One Future

Sixteen years later, their little group returned to the swamp, and Katara was almost late for it.

Fortunately, she had friends in high places.

Literally.

"Thank you for carrying us, Appa." She ran a hand through the fur of the sky bison' head as the breeze nibbled at the edges of her headscarf and the landscape of the Earth Kingdom passed down below. "You probably would have preferred to stay with Mother Matagi, but I couldn't be late. This might be the most important work I'm ever going to do."

Beside her, Ty Lee played with the reins. "Does that mean, when my turn comes, mine will be my most important work, too? Wow, I never thought about it that." The feathers on the Vichaar Adept headband she wore beneath her short hair fluttered in the wind, giving her a perky look. Ty Lee evolved her appearance since her days of dressing like a circus acrobat, starting with wearing Mai's old platinum knife on her belt as a memento. Over the year's she'd add more token, trophies, pieces of fashion from the various cultures that had semi-adopted her, as well as the occasional good luck charm. She didn't even stick to wearing any one color, anymore. Ty Lee was a citizen of the whole world.

It was a look Katara would never get tired of. "Your turn is probably going to be more important than mine. The Southern Water Tribe's legacy is important, but there are others. You- well, you know how limited the options are." She found herself slumping. "There's just so much still to fix, even after all this time."

She barely had time to feel a little sad about it before Ty Lee was kissing her.

When they parted, Ty Lee ran a hand over Katara's headscarf. "And there's so much we've already done, too. I don't know much actually can be fixed, but every day we're helping things to move forward. That's good, right?"

"You know, you make a lot of sense." It was one of the reasons Katara loved Ty Lee so much.

"I try. It helps that you want to see it."

Well, there was no denying that.

They were almost to the edge of Foggy Swamp when they found Sokka.

He was easy to spot, between the disassembled airboats on the bank of the river and the fancy blue tents that marked the entourage of the High Sage of the Northern Water Tribe. Ty Lee brought Appa down to right next to where Sokka was trying to mount a large fan on one of the airboats.

Katara leaned over the side of Appa's head, past the staff stilled tied to his horn, and grinned down at her brother. "So, you're running late, too?"

Sokka scowled up at her. The years had imparted more lines to his face, making it a reasonably impressive scowl, but Katara was familiar enough with it to be immune to its effects. Being apart for a week, a short vacation from their ongoing efforts to expand the influence of the United Water Tribes, wasn't going to change that.

Before he could retort with something he probably thought would sound clever, the Princess and High Sage of the Northern Water Tribe approached with little Bato in her arms. Yue lifted the baby's hand to make it wave, and Katara and Ty Lee both waved back at their nephew.

It had been too long in coming, but having a new generation in the family was amazing. Sure, there was Shila, Naklin, Quinyaya, Tliyel, and Shlim - as well as the other foundlings Gran-Gran had taken in while she was still able - but Katara hadn't known any of them as babies.

That was something she'd missed out on, in the Fire Nation prisons.

She turned back to Sokka. "So, would you like a lift, or did you want to play with your toy there some more?"

"Okay, first of all-" Sokka put his hands on his hips. "I wouldn't be running late if the bolts hadn't rusted, and they wouldn't have rusted if I had been given the materials of the quality that I paid for. Second, this is not a toy. Third-" Yue came up to his side, and he put his arms around her shoulders. "Yes, please, can we have a ride?"

At Katara's sigh and Ty Lee's nod, Sokka took his son from Yue - little Bato seeming quite intrigued by Appa - and pulled himself up into the saddle. Yue followed, and then Ty Lee got them all flying with a, "Yip-yip!"

Even after they were in the air, Bato seemed more intrigued by Appa's fur than the fact that they were flying high above the ground. Sokka leaned so that his son was perched safely on his stomach and said, "Honestly, this is probably better than the airboats anyway. We'd have been stuck with Yue's annoying retinue all the way into the swamp."

"They're not annoying." Yue gave a half-hearted slap to her husband's shoulder, making Bato laugh. Katara also found it pretty amusing whenever her sister-by-marriage tried to be as casual as the rest of them. There was something about royalty that just couldn't relax completely. "Half of them resent me for being a woman, true, but the other half practically worship me. I have to regularly remind them that I'm human."

