Aang flinched, breathing rapidly as the rock sphere he was inside shook and trembled against Ozai's attacks. Sweat beaded along his forehead, arms, and chest as he struggled to hold the rock-ball together, tiny fragments falling each time one of Ozai's fire blasts made contact.

"Come on out Avatar!" Ozai roared through his cruelly laughter. He sent several curved fire blasts at the rock sphere before sending a straight blast at the shield. "You can't hide in there forever!"

Ozai thrust his hand in front of him, sending a strong, continuous stream of fire towards the rock sphere. Inside the rock sphere, Aang cringed and closed his eyes, the rocks around him turning red around the edges from the heat. He wouldn't be able to hold his rock shield up for much longer...

"C'mon!" Sokka gasped as he ran down the length of the airship he and Toph had jumped to, holding her hand tightly. Behind them, several of the other zeppelins they had managed to destroy with the airship they'd commandeered were steadily descending, smoking rising from them. Unfortunately, the airships that were still operational were still heading further into the Earth Kingdom, the firebenders at the prows continuing to send torrents of flame at the ground

He slowed to a stop when they reached the back of the ship and let go of Toph's hand, turning to look at her. "Toph, metalbend the rudder so it's jammed in the turning position. The ship will spiral and slam into the others."

"Got it." Toph said with a decisive nod and she grabbed Sokka's shoulders, moving him out of her way. Once he was standing slightly behind her, she spat in both hands then, with a loud battle cry, she slammed her hands on the rudder and began pulling the metal sheet back.

"Good job!" Sokka praised her when the rudder was almost at a perfect right angle and he grabbed her hand again when the ship jerked to the left, slamming straight into another airship. "Have I ever mentioned how sweet it is that you invented metalbending?"

Toph smirked. "You could stand to mention it more."

The airship they'd just sabotaged slammed into another one and the two teens quickly shifted to keep their balance. Behind them, a trapdoor beside the rudder opened up, catching Sokka's attention as a firebender began climbing onto the top of the airship. Sokka jerked around and yanked Toph's arm, dragging her after him as they narrowly missed the strong fire blast the firebender sent at them.

"Ah!" Sokka cried out as he and Toph ran across the airship, trying to avoid the continuous stream of fire that was firebender was directing at them, turning in place to follow their movements. They reached the side of the airship and Sokka held Toph's wrist tightly as he jumped, unsheathing his sword with his free hand.

Sparks flew, as he dug the sword into the envelope of the airship and used it to somewhat slow their descent down the side of the zeppelin. Toph screamed as they fell and Sokka glanced up at his sword fearfully before looking down at Toph just as they neared the end of the envelope, the sword pulling free and throwing Sokka and Toph off the ship's surface, Sokka losing his hold on his sword in the process.

Sokka shouted in pain when he landed on a wrench-shaped platform that extended from the airship, his left leg breaking on impact while Toph fell through the u-shaped portion of the extension beam. Toph shrieked, clinging to Sokka's arm as tightly as she could as she hung over open air, being truly blind for the first time in a long while.

"My leg!" Sokka exclaimed with a pain grimace then he looked down at Toph, trying to tighten his hold on her wrist when he felt her begin to slip. "Hang on, Toph!"

"Aye, aye Captain." Toph whimpered, fear heavy in her voice.

Sokka turned his head and sucked in a harsh breath when he saw a firebender wearing a safety harness run onto the extension beam to his left, another one running onto the beam to his right. He glanced between the firebenders as they took bending stances before wrenching his boomerang out of its holder and flinging it at the firebender on the right, knocking him off the platform her stood on just in time to stop him from firebending. Then with a battle cry, Sokka used his uninjured leg to kick up the hilt of his sword, which had landed in the platform he was on near his legs, the tip puncturing the metal.

He caught the sword by the hilt and twisted his body, grunting with effort as he hurtled his sword at the platform to his left. The special sword cut through the metal platform and the firebender dropped down, the harness keeping him from falling to his death.

"Aw," Sokka grimaced, looking down as his space sword fell to the ground far, far below. "Bye space sword."

Behind him, seven firebenders ran onto the metal walkway that connected to the extension platforms, all of them getting into firebending stances. Sokka glanced over at them then left his head fall back with a grimace. He felt Toph's hand slip from his and he quickly grabbed her fingers with his own at the last second, curling his fingers around hers as tight as he could.

"I don't think boomerang is coming back, Toph." Sokka gasped out, struggling to hold onto the blind girl. Toph tilted her head up, her sightless eyes focusing on him as the tears began to well up at the corners. "It looks like this is the end."

Rapid footsteps on metal caught his attention and Sokka lifted his head slightly, staring in confusion as the firebenders ran back down the walkway as fast as they could, all of them glancing to the side fearfully. Sokka craned his neck around and his eyes widened when he saw another airship heading straight towards the one he and Toph were on.

The second airship slammed into the one they were on, scrapping through the bottom and Sokka let Toph go, rolling off the extension beam a second later. He yelped and winced in pain when he landed on the second airship on his feet, agony shooting up his broken leg and he fell, clutching at it.

"How did that happen?" Toph asked in confusion as she stood up, shuffling closer to Sokka's writhing form. "Did boomerang come back?"

Sokka, still wincing and grimacing in pain, looked up and smiled when he saw the most welcoming sight ever. "No, Suki did!"

The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors smiled triumphantly as she rode the last functioning airship, hanging from the wire that controlled the rudder, easily directing it through the air.

In the barren land that was once an ocean beside the forest of stone pillars, Ozai continued to attack the rock sphere that Aang had encased himself in. He sent a curved fireball with his left hand, a straight with his right, then two simultaneous curved blasts with both hands, which lifted the rock sphere off the ground while another blast hurled it through the air.

Ozai leapt into the air, using his firebending to propel himself towards the rock sphere, shooting more fire blasts at it along the way. He landed a few feet in front of the sphere and with a mad grin, sent a powerful torrent of flames at the ball. The attack was so intense and powerful, that the flames were several yards tall.

Inside the ball, Aang cringed and grimaced, holding his arms above his head as the inside of the ball glowed and darkened in rapid succession. Smiling evilly, Ozai stopped his attack and leapt back, the ball glowing red hot from his flames. He raised his arm up, a small ball of fire igniting in his palm, then he turned to look at the rock sphere with a teeth-baring smile. He took a running start then jumped into the air and threw the fire at the rock sphere as he landed right in front of it, blasting the rocks apart.

Aang's eyes snapped open for a brief instant as his rock shield crumbled under the flames, before he thrust his hand forward, airbending a shield of air around himself. When Ozai forced more power into his attack, the impact pushed Aang back and he crashed into the rock pillar behind him.

Xiaodan and Azula's fiery fists met in an explosion of white and blue flames, knocking them both back. Xiaodan cried out as she hit the ground, rolling a few times before she came to a stop, and she forced herself up onto her hands and knees. Azula fared much better than her opponent, having managed to land on her feet in a crouch, and she giggled as she staggered upright. Gritting her teeth, Xiaodan abruptly surged to her feet with a hoarse battle cry and raced towards Azula once more.

"Xia!" Katara exclaimed, torn between running to the dualbender's aid or helping Zuko, who was trembling weakly on the ground, trying to push himself up. His eyes were focused on the dualbender and he weakly reached his hand out to her, before pain shot through him and his brought his arm back to his chest, curling around it with a low groan of agony.

Swaying and giggling insanely, Azula rocketed forward to meet the older girl, shooting jets of blue flames from her feet and fists to skate across the ground. The two girls were about to collide again, but Azula ducked at the last minute, still grinning insanely as she twisted around the dualbender and hammered a kick to Xiaodan's back. The dualbender grunted as she slammed into the ground, the air leaving her lungs in a cry of pain when Azula's foot connected with her side, flipping her over and sending her flying through the air. She hit the ground hard and stayed there, panting and struggling against the pain that flared up and down her right side. Pushing the pain down, Xiaodan rolled to into a crouch and swung her leg out in a forceful sweeping-kick that sent a crescent of air at Azula.

"Is that the best you can do?" Azula cackled as she leapt over the air-blade. Her overconfidence proved to be detrimental because another blast of air struck her in the chest mid-leap and she flew back, hitting the ground roughly.

