And here we go again, another chapter. Still don't own anything. A little more interpersonal relationship growing… possibly a dogfight… and finally reuniting everyone under one Western Air Temple - Well not everyone yet, of course…

Continues to be T for, well, mostly Toph. .


Firenation Airspace, Just outside the Boliling Rock…

Zuko stood at the helm of the airship with Sokka next to him. It was honestly a lesser miracle that they had managed to get the thing airborne. He heard Sokka ask, "Do you know how to fly one of these things."

Zuko looked back over at Sokka, "Didn't you say one of your friends invented these. It's not like I have had much time to learn these things. The small one was pretty simple, but this, this is complex."

The two boys continued to look over the controls and experiment. Knobs, levers, buttons, and more all seemed to do random things to the ship. After a good hour of experimenting, they were pretty sure they had found: Up, Down, Left, Right, Slow Down, and a button that activated a communication system inside the ship. They did not have any idea how to go faster other than to rise up in the air then take a steep dive and ride the momentum.

"Come on, it's gotta be one of these buttons", Zuko muttered to himself as he pressed another button. With its pressing, the entire airship jerked, but didn't speed up.

"What's the problem? This thing will still get us home just fine", Sokka wondered.

"The problem, Sokka", Zuko chastised, "Is that by now every hawk in the hawkery will have been sent to every corner and command post of the fire nation telling of a breakout of the highest of profile prisoners from the highest profile prisons. Within minutes, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee will have found a way across to the outside. They will certainly come after us. And Azula knows how to fly this thing."

Sokka looked over at Zuko, and Zuko could see the concern in his friend's eyes. "Zuko, you are tired. How about you go take a rest. I will figure this out. And if you could send in Dad, I would appreciate it. Thanks, buddy.", Sokka half asked half demanded.

Too tired to argue, Zuko made his way out from the cockpit of the warballoon and down to the dining hall. Passing Hakoda, Zuko mumbled, "Sokka has requested you in the front, Chieftain Hakoda".

Continuing on, Zuko looked for the sleeping quarters. He found the watercloset, the storage bay, multiple bending decks, and a room full of spare parts. Eventually, the faint sound of snoring brought him in the direction of the private quarters. Ignoring the room that had snoring, he made for the next open door. Swinging it shut, he flopped towards the red bedspread. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.


A little later, one room over…

Suki woke feeling more rested than she had been in months. Feeling more awake and safe, she decided to inspect her surroundings. She had made directly for a bed as soon as the ship had taken flight. The room she was in was large, considering it was on a flying ship. The room was in slight disarray, with drinking glasses on the side table. The book shelf was mostly empty, the only occupant was a book on acupuncture. She was nearly blinded opening the closet, as the amount of pink was a little overwhelming for a girl who normally wears green.

"Hmm, must be the short girl's room", she thought to herself. Always an adherent to know thy enemy, Suki continued her study of the room. There wasn't much more until she opened the end table cabinet. Inside was a rather large collection of glass jars. The makeup available was by far more intricate than anything Suki had ever had herself. The Kyoshi don't use more than three colours for their uniform. A quick search revealed that there was no red for her to use.

The lack of her colours was more disappointing than she had originally imagined. Her identity was tied in her place as a Kyoshi Warrior. It is what made her who she is. The Warriors gave her everything she had today.

Feeling satisfied with her inspection of the room, she made her way back to the main dining area. She could hear Sokka and Chief Hakoda talking up front. As she walked towards the door, she could hear it was mostly Sokka teaching his dad how to fly the Airship. Deciding that she was not ready for a lecture on how the thing works, Suki returned to the dining hall.

When she reentered the mess hall, she found that she was no longer alone. Zuko was sitting at the table wringing his hands together.

'I suppose if we are going to be working together, I should at least speak to him… Even if he did try to burn down my village', she thought to herself as she approached the opposite side of the table. With a graceful stride, she sat herself across from the brooding ex-prince. She saw that when she sat down, he looked up at her before returning to looking down at his hands.

She was just about to speak when suddenly Zuko looked up at her, met her eye contact, and spoke. He said, "I don't even know where to begin."

"Where to begin?", she parroted back.

