A/N: it's HERE. AAAAAAAAH. Please leave a review to share your thoughts… and ukitakeitalialover041757, thanks for leaving a review!

PS. lmao why didn't nobody message me that I updated the wrong chapter? Hahaha I'm breaking down from laughing. I was supposed to post this chapter, obviously, not chapter 32 AGAIN. Soooo here ya go... Btw, next time something like this happens, please pm me :)

Chapter 36 – How they found each other… again

Milah, clad once again in Water Tribe clothes, was standing on top of the cliff, stroking her stomach with concern and worry. Nausea had plagued her since that morning, the prospect of ending the war but also possibly losing her father or Katara or Sokka in the process, made it hard to breathe.

She watched the navy sail out over the waters. She'd had a brief moment with her father that morning and hadn't been able to keep in the tears of relief and happiness of seeing him again, happy, safe and healed from whatever injury he had gotten during the attack in the Earth Kingdom town. They'd hugged and Katara and Sokka had joined in the hug a moment later.

Together, at last.

It was hard saying goodbye to everyone, knowing not all of them would come back at the end of the day. She could still see Amim's face at the front of the ship he boarded, could still feel his hands wrapped around her waist and his nose pressed in her hair.

''They'll come back,'' she whispered to herself, standing there at the top of that cliff until the last one of the ships had disappeared.

She didn't have anything to busy herself with. So she sat down on the soft grass and ate some of the food that had been left behind for her. In case no one came back. Milah shuddered even thinking about that.

The eclipse began and seemed to end almost immediately after. Her stomach clenched and her throat burned. This had to be it. By now, they'd defeated the Fire Lord and the war was over. Azula, Ty Lee, Mai… they would all be taken prisoner and rot away in some dungeon somewhere far away.

Zuko would be taken prisoner.

Milah closed her eyes, feeling the leather pouch in her left pocket burn a hole through the clothing. She took it out and let the two pieces of jewellery fall in her hand. The gold sparkled in the sunlight. They felt warm in her hand as if the one who had given them to her was close by.

She looked at Amim's ring, still on her finger as he had insisted she would wear it, claiming he would feel better if she kept it safe for him during the battle in case he would be taken prisoner.

Milah was so distracted by her thoughts that she hadn't seen the sky bison appear on the horizon. Didn't see the sad and defeated faces of the children on the beast. Didn't see Amim missing from the bunch.

However, a grunt coming from Appa had her looking at her right where he landed. Milah stood up quickly, grabbing the necklace and ring tighter in her hand as if they could change the outcome of the battle. She counted the heads.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, The Duke, Haru and Teo, she saw. But where was her father, where was Amim?

She looked to the horizon again, expecting the navy to show up there. But not one ship was visible, nor were the submarines. But why would these seven people come to pick her up? Why not send Katara on her own on Appa if they had defeated the Fire Lord?

Or… maybe they'd lost. Maybe they had sent the children on their way to fetch her so they could flee.

''What is this?'' Milah asked softly to the group on top of Appa. Katara quickly climbed off the sky bison and took her hand, tugging her to climb on top of him. ''Where's everyone?''

Milah got an awful flashback to that night, four months ago. To the night they had needed to flee Ba Sing Se when it had fallen courtesy to the Prince and Princess of the Fire Nation.

''Please, come with us,'' Katara said and made her climb on top of Appa. Her sister has said the same thing then as well. ''The Fire Lord… he knew we were coming. Dad and everyone else stayed behind to surrender.''

Milah went numb. What a fucking nightmare. Her father, Amim, Marok, Taruq, Bato… She saw it in her mind, their slumped bodies in the awful prisons of the Fire Nation. She had first-hand experience with them. Could still feel the heat and helplessness while she lay in her cell. Waiting for someone to come and rescue her.

''Yip yip,'' Aang glumly said to his bison and it took off the moment Milah had settled herself in the saddle. ''I'm sorry.'' She'd never heard him so beaten and tired before.

''Aang,'' she softly said to him where he was sitting in the steering position. ''It's not your fault. The Fire Lord has it coming for him, someday. We'll defeat him on another day.''

Aang barely nodded and didn't say anything in return. Her heart hurt for the twelve-year-old boy who shouldn't be in this position. Who shouldn't carry the weight of the responsibility on his shoulders that everyone had bestowed on him.

