Book 4: Light and Darkness

by ButtonPusherExtraordinaire

Air's murder was a symptom. The Great War was over, but the Greater War endured. The Realms are imbalanced, and Air's loss is but a sign. Years after Sozin's Comet, The Avatar's most ancient enemy reminds The Avatar of his existence. Lies and truths are disordered as the roots are infected from the chaos, to which The Avatar was ignorant. Things must change. The cycle must end. AU!

14. Searching

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Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender

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The royal gardens were peaceful, and Zuko felt it in the air; he was not alone in enjoying the distance from the palace, however small it was. Turtle ducks squawked in the pond, and he could hear an occasional laugh escape Mother or Katara's lips from their conversation as they dropped small chunks of bread into the water. glimpses of

However, it was not enough to distract him from the somber knowledge that the majority of his nobles fled the second night after Lao's death. It was a worrisome blessing as he was not ready for a second Splintering, but it thankfully gave him time to prepare. However, it also gave the nobles—and Father—time to prepare, as well.

It gnawed at him; it consumed his thoughts.

"I bet there's an assassin waiting for me in my quarters right now," Zuko commented suddenly to Uncle, who sat next to him under the shade of the large tree, behind Katara and Mother, and far enough for privacy not to be overheard. "Maybe there's one waiting for me to leave the protection provided by this tree."

Uncle hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps. I think the first is more likely. An assassin would know that, if you were attacked in my presence, I would react with ire. I would show him why I am still the Dragon of the West."

Zuko glanced at him. "Maybe you could hunt down my treacherous nobles and show them why you are still the Dragon of the West."

"I would be overwhelmed," Uncle dismissed. "The number is too large."

He groaned at the reminder of how decimated his nobility was; there were very few remaining, and he suspected that number would dwindle until none were loyal to him, slipping off into the night with families and friends. "All the old families besides ours have rebelled and spit on my name; they have all renounced their inborn loyalty to me and the Dragon's Throne. They seek my death."

Uncle smiled slightly with a sly look in his golden eyes. "But we are the oldest family; we will not be overcome. When this is over, you will raise new nobles, ones loyal to you."

"I wish it didn't come to this. I knew Lao was well-liked, but I didn't think he was this well-liked."

"They looked for the 'noble' justification for their treachery," Uncle explained with scorn. "They despise me and think me weak, but if you killed me, they would have done the same."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "If I killed you, the entire Fire Nation would revolt against me, not only the nobles."

Uncle winked. "Thank you for your generosity, Nephew."

"It would be generous if you could help me come to a solution for all of this."

"Your obvious solution is to sire an heir immediately," Uncle commented instantly, sipping his cup of tea. "With a healthy heir, the nobles would have no ground to stand on."

Zuko scoffed. "They'd find something to stand on, even if it's on each other. They'd find something to be upset about and, thus, validate and justify their entire treachery. Even if I prostrated myself before them, they would be offended by my breach in tradition; it is they who prostrate themselves before me, not the other way around."

Uncle stared at him. "Yet, the justification they will use now is valid because it is true. You will lead us to ruin by refusing to sire an heir."

"I don't refuse; I'm waiting."

"Why? Your father sired you when he was fifteen."

"And look what kind of father he became," Zuko snapped. "I'm like him enough as it is; I'm not going to be to my children what he was to his."

Uncle nodded and was quiet for several moments, unsurprised. "Ten years have passed since you were fifteen, Zuko. How much longer must you need? Do you distrust yourself so deeply? Why wait still? I know how fond you are of your concubines. Though I dislike it, one of them could bear you an heir."

"I haven't used one in months."

"Is there a specific reason?" Uncle hummed, peering at him with knowing eyes.

Zuko refused to give Uncle the satisfaction of confirmation. "I'm not as lonely anymore."

"Perhaps your eye has been caught."

When Uncle's eyes darted obviously to Katara, Zuko grit his teeth. "If I sired a half-spawn, that would be the justification used by the nobles to keep at the Splintering! It would be a return to Fire Lord Houka and Fire Lord Zyrn, who was an Airbender!"

"You are a much more competent Fire Lord than Houka," Uncle dismissed with a brief laugh. "Houka sired his heir by an Air Nomad nun due to his dishonor; his 'half-spawn heir' was his attempt at atonement for his sins, but your 'half-spawn heir' would be your attempt at making a lasting peace, healing wounds and releasing grudges. There were always legends that Air's children, even if touched by someone of the other races, were Airbenders, regardless—such was the magnificent strength of their lineages. At least some of your children by Princess Katara would by Firebenders. It is an excellent solution. Not everyone will approve, no, but you will not make Houka or your father's mistakes; you are your own man. You are the best man to sit on the Dragon's Throne in many generations—probably since Henjul."

Zuko shook his head at Uncle's praise. "No, Fire Lord Henjul ended the Splintering. I just evoked a second Splintering."

"That is not your fault. It is the fault of discontented nobles who resent rightness. You ended the Great War- "

"Aang ended the Great War."

"He ended it with you," Uncle corrected softly but adamantly. "The Dragon's Throne was yours, and you could have chosen to keep fighting until death claimed all of Fire when The Avatar wiped us from this world. Take credit, Nephew. You are exceptional in so many ways. Your only failing—and it is only a failing due to the extensive withering that has happened to our family tree—is not siring an heir." Uncle nodded in Katara's direction. "I think you have the opportunity to do so—not now, but in the future. An official marriage alone with the promise of an heir—or many heirs—would castrate the nobility's argument."

Zuko looked down, reminded of Katara's offer to be his 'advisor' and live in the Fire Nation with him after the new war was over. "I don't want to ask that of her."

"You forgave her, yes?"

He looked at Uncle, startled. "How do you know that?"

Uncle smiled. "She told me; she was so delighted, beaming with a large smile, and blurted it out when she saw me after you forgave her. She was bursting with happiness."

Zuko shook his head. "She would be an amazing Fire Lady, but she doesn't understand what it means to be Fire Lady; she doesn't understand what it means to be Fire Lord. And I can't explain it to her well enough—no one can. She can only understand if she lives it; she can only understand what it means to be the Fire Lady by becoming the Fire Lady. I don't want to do that to her; I don't want to put that pressure on her; I don't want to put her in that situation."

"You thought about her before you ascended the Dragon's Throne."

He stared at Uncle, unsure whether to feel impressed or violated that Uncle knew that he thought about Katara being Fire Lady during the last weeks of the Great War. "How do you know that?" He wracked his mind for an instance in how Uncle could have figured that out. "Did I tell you that?"

"No, but I know how your mind works; I saw how you looked at her, how you assessed her before you left to fight Azula during Sozin's Comet. And I know your tastes. Princess Katara is most beautiful."

His eyes closed. "I'm not talking about this."

"Why not?" Uncle asked innocently, nudged his elbow against his own and winked. "I agree with you—Princess Katara would make an excellent Fire Lady. She has shown excellent instincts and understanding since she came here."

Zuko's jaw clenched. "I know, but it doesn't matter; it's pointless. She would say no."

"How do you know? If you acted like Kai with his chiefess, you might- "

"I'm not following the 'example' of the epic romances!"

"It is an option- "

"No, it's not! This is the last I want to hear of it."

Uncle sighed dramatically. "With each day I age, and with each day, there are no children. You should not condemn my longing for grandnephews and nieces. It has been far too long since a child's laughter has sung through these halls."

"Grandchildren," Zuko corrected quietly. "You will be my children's grandfather."

Something struck spread across Uncle's face; his golden eyes peered at him wider than normal. "I know your father is unworthy, but no Fire Lord has ever rejected his father, no matter his hatred for him. Your claim relies on your father's claim. I am your uncle, not- "

Zuko placed a hand on Uncle's shoulder, squeezing. "I don't care. And, technically, you are Grandfather's firstborn, not Father; your claim is stronger than his. And Grandfather planned to give me to you to raise as your own, anyway, remember? I may call Father 'Father,' but my heart doesn't mean it; I call you 'Uncle,' and my heart means it and more. It took me a long time to see it, but it's true. Thank you for not giving up on me, even after I gave up on myself. You were there for me when no one else was."

Uncle looked overwhelmed as several tears dripped down his cheeks. "Not even I could have anticipated the good man you would become. I am fiercely proud of you, Nephew—fiercely."

Before he could react, Uncle pulled him into an embrace, and Zuko gripped Uncle back, silently thanking him for everything.

"I lost Lu Ten," Uncle whispered, "but I have another son whom I love and adore just as much. You have always been close to my heart, Zuko, and you always will be—and your children, whether by a concubine or Princess Katara or a stranger, will be, too."

Zuko felt tears drip onto his shoulder and begin to soak through; he was unashamed to admit that his one good eye slowly began to well with tears as the echo of Uncle's words spread through him, the realization that he had had a good life.

When he was younger, he had a loving mother, uncle, cousin, sister, grandfather, and there was always food to satisfy his hunger, and Father once looked after him and was generous with him before things changed. He was prince of a royal and ancient family, an heir to Sozin's legacy and power; he was the firstborn son of the Fire Lord's second son and embraced the perks that came with it. Most of that had been taken away during his Banishment, and Zuko had bellowed towards the sky many times, cursing the spirits—cursing even Agni!—because he was certain that they all hated him more than anyone alive.

But how wrong he was!

Now, as a learned adult and man, he was tremendously grateful that he was banished by Father, scar and all. Because of the journey, he had been forced to mature and realize many things about the world, about himself, and about Father; the Fire Nation was not spreading glory to the other nations but death itself with fire and weapons of war as its tools.

For over three years, he had a loyal crew, a good crew who were loyal to him in spite of his hostility and vicious treatment towards them. During those times, Uncle, just as he had always been, was wise beyond Wan Shi Tong himself, showing a patience that he knew was obvious to the crew and everyone they encountered. All of the things that he had experienced shaped him into the man who he would become, the boy who exiled himself from the Fire Nation by personal choice, prepared for death at the hands of The Avatar and company.

The peasant families through the entire Four Nations had it much worse than he ever had. Zuko was of the Fire royal bloodline, the line of Sozin and Kai with riches beyond imagination in his personal coffers as only a child; he had even eventually been the Crowned Prince to the Dragon's Throne.

He might have been mistreated by Father, but he was pampered during his childhood, beloved by Mother, Uncle, Azula in their shared younger days, Lu Ten, and even Grandfather; servants and guards stumbled to fulfill his every request.

It had taken him a long time to realize the truth, and when Father had announced that he and Uncle were titled only as traitors, forever to be hunted by those whom they called kin, Zuko had hated his life. How could the spirits—how could Agni—inflict such misery on him? How could they continuously tear him down, taking so much from him?

Eventually, after much struggle and distress, he had adapted to the change in his lifestyle and began to thrive in his new social status in Ba Sing Se. Zuko had finally felt content there, where he and Uncle were together and forging a name for themselves across the rings in the city as the ultimate tea-makers.

Then Azula revealed herself and everything changed.

When faced with the choice, Zuko had chosen his sister, trusted her words, which were fueled by her fear, about Father over Uncle, the man who had always been more of a father to him than Father had ever been. He had helped Azula tear down the walls of Ba Sing Se, killing all of the guards who tried to rebel against them, aiding fundamentally in the conquer of Ba Sing Se, the last prestigious holdout in the Earth Kingdom. And worst of all, Zuko had helped slay Aang, his best friend; he had been part of the potential death of The Avatar, a crime punishable by death across the Four Nations.

And for his efforts, he was given everything that he had ever wanted; he was hailed a hero by his race, praised by Father, but he had not felt like a hero. For all of the glory he had received, he had felt nothing but a villain, the monster who parents tell their children about at night. Azula was not as he remembered; he had thought that once they returned home, she would resemble more the girl from his memories. But Azula was not that girl; she held herself to perfection, always performing, always wearing a mask with her painted face.

He knew that she thought it made her look more mature and womanly, but Zuko thought it made her look strange and wrong.

But Azula would never listen to him or his doubts; she was not like Uncle, who listened always. If Azula ever realized his doubts, she would humiliate him and talk down to him—perhaps even going directly to Father himself to confess of his treasonous thoughts. She would ignore him and refuse to discuss it, refuse to explore anything because she was rigid, and her mind was made up.

He had struggled immensely with his guilt and regret, his paranoia that The Avatar was still alive and would smite him down if given the chance. He had to glimpse the true feelings in his soul, finally choose what path he would walk—the road of Sozin, or the road of Roku. He had resisted the decision until finally, he had chosen his own path, accepting the fact that he could make his own destiny, that nobody could take his honor away except himself, and remaining in the Fire Nation would have been dishonorable while the Great War neared its imminent conclusion.

He hated leaving Azula behind—the foremost regret of his life, for his departure paved the way for her mind to break because he had not been there to protect her—but he did so with a heavy heart. He would have left sooner, trying his luck at finding The Avatar and his group across the world rather than staying with Father, but he had not wanted to leave Azula, who would never leave.

But once the Day of Black Sun happened, it was time; there was no going back. He denounced Father to his face, survived the lightning assault, and fled. But there was another encounter. He remembered running into Azula after surviving Father's lightning attack; he hadn't had the heart to attack her.

"I'm leaving," he had announced after rounding a corner and nearly colliding with Azula, who relaxed the instant she saw him; she panted from exertion, having clearly been in a fight.

Azula scoffed and rolled her eyes as she caught her breath. "Of course, Dum-Dum. We cannot let The Avatar get away- "

"I'm leaving here," Zuko clarified, feeling only anguish in the fact that she would not join him; she could not see the truth. She lived in too much fear—as he once had. "I'm leaving the Fire Nation. I'm going to join The Avatar."

She blinked before she laughed, dismissing him. "Now is not the time for your feeble humor, Zuzu. Come on—we can stop The Avatar's retreat- "

"I'm serious, Azula. I'm going to teach him firebending, and I'm going to come back with Uncle and end this stupid war. It's all a lie. This isn't glory anymore or defending ourselves from an attack; it hasn't been for a long time. I'm not sure it ever was."

Azula's golden eyes narrowed. "Great-grandfather Sozin was strong- "

"Great-grandfather Sozin was terrified to death of a child," Zuko interrupted flatly. "That doesn't sound strong to me; that sounds weak and pathetic. The Fire Nation is scared to death of a child. We always have been!"

"He possessed the power to eradicate his fear- "

"Great-grandfather Sozin was a great man, yes; no one can ever deny that. But he was possessed by his fear, Azula—like I once was." He exhaled slowly, knowing he had nothing to lose; he would always regret it if he didn't. "And like you are."

Azula flinched as if struck before she snarled: "No! You are possessed by fear, Zuko! You fear Fire's defeat and choose to run to The Avatar to get in his good graces so he will spare you! That is weak and pathetic! You are Mother's son!"

"How is that a bad thing?"

"Because she left, and now you leave!" Azula sneered, hands trembling with rage. "You are a disgrace!"

"Whatever disgrace I have I learned from Father."

Azula stared at him, disbelieving and in denial. "No, no. You break your vow to the Dragon's Throne; you spit on Fire and- "

"I do this for Fire," he said urgently. "We aren't who we should be; we haven't been for a long time. We have to go back; we need to go back. I break my vow to the Dragon's Throne when the Fire Lord who sits on it is dishonorable- "

Azula's eyes bulged from their sockets, and she seemed to stop breathing; her performance cracked, and she looked terrified, looking past him and around, darting to and fro. "Zuko," she hissed. "It means death to say that!"

"It means pain," he acknowledged, watching his sister, who seemed like an animal on the verge of attack—but provoked by fear rather than desire for violence. "We've had a lot of pain, haven't we? And I don't mean like my scar. I mean a different pain—a deeper pain. When Mom left, things changed, didn't they? Even before she left, things were different. And I never noticed until now, not really—I understand it now." Zuko dared take a step forward. "I'm sorry I haven't been the brother I should be; I'm sorry I wasn't around these past years; I'm sorry I haven't thought about you as I should; I'm sorry I haven't asked about you and after you. I've always thought what it was like for me in my Banishment, but I never thought what it was like for you, and I can't apologize enough for that. I'm sorry." His good eye watered at how foolish and selfish he had been; he was an unintelligent idiot. "I wasn't the only one who went through a lot of pain, was I?"

Azula cringed but shook her head, yet it was unconvincing; he knew her—because her performance had cracked, and he saw finally that little girl, the little sister, he knew. "What pain you went through did not bestow on you the lessons needed!" she snapped, looking cornered. "You are a fool!"

Zuko let his arms hang at the sides, awaiting judgment; unlike with Father, he refused to pull out his swords—not against his sister, not now. "I'm leaving, Azula. Will you stop me?"

A gleam of distraught rage appeared in her golden eyes—so like Mother's eyes. "Traitor," she hissed, expelling sapphire flames from her mouth. "I gave you everything so you could come home. I wanted you home."

"How is this home, Azula?" he whispered, hoping he could reach her—reach his little sister trapped in the performance of meeting Father's demand for perfection. "Do you feel safe here? Do you feel love? Do you feel joy? Do you feel happy? When was the last time we had that?"

He saw the answer register in her eyes—the night Mother left after assassinating Grandfather. However, Azula refused to voice its register, snarling at him, hands shaking at her sides. "Uncle filled your head- "

"This is all me," Zuko interrupted. "But you can come with me and help me make this a home again. We can do so much—like we used to do. It can be how it used to be, you and me together, like when we were those kids running around the garden, playing and having fun—together."

Azula's face spasmed. "No, no, no! There is no going back to that absurdity! I hope Mother is dead, and I hope you join her!"

Zuko didn't rise to her obvious baiting. "You don't mean that."

Her eyes glimmered with fury. "I do."

He opened his arms, opened the expanse of his chest for assault; it was a stupid move, but he had faith in his little sister. "Then do it. Kill me. It's what Father would want."

She stared at him, immobile and stricken; a tragic denial was on her face. "You do this to hurt me," she whispered, eyes clouded. "You do this to humiliate me like Mother."

"No, not at all. I want you to come with me. Come with me," he begged in offer, knowing it was pointless, but he had to try. "Come with me—please. This isn't home, Azula, and Father's not how a father should be."

Her eyes burst with hysteria, and she swiped a blast of flames at him, which he deflected. "You want to leave me!"

"I want to do what's right, and I want you to do it with me!"

Another volley of flame, stronger in intensity, followed. "The Avatar will kill me! You seek my death!"

"No!" he answered, gritting his teeth against the powerful force of her flames. "I want you to live! But this isn't living under Father! It's fear! It's terror! It's survival! Please come with me, Azula! I love you! I don't want to leave you here!"

"I will not stride with you to meet Death!"

"You do that by staying here with him!"

"No!" Azula howled, unleashing a massive wave of fire that knocked Zuko off his feet, and he slammed into the cavern wall with a heavy thud. When he prepared for her to attack swiftly, searing his flesh with a devastating assault, nothing came. His sister stood over him, trembling with rage, bitterness, and grief; her golden eyes glimmered with a sheen of tears. "You want your death so badly—go. You overlook everything I did to get you back home- "

"I don't want to fight you, Azula," he said, standing slowly to his feet, wary. "My fight's not with you."

"You ensure it is forever because of your treachery," she spat.

Silence.

"Thank you," Zuko said, almost giving up but knowing he had to keep trying; he watched as a flash of surprise appeared on her face before it was gone. "I never thanked you for bringing me back; I never thanked you for what you've done for me. Thank you, Azula. For a long time, I thought it was a ploy, a trick to ensure you had a tool to use, but now I see that you really did want me back; you wanted me with you; you wanted it to be like it once was. Now I want to do for you what you did for me—I want to take you with me; I want you to join me." He dared reach out for her shoulder and was grateful when she didn't attack him or burn him, but her posture was tight like she could shatter, and her slender muscles spasmed under his fingers, clenching and unclenching rapidly with no rhythm or connection. "Do you remember how we used to play? We would run around the garden, fighting all the enemies we could think of. We would fight The Avatar; we would fight dragons; we would fight water and earth spirits; we would fight peasants; we would fight savages; we would fight Fire Lord Ojas's ghost; we would fight the world—and we would fight together. We can do that again. It was always you and me for so long; it can be that way again. I know I'm not the only one who misses it; I've missed you a lot. I don't want to leave you behind."

Azula quivered beneath his hand, and her face was set in a snarl; her eyes possessed a devastated fury. "But you will! You left for years, and I worked to get you back home. It was me who facilitated your return; it had nothing to do with your cleverness, ability, accomplishments, or cunning! It was me! It was me! It was all me! Without me, you would be pushing tea down peasants' throats for the rest of your life! If you do this, I will not do it again; I will not work to get you back home. I will leave you to your demise; I will leave you to your shame and humiliation." She peered up at him, desperate and pleading; her hands curled into the edge of his shirt, fisting it into many crumples. "Please. This is your last chance, Zuko. Forget your madness, and I will forget it, as well, and Father will never know."

Even though her offer was impossible as he had already denounced Father to Father's face, Zuko would never accept it. Instead, he pulled her into a brief hug; she stiffened in shock against him but refused to hug him back, stiff as a board against him. "Remember who you are," he breathed, hoping Mother's words would help her survive as the words had helped him. "Always remember who you are, Azula; you are so much more than this performance you keep putting on. Mom always knew it, and I know it, too."

Azula shuddered but said nothing, bowing her head; she realized she wouldn't—couldn't—change his mind.

Zuko bent and kissed her forehead, let go, and memorized her for several moments. "Goodbye, Azula, but it's not forever. I'm going to be back, and I'm going to stop all of this. I love you, and I'll see you soon."

She refused to look at him, posture unchanged.

He felt saddened and grieved deeply the diverging paths they would walk but rounded the corner and took off, not looking back.

He had followed The Avatar's group, and while it took extremely hard work, Zuko eventually, painstakingly earned the Gaang's—and almost more importantly Katara's—trust. They became the first friends who he had ever had in his life, and for the first time since Mother was in his life, save for his short stay in Ba Sing Se with Uncle, he had been happy; they were all together on Ember Island, and he had enjoyed it so much, but all good things inevitably end—it was something that he had learned too often.

Sozin's Comet arrived.

Against all the incalculable odds, they had won, and Father had been vanquished by Aang, his very firebending snuffed out. And he faced Azula.

It was the worst day of his life, even more than the Agni Kai against Father. On the day of Sozin's Comet, his family was gone forever with no hope of repair. Before, he had always imagined his family healing and reuniting, having a faint hope that it was possible. But Sozin's Comet revealed that his family was never going to be a family again, destroyed irreparably.

