DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN, NOR HAVE I EVER OWNED ATLA. I DO NOT OWN, NOR HAVE I EVER OWNED THE CHARACTERS IN ATLA. I DO NOT OWN, NOR HAVE I EVER OWNED NICKELODEON. HAVE NO AFFILIATION, NOR HAVE I EVER HAD ANY AFFILIATION WITH THE WRITERS OR ANIMATORS OF ATLA. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION, NOR HAVE I EVER HAD ANY AFFILIATION WITH NICKELODEON.

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I have started writing Prequels, here is a list of them:

A Second First Date; One month after Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai

Nightmares; A One-Shot Prequel to Together Again. Aang saved the world, he faced Ozai on his own. Everyone kept saying that he was a great hero, that he was so brave. He wore a brave face and acted all the hero they thought he was. But at night in his sleep he was a scared boy, scared for his life as he tried to get away from a psycho Firebender. The Battle came back at night.

Anila's Story; This is another Prequel to Together Again. It's about a Young Female Airbender just starting out in life. She was ready to travel the world as soon as she turns 16. Little does she know, Destiny has a grand purpose for her first child.

I Want to thank my beta readers for their help, advice, and contributions: 116788 (pen name not user ID) and ReverieNishio

*116788 (pen name not user ID) is available to beta read for others, she has 3 slots open right now.

Chapter 8

Zuko and the Kyoshi warriors arrived in Ba Sing Se 2 days before the debriefing about "The Azula Loyalists" attacks. They decided to visit Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon. When they walked in the front door some people were amazed that Fire Lord Zuko would visit a tea shop, even in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, but then Iroh was happy to see his nephew. He welcomed him into the shop and gave Zuko a hug like a father would give a son. "Hello Uncle, I'm so happy to see you!"

Zuko and Iroh sat together playing Pai Sho; of course Iroh won. They talked about their lives; Iroh told him about a lovely woman who comes to the shop twice a day, every day and how she flirts with him.

"I'm so happy for you Uncle," Zuko said, loving every minute with the man whom was a better father then he had had. "Have you asked her out yet?"

Iroh blushed a bit, which amused Zuko (not in a mean way). "No," the older gentleman said to his nephew, "I haven't worked up the nerve yet."

Now Zuko was laughing loudly. "You laid siege on Ba Sing Se for 600 days, you are a Grand Lotus in The Order of the White Lotus, you helped reclaim Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth Kingdom, but you are too nervous to ask a lady out!"

"When it comes to matters of the heart, Zuko, things are a bit more difficult." The former general replied. "By the way," Iroh asked, "how are things with your matters of the heart?"

Zuko was excited when his uncle asked him. He has hoped Uncle would ask him about it since he walked in The Jasmine Dragon. A smile spread across his face.

"Mai and I are betrothed! We're planning a small family wedding." Zuko reached into his robes and pulled out an invitation addressed to 'Uncle Iroh' "I want you there, and I want you to be in the seat designated for the 'Father of the Groom', Uncle. The wedding is supposed to be in two weeks, but we had to postpone it until after we deal with this terrorist group. This group calls themselves 'The Azula Loyalists' and consists of former Dai Lee and rogue firebenders. Ex-Admiral Zhao and Long Feng are its leaders." Zuko told his uncle.

"Oh no!" Iroh had a worried expression "Anything with Azula's name can't be good, but to add Zhao to it is double trouble. This is not good, not good at all."

"My mother, her husband Ikum, and my little sister Kiyi, should've arrived at my palace yesterday..." Zuko sighed sadly "I wanted to be there to welcome them, but like always Azula messes with my life. I hate it Uncle."

"That girl really needs to have her Chi blocked." Uncle said. "As her guardian you should have Ty Lee Chi-block her."

"My mother wants to try love first instead of medication." Zuko informed him. "She wants to change Azula by showing her the support and love from a mother."

"Ursa was always a wonderful mother to you and your sister; it was Ozai that tainted that poor girl." Iroh noted.

