Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.

Bodyguard of Azula

Chapter 45: Ass-kicking and Restoring

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Bijū/spirit talking"

"Bijū/spirit thinking"

(Location: Wulong Forest)

Ozai bent stream after stream of fire at the sphere at that held Aang. "Come on out, Avatar!" He shouted at the sphere. "You can't hide in there forever!"

"Someone, please help me!" Aang silently begged as he held the sphere together. "I can't do this. I need someone to stop him! HELP ME, ANYONE!" But no one heard his calls.

(Location: Sokka & Toph)

Among the ensuring chaos that was the remains of the fleet, Sokka and Toph ran to the back of the ship they were on. "Toph, Metalbend the rudder so it's jammed in a turning position." Sokka told her. "The ship will spiral and slam into the others."

"Got it!" She replied, moving him away from the rudder. She spat into her hands, rubbed them together and then slammed them into the metal rudder. She bent the rudder into the turning position he wanted, making it slam into another ship.

"Have I ever mentioned how sweet it is that you invented Metalbending?" He asked.

"You could stand to mentioned it more." They smashed into a second ship. By that time, one of the soldiers had climbed to the top and saw them. He bent a large stream of fire at force them run down the side. As gravity took hold and made them start to slide, Sokka pulled out his Zanpakutō and stabbed it into the balloon, trying to stop their fall.

It didn't work. They fell off the side and he slammed into a platform. "My leg!" He cried in pain. "Hang on Toph!" He told her. She was hanging in the air, holding to his hand.

"Aye, aye, Captain," She replied. Two soldiers ran onto the platforms on both sides. Sokka knew that if he only used his boomerang, he'd only hit one. As they took their stance, he reached for the boomerang and aligned his foot next to his sword. Just as they were about to shoot a fireball at them, he pulled out the boomerang and threw it at the one to his right, knocking him out.

He then kicked his jian up into the air and caught it. He then threw it at the other soldier, cutting the platform he was standing off and leaving him hanging in the air. Just as he thought the Zanpakutō would fall down to the ground below, a freak gust of wind came out of nowhere and sent it right back at him. He caught with ease. "Don't ever do anything like that again, do you understand!?" Kuroga yell at him.

"Sorry." He apologized. "I'm sorry Toph, but it doesn't look like boomerang is coming back." He told her as he saw soldiers gather up in front of the platform. "This might be the end." And as if to prove him wrong, the soldiers fled when they saw another ship come flying at them. The head crashed into the underside, allowing the two to fall down onto to it.

"How did that happen?" Toph asked Sokka as he clutched his leg in pain. "Did boomerang come back?"

"No." He answered as he looked at who was riding next to the rudder. "Suki did."

(Location: Wulong Forest)

Ozai kept bending his fire at the sphere, trying to destroy it. He bent two fire streams at it, lifting it up into the air, and then threw a fireball at it, sending it rolling into a pillar. He leapt up into the air and kept the fire on as he landed closer to it. His stream of fire was large to reach the top of the pillar.

Aang tried to hold the sphere together but the raw heat and intensity of the fire was making it more and more difficult. "Someone stop him!" He thought to himself. "He's going to kill me! I need to someone to help me! PLEASE, SOMEBODY!" He couldn't do it. He could not fight the Fire Lord.

When he knew the sphere was hot enough, Ozai leapt away from it. He raised his hand and bent the beginning of an intense fireball. He took a running start and leapt forward into the air. When he landed, he threw the fireball point-blank range at the sphere. It hit the thing and destroyed it.

As the rocks protecting him broke away, Aang tried to defend himself with a shield of air. He was protected from the actual attack, but the force of it pushed him back. "Someone, please help me…" He thought to himself as he slammed into the pillar.

But something also happened. As he was slammed into the rock, a small jutting point was the first thing he felt as it hit his scar. His mind briefly flashed back to when he was hit by Yāo Jing's lightning. He then saw in his mind the entire Avatar line, every single Avatar, male and female, from each of the four countries. Again and again, he saw the circle turn.

Air, Water, Earth, and Fire.

Water, Earth, Fire, and Air.

