Here we go… The last chapter. Enjoy :)
oooooooooo
Chapter 8
In the week following the Battle for the Fire Nation every person who engaged in the utilization of the heat absorption technique was taken to the South Pole. Chief Sokka organized a facility there to accommodate them as they worked towards their recovery, while at the same time employed a considerable number of guards to keep them from checking themselves out. It was Katara's idea to use a location on one of the Poles, since it provided the cold necessary to make relapsing considerably harder, as well as an abundance of healers available at a moment's notice.
Katara also temporarily relocated to the South Pole to run the facility, while Aang returned to Republic City. Kya and Tenzin both decided they wanted to help their mother and followed her when she moved. Kya's healing skills proved invaluable, while Tenzin made himself useful by helping people overcome their temptation through meditation.
All was going well and the first patients were released in just a week. Izumi and Zari were both amongst them since they merely scratched the surface of what heatbending could accomplish. Since the Fire Lord's palace was still in ruins, they traveled back to Air Temple Island while Zuko got all that mess sorted out. Tenzin decided he'd had enough of the Pole and decided to return home with them.
The Beifongs were the only ones who could return to their normal lives without a scratch. Well, almost. Lin did sustain quite a few fractures from being thrown across the field. Katara did the best she could with her healing abilities, but Lin still spent the first week mostly lying in her bed. She needed lots of help in the beginning and her mother did the best she could, all the while complaining Lin should just walk it off and quit whining. Lin figured admitting her daughter was seriously hurt was too much for Toph to handle.
oooooooooo
"Mom? Did you take my suitcase from Air Temple Island?" Lin yelled from her room, "Mom!"
"How was I expected to worry about your stuff?" she heard Toph yelling from the other side of the apartment, "You're not three!"
"I couldn't walk!"
"You could speak! You could have told me!"
"Can you pick it up today?" Lin asked, but got no answer, "Mom! Did you hear me?!"
Lin carefully got out of bed and hobbled out of her room to find her mother. She made it to the living room, but there she only found Suyin listening to the radio.
Su scowled at her and then got up to leave, not saying a word.
"Su, wait! I can't chase you!" Lin said, but tried to catch up anyway. Su did stop and turn around, but she still refused to say a word or look at Lin.
"I'm sorry, alright?"
"That's such a nice apology…" Su rolled her eyes.
"Then what do you want?!"
"You know!"
"Su, I… It was a really difficult time for me. I wanted to tell you about the baby, I really did, but it… It doesn't even matter now, it wasn't real."
"But you didn't know that! We're sisters, but you leave me out of everything!"
"This may be hard for you to grasp, but not everything in this world revolves around you!"
"You know what? This may be hard for you to grasp, but I'm going to Zari's welcome so I don't have to look at you!" Su grabbed her jacked and bolted out of the house.
Lin tried to run and yell something after her, but she tripped and fell flat on the floor.
"What are you doing, Linny?" Toph came out of her bedroom and used her earthbending to get Lin back on her feet. Then she helped her to the sofa.
"Why is she so mad? I don't get it!" Lin put her head into her hands and sighed, "You're not mad."
"I get it. If I were you, I wouldn't have told us either." Toph's tone sounded almost disappointed, "But if you'd told me, I would have helped."
"Mom, I-"
"I know… I love that you're an independent kid. I went even further, I only told my mother about you when I was a month away from my due date. She tried, but I could hear the judgement in her voice. This was after we made up, but I almost walked out of there and never came back."
"That sucks, Chief." Lin realized long ago using Chief made it easier not to get emotional.
"I'm just saying I would never do that to you." Toph got up and prepared to go out, "I'll tell those lilies at the station you'll be back sometime next week, good?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Lin nodded, "Can you pick up my suitcase from Air Temple Island?"
"No, I got so much work to catch up on. I'll be at the station night and day."
"Guess, I'll do it myself then."
"That's my girl."
oooooooooo
"I can't believe I missed his first time bending…" Izumi said putting little Iroh on the floor, "Come on, show mommy what you can do. Like this."
She made a fireball in her palm to demonstrate.
