Chapter Twenty Three: Light and Fire

Present Day - The Fire Nation Palace

Lady Ursa walked down the long, decorated halls of the Fire Nation Palace, hands tucked into her sleeves, her eyes distant.

She thought of the last day she walked through this place, when she was planning her escape, only to be captured by Ozai's loyalists and taken away to that remote island in the middle of the sea. A place even more forgotten than Lone Island, where her daughter spent years watching the waves crash against the shore, a place where she had to scrape by to survive every day.

She paused briefly, leaning a hand against the wall. She knew why banishment had not been satisfactory to Ozai, why he made the choice to throw her onto a desolate island. It prevented her from ever returning to those she loved, and it also prevented her from sending any spies or assassins to poison Ozai in the same manner that Azulon had been...

A shiver ran through her at those memories. Part of her would always regret the role she played in Azulon's death, and even more would always regret that she was not there for her children, who were forced to grow up under Ozai's iron fist. A familiar nausea rose up in her when she pictured Zuko's scar, or the way Iroh and Zuko spoke of Azula's state of mind.

The light in these dark memories was the day that she had been found, had been saved. The day she wrapped her arms around her son again, knowing she was going home.

Continuing her way to Zuko's study, she opened the large, ornate doors. She eyed the paintings that decorated the room, the images throughout time of the Fire Nation's history. When she approached his desk, a smile crossed her features.

Above the mantel beyond the desk was another painting, but this one was very different from the rest. She knew from Iroh that it was commissioned a while after Zuko's coronation, in a rare time where Zuko and his friends all found themselves together.

The large, gilded frame boasted the symbols of each Nation in the corners - Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. In the front stood Aang, dressed in yellow and orange monk robes with a wooden necklace bearing the Air Nomads sigil. His arm was wrapped around Katara's waist, who stood on his left. The waterbender was beaming, her hair long and loose, her eyes like chipped crystal against the deep blue of her Water Tribe dress. On Aang's right, with his hand on the airbender's shoulder, was Sokka, dressed in traditional warrior clothing from his tribe. He, like Aang, had his arm around Suki, who was painted and dressed in her Kyoshi Warrior clothing.

But Ursa's eyes were drawn to Katara, to the man who stood to her left, dressed in black with red and gold detailing. Zuko's hands were tucked behind his back, but his expression was warm, his lips curled into a near-smile. One may look at the painting and think he was smiling because of Toph, who was standing in front of Katara and Zuko due to her short stature and smirking, but Ursa knew, could almost see, that that smile was turned to the waterbender, as if he had been watching her only to draw his gaze away from her to face forward again.

If Iroh's letters were any indication, her son was most certainly smiling more, perhaps even now. Although the brief summary about Katara and Zuko, of the Moon and the Sun Spirits, made Ursa's heart shudder, she took it in stride. She had seen the way Zuko had watched the waterbender and knew that was where his heart lay. The part of her who cursed fate because of the past also thanked the spirit's for this gift for her son.

Sitting down, she began to draft another letter to Iroh and Zuko, giving them updates about the Fire Nation. The spirits, she knew well, were restless, and some had been angered.

The last attack made her frown. Stories about a great spirit emerging from the heart of the old volcano, near the Fire Nation Prison, still made her mouth go dry. These were not minor spirits, but ones who caused major damage with their wrath.

When the night came, the darkness seemed heavier, colder, more menacing.

Ursa looked back at the painting, then offered up a silent prayer to the Sun, the Moon, whatever great spirit that was listening, to protect her son and his friends, to protect and guide them from the dark into the light.

As her eyes traced the painting, she did not see the moonlight as it gleamed through the nearby window, and how the lightened seemed to brighten and pulse, as if in response to the prayers it heard.

Ooo0ooO

The Northern Water Tribe

Aang could feel the unrest the moment Appa and the airship landed in the icy tundra of the North. People were milling about, going on with their lives, but there was an unease that rippled through the air.

Deep within, he could sense that that went deeper. His being was drawn to the Spirit Oasis, to the shadow he could feel that was cast over the barrier between the worlds.

After leaving Appa in a wooden hut that was mostly built for the large polar bear-dogs, Aang joined the others as they made their way deeper within the city.

Chief Arnook was waiting for them, and beside him stood a few familiar faces.

Katara and Sokka exclaimed in surprise when they spotted Pakku and Hakoda, before rushing into their arms. A brief explanation from the Southern Water Tribe Chief told them all that they came North to help the group, allowing the other members of the White Lotus to remain stationed in other areas to monitor the movements of the spirits. Bato was left in the South to look over the tribe while Hakoda was away.

Recent correspondence was handed out, to Katara, Aang, and Zuko, who all took a brief moment to look it over.

Aang skimmed the letters from Bumi and the Earth King, a line forming between his brows. He looked at Zuko when he heard the Fire Lord swear softly.