Azula hissed as she rose back up, narrowing her eyes at the dualbender. Xiaodan stared back at her unwaveringly, standing protectively in front of Zuko and Katara, who was crouching beside the prince, looking him over worriedly. Azula's eyes flickered towards her brother and the Waterbender before focusing back on the dualbender, or more accurately a point just over her left shoulder.

"You don't need to do this, Azula..."

Azula flinched back, recoiling as her mother stepped out from behind Xiaodan, her golden eyes sorrowful. Rage filled her and she screamed, "You don't know anything! I will not fail!"

Fueled by her rage and hatred, Azula propelled herself towards Xiaodan on with jets of fire from her feet and hands. Xiaodan dodged to the right, twisting around Azula, but the princess whipped around, surprisingly fast and continued her assault. She fired blast after blast of blue fire at Xiaodan, forcing the older girl to go onto the defensive, dodging or dissipating the flames as Azula punched and kicked the blasts at her erratically.

Xiaodan ducked under one such punch, Azula's fiery fist soaring over her head. She was about to blast the younger girl away with an air blast, but Azula had raised her knee, shooting fire from her heel to increase the velocity of the strike. Xiaodan heard a soft crunch and fire bathed her left arm in flames of agony as Azula's knee connected with her shoulder, sending her flying.

Grinning savagely, Azula chased after the dualbender.

When his back hit the rock, his scar slammed into a piece that jutted out from the rest of the column, black flashed across his vision.

'Lightning slammed into Aang's back and he arched, his mouth dropping open in a silent scream of agony as he writhed in the air, the lightning coursing through his body...

"The glow is the combination of all your past lives, focusing their energy through your body..."

Aang stared down the line of past Avatars, all in the Avatar State and staring back at him...Kyoshi snapped her eyes open, the glow nearly blinding...Her face faded to reveal more previous Avatars as they all opened their glowing eyes...Roku, his face twisted in a grimace, opened his eyes and glared through the glow...Line of past Avatars appeared again, rapidly moving down until it came to him...Aang sat in his crystal shelter in the Catacombs of Ba Sing Se, his eyes snapping open and glowing with the Avatar State...He was underwater, his eyes closed until they opened, glowing brilliantly...

The Avatar Spirit hovered in the darkness of Aang's mind, its eyes and arrow tattoo glowing a luminescent blue-white in the purple-blackness. Cradled in the Avatar Spirit's hands, Aang hovered with his eyes closed. Then in an instant, they snapped open, flaring with the same blue-white light as the Avatar Spirit's...'

Ozai sneered as he approached the pile of steaming rubble that was all that was left of the rock sphere the Avatar had been using for protection. He scoffed mockingly. As that would protect him from him, Phoenix King Ozai, the supreme ruler of the world.

"Come on out, little boy," Ozai taunted as he reached the pile and bent forward slightly, preparing to rip the Avatar from the pile, "You're about to be-"

Ozai's words were cut off with a gasp of astonishment as pale arm shot out of the rubble and Aang's hand closed around his goatee. Ozai stared down into the pile of rubble with growing fear as his eyes met a pair of luminescent orbs glaring up at him menacingly.

Aang, his eyes and tattoos glowing with the Avatar State, leapt out of the rubble and stared Ozai down, his gaze unwavering and his fingers still wrapped around the man's beard. Ozai snarled and swung his arm, fire coalescing in his palm.

Without taking his eyes away from the older man's, Aang released Ozai's beard and raised his arm, slamming the back of his palm against Ozai's wrist and knocking it away. The fire that had gathered in Ozai's palm erupted up into the air.

Ozai looked at his arm in dismay before swinging his gaze over to Aang as he whipped his arms around his head several times before thrusting his palm towards Ozai's chest. The powerful air blast slammed into the Ozai's chest and threw him back violently. He grunted in pain as he hit the ground, bouncing and skidding across the dirt before his back slammed into another stone column. His eyes opened wide, his mouth dropping open in a silent cry of agony as he fell to his hands and knees.

He struggled to lift himself up, breathing heavily as he raised his head. He watched in growing dismay and fear as Aang descended towards him within a sphere of air. Aang stopped a few feet above him and threw his head back with a roar, torrents of fire spewing from his mouth, hands, and feet as he lifted himself higher and higher into the air. He whipped the fire around him while creating a massive wind storm that caused Ozai to cover his head and face with his arms, groaning as he struggled against the pressure.

Several of the stone pillars began to crumble while the ground shook and broke apart, the pieces flying through the air towards Aang as the fire streams circled and tightened around the air sphere surrounding him, forming a revolving horizontal ring near the outside of the sphere. At the same time, the pieces of rock from the ground and the pillars hovered in the air around for a moment and he clenched his fist, earthbending the chunks of earth into smaller pieces as they flew towards the sphere. He bended the earth into a ring inside the air sphere, the earthen ring revolving diagonally from left to right.

As the earthen ring was forming around him, Aang swung his arms over his head and waterbended the water from the ocean below him, pulling it into the sphere and bending it into a tight ring that crossed diagonally over the earthen ring around him.

Ozai, looking up at Aang from behind his arms, widened in his eyes in shock as the realization of the Avatar's true power began to dawn on him. Aang stared down at him from inside his lethal sphere of elements, his face twisted into an expression of rage.

In Ba Sing Se, the battle between the Fire Nation and the Order of the White Lotus continued to rage, with Order slowly, but surely beating the invading nation back. Bumi, King of Omashu, shot up out of the ground and looked around the plaza he found himself in.

He made a noise of surprise when he caught sight of several Fire Nation tanks roll to a stop a few yards away from just before they all opened fire. With a grunt, Bumi shot his arms up and pressed them together, raising up a protective wall of earth from the ground in front of him to block the fiery attacks.

He lowed the wall when the flames died away and smirked before earthbending several chunks of rock up from the ground and kicking them towards the tanks. The rocks slammed into the opening in the tanks the firebenders inside used to shot out, preventing all of them from firing again.

Bumi twisted on his foot, swung first his left arm then his right then thrust them both into the air at the same time, earthbending pillars of stone underneath each tank and catapulting them into the air. He stepped back and watched in satisfaction as the tanks landed on top of each other, stacked into a makeshift tower. The Fire Nation soldiers that manned the tanks crawled out of the tanks, groaning and wincing in pain.

Across the great city, Iroh stood on a raised platform of earth in front of the Earth King's palace. He glared at the Fire Nation banner that was covering the Earth Kingdom's insignia before calmly pointing two fingers at the red banner. Fire erupted from his fingertips, streaming towards the Fire Nation banner and igniting it. Iroh watched with a small smirk as the banner as it burned to ash, leaving the Earth Kingdom's insignia untouched.

Ba Sing Se had been reconquered.

Azula giggled as she stared down at the struggling dualbender's curled up form, her arm cradled against her chest, and deciding that the older girl was no longer a threat, Azula twisted around in search of the waterbending peasant, her manic gaze landing on her just as she was reaching out to her brother, water coating her hands. Grinning unpleasantly, the princess lunged forward.

Katara, who had raced towards Zuko and dropped to her knees beside him once she saw Xiaodan was back on her feet and keeping Azula distracted, yelped in surprise and scrambled away as a wall of blue fire flared shot over Zuko's body, nearly hitting her in the head, and she raised her arms to shield her face. The fire cleared and revealed Azula, laughing hysterically and charging her fingertips with lightning as she hovered in the air on twin jets of fire shooting from her feet. Katara darted away quickly, just in time to avoid Azula's lightning strike, which hit the ground only feet from Zuko, and she looked around for Xiaodan worriedly, spotting the older girl using one hand to struggle, and not succeeding very well, to her feet several yards away.

"Xia!" Katara shouted, running around the perimeter of the plaza, gasping as another lightning strike narrowly missed hitting her. The strike did knock her off her feet though and Katara quickly turned her fall into a somersault, coming up in a crouch.

Azula firebended herself on the roof of the covered walkway, charging her fingertips with lightning as she called out to Katara mockingly, "I'd really rather our family physician look after, little Zuzu if you don't mind!"

Katara pushed herself to her feet and backed away, watching Azula warily as she made wide arcs of lightning around her before she laid across the roof of the building and shot the lightning in Katara's direction from across the roof.

Xiaodan was suddenly beside Katara, tackling the younger girl out of the way of the attack. The two girls tumbled across the ground for a few feet before they both managed to roll to their feet. Tears nearly came to Xiaodan as she jostled her arm, which she was pretty sure had been dislocated by Azula's kick to her shoulder.

