8. Sun

Hey. Kid. You did good.

Who was talking to her? She was so tired, and it was so dark and cold. Why couldn't he just let her sleep?

You got that bone I gave you?

The bone? Oh. It was the shaman.

Kid, I told you I'm not a shaman. You still got that bone?

No, Zuko had it.

Ha! Be right back. Ummi, keep an eye on her.

Ummi? Who was Ummi? Katara tried to open her eyes, but they refused to move. Neither would her arms or legs. With a sick jolt of horror, she realized she couldn't feel Zuko's arms around her anymore.

Shhh. Calm down. He's fine.

No, something was wrong, something must have happened. There was no way he would have let her go.

You're right about that one.

A woman's face flashed briefly through Katara's mind. She had long, wavy hair, dark eyes, and a kind smile that curled just enough at the corners to be mischievous as well. Where had she seen that face before?

Got it! He stuck it in his pocket; can you believe it?

What, that wasn't a good place to put it?

Hell no! What if you'd've poked yourself in the thigh? Then I really wouldn't be able to help you.

Help me?

Yeah, help. The bone wasn't a gift, see? You borrowed it. And now I'm taking it back. So the way I see it, I owe you two boons.

Boons? For what?

You did me two good turns instead of one. You took Koh out of the picture for a while. Made him understand what the consequences are for playing judge.

So Koh isn't dead?

Nah, not really. Not forever. His kind tend to come back after a century or two. The world needs them, you know? Gotta have that bit of shadow to keep the balance. Sometimes carrion-eaters like him stick around too long, though. It was about time for him to be reborn. Now it's happening, thanks to you. You even freed my wife while you were at it. That was your choice, too. You didn't have to make Koh give up his faces, but you did. So I owe you twice.

Now I can't do much. But I can give hints. I can find things that are lost, and bring them to people who can use them. I can hold open doors that would shut.

Like the door between life and death?

Not exactly. More like the door between moments, or worlds, or into and out of dreams. They're kinda fuzzy on the details, though, so I can tweak the circumstances as long as I don't throw the balance out of whack. See, right now, you and your boyfriend are between all those.

He's not my boyfriend.

Not yet. So. What can I do for you?

Bring Zuko's spirit back to his body. Get him out of here.

Wouldn't expect anything less of you. That's one. What else?

I don't know. I'm tired.

Yes you do. You have to choose it, though, like you chose everything else. I can't do it for you.

But life is hard. Life is taking care of people and misunderstanding and secrets that hurt. It's sacrifice and not getting what you want, not really. I'm not sure I want to go back to that. If I stay here, I can sleep. I can rest. I don't have to disappoint myself all the time, or the people I love. I don't have to make mistakes that hurt them. I died to save my friends; isn't that enough?

You're not being honest.

It was Ummi again.

What do you remember?

Remember? She remembered a lot of things. Like how she refused to let Aang grow up. How she agreed to be with him to indulge him. How it all fell apart. How she wanted to be free for so long but fought it when he wanted to end it, because she was afraid. She was afraid to risk what they had, even if it meant making them both miserable. She remembered shame. Cowardice. Guilt. Longing. Hard work. War. How blood felt in Yon Rha's veins.

What else?

She remembered her brother's arm around her shoulder as they watched the boats leave. The look in her father's eyes as she embraced him on the stolen Fire Nation ship. The lines on her grandmother's face as she smiled at her husband. Aang showing off to her on the elephant koi. His first breath as she pulled him from the iceberg. His round eyes as they looked into hers. Toph holding aloft her fifth champion belt. Suki laughing as she splashed on the beach, and grinning as she knocked Sokka to the ground, ready for another round. The way Mai smiled at Zuko's coronation. Ty Lee dancing with King Kuei during the Southern Waterbending Academy Dedication. Iroh humming as he arranged flowers. How Jet smelled like dry leaves. The joy she felt when she manipulated her element. How making ice was different than pulling water from the air. Her pride as she watched her first student clumsily raise a waterwhip. The green smell of lichens as they struggled to life in the brief southern spring. The way humidity caressed her skin in the Fire Nation summers. Warm Earth Kingdom mud under her feet in autumn. Lights in the Northern sky on midwinter. The taste of sea prunes and mangoes and palm wine and Zuko's mouth on hers.

What do you want?

I want to live.

"...and a mountain divides them apart... built a path to be together..."

Katara slowly opened her eyes. Sokka sat cross-legged next to her, absently picking at the fur on which they both laid. With effort, she licked her lips. They were sticky and her mouth tasted like week-old rice.

"...can't ever remember the next part... da da da dah..."

"Are you singing?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"..and di- KATARA!"

He scooped her up and crushed her face to his chest. "You did it. You did it. I knew you'd figure it out. Suki said you might not wake up but I told her you'd be fine. See, Suki?"

"That's why I said 'might,' idiot," she said, but she said it with a smile.

"Katara!" shouted Ty Lee. She threw her arms around both of them, sobbing. "I'm so sorry! Azula got me when I wasn't looking and she must have got Suki too 'cause she woke up right after me and- and I'm s- so suh- sorry!"

Katara rubbed circles on Ty Lee's back. "It's okay. We made it, didn't we?"

"We all did," said Suki, pointing to Aang.

He was still asleep, just as he had been when she chased him into Koh's Realm. But his face was back. He looked no different than he did when he slept on Appa. Momo even sat curled at his side. He looked so much like he had when she'd first pulled him out of that iceberg, but different, too. As she watched, he made a face in his sleep and rolled to his side.

She pressed the ball of her hand to her forehead and began to cry. It had worked. Everything she'd done. Finally.

