I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this fic, but if you do, that is awesome. Hopefully you were able to ignore all the grammar mistakes and enjoy the story (bc it's a pretty good story, If I do say so myself). My writing style has changed and improved so much since I last updated that there is no way I can give you the update you deserve. But, after re-reading this for the hundredth time, I really feel I should give you something (bc there was literally only one more chapter left and I got so upset over how un-canon(?) it was after book 3 and 4 came out). So I'm gonna try to end this bitch properly. So sit back, relax and let's see what I can do.

Note: I probs wont edit the final version of this chap. (The other chapters have mistakes, why shouldn't this one? That is my argument.)

Oogie landed safely on Air Temple Island. The temple was filled with spirits; Tenzin must admit, he had never seen so many in one place before. Even when he was in the spirit world, it was nothing compared to now.

Tenzin turned to the city. Those men, those warriors, or whatever they were, had nearly destroyed the city. He watched as a tower, blazing with fire, nearly fall apart. He saw metal benders attempting to hold it in place. He needed to help them; he needed defeat those tyrants once and for all.

"Tenzin," said Pema. He turned to where she stood. She held Rohan securely with one arm and had a tight grip on Meelo in the other. Ikki stood close by. "What's happening?"

"Go inside," said Tenzin. He looked at Jinora and Lee, the paper boy, gesturing for them to follow Pema. Lee ran quickly inside, while Jinora stayed behind, angry.

"Me?" said Jinora. "But I can help!"

"It's too dangerous," he said. "I've faced these men before, Jinora. They're like nothing I've ever seen won't hesitate to kill you."

"But... the spirits," she said, gesturing up at the spirits above them, "they know me, they trust me. I can help control them!"

"I know," he said. He frowned, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "If anything were to happen..." he began, but had no ability to continue. If anything were to happen to her, well, he could not dare to live with himself. He can't lose another child. Not again, he thought. "I just need you here," he said instead.

Jinora only nodded, and then reluctantly joined her mother and siblings.

Tenzin turned to his own siblings, who were waiting for his orders. "Kya, will you look after them? In case any of those men come to the island."

Kya hugged him. "Be careful," she said, then turned to Bumi. "The both of you," she added quickly, making sure Bumi didn't feel left out. "I know how much I whined about wanting to be an only child when we were kids, but I've since changed my mind." She hugged Bumi, then ran to catch up with Jinora.

Tenzin airbent both him and Bumi back onto Oogie. With a quick "yip, yip", they were flying back towards the chaos.

Lin had just earthbent a giant bolder in the direction of a group of soldiers when she saw Oogie flying near. "About time," she said as Tenzin airbent a soldier near Lin away from her.

Bumi leapt off of Oogie, sword in hand, and came howling down to the ground, taking down one of the soldiers in the process. He clapped his hands together, looking around for his next victim.

Tenzin ran to Lin, asking if she was hurt. "Not yet," was her response. He looked around, noticing the soldiers were spread out. Some of the police officers were fighting the men, losing to the men, while others were helping the citizens get away. The men were here, fighting and killing, but Liko wasn't in sight. He should be here, thought Tenzin; they go where he goes, he had assumed. One of the men had noticed Tenzin had stopped fighting, so with a big stomp, he earthbent a big pile of rocks in his direction. It was Lin who stopped it.

"What are you doing?" she asked Tenzin angrily. The men had surrounded them by now; they were moving in.

"He should be here," Tenzin said. He paid no attention to the soldiers around him. His didn not care about them. It wasn't important to him that they wanted to kill him. He only thought of Liko. Only Liko. "Why isn't he here?"

Lin only sighed. We don't have time for this, she wanted to say, but a strange sound, like lightning from a terrible storm, boomed above them. Everyone, including the soldiers, looked up.

There was a blinding light in the sky, brighter than the sun, and a figure on tiger bird appeared before them. Lin could hardly see from the bright light, but she knew somehow it was Liko. He looked mighty with all spirits surrounding him, protecting him, like a king. "ATACK!" he commanded.

The spirits all scattered, gathering the warriors and pushing them all together. The police officers were forced to move out of the way as the warriors were dragged to the center of the road. The spirits had them all trapped tightly together.

Everyone watched as Liko landed his tiger bird and made his way up to the now powerless black-eyed man.

"What is your name?" he asked, studying the individual closely. He had to ask, for this was the man that caused him so much pain. How could someone so powerful become so weak in such a quick moment?

The man glared at Liko for a long moment, until finally opening his mouth to spit at him. Liko wiped it away, thinking nothing of it. "Doesn't matter, I suppose," he said. "You won't be a problem much longer."

He backed away slowly, allowing the spirits around the warriors to tighten their hold on them. Liko raised his right hand. "ON MY COMMAND," he shouted. He let his hand stay in the air for a quick moment, before letting it fall to his side. "TOGETHER NOW!"

A beautiful beam of light burst out of the spirits holding the warriors. The light, blinding as it was, had beautiful colors dancing around its side.

There was a slight flicker in the light and Liko could see the black-eyed man's face again. He was screaming, slashing his sword on the spirits in front of him, attempting again to fight his way to freedom. "HOLD IT TOGETHER," Liko said. "DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" The man's head poked out, looking as if he were a bubble about to burst out, and the spirits' grip around the soldiers began to loosen.

"NO!" said Liko, lifting his arm up once more. This action, though very simply in the eyes of a human, was the only thing keeping the soldiers from escaping. "YOU'VE GOT TO HOLD ON," he kept saying, more to himself than the other spirits. "HOLD ON. HOLD ON. HOLD ON."

