The first 16 chapters belong to Avatarfan792, and I take no credit for them. Here is a link to where the story was originally posted: s/14303822/1/The-Aftermath
Chapter 3: Diplomacy
AN: I once again am so humbled that more people have chosen to leave reviews, especially with the kind comments. This project is one that I took on to practice my writing, since English is my second language. It brings me so much joy that people are enjoying my story! Thank you again to everyone who takes their time to read this, review or not. It means the world to me :)
This chapter is here to start to push forward some of the plot to the story, so not as much fluff. Sorry! Also, my first ever Original Character gets introduced! I hope you all enjoy!
Katara eyes slowly fluttered open, battling against the sudden rays of light shining in from the balcony door. She stretched slowly, raising her arms over her head as she tried to acclimate to her surroundings. She still heard the slight snores behind her and in front of her. Stretching her body out more by turning around, she could see the rock tent that Toph had made still closed. As she turned back to face the front, she noticed her brother and Suki still in each other's arms. Stifling a yawn, she slowly stood up before remembering that there should be a person next to her. Looking down to her left, she noticed the empty bedroll where Aang had been sleeping next to her.
Aang.
What a night. She still was trying to process if everything was real. From what turned into a conversation of making sure the airbender was okay, turned into a night of confessions and . . . romance? What was last night? She let out a sigh as she pondered that information. She was so tired of them dancing around each other, both feeling the same way. . . but that thought still was lingering in the back of her head- was what happened just because of the heat of the moment?
As she took her water tribe clothing and headed to the bathing chambers of the Fire Nation Palace, that question replayed over and over in her mind. No . . . it couldn't have been another heat of the moment kiss. They had clearly felt the same way about each other. They confessed to each other. As she slowly waded into the water, she allowed herself to relax. There's no reason to worry anymore. We won the war. Peace will slowly be returning. I'm in love with Aang . . . and he knows it!
Katara smiled as she started her routine of getting ready for the important day. Today, they were having peace talks between the four nations, and they would be making their final vote for the coronation of the new Fire Lord. Today would be a monumental day for the world. One that has been dreamed of for a century now. The best thing about it all? She would get to play a part in it. She had been chosen along with her brother and father to be representatives of the water nation. Katara let out a small chuckle. Nine months ago my life was nothing. I was just some water tribe peasant who lost her temper with her brother on a fishing trip.
Now look how far she's come. She has never been one to flaunt her success, but what Aang had said yesterday was true. On this journey together, she had learned to trust in herself and become independent, fighting for what's right. She fought to become a waterbending master, and now her name was widely known across the world for her abilities. Most importantly . . . she had a family again. Not only had Sokka and her been reunited with her father, but their family had grown. Aang was a brother, but now he's . . . what is he now? They never really discussed it yesterday, they were just enjoying the moment. Establishing world peace? Figuring out her own relationship? Katara sighed . . . just another day for this waterbender . . .
Aang groaned. He hated to admit it . . . but he actually kind of wished the war was still going on right now. Who knew that finally overcoming Fire Lord Ozai on the comet and fulfilling his destiny would lead to so many . . . meetings? Aang and Zuko were pulled into another meeting two hours before sunrise with the Fire Sages to discuss upcoming events. Finally, one of the Fire Sages stood up and began to speak.
"Prince Zuko, Avatar Aang. Thank you for joining us today. As you both know, today is going to be extremely busy as it is an important day. Prince Zuko, the rest of the nations will vote for your right to the throne, if the majority of the nations agree, we will arrange for the coronation to take place tomorrow. This will take place during our peace meeting this afternoon. But, we still have much to discuss, as our objective is to get all of these nations out of here so we can begin to rebuild."
Aang shook his head at the last part. He and his friends have fought way too long for the Fire Nation to just go back to being an independent nation. "Pardon me for interrupting, but do you really find it necessary to quickly go back to an independent nation? Forgive me for my skepticism, but how does the rest of the world know that the Fire Nation won't just turn around and try to take everything over again? I hate to say it, but there will be a lot of mistrust from other nations. If the Fire Nation wants to truly come to peace with the rest of the world, they have to show a willingness to work together."
To his surprise, the soon to be Fire Lord nodded in agreement. "The Avatar is right. In my time of banishment, I noticed people all around the world have come to fear the Fire Nation symbol. If we immediately shut ourselves off from the rest of the world, they will see no reason for us to be trustworthy again."
This clearly was not what the Fire Sages had wanted to hear. There were murmurs across the five of them across the table as they were discussing the counterpoints mentioned before.
"Then what do you propose, Avatar and Prince Zuko, that we do instead?" Aang sat back and thought about this for the moment. There was no one action or move that they could make to fix all of the world's problems. In fact, in order for balance to be achieved across the world is for the nations to work together themself. An idea then popped into his head.