Sokka looked at everyone else in the room with an air of indignance. "Don't stand around! Hug her, hug her!"

Suki and Toph both piled onto them, Toph with a gleeful shout of 'Group hug!' Katara laughed through her tears and rearranged herself to hug everyone at once.

"Hey, Spooky, get over here," called Toph. "It's not called a 'group hug' to be cute."

Mai stood nearby, her hand on the wall. Her face was drawn and she looked paler than usual. Even her normally impeccably-styled hair was loose.

"Did you get him?" she asked.

Katara nodded. Mai's hand slid almost imperceptibly down the wall.

"Yeah," said Katara. "I got him."

"Come on, Mai!" sniffed Ty Lee. "Let the loving arms of your friends heal the wounds in your heart."

"That's beautiful, Ty Lee," said Sokka.

It took all of Katara's self-control not to laugh. Not so for Toph; she snickered. Mai rolled her eyes, but knelt just the same. Katara saw a hint of a smile. For Mai, that was practically singing with joy.

"I'm only doing this because of Ty Lee," she said as she leaned against her aforementioned friend.

"Less justification, more hugs," said Toph, grabbing Mai by the shoulders and pulling her into the pile.

Mai grumbled, but acquiesced. They sat in a squirming tangle of arms and legs, of laughter and sobbing and jokes, and Katara didn't know how she could feel happier.

Then, Aang woke up.

"G- guys?" he said, weakly. "What're you doing here? It's dangerous."

Momo chattered and crawled onto Aang's chest. He butted his head against Aang's chin. Aang scratched him behind his ears, his eyes half-closed and eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Oh. Momo. Huh."

"Aang!" yelped Katara.

Katara disentangled herself from her friends' arms, but Toph got to Aang first. She didn't punch him on the arm like she normally did to show affection or concern. Instead, she grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands, and kissed him full on the mouth.

"Yes!" said Ty Lee, leaping to her feet and punching the air.

Sokka's mouth dropped open. He pointed at them and seemed to be trying to form words, but no sound came out but a strangled gargle. At the same time, Mai stood up very fast and grabbed Ty Lee's arm. She whispered something into Ty Lee's ear that made her blush furiously, and the two left, Mai limping slightly and leaning on Ty Lee for support. Suki followed, a still gaping Sokka in tow.

Katara stood to leave as well. She couldn't say she wasn't really surprised considering how touchy they'd been with each other lately, but that didn't stop her from very much wanting to be somewhere else.

Toph pulled away, not slacking her grip on Aang's front. "Don't you ever go off on your own like that again! What the hell did you think you were doing! Being noble! First rule they teach you in the army is being noble gets you killed!"

Aang scrambled to sit up. "But I'm fine. I didn't get killed."

"You almost did and that's just as bad!" Toph began to rain punches down on his chest. He winced, but didn't fight her. "Don't you ever, ever- you idiot-"

"Hey." He gently took her wrists, and she stilled. "Hey. I'm here."

Katara closed the door behind them. Pathik was there. With a start, she realized that he hadn't been in the room with them when she woke. She nodded to him, feeling somehow grateful and defiant at the same time. He smiled at beatifically at her, held one hand up, and bowed.

"Well done," he said.

Tension eased from her back. "We couldn't have done any of it without you. Thank you. For everything."

"Bah, I am only an old hermit who drinks too much onion-banana juice. It is people like you and the Avatar who get up from the table and actually change the world."

She shook her head. "Aang changed the world, not me. I mean, I helped, but that's what anyone would have done. We all helped."

Pathik chuckled. She didn't know what was funny, but she gave a hesitant smile all the same.

"Good night, Miss Katara. If you do not forget about this old hermit, visit soon, and often. I would very much like to get to know you during peace."

She nodded. "As soon as I can. I have someone in the Fire Nation I need to visit first."

They bowed to each other again, and he left.

Sokka had been standing behind him. He was still pointing at Aang's door like a wide-mouthed chameleon-frog. Katara grinned, tilted her head towards the door, and shrugged.

"When the hell did that happen?" said Sokka in the voice he used to rail against the limitations of physics. "I thought Toph was asexual!"

"I heard that!" shouted Toph.

There was a muffled thump, and then a bit of floor rose up and whacked Sokka on the ass.

Katara and the others talked long into the night about Katara's escape from the Spirit World. She had a strange feeling that Aang would have something to say about her method of exit, but he was otherwise occupied, and she had no wish to disturb him. Everyone agreed on that point.

"So I was right, wasn't I?" Sokka said through a mouthful of rice, when she mentioned that Koh had claimed credit for her dreams. "You were there because the bad guys wanted you there. The simplest solution is always the right one."

"But one of the bad guys didn't want me there," she countered. "Um. Bad girl. Whatever. And it turned out there was someone good looking out for me, even if he didn't cause the dreams. So with two out of three I win by default."

Sokka rolled his eyes and flicked a glob of rice at her. She retaliated with a well-applied waterwhip made of her tea. He escalated with a dumpling to the head. Therefore, she wasn't to blame when it erupted into an all-out food fight. Sokka started it, after all.

After all the food had been cleaned up and the dishes washed and put away, Katara found herself sitting, eyes half-closed, looking at the fire, a light blanket draped over her shoulders.

Everyone had gone to sleep, even Appa and Bruiser. Momo, fat from leftovers, slept curled on Appa's head, Ty Lee close by. Sokka and Suki lay together by the fireside. Mai had retired to her room before the food fight, and who knew where Toph and Aang were sleeping (or if they were, as Suki pointed out earlier, much to Sokka's horror).

