All right, all right. Here's the "real" chapter. There's only one more after this and I'll either be updating it tonight or tomorrow. So hold on, my little friends, because we are almost done!
In the two weeks that passed after the fall of Ozai and the beginning of a new monarch, there were many changes that faced the entire world. First off was the withdrawal of Fire Nation troops from all over the world except for a few necessary soldiers left in key areas to protect families and citizens of the Fire Nation who would be subject to the doubtful mercy of the Earth Kingdom people. It was only until the families could be moved back to the Fire Nation or until they paid for the burden they had placed on the towns they occupied. Many chose to return with the soldiers at the earliest possible date.
In addition, an envoy was sent to Ba Sing Se in the hands of the head of the Ching-Lee family, the man who had approached Zuko before in his father's War Chamber. Both Iroh and Zuko thought him to be a patient but strong-willed man who was able to deal with the leader of the Earth Kingdom in a polite manner that would benefit all. A second envoy was sent to the Northern Water Tribe to invite them to proceedings and treaty discussions. The plan to wait for them was set, the meetings were due to begin in a month, the option of transportation with the Fire Nation offered but understandably not expected.
The first thing Aang did was return to the island where Sokka and Elsie had left Momo and Appa and brought them back to the Fire Palace. It had been a heartfelt reunion and all who saw it remarked on the special bond that seemed to be running through all three of them. After that, Aang spent much of his time counseling the new Fire Lord alongside his Uncle and small but trustworthy viziers, hand selected from those who had approached him when it seemed he had nothing to truly gain.
Sokka was approached by the Lieutenant of Zuko's ship (really Uncle's ship as Katara so kindly pointed out to a huffy Zuko) and was offered the chance to train. He spent a lot of his days working on non-firebending fighting styles unique to the Fire Nation.
Elsie was trained by a man by the name of Tin Po, a Master Firebender, who had spent much of his time training Lady Shomlen before her acceptance into the Fire Academy for Girls. She proceeded slowly but steadily, understanding the necessity for complete control, a quality in a student that Master Tin Po had not seen in many years. He concluded that even if she did not possess the skill or desire to become a very powerful firebender (not that this was the case at all) any skills she did learn would be precise and controlled, nothing to be taken lightly.
Katara had nothing to do in those days. There were no secret waterbending texts hidden in the back of the Fire Palace library, squirreled away by some fastidious bookkeeper in hopes of preserving a wider variety of scrolls. There were no masters to train her in bending and she didn't wish to train with Sokka, though she was close to caving in towards the end of the second week. She spent as little time as possible with Shomlen the first week, still offset by the girl's nonchalance about certain ways of life, but in the second week, Lady Shomlen was offered a position at the Fire Academy for Girls and was not around.
At the end of the two weeks when Aang's duties had finally finished and they were all ready to return home, Katara was almost ecstatic. She was restless and ready for adventure, ready to see her GranGran and her village and, quite possibly, her father, too.
The only thing that kept her from certain euphoria was the fact that leaving meant leaving behind Zuko.
"Are you sure?" asked Sokka one more time, looking down lovingly at the small girl. Her bright blue eyes looked up at his and creased at the corners.
"Of course, Sokka," Elsie practically whispered. "I've been wanting this for a long time now."
"Well, now's your chance," he murmured, and wrapped his arms around her small frame, drawing her closer into him. He breathed in the scent of her dark hair, now cropped short, and exhaled, fluttering soft butterfly breaths across the top of her head.
"Aww, did you guys get closer while I was gone?" asked Aang, grinning as he strapped the sleeping bags down on Appa's saddle.
Sokka pulled away, his hands on Elsie's shoulders as he gazed at her with affection. "Yes," Sokka admitted. "We've truly bonded. Through cat ladies and fish, I feel as if I have grown a deep admiration for this small twerp." He looked Elsie in the eye and said (very seriously), "She is like the sister I never had."
"Then what am I? Seal jerky?" Katara demanded, whapping Sokka on the shoulder.
"Ow! Katara…" Sokka whined, rubbing his arm. "I'm a warrior – note the ponytail and boomerang. You can't just go around hitting me!"
"Yeah," Aang said seriously, a smile in his eyes. He jumped down from the back of the bison and strolled over to the group standing in the center of the large courtyard. It was currently empty, but would not remain so for long. "Maybe that's why he likes Elsie better."
"Hey!" Sokka protested as Katara hit him again. "Aang said it, not me!"