Azula refused to stop fighting, almost killing him—and would have if not for Katara—due to the madness consuming her mind. It would haunt him forever, when he saw Azula again after last seeing her. Gone was the girl he knew and grew up with; gone was the girl performing for Father; gone was everything he recognized about her beyond the physical.

There was only a deranged stranger staring back at him with bright eyes.

Upon realizing the depths of what happened, all the subtle signs that, when combined, bellowed a haunting, despairing truth, Zuko felt any instinct to fight the Agni Kai leave him; he wanted nothing to do with it. He could not harm his sister when he had already harmed her so severely by leaving her. He had faced her twice in battle since joining the Gaang, and there were signs in front of him each time that her mental downfall was inevitable—but he had ignored the signs.

His sister paid the price for his failure.

Her deterioration was his fault. If he had stayed, he would have prevented her madness from consuming her. He should have knocked her out and taken him with him when he went to join the Gaang; he should have grabbed her and fled from the Boiling Rock; he should have grabbed her on top of that damned air ship and fled; he should have done so many things!

But he forced himself to fight Azula in that damned Agni Kai, knowing that it had to be him; it was his burden. He did not want Katara forced to fight Azula, deprived of her mind, chaotic and out of control; he did not want Katara to kill Azula because she was capable of it; he did not want Azula to kill Katara because she was capable of it.

The only way for life on both sides was if he fought Azula; if Katara fought her, there would only be death—of that he was convinced.

The Agni Kai happened quickly, and he was winning; it was obvious. Azula was deteriorating before his eyes more and more through the fight, her sloppy attacks so unlike the girl he knew and grew up with, and he wanted the fight to end immediately; he needed it to!

He antagonized her to use lightning, knowing it would either exhaust her or his redirection—not at her but before where she stood—would force her to yield. But he should have suspected what happened; he should have seen it coming.

He should have seen so much, but he didn't—just like he failed to see Azula's breakdown coming.

He did not regret sacrificing himself for Katara because he was, at least, half-way in love with her and did not think Fire would have a healthy living future without her helping him bring peace as his Fire Lady, but he hated that he sacrificed himself for her at the same time—because Katara and Azula would kill each other!

He felt certain of it after the lightning connected against his chest, and he tried to crawl to where they fought each other, barely cognizant of anything but the pain in his body that was consuming him slowly, leaving him nothing but a husk—like what happened to Azula! He saw flashes of light and heard the roar of flames and the hiss of steam, heard Azula call out his name at several points, and heard Katara cry out his name several times, but it all diminished in the rising darkness of his mind, and he could no longer fight.

His only hope was that Katara killed Azula quickly and painlessly so he could see her again, restored to her true self, to the girl he knew, grew up with, and loved. He knew it was exceedingly more likely that Katara would not survive Azula's onslaught, but if one of them had to die, he wanted—needed—it to be Azula, so she could have peace and be freed from the horror of her mind.

They could die together and be together again—like they once were so long ago, the two of them, brother and sister, the children of Ozai and Ursa. They ran around the royal garden as children all the time, and in their deaths, they could run in a far grander and beautiful garden—the Gardens of the Dead.

It was his last conscious thought before he surrendered, willing to die—even though he knew Fire would be hunted to extinction without him. His strength was gone, and while his will burned forever, the will was nothing without strength.

But then as he drifted further and further into the murkiness of his mind, he felt himself pulled back as Katara returned to heal him, but he panicked—because he didn't want Azula to be dead by herself! He didn't want her to be lost! She had been lost without him in life after he left, and he couldn't leave her to face the terrors of the Spirit World without him in death!

When Katara healed him—not fully but adequately enough for the circumstances—he kept asking about Azula, demanding what happened, to know the truth. At first, Katara ignored him, continuing to heal him, but the instant he recovered enough strength, he grabbed her hands and interrupted, demanding to know about Azula, terror and grief gripping him.

However, when she told him that Azula was alive, he fell in love with her fully—and would love her forever.

His sister lived.

Zuko demanded Katara help him stand up, and he stumbled to where Azula was chained; she looked horrible, face sweaty and red, flesh strained as her eyes bulged from their sockets. Her hair was in disarray, and her body was hunched over, crumbled. But she saw him, and she froze; she looked like she died before she burst in mad hysteria, writhing over the grate, tangling herself in the chains. She almost choked herself at several points as the chains slipped around and off her neck with each erratic movement she committed.

Katara tried to pull him back when he approached Azula, but he ignored her, shoving her back; instead, he kept his approach, barely capable of the strength necessary until he sagged before his sister and fell to his knees. Then he pulled her into his arms and embraced her tightly, despairing of what happened to her but grateful she was alive.

Azula sobbed in his arms, shrieking and weeping simultaneously, but she embraced him back as her hysteria seemed to unleash itself in her cries; she shattered—and he shattered with her.

He held her for a long time, sitting there with her, saying nothing but impotent, meaningless apologies as Sozin's Comet vanished. But still, he sat there with her, holding her, wanting to reach into her mind, find that little girl he loved, hold her, and protect her from the madness attacking her, shredding her to pieces.

But he could not do it; he failed—again.

It was the worst day of his life.

But the day ended, and Father was imprisoned and deprived of his firebending, and Azula was being treated by the best physicians Zuko could find. Within the next days, Katara worked diligently on healing him fully, and he was in awe of her.

Then he accepted the calling of Fire Lord and sat proudly on the Dragon's Throne, one of the youngest ever at 16-years-old.

He had mistakenly been opportunistic, idealistic after the Great War, foolishly believing that things would continue to get better in his life, but the Gaang, save for Aang himself, left the Caldera with hardly a goodbye in comparison to what he thought he would get. For a year, he had Aang, and he had bonded with him greatly, but then his friend had to leave because The Avatar belonged to no one, only the world. With Uncle gone in Ba Sing Se and Azula sometimes not even aware of his visits to her cell, he had been more alone than ever—and with the weight of the mantle of Fire Lord.

That first day when Aang had departed, the first time in over a year when he was unable to talk to his best friend, Zuko had ordered concubines be brought to his quarters to ease his loneliness. He had sworn that he would never be like Father, but the temptations to lose himself in the flesh of women was much too great.

It became a vicious cycle.

For years, he bedded concubines to relieve his pain, losing himself in the feel of a woman's soft body. On the crippling days when he felt sometimes like freeing Azula just so that she would act more lively, he had indulged multiple times, and because of that, he knew that if it was not for the special blend of herbs that prevented the women from conceiving children—unless, of course, if their master wished otherwise—he would have many bastard children, possibly creating a dynastic succession crisis if he never sired a legitimate son or daughter who were Firebenders.

It continued until he had found Mother; only then, had he begun to cut back on his habit. And he had not indulged in his habit for months now since he recognized where his thoughts lied about Katara.

He had lived a good life.

"My liege!" a servant suddenly called out, gliding into the royal garden, bowing before him. "My liege, Lady Toph has arrived on Avatar Aang's sky bison; she awaits you in the dining hall. She forced her way inside and began eating anything she could find. She claims to possess urgent news that you must hear, news from Avatar Aang himself."

Katara whirled around, eyes wide. "What happened? Is she hurt? Is Aang- I mean, Avatar Aang here?"

"No, Princess Katara, Lady Toph arrived alone. However, she seems exhausted; she is bloodied, and her clothes are burned and ruined."

Zuko felt compounding worry and stood to his feet. "Bring us to her," he ordered. "Act swiftly."

"Of course, my liege." The servant bowed and led them to the dining hall.

When they all arrived, Zuko saw the remains of a komodo chicken on Toph's plate. Toph looked terrible, exhausted, and her clothes were stained dark red—almost black in some places—with blood while shredded at the sleeves and in some areas across her chest along her stomach. Not to mention the charred areas on her clothes and the burned hair on her head.

"Toph!" Katara cried out in horror and rushed to her side. "What happened?" She drew water from her pouch, but Toph waved her off.

"Don't bother, Sugar Queen; Twinkletoes healed me."

"Are you sure?"

"He saved me from dying. Trust me, I'm good."

Zuko's eyes widened at the knowledge that Toph almost died. "Are you talking about Ba Sing Se?"

Toph tapped her fingers on the table in his direction. "No. I'm talking about- … I don't know how many days ago it was, actually. Maybe a couple—maybe a week. It was kind of hard to keep track traveling on Appa after Twinkletoes gave him to me."

Katara glanced at him in dread. "Aang gave you Appa? What happened? Aang would rather die than give up Appa!"

"He told me to come here and take you all back with me to meet him."

Zuko pinched his nose as Sokka and Suki burst into the room, eyes wild and concerned. "We heard what happened!"

Suki assessed Toph with a critical look. "Are you okay, Toph? You look horrible."

Toph snorted, but it was weak, trembling with exhaustion. "You should see the other guys. But they're all too dead. I buried those fuckers far down in the ground; nobody's going to see them again. And don't even get me started on the Loser Lord; he lost his arm from what Twinkletoes said."

Terror swept through him, and Zuko tried to control his breathing, but he felt the blood drain from his face; he tried to speak but could not find the words.

Uncle tensed, looking worried. "You encountered my brother?"

Toph groaned, rubbing a hand over her face. "Fuck. I'm not ready for this conversation."

"Is Aang alright?" Katara demanded, anxious.

"Of course, he's alright! He's The Avatar! He dropped a fucking mountain the size of the Fire Nation on Agni! Then he ripped Agni right in half!"

Zuko felt faint at such words, a recount which was dreadful to hear and impossible to imagine. Agni was dead? But the Sun was healthy and well! He felt the Sun's energy still; it was alive in him! Agni was alive—he had to be! A world without Agni was not a world worth living in!

"What happened?" Sokka snapped, eyes wide. "Start from the beginning! We haven't seen you since Ba Sing Se."

Toph took a large swig of firewhiskey. "Do you know about Ba Sing Se?"

"Of course, we do. Aang lost his shit and murdered millions- "

"Appa was killed."

Silence.

Zuko blinked and finally sat down, noticing that the others did the same. They had suspected that Aang's eruption of wrath had been provoked by Appa's death—or Azula's death—but it was disturbing to hear it confirmed. Near him, Katara shuddered, looking sick, but there was the need to hear the truth on her face—a look he knew was on his face, as well.

"But you rode here on Appa," Suki pointed out, face twisting in confusion.

"Aang healed him—brought him back."

Sokka whistled. "Didn't know he could do that."

For some reason, Toph flinched and bowed her head. "It's hard work. But he's The Avatar—he can do it."

Zuko shook his head. "So, Kuei killed Appa, and he- "

"Your dad killed Appa; he was in Ba Sing Se."

He closed his eyes, wishing he was surprised, but he was not; neither were Uncle or Mother when he looked at them. "Of course, he was. And it was too much to ask for him to be caught in Aang's rampage."

Toph looked deflated. "Yep. Kuei was a piece of badgermole shit—like, a serious one. He was going to kill all of us; he attacked first, not us. He deserved what he got. But Ba Sing Se didn't. Aang didn't have any control because Appa was killed, and Ba Sing Se paid the price for Kuei's stupidity and the Loser Lord's cunning. All I know is we were flying above Ba Sing Se, trying to get out of there, nearly out of there, before lightning explodes out of Ba Sing Se and kills Appa. Then we start falling from the sky, Aang saves us, and we land back in the Upper Ring. There were so many people everywhere, but Aang was focused only on Appa's carcass—because there was no heartbeat. He was dead. Azula and I tried to get Aang to leave, but he wouldn't move—like, he couldn't move. We physically tried to make him home, and I mean pull the earth out from under him, but he wouldn't budge. Not even Death could move him then. But then he moved Death and moved it over Ba Sing Se. Kuei showed up, kept talking out of his ass, and Aang snapped."

She shivered and took a large swig of firewhiskey. Zuko quickly looked to the only servant in the room, who stared at Toph with wide eyes. "Bring us another bottle—multiple bottles—of firewhiskey. Never stop bringing us more bottles of firewhiskey."

The servant bowed, exited the room, and returned with a handful of bottles, which he handed out to everyone.

Zuko took a large swig himself; he noticed only Sokka took a swig, too—and Toph. "And that's when he murdered Ba Sing Se," he finished in conclusion after letting the firewhiskey slide down his throat. "It was all rubble."

Toph nodded, face cast in sorrow and horror. "He wiped Ba Sing Se from the face of the world. It was over in minutes. I still can't believe it happened, and I was there."

Katara sniffed and wiped stricken tears from her cheeks. "How did Aang take it? He was in The Avatar State, right?"

"Avatar State," she confirmed with a brief flinch. "He collapsed in horror while we were flying on Appa to the Eastern Air Temple. He was seeing ghosts and calling out to Gyatso; it was terrifying. But he collapsed and was asleep for two months."

Katara flinched and bowed her head while Sokka's eyes bulged. "Two months?"

Toph nodded. "His mind broke a little bit, I think; he hasn't been the same since it happened."

Suki frowned. "Your only true experience with him is as he is now, not who he was before- "

"Azula would say the same thing," Toph answered interruption. "And she did say it—a lot. She said it to Aang's face. He's not the same. He carries it with him all the time, every day, every moment. He thinks about it constantly. He regrets it like you can't imagine; he regrets so much. He's an asshole, but he knows it, at least."

"How is Azula?" Mother asked finally.

When Toph flinched, and her hands trembled as they gripped the bottle of firewhiskey, and she downed the rest of the bottle, Zuko felt terrible foreboding. "That's why I'm here," Toph began slowly as she wiped the edge of her mouth with her hand, collecting saliva and the spillage of the firewhiskey. "That's why I look like this—look like shit. There was a huge fight."

Zuko frowned in concern. "Azula did this to you?"

"Your dad did."

Silence.

He blinked in surprise. "You encountered him again so soon?"

Toph put her face in her hands and laughed, but it was shrill and almost hysterical. "Fuck. You've missed so much. It's going to take me days—maybe weeks—to tell you everything!"

"Do what you can," Uncle encouraged. "Have you only been at the Eastern Air Temple?"

"I have," Toph replied. "Aang and Azula went to the Spirit World for about two weeks to talk to the Face Stealer. But we've only been at the Eastern Air Temple. A lot of it was just waiting for Aang to wake up, really."

Katara's eyes widened. "The Face Stealer?"

Uncle looked intrigued. "My niece traveled to the Spirit World?"

Toph nodded. "She mastered her chakras. Don't ask—I can't explain it. All I know is that her bending is stronger than ever—like as strong as it was under Sozin's Comet—and- "

Sokka looked pale. "You're kidding."

"Nope. I felt her firebending afterwards; it's strong—stronger than anyone not named Aang, Ozai, or Agni. I'm glad she's on our side now. But somehow, mastering her chakras is how she was able to go the Spirit World with Aang, I think."

Zuko shook his head in wonder at hearing how powerful Azula had become, particularly after her descent into and ascent out of madness. He had been unsure she would ever recover her firebending prowess. "She's going to brag when she sees me again. She always wins."

When Toph flinched, Mother stiffened, and there was an awareness of horrified dread on her face that Zuko did not understand. "What?" she demanded urgently, fingers extending across the table for support. "What is it? What happened to Azula?"

Toph swallowed, and her features contorted into a mixture of pain, disbelief, grief, and wonder. "There was a fight. When Aang and Azula went to the Spirit World, they ran into Dark, Ozai, Agni, and Devi. This was several weeks ago now—maybe a month ago. I'm not really sure."

Uncle paled, looking stricken—and enlightened. "Agni and Devi are allied with Dark?"

"Agni's been allied with Dark for a really long time—since Roku's reign as Avatar, like before Roku's death, even."

Suki's eyes lit up. "So, the Fire Spirit was allied with an ancient enemy of The Avatar's during Avatar Roku's reign. Did that play itself out? Did it change things, as in help evoke what happened?"

Toph rubbed her eyes. "Yep. Based on what Aang said, the entire Great War was a fucking trick by Dark; it was his grand design to make him stronger or whatever. He got Agni to ally with him, and that led to Sozin, which led to the Great War. We thought we were always fighting Fire and Sozin, but, really, we were really always fighting Dark; we've been fighting him for over a century. It's always been him."

Zuko felt like he could barely breathe while Sokka's eyes bulged. "No fucking way! Are you lying?"

"Of course not!" Toph snapped. "I wish I was. It would be so much easier the other way around, but this is the truth. Agni joined Dark, and Agni had influence—how much is impossible to tell—over Sozin, who started the Great War. If you go to the source, following the line, the root of the Great War is Dark, not Sozin."

Katara massaged her temples, looking anguished. "Are you sure?"

Toph laughed, but there was nothing amused in the sound; she sounded shaken and disbelieving. "Aang told it to me himself, and we all know how much Aang fucking hates Sozin; he'd rather keep all the blame and guilt and horror on Sozin, never sparing him of it, rather than admit that it wasn't Sozin. But it wasn't Sozin, and Aang had to admit it because it became so obvious once he put the pieces together—and Azula confirmed it. That was what the Face Stealer told them in the Spirit World, and frankly, I believe him. He's the fucking Face Stealer. If anyone knows what's really been going on, it's him."

"It was never Sozin's fault?" Zuko breathed, trying to orient his mind to understand, but he rebelled. He once thought Sozin was renowned and great, a hero of Fire, like a god—a literal son of Agni! Then he thought Sozin was a monster after joining the Gaang. Now his perception was challenged again!

It was insane! It was painful!

Uncle looked saddened—but comforted. "This does not surprise me. In fact, it relieves me- "

"You're as insane as Azula!" Sokka shouted, aghast. "Why the fuck would this- "

"I knew my grandfather," Uncle interrupted, voice sterner than normal. "I knew him. I always wondered if I knew him truly or only a part of him. I was convinced that I knew only a part of him, but now, with this significant new knowledge, I realize that I knew him truly—at least how he was truly at his end. My grandfather was regretful when I knew him. He looked and seemed haunted; he was sad. I am unsure that I have ever met someone sadder; it was deep in his bones, shining in his dim eyes. I know that he could never sleep. I would stay up with him often in my youth, drinking tea into the night. He taught me how to brew tea, actually; he is from whom I inherited that taste and talent."

Zuko never knew that Uncle inherited his love of tea from Sozin and stared at him in amazement; he was not the only one. "Are you serious?"

"Ironically, yes."

"Don't you mean Iroh-nically?" Sokka quipped in distaste.

"I suppose. When I was a boy, while my father led the war effort, I knew my grandfather extensively. He liked me, and I liked him—though, he always intimidated me. He was Sozin, after all, and his legend was sung everywhere. But he never seemed to hear the legend; he seemed elsewhere often, seeing things I could not. We would stay up late into the night—sometimes all night—drinking tea together. He told me stories of his wilder days, as he called them, and he always talked about The Avatar with a deep terror and reverence. He said The Avatar was killable but undying; he said The Avatar would return one day and crush him under the weight of the world; he said The Avatar would take him to Heaven, let him see its wonders and glories for a moment, before he would obliterate his spirit from existence, depriving him of peace forever. He was moved to tears several times, actually, when he spoke of it; he was distraught by what he considered the inevitable. I have known regret with Lu Ten's death, but my grandfather's regret was so much more; it consumed him, leaving him a husk, withered and broken. I hope to never know regret like that."

Sokka balked. "Sozin? Seriously? I don't believe a word of it."

Uncle assessed Sokka with old eyes while Zuko remained quiet, thinking; his understanding of Sozin was challenged, and he tried to keep up with the new information he was given. "I know my experience, Prince Sokka; I knew my grandfather before his passing; I knew him in his final years. I never saw a monster, only a haunted man, and I have encountered many monsters; he lived in a state of dread I can never describe. You had to see it to believe it, and I will remember it—remember him—forever. I would not wish it on Lu Ten's assassins. My grandfather suffered. He wished for his death. I caught him slipping poison into his tea one time, but I stopped him; I was only a boy, but I knew."

"Why?" Sokka demanded, appalled. "You could have let the biggest monster in the history of the world stop being a monster!"

"I loved my grandfather," Uncle said simply, looking far away—into the haze of memories playing out before his eyes. "You will never understand it, Prince Sokka, but he was my grandfather, and I was fond of him deeply. By that point in my life, I knew and saw my grandfather more than I did my father."

"Our focus has been wrong," Mother whispered, looking deep in thought. "The focus has always been Sozin—only on the surface. Now we realize there are depths—as there always are. We peel back the surface and investigate the depths to realize that Dark is behind the Great War. It makes sense."

Katara looked ill. "It does. That's what scares me. Because it makes Air's murder make sense. If Dark hates The Avatar more than anyone in existence, he would murder Air to try to destroy The Avatar and, as a bonus, it would create a terrible imbalance in the world that only strengthens him. And it makes the Great War make more sense. I've always wondered why the Great War didn't just end. It lasted a century. That's mind-blowing. We shouldn't have needed The Avatar to end this conflict; we should have ended it ourselves. But the fact that we couldn't end the conflict means something."

"It means that the conflict wasn't what we thought it was," Sokka breathed, eyes widening. "And because it wasn't what we thought it was—because it was simultaneously bigger and deeper than we thought it was—we needed The Avatar to end the conflict. That's what happened. That's why it lasted a century—because Dark wanted it, too, and he was the one pulling all the strings. And only someone on Dark's level could end it—or give the appearance of ending it."

Zuko felt a terrible headache ravish his mind, threatening his sanity! Too much made sense!

"Air's murder was never about fear, not truly," Suki realized. "It was never about the fear of The Avatar, like we all always assumed and understood; it was about hatred of The Avatar. Yes, Sozin feared The Avatar, but Sozin was the instrument through which Dark achieved his brief victory; Sozin was never the source and origin. It was all Dark, who hates The Avatar."

"Which means that the entire Great War was a façade," Zuko finished in a pained whisper. "It was never about fear of The Avatar—that was an excuse, a justification used to deceive men and women; it was about hatred of The Avatar. It was never about a world of only Fire; it was about an enemy avenging himself on The Avatar, and he didn't care about the suffering in his pursuit and who needed to be destroyed to make his vengeance happen."

Toph took a long chug of firewhiskey. "Yep. That's what we're dealing with. And nobody of Earth, including Devi herself, is happy about Aang crushing Ba Sing Se like it was a fucking pebble. This war will be about hatred of The Avatar all over again."