"He's playing coy now, but you should have seen him when we came back." Bumi started, "The rug was on fire, he was traipsing around giggling and Mai was just sitting in the corner staring into the flames like she'd given up…"
"Which I see now is not funny." he corrected himself after getting a look.
"Boo-boo!" Iroh called from the floor.
"Well, I've learned that means me." Bumi sat next to the boy and ruffled his hair a little.
"Thank you for the last week, truly. My parents are so busy getting everything back the way it was, I don't know how a baby would fit into that. And his dad is… You know. But I don't want him raised by servants."
"It was my pleasure to look after the little prince. We had so much fun." Bumi picked up the baby, "We talked about chicks. I taught him how to shave. On myself. We played catch. Well… We played throw."
Izumi chuckled.
"Thank you." she leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"I'm just sorry he's too young to understand the awesome story of how his mother single-handedly stopped a war."
"That's not what happened… Azula is the one-"
"Only thing Azula did was face her old bully. Actually, she was the bully. So only thing she did was find her old bullyee and finish the job." he paused and looked into the distance, "When Iroh's in school, we should leave that part out. It does not set a good example."
"We?"
Upon realizing what he'd said, Bumi returned Iroh to his mother's hands and, quite literally, took a few steps back.
"I just meant… You literally talked them into surrendering. With your words… That's way cool. Little Iroh is going to win every My mom is cooler than your mom competition ever."
"You're rambling…" Izumi lowered Iroh back into his crib.
"You can't prove that."
She walked over to him smiling and slowly took his hands.
"I love you." she said before leaning in for a kiss.
"I love you too." he said after pulling away, "But it's not enough, is it?"
"Am I that obvious?"
"When you have as much experience as I do, you begin feeling it in the air. The calm before the break-up."
"That's odd. I remember our last break-up going differently."
"Well, there was a lot more fire." he said, "But I wanted this to go very differently… I was going to start with some speech about how you're gonna be Fire Lord someday and how I'd love to be your Fire Wife. I've got the hair for it… And I couldn't buy a ring, because I was with Iroh all day long, but-"
"Stop. Don't ask, please." she looked at the floor before finding the strength to continue, "We don't work. We love each other so much, but outside of a world-scale crisis, we're not good together. As soon as the danger quiets down we fall apart."
"And you wanna end it while we're on a roll?"
"I want to end it before someone gets hurt. Especially Iroh."
"You have to know I would never-"
"But you would. As long as you're out there… As long as you feel you have something to prove to Spirits-know-who…"
"To the world."
"I told you countless times you don't have anything to prove to anyone!" she paused, "But there is something in you that makes you seek out danger or disappear for months at a time or cheat if given the chance… That's why I can't marry you. I could learn to live with it somehow, but it's not just about me anymore. The man I marry also has a responsibility towards Iroh and towards my nation."
"All three of you deserve better. Better than me." Bumi let go of her hands and took a step towards the door, "So we're not taking a break, we're really done?"
"Romantically? Yes. Platonically? I think we've proven here that we can't be trusted to just be friends."
"I get it. I'll stay away. I'll… I'll go back to work, I'll go on the first mission that comes up. You don't have to worry about me… Promise."
"And I won't be marrying the first guy I see. Promise."
Bumi was already at the door, when he took one last look at the Princess and her son.
"You know, that Rei really was a lucky bastard…" he added before leaving.
oooooooooo
"Please, Miss... Prince Zari needs rest."
"Get out of my way." Zari heard Suyin's voice in the hallway and then a thump.
"But, Miss…"
Su entered the Prince's room, slamming the door in the air acolyte's face. Then she smiled innocently before hugging Zari.
"I'm so glad you're back. It's such a drag here without you!" Su realized her hands were around his neck so she removed them slowly. She didn't really know what they were right now.
"Well, I'm as good as new!" he smiled awkwardly, "How's Lin doing?"
"Better than she deserves…"
"Su."
"I don't want to talk about her right now. She'll live."
"What about your promise?" Zari smiled to lighten the mood since mentioning Su's sister seemed to be the worst possible move.
"What about your promise to take me to see a play?"
"I'm not doing anything now… Want to go?" he put out his hand.