"I don't find it ironic that it took a team of warriors from every nation to help end the war. The fact that our team had masters in every element did wonders for us. It wasn't only beneficial for battles, but we were able to have the perspective from each nation as we took on a situation. I think that it would be a wonderful idea to form some sort of group that does just that. Obviously, there would be no Air Nation representatives, but I think we could convince the rest of the world to have trust in each other by having the other three nations working together to restore peace."
To his surprise, there were actually a lot of people agreeing with him. But, to his demise, they would spend the next two hours hammering out the details of what this group would look like, and the mission that it would serve. As they walked out of the meeting, he was quickly handed some fruit to eat on the go, and he was pushed to the Chamber Hall where the peace meeting would be taking place.
As he entered the Chamber, his jaw had dropped at the elegance of the place. The interior of the Chamber was encased in white marble, with stone dragon heads protruding from the middle of each column. In the middle of the room was a large table, big enough to fit the entirety of the Southern Water Tribe he had met when he first came to. On each side of the table, a banner of each nation was hung up on the wall. To his right, the Fire Nation symbol stood tall, and a group of red-velvet chairs sat neatly against the table. To the left, the green Earth Kingdom banner took up most of the wall, while there were stone benches clearly made by earth bending for seating arrangements. Across the table he recognized the blue banner of the Water Nation, with their chairs backed with a fur cushion. Finally, where he was standing, behind him stood the old Air Nation symbol, a little tattered from its age from sitting on the wall. In front of him was one lone, wooden chair. Aang frowned. They really didn't know anything about his culture, did they?
The meeting was beginning, and slowly, the nation representatives began to make their way to the table. The Fire Sages and Zuko represented the Fire Nation. Toph, Suki, King Kuei, and two Earth Nobles he had recognized from Ba Sing Se had come to represent the Earth Kingdom. Across the table, he saw Bato, Hakoda, Sokka, Chief Arnook from the Northern Water Tribe, and Katara representing their element. Lastly, it was just him. Pain finally overtook his expression as he took a seat, representing his own nation. He looked across the table and saw Katara frowning at him, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. He tried his best to fake a smile and half wave to her, mouthing I'm okay, but he knew that she could tell he was lying. Fortunately, he didn't have to think about it as he was cut off by one of the Fire Sages.
"Good afternoon, people of all nations. We as representatives of the Fire Nation want to send our humble thankfulness to everyone for being able to attend today. We hope that after this meeting, the world will be taking its first steps towards peace after a century of fighting. Our first thing on the agenda is appointing a new Fire Lord for coronation. As is Fire Nation Customs, naturally the next person in line to take the throne with Ozai's defeat would be General Iroh. We have a written letter from him however that states his wish to not take over the throne. Therefore, the next in line would be Prince Zuko, son of Ozai and Nephew of General Iroh. Normally, the Fire Nation would vote in such matters, but we recognize that in order to move forward peacefully with the rest of the world, we would like the three other nations to take a vote."
Aang had no problem speaking up for this one. "To take on such a noble task as Fire Lord, the person who possesses that title must be courageous, be honorable, and must be true to themselves. I have had the pleasure of watching Prince Zuko take on the responsibility of righting the wrongs of his nation, and he has exemplified each attribute I described to the highest degree. Prince Zuko has the vote from the Air Nation." He looked over at Zuko, who was flashing a rare smile. The two humbly bowed to each other, basking in the new friendship that had been created due to the war.
Hakoda then stood up. "I have learned a lot of things as a leader, and one of those things is to trust those who are close to you. Both of my children have personal experience with the Prince, and vouch for him with every fiber of their being. I can also personally commend him for his bravery in breaking innocent prisoners out from the Boiling Rock. With this being said, Prince Zuko has the vote of the Water Tribes."
After a respectful bow from Hakoda and Zuko, King Kuei spoke from where he sat. "I hate to be the one that brings doubt to the Prince's leadership, but I can't forget the fact that he was also responsible in the original fall of Ba Sing Se. The Earth Kingdom would like more time to-" King Kuei suddenly yelped as his stone bench was suddenly flipped over and he fell flat on his back to the floor. Aang watched as Toph stood up, with a smirk on her face. "The Earth Kingdom happily votes for Prince Zuko."
At last, the Fire Sages stood up. "Very well then, tomorrow, Prince Zuko will be crowned as Fire Lord of the Fire Nation." A light applause from the room came as Zuko stood up, and bowed to the representatives before him.
"Thank you, I am honored to fill this position and serve the Nation that I love. Before we adjourn and prepare for said coronation tomorrow, I would like to first apologize on behalf of the Fire Nation for our wrongdoings. To the Water Tribes, both North and South, we apologize for our reckless sieging in your territory. Too many innocent lives, important lives, were taken. The Fire Nation would like to ask for your peace by providing our Nation's resources to help rebuild each Tribe to the prosperous state they once were." Each member of the Water Tribe nodded happily in agreement, exchanging a bow to each other.