Uncle bowed his head, resigned. "We thought we ended the Great War; we thought the Great War was over."

Katara swallowed. "But it never ended; it was only a brief pause."

"It has only begun," Mother concluded with a tight face. "The performance of war is over, and the war has begun."

Suki looked at Toph, pale. "And Devi is with Dark? Are you sure?"

A flash of rage crossed Toph's face. "I'm sure. That stupid cunt is allied with Dark."

Zuko was impressed—or appalled—that Toph used such coarse language about her own Elemental. "What happened?" he demanded. "You met Devi?"

"Something like that."

Sokka threw his hands in the air, frustrated. "Why is she with Dark? She should hate him!"

"From what it sounded like, Dark was trying to get Devi to join him while in the Spirit World, and she wasn't going to, but the second Aang showed up, she allied with Dark—because she wants revenge on Aang for Ba Sing Se. And Dark freed Ozai so he could become his own Avatar and create a new Avatar Cycle. That's what Aang told me."

Zuko leaned back in his chair, thankful he was not standing. It was too much! Everything that had happened, the entire Great War, had all been designed by Vaatu; his great-grandfather was not a monster who had murdered another of Zuko's great-grandfathers. Sozin had been a mortal pawn, a powerful one who Agni had used to do his bidding; then there was the fact that the Fire Spirit himself had been corrupted by Vaatu, who was the opposite of Aang and freed Ozai to create his own Avatar, a Dark Avatar who already had earthbending, and the Earth Spirit, too, had willingly joined Vaatu!

Simply thinking about the sheer magnitude of the situation caused an ache to form between his temples—and in his heart.

"Two of the Elementals are with Dark," Uncle murmured. "That is most worrisome. It is worse than I ever thought."

Toph nodded. "That's why Aang wanted to attack now. He thought it was the right time and we could sneak-attack them."

Suki leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "How did you attack?"

"Azula learned her dad's location with his army in Hu Xin- "

"One of my father's most famous victories in the Great War," Uncle interrupted, nodding his head. "An interesting choice of location."

Toph nodded. "Azula learned the location and told Aang, and Aang was convinced that attacking immediately was the solution to stop the war, kill Ozai, heal Agni and Devi, and imprison Dark again. He was convinced-convinced. We couldn't talk him out of it. He was more stubborn than I've ever been, and I'm the most stubborn person I know—besides Aang."

Katara hugged her stomach, looking at Toph with a painful incomprehension. "Aang wanted violence?"

"He's not the Aang we remember," Toph said with a weary shrug of her shoulders. "He's different. He's a man now—and The Avatar at that; he can do anything he wants. I mean, if you felt—or saw—what I felt when he's going Avatar on people, you'd understand. He was convinced that this was the only way. Azula tried to talk him out of it—she didn't like the plan at all—but he countered all her arguments until it was all one big argument. It was a fucking mess. But I slowly got on Aang's side because it made sense. Aang said we could attack Airbender-fast, even so outnumbered, and get it over quickly, stop this war as quickly as possible. I became convinced. Azula still didn't like it, but she supported Aang and went along with it."

Suki's brows rose. "Supported Aang?"

Toph groaned. "That's what you take from all of that? That she supported him?"

Mother smiled slightly. "That caught my ear, as well."

"You're her mom—of course, it'd catch your ear," Toph dismissed in aggravation. "Yes! She has the hots for Aang! And, believe me, Aang has the hots right back for her! She's in love with him; he's in love with her. Any questions?"

"Really?" he asked, knowing it was true but not knowing what else to do. He wanted to ask about the Mother of Air and that mess but decided not to; he needed to process other things.

"Yep. I'd bet my feet on it—because I know I'm right. Azula actually told me herself. I believed her, and I know it's true. She watches him a lot and acts differently with him. And she actually loves Air. Like, she recites the wisdom and teachings a lot; she might even know some of them better than Aang does. It's crazy."

That was actually more surprising to him than her love for Aang—the fact she willingly divulged such personal, intimate information to someone like Toph, a former enemy.

Azula had changed.

Katara looked dumbstruck while Sokka spluttered, horrified disappointment carved into his face, and Zuko wanted to throw fire at him. "But she's Azula! What the fuck? I mean, it's not surprising because we already knew they were sleeping together, but still! It's Azula!"

Toph snorted. "They were never sleeping together; they haven't slept with each other yet, actually. She only said that to piss you off, and it clearly worked."

Unlike Sokka, who looked disgruntled, and Katara, who fumed silently for several moments, Zuko felt amusement; he hadn't actually thought they slept together, but it wouldn't have surprised him if they had. "Azula's always playing games," he muttered fondly without envy or resentment; he felt proud of her. "Usually winning, too."

Mother had a soft smile on her face. "It seems that way."

"At least it's Aang who caught her eye," Zuko continued, nodding his head. "It's The Avatar—he balances her out. And I imagine she balances him out. Aang must love that—balance and all."

"Part of the allure," Mother agreed. "Azula has always loved power, one of the only traits she inherited from your father. The Avatar is powerful beyond measure. I would be worried if she did not love him."

Sokka crossed his arms. "Aang's always been tender-hearted. Of course, he'd get trapped by her."

Mother glared at Sokka. "I know your impression of my daughter is exceptionally poor because of your experiences with her, but your understanding is childish. I would hope the future Chief of Water matures his understanding."

"I'll do that if you admit that it's completely reasonable and possible that Azula's trapping him and manipulating him so she always has his protection!"

"Of course, it is," Mother agreed, which clearly surprised Sokka. "I am sure the thought occurred to her. However, I know my daughter; I know her nature; I know her depths. She is much more complex than you think—as we all are."

Katara looked down at her hands, looking muted. "What does Aang think of her?"

Toph snorted and actually laughed. "He's looking for a reason not to make her his Mother of Air."

While Katara flinched, Zuko noted the look on Toph's face and sighed, unsurprised. "But he found his reason."

"Yep," Toph agreed, and Zuko didn't miss how Katara looked relieved. "You won't believe how many times he talks about Sozin; he talks about him constantly. It's all about Sozin. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was in love with Sozin or that Sozin was to him what Gyatso was. It's insane."

Suki frowned. "Why does he keep talking about Sozin? He has nothing to do with Azula."

Zuko groaned. "It's because Sozin lives in Azula; he lives on. It's all about Sozin's blood—Sozin's line. Aang doesn't want Air tied to Sozin forever, which would be the case if Azula was the Mother of Air; he wants Air freed from Sozin, who murdered Air in the first place. He's thought about this more than anyone possibly could."

Sokka looked enlightened but assessed him with a suspicious glance. "How do you know that?"

"He told me. Before he left, he told me about it. Azula nominated herself as Mother of Air, and he didn't like it."

"He should never like it," Katara grumbled, looking outraged that Azula had presumptuously nominated herself for the title and position, likely conceiving of a dark agenda Azula was serving rather than the honest truth, which Zuko believed, that Azula possessed a bold and aggressive nature that did not suit her well when subtlety was paramount—like convincing Aang that she would make a worthy Mother of Air.

For some reason, Toph looked sullen and downcast. "Ozai didn't like it."

Zuko stiffened. "He knows? How could he know?"

"He wasn't too happy when he realized that Azula tricked him."

Uncle held up a hand. "You must back up. We are missing critical information necessary for comprehension."

Toph gestured for another bottle of firewhiskey, which Sokka handed to her instantly; she took a large swig and smacked her lips when she pulled the bottle away. "You're always going to be missing critical information. I don't know everything. Aang could explain it way better than I could. But I'll do what I can. When we were in Ba Sing Se, Ozai was there. Aang was in the palace with Kuei and all his nobles, guards, and Council of Five—and some of the Dai Li, too. But Azula and I were in the dungeons beneath the palace; it was the agreement Aang made with Kuei. Aang didn't trust Kuei- "

"Smart man," Zuko muttered in agreement.

"-with Azula, so he demanded that I go down to be imprisoned with her to keep an eye on her because I was familiar with her and could 'handle' her."

Sokka leaned back, surprised. "Kuei agreed to that?"

Uncle hummed in slight amusement. "I doubt he had a choice. When The Avatar wills, kings follow."

Toph nodded. "Me and Azula were in the dungeons, imprisoned together in the same cell—again, I called on The Avatar's authority; it's quite useful, actually. But after a while, Ozai showed up, and Azula acted like she was still on his side and happy to see him."

Katara looked distrustful, and Zuko didn't blame her. "Are you sure it was acting?"

"She was scared," Toph said bluntly, and Zuko believed her; he knew it was true. Azula had always been scared of Father since Mother fled after murdering Grandfather. "Her heart is always really steady, but with him—even when he comes up in conversation—it starts to race. In that cell, it was beating as fast as Aang's when he looks at her."

"Airbender-fast, huh?" Sokka quipped with wry disdain.

Mother looked sad. "She performed for him—as she always has," she whispered, voice hollow and agonized.

Toph nodded. "But she pulled through. It was quite the performance. He could have killed both of us easily—especially since we later realized he had his firebending back—but she made sure he didn't. She managed to make it seem like she was on his side, make it seem like I would join him, and make it seem like she could help him against The Avatar. He bought it after a while. But he's scary. Not Avatar-scary, but human-scary. The Avatar's something else."

Uncle drank his tea, clearly savoring it for several moments before he spoke: "My brother has thought, ever since Ba Sing Se, Azula was on his side, his ingress to strike at The Avatar; he thought he had an informant—a spy—in his great enemy's camp."

"And from what I know, when they were in the Spirit World, she had to perform for him again, and he trusted her enough—she did a good enough job—that he gave her his camp's location."

Zuko leaned back, impressed with his sister. "And that's why Aang thought it was a good idea to attack—because he had that knowledge."

"But it wasn't all the knowledge," Toph pointed out, sullen. "When we got there, Azula already hated the plan, but when she saw all the Fire Sages, she was fucking frantic, and I was the same- "

He groaned. "Damn it. You didn't get my message?"

Toph blinked. "What message?"

"I sent multiple messages to the Eastern Air Temple, the last of which talked about the Fire Sages' disappearance," he explained, weary. "I talked about the Order's slaughter in another."

"The Order was slaughtered?" Toph breathed, horrified. "What about- "

"All gone except for myself, Sage Bumi, and Sage Pakku," Uncle interrupted, spirit worn, seeping through his eyes.

"Shit," Toph whispered, stunned. "This just went from bad to worse."

Sokka looked deflated. "It's been that way for a while."

Zuko laughed but felt no amusement. "I guess you didn't get my message. I explained it to Aang, said the Fire Sages joined my father, and warned him."

"Of course, we didn't get the fucking message," Toph said with a grunt, shaking her head. "If Aang knew the Fire Sages were there to begin with, he would have never attacked. I'm amazed Azula managed to kill all of them."

His eyes widened. "She fought all of them?"

Toph nodded. "All at once," she clarified. "There were over twenty of them. The only reason she survived was her mastered chakras, which enhanced her firebending. But it was still a brutal fight; it was hard. And I was fighting the average army and later the Dai Li. I'm telling you—it was fucking insane. It was way worse than anything we've fought before."

Suki nodded. "We are no longer children," she said faintly.

"But Ozai was fucking pissed when he realized Azula tricked him," Toph breathed, shivering, and Zuko felt foreboding; he wasn't the only one as Mother and Uncle looked concerned. "From what it sounded like, he thought she brought The Avatar to him for him to kill, but she made it more than clear that she brought The Avatar to him for him to die. The performance was over. But she wasn't fighting him—that was all Aang, who was fighting Ozai, who was possessed by Dark, Agni, and Devi all at once. The fighting was life-or-death—actual life-or-death. Aang was the only one holding back, but everyone else was all fighting to kill; there was no restraint; there was no waiting or breaks. It was all at once, moving locations, facing different people—a group of people." Toph gestured to her ruined clothes. "Devi smothered my earthbending, and Agni did the same to Azula. We were caught, and Ozai stabbed me in the stomach multiple times; he wanted me to die slowly."

Zuko's fists clenched, and he felt fire lick the back of his throat. "I'm sorry- "

Toph held up a hand, solemn; she looked old. "Not your fault. But it was bad, and we couldn't fight anymore. Only Aang was left, and he held his own—believe me, he held his own—but we were the weak links." Her head hung in shame and grief. "And we were broken."

Mother inhaled sharply. "Azula? You have persisted in avoiding discussing her. Is she…?"

Uncle voiced the words that Mother couldn't: "Was Azula harmed?"

Toph said nothing, seeming to curl in on herself; there was a sunken horror on her face. "I'm sorry," she croaked. "I'm so sorry."

Denial gripped him like Death itself, and Zuko shook his head—it was impossible! "No! That's my sister! My sister! She's not dead!" He jumped to his feet. "Say she's not dead!"

"I can't," Toph breathed, trembling, face twisting. "Zuko, I can't—she was killed- "

"Don't you fucking say that!" Zuko roared, dimly aware that all of the flames in the room erupted in a searing blaze, but it didn't matter next to the grief, incomprehension, and horror consuming him. Katara reached for him, mouthing moving with words, but he couldn't hear her. Instead, he heard his memories of his sister, her calling him 'Zuzu,' teasing him about so many things, and pulling pranks with him when they were younger.

She would never call him 'Zuzu' again—an unbearable crime against the world!

When Katara's thumb brushed across his cheek, he realized he wept out of his good eye.

Her face was morose—not for Azula but for him, he realized distantly. "Zuko, I'm so sorry," Katara whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Mother's eyes welled with tears, emphasizing the devastation therein. "Azula," she gasped in a whimper. "My beautiful girl. Was it quick? Please, Lady Toph. Tell me it was painless; tell me she was at peace."

Toph's face shuddered. "I can't. I couldn't feel anything. I was without my bending- "

Powerful hope ignited his heart like dragons breathing into it. "How do you know she's dead?" he demanded, voice rattling with each heavy breath he forced himself to take. "You were really blind and couldn't- "

"I know that your dad shot lightning at her and she didn't get up; she couldn't get up—because she was dead."

Silence.

Zuko slammed his flaming fist across the table, smashing through and sending shards of wood everywhere; he knew that he could burst into a furious rage that could burn down the Fire Nation at any moment. "Fuck! That fucking waste of flesh! That cunt! He killed her! That son of a bitch killed her!"

Mother looked faint, like she might collapse into unconsciousness from horror while Uncle looked ancient—but unsurprised. Sokka looked deep in thought while Suki glanced at each of them with sympathy, and Katara looked forlorn and grim.

"Please tell me you're lying," he begged, voice cracking, desperate for it to be a cruel joke. He would maim the other side of his face for it to be a cruel joke! It would be worth it!

Azula couldn't be dead!

Toph looked solemn and sad—and so exhausted. "I wish I was, but I was there. I didn't feel it, no, because my bending was smothered, but I heard things; I pieced together what happened, following along as best I could. And after Aang snapped, going into The Avatar State, he killed Devi instantly, and my bending returned; I could feel again. And I felt immediately that Azula's body was without a heartbeat; she was dead." A spasm flashed over her face, followed by a grim distress as she sniffed and wiped tears from her milky eyes. Zuko dimly realized that Azula had somehow miraculously befriended Toph, but that wasn't his concern. "I'm sorry. I didn't want her to be dead. I didn't believe that she was dead. But the fact that Aang was destroying the world was proof enough, and I knew. He threw Ozai, who was possessed by Dark, into the sky and somehow held him there, trapped. Then he dropped that fucking mountain that was so big I could only sense a fraction of its totality on top of Agni, slamming it into him again and again, turning it into an avalanche of small stones, before he disintegrated it into powder and sent it at Ozai, pelting him. Then Aang picked up Agni and ripped him in half, killing him. And I was right there; I felt all of it. Then Aang brought Ozai down and attacked him, blasting into the forest, and he was gone. But I was fading fast, and I crawled to Azula to make sure, and I reached her, felt her body, and I touched her neck—there was no pulse. She was dead. I'm sorry. I don't know exactly what happened, but all I know is that Azula was killed by lightning from Ozai, and Aang lost it; he went berserk. It was like Ba Sing Se all over again. The only reason the destruction wasn't like Ba Sing Se was that he could concentrate it specifically on someone worthy of it. Ba Sing Se was a bunch of nobodies, but Agni, Devi, and Ozai/Dark were gods he could focus on, who could take his hatred consistently for a few moments."

Silence.

"But there's good news- "

Zuko almost shot a wave of fire at Toph. "Fuck you! There's no good news- "

"Aang can bring her back."

Silence.

Zuko blinked, stunned; it seemed even more impossible than the news of Azula's death—it was the worst news of his life! "What? That's impossible- "

Toph inhaled slowly, breath trembling, but there was a hope on her face that revived Zuko's spirits. "Dark said Aang could bring her back. Dark bartered for his life when Aang was about to destroy him, and he promised Aang he could pull Azula back."

Mother sprang to life, the vivid faith on her face unlike anything he remembered seeing. "Avatar Aang can bring her back?"

Toph nodded. "He said so, and he said he's going to; he'll 'reach across the Divide'—whatever that means. But it's going to- "

He and Mother were speechless with wonder, but Katara watched him before looking at Toph. "How is that possible? She's dead. You can't bring back the Dead- "

"He is The Avatar," Uncle murmured, looking far away. "He confines limits on himself. When he surrenders his restraint, refusing the form imposed on his nature, anything is within his power."

"Not even The Avatar can bring back someone dead," Suki pointed out, looking painfully confused but stern. "Otherwise, Aang would have brought back Air. He can't do it. It's impossible, even for him."

All of Zuko's hope was extinguished with an agonizing shudder. "You're right- "

"You're all wrong!" Toph snapped with heat. "Let me finish! He can bring her back because Agni's body is gone—just like Devi's body is gone. And he had her body right there to heal, too. It's all perfect. He has time to search for her before her spirit is taken to the Gardens of the Dead by Agni, and he'll find her before Agni comes back."

Uncle's eyes widened in realization; he looked joyous—surprising considering it required Agni's death. "Agni cannot take her spirit to the Gardens of the Dead as he must reform first, which leaves Azula in limbo."

"Between her life and her death," Toph concluded, nodding firmly. "She's in between right now, but she's not all the way over yet. There's time to get her back."

Mother smiled with joy as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "She straddles her life and her death simultaneously. She is liminal; she is not across yet. There is a window of opportunity."

Toph nodded. "Yes. That's what he said. He has to search the 'eternity of the Spirit World' for her—that's what he said. But he said he's going to get her back. That's what he's doing right now—he's searching for her. He's going to pull her back. By the time we get there, it's possible that she'll already be back; her body is primed and ready—Aang healed everything. All that remains is her spirit, which is her."

"What about Father?" Zuko demanded. "Is he dead? Did Aang kill him?"

"He let him go," Toph answered, ashamed. "It was so he could save my life because I was fading fast, and I would be in limbo like Azula is now. He let your dad and Dark go, and they both vanished. But he healed me, and he healed Azula's body. He sent me here on Appa while he's looking for her spirit to get us all together again. He wants it. No, he demands it. He wants all of us with him but no army. Only us—all of us." She looked directly at him with an apologetic shrug. "He told me to knock you out and bring you with us if you refused, and I'll do it—The Avatar's orders are binding. He said to leave a regent."

Zuko believed her—and believed Aang would demand it, especially after Azula's death.

Uncle frowned. "Avatar Aang remains at Hu Xin?"

"More like remains at the remains of Hu Xin," Toph muttered. "It's all decimated; it will never be Hu Xin again. I don't know how long it took me to get here, but it felt like a good while."

Suki looked confused. "Appa didn't stop?"

"We only stopped for bathroom breaks and water breaks. We just kept going. I don't think Appa really gets tired anymore. Aang healed him from death in Ba Sing Se; there are changes. If he does get tired, it takes a really long while. He flew straight here, and he didn't seem to complain, but then again, I don't speak sky bison like Aang does. For all I know, Appa was panting and forcing himself to keep going."

Katara shook her head. "He would have landed for rest if that was the case. But we have to travel across the length of the Fire Nation and across the ocean and across part of the continent to reach Hu Xin. That's probably a six-day trip if not longer. It may be closer to ten days."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, we'll need supplies- "

"That camp is loaded," Toph assured. "Missing some firewhiskey, but it's loaded. It should last for months based on my assessment."

Uncle raised his teacup in agreement. "I believe this is a plan- "

Zuko glanced at him in irritation. "No, it's not. How would this look?" he demanded, aggressive. "It would look terrible! I would be a Fire Lord abandoning his race!"

Uncle shook his head. "No, you would be a Fire Lord destroying the source of General Lao's treason."

He blinked. "What? Lao has nothing to do with- "

"But it occurs at the same time, and it would not surprise me if the events were connected. We tell the nation that Fire Lord Zuko trusts no one but himself to such a monumental task to save Fire from endless rebellion and chaos, for with General Lao's treason, he discovered a dreadful conspiracy at the heart of the Four Nations and endeavors with Avatar Aang to save not only Fire but all the Elements and Nations. In your stead, you have entrusted your favorite uncle to rule in your name and with your judgment. Our race will accept it as I am most familiar to them; I was bred to rule our race by my father. They will see it as liberating you to pursue this conspiracy that will save our race, and they will see it as me living briefly the destiny my father wanted for me."

Zuko was quiet for a long time, considering it. "Will it work?"

"It will work. The more worrisome threat is Dark and Ozai, not a second Splintering. It is also possible that Avatar Aang destroyed all of the nobles, who had met up with Ozai."

"You have more faith than I do."

But it would be really nice if all those treacherous nobles were already dead and taken care of when Aang attacked Father.

"Do not worry, Nephew. I will deal with our race and protect our race. You protect our race by protecting the world. I will stay behind as regent. I am of the Fire royal bloodline, descended from Sozin and Kai. I am the Dragon of the West who was raised to sit on the Dragon's Throne. Avatar Aang does not need my assistance so close to him, but he needs yours; he needs a friend, and you are his foremost friend—behind Azula now, of course."

He rolled his eyes. "Just when I was better than her at something."

Mother's face was raw, but the burning hope and faith in her golden eyes—like Azula's eyes—reassured him. "I know you dislike it, for you are an honorable Fire Lord, but Honor is not only to Fire; Honor is to the world. Our race will understand why you must depart. You leave the worthiest regent out of any of your predecessors. It is prudent to follow The Avatar's command."

