Chapter 6: The Final Showdown
Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you all for reading this story. Sorry I've been taking so long to get it out, but my work has been having me come in more frequently than usual, but I promise to at least have one chapter per week, hopefully more. Anyway, although this is the last chapter of this story, I'm excited about some other projects that I have in mind next, so keep an eye out for that. Anyway, thank you guys for keeping up with my stories and I hope you all have a great day! God bless!
It was finally the day that Aang had been waiting for. The day that the city would finally be set right. Or, at least it would take off one of the bigger targets off his order's list, anyway. If nothing else, it would allow the people of the city to have more freedom, as Ozai had often restricted it by paying off people in politics. After all, Long Feng had clearly been bought by him.
Aang grimaced as he thought of his former enemy. He didn't hate the man, but he certainly hadn't liked him either. Anyone who would sell out the people who supported him for a quick buck would always be on Aang's least favorite people list.
Shaking these thoughts from his mind, he resumed sharpening his blade. Even if they had discovered a way into Ozai's mansion, he knew it still wouldn't be an easy mission. Ozai was not only rich, but from what he had heard from his best friend, he was very smart. Not necessarily wise, but smart. Smart enough to have traps all over the area surrounding his residence, anyway.
Zuko had warned him of the traps he had seen be put there. Fortunately for them, there were no land mines or anything, but from what Zuko had seen of his father's plans, there were many traps. Some blades, some pits of spikes- which seemed old fashioned to Aang who shrugged it off- and guard dogs and soldiers at each entrance of the mansion.
Long Feng had said that the entrance was at the bottom of the hill, but he hadn't said more than that. Why hadn't he asked for more detail? Aang silently cursed himself. His life was already complicated enough, and he had forgotten to ask more details about how to get into his enemy's house before his only source had been killed.
Sighing a little, he stood up from his seat and moved to the other side of the room to look at a picture of his family. Everything had been so peaceful back then. Or, rather the days were peaceful, he supposed. The nights were filled with training. Getting him into top physical shape so he would be prepared for anything.
His parents had known that there was a good chance that their enemies could easily find their base, so they had taken it upon themselves to give him the best training that they could. And although he hadn't gotten the proper childhood that he had been hoping for, he was satisfied that he at least got to spend a good amount of time with his parents before their untimely death.
Untimely death. That's what his Order had called it. No, it wasn't an untimely death. It was a completely unnecessary death. His parents had been in an alleyway when they died, but they weren't being mugged. The other Order had somehow found out their identities and decided to do something about it, much to Aang's dismay when he was younger.
And although he would always miss them, he knew that they wouldn't want him to mourn over them. Instead, they would want him to continue fighting the good fight. Working to help people rather than hurt them. After all, it's what they had done. And he would honor them with their work until his very last breath.
To his surprise, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over it, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw that it was Katara. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked gently.
He nodded and looked back at the picture. "Yeah… I just miss my parents," he admitted with another sigh. "I never really got a real goodbye from them, and I guess I wish I had."
Katara took his hand in hers and squeezed it softly, trying her best to comfort him. "I know what you mean," she murmured. "I never got a real goodbye from my mother either. I just came back home one day and was told that she was just… gone." She sighed again and leaned her head on his shoulder as he interlaced their fingers. "But, we have to remember that we'll see them again. Maybe not for a while, but we will see them again. And when we do, it won't be goodbye. It'll be hello."
Aang looked over at her in adoration. She had known just what to say, and he couldn't help but be amazed at how well she knew him already. "Thanks, Katara," he whispered to her gratefully, a lone tear escaping his eye. "I really needed that."
She smiled gently and kissed his cheek. "No problem, Aang. I'm always here for you whenever you need me," she promised, making him smile.
He looked down at his feet for a moment, overwhelmed by his love for her. Should he do it? Should he tell her that he loved her? Looking at her head on his shoulder, he made his decision right then and there. No more hiding it, no more pretending. He would just tell her.
"Hey Katara," he whispered to her, nervousness apparent in his voice.
"Hmmm?" she hummed back feeling lulled to sleep by the heartbeat she could hear through his neck.
