Author's Note: This chapter draws heavily from a story in Chinese folklore about the dragon and the pearl, specifically an interpretation of it used in the book Where The Mountain Meets The Moon. You do not need to be familiar with that to understand this chapter but be aware if parts sound like nonsense.

It was the year 100 AG, not that the dragons cared, when Zuko presented himself to the world's last dragons.

Excitement churned in Shaw's belly as he breached the mountain, spreading his wings and thrusting his long, aching body into the open air. A sound of pleasure rumbled through his body as tight muscles stretched for their first time in months. The mountains and the caves below were safe for a dragon, sure, but his size and longing for the sky made those same caves feel like a prison. This was what he longed for.

Shaw plunged his muzzle into the clouds, breaking through them, and let his body twist and tumble as it desired. Spirits above, he missed this and, judging by the delight in the flick of Ran's tail, his beloved mate felt the same way. He surged toward her and they wound around each other, careful not to bump each other. Catching the mere inches between their scales in the corner of his eye, Shaw let a wave of satisfaction wash over him. Even after all this time, Ran and Shaw knew this dance like second nature. It was both exciting and calming.

Below, Toph gripped to Zuko's arm, pestering him with questions about what was going on in the sky. Zuko, for once, didn't answer her questions. He couldn't. Mouth agape, all he could do was marvel at the sight before him.

"Quit teasing him," Yue said, appearing in the edge of Shaw's vision. Privately, he wished she'd take her serpentine form. Even if she couldn't join them, maybe the moment would feel more like old times surrounded by other dragons. But alas, there was nothing Shaw could do about it. She was right anyway. No sense in taunting Zuko like this. It was time for him to join them.

In a paralleling dive, Ran and Shaw sank downward and quickly arched back up, clinging to the stone pillar supporting the bridge linking the two mountains, so their faces hovered level with Zuko and Toph. Up close like this, Shaw could take in every detail of their expressions: Toph's confused panic and Zuko's humbled shock. Shaw found it amusing but there would be time to laugh later. Opening his mouth ever so slightly, Shaw let out a jet of flame. From the other side, Ran did the same.

Toph screamed, undoubtedly feeling the heat, and Zuko shifted into a defensive stance in front of her but, of course, both remained unscorched. Honestly, Shaw was a tad offended they thought they'd do such a thing. But no matter. It was time to get started. Bunching up his haunches, Shaw pushed off the stone pillar and soared high into the sky once more, letting fire trail after him and coiling around Ran the whole time.

Orange shifted into green, and then to red and blue and all sorts of colors Shaw couldn't name. They spiraled between Raw and Shaw as they danced, enveloping Zuko and Toph. The cyclone of rainbow flame raged around them, Zuko and Toph safe in its eye, but Shaw didn't let up. He poured everything into that stream of fire: every ounce of power, every lesson, every memory, every emotion, every gift, every fiber of his being. It was all in that spiral of fire. Everything Zuko had left to learn.

Fire was Angi's gift, rich and divine as he was. And Angi was the sun. In the heavens, he was power. He was respected by every spirit and commanded the greatest of them. On the earth, the sun was life. Its power bled into the soil, into the plants, into the animals. It brought warmth and energy into any being that moved. And for firebenders, that was literal. No firebender could survive without their inner flame but that flickering flame wasn't a ball and chain. They needed it to live, sure, but it also shaped their character.

Inner flame encouraged firebenders to value what mattered. It kept them tethered to each other, reminding them to love and cherish each other in the good times and the bad. It guided them toward the righteous and moral path. It kept them strong. It kept them noble. It kept them passionate. They needed their inner flame to live, yes, but it also gave that life meaning. For a firebender, for any living thing in the heavens or the earth, fire was everything.

Shaw felt the exact moment Zuko understood. It was like a chord struck in his mind, sending a ripple of comprehension and humility out into the world around him. It echoed through Shaw's bones, through Ran's bones, and bounced right back at him. And then, Zuko began to grow.

The shift into his dragon form seamlessly, far more seamlessly than he had since Yue's demise, but then he kept growing. His usual transformation made him stocky and quadrupedal. It gave him an extra set of limbs: leathery wings on his back to beat the air and carry him as high as he dared venture. But it kept him small, compact and sturdy like a komodo rhino instead of long and elegant like a serpent. A sign of his youth, perhaps, but today Zuko needed to see what it felt like to truly be a dragon.

His body stretched. His neck, collarbone, and shoulders became less distinguished and more uniform. The base of his wings fused with his upper arms, becoming two limbs instead of four. The horns on his head became more prominent and tufts of fur sprouted around his features. Spikes stretched down his body from the crown of his head all the way to the tip of his tail. Paws became hands, crooked and clawed, both front and back. More and more, he began to resemble Ran, Shaw, and the other dragons of centuries past.

Like Shaw had before, Zuko dug his hind paws into the stone and raised the rest of his body into the air. He beat the air with his wings awkwardly, not yet used to his new shape, clawing at nothing in an effort to pull himself higher. He roared, fire streaming from his maw, and slowly he began to lift. But then, as quickly as he started, he began to sink.

Embers from Zuko's own fire floated down around him. One landed neatly in his palm, erupting with a flash of spiritual power, and soon began to swell into a round, white, mass. Zuko looked down at it, simultaneously confused and surprised. It solidified into a heavy pearl, beautiful as it was heavy. Zuko gripped it with both hands, still beating his wings to keep himself afloat. He wasn't high enough that a fall would hurt him but the enticing lure of flight had wormed its way into his heart. To fall would be to lose it. To get it, all he had to do was drop the pearl.