Katara, however, was nowhere near ready to go to sleep. It probably didn't help that she'd spent much of the night asleep already. That probably explained half of her restlessness. The other half was worry.

Nearly inaudible footsteps approached the fire, and Mai came into view. She still limping a little where Azula had sprained her ankle, despite Katara's efforts to heal it. They'd have to collect more water from the forest pool in the morning.

"Hey," she said. "Mind if I sit?"

"Sure. Want a blanket?"

"No thanks." She knelt next to the fire and held out her hands to warm them. "I came to find Ty Lee, but it looks like she's found another bed."

In her sleep, Ty Lee grabbed a tuft of Appa's fur and snuggled into it.

"Can't sleep?" asked Katara.

Mai shrugged, and fed a twig into the fire.

"I know what you mean," said Katara.

"Ha. You might."

They sat in more or less companionable silence for a while. It occurred to Katara that this was the first time they'd been alone together since the night Mai left for the Earth Kingdom. She remembered her conversation with Ty Lee in the baths. The acrobat had hinted pretty hard that Mai had been up to something other than diplomatic business there. As a naturally nosy person, of course Katara was dying to know. On the other hand, she didn't want to be stuck full of knives. She decided on the subtle approach.

"So, um, stop me if this seems nosy-"

"It already does."

Katara flushed. So much for subtle. "Okay, so it's nosy. So what. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, because I respect that."

Mai tossed another dry twig into the fire. Katara took her lack of communication as assent and plunged ahead.

"What were you really doing in Earth Kingdom?" she asked, very fast.

"I told you. Diplomacy. I kept the price of rice down and got a negotiated a trading deal with the leader Coal Miners' Guild. I went to a party with King Kuei. He proposed an alliance between our countries by way of a political marriage. I turned him down. I went to visit Ty Lee. End of story."

Katara's jaw dropped. "He asked you to marry him?"

Perhaps her tone was too incredulous, because Mai raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry. I mean, of course he asked you to marry him. Why wouldn't he?" She thought of Long Feng's cold and sarcastic demeanor. "You're, um, just his type."

Mai smirked. Katara felt weirdly accomplished.

"I don't hate Kuei," she said. "He reminds me of Ty Lee in a lot of ways. They're both naive. They both like big, smelly animals. They both have no filter between their mouths and brains. But I can't see myself marrying him. Being the Earth Queen would be about as boring as being the Fire Lady." She snapped another twig in half and tossed it to the flames. "Besides. I'm already in love with another silly airhead."

Katara began to ask her how she'd found time to get another boyfriend so soon after she dumped Zuko, but then noticed that Mai was no longer looking at the fire. Katara followed her gaze to the sleeping Ty Lee.

She looked back at Mai. Then she looked back at Ty Lee. She held up one finger and opened and closed her mouth.

Mai shrugged. "Childhood crushes seem to be my type."

"Does- does she- have you-?" stammered Katara.

"I told her as soon as I saw her in Kyoshi. We're seeing how things go. It's been nice." Mai tilted her head and raised one corner of her mouth. "What about you?"

"Me?" Katara pointed to herself. "Um, I'm fine with it. I fully support alternative choices. It was kind of a shock but it explains-"

"No, idiot," said Mai with an eyeroll. "You and Zuko."

Katara bit her lip and tried not to look too guilty. "Is it- I mean, are you-"

"I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't want to talk about it."

"Oh. Right." She hugged her knees. "I don't know. He's Fire Lord. He's supposed to marry a Fire Nation girl. Not that I'm thinking about marriage at this point," she added, coloring. "It's just, you know, what kind of future are we going to have if we do get together and things get serious? What if the Sages object? What if your people don't accept me?"

"Political marriages tend to involve foreign alliances. They'll get over it."

Katara's voice rose in anxious pitch. "But what will my people think? The Fire Nation took away everything we had for a hundred years. Even now, five years after the war, half of them won't trade with any Fire Nation ships that come through. Community is everything in the Water Tribe. If I get cast out-" she swallowed. "They're my family, Mai. I really, really like him, but if I get cast out, will that be enough?"

"Do you think they would?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." She buried her face in her arms. "I thought I'd be happy now that I don't have to worry about hurting Aang or- or you. And in some ways I am, but I'm also not. It feels like I've swallowed a barking toad and it's croaking in my stomach. It doesn't make sense."

Nearby, Sokka muttered in his sleep. Katara bit her tongue in surprise. Had he overheard her? It was okay telling Mai these things because she was a girl and not related to her, but Sokka? Not ready. Definitely not ready. Sokka scratched his cheek, rolled over and began snoring.

"You're scared?" said Mai, in a low voice. "Tough. That's how love works. It's scary. But if you don't try, and something happens that makes it so you can't ever try, all you'll have is regrets."

She poked at the fire with a long stick. A shower of sparks sprang up, illuminating her placid face.

"I lived most of my life half-asleep. Doing my duties. Visiting my family. Being a good daughter. Being Azula's friend. Being a good girlfriend. I wasn't even planning on saying anything to Ty Lee when I broke up with Zuko. Then one second he was asking me if I liked this stupid-looking flower, and the next he was dying. It was like being slapped awake. You can't sit around and wait for things to happen to you. Life's too short for that. If people have problems with what you want, tell them to shut up. Then, prove them wrong."

Mai stood and smoothed her robe. The small fire cast orange, yellow, and black shadows on her face, which hid her eyes in dark color. Katara couldn't remember her ever saying so much at one time.

"I'm going to bed," said Mai. "If Ty Lee wakes up, tell her I'm in my room. She can join me if she wants."

Katara closed her mouth, which she hadn't realized was hanging open. "Right. Um, I will."