"Exactly. Annoying." Sokka winked at her, and she gave a giggle.

Katara was glad they had found each other, despite the darkness around their original meeting. They both improved each other.

The sun was setting when Appa reached the swamp, and between the landmark of the banyan-grove tree and Katara's knowledge of the area from all her visits here, they found their destination before the sky got too dark. Rather than heading directly to the Swampbender village, though, Ty Lee had Appa just skim the tree tops until they found a shadowy landing spot.

A landing spot occupied by a figure standing stiffly in a hooded cloak.

Katara supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that this one was right on time. Or that he knew exactly where to wait for them. "Zuko!" She waved. "It's been a long time. How's Kyoshi Island?"

"Kyoshi Island knows peace and freedom." Zuko lifted the hood back just enough to reveal his face with its distinctive scar and the eyepatch that partially covered it. The patch was one she hadn't seen before, painted with the sigil of the element of Fire. "Master Katara, Princess Yue, it is my honor to meet you again. Ty Lee, it's good to see you. And Sokka, too."

Sokka sighed as he handed Bato down to Yue from the saddle. "Last again. Clearly, I need some kind of fancy title. That's what I get for not specializing, I guess. Being good at only one thing is, apparently, much more respectable than knowing a bit about everything."

Katara rolled her eyes as she jumped down from Appa's head, but Zuko actually smiled. It wasn't a big smile, because this was Zuko, but the amusement was clear to anyone who knew him. "Suki and the kids are over in the village. Toph, too. The divine and unconquerable presence of the mortal manifestation of the immortal Earth King-" He paused as Katara let a snort escape at Toph's latest collection of titles. "-is passing this off as a good-will visit in remembrance of defeating my uncle."

Zuko, of course, didn't reveal most of what he had to be feeling about that, but Ty Lee must have seen something in his aura, because she bounced over to him and hugged him. Zuko didn't return it, but the fact that he accepted the hug at all was telling.

Or maybe Katara was seeing things through sentimental eyes. Being back in Foggy Swamp, where they had all lost so much-

Well, she was glad that her business here was of an optimistic nature. Teaching Waterbending, helping Sokka to get all the Water Tribes across the world talking to and aiding each other, even joining Ty Lee on one of her weird knowledge-quests- none of it would fill the losses that Katara had experienced, but building new things was its own reward. It was like Ty Lee had said earlier.

As soon as Ty Lee let go of him, Zuko pulled his hood back. "Come on, I'll take you to the party. Try to keep a low profile; this is supposed to be a surprise."

He was right, of course, and even Sokka didn't make a joke about it.

As they approached, it became clear that this Swampbender village was noisier than usual. Katara's visits had shown her a fairly laid-back and quiet culture here in Foggy Swamp, but today music and clapping echoed in the humid air. They found the villagers gathered around the central firepit, a celebration in full swing. At the center, King Toph Bei Fong lounged behind a plate piled high with fruits (apparently she wasn't a fan of the giant bugs that were the primary source of 'meat' around here), and Katara spotted Suki and her daughters sitting nearby.

She also spotted the reason they were all here. She nudged Ty Lee, pointed at a dancing teenage girl, and said, "That's her. Tien."

Ty Lee took a long look. "What a lovely lavender aura. Who's her friend?"

Katara squinted at the dancing figures as Zuko led them closer. "Which one? I see a bunch of teenagers."

"The one with the orange-yellow aura."

"Yeah," Sokka muttered, "that helps."

Katara agreed, but it was a moot point; she had already spotted who Ty Lee was talking about. Another girl, the closest to Tien, was doing her best to dance despite what seemed to be an inborn awkwardness. Tien was encouraging her, and clearly paying a lot of attention.

Katara kept watching the pair as discreetly as she could while Zuko led them around the crowd to Toph.

Naturally, before they could make their presence known to the Earth King, she raised a hand and said, without turning around, "Well, check out who it is. I thought you losers were going to be late."

Katara bowed, followed by Ty Lee and Sokka. Yue merely inclined her head, intoning, "It is our honor to once again be in your divine and unconquerable presence."

Toph finally turned her head. "Yeah, you're looking cute, too, Yue. Being a momma must agree with you. Oh, the rest of you may rise."