"Come on!" Xiaodan gasped, grabbing Katara's hand with her usable hand and yanking her over to the walkway perpendicular to the one Azula was perched on top of. They two hid behind separate pillars, ducking behind them and narrowly dodging the fire blasts Azula launched at them. Two more fire blasts hit the pillars Katara and Xiaodan were hiding behind and Katara cringed, holding her hands over her head protectively with her eyes closed while Xiaodan flinched back and raised her good arm to shield her face.

When the flames died down, the two girls lowered their arms and peered out from behind their pillars, looking cautiously up at Azula, who attention seemed to have drifted to Zuko.

"Aw, Zuzu," The princess cooed tauntingly as she watched him struggle to rise, his body still twitching weakly. "You don't look so good, big brother." She cackled and whirled around again, shooting another bolt of lightning at the two girls hiding behind the pillars.

Katara and Xiaodan quickly ran down the corridor to hide behind another pillar as the one Katara had been behind was destroyed by the lightning strike. The two girls looked over at the destroyed pillar then at each other, their expressions becoming determined.

Katara spun to the left, waterbending a large stream of water from the nearby fountain in the ground then she twisted to the right, bending the water towards the roof where Azula had been standing while Xiaodan thrust her palm forward, blasting the roof with a blast of air, but Azula was gone.

"Katara!" Xiaodan shouted and shoved the younger girl out of the way when she noticed Azula, using firebending to fly through the air, come up behind them on the other side of the pathway. She swung her leg in a crescent kick, cutting the fire blast Azula had fired in half with her own arc of white flames.

Azula dropped down, engaging the older girl in a firebending fight. Unfortunately, Azula was a master and a prodigy and Xiaodan was no where near her level and she only had the use of one arm. Xiaodan quickly raised her arms, despite the screaming protest of her dislocated shoulder, to protect her chest, grunting in pain as Azula's fire-coated fist connected with her arms and flung her backwards.

Aang dropped down from the sky in his elemental sphere, ramming into Ozai and carrying him through the air a short distance before Aang blasted him away with airbending.

Ozai cried out as he was thrown upwards into the air, grimacing in pain. He lifted his head just slightly and his eyes widened in horror when he caught sight of the Avatar pursing him relentlessly. The Avatar was almost upon him and Ozai quickly firebended with his feet, propelling himself away from the sphere.

The ring of fire around Aang's air sphere flared up for a moment, pulsing aggressively as he flew up into the air above the rock pillars. Aang earthbended one of the rocks from the earthen ring and made several quick, thrusting motions with his hands. The rock broke into small pieces and shot forward, the small projectiles slamming into the rock pillars as Ozai flew through them, destroying the columns and throwing up a massive cloud of dust.

To avoid the earth-bullets, Ozai propelled himself up above the columns, using his firebending to fly as far away from Aang as possible. He glanced over his shoulder and blanched when he saw the Avatar was once again pursuing him relentless, his luminescent eyes burning furiously. Ozai flew back down to the forest of stone pillars just in time to avoid a massive stream of fire the Avatar had shot at him. He wove through the pillars in an effort to lose the Avatar, but it was to no avail.

Flying closer to Ozai, Aang twisted around inside his sphere then brought his arms together in front of him, earthbending two rock pillars together and obstructing Ozai's path.

"Ack!" Ozai grunted, throwing his arm his over his face and recoiling back to avoid slamming into the pillars. He quickly shot more fire from his feet, changing direction and flying around the pillars.

Aang's eyes narrowed and he swung his arms around his body, waterbending some of the water from the ring revolving around him at Ozai. The jet of water slammed into Ozai and knocked him out of the air. The water hit the ground, sloshing against the base of several pillars as Ozai stumbled to his feet.

The Fire Lord pressed his back against the pillar behind him and looked up, breathing heavily. Above him, the pillar shattered as Aang tore through it and began to descend towards the older man. Ozai shoved away from the stone column and turned around, stumbling backwards away from Aang. Desperately, his punched his fist towards the Avatar and firebended from his fist, while propelling himself over the ground by shooting fire from his feet.

The air sphere around Aang dispersed Ozai's fire blast as it crashed into the ground, creating a crater below him. Aang slowly rose back into the air, bringing the chunks of rock from the crater he'd made up with him. Ozai glanced over his shoulder as he flew around a pillar, grimacing as the Avatar followed him at an almost leisurely pace. He flew around the pillar and stopped firebending from his feet, flipping through the air and landing on a shorter column. As soon as his feet touched the rock, he swung his leg around and kicked a wide arc of fire at Aang.

Instantly, Aang brought his legs up and pressed his arms together in front of him, breaking two pillars apart and slamming them together to shield himself from the older man's attack. Once the flames died down, Aang stretched his arms and legs out, earthbending the two pillar apart and breaking them into two pieces each.

Panting heavily, Ozai quickly flew away once again. Aang lifted his sphere and hovered between the four large chunks of stone then turned in a complete circle and flung his arms and legs out again and opened his mouth, firebending five balls of fire from the ring circling his sphere. The fireballs chased after Ozai as he fled, weaving through the pillars to dodge them. He swerved to avoid one of the fireballs as it struck the ground in front of him and continued flying.

Ozai propelled himself over to one of the stone columns and flipped around, pressing his feet against it then thrusting his arms out towards Aang as the Avatar approached him. Three streams of fire erupted from his fists and mouth, heading straight for Aang.

Aang quickly extended his arms outward, bending three streams of water and a gust of air from his sphere at the incoming flames. The water jets, surrounded by the air, pierced the center of the fireballs and exploded inside them, dispersing the flames easily. Aang then fired a powerful blast of air at Ozai, slamming him into the pillar he was perched on and flinging him to the side, the air blast continuing to rapidly disintegrate the rock column. Aang continued to blast the pillar with air as he flew closer it until he passed it and it collapsed behind him.

Aang chased after Ozai as he flew through the pillars, ramming through any of the columns that got in his way instead of weaving around them like Ozai was doing. The older man swiftly changed direction, glancing over his shoulder and gasping fearfully when he saw Aang still pursuing him ruthlessly.

Breathing heavily, Xiaodan struggled to push herself back up, her right arm shaking with strain as she held herself up while holding her dislocated left arm to her chest. Her forearms burned, scorched by Azula's fire-punch, and moving her arms hurt. She lifted her head up and glared defiantly at Azula as the younger girl staggered towards her, that deranged grin still on her face.

"Do you still think I'm going to fail?" Azula taunted as she charged her fingertips with lightning, insane gold eyes meeting defiant ember orbs. "Prepare to meet your doom, frea-Ahh!"

A jet of water slammed into Azula, flinging her away from Xiaodan, who slumped to the ground in exhaustion and pain. She looked up at Katara, who was standing beside one of the sunken fountains, her arms still raised and an unwavering expression on her face.

Azula snarled as she lurched to her feet, shaking her wet hair from her face as she bared her teeth at the waterbender. She would take care of her older brother's freak of a girlfriend, but first she was going to destroy the Water Tribe peasant that dared stand in her way. She leapt into the air, fire shooting from her fists and feet and she flew towards the waterbender.

Katara quickly spun around, bending a wave of water from the fountain then jumping and freezing the water beneath her feet. Sliding across the ice ramp she'd made, she practically surfed across the plaza with Azula hot on her heels, levitating with her firebending jets. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure Azula was following her. She had to distract the other girl and draw her away from Xiaodan and Zuko, neither of whom could fight any longer. It was up to her to take Azula down now. Katara swallowed thickly then set her face into a hard expression of determination. She wouldn't fail her friends, not when they needed her so desperately to succeed.

Azula fired a blast of blue flames at the ice ramp, evaporating it but Katara pulled more from the fountain she jumped over and continued to surf without missing a beat. The princess dropped to the ground in a roll, firebending wildly from her feet at Katara simultaneously, who managed to surf away just in time to avoid the gush of blue flames. She stumbled into another of the covered walkways to avoid the massive torrents of blue flames, her eyes watering from the heat and brightness of the flames as they roared past her.