"I have something I want to tell you, but I… I'm kind of scared to say it," he admitted, looking anywhere but at her as he felt a blush start to rise on his cheeks.
Katara would have moved to look up at him, but she found that she was too comfortable at the moment to do so, so she decided to talk while remaining on his shoulder. "You can tell me anything, Aang," she assured him sweetly with a gentle smile. "Just say what you want to say."
Aang was silent for a few moments, still unsure about this, but one way or another, he knew it would come out sooner or later. Taking one last deep breath, he kissed the head that had placed itself on his shoulder affectionately and looked down at his feet.
"I… I know that we haven't been dating for very long." He laughed a little at himself. "We've only been dating for about a week."
She hummed in agreement. "It's been a very good week."
He smiled a little at this and looked at her with half-lidded eyes, being amazed that such a beautiful girl could care for him. Finally deciding on it, he forced it out. "I just wanted to say that… I… love… you…" There was silence for a moment, and he got nervous. "It's okay if you don't love me back yet, but-" He was cut off as she pulled away from his shoulder and smashed her lips to his.
His eyes widened in surprise, but he sunk into the kiss and closed his eyes, just savoring the moment. After a few moments of kissing each other hungrily, they reluctantly pulled apart. She stared into his eyes with a passion that took his breath away.
"I love you, too," she whispered, making him smile wider than he had previously thought possible. He leaned in and captured her lips again, reveling in the sweetness of her lips as their hearts beat in perfect harmony.
They were interrupted, however, with a cough from the other side of the room. Breaking apart abruptly, they turned to see their friend standing there awkwardly. "Uh, if you guys are done over there, we still have some planning to do," he said even more awkwardly.
Aang cleared his throat quickly and nodded. "Right. We should probably focus on that," he agreed, but not without stealing another kiss from Katara, leaving her dazed and breathless for a moment. Teo rolled his eyes at them and motioned for them to follow as he made his way over to the table in the center of the room.
"Okay, so here's the plan," he told them as he pointed at the map that he had printed out. "Fortunately for you, I found out where exactly the entrance is located."
"Great!" Aang exclaimed happily.
"I wouldn't get too excited yet," Teo warned him, making Aang's smile drop. "There are guard dogs, soldiers, and a security pin that you need to get in. Assuming you can take care of the first two things, you'll need to get the code to be able to go through it."
Aang mused this for a minute before an idea came to mind. Taking out his phone, he quickly typed up a text and hit send.
"Who are you texting?" Katara asked curiously.
Just as he was about to answer, his phone beeped, taking them all by surprise as he looked at it. "I texted Zuko," he finally said while reading the text. "He said that the code to the gate is…" he sighed and turned off his phone. "It's Ozai. The code to his secret underground base is Ozai."
Teo and Katara both got disgusted looks on their faces. "Wow, someone's full of themselves," Teo rolled his eyes. "Okay, well that takes care of that, but what about the guards and the guard dogs?"
Aang smirked and showed him his blade. "The dogs will live, but don't worry about the guards. They won't be a problem."
Several hours later, they all were on a rooftop across from Agni Manor. Even Zuko, who had insisted on joining this mission.
"I'll be able to help you guys get through the place since you've never been there before," was his reasoning when Aang had objected to it. And as much as Aang didn't want to put his friend in danger, he knew that he had a point.
And of course Mai had insisted on coming. Zuko had tried to talk her out of it, but that had proven to be a bad idea, as she had threatened him with no sex for a week. And knowing she was absolutely serious, he had reluctantly agreed to let her go with them.
Teo, despite him not being an official part of the Order, after seeing all that the ones who had blackmailed him had done to the city and how they truly saw the ones "beneath" them, had decided to cast aside his role as an independent hacker and to join the Order. Although he most certainly wasn't trained enough yet, he wanted to be a part of the group. Aang didn't mind. After all, they would likely need some technological help as well.
And last but certainly not least, somehow her brother had found out about her joining the Order. Though he supposed it was likely due to the fact that she now had a trench coat that she pretty much had to take with her whenever she went on a mission. After some arguing and a lot of choice words about each other, Katara had reluctantly agreed to ask the Order if he could be in with them.
