Chapter 6: Open Cliffside

AN: And so it ends. Thank you for all the support, on this story and any that came before, I wouldn't be the writer I am today without it. This story's been a journey to write, and I'm happy it managed to move even a few of you.

And if you're sad after reading this chapter… know that this is a happy ending, even if it doesn't end happily. You can't stop time and you can't stop death, but you can always make the best of the time you have left :) Take care, whoever you are, and may we cross paths again one day.

-Mano :D

Zuko and Druk stood at the foot of the Southern mountain range. Carved into the rock, barely a chip in the towering mass of stone, was the beginning of a steep and narrow staircase. The path to the Southern Air Temple was long and arduous. It hadn't existed until not too long ago, when Aang had decided the Air Acolytes should take up residence there, and have some way to get up other than near extinct sky bison. He'd walked it once, when he was younger and had more company. He knew he had to be here at the crack of dawn if he wanted any chance of making it before nightfall.

Of course, his weary legs seemed to say, You could always jump on Druk and be there without any of this nonsense.

But Zuko told his legs to shut up and for Druk to stop whining, because he wasn't about to cheap out on this, of all things. It was the last day of his vacation, after all.

Well, Zuko thought, laying his foot on the first step, I'm not getting any younger.

He felt fit and sturdy enough - a result of Katara's water healing as well as weeks adjusting to the road. The wind swept by, cool and gentle, keeping his sweat from sticking on his brow. With the sun beating down, he might have given up and hailed Druk if it hadn't been for the breeze.

Hours ticked away. He paused ever half hour or so to give himself breath. On one break, he sat at the foot of a gnarled oak, its roots under his hands, where the path had plateaued into a small cliffside. He was high enough up to see ocean on three sides. If he'd had Toph's seismic sense, or Aang's touch with the spirits, perhaps he'd be able to see through the roots at his hands and reach out south over the rolling waves to see what Katara was up to on this day. Or north, to Toph herself, and perhaps even far enough to Izumi, too.

Katara surely, despite being snowed in, would be preparing her own tribute for this day. Whether Toph would as well, he didn't know. She'd never been one to hold onto things for too long. Perhaps she was watching him now. Given the date and where he was, she must have realized why he was climbing up this mountain in the first place. Or why he'd started this journey altogether.

Zuko gazed out through the treetops, where the sun peeked through, just shy of its zenith.

14 years ago, on this day, he'd landed in Republic City as the sun began to set. Druk had collapsed on the ground of Air Temple Island and writhed, having flown harder and longer than he'd ever flown before. On the evening of the day prior, Zuko had received a message about the Avatar's deteriorating health. He'd made it to Aang's bedside mere minutes before the sun passed the horizon, and his friend passed with it.

Today, under the gaze of the same sun, Zuko walked over the final ridge of the mountain range and onto the terrace of the Southern Air Temple. Its inhabitants began hovering towards him.

"I'm sorry to come unannounced," he said to them, "But I think I'm long overdue for a visit."

Hospitable as ever, the Air Acolytes gave him a hearty welcome, inviting him to share a meal. Not in any hurry, he joined them for a light lunch of dumplings and sweet buns. The acolytes were pleasant conversationalists, but they too had picked up on the reason he'd come here. They led him on his way right after the table was cleared.

The door leading to the air temple sanctuary was now permanently open, knowing that if it closed only Tenzin could open it again. A curtain hung in the doorway. Zuko slipped through, while the acolytes leading him stayed on the other side.

The statue room stood before him, a huge circular chamber. The eyes of every Avatar that came before gazed out into emptiness.

Every footstep echoed as he made his way to the centre of the room, where the newest addition to the sanctuary stood. It was a little larger than life - the statue towered over him - though it was a good likeness. Just a little more somber than Aang would usually be.

Zuko smiled for the both of them. He brought his hands together in a bow. "It's been too long, old friend."

Later, after saying his farewells, Zuko flew off on Druk to a nearby mountain which had a perfect view of the air temple.

They settled at the lip of a cliff, Druk curled up around him.

"It's been a long trip," he spoke out to the wind, "If it weren't for all the creaks in my back, I might even say it was worth it."

Druk grumbled at the sound of his voice, rearing up his head curiously.

"Don't worry, I loved every second of it." He patted the beast back down before turning back to the wind. "I'm sorry it took so long to start, though. I meant to go sooner, really, but… there was never the time. And to be honest, a part of me was afraid to ever start. I knew it would be hard. Because of course it would be hard."

It had been of course, and not because of the tiredness that weighed his bones. The tiredness kept him busy. The tiredness was the easiest part.

"It was too easy to be busy. It was too easy to just… forget about everything. All the loss. All the time passing. Once I finally started and all I had to think about was my own two feet in front of me, everything came back. Things I never really had time to think about before. My mother. My wife. Uncle. The fifty years of my life I'll never get back."

He breathed in the mountain air. Oh, how the years had flown by. There was no stopping it, there was no denying it, there was no going back. When you got to his age, 84 and still going, there was only one thing left to decide.

"After these last few weeks… I think… I think it was worth it."

He stood, took out a pack from Druk's saddlebag and turned to the open cliffside.

He said, clearer this time, "It's been worth it. You were right, I did need a break."

From his bag, he took out several incense sticks he'd gotten from Toph, the ones she and Aang had made from the bark of the banyan trees and had used when they meditated years ago. He set them in the rocks, right beside the simple altar Zuko had set. Draped across the ground was an old airbender tapestry that Tenzin had given him when he'd stopped at Republic City - one of his father's favourites. The bison whistle Aang had left in the beach house on Ember Island glistened from where it sat on the cloth. Hanging on the wall of Iroh's room in Ba Sing Se, he'd found the portrait Sokka had made after the comet had passed, a messily scrawled thing Aang had loved. It laid furled besides the whistle. Lying besides that were the fruit pies he'd made at the air temple using Katara's recipe, now cold.

He lit the incense, which cast a glow over Aang's portrait.

"My only regret was that you couldn't have been there too, old friend."

Zuko sat against Druk's neck and laid there as the sticks burned out. The wind blew the scent across the mountain range. They slept on that open cliffside, finally at the end of a long, long journey.

"Zuko! It's been too long!"

Aang bounded towards the Firelord, wrapping him in an embrace. When they parted, the Avatar led them to sit at an open gazebo in Air Temple Island and hailed for a pot of tea.

"It has been a while. It's good to see you again," Zuko said, taking a cup from a tray an acolyte had brought, "We don't do this often enough."

Aang rolled his eyes. "You're the one who's always busy. Always working, never a break. It's been a full 50 years, and you still don't cut yourself some slack."

"53, actually."

"That's a long time to be on the throne," Aang said as he held his tea gingerly.

"I know," Zuko muttered, "I've been thinking of retiring."

There was no sound for a moment, then Aang smiled. "You should. You deserve the rest."

"I shouldn't. Izumi-"

"-will do fine. You raised a smart woman. Besides, the world's settling down right now. This'll be the best time for her."

"I don't know. The world's still far from peace..."

A hand fell on Zuko's shoulder. "You deserve some peace of your own, Zuko." The Firelord answered nothing, but Aang didn't relent. "Promise me you'll take a break, okay? Once you retire, we'll go on a trip, you and me, like old times! Promise me, old friend?"

Aang stretched out a hand and smiled. It was a bitter smile in memory; a naive smile. It was a smile that didn't know that they would never go on that trip together. It was a smile that didn't know that Aang wouldn't live past the year. It was a smile that didn't know that Zuko wouldn't be abdicating for another 14 years.

Zuko took Aang's hand and mirrored his smile. "Alright then. Promise."