Epilogue

Katara stood alone at the edge of the Southern Village, looking out onto the ocean. As the waves crashed and pulled against the frozen tundra, Katara stared into their depths, seeing nothing but blue and green and the emptiness below them. It was a sight she'd seen a million times before in her life, one that had stopped entrancing her long ago. But for now, Katara preferred the sight of the one familiar thing left within her home. She hadn't seen the destruction of the village, but it had been the first thing she and her brother had seen when they'd come home. And though they'd been welcomed back with utter joy from their father and everyone else, neither of them had been able to take their eyes off the smoldering waste that had once been their home.

"Mind if I join you?" a voice said from behind her.

"No." Katara replied, as Sokka walked up to her.

"So….. Zuko's going to bring some builders from the Fire Nation to help out." Sokka began. "And Dad said they got word from the Northern Tribe that they'll have people here soon to help out."

"Good." Katara said, her voice not changing an iota.

"It should be. I can finally get started on all those projects that Azula is always nagging at me about." Sokka said with a laugh. "At least I won't have to worry about the doorway leaking anymore."

Katara said nothing back this time; she simply looked back out onto the ocean. Sokka sighed then, and turned to face his sister.

"Katara. Are you… are you going to be ok?" he asked.

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked to the right, to where a large clump of icebergs had gathered. As she watched the ice float in the water, she said, "It was somewhere out there, wasn't it?"

"What?"

"Where we found him. Remember? You said something stupid and I got mad, and then the iceberg split apart, and there he was."

"Yeah. I remember." Sokka said, smiling a little. "I thought you were crazy to just run in and try to free him."

"I just knew I had to help him." Katara said. "That was all that mattered. He was somebody who needed my help."

"And you helped him." Sokka said. "You helped everybody."

"Then why doesn't it feel like I did?" Katara asked, turning to face Sokka. "Why does it feel like I failed?"

"Katara…"

"Why does it feel like I should've made him stay? Why couldn't I make him love me enough to stay?" Katara asked, as her eyes began to water. "What did I do wrong? What? Tell me, why did I have to lose my husband twice? Why….Why…"

"Shh." Sokka said, as he wrapped his arms around his sister, pulling her close as she began to weep.

"It's not fair." Katara sobbed, as she buried her face in Sokka's shirt. "I loved him. I did everything to help him save the world. Why is our reward for that that he had to be lost twice?"

"No, it's not fair." Sokka said. "And if you wanna be mad at the world for it, then you go right ahead. But Katara, he did this because he loved you."

"I know." She sobbed. "But then why does it hurt?"

"Because it always does." Another voice said. The siblings turned then, to see Oscuridad standing there.

"Losing people hurts more then anything. Losing someone like Aang, it never really goes away." The bat said gently. "But Sokka's right. Aang did this because he didn't want to pretend to love you. He wanted to give nothing less then his purest love. But he couldn't. So he did the only thing he could to show how much he loved you- show how he couldn't live without it."

Katara wiped her eyes at that, and said, "I know. But that doesn't make it easier."

"It will. Someday." Osc said. "But right now, you deal with it."

"So is that what you came to talk about?" Sokka said.

"In part. But I really came to get you guys. There's something going on at the village. Something you should see."

The Tribe had moved all along the coastline when the trio returned. They all looked out onto the ruined village as they made their way down.

"What's going on?" Katara asked. "I thought there was an attack or something."

"No. This time, someone's going to try something else." Osc said, as he led them to where their friends and family stood.

"Do you think this will work?" Sora asked, as the group rejoined them.

"Anything's possible." Oscuridad replied. "But it's gonna take a lot of anything to get this done."

"Will someone please tell me exactly what is going on here?" Sokka asked.

"Over there." Zuko said, pointing just behind the Chief. Both Sokka and Katara turned, to see the young girl standing just outside the Tribe…

Kyla stood there, feeling the cold air blow through her hair. She looked out onto her broken home, doing all she could to remember how it had looked before. She needed to see that, not the ruined husk that it was now.

You're doing fine. It looks just like it does from your memories.

"Are you sure I can do this?" she whispered.

Of course I do. Just not without me. I've got the experience.

"Is that why you're in my head?"

Details, details. Now get ready. It's time to get to work.

