Author's Notes: Hey everyone! This is the final chapter of the story. For those of you who will be mad, I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything for after the ending. Also, if anyone is wondering about the first chapter, I would like to say once again, I removed it and I have a very good reason for doing it. Azula will not be making another appearance, so I felt it was irrelevant to the story. For those of you who liked that particular chapter, I'm sorry. Some good news though is that the Boiling Rock parts 1 and 2 got leaked. They were such great episodes. As a result, I am working on another large story that takes place after "The Boiling Rock, " and hopefully the rest of the season. I'll also work on several oneshots, if possible. Now I'll stop boring you, and present the final chapter of the story. Please read and review, and also, thank yous are at the end of the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender. It is the property of its creators and Nickelodeon.

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Chapter 13: The Journey Continues

The past two days were devoted to getting ready to leave. Katara, Toph, Teo, and the Duke got all the camp equipment together in one area. Aang, Sokka, Haru, and Zuko went to the forest above to get any food they might need. In addition, Aang would get Appa ready and practice with Toph and Katara, and Zuko would get extra meat that they found and feed it to the dragon.

Due to an incident with his battle injuries, Zuko was forced to verbally instruct Aang to prevent this injuries from getting worse. He would be checked up on by Katara three times a day to keep the pain in check, and to make sure nothing was wrong. At the end of the first day of preparations…

"Hey Zuko!" called Katara, she found him giving the dragon some food, "Time for another healing session!"

Zuko walked over to Katara, and removed his shirt. He sat facing away from Katara, and Katara began to examine Zuko with her waterbending.

"Any pain lately?" asked Katara.

"Not really," answered Zuko, "I've been feeling a lot be-ow!"

"A lot better, huh?" teased Katara.

"It's not funny," said Zuko bitterly.

"Just tell me where it hurts," said Katara.

"A little higher," said Zuko.

She guided the water up until Zuko said she was where the pain was coming from. Afterward, she began to heal him.

"There is a reason that I wanted to see you other than healing," began Katara.

"Oh, really?" asked Zuko.

"Yeah," answered Katara.

"What is it?" asked Zuko.

"Well, remember when you said, that I could forgive, and trust you when I felt was ready to?" asked Katara.

"Yes," asked Zuko, his attention now focused on Katara.

"Well, I've been thinking, ever since you got here, you've slowly raised the spirits of the group. Sokka has someone to talk to, Aang and Toph see you as an older brother, the Duke's found a teacher, and Teo and Haru seem to trust you. Not to mention Appa and Momo like you," explained Katara.

"What are you saying?" he asked softly.

"I'm saying…I'm willing to give you another chance," said Katara, "Just, please, don't do anything to mess it up."

Zuko's face lit up. He had to hold himself back from hugging Katara. So instead, he opted to smile.

"Thank you," he said happily, "And don't worry, I won't do anything to mess it up."

Katara smiled, "Alright, turn around so I can heal you."

Zuko did as she told him, and she continued the healing session. The next day, Zuko was sitting near the dragon. Katara approached Zuko, apologizing for being late. She had told Zuko that she would also routinely heal the dragon, if he agreed to keep an eye on it. As happy as she was that the dragon was better, she didn't want to go through any unnecessary surprises. He would keep the dragon calm while she healed its injuries, especially its wings. At the end of the day, Zuko told Katara that he could have sworn the wings grew in the past two days, but Katara said he was seeing things.

On the morning of the third day, Sokka was rushing everyone.

"Come on people!" he yelled, "We're a week behind schedule!"

The group gathered all of their belongings and was getting ready to depart. Zuko noticed the dragon got up with its wings flapping. Surprisingly, it didn't look weak nor did it struggle. It looked as though it was in top shape.

"Give me a minute," said Zuko, and he ran off to meet with the dragon.

"Hurry up!" yelled Sokka, but Toph kicked an small pebble at Sokka's head.

"Will you shut up already!" she yelled, "One more minute isn't going to kill you!"

Zuko stopped in front of the dragon, and looked up.

"Why are you still here?" he asked, "You're free now."

The dragon simply looked at Zuko.

"Well then, I guess this is good-bye."

Zuko gave a slight bow, slung his pack over his swords, and turned around to rejoin the others. But then, all of a sudden, Zuko was knocked off his feet. The dragon had bent down, and with its head, knocked Zuko onto the back of its neck. Zuko immediately grabbed on tight.

"Wh-what are you…" stammered Zuko.

Just then, Zuko noticed that the dragon was darting for the canyon.

"Are your wings even healed?!" yelled Zuko. But it was too late. The dragon jumped into the canyon, and stretched its wings.

However, there was no flight. The dragon plummeted, and began to flap its wings like a baby bird trying to fly for the first time. Zuko began to scream, and the gang got on Appa as quickly as they could.

'Is this it?' thought Zuko, "Is this the end?'

Suddenly, their fall began to slow down.

"What?" said Zuko.

The dragon began to pull up from the fall. I had begun to fly. It flapped its wings continuously, and what was once jerky movements became smooth flight. Zuko was amazed, but he didn't have time to be impressed. He grabbed on tight when the dragon immediately pulled up. As it flew upward, the two passed Appa and the others.

"It's flying!" yelled a jubilant and relieved Aang.

The dragon flew high into the sky. Zuko felt the fear that he had experienced from the fall go away. The dragon began to fly all over the place, its serpentine body twisting and turning gracefully. Soon, Zuko began to relax, and a smile spread across his face. The feel of the wind against his face, and the adrenaline rushing through his blood made Zuko feel free.

When about five minutes, the dragon returned to the temple, and the others. Zuko got off and caught this breath. The others, who arrived a minute later, got off Appa and rushed to meet him.

"Zuko! Are you ok?!" asked Katara.

"More than ok! I feel…great!" answered Zuko.

"What was that about?!" yelled Sokka

"I think it's a kind of thank you," said Toph.

"Thank you?" asked Sokka skeptically.

"You know for helping it out," said Toph.

Zuko turned to the dragon, and smiled.

" Thanks, that was…fun," said Zuko.

He bowed again, and went to the others. Suddenly, something prodded Zuko's back. He turned around, and saw the dragon had nudged him.

"Looks like someone likes you," said Aang.

Zuko looked at the dragon. He realized that he had been followed by the dragon quite often.

"Do…you want to come with me?" Zuko asked.

Sokka's mouth fell open, "You want to bring scalely?"

"I think it's a great idea!" said Aang excitedly, "This way, Appa has less to carry, and we can travel father because of it! It's perfect!"

"Well then, it's settled," said Zuko.

"Ok, fine, let's just go!" yelled out Sokka.

The group got on Appa, and Zuko approached the dragon. The dragon lowered itself, an allowed Zuko to get on.

"So, do you have a name for the dragon?" asked Aang.

Zuko thought about it for a moment, "I think I'll call him…Ryu."

"Cool," said Aang, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," replied Zuko.

"Ok, yip-yip!"

Appa immediately took off.

"Let's go, Ryu," said Zuko.

Ryu immediately flew off following Appa. The gang now set a course for the Earth Kingdom. From there they would figure where their journey would take them.

The End

I would now like to take this time to thank some of the readers. I would like to thank: kasplosion, pink princess 16, Arkiloth Warrior, charizardag, peanut26, FireChildSlytherin5, and for my 100th review, I would like to thank Rayshia. For those I did not mention, I would like to thank you for your support. This was my first long fiction, and I appreciate you all for reading. You haven't seen the last of me, so until next time.