Chapter 5: Far South


Druk landed in the South Pole with a hiss. His claws touched down on solid ice - slippery, cold and wet. The dragon had no tolerance for the cold, and spewed fire on his toes to keep warm. Druk wasn't the only one steaming.

A few steps away, welcoming them to the South Pole was none other than Katara. A scowl was etched on her face, "It wouldn't kill you to visit more often, would it?"


With both the North Pole and the Fire Nation pledging aid, the South Pole had grown exponentially after the end of the war. Knit together by the knowledge that two of their own had helped defeat Firelord Ozai, the scattered tribes of the tundra regrouped and set their site for a new capital.

Now, the seeds that had been sown sprung out of the ice as a city that washed over the mountain sides, walls white as marble and windows shining like polished crystal. Looking over the city on one side was the towering beacon of the lighthouse, and on the other, the elegant spires of the royal palace. In the early morning light, the city seemed tinted in gold.

The streets were paved in hard packed snow, stiff as stone under his feet. Water Tribesman darted in and out of their houses like minnows, not wanting to be out in the cold any longer than they needed to be. When they caught sight of him, they stared with fish eyes, and darted along a beat slower. There was no hope of blending in with the crowd, so Zuko had wore his own Fire Nation red coat, which could probably be spotted from cloud level. He didn't mind, though. He walked through the city streets, nearly as captivated as he had been in Ba Sing Se. Katara, who walked by his side, was not nearly as thrilled.

"Maybe you wouldn't be so surprised if you came to visit more often than once every half decade," she grumbled when Zuko noted how much the city had changed.

"I try Katara, I really do."

"An airship, a royal cruiser, a dragon, and this is the best you can do? When was the last time you came to visit?"

The few seconds it took him to remember did nothing to lessen his guilt.

"The funeral," he said in a quiet voice.

"See? Someone has to die for you to even think of coming down here. I could use some company you know?"

"We met at the coronation. That was only three months ago."

"And even then I'm the one who had to go to you."

"You're always welcome to visit the palace," he said in an effort to appease her, but Katara's stone hard scowl turned icy cold.

"No, Zuko. I've had enough of traveling for a lifetime. I've spent half my life on a sky bison and half my life in a city that didn't exist when I was born. I'd like to spend the rest of my days at home, thank you very much. Call me selfish, but I'm not going to be chasing people around anymore. If you visit, you visit; if you don't, you don't."

It was against Katara's nature to be so callous, and judging from the twitch of her lip, it was hard to keep up.

"What happened to caring, loving Katara?" he teased.

"I've spent my whole life being caring, loving Katara! I want some return on that now."

Zuko smiled at her scowl, thinking just how strange it looked on her. Without truly thinking, he wrapped her in an embrace.

"I'm sorry. I'm a horrible friend, I know," he said. "Toph sends her love as well."

"Toph has an excuse not to visit, you big oaf," she cursed at him, but wrapped her arms around him as well.

Zuko had started the hug with a laugh, meaning it as something light to comfort Katara, but somewhere in between, his throat choked up. Sadness flooded through him as he realized how much he actually regretted not visiting more often. He'd missed so much. When had Katara's hair started to frost over with white? When did her shoulders start to droop down, as if so tired? Where had he been all this time?

He'd always meant to visit more; but when had they gotten so old?

"I'm sorry," he choked out again as they pulled away from the embrace.

Her facade of uncaring had thawed, spilling meltwater in her eyes. "It's alright. I'm sorry for being so harsh on you, I know you've been busy. It's just that after Aang and Sokka passed away… it felt like I was suffocating sometimes."

"I'm so sorry. I should've known."

"Don't get me wrong, I love my home and I'm so thankful that Kya's stayed here with me, but… I miss the old days," her voice was soft, tired, as if her words were a secret she'd carried for too long. "The world keeps changing. It moves forward without me. Some days it's like no one else understands me anymore."

Her words were painfully true. Too often, elders missing the old days was misinterpreted by the youth - and even by the elders themselves sometimes - as condescension for the new. It was quite the opposite, really. They were proud of the new generation and all it had accomplished. They were just sad that there wasn't much of a place for them in the new world.

He'd felt it in his last years on the throne - the world speeding by him and making his thoughts, his ideas and himself seem like relics from the past.

"I understand," he said to her.

"Of course you do," she smiled, bumping his arm with her shoulder. "No one understands us old folk like each other."


The two doddle their way to Katara's house, a cozy ice brick building that was a far cry from the igloos he'd nearly destroyed on his first visit to the South Pole. She never lets him forget that.