"Yes, where to begin. How do I apologize for everything I put you through. And your people. I brought the war to Kyoshi. I burned down your village. I dragged you into this and am indirectly responsible for your capture by my sister. There is so much that I have done and I just don't know how to start. I don't expect you to like me. I don't even know if you trust me at this point. But that doesn't matter. I am different from when we last met. I just have to show you. And I will. Believe me, I will. I will show all of you. I really mean it", he replied more to himself than to her, voice cracking under the emotion. She could see the non-scarred side of his face was scrunched up, and he sniffled back a slight tear.

This amount of emotion was a lot more than she was expecting from the man who had tried to turn her village to ashes. His good eye had a sadness to it, that she had rarely seen in the Fire Nation.

She replied rather bluntly, "Look, we have had a rather rocky history, but you've obviously won the trust of Sokka, and since you are with him, Aang and Katara must also trust you enough to keep you around."

Her statement was interrupted by a sharp snort laugh from Zuko that he failed to control. She tilted her head to the side, questioningly.

He looked back over at her and answered, "Well, the Av…Aang and I get along well enough. I am actually teaching him firebending. Katara, umm, well, she hates me. And I'm not sure there is anything I can actually do about it. Nothing is ever enough for her. Toph, at least, seems to like me, despite everything."

Suki laughed at her last memory of Toph.

The firebender raised his eyebrow at her laugh.

She only offered this cryptic reply, "Oh, yeah. I've met Toph. She's a character, isn't she?"

Silence, followed by a quieter reply, "Yeah. She is like the little sister I didn't have. She was the first to vouch for me."

They dropped back into an uneasy silence.

"So, the Fans of Kyoshi?", Zuko asked.

"Yeah. Though I lost mine to you sister", she stated.

"I guess I owe you for that too", he replied.

"They are not the only way we Kyosi learned to fight. I have done training in swords and shields as well", she elaborated, "To prepare one must not look at what they have but what they might one day need."

"Mastery of the Mind is mastery of the Battlefield", he finished the quote. She looked up at him in bewilderment.

She wondered aloud, "Kyoshi said that during her stay in the fire nation. I thought the Fire Nation has rejected the teachings of the Avatar? How do you know that?"

He paused before replying, "Yes, the Fire Lords have rejected the teachings of the Avatars. In the years that I traveled with Uncle, he taught me things. The ways and customs of the other nations. Their stories and spirits. Their laws and lives. The tales of the last few Avatars. I didn't care back then. I just wanted to go home and be like the Fire Lords before me. I just, I know now."

An uneasy silence fell between the two as Zuko cut off speaking. He dropped his head into his hands and rested it on the table.

"You know what, now?", she asked.

"What he had wanted for me. For the Fire Nation. For the world", he gruffed out from his hands.

Sensing that there was nothing further to be gained by staying, Suki headed back to the control room to see what Sokka was doing. When she swung the door open, she found that Hakoda was no longer there, just Sokka. When he saw here, he dropped what he was doing to envelope her in a bone crushing hug.

"Hi, Sokka", she managed to breathe out through.

"Suki. I can't believe it. You're free. We're free. And the war is going to be over. And you're back with us now!", he exclaimed.

"It's good to be back, but I do miss the girls. I do hope they are doing ok", she said. It had been a while since she had been separated from her fellow warriors. She looked up at Sokka and asked, "I have to know, though. Is this really the same Zuko that burned down Kyoshi village?"

Letting her go and returning to the console steering the airship, Sokka replied, "Yes. The one and only ex-fire nation prince, Jerkbender extraordinaire."

She was having trouble reconciling the Zuko sitting in the room behind her and the Zuko that she had met in battle on the streets of Kyoshi. That Zuko had been full of fire and anger. This Zuko was something different. She asked, "What happened between then and now? You how is he with you? And what happened to him?"

Sokka replied, "You know, none of us actually know what happened to him, but that scar is pretty big."

She rolled her eyes, 'He sometimes can be a little clueless'. Out loud, she clarified, "I meant why he changed. And what happened with you all since the Serpent's Pass. How is everyone? Toph giving you any trouble?" She said the last sentence as teasingly as she could, recalling that one moment in the water at the Pass.

"Every day, really", Sokka said, "Still giving Katara a headache daily." He paused for a moment, "You weren't with us long enough to know that Toph is a big trouble maker? How do you know that?"