Kyla nodded. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and brought her hands. Slowly, she let the breath out and opened her eyes. As they glowed with the power of the Avatar State, Kyla began to bring her hands around, moving them in the patterns that Aang described in her head. As she did, the snows around her began to shift and move, as the water behind the Tribe began to churn. As everyone watched, the snow suddenly shot upwards, changing back into water as more water shot out of the sea to join it. Kyla continued to command it, directing more and more snow and water into her collection, letting it grow and grow until she had created a huge water mass that stretched over the village territory. Finally, she brought her hands down and the water began to break apart, flowing back down onto the icy ground. And as it did, the water continued to shift and change, forming itself into new shapes that swiftly became familiar as they froze onto the ground. Kyla continued to form and freeze and gather, changing more and more of the water around her, until finally, her task was done. Kyla pulled her arms back and pressed them together, as the glow of the Avatar State left her eyes. As it did, she looked out onto the village, not from memory, but from what stood in front of her, rebuilt through the power of the Avatar.

That's my girl.

"Thanks Daddy." Kyla whispered as the cheers began behind her.

"You know, I coulda done that too." Agua said a while later, as the group stood around the Gummi Ship.

"So why didn't you?" Azula quipped.

"Well, it was her village and she needs practice with the Avatar State and…"

"And ya didn't think ta do it, didja?" Tierra cracked.

"Hey, no biggie." Kyla said. "It just means you were shown up by a kid. No problem for the Water Elemental, right?"

"Errr…"

"OK Kyla, I think that's enough for Agua." Katara said with a smile.

"Thanks. He'd be thinking of a comeback all the way back." Osc said.

"This is the only part I hate about our adventures. The leaving." Jin said.

"Believe me, it's not our choice, but we've gotta get back. Our last mission is in need of serious help."

"What were you guys working on, anyway?" Sokka asked.

"Some kid in Oregon walked into an interdimensional portal his parents built. Made himself half-ghost." The bat replied. "All sorts of weird stuff."

"I think it's best we just leave it at that." Zuko said. "What about you Sora? What will you guys be doing?"

"Right now, just going home." Sora said, putting his arm around Kairi. "Beyond that, I don't know."

"I do. You getting into trouble and me having to pull you out." Riku replied.

"Hey!"

"Guess we'll be heading back to the Castle." Goofy said. "Gotta tell King Mickey everything's shipshape."

"Uh-oh the King! I'm gonna have to compile my report." Donald squawked.

"You can do it on the way home." Sora said with a smile. Turning back to the others, he said, "It was a real pleasure to help you guys. Maybe we can get together again sometime, without the Heartless."

"I'd like that." Zuko said, as he reached over and shook the boy's hand. The others quickly moved over to wish the off-worlder's a safe trip back and give their thanks.

"I guess we'd better get ready to head out too." Osc said once the farewells were done. "But it was good to see you all again. But I do wish things could've turned out better for you Katara."

"I know." Katara replied. "But I'll get over it. I imagine there are a lot of things I'll have to get over now, now that I've got an Avatar in the house again."

"Does that mean I can go penguin-sledding now?" Kyla said.

"We'll see." Katara said. "First we've gotta get you trained."

"And after that, Malu, Zuko, and I get to have you." Toph said with a smile.

"Kyla, I think you're in trouble now." Baku said.

"Oh she will be." Hierro said. "I saw Toph train her dad. There will be pain."

"Of course. What kinda training wouldn't have pain?" Toph asked.

"Let's leave that one alone." Osc said. "But Katara, whatever happens, try to remember this. He's not really gone."

"I know." Katara said, squeezing Kyla's shoulders.

"We'll be watching." The bat said. "If you need us, just use a shrine and give us a yell. And Kyla?"

"Yeah."

"Try not to do anything stupid. We need you here now. But if you do, we will be here to help."

Kyla nodded, and with that, the Knights and the Keyblade Masters respectively opened the portal and boarded their ship. As the two groups left, Kyla watched them and thought how lucky she was to have friends like that. She thought about how things were going to change now. She thought about how before all this, she had wanted so badly to make a difference in her own way. And now, here she was, on her father's path.

Of course, I'll find my own way to walk it. She thought, as the Gummi Ship sped off out of sight and the portal faded away. After all, I am the Avatar.

THE END

Well well, here we are again. First off, thank to everyone who read along as I tried to blend two of the greatest series ever together. Second, thanks to everyone who read along and said I was doing a good job. And lastly, I'd like to answer the question of will I do a sequel. The answer- maybe. At the moment, I truly need to take a break from Avatar and do my own writng. But I do like these characters, and I would like to do something more with them. So for right now, just wait and see. But I will be back in one way or another, have no frets about that.

Sandman Cometh