"Don't let Zuko get his hands on one of those Satomobiles. He'll park it through your front door," she'd say with a spark in her eyes.

But for all the teasing, she welcomed him in with more than a little worry, as was usual Katara fashion. She told him he was a fool for straining his body week after week, and a downright idiot for trying to do it alone. She led him to a pool of healing water, where Zuko tried to appease her and say he felt fine. Katara was not convinced.

"You're not young anymore, you know that. Now's not the time to be proud."

As always, Katara was right. The second her healing water touched his skin, his facade of vigor broke like a dam, fatigue lacing through every tendon of his body. How he hadn't dropped dead in the Earth Kingdom, his body had no idea.

Kya dropped in, took the reins on healing for one moment, and seconded her mother's scolding.

"Are you trying to kill yourself, Uncle Zuko?"

"You two are insufferable."

Kya smiled. "We're healers. It's our job."

Anyway, after round two of teasing, he felt fit and fine, the cold now not as biting and his eyesight not doing that thing where it faded out for no reason every few minutes (though he didn't tell Katara that last part because she would have called him an idiot again). It was a joy to sit on the back of a snowmobile without the fear that his back might break when he stood up.

Katara drove, of course. ("I'm not letting you get your hands on this snowmobile. You'll crash it through the front gate.") Icy winds howled past them but Zuko was about six layers deep in fur and cloth, to the point a short dagger might not reach his skin. Firebenders weren't fond of the cold.

The engine purred to a stop at the foot of a glacial wall. Great ornate gates spread out before them, so tall he had to crane his neck to see the top. Two towers flanked the closed entrance, where a guard peered down at them. Katara waved up, the white and blue garbed guard disappeared into the wall, and the icen gate began to slowly crack open.

"It's pretty out of the way, isn't it," Katara muttered. "I don't visit the city much since I moved in. But I made that special trip just for you."

"I'm honored," Zuko joked, then frowned as he stared up at the foreboding wall. "I was never the biggest fan of keeping her in the compound. But it keeps her safe, I suppose."

"No one likes keeping her pent up here."

"She'll just end up running away one day."

Katara grinned, "Oh, I don't doubt it."

The Avatar's compound opened up before them. Training sets of rope and wood tangled around him - just looking at them made his joints ache. Watchtowers rose above them, where more blue and white clad guards stared down at them. This was probably the most exciting thing to happen in the compound in months. But then again, they were watching over an Avatar in training, so the job likely came with some excitement. Especially with this Avatar in particular.

A red stone arena laid at the center of it all, occupied. There was dust in the air and rubble on the field, a clear sign of some rather violent earthbending.

"Korra! I have someone who'd like to meet you," Katara called out to the girl squared up on the stone. The others on the field, likely her trainers - more like her punching bags, really - seemed relieved at the interruption.

"This is Zuko. I think you've heard of him," Katara said.

"It's good to see you again, Korra," Zuko said with a bow.

He hadn't seen her in years, not since those first few weeks after they'd found her, it had all just been too busy. The White Lotus sent him reports on the Avatar's progress on the regular so he knew enough about her - how fast she'd risen through her training, her trouble with learning airbending, her stubbornness that could rival his own - but Zuko had always tried to keep his distance, for selfish reasons. He had no resentment towards Korra - how could he? She was a bright-eyed child with such a love of the world, ready to do anything she could to help it. But still. He didn't know how Katara did it.

"Hi, Lord Zuko. It's a surprise to see you out here," Korra bounded up to him, returning the bow, "Are you going to teach me firebending?"

The question took him by surprise. "I think you can find someone much better than me to teach you. I don't have the strength."

"Or the patience," Katara said, "You almost set Aang on fire every time you taught him and he was a big pushover. Korra's as headstrong as you."

"Alright, I'm not a good teacher, I get it."

Korra didn't press the issue, "I heard you retired a few months ago. It was the only thing the radio talked about for like a week."

"I did. I'm on vacation right now actually."

"Zuko's been gallivanting all over the world. He was running around the Earth Kingdom last week, killing his back," Katara said.

Korra's smile faltered for a moment. "I wish I could travel the world."

She store at the blue sky above the walls for a moment, and Zuko's heart very near broke. By this age, Aang had traveled the entire world, had been free as the wind itself; Korra had been trapped in this compound for as long as she could remember. It didn't sit well with him, and he doubted it would sit well with Aang as well.

But it was for her safety, they'd said. The world was different now. She'd get her chance, one day. They just had to be patient. Korra and he both.

