A/N: Alright guys, to be perfectly honest, there's just not much going on in this chapter. I just wanted to post something to let you guys know I haven't abandoned this story. I plan to finish it, I just don't have much time to write. Thursday's are probably going to be my writing days since I only have one class on those days but it really depends on how much homework I have (the amount of reading you have to do in college is ridiculous, especially if you were like hey the honors college sounds fun XD). So the chapters are going to still be pretty slow but I promise this won't be abandoned.

Chapter 29

Post-Wedding Days

Katara woke in a languid haze, a crooked grin adorning her face. One arm was thrown above her head and the other hung loosely over the edge of the bed. Her hair was a splayed mess across the gold silk pillowcases and a series of marks dotted her neck and chest. She took a deep breath, stirring the sheets draped across her tired form. She hummed a pleasant sigh of contentment before rolling onto her side and casting her gaze towards Zuko's side of the bed.

"Zuko?" She murmured, wondering where he was. He wasn't beside her and after placing a hand against his pillow she determined by the coolness of the silk that he hadn't been there for a while. In the past week they had spent together, she had grown accustom to waking up at his side, either to kisses or the sweetest caress. He'd have the sweetest things to say to her and some sort of gift for her. It made no sense to her where he kept getting the presence from because whenever she was awake he was with her so how could he possibly have found time to get her flowers or a new hair clip? She didn't argue his displays of affection but instead welcomed them and basked in his favor. The idea of rising with the sun had suddenly become very appealing since her first morning as wife of the Fire Lord. There were definite benefits to waking so early in the day and not sleeping again until it was very late at night.

Sitting up slowly, she did nothing to stop the hair that fell around her in its current teased unkempt manner. Yawning and stretching, she glanced around the room for any signs of her husband but found none. She frowned to herself as she slipped out of bed and into the robe that Toph had given her for her wedding. Padding once again to the great double doors of her new chambers, Katara cracked a door open and stuck her head out.

"You haven't seen Zuko have you?" She asked the two guards standing there. It was still weird knowing they were there all the time but their presence was beginning to grow on her.

"The Fire Lord had a meeting to attend, Lady." One answered.

"Oh…Thanks…"Katara smiled sadly before closing the door. She didn't really like waking without him but shrugged it off figuring most mornings would probably be like this from now on.

Heading into the bath, Katara nearly screamed when she saw people in there. For the past week, no servants had disturbed her or Zuko except to bring food in and neither of them had felt the need to venture out into public during their brief time alone. They would only have their one week while the nation celebrated and the council oversaw things so they hadn't wasted any of it on walking around a city they would have their entire lives to see. Now her bathing attendants were back, with Purya and Mother Matron to see to it that she looked the part of Fire Lady on her first official public appearance since her wedding.

Sighing at the loss her lazy days spent snuggling with Zuko, Katara allowed herself to fall back into the routine of being undressed and scrubbed to within an inch of her life before she was finally allowed to be dressed for the day.

- -

Toph sat at breakfast yawning. Ty Lee's head was bobbing above her plate, trying desperately to stay awake. Sokka and Suki were practically leaning against each other to stay up. Teo was attempting to suppress and yawn and Haru was leaning his chin against his palm in an attempt to keep his head up. Azula was sipping hot tea in an attempt to absorb the caffeine for energy and Mai, with dark circles around her eyes, was buttering her toast in a hypnotic manner. Aang was the only one with tad more energy but the overall vibe was that of burnt out teenagers.

"What's wrong with all of you?" Hakoda asked, jovially, already knowing the answer.

"Partied too hard." Azula muttered into her drink.

"Couldn't sleep or we'd miss something." Ty Lee added.

Hakoda chuckled at the ragged looking teens.

"I thought there was no such thing as too much partying." He mused, eyeing his son.

"Didn't say too much partying, there's no such thing as too much partying." Sokka, instantly awake at the jab about partying, jumped in. "A week long party is by far the coolest thing that has ever happened in my lifetime. We just need a better plan to conserve energy when the party goes on for that long."

Suki nodded tiredly against his shoulder.

"Well, so long as you had fun, right?" Hakoda grinned.

"Definitely, I can't wait for their anniversary." Sokka grinned.

- -

"Pitiful aren't they?" General Kawamura mused, watching the tired teens from the shadows. "It's hard to accept that those children were the ones to defeat Ozai."

"On that we can certainly agree." A mercenary named Snider replied.

"Do you feel it's all just a bit ridiculous, relying on children, relying on Ozai's son, to make things right?" Kawamura continued.

"I don't really care either way. Is there a reason you wanted me to meet you here or what?" Snider replied impatiently.