She held back a chuckle, 'Still the same clueless Sokka, Spirits bless him.' She humored him with a response, "Wouldn't you like to know. Lets' just call it Women's Intuition"


One long recap of the ups and downs of Team Avatar later…

Sokka was proud of his story. He was pretty sure he had covered every detail needed to get Suki back up to speed with where everyone was. He finished his story in one long breath, "And so we crash landed just outside the prison walls. Zuko and I impersonated some guards, but that didn't last very long, but then we met up with you and you have been with us since then and it is just so great to see you again."

She looked over at him and replied, "Wow, Sokka, that was a lot."

He nodded his head enthusiastically, "Yes it was. Now how about you come over here and I teach you how to fly this Fire Nation Deathtrap. Who knows when that might come in handy."

She obliged him, and he began to point out the basic features of the operation of the airship. The steering and speed controls. He was just starting to get to more advanced aerial controls when Dad opened the door. He had a spyglass in one hand.

"Son, we have a slight problem. I just spotted a pair of airships following us. I am pretty sure they are gaining on us", he explained with a calmness that surprised Sokka.

"So we will fight them off?", Sokka replied.

"With what though, this is the ship of the Fire Nation princess. Do you really think that we can fight anything off in a royal transport ship?", his dad asked, confused.

"You may be right, this is a nicely furnished ship, but she is crazy with a capital C. I would be willing to bet that this bad boy has a whole host of weapons on it!", Sokka exclaimed. He reached for the inter-ship communication button and pressed it, "Hey, Jerkbender. If you could come here with the rest of us peasants. Your people are on our tail and we could use a little help!"

A few moments later, one slightly disgruntled looking Zuko also emerged into the control room.

"Aah. You're here. Good. Now tell us how we can use whatever weapons they have on this thing", Sokka asked bouncing with excitement, "Did you see anything cool? Is there a catapult somewhere on this thing? How about a harpoon launcher?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, buddy, but this ship was designed for Azula. This ship was designed to be staffed by an elite squadron of Firebenders. There is nothing like that on here at all", he replied, "Just half a dozen fireports for bending."

Visibly disappointed, Sokka asked, "But what if someone actually managed to board the ship. You can't very well firebend in here?"

Zuko replied, "How many times have you met my sister's friends? If my Ex doesn't have you poked so full of holes, Ty Lee will have you in a pool on the floor."

"I guess you just have to go take care of those ships", Sokka suggested with a hand wave.

Zuko just rolled his eyes.


Starboard Aft firedeck, Princess Azula's stolen Airship...

Zuko looked out at the rapidly approaching airships. They were much like the ones that he had flown. Small craft, with a small crew. That is about the only advantage, since he would likely still be outnumbered. He had left Sokka with the instruction to fly as fast as possible. The air rushed past him as he steadied himself on the little railing at the edge of the deck. It was cold.

Breathing in, he slowly exhaled, allowing the warmth to spread across his body. Satisfied, he sprung to action with three quick punches of flame in the direction of the closest airship. The figure on its front dispersed the incoming attack with quick counter blast.

Pulling both elbows to his side, Zuko held his arms parallel with the ground. With a quick forward thrust of his hands, he created a blast of fire that splayed wide, forcing one opposing ship to veer off course. The other managed to again block the attack.

The first ship had lost half of its original altitude. The other airship quickly navigated to be above its companion. Wasting little time, Zuko continued his assault on the pair. His attacks were quick and simple, fire punches darting little blasts of flame, alternating hands.

The higher opponent ship continued to block his incoming attacks, occasionally replying with blasts and firebolts of its own. One such attack was flying directly for the tail of the Airship. With a quick snap of his wrist, Zuko sent a small blast of his own to counter it.

'Think Zuko, Think. This needs to end. Now. I can't beat them both.' His thoughts turned to the original masters, then to his lessons with Uncle. "I hope this works", he said as he gathered up his strength.

He raised his left hand above his head with his elbow at a ninety degree angle. His right hand was palm up, arm outstretched in front of him. He felt the energy shift as fire sprung to life in his palm. He with slow movements of his right hand he built the fire into a small ball. Quickly he pulled the fire and his right arm in close to his chest. Just as fast he simultaneously pushed the fire in his right arm out while dropping his left arm directly down in front of the blast, crossing it's path.