''Tell me what happened,'' Milah said to Katara who was sitting next to her and Katara told her. How the Fire Lord had hidden inside the volcano but that Azula had stalled them long enough that the eclipse was over before they'd found him. How their father had gotten injured during the battle but would survive assuring Milah, who turned green at the thought of her wounded father. And finally, how the adults had insisted they were left behind while the children fled the scene. How they were on their way to the Western Air Temple now, ready to plan another attack on the Fire Nation before Sozin's comet would appear, due to pass the earth's orbit only a fortnight from now. The comet would give Firebenders tremendous powers, which Aang had learned from the former Avatar, Roku.

''Are you okay?'' Milah asked Teo, who was sitting with his head down, his eyes suspiciously glossy. The boy nodded slowly. ''They'll be alright. Your father is smart, he will know how to make the best out of the situation.''

''I know,'' he said softly, sniffling. ''He was the only one I had left after my mother died. Now…''

Her heart contracted and she reached out with her hand to wrap it in hers. ''I know how that feels. When my mother died, I was alone too. My grandfather Pakku was away at that time, fighting in the great battle of the North Pole. But you know what got me through?'' He looked up at her with hope in his eyes. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. ''Those we love are never really gone. They are here-'' she pointed at her heart, ''always.''

A grunt from Appa attracted everyone's attention. Aang spoke up, ''We have to land soon. Appa is getting tired.'' And the moment he was done talking, a plot of land became visible on the horizon.

They continued their journey on foot and after what seemed like hours, they still hadn't gotten to the Temple. Hadn't even seen a mountain that could serve as a Temple.

''Are we there yet?'' Milah asked Aang who was walking beside her with Momo perched on top of his head. The winged lemur chattered tiredly as if he had been walking for hours as well.

''I'm not sure. The last time I've been here… it was over a hundred years ago.'' Oh, yeah, right, she'd forgotten. Milah rubbed her arm sheepishly.

''This is humiliating,'' Katara spoke up from in front of her.

Sokka looked up. ''You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?''

Katara looked back temporarily. ''Both.''

''Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people,'' Aang said apologetically while petting his sky bison, smiling slightly.

''I wonder how the rest of the troops are,'' Teo spoke up suddenly, barely feeling his arms anymore from pushing himself forward in his wheelchair.

Haru answered him, ''They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he's going back in.''

Milah held back her scowl. She still hadn't forgotten the fact that Haru was most likely the reason they got attacked in his village.

''I miss Pipsqueak,'' The Duke added. The little boy was just eight years old and involved in a war. Milah wondered when the world had gotten so fucked up.

''I miss not having blisters on my feet,'' Sokka answered, earning a correcting slap on the arm from his oldest sister.

Toph, who had been walking in front of the group, stopped all of a sudden, and with her, everyone else too. ''Hey, we're here! I can feel it!''

Milah looked around her. They were on the top of a ravine, with not one resemblance of a Temple in sight.

''Eh… I think your feet need their eyes checked,'' Katara said to the blind girl, making Milah snort softly. Sokka gave her an incredulous look. His eyes screamed at her, why are you laughing at her joke and not at mine?

Because her joke was funnier, she gave him an answering look. Her brother rolled his eyes.

''No, she's right. We are here!'' Aang exclaimed.

''Wow…'' Toph softly admired. ''It's amazing!''

''Come,'' Aang gestured to them to Appa. ''Appa will fly us down.''

And then, when Appa descended the ravine, the Temple became visible. Toph was right, it was amazing. The Temple towers were hanging down from the top of the cliff and several staircases and windows were carved inside the rock, giving away the fact that it was probably full of unused rooms and hallways filled with history from the Airbenders that used to live here.

Meanwhile, Zuko had managed to track the sky bison all the way to the Temple, all because it decided to take a little stop at the black cliffs, an uninhabited island just on the outskirts of the Fire Nation's mainland. He hadn't gotten a good look and had made sure to steer far away from the eyes of the people on top of the beast.

The Prince had already descended the cliff to where he knew the Temple was hidden. He'd visited the site many years ago, with his uncle, to search for the Avatar. He rubbed his face in shame over what an ignorant bastard he'd been, the scar harsh and brutal against his hand, reminding him of what his father was.

He was just looking around for a place to hide out until he thought it was time to confront the Avatar and his friends about Milah when a familiar grunt attracted his attention. Appa was descending the cliff in the air and landed far away from him, but still, he made sure to run away to the staircase on his left that would lead to the top of the cliff again.

Milah got off Appa more flexibly than she could have dreamed of, especially considering she was so tired that she knew she was going to drop unconscious any minute now. ''I'm going to find a place to sleep,'' she announced to the group and walked away with heavy feet. Her mind was whirring with worry over her father and Amim.