Earth, Fire, Air, and Water.

Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

The cycle kept repeating itself over and over again, each time taking a new form and doing new things with their Bending and the Avatar State. Finally, he saw an image of the Avatar State, floating in space. All the pervious Avatars surrounded it, their eyes glowed (and for the Air Nomads, so did their tattoos). "We are here." They told him in one voice. "We are yours."

"Come on out, little boy." Ozai said as he swaggered over to the rubble. "You're about to be—" He was cut off when a hand shot out of the rubble and grabbed his goatee. Aang leapt out of the rubble, his glowing eyes and tattoos showing that he was in the Avatar State. Ozai tried to bend fire at him with his hand in a chopping motion, but the Avatar swatted it aside like it was nothing. He sent the Phoenix King flying back with a blast of air, hitting the ground a couple of times before slamming into his own pillar.

He fell down to the ground and then looked up at the Avatar, who was floating in the air and was surrounded by a sphere of air. He opened his mouth and roared, breathing a jet of fire as well as bending jets from his hands and feet. The jets destroyed nearby pillars as they condescend themselves into a ring. Big chunks of rock tore themselves up from the ground and flew up into the air, surrounding him. The nearby body of water raised a tendril and slowly extended it to him. He took it and bent it into a ring as well.

Ozai look at him with both surprise and fear. He wasn't just facing a little boy who didn't have the guts to kill. Now he was facing the Avatar, who was using his complete powers while in the Avatar State.

(Location: Ba Sing Se)

The battle had been turned to the favor of the White Lotus. While Piandao, Pakku, and Jeong Jeong took care of the main forces, Bumi dealt with the forces on the outskirts. As he dug himself up from out of the ground, he was attacked by tanks.

He immediately bent a wall from the ground, strong enough to withstand the fire blasts. He bent back down into the ground and bent up several rocks up out of the pavement. He threw the rocks into the holes where the fire was bent from, blocking them completely.

He then bent the ground underneath the tanks to shoot up and send them flying. They landed in a stack. The soldiers opened the hatches that would open so they could try to get free, groaning as they did.

While all of this went on, Iroh stood in front of the Royal Palace. He looked at the flag of the Fire Nation hung from the roof. Raising two fingers, he bent a small stream of fire at the flag, setting it ablaze. He watched in silence as the flag burned away, revealing the insignia of the Earth Kingdom.

(Location: Wulong Forest)

Aang swooped down at Ozai, slamming into him with his air sphere. He then sent him flying with another blast of air. As he was airborne, the Phoenix King began to fly with help from his Firebending and flew away from his enemy.

Realizing what he was doing, Aang flew higher into the air. He bent one of the rocks that surrounded him into little bullet-like shapes and fired them at his opponent. They covered a wide area and destroyed some of the pillars, but Ozai flew out of range. Without any hesitation, he followed.

(Location: Fire Nation Capital)

Katara was stunned at what she had seen. Both Zuko and Azula had been incapacitated, Zuko by electrocution and Azula by being knocked unconscious. When she saw Zuko try to move, she rushed over to help him. But she was blocked by a blast of fire from Yāo Jing.

The now mad Princess was cackling with glee as she fired a round of lightning at her. She rolled off to the side and kept moving, dodging a fire blast. "Please, don't try to heal them." Yāo Jing told her as she landed on the roof and started generating lightning. "Just let them die." She threw the lighting at Katara, who bent water from a nearby pool to block it.

She bent one fireball after another at the Waterbender, making her run behind a nearby column for protection. "The two of you don't look so good." She told Zuko and Azula. They couldn't say anything in reply.

Katara peeked out from behind the column, but had to run to another one to avoid a round of lightning. She bent water from a nearby pool and threw it at the roof. But Yāo Jing wasn't there. She jumped over the roof Katara was under and flew at her. She ran out and bent the water to freeze, becoming an ice ramp. She slid along it, barely avoiding the fireballs that melted the ice. She got off the ice to avoid a large stream of fire, taking a few running steps before tripping over a grate. After seeing the water in the grate and a nearby chain, she came up with a plan.