"Aang's the Avatar," Katara argued. "I can't hit him."
"Sure you can," Sokka encouraged.
"Nope!" Aang grinned again. "One of the perks of the job!"
The group laughed (except for Sokka, who scowled and then laughed).
Sobering up, Sokka turned once more to Elsie and asked her again:
"Are you sure this is what you want? You don't have to stay here, you know. You can come live with us down in the South Pole. GranGran wouldn't turn you away and Dad would love you." His voice lowered. "And we are your people."
Elsie shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'll stay here in the palace and train with Master Tin Po. He said I might even be able to attend the Academy in a year or two if he I keep a steady progress, though I'll be behind a lot of the girls." She shrugged and smiled quietly. "Who knows? Maybe I'll even visit Moelij sometime."
"Ooo," Sokka teased. "Mo-eh-lij."
"Oh look," Elsie spoke nonchalantly. "Your skirt's on fire."
"It's not a skirt, it's a tunic!" Sokka protested, looking to where she gestured. He let out a yelp and started beating the small flames. "Ah! That's not funny! Put it out, Elsie! Put it out!"
Katara and Aang laughed as Sokka dropped to the ground and rolled. Standing up, he growled at Elsie and stalked towards her.
"You little-"
"O, look!" Elsie said, dancing away. "The Fire Lord and Co.'s finally arrived."
She skipped out of Sokka's reach and went to stand next to Master Tin Po who stood in the entourage of the Fire Lord.
The group of people stood spread out in a fan behind the Fire Lord. Elsie, Tin Po, Takiko and Lady Shomlen. General Iroh and Lieutenant Ji all watched with somber faces, the three teenagers as they bowed to the Fire Lord. The Fire Lord cleared his throat before speaking up.
"The Fire Nation thanks you all for your aid in recovering the throne from dishonor and reveres your friendship as the utmost of honors. It is with regret that We see you go."
The leader of the Fire Nation stood in front of a large fare-well party seeing to the departure of the Avatar and his companions, friends to the Fire Nation for helping in the 100 Years War. He held his chin high and his gaze steady, if not without his usual arrogance. As he finished speaking, all those standing behind him bowed, showing the gratitude all the subjects of the Fire Nation felt towards what had been the greatest aid in winning the War. Katara felt the backs of her eyes prickle as she looked over the faces she knew and would miss.
"Uh…" Aang shifted his weight and smiled nervously. "No problem?"
The Fire Lord closed his eyes slowly, letting Aang know that was an appropriate reply.
Suddenly, the Fire Lord bowed deeply. A sort of rustle or murmur went up around the crowd, except, of course, it couldn't have truly, for the members of the Fire Court were much too much polite to behave in such a manner.
"Avatar, if there is anything We can ever do to aid you in the future – anything I can do – do not hesitate to ask. It will be my honor."
Aang waved his hands in the air, disturbed, as always, by the show of fealty and respect due to an Avatar. "Really, Prince- I mean, Fire Lord Zuko! It's all right; I can take care of myself."
The Fire Lord returned to his previous position, standing. "No doubt, but anything any of you wish for will be provided by the Fire Nation. It is the least we can do."
Katara wished his eyes would roam over her, just the slightest glance, just to let her know he remembered she existed. It really broke her heart to know he wouldn't look at her – couldn't look at her. It almost felt like everything wasn't worth it. Like, why would it matter if the world was saved if she was only going to feel like this?
The simple, elegant and formal conversation between Aang and the Fire Lord had ended while Katara had mourned. The sound of loud drums had jolted her and she jumped, shocked to the core. Aang had already airbended to the top of Appa and Sokka was sitting in the saddle, peering down at his peculiar sister.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
Katara looked up at him and Aang, seeing the perfect picture they made against the soft orange of the sky, the sun near setting. She looked back at the procession, a river of reds and pinks. Everything was just a sunset here, wasn't it?
It had been so small – so inconspicuous – that if Katara hadn't been looking for something, she would have missed it.
But she had seen it – it had been there before it was crushed under the weight of formality and etiquette.
She rushed back, away from Appa and Aang and Sokka, and ran towards the crowd. The guards would have stopped her if she had been seconds slower. But she wasn't.