Amim, who had promised to come back to her.

She looked at the golden ring still on her finger and caressed the cold material while the other ring burned a hole through her blue pants for the second time that day. She'd treasure the ring as if it truly belonged to her. She would do it for him, for the man that had been by her side and had taken care of it through it all. Through the good and the bad these past few months.

And maybe, if he managed to escape, if they would see each other again, she'd have an answer for him. Maybe she'd really consider it now, to start a life with him. Because he would always be good for her.

She found something akin to a bedroom not long after having searched a hallway of rooms on the first level of the Temple and passed out on the cot on her back the moment she laid down on it.

Zuko had been debating how he'd confront the Avatar's Gaang to a fucking frog. Dusk was already upon himwhen he decided he'd had enough and stood up from his one-person camp in the woods to finally make the descent down the secret stairwell again. He took deep breaths while he took step after step, spiralling down into the stone, trying to calm himself while also preparing to give a fight if he was forced to.

The only person that mattered was Milah and he wasn't going to stop until he found her. Even if he'd be old, and grey, he would never give up.

No one was there when he arrived at the Gaang's camp. They were all up in the air, looking as if they were trying to chase Aang down on Appa. So Zuko waited, trying to conceal himself a bit behind one of the many pillars. It didn't take long, luckily, and before he knew it, they'd landed a short distance away from him.

Toph noticed him first, and Appa shortly after. Zuko braced himself, going through all he wanted to say again in his head. And then they all turned towards him. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph.

''Hello…'' he greeted awkwardly and raised his hand to greet them, waving. ''Zuko here.''

The four of them all took on a fighting stance. He let his gaze go over the group and felt his heart hurt when he looked into the blue eyes of Katara.

''Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here,'' he continued before Appa walked up to him and licked him down his face, twice. He cringed. ''I know you must be surprised to see me here.''

Sokka's face spoke anger. ''Not really, since you've followed us all over the world.''

Zuko was silent, not knowing what to say to that.

Katara walked up to the man all of a sudden and gave him a threatening glare. ''You need to leave. Now.''

''I need to know something first,'' he whispered and clenched his fists, letting his nails cut into his palms painfully. ''I need to know where your sister is.''

A look of shock went through every face except for Katara, who seemed to shake from anger. ''Even if I knew where she is, I wouldn't tell you. Don't you think you've caused enough pain?''

He took in a trembling breath. ''I know I have, but I want to make things right. Your sister… she needs my help. My father is still looking for her as we speak. It's only a matter of time before someone finds her and brings her to him. I promise you, I will not hurt her again. I will never hurt her again.''

Katara laughed mockingly. ''No, you won't hurt her again, because you will never get to see her again. And now, you leave, before I do something to you I will later on, maybe, regret.'' Katara needed him to leave before Milah woke up from her sleep. She'd picked a room with a window that faced the little courtyard they were standing in, and it was only a matter of time before she'd wake up from the argument.

''Katara, you don't understand-'' he tried again but was cut off by a brutal shove coming from her.

''No! It's you who doesn't understand!'' Katara yelled in his face and bended water from the nearby fountain, keeping it at her side.

''Please, she needs my help. She's-'' he stopped himself but considered this may be the argument that would finally make her give in, make her understand why he needed to find her, just so he could protect her. ''She's pregnant. That's why she needs my help. I promise you, once I find her, I won't go near her. I won't talk to her, won't let her see me. I just need to make sure that she's safe.''

Katara's eyes spewed flames and before he knew it, he was on the ground in a puddle of water, courtesy of one of the Waterbender's water blasts.

''I said, get out of here, before I-''

''Katara,'' Sokka called out softly from behind her, cutting off whatever she'd been about to say. ''Stop.''

Katara turned around and panicked.

Because there she was. There her sister was, staring at the scene with wide eyes and trembling hands.

Milah had woken up from shouting and didn't know how fast she could rise from her bed and ran down the hallway and staircase, down to the courtyard. But whatever she'd expected, whatever she'd thought she'd find, hadn't compared to what she would meet.

And it was as if lightning struck her right in the heart. Golden eyes, his eyes, had finally made their way back to her, after all this time.

She could feel five pairs of eyes on her, seeing what she'd do. But she kept staring into the golden eyes of her dreams, kept staring and staring, not believing Zuko was here. Before her.

Her breath quickened and she could feel the air not filling her lungs and knew what was going to come. She didn't have them often, but if she did, there were little ways to calm her down.

''Milah,'' Aang called out to her. ''Calm down. Deep breaths.''