"Especially when he's in such a frantic mood," he muttered in agreement as he stood to his feet and motioned for Uncle to rise. "You'll have to deal with the foreigners we took in from the continent, from the Colonies, after Kuei's declaration of war—Lao was right, unfortunately."

"I know," Uncle retorted, calm. "I will conceive a solution. But we have time. I may send messages to these foreigners and ask for their thoughts on the subject. But I will come to a decision. I will not risk us, Zuko."

Zuko sighed. "I know. I trust your judgment. Just don't wait too long to deal with it."

"I will not."

"Then, Prince Iroh of Sozin's line, descended from Kai, in whom Agni concentrated his glory and splendor to unify Fire as we must be unified, do you accept the burden of regency during your Fire Lord's indefinite absence to aid Avatar Aang?"

Uncle inclined his head in acceptance. "I do, Fire Lord Zuko, Defender of Honor, Master of the Eternal Flame, and Keeper of Agni's Dragon's Throne. I will uphold the Children of Fire with my leadership, following the shadow that Agni casts."

Zuko was satisfied and sat back down. "I can go now."

Sokka rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Are you sure there's not some other vague ancient tradition you have to follow first, oh-pretentious-one?"

He pretended to realize something forgotten as he leaned forward. "Yes. Thanks for reminding me. I have to fight an Agni Kai against a coward before I go to keep the memory of my power in the minds of my race. You wouldn't happen to know where to find a coward, would you?"

Sokka grinned. "Wherever your dad fled to."

Zuko smirked. "It's probably a place Kuei visited often."

Suki hummed. "So, we all leave to go to Aang."

Sokka pumped his fist in a swift motion. "Yes. It's been fun here, but it's boring. I've been waiting to get out of here. We've had no action. There was the assassination attempt on Zuko, but that was it! Where's all the excitement?"

Toph's brows rose. "You were almost assassinated, Sparky?"

Zuko sighed. "Katara saved my life."

"Way to go, Sugar Queen!" Toph hooted, clapping her hands; she seemed more vigorous. With the story told, she was not as heavy, not carrying as impactful a burden—because the burden was now shared amongst them all. "You've worked your way up in the world. First, it was the Fire Prince you saved and now it's the Fire Lord. What, are you going to try to save Agni or something?"

Katara smiled tightly. "No. Saving Zuko was enough excitement for me. I almost didn't get there in time."

"And all the excitement I've had since I left here has been enough for me—more than enough, believe me. First Ba Sing Se and then Hu Xin. Crazy."

"Speaking of Zuko's assassination attempt—my apologies, Nephew," Uncle interjected. "I believe it would be wise to bring the Ladies Mai and Ty Lee with you."

Toph blinked. "Mai and Ty Lee tried to assassinate you?"

"They didn't succeed," he pointed out wearily. "Katara saved- "

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Nothing," Zuko repeated. "They've been out of their minds. I've interrogated them myself, and neither can give me a straight answer. They blame me for their exile when they agreed to keep Kuei's attention off Azula—at least for a few years!"

"Something strange is at the heart of the nature of their attack against Zuko," Uncle interrupted wisely. "I suspect Dark had a hand—as I suspect Dark had a hand in General Lao's deterioration- "

"Implosion," Sokka muttered in correction. "He committed social suicide."

"Thus, real suicide," Mother observed.

"I suspect Dark influenced them," Uncle concluded. "Avatar Aang will know what to do."

He nodded his head in agreement after a moment, still slightly bitter that Mai and Ty Lee had tried to assassinate him—and nearly succeeded. "We'll bring them with us."

"Aang could probably even heal them if they were influenced by Dark," Suki pointed out. "After all, we need everyone together to fight in this new war. We'll be working with Azula, and if we can work with her, we can work with Mai and Ty Lee."

"This is worse than I ever imagined," Zuko breathed after several moments. "All of this—it's impossible to comprehend. All I know is it killed Azula, but Aang's going to get her back."

Toph smiled slightly, though there was an exhausted sadness. "He said even if she did die-die, he wouldn't let her—if that helps."

"It does," he admitted. "But this is still impossible. I can't imagine. It's a nightmare that Dark has created and mastered meticulously for eons—ever since he was first imprisoned. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Katara nodded in agreement. "We'll let Toph—and Appa, for that matter—rest for the rest of today and tomorrow, but the day after, we'll leave. Is that a plan?"

The others all nodded in agreement at her words, but no more words were spoken because no words could be used to describe the realization of the depths of the new war; all that Zuko knew was that the coming war would make the Great War look tame, even pitiful in comparison because the Great War, in and of itself, was not over.

The Great War was stronger in its intensity than ever—because the depths were revealed and reinforced by actions committed by both sides.

XxXxXxXxXxX

It gnawed at him—his sister was dead because of Father. It was not a wound or scar; it was the ultimate indignity and abuse—death by a flash of lightning. It was different than other times when he considered Father and his relation to him; it was unlike when he tried to excuse Father's actions for all those years as a child and adolescent.

Azula was dead.

Unable to take it, unable to keep the imagined flash of Azula's corpse lying on the ground, motionless and smoking from the assault from haunting him, he couldn't sleep; he drank enough firewhiskey to deplete the palace's large supply, but it didn't help. He felt the temptation to call for a concubine, but the thought only angered him—because he was exactly like Father, and he didn't want to be!

He would never kill Azula—never! He would never maim his children and kill his daughter! He would never manipulate his wife into murdering Father!

Working himself into a fierce rage, he swept through the palace silently, stalking along the secret passages, imagining Father standing on the other side of each corner he rounded, and feeling a furious disappointment that Father was never there—Father lived only in his mind, not in the palace. He lashed out with fire across the carved walls, leaving deep scorch marks and filling his nostrils with the burn, but it wasn't enough.

He was enraged—because Aang was literally scouring the 'eternity of the Spirit World' for Azula while he could do nothing but feel impotent and castrated! All because of Father! He almost wished he was never born to spare the world of Father's hateful presence, but he wasn't noble enough and never would be.

He liked living—but unlike Azula, he still could live! She was gone—blasted apart by Father's lightning and unable to redirect it because he had never thought to teach it to her! He had never discussed it with her, always fearing that, should she escape, he would lose his powerful advantage over her, so he stilled his tongue for years of exploring the subject with her and guiding her through the movements.

He should have been a true brother and gave her that knowledge so she could protect herself!

Fuck—fuck!

Zuko entered Mother's quarters through the secret passage and was unsurprised to see her awake and sitting in a chair by the window, gazing up at the night sky with a stricken, agonized, raw face.

She held Azula's crown in her hands.

He knew she was aware of his presence, but neither of them said anything—no greeting or words of comfort, not now, not yet. After sitting in the chair across from her, he assessed her, hoping to see a resemblance to what he felt, but he saw none of the rage.

She looked terrible. Mother had always seemed infallible to him as a boy in her appearance, always beautiful and composed, always strong and kind, always comforting and familiar. However, now, Mother only seemed to retain the familiar aspect, but not a familiarity he had experienced with her—it was the familiarity of how Azula looked during Sozin's Comet, messy and out of sorts, chaotic and hysterical.

She looked pale, and her eyes looked as raw as his heart felt, but while she was capable of extensive tears, he found that he was incapable of it; he was too furious and enraged, too confined to wrath. Mother was past the rage and sunk in misery to the depths of the nature of the hateful intelligence.

Zuko knew if he cried like Mother clearly had—and continued to cry—he might never stop.

Azula was dead.

"I know Aang's getting her back, but she's dead," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "There's no undoing that. He can bring her spirit back, but will her spirit be the same? Will she be the same? The Spirit World is terrifying. It's not a nice place."

Mother shuddered. "I know. I prepare myself for changes—if Avatar Aang can return her."

"Aang will get her back—I'm convinced of that," he replied. "But I wonder if she shouldn't be brought back. He would be changing something that shouldn't be changed—changing something that no one else gets to change. I want her back more than anything, but will she truly be Azula? It feels like we're challenging the spirits—challenging Fate. Fate said she should die—made it happen or let it happen—but Aang's going to change that- "

"Agni and Devi are not supposed to die as they did," Mother interrupted, wiping tears from her cheeks. "They are Elementals, but Avatar Aang destroyed their bodies. Fate made that happen, which, thus, makes Azula's return possible. Either way, Fate mandated the possibility of Azula's return, and Avatar Aang recognizes it; he works within the boundaries of Fate."

"But what will Azula's fate be?" Zuko wondered softly, pained. "Will she be Azula, or will she be a stranger with her face?"

Mother flinched. "I trust Avatar Aang; he will return Azula as Azula. She will be herself in all facets and complexities."

Zuko's fingers curled. "I trust Aang, too—I trust him with Azula's fate, which is more than I trust anyone ever; I trust him to save my sister; I trust him to love her as he clearly does."

"I do, as well."

"But I only have that trust for him," he explained, watching her carefully, hoping she would understand what—who—he alluded to. "I only trust Aang. Do you have that kind of trust regarding Azula for someone besides Aang?"

Mother frowned, though there was a suspicion in her golden eyes. "Be yourself and speak plainly; be Zuko, not the Fire Lord."

Zuko stared at Mother. "Do you still love him now?"

He did not need to identify 'him' for her understanding; she knew instantly. They both knew.

She tensed, and her eyes were misty. "Do not ask me that- "

"That means you still do," he observed, almost hysterical. "You love him."

"I do. I will forever."

"He murdered your daughter!" Zuko snapped in disbelief. "Your husband murdered your daughter! My father murdered my sister! What kind of mother- "

Mother's eyes fluttered shut. "I ask myself that often. 'What kind of mother fails to spare her children torment and misery?' 'What kind of mother walks away from her children?' 'What kind of mother abides by the Fire Lord's command rather than her will to see her children?' 'What kind of mother does nothing when she hears rumors and gossip that her children are not right and something went wrong, that one is a dark prince and the other a deceitful princess?' 'What kind of mother stands by and does nothing when she hears that her precious son had disappeared from the Caldera with whispers of banishment and, perhaps or perhaps not, a scar on his face the size and shape of a handprint?' 'What kind of mother does nothing when she hears that her son ascended the Dragon's Throne while her daughter was nowhere to be seen?' 'What kind of mother refuses to visit her children's father while he is imprisoned for his crimes and denounce him?' 'What kind of mother loves the man who killed her daughter?' I know all your criticisms, Zuko."

He felt exhausted; the rage diminished, leaving a hollow shell, broken. "And you can't answer any of those questions, can you?"

"I have answers," Mother said, surprising him. "The answer is—I never thought any of it possible. I never thought that your father would maim you and madden Azula. I would have considered it an absurdity if it had crossed my mind—but it never did cross my mind because it was an impossibility. But I hate that answer, for it is not satisfying nor adequate. A real mother would have known what happened to you, I know; a real mother would have never left, no matter the Fire Lord's command; a real mother would have fought for her children. But I never fought for my children; I helped ruin them."

Zuko shook his head. "No, you didn't ruin me or Azula."

"I was not there to prevent your ruin. Thus, it was my fault."

"You couldn't have stopped Father- "

Her golden eyes ignited. "Yes, I could have. He would have never dared maim you or madden Azula if I was there."

He sighed. "Probably, but there would have been something else. None of that is your fault—I don't blame you for it. Azula might still blame you, but that's because she fears Father. Thus, she blames you as it's easier, but, deep down, she knows the blame is Father's, not yours." Zuko inhaled deeply and released it slowly. "But what is your fault is that you still love him, and that is what I blame you for."

Mother's brows rose. "Do you still love him, Zuko?"

Zuko cringed. "It's not about me- "

"You reveal your answer by your avoidance."

"I love him," he confessed, throwing his hands in the air. "Fine—I love him. He's my father. But I know I shouldn't, and I try not to love him; I try to rip out all of strings of my heart that are owned by him. Why can't you do that?"

She fiddled with Azula's crown in her hands. "I used to wear this crown; it was my crown. It was brought into the royal family heirlooms when your father ordered its creation after our marriage. He said he did not care if Azulon himself disproved; he wanted his wife to have a crown—for she was worthy of it more than anyone he knew. That is what he said, and he meant it—I felt it; I saw it."

Zuko tried desperately to imagine Father as Mother saw him and knew him, but he, unfortunately, never would; he would only know Father, not Ozai. "You were happy," he whispered. "You don't know how it went wrong."

Mother nodded. "So profoundly happy." A trembling smile split her face, and her eyes danced with memories. "When he discovered I was pregnant with you, his delight was ravenous. It made me breathless, and I loved him all the more. He wanted fatherhood; he wanted to be to his son what Azulon failed to be to him. For those first years, he succeeded, and we were all happy—as a family, we were happy. There was so much bliss, connection, contentment, and pleasure. We were happy."

His breathing felt rough as it rattled in his chest; the emotions were strong and familiar. "I remember," he confessed. "I remember how he was then somewhat, and I don't know what happened; I don't know how we reached this point."

"Nor do I," Mother breathed, devastated. "I suppose it started with your extensive bending struggles."

Zuko flinched. "That's not my fault- "

Mother shook her head. "Of course not. I was never worried, but your father was; he would stay up all night thinking about it and conceiving strategies to manifest your firebending. But the more you struggled, the more he was reminded of himself, and he always hated himself for so long. He became quieter and looked to himself for answers rather than speaking with me. And there were other things. As Iroh advanced in his military career, your father grew more silent; when whispers of the War's end started to circulate with Iroh so close to Ba Sing Se, he killed one of his sparring partners, losing himself in his fury until he killed the man. And there were others—other signs that, when looking back, show where his thoughts lied and what he would do. It was a slow process, taking years, but I do see it. But I do not know his specific thoughts, only the range. I do not know how he thought it was a good idea to reach this point."

"This point culminated in him murdering his daughter- "

"You know a single fact!" Mother snapped suddenly, surprising him. "Cease your immaturity. Lady Toph was blind and does not possess a picture of what happened- "

"Aang told her!"

"What does Avatar Aang know?"

"He's The Avatar!"

"Who hates your father and will never understand him- "

Zuko felt the sudden impulse to challenge her to an Agni Kai, but that was absurd; he felt too angry to think straight. "How are you so fucking calm?" he exploded as the candles blazed with fervor. "Azula's dead! Your daughter is fucking dead—because of your husband, who you're still in love with!"

"He did not murder Azula! He did not enter that battle with the thought for her to die! We do not know what happened! Only Avatar Aang, Azula, or your father can provide answers! We must not judge- "

"Even if you asked him, he'd fucking lie and say it was an accident!"

Mother drew herself up, looking stony. "Until I ask him, I will not know; I will not judge."

"You think that's going to- "

"He cannot hide from me."

Zuko shook his head in disbelieving, painful wonder. "He hid Lu Ten's assassination from you, and he hid the fact that Grandfather didn't want me dead! He manipulated you! He got you to murder his father!"

Mother's eyes narrowed, and the resemblance to Azula was painful—because he knew that, right now, Azula was lost in limbo in the Spirit World rather than alive. "By drawing upon my love for you and your sister, by provoking the notion that you would be harmed. He knows of my intense love for you. He knows if he harmed you or your sister, I would never forgive him."

He smiled grimly and raised a hand to the scar on his face, brushing it slightly, emphasizing it. "He did harm me; he did harm Azula because her mind broke. And you did forgive him- "

"I will never forgive what he did to you and Azula, but I forgive what he did to me- "

"But Azula's dead because of him!"

"And he took my precious, beautiful daughter from me!" Mother hissed, eyes in slits. "That is what he did to me, which is so much more significant than anything else! Before, he left you alive when it would have been effortless to kill you; before, he left Azula alive when it would have been effortless to kill her. This is different—it does not match his pattern. He would not kill his children. I want to know the truth and wait to pass judgment. I know him."

Zuko closed his eyes and nodded. "I never told you this, but during the Day of Black Sun, I confronted him in his bunker; I denounced him to his face; I told him to go fuck himself; I told him he was a worthless, dishonorable father and that Uncle was more of a father to me than him; I told him that I blatantly betrayed him and was going to join The Avatar; I told him I was going to stop him; I told him I was going to end his reign; I told him that I would return with victory and he would meet me with defeat." His eyes opened, dispersing the memories of that day—the first day of his life he felt alive. "I told him all of that, and he wasn't happy. I was about to leave, turning my back on him when he started talking about you, telling me what happened that night."

Mother tensed. "What night?"

"That night," he emphasized. "He told me the lie he told you—that Grandfather wanted me dead to atone for Father's offense to Uncle. I believed him, and he told it beautifully. He told me the story, and I was captivated by it; I let down my guard. He was buying time because the eclipse was always going to end; it was only eight minutes long. Like Aang has a limited window to save Azula right now, Father had a limited window to keep me occupied and unsuspecting until our connecting to Agni returned. He kept me distracted, telling the story, telling me of the treason you committed that night, and I was no longer thinking about him; I was thinking about that night. When the eclipse ended, he reacted. The instant the Sun returned, he shot lightning at me." He locked his gaze with Mother's gaze. "He did try to kill me; he shot the lightning right at me, and there was no warning. It happened instantly, and the only reason I'm alive is Uncle, who taught me how to redirect lightning. Yes, Father would kill his children; yes, Father murdered his daughter—like he tried to murder me that day."

Silence.

Zuko's lips stretched in a tight line. "Make of that what you will. He's your husband."

"And your father," Mother, who looked more composed than he thought she would after hearing that story, pointed out softly.

He sighed deeply. "I know, and I'm going to love him and hate him forever."

Mother's resulting smile looked brittle. "I am already there. I have been there longer than you."

"He deserves only our hatred."

"Perhaps I will get there one day."

Zuko swallowed, and his hands balled into fists. "I'm never going to get there," he confessed.

Mother's eyes crinkled in understanding. "Nor will I."

XxXxXxXxXxX

She was dead.

It was a truth she knew instantly upon the change of the world; it faded away, and there was no pain. There was only something new and unfamiliar—something to be explored and discovered. There were lifetimes before her, more than The Avatar, as countless spirits passed her gaze in all directions—Children of Water, Children of Earth, Children of Fire, and Children of Air.

However, it was not what she expected.

She had expected the Gardens of the Dead, but where she was resembled no garden; it appeared an endless valley, stretching continuously in all directions, framed by a dense fog above the valley—which, she knew instinctively, was impenetrable. And based on a brief assessment, the number of Children of Water vastly—vastly!—outnumbered the rest of the spirits to an outrageous, unbelievable degree. She saw hardly any Children of Earth and Children of Fire—no more than a few dozen for each—and likely over a thousand Children of Air, but she could not give an estimate of the number of Children of Water, for the difference was so profound, extensive, and massive.

Something was wrong and incomplete—she felt it resonate inside her. What was going on? Where was Grandfather? Where was Sozin? What about Lu Ten? She should be able to speak with them—how she wanted to!—but she had no idea where to begin.

Why were there so many more Children of Water? To reach the Gardens, did she have to travel to one of the sides of the valley? If so, which side?

Rather than remaining rooted in place, she joined the other spirits—the Dead, she realized with a jolt. She was actually dead; she was gone forever, forgotten and obscured. Her time was over; she would never live again and feel the wonders of the body nor see the beauty and sublimity of the Mortal Realm. She was stuck in a grim, darkened, morose valley. Would she hear laughter again? Would she experience delight again?

She would never see Aang again.

It was a hollowing realization she hated to think about, and she distracted herself, following the direction of her fellow spirits. Unlike in life, where people always stared at her, whether due to her beauty or identity as the Fire Princess, not one of her fellow spirits gave her a second glance. Misery clung to the spirits like errant children, and Azula quickly realized why as her vision was assaulted by a mass of millions of spirits—maybe billions in all directions!

They could not rest. As they were not in the Gardens, they did not bask in their rightful rest; they were without a home.

"Is this the Gardens?" she demanded of one of the spirits—an old Water Tribe woman. "Is it?"

The Water Tribe woman walked past her without noticing her, and Azula ran to another spirit, demanding the same and received another non-response; she traveled from spirit to spirit—to countless different spirits!—but she never received a response. It was maddening! It was worrisome!

Finding no other plausible solution as her desperation rose, Azula hoped that if she traveled to the other end of the valley, she would find the Gardens, which provoked her sprint. She weaved past and around other spirits—all Children of Water, she dimly realized—running without exertion because she was incapable of exhaustion. She kept running past the mass of Children of Water, arms swinging and legs pumping, but the longer she ran, the longer the distance of the valley became.

She stopped suddenly when she heard chanting and followed its sound, moving past a large, overbearing crowd of spirits—all Children of Water—until she began to understand the chant.

"Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!" a man chanted. "Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

Who was Hahn? Why did she know that name?

Azula finally reached an old Water Tribesman—she knew instantly he was a Water Sage based on his dress and the way he held himself quite similarly to the Fire Sages—who committed a swiping motion with his arms again and again, again and again, rhythmically, never stopping, never resting, a motion she dimly recognized as a waterbending movement based on her memories of Aang; his face was craned to the permanent fog expanding the length of the heavens.

"Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!" he cried out. "Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

She ran to him, hoping that, since he was the first spirit she heard speak, he would speak with her. "Forgive my interruption—what is this place?"

"Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

"Is this the Gardens?"

"Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

"Tell me!"

"Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

How she wished for lightning! She grit her teeth and sprang forward, colliding with his swiping arms, and wrenching them away until she held his arms in her hands, forcing their gazes to meet.

Silence.

The chanting ceased, and the Water Sage seemed finally to register her presence and assessed her with an annoyed curiosity, but he remained silent.

"Is this the Gardens of the Dead?" Azula repeated, meeting their gazes.

The Water Sage turned up his nose. "Does this look like the Gardens?"

Her jaw clenched. "I would appreciate answers- "

"I would appreciate the purity of my ritual. This is more important than you know. Leave me, wanderer. Bother those who deserve it."

Azula shook her head. "What ritual? Who is Hahn?"

"My murderer."

She glanced at the mass of Children of Water wandering around. "Are you trying to find him here to avenge your murder?"

"He lives still, unlike me," he murmured, discontent. "He plans our race's destruction due to his quest for civil war in the North. By murdering me, my masters, and my warriors and apprentices, along with some of the nobles, only destruction will befall my kin; they will die under him!" He shoved her back suddenly with great strength, and she stumbled back, unprepared. "Leave me! I must spread the warning! It was Hahn! Beware of Hahn!"

