Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Avatar the Last Airbender or its characters

Opame sat up suddenly, alert.

She wasn't normally a sound sleeper, since she had lived her whole live always being alert. The smallest sounds could often wake her up. She was honestly surprised that she hadn't been waken up by a bird before now.

But this sound. . . .

What was that?

She looked over to where Zuko had been lying and found him sitting up as well. He noticed her looking, but when she opened her mouth to speak, he placed a finger to his lips. He did a shooing gesture before shifting into a crouch, slinking off into the bushes.

They needed to move.

Opame crawled over quietly and gently placed her hand over Ceba's mouth, waking him up. He met her eyes, startled and she too placed a finger over her lips.

The sound was getting closer. It sounded like footsteps but harder, louder on the grassy ground than they should have been.

Metal.

Grabbing Ceba's hand, she pulled him to his feet and off in a different direction from Zuko. They took light steps, their feet barely touching the ground. The footsteps shifted, heading in their direction. Opame made them stop and she pointed up. Ceba nodded, bending his knees and leaping into the air. Opame followed, landing on a branch across from her brother's. She gestured for her brother to push back into the branches as she did.

Below them a man, big, bald, terrifying walked beneath their hiding spot. He turned his head, looking around, sniffing the air. Across the way, Ceba stared at her with wide eyes and she shook her head as minutely as she could. The man looked up and Opame silently ducked back, catching a glimpse of an eye tattoo on his forehead.

He stared in that direction for a little bit longer before he walked off, his metal feet echoing. Ceba started to move and Opame held her hand out, shaking her head again. She'd rather them sit in the tree and wait for him to move completely on.

After a moment, in the distance, there was shouting, explosions. Opame wrapped her arms around the branch above her head as the world around them seemed to tremble.

Where was Zuko? Her heart was in her throat. Was he the one shouting? Was anyone hurt?

Then silence fell. The siblings sat in their trees for a moment longer, but still nothing.

"Opame," Ceba whispered.

"I don't know," she answered. "Just – wait."

Gently, she crawled to the edge of her branch and leapt down, floating to the ground. She land in a crouch, looking up at her brother. "Stay here," she mouthed.

She crept through a bush, keeping light on her feet. She made it back to their camp but there was no sight of Zuko.

Where was he?

Crack!

Opame shifted, reaching behind her to grab the person shirt before she swept their legs out from under them. She followed them to the ground, her fist poised high in the air. She gasped. "Zuko!"

He winced from his position on the ground. "You're always surprising me," he groaned

"Stop sneaking up on me then!"

Opame sat back on her knees, letting the prince sit up. He rubbed his elbow, looking her over. "Are you and Ceba alright?"

His shirt looked a bit charred but otherwise, he seemed okay. Before she could stop herself, Opame flung her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him back down. He wrapped one arm around his waist, using the other to brace himself. She realized she was starting to recognize the smell of him, like a warm campfire. He felt warm in her arms as well. . . .

"Is everything okay?"

Opame jerked back, looking at her brother, who was peering at them from behind a tree. When she looked back to Zuko he was staring at her shocked. "I – I thought . . . there was a lot of screaming. I was worried! We heard shouting and explosions and –"

"That was, er," Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "The assassin I hired. We had a bit of a – contract disagreement."

"Is everyone okay?" Ceba asked, stepping fully out into the open.

"Not the assassin," Zuko responded with a slight smirk, earning him a light slap on the arm from Opame.

"So, the Avatar and his friends? Everyone is alright?" she asked.

"Yea, yes, everyone is fine. But we're probably going to have to get used to calling him Aang," Zuko added, getting to his feet. He held out his hands to her and she placed hers in his, letting him lift her up.

Opame's brow furrowed in confusion. "Do you mean –"

Ceba grabbed Zuko's sleeve. "Are we going to go to the Air Temple? Finally?"

Zuko nodded down at the little boy. "We got to get packed up."

Grinning, Ceba rushed forward to the tent, his backside wiggling in the air as he pulled out their things. Opame smiled after her brother fondly before looking to Zuko. He was staring down at her too and she gave him a small smile. "You did it."

He took a deep breath, his grip on her hands tightening slightly. "Almost. You're right. I can tell they're still skeptical."

"Just be patient," Opame responded. "Give them time."

Again, Opame became very aware of his closeness, of him. His golden eyes, the silky black hair that hung over his forehead, the fall of his top over his broad shoulders.

Stop.

Quickly, she slid her hands out of his, folding them behind her back with her as she rocked back away onto her heels, giving him that practiced smile. "Well . . . let's go."

