Unusual Circumstances

Chapter 20

War's End

(Set during the climax of "Sozin's Comet"pt 4)

Katara wanted to muzzle the whimpering princess, but figured Zuko wouldn't approve, so Katara had to settle for tuning her out. She heard the sound of an approaching airship, and looked up to see the vessel coming in for a landing. Katara saw her brother and Suki waving from the windows. The airship looked like it had seen better days. Suki and Sokka maneuvered the battered vessel to a relatively smooth landing in the palace courtyard. Only then did Katara realize should could not see Toph, or Aang; 'Oh no' she thought to herself, her fear quickly turned to relief when she saw Aang and Toph disembark with her brother and Suki. Aang rushed to her and asked with a hint of desperation in his voice "Where's Zuko, is he all right?" She gave him a quick tight hug, she said "Zuko got badly wounded during the fight with Azula, but I was able to heal him; he then said he needed to be alone to think." Aang hugged Katara with grateful tears in his eyes, silently mouthed "Thank You" and then ran off to find Zuko. Aang had a pretty good idea where he'd find Zuko; he had seen it during their visit to the spirit world. Katara fought the urge to go after Aang, she respected that he and Zuko probably wanted some privacy right now.

Katara stayed with their other friends and began to work on her brother's broken limb, and listened to the story of victory against the airship fleet and how Aang defeated the Fire-lord, on his own terms, without taking a life. Katara found it disconcerting to be so close to the evil man; but marveled at what they said Aang had told them about spirit-bending and removing Ozai's fire-bending.

Aang found Zuko right where he expected, beside his mother's pond, in the garden. The prince's back was towards Aang, and his shoulders heaved and shuddered slightly. 'Was Zuko crying ,' Aang wondered. "Zuko," he said softly, Zuko turned at the sound, and he blushed and wiped his eyes and then got up and went to Aang. The two of them embraced and kissed, Zuko looked into the beautiful grey eyes and asked "Is it over?" Aang nodded, he was too full of emotion to speak. "Ozai, is he…" Zuko couldn't finish that sentence.

Aang found his voice, and told Zuko that his father was alive, and how he had found another way. Zuko sighed with relief, and embraced Aang. The two young fighters had achieved what they set out to do, they ended this accursed war. They released long held tension, and fell into each other's arms. There, in the garden for the first time, but not for the last; the Fire-prince, soon to be Firelord, and the Avatar, soon to be the Firelord's consort abandoned themselves to each other and to passion.

A week later, Zuko knelt before the fire sages to accept his coronation; he then stood before a huge crowd, made up of representatives of all the nations, Fire, Earth, Water, and the Air Nomads his uncle had rescued. Aang was there beside him, and after Zuko made a short speech he held up a hand to silence the cheers of the crowd and said "My friends, the real hero is the Avatar," Zuko gestured for the boy, correction, young man, to come forward, he hugged him and gestured out at the crowd.

The loudest cheers and applause ever heard in the Fire-nation's capital in a hundred years went up for the Avatar and the Firelord; and the loudest of all the cheers came from their family, on the dais behind them; Katara and Sokka, and their father, Hakoda were there; as was Toph. Zuko's uncle and his mother were there, too.

In the front row of the crowd stood the rest of their extended family; Haru and his father, Ty-ro, and Teo and his father the "mechanist", along with 'Pipsqueak' and 'The Duke'; they were all here. Aang and Zuko looked at the family they had built and smiled at what they all had achieved, together. They had brought peace to the world, and more importantly, unity.

End

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Mike DiMartino and Brian Konietzko for letting us play in the wonderful world they created, we appreciate the magic you made.

Thanks also, to 2dragonkat, and Darth Animus; their stories "Could we Have Been?" and "Memories from the Western Air Temple," respectively, served as an inspiration for this one.