"There you are, little girl." Yāo Jing said as she found Katara. She leapt forward and tried to bend fire at her. But she was prepared. She bent the water underneath them to rise up and freeze, covering the two of them. She then melted the water around her, allowing her to move. She took the chain she grabbed and bound Yāo Jing's hands. She then chained her to the grate so she couldn't move and then bent the ice to melt and fall back into the grate.

After she got her breath back, she ran over to Azula. "Azula, are you okay?" She asked, gently shaking her.

"What?" Azula asked as she slowly regained consciousness. As she did, she felt her entire back start to throb with a dull pain.

"Are you alright?" The Waterbender repeated herself.

"Yes, I'm fine. What about Zuko?"

She turned to see that Zuko hadn't moved from where he laid. She hurried over to him and rolled him over, looking at the wound. Bending the water from her pouch onto her hands, she healed his wounds. The pain lessened and he opened his eyes. "Thank you, Katara." He told her quietly.

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you." She replied as she helped him stand up.

"Honestly, you are such a dum-dum." Azula told him as she walked over to them. "You had jump in front of the lightning."

"Sorry, I just moved."

"I figured." Even though the words were spoken with sarcasm, the genuine smile on her face showed how relieved she was to see her brother up and moving.

"What will you do with her?" Katara asked, looking at Yāo Jing, who was struggling against the chain.

"We kill her." Azula instantly stated, covering her fist in blue fire.

"What? You can't do that!"

"Why not? After all she's done, she deserves to die."

"But if you kill her now, then you're no better than Ozai." Katara told her.

"Then what do you suggest? We leave her alone?" If they did that, her bastard sister was probably likely to try and stage a revolt against them.

"Azula, she's still our sister." Zuko told her. "She deserves a chance, just like us."

"No, she doesn't!" She growled. "You should remember what she did to torment us when we were kids." They had been terrified of her all those years and it only got worse once their mother had left.

"But she stills deserves a chance. If we hadn't gotten our chance, where do you think we would be right now?"

"…Fine, you have a point." She conceded, letting the blue fire she was wielding dissipate.

"They're going to show me mercy after what they've done to me?" Yāo Jing thought to herself. "They've taken what's rightfully mine and they think I need a second chance!?" With a scream of insanity, she surprised them by bending her fire to melt the chains. "Do you think I'll take this lying down?" She demanded. "The title of Fire Lord is MINE! Why did father change his mind? He gave it to me!" She ran off, screaming "Why did you do it, father?!"

"Yāo Jing, wait!" Zuko shouted. They tried to go after her, but they were too tried and she remained ahead of them. But they were close enough to see her try to climb over the edge of the mountain, only to stumble and fall down the other side, disappearing from sight.

"By the Spirits," Katara whispered in horror as they listened to the sounds of her hitting the mountainside repeatedly with screams of pain fade away. Both Zuko and Azula agreed with her. Not even Yāo Jing deserved that kind of slow painful death.

She lay at the bottom of the mountain, her body all but broken from the fall. She could feel her life fading away. "I can't die here! I have to take back what's mine." She tried to stand up, only to fall back down. Chun's photo flew out of her pocket when she fell and flapped around in the air. "I can't die here like a filthy commoner! I…" Her eyes centered on the picture as it landed down in front of her. "I…I don't want to die." She grabbed the picture and looked at it. "Save me, please." She begged, her voice taking on a childish tone. "Please Mommy; I don't want to die alone. Save me."

She heard a chuckle in the air. "How amusing," The voice from her dreams said. "You told me that you would defeat your siblings with ease. And now, you wallow in the dirt, asking the picture of a dead woman to save you."

"I don't want to die."

"Oh, hush. You're not going to die. I told you before…" The ground beneath her turned into a circle of energy, becoming a portal. "A deal's a deal."

She fell through the portal, clutching Chun's picture to her chest.

(Location: Naruto)

As the pike sailed towards his stomach, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the shaft. He yanked forward and then rammed into the soldier's face, breaking his nose. "…That was a little close." He thought to himself as he quickly got back up, taking holding of the pike. He had lost his jian during the fighting and used the scabbard to attack, only to have it cut in half.