Liko felt a gust of wind. He looked up, watching several burst of light, like shooting stars, fall from the sky. Liko looked around at the people around him; only the spirits seemed to acknowledge their presence. His mother, his father, the police officers, they didn't seem to notice the sudden light show. The lights hit the big beam of light, making it stronger, more durable.

Suddenly, he saw Aang emerge from the light. Again, Liko looked around to see if anyone was seeing what he saw; and again, the normal people were not noticing the miracle. Then, came Toph. Then Iroh. Then a man Liko recognized as his great uncle Sokka. The king. White Lotus members. Everyone who died for him. Everyone who died because of him. Then, finally, as if the spirits knew he was waiting for her, Aiko emerged, looking as beautiful as the first time he saw her. In her arms held their son. Their beautiful, beautiful baby boy. They were all part of the light, attached to it somehow. They were his strength, Liko knew.

Liko wanted to rush up to all of them, to hug them, thank them for all they've done, and never let them go. He began lowering his hand, weakening the light, and walked slowly towards them.

"Don't," warned Aiko.

He did not want to continue. He did not want live anymore, if he was even considered alive at this point. But for her, and for the rest of the people, his hand raised up high again, and the beam of light grew stronger.

The spirits began swimming around the light, picking up speed. Aiko and the other people who died for him all lifted a hand up, placing a little of their own light into the portal.

"GET READY," said Liko finally. He took a few breaths in and out before slamming his arm down and, like some elaborate magic trick, the soldiers, the spirits and the beam of light all vanished, leaving behind Liko and a stunned group of people.

As quickly as the soldiers came, as quickly as they destroyed so many people's life, it seemed almost easy to get rid of them, Lin noted. The space, filled with those terrible soldiers only moments ago, was now empty. Nothing, not even a mark, was left behind. She was so busy investigating the empty spot, she almost didn't notice Tenzin's hand wrap around her. Looking up, she noticed his eyes glued to one other person.

She breathed in softly as Liko made his way up to them, a soft smile forming on her face.

"H-hello," Liko greeted with a bow. It was the only greeting he had known how to do. His eyes looked at Lin—"Mother"—and then to Tenzin—"Father," he said.

It was Tenzin who hugged him first, almost like he had been waiting all his life to do it. His hug was tight and urgent. Liko breathed in his father's scent; he smelt like flowers, for some odd reason, beautiful, in-bloom flowers—nothing like Liko had imagined he would smell. He took note on how warm his father was, how soft his robes felt on Liko's skin.

After a long moment, Tenzin finally let go. With tears in his eyes, he went back to where Lin was standing. All Lin could do was stare in awe at her son. She thought she would never get this moment. Gently, she placed a shaking hand on Liko's gelled-back hair, her thumb caressing the scar on his forehead. "Liko," she breathed.

Liko did the same and touched her scars, wondering how she felt about having it. They hugged for a short moment before Liko pulled away, looking at both his parents. "There... there's so much I want to say. So much I want to know. I don't have a lot of time."

His parents glanced at one another, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'm the Spirit King," he said. The words felt ridiculous to say aloud; he had never seen himself as any kind of king, even when he was the Earth King Consort. "I'm going to the spirit world, to rule the spirits."

"You're not staying?" said Tenzin. His parents' happiness quickly turned to sadness at the realization he would not be a part of their lives. They thought—everyone thought—that after the soldiers were defeated, things would go back to normal. But the spirits had other plans for Liko.

"I'm sorry," said Liko. "I have duties to the spirit world now... I thought you all knew."

There was a laugh behind him. "Duties," said the voice. They all turned to see Bumi smiling at them. Liko gave him a curious look, wondering how a grown adult man could make such an immature joke.

Tenzin sighed. "This is your Uncle Bumi," he introduced. Bumi clasped his nephew on the shoulder, holding it for a long moment. Liko smiled at him, remembering him from his visit to the earth kingdom.

"Who were those men," Lin asked. "Why were they trying to kill you?"

"They are the Hekate," Liko said. "An old ancient group of men, warriors actually. They are powerless in the spirit world, but once they hit mortal earth, they are nearly impossible to defeat, if you are not a spirit yourself. They were sent to kill me, to fulfill the prophecy."

"Prophecy?" said Bumi.

"Long ago, after Avatar Wan closed the portals to the spirit world, a prophecy was foretold to the high spirits of the land.

"It spoke of an airbender," he said. Liko explained to his parents the three challenges the chosen one must face before they are granted the title of king.

"...And they thought it was me," said Tenzin. "They were sent to kill you, because of the final challenge."

"Yes," he confirmed. "They thought the Hekate would kill me and you would rise to power and defeat them as king... Only you—"

"Failed the second challenge," he said, turning to Lin, a sad look on his face.

"So, they turned to me, hoping that where you failed, I would prosper."

"I'm sorry," said Tenzin. He was speaking to both Lin and Liko. All the mistakes he has made in the past, they were now coming back to him, and it was his son and Lin who were suffering from them. "I'm so sorry."

They all felt a gust of wind from above. Liko, looking up, frowned. "I have to leave," he said.

"But... but you just got here," said Lin.

"I know," he said, "but they need me in the spirit world."

He turned and walked back to Ailward. "You'll... you'll come back," asked Tenzin, his voice shaky. "You'll come back and see us, won't you?"

Liko smiled, gently patting the tiger bird's head. "Of course," he said. He sat down on Ailward and the animal began to flap his wings. "That is," he added, "but I'd much rather you come visit me in the spirit world."

Ailward sprinted upwards and with a great flash of light, the airbender, the one who never earned his arrows, vanished into the spirit world, off to spread peace and order in the spirit world.

The End

*Sorry it took so many years to finish.