She couldn't breathe. It was as if a rope had wrapped itself around her throat, cutting off all her air supply. Tears burned in the corner of her eyes.

''I can't- can't breathe,'' she whispered and took a few steps back, not being able to look away from his golden eyes while Zuko stood up from his place before trying to walk to her, his eyes going over her. Over her blue t-shirt, not hiding her round belly. He felt his legs trying to give out from under him but he managed to stay walking.

Katara stopped him, however, trapping him in a hold of ice. She turned around to face her sister. ''Milah, it's okay. Deep breaths, with me. In, out, in, out…'' she continued to do so while walking up to her sister. ''Deep breaths. It's not good for the baby to have a panic attack. Come.''

Milah shook her head, her breathing quickening even more while she tried to calm down. The tears left her eyes now and she grabbed her belly, hoping it would relieve her stress. It didn't.

Zuko was melting himself away from Katara's ice and could do nothing but watch while the love of his life was breaking down in front of him. Could do nothing while tears streamed down her face. 'I'm sorry' he mouthed at her. She shook her head at him.

And then, when he'd finally managed to release himself, he dove towards Milah before anyone could stop him. He took her face and before someone could do anything, he pressed his lips to hers.

And he felt complete.

He was home.

Milah stilled and stopped breathing altogether. She could hear shouting from afar but didn't process it. Could only focus on the all-too-familiar warm lips, the smell of him, woodsy and like ginseng tea, stopping her from doing anything at all.

''Stop it!'' Katara shouted in the background and bended water towards Zuko the moment she saw him kiss her sister. But Aang stopped her by putting his hand on her arm.

''No! Katara, look,'' he said and gestured to the two of them. She saw it now; Milah's panic attack was over.

Zuko pulled himself away from his wife's lips with reluctance when he noticed she'd calmed down and was ripped away from her altogether only moments later by none other than her brother. Milah still watched him with an emotion he couldn't decipher.

Sokka pulled the Angry Jerk behind a pillar and eyed him with disdain. ''Listen up. You are going to leave now. Milah has us now and we'll take better care of her than you ever did. I doubt she wants you here anyway, so if you want to save yourself from pain, you'll leave right the way you came from.''

Zuko shook his head. ''I'm not leaving. Never again.''

Sokka smirked. ''Then you can't hold me accountable for what Katara is going to do to you when you show your face to her again.''

Zuko wasn't afraid of her. The only thing he feared was never seeing Milah again after having had a taste of her again, after having felt his heartbeat in his chest again with a step so full of life, he was afraid it was going to burst out of his body. ''I. Won't. Leave.''

Sokka turned around after that and walked back to the scene. Katara was holding Milah, both sitting on the ground. He could see his youngest sister whispering into her ear. Milah simply wrapped her arms around herself with her eyes closed.

Zuko walked behind Sokka, not knowing what to do right now. But when he saw Milah sitting there, being coaxed by her sister, he knew he couldn't give up.

He walked up to the Gaang again, knowing he'd have to set his second plan into motion. Hopefully, they'd let him stay after that. ''Listen,'' he started hesitantly, attracting the attention of Aang and Toph, who'd stayed silent after the fight. They both knew it wasn't their fight and didn't want to get into the middle of a family's business. Milah and Katara didn't look up at him at all. ''I know I've done a lot of bad things and that I've hurt you more times than I can count and I understand that you can't forgive me for that. I'm not asking for you to forgive me for that,'' Zuko directed to Milah who merely shook her head as if she was trying to erase his voice from her mind. His heart broke. ''I just… I wanted to tell you that I've changed, and I, eh, I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group, oh, and I can teach Firebending to you,'' he rambled and stuttered. The group eyed him in shock. ''See, I, eh…''

''You want to what now?'' Toph asked him, making him look from Milah to the small girl.

''You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!'' Katara argued again, standing up from her place beside Milah.

''Yeah, all you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!'' Sokka added.

Zuko panicked. ''I've done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!'' And as if Appa could understand him, he licked the Firebender, again.

''Appa does seem to like him,'' Toph murmured, making Katara and Sokka look at her with disbelief.

''He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. I'm not buying it,'' Sokka argued.

Come on, just let me stay, Zuko prayed inside his head.

''I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past-'' he tried again but was cut off by Sokka.

''Like when you attacked our village?''

''Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?'' Katara continued.

