Lay back, lay back, go to sleep my man
Wipe the blood from you face and your hands
Forgive yourself if you think that you can
Go to sleep, go to sleep my man

—"Go To Sleep" by The Avett Brothers

SIX MONTHS LATER

The whiskey burns as it runs down the back of Zuko's throat. It burns, and he thinks in the back of his mind that this all might taste a little bit like bitterness.

The bartender is eyeing him curiously. Zuko can tell that she's working herself up to say something to him, so he turns his back toward her before she has the chance.

Honestly, he just doesn't care anymore. About anyone or anything.

Except for, of course, the White Lotus.

He is useful to them. Willing to do their dirty work so that the old men can keep their reputations of being pure and just. They leave Zuko to the finding and the questioning and the disposing. And Zuko really doesn't mind as much as he should.

"Did you hear the news?"

The bartender has decided to speak up despite Zuko's obvious lack of interest. He turns his head toward her, lip curling a bit. "No."

The bartender smiles, not put off by his hostility. "Fire Lord Ozai and his new wife are expecting. There will be another heir to the Fire Nation throne."

"How wonderful." He taps the bar and she pours more whiskey into his glass.

"I wonder if it will be a boy? I bet he won't be as pretty as the one who killed himself by setting his bedroom fire." The girl clicks her tongue, eyes glazed over as if her mind is somewhere far and away. "Such a pity."

Zuko laughs, smile overwhelming his face. He tosses back the alcohol and then steps away from the bar, ignoring the girl's confused expression.

And that's when he spots him coming in through the entrance. The young man looks out of place with his boomerang strapped to his waist and his choppy haircut falling into his eyes. He scans the bar until he spots Zuko; his shoulders straighten and his expression turns professional, business like.

Zuko finds a table and soon the young man from the Water Tribe is sliding into the seat next to him.

Zuko disregards his outstretched hand. "Are you going to get yourself a drink?"

The young man pulls back his hand and clears his throat. "Uh, no."

"Suit yourself. Where's the kid?"

"My name is Sokka. Thank you for asking, I'm-Actually-Not-Dead-Prince-Zuko. Or, my personal favorite nickname of yours, Sister Slayer."

Zuko lays a white hot hand onto Sokka's shoulder, lips pressing together as the other man yelps in pain. "I don't like that nickname, is that clear?"

Sokka wrenches himself away from Zuko's grasp. "Crystal clear, buddy."

"Don't call me that either."

"Well, aren't you a barrel of fun."

"Where is the kid?"

The Water Tribe man is now poking at his fresh burn, pouting. Then he sighs and props an elbow on top of the table. "Did you really think I'd bring a twelve year old into a shady place like this? I thought this was the White Lotus, don't you guys normally meet in—"

"This was my preferred meeting place." Zuko gazes down at the empty table top despairingly. But he can't get up for a drink right now.

"Well, I hope you understand that as the Avatar's guardian, I felt that he was safer somewhere else."

Zuko resists the urge to groan. Uncle had warned him that he might try to do this. "If and when you bring the Avatar to the tea shop down the street tomorrow at noon, you will no longer be the Avatar's guardian. He will have a master earthbender, a master waterbender, and a master firebender all at his disposal, all of whom are perfectly capable of protecting him. Your services won't be required." Zuko frowns, recalling the words that Iroh had forced him to memorize and repeat. "But the Order of the White Lotus is forever in your debt. Thank you for finding the Avatar and bringing him to us."

Sokka blinks. "You sound very sincere."

"You can go back to your pile of snow now."

"Okay, well, I'm going to ignore that offensive jab toward my homeland so that I can say that I'm not going anywhere." Sokka takes in a deep breath, hesitant. "I'm looking for someone."

"Aren't we all."

"My sister ran away from home a long time ago."

Zuko snaps his head up, suddenly much more interested in the young man then he has been all evening. For the first time he takes in the detail of this man's facial features, the curve of his cheekbones, the shade of his skin…

His blue, blue eyes.

Zuko knows these eyes. He sees them all the time. His mind constantly conjures them in his dreams—not to haunt him, but to keep him sane. To keep him going.

The presumed dead Fire Prince swallows, trying not to allow any emotion to cross over his face. His hands squeeze into fists. "She could be dead, you know. The world is a hungry place."

Sokka, Katara's brother, shakes his head. "No. I'd…I'd know if she was gone." He pats his chest. "She's still around, off getting herself into trouble somewhere." His gaze shines with hope, hope that is nearly contagious.

Zuko gave up on hope a long time ago. A person can bleed to death in less than a minute.

"I'm going to find her," Sokka states, voice full of determination and resilience.

Zuko gave up on hope a long time ago. But he has not given up on finding things to live for. "In that case, I will help you find her."

A/N:

The end.

…or is it?

All I'm going to hint at toward that subject is that if there is a desire for more, then there will be more. I like this world more then I should, I suppose.

Lots of hugs toward all of my readers. As I've stated before, you guys are basically the best. This is the third multi-chaptered story that I've completed in less than two years, and I have you guys to thank for that. If it wasn't for your constant encouragement and love and enthusiasm for this project then I wouldn't have been able to do this. Simple as that.

I've had this story stuck in my head for so long, it was nice to finally get it written out. I hope everyone liked this epilogue. Is it an end or is it a beginning? Perhaps it is both. :)

Review if you feel so inclined. I'm off to see The Hobbit in half an hour and look forward to hearing about your thoughts while I'm waiting for the movie. Thank you all for reading!