Zuko only nodded. Having finished their conversation, they both stood up. "Thank you for your wisdom, Uncle. You have always been able to put my mind to rest. I love you." Zuko said, hugging his uncle before leaving.

Zuko walked through Ba Sing Se in disguise so that he wouldn't be recognized while he was shopping. He wanted to find gifts for his family-both of his families. He was happy that he would be seeing the rest of Team Avatar as early as tomorrow.

As Zuko (dressed as Lee) was walking around when he ran into Jin, the girl from the tea shop that liked Lee.

"Lee? LEE!" Jin called.

'Lee' turned to see Jin. It had been almost 6 years since he had seen her but he remembered her right away.

"Oh my Spirits! I haven't seen you in a while! How have you been? What happened to you?" Jin asked him. She had recognized him by his scar.

"A lot happened to me in the last six years... Want to go find a place to sit down and talk?" Zu-Lee suggested.

They found a grassy area and sat under a tree. Jin started the reunion by telling him some of the things that happened to her. When she was done, she asked him about what's been going on with him lately.

"Jin," the man with a scar started, "I'm going to tell you something but I don't want you to be scared of me."

"Why would I possibly be scared of you?" She said with a smile.

"Okay... First off, Lee isn't really my name. My name is Zuko."

"Zuko?"

"And I'm not even from the Earth Kingdom... I'm from the Fire Nation."

"Fire Nation? Why where you in Ba Sing Se?" Jin asked him.

"I, along with my uncle, was banished from the Fire Nation by my father. But I was allowed to go back home 6 years ago." He told her.

"So that's why you disappeared... I'm not scared that you are from the Fire Nation. It's fine." She smiled again.

"I'm not just Zuko from the Fire Nation... I'm now Fire Lord Zuko." He stated.

She was taken aback. "How are you the Fire Lord?"

"Because when you met me I was Banished Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. The Avatar defeated Ozai, and I took my rightful place as the Fire Lord."

"Oh my goodness! No wonder you couldn't juggle." she giggled.

"I'm sorry I lied about who I am." He apologized earnestly.

"So that's how the lanterns all got lit that night." She laughed a little. "You're a firebender!"

They chatted for a while. But Zuko remembered he had his shopping to do. "It was great chatting with you, but I need to get going." Zuko told her.

"Oh, yes! You must be busy being the Fire Lord and all." Jin commented. The both of them stood up and went to their separate ways, wishing each other good luck.

After walking along the shops, Zuko bought an adventure/romance book that Katara would love, a new head band with little bumpy beads for Toph, an awesome new sword for Sokka, and for Aang a beautifully-decorated razor.

He also bought for his mother a beautiful comb, a lovely doll with royal clothing and a child's dress and shoes to match the doll for Kiyi, and for Ikum new props for his performing group.

The sun was starting to set by the time he was finished shopping. He boarded the train to the upper ring, where he will be staying in a fancy guest house given by the Earth King.

The next morning, Zuko was sitting at the garden in the midst of four guest houses. Two houses were facing another direction, where he, Ty Lee and Suki were staying. The other two houses in the opposite direction will be for Aang and his friends.

Zuko was relaxing under the sun when all of a sudden, the hot rays were blocked by something very big. He opened his eyes just in time to see Appa land.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph climbed off of Appa and ran to say hello to their friend. There were hugs all over, and formalities were not needed among them. Avatar, Fire Lord, Princess, Prince/ Chief-in-Training… these titles meant nothing to them. The only title that mattered was "friend".

Suki and Ty Lee came out from the guest house. Suki practically tackled Sokka. More hugs all around.

They caught up with each other. Zuko gave them his wedding invitations. Aang and Katara told Zuko about their upcoming wedding also. Sokka told them he was going to make another space sword. Toph told them about how successful her metalbending school was. It was great to be "Together Again"! It felt like years had gone by even though it had only been a few months since they last saw each other.