''Or when you left me in Ba Sing Se only to return to the Fire Nation, your father, who then ordered an attack on me and my people, fully aware of the fact that I was pregnant,'' Milah spoke up for the first time and he felt like he was having a heart attack. How he'd missed her voice. How he'd dreamed of it, longed to hear it again. And now he had, with the words coming out her mouth, he wondered if maybe it was better if he just left.

''I…'' he tried to answer with a trembling voice. Tears formed in his eyes. ''Milah, I- I didn't know what he was doing, I swear if I'd known I would've-''

''You would've what, Zuko? What would you have done?'' she bit out. A tear streamed down both of their faces. ''You left me. You left- left us! This-'' she put a hand on her stomach. Zuko fell to his knees. ''This is what you left. Whom you left.''

''I-'' he whispered and rubbed his eyes aggressively.

''No,'' she interrupted him. ''I'm done. Goodbye, Zuko.''

And then she left.

It was silent for a long moment before Zuko stood up again, feeling the last bit of hope leave his body. He looked around the group again, eyeing him with an equal amount of interest, disgust and anger. ''Look, I admit I've done some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm going to try and stop-''

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. ''Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?'' Sokka asked angrily while pulling out his boomerang from his holder.

''Well, that's not his name, but-''

''Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend!'' Sokka cut him off. Zuko got angry, his last shred of hope turning his stomach sour.

''He's not my friend!''

''That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!'' Toph cut in.

Fuck, this was going the wrong way. How could he convince them, he had to stay, had to stay-

''Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me,'' he put his last bit of hope in Aang, facing the Avatar.

Aang stayed silent, contemplating what he was going to say. Sokka shook his head at him and Aang decided. ''There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us.''

Katara spoke up again. ''You need to get out of here. Now.''

''I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!'' Zuko tried desperately, already feeling that there indeed was no way that they were going to let him join. That there was no way he'd be allowed within a few meters of Milah again-

''Either you leave, or we attack,'' Sokka warned.

Zuko fell to his knees and put out his hands, hoping this would work. ''If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner.''

' No, we won't!'' Katara shouted angrily and blasted water at him for the second time that day. ''Get out of here, and don't come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we'd better not see you again!''

Zuko lay there, again, in a puddle of water and knew this wasn't going to work. Not like this. He'd have to find another way to convince them. And so he stood up and walked away to the staircase again, already conducting another plan to try and convince them.

Milah sat in the bath Katara had drawn for her, fighting off the tears.

He'd come back, for me. For us, she thought while stroking her stomach. He'd come back and I've dismissed him. What if he never comes back now? What if that was the last time I'd ever see him-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. ''Milah?''

Milah breathed before answering her sister. ''Yes?''

''Are you coming? Dinner's ready,'' she asked tentatively. Milah hadn't noticed the bathwater was already cold, and rose. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself before opening the door. Her sister's blue eyes were watching her with concern.

''I didn't even notice I took so long,'' she said softly and followed Katara to their room. She'd laid out a spare outfit that they'd brought with them. For the first time since being on a journey, she would have multiple sets of clothing.

During dinner, she noticed Toph was missing and asked the party where she was.

''She's angry with us,'' Katara said. ''We argued after… Zuko left.''

Milah's fingers started to tremble again. ''I see. What did he have to say after I left?''

Katara swapped a glance with Sokka and Aang before answering, ''He tried to convince us to let him stay, even offered himself up to be our prisoner.''

''After that,'' Sokka cut in, ''we made sure that he knew he wasn't going to be a part of our group. Ever.''

Milah's heartbeat quickened. Of course, she'd expected it. Her mind seemed to agree with Sokka's words. But her heart… she tried to calm herself before she would have another panic attack, absolute terror pooling inside her stomach from the idea of never seeing him again. Never feeling his lips on hers, or gazing into his burning eyes.

''Good,'' she whispered eventually and took a sip from Katara's soup.

Zuko stared at the fire in front of him with empty eyes, wondering if it was possible to die from heartbreak. She'd never forgive him. She'd never let him into her life again. Rightly so, he thought, and let out a roar into the dark night sky.

''Fuck,'' he hissed and gave out a quiet sob, tears streaming down his face. He deserved this, all of this, all of the hate she felt for him, all that she'd throw at him.

At least he would one day die knowing he'd seen her one last time. That he'd kissed her one last time, knowing he'd never forget the way it felt, the way she smelled, the way she looked, her hand touching her swollen tummy, the child he'd put there and then left, residing there until he or she was big enough to go out into the world.

Zuko wondered if he'd ever see his child. If she would ever let him see them.

Tears kept streaming and streaming down his face while he sobbed.

I'm sorry, he thought, one last time. I'm sorry.