The resulting fireball whizzed hard to the left before whipping around to strike the upper opponent on the rear of the balloon. With the sudden loss of hot air, the ship dropped down, striking the one below in.

Zuko could hear a sharp crash as the two ships collided. He readied a stance to continue his assault. After a moment of observation, it appeared that the impact had rendered both enemies inoperable. He watched as the two ships struggled to remain airborne. As they receded out of sight, he returned inside.


Most of a day of flying later, Airspace just outside the Western Air Temple…

Zuko looked out from the control room as the Western Air Temple loomed in the distance. They were almost back.

"Umm, Zuko…", Sokka questioned.

"Yes, Sokka?", he replied.

"We are flying your sister's personal airship. Correct. With a Fire Nation Flag in the shape of the imperial crown and the Fire Nation emblem emblazoned across the sides, right?", Sokka asked.

"Yes", Zuko replied with a snap, "Your point?"

"What's to stop them from trying to blast us out of the sky. Think about it. What would you do if you saw this thing dropping from the sky?", Sokka replied.

As if on cue, a blast of air pushed the airship hard to portside. Grabbing the controls, Zuko attempted to pull the ship back to even center. The courtyard was now visible, and he was hoping to put down in the middle. They were losing altitude quickly, but Aang was somewhere, unknowingly attacking them.

As they got closer, he could see three people in the courtyard, two taller and one smaller. One of the taller persons and the short one both stepped wide and launched a small boulder into the air towards the ship.

He jerked up on the controls, hoping to put the armoured belly of the ship in the path of the rocks. The impacts rocked the ship, and it was almost level with the ground.

Sokka pointed out the front window at Aang, who was gliding by on his glider. At the sight of their friend, both Sokka and Zuko began waving and jumping frantically, trying to have him call off the attack. Aang flew off, leaving the boys wondering if he had gotten their message.

With a loud thud, the airship finally landed. Zuko turned to head towards the loading door when Sokka's hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Can I be the first one out. I want to be there when Katara sees dad", he asked with sincerity in his eyes.

Zuko nodded. At the thought of the waterbender, Zuko thought to himself, 'It has been a quiet few days these last few days.'


The Western Air Temple, as the landing occurred.

She really couldn't tell where it was in the air. Moustache Boy had helped her launch the rock at it, but then Aang told them to stop. No one seemed interested in explaining what was going on and it was annoying.

She was rocked out of her thoughts, quite literally, by the massive earthen vibrations that occurred when it hit the ground. At first inspection, it appeared to be a larger version of Zuko's little airship. This one was bigger, and the exterior was mostly made of metal. The interior was fuzzy, and there were odd shapes and edgings. 'Probably wood and carpet and fluffy shit like that', she mused to herself.

Another vibration relayed a long metal door/ramp had dropped from the ship onto the ground. She felt the familiar vibrations of Snoozles walking down the ramp. She thought she felt two others standing at the top. There was possibly one more, but the interior was too damn fuzzy for her to really know.

Snoozles' voice rang out, "We're back!"

She felt Twinkletoes land next to Sweetness. Sweetness tensed at the sight of her brother and asked, "What are you doing in this monstrosity. What happened to the Airship?"

Snoozles squirmed for a second, "Uhh, it kind of got destroyed. We may have crashed it?"

Twinkletoes chuckled, "Sounds like a crazy fishing trip."

Curious, she asked, "Did you get any meat? I could use something good!"

Snoozles proudly exclaimed, "I didn The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood!"

With that, the two other figures descended down the ramp. She could tell one of them was distantly familiar, the other less so.

Sugar Queen's pulse jumped, and she ran towards the ramp. "Dad?", she asked as she knocked into the other person. Dad replied, "Hi, Katara. Its me. It is so good to see you again."

Sugar Queen continued, "How are you here? And Suki. What is this? Where did you go?"

Snoozles replied, "We may have busted into a Fire Nation prison."

Realization slowly dawned on her a worrisome thought. Two actually. The second being that Sparky hadn't arrived yet. She voiced her concerns, "Umm, where is Sparky?". Not that she would ever admit to missing him, but she missed his company. "And seriously. You guys didn't find any actual meat?"

