Present Day 105 AG

Aang knew he was in trouble. He just wasn't sure how much. His friends had every right to be upset with them. He had misled them for the past three years, but he had no regrets. He was in love and love was always worth it.

Even now, he still didn't live up to his end of the agreement. He said he would bring her back to the palace, but he didn't. Instead, he brought a different princess.

He carried his daughter in his arms. Mai was with him to help make sure he didn't get too beat up. He would get at least a little beat up, but she wanted him able to walk out of the room without assistance. She had their son with them baby Tenzin.

The guards quickly ushered them to the Fire Lord's office. "You were supposed to bring Azula and her husband," Zuko said immediately.

"I know, and I was going to but …"

"She's on bed rest," Mai said.

"What?"

"The doctor said she cannot travel until she delivers."

"She's pregnant, again?"

"Yes, with twins. Ty Lee is with her in case anything happens while we're away."

"This is our daughter," Aang said proudly, "Princess Gaia."

Zuko frowned. He just realized Aang was her husband. Zuko picked up the baby. She was a little over a year old. She looked like her mother, but she had her father's eyes. She would be an airbender someday. She was Aang's first child. Ty Lee had Bumi a couple months later and Tenzin was born two weeks after that. He had three airbending children and he might have a fourth one. At least one of Azula's twins was a firebender. The other was unclear.

"How far along is she?"

"Azula's at almost seven months."

Katara entered the room. "There you are. I ought to just wring your little …."

"Katara please," Zuko said. "If anyone beats him up, it will be me." He turned to Aang. "Do you have any idea how long I searched for her, how much money I spent?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen."

"What did you mean for?" the Fire Lady screamed at him.

"I just wanted to do the right thing. When I found your sister, she had changed. I didn't want to rock the boat."

102AG

Aang had been sent to look for Azula the year before, when she escaped. He looked high and low but never found her. Eventually, he had to deal with more pressing matters. The year had been a long one for him. Hakoda had been on his case about marriage.

"Katara has been of marrying age for two years," he told the boy.

"We've only been together for two years."

"There are lots of other suitors who would like her hand if you aren't interested."

"I'm not going to rush into a marriage just to get rid of some suitors. If she doesn't like them, she can say it to their faces."

Aang had plenty of other arguments as well. Some of the other poltiicans were concerned that he would not produce enough airbenders if he married Katara. "They might be waterbenders or nonbenders."

"That's going to be true with every women, since I can't marry an airbender."

"It's why you should have multiple wives, or a harem."

The idea disgusted him. The prospect traumatized Katara. She started to panic. What if he leaves me because I can't produce airbenders? What if I become barren? She started getting ulcers from the stress and they weren't even engaged yet. Finally Aang said, "We need to break up, Tara."

"What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, but this isn't fair to you. You should be excited about the idea of getting married someday, but instead, you are terrified. I want you to be happy, not making yourself sick with worry that you won't produce airbenders. You need a man who can give you a more stable life than that. Unfortunately, I can't." He kissed her goodbye.

After their breakup, he wrote to Zuko.

Dear Zuko,

I am writing to you because I broke up with Katara. She was great, but it wasn't fair to her, having to stress all the time about producing airbenders, that is my job, not hers.

I'm also not home enough, constantly travelling to quell rebellions. She'd have to raise all of the airbenders alone. I think she needs more than I can give her, which is why I'm sending this to you.

From what I hear, you haven't dated since Mai dumped you well over a year ago. I think it's time you get back on the ostrich horse, and I think you and Katara could be good for each other.

Sure you will need an heir, but only one heir, not a gaggle of children. You also won't have to travel as much and will likely be a better husband for her than I could have been.

Just a thought,

Aang.

He sent the letter and decided to go on vacation to Ember Island.

When he got there, he got his usual warm greeting from fans and then he saw this long line going around the block.

"What is this?" he asked one of the customers.

"Only the best ramen ever."

"What makes it the best?"

"They make everything in house, the stock, the noodles. They even roast the meat all morning so it's fresh when they put it in the soup."

Aang got in line and got a bowl. He was surprised to see Ty Lee at the counter.

"Hey Ty Lee! What are you doing here?"

"Selling ramen. Do you want a vegetarian bowl?"

"Yes please."

Mai got the bowl ready. She liked not being at the counter, so she didn't have to talk to people.

"Is that you Mai?" Aang asked.

"Yep. I decided I didn't want to be Fire Lady because I would rather sell ramen."

"Oh hush!" Ty Lee laughed. "This is our restaurant."

"You own it. That's great."

