Chapter 14

TIME JUMP.

Zuko rubbed the space between his eyes, he was exhausted. He sat in the council meeting room with the other council members as well as the leaders of the other nations. They had recently received word of the death of Iroh. Zuko come to Republic City immediately upon hearing of it. His grief for the loss of his father figure was immeasurable. He felt so much older, and the responsibilities of being firelord, father and husband, and helping to rebuild the world his forefathers had destroyed were evident on his face. He had left Mai at home with his two children; Mai was put in charge of managing the funeral events that accompanied the death of such a high ranking official. This greatly relieved him as he was unable to cope with the idea as of yet, besides he had business to attend to in Republic City. The meeting was wrapping up, Aang, who had long since felt that he was stretched too thin, had nominated a trusted air acolyte to sit on the council on behalf of the air nomads, an elderly man who had embraced his culture fully. Zuko had nominated Iroh's replacement, a firenation woman who had always been loyal to the avatar. He looked around the table, Sokka and his father were huddled together discussing the events of the day, laughing at their stupid jokes…and how he envied them. The Earth king and his appointed representative were sitting directly across from him. He sat next to Aang, his friend, who probably understood what he was going through more than anyone. He hung his head and closed his eyes.

"I move we adjourn for some food," said Aang, standing from his seat, "and then unless there is something else pressing when we come back, we should go home to our families."

An air acolyte was summoned forward with a cart of food, which was promptly descended upon by the ravenous men.

Aang placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder and nodded his head to the door to indicate he wanted to talk.

Zuko followed him out and sat on the stone steps that led up to the courthouse, Aang sat next to him, flinging back his robes. Then he waited for Zuko to talk.

"How did you cope Aang?" he began, "the most influential person in my life is gone…and now I have no one to turn to."

Aang's heart broke for his friend; he remembered all too well the pain of losing one's family. Even now he felt the dulled ache that only the passage of time could quell. He chose his words carefully and responded, "Honestly…you just have to accept what has happened. Try to focus on the wisdom that Iroh gave you; he helped you to become the man you are today. But you know why you loved him; I don't have to remind you of that. I had to let new people fill my life. Now I have Katara, and my children, and of course Sokka's family and yours. You all comprise my new family. There's scarcely a day that goes by that I don't employ the teachings the monks gave me, or Bumi for that matter…but it hurts less and less as time goes on."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Zuko responded.

"I guess I know that…it's just hard to even think about getting to that point. I'm worried I will forget him. Aang it's been 18 years since you defeated my father. He's still in prison rotting away. I have no one to turn to, except you, for advice. I just, I can't imagine life in this world without him…" his head fell into his hands and his body shook as he sobbed.

All Aang could do was put a hand on his friends shoulder and reassure him that he would be there for him.

Aang's heart was heavy as he and the newly appointed councilman returned to the air temple on Appa. They landed and parted ways as he drearily walked up the pathway to his home.

In the yard Momo landed on his shoulder and he patted his old friends head. Katara and Kya were practicing water bending forms with the fountain monument to Gyatso. Bumi was excitedly scampering around throwing bombs of water at Kya periodically, wild hair whipping about in the wind, Sokka's idea no doubt. This warmed his heart somewhat. His dear daughter was 11, Bumi was 9.

"Daddy!" yelled Bumi, and Kya, running up to hug his father.

Aang chuckled as he fell down to one knee to receive the hugs of his children.

"Hey guys," he smiled, kissing Kya's head, "practicing hard?" she nodded, "you're not making your mother work too hard are you?"

"No sir," she replied proudly, "I've been doing all of my lessons so well she's barely had to show me!"

"Good, if you keep practicing you may be almost as good as your mother" he smiled, looking up at Katara, "and you Bumi, are you being calm enough for your mother to relax?"

"Yes! I helped mommy move some things around in the new baby's room," he said, puffing his little chest out.