Azula did nothing as the Water Sage whirled around and committed his movements again. "Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

Her gaze shifted as she assessed the mass of flowing spirits of the Children of Water—they flowed across the valley like water, ironically enough—for a long time, glimpsing their faces, looking for a sign of recognition though she knew there would not be one. She had never seen any of them before, and they had never seen her before. Finally, she returned to the Water Sage, whose dedication impressed her; unlike the other Children of Water, he rebelled against his fate and tried to change it—or he had died too recently and could not accept it, unlike the other Children of Water, most of whom had likely been dead for generations.

Were the Gardens welcome only to non-Children of Water? Was she in the Gardens? Where was she? What was happening? What was going on? Was her fate to become like the Children of Water?

"Where am I?" she asked. "You are a sage, are you not? You must have an idea? You said this is not the Gardens."

The Water Sage continued his movements without answering her. "Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

Azula sighed, wondering if this was the lot of the Dead, forever unheard, even by those also dead. "What is your name?" When the Water Sage's chanting wavered before he hesitated before returning to his movements, she stepped closer carefully. "No one speaks your name now, but you cannot let it be forgotten. Speak it now; give life to yourself, even dead."

"Karluk," the Water Sage whispered with a tremble in his voice. "No one has asked my name since I arrived here; no one has spoken with me but you."

She felt a surge of pride as her lips stretched in a smirk. "I am unlike anyone else you will meet."

Karluk ceased his actions and turned to her. "What is your name?"

"Azula."

His eyes surveyed her, and a hint of confusion entered his voice. "You are a Child of Fire."

She found it likely that Agni had disowned her since she rebelled against him, allied with his enemies against him, and futilely tried to attack him; maybe that meant she was a Child of Air now. "What of it?" she asked.

Karluk gestured behind her. "Do you see Children of Fire here?"

Azula turned around but shook her head when she saw only the mass of Children of Water, silent and muted. "I saw several Children of Fire earlier when I arrived; there were very few. I saw Children of Earth, too—and Children of Air, of course. However, there are exceedingly more Children of Water here. Why is that?"

"That is not possible," Karluk said, bemused. "There are no Children of Earth or Children of Fire here; there are only Children of Water and Children of Air."

"I know what I saw." She stepped closer. "What is this place?"

Karluk's head bowed. "I do not know. No one answered my questions."

"And you asked everyone?"

"I asked my kin, none of whom would answer me," he answered, agonized.

"Not the Children of Air?"

"I heard stories of their evasive, cruel natures; I discerned I would get less than nowhere with them. Ever since, I have chanted my murderer's name, hoping The Avatar hears the warnings of the Dead."

Azula tensed. "The Avatar?"

"I answered to him," Karluk supplied. "I was part of an organization- "

Her eyes shut in understanding. "The Order of the White Lotus."

Karluk observed her with heightened interest, though his interest had already been high. "You were part of the Order- "

"No, but The Avatar explained it to me- "

His eyes widened in awe. "You knew The Avatar?"

She was in love with The Avatar, but she was not keen to admit that information. "As well as I could."

"You must help me," he urged as vigor filled his old face. "I was the Sage of Water in the Order, and all of my masters, warriors, and apprentices were murdered! A blight came to the North, unlike anything ever recorded in Water's history! We were slaughtered and hunted to extinction. Only the Grandmaster of Water—Grandmaster Pakku—remains. The Order has been decimated! I fear The Avatar is unaware! And the situation in the North is dangerous. Hahn has begun to eliminate his obstructions from seizing the icy throne!"

Azula finally realized who he alluded to, someone Aang had mentioned in passing one or two times. "You speak of Nobleman Hahn of the North."

Karluk looked at her in surprise. "You know Hahn?"

"I know of him from what The Avatar described to me; he was not fond of Nobleman Hahn."

"He should not be!" Karluk insisted with dread, voice stricken, and face contorted. "It was Hahn. Beware of Hahn. The Dead cannot warn the Living, but we must try! Our ritual is to combine the power of our voices and warn The Avatar. If The Avatar does not stop Hahn, he will ruin the North and murder Prince Sokka. May The Avatar hear us from across the Divide! He must heed the warnings of the Dead!"

Azula held up a hand. "You speak of two incidents—Hahn and the murder of the Order- "

"They are connected! Hahn allied with the force who hunted us to extinction! He was but a boy, a Child of Fire, who was stronger, faster, and more resilient than any mortal but The Avatar! When I saw him murder my friends, I thought he was the spirit of Avatar Roku in his boyhood, for only The Avatar could possess such dominance."

She frowned, trying to make sense of Karluk's story. "That is not possible- "

"I know what I saw. My friends died experiencing it; I died experiencing it."

"You said Hahn murdered you- "

"He employed my murderer to murder me and my friends! That boy arrived in the North, and Hahn welcomed him as an old friend and said his Child of Fire features were deceiving; he claimed the boy's father was a Water Tribesman while his mother was of Fire, but because of her pregnancy, the boy spent nine months absorbing Fire's essence, distorting his appearance, making him resemble more a Child of Fire."

Azula scoffed. "You believed that?"

"Chief Arnook and Hahn supported the boy."

"It is evident why Hahn did, but why did Chief Arnook?"

Karluk shrugged, helpless. "No one knew. Some thought he tried to get in the Fire Lord's good graces by keeping a Child of Fire so close to him, but others thought the boy acted as protection—a ransom. The Fire Lord would not dare attack us for fear of what could happen to the boy, a Child of Fire. The Fire Lord's willingness to protect his subjects is legendary, even in the North."

Azula felt proud that Zuko's reputation was so prolific that it reached the North. "Thus, the boy stayed. What is his name?"

"An alias," Karluk dismissed. "He went by a Water name rather than a Fire name. Few trusted the boy, but he had the support of Chief Arnook and Hahn. Within two days, the first murder happened. No one suspected the boy at first, nor suspected Hahn. The murder was too strange; too horrifying; too monstrous. He was one of the leading nobles in the North, and he was found inside his home, body crushed. What is most unbelievable was that his body held no bending energy, and he was a powerful Waterbender, born to one of the North's most ancient families."

Her eyes narrowed. "That is impossible. All benders' corpses retain a faint energy connected to- "

"I know, but his did not. It was apparent to me and the other Order members. We were concerned and did not think of the boy; he was so young, only an adolescent—perhaps seventeen at most."

"Never underestimate what an adolescent is capable of," she warned, remembering how her and Zuko's exploits during the Great War—and the exploits of her enemies in Aang and the Gaang—were beyond the capabilities of many, even as adolescents.

There was something disturbing about that fact.

"We did," Karluk confessed, ashamed. "But then there was another murder a day later with the same findings; he was another leading nobleman. Then there was another murder and another and another—all were the same."

Azula nodded. "All noblemen."

Karluk shuddered. "Yes. When we realized that all of the murders were murders of men opposed to Hahn, the others and I realized that Hahn was somehow responsible. We did not know at that point if Hahn himself committed the murders or if he employed the force that did, but we acted swiftly. We knew we could not present our conclusion to Chief Arnook, who wants Hahn as his heir; he has ever since Hahn was a boy. He would not hear of the evidence, we knew. We had to handle it ourselves and do our duty. Thus, we confronted the source."

"Hahn."

"Yes, but when we confronted him, the boy was with him. We did not think anything of it. However, when we accused Hahn of his crimes, he only laughed and told the boy to take care of us. We did not understand until the boy attacked like a flood." Terror filled Karluk's face, a memory too horrible to remember but remembered anyway. "That boy is not mortal. He is a spirit masquerading as a mortal; he is like The Avatar. But that boy pulled the life and strength out of our bodies, absorbing our energy and depleting us of our lives. I watched him do it to my friends, and he was strong; we froze him in ice, and he broke out through the raw strength of his bones and muscles; he was a non-bender, but he was more dangerous than a bender. We impaled him and sliced him to pieces, but he kept going, and as he went, he healed of his mortal wounds. It was impossible but happening before our eyes. I watched as my friends were cut down and crushed, bodies emptied of their bending energies, powerless to stop it, though I tried desperately, doing everything I could think of, but all was useless against him. Soon, I was the only one left, but the boy could not deplete me of my bending energy."

Azula tried to imagine something so impossible and found she could not. "Why?"

"I was a true master, he said, before he crushed my bones with his hands. Then Hahn spit on me, condemned me as a Prince Sokka-supporter and impaled me through the chest. I died quickly and arrived here. That is my story. That is why I must warn The Avatar! This boy is unnatural and wrong, a distortion of men! And Hahn has assassinated more of his obstructions, killing more nobles since—I know it! I feel it! He will seize the North and murder Prince Sokka!" Karluk clasped his hands and pleaded towards the intense fog in the heavens. "Avatar, hear my story! Heed the warnings of the Dead! Beware of Hahn! It was Hahn! He murdered me! He helped destroy your Order! It was Hahn! Beware of Hahn!"

She suspected that the boy was connected to Vaatu, but she did not know how, and she knew Karluk would not know; she did not dare mention Vaatu to Karluk, refusing to hold such a daunting conversation now. She had eternity to discuss it with him—if she stayed with him.

She planned to find Grandfather, Sozin, and Lu Ten.

"You must help me chant!" Karluk urged, grabbing her arm. "We must make The Avatar hear us! It is the only way. The Dead must be on his mind- "

Azula wrenched her arm out of his hand, shaking her head. "The Dead are on his mind always but not in the way you think; he cares only about Air. He will not hear us. If he cannot hear Air's cries, he cannot hear ours. He must discern Hahn's treachery on his own; he must become aware of that boy's existence on his own. We cannot help him."

Karluk stared at her, betrayed. "I thought you would help me. You knew The Avatar!"

"Avatar Aang will not hear us," she repeated, knowing it was the truth. He would have mentioned if he could hear the Dead. "He cannot hear Air, and he wants to hear Air more than anything. Even if he could hear us, he would refuse to hear us, compromising his ears; he does not want to hear us. We are the Dead, reminders of the time he lived and loves—but will never have again." She swallowed, feeling the truth resonate in her spirit; she loved the time in which she lived but Aang never would; he would always hate it and resent it, cursing it with profound damnations. "He would rather live with the Dead than with the Living but hates that he cannot. Thus, he shuns his ears to the Dead, resentful he is not among them."

"What?" Karluk asked, astonished; he looked at the mass of miserable Children of Water around them. "But they are silent! They refuse to speak! They are stricken!"

Azula's laugh had a ring of haunted hysteria to it; she did not care enough to smother it. "He would fit right in. He would find them much more interesting than the 'pretenders' he thinks he interacts with now. The world lost Air and, because of it, lost an Avatar who cares. The only dead he cares about are Air, no one more." She looked down at her chest, unmarred by the wound that ended her life; she did not regret it and never would, but she accepted the truth of what it meant. "We are nothing to him now."

"You are giving up?"

"I understand the nature of this," she replied. "There is no coming back; this is it. I accept my fate, and I know that no matter what I do, I cannot change the fates of others. My life was meant to end as it did, and somehow, this is where I am supposed to be. Avatar Aang has other concerns, and my only concern now is to find my kin. You can come with me- "

"I do not give up," Karluk hissed. "I thought Children of Fire had will."

Azula laughed, but it was worn. "What will do the Dead have, Karluk? The only will I have is to search for my kin who I have not seen in too long."

Karluk's face flashed with a sneer before he turned around. "I hope you never find them."

She understood his derision and turned away. "Good luck, Karluk."

"Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! Hahn! It was Hahn!"

Azula traveled through the mass of Children of Water, searching for a sign of a Child of Fire—someone like her—but she saw no one but the mass of Children of Water. Where were the Children of Fire she saw earlier when she first arrived? What about the Children of Earth? What about the Children of Air?

There was no clear direction, and she had no idea where she was from where she started. Some of the mass of spirits traveled in one direction; some in another; some in another; and some in another. There was no order or structure; it was random and incoherent—like Death.

She tried to look for a marker of her location from where she started, failed, and assumed a slow pace, keeping her eyes moving, watching, assessing, and memorizing. She did not bother for speech with the other spirits, who she knew would not answer her.

For all she knew, they would not understand her, regardless. They might have died before Wan ascended to The Avatar for all she knew and would only be able to communicate according to the culture of those eons before her time, using words that were no longer spoken and ideas and traditions long dead.

She did not know how long she traveled, for there was no sense of time; Agni was nowhere to be felt, unable to give her direction and understanding. There was only herself and the mass of spirits around her. However, she eventually saw the spirits she followed split in two directions before rejoining in the distance. She realized quickly why.

She saw two Water Tribesmen—they looked too similar to be unrelated by blood, likely a father and son or uncle and nephew—huddled together, refusing to move with the tide of spirits flowing around them; they acted like a rock that parted the rushing waters, splitting them in half. The other Children of Water seemed to give them a wide berth, not recognizing them or registering their presence.

Azula forced her way through into the berth and froze when two sets of identical eyes latched onto her with awareness.

She had seen those eyes before; she hated the sight of those eyes—those eyes had imprisoned her and defeated her on Sozin's Comet! Out of all the spirits to meet, she stumbled upon the Water Tribes peasant-bitch's—Katara's—kin.

"Who are you?" one of the Water Tribesmen—the older one—rumbled.

The younger Water Tribesmen glared at her with a chilling intensity; she respected him for it. "She is a Child of Fire. We should kill her- "

"We cannot kill the Dead," the older one interrupted. "You know this. The only reason the Arrowheads are still here is because we can't kill them again like they deserve."

Azula's eyes widened before they narrowed as she realized who the 'Arrowheads' were. "Only someone unwise and unintelligent calls Air stupid- "

The older one looked at her with interest. "A Child of Fire defending Air? Your race slaughtered them."

"A crime never to be forgotten," she agreed. "But your crime is in calling them stupid- "

"The Great War was their fault."

Azula blinked. "What?" she said dumbly at the impossible notion. Even when she was indoctrinated firmly under Sozin's indoctrination, she never thought that Air was who started the Great War. She always knew that Sozin started the Great War—but she had thought it was due to prevent Air's imminent attack as Air had, allegedly, possessed a terrible army with the command of the skies, the ultimate advantage. She had thought Sozin was insightful and perceptive, wielding his power to his advantage to strike first as a countermeasure in his quest to make the world better while Air was rigid and dogmatic, incapable of perceiving Change and its necessity.

Who would think that the Great War was Air's fault?

The younger one nodded with a grimace. "The Great War's the fault of Sozin and those fucking Arrowheads. I'd eat their hearts if I could, but it's been made clear that the Arrowheads have no hearts. They're worse than Fire!"

"What?" Azula demanded, trying to make sense of madness—it was worse than the madness that consumed her after Zuko left! "How is Air at fault?"

"They knew!" the older one erupted. "Before the War erupted, a brave Arrowhead came to me in the South, warning me that 'something was coming.' He said he feared a great war was upon us. He did not stay long before returning to his temple. His name was Gyatso, and I treated him poorly, which I regret because he was the only good one of that rotten race, but he said Air felt the war's imminence- "

Azula's eyes bulged. "Gyatso warned you of the Great War?"

With that information, she realized precisely who they were, able to place them in the timeline of what she knew of the South's royal lineage, specifically in reference to Gyatso and the Great War—the two mighty Chiefs of the South who threatened Fire's supremacy during the Great War.

Chief Kuhna and Chief Hada, great-grandfather and grandfather of the Water Tribe peasants—Sokka and Katara.

"I was young," Chief Kuhna divulged in a whisper. "But I knew of Air's reputation, and I hated Gyatso for it. Days later, Air was gone, and the Great War consumed the world. But it could have been avoided. No one of Air, except for the Air Nomad I met named Gyatso, warned Water and Earth of what was coming; he tried and put forth effort. Only Gyatso, out of all of Air, possessed fortitude and strength, and he has my regard forever because of it! The rest of Air were apathetic and didn't care what happened to Water and Earth! They were cowards! They deserved what they got!"

Chief Hada nodded. "They knew and did nothing. Rather than warn the world, they let the world suffer for generations! The world lost something when Air was murdered—all cowardice and indecency!"

Azula knew for certainty if Aang were here he would obliterate Chief Hada's spirit from existence; she felt grateful that Aang was not with her for the first time since her death. "How did Air know about the Great War's imminence? Did Gyatso say?"

Chief Kuhna's eyes flashed with memories. "At first, I dismissed his warnings. I told him he should be unconcerned because The Avatar will stop it; I told him he should be unconcerned because The Avatar's newest incarnation was born to his race. But Gyatso said that Air feared the War would occur before the newest Avatar became of age. That's when I realized it was imminent, maybe months away. That's when I realized the depths of Air's depravity. They would let the world be taken by surprise by an enormous war bigger than anything in our recorded history rather than extend effort and warn the world. I already knew the stories of Air's depravity from their foul rituals, but this was different. I acted in a rage and treated Gyatso poorly; I drove him off. I was young and foolish. I know he died with the rest of his race, and he is the only Air Nomad whose death I regretted and felt remorse about. The rest of them deserved it."

"But how did he know?"

"He mentioned dreams and a feeling in the wind but nothing more."

"And the Great War happened," she whispered, thinking of the desperation that Gyatso felt as he went to the South. It must have been after Aang had run away from the Southern Temple. Perhaps Gyatso had visited the South thinking Aang might have fled there, thinking he would find Aang in the South. How disappointed and anguished Gyatso must have felt when he could not find Aang and realized, inevitably, that Aang was nowhere to be found. "We all felt its presence; we lived in it."

"Who are you?" Chief Hada, assessing her with vigor in his eyes. She understood why he and his father had been such threats to Grandfather and the Fire Nation.

She decided to be honest: "My name is Azula, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa, niece of Prince Iroh, Dragon of the West, and granddaughter of Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lady Ilah- "

Chief Hada's eyes burst before he snarled: "Destroyer!"

Azula nodded. "My grandfather killed both of you."

Unlike Chief Hada, Chief Kuhna's face was withered with the stress from his life that remained in his death; he was calmer. "Has he died yet?"

"He died years ago."

"We were avenged?"

Azula almost laughed, but she felt frayed and shaken; she wanted the Gardens, not whatever this place was. "Not by whom you imagine. Grandfather was murdered by my mother."

The fierce pleasure on their faces was a beacon to her eyes. "Betrayal of his family—he deserved it," Chief Hada murmured with fervor. "We were avenged. It was his punishment for his sins."

"That's perfect," Chief Kuhna agreed, and she recalled Water's insistence on Family; it was equal to Fire's devotion to Tradition, which meant Honor. "There is no worse fate than to be betrayed by your family."

She thought of Father killing her; he had aimed for Aang, but she intercepted the attack and absorbed it herself. She felt no betrayal by Father for her death; she felt betrayal by Father for her life, for the life he forced her to live under his demands for perfection.

"I know your heirs," Azula divulged, watching their faces. "I have not met Chief Hakoda- "

Chief Hada shuddered, and a vibrant, desperate hope was on his face. "My son lives still?"

She nodded. "From what I know, yes."

"I felt certain that your grandfather killed him after my death, but I could never find him here, and I searched desperately. I found only my father, not my son."

Azula inclined her head. "Because there was only a father to find, not a son. Your son lives, and he produced heirs of his own—Prince Sokka, firstborn, and Princess Katara, second-born."

Chief Kuhna looked happy; his lined face stretched with the force of his jubilation. "My line lives on?"

"It does."

"What of my grandchildren?" Chief Hada demanded, the urgency on his face born of his yearning to know of his descendants and who they are. "Are they healthy? Are they Waterbenders? Are they loyal and strong- "

She held up a hand. "I do not know them well, but I know that Prince Sokka is a non-bender but a cunning strategist and esteemed warrior, like his father; I know that Princess Katara is a powerful Waterbender who challenged Sozin's heirs in battle during the Great War."

The fierce pride on their faces was so unlike anything she saw on Father's face; it made her grieve that Father never looked at her in such a way. "Is that why you are here? Did she kill you?"

Azula's jaw clenched at the memory of her defeat and humiliation. "There were losses and victories for her. But no, she did not kill me. My father killed me."

Chief Kuhna nodded, apparently unsurprised. "Betrayal of the family. Your line is cursed because you made the Great War."

She did not bother explaining that Father had aimed for Aang, which she refused to accept and sacrificed herself in Aang's stead. "An interesting notion."

Chief Hada looked at his father. "We were avenged. Our line lives on."

Chief Kuhna smiled. "Have Sokka and Katara married and produced children?"

Azula sighed. "Sokka married a woman named Suki, a Kyoshi Warrior of the Earth Kingdom, but has no children yet; he will be Chief of Water, in control of the North and South- "

Chief Hada gasped. "What? How is that possible?"

"The North has no true heir, and Sokka is the only viable heir. Princess Katara is not married and has no children."

Though it would not surprise her if Zuko—poor, gallant Zuko—had begun a relationship with Katara. She also did not bother explaining Katara's betrothal to King Kuei.

"The South and the North," Chief Kuhna whispered, eyes far away; he looked awed. "I never imagined…"

Chief Hada embraced his father and laughed. "We did it! We always talked about tying the North back to us, and Sokka did it! Our race will be whole! Water is unified again! The Family is one again!"

Azula found that she did not possess the strength to tell them that there was always the possibility of a new heir being found in the North to prevent Sokka's ascension.

However, based on what Karluk said, Nobleman Hahn would never let that happen.

"Congratulations," she commended. "I understand your bliss. Kai's Unification of Fire ushered in a golden age for my race. I hope it does the same for yours."

She doubted it would, but she meant her words.

Chief Hada assessed her with a new respect in his eyes. "I never thought one of Sozin's heirs would understand."

Azula smiled slightly. "We are more similar than we are different; there are many differences, yes, but those differences do not outweigh the immense similarities."

Chief Kuhna bowed to her in a Water Tribes form. "Thank you, Princess Azula of Fire. You have brought joy to these forgotten men. We know our family lives and thrives."

She thought of her own family who she yearned to see and talk to. "It was a pleasure, Chief Kuhna and Chief Hada. I seek to find joy in my family- "

"You will not find them here," Chief Kuhna interrupted with a shake of her head. "Only Children of Water and Children of Air are here."

Azula did not mention the Children of Fire and Children of Earth she saw previously. Instead, she squared her shoulders with a tight smile. "I have to try."

"I wish you luck," Chief Hada. "Maybe we'll find each other again."

She bowed her head and departed, trying to figure out the pressing mysteries consuming her. She clearly was not in the Gardens of the Dead, but where was she? Why was she here rather than the Gardens? Why were there only supposed to be Children of Water and Children Air here? Why were there so many Children of Water?