They all did so, but Sokka didn't stop there, moving to sit next to Toph, push her out of his way, and grab some of the fruit from her plate. "So, are we ready for the big moment?"

"Well, I was going to see how much an earthquake I could make by really getting my dance on, but I guess we can just jump to the important part. I think they're about to serve dinner, anyway."

Toph proved to be right, and as all the Swampbenders settled down to their grilled elbow-leech, she stepped forward into the light of the fires. "Hey, listen up, everyone. I'm going to make a royal speech."

Katara tensed. Here it was.

Toph clasped her hands behind her back and stood straight, looking almost tall in the firelight. But then, she was already so much bigger than when Katara had first met her. The years had been kind to Toph, and not just because she was building a palace for herself at Taku.

Toph motioned around her. "It's really great to be here with all you. Sure, Sokka and Katara over there would say that you're one of their United Water Tribes, but you're living on Earth Kingdom land, so I have a special place in my royal heart for you guys."

Some of the Swampbenders chuckled, but others took notice for the first time that Katara and her brother were here. Did they suspect what that might portend?

Toph continued, "I'm especially be happy to be here while you're celebrating a birthday, because as great a king as I am, there are still lots of problems to deal with. There's a good chunk of the continent yet controlled by the former Fire Nation colonies, and when they're not working together to cause trouble for us, they're waging war on each other. The Fire Nation itself is more like a confederacy of islands right now, and it's probably only a matter of time until someone or another assumes the title of Warlord and starts making trouble over it. The Water Tribes have it better, because you're growing bigger every year as new Tribes are discovered and brought into your alliance, but the Southern Tribe is still rebuilding and trying to reestablish their culture."

Katara looked at all the Swampbenders. A lot seemed thoughtful at Toph's words, but the teenagers and kids seemed confused. This certainly didn't sound like a birthday speech.

Toph inclined her head at Ty Lee. "And, of course, when we talk about rediscovering culture, we have to think about the Airbenders. There's still way too few of them, and all they have left of the old days is what little stuff wasn't destroyed over the years or century or whatever. And a sky bison and some lemurs, of course. They're still trying to just figure out who they want to be." She shrugged. "Compared to all that, I almost hate to bring up little stuff like bandits, pirates, anarchists, and the occasional troublesome spirit. It's good times, but it's also tough times. We need celebrations like this to remind us why we're dealing with all that mud."

Toph turned - but didn't quite face - the girl Tien. "And sometimes celebrations like this also give us a new path forward."

That was their cue. Katara moved over to stand beside Toph - as did Ty Lee and Zuko - and said, "You know me, Tien, right?"

The girl blinked at being addressed. "I- Of course, Master Katara! It's- it's an honor!"

Katara shook her head. "The honor is mine. This is Ty Lee, an Airbender and former Weapon of the Fire Nation. That's Zuko, Firebender and former Prince of the Fire Nation. We're here with Earth King Toph Bei Fong for a very important reason- to announce the identity of the next Avatar." She glanced at the others, and at their nod, they all bowed low. "It is our honor to serve you, and offer you ourselves as your teachers, Avatar Tien."

The girl was on her feet now, gaze snapping around as everyone in the village buried to bow to her.

The only one not bowing was Tien's friend from before, the awkward dancer, who was looking at Tien with obvious shock.

"Please," Tien gasped, "please stand up. I don't hold with bowing."

Katara rose, as did the others. "I'm sure you have questions."

"I- I'm gonna have to leave, right? Leave home." Tien glanced briefly at her friend.

Katara put on a soothing smile. "Eventually. But even though I hear you're a powerful Waterbender, I thought it would be good if I stayed here with you for a while. I can teach you greater control, and some special techniques. And we can schedule some trips to see more of the world before we just hand you over to Toph to learn Earthbending."

From the sidelines, Sokka called out, "Avatar Aang told us about how he was forced to grow up really quickly. That didn't work out so well. We're going to try to do better."

Tien looked back and forth between him and Katara. "Um, thanks?"

"Remember," Zuko put in, "we serve you at your pleasure. We want to be your teachers and your friends, not your controllers."