"Are you I'm the one who needs to rest his bones?" Jiraiya asked him, half-sarcastic and half-relieved.

"Oh, shut up and keep fighting." He replied as he brained a soldier.

"What do you I think was doing? Picking up women?" He asked as he kneed his opponent in the stomach.

"You do have a tendency to do that."

"Not in the middle of a fight I don't." There was a time and place for such things and now was neither the time nor the place.

"Could've fooled me," He replied as he swept the legs out from under a soldier using the pike.

(Location: Wulong Forest)

Ozai tried to keep his distance between him and the Avatar. As he flew through the forest of pillars, two of them suddenly broke apart and slammed together in front of him. He was forced to stop and turn, but that was all Aang needed.

He bent water from nearby to hit Ozai with a deluge, forcing him to land. As he looked up, he saw Aang smash through the pillar behind him and fly down towards him. He backed away from the pillar and leapt backwards, taking flight again while also bending a stream of fire at his opponent, who simply flew through it and smashed into the ground.

He flew through the air and landed on the top of a pillar. He swung his foot, bending an arc of fire and directed it at him. He blocked the fire by bending to pillar to break away and form a shield in front of him. He moved them away and then bent five fireballs at the Phoenix King, seeking him out.

He dodged them and flew off to gain more distance between them. He landed against the side of a pillar and bent three streams of fire at him. He, in turn, bent three small water missiles and a blast of air. The three missiles hit the fire streams and made them implode while the air blast was directed at Ozai. He got struck by hit and was sent flying, but recovered. The air blast whittled away the pillar until it had no choice but to fall.

Aang continued to chase him, not caring if he smashed through a pillar or not. When Ozai looked back and saw that he was gaining on him, he panicked and tried to speed up. But Aang wasn't going to let that happened. He bent the water he had forward and extinguished the fire the Phoenix King he was using before grabbing him and slamming him into a pillar.

As he lay on the pillar, Aang hovered over him and bent the stone to rise up and enclose his hands and feet. "Fire Lord Ozai." He said, the voices of previous Avatars overlapping his, making him sound like a legion contained inside one person. "You and your forefathers have devastated the balance of these Countries, and now you shall pay the ultimate price!" As a terrified Ozai watched, he bent the four elements up into the air, forming a lance, and swinging it back down to him, fully intent on ending his life. The Phoenix King closed his eyes and looked away.

But at the last moment, the intent and will behind the lance disappeared. The air and fire disappeared and the water splashed him while the rocks just fell around him. He opened his eyes and saw Aang forcing himself out of the Avatar State. As he slowly descended, he released Ozai from the stone and landed with his back turned. "No, I'm not gonna end it like this." He said.

"Even with all the power in the world," Ozai said angrily while on his knees. "You are still weak!" He lunged forward to attack him, but he made one simple mistake. He had placed his hand down on the ground and the Avatar sensed him through the earth.

Without even turning around, he bent the stone beneath them to rise up and grabbed hold of Ozai's fist, making his fireball go wide. He moved to the other side and bent the stone to hold the other hand as well. He then stood in front of him and bent the bindings down to the stone, taking his hands with him. The Phoenix King tried to breathe fire at him for one last attempt, but he shielded himself with. He walked forward and placed his hands on Ozai's head and his chest.

As he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the lion turtle's words came back to him.

"In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves."

He raised his head up and opened his eyes. Beams of blue light shot forth from his eyes and his mouth. A moment after those appeared; red beams emerged from Ozai's eyes and mouth. Both of their bodies became encased in the energy (blue for Aang, red for Ozai). The lights from each shone brightly in the air, reaching so high into the sky many people from far away could see them.

As Aang struggled against Ozai, he remembered the rest of what the lion turtle said.

"To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed."

Slowly, the red energy from Ozai began to crawl over Aang, encasing his body. The right light began to chase away the blue, leaving a single ray that was getting smaller and smaller. Just as the red energy fully encased him, many voices inside of him roared as one. "NO! WE. WILL. NOT. BEND!" They declared.