"I actually do." she took it.
"Just so we're on the same page… Are we going in the boy-girl way or in the two-friends way?" and to think he was usually so eloquent…
"I don't know. I kissed you, remember?"
"Yeah, we didn't get a chance to talk-"
"It was before a battle. It was high tension. I did it. It just happened… If you don't-"
"I was gonna ask if you maybe want to do it again now."
Su nodded and started leaning in before he stopped her.
"I'm sorry. I…" he mumbled.
"I don't get it, you just said-"
"I know. But it's not right." he sighed, "I'm leaving for the Fire Nation in a few days and you've got school here. There's no telling when we'll see each other again…"
"Zari, just because we kiss doesn't mean I want you to marry me." Su chuckled, "It's alright by me if we just have a couple of days of fun and that's it."
"So you're not my girlfriend?"
"No. But I am your date to the play. Let's just have some fun, we've all earned it."
Zari cut her off with a kiss, which as far as Su could tell, was considerably less awkward and clumsy than their first.
"You want to take the dragon?" he asked.
"Flameo, yes! I wanna take the dragon."
oooooooooo
Lin stood in front of the door to Tenzin's room. She was so glad she didn't have to worry about her stress harming the baby anymore, because she didn't think she could hold it back at that moment. She took a deep breath and stormed in, stopping only when she realized the room was occupied. She expected many years of memories of that room to make this difficult, but she wasn't prepared for Tenzin staring at her from his bed.
"Um… Lin… I…" he mumbled before giving up on speaking completely. He wasn't expecting her any more than she was expecting him.
"We don't have to talk. I'm just here to get my stuff." Lin said and started collecting her clothes as quickly as her injuries allowed her, "I'll be out of here right away. You can wait in the hallway if you'd like."
They haven't really talked to one another since he found out she lied. He didn't come visit her while she was recovering, instead he volunteered to work on another continent without talking to her. She assumed that meant they were through.
"Lin. Could you just pause for a second?" he got up and stopped her hand from packing.
"Why?" she finally gathered the strength to look him in the eye.
"I want to talk."
"But you hate confrontation. I thought I'd make it easy and just leave. I know it's over…"
"Please, just sit with me." he gestured to the bed and then gently helped her sit down since her leg still hurt from that fall this morning.
They sat in silence for a few moments, Lin's gaze avoiding his.
"I'm sorry." Tenzin kicked things off.
"You're sorry? For what?" she finally made eye contact, "I'm the one that…"
"Yes, but I ran away like I always do. I avoided you… I begged to go to the Pole so I wouldn't have to face this. I was completely useless when I found out. You were hurt and I left you to deal with all of that alone… I'm a coward."
"Oh, you're the coward? If I'd just told you in time, all of that could have been avoided. I'm the coward and I'm sorry."
Tenzin reached to cup her face with one hand and then pulled her closer to him until their foreheads were touching.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered since they were so close now.
"I don't know… I wanted to." she sighed, "Tez, you know I'm never scared of anything. But this, when I found out, it scared me. I didn't think you'd understand."
"Believe me, when I heard it, I was terrified. I'm not ready! Not nearly. That's why I stood there like a mute idiot… You handled it better than me. I almost fainted from two minutes of thinking I was going to be a father. You went through two weeks of that. I can't even imagine how-"
She cut him off by kissing him. She'd been so stupid. Of course, he understood. He always understood. That's why she loved him.
"So we're not over?" she asked.
"Spirits, no! I love you." he smiled.
"I know, but you have to be aware that I did a lot of thinking in the two weeks and I came to the conclusion that I'm not made to be a mother."
"You don't mean that…"
"But I do. Tenzin, I wasn't even pregnant and I was a bad mom... I tried to be responsible, but as soon as I heard someone needed my help I couldn't ignore it. You're supposed to put your kids first and I don't think I can. I know that sounds selfish…"
"It doesn't. It's the opposite."
"I know you have to have children, but…"
"We have the rest of our lives to talk about that. I'm just glad to be back here with you." he kissed her, "How are you feeling? You want to stay here where I can pamper you until you're better?"