"Your coin purse is pretty empty now without the war, isn't it Snider?" Kawamura stated more than asked.

"Stinkin' kids, ruined my business." Snider snorted.

"And I feel for you, in fact, I have a proposition for you, if you're interested."

"I'm listenin'."

"Stir up some trouble in the fire nation, just a little chaos, make them uncertain of their new leader."

"And why would I be wantin' to do that?"

"Because you've never had any loyalty to this nation, all that matters to you is the money." Kawamura smirked, as he walked off, not bothering to see if Snider followed.

- -

"All I'm saying is that I think you should take a summer progress to allow all your people honor you with their hospitality." Advisor Yuwei said.

"Well that's just not the safest course right now." Another advisor pointed out.

"We're not economically capable of a progress right now, since we're helping to rebuild the other nations." Advisor Takamura added.

"We don't fund our own progresses, you fool. The nobles who host the royal family do." Yuwei snapped.

"Ah, so you want the Fire Lord to come off as imposing, do you?" Another counselor jumped in.

"I didn't say anything of the sort." Yuwei growled.

"How is any of this important? There are other issues we should be discussing, such as the border patrol. There are still people out there with vengeful intentions against the fire nation, my lord, the excess funds we have should be to bolster our military to defend ourselves." General Kazain thundered.

"How is that important in comparison to this land dispute that needs to be settled? I have two…"

Zuko rubbed his temples as he listened to the panel of generals and advisors he was to be left with once the council returned to their homes. He was in no mood to sit here listening to these men argue over what was important but it was his duty to do such so he squeezed his eyes shut and call upon every ounce of patience within himself. He was the Fire Lord he had to care about his people's issues even if it was something as stupid as whether or not he was going to tour his own nation with Katara or a couple of men fighting over whose farm land it really was.

- -

"So is anyone interested in displaying their strength in the fire nation games?" Iroh asked as he joined the teens who had decided to laze in the courtyard for the day.

"Fire nation games?" Toph asked.

"Yes, it is the final celebration of the wedding. A champion must be chosen for the Fire Lord and Lady but those who wish to compete just for the sake of it can enter as well. There are all sorts of events: archery, fighting, racing, and so much more." Iroh promoted.

"Sounds kind of interesting." Haru mused.

"It'll be nice to see how we match up against the fire nation's best and we can knock out anyone who isn't worthy of protecting my sister." Sokka thought out loud.

"Excellent, the games are tomorrow. It will be a good way to celebrate before everyone departs to their homes. Now, I should go see about wrapping up my paperwork so that I can leave for Ba Sing Se when all of this is over." Iroh grinned before leaving them behind.

"Well that certainly sounds like fun, not that any of us have the energy for too much more fun." Suki commented.

"What are you talking about? If we sleep all day today we can totally take the competition." Sokka declared jumping up.

"Sounds like a riot." Azula sighed, leaning back against a pillar dejectedly.

"What's wrong Azula?" Ty Lee asked, dropping down beside her friend.

"Nothing really, I'm happy for you guys. Have fun." Azula muttered.

"Why can't you have fun too? Zuko won't let anyone say anything bad about you competing in the games." Ty Lee tried to encourage her.

"Yes, well, fighting just isn't going to happen for me. I don't exactly have my bending any more, do I?" Azula snapped.

Ty Lee fell silent in apology.

"Ha, I'm sure you don't need your bending to kill us all." Sokka growled.

"Not you at the very least." Azula sneered.

"See I told you she was still evil. She just threatened me." Sokka complained to Suki who pushed him off the bench they'd been sharing.

"Stop being mean Sokka. That's like asking you to fight without your boomerang or me to fight without my fan. We can both do it but if you're fighting for recreation it just isn't much recreation without your weapon of choice." Suki said.

"You aren't suggesting that you think Azula should have her bending back, are you?" Sokka asked, eyes narrowing.

"I don't know, maybe, it's not like she's out to get any of us." Suki shrugged.

"THAT'S JUST WHAT SHE WANTS YOU TO THINK!" Sokka shouted.

"Considering we already established I could kill you without my bending don't you think you'd be dead by now if I wanted to kill you?" Azula asked.

"She's threatening me again!" Sokka cried, flailing his hands in the air.

"Sokka!" Suki said menacingly.

Sokka crossed his arms, sulking. He didn't want to argue with Suki but he wasn't just going to trust Azula either. Giving her back her bending was just a bad idea.

"What if Aang gave you back your bending with some limitations?" Ty Lee suggested.

"Can you even do that, Aang?" Teo asked.