Aang laughed heartily at this, "You're very strong, and I knew I could count on you to take care of everyone while I was away. Now…your grandfather is headed this way with Uncle Sokka. Why don't you go set the table for dinner? I need to talk to your mother."

"Okay!" they said in unison, and raced each other to the dining room.

He stood up and pulled Katara closer to him and brushed the hair out of her eyes. He placed a hand on her swollen abdomen. He could tell physically the toll that this pregnancy had taken on his wife this time around. She wasn't as young as she used to be, although still physically strong at 32.

She looked into her husband's eyes and smiled. He was so good with the children, and although he was often away, he made his time with them count; it only endeared him to her more.

"Is everything okay Aang? You seem tired," she queried.

Long past attempting to shield her from his worries he told her of how his heart broke for Zuko, he was worried he wasn't dealing with the loss well.

"I need to be there for the funeral," he said, "If you think you can make it, maybe you and the children should come too…are you…able?"

"Ha! Of course I am, we've still got 2 months, and it's not like it's too far away, send word out to Zuko that we will head to the fire nation with him tomorrow. I'm sure Suki will want to go as well, Ty Lee is the head of the fire lord's personal body guards, and she'll want to check in, and I suppose that will mean Sokka and father will want to go as well. Hmmm, I don't suppose Toph will be able to go, she's due any day…" she trailed off and started to wander away to pack up.

"Hey, wait up Katara," he said laughing, "did you forget about dinner? It can wait a minute, we can use the new telegraph machine to send word to Zukko, and Sokka, Hakoda and Suki will be here any minute."

He softly kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Katara, as usual my position has caused us to attend things I'd not normally ask you to do while you're pregnant. Just let me know if the journey ever gets to be too much for you and we can turn back."

"You'd think I was totally helpless," she giggled, "I can handle anything you can, even pregnant."

And with a flick of her wrist she sent a whip of water at Aang's behind, totally catching him off guard.

"Hey!" he said, laughing heartily as he watched her hurry off. What a woman.

Dinner passed in a blur of happiness. Even Zuko managed a laugh or two. However, after dinner, when tea was served and a tribute was offered to him and his late uncle, you could see the visible change in his demeanor.

He still hasn't accepted it, thought Aang shaking his head softly.

The large group headed out the next morning on Appa and another sky bison. Toph had managed to deliver a small token to be cremated with her great friend, and they made way for the fire nation.

Mai had done a beautiful job with the funeral proceedings, fire lilies were scattered around the great palace in abundance. The body of Iroh was placed on a stack of wood garnished with the richest silks in the fire nation. The crowd of people included those from every nation that Iroh had touched with his wisdom. Aang stood next to Zuko as he delivered his final remarks.

"There is so much that can be said for Uncle," he began, "but I have chosen to keep my remarks short. I would not be the man I am today if it weren't for his steady guidance and unshakable faith in me, even when I didn't give him cause to have faith. I can't…I can't begin to express how much you mean to me uncle," he said placing a hand on his uncle's and allowing himself a few tears. He motioned to the doors and legions of fire nation servants came in bearing cups and kettles of hot tea. When Zuko received his he very slowly lifted it up towards the heavens and drank…one last cup of tea with Iroh. The crowd was solemn and quiet as the soothing music of a koto played. Zuko nodded to Aang who ignited the wood. Zuko's children, a beautiful fiery young girl with black eyes and hair and a small boy, who looked exactly like Zuko, ran up to their father when they saw his distress. He fell to his knees and embraced them, allowing them and himself to comfort and grieve with each other. Mai slowly walked to them and kissed her husband on the forehead, offering as much comfort she could. The look in their eyes spoke volumes of their grief, and Aang could hardly look at them. He felt a small hand on his thigh and noticed that his family had come to comfort him as well; he picked up Bumi and embraced his girls sadly.

Most of the crowd was overwhelmed by this image and chose to stare blankly ahead, watching the flames lick the air, and some noticed, placed in each of his hands, a single pai sho piece.