She joined the tide of spirits and continued her journey, looking for a sign of the Children of Fire she saw earlier when she first arrived. Where were they? She knew she saw them in the distance—the red garments were impossible to miss. She scanned everywhere she looked in her journey, searching for the red color she was so familiar with.

When she finally saw the red color after an impossible-to-determine amount of time, she took off, weaving and avoiding her fellow spirits; she traveled and traveled, the red color and beacon to her eyes, guiding her and reassuring her. She would find her race and reconnect with Grandfather and Lu Ten and meet Sozin!

However, when she became close enough to the red color to identity and absorb, she paused, struck. She recognized the large group of men swiftly—the treacherous Fire Sages, bearing no wounds from their mortal injuries; they possessed all their limbs and heads, bereft of a single mark.

Where was she? Was she actually in the Gardens of the Dead since Children of each Element were here, as was apparent before her eyes? Was this what the Gardens of the Dead looked like truly? If so, Aang had described it poorly.

She did not want to think of Aang, not right now. Instead, she focused on the Fire Sages, gliding closer but warily; perhaps it was a trap. However, she was without her bending—it was identical to how it felt when she journeyed with Aang to question the Face Stealer.

Stop thinking about Aang! You will never see him again!

The realization produced a miserable ache, but she did not regret her decision. It was better she died rather than him—it was better! Aang could not die yet, no matter how much he would embrace it; he had obligations as The Avatar to fulfill. Without Aang, Father and Vaatu would take over the Mortal Realm—and probably the Immortal Realm, as well—effortlessly and in short order.

Only Aang could stop it.

Stop thinking about Aang! You will never see him again!

Azula shook herself, putting thoughts of Aang away as far as she could bear—for she wanted to remember him powerfully, but not now and not yet. It was too fresh and recent.

Only when the memory of his gray eyes faded like the mist surrounding her in this valley would she start thinking about him.

She focused on the Fire Sages, drawing herself closer to their encirclement, wondering if, indeed, the Fire Sages had been the Children of Fire she spotted in the distance when she arrived.

Were there other Children of Fire in wherever she was? What of the Dai Li agents she and Toph killed? Were they in this place? Where the Children of Earth she saw previously actually the Dai Li agents?

"How will Vaatu destroy The Avatar without our help? The plan was to take Ba Sing Se! How will he now? What happened to Fire Lord Ozai? Did The Avatar smite him?"

"That is not our concern now, Rishu," one of the other Fire Sages replied. "Vaatu will handle it; he has planned his ascension for eons while The Avatar terrorized and destroyed. He would not let Fire Lord Ozai be destroyed."

"Where is Agni?" one of the other Fire Sages interrupted, outraged. "We have been here too long! We deserve the Gardens for our efforts in rebelling against The Avatar's tyranny! He cannot leave us here; it is against his obligations."

Azula's eyes narrowed in slits. "Deserve?" she echoed in demand, provoking all of the Fire Sages to whirl around. "There is nothing you deserve more than this place, whatever it is! You betrayed your oaths! You are dishonorable, a blight on- "

"Princess Azula," Rishu, who was clearly the leader, greeted with scorn. "You gave us our deaths and were kind enough to join us. I did not imagine you possessed such honor."

Her jaw clenched. "My father killed me."

"As he should have!" one of the Fire Sages shouted. "You are a disgrace!"

Azula wished for lightning! "Me?" she demanded in disgust. "You betrayed The Avatar- "

"A tyrant," Rishu dismissed. "Good men betray tyrants, and we are good men."

"If The Avatar is a tyrant, what is my father?"

"A great man- "

"The Avatar is a great man! Yet, he still is a good man. My father is not a good man and never will be." Azula swept her gaze across all of them. "I imagine he laughed when he realized you all died. You were but tools to him. He did not deserve your loyalty, and Vaatu does not now- "

"Vaatu gave us the chance to rebel against The Avatar- "

Azula rolled her eyes. "How small your minds and memories are! You already rebelled against The Avatar. During the Great War, you allied with the Fire Lord, not The Avatar. Vaatu did not give you the chance; you already possessed the chance; you already rebelled!"

One of the Fire Sages sneered and pointed a rigid finger at her. "If you had not deprived us of our bodies, we would destroy you now."

She smiled, but it was all teeth. "If I possessed The Avatar's power, I would obliterate your spirits from existence."

She meant it.

Rishu's eyes lit up as his face transformed into one of triumph; she did not know what it meant. "You do not possess The Avatar's power, but you have a rare opportunity to see the consequences of The Avatar's power."

Azula's eyes narrowed as the other Fire Sages began to laugh and nod in agreement, looking vindicated. "What are you talking about?"

"Look around," Rishu urged, gesturing to their surroundings. "Look how The Avatar damned the Children of Water to this abominable fate."

She felt even more surprised at such news than hearing that Gyatso had visited Chief Kuhna in the South to warn about the Great War's imminence. "What are you talking about?"

"Water's Elemental is unable to come and bring the spirits of the Children of Water to the Gardens because of The Avatar," Rishu said. "Mighty Vaatu told us what happened. A tyrannical Avatar, long ago, banished the Ocean and Moon Spirits to the Mortal Realm and stripped them of their immortality- "

Azula's eyes widened in remembrance, recalling her conversation with Avatar Kirku when she was on Ember Island with Aang. "That was Avatar Kirku- "

Rishu's face flashed with agreement. "Yes. The Avatar did that to the Ocean and the Moon eons ago. Ever since, the Children of Water, when they die, are cast here, miserable and forgotten; they do not enjoy the rest of the Gardens."

Her eyes shut in understanding, feeling dread at how sinister Vaatu made Avatar Kirku's solution to Water's near-extinction seem. Vaatu had weaponized a simple fact into a story of depravity that motivated men to join his side rather than The Avatar's. What other facts had Vaatu weaponized?

She knew that the Fire Sages did not join Vaatu to avenge the wrong done to the Children of Water—no one was that noble or virtuous—but they used the example as a means to justify their crimes, ensuring their hatred for The Avatar.

"Look at all of them," Rishu urged. "Look at them; look how many there are miserable and in despair; look how they wander without aim, lifeless and spiritless, following the flow of whichever body they get stuck in, looking for their connection to Water because they are denied the Gardens, where Water exists; look how they are denied the enjoyment of the Gardens; look how they suffer because of The Avatar!" The Fire Sages encircled her—she had let down her guard! "Their misery lies in The Avatar's tyranny. The Avatar does not bring balance—he destroys balance! Mighty Vaatu will destroy The Avatar and restore balance to the Realms."

Azula was exasperated by the persistent absurdity possessing intelligent and reasonable men and women. "Vaatu mandated Air's murder," she pointed out with a disgusted scoff. "You claim that The Avatar destroys balance, but he works to create balance. He tries. Perhaps his decisions are wrong, but he tries to evoke balance and maintain balance. He has failed, yes, but he tries. Vaatu actively destroyed balance by mandating Air's murder! Look at the Great War! Vaatu did nothing to evoke a cleaner balance; he worked to produce chaos and disorder! You point to The Avatar's mistakes—and they are mistakes, I do not deny that—but he works to fix his mistakes while Vaatu basks in all mistakes to evoke misery and discontent! And do not pretend to care about the Children of Water here. You do not care! You weaponize their situation to support your aims! If it meant obliterating your spirits from existence to support your aims, you would do it!"

"Look what Vaatu will do! All of the chaos is the result of The Avatar's neglect- "

"How damned foolish and unintelligent are you?" Azula snapped, thinking now it was a good thing they betrayed The Avatar—for they would mire Aang in their absurdity!

Stop thinking about Aang! You will never see him again!

"Water was almost wiped out by Earth, and Avatar Kirku relocated his race to the North," she explained with less patience than she wanted—not that the Fire Sages deserved patience. "To restore Water's depletion, he convinced the Ocean and Moon to sacrifice their immortality. That is what happened. He was desperate to restore balance; he broke balance to restore balance. I am certain he never realized what the consequences of his actions would culminate in. He did everything for his race. If he realized that he damned his race to this place, he would have prevented it. And he did not banish the Ocean and Moon nor strip them of their immortality! It was the Ocean and Moon's decision!"

"That he forced them to make!"

"How do you know?"

"Mighty Vaatu," Rishu said in triumph. "How do you know? Mighty Vaatu has been constant in his understanding for eons while The Avatar has fluctuated, producing gaps in his understanding. I trust Mighty Vaatu more than The Avatar."

Azula's hands clenched into fists. "I am done with your madness; I have had enough of madness. Where are the Gardens?"

"We do not know. We wait for Agni to take us to our rest—not that you deserve it, you dishonorable whore."

She laughed. "I died for The Avatar- "

"And this is your rightful compensation for your treachery," another Fire Sage snarled. "Death is where you belong. This place is where you belong, not the Gardens."

Azula realized suddenly that Agni would hold her in the same regard as the Fire Sages did—loathing and disgust. He might not take her to the Gardens when he arrived; he might leave her to rot in misery with all the Children of Water and Children of Air.

Why were the Children of Air in this place rather than the Gardens?

It did not matter—not now. If she wanted the Gardens, which she did, she would have to find the Gardens herself, achieving it on her own. She would have to travel the seeming eternity of this valley to get out and reach the Gardens, where Grandfather, Sozin, Lu Ten, and so many others waited for her.

Azula took off without another word to the Fire Sages—the damned fools!

XxXxXxXxXxX

Zuko sat on Appa's head, putting space between himself and the others. It left him alone with his thoughts, freeing him from the impulse to look to the others and speak. It was also maddening being so close to Mai and Ty Lee, who kept saying he was going to die. It reached such lengths that Toph knocked Mai and Ty Lee out with brutal punches to their faces.

He needed to think; he wanted to think. His head felt strange without the Fire Crown, but he had left it on Uncle's head, and the lack of weight seemed to loosen his thoughts. But whereas he had a new range of thoughts he could explore without worry about the Dragon's Throne and his race, he only had one theme on his mind.

Azula.

Was she back? Had Aang succeeded? Or had Agni already reformed and taken her spirit to the Gardens, making her lost forever? Would she remember her death? Would she remember the pain of lightning? Would she have a gap in her memories? What about while she was in limbo? Would she have been aware of the events that happened in the Mortal Realm, or would things need to be explained to her upon her return?

Would she still be Azula?

Katara slipped onto Appa's head next to him. "How are you?"

Zuko snorted without amusement. "I learned my father murdered my sister. What do you think?"

She nodded with a kind expression. "I'm so sorry. I'm sure Aang will get her back. I bet you're going to hug her hard when you see her again."

"I'm going to tell her how proud I am of her," he said, voice drifting. "I love her. She's my sister; she's part of me—forever. Her and I are the same, somehow and some way. She's stronger than me in a lot of ways. I don't know how she survived living under him by herself for all those years." He cringed in reminder. "Well, I do know. But I'm always going to regret that I didn't realize it back then. I was such a self-absorbed idiot—immature."

"You were a child- "

"That doesn't mean I'm not guilty. I'm guilty of a lot of things. I forgive myself for my failures then—because anyone would have made them at that age—but I'm never going to forget my failures then."

Katara's smile was brittle and sad. "I'm guilty, too. I'm sorry this happened to her and you. I'm trying to wrap my mind around her and Aang, but it doesn't make sense- "

A brief laugh escaped him. "It doesn't make sense because you never knew Azula; you only knew the performance she put on for Father to survive. I know my sister, and I know Aang. Trust me, it makes perfect sense."

She hesitated. "What was she like without that performance?"

"Mischievous," he answered instantly. "Clever. Smart. Fun. Social. Honestly, I was the one who always liked all the fighting and sparring; she never enjoyed it like I did, even when I was so angry that she was better than me. I liked reaction, fighting—which is all about reaction, reacting to your enemy and making steps to make him react in turn. But Azula liked action; she liked being in control and pulling the strings, thinking and exploring. It was her natural state. I've picked up those things over my life, but I didn't have that to begin with like she did. She had it from my earliest memories of her. She much preferred pointing at something for me to attack, which I attacked, rather than attack it herself—I much preferred that, too. That's how we were for a long time, even when I didn't have my firebending or my bending was so weak. I know it's hard for you to believe, but Azula never liked fighting. She thought it was stupid and boring."

Katara's eyes showed her extensive disbelief, but she nodded. "But you liked fighting- "

"I loved fighting," he corrected. "Lu Ten and I used to spar all the time—whenever I could convince him to fight me. He always beat me, but I loved it anyway. It was fun. I enjoyed it. Azula never enjoyed it." He shook his head as memories flashed through his mind, instances that made more sense as he aged. "Even when Father took interest in her, she hated fighting. She never said it to Father, but she'd always come to me and complain about it, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue at me, saying that I needed to get better quickly so Father would make me fight rather than her. 'Zuzu, it's stupid,' she would say. 'It's not any fun. It's moving your feet and arms. You don't think about it—because if you think, it means you're dead. I don't like it, Zuzu. It's stupid. I want to think, but I can't. No wonder you like it—because you're stupid, too.' I remember her saying that."

Katara exhaled deeply and shook her head in wonder. "I can't imagine. She always seemed to love fighting- "

"If she did, it was the actual chase part she enjoyed and beating her enemies through trickery or something. That was the source of her enjoyment. But it was war and life-or-death fighting, which meant it wasn't about enjoyment; it was about surviving; it was about being the best and living on—so you could later do those things you enjoy. That's what she did. It's really what we all did, and Azula was no different."

"Did she really nominate herself for Mother of Air?"

He laughed slightly. "What do you think?"

She sighed. "It sounds like her."

"Apparently, she nominated herself on their trip back from Ember Island to the Caldera," he notified, shaking his head at Azula's audacity. "Aang didn't sleep that night and barged into my quarters, woke me up, and dragged me to my study so we could talk about it. I'm just thankful he used the secret passages so none of the guards saw it. But he told me what happened and wanted to know what I thought of it."

"What did you think?"

"That she was up to something," he admitted. "It sounds exactly like her. I thought it was one of her games. But when I asked Azula about it—because Aang asked me to ask her—I realized she was serious, as in genuine, in her offer. It's not a ploy as far as I can tell, and I know her well."

Katara was quiet for several moments with a strange look on her face. "I can't see her as the Mother of Air."

Zuko's only brow rose. "Can you see anyone as the Mother of Air?"

"No. I can't even see Airbenders. All I see is Aang. I know that the Air Nomads looked like him, but I don't know the range of their appearances. If she becomes Mother of Air, all Airbenders going forward will look like her. It's strange to think about. Because I'm never going to think she looks like an Airbender; she looks like a Firebender and always will. I don't want to look at her children—at Aang's children—and think they look like Firebenders when they're Airbenders."

He hadn't thought of that but nodded. "They're going to look like Aang, too. That will help."

Katara elbowed him with a small smile. "They may look like their Uncle Zuko."

Zuko really didn't want to think about, if Azula became the Mother of Air, the future Air Nomads looking like him and, thus, Father. "I just want her to look like her and be her when she comes back."

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but I do, too."

XxXxXxXxXxX

He had no idea what day it was nor how much time had passed since Toph left on Appa; he only knew that he had not slept in far too long.

Aang had never been as focused as he had been, and the passage of time lost all meaning; day or night didn't even register. He fought the overwhelming exhaustion like it was Death, knowing that if he rested, it meant less time looking for Azula's spirit—and he had a limited window to find her and fasten her back to her body! He had to fight! Fight! Fight!

Once he started his search, he realized quickly that he was going to have no look-out like he had promised Toph; he could not afford to waste the energy to do so; he could not afford to divide himself rather than keep himself unified with all of his essence—he needed everything he had to search the eternity of the Immortal Realm!

He was not actively in the Immortal Realm; he remained in his body in the Mortal Realm, but his senses and awareness were stretched and expanded, scouring the Immortal Realm for Azula's spirit. He had no instincts to follow as he had never done such a thing in his previous lifetimes, but he endeavored, probing and assessing, searching and analyzing. He moved quickly, going from place to place, but it didn't feel like he went anywhere—the Immortal Realm stretched for eternity, after all. He could have scoured a chunk of the Immortal Realm the size of the Earth Kingdom, but it still stretched for eternity, meaning he got nowhere—because there was still eternity to go.

But he refused to give up!

However, he needed a break because he could barely concentrate any further.

Aang opened his eyes for the first time in days, and his body trembled from exhaustion; he barely managed to stand to his feet, almost collapsing once he stretched.

His eyes fell on Azula's body in reassurance, but he paled instantly when he noticed that her body had suffered during his search; she had not been nourished by sustenance, which her body needed as it was revived from its damaged state. She looked thin and almost malnourished, and her breathing was not as smooth as normal.

How long had he been searching? He had no idea what day it was! By the feel of the stubbled hair on his head and face, over a week had gone by!

He frantically summoned his paltry reserves of energy and healed Azula's body of the harm it underwent from lack of nourishment. He quickly gathered water, provided it to her, forcing her to drink, and he obtained berries from the forest and forced her to eat, putting a berry in her mouth and forcing her jaw to chew and putting water into her mouth so she would swallow—then he repeated the process, again and again.

It was brutal—and he was without sleep for over a week for all he knew.

But he was alone and had to handle it himself; he had to do everything.

When Azula's body was returned to its health, he sagged and ate berries himself, shoving them into his mouth. When juice from the berries dripped down his chin and onto his chest, he realized he was still only in his loincloth. Forcing himself awake, he got off the bed and left Azula's tent in search of one of the other tents where he could find adequate clothing that would fit him.

He did not care enough to search all the tents. When he found the first clothes, he took them and tried them on. The clothes he found did not fit him completely; in compromise, he wore only the pants. He stumbled around the camp, eyes passing over everything within sight, but none of the sights registered within him.

He was so tired!

He pinched his flesh between shaking fingers and slapped himself, forcing himself to jog, to move his body and awaken his vigor. It did not help as much as he wanted, unfortunately. However, being on his feet and walking around was much more fulfilling than sitting in front of Azula's body, staring at her—which is what he would be doing, otherwise. He could not bear sitting down any further; he needed to stand.

But the dreadful silence was too much; it reminded him of the Air Temples. He returned quickly to Azula's tent, staring at her—which he didn't want to do! He didn't want to keep staring at her and be reminded of his terrible failure! He wanted her to be alive and point out his absurdity!

But he still stared at her, wishing it was Ozai instead who had died. The unholy rage that swelled within him upon thinking of that monster was something that would have banished him from the Air Temples if the High Council of Elders were still alive, but he embraced it—he needed to stop doing that. But he didn't know how to; he didn't want to. He found purpose and fulfillment in it, and he didn't care if it was deceptive; he could care later.

Honestly, Aang didn't truly know what to do about Ozai and Vaatu because he had no idea how Vaatu planned for Ozai to undergo the Ascension like Wan did. The Harmonic Convergence wouldn't occur for centuries, unless Vaatu somehow figured out how to align the stars prematurely. After all, Vaatu wouldn't want to wait that long, and if he couldn't align the stars before the Harmonic Converge, he would need to somehow bond he and Ozai together in a different way. But how could he do it? What could possibly mimic the Harmonic Convergence? Then there was the fact that Ozai would need to drink the Tree's sap and descend into the Void of Eternity and absorb everything he could, bearing Eternity's essence and being torn apart and reborn over and over again until he ascended, bonded forever with Vaatu.

Aang knew he needed to kill Ozai before Vaatu could bond forever with him, negating the presence of a new Avatar Cycle—the Dark Avatar Cycle. Ultimately, no matter what happened, his best solution would be to imprison Vaatu in the Tree of Time again, but there was a very crucial problem: Vaatu had to be in the center of the Immortal Realm for him to imprison him, and Aang knew that Vaatu would never go there again.

To distract himself, he built a fire in the tent, shooting small flames into the fire, adding more fuel. Where were Toph and the others? He felt paranoid beyond belief by himself—it was like the Air Temples all over again with all the silence! But not even Appa and Momo were here now!

Thus, he drew on his solution for the silence at the Air Temples.

"Hello, Roku," he greeted when he saw Roku materialize out of the mist before him, standing opposite him.

Roku's face was warm as he inclined his head. "Hello, Aang. You have experienced much since we last spoke."

Aang realized he had not spoken with Roku since his time on Ember Island—a year ago. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should have summoned you sooner."

"I am proud that you do not rely on my presence," Roku countered. "You should not rely on me as you did. You have your friends now- "

"I killed Azula."

Roku watched him before glancing at Azula's body, which rested on the furs across the ground; he nodded slowly. "Why do you think that?"

Aang squeezed his eyes shut. "This was my plan, which she hated; she kept telling me it was a bad idea. But I ignored her, and I ignored her to her death."

"How did she die?"

"Lightning," he choked out, face twisting in despair as he saw the flash of the lightning split the air before him, hurtling toward him with inevitability before Azula denied him his fate, sacrificing herself for him—he didn't deserve it!

"Did you fire the lightning- "

Aang glared at Roku, fury and grief hitting him all at once. "Of course, I didn't! It was Ozai! But she took it instead! She dove in front of me on purpose, knowing what would happen, and she did it anyway; she died instantly." His breathing trembled, causing his words to rattle in the air as he continued: "I held her in my arms, and she was gone. There was not a hint or expression of life within her; there was only emptiness—the void of Death. Everyone I love is destroyed because of me."

Roku only smiled sadly with a kind expression in his golden eyes—he realized suddenly they were the same color, shade, and shape as Azula's eyes. How had he never recognized it before? "You work to return her- "

He bowed his head. "I don't want only her. I want her desperately, yes, but I want my race back; I want Gyatso back. They would know how to deal with all of this. If Air was still here, none of this would have happened. If Air was still here, I would kill myself, dying in peace knowing that Air would live and thrive. I hate The Avatar."

"Your burden is so unlike mine, Aang," Roku consoled, shaking his head. "I am at my limits. I have no answers to give you."

Aang's jaw clenched before the haunting horror gripped him. "I know. No one has answers for me. She sacrificed herself for me. Why would she do that? She knows better than anyone why I don't deserve that!"

Roku nodded. "She also knows better than anyone why you do deserve that. It was her choice; it was her life to live. She reached the conclusion in the moment that her life was over and sacrificed her future to give you yours."

His breathing became rough and chaotic. "She thinks the world needs The Avatar and made the sacrifice for the world's sake and future. She was wrong to think it- "

"The world does need The Avatar- "

"Then it needs a better one!"