He laid a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "I'd love for you to join me one day."

Korra smiled up at him. "All right! Well, even if you're not here to train me, do you think you could still show me some firebending?"

"Oh, well, there's not much I could teach you. I hear you're quite a talented bender already."

"I am, but you're the Firelord. Or, well, you used to be. C'mon, I'm sure you've got some tricks to show me!"

Katara smiled. "You should do it, Zuko. Show the girl what us old folks can do."

"Me? Why me? Why don't you show her?"

"How could you even suggest that? I've got that hip condition."

"What? No, you don't!"

"How would you know? Stop arguing and go fight with her."

Zuko was silent for a moment, trying to retrace his steps to see how he had gotten into this situation. You know, they always said he didn't think ahead. Of course, no amount of thinking ahead would have prepared him to fight the Avatar today - he thought he'd done the last of that 70 years ago. "...Alright."

"Yeah!" Korra threw her hands up in a cheer, before dashing off to get ready.

The two elders stared on as she left, soft smiles on their faces, as they watched that all too familiar excitement. They'd seen it before - a bright eyed wonder, a love of the world.

"You see a lot of Aang in her, don't you?" Katara asked.

"If Aang had a love of fighting, absolutely."

The sentimental moment was broken up when Korra came back and threw a padded helmet into Zuko's hands. Before he knew it, he was suited up in some training armor, facing the Avatar on the arena.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Zuko asked Katara, who was grinning from the sidelines.

"Don't be silly. I have complete faith in your abilities."

"You didn't answer the question."

Katara just laughed. Korra mimicked the smile from the other side of the circle, fists up in front of her, just waiting to strike.

"I'll stick with firebending, alright Lord Zuko! I think using the other elements would be an unfair advantage!"

Zuko managed his own smirk. "Don't go too easy. I've faced the Avatar plenty of times in my day."

"And you lost every time!" Katara shouted.

Korra laughed, before punching off a fireball point blank. Then another, and one more left hook to round it out. Zuko dispersed the flames with a brush of his hands and came out of it with only a slight crick in his wrist. Katara's teasing might not be very helpful, but thank the spirits for her healing.

It was Zuko's turn to lunge, shooting a stream of flames towards the Avatar. She rolled to the side and came out of it with her own blast of fire. Zuko didn't have the joints for any fancy footwork, so he stood his ground and dissipated the flames, but it left him a sitting turtleduck as Korra moved into kick after kick.

Powerful. Face-paced. Aggressive. Korra's style seemed to be aiming for an overpowering attack, blunt, forceful and fast. It was a tiring technique, but a smart one - Korra didn't need to fight for long, just longer than Zuko. He was forced into the defensive, dodging shots, slashing away flames and trying to keep his balance amidst a flurry of attacks. Agreeing to a spar with a young, spry Avatar who happened to favor firebending as her mode of attack was looking to be a poorer and poorer decision every second. A win at this point would just be to stay standing after it all.

There was a break in the fight, and Zuko took the chance to squeeze in an attack of his own, two arcs of red hot flames, one low and one high. The Avatar leapt between them with a grin. She came out of it with a vigor. She shot fireball after fireball, sent slashes of fire and spinning kicks, ending with a burst of flame that would make even Druk jealous. It looked like Korra had only been testing his limits until now - now, she wanted to break through.

It was enough fire to overpower just about any defensive technique. Any defensive technique Korra might've known, at least, and perhaps that's why she'd attacked like she did, to see how he would react to an attack she herself couldn't face. The answer drew back to the basics, to the root of all fire - it all came back to the breath.

He moved his arms out around him, and as the flames came closer, they fell out of Korra's control and into his. His breath came easy, despite the scorching air - it came with years of practice and many an occasion of angry benders shooting fireballs at his face. The flames parted at his command and petered out as they moved around him. Zuko brought his hands down in front of him, releasing the last of his breath as the last licks of flame died away. He looked impressive for a moment, like a true lord of fire - but then he got a crick in his shoulder which put him in the less graceful position of clutching his arm in pain.

Korra was still squared up on the field, a sparkle in her eyes. "You're pretty cool, Lord Zuko."

Zuko smiled through the pain. Nice to know that the Avatar still found him neat.


After another impromptu healing session, and a quick lunch break, they said their goodbyes to Korra and made their way out of the compound. Sadly, that meant the lighter part of Zuko's day had ended. He and Katara hopped back on the snowmobile and headed towards the city.