"Ugh!" Katara grunted, falling to her hands and knees after tripping on a grate in her haste to get away from the flames. Her eyes widened as she stared at the water flowing beneath the grate, the fire dissipating behind her. Katara looked up quickly, her eyes landing on the chain looped around a pillar, the ends partially melted and she sucked in a sharp breath. It was the same pillar Xiaodan had been chained to earlier.

Katara lurched to her feet as an idea formed in her mind, and she snatched the chain from the pillar and darted behind it just as Azula staggered into view, looking haggard and furious.

"There you are, filthy peasant!" Azula hissed, stalking closer to Katara as she stepped out from behind the pillar, staring down the other girl unflinchingly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Katara's eyes narrowed in determination while Azula's narrowed with hate, the two girls staring each other down as the distance between them steadily disappeared. Katara made the first move, raising her arms and waterbending several whips of water at Azula, who dodged them easily and barrel-rolled across the drain, moving closer to Katara.

Katara stepped forward onto the grate as Azula upright in front of her with her arm outstretched and fingers pointed at Katara's face, preparing to shoot lightning at the waterbender. Katara leapt backwards and flung her arms up, bending the water from the drain beneath the grate around them and freezing it as soon as it enveloped them. Azula's eyes, panic clear in the gold depths, widened and flickered around the ice she was encased in, her arm still extending towards Katara, her fingers inches away from the other girl's face.

Katara stared at Azula for a second then closed her eyes and exhaled, the ice around her body melting into water and allowing her to move freely while Azula was still trapped. Raising the chain that had held her friend prisoner, Katara wrapped it around the wrist of Azula's extended arm, melting the ice slowly and floating around the princess' prone form to wrap the chain around her other hand. Slowly, Katara melted the water surrounding Azula and pulled her down to her knees, wrapping the chain around the grate.

In those few moments that Katara took to incapacitate Azula, Xiaodan managed to get her feet under her and stagger her way over to Zuko, dropping down beside him and carefully rolling him onto his back with one hand. She picked up his head and rested it in her lap, stroking his hair as he cringed against her, moaning and trembling in agony. She spotted the ugly burn in the center of his chest through his ruined tunic and tears flooded her eyes. The pain in her body became a distant ache, superseded by the way her heart pounded painfully against her ribs.

"Zuko," She rasped, the tears sliding down her cheeks and she stroked sobbed quietly, pressing her forehead against his. All she could think about was when she held her brother's limp, unmoving body in her arms after Azula had struck him lightning. Her worst nightmare was becoming a reality all over again. "Please, be okay. I love you too much to lose you now..."

Aang's glowing eyes narrowed and clenched his teeth in anger as he stretched his arm out towards Ozai as he drew closer to the older man. He moved his arm in a short circular motion, bending the water from the ring revolving around him out towards Ozai. He clenched his fingers into a fist.

The water shot forward, extinguishing the flames coming from Ozai's foot before curling around his leg. The water crept up Ozai's body, wrapping around his torso then up to his head and his extended arm. The older man gave a terrified shout wrenched backwards by the water, before it completely encased him.

Gritting his teeth, Aang whipped the stream of water Ozai was encased around and slammed the older man against the top of a rock column. Ozai gasped in pain when his back connected forcefully with the rock, choking and sputtering as the water flowed off of him and down the sides of the column.

Aang slowly descended towards him in his elemental sphere then held his arms out in front of and behind himself, with his fingers facing down. He took a deep breath then exhaled heavily and clenched his fists, trapping Ozai's hands and feet in stone.

Ozai jerked his head from left to right, staring at the rock shackling his hands to the ground with panic. He tore his gaze away from his trapped hands and fearfully looked up at Aang as the young Avatar came closer.

"Fire Lord Ozai," Aang boomed, his voice resonating with all the previous Avatars' voices, "You and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world and now you shall pay the ultimate price."

Aang made a weaving motion across his body with his arm, bending the four elements around him into streams that interlaced with each other as they extended out like a snake or a dragon. The four interlacing elemental streams rose high above Aang's head in an arc before it dove down, heading straight for Ozai as Aang made a slashing motion with his arm.

Ozai's eyes widened in fear then he closed them tightly, bracing himself. But instead of the pain he was expecting, nothing but water dropped onto Ozai's face, startling him. He snapped his eyes opened and watched in disbelief as Aang dropped his arms and closed his eyes as he straightened, his arrow tattoos no longer glowing.

Aang shook his head and turned, lowering the air sphere as the rock encasing Ozai's hands and feet broke apart. Dumbfounded, Ozai struggled upright into a kneeling position, rubbing his head and groaning quietly in pain.

"No..." Aang murmured without opening his eyes. With his back to Ozai, his feet touched the ground and air sphere dispersed. "I'm not going to end it like this."

"Even with all the power in the world," Ozai rasped angrily as he stared at the young Avatar's back. "You are still weak!"

He lunged to his feet and made to attack Aang, who sensed the older man's intentions and movements with the seismic sense he learned from Toph. Aang stomped his foot then kicked it back, bending a pillar of rock up along with him and deflecting Ozai's attack, the flames spewing over his head, while simultaneously binding the man's fist in the stone.

As Ozai looked on in shocked disbelief, Aang twisted around him. Ozai turned to follow him and raised his free hand, beginning to firebend with that hand, but Aang brought his arms up and trapped that hand in rock as well.

Aang stepped in front of Ozai and raised his arms then lowered them, bringing Ozai to his knees. The older man grunted and opened his mouth to firebending that way, but once again Aang stopped him, sending out a gust of air to push back and dissipate the flames as he stepped forward.

Aang pressed the thumb of his right hand against the center of Ozai's forehead while pressing his left hand against his chest.

Inside the encasement of ice, Katara finished chaining Azula to the grate and she waterbended the water back into the drain below. Coughing and gasping for breath, she landing on her hands and knees beside Azula, who was similarly gasping for air. After catching her breath, Katara lurched to her feet and tightened the chains to make sure Azula couldn't get free, the princess grimacing in pain, then she rushed over to where Zuko was being cradled in Xiaodan's lap.

The dualbender looked up at the younger girl with desperate eyes as she dropped to her knees beside the two. She didn't even need to say anything as Katara quickly coated her hands in water from her canteen and placed them over the lightning wound, beginning the healing process. Xiaodan watched with bated breath as water glowed a brilliant blue, Zuko grimacing painfully before he relaxed, the pain lessening with every second that past.

He opened his eyes, first catching sight of Xiaodan's relieved face above his own and he smiled weakly, lifting a heavy arm to brush a stray tear from her cheek. "I love you too, Xia." He murmured softly in response to her earlier proclamation.

Xiaodan's lip quivered and she flung her arms around him, momentarily forgetting her dislocated shoulder to hug him tightly. Zuko winced, but ignored the small pain in his chest and wrapped his trembling arms around Xiaodan, holding her just as tightly as she was holding him. Katara watched the two with a relieved smile on her face, a tear of happiness sliding down her cheek.

Slowly, the teens broke apart and Zuko shifted his gaze to Katara, smiling softly at her. "Thank you, Katara."

Katara smiled back, "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

He inclined his head then, with Xiaodan and Katara's help, he sat up, the two girls supporting him with his arms around their shoulders. A soft hiss escaped Xiaodan as her left arm, rather violently, reminded her that it had been injured after she'd stupidly used it to help Zuko up. She cradled her arm to her chest with a grimace, catching Katara and Zuko's attention.

"You're hurt!" The waterbender gasped, quickly pulling more water from the fountain and shuffling over to the dualbender, who tried to protest. Katara shushed her and placed her hands gently over Xiaodan's shoulder, healing it easily. Once that was done, Katara helped Zuko and Xiaodan to their feet, the two leaning heavily on each other until Katara slipped Zuko's other arm over her shoulders, helping to support him since he was the more injured of the three and need the most help with walking.

Azula, breathing quickly in short, rapid, uncontrollable bursts, watched the trio in disbelief and dismay before she threw her head back, firebending blue flames from her mouth as she screamed madly, writhing against the chains in an attempt to break free. Finally, she stopped after tossing herself onto her back and simply began to sob uncontrollably. She had failed and it broke her.

Katara stared at the whimpering and flailing princess in shock before turning her gaze away uncomfortably while Zuko stared at his sister without emotion and Xiaodan's gaze filled with pity.

Keeping his hands pressed against Ozai's chest and forehead, Aang closed his eyes and began to concentrate

'"In the era before the Avatar, we bend not the elements," The lion turtle intoned as he raised his paw out of the water and touched two claws to Aang's chest and forehead, "But the energy within ourselves."

