Sokka stared at me, like I was something out of a dream. He reached out gingerly to touch my cheek, almost like he was afraid that if he actually touched me I would disappear.

"How are you…?" He began, not sure how to end that sentence. I grabbed his hand ,my muscles still burning with the last traces of poison. I could walk a little easier, but still it was a chore.

"Yue says… She says look for her inside of the places you would never expect to find her. She also wanted me to tell you that you did everything you could to protect her- in the end, it was all her decision." He looked at me with disbelief.

"How do you know that?"

"It is a very long story, Sokka, which I will tell you later. But right now, we have to get ready. It's the last day of the festival!" He smiled at me, then got on his knees and came towards me. I was engulfed in a massive hug that completely knocked me down and onto the ground. I was hurting like I had never hurt before, but I still laughed. The past few hours had been tainted by pain and sorrow and seriousness- a little playfulness was just what the healer ordered.

Sokka laid on top of me, and I was lost in him- his smell, his hands that held me and stroked my hair, the way we just… fit together nicely. I clung to him, and tears came again. This time, however, the tears were ones of total happiness- I hadn't died today, and that was all I needed.

"Suki… where were you?" Sokka asked, his face buried in my hair.

"I was here! I didn't move a ton, if you didn't notice."

"I know that. I meant, where was your mind?" Oh. I began to explain the sort of spirit-y journey I had had to him- how I had gone to what looked like the Ember Island theatre and watched all my memories get acted out on the stage, how I had relived all of the things that were worth living for, and all the things that had brought me to where I was now. I told him how a beautiful woman with piles of white hair and the lightest blue eyes I had ever seen came and sat besides me when the memories stopped, her body giving off an ethereal light, how she had spoken to me civilly without revealing who she was.

"She saved me, Sokka! She healed me- although that poison did one fine job of making all on my muscles feel absolutely awful." I smiled, then frowned sadly. "I can see why you love her so much." I whispered.

"Suki… I don't love her nearly as much as I love you. I know I've been acting really strangely lately, but it was because I was… confused. I didn't know what I should do. But now… Now I know that you are the only one I truly love. Even if I do owe Yue a lot of sacrifice and stuff since she saved you." He smiled wryly before kissing my nose.

"I love you too, Sokka." It wasn't any great speech, proclaiming love and sureness, like his had been. It was all I could say. It was all I needed to say.

%%%%%%%%%%

We got up a while later and dressed- I wore all of my fancy things, since I knew that there was no way I would be able to fight today, even if I really needed to. I wore the nice slippers, the robes, the waist sash, my tiny golden fan, even some make up. My hair was left as it normally was, since I had no patience to do it. My fans were still in my sleeves, just out of habit.

Sokka wore his wolfy warriors clothes, and armor. Space Sword hung at his side, and his boomerang was on his back. He wasn't making any concessions towards safety.

We left my room and went to see the others. Toph was waiting for us in the hallway, her small frame dressed in fine silk. I saw her toes peeking out of the bottom and smiled.

"Warrior Girl, you are never allowed to die, ever again, okay?" I shuffled over and hugged the girl.

"You got it." I whispered. She hesitated, then hugged me back. It seemed like I was going to do a lot of hugging today. Near death seemed to do that to you. The three of us walked along the hallways until we met up with Zuko.

"Hey guys. I cant wait to go home- all of these festivities are driving me insane. I wanna just lock myself in my room and work." He went on and on about his hate for a couple minutes as we went to the Great Hall- today, all of the generals, the Earth King, our little group as well as the Dai Li, my Kyoshis, a few representatives from the Northern Water Tribe, and some of Zuko's own parliament were to have breakfast together. I couldn't wait- my stomach was reminding me just how hungry I was. Sokka held my hand as we entered the room, and I was suddenly mauled with hugs.

Katara was the first one up. She flew into me, her arms snaking around my neck. The Kyoshi girls surrounded me, Katara, and Sokka a moment later, all saying things about how happy they were that I had survived and how I wasn't ever to be that stupid again, and asking questions about what had happened. Others tossed up praises to the spirits and the healer and whoever else they could think of.