Mai began to walk away. As she watched her back come into view, Katara realized she couldn't just let her go like that. Not after all she'd said.

So instead, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"I hope things work out with you and Ty Lee," she blurted.

Mai paused, and looked over her shoulder.

"They will," she said.

Then she left. Katara had more to think about now than before she'd shown up at the fire. She watched it dwindle down to coals before she was able to fall asleep. But when she did, as the first light of dawn turned the horizon pale pink, she didn't dream.

"Hey, Aang?"

Aang looked up from the scroll he'd been reading, and frowned.

It was the day after their return from the Spirit World, and she'd tried without luck to find a way to be alone with him all morning. First, Sokka had insisted on cooking breakfast for everyone, and then Toph had been weirdly insistent on being wherever Aang seemed to be. It took an entire day of Katara sending people off on random supply excursions for she and Aang to be the last ones left on the mountain. And even then, she'd only gotten rid of Toph by reminding her that she hadn't practiced her magma-bending for the day.

Finally, here he was, alone in Pathik's room. She watched as he eyed the nearby open window. Then he closed his eyes, sighed, and began to roll up the parchment.

"Hi," he said. "What do you want?"

She flinched. Even in the worst of times, Aang hadn't been cold to her. He'd been fiery, he'd been sullen, he'd pretended nothing was wrong, and he'd even broken things in temper, but he'd never treated her like a stranger.

Well. She wasn't going to let him shut her out after working so hard to find him all day. She closed her eyes, let out a short breath, opened them, and said it before she lost her nerve.

"I wanted to talk to you about what Koh said."

Aang stuffed the scroll onto a shelf full of other ones. "There's nothing to talk about."

"There's plenty to talk about!" she insisted. "I don't know what Koh told you, but you don't understand what-"

"You cheated on me," he said. "You didn't tell me. I get it."

"I never had a chance to tell you! You didn't talk to me for a year, remember?"

There was a beat. He glared at her.

"You should have told me when it happened."

She opened her mouth, then closed it. "All right. That's fair. Maybe I should have told you back then. But what would it have been like if I did, Aang? Things were already so awkward between us."

"I don't know what it would have been like because you didn't give me the chance to figure that out for myself."

There was a long pause. Aang stared at the floor, his arms folded across her chest, and Katara couldn't stop fidgeting with her hands. She hated that their carefully repaired friendship had been so easily destroyed by one stupid secret. She hated even more that it had nearly cost Aang his life. She wished she knew a way to put it into words how much she regretted not telling him the night before their disastrous trip to Koh's Realm.

"I'm sorry," she said, instead. "It was only a kiss. A drunken, impulsive kiss that both of us regretted and decided to forget about for the sake of our relationships. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it a secret. But I guess I did both of us a disservice."

He shrugged irritably, and didn't answer her. Momo, curled up on the windowsill, chattered in his sleep. Distant voices carried up through the window from the courtyard below. It sounded like Sokka and Suki were back from the village.

"That's all, I guess," said Katara. "See you later, Aang."

"Wait," he said.

She stopped in the doorway. "Yes?"

He looked at her, and the angry lines around his mouth were gone.

"I'm probably going to be mad for a while," he said. "But I get it. I had a long talk with Toph last night, and she said a lot of things that made sense. Like when people aren't happy, they do dumb things. Really dumb things."

She bit her lip to keep from saying anything rash. "Go on."

"And I figured something out. We weren't happy. I thought we were, but we weren't. We weren't happy for a year or two, maybe. But even though things were rough and all this resentment was building up, you chose to forget about the kind of life you could have with someone else, and you tried to work things out with me. You took me aside, talked to me, and tried to fix things. You picked me, whatever reasons you did it for. That means a lot to me in a weird way."

Her eyes pricked. "Oh, Aang."

"So, um," he rubbed the back of his head. She could see the cut from Azula's wolf still on his jaw, and knew that it would probably be there forever as a scar. "Thanks for that. Thanks for picking me."

"I'm sorry," she repeated, and stumbled towards him, arms up. "Sorry."

"Okay," he said, and hugged her tight.

They started their journey West the next day. Originally, Katara planned to make her way back to the Fire Nation by herself, but everyone put their foot down and insisted on accompanying her. It had been a long time since they were all in one place, reasoned Sokka, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let such a perfect opportunity to throw a huge party slip by. Ty Lee and Toph were thoroughly on board after that, and where Toph went, Aang was extremely eager to follow. Even Mai seemed passingly interested in the prospect. When Katara insisted that there was no way Zuko would let them throw a party after being in a coma for a month, Toph reminded everyone exactly who was overseeing the Fire Nation while his nephew was indisposed, and Katara gave up.

Oh well. It wasn't like she was going to have a chance to be alone with Zuko, anyway.

Bruiser followed them as they flew towards the Earth Kingdom's Western shore. Every time they landed, she and Appa would disappear somewhere, presumably to do whatever it was that Sky Bison and Badgermoles did when they were in love. It was a week, therefore, by the time they got to the sea.

Katara's stomach seemed to tie itself into new and complex knots every day. Even the letter Iroh sent announcing that Zuko had woken up only eased her anxiety a little. What if Zuko didn't remember anything? What if Azula had somehow managed to worm her way into the Spirit World again and done... something. Maybe found another Spirit to start the whole thing over again. She wished she could speed up time and be in the Fire Nation immediately, but there was no stopping the amorous adventures of two huge and potentially dangerous animals.

Only Mai seemed to understand the reasons behind Katara's increasing nerves. Every night, after everyone else had gone to bed, the two of them would sit together, not talking. Those were the only times during their trip that Katara felt like things might turn out okay.