Tien didn't seem to know what to say to that, but her mother - a woman named Giang who Katara had been told gave birth a week after Iroh's invasion - came over, and her mood lightened as they began a quiet conversation.

Well, Katara wasn't sure if that properly balanced the need for formality with her desire to treat Tien like a person, but she had given it her best try. She was about to say so to Ty Lee, but then she noticed that someone was approaching them.

It was the friend, the bad dancer. The girl was short and a bit stiff, but she was full of confidence as she looked Katara in the eyes and said, "When Tien has to leave home- you know, when it gets to that point- does she have to go by herself? Or can she- well, can she bring- well, something like a friend?"

Katara couldn't help but exchange a glance with Ty Lee, not needing words to share the memories of the time they spent traveling with Aang, back when they were kids. "It's better to have friends. And I guess you're a pretty good friend to Tien?"

The girl nodded. "We were born just a day apart, and spent our whole lives together. I'm Phuong."

Katara dipped her head in greeting, noting that Ty Lee was doing the same beside her. "It's good to meet you, Ph-"

"Hey," Phuong cut in, "that's my knife!" And she was pointing to Ty Lee's belt, to one of the jangling mementos that hung from it.

Specifically, she was pointing to the sheathed platinum knife that had once belonged to Lady Caldera Yu Mai.

Phuong had been born just a day apart from Tien, huh?

Ty Lee's jaw dropped, and Phuong shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. It just- it seems familiar-"

Ty Lee finally smiled, blinking back tears, and unhooked the knife. "Here, you can have it. If you're going to be helping Avatar Tien, you're going to need something to protect her with."

Phuong accepted the knife without a sound and unsheathed it. She seemed lost in her reflection on the blade for a long moment, but then she came back to herself, bowed her thanks to Ty Lee, and trotted over to Tien to show off her prize.

Katara had come here today expecting to meet an old friend all over again, and the fact that she'd met two showed what a wonderful place the world could be. The connections he had made with people were how Aang had saved the world, and perhaps such things could transcend lifetimes. Katara certainly hoped so.

With Phuong beside her, Avatar Tien stepped forward again. She looked at Katara, and then at Ty Lee, Toph, and Zuko, and finally out across her gathered fellow villagers. "Thank you all. I'm not going to pretend this ain't a surprise, but I'm going to try to be the best Avatar I can be. I accept your help. And together, we're going to make this world a better place. For everyone."

She stood tall and resolute. And she was holding Phuong's hand.

Hand in hand, they set out together for whatever was coming next.

END

Author's Note:

Wow. That was a pretty big story, huh?

The first idea came from a joke on a message board, that Aang probably would have fallen in love with whoever he first saw after coming out of the iceberg. Of course, Mai is one of my favorite characters to write, thanks to both her sardonic voice and the vulnerable heart she tries so hard to hide from even herself, so I wrote a little glimpse at what such a meeting might look like. I wanted to continue it, to see the epic that would sprawl out from an encounter between two kids at the bottom of the world, but the size of the tale was daunting. It would have to be at least as long and impactful as the cartoon it would be an AU of, and such a thing seemed beyond my ability to write.

A fanfic novel later, as well as the diminishing of the fandom, and I decided that maybe it was time to indulge in exploring what I could do with the tale.

And that's what we have here, finally complete.

I was wrong, though, about my capabilities. Over the course of five years of writing, there were definitely times when I would have surrendered to my laziness and abandoned my story- if it weren't for the people reading it. This is never been a super-popular story - there's no danger of it becoming Fandom Famous, I think - but there's been a loyal readership, and I've loved what each and every one of you had to say about it. Whether you were reacting to my rollercoaster rises and dips in the plot, or the emotions I tried to evoke with the characters at the center of all this complexity, or even the AU world I had to build to explain why Mai was at the South Pole to be Aang's first awakening vision, I enjoyed everything you had to say. I was never happier than preparing to unleash another plot twist for you all, right up to this very ending. There was a solid plan in place even before I began writing the first chapter, but everyone's reactions influenced much about this story as well. The destination was always the same, but the route we took to get there is a reflection of your investment.

Thank you all so much!

I'm taking a well-deserved break, but I do want to continue writing. And whether it's through my writing or something else, I hope we all meet up again.