On the outskirts of the Southern city was a fenced off patch of ice. Stones and crystals jutted on the surface, like a great god had sown seeds in the ice. The place was empty most days, quiet always, and time there always seemed to move in a sludge.

The graveyard wasn't really a graveyard. The permafrost this far south was too hard to dig up and bury people in. The headstones that laid around stood as memorials, but the actually bodies of the dead were usually laid into a canoe which was then set aflame and sent adrift into the ocean.

Zuko had only ever seen a Water Tribe funeral twice, and the headstones from both lay somewhere in the field he and Katara stood in. Zuko's heart dropped when he realized he did not know the way to the headstone. Katara slid between the rocks, knowing the path by heart.

They found what they were looking for, a still hard-edged block of stone, free of the mildew and stains of weather that many of the other older stones bore.

"It's been quite a while," Zuko whispered, staring at the date carved into the stone.

"Too long. He left too early," Katara said.

"He died a fighter, just how he would've wanted it."

Katara chuckled. "I think he'd be annoyed if he had to grow old with us."

"Creaky bones. Bad backs. No, Sokka wouldn't have liked any of it."

The two stood silent, the wind whipping by the only voice you could hear. The silence weighed on his old bones. Unlike Iroh's room, the sight of his friend's memorial had had little time to get used to. It seemed to ooze with tiredness and grief, which wasn't very Sokka-like at all - it'd probably be more true to life if they'd chiseled a pun as his epitaph. The thought almost made him laugh.

There's that smile, you old geezer, he could almost hear him say.

The smile fell away, and the weariness sank back into his bones. Zuko's eyes trailed - from the stone, to the city, then out to the bay where the rest of the world lived on.

So much had changed since he'd been here last, and even more since when he'd been here first. Katara's snowy white hair. The Avatar being trained deep in the tundra. The headstone that stood where his friend should have been.

Most days, he wished he could change too, so he could fit into this new, changed world. But there were some moments where he couldn't help but wish for all of it to change back.


"Jasmine. Your favourite."

Katara came into the room, two cups of tea in her hands. Zuko sat at the little dining table in Katara's house, cross legged on the blue down cushion below him. Outside, the wind howled, turning the window's view almost to pure white. She sat across from him and set one of the cups on the table.

"If the radio's right, this storm won't let up for at least three days. There might be a few clear patches, but not enough time to do anything," she said, "Unless… we wait it out."

The storm had come by surprise. It was a tragedy that he'd have to cut his trip to the south short, but he couldn't afford to wait it out. "I can't. I need to go tomorrow or…"

"Or you won't make it in time," she finished his sentence for him. "The winds should be calm for awhile at midday tomorrow. You can fly out then."

Zuko took a sip from his tea cup. "You know why I'm making this trip in the first place, don't you?"

"Of course I do. It took you long enough to start. I was starting to doubt that you'd ever do it."

"You doubt my honor?"

"Oh no, of course not," she chuckled.

Zuko took a long draw from his cup. "You know why it took so long to start. The world was a mess. I couldn't leave so soon after it happened."

"14 years though," Katara mused, "For what it's worth, you did need a break. Your chi lines this morning? Like a tangled fishnet. Covered in sea salt."

"I can't say I wasn't expecting that."

The two smiled, and sat back in silence. So much had changed in their lives, but he was happy he could still spend a quiet moment sipping tea with one of his best friends.

"Anything you need before you leave tomorrow, Zuko?" Katara asked.

He thought for a moment. "Well… I was wondering, do you remember those fruit pies Aang used to make?"

"Who do you think I am? His wife?" Katara laughed, "Of course I remember."

"Do you think you could show me how to make them?"

"You want to bake? In the middle of the night?"

Zuko shrugged, "You asked."

"I guess we've done wilder things in our lives. Fine then. But you have to help!" And with that, she dragged him into the kitchen before he could say no.

Kya was woken up in the dead of night to find two war heroes covered in flour, trying to salvage the husk of a burnt pastry and laughing all the while. It goes without saying that she joined them for the rest of the night.


AN: This chapter has the only direct breach of canon I know. Zuko says in LOK that he only met Korra as a very young girl, and here he meets her at 14, which isn't that young, but c'mon. I couldn't have Zuko go to the south without meeting with his reincarnated buddy.

Also, I've finally made a tumbloid (achievement-bender) because that's what all the cool kids are doing these days. I reblog stuff. I try to be funny. I don't know how tags work. But I do plan on posting some more shortform writing there, and I do want to start editing some videos. So if you got a tumblr, come say hi!