After a few minutes of laughter and happiness and calling me an idiot, everyone went to sit down again, and I found myself faced with everyone who had no idea what had just happened. I saw Feng sitting down besides Mai, and he gave me a discreet thumbs up. I grinned in reply.

"Umm… what was that about?" Aang asked from his seat. I smiled at him.

"It's a really long story." I sat down by Katara, Sokka sitting on my free side. All the warriors sat on the opposite side, smiling, joking, completely happy. I was reminded of my age as I saw some of the younger girls, so carefree and lovely. Sokka an Katara bickered over me, but all I could do was smile.

I was back with my family.

%%%%%%%%%%

After the breakfast was over we all went to Iroh's tea shop to hang out. In about an hour, Zuko would be announcing out plan, and he was all nervous. Mai held his hand, and spoke quiet words to him.

Sokka, Aang, Katara, Toph and I all sat on the ground together, pulling pillows from all over and arranging them comfortably. We talked and joked like we had in the "good old days", as Sokka referred to them. After a while, Zuko and Mai came and crashed our party, and we let them.

"So… why did you get mauled earlier?" Zuko asked. Mai smiled a secret smile- she hadn't told him, and he hadn't noticed her absence the night previous.

"Well… we all went to take out the resistance." I replied, smiling my own smile.

"WHAT?" He and Aang shouted- literally shouted, which was surprising.

"Yeah. It was all my idea. Nobody else got hurt, and they're all in prison." I replied bashfully.

"Wait- you got hurt? What happened?" Aang asked.

"Some crazy girl sliced her with a knife laced with poison. "Sokka told them.

"Poison? How are you not dead?" I smiled.

"I met a friend of Katara's, and Sokka's and yours, Aang." Aang looked bewildered.

"Wait… You met Yue? When?" Katara questioned, her face brightening.

"Mhm. She helped me out while I was unconscious." I didn't really want to share more than that. We discussed it a little more, and Katara told Toph about the whole North Pole thing.

Iroh served us another round of tea before shutting down the shop. He was attending the speech as well.

At the Palace, we stood on the balcony overlooking the Upper Ring. I looked down and saw people of all classes gathered to listen. It was true, the city was still corrupt and ran on a class system ,but with this plan, people would have more job opportunities and room to live. They wouldn't have to ration food like they did now, and they could raise their children well.

"Citizens of the Earth Kingdom- We have been celebrating the defeat of my own father, Ozai these past two days, and it has certainly been a jovial and extremely called for celebration. Our world has seen peace for a year, and we hope to maintain that peace for twice as many years as the war lasted. I would like to thank the Avatar, since without him, none of us would be here. I wouldn't be on the throne, and Ba Sing Se would not be the Earth Kingdom capitol.

"I know that many of you are still weary of the Fire Nation, and I do not blame you in the slightest. We raged war with you for one hundred years. I do not expect all to be forgiven in only a year. Peace takes time, and I know this.

" However, I have one announcement to make before we close out the festival. Actually, it isn't my announcement to make. I would like Suki, of the Kyoshi Warriors, to help me with this. I just found out earlier that Lady Suki was injured in a battle with the underground rebellion. She also orchestrated a plan to arrest them, which was successful. And… She did this all without my knowledge, or the Avatar, or the Earth King. She saved our lives last night. She also found the time to come up with a plan to help the people of Ba Sing Se." I looked at him as he turned and beckoned me to come to the podium. Did he really want me to do this? Yeah. He really did. I took a deep breath and went up there, trying my best not to hobble.