The capitol of the Fire Nation winked on the horizon. It was still very small, but that didn't stop Katara's heart from threatening to wriggle out of her chest at the sight of it.

"What's up, Katara?" asked Ty Lee. "Your aura's gone all splotchy."

Katara clutched the edge of Appa's saddle. "Nothing, nothing," she said in a forcibly breezy voice that came out more like a squeak. "I'm great! Wow, we're really close, huh?"

"I know! It's pretty exciting. I can't wait to hit the market. It's going to be so cool to see what the new fashions are like. We don't get anything in Kyoshi that isn't, like, three years out of date. Don't tell Sokka, though," she lowered her voice to a dramatic whisper. "Or Suki. They think the tunnel to the mainland is like, the best thing ever. Only it's so muddy all the clothes arrive... well, muddy!"

"Maybe they should hire some waterbenders to keep the mess under control," said Mai, leaning back on the saddle with her eyes closed.

"Do you think the earthbenders would be okay with that?" said Ty Lee, tilting her head. "They make an awful lot of money on the route and I don't think they'd be willing to share."

"Better for the clothes to be clean."

"But the other Warriors say..."

Mai and Ty Lee fell into a quiet argument that felt extremely familiar. Katara, desperate for any kind of distraction, saw that Aang was in the middle of describing his plans for the future. She tried to focus on what he was saying to give her friends some privacy.

Her friends, she repeated to herself. It was strange, and a little confusing sometimes, but there it was. She'd always known she'd like Ty Lee for her breeziness and openness, but she thought it'd be a hot day at the South Pole before she and Mai got along. Now, she found herself making plans to go out for drinks with her, just to talk. The prospect was strangely exciting.

"...then I think I'm going to reopen the temples, starting with the Eastern one," Aang was saying. "Pathik says he thinks he's seen wild sky bison once or twice. Can you believe it?"

Appa roared and started to run through the sky.

"That's right, buddy!" He patted Appa's flank. "It makes perfect sense! Momo's line survived a hundred years at the Southern Temple, so why not Appa's? It's where all the sky bison were born when I was a kid. I can't wait to get there and start looking. Maybe while I'm at it I can even learn some more about spiritbending from Pathik."

Sokka made a face. "That's disgusting. Why do you want to learn more about taking away people's bending?"

Suki lightly punched him on the shoulder. "I can't believe people think you're smart."

"What? I was only saying-"

Aang laughed like a kid on a penguin-sled, apparently high on his excitement. "I'm going to use it to try and make more airbenders! See, if spiritbending can take bending away, then it should work in reverse, right? I can give people the ability to bend! I can make more airbenders!"

"Good," said Toph, "'Cause I really don't have the hips to have a ton of flying kids."

Aang dissolved into a coughing fit, and Sokka looked horrified. Toph began to cackle, and even Katara laughed. Unfortunately, Sokka's suffering was quickly curtailed by the arrival of a messenger hawk.

"HAWKY!" he shouted. He held out his arm, and the huge bird lighted on it. "Ow, ow, it hurts, ow, ow-"

Momo arched his back at the unwelcome arrival of his one time nemesis and the two began to chase each other over Sokka's head. Aang had to airbend the message out of the tube in order to read it. It landed in his outstretched hand.

He shook his head, grinning as Sokka threw his arms over his head. "I'd never have believed it if not for Momo."

"You know," said Katara, "Iroh did say they found him on that river. The one with the fishing village, remember?"

"You mean Hawky came back and we weren't there?" said Sokka, looking distraught. "Hawky, that's so sad! I always knew you would try to come ba- ouch!"

He yanked back his hand as Hawky nearly took it off in his efforts to maim Momo.

"What's the letter say?" asked Toph.

Aang unscrolled it.

Dear Everyone, she began.

"Read it in his voice!" Toph demanded.

Aang chuckled, cleared his throat, and began to read the letter in an ear-splittingly terrible rendition of Iroh's accent.

Thank you for your last letter! When I received news that I was to expect seven guests instead of one I was delighted! I had the steward start planning the feast right away. My nephew is excited as well. He accused me of wasting the crown's valuable resources on a party, but I could tell that he was only trying to save face for the Ministers. Though he is still having trouble walking, he has already had several meetings with them. He shouts a great deal, so I'm sure he's very happy.

He has asked after all of you; one of you several times. I think you can guess who I'm talking about!

Luckily for Katara, all eyes were on Aang, so no one saw her turn a distinct shade of dark red.

I've already aired out the guest rooms. Hurry and arrive! My old neck is getting tired from looking at the sky all day long.

Yours,

Iroh

"Excellent!" said Toph. "I knew there'd be a party. Well, a feast, but same thing. Gramps throws great feasts. I'll bet he even got some grass made special for you, TT."

Aang lowered the letter and grinned at her.

"Aw, grass is okay if you eat the right kind. There's this grass that tastes like lemons you can get in the Southern Fire Nation. Want me to find you some?"

Toph made a face. "No. A world of no."

"Who do you think jerkbender's been asking about?" said Sokka.

Behind his back, Suki rolled her eyes. And behind her, Katara saw that the once distant capitol had gone from tiny to extremely large. Her heart moved somewhere to the region of her stomach.

"We're almost there," she breathed. "We're almost there. Do my loopies look okay? I don't look too windswept, do I?"

"You look like you've spent the last day riding on the back of a flying bison," said Mai. "He'll love you."

"He?" demanded Sokka. "He? Who's 'he?'"

Katara shot Mai a murderous look. Mai only smirked. Katara decided right then and there that all the affection she'd built up over the last week was definitely wasted.