Green light emitted from the lion turtle's claws and Aang's eyes widened in realization before closing...'

Aang, his expression still set with concentration, tossed his head back as white-blue light streamed out of his eyes and mouth. Ozai stared up at the seemingly endless stream of white-blue light with terrified eyes before orange-yellow light began to stream out of his own eyes and mouth.

The beams of energy merged together in the sky as the pillar began to rumble and shake. White-blue energy began to cover Aang's head, traveling down his entire body while orange-yellow light traveled down from Ozai's head towards his entire body at the same time.

"To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed..."

The orange-yellow light that consumed Ozai's body covered Aang's hands and began to travel up his arms, replacing the white-blue. The malevolent energy continued to wrap around Aang, covering his torso and moving up his shoulders towards his head, the orange-yellow light slowly overpowering the white-blue light until only his one eye was left emitting the pure energy.

His right eye continued to stream the white-blue light, but it was rapidly fading away to orange until Aang suddenly jerked his head forward and the white-blue light burst forth from inside him, chasing away the orange-yellow light as the pure energy once again encased Aang's head once again. The white-blue light surged downward and traveled through his body and into Ozai's in a split second, swallowing the orange-yellow light in a brilliant explosion.

The white-blue light shot up towards the sky, piercing the clouds and forming a circle of incorruptible energy before it gradually faded. The stone encasing Ozai's hands fell apart and he collapsed to the ground on his back as Aang staggered briefly before standing up straight.

Aang lifted his head and stared at Ozai tiredly as the man struggled to sit up and thrust his hand out, but nothing happened and he fell back to the ground in an exhausted heap.

"What..." Ozai panted feebly as he lifted his head slightly to stare at Aang, "What did you do to me?"

"I took away your firebending." Aang said, lifting his chin. "You can't hurt or threaten anyone else ever again."

Aang moved around Ozai's limp form, looking out at the burning landscape before him. He raised his arms and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, exhaling and opening his eyes which glowed along with his tattoos for a brief second. Aang extended his arms forward then pulled them back and raised them up the sky in a fluid motion, bending the from the ocean and extinguishing the blaze as the water flooded the air.

When all the fires were out, Aang moved his arms then lowered them, bending the water back. The young Avatar tilted turned his head slightly when he heard the familiar chittering of his lemur and he watched with a soft smile as Momo flew towards him, landing on his shoulder.

"Hey, Momo." Aang murmured, scratching the lemur behind the ear as they both looked out at the land.

"You did it!" Sokka exclaimed as he hobbled across platform of the commandeered airship to stand on the rock column with Suki and Toph supporting him with his arms wrapped around their shoulders. He flung his arms out as they approached Aang and continued exuberantly, "You should have seen yourself, it was amazing! You were all like, pshoom, pfoom-pfoom, phish, whoom!" He waved his arms around and made several punching gestures before pretending to choke himself, "And the Fire Lord was all eugh, eh, eh, eh, eugh, aye!"

Suki, who had wandered over to Ozai's slumped over form during Sokka's dramatics, bent over slightly to inspect the older man. She glanced over at Aang and asked hesitantly, "So did you...y'know, finish the job?"

Ozai stirred and glowered at the young woman through his messy hair. "I'm still alive."

Suki jerked back and edged away from him slightly, eying the man warily.

Aang smiled slightly. "I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance. I took his bending away."

"Wow," Toph commented in shock, her blind eyes wide. "Who taught you that."

"A giant lion-turtle." Aang replied matter-of-factly and Toph snorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You have the craziest adventures when you disappear."

Sokka, who had hobbled his way over to Ozai, smirked mockingly as he wrapped his arm around Suki's shoulders. "Well, look at you buster. Now that your firebending is gone, I guess we should call you the 'Loser Lord' from now on."

"I am the Phoenix King!" Ozai snarled and pulled himself up with the help of the rock he was leaning against. He pointed at Sokka warningly then groaned and tumbled back to the ground, his pupils dilating.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to offend you Phoenix King," Toph snarked sarcastically as she punched her fist into her palm and grinned, "Getting His Butt Whooped."

"Yeah!" Suki agreed enthusiastically, "Or how about King of the Guys Who..." She faltered and blushed slightly as her mind drew a blank. "Uh...Don't Win?"

"Leave the nicknames to us, honey." Toph drawled with a small eye roll then she crossed her arms and smirked, "Too bad Xia isn't here. I bet she would loveto see this."

Aang perked up, having remained silently as his friends flaunted their victory, and he turned to look at Toph. "Xia's not with you guys?"

"We're actually not sure where she is." Sokka replied with a small grimace, "She disappeared the day before the comet came and we assumed she was with you, but since she's obviously not..." He trailed off and shrugged.

Aang frowned and quickly closed his eyes, concentrating intently on the connection he had with his sister. After a few moments, he relaxed and opened his eyes, smiling at his friends in contentment. "She's fine."

"Where is she?" Toph asked curiously, turning her head towards Aang slightly.

"The Fire Nation Capital." He responded easily then turned, watching as Sozin's Comet disappeared over the horizon, the red hue in the sky fading to the midnight-blue darkness of night time.

The morning after Sozin's Comet found Xiaodan and Zuko leaning against each other, both more than a little worse for wear, as they stood with Katara in the Royal Plaza, watching as a single Fire Nation airship descended from the sky to land in front of the harbor.

Xiaodan smiled, watching tiredly as her brother, Toph with Momo perched on her shoulder, Suki, and Sokka disembarked from the airship with Suki assisting Sokka, who's leg had been roughly splinted. The dualbender stepped away from Zuko's side and opened her arms, catching her brother when he threw himself at her, his own arms wrapping around her waist as he pressed his face against her neck. Her body hurt, but darned if she would care now that she had her brother in her arms, safe and looking far better than she did. Aang inhaled deeply, taking in her familiar scent, warm and comforting. He smiled.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Xiaodan whispered, her hand coming up to cup the back of her brother's head. Her ribs twinged in protest at the embrace but she ignored it. After a few minutes, she pulled away and held him at arms-length by his shoulders, inspecting him critically. "You're not injured are you?"

"I'm fine." Aang replied with a smile. He turned slightly and gestured to Sokka, who was being fussed over by Katara when she noticed his broken leg. "Sokka broke his leg, but I think that's the only injury. For us at least." He eyed the arm that was in a sling and the bruises and small cuts on her face and arms, "You look like you got into a fight with a boar-q-pine though."

"You should see the other guy." Xiaodan joked lightly, eying Sokka as he pretended to be indignant at his sister's fussing, but was secretly basking in the attention. She glanced at Zuko as he shuffled up beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Apparently, we're not the only ones who are having a hard time walking right. Guess it's a good thing we brought that carriage."

Zuko nodded his head slightly then focused on Aang with a serious expression, "Did you..."

Aang smiled softly and shook his head at his friend's unspoken question. "No, your father's still alive. I found a different way to defeat him."

"Really?" Katara questioned, walking up to other three with Suki, Sokka, and Toph in tow. "How?"

"He took his bending away!" Sokka blurted out with a wide grin. "It was amazing! Aang was in the Avatar State-"

"You unlocked the Avatar State?" Xiaodan cut in, looking at her brother in mild surprise, but also with pride. "That's great!"

"Yeah, yeah, it was awesome. Can I finish telling the story now?" Sokka demanded with a small, indignant scowl directed at the older girl. Xiaodan rolled her eyes in amusement and gestured for them to follow her then slipped her arm through Zuko's.

"Sure, Sokka. You can tell us all about it on the way back to the palace."

"What about Ozai?" Katara asked, glancing worriedly at the airship where Ozai was being held.

Zuko, who had remained quiet after Aang had replied to his question, spoke up. "I'll send some guards down to take him to the prison."

The others nodded in agreement then as a group, they began making their way to the large carriage that was waiting for them. As the carriage made its way back to the capital, Sokka rambled excitedly about Aang's fight with Ozai and how he, Suki, and Toph took down the entire airship fleet. In turn, Xiaodan explained why she had disappeared from the Order of the White Lotus' camp the day before the comet and how she'd been captured and was sent to the Fire Nation Capital as a gift to Azula.