"Nonsense. I'm fine."
Just as Lin said that, Bumi entered the room without knocking. He stopped when he saw the two of them sitting on the bed in an embrace.
"Am I interrupting? Are you two back together?!" he asked and got two wide smiles as answers.
"Yes, we are." Tenzin said.
Bumi actually came to talk to his brother about his recent break-up with Izumi. He was pretty devastated, but all that was pushed to the back of his mind when he saw Tenzin and Lin together again.
"Spirits, yes! Yes!" he came charging at the two of them and pulled them both into a hug, "You guys are my favorite couple."
"Bumi, Lin's hurt!" Tenzin tried to push him back.
"Sorry, Lady Beifong." Bumi fake bowed, "Dad, Tenzin and Lin are back together! Izumi!"
"Bumi, what are you doing?" Tenzin tried to make him stop.
"No, let him." Lin smiled and Tenzin mirrored her.
"That's great news." Aang appeared in the hallway outside the open room.
"I'm calling Mom!" Bumi ran out.
oooooooooo
Azula's recovery proved to be the hardest of all Katara's patients. Her symptoms were by far the strongest and on many occasions nearly ended her life. To make matters worse, Azula's mental issues resurfaced briefly in her darkest moments. Despite all of that, Katara forbade visitation and only allowed letters ever so often.
After six months of hard work, Katara finally cleared Azula. She was allowed to go back to her normal life. Allowed to see her family again.
It was no surprise to Katara that Azula was fully packed and ready to leave fifteen minutes after she got the good news.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait two days so we'd go together?" Katara asked, signing Azula's discharge letter.
"I really want to see my son as soon as possible."
"I see." Katara finished writing her name, but still didn't hand the paper over to Azula, "Maybe I could do with just one day…"
"No, thank you. I'd really like that document now." Azula made her annoyance apparent.
"Maybe just a few hours to gather my things… We didn't even arrange for your transport to the Fire Nation. You'll have to ask one of the ship captains to take you on."
"I'll manage." Azula put out her hand, expecting to be given the paper. She looked like she was ready to start sprinting the second she got it.
"Alright then. Safe travels." Katara sighed and handed Azula the document.
The Princess carefully put it away and gracefully left the building. She made it exactly three feet away from the door before quickly coming back.
"I know you helped everyone, not just me. I know you would have acted the same way even if I was still your enemy. I know you do all this not for friendship or glory, but… Because for some to me incomprehensible reason you want to. And I want you to know that no matter how insufferably self-righteous, hypocritical and phoney I think you are, I will never forget this."
"Is that supposed to be praise?" Katara asked.
"That's a thank you. Thank you, Katara, really."
Katara was stunned, so she just nodded and watched as Azula left again. For real this time.
The Princess trudged through the snow, thinking of home. She knew only what her family decided to include in her letters, which was not much. She knew the palace was rebuilt better than before, so she was curious to see that. She also knew Zari spent the last half a year at the Fire Nation capitol, studying at the best university in the whole country. He really seemed serious about this, he even sent her a photograph of his new, now Fire Nation appropriate, hairstyle.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a sky bison landing in her way. She expected it was her brother attempting some lame welcome, or even Zari being inpatient, but she was surprised when she realized it was just Sokka.
"Let's go! All aboard for the Fire Nation!" he lowered himself from Appa.
"Don't you have things to do, Chief?"
"I'm glad you asked... No. I cleared my schedule. I borrowed Appa. And I will be your chauffeur today. I'm taking you home, Princess." he took her bags.
"That's not necessary."
"No, it's not necessary, but you're getting the full package today." he went ahead and loaded her bags onto Appa, "During the ride, you can choose between complete silence and any of my charming stories to entertain you."
"I choose silence." she smirked.
"Well, you can change your choice at any time." he gestured to the saddle, "My Lady."
"My Lord."
"Oh, Spirits, did she just play along?!" Sokka clenched his chest jokingly, "Now I can die happy."
"How about that silence, Chief?"