He didn't though. Zuko just kept clinging to it even though he just kept sinking. He roared in distress, the loss of height distressing him, but he still didn't let go.

Toph shifted, body expanding into her serpent form. Though smaller than Ran and Shaw, her body was still much too large for the platform and her body crushed it with ease. She coiled her tail up on the ground, creating a sturdy base, and kept her head raised high. With Zuko closer to her size than he ever had before, she couldn't keep him afloat with just her muzzle but Toph wasn't one to be deterred. Catching his underbelly on the back of her head, Toph pushed back against the force of gravity and the weight of the pearl.

Ran and Shaw continued to dance around the spiral of flame, watching Toph and Zuko fight against the pearl's heaviness. For a moment, it seemed like they might make some progress but the pearl chose that moment to have another spurt of growth, sending Zuko and Toph buckling. Still, they fought.

Yue drifted closer, passing through the wall of swirling fire like the ghost she was. With wide eyes and clenched hands, she watched. And, in a voice so soft Shaw almost mistook it for the breeze, she whispered, "Zuko, you have to let go."

And Zuko's eye moved, looking right at the space Yue occupied. Shaw nearly recoiled but he'd never interrupt his dance, even for a moment like this. He wasn't even sure what exactly was happening. Could Zuko see her? Had he heard her? Or was it just a coincidence? No, it was too specific to be a coincidence. Even if he couldn't see her, Zuko had to know something was there.

Zuko moaned mournfully. The sound was so familiar that Shaw felt a flash of cold under his scales. Having lived a life as long as he had, Shaw knew the pain in Zuko's rumble. He also knew how hard it was to let go. Maybe Yue did too.

"I know you miss me," Yue told him. Her voice sounded nearly just as mournful as his but she still held a hint of a smile on her face. "You're going to fall if you don't let go though. Zuko, it's alright."

Zuko grunted in question. Even as far as he was, Shaw could see the fear in his golden eyes. Yue, right there next to him, met his gaze steadily. In stark contrast as the woman Shaw had spoken to minutes ago, Yue stood confident and unafraid.

"Listen to me, Zuko," she said, voice gentle yet commanding. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath with me."

Zuko did as he was told and closed his eyes. His lips sealed shut and his nostrils flared as he took in a big breath of oxygen. A calm wafted through the air, sending a heavy warmth into Shaw's muscles.

"And now let go."

Zuko's lips parted and a jet of green fire erupted from his throat. His claws loosened their grip on the pearl and touches of pink sparked into the green. Claw by flaw, finger by finger, color by color, Zuko released the pearl and let out a massive roar filled with flames all the colors of the rainbow.

The pearl dropped.

In a single motion, Yue reached out and caught it.

Zuko began flapping his wings and he no longer became reliant on Toph's support. He began lifting himself into the sky but that wasn't where Shaw's attention was. The pearl was now shimmering, more on the spiritual plane than the earthen one, and Yue was holding it firmly in her hands. It was big, the size of a dragon's palm, and she just stared at it like she didn't know what to do with it.

Another presence joined hers and two fins planted themselves on either of her hands. Yue's gaze snapped up and she found herself face to face with La. He was in his more humanoid form, not quite human but not absent of fishiness either. The koizilla, as Ran affectionately called it. The other spirit's cartoonish face stretched into a smile, warm in the way the ocean rarely was. He pulled away slowly until he hover ever so slightly over Yue, and held out a fin. "Are you ready to pull?"

Yue blinked at him then jerked her gaze back down to the pearl. It pulsed and glowed in a way that it hadn't when it was on the material plane. Shaw wondered what she could see on its surface. Something beautiful, undoubtedly. Perhaps not in the traditional sense but the pearl was the sum of the turmoil inside Zuko. How could anything that came from him not be beautiful, especially in her eyes?

Yue watched it for a moment longer before closing her eyes. Parting her lips ever so slightly, she took in a deep breath. When she let it out, she let one of her hands go slack and slowly reached out for La's fin. The pearl, heavy and now unsupported, fell from her grip and plummeted toward the ground, hitting it with a burst of spiritual light as it dispersed back into the world it'd come from.

Zuko reached the top of the spiral. Spreading his wings and body to their full length, he broke through the wall of fire and roared, announcing his presence to the world. Ran and Shaw rose to his side and followed in suit. Zuko, half their size, didn't look like much next to them yet it meant everything at the same time. A young dragon meant the world wasn't rid of them yet. They had new blood. They would be alright.

Yue's palm hit La's fin and her fingers wrapped around it. She didn't look back, instead meeting La's gaze with unwavering assuredness. She said nothing, merely moving her hand forward and gently pushing on La's fin. La's smile only widened as he pulled his fin back and the two fell into a steady rhythm. Even after they parted, the motion between them remained. It felt like something had clicked back into place and everything was right in the world. One didn't have to be a spirit to tell.

Zuko bellowed and jetted fire again, all the colors weaving together like the push and pull of the world pulsing around them. Ran and Shaw joined him, letting out their own bursts of flame. Below, Toph ducked her head and the island of Sun Warriors dropped into bows. Yes, it really did feel like everything was right in the world again. Maybe just for a moment, Shaw knew it wouldn't last, but Zuko and Yue had taken the plunge. They were at peace and that was all that mattered.