And after Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Aang finished scolding and fussing at her for her actions and Aang had inspected the faint red marks that still lingered on her wrists from the manacles, one of the few marks that she didn't allow Katara to heal, Xiaodan, with Katara and Zuko's help explained the fight with Azula and how in a short time, Zuko would be crowned the new Fire Lord.

The conversation continued long after the group of friends had reached the palace, where Aang happily was reunited with Appa before they were all shown to rooms where they could rest.

Standing in front of the room Aang had been given, Xiaodan placed her hands on her brother's shoulders and stared him in the eye, something she could easily do now since he was almost as tall as her. It was hard to believe only a year had passed. It felt like so much longer.

"You've grown so much, Aang." Xiaodan said with a small, wistful smile. "You're a fully realized Avatar now. And I just know Monk Gyatso and the rest of our people would be so proud of you." She kissed his forehead briefly then smiled at him proudly. "Just like I am."

Aang reached up and touched the hand on his right shoulder. "I couldn't have done it without you, Xia. You've always been there for me, guiding me and supporting me no matter what." He stepped back and bowed to her respectfully, as one Air Nomad master to another. "I am honored to call you my sister."

"And I am honored to call you my brother." Xiaodan replied as she returned his bow. The two straightened and smiled at each other and Xiaodan placed her hand on his head, rubbing it affectionately like she used to. "You're going to do great things, little brother, but for now, why don't you get some rest. You needed it."

Aang grinned at her. "Love you, Xia."

"Love you too, Aang."

"For Spirits' sake, Zuko, would you stop that!"

Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes, tilting his head back with a groan after Xiaodan had swatted his hands away when he'd tried help her tie the bandages she was wrapping around his chest. Two weeks had passed since his father's defeat at Aang's hand and the War had unofficially ended. His father had been imprisoned not even a day after the comet had passed and his sister had been placed in a mental institution when it became increasingly clear that she'd had some sort of mental breakdown.

Today was his coronation and he had been in the middle of changing the bandage on his chest before he put on his robes when Xiaodan, who had been staying in the palace along with the rest of their friends for past two weeks, had caught him and taken over. She'd ignored his protests that he could dress himself, despite the fact that he had some small doubts, and that he didn't want her to strain herself; she was still recovering from her own injuries too after all. The wound caused by Azula's lightning had been partially healed by Katara shortly after he'd received it, but even after two weeks it still caused him some pain if he moved wrong.

"There." Xiaodan proclaimed as she tucked away the loose ends of the bandages after she'd finished securing it in place. "All done. Now where's your robes?"

Sighing in resignation and silently lamenting that his girlfriend could be so overbearing, he gestured towards the chair that his robes had been draped over. Xiaodan sauntered towards chair and picked up the inner robe before making her way back over to him. "Arm."

"You don't have to do this, Xia." Zuko stated even as he lifted his left arm, turning his head slightly to watch her as she slipped the sleeve over his arm and onto his shoulder.

"I know." Xiaodan replied with a small smile as she moved to the right and picked up the other sleeve, helping him slip his arm into it. She stepped closer to him, lightly sliding her hands down his shoulder to his chest, and resting her chin on his shoulder. "But I don't mind."

Zuko smirked and turned around in her loose hold, placing his hands on her hips. They both leaned in, their lips meeting in a soft kiss that had them both sighing in contentment and holding each other just a little tighter. There relationship was another thing that had changed since the comet, having grown and strengthened now that they had both admitted their feelings to each other.

A soft knock forced them to break apart and Zuko turned slightly without releasing Xiaodan's waist, looking curiously at the servant standing by the doorway with his head bowed respectfully.

"Forgive me for the intrusion, my lord." The servant said softly with his eyes downcast respectfully, "But Lady Mai is here to see you."

"Mai?" Zuko questioned in surprise. He glanced down at Xiaodan, who smiled at him reassuringly then looked over at the servant.

"You can tell her to come in."

The servant bowed and disappeared back through the door. Xiaodan looked up at Zuko, snorting in amusement at the confused look he was giving her. She patted his chest lightly and said in an almost patronizing tone, "Don't look at me like that. You and her need to have a talk. And I," She stepped away from him and gestured to the Fire Nation garb she wore. "Need to get dressed in something a little more appropriate to represent the Air Nomads."

"You don't have to leave."

Both Zuko and Xiaodan looked towards the door where Mai was standing, looking vaguely uncomfortable even though it was hard to tell. Her dark amber eyes were fixed on Xiaodan as she continued, "If it would make you more comfortable."

Xiaodan waved her hand slightly and smiled sincerely, "Honestly, I think this is a conversation that you two need to have alone. Me being here would just make it all weird and way more awkward then it needs to be. Plus, I really should go check on Aang, I have something I need to give him before the ceremony."

"If you're sure...?" Zuko questioned, fidgeting slightly with awkwardness. His girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend were both in the room, with his current girlfriend insisting on him having a heart-to-heart with his ex, if he wasn't feeling awkward in that moment, the Universe would be surprised.

Xiaodan just grinned and if Zuko didn't know any better, he would have thought there was an almost impish quality, as if she was enjoying his awkwardness. Zuko frowned. Knowing Xiaodan as well as he did, he probably was right and the impish edge to her grin wasn't his imagination.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure." She flounced away from him, practically sweeping past Mai, who watching her with a faintly bemused look. Xiaodan grinned cheekily at the two and waved her hand in a sweeping gesture. "See you at the coronation!"

Then she was gone and it was just Zuko, Mai, and a whole lot of awkwardness. Mai stared after the dualbender, a small, barely noticeable furrow between her brows. "So that's her?"

"Heh, yeah." Zuko rubbed the back of his head and moved over to the chair where the rest of his robes were. "That's Xia."

"She seems..." Mai pursed her lip and tried to think of something to say that wasn't rude or insensitive. Xiaodan reminded her a little of Ty Lee, so it wasn't too hard. "Nice."

"More like annoying." Zuko muttered under his breath as he picked up the outer robe and tried to slip it on, grimacing slightly as his chest twinged with pain. He managed to get his arm through one sleeve, but the other was proving to be more difficult.

"Let me help with that." Mai said, walking up behind Zuko and picking up the empty sleeve and holding it up for Zuko to slip his arm inside.

He did so then shrugged the robe onto his shoulders. He fiddled with sleeves for a moment, straightening them pointless before sighing and turning to look at the young woman he cared about. "Look, Mai-"

Mai raised her hand and smiled slightly at him, that more than anything stunning him into silence. "It's okay, Zuko, I'm not angry at you anymore. I had a lot of time to think about everything that happened between us when I was in prison." She hesitated and closed her eyes for a moment before staring up at him with an almost sad expression on her usually emotionless face. "I realized that despite how much we care about each other, it wouldn't have really worked."

Zuko opened his mouth, but nothing came out so he closed it again, and looked down at his feet. He wanted to contradict her, but he knew that she was right. Perhaps if he hadn't met Xiaodan before they'd been reunited, it would have been easy to tell himself that she was wrong and that they could have had a relationship, but that wasn't the case.

Mai stared at him for a moment before continuing. She had thought long and hard about what she was going to say to him when they finally met up again and now that she finally had the chance, she was sort of surprised with how easy the words came to her. "We would have been happy together for a little while, I'm sure, but in the end we wouldn't have lasted. We're too different from each other. You're a passionate person and need someone who can keep you grounded, but it just as passionate."

Zuko looked up at her when she hesitated again, watching as she stepped back from him and clasped her hands in front of her with a reserved expression.

"I also realized that I needed someone who could understand me, for me. And I think I found that person." Zuko gave her a surprised look and she shrugged slightly, a faint blush staining her cheeks. "While I was in prison, there was a guard that had been assigned to me and we got to know each other. He's the reason I realized that we wouldn't have worked out in the end." She took a deep breath. "I also came to talk to you because I wanted to tell you that I forgive you for everything. And that I'm happy you've found what you were looking for."

Zuko was stunned speechless. When the servant said she was here to see him, the last thing he had expected was for her to tell him that she wasn't angry at him any longer and that she had found someone else. Honestly, he had expected their conversation to go the same way as their conversation on the Boiling Rock. Showed how much he knew.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he smiled at her slightly. "I'm sorry I couldn't be what you needed Mai, but I'm happy that you've found someone who can understand you better than I ever could. "

Mai inclined her head. "Thank you. I should let you finish getting dressed. The ceremony is going to start soon. Goodbye, Zuko."