"Look, Sokka!" said Suki, grabbing her boyfriend and pointing him in a seemingly random direction. "I think they're using your new balloon designs!"

"They're 'dirigibles,' not balloons," he said in a strained voice.

The sky above the capitol's harbor was indeed dotted with huge balloons draped in canvas of a variety of colors, not just the traditional Fire Nation red. She also saw myriad Earth Kingdom greens and browns, and even some Water Tribe blues. The picture would have been complete if not for the absence of Air Nomad orange and yellows. Large, enclosed baskets that seemed to be full of passengers hung underneath each one. Some of the ones with sturdier walls and few windows even looked like they were made to transport cargo.

"Wow, Sokka," gushed Ty Lee. "You designed those?"

"Yeah," he said, trying to look casual by leaning on his elbow. He slipped, and the effect was ruined. "Ahem. Yes. Yes, I thought it'd be nice if my dirigibles could be available to anyone, not just the military, so I sent a few *coughhundredcough* specs out with some of the merchants that come through the tunnel. I got a great price for them, too. I'm not surprised they caught on so fast. After all, the design is pretty- NO HAWKY DON'T GO!"

The messenger hawk ignored him. He took off and fell into a long, spiral glide, followed by a chattering Momo. Appa gave a great grunt and began to follow them. A plaza paved with well-matched gray stones came into view. If Katara squinted, she could see a very familiar-looking shape waving up at them. One with prominent sideburns.

"We're here!" squeaked Ty Lee.

"Appa, yip yip!" said Aang, and cracked the reins.

Appa landed in front of Iroh, sending up a tuft of air that caused him to clutch his robes. Toph was the first one on the ground.

"Gramps!" she shouted, barreling towards him with her arms out.

She crashed into him and flung her arms around his ample waist. He made an exaggerated expression of pain and lifted her off her feet.

"Miss Bei Fong! My poor old back and I have sorely missed you!"

"Put me down and I'll crack all your vertebrae," she promised.

He dropped her, and true to her word, she looped her arms around his lower back and gave it a sharp crack.

"Oof!" he said, eyes watering. "Nothing compares to a good hug."

"Iroh, my man!" shouted Sokka. "High five!"

Iroh held out his hand in response to Sokka's raised one, and Sokka looked sheepish for a second before reaching down to grasp it.

"Welcome, everyone," Iroh said, beaming. "It is my great pleasure to invite you to a feast not only of the appetite, but of the senses! Tonight, we..."

"Where's Zuko?" whispered Katara as Iroh launched into a speech about what kinds of foods they were going to be eating that night.

Mai flicked her eyes toward Katara. "Probably still in bed."

"Oh," said Katara. Her heart resumed its normal place in her chest. "I was kind of hoping he'd be here."

"Guess you should slip away while we're distracted then."

Before Katara could answer, Mai loudly deadpanned, "Wow. Is that a dragon over there?"

Iroh stopped mid-sentence, and Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee all looked in the direction Mai pointed.

It was then and there that Katara decided her affections for Mai would never, ever waver again. She ran across the plaza, the conversation of her friends fading as she ran.

"I think I see it!" shouted Sokka.

"Well, I don't see anything," said Toph.

"You've got to squint it you- oh, haha, very funny," said Sokka, distantly.

Katara blazed up the steps. Where was her anxiety now? She burst through the front doors in much the same fashion as she had when she'd arrived nearly a month ago, demanding to see to Zuko. An officious-looking man in an overlarge hat tried to melt in the wall as she tore by him. Her nervousness was still there, to be honest. It made her stomach jolt with every step she took. It just wasn't as loud, because it had been overwhelmed with a single-minded desire to see him, to know once and for all that he was okay, and damn the consequences. She pulled a sheaf of water out of the air and bent it into a rope, using it to push open all the sliding doors that got in her way. Some of the guards waved at her as she ran by, and one cowered. He looked vaguely familiar, but she put it out of her mind. She was almost there.

Finally, she skidded to a halt outside his door. There wasn't a guard in sight. Did that mean he'd been moved to a different room? Her heart crept up to her throat. If he wasn't there, she'd have to ask someone where he was, and she very much did not want to do that. Her hands began to shake.

Wait. This was ridiculous. Here she was, Katara Water Tribe, the youngest Master in who knew how long, too scared to open a door. Hadn't she taught the Avatar how to waterbend? Hadn't she subdued Azula on the day of Sozin's Comet? Hadn't she faced down Koh, alone?

Slowly, she opened the door and crept inside.

There he was. He sat up in his stupidly huge bed, piles of papers and scrolls spread all over his sheets. He looked up, and when he saw her, he dropped the paper he was holding. It drifted to the floor.

She stared at him. Her mouth was dry and her mind was apparently on temporary holiday.

"Katara," he said, in a cracking voice.

"Hi," she said back.

His slightly shaggy hair hung down the center of his forehead, like it always did. She longed to stick her hands in it.

"I told the guards to take a break if they heard you coming. I didn't want them..." he trailed off.

"Right."

"They can get nosy."

"Understandable."

"Thirsty? I could get someone to get you a drink."

"It's fine. Not thirsty."

They stared at one another for a moment longer, neither saying a word. Then, he raised one hand. She ran to him before he could lift the other and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and his waist. All his papers crinkled underneath her. He pressed his face to her neck, pulling her close with surprising strength for one who had spent most of a month sleeping. Probably brought on by desperation, she thought, as she gave into her own and buried a hand in his thick hair.

He pushed her until she was at arm's length, both his hands on her shoulders.

"You're amazing," he said.

"You remember?"

"Everything."