Though the Order was surprised at this influx of new recruits, they knew they weren't exactly in a position to be refusing anyone who was willing to help them in their goals. And, with a few remarks of Sokka being a possible liability, finally agreed to let him join.
Looking through a pair of binoculars, Aang searched for the entrance to the bunker where Teo's father was being kept. It was harder to find than he had anticipated, but after a few minutes of searching, he found it. "There!" he pointed in the general direction.
Mai looked at him with a roll of her eyes. "Gee, that points it out so well. Thanks," she commented dryly.
Katara glared at her friend, feeling protective over her boyfriend. "Shouldn't your fiance know where it is? It's his father's mansion," she shot back.
Zuko laughed a little bitterly. "My father doesn't tell me anything. He thinks I'm too weak to help with any of his work."
"But you're not," Aang stepped in, being ever the peacemaker. "You're strong enough to see that he's causing problems for the city and that this needs to be done. Can we all just agree on that?" Everyone nodded silently. "Good," he smiled before he motioned for them to watch him. He pointed again where he had found it. It was a rather small gate, cleverly concealed behind two large rocks that were completely out of place but could be easily mistaken as decoration for the yard.
"Oh," Sokka murmured. "Now I see it. But how are we going to take out the guards?" he wondered.
Aang and Zuko looked at each other and grinned. "Oh, I think we can take care of them." He turned to Katara. "You're good with dogs, right?"
She smiled. "I love dogs."
"Do you think you could calm them down and have them not attack us?" he wondered.
Thinking about it for a moment, she realized there was a special technique that her master had taught her. One about pacifying your enemies in battle if you didn't want to kill them, which for her was generally the case. "I should be able to do it," she affirmed.
"Great," he smiled and kissed her, making Sokka groan as he ripped his eyes away from the horrible sight, feeling like he had just stared into the sun. Once they were done, he continued. "So, me, Zuko, Mai, and Sokka will take care of the guards. Teo will take care of the gate and Katara will pacify the dogs. Sound like a plan?" They all nodded their agreement. "Let's get to work." Gathering them all in a ball of air, he launched it into the sky and set them down on the ground, about twenty feet away from the gate. Fortunately for them, neither the guards nor the dogs seemed to have noticed.
Aang motioned for them all to follow as they snuck along the path, remembering that there were traps everywhere else. As they crept, they noticed something they hadn't earlier. A woman was speaking to the guards.
"Listen here, bucko!" the woman angrily yelled at them. "I'm tired of you guys making noises all the time down there. So why don't you guys just keep it down, and we'll all go about our days!"
One of the guards recognized her, for she lived down the street. "Lady, your house is all the way down there." He pointed to it. "How can you possibly hear it?"
"Because I have super hearing, you dolts!" she sarcastically barked, getting a little spit on their faces. "Now keep it down, or else!" Her blind eyes seethed with rage.
The guards looked at each other with amused smirks. "Oh yeah. And what are you going to do about it?" one asked her while pointing the gun at her.
They, unfortunately, were not given the chance to speak further, as Aang, Zuko, Mai and Sokka came crashing down from the rocks that had obscured the entrance and taken their lives. Katara, seeing the dogs, quickly walked through the entrance as they started barking and sent some water to their heads. Using her healing, she forced the dogs into a peaceful slumber as their minds relaxed and slumped to the ground.
"Good job, Kat," Aang smiled at her. She smiled back happily and was about to get a kiss when Sokka rudely interrupted them.
"How did you do that?" he asked in amazement.
Once she was over her annoyance of her brother, she shrugged. "I just used the water to kind of lull them to sleep. If you're a healer, you can put anyone to sleep so that you can work on them if they won't work with you."
They were all amazed at hearing this, but their thoughts were interrupted by the angry lady. "Um, excuse me? Who are you people?" she demanded with an accusatory finger in Sokka's face.
"None of your business," Sokka replied evenly while moving her finger out from under his nose. "We've just got some business with Ozai."
Toph snorted and blew her bans out of her eyes. "Well get in line. These jerks won't keep quiet, even when I asked politely."
"Did you actually ask politely?" Katara asked curiously.