Later that day they all got into disguises and walked down to The Jasmine Dragon to visit Iroh. The old general was ecstatic to see them all. Hugs and catching up all around. "It is so wonderful to see you all again." Iroh said. "You are like family to each other, and a family needs to see each other more often." The wise old man told them.

(A/N I'm not all that great with war details but I'll do my best.)

"There are 300 ex-Dai Li and rogue firebenders in total." One general reported.

"They have destroyed 5 small villages already." Another general said.

"We must stop them. We need to protect the people." Zuko proclaimed.

"We need to make a decision." Another general proposed.

"With the approval of the generals and your Earthiness, I would like to request 300 troops under the command of your generals to stop them. The longer we sit here, the more people get hurt and lose their homes." Aang stated.

The Fire Lord declared his proposal. "Earth King Kuei, with your approval, I would like to bring in 300 of my own troops. I ask this because I feel responsible for everything. Azula is my insane sister and Zhao was an Admiral in my father's military. With 300 more, we double the military force."

"How long would it take for your troops to arrive at the Earth Kingdom? As Avatar Aang has said earlier, the longer we sit here more people will get hurt. We need to act quickly." The Earth King asked.

"I have already sent 5 ships in advance, awaiting your orders to help or return to the Fire Nation." Zuko told him.

"I accept your troops. There's one tiny problem: I don't want my people to get scared and think that the Fire Nation is attacking again." The Earth King worried.

"I have an idea!" Sokka suggested. "What if we give the Fire Nation troops Earth Kingdom banners and arm bands so they will be recognized as Fire Nation troops under Earth Kingdom command?" Sokka put in, very proud of his idea too.

"Sokka, you are an Idiotic Genius." Toph said dryly.

"I like it!" King Kuei said "But how will we get the banners and arm bands to the Fire Nation troops?"

"The sky." Aang told him. "Zuko has a war balloon and I have Appa. So we will need a couple of your generals, several Earth Kingdom banners, and I think 500 arm bands 200 extra for if anyone wants to help fight for their homes." The Avatar told them.

"Request granted!" the King said, "War meeting adjourned."

"I have gifts for all of you." Zuko told them as they reached their shared garden.

"Gifts for us?" They said in unison.

"PRESENTS FROM THE FIRE LORD! No fire flakes please." Sokka squealed.

"Ouch, Snoozles! No need to scream like a girl!" Toph said, covering her ears.

Everyone laughed. "That's my guy!" Suki giggled. She loved Sokka so much... quirks and all.

"You guys are my family. Of course I have gifts for you; what good is being the Fire Lord if I can't give my family gifts?" Zuko said with a smile.

"I had no idea you felt like that about us. We love you too" Katara told him. They all joined in a big group hug.

Zuko went into his guest house and emerged with his arms filled with wrapped packages for them.

Katara loved her new book; she couldn't wait to start reading it. Toph tried on her new head band, Aang thought his razor was beautiful, and Sokka and Zuko practiced sword fighting.

"We leave the day after tomorrow. Anyone want to do anything today?" Toph asked.

"Sorry, but I am planning a surprise for Suki." Sokka told them.

"I am planning to dress as Lee and work on my uncle's tea shop. An afternoon of not being the Fire Lord... less stress." Zuko told everyone.

"I'm going to find some metal to bend." Toph told them. "There is still quite a bit left from the war."

"We were planning to stay home because I want to start reading my new book." Katara said.

"She is partly lying. I think she wants alone time with Aang, too." Toph said.

"Sokka is having alone time with Suki." Aang complained. "Why can't Katara and I eat in and have alone time? We are already betrothed aren't we?"

"Ok, ok! Have fun staying in... Booorrrring!" Sokka told them.

Everyone scattered to get ready for their evenings.

After not too long the house was empty of everyone except Aang and Katara.

Katara was reading her new book while Aang was meditating... Or was he?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! GOOD OR BAD I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK.

XXX NEXT CHAPTER IS A LEMON CHAPTER XXX