He draped his hand over the back of her neck, tugged, and kissed her, hard. Her heart seemed to be everywhere at once. Her lower lip slipped between his teeth and he bit down. Then she was on the bed before she realized that her legs had worked. She was on top of him, or he was on top of her, and his hands seemed to be all over her body as they rolled over a sheaf of half-written letters and scattered them on the floor.

Wait. Letters. She pulled away, frowning. Her hair hung down over his face.

"I just remembered. You said you had something to tell me about Mai in the last letter you sent me. You were being cryptic."

He stared up at her, incredulous. "Can it wait?"

She frowned harder. "No."

He groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. "Seriously? You're getting hung up about this now?"

She sat up so fast she would have put a springboard to shame. "I am not getting hung up about this. I was really suspicious of Mai for a while because of what you wrote."

He peeked one gold eye at her through slitted fingers. "You thought Mai put me in a coma?"

"Only because you were being so mysterious in your letters!"

"How was I supposed to know I'd get poisoned by some-"

"A-hem."

They both stopped mid-argument and looked at the door. There, flanked by two extremely embarrassed-looking Royal Guards, were every single one of their friends.

Mai was smirking. Ty Lee had her hands clasped under her chin, her eyes sparkling in delight. Suki and Iroh were actually exchanging a high five. Sokka was slowly turning from white to purple as he pointed at them, gargling incoherently. Aang didn't look completely thrilled, but he was smiling. It probably helped that Toph firmly held his hand in hers.

Toph, of course, was grinning like a saber-toothed moose-lion.

"You guys are so busted," she said.

"Um... surprise?" said Katara.

"Not really," said everyone but Sokka.

The sound of Zuko's hand hitting his forehead was heard all the way down the hall.

Dinner was just as great a feast as Iroh promised. There were piles of scallops and fish and oysters, bowls and bowls of saffron rice, an entire stuffed picken with lemongrass to garnish, red, green, and yellow curries swimming with fresh vegetables, and an entire egg-custard tart made specifically for Aang. This didn't stop Toph and Sokka from surreptitiously filching bites, but Aang seemed happy enough.

Once the meal was over, everyone sat in piles over the cushion-lined floor. Even Zuko had gotten surly enough with his doctors to be allowed out of bed in a kind of wheeled chair. Katara leaned against his legs, rather enjoying the way Sokka turned different colors every time he looked in her direction.

"...and they say she is settling in nicely," Iroh finished. He took a sip from his teacup and set it down on the table. "I'm sorry to say that it will take an inquiry to discover who it was that smuggled her orders off Coal Island."

"It wasn't Ozai supporters," said Zuko. "They'd have staged a coup and killed me if they'd known I was helpless."

Iroh grimaced. "I do not like to entertain the idea that there are people misguided enough in the Fire Nation to want Azula on the throne."

"You shouldn't underestimate her powers of personal magnetism," said Mai. "She can be really convincing."

"Hm. Perhaps when I visit her tomorrow, I will try and arrange for more stoic caretakers," said Iroh. "Ty Lee, Mai, would you like to join me?"

Ty Lee took Mai's hand and squeezed it. "We'll think about it."

"I'll go with you," said Zuko.

Toph set down her goblet with a loud thunk. "Sparky. Did that coma make you crazy?"

"No," he said, glancing at Katara. "I just know how she feels."

Aang climbed on the table, a glass in his hand. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have an announcement to make."

"Oh no," muttered Sokka. "I'm not ready for this. Suki, hold me."

"Shh!" she hissed.

"Ah, to be young and to feel the caress of new love," said Iroh. "Why, I remember..."

He launched into a story about a metalworking girl he knew in Ba Sing Se as a young man. Katara watched him gesture as he spoke. She noted the lines around his eyes, the warmth in his smile, and the way his sideburns framed his face. She found herself wondering for the second time whether he was the man in her dream. If not for him, she doubted she'd have known where to strike when Koh bore down on her in his cave. A demon's heart is in its eye. Did he know how much he'd done for her? She'd have to ask him about it sometime when they were alone.

"...and that is when I first learned that first love does not so much gently touch as is it does brutalize."

"That was... informative," said Aang, his glass still raised. "Um. Why am I standing here? Oh! Right!" he cleared his throat. "As of today, I am officially declaring the Eastern Air Temple reopened! And I'm inviting all of you to come live with me!"

"Take your time deciding, though," said Toph. "We're going to need some time to ourselves for a while."

Sokka's head hit the table and he whimpered.

"Can I bring the Warriors with me?" asked Suki.

"Suki!" Sokka shot up. "You're not seriously considering-"

"We'll need someone to figure out a way to build a road up the mountain," said Aang in a carefully casual tone. "Too bad you're not coming. Guess I'll have to-"

"I'm in," Sokka interrupted, his hands folded in a business-like manner. "We're going to need earthbenders. Lots of them. And some bricks, if we want to keep erosion from getting out of hand. Do you think you could get Teo in to help? We'll need our own places, too. Is someone writing this down?"

Katara stood as nonchalantly as she could and leaned so her lips were close to Zuko's ear.

"Want to get out of here?" she whispered.

"Yes," he whispered back.

She grabbed the back of his chair and pulled him away from the table. It was unsurprisingly difficult to sneak out of a well-lit party pushing someone along in a chair, even if the chair had wheels. Luckily for her, Sokka was proving plenty distracting, as Ty Lee, Toph, and Suki fell over one another laughing at his increasingly outrageous demands.

Aang looked at her as she pushed Zuko towards the door. For a tense moment, she thought he was going to ask her were she was going. But then he shrugged. With a soft smile, he shook his head. It wasn't permission, because Katara didn't need that. It was something different. 'I'm going now,' maybe, or 'Are you okay?' But with Aang's smile, Katara knew she shouldn't have worried. It was Aang. They understood each other.