"I don't know. I've never given someone their bending and I'm not so sure it's a good idea to give Azula her bending back." Aang blushed, feeling guilty about the admission. He shouldn't have looked, but something drew his eyes to her and for the briefest moment he thought he saw a flash of hurt cross her face but in an instant it was gone as quickly as it came.

"I wasn't asking for my bending back anyway." Azula snorted. "I don't think the kid's got what it takes to do it even if he wanted to."

"You don't know that, I could figure it out, and for the last time will everyone stop calling me a kid!" Aang snapped.

"Why don't you accept that maybe you are just a kid?" Azula snapped back. She didn't know why she was feeling so antagonistic suddenly. It was natural to goad Sokka into an outburst because it was always so amusing watching Suki smack him back down but she had actually been trying to make friends with the avatar. She found his lack of trust to be frustrating and hurtful.

Hadn't they all just spent the last week getting to know each other better? The girls had come together like old schoolmates and Haru and Teo went with anything Ty Lee and Toph did. She fought with Sokka mostly about unimportant things that made the group laugh and she had thought that Aang was beginning to accept her as well but apparently not. She sighed, not sure at all what she needed to do to make things right with him. She'd seen the scar she left on his back from the lightening attack and regret filled every inch of her for all the things she had done to this group. She was unaccustomed to this feeling of vulnerability, she'd never felt the need to try to make things right with anybody in her life. It made her frustrated that there was no magic word or action that would make her past mistakes go away.

- -

It was far later in the afternoon when Suki and Katara sat giggling in the sitting room of the royal apartments.

"Suki that's so great. I'm so happy for you guys. You're perfect together." Katara gushed.

"He is the yin to my yang." Suki sighed, as she leaned back against the multitude of pillows surrounding her and Katara. (A/N: Sorry guys, I love that macaroni reference in Juno) "We may not agree on everything but I couldn't imagine life without him at this point."

"So where are you going to have it and when? I need details." Katara prodded.

"I haven't really had an extraordinary amount of time to think or plan this but I think we'll have it on Kyoshi Island since I'll be living most of the year with Sokka at the South Pole and when I'm not with him I'll be back at the island." Suki grinned at Katara.

"I'm so excited for you but how are you going to keep up with your warriors when you're at the South Pole?" Katara asked.

"Ty Lee has a falcon messenger which she's bringing back to the island with her, probably to send messages to Haru more than me but she said she and the girls will keep me posted. I'm fine with that since Sokka will be the water tribe leader of the South Pole one day it's not such a big deal for me to live there. I always knew if we did decide to get married that would probably be a sacrifice I'd have to make but I'm not worried because my girls are trained well." Suki shrugged.

"Well then good luck and let me know if you need any help with anything. I'll send you a falcon messenger of your own as soon as we get things properly settled down here."

"Take your time, Katara. You have to focus on your marriage first, remember. Plus, I'm sailing home on the same ship as Gran-gran, I don't think she'll give up her title as wedding planner extraordinaire just yet."

"You've got a point there. She really out did herself with this one."

"Mmhmm." Suki agreed, hugging Katara again. "I have to go start packing now but you're coming to see us off right?"

"Of course."

"Great. I'll see you later then."

Katara waved to Suki as she slipped out of the large golden doors. Katara sat back against the pillows and sighed. She was going to miss her friends and family. She suspected it was going to be oddly quiet here without them. How was she going to fill up her days without her crazy brother's parties and how was she going to keep up with Toph and Ty Lee's romances once they were gone.

- -

"Er, hey Azula." Aang blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, I know this is weird. I don't really know why I'm here myself…well I do but…I mean, it's not exactly normal to be here like this. Not that I never apologize I just meant it's weird because it's you….not that I'm not trying to get used to you I just…Argh, sorry, I'm rambling, I know. I came here to apologize, kind of. I wanted to explain myself, about earlier because I think I hurt your feelings but I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, in case you did care and are just pretending you don't care and…"

Azula frowned at Aang. The boy was making very little sense.

"Avatar, is there something you want besides wasting oxygen?" Azula finally cut in.

Aang's mouth snapped shut embarrassed.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Whatever, it's fine." Azula rolled her eyes, then turned her back on him and then turned an empty stare out of the landscape of the fire nation in the fading sunlight.

"Um, about what I said earlier…" Aang started.

"I said, it's fine, avatar. I don't care if you trust me or not." Azula snapped, not turning to looked at him.

"I think you should have your bending back." Aang said in a rush.

Azula spun around this time looking at him as if he were insane.