"Bye, Mai." Zuko replied, watching as she left his room. Smiling to himself in bewilderment, he finished getting ready. Mai was right after all the coronation going to start soon.

Sokka stood beside his sister and Toph in the large crowd that had gathered in the plaza where Zuko's coronation was going to take place. Luckily, most of the damage caused by Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai in the plaza had been cleaned up and fixed in the two weeks that had passed since the comet and now it was filled to capacity with Fire Nation citizens, as well as many other familiar faces from the other nations.

Suddenly The Duke broke free of the crowd and ran towards the trio, practically jumping into Toph's arms as the blind girl ran forward to meet him. Behind him, Pipsqueak, Hippo, and The Boulder looked on after breaking free of the crowd. Katara smiled at the four in greeting before following her brother as he hobbled through the crowd on his crutches in search of their father.

The came across Haru and his father Tyro and Katara stopped in front of them, deciding to ask if they had seen her father. "Hey, Haru, Tyro. It's so good to see you both."

"Hello, Katara." Tyro replied with a fond smile as his son hugged the young Waterbender in greeting. "It is good to see you too."

"Have you guys seen my dad?" Katara asked and Haru nodded, pointing to the left.

"We last saw him over there."

"Thank you!" Katara chirped, then grabbed Sokka's arm, tugging him in the direction Haru had indicated. Her heart jumped when she and her brother finally broke free of the crowd and spotted Hakoda talking with Bato.

"Dad!" Sokka and Katara exclaimed simultaneously, rushing over to Hakoda as he turned his head towards them.

Hakoda smiled and met his children halfway, hugging them both tightly. He stepped back after several moments and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, smiling down at them proudly. "I heard what you two did. I am the proudest father in the world." His smile softened slightly and he looked right at Katara. "And your mother would be proud too."

Katara touched her necklace, tearing up at her father's words even as she smiled at him happily. Sokka smiled at his sister before a familiar face painted with white, red, and black make up caught his attention and turned towards Suki, back in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform and flanked by four of her sister-warriors.

"There's my favorite warriors." Sokka quipped then gestured towards his face with one hand, "I have to admit, I kinda missed the face paint." He grinned cheekily when Suki rolled her eyes in affectionate exasperation. "So how does it feel to be back in uniform again?"

"It feels great!" A cheery voice all but chirped and Sokka recoiled in shock as a familiar girl popped up from behind Suki.

Limping as quickly as he could over to Suki, he stood in front of her protectively and pointed one of his crutches threateningly at Ty Lee as she peered at him with wide, curious brown eyes. "Careful Suki! Ty Lee is pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior again!"

"It's okay." Suki soothed, gently brushing Sokka aside and pushing the crutch down so that it wasn't pointing at the chi-blocker. "She's one of us now."

Suki covered her mouth with her hand to hid her smile as Sokka looked between herself and Ty Lee in shock, pointing between them.

"Yeah, the girls and I really bonded in prison. And after a few chi-blocking lessons, they said I could join their group." Ty Lee said cheerfully as she practically bounced over to the other two girls and stood between them, throwing her arms over their shoulders and pulling them closer to her as they looked on expressionlessly. "We're going to be best friends forever!"

Ty Lee smiled widely, beaming with happiness and the two girls on either side of her smiled, albeit more hesitantly.

After she'd left Zuko and Mai in the Zuko's room, Xiaodan made a quick stop to her room to change into her the formal robes that had been made for the occassion by the palace's tailors and seamstresses. The robes were reminiscent to the ones the nuns of the Western and Eastern Air Temples wore with some small differences that hinted at Xiaodan's Sun Warrior heritage, not that anyone other than herself and her friends would realize that.

Xiaodan glided down the hallway, heading towards the room Aang had been given. She knocked on the door and when her brother called out that she could enter, she pushed the door opened and stepped inside, turning to close the door behind her. When she turned around, she nearly choked on laughter.

Aang scowled at her playful and flung the sash he had been attempting to tie around his waist at her. "It's not funny, Xia."

"It's a little funny." Xiaodan giggled as she caught the sash easily then sauntered over to her brother. After tossing the sash over her shoulder, he began fixing his new robes that had been made like the robes the monks wore. He had never been very good at dressing himself in formal wear.

"You look great, Xia." Aang said sincerely as he held his arms out to the side, allowing his sister to tie his sash around his waist.

"Thank you. There, done." Xiaodan said and stepped back after she'd finished tying the sash in place. She tapped her chin thoughtful then smiled slightly. "Something's missing."

Aang glanced down at himself in confusion, then looked at her curiously. "What do you mean."

Xiaodan only smiled and reached into the sash tied around her waist, pulling out a necklace made of wooden beads, similar to the one she wore around her own neck. She stepped forward and slipped the familiar necklace over his head, "This."

Aang felt his breath hitch in his throat and he gingerly picked up the necklace, staring down at the wooden amulet at the center of the prayer beads. He ran his thumb over the three swirls that represented his and Xiaodan's people, the three red tassels tickling his fingers. His eyes glimmering slightly with tears, Aang looked at his sister grateful.

"Thank you, Xia. This is..." He shook his head and wiped away the single tear that had escaped then gave her a look that was filled with such love, respect, and gratitude.

Xiaodan returned the look with a gentle smile and pressed a quick, sisterly kiss to his forehead without saying anything. Words didn't need to be said, because that one look shared between them was enough. Stepping back, the dualbender folded her hands inside long, billowing sleeves and stepped the side, nodding towards the door.

"Shall we?"

Aang inclined his head and walked out of the room ahead of, Xiaodan following slightly behind and to his right.

Xiaodan was walking down the hallway that would lead to the plaza outside after parting ways with Aang at the curtain where he would be making his entrance with Zuko during the ceremony when she ran into Mai, almost literally. If it weren't for both girls' quick reflexes, they would have collided and ended up in an undignifted heap on the floor of the hall.

Xiaodan felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment and she hastly apologized, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"It's fine." Mai replied blandly, straightening her robes and eying the pale haired girl who was doing the same.

"Y'know, I don't think we ever actually met each other outside of a fight." Xiaodan said with a sheepish smile. She cleared her throat quietly and bowed slightly to the knife-user. "I'm Xiaodan of the Air Nomads." She straightened and smiled warmly after introducing herself.

Mai stared at her with an unreadable expression for several heart beats then she returned the bow with a short one of her own. "Mai of the Fire Nation." She straightened and was about to continue on her way, but something made her pause just as she was about to pass the older girl. Turning her head slightly to look at Xiaodan from the corner of her eye, she spoke quietly, "Take care of Zuko, okay? He really cares about you."

"I will." Xiaodan replied softly then tentatively reached out and touched the other girl's shoulder when she went to walk away. "Mai?"

Mai paused and looked back at the girl, her expression unchanging but there was curiosity in her dark amber eyes. "Yes?"

"Thank you, for saving him and for saving my friends." Xiaodan said quietly. She opened her mouth to say more, but faltered and closed it, biting her bottom lip. Mai watched with curiosity, although the emotion didn't show on her face, unlike the girl in front of her, who's every thought was practically reflected on her tanned and tattooed features.

"Yes?" Mai prompted when it appeared that the dualbender was having difficulty spitting out whatever she wanted to say.

Xiaodan took a deep breath then said in a rush, feeling uncharacteristically nervous as her words blended together. "Ihopethatwecangettoknoweachotherbetterandpossiblybefriends."

Slowly, Mai raised a brow and Xiaodan winced, clearing her throat once again.

"Sorry, that was really stupid sounding." Xiaodan muttered, making a small slashing motion with her hand in front of her stomach then she rubbed the back of her neck. After a moment, she looked up at Mai with a sincere and determined expression. "I know that this is probably weird, considering our past as enemies and our history with Zuko, but I really do hope that we can set that aside and maybe get to know each other better as friends."

When several minutes of silence passed and Mai did nothing but stare at Xiaodan in mild surprise, Xiaodan added gently, "You don't have to agree, of course. But I thought it might be nice."

"I'll have to think about it." Mai answered carefully, "But, you're right that it might be...nice...to get to know each other."

Xiaodan smiled and nodded her head in easy acceptance, "Thank you for at least considering it."