She threw her arms around his neck and buried her nose into the dent made by his shoulder and his neck. She breathed in the scent of him – not the perfumed soaps of the court, or the undertone of wood and burning, not even the smell of the tea he had been drinking with his uncle earlier. No, she took in her lungs full of him. That impossible sent that she recognized on everything of his that came close to her nose. Somehow comforting and indistinguishable at the same time. The other scents would always remind her of him, too, but this was something she wouldn't find anywhere he hadn't been.
All too soon, she rocked back to her heels, his arms tightening reflexively around her waist as her weight shifted. When she looked into her eyes, she saw him. Surprise and sadness and happiness, too. Thankfulness, that she had seen the flicker.
"Thank you," she told him. And he nodded.
She stepped away and bowed before walking as unhurried and elegantly as possible. It was really hard.
When she got onto the bison and flew away, she turned back to the crowd. A few of the onlookers were waving in response to Aang and Sokka's hearty goodbyes; Elsie's arm practically flying off her shoulder in a gesture of emotion far greater than any the group had seen before. More joined in after a few moments, but he only waved in response to her small gesture.
It wasn't until later that evening, while they rested on a small island, that Katara found the note in her bag.
Two months, Katara, it had said. Two months or I'm coming after you.
And she smiled. Because what was two months, really, when you were going to spend the rest of your lives together?
"Dad!" "Dad!"
A tall Water Tribe man was thrown back by the force with which the two teenagers attacked him. Laughing, he hugged them back.
"Well, who's this? I don't think I recognize these two grown-ups. I hear they've been fighting in wars, helping the Avatar and bringing about the end of a century long war!"
"Nah," Sokka waved his hand. "It wasn't that exciting. I'd rather go fishing any day."
"Not that you'd catch anything," Katara shot at him.
"Now, now," their father laughed before Sokka could respond. "I think you'd better tell me the whole story, including these rumors I've heard about the new Fire Lord." Katara blushed.
Walking across the snow, the ice crunching beneath his boots, he peered down at the boy dressed in orange who smiled nervously and waved. "Who's this?"
"This is Aang, Dad," Katara said, running over to lay a hand on his shoulder. "He's the Avatar."
"And the guy who started it all," added Sokka.
Aang bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Katara and Sokka talk about you all the time."
"Oh do they?" he replied, raising an eyebrow at his offspring. "Well, why don't we talk and I'll tell you what I'm really like."
And they all walked into the nearby ice hut, arm in arm. Momo chattered at the children who slid down Appa's back into a pile of snow while the grandmothers of the village looked on.
"Well well well," came an amused voice. "If it isn't Miss Academy, coming to gift us with her presence, finally." He snorted. "Been a while."
Elsie tugged at the hem of the red tunic of her Fire Academy uniform. Two years and she was finally accepted, ready to learn all she could. Her firebending was passable, or maybe a little bit better, and her confidence had grown with it considerably, but it still wasn't enough when it came to this boy – young man.
Moelij sat back in his throne in the middle of his warehouse and regarded the girl in front of him. Her brown hair had grown out straight and was shoulder length, a style she seemed to prefer since with two years it should have grown longer. She had grown only a little taller and filled out only a little more; it seemed as if this girl was meant to be a waif. In a few more years, with more training and more confidence, she could become a very graceful (if short) young woman.
"It's only been two months," Elsie protested, her eyes looking in every direction except for his.
Moelij shrugged. "I guess you don't have time to be sporting with the everyday riffraff. Going to be a great general or admiral, are you?"
Elsie's gaze locked onto his and he had to admit, it was a little… disconcerting… when she steadily eyed him. At least, it caused his breath to hitch, just the tiniest bit.
"I'm not going to be a soldier," she told him. Her voice and actions were now much more calm and in control than they had been moments before. She still spoke softly, but it now carried farther and brooked no argument. It made his breath catch just once more.
"You're not?" he asked lightly, trying to appear for all the world as if it didn't matter to him, as if he wasn't affected.
"Nope," she shook her head. "I'm going to…" her voice sort of fell away there, her gaze dropped and her cheeks flushed. Moelij leaned further in to hear what she had to say, curiosity holding tight at what it was that embarrassed her so.
"I'm… I'm going to… dance." She mumbled the last word into her shoulder and Moelij shook his head.
"You're going to what?"
"Dance," she spoke stronger and looked him in the eye once more, her cheeks blushing wildly. He remembered when she was younger, when she used to blush like that every time she entered his presence.
When she visited more often.
"Really?" Moelij grinned and sat back. "Dance?"