Finding to strength to push back, Aang strengthened his own spirit and then rammed it against Ozai's. The red quickly fled as the blue fully engulfed the two of them, shining a bright blue light into the air for all to see and sending a powerful beam up into the heavens.

The lights and energy disappeared and both stumbled back from exhaustion. Aang remained on his feet while Ozai collapsed onto his back, his bindings broken. He tried to bend fire at the Avatar, but nothing came forth from his hands. "What…what did you do to me?" He asked.

"I took away your Firebending." Aang told him. "You can't use it to hurt or threaten anyone else ever again." He walked to the edge of the pillar and looked down at the destruction before him. He took a deep breath as his tattoos and eyes briefly glowed. He gently raised his hands and bent the ocean to rise up and flood the forest. It extinguished all the fires and grabbed hold of the airship fleet wreckage. Once all was done, he bent the ocean back down to what it was before, taking the ships with it. As he stood over what he had done, Momo flew back to him and landed on his shoulder.

(Location: Naruto)

They had all stopped when they saw the lights appear in the sky. When he saw the blue beam of light go straight into the sky, he knew what that meant. "Jiraiya, do me a favor." He said.

"What's that, gaki?" The Toad Sage asked him.

"Bring down the house."

He grinned. As he leapt into the air, he bit his thumb and flashed through handseals. "Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Jutsu)!" He cried out. A big cloud of smoke appeared and out of that cloud, a big toad whose skin color was aquamarine and carried two katanas on his back, crashed into the ground next to the army.

To say the army was shocked and stunned at what they saw would've been an understatement. "Alright, listen up!" Naruto shouted, getting their attention. "You all saw the lights. They were coming from Wulong Forest. That was where Ozai had planned to strike first. I'm guessing the Avatar fought him and won. So now you have a choice: you can either try to follow your orders and end being shish-kabobs for a toad. Or you can surrender and live. What will it be?"

The soldiers all looked at each other, then at the toad, and then at him. "We surrender to you, Lord Naruto." One of the soldiers said as they knelt to the ground and raised their hands over their heads.

He smiled at those words. "I was hoping you'd say that."

(Location: Wulong Forest)

As the Comet flew overhead, the airship Sokka and his team had commandeered landed next to the pillar Aang and Ozai were on. "Way to go, Aang!" Sokka told him as he walked onto the pillar with the help of Suki and Toph. "That was one heck of a fight."

Suki walked over to the prone form of Ozai. "So did you, you know…finish the job?" She asked Aang.

"I'm still alive." Ozai growled weakly at her, making her back away.

"I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance." Aang explained. "I took away his Bending."

"Wow!" Toph said in surprise. "Who taught you that?"

"A giant lion turtle," He answered.

"You have the craziest adventures when you disappear."

Sokka hopped over to Ozai. "So you didn't kill him." He repeated.

"I couldn't do it." Aang told him. All life was sacred, even such a life as Ozai.

"You do realize that Naruto will probably chew you out for this, right?" The Tribesman asked him.

"I will worry about that when I get there."

He turned his attention back to Ozai. "Not so high and mighty now." He said. "You're not much without your Firebending, are you?"

"I am the Phoenix King!" Ozai snapped at him before falling forward in unconsciousness.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to offend you, Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whooped." Toph said mockingly.

"Yeah, or how about the King of the…Guys Who…Don't Win?" said Suki rather pathetically.

"…You're going to have to work on that." Sokka told her.

"But for now, leave the nicknames to us." Toph said. As they stood there, Sozin's Comet disappeared into the horizon. There was a brief light as it disappeared. Then it was gone and all that remained was the night before the dawn.

(Location: Fire Nation Capital)

It had been a week since the battle at Wulong Forest. The Royal City still had buildings that had been destroyed by the Agni Kai, but was still packed nonetheless. The reason for this was because peace was to be declared and a new Fire Lord was to be crowned. Inside the palace, Zuko struggled to put on his clothes. It was hard, due to the pain his wounds gave him. "You need some help with that?" A familiar voice asked him.

He turned around to see who it was. "Mai! You're okay!" He said happily as she walked over. "They let you out of prison?"