"No," Toph admitted after a moment of silence. "But if they weren't so loud down there, then maybe I wouldn't have to. I'm tired of hearing some old guy cry out in pain," she complained.
Teo gasped. "Dad!" He ran over to the gate and started to get to work. There were several different locks on it, and he knew that it would take a few minutes to get through everything, even with the code for the main lock.
"So, you guys got beef with Ozai, huh?" Toph smirked. "Getting sick of him, too?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Zuko agreed quietly.
Toph snorted and rolled her eyes. "It's about time you stand up against him, Sourpuss."
Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "You remember me?" he asked incredulously.
"Of course I do. How could I forget the most awkward couple on the block," she snickered, making both Mai and Zuko blush in perfect harmony. "So, you guys want help?"
Everyone stared at her in disbelief. "You want to help us?" Aang finally sputtered out in astonishment.
She simply shrugged and let out a little yawn. "I'm bored and my parents never let me do anything fun, even though I'm legally old enough to get my own place. I just want to have some fun destroying things," she admitted with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.
Before anyone could respond, Teo pressed the code for the main lock, but the alarms started going off, much to everyone's surprise. "What did you do?" Zuko yelled over the noise.
"I didn't do anything!" Teo yelled back as he tried putting the code in again, but nothing changed. "You must have gotten the wrong code!"
"Or he was given the wrong code," Aang muttered to himself, wondering if this was all a trap made by Ozai. "Well, what do we do?" he shouted over the alarms.
Toph cracked her neck and each of her knuckles. "I've got this." She motioned for them to step back and got into a fighting position. Then, to everyone's surprise, she bent the metal bars of the gate open and made it large enough for everyone to get through. "Come on! We're wasting time!" she called over her shoulder before she ran in. Everyone stood there in shock for a moment; then snapped out of it and followed her in.
Making their way inside, they were surprised to see just how big the bunker was. It was… enormous. Easily spanning the size of the mansion, if not larger. They didn't have much time to take this into account, however, when some guards came running up to them with guns and what appeared to be replica police batons in their hands.
Grinning excitedly, Toph took some metal from a nearby machine and surrounded herself in it with armor before getting into a fighting stance.
"You want it?" she challenged with a smirk peering out from the hole she had left in the armor. "Come and get it."
The guards surged forward, ready for a fight while everyone else got into line next to Toph. Although this certainly wasn't how they had expected it to go, they knew they had no other choice now. They needed to rescue Teo's father and take down Ozai. This was no longer an option.
The guards and the others clashed, sending sounds of war throughout the bunker as they fought. Toph, of course, was having the time of her life. Beating up soldiers while sinking other soldiers to their waste in the ground beneath them. Normally she wouldn't hesitate to kill, but she wasn't particularly in the mood for it that day.
The same could not be said for everyone else.
Aang and Katara worked together, standing back to back against the crowd of soldiers that had surrounded the little group. And they were doing quite well. If one wasn't attacking, the other was defending, as if they had practiced this maneuver a hundred times.
Sokka was doing well holding his own. Fortunately for him, he had wisely brought along his trusty boomerang and the real sword his father had given him for his eighteenth birthday. Though he had never thought he would use it, he knew now that it was a wise decision to ask for it.
Zuko and Mai had decided to cut a path through the soldiers, wanting to get this mission over with as quickly as possible. Though he would never admit it, Zuko was a little nervous. After all, even if Ozai was a terrible father to him, he was still his father. It would take some self-convincing for him to carry out the act.
"Watch out!" a voice yelled from behind them. Turning around quickly, Zuko was surprised to see a soldier sneaking up on him. The soldier attempted to shoot him, but he simply dodged the bullet and shot some fire at him, making him stumble backwards until Toph knocked him out with a swift kick to the head.
"Watch your back, Sourpuss!" she yelled over the noise before running back into the fight. Zuko rolled his eyes and resumed his path, looking around for anything that could tell him where Teo's father would be.
"Help! Somebody help me!" a voice called from down a hallway to their right. Zuko and Mai looked at each other quickly and nodded before they took off down the hallway, making sure to take out some soldiers along the way. As they finally reached the hallway, a group of soldiers came out of nowhere and blocked the cell where a middle aged man was sitting.