"Don't laugh!" Elsie stepped forward, the blush in her cheeks changing to one of indignation. "Everybody laughs. They think it's stupid."
"No," Moelij shook his head, his wide smile firmly in place. "I don't think it's stupid at all."
"Then why are you grinning?" she demanded, her hands fisted at her sides. She marched right up to him and glared at him as he sat in his chair. "Huh? Why are you grinning?"
Moelij stood up suddenly, inches away from the small girl. She gasped, not having realized how close she had been. He looked down at her wide blue eyes, her cheeks drained of their earlier flush. She looked up at him without blinking, as if she were afraid to move. Brushing the backs of his fingers against her cheek he felt his eyes lose focus.
"It suits you, beautiful," he murmured. "Did I ever mention that? Your nickname suits you."
Her blush returned with a fury and she glared up at him suspiciously. "It's not a nickname; only you call me that."
"Good," he said, and kissed her temple.
Katara did return after two months, but it wasn't like she got married or anything. In fact, she was barely there for a month before she took off once more, torn between the utter boredom of having nothing to do and the sadness of leaving the guy she loved.
She headed up North to where the Water Tribe up there was and completed her training. It took some rather forceful convincing to get her Master to allow her to study the fighting of waterbending instead of just the training, but in the end she did and she was one of the best students he ever had.
In the three months she was there, she managed to convince the Northern Water Tribe leader to send a reconstruction party to their sister tribe in the south as it was in dire need of reinforcements both militarily, culturally and in population. She sent very long letters to her family and Aang along with equally (if not longer in the case of Zuko) long letters to Elsie and Zuko to be given to them when Aang returned with Sokka to check up with them.
After delivering her letters and checking up on affairs in the Fire Nation, Aang and Sokka came for her with proposals of a Water Tribe embassy complete with ambassador for the Northern Water Tribe in the Fire Nation Court. After some discussion with the Avatar and his two closest friends, (interrupted frequently by trips to go penguin sledding) the Northern Water Tribe leader concurred and agreed to send one of his most trusted men. The man left with a large escort of Water Tribe people, including Katara's Master.
Before Aang and Co. left to make their own way back to the Fire Nation, Aang and Sokka let Katara know of their big surprise.
"He wants you to be ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe," Aang said, handing her the scroll covered with official-looking seals.
Katara opened it in wonder and felt her eyes tear up.
"Don't cry, Katara," Sokka told her, putting a comforting brotherly arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"I do," she disagreed, pulling away and wiping at her cheeks. "I'm just so happy I'll finally have something to do when I'm visiting him. You don't know how boring it gets!"
Aang and Sokka laughed. It took them about a month to get to the capital, as they took frequent stops to ride various animals along the way.
When Zuko demanded what took them so long, Sokka replied:
"Oh, well there was this crazy Fire Nation prince with a ponytail who kept chasing us around while breathing fire and muttering something about "having to catch the Avatar"… kinda creepy, actually, if you ask me. I mean, what's a guy like that want with a twelve-year-old boy?"
Sokka was lucky Aang was so quick on his feet, especially since he had mastered waterbending in the Southern Tribe and perfected it with Katara.
Shortly after their return, Sokka and Aang left to find an earthbending teacher. Sokka volunteered to go with Aang because he was sure that if he didn't Aang would "optimistically ride an animal into a hole of doom, somewhere, and try to talk his was way out nicely."
They returned a few months later. Aang was almost a mater of all four elements and Sokka had a new set of clothes. Something about an earthbending accident he really didn't want to talk about. All anybody knew was that he winced whenever he sat down for a long time after their return.
I know. You're like, WTF mate? And I'm all, I dunno, mate.
Okay, did anybody recognize the scene from Love Nation? I had actually already had this planned out (planned out I say- PLANNED OUT!) from the (almost) very beginning. I had written that scene as the departing good-bye scene and I just tweaked it a little to customize it to this setting. As I was thinking about all this story as I was writing it, I was reminded of Vickiso's musical fic, Captured! A Zutara Musical. It's pretty good. But one of her things was that stuff like this doesn't happen this easily, without so much bloodshed and stuff. But in all, I think the whole Avatarverse is stretched a bit. And I like it that way.
I believe in Happy Endings. (tm or whatever)
Read both my other fic, Love Nation and Vickiso's stuff. She's really good. For more good fics (better than mine) check out my favs because I gots some good 'uns. (And a bit of Inuyasha. Me likes Sesshy... heh heh)
Please review.