"You will be a better one; you will be a new Avatar."

Aang stared at him with painful disbelief. "How can you say that? You're not listening to me! Didn't you hear a word I just said?"

Roku's eyes were stern but warm. "All that you encounter—all your burdens and trials—prepares and refines you; you are being perfected. I believe firmly that you will be the greatest Avatar to ever reign. All the signs are there. You end the Great War and face the Greater War now, and you will end it, as well; you will triumph and restore balance—I know it."

He turned away from Roku in disgust. "You're insane. You must be from Azula inherited it. She shouldn't have died for me! What was she thinking? It should have been me—me! Why did she do it?" He turned back to Roku, agonized. "Why?"

"Is it possible that she loves you?"

Aang cringed. "She shouldn't love me. She should hate me; she should be disgusted by me; she should shoot lightning at me."

"You love her; you want her to be the Mother of Air."

"The only thing I want is for her to come back," he breathed, remembering how he told Azula's body he wanted her as Mother of Air, and he did, but he knew he shouldn't; he didn't know how to commit to something that felt simultaneously right but monstrous. All he knew was that he loved her but couldn't make her Mother of Air, but he would still bring her back—because he loved her. "I just want her here. I don't know after that."

"You have much to do after this."

Aang swallowed and looked away, ashamed, guilty, and horrified. "Do you know what I did to Ba Sing Se?"

"I was there."

He flinched, tears welling in his eyes. "You know."

"I know."

"I shouldn't be The Avatar," he breathed. "I kill everything good. I wasn't ready to die, but I wanted it. When that lightning came at me, I couldn't stop it because it was too late, but I accepted it; I wanted it. It's the least I deserve. I killed my race, my home, my father, Ba Sing Se, and Azula, and I love her. See what I do, Roku! Look at what I am! I'm evil! I should be executed for what I did to Ba Sing Se! I should surrender myself to the other Kings of Earth and let them have their vengeance—their justice! But I'm never going to! I'm not noble or virtuous enough to do that! I shouldn't do anything 'after this' except die!"

Roku's hands became flesh as he gripped his shoulders, eyes locked onto his. "You are real, Aang. No one would surrender himself for that crime with the context we both know- "

"Context doesn't matter! I became Death and devoured all of those people—millions!"

"You reacted, not acted- "

"That doesn't matter! I know all the platitudes! What do you think I've been telling myself ever since I woke up after Ba Sing Se?" He felt hysterical, and the world shuddered around them. "I've been telling myself all the platitudes since I woke up in this damned, disgusting, evil time!"

"Until you are at peace, you will never defeat Vaatu- "

Aang threw his hands in the air, outraged. "How am I supposed to feel peace? There is no feeling peace! Peace is a memory I can't even remember anymore!"

Roku's face withered with memories. "I did not feel much peace during my life, either. I always knew I could do more, but I refused to; I was not decisive as I should have been. There were times I heard whispers about Sozin's plans—how he worked in secret to amass legions to invade Earth again to secure resources, how he commissioned fleets of ships, how he began training his Imperial Firebenders himself, augmenting their capabilities. I never felt peace when I heard those things, but I dismissed them, knowing my friend. I did know my friend, Aang, but I refused to acknowledge all the parts of him that I knew were there. I suppose I refused to accept him as he was. I should have killed him."

"But you didn't."

"I was capable of it but chose not to. It was a choice to spare him; it was a choice not to strike him down as he left me on that volcano; it was a choice to die in failure and clear the path for him to pursue his ambitions. I saw the path before him as he left me to die, and I knew I should kill him, knew that I was capable of it, but I chose not to."

Aang's eyes shut in pain. "It was a choice to murder Ba Sing Se- "

"It was," Roku agreed. "However, it was not only your choice; it was our choice. Your choice was surrendering yourself to The Avatar State, knowing what would happen when you did so but not caring as you were consumed by distraught anguish, despair, and wrath—that was your choice. As I knew the result of sparing Sozin and doing it anyway, you knew the result of entering The Avatar State in Ba Sing Se and did it anyway."

"I don't know how to live with it," Aang confessed. "I shouldn't be able to live with it—it's evil. But I want to be able to live with it. I'm so tired. I want peace even thought I don't know what that means anymore."

"You must be more decisive than me. You will defeat Vaatu, though I admit I cannot see how you will right now."

Aang sighed. "Thanks, Roku. I'll think about what you said."

Roku inclined his head. "I am sorry I could not help as you needed, Aang."

His predecessor dissipated back into him, leaving a profound, consuming silence.

He stood there for a long time, feeling the wind currents breeze around him; he hadn't thought that Roku would understand as he needed, and he was right. There was only one Avatar he knew he could possibly fathom what he felt about Azula.

There was no one who could help him with Ba Sing Se as far as he knew.

Aang exhaled deeply and watched Kuruk appear out of the mists of his eternal soul. "Avatar Kuruk," he greeted, face like stone.

Kuruk's eyes possessed contempt. "Avatar Aang."

"I'm desperate, so I came to you."

"May your desperation kill you."

"My desperation killed the woman I love," he confessed, voice shaking, ashamed and horrified. "I killed her. It was my short-sightedness; it was my foolishness; it was my arrogance."

Silence.

"There is no solace to feel. But you can return her to you—a chance you denied me."

Aang felt no annoyance at Kuruk's reviling glare. "I'm sorry. I understand now."

"You will not be sorry until she is lost to you forever."

"She won't be," he vowed, glancing at Azula's body. "I'm going to get her back. I swear."

Kuruk's smile was chilling. "Then why are you talking to me?"

Aang shrugged. "I don't know. I thought you could help me; I thought you would understand- "

"I understand better than you ever will."

He stared at Kuruk for several long moments. "What was it like to lose Ummi?"

Kuruk's eyes flashed. "You dare- "

"You reaction to her death shows you loved her. What did you do? What was she like?"

"Kind," Kuruk supplied instantly, looking surprised he admitted it by the look on his face.

"Is that why you loved her?"

Kuruk was silent for a long time before he sighed and bowed his head. "I was The Avatar, above everyone, and I was treated that way. I did nothing to dissuade that perception of me; I embraced it; I loved it; I demanded it of people. But Ummi refused. She spoke so easily to me as if I was not The Avatar." Kuruk grunted in a mixture of amusement and displeasure as he looked over Azula's body. "It resembles how your woman treated me when I was about to slay Koh. I understand how your woman enticed you. She was fearless as she reprimanded and challenged me. She even mocked me."

Aang smiled slightly. "I know."

"Ummi treated everyone the same; there was no one better than someone else in her eyes. Whether it was me, The Avatar, or a decrepit elderly woman, she was kind. Whether it was a hero or a villain, she was kind. I never understood how she did it, but I was drawn to it. When I met her, I was already fully realized and almost eighty years older than her. I didn't care much about anything. I enjoyed pleasure, and pleasure enjoyed me."

"You let people solve their own problems," Aang recalled.

Kuruk grimaced. "I forced them to. I never cared, truly. The only time in my life when I felt myself caring about and opening myself more to the world and others was when I was with Ummi."

Aang felt deep bitterness for Koh. If Koh had not stolen Ummi's face to punish Kuruk, Kuruk might have become a better Avatar, which would have prevented Vaatu's presence because it was during Kuruk's reign when Vaatu began to act with precision. "And Koh ruined it."

"Before that, I embraced pleasure and traveling the world, laying with all the women who looked at me. After that, I embraced fury and spent much of my time in meditation, searching the vastness of the Immortal Realm for Koh. When I was back in the Mortal Realm during the rest of my reign for those centuries, I was apathetic. If anyone tried to speak with me and get me to do something, I killed him, uncaring. I never looked after my children and forced them to look after themselves; I resented and was disgusted that none of my children were Ummi's children, too. Thus, they were never worthy of my affection; they were worthless in my eyes, mere bastards of foolish women. When Ummi died, whatever warmth I felt for the world chilled. I was as cold as the North—colder, really. No one ever seemed to understand me but Ummi in those two years I had with her. Yangchen defended Koh's actions, referencing my failures, and I hated her for it; Jinzhai always lectured me; Boruk was most tolerable, but he still didn't understand; and Keska was more of a bitch than a woman."

"But it was your failures that killed Ummi, right?"

Kuruk glowered but nodded. "Yes. That was my consequence for my neglect and apathy."

Aang's eyes drifted shut. "My failure killed Azula. I'm more familiar with Death than anyone in history, but I never thought she'd die so soon. It's not worse than Air's death, nothing's worse than that, but it is bad—I feel it. I don't like it; I hate it."

"You will hate it forever. But you will return her. You can apologize to her; you can show her your love." The corner of Kuruk's mouth stretched, and a glimmer entered his glacial eyes; Aang saw the man Kuruk might have been then if Ummi was never stolen by Koh. "I have much experience in wooing women."

Aang laughed slightly before it faded as the guilt lashed out at him. "I don't need to woo her. She already loves me. She died for me."

"Then be sure to thank her for it when you return her," Kuruk advised, gesturing to Azula's body. "When you thrust inside her, I recommend a rotation of your hips to exercise a more pleasurable angle- "

He shook his head and held up a hand, trying not to let the flush of his heart spread to his cheeks; he knew he failed. "I think I can do it on my own- "

Kuruk laughed—a full laugh that transformed his face. "Yes, Air was always known for their amorous ways. The greatest encounters I had were with your race's nuns. I hold some fond memories of those women."

Aang stared at him in disgusted fascination, unable to believe it; he knew according to the stories and histories passed down to him that Kuruk had relations with some of the Eastern and Western Temple's nuns and sired children by them, but it was another thing to hear it from Kuruk himself. "Really?"

"I had many wives of Air in Air's eyes. The monks and the other nuns—the ones impervious to my charm—challenged me about it." Something flashed over Kuruk's face—a deep fury and disgust—that was hauntingly similar to his expression when speaking of Koh. "They demanded I stop transgressing on their rituals and beliefs. When I refused and dismissed them, they revealed to me the fates of my children I sired by those nuns, which I had been unaware of. It had never occurred to me to think about my children and ask after them. Air's crime made me never touch another nun—the thought made me want to be a eunuch. They are lucky I chose not to avenge my children, as Water demands."

His eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, aghast, trying to make sense of those words—words that were impossible and made no sense!

Kuruk stared at him before shaking his head. "You are not ready. You would banish me if I told you."

Aang wanted to ask but decided not to. "I will take your guidance under consideration- "

"But if you need physical guidance, summon me, and I'll guide you." A wolfish expression crossed Kuruk's face. "If it is within your willing, I can take your place and give to your woman extensive pleasure unlike any of her life. Then I may again experience the pleasure that defined my life."

Aang scoffed. "Not happening. The only one Azula will have relations with is me."

"But I am you."

"But I'm not you."

A smirk stretched Kuruk's lips. "I bet that pleases you."

"More than you know."

Kuruk nodded and closed his eyes. "Now go return your woman to you. Cherish her, for you will not get this chance again if you fail again."

"Unless I kill Agni again."

But that didn't change the fact that Azula was on a strict timeline for her return to be possible, even if Agni was dead for a thousand years.

"That sets a poor precedent- "

His brows rose. "You're worried about precedent?"

Kuruk looked solemn and haunted. "Look at what the precedents I set culminated in."

Aang swallowed. "Vaatu."

"Don't make my mistakes, Avatar Aang," Kuruk urged with a desperation on his face that Aang didn't think him capable of. "Be better than me, please. Do not take my title of Worst Avatar. You must be better. Promise me."

"I'm not sure- "

"Promise me!" Kuruk roared, eyes bursting.

"I promise," Aang appeased, unsure he would be able to fulfill it. "I won't be you."

Kuruk relaxed with a ragged sigh. "You do not want to be me; you do not want my regret and guilt."

"I already have it and more."

"But you have time to come back from it," Kuruk pointed out with a pained whisper. "Don't the waste the time you are given. Pull your woman back, cherish her, save the world, and evoke balance. Do what I couldn't; do what I lacked the testicular fortitude to do."

Aang inhaled with slow intent as he nodded. "I don't know how, but I plan to."

Kuruk bowed his head, face worn and old. "Thank you, Avatar Aang. Now go pull your woman back."

He memorized Kuruk before he bowed his head in turn. "Farewell, Avatar Kuruk."

"Farewell."

Kuruk dissipated into mist and rushed back into him, and Aang immediately returned to his position by Azula's body with newborn determination and vigor. He focused his attention back on Azula, relieved that her breathing was even and rhythmic and no discomfort was visible on her face; she looked asleep—forever. He stared at her, memorizing her beautiful features, wishing that she would open her hypnotic golden eyes.

He vowed to give her the ability to open her eyes—she would!

Aang shut his eyes and resumed his search.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Unfortunately, Azula began to understand the morose attitudes of the Children of Water. There was a misery and loneliness that hovered in the air, clinging to her, which made it hard to remember herself and where she was; it made it hard to remember her determination to find the Gardens, which seemed farther away than when she started.

She had no idea where she was going!

Her direction was random, and her search deteriorated into wandering, going around and around, changing trajectory and direction when the despair threatened her sanity! Her only hope was to find someone who could help her and provide her guidance and answers.

She felt herself descending into madness again!

"Where are the Gardens?" Azula shouted into the vast, impenetrable mist around her, which seemed to suffocate her, confining her in place, blurring the outlines of her fellow spirits around her. "Where? Where? Answer me!" She grit her teeth and flung out her hands, but no flames sprouted from her fists. "Tree of Time, I beseech you, guide me to the answers I seek! I want to see my family!"

Silence.

If she was capable of tears, she might have broken down—she should not have judged the Children of Water so severely when she first arrived. She understood completely why they were spiritless and without essence; she understood their affliction of madness.

It threatened her now.

She was not as strong as she thought.

"What would you do, Aang?" she whispered, already knowing the answer—Aang would fight and overcome the odds against him.

Azula needed to do the same.

When she began her journey again, a giggle reached her ears, which caused her to stiffen at the impossible sound. However, she bolted in the direction of the source of the giggle, hoping she was near the Gardens—only giggles were possible in the Gardens!

But what she saw was not the Gardens; she was still in the desolate valley blanketed by fog and mists, but within the mists around her, small figures darted around in familiar robes.

Airbending children, bathed in the same robes she remembered Aang wearing during the Great War, dashed around, seeming to play a game—a complex game that demanded avoidance and evasion, dashing from one direction to another as they chased each other randomly.

It was impossible to follow.

"Hello?" she called out hopefully after watching for several long moments in stunned awe, approaching them. "Can you help me?"

The children took no notice of her, continuing their game, but as she got closer, she noticed the expanse of their ages. They were all boys ranging from around Aang's age during the Great War to mere toddlers, and some even approached her height. However, she noticed that while a group of airbending children ran around, there were other airbending children who held onto each other, seeming terrified and stricken; they resembled the Children of Water.

However, she kept her approach, which they noticed finally. When they saw her, they gasped in terror, eyes riveted on her garments—Fire Nation garments—and the obvious appearance of her race, including her vivid golden eyes. She cursed herself for her lack of intelligence, but before she could attempt to soothe their rightful terror, all of them took off in a mass of colors, fleeing with impossible speed—even without bending.

Seeing no other option, she took off after them, going in a new direction across the valley. There were some points where she feared she lost the group of airbending children, but there was always a flash of orange and yellow clothing in the distance that alerted her that she was still on their trail. Eventually, there were no Children of Water around in the direction she ran; this part of the valley was empty, except for herself and the flashes of color in the distance that inspired her hope.

But hope was impossible to maintain in this valley because she eventually lost sight of the airbending children, leaving her alone. Upon registering the absence of the airbending children, she looked around in frustrated despair, seeing no new signs of being close to the Gardens. It was all maddeningly the same as before—except for the lack of Children of Water!

"Please!" she cried out. "Tree of Time, I know you hear me! Guide me to my family! I want to speak to my family!"

When nothing happened, she could not help but feel disappointed and rejected even though she had not expected anything to happen. She squeezed her eyes shut for long moments, unsure how long she stood there, trying to maintain her determination to keep from falling into madness—she refused to let it happen again!

Opening her worn eyes, Azula strode achingly across the landscape of the valley, having no direction in mind except finding her family; it was her only hope. She could not become like the Children of Water who were now nowhere to be seen! She kept her pace, though it became more difficult the longer she walked and nothing happened—but she kept going!

Azula had to find solace, and she was not strong enough to find solace by herself and on her own; she needed to find her family. She needed the Gardens!

Suddenly, she froze when, out of the corner of her eye in the distance, she what looked like the outline of a body. She changed direction, the outline a beacon to her, guiding her, and she approached, watching as it became closer and more discernable.

It was a spirit—dressed in Air Nomad garments. But it was not an airbending child as previously; it was an Air Nomad man, an older monk, whose bald head gleamed, revealing a proud tattoo of mastery.

As she became closer, she realized the monk sat in the familiar lotus position, meditating. She blinked, staring at the impossible sight in disbelief, amazed he was capable of meditation under such ghastly conditions. How could anyone, even a renowned Air Nomad monk, meditate in this horrid place?

Azula circled the Air Nomad, seeing him from his front, and assessed his features, seeing a powerful, moving resemblance to Aang in terms of traits—not identical but similar enough, revealing a shared source of origin.

He was an Air Nomad born of Air's race, like Aang. There was no one in the Mortal Realm anymore who appeared as this Air Nomad and Aang, each sharing traits and characteristics that were gone from the world. The shape of his face was extinct; the type and color of his mustache was extinct; the cheekbones and jaw were extinct; the shape and swell of his lips was extinct; the thickness of his eyebrows was extinct; the shape and type of his ears was extinct; the shape of his head, on which sat his exquisite tattoo of mastery, was extinct; his lean build was extinct; his eyes, which she knew were gray, were extinct, possessed only by Aang and Samir.

She did not want to think of either Aang or Samir.

Instead, Azula lowered herself until she sat across from the Air Nomad, the haunting impact of extinction devastating her—for Sozin helped manifest that truth. She was once a girl who would have helped that extinction, reinforcing it; she was once a girl who would have, indeed, chased after those airbending children but not for answers or aid—rather to kill and make extinct.

Aang was right to distrust her nomination for Mother of Air—she was more unworthy of it than any woman! It was monstrous of her to be so bold and apathetic, not realizing the depths of the situation, possessed only by the lazy surfaces!

It was only now, when she saw another Air Nomad man, that she realized Aang's impossible burden and isolation; he truly had no home or family; he had no race; he had no people.

All due to Vaatu, Agni, and her great-grandfather.

"I am so sorry," she breathed. "Your family is gone; your home is gone; your race is gone. I am sorry I never understood what that meant and how evil that is."

As expected, the Air Nomad man did not respond, not even seeming to register her presence.

Azula watched the serenity on his impressive, memorable face and wanted it for herself; her eyes shut as she mimicked the Air Nomad, trying to meditate, hoping she was capable enough to restore her strength and faith.

She thought about those airbending children she saw, wondering what brought them to this place. How did they die? Did they die during the Attack? Did Sozin himself kill them? Were they fed to the dragons? Did they fight back against the horde of Imperial Firebenders? Did they die defending each other? Did they cry and beg the masked Imperial Firebenders for mercy, asking what they did to hurt them? Were their screams cut off by the silence of Death? Were they in pain as they died? Were they shoved off the temples and fell to their deaths as they were too injured to save themselves? Were they waiting for The Avatar to save them?

She wondered how the Imperial Firebenders were capable of cutting those children down. Did those Imperial Firebenders see the young, panicked, terrified, and teary faces and think them little monsters, inhuman unlike their own children back at home in the Fire Nation? Did they think they were sparing the world from evil in the future? Did they think they were sparing the children from more pain, killing them in that present moment rather than later in the future? Did they think they would garner glory and praise for killing those children? Did they think one of those children was The Avatar and, unable to discern which one, killed all of them, leaving no stone unturned?

Azula thought of herself at the ages of those airbending children, putting herself in their places, ranging from knee-high to when Mother left. How would she handle the situation? How would she have handled the horde of indomitable Imperial Firebenders, enhanced by Sozin's Comet, rushing at her with murder in their hearts, conveyed by the ferocious, savage glow in their golden eyes?

As a child, she thought she could face anything, even an army, and command that army as the Fire Princess; as a child, she thought she would have been fearless and fought back, summoning her flames to defend herself and kill her attackers—and she would have killed all of them, as her naïve confidence demanded!

But as a woman, she realized she would have been crushed effortlessly; she would have shrieked in terror and tried to run, fleeing with panting gasps, pumping her arms and legs—as little and small as they were—as fast and hard as she could as the Air Temple shook and burned; her eyes would have filled with tears from all the smoke and soot in the air, along with watching her friends murdered in front of her; she would have looked for solace in the arms of the Elders, expecting that the Elders could and would defend her and save the lives of everyone, driving back the invaders and rapists! But she would have cried and screamed, unable to move, as the Elders were cut down, killed brutally; if there were nuns, she would have been frozen in place, petrified and uncomprehending as those nuns were violated viciously by Imperial Firebenders, perhaps taking turns in the raping of their victims, those nuns who only loved Air and their families in the Air Temple, perhaps crying out in distraught agony and hysteria or finding the strength to call out to her and tell her to run and save herself.

But Azula would not have run; she would have been stuck in place, stricken, and dying slowly in her mind as the madness of the world around her infected her, making her mad. She would not have understood what was happening, possessed by an undying panic and agonizing disbelief that broke her mind. She would have descended into madness instantly at the sight and smell of all the blood, watching heads—the heads of her family and race!—roll unevenly across the temple grounds, kicked around by frantic, rushing feet in a stampede of urgency, whether Imperial Firebenders or fleeing Air Nomads, as a chorus of screams and shrieks rang in the air incessantly.