"One long and not at all awkward silence, coming right up!"
oooooooooo
During their journey Sokka kept his silence promise so well Azula changed her mind about it in less than an hour. He was telling her all about how Zuko rebuilt most of the capital city when they finally spotted it in the distance. Since Azula grew up there she thought she might dislike the changes, at least at first, but she was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it was new and different, but also better in a way. That place changed since she was a child, it went into a new era with a new Fire Lord… It was only fitting it looked differently too.
Appa landed somewhere in the royal gardens, or at least that was what Azula assumed they were, near a giant stone wall. She noticed a small crowd was there waiting for her already. To no one's surprise, Zari was the first one to run up to her and give her a hug.
"I'm so glad you're home, I have so many things to show you! Uncle Zuko and I redesigned everything!"
"You helped build all this?" Azula tried her best to not sound emotional, but this was the longest she'd ever been apart from her son. She'd be happy just looking at him from a distance.
"Yeah, I met this girl in class, she's studying architecture, and she pitched us some ideas. She ended up collaborating with our old architect and the result it…" Zari spoon around gesturing to all their surroundings, "I can't wait to show you, you won't recognize any of it!"
"I barely recognized you…"
"I know!" he straightened his attire, "I dressed all traditional for today since I knew you'd like it."
She couldn't argue with the boy, he was dressed like an old fashioned Fire Prince, he even wore the flame shaped headpiece and everything. Now that she thought about it, everyone that came to greet her was dressed formally…
"And since we know you hate public displays of emotion," Izumi spoke up, "We agreed we each get one hug and one sentence. That's it."
"How about one sentence from all of you together and no hugs?"
Izumi ignored the request and walked forward to hug her aunt.
"And the sentence?" Azula asked.
"Thank you for not letting me be the one." Izumi whispered into her ear during the hug.
"I'm next." Kiyi stepped closer, but not all the way to her half-sister, "I'm sorry I wasn't much help. As a royal guard I should have protected all of you, but I was captured almost immediately."
"I know that's two sentences, but I'm trading it for the hug." she added.
"Don't be sorry. The information you got to us was crucial." Azula nodded.
The next one to hug her was Mai.
"Ty Lee is really sorry she couldn't be here, but Kyoshi Day is this week and she has preparations to make." Mai still seemed to be struggling with her right hand, but she looked happy. It was a bit unusually for her, actually.
"Where's Zuko?" Azula asked, maybe two seconds before spotting him walking towards them, "Are you going to hug me too, Zuzu?"
"No, I prepared something you actually want." he smirked.
"And what is that?"
"Something you wanted ever since you were a child…"
"To humiliate you in a fight?" Azula's comment made everyone chuckle.
"Before that."
"To be Fire Lord?"
"Even before that."
"I don't remember anything before that."
"Then it's lucky I was older, since I do remember." he stood next to the big wall and instructed one of the servants to earthbend a door through it. Suddenly, Azula saw there was a podium behind the wall and quite a large mass of people gathered around it.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Follow me and find out." Zuko stepped through the door and into the view of the masses. Unlike their previous addresses to the public this one wasn't being done from a high and distant balcony. Zuko was standing just a few meters above the crowd when he began his speech.
"I wrote that I didn't want a big event." Azula frowned, "We have an agreement, he goes in front of that mob, I just advise."
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." Mai said.
"They hate me. As soon as I step out those cheers will turn into booing. Tell Zuko I couldn't." she turned around in an attempt to walk away.
What was Zuzu thinking?! He was always a little dim, but this? He knew everyone hated her ever since she returned. He had to hire a special bodyguard unit during the first year… Just because her family forgave her doesn't mean the public did. They still saw her as Ozai's weapon. The whole world did and they always would…
"Mom, wait." Zari stood in her way, "It's different this time. Trust me."
"The whole world heard what you did for them." Izumi cut in, "They all know who you are now. So what if Dad wants to show you off to them? You deserve it."
"We'll all be right behind you." Mai gestured to the door, "He just said someone to thank. That's your cue."
Azula took a deep breath and walked through the door onto the podium in front of the large crowd. She was trying to do it as slowly and gracefully as she could, but after six months spent mostly on her own, it was a bit much. Her mind was running wild trying to imagine and prepare for every possible scenario.