"Yeah, sunny weather, lots of customers. I can't complain too much," Mai said dryly.

Aang got his bowl and it was delicious. "How do you make the noodles?"

"That's a secret," Ty Lee said.

"I can't know?"

"Nope!"

Present

"I was determined to know how they made the noodles, so that night, I staked out the restaurant."

102AG

A hooded figure came and started making the noodles, mixing the dough, resting it, and forming it in batches, twisting, pulling, and slamming them until they got the right shape and size. She would hang them to dry and then leave.

"I tried to ask her how she did it, but she ran away."

Of course, Aang came back the next day and instead of approaching, he followed the cook home, just to discover, Azula has been making ramen.

He knocked on the door; she bolted into the attic. Ty Lee answered. "Aang?"

"I know she's here. I followed her from the noodle house."

Ty Lee begged him to stay quiet. "She's really changed. She just wants to have a new life."

"Why didn't she just talk to her brother?" He had been looking for a year.

"If you had seen how they treated her in there, you would know why she didn't talk to him."

"When they found her," Aang said, "she had been chained to a wall, no food, no water, and it was summer."

It had been her punishment for refusing to answer the warden's questions.

"Why would they do that?" Katara questioned.

Mai answered. "After about 10 months, Azula got her sanity back. She realized how wrong she had been and wanted to try and make it right."

101AG

Azula was cold and hungry, but most importantly, she was sad. She remembered what her life had been like before her father had ruined it for her, playing games with her brother, exploring the city with Mai and Ty Lee. She always wanted to have a house with her two best friends by the sea, before power corrupted her.

When she was 13, she had been declared a woman, and had received all kinds of cash and properties from other nobles. She used her proceeds to buy properties at Ember Island, beachfront houses with access to a private beach. She dreamed that she and her friends would live there, but now it was just a memory.

Present

"She sent letter to me and Ty Lee apologizing for what she had done and offered us the houses to live in," Mai told them. "She wanted us to live out her dream for her. I thought it was too good to be true, but she had put the houses in our name. She wanted us to have them, so Ty Lee and I moved in. It was great at first, fresh food all the time, lounging at the beach, boys would flirt with us, but it wasn't the same without our fiery leader. We decided to go visit her only to hear…"

101 AG

"She is not allowed visitors."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Is this an order from the Crown?"

"That is none of your business."

Present

"That night, we snuck in so we could see her, and it was horrible. She had been chained up all day. She was so dehydrated that she thought we were mirages. We had to get her out of there, so we broke her out and left."

"You just took her on a whim?" Zuko questioned.

"Yeah. We needed the tools to sneak in, but it wasn't until we got there that we decided to take her with us. We got her back to Ember Island and got her some water. She had to rest for a day before she could talk to us."

101 AG

"You guys saved me."

"Of course," Ty Lee said.

"Why did they do that to you?"

Azula explained. "I had to send a lot of letters to get the houses put in your name. A guard was nice enough to smuggle them out for me. Someone snitched on me and I refused to name the guard. They were punishing me until I would talk."

"Who was the guard?" Ty Lee asked.

"Do you remember Chin? He was Zuko's friend in school. He was the only person there who was nice to me. He helped me see how wrong I had been."

Present

"We hid her from you," Mai told Zuko. "When your men searched one house, she was in the other and then we moved her again. Once you left, we opened the noodle house, really to give us something to do and to explain how we made our money. Azula had enough for us to live on, but it would look weird if we did nothing all day."

Aang went next, "I heard the story and didn't know what to do. You expected me to bring her in, but she just wanted to have a chance at a good life. I gave you a second chance, so I decided to give her one too."

102 AG

"But if she causes an iota of trouble, I'll have to come back here."

"She won't," Ty Lee insisted.

"I left and didn't hear of any trouble, well none from her. I went on to fight rebellions and do other stuff and I would occasionally stop by. I would always get extra noodles."

Aang had been getting more pressure to find women and start producing airbenders. Men were offering their daughters as if they were tokens. He was dodging them left and right.

Present

"I went to the Ember Island to escape the commotion, and Azula offered the house they weren't living in."

"We all decided to stay in the other house house," Mai told them.

"I went to their house pretty much every day. Azula always had something cooking. Ty Lee gave those great chi messages. Mai was helping me with strategizing for the work I had to get to when I returned home.

I came back to the house one night and I overheard an argument."

102AG

"I want to go for him," Ty Lee said.

"He's mine," Azula insisted.

"You shot him, "Mai countered.

"I marked him as mine," Azula said. "First possession."

"Katara interrupted that possession," Mai continued.