Before Snoozles could reply, she felt vibrations from within the airship. Annoyingly familiar, and lighter than most. "Sparky!", she exclaimed, before regaining her composure. She felt him step to the top of the ram[p before pausing. Sweetness and Big Chief were still catching up. Fan Girl was off to the side talking to the earth kingdom boys, who had emerged from hiding.

"Hi, Toph, I missed you too", he called down as his footsteps descended the ramp. She waited until he was at the bottom of the ramp before approaching. When she did, she went over to him and very quickly wrapped her arms around him in a short embrace. "She has been crazy without you", she told him. As quick as she had reached out, she returned to standing alone, moving a few feet back. He remained still for a moment before replying, "I missed you too, sis". He had said it so quietly, she assumed that he didn't intend for her to hear, but years before the Badgermoles had taught her to rely on hearing. Not that she would ever admit it out loud, the endearment was nice, and she felt her face heat up. He was weird, but Sparky was turning out to be a great brother.

Turning her attention from Sparky, she focused in on Sweetness, Snoozles, and Water Tribe Sr. They were all standing by themselves, and she could tell from both Snoozles and Sweetness, it was an emotional moment. Even the new guy seemed to be jumpy. He was making more movements than most people do during conversation. A pang of jealousy ran through her. Their father was glad to see them, but he was also proud of them. They were happy to see him. They were glad he was with them. It was something different. It just made no sense to her. Sweetness was being extra emotional. She would have sworn that both Sweetness and Snoozles were in tears at this point.

Trying to focus on something else, she felt Fan Girl. Now it wasn't that she disliked Fan Girl, but their last encounter was rather embarrassing. She did her best to push the memories from her brain. The earth kingdom boys were asking the girl non-stop questions. "Do you really fight with fans?" "What does your uniform look like?" "Have you ever been to Ba Sing Se?". Obviously, Sokka had told the boys enough about her. Twinkles was there as well, though he kept mostly silent.

Again she turned her attention to Sparky, who had moved himself off to the side of everyone. Again, he was alone. Deciding that no one would notice, she made her way over to where he was. She could tell by his movements and breathing that he hadn't realized that she was right behind him. For a moment, she considered earthbending a block underneath him to knock him on his ass. 'It would be funny', she thought. She had just raised her foot to stomp down when the thought occurred to her, "He is alone again.'

She gently set her foot down without fully understanding why. Maybe it was years of being alone. Maybe it was the conscious and emotions that she spent most of her time suppressing. Maybe it was the statement that he made earlier that wasn't for her ears that she overheard anyways. Whatever it was, she instead called out, "Fire Fists? You OK?"

She felt him turn to face her. His mannerisms remained steady, but she could feel his breath tempo increasing. A slight shudder ran through his body as he replied, "Yeah, Toph. I'm doing just fine. Ya know, just glad to be back."

She could tell he was likely lying. What she wasn't sure of was if she would have any luck extracting the truth. But with Prince Broody, the confrontational approach was often the best approach. At least, it was the funnest approach.

"Bull-HorseShit. Look, you know as well as I do that you know that I know you are lying", she demanded with an air of smugness.

There was silence for a moment, before a hand rested on her shoulder. It was a warm hand, Sparky's hand. He spoke in a quiet metered tone, "Thank you. Toph. It's been a long few months. I had been doing okay, but seeing everyone together. It made me really think about what I lost. Or what I never had. Or some strange combination of both. And I just… I don't know how to feel. It's just not right."

She could tell he was emotional, he was shaking slightly, his heart rate was faster than normal, and his feet were shuffling. She could tell he was conflicted, but about what remained a mystery.

Taking a wild guess, she replied, "Sugar Queen will come around. You did just help save her dad. That has to count for something."

She heard him chuckle. It was darker than he normally was. "No, Toph. That's not it. I'm not worried about Katara. It's something else.", his voice wavered as he spoke, and she suspected that he was possibly crying.

Before she was able to whack him upside the head, he abruptly turned and departed into the Temple.