"To the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation wanted to extend their deepest apologies. For reckless assault of the colonies, destroying and invading Omashu and Ba Sing Se, and the countless lives lost in the war. We would like to give our resources to help restore the two major cities of Omashu and Ba Sing Se, as well as make a donation to Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring, as we hope to make a difference and erase some of the poverty that exists because of the war." Once again, the Earth Kingdom representatives seemed happy with these claims, and the two parties bowed to one another.
Zuko then turned to Aang. "Lastly, the Air Nation. Avatar Aang, no apology or resource from the Fire Nation could possibly repair the unspeakable actions against your Nation. I personally wanted to take this moment to commend you for your drive to serve the world despite your circumstances. Even when my Nation has done the worst thing that mankind could possibly offer, you responded with peace and grace towards our Nation. The Fire Nation would like to formally offer you access to whatever resources you need to properly restore the four Air Temples. With your help, we would love to teach and train professors to open up colleges across the world to teach about Air Nomad culture and history." Zuko began to slowly walk towards Aang as he finished his speech. "Avatar Aang, from the bottom of my heart, I give you my sincerest apology for the actions of my people. They took away a wonderful Nation from the world, and I am honored that I have gotten to know the last remaining Airbender, let alone call him my friend. I hope you can forgive the Fire Nation for our awful transgressions against your people." With that, Zuko kneeled before Aang, showing the ultimate sign of respect. With tears streaming down his face, Aang quickly brought Zuko back up, and embraced him in a hug. "You have my forgiveness, Prince Zuko." Both parties let out a smile.
To end the meeting, one of the Fire Sages stood up. "Very well. We would like to conclude our meeting by announcing our last project. The Avatar had mentioned to us that the nations working together bring quite a large benefit to the world. Because of this, we have assigned our closest General Advisor, General Gun Ji, to lead this next operation. General Gun Ji will travel with the Avatar in hopes to form a militia of peace across the world. General Gun Ji is looking for benders of each element to join this militia, so they can travel the world and respond to revolts, assist cities in their effort to rebuild, and act as a symbol of hope for the future. General Gun Ji, please stand up and address the representatives."
Just then, a man that could literally be Iroh's doppelganger stood up. His large broad frame matched Iroh's before he was captured in Ba Sing Se, and his facial hair was done in the same way. The only differences between the two was that General Gun Ji still had his Fire Nation knot in his hair, and that the color of his hair was black. "Good afternoon, representatives of each Nation. I am most humbled to be chosen to lead this new initiative in spreading peace across the world. With our new militia, we intend to spread the wisdom and culture of each Nation to mix with each other. In these trying times after a war, it is important that the world knows that we can work together, and this militia will serve as the shining beacon example of a world at peace. I look forward to meeting you all at your homes individually, as I will be recruiting citizens of each Nation to proudly represent themselves in our militia. Thank you." Wow, he even talked like Iroh!
Finally, the meeting had ended. The four Nations each went out into the hallway, and Aang desperately needed some fresh air. Silently slipping past some people, the airbender was able to find a balcony overlooking the Palace Gardens. Just as he was beginning to breathe in the fresh air, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he was met by the sights of a beautiful Southern Water Tribe girl.
"Are you doing okay?" Katara whispered, worry filling her eyes. Aang let out a soft smile.
"Yeah, I'm okay." The two sat in a peaceful silence for a while, taking in the breathtaking view of the Gardens below. Aang decided it was time to break the tension. He grabbed Katara's hand. "Listen Katara, I wanted to talk about last night-"
"Ahhhh, the Avatar. I am pleased to meet you. You may remember me from the meeting as General Gun Ji, I am honored to be in your presence." With the General interrupting them, he bowed in their presence, before turning to Katara. "You must be Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, I am pleased to meet you." As he started to bow, he was interrupted by the airbender.
"Master Katara." Katara smiled. Even when other people failed to recognize her position, Aang was always quick to step up and see her as an equal. She squeezed Aang's hand in appreciation and bowed back to the General.
"My apologies, Master Katara. I've heard a lot about your cunningness and skills, it would be an honor to see you in action sometime!" This was met by smiles and nods from his audience, so he continued. "Avatar Aang-"
"Please, call me Aang."
"Very well, Aang. I would like to know how I could assist you? I will soon be taking off with a group of Firebenders towards the North Pole to see if I can recruit some Waterbenders to join our militia. I am very excited to see this group grow!"
"I appreciate your offer, but I will not join you on your journey to the North Pole quite yet. There are a couple places I am planning on visiting first. Perhaps we can meet in our second destination? I would like to go visit the Southern Air Temple," with that he heard a gasp from Katara next to him. She squeezed his hand firmly, to show him that she would be there for him. "Lastly, our group will be meeting Iroh at his new tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Perhaps we can meet there to continue our plans."
"Very well, Aang. I look forward to seeing you in Ba Sing Se with hopefully an impressive militia to show our progress." With that, the two bowed to each other, and General Gun Ji headed back into the hallway to continue to connect with other representatives.
"Aang, if you're going to go back to the Southern Air Temple, you know I'm going with you." Aang smiled as he turned and brought Katara in for a warm embrace. I couldn't think of anything better.