The lead soldier, an imposing man who easily towered above Zuko grinned at him. "Nice to see you again, boss. Sorry it has to end this way."
Zuko became worried. This man was his father's most elite soldier. If they had to fight him… he didn't know if they would be able to survive. Shaking his head from these thoughts, he decided to try to reason with him.
"Sir, please. Just let us take the man. The ones who kidnapped him promised to have him back after the deal was completed, but my father didn't keep his word."
He simply shrugged, seeming unaffected. "I am aware of this, but you know as well as I do that I'm a mercenary. I work for money."
That's when an idea came to mind. One that would ensure that they received his help. "If you help me now, once my father is dead, I'll give you however much you want from my family's fortune."
The man raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Really?"
Zuko nodded quickly, eyeing the other soldiers, knowing they could attack at any moment. "Yes," he finally replied.
"Ten million dollars?" the man asked, making the soldiers at his side wary, unsure whether Zuko would agree or not.
"Yes," Zuko responded immediately. After all, it wasn't like his family couldn't afford it. They were billionaires thanks to his father's corruption of the city and the marketplace. Ten million was nothing to them.
"Make it twenty and you've got a deal," he finally decided, waiting to see what Zuko would say.
Zuko finally smiled for the first time that day. "Deal."
The man nodded. "Good to be working for you again boss." Without another word, he turned to his ex-coworkers and picked one up, chucking him across the room. Another foolishly attempted to shoot him, but he simply swatted the bullet away with his metal gloves and punched him into the wall, knocking him out. The last few, having seen how much damage had been done in a matter of seconds, wisely decided to run away.
"That's what I thought," the man snorted with his arms crossed. Zuko was relieved. This would certainly help them get their mission completed.
"Thank you," he sighed in relief before gesturing to the cell. "Would you mind?"
"Whatever you say, boss," the tower of a man shrugged before ripping the cell door off its hinges. Flinging the door to the ground, he walked in and gently picked up the man who had bruises and cuts on him. Nothing too serious, but enough to make Zuko wince a little. "What should I do with this guy?"
Before Zuko could answer, Teo came running up to him. "Dad!"
His father smiled at the familiar voice and wriggled his way out of the man's hold on him. "Son!" They met each other in a hug, though it didn't last long. He had very little energy left from his time in the bunker, making him fall onto his knees.
Teo grabbed his arm and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on. We need to get you back to the base."
"But they know where our base is," his father objected in confusion.
"No, dad. A new base." His father just looked confused again, but he shook his head. "I'll explain on the way." He looked at Zuko gratefully. "Thank you." Zuko simply nodded in response before Teo led his father down the hallway and out of sight.
As if on cue, the rest of their group came running up to them, getting into a fighting stance upon seeing the giant before them. "Whoa, whoa, guys. He's on our side!" Zuko put his hands up to stop them.
They all relaxed a little, but were clearly still weary. After all, they knew how these soldiers operated. They were sold to the highest bidder, and could always turn on those that they had once allied themselves with.
"If you say so…" Aang shrugged before looking at the group. "Alright. Now that Teo's father is out of here, we need to go find Ozai." He looked at Zuko. "Are you sure you're ready to do this? This isn't something you should take lightly," he warned him.
Zuko was silent for a moment. Of course he was hesitant, but he knew this needed to be done. His father had hurt too many people, including himself. His reign of terror would finally end today. "I'm ready," he replied confidently.
"Okay then. Let's go get him." He put his hand out and everyone, including their new "recruits". "We're going to go in, find him, and help this city get back to what it should be. You guys ready?" They all nodded. "On three. One, two, three, team!" They all said "team" at the same time and started walking to a nearby elevator that clearly led to the mansion. Stepping inside, Aang couldn't help but feel a little amused at the situation he found himself in. Though it was a little cramped, he was surrounded by friends and allies who all wanted to work together for the common good. It made him proud to be where he was.
Before long, the elevator had finally arrived at the proper floor. They were not so surprised, however, when it opened to reveal what Aang could only assume was a throne room, judging by the large seat in the center of the room.
