than the new group of friends of Zuko: Team Avatar. All of them with the same outfits and appearances that they had since the Day of Black Sun.

"Mother, allow me to introduce you properly to my friends: Avatar Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Suki." Zuko introduced. "The best friends that a prince could wish for."

"It's a real honor and pleasure to meet you all. Zuko has told me lots of great things about you." Ursa said a little nervous, but in a good mood. "I know that we met before but…well, you know, long story. I never thought I would end meeting the Avatar in person too. Now I can truly consider myself lucky. I can't thank you enough for helping Zuko."

"Actually, we owe him a lot of things too." Aang answered.

"Yeah, despite all the times that we believed he was our enemy, he ended being a nice guy after all." Sokka added, earning some bad looks both from Zuko and his group.

"Honestly, I never held a grudge on him from the beginning." Toph said before giving Zuko a friendly punch on his arm, making him to rub his arm but nothing bad. Her way of showing affection.

"Your son also told us a lot about you, ma'am." Katara said next. "Now I know from who he got his kindness, besides his uncle."

"Thanks. And thank you all for being with Zuko all this time." Ursa thanked again the Avatar and his friends. "I know that with friends like you on his side, his fate is in very good hands."

All members of Team Avatar smiled at her beautiful and kind words, which were true too. Some time later, they joined the celebration again while Ursa was now talking to Mai, her son's girlfriend, who Zuko re-introduced to her as she hasn't seen also since many years since her banishment.

"Mai, it's you. Look at you, you have grown up so much." Ursa said excited while checking at Mai, which made the noble girl a little nervous. "You have become a beautiful young woman."

"Thanks. I never thought that any of us could see you again after all these years. No offense." Mai said, hoping of not saying nothing to mess it up in front of her boyfriend.

"None taken. In fact, I'm so grateful to you for staying with my son all this time. For supporting him…and taking care of him. And I trust you to keep on with that task, and I wish the two of you to share a happy life together."

"You can count on me for that." Mai promised smiling.

Suddenly, Zuko took Mai and went to the open area of the garden for dancing, where there were also other couples dancing romantically: Aang with Katara and Sokka with Suki. Ursa watched the scene with true happiness on her face.

"Zuko has come so far, there's no doubt of that. And to think of how much he can go from now on." Some familiar voice said from behind Ursa, and when she turned around, she smiled at seeing to who that voice belonged to.

"Iroh!" Ursa said giving a hug to the long-retired old general wearing now some typical clothes from the Earth Kingdom, which he returned.

"I'm so glad to see you again, Ursa." Iroh confessed undoing the hug and looking at her directly. "After all these years, you look just the same. I'm so happy to see you in home again."

"I'm happy to see you too. Besides, I cannot thank you enough for being at Zuko's side since he began his journey." Ursa chuckled a little next, feeling herself almost embarrassed. "I know, I don't stop saying thanks to many of the people that are here, but it's true. I'm in deep debt with them, including you."

"Nah, I didn't do anything big, Ursa. I only did what my brother should have done instead of what we know he did. But…as you and I know, in the end Zuko was the one who fulfilled his true destiny. I only ensured that he followed the path that your grandfather, Avatar Roku, would want him to go."

"I know." Then, Ursa realized of what he said. "Wait. He…he knows?"

"Indeed. It was an important detail for him in order to remember of being only himself."

Ursa put her hands over where her heart was supposed to be, feeling like she had also to thank her special and secret grandfather for that. It was like Roku also helped Zuko in the end someway.

"Now that I remember, there's some ones that would be glad to see you as well." Iroh said, which left Ursa intrigued and confused.

Iroh guided Ursa to some outdoor terrace of the palace where it was another group of people, and it seemed that they were waiting. And when Ursa saw who were they, she gasped in surprise and happiness recognizing who they were: Hakoda, Bato and also Lao and Poppy Beifong. All of them adults now. This was the biggest of all surprises for her.

"I made sure for this meeting for happening and in private, just for us." Iroh revealed smiling at her, just like the rest of the group, her group of friends from long ago, who were happy to see her again too.

"Oh my gosh. It…it's you!" Ursa finally spoke.

"Hi Ursa." Hakoda greeted.

"It's been a while." Lao said next.

"We're all here together, once again. Just like you promised." Poppy added with tears almost running down her face.

"For real this time."

Ursa couldn't avoid to let out some tears of said touching moment. "Yes. I'm…I'm back!"

Bato offered his hand to Ursa. "Welcome back."

"Thank you."

Ursa took Bato's hand and then, after so many years, the entire group of old survivors from some unmentionable adventure shared a group hug again. That was an important moment for them indeed, so they couldn't hold the tears, all of them. But they didn't care, as they only wanted to enjoy that sweet and beautiful moment, one that they wanted to see become real since passed decades, and time looked it just stopped. Back at the party, while everyone else was entertained and having fun, Katara and Aang were sat down in some secluded place of the royal garden, chuckling and talking about what happened recently, and about some other things too.

"It has been a pretty party, isn't it?" Aang asked to his beloved girlfriend.

"Indeed. I'm so happy that Zuko had recovered his mother." Katara said sincerely, touching her necklace gently with her fingers, reminding of her own mother, but with a smile on her face. And of course, Aang felt this.

"Your mother is also with you, Katara. She will always be with you inside." Aang comforted, touching her hand and making her smile more. Then he stood looking at her like if he was hypnotized or something.

"What? What is it, Aang?" She asked confused.

"Wow." He expressed amazed of something really charming. In front of him, the blue eyes of Katara seemed to be shining like stars or gems. "Your eyes look like jewels, shining in the dark."

That phrase made Katara blush in red and look away a little embarrassed but happy. Aang also turned away his sight the same way.

"Sorry. I didn't want to…" Aang apologized, not wanting to look like a fool for her.

"No, no, no Aang. Its fine. It's just that…nobody has told me something so sweet like that. I like it, I really like it." Katara assured, happy for that compliment of her loved one. "Do you…really mean it?"

"Of course. I just saw it myself."

Katara chuckled happy of that. "Thanks, Aang. You know? I don't know how, but somehow, I'm sure that the Air Nomads will return to the world."

"What?" Aang asked confused of her words.

"If you did, I don't see any reason of why your people can't as well, in the form of new airbenders." Katara reassured, looking at him deep in the eyes. "Trust me, someday, in the future they will be back. I have the feeling that it will happen, the same as I had it with you."

Aang was touched by the words of the person that he loved most in the world, once again. But…he already had his answer respecting that.

"Thank you, Katara. But right now…you're everything that I need, and everything that I want is just to be with you." Aang confessed, grabbing her hand gently.

Katara blushed again by his words and shared a sweet kiss with her little boyfriend. Next, they both touched their foreheads with each other's for some seconds before turning their sight up to the starry sky while cuddling together. Their long struggle to finish the Hundred Year War was now over and they can only think about enjoying their live together and its future, with all their adventures and feats as memories. But…neither they or anyone else knew that their biggest and challenging adventure was yet to come.