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 4: Coronation

AN: The story continues! Will finally be starting to stray away from "canon" starting next chapter. This is the last chapter where I really wanted to fill in some of the "blanks" that existed in the show. Just some scenarios that I always had imagined in my head.

As always, I apologize for any errors. English is my second language. Enjoy the sweet moments . . . and some fluff?

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

The sun started to creep into the Fire Nation Palace, signifying the morning of a new day. Not just any new day. This day was a day of important history to the rest of the world. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation would officially be crowned and accept the title of Fire Lord. People around the world were waking up now to attend this momentous occasion in history, marking the first true day of peace in any of their lifetimes. The Avatar, however, hadn't slept. Ever since the peace meetings the day before, he had been dragged throughout the place, participating in meetings and assisting with the preparations for the coronation.

Though it wouldn't be known to any outsider visiting the Fire Nation that day, Aang was looking worse for the wear. The usual upbeat energy in the Air Nomad had been replaced by one that was ghostlike. The gray eyes that were usually dancing now looked heavy and weighed down. Soft, black bags were starting to form under the airbender's eyes, marking his exhaustion. In fact, with the previous events of the final battle, Aang had only gotten around 4 hours of sleep these last 3 days.

This was not apparent though, as the Avatar still acted jubilant and added life to whatever room he had appeared in. This was rather good acting however, as Aang desperately wanted to spend time with his friends . . . family, to celebrate the newfound peace that the world was experiencing. This had to wait however, as there were important jobs to do. The current task he was facing was lighting the lanterns in the Royal Dining Hall for the celebratory meal that would take place afterwards. Lost in his thoughts, Aang nearly shrinked into his skin when he heard a voice behind him.

"You know Aang, we have servants to do this very task." The voice softly chided. As Aang turned around to meet the character, his eyes went wide. There before him was Prince Zuko, in his coronation attire, standing before him. Aang only grinned in response.

"Please, it was a way for me to help out! In Air Nomad culture, whenever someone accepted us into their home, we would repay them by doing a service."

"Have you ever considered what you did for the world counts as an eternal act of service, Avatar?" Zuko snickered as he shook his head. These people, especially this goofball were his friends now, but he still sometimes can't believe what he has to put up with in order to maintain that friendship. "Anyways, the coronation is in an hour, and you need to get ready. Besides, I have a surprise for you."

Aang quickly followed Zuko around the corner of the hallway and was led through a set of double doors, into some sort of dressing room. Zuko walked over to the chair and picked up some clothing that was neatly folded on the chair. The clothes were a yellow and orange mixed robe, with a red sash to go with it. Aang quickly recognized it as the robes that the Master Air Nomads would wear. "We found this in one of our storage room closets," Zuko said while rubbing the back of his head. "I know it isn't ideal, but we wanted you to have it for the coronation, you've earned it."

Aang felt the tears forming in the corner of his eyes as he took the robes from Zuko. "Thank you Zuko . . . you don't know how much it means to me." With a bow of respect, he began to walk away when he felt the Prince's hand on his shoulder.

"One last thing," Zuko softly whispered, while turning Aang around and opening his left palm to show something there. "We found this as well when looking through our storage. I'm not sure the exact significance of it all, but I wanted you to have it."

Aang was staring at the future FireLord, shellshocked. In his hand was a wooden necklace from the Air Nations, with wooden beads coming into a pendant dawning the Air Nation symbol. Attached at the bottom of the necklace were three red tassels. "This . . . this is what was given to you when you became an airbending master. One was going to be made for me before . . . I r-ran away." Tears started to flow down Aang's cheeks as he thought of his nation.

"Well, I would say you are worthy of wearing this necklace now, my friend. I will see you at the entrance to the Plaza for the coronation. Right now, just focus on getting dressed." With that, Zuko walked out of the room to begin his own preparations. Aang just stood there, with the Air Nation robes and necklace in hand, pondering the latest interaction. What would his people think of him right now? Sure . . . he was going to have his master celebration the day after he fled, but would they find him worthy of an airbending master title after his actions? Slowly getting dressed, he donned his new robes. Smiling to himself, he was happy that he finally was able to express himself without any consequences. For once, he could just be Avatar Aang, the last airbender. There was no reason to hide anymore.

But there he stood. Staring at his own reflection in the mirror, holding the necklace in his hands in front of him. Normally, your mentor would be the one to officially reward you with the necklace. There would be a ceremony, followed by a day long celebration full of music, dancing, laughter, and games. Now . . . he was supposed to just stand here and proclaim himself as an airbending master? It doesn't feel right. . . The thoughts, once again, were rudely interrupted by a knock on the door. Turning around, the airbender's eyes lit up, the heavy clouds returning to their usual sparkle.

There stood Katara, back in her traditional Southern Water Tribe parka, smiling at him. "Aang . . . you look so . . . grown up." She walked towards the Avatar and placed her hand on his shoulder. As she looked into his eyes, she saw the normal sparkle fade into a gaze of pain and worry. "What's wrong, Aang?" she asked while cupping his cheek.

Aang sighed while looking the waterbender in the eyes. "Zuko . . . he found this necklace. This necklace is worn by airbending masters and is given to them by their mentor in a ceremony of respect. A sort of symbol for them to remember their culture as they spread peace across the world. I was supposed to have my ceremony . . . well . . . the day after I fled. It was all I could ever dream about receiving as a kid . . . and now . . . I just don't feel that I'm worthy of wearing it."

"Oh Aang . . ." Katara sadly replied. The sadness quickly disappeared however, being replaced by a warm smile. Intertwining her hands with his, she softly sat him down. She gently took the necklace from his grasp, and knelt down so she could look him in the eyes. The fear in his stormy gray eyes soon changed into one of admiration and wonder as he stared back into her ocean blue warmth.