"As Firelord Zuko said…" I began, not sure how to continue. "I devised a plan to help you guys out. The most important part of this plan is to keep your minds open- don't let your prejudices cloud your judgment." I took another deep breath, pulling my thoughts together, deciding how I would pull this all together in a way that they would listen and hopefully feel like it was a great idea, just as I did. " I spent many weeks helping refugees into Ba Sing Se. I acted as a security guard, doing my best to keep the stations in order and helping people. I got to know a lot of you, and when I finally entered the city- I never had to enter because I just supervised the ferry- I was ashamed. I had viewed Ba Sing Se just as you had- it was, in my head, a safe haven, far away from the clutches of the fire nation. When I came into the Lower Ring for the first time, I saw many of the people I had helped to come here. They were on the streets, or living in cramped quarters. Children, older folks- they all suffered the same. There wasn't… Isn't enough food to go around here, and it is a travesty. Many can't find work, and when they do, it's long hours and little pay.

"I came to the Middle and Upper rings, I and I was disgusted, quite frankly. I left as soon as I could. I never forgot about all the people I know, even during this past year." I peered at the people's faces, noticing that they were paying attention. It was gratifying.

"On the first day of this festival, I snuck up on the King, the Firelord, and the Avatar, all conversing. They were trying to figure out how to resolve this problem. After a few minutes, I decided that I had had enough. I proposed my idea of moving people out of the city."

"We couldn't find any untouched land here, and involving the provinces was out of the question since they are doing their negotiations still. That's when Zuko told me that… That we could take some of the land in the Fire Nation. Much of it is completely untouched, and surrounded by natural resources. Now, this is why I need you to keep an open mind, okay? We've already begun the building of villages, and they need people to inhabit and run them. They are designed for you. In two months, we want to be able to move the first group out." I smiled since they were still obviously listening.

"So here's my question. Those of you who need to get out- need to be able to raise your families in a clean, spacious environment, who need to have money and jobs to do so… Would you be willing to move to these villages, even if they are in the Fire Nation? Let's see some hands." I closed my eyes and begged the spirits. Please let them trust me, please…

When I opened my eyes, I saw a ton of hands. Over half- no, three quarters of the crowd were willing to go. I even saw some of the familiar faces scattered throughout. A surge of happiness rushed over me, and I suddenly felt empowered. Today was one of the biggest days in our history. I was also sure that it was my life's defining moment.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." I beamed, happily. As I sat, a roar of applause went up, then silenced quickly. It took me a lot longer than it should have to realize that this was for me.

Zuko went to the podium and continued off of my speech, giving instructions on how to get into the program. The Earth King gave a little speech, and Aang finished with his own words, short, to the point, and motivational.

I barely heard a word of it. I had finally helped the people- helped my people.

%%%%%%%%%%

We stood on the Great Inner Wall, gazing out at the sunset. I looked below and saw children exiting the zoo down below, saw people out in gardens and maintaining fields. A bunch of people from all classes were down below in the King's own flower garden, laughing, eating, and dancing in the light of white crystals. It looked magical.

"Toph, sometimes it's a shame you can't see the sunset. Its really pretty today."

"sure sure Twinkles." Toph leaned out over the wall, unafraid. "Here's an idea- why don't you try to describe it to me. See if you can make it beautiful to me." I looked over to see Aang's face shift from somewhat shocked, to thoughtful, to excited.

"Well, the sun itself is like marble. It's pure and solid and smooth. The clouds around it are like sand…" I smiled, and Toph looked thoughtfully amused. He had begun to put it into her language. Katara sat in between two of the stone protrusions that lined the wall, some of which anchored the catapults, besides me. She looked the other way, watching the dark side of the planet.

"This is the only time of day where Agni and Tui share the sky. Do you realize that, Sokka?" He turned to look at his sister.

"I never have, actually. Gotta say, I pity Yue- she has to deal with the drama of the old spirits who once fought over Tui. Two very unhappy men, I imagine." He smiled, losing himself in his own thoughts. I looked at Katara, who glanced over at Zuko casually, and I saw the blush in her cheeks. Zuko was sitting with Mai, speaking quietly.

Was she feeling that way? Was Zuko like Agni, and Aang like La? Was she, like the moon spirit, trying to choose between attraction and destiny? She was forever caught between the two, it seemed.

All I could hope was that she made the decision that was right for her, in the end. She was only seventeen- she still had time to make these decisions.