"My uncle pulled some strings." She answered as she helped him into his clothes. "And it doesn't hurt when the new Fire Lord is your boyfriend."

"So does this mean you don't hate me anymore?" He asked hopefully.

"I think it means…I actually kind of like you." She said while blushing. The two of them shared a kiss. "But don't ever break up with me again!" She told him, poking his shoulder to emphasize her point. He grinned nervously and nodded in agreement. They pulled each other into a hug after that.

In the plaza, people were talking to other people and meeting new ones. The members of the invasion force who had been taken prisoner had been freed and were now among the crowd. Katara and Sokka were making their way through the crowd; looking for someone (Sokka was using a crutch due to his sprained leg).

"Dad!" cried the two of them when they saw Hakoda. They ran over to him and engulfed him in a group hug.

"I heard what you two did." He told them. "I am the proudest father in the world. And your mother would've been proud too." He told Katara, who cried a few tears of joy at the thought of that.

Hearing footsteps, Sokka looked at where they were coming from and saw Suki in full gear along with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. "There are my favorite warriors!" He said in greeting. "I have to admit, I kind of missed the face paint. So how does it feel to be back in uniform again?" He asked.

"It feels great!" Ty Lee said, appearing from behind Suki, wearing the full gear of the Kyoshi Warriors.

"…I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" He asked. Akela padded over to her and sniffed her. He padded and nodded. That was Sokka needed to know that was indeed Ty Lee.

"It is okay, Sokka, she's one of us now." Suki told him.

"Yeah, the girls and I really bonded in prison." Ty Lee explained. "And after a few chi-blocking lessons, they said I could join their group. We're going to be best friends forever." She hugged two of the warriors and all three of them wore big grins.

"Hey, where are Naruto and Azula?" Katara asked, looking around.

"I'm right here." Azula said as she and Jiraiya joined them.

"So these are the Kyoshi Warriors that you lead, Suki." Jiraiya said as he eyed them. "I must say, those uniforms make you all look quite fetching." Before anyone could say anything or do anything, a kunai flew through the crowd and struck the ground between his legs. He bent over and picked it up. Pulling the piece of paper that was attached off, he read it.

Please remember you're in public, pervert.

Naruto

"He is good." Sokka said after he read the note aloud.

"I am not a pervert." Jiraiya protested. "I'm a…" Another kunai struck the ground between his legs. The piece of paper attached to it read:

Super Pervert, I know. You're still in public. Also, they're younger than sixteen.

Naruto

"How does he keep doing that!?" demanded Ty Lee.

"I told you already." Azula said. "You are never going to find out."

Zuko walked down the room to the curtained exit. On one side of the exit sat Aang, dressed in formal robes and wearing a wooden medallion with Air Nomad symbol engraved on it. On the other side of the exit was Naruto, who was leaning against the wall. "I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down." Zuko told Aang. "And now…"

"And now we're friends." He replied.

"Yeah, we are friends."

"I can't believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice." He said as he stood up.

"Well, I can still believe that you're an idiot." Naruto told him. The blonde had changed out of the prison uniform he had been wearing since Konoha. Now he wore white pants that were tucked into his sandals with a shuriken holster strapped on his right leg and a long-sleeved black jacket. Cloth was wrapped around his waist and from that cloth, hung a white half-skirt with black flames at the bottom. It stopped just below his left knee. Since he lost his jian in the midst of battle, he finally gave up on the weapon and never bothered to look for it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aang asked him.

"You should've killed Ozai."

"I couldn't. And with Energybending, I didn't have to. With his Firebending gone, Ozai isn't a threat to anyone."

"Ozai had more than just Firebending. It would've been simpler to kill him."

"Why are you so mad at me for not taking his life?" He asked the Fire Paragon.

"Because you need to learn the lesson that comes with it," He told him.

"What are you talking about? What lesson is there that you learn from killing?"

"You learn how not to kill."

"But I learned that from the monks." He protested.

Naruto shook his head. "No, they taught you how to dodge, evade, and defend. They did not teach you how not to kill." He had learned the lesson on the battlefield.

"But you can explain to me, right? You've already told me what the lesson is."