"I know. It's crazy but I was sitting around thinking about what Suki said and she's right. My bending is a part of who I am and I couldn't imagine what life would be like without it. When I took your bending, I took a part of you. You're different now and that's not in reference to you being good. It's weird you being good but it's even more weird seeing how sad you are without your bending. You're never openly sad but you're not exactly…well, you know…you…you used to glow when you were bending. We may have been running for our lives every time you were bending but I can tell that you haven't got that spark about you anymore and I know it's my fault. So I want to give you your bending back because even if I were to say I fully trust you now, without your bending that's a lie. That just means I'm still afraid of what you would do if you still had your bending." Aang explained, feeling extremely self conscience.

Azula stared at him for a moment, she felt the accursed sting of tears collecting in the corners of her eyes and she couldn't think of a single thing to say. Why the hell did that mean so much to her?

He had no reason to trust her, no reason to give her back her bending, especially after what she'd done to him and yet here he was, offering her a hesitant second chance. Putting up her mask to stop the emotions, that were swarming her, from appearing on her face, she turned away from him again and summoned up her uncaring tone of voice.

"Do you even know how to give me back my bending?" She scoffed.

"Er, no…not really but I figure I can try. I've been consulting the avatars of the past but none of them have ever done it either. However, if nothing else, I think there's a way that I can lend you some of my power that way if I'm close by you should be able to bend or maybe it'll last a few hours."

She turned around again to glare at him skeptically.

"Don't you want to bend again?" Aang asked.

"I…It doesn't really matter to me…do what you want." She replied crossing her arms.

One of his hands reached up and wrapped around her and she snatched it back shocked by the sudden gesture.

"What are you doing?" She hissed.

"I was going to try to give you your bending back?" Aang said.

"Why'd you grab my hand then?"

"Well I'd think I'd have to be touching you somehow, don't you?"

"I don't know."

"Well what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, that was just weird. Here hold my hand if you want to avatar." She snapped, rolling her eyes and flinging a hand at him.

"I don't want to hold your hand." Aang howled, drawing back from her.

"I thought you were trying to give me my bending back."

"Well yeah…"

"Then you're right, we probably have to be sharing some kind of physical connection so are you holding my hand or not?"

"I'm not holding you hand…I'm just…I'm just creating a bath for the energy to flow through."

"Yeah, sure, whatever, just do what you've got to do before somebody walks by and thinks you were trying to hold my hand, okay."

"Well now it's weird." Aang pouted.

"It was weird to begin with."

"Not this weird."

"Stop being such a baby."

"You know, I'm rapidly changing my mind about this."

"Well, it's too late. Now you've got my hopes up."

"So then you do miss bending?"

"It's none of your business."

"I think it is since I'm the one giving you back your bending."

"Fine then, I miss it. With my bending gone, I feel cold and alone. It's my own personal hell which is nothing less than I deserve. I miss the smell of cinder and ash. I miss the charged electrical feeling that came with lightening bending. I loved making fire dance on my fingertips. I loved everything about being a firebender. I miss being a firebender. Are you satisfied now? Did I pour out my heart and soul enough?" She snarled scathingly.

Aang stared at her silently.

"You know…I think I could learn to like the real you. You love being a firebender as much as I love being an airbender. All this time I just thought you liked being evil and destructive, I never would have known you appreciated the bare basics such as the way it makes you feel to bend or the smell of the world around you after the use of your element. There's a lot I have to learn about you. Maybe in time, we will be friends." Aang said quietly before threading his fingers through hers.

She stiffened, frowning down at their hands. It was weird, the feeling of someone else holding her hand, the feeling of someone, besides her brother and uncle, showing her undeserved kindness. She wished she had the right thing to say for this moment but she'd never been in this situation before. When she finally opened her mouth to say something she was stopped by the sudden feel of tingling in the hand the avatar was holding. The feeling spread up her arm and she was fascinated by the blue light that followed. Her eyes wondered briefly over to Aang's face but his eyes were fixed on their hands. She thought to question him on it but the light had overtaken her and she was beginning to feel dizzy and lightheaded. She tried to look at Aang one more time but she saw nothing but a fierce blue light and then nothing. Her mind swam and suddenly her vision was flooded with flashes of Aang's memories and his mind was filled with hers.

He wasn't quite sure what was going on as none of this had happened when he was taking her or Ozai's bending away but he couldn't break his hand free of hers. He felt sick from the whirlwind of memories coursing through him and when it stopped he seemed to float mindlessly in the crackle of electricity around them.

"Azula?" His voiced cracked, as he tried to focus his mind on looking at her but the intensity of the bending he had just performed had robbed him of his strength. He sank to his knees and then fell forward on his face. Turning his head he saw the masses of Azula's hair, splayed across the grass. He wasn't sure if she was conscious or not and his hand failed to reach her shoulder to rouse her before he slipped into darkness.