"Aang of the Air Nomads, I proudly present to you this necklace, marking you as an official airbending master. Time and time again, you have proven yourself worthy to your culture, beliefs, and love for the world. Great pain and responsibility was placed on your shoulders, and you chose to respond with peace and kindness to the world. When faced with the chance to end a man's life who embodied the very ideal of evil itself, you chose to spare him as you recognize all life as sacred, no matter the person. You proudly represent your culture and have shown the rest of the world that there are still four nations, and I couldn't think of a better representative." Nuzzling her forehead forward to lean against his, Katara gently wrapped the necklace around Aang's neck. She was quickly pulled into an embrace, met with the tears of the new master airbender.

"Thank you Katara . . . you have no idea how much this means to me." Aang choked through his tears. He felt her arms wrapping back around his, the two formed together through a tight embrace. Breathing in the scent of the ocean from her skin, he realized that he could remain in this position happily forever.

After only a few seconds, but what felt like forever, their embrace was slowly ruined by a dry cough from someone new at the door. The two turned around to find a Fire Sage standing at the entrance. "Avatar Aang . . . you are needed at the entrance so you may walk out with the new Fire Lord."

Nodding his affirmation to the Sage, he took Katara's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. When the separation was created between them, he leaned in softly and kissed her cheek, smiling to himself as he saw the soft blush form over her skin. "Thank you again, Katara. See you after the coronation?" After seeing the waterbender's nod, he took off once again to fulfill his duty as the Avatar.

Spirits . . . It was like the world was trying to work against us. The waterbender sighed as she watched the airbender walk out of the room, and started to make her way out into the Plaza so she could join her family in the crowd. Every time she and Aang had a moment together . . . anytime they felt like they were finally going to confess to each other how they feel . . . something always ruins it. She quickly replaced her frown with a smile, knowing that she would have the rest of her life in a world full of peace to figure that out with Aang.

As she finally found her family in the crowd, her attention was quickly drawn to the makeshift stage by the sounds of horns blaring. A Fire Sage came out and began to speak, before presenting the new Fire Lord. When Zuko stepped out into the open, the entire crowd around her went wild. Katara couldn't help herself when she smiled for Zuko. To imagine that just two weeks ago she was threatening his life if he did anything to potentially harm Aang . . .

"Please, the real hero is the Avatar."

Katara's heart almost jumped out of her chest when she saw Aang walk out. The wind softly rippled through his clothes, and he looked so . . . at peace. He stood there with a look of confidence, not in his state of position but in himself. Katara felt her smile cover her face from ear to ear as memories between the two of them flashed through her head. Him first looking at me at the iceberg . . . him standing up for me at the North Pole when Pakku told me I couldn't bend . . . us at the Cave of Two Lovers . . . dancing in the cave in the Fire Nation . . . seeing him safe in the airship returning. . . I love him. I love him with all my heart. She apparently had missed Zuko's speech because suddenly everybody was cheering again, and Zuko had officially been crowned as Fire Lord.

Aang groaned. Since the coronation, he hadn't been able to spend time with any of his friends. He immediately was dragged to meet generals, nobles, politicians, anyone from any nation wanted to give their thanks to him for his part in ending the war. While he was grateful, he didn't like the attention and he only wished his friends were getting the same attention that he was. He tried to remind anyone who would be willing to listen that they played just as much a part as he did.

The outside public didn't seem to be as grateful to him however as he didn't get to see his friends once during the celebration. He was constantly dragged from place to place, person to person, event to event. Finally, the celebrations had died down hours after the sun had gone down. Just as he was about to make his way to his bedroom, he was dragged off by another general to participate in one last meeting to signify the plans for peace once everybody leaves.

Wonderful. Another meeting.

The meeting had managed to last another 2 hours, and he told the Generals that he was to be leaving for the Southern Air Temple. Walking out into the hallway, he started to make his way to his bedroom. As he made his way over there, he started to notice that anyone that saw him would take a second glance before walking away. What wasn't so obvious before was now obvious to everyone. His gleeful expression had turned into a droopy frown. His eyes now showed no emotion, they just fought to stay awake. The light shade of black was now much darker as he could feel the weight of the bags under his eyes.

Making his way inside the bedroom, he saw Katara quickly walk over to him and pull him in a light embrace. He greeted her back with a smile and a yawn.

"Katara, that was really kind of you, but you didn't have to stay up waiting for me." His eyes widened as the waterbender frowned back at him.

"What do you mean, Aang? I've been asleep and just woke up, I thought you just went out to meditate. . ." she gasped as she finally came to the realization. "Wait, are you telling me that you haven't been able to sleep yet?" she raised her voice, in concern. This caused the others who were sleeping to start to stir and wake up.

Aang shook his head. "No . . . but there will be time for that, I have to go get Appa and get him ready for the trip."

"What do you mean . . get Appa and take him for a trip? Where are you going?" Sokka stood up and began walking over to the exhausted airbender.

"I'm heading to the Southern Air Temple. It's time that I paid my respects."

"Well Air Head, you don't really think you were going alone, did you? We're all going with you." Aang could only smile at this. He could never grow tired of his new family.

As they packed and started to load Appa, Aang felt a tug on his waist. Turning around, he was met with the ocean blue eyes that he had grown to fall in love with. "Are you sure about this?" Katara had asked, her eyes showing worry and concern. "We can wait, you know, I want to make sure you'll actually be awake when we get there."

Aang softly squeezed her hand and smiled. "I'm sure, I can do anything, as long as I have you by my side." When that was met by a kiss on the cheek, he dreamily climbed his way up to the head of Appa. As he took off, towards his old home, he dreamily repeated that same sentiment to himself.

With her, nothing in the world can possibly stop us.