Descending down into the lower levels of the Western Air Temple…

He sulked down the dark hallways of the lower levels of the temple. Years of sneaking, his stealth training, and the tiniest of fires in his palm illuminated the hallways. To a non-firebender, the low flickering light would be disconcerting and worse than walking in the dark. This he knew, and was hoping it would alert him to anyone trying to follow him. Slipping in and out of storerooms, he was hoping to find something to take the edge off of everything.

Seeing everyone happy at the reunion was just too much. The Water Tribe siblings reunited with their father. A family. Happy. Suki and people from her country, chatting amicably amongst each other. He had neither now. No one from the Fire Nation would want to associate with him, traitor, exile, enemy. His father had burned him. His real father, Uncle, he had betrayed. His mother was gone. His little sister was trying to kill him.

Dolls had just gotten Suki back. He had just broken up with Mai by letter and she tried to beat the fire out of him. She was no doubt with Azula right now.

His thoughts swirled as he recalled when he was younger. Before Ozai had begun to drive them apart. When he still had a connection with his younger sister. When they were competitive for fun, and not to earn father's love. Before Mother was banished, Azula had a positive influence. But one she was gone, Ozai was the only influence in our lives.

It was banishment and Uncle who led me to the light. Years of support, trust, and unconditional love. Something Ozai is incapable of.

Rifling around in another nameless storeroom, he found what he was looking for. The box was unmarked, which is probably how it survived the pillaging of one hundred years ago. The bottle was coated in dust but the seal was still firmly on.

With a resounding 'POP', he pulled the cork out. The pungent fumes of distilled spirits wafted towards him. With a quick tip of the bottle, he drank a mouthful.

It was slightly fruity to the taste, with a hint of sweetness as an aftertaste. It had a smooth burn; it was obvious that this was much better quality that what he had experienced before.

He had hardly finished a swallow when a voice rang out, "Woah, settle down there, Sparky".

With a flick of his free wrist, the fire grew brighter and steadier. The form of the world's self proclaimed best earthbender was leaning on the door frame.

He sighed to himself, "I should have known you'd follow me."

Moving across the room, she sat next to him. "Look, I'm not here to force you to talk. I'm just here to sit. I know what it's like to be alone." After a brief pause, she continued just as seriously, "And you are going to pass me that damn bottle, or I'm ratting you out."

Zuko spluttered, "You, I, What?"

She turned her sightless eyes on him, "Look, Princess Broody. You know I can swear just as much as you can. I can beat the shit out of grown ass men five times my size. I've heard every crude joke under the sun… or well, under the earth, that is. And I sure as shit have had a drink or two. You don't spend as much time as I have in the Gaoling Earth Rumble as I have and not. As three time champion, I know a thing or two."

With a swift grab, she snatched the bottle from him and took a quick sip. "Plus, hasn't anyone ever told you never to drink depressed alone?", she said. To accentuate her words, she punched him softly in the arm.

He murmured in quiet acceptance. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he replied to her unanswered question, "It's just a lot, okay? Sokka and Katara have their Father back. And he loves and supports them unconditionally. He doesn't care that Sokka can't bend. It got me to thinking…" Hevtrailed off into silence.

She replied, "I know a thing or two about that. All I ever wanted was my parents' respect. For them to see me as more than just a blind, inept, liability to be protected at all costs."

He snorted, "At least they love you, in their own way. Once my mother left, all Azula and I had was Ozai. He didn't care how we were, just how good we were at becoming his perfect weapons. And I was just as committed as Azula. Maybe more, since I had to fight for every day. But my banishment, Uncle, the years at sea, you, the gang, all gave me a chance to break free from Ozai. I never helped her though. Uncle never did either. She was never given a chance."

They sat in silence for a while before she spoke. "We should be getting back before someone finds us. Snoozles would be delighted with this here drink", she said through a laugh.

Zuko, feeling a little better, replied jokingly, "Katara might just straight up murder me if she found me drinking. With you, no less. She might kill me, bring me back just to kill me again."

Toph punched him in the chest. "As if I'd let that happen", she said aloud. He also thought he heard her say under her breath, "I've missed you, brother".

Aagh. I'm such a sucker for Sibling Toko. They both would understand each other better. Not we're raised highborn. Both escaped from their family to assist the avatar. And both have rocky pasts and unresolved family issues.