She would have watched her world burn, afire with unholy flames, burning, destroying, and blackening the place—the home in which she lived, breathed, loved, and aspired—she took solace and comfort in for all her days; she would have watched the flames consume everything, clouding the air, compromising her vision but not enough to not see the destruction, carnage, atrocity, and death happening everywhere around her and inside her, powerless to control the flames, powerless to do anything but die; she would have watched the blood of her kin spray across the renowned murals and paintings across the temple in a gushing sweep of violence, staining and destroying the powerful, ancient memory of her race, replacing all the lessons and stories depicted in the frescoes with the story of Air's slaughter, which was not Air's story but Fire's story, diminishing Air completely and utterly, leaving an incomprehensible void; she would have watched the sky bison killed violently, gutted of their innards, squealing and groaning as their large legs kicked in the air, twitching and spasming with the desperation to survive and fight, massive heads rising slightly and turning, swiveling as they groaned deeply—the last bellows to indicate the presence of their awareness—in their pursuit of fixing the gaping gash of their severed, gushing throats, which pulsed with the descending flow of blood, staining the pristine white fur dark red, almost black with the tide of gore; she would have watched the sky bison still forever, stiff and immovable, blood seeping across the temple grounds, tracked everywhere by the footsteps of anyone and everyone, uncaring or too hysterical to care about the blood; she would have watched the strongest Air Nomads fight back, perhaps devastating the horde, ending lives to save the children's lives.

But her life would not have been saved—as all the other lives were not saved in the end.

There was only extinction.

For the first time in her life, she felt speechless when considering Air's murder.

There were no words as there always were for every other time in her memory; there were only the tears that streamed down her face, which she had no idea was possible without her body.

"I am so sorry," she whispered, trembling, wishing to know the names of those children, wishing to be anything but dead so she could visit all the Air Temples and erect monuments in their shared memory; she wished to be anything but dead so she could embrace Aang and hold him, finally understanding more clearly what happened; she wished to be anything but dead so she could apologize for nominating herself for Mother of Air and insulting and angering him to the depths of his soul; she wished to be anything but dead to atone for Fire's profound dishonor having helped commit the greatest human slaughter of all time.

Fire worshipped Honor, but what honor was there in murdering Air? It was more dishonorable than anything she could conceive! It was the biggest, most vile lie she had ever been told!

She could only hope that those murdered that day, race made extinct, were free, embodying that which they worshipped.

But based on how those airbending children fled when they realized—recognized—who and what she was, they were not free. How could anyone be free in this valley, a place of misery and regret?

Was freedom possible?

"If dying is what it takes to share a beautiful woman's company, I should have done it sooner."

Azula's eyes sprang open in shock to see the old Air Nomad monk smiling warmly at her—and his eyes were so vividly, vibrantly gray, like Aang's! He looked even more relaxed, which should be impossible. He should despise her! He should try to attack her! He should sneer and condemn her! He should weaponize Air's wisdom, refined for eons, and obliterate her paltry mind's understanding and drive her to madness again!

She wiped the tears from her face. "I am sorry," she whispered, voice cracking; she did not want those imagined images anymore. They would drive her to insanity again! "I know it means nothing, but it is all I have to offer; it is the only real thing I can offer. I am sorry."

The Air Nomad's head tilted, and his warmth and kindness never wavered on his face. "What do you mean?"

Azula gaped at him. "You do not hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"I am of Fire, and there are none left of Air now—because of Fire!"

"Air is everywhere," the Air Nomad said with a wink. "Its ubiquity ensures its eternity and undying nature."

There was so much life in a dead Airbender; it was miraculous.

"But there are no more Airbenders- "

"Out of all the Elements and Races, Air is the only one that can survive extinction and return to its prominence and glory," the Air Nomad explained with a kind smile. "It needed to happen."

Azula's eyes bulged. "What?"

"I know what I'm talking about. I lived in the final days. Things were not as they should be, and they only reached that point because the roots on which we operated and lived were rotten and incomplete, unhealthy and mired by misunderstandings; we severed our roots and looked to other things, making the arrogant, foolish choice to make our roots rather than remember them and adhere to them. We tethered ourselves to coin rather than belief; we over relied on that which we swore many generations ago to never rely on. We lost our way."

She stared at him for a long time, trying to see if he was trying to trick her—she deserved to be tricked, after all—but the Air Nomad only stared back at her with his serene expression.

It was profoundly impressive.

"Do you know where the Gardens are?" she asked, not sure she could speak about Air intelligently; she could not understand his references to roots and Air's murder 'needing to happen.' She needed to let those ideas absorb more before she explored them—with, assumedly, his help.

The Air Nomad laughed "No one but the Elementals and The Avatar know where the Gardens are. Do I look like The Avatar?"

Azula shook her head. "Besides being born of the same race and sharing, thus, the traits and characteristics therein, not really, no."

Something impossible to describe passed over the Air Nomad's face. "You know The Avatar?"

"I did."

"How well?"

At the urgent look in his gray eyes, she realized that he likely wanted to know what happened to The Avatar born of his race who failed to save his race; she elected for honesty, hoping the Air Nomad could feel a connection to his last living kin—and hopefully forgive him for failing Air. "I know that he ran away from his home before Air was murdered; I know he fell into a slumber in the ocean for a century before he returned, faced overwhelming, impossible odds, and triumphed over the most advanced army in the recorded history of the world; I know that he never wastes a thought not thinking about Air; I know that he hates himself for failing his race and not being there when his home and the other Air Temples were violated; I know he wishes nothing more than for Air to return and be as it was, perfect, serene, and present; I know he spends all his days and moments remembering Air; and I know he will spend the expanse of his long life remembering Air."

"What temple was he born at?"

Surprised by the random question, Azula saw no reason to lie: "The Eastern Temple before he was raised at the Southern Temple."

"Did he bond with a sky bison?"

"I never asked how old he was when he did, but I know he did. I met his sky bison—Appa."

A wonderful smile spread across the Air Nomad's face. "Do you know what the tattoo of mastery is?"

"Yes."

"Did he earn his tattoo of mastery?"

"He was the youngest to achieve it as far as I understand. He told me he started bending when he was months old."

Such a fact still seemed impossible to her, but she believed it utterly.

The Air Nomad looked at her with such delight before he seemed to regain his composure. She had no idea what was going on. "How fortuitous. Miracles happen even in death—isn't it wonderful? I believe we can help each other."

Azula, while surprised he did not curse The Avatar who failed his race, quickly realized she should not be surprised; the Air Nomad was kind and wise and seemed to possess a remarkable intelligence. "How so?"

"We will not have much time together, but we can converse and share things with each other; I believe it will be beneficial to us both."

She was impressed that the Air Nomad realized that she needed to reach the Gardens and speak to her family, which meant, indeed, that they would 'not have much time together.' She needed to stop underestimating him; he was a remarkable man. She wondered if he lived during Aang's time or if he lived before Aang's time. He said he lived in the 'final days,' but she was unsure if that specifically referenced Air's murder. But she was sure, regardless, that Aang would enjoy him—as she did.

"Very well," she agreed. "And after, you will tell me how to reach my family?"

The Air Nomad grinned. "Yes."

Azula decided to trust him. "What do you wish to speak about?"

"What do you know about Air?"

She thought of the countless scrolls she had read and analyzed at the Eastern Temple. "Enough to know I know little."

He inclined his head in approval with a proud, relieved look in his eyes. "You are wise."

She snorted in dry amusement. "Not that it matters anymore. I am dead. The Dead have no use for wisdom."

"Though they possess all of it," the Air Nomad pointed out with equal amusement. "Would you heed the wisdom of the Dead?"

Azula shrugged one shoulder. "If it is worth heeding."

"How do you determine wisdom's worth?"

"By its necessity."

"All wisdom is necessary."

"Spoken like a true Air Nomad," she observed with a smirk.

There was something almost familiar about his resulting laughter, though she could not identify its familiarity. "All wisdom is necessary but not relevant. You must discern its relevance and apply it."

Azula watched his serene, joyful face for long moments. "Did you learn this when you joined the Dead, or did you apply such wisdom when you lived?"

"I believe I applied wisdom in life, but only in death is clarity possible." The Air Nomad's eyes fluttered shut, and an expression of guilt and remorse crossed his face. "Death reveals the truth of all things. In life, when I was young, I dismissed many things I wish I could have absorbed and incorporated into my understanding. It has only been since my death that I realized how extensive my failings were."

She recalled her own life and nodded. "I thought I would have more time—decades more."

The Air Nomad laughed. "The is Death's purifying quality. It eternizes you as you are, not as who you wish to be. I wanted more time, as well, but Death revealed what I am was not oriented to more time. I always wanted to be taller, but Death makes you accept the truth of what you are. Part of me wishes I never lost my hair."

Azula hummed, thinking of Aang. The Avatar never really died. Did Death reveal the truth of The Avatar? "The Avatar likes his hair; he changed that tradition amongst your race. He never wants to lose his hair, I know."

"If he does lose it, it will only be because it retreated in shame of his great beard!"

"You are a good guesser," she accused, narrowing her eyes at the fact that the Air Nomad somehow knew that Aang possessed a 'great beard.'

His eyes opened as he hummed. "What do you think of this place?"

She blanched in surprise. "It is horrid."

The Air Nomad laughed, and he had a sudden expression of accepting serenity on his face that Azula could not recognize in herself. Yes, she accepted her situation—her death—but she felt no serenity about it. How could she have serenity about it? "This place is wonderful. It brought us together, and I am more grateful than you can understand."

Azula stared at him in painful confusion. "No, this place is miserable, despite 'bringing us together'."

"It teaches so many things about existence," the Air Nomad continued. "Misery lies on the surface; explore the depths to find essence and meaning- "

Her hands curled into fists. "What meaning is there in death?"

The Air Nomad smiled kindly. "More than you think."

Her eyes narrowed. "You know of Air's murder- "

"I was there."

She swallowed in realization that this Air Nomad might have known Aang when he was a boy as he had lived in Aang's time before she continued: "You think there was meaning in Air's murder?"

"Of course," the Air Nomad replied like it was the simplest, most obvious thing in the world.

Azula closed her eyes. "Someone I know—or knew—would fight you on that."

The Air Nomad's brief grin reminded her of said someone. "I'm sure someone would."

"I speak of The Avatar."

"So do I!" he exclaimed, amused and joyful.

She shook her head in awe. "You are part of the Dead, yet you may be more alive than anyone of the Living."

He winked. "I can teach you how to be more alive when you return to the Living."

Azula blanched. "What? I am dead."

"Not quite," the Air Nomad said, voice kind and cheerful; it was miraculous. "If you were anyone else, you would be shortly once Agni reorganizes his essence to create his body, but The Avatar has a keen interest in your wellbeing. You are in limbo, inching closer to your rest in the Gardens, and he will reach out and pull you back to him."

"I miss him," she whispered, unable to keep the ache from echoing in her voice. "I miss all of him."

A laugh escaped the Air Nomad, but his smile was gentle. "Your time is short. You shall miss no more."

She swallowed, staring at him, feeling a sickening sensation. "How do you know that?"

"I know things."

"How? What do you mean Agni needs to 'reorganize his essence to create his body'?"

"The Avatar destroyed Agni's body, which delays his duties to take your spirit—and other Children of Fire's spirits—to the Gardens. Agni must reform before he resumes his duties. Thus, you are in limbo."

Azula's eyes closed in pain. "How do you know that?"

"The Dead are not as unknowing as you think."

Her eyes snapped open and narrowed. "Something tells me that, of the Dead, you are unlike any of the others."

He laughed. "Very good!" he praised. "I see so clearly why he enjoys you. He will pull you back."

She did not need to ask for clarification on who 'he' was. "But he did not pull you back nor any of your race. And you are here, as well, which means you are in limbo as I am."

"Your body is alive and well," the Air Nomad explained brightly with an exuberant but calm positivity that astonished her. "He healed your body and searches for your spirit now. My body is, and the bodies of all the spirits here are, destroyed—as it must be. He will restore balance and give us our rests in the Gardens when it is time."

"But he would try to bring you back- "

"It is a century too late, and he understands, instinctively, that he must not change it, even if, emotionally, he has yet to understand it—though, I promise, he will."

"How do you know?"

"Aang is an enigma beyond anyone else, but he's still comprehensible."

Silence.

"You knew Aang," she breathed in realization, looking at him in a new way.

The Air Nomad beamed. "I did. We lived at the Southern Temple together."

Azula wavered and reached out a hand to steady herself. She had always wanted to meet an Air Nomad from Aang's time but never imagined she would. What was Aang like then? "What is this place?" she asked. "You must know. Air's knowledge and wisdom are- "

"You are here because Agni has not yet taken your spirit to the Gardens of the Dead. You are in limbo," he repeated patiently. "The Avatar's holy wrath broke the powers of Agni and Devi temporarily. Any Child of Fire or Earth who perish during Agni and Devi's defeat will come here and be in limbo until Agni and Devi can come to take those spirits to the Gardens to enjoy their rests. But you are unlike the others here; The Avatar cherishes you. I suspect even if Agni could take your spirit to the Gardens he would not. He would not dare risk The Avatar's fury consuming him."

"Not even The Avatar can fight forever," she said carefully, trying to assess the Air Nomad before her. Could she trust him or was it a trick? Did he actually know Aang intimately or did he merely know of Aang?

"He searches for you now," the Air Nomad replied, amused; he pointed around them and up to the fog across the heavens. "Can't you see? Do you feel it? His power permeates the Immortal Realm from where he sits; he searches actively to find you and return you to your body. Even if you were to cross the threshold, he would reach across and pull you back. He would break the Divide, grasp you, retreat, repair the Divide, and return you to your body."

Azula swallowed. "How are you here, too?"

"Indra has been compromised. All of the Children of Air who died from the Attack and the few who died later after escaping narrowly are here."

"But you are an Air Nomad clearly," she repeated, gesturing at him. His insistence that Aang would 'pull her back' was impossible and absurd, particularly when compared to his love for his race. "Why would he reach over and pull me back when he did nothing of the sort for you and your race? He loves his race far more than me."

The Air Nomad smiled kindly. "He does, but the situation is different. Aang has much to learn about his race. You are who he needs, and he is who you need; you will be his, and he will be yours."

She decided for bluntness; she knew Toph would approve. "I nominated myself to him as the Mother of Air, and he despises my nomination- "

"Aang is stubborn; he always has been," the Air Nomad said, apparently not surprised in the slightest by her confession of nominating herself for the sacred, prestigious position of Mother of Air. Who was he? "It's the reason why he has survived his ordeals; he walks his own path."

She tensed, realizing that the Air Nomad must have known Aang personally, speaking about him with too much confidence and familiarity. "Who are you?"

"A friend."

"Your face escapes me."

"Because I have been dead a long time."

"Then how are we friends?"

"Air is a friend to all."

Azula's eyes narrowed. "You know what I mean."

The playful, mischievous smile on his face was so painfully like Aang's smile that it produced a pang of longing and grief inside her. "I know of you, and you know of me."

"Who are you?" she demanded. "Why were we brought together in this place? Why are you not my grandfather or grandmother? Why not my cousin? Why are you not someone from my family? That is who I asked to see. I want to speak to my family."

The Air Nomad laughed. "Based on Fire's conception, we are family. You consider yourself my daughter because you love whom you consider my son."

Azula's eyes bulged in realization. "Gyatso," she breathed, staring at him afresh—he was a miracle to behold!

Gyatso's smile was a vivid beam through the misery in the air. "Hello, Azula."

XxXxXxXxXxX

I hope that you all enjoyed it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'd really appreciate it!

**Zuko thinks about how good his life has been. Let's be honest, he has had a shitty life, but it turned out pretty okay. He could have had it much worse. He was born of generations of royalty with the blood of Avatar Roku and Fire Lords in his veins; he was born a son and a Firebender; he had a loving mother, cousin, uncle, and a somewhat loving grandfather and sister (and father in his earliest memories before Ozai changed). The only downside was his father changed and became a monster, which is horrible and started the beginning of the evils in his life. Of course, things became much worse for him when his mom left, grandfather died, Azula being molded by Ozai, his uncle vanishing for years, and then he was banished. In a lot of ways, Zuko's saving grace was his banishment. If he hadn't been banished, I guarantee that he would have eventually become his father reborn. Zuko is old enough and mature enough now to realize these things and he recognizes that in spite of everything, he's had a pretty good life.

I've highlighted more the brother and sister bond/connection/relationship between Zuko and Azula than the show did because I find it really interesting, and I think it's more compelling and makes more sense to go more in depth like that. I think it would be great if he had confronted Azula on the Day of Black Sun in the same way he did Ozai but with a different objective—to get Azula to join him. Of course, Azula says no, and everything in the show happens, but Zuko tried regardless, which he needed to. It's really intriguing if part of the reason he stays loyal to the Dragon's Throne as long as he did (it's four episodes since he learned of his descent from Roku before he actually committed to the decision to leave) is due to the connection he feels to Azula and doesn't want to leave her like their mother left; he feels connected to his sister, no matter how complicated their relationship becomes or was unlike what it used to be when they were younger. He still loves his sister and doesn't want to be her enemy. He doesn't know the conclusion of his leaving (her falling into madness), but it's not as surprising to him as it should be. Thus, some part of him suspected it, deep down, and understood that, unlike him, she couldn't "remember who she is" and, thus, lost herself to madness. But Zuko still left because he knew he had to because the Great War needed to end—at least for a little bit.

Toph arrives at the Caldera in exhaustion and reveals everything to Zuko, Katara, Ursa, Iroh, Sokka, and Suki, getting them all up to speed on everything that's happened as best she can! Naturally, there's a lot of chaos in telling the story because it's half a year's worth of information, and it is major information about Vaatu, Sozin, Aang, Azula, and the fights that happened. Everyone's reactions are about what you would suspect, and I hope that they seemed realistic. Iroh is named regent of the Fire Nation for an indefinite period of time while Zuko joins Aang and the Gaang.

**Azula finds herself (her spirit) in a strange place in the Immortal Realm that she realizes isn't the Gardens of the Dead. She encounters the Order of the White Lotus's former Sage of Water, Karluk, who warns her of what has been happening in the North and how he was killed. Hahn has been taking advantage to neutralize his political enemies and clear his path to the throne, killing everyone who opposes him; he's made a powerful ally in a boy of Fire who drained benders of their bending energies. Azula then meets Chief Kuhna and Chief Hada (Katara and Sokka's great-grandfather and grandfather on their dad's side) and talks about their hatred for Air and the fact that a 'Gyatso' visited the South right before Sozin's Comet hit and Air was wiped out to warn them of the imminent conflict. Then Azula runs into the Fire Sages she killed and learns the truth of why there are so many—countless—Children of Water in the place she is stuck.

Avatar Kirku, an Avatar who reigned many Avatar Cycles ago (The Avatar who mastered true flight and appeared in CH5 to discuss the true history of The Avatar with Aang and Azula), had to replenish Water's depleted state because of Water's war with Earth. Water was almost wiped out by Earth, and Kirku moved his race to the North to save them from extinction and to help them rebuild. However, to speed up the process, he "convinced" the Ocean and Moon to forfeit their immortality and live at the North to produce more Waterbenders. However, in doing so, the Ocean and Moon haven't been able to fulfill their duties of taking all the spirits of the dead Children of Water from their in-limbo stage to the Gardens for their rightful rests, which means there is a MASSIVE backlog of Children of Water spirits, who have been trapped in that misery for countless generations, going back over 7,000 years in the Mortal Realm—THAT'S A LOT! The Fire Sages weaponize that fact to justify their rebellion against The Avatar because, let's be real, they don't give a rat's ass about the Children of Water or their plight; they simply hate The Avatar and have for multiple generations of their existence, stretching back to before the Great War, more than likely, and will use any excuses to justify their treachery to make themselves the heroes in a noble pursuit.

**Aang talks with Roku and Kuruk about what happened, trying to find something—anything—that could help him. He and Kuruk reach an understanding, finding a common ground on the fact that they lost their loves (Azula and Ummi) because of their mistakes, their arrogance and short-sightedness. I also explored a little about Kuruk and Ummi and how Kuruk's reign as Avatar was disastrous—because he was a terrible Avatar who didn't care. Whereas Ummi seemed to care about everyone, Kuruk cared about no one. When Ummi reached him, he could have changed and become different, but Koh was so outraged and fed up with Kuruk that he stole Ummi's face to try to teach him a lesson, but it backfired horribly. Kuruk became worse than ever and never recovered, which began the cycle of extremes in which the Mortal Realm (and Immortal Realm) is trapped because Kyoshi and Roku couldn't fix Kuruk's neglect. The seeds were already sown previously, but it wasn't until Kuruk's reign where fruit actually started to be produced—bad fruit. Basically, because Kuruk was such a disastrous Avatar, Vaatu took advantage and has been taking advantage ever since. This has been building and brewing for a LONG time (about a thousand years, give or take a few decades, and those roots were planted even before that; rather, the roots started growing and making their presences known in Kuruk's reign), and it's up to Aang to stop it; he's the only one who can; he must redeem Kuruk—and, thus, himself—of his failure. But unlike any other Avatar, he's more at risk of becoming like Kuruk—or, dare I say, worse than Kuruk—due to the sufferings and agonies he has endured. Unlike any other Avatar, Aang can achieve victory and win the day against Vaatu, but also unlike any other Avatar, Aang can evoke such a crushing defeat that victory will never be possible again; Aang can save the world or destroy the world. He's not that kid who awakened from the Iceberg anymore—he actively tries not to be that 'stupid, weak, pathetic kid' and has cast himself into a mental rigidity where he's trying to hold himself together so tightly that he's at greater risk of breaking.

**Azula continues her wanderings, cries out to the Tree of Time to let her see her family, and runs into some airbending children (the airbending children who were killed the day of the Attack when Sozin and his armies came). The children understandably freak out when they see her (because she looks obviously Fire Nation) and run for it, and Azula follows after them, going to a different part of the endless valley she's trapped in. She loses sight of the airbending children but stumbles upon an Air Nomad monk who's serene enough to meditate. Azula is amazed and can do nothing but try to copy him, hoping it will give her answers. Air's murder has never been explored, and it's a real shame that it's never been explored because there is such a profound story to tell for it. Azula thinks about those airbending children, aged from 2-12 years of age, and thinks about what it was like for them on the day of the Attack, how they experienced their final living moments. She let it register inside her; she absorbed the understanding and finally realized why Aang hated the thought of Sozin's blood tied to Air's future lineage. She finally reached enlightenment about it—because she saw those children before her, as real as her, each with ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and loves, and was able to put faces to ideas, put mortals to murders because she looked them in their eyes and saw the truth of their existence and end. It finally hit home for her.

Of course, the Air Nomad monk she stumbled upon intrigues and welcomes her, delighting her with conversation and wisdom. And this Air Nomad monk reveals himself as Gyatso.

Well, I think that is everything. I hope that you all enjoyed it, and I would really appreciate it if you left a review to tell me what you thought about it.

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