Mai gave a simple nod of acknowledgement in reply and continued on her way. Xiaodan watched her go for a second then turned around and continued on herway. She stepped out of the open door at the end of hallway and into the familiar covered walkway that she had chained under two weeks ago.

Shaking the memories of her very brief time as Azula's prisoner, Xiaodan weaved her way through the crowd that had gathered to witness Zuko's coronation until she reached the front where her friends and all the allies she and Aang had made over the past year were gathered.

She shared a brief smile with Katara as she came to a stop beside her, standing in between the Water Tribe girl and the Hippo, who had Toph perched on his shoulder. Xiaodan looked towards the platform

Zuko, dressed in his new Fire Lord robes and his shaggy hair pulled back in a topknot, made his way down the hall that connected the palace to the coronation temple, stopping for a brief moment when he saw Aang sitting and meditating beside the curtained entrance that would lead to the outside. Smiling faintly, Zuko continued down the hall and paused in front of the curtain.

"I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down." Zuko commented with small shake of his head, "And now..."

Aang opened his eyes and looked over at his friend with a smile, "And now we're friends."

"Yeah." The Fire Nation prince agreed with his own smile, still kind of amazed about that development. "We are friends."

"Well," Aang pushed himself to his feet and stood in front of the older boy. He shrugged and smirked slightly, "I can't believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice with my sister. The world's so different now."

Zuko walked towards Aang and put his hand on his shoulder, "And it's gonna be even more different. We'll rebuild it together."

Aang smiled and hugged the older boy warmly, Zuko easily returning the embrace before they separated. Zuko brushed the curtains aside and stepped through them, Aang following him a moment later.

Outside, Xiaodan broke off from her conversation she was having with Katara and looked towards the temple when a gong was struck three times by one of the Fire Sages. She smiled proudly as she watched Zuko walk to the edge of the stairs, the crowd cheering and applauding around her.

"Please." Zuko called out as he raised his arm, his voice carrying over the crowd and quieting the noise. He turned and stepped to the side, revealing Aang as he walked towards him, "The real hero is the Avatar."

"Whoo!" The Duke and Toph whooped loudly from their respective seats on Pipsqueak and Hippo's shoulders, both of them throwing their arms in the air.

Beside Hippo, Xiaodan cheered just as loudly, jumping up and clapping her hands along with Katara, who remained a little more dignified than the dualbender.

Aang looked out at the crowd and smiled gently when his eyes landed on first his sister, then Toph, Sokka, Hakoda, and finally Katara, who was staring up at him with proud eyes.

"Today, this war is finally over." Zuko declared, the crowd's cheering and applauding gaining volume, though surprisingly, no one in the crowd was louder than the Fire Nation citizens. Zuko waited until the crowd had quieted some before continuing with a serious expression. "I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, and I will." He let his gaze travel across the whole crowd, from the Fire Nation citizens, to the people of the Earth Kingdom, to the members of the Water Tribes and Foggy Swamp Tribe, before his gaze rested on Xiaodan, the lone representative of the Air Nomads beside the young boy standing at his side.

"The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided." Zuko looked over at Aang as he looked at him. "But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right back, and begin a new era of love and peace."

The crowd erupted into boisterous cheering and applause once more and Zuko inclined his head to them. Aang moved to the side as the lead Fire Sage stepped forward, holding up the Fire Lord diadem in his hands.

"Kneel." The Fire Sage intoned and the young man did as he was instructed, the crowd waiting with bated breath. The Fire Sage inserted the diadem into Zuko's topknot then spoke loudly, his voice carrying across the entire plaza, "All hail, Fire Lord Zuko!"

The crowd cheered and Xiaodan clasped her hands to her chest, smiling proudly up at Zuko as he lifted his head.

Zuko rose to his feet and walked towards the stairs that led down the plaza, pausing for a moment to look over at Aang with a small smile as he gestured for Aang to join him. Aang smiled in return and walked towards his friend, coming to a stop beside him. Zuko and Aang looked at each other briefly then looked back out at the cheering crowd.

At the front of the crowd, Xiaodan grabbed Katara's hand and squeezed it gently, smiling down at the younger girl. "They did it, Katara."

Katara squeezed her hand back and smiled, "Yeah, they did."

Hours after his coronation and during the celebration that followed, Zuko slipped away from his friends and girlfriend and left the palace grounds. He took the familiar twisting and sloping path that led to the Fire Nation Prison Tower, walking up to the intimidating stone building by himself and made his way to a particular cell.

He opened the metal door of the cell and walked inside, stopping in front of the bars that were on the other side of the room.

Ozai flicked his eyes towards his son and grimaced, "I should count my self lucky. The new Fire Lord has graced me with his presence in my lonely prison cell."

"You should count yourself lucky that the Avatar spared your life." Zuko replied coolly, ignoring his father's scathing sarcasm easily.

"Hmph." His father scoffed quietly.

"Banishing you was the best think you could have done for my life." Zuko admitted freely, "It put me on the right path. Perhaps your time in here can do the same for you."

Ozai glanced over at his son in disinterested and asked in an almost weary voice. "Why are you really here?"

"Because you're going to tell me something." Zuko said then leaned closer to the cells and continued in a low, harsh tone. "Where. Is. My. Mother?"

Laughter filled the streets of Ba Sing Se as several children played together, several passing a ball back and forth with earthbending, knocking it over the tower of Fire Nation tanks that had an Earth Kingdom flag sticking out of the top. The people were celebrating. The Hundred Year War was over and a new Fire Lord had been crowned not even a week ago. The world was almost at peace for the first time in a long time.

Inside a familiar tea shop known as the Jasmine Dragon located in the Upper Ring of the city, and older man dressed in green robes played a tsungi horn while a young woman with white hair dressed in long green tunic trimmed in gold and brown danced around him and a young boy dressed in orange and gold robes played with a lemur in front of him.

Laughing airily, Xiaodan twirled around Zuko, dressed in brown, pale yellow, and dark green tunic and trousers he wore when he worked at the Iroh's tea shop before becoming Fire Lord, as he placed a cup of tea on the table Iroh was sitting beside. Iroh paused in his playing to glance at his nephew, who smiled gently at him before walking away. Iroh's eyes crinkled at the corners in a smile before he closed them and went back to playing.

Zuko stepped around Toph, who was sitting with his uncle, with her feet up on the table and placed a steaming teacup in her hand before walking away. Xiaodan glided after him on on bare feet, having removed her slippers when Iroh began to play the tsungi horn. Zuko smiled at her and paused for a brief second to drop a kiss on her lips then continued on his way to the table where Suki was playing a game of Pai Sho with Mai while Katara and Mai's new boyfriend Tatsuo, the guard she'd met while in prison, watched.

The group had met the young man after Xiaodan had suggested inviting Mai on their trip to Ba Sing Se to visit Iroh and, so far, he fit in rather well. He, Sokka, and even Zuko had struck up a surprising friendship, all of them bonding over swordmanship. At least after the initial awkwardness between Zuko and Tatsuo faded. Another surprising friendship that had developed, was between Mai and Xiaodan, who, after spending some time together, realized that they actually had more than just their affection for Zuko in common. As it turned out Mai quite enjoyed dancing and playing Pai Sho.

Zuko smiled at Katara as she picked up a teacup from the tray he held then he handed one to Tatsuo, who inclined his head in thanks.

"Zuko, stop moving!" Sokka exclaimed abruptly from where he was sitting at another table, holding a calligraphy brush. He turned his irritated eyes to Xiaodan, who had stopped dancing and was staring at him incredulously along with Zuko, Katara, Mai, Suki, and Tatsuo. He scowled seriously at them and put a hand over his chest, "I'm trying to capture the moment."

"I wanted to do a painting." He explained, his serious expression softening into a smile as he carried on with his work. "So we always remember the good times together."

"Aw, that's very thoughtful of you, Sokka." Katara praised her brother as she walked over to him. She looked down and her happy expression flattened. "Wait a second! Why did you give me Momo's ears?"

She pointed to the crude drawing of herself waterbending, floppy 'ears' sticking out of her head. Next to her was an equally crude drawing of Toph, which looked remarkably similar to the drawing of her on her wanted poster.

"Those are your hair loopies."

At Katara's exclamation, Xiaodan, Zuko, Suki, Mai, and Tatsuo had wondered over to Sokka's table to check out his painting. Xiaodan