"Wow. Someone's full of themselves," Sokka whispered to his sister. Katara would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.
"Ah, so my traitorous son has finally come to claim my life," Ozai said simply, taking Zuko by surprise. "Yes, I know that you joined that silly Order who wants to stop me. You're fortunate that your sister isn't here, or I would sick her on you."
"Where is she?" Zuko asked in surprise, thinking that he might have to fight her. He didn't want to, but he knew if she stood by her father, he wouldn't have much choice.
Ozai didn't say anything for a moment. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "She was asking questions about your mother, and I refused to say anything about that vile woman."
"Don't you say anything bad about her!" Zuko snarled.
Ozai smirked evilly and stood up, stretching his hands and cracking his knuckles. "It seems you still have a lot to learn, my son. Though it won't matter." He let his hands on fire. "None of you will leave here alive."
Toph decided to take the initiative and shoot some Earth at him, but a soldier jumped out of nowhere and kicked the rock away. Nine other soldiers came out, all of the brandishing a sword in one hand a pistol in the other.
"These are my elite forces," he gestured to them before he looked at the large man. "Since you decided to help them, you'll just have to die with them as well. It's a shame. I certainly could have used you." He looked at his shoulders. "Do not spare them." They leapt right into action, trying to catch them by surprise. Everyone managed to stop their attack, but Aang, Katara, Mai, and Zuko knew that it would take the four of them to take him down.
"You focus on Ozai! We've got this," Toph smirked before sending a few of the soldiers up to the roof where they promptly fell back down to geh ground. Not wasting another moment, the four commenced their attack on the man, trying their best to trip him in any way.
Despite his age, he was very limber. Easily dodging the shurikens Mai would throw at him, breaking the fire Zuko shot at him, Avoiding the gusts of air Aang shot at him, and the water whip Katara had brought out. But he knew that this wouldn't last forever. They were younger and had more energy than him. His only hope was that his soldiers would make short work of their friends and then them afterwards, so he decided to stay completely on defense for now.
This didn't seem very likely as he continued to dodge, as Toph had already taken out half of his soldiers. He cursed himself for not hiring any bender soldiers. Perhaps that would have been the difference that would win the day.
His thoughts had not helped him, as he did not see the water tentacle that had wrapped around his leg. Gasping in surprise, he felt himself being flipped in the air and slammed to the ground, feeling several of his ribs broken. Attempting to get up, he groaned in pain and got on his knees, but he was forced back down by the man who was formerly in his employ; his large foot holding him down.
Knowing that the battle was lost, the other soldiers put their weapons down and got down on their knees in a position of surrender. Just to be on the safe side, Toph walked up to each of them and knocked them out. Everyone in the room was breathing heavily, weary from all the fighting they had just gone through.
The man looked to Zuko with a questioning look, and Zuko understood what he was asking. Ozai looked up at him and snarled. "Do it. Prove that you're not the weakling I think you are and finish the job."
There was silence for a moment as Zuko pondered about what to do. Now that he was here, his reluctance had only grown. He knew it needed to be done, but… he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Aang walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Zuko. You don't have to do this alone. We're all here for you. Do you want me to do it?" he asked gently.
After a few moments of looking at his defeated father, he shook his head. "No. I've got this." Aang nodded and took a step back as he walked up to his father and looked at him. Ozai was a shell of the man he used to be. "Father. Though you and I never truly got along, I just want to say that… I'm sorry that it had to end this way."
"Oh really? Well I'm not!" Ozai growled back. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," he muttered to himself.
Zuko felt a stab of pain, but quickly got over it. All he could see was the monster his father had become. Without any more hesitation, Zuko took the blade Aang had made for him and cut his throat open, stepping away quickly as blood flowed out of the wound. With one last look of hatred, Ozai's eyes slowly dimmed, signalling the end of an era.
"Are you okay?" Mai asked gently as she walked up to him.
Silence filled the room for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked at his friend. "Thank you."
Aang looked at him in confusion. "For what?" he asked, astonished.
Zuko looked down again at the rapidly cooling body that used to be his father. "For not letting me be like him," he told him truthfully, making Aang smile a little.