Aang sat with his friends around a fire, waiting for Zuko to come back. The sun was setting in the distance, the wind blowing gently through the temple. The younger kids were off exploring again, blowing off steam after that surprise attack they had from Sparky Sparky Boom Man. Everyone else though, still felt tense, especially Katara. Though it had been Aang's decision to let their old enemy join them, he hoped that had been right. He also knew he couldn't doubt this; he had to trust his gut and he most certainly needed a Firebending instructor.

"Ah," Toph started sitting up straight. "I forgot!"

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"With everything that happened, I meant to tell you." Toph held up two fingers in their direction. "There were two other people with Zuko at his campsite."

"Wait, what?!" Sokka responded, sitting up straight.

"Who were they?" Katara demanded.

"Obviously I couldn't tell," Toph responded, her brow furrowing in a frown. "But – one of them, them felt light, small, like a little kid. The other was a girl, I heard her voice. But not Azula or one of those other girls," Toph added quickly as the other three exchanged a glance.

Sokka reached for his boomerang, eyeing his sister and Aang. "We should be ready, just in case."

"I'm sure it's not like that," Aang assured, standing up. "We need Zuko, I need Zuko. Like we said before, it's not like Firebending Masters are just growing on trees."

"Like I said before," Toph grumbled, folding her arms. "It doesn't matter anyway. They're coming now," she added as they turned in her direction.

Katara and Sokka got to their feet, looking ready for a fight. Sure enough, Zuko's silhouette started down the staircase, two people following behind him. One moved carefully down the stairs directly behind the prince while the other bounced happily behind them, take the steps two at a time.

Like . . . they were floating.

Aang, Katara and Sokka all exchanged a glance as they moved forward, past the fire. The darkening sky made it hard to see but Aang could see that Toph had been right (though he would be foolish to think she wasn't). As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the girl reached back, holding her hand out to the little boy, who took it as he landed next to her.

"Huh," Sokka whispered. "He moves –"

"Just like Twinkle Toes," Toph finished from behind them.

Aang frowned in confusion as the three got closer, Zuko in front of the other two. The Prince shifted his bag on his shoulder, giving them an awkward smile. "I – I hope it's okay that I brought some friends," he mumbled. He stepped aside slightly, gesturing for the two to step forward. She glanced at him, unsure, but he nodded. "This is –"

"Shenden," Aang whispered.

His friends and Zuko all looked in his direction but he couldn't tear his gaze away from the girl in front of him. It couldn't be possible, he knew that, but she looked just like her. Same wavy black hair, same stormy gray eyes, same round face with a dimple in her left check. She even stood the same, back straight, poised.

He had only met her once, on a trip to the Eastern Air Temple, where he had met Appa for the first time. Shenden had been training to be a Sister. She had had such a calming presence and he remembered overhearing the other Sisters saying how in tune with the spirits she had been. This girl was about the same age she had been when he first met her.

Aang fell to his knees in shock. Katara rushed forward, placing her hands on his shoulders. In front of him, the girl placed her bag down, exchanging a glance with Zuko before she slowly made her way forward. "I'm sorry. . . . I'm not Shenden."

The disappointment was palpable. He knew it was too good to be true, too good to hope that someone else had survived. She got down on her knees as well, folding her hands in her lap. "But – but she was my great-grandmother."

Aang looked up, his eyes growing wide as he met hers. She gave him a small smile as she reached forward to gently take his hands. Immediately, he felt like he had known this woman forever, he felt calmer. "Shenden . . . she lived? She had a family?"

"Yes, she did." She turned slightly, gesturing for the little boy to come forward. He did so, slowly, taking her hand she offered it, letting himself be pulled to his knees. "I'm Opame. And this is my brother Ceba."

"It's nice to meet you, Avatar Aang," Ceba whispered, giving him a wide smile.

Aang stared between the two of them, trying to process. He was overcome by sadness, relief, joy, so much so that it was becoming increasingly hard to speak. "There's – there's two of you. Are you – can you –" he hesitated, not quite sure how to ask the question that was at the forefront of his mind.

"We're both Benders," Opame answered. "And we'd love to learn from you, if that's alright."

He nodded, tears coming to his eyes and a wide smile coming to his face. "Yes. Yea of course it's alright! It's more than alright!"

He flung his arms around Opame and Ceba's necks, drawing them in close. The siblings responded in kind, wrapping their arms around him too as the Avatar cried. He never thought he would feel this way ever, never allowed himself to feel anymore hope that his people where out there, especially after seeing the Southern Air Temple. But here they were. Proof that the Air Nomads continued to push forward, to survive.

He was no longer the Last Airbender.