"It's not something you can explain. It's only something you will learn once you stand over a person who you killed. There will come a time that you will have to kill, Aang, and I can only hope that you will learn the lesson well."

"I will never kill." He vowed. "I will not take someone's life from them."

He scoffed. "You are still naïve."

"That's enough." Zuko said, stopping the argument. "Naruto, you didn't come here to get into an argument with Aang. Have the soldiers I sent out come back?"

"Yes."

"What did they say?"

"That there's no single piece of evidence of Yāo Jing being there. No pools of blood, no trails where she might've tried to drag herself to. And there was no evidence of another party taking her away."

"Are you sure?" He asked, wanting to be certain.

"I had the Yuyan archers look over the scene to double-check. They told me the same thing. For all intents and purposes, it looked like Yāo Jing simply disappeared."

He sighed. "I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us."

"If it does, we'll take care of it then. But right now, the two of you have a ceremony and a speech to do. You'd better get going." Both Aang and Zuko nodded in agreement. They walked through the curtain and after a few moments, Naruto followed.

The crowd stood in organized groups as they waited. One of the Fire Sages rang a gong as Zuko stepped out into the open. As soon as they saw him, the crowd began to cheer. "Please." He said, raising his hand to silence them. "The real hero is the Avatar." He stepped to the side and allowed Aang to walk forward. The crowd began to cheer loudly when they saw him, but he only had eyes for a certain female Waterbender, who had the same for him.

"Today, this war is finally over!" Zuko declared as he stood side-by-side to Aang, making the crowd cheer even louder. "I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation. And I will. The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left these countries scarred and divided. But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love and peace."

He knelt down to his knees. The head Sage began to walk forward, only to be stopped by Naruto, who whispered something in his ear. He nodded in agreement and gave the headpiece of the Fire Lord to him. He walked up behind the kneeling Zuko and raised the headpiece, his Medallion out for everyone to see and to know who he was. "All hail Fire Lord Zuko!" He declared in an authoritative voice, placing the headpiece of the Fire Lord in Zuko's top knot.

He stood up as the crowd began to cheer again. He walked forward, only to stop, look back at Aang, and gestured for him to join him. They stood at the edge of the stairs, listening to the cheering people.

Later, when the ceremony was over, Zuko made his way to the Royal Prison. He walked into the prison and made his way to a cell. He opened the door and walked in, staring at the prisoner in the cage.

"I should count myself lucky." Ozai said sarcastically as he took notice of Zuko. "The new Fire Lord has graced me with his presence in my lowly prison cell."

"You should count yourself lucky that the Avatar spared your life. We both know if it had been Naruto or anyone else, you wouldn't be here." Zuko told him, making him scoff. "Banishing me was the best thing you could have done for my life. It put me on the right path. Perhaps your time in here will do the same for you."

"…Why are you really here? Are you going to demand I tell you where your mother is?"

"No. Naruto took both me and Azula to see her. We know she's alive and that's enough for now."

"Then why are you here?"

"Yāo Jing is dead." He said.

"What?" Ozai asked, shock and grief evident in his voice.

"You heard me. She's dead." He turned around and walked back to the door. "Goodbye, Father." He said before closing the door behind him and walking away.

End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you have sent me.

And so now, the canon storyline of the Last Airbender is done…but I'm not! Stick around because now, we are all original!

For the record, Yāo Jing will not be appearing in this story again. If you want to keep reading about her, I direct you to the author Fan of Fanfics21 and his story, Avatar: Cataclysm. I'll give you fair warning, all of his stories are intertwined and you will have to read them all to get a clear picture of what he's doing. You will get a headache in the process.

If you still don't like the fact I kept Naruto's fight short, I repeat: five different fights that all had to be written at the same time. Some of them had to be short.

What Naruto told Aang does make sense if you think about it. If you kill someone, you realize that you've just taken someone out of other peoples' lives. Once you've experienced that feeling, there's a good chance you never want to feel it again. Aang thinks because he was taught by the Air Nomads, he either thinks he doesn't need to know this lesson or thinks it doesn't apply to him.

I'll see you all next chapter!