"No problem, buddy," Aang patted him on the back. Taking a deep breath, they all stood there in silence for a moment, just letting everything calm down as Zuko continued to stare at his now deceased father.
A few weeks later, everything was on its way back to normal. Ozai had been given a funeral, more than he deserved, really, but Zuko had insisted on it. Azula had returned, having heard of their father's death, though to his surprise she wasn't upset. She had been upset with her father as well when she had found out that he had kicked their mother out from their home when she spoke up against his wrong doings of the city. Zuko, Mai, and Azula had gone to find her, leaving Aang, Katara, Sokka, Teo, and now Toph to pick up the pieces.
Toph, after having the time of her life helping them win, had decided that she had enough of listening to her parents. She wanted to do something with her life other than pretend to be the obedient daughter her parents wanted her to be. Though they weren't happy about it, they understood that they couldn't do anything about it and let her go. For the first time in her life, Toph truly felt free. And she would use that freedom to help the Order.
Teo and his father, after talking about all that had transpired over the time of his kidnapping, had agreed that they would stop working for themselves. Having seen how some people chose to use their power and wealth for evil, they decided to help those who wanted to use it for good. And it turned out to be the best decision they had ever made.
Sokka, after the showdown with Ozai, had decided that he would take his new "job" more seriously, having really seen just what he had signed up for. He delved into the history of the order and their methods, and most importantly, why they did what they did. With the council's permission, he was deemed worthy enough to start his own base where he would work on securing recruits and ensuring that the people of the city would be well-protected. Even with Ozai gone and Zuko in his place, there were still many others in the city who wished to take power from the innocent. And he would ensure that didn't happen.
Aang and Katara had decided to take a few weeks off from their 'job'. Aang loved knowing that he could call it "their" job. He wanted to share everything with her, and he was just happy that he found someone who knew about it and still wanted to be with him. Hell, she had even joined his "job".
After they had decided they had long enough of a break, they were sitting on the rooftop of the bar, enjoying the beautiful night sky before them.
"It's so beautiful," Katara breathed in amazement as she looked up at it.
"Yes you are," Aang said slyly, earning a laugh and a playful shove from Katara.
"Oh, shut it," she grinned before leaning in to give him a kiss. He smiled and kissed her back for a few moments before they pulled apart. Katara sighed contentedly as she leaned against him. "I'm glad, you know."
He looked at her in bewilderment. "Glad about what?"
She looked at him with an indulgent smile. "I'm glad that I caught Jet cheating on me. If I hadn't, I might not have ever found purpose for my life. Helping people, using my waterbending skills for good, taking down bad guys."
He gasped in mock affront. "What about me?" he asked fake-sadly.
She smirked and shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh. I like the other stuff more," she teased, making him roll his eyes with a grin, knowing she was kidding. "You know I'm kidding," she laughed a little and kissed his cheek. "Meeting you was the best part."
"Really?" he asked hopefully.
"Really," she agreed with a smile. He smiled back and pulled her in for a slow, passionate kiss, just savoring the taste of each others' lips.
They were interrupted, however, by a call from Katara's phone. Groaning slightly, she forced herself to stop kissing him and looked at it to see her brother. "What do you want, Sokka?" she grumbled, clearly not happy about being interrupted.
"Yeesh. Sorry sis, but we need help. Can you guys come to my base? We've got a bit of a problem," he asked over the phone.
She looked at Aang who shrugged, and she sighed. "Fine. We'll be there soon." She hung up without letting him respond, making Aang laugh. Standing up, he offered his hand to her.
"Shall we?"
Smiling, she took his hand and followed him as they put their hoods on. "Ready," she agreed as they stood on the ledge. Sneaking one last kiss, they both looked down at the city below them and jumped, letting the wind carry them to their next adventure, knowing they would be fine as long as they had each other.
Alright! Thank you guys for reading this. Sorry if it wasn't what you guys had been hoping for, but I just liked this idea and I'm glad I did it this way. Anyway, I'm excited to get to work on some new projects, so keep an eye out for that. Thank you guys for everything and I hope you all have a great day!