Then a few seconds in, a loud applause was heard stopping Azula where she stood. She wasn't prepared for that. Thousands of people from all clans were clapping, cheering and whistling. She looked over to Zuko with disbelief as he called her over with a hand gesture. When she finally made it to the Fire Lord she saw that Zari, Izumi and Mai were standing not far away, just like they promised.
"If you look around, think about all that you see and all that which is precious to you, know that none of it would still be here without Princess Azula. When our nation and consequently all nations were threatened by something no one had ever seen or defeated before she showed no hesitation in sacrificing herself for all of us. She protected you when I couldn't." Zuko declared loudly while Azula was simultaneously touched and baffled by every word. Where was he going with this? It's like he wanted to destroy his image both of them worked so hard on.
"Princess Azula, my sister, is without doubt the best firebender I ever met. That is why today her talents become a legend. Our great-grandfather Sozin started a horrible tradition of hunting down dragons for glory, it is one of many of his mistakes I've tried to rectify. Today I return the title of Dragon, this time as an honor reserved for those who use their extraordinary bending abilities not only for their selfish goals, but for the greater good."
While Zuko spoke, a couple of fire sages brought him a pillow with a shiny golden medal on it. The Fire Lord couldn't stop smiling as he picked up the medal and held it up in front of Azula.
"Since the previous medals had a red dragon on it, the new ones will be decorated with a blue dragon in honor of the first person to earn one. Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, please accept this great honor."
Azula hunched forward allowing her brother to place the golden medal onto her neck. She immediately looked down at it, to make sure it was real. The medal was heavy and really did have a rather gorgeous blue dragon drawn on it. She wasn't even a little suspicious as to if this was a hallucination. She couldn't have made it up since at no point before today did she ever even remotely believe Zuko would be able to do something like this. Or even want to.
She looked up to her brother again and saw he was bowing his head. With the corner of her eye she noticed Mai, Izumi and Zari were doing the same thing. Then she turned her head towards the crowd and watched in shock as the thousands of people all bowed as well.
Nothing they said could have prepared her for this. As she was standing so close, she noticed the Avatar and his family were in the audience too. Since everyone was kneeling she could finally see far enough into the distance to get a good look at the new palace. It was different, but definitely bigger and more beautiful. As she stared forward, Zuko's dragon flew over her and towards the palace, making the moment even more unbelievable than it already was.
"When did I say I wanted this exactly?" she whispered.
"You were two and yelling you wanted to be a dragon when you grew up. I think you meant the kind that has wings, but I did what I could." Zuko whispered back, as he straightened his posture once again.
Azula took another look around. She never thought she'd get it back. Zuko might have been banished for three years, but her punishment lasted for decades. And all it took to end it was her dying… Who would have known Zuko would be the one to give it all back?
Without warning, she turned back to her brother and hugged him.
"Is this something we do now?" he asked quietly.
"Don't get used to it." she smirked, "But how did you get them to… like me again?"
"I didn't. You did. I just took two things they thought of as separate," Zuko reached for his sister's hand and raised it high above their heads, "and showed them they were two parts of the same whole."
oooooooooo
And… That's it. The End.
I realized too late the final scene had some similarities with the ending of Mulan, and honestly, I like it. Azula deserves all the praise and cheering back. She's done her time…
Also, I think one of the most adorable things in the world are moments when people just don't know how to respond to positive reactions from others anymore. Like, they've been through so much they get confused by healthy interactions with humans.
Moving on from the last scene, I tried to pull off two break-ups (kid of) and one reconciliation all in one chapter… I hope I did at least one of them right.
And now a big, giant thank you to everyone who decided to give up their time to read my story. I'm so glad I found the time to share it with you. I made this one a bit more serious and way more about Azula than the previous one. I hope you didn't hate that…
Either way, there are a few other stories featuring the Gaang children on my profile, so if you're interested…
UPDATE: I ended up writing a sequel to this, it's called "The Unexpected Case of Bumi, Son of Avatar" so check it out if you're interested. It's the third and final of my Gaang kids adventure stories.
Anyway, reviews will be appreciated, if you were a silent reader up until now this might be the time :)