"She was a squatter."

"Why can't we just share him?" Ty Lee said.

"What?" Azula and Mai said at once.

"Well, he needs to make airbenders, and we all live together anyway. We'd have each other, so we wouldn't have to raise our kids alone and it's not like we don't have fun together anyhow."

Aang blushed when he heard that.

"Azula's horrible at sharing," Mai said.

"You're no better. You tried to stab me for eating your cake."

"You would have shot me with lightening if I had eaten yours."

Azula pursed her lips. "Ty Lee might be onto something. Even if one of us won out, we'd have to share him with the world. What difference does it make if we share him with each other?"

"If anything, he might vacation here all the time."

"So it's agreed." Ty Lee went to tell Aang their proposal before the other girls could actually confirm.

"I get to try him first," Azula grabbed his collar and pulled him into her bedroom.

"I get next," Ty Lee called.

Mai grumbled. "Why do I have to go last?"

Present

"Anyway, it all worked out and Aang came to visit us when he wasn't stuck at work."

"I fell in love with all of them and before I knew it …"

103 AG

"I'm pregnant," Azula told him when he got to the house again.

"Me too," Ty Lee told him.

Mai came out of the bathroom. "Me three."

Aang fainted but when he came to, "this is so awesome. I'm going to be a dad, three times!"

Present

"I wanted to tell you then, but you were stressed out over that stupid rebellion Mai's father started and there was the fighting in Republic City. I just kept putting it off. I wanted to tell you before the wedding, but …"

104 AG

Aang brought Ty Lee as his date to the wedding.

"Glad you could make it," Zuko said as he hugged him. "I didn't know you were with Ty Lee."

"We eloped," Aang said quietly.

"What? The next thing you're going to say is you have a kid."

"Actually I do, Bumi II. He's an airbender."

"That's awesome."

"Have you thought about your sister?"

"Oh not her. Katara's convinced she's going to crash the wedding with an army. Do not utter her name. Oh look, a jello mold!"

Zuko ran off.

Present

"I just ended up putting it off again," and Aang would have gotten away with it if it weren't for Toph.

Three weeks ago

"How has no one seen her in four years?" Zuko demanded to know. He and Katara wanted to have children, but she was paranoid over Azula.

Sokka shrugged. So did Suki and Toph, but Aang's heart was racing.

"What is it Twinkles?"

"Nothing!" he lied.

Toph trapped him in rock. "Out with it."

"I don't have anything to say."

She stayed on his case for thirty minutes until finally he said. "Okay I saw her."

"WHAT?"

"She was married and had a son. She wasn't out to cause any trouble."

"What has she been doing all this time?" Toph demanded to know.

"She was working at a restaurant, but now she's on maternity leave."

"What if she's making heirs to usurp my rule?"

"She isn't trying to usurp anything, I swear."

"You swear. How long have you known where she was?"

"Three years,"Aang mumbled.

"What?"

"Three years okay."

"You knew before my wedding and you didn't tell me. Katara was going crazy."

"She is crazy," he snapped.

"Drama!" Toph hissed.

"Azula is a good person now."

"If that's true, then she'll turn herself in. Deliver her Aang and her husband too!"

Present

"You know why I didn't deliver her, but here I am."

Zuko frowned. "I should have known Mai and Ty Lee had Azula, but you Aang, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking how great was it to have my family out of the limelight. Left and right everyone was asking when I would get married. Girls would throw themselves at me. Their fathers would try to talk me into marrying them.

It's bad enough having the world trying to interfere with my personal life because I'm the avatar, I didn't want them to have to deal with it too. My kids would become instant celebrities when they have the right to just be normal."

"So you have three wives, one of whom is my sister and three kids soon to be five kids."

"Yes."

"You are out of your mind."

Aang was happy. He loved his children, and they each had three mothers who loved them just the same.

Katara was still in too much shock to say anything else. He was married to the three women who almost killed him during the war, and they were all sharing him?

"What?" was all she got out of her mouth.

"She's a good mother. They all are, and our kids are so great."

Zuko sighed. "Well, I can hardly go after a pregnant woman, but we will need to talk, face to face, after she goes into delivery."

"You're the best Zuko."

"Not so fast."

"There's still the matter of you defiling my sister and engaging in this debauchery."

Aang and Mai left the palace.

"He didn't hit you that hard."

"Yeah, I didn't crack any teeth, so I would say he showed restraint."

He had a busted lip, but it would heal. They headed back to Ember Island to their awaiting wives.

"I still can't believe he married her," Zuko said to his wife.

"What?"