Without a word, Zuko handed the letter he was holding to Aang. The airbender recognized Ursa's handwriting, knowing she was still in the Fire Nation to watch over its people. His free hand went slack at the report of the last spirit spotted emerging by the Prison.

"Iroh will be returning to the Fire Nation," Katara said, gesturing to the paper she held. "Haru will be going to Ba Sing Se, while Ty Lee and some of the Kyoshi Warriors stay in Omashu."

Aang nodded- Bumi's letter had briefly mentioned that much. "There has not been much activity from the spirit world in the Earth Kingdom, apart from smaller areas. Nothing like…" The Fire Nation and here, was unspoken.

Glancing at Katara, the Avatar asked, "Can you feel it too?"

Katara met his gaze briefly, before looking up at the sky. It was twilight and the sky was already a deep indigo, with stars scattering as the sun slowly disappeared. The moon was slowly rising. Her brown hands flexed at her sides, a quick movement like she was trying to bend whatever it was she too was sensing.

"Feel what?" Suki asked, looking around. On either side of her was Toph, who held onto her arm since her feet were encased in fur-lined boots, and Sokka, who was quietly talking to the chiefs.

"I felt it briefly before I left," Katara said. "I feel it more now… it's like something is… waiting."

Watching, both benders thought.

Ooo0ooO

When night settled across the North, lights danced across the dark sky, streaks of white and green and blue, flickering like forks of lightning.

Katara stood outside, her eyes tracking those movements. The moonlight settled over her, a reassurance in the dark. Her breath clouded in front of her, but she barely noticed the cold. She had been born in ice and snow, and she knew that its power flowed in her veins.

Her hands curled, summoning the snow as it gave way to water, until it coated her hands. She did not summon that healing power she had, but merely allowed the cool feel of her element comfort her.

"I never had the chance to appreciate the nights here," a voice from behind her said softly.

Katara didn't turn, but merely leaned back when a warm around went around her and a familiar body pressed against hers. "Gran-gran used to say the lights were spirits, dancing across the sky," she told him.

Zuko looked up, watching them like she did.

There was nothing but frost and starlight surrounding them, in this quiet little space they found themselves in.

Katara released her hold on the water, letting it freeze as it fell to the ground, before she turned to look at him. The colored lights reflected in his gold gaze.

Zuko was still as he watched the night sky dance. It reminded him of the way fire moved, breathed, like it had when he and Aang stood between the dragons as they learned the most ancient ways of firebending.

I understand, he had said.

And a part of him understood that same thing as he stood here, in the cold and the moonlight.

"Did you believe her?" he asked. "That they were spirits?"

"When I was little, yes. By the time I was older… I don't think so," she said. "But now… who knows?"

Zuko met her gaze, which was so pale and blue in the dim light, like the ice she could wield. "Why did Aang ask if you could feel something?"

"The connection to the Spirit World is strong here because of the Oasis," she explained. "Because of my connection to the Moon Spirit, I can feel the… shifts like he can. It's like the tide is rescinding and we don't know what's going to happen when it comes in."

"Are you afraid?"

Katara blinked, surprised at the soft question. "No," she said slowly. "I am not afraid of what might come… I think I am afraid of what may happen."

What- who- we might lose, she thought, refusing to say the words out loud.

"I don't want to be," she continued, eyes flashing. "I know what we have to do. But this-," Her fingertip skimmed over the Moon's mark, "I don't think I know how to feel about this yet."

"Me neither," Zuko said, pulling her closer. His free hand drifted to the sunburst scar on his chest. One of them. "But we'll do this together- fight together."

Katara smiled, placing a hand over the one on his chest, feeling his heart kick against her touch. "Together," she agreed.

Then she kissed him, under that star-kissed night sky, under those flickering lights that would continue their dance until the sun returned.

Ooo0ooO

They didn't want to waste away the night- not one like this. Not when they didn't know what the next one would bring.

So Katara had taken his hand and led him away, out past the icy city gates, where the tundra met the ever-growing metropolis. A long river snaked through the land, mostly frozen, and the two benders decided to sit by its banks.

Katara used her bending to clear away the snow, then Zuko started a small fire to ward off some of the chill. Not that either one of them noticed too much, Katara was too adapted to the climate and Zuko elevated his body temperature like he had once done in a cave not too far from here many, many years ago.

So they sat side by side, their attention no longer on the colorful night sky, but on each other. Zuko gently asked her questions about growing up in the Southern Water Tribe, wanting to know more than what she had already shared with him or their friends.

She told him how she was very young- three years old or so- when she began showing signs of being a waterbender. She told him how it felt to grow into those powers, so largely untapped because the tribe had no master to teach her. She told him what it was like when her mother was alive, and how it felt to lose her.

Zuko listened quietly, remembering the pain and rage he had seen in her eyes when they had found the man who had killed her mother. How she had shown exquisite control over her bending, when he knew she could've ended his life with half a thought.