Sokka led me away from the group, not too long after I had found myself making these observations. we stood besides one of the turrets that earth benders had fired flaming boulders from, once upon a time.

"Suki… I love you. And… I never want to let you go." I smiled at him, watching him reach into his wide sleeves. I saw his eyebrows knit together as he grasped around. "Where is it? Oh please no." Sokka pulled his arm out and brought the sleeve up to his face, looking in it. He reached up the other, still not finding whatever it was he was looking for. He even checked his boomerang and space sword cases.

"I can't believe I lost…" He stopped speaking, watching something coming towards us. I turned to see Momo, clutching something with his tail.

"Momo, how did you even get that? You nearly ruined my plan! That's it, you're grounded, Mister Lemur." He pointed at the animal, whose ears drooped sadly. Sokka grabbed the item from Momo's tail, then dropped back in.

"Where was I? I… oh man, Momo. You killed it." I smiled even more, watching him converse with the animal. It was mildly hilarious. He sighed, and I couldn't help giggling.

"Suki, I love you. Will you… will you marry me?" The breath left my lungs. He opened his palm, revealing a necklace- I recognized the emerald colored stone, but it had been carved, a small fan combined beautifully with the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom insignias. I took the necklace, which was attacked to a cream colored ribbon by a tiny golden hook. It's weight increased as I held it, a million thoughts rushing though my head.

Did I want to marry Sokka? For real? Was this really happening? Yep, my muscles still twanged mildly. Was I truly ready for it?

The answer whispered itself in my head.

"Sokka…of course." I said quietly, reaching up to tie the necklace around my neck. It hung comfortably, it's stone resting in the dip of my collarbone. Sokka looked at me.

"You hesitated." Sokka said, his eyes wide as saucers. I rolled my eyes.

"I wanted to make sure it was what I wanted with every fiber of my being. I am a warrior- you don't jump into things without weighting the situation. This situation weighed perfectly with me." I smiled and leaned in, planting a solid kiss on his lips. He pulled me into his arms, and I felt more at home than ever to before.

And then the total giddiness struck me. I was engaged!

And I shouted it a moment later, startling everyone on the Wall, Sokka included. I was met by laughter, and then everyone ran over to congratulate us. I just laughed and smiled and clung to Sokka and whomever else ventured to give me a hug.

Finally, our entire group just gave up and did one of the group hugs we had done, in the good old days.

Everything was perfect now, and I looked over to the moon, the purple sky surrounding her.

Thank you.

Author's note! Oh man… I'm so sad! It's officially over.

I hope you all knew that they were gonna get engaged. It was the main idea of all the romance. It was the first idea that came to my mind, followed by rebellion. Which was followed by Yue, which was followed by… Well, the epilogue. I don't make any character by accident. Everyone comes back to play, in the end.

I really, really wish I didn't suck at writing comedy. I can write seriousness, as well as care freeness, but comedy? Yeah, total crap. But I tried my hardest to toss a couple pieces in there.

I'm fairly happy with this story- the ending is sorta weak for me, since I prefer to end solidly without too many questions being asked. I almost got that down, but… There are some things which remain to be said. And also… if you stick around, you will get to see a Suki/ Sokka wedding… all my lovely cannonites who are reading this might not like whose eyes it's seen through, but I try really hard to make everything I write friendly to people of all sorts of ships. Especially you guys, since you've been sticking around and reading.

I hope I didn't disappoint with this. My writing is effected by what I'm reading, which is A LOT of SmellerShot fics, mixed with Euripides' Medea and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Yeah, school kicks my butt. Anywho, the writing style changed a lot, in my mind. Maybe it isn't as noticeable to you guys.

This isn't the end- one more chapter, which is wickedly important. And all the reference material will be listed, if ya wanna check it out. And a link to the next fic, which will be posted the same day as the epilogue.

oh, and also, if you have any questions, i accept them on my tumblr account. just comment on any post. link: litwitconfessional(dot)tumblr(dot)com (it's also listed as my website on my profile)

R&R, Please!