Katara rolled Zuko to the balcony. They watched the dark orange sun slide closer to the horizon for a while. A flock of black birds flew in front of it, casting them both in mottled light. A happy shriek echoed from the nearby dining room.

"So," she said.

"So," he repeated.

She burst out laughing, and he looked up at her and gave a bare smile.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just so weird, isn't it? How things loop back on one another. We were here three years ago and we said the same thing. Remember?"

"I remember. I could stand, then."

"Don't worry," she ran her knuckles across the back of his neck. "You'll stand, soon. Your muscles are just atrophied. It's probably not even that bad, considering how hard you hugged me earlier. You shouldn't have been able to do that."

He smirked. "Give me your hand."

"Er? Sure."

She held out her hand and he gripped her wrist instead. He then pushed on the arms of his chair. Catching on, Katara grabbed him with both hands, planted her feet, and pulled. His body shook with effort as he forced his shaky legs to straighten. Then, by their combined efforts, he stood.

"Now it's exactly like that time," he panted.

"Except," she said, leaning him against the balcony railing. "It's not night. And you're not all grumpy and angsty."

"And we're not dating other people."

She paused.

"No." She set her hands on the railing on either side of his. "We're not."

He stared down at her. She thought that she could see a bit of color in his cheeks, but it may have been a trick of the slowly fading light. He swallowed.

"Listen. Things are going to change soon. The war's been over for five years, but there's still a lot that needs to be fixed here in the Fire Nation. There are a lot of old laws that need to be revised or overturned. The economy is recovering but it's still a mess."

"Zuko."

"If you want to stay here, it won't be easy. But I'd really like it if you'd consider being with me for a while. Just to see how things go. You can leave any time you want. Not that you need my permission!" his eyes widened. "I just want to make it clear that I respect what you want in life and that I don't want to take you away from your family. Or what you love doing."

"Zuko."

"I'm serious about- huh?"

He looked back at her, and there was definitely some color in his unscarred cheek. That was how she liked him best, she thought. Not at all like the suave heroes in Ty Lee's romance scrolls.

"Hush."

She lightly tugged at the back of his neck and brought his lips to hers.

It was different from their other kisses, she thought, as he leaned into her, somehow without compromising his balance. She parted his lips with her tongue. It didn't taste like a stolen confection flavored with wine to be consumed in heady secrecy. It was like fresh fruit, picked from a tree she'd grown herself.

He pulled back and slowly ran his fingers over the back of her neck. She shivered.

"I think I could get used to this," she said.

He ran one knuckle down her cheek. "I couldn't."

Her heard did that funny thing again where it forgot to beat. She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her chest.

"When do you think you'll be able to walk?"

He slid one hand around her waist and kissed her on the neck. "Tomorrow if I can."

"Mmm. Good. Because I've decided that you need an vacation. A real vacation," she said in reaction to his raised eyebrow. "Not one you spend sleeping."

"The Fire Lord can't take vacations. Not when he's already been missing for a month."

She raised one finger and smirked. "It's a good thing the Fire Lord already has a trusted regent looking out for his kingdom. Maybe he can make one or two public appearances with his charming friend from the Southern Water Tribes, and then maybe he can be called away to some ceremony that he can't get out of not attending. Say, the reopening of the Eastern Air Temple?"

The corners of his mouth twitched upward. "You're devious."

"I'm choosing to take that as a compliment."

"Good."

He began to kiss her neck again, which made her legs and arms come out in pleasurable goosebumps. Her lips parted as he began to work his way under her collar.

"Aren't... you going to ask me... where I want to go?"

"No."

He nipped her and it took all of her self control not to dig her fingernails into his back.

"Ask me. You'll like it."

"Why don't you just tell me?"

He punctuated his question with another kiss to the place where her neck met her shoulders. Her toes curled.

"I think we should go and find your mom."

His arm went stiff. He leaned back a little. She rested one arm on his chest and looked at him as he seemed to stare at something in the courtyard.

"My agents have been looking for her for years," he said. "They haven't found a trace of her."

"No one is as good as you at finding people. You chased us for months, remember?"

He traced her cheekbone with his thumb. "And I always found you."

"You always found us," she repeated, and smiled. "So let's go. Let's leave things to Iroh for a while. You deserve a chance to find her yourself."

The sound of a Tsungi horn being tuned wafted from the dining room. Iroh had hinted that he was going to make tonight a Music Night, and it looked like he'd actually followed through. She could also hear a series of enthusiastic banging which could only mean that Toph had gotten hold of the djembe.

Zuko rolled his eyes at the noise, but couldn't disguise the smile that threatened to overtake his forced scowl.

"Do you think they'll miss us?"

"Sure they will," she put her hands on his shoulders and his slipped to her waist. "And we'll miss them. But I'm tired of waiting for things to happen. Let's make them happen. Let's find your mom and bring her back."

"No more waiting," he agreed. "Whatever happens, we make it happen."

She grinned. "So. Partners?"

"Always," he said. "It's always been you."

She kissed him again, and he matched her for every move. All over the capitol, the evening lanterns were lit.

It's a long, long way from Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city they look so pretty...

A week later, the Dragon of the West assured the people that their Fire Lord had been called to attend the opening of the Eastern Air Temple, and that he would return as soon as the festivities concluded. Iroh had been looking forward to attending the party and returning to his tea shop, but took his extended responsibilities in stride. The young people needed their time together. And, after all, he had been promised a wonderful gift upon their return. He hoped it was tea.