Those emotions were not present in her eyes today. Some of her scars, he knew, had healed long ago.

In turn, he told her of his own childhood, of his own mother. He told her what it was like to grow up being the oldest child, and yet always remained in Azula's shadow. He told her of those long years at sea after his banishment, where he had nothing but his anger and a vague sense of hope that nagged him to find the one thing he thought he had lost and needed to restore- the thing, he would later learn, he had with him the entire time.

"And here we are," Katara said, smiling.

"Did you ever think…?" Zuko trailed off, unsure how to phrase what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

"Did I ever think I would end up becoming friends with the guy who stormed into my village, demanding we hand over the Avatar? The guy who chased us all over the world?" Katara asked, her eyes gleaming with laughter.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her, lips twitching.

"The guy who tied me to a tree?" she quipped, grinning when she heard him chuckle. She turned to face him. In a quieter voice, she asked, "The one who helped me heal, helped me find closure?"

Zuko watched her carefully as she moved, straddling his lap, her eyes never leaving his. One hand slid up his chest, the other gently rested on his scarred cheek. He shivered, not because of the cold, but because of her.

She could feel his heart slamming against his ribs, could see how his eyes were burning in the darkness.

Her eyes were like burning stars, and he was drowning in them. Her touch was gentle, yet possessive. It burned him in a different way than fire ever had.

Suddenly, any other words seemed insignificant. There was nothing but this- and when she finally kissed him, he knew there was nothing else he could ever want.

Katara felt his arms go around her, holding her close. She pulled back slightly, her fingertips trailing down his cheek. "Don't stop this time," she told him. "Just… keep touching me."

So he did.

He was gentle when he placed her down on the cold ground, neither of them noticing or caring about the frost. The clothing and furs they wore served as enough protection between them and the snow and the ice.

When she was bare before him, he drank in the sight of her beautiful body, her soft brown skin and scars, the slumberous look that had crept into her pale eyes.

Katara marveled at how moon-pale his skin was next to hers, when it was bare to her seeking eyes and hands. She traced the muscles, the dips and edges that were him, caressing his scars before her hands dipped lower.

His own hands sought her hips, the apex of her thighs. Her back bowed under him when he found the slick wetness there, his thoughts sharpening to a predatory-like focus as he hissed, pumping another finger inside her.

Her hand found his length a moment later, gliding up and down, her thumb sweeping across the tip until he was swearing softly and she was laughing huskily.

But when she opened for him, Zuko paused to press a sweet kiss to her lips. Her arms went up his arms, his shoulders, before her fingers dove into his hair. Slim brown legs went around his waist, guiding him towards her.

A muffled hiss broke past her lips when he slowly- ever so slowly- slid inside her. With his cheek against hers, he could only manage to say her name, again and again, like a prayer.

His skin was like a forge against hers as their bodies moved together as one. She swore she could see that inner fire when his eyes met hers, rising and burning everything away until there was only him.

He could see the moon and the stars in her eyes, her soft, breathy moans skimming along his neck and chest. His free hand skimmed down her body again, caressing the peak of her breast, the curve of her hip, before gently, insistently, rubbing at that bundle of nerves above where they were joined.

When her body tightened and climaxed, Katara swore the stars burst even brighter than the night sky, and they were even more beautiful than the northern lights. She heard herself calling his name, and his answering shout was swept away by the winter wind as they fell and burned in each other's arms.

Ooo0ooO

The Spirit Oasis

Not far from where the lovers laid, the spirits stirred at their arrival. The koi fish swam in tandem with each other, yin and yang, push and pull.

But then the moonlight brightened, revealing a familiar figure that emerged from the soft white light. She watched the fish swim, recognizing the other part of her soul that existed on this plane, that was tied to the ocean.

Her focus, however, turned to the graying sky in the distance, where the warmth of her beloved crept across the world.

The moonlight refracted again, and Yue emerged to stand by her mistress's side.

"It's coming again," the younger woman said softly, her pale hair spilled over her shoulders, floating weightlessly behind her, as if she was swimming through the air.

The Moon knew that she did not mean the Sun. "It will always come. Where there is light, there is darkness, and where there is darkness, there is light. One does not exist without the other."

"It creeps across the land," Yue whispered, her form already fading due to the rising sun.

The Moon watched the young woman disappear, fading away like mist, knowing she would soon have to join her on the Other Side.

For a moment longer, she watched the golden rays disperse the dark, banishing it like it had done for eons.

And in a flash, she allowed the warm touch of her other half to fill her as she crossed the veil between the worlds.

Ooo0ooO

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or any of its characters.

Author's Note: To my new readers, welcome and thanks for reading!

Just a general reminder, as noted in the beginning, there are going to be some changes to what happened in the show and we later learned in the comics (which I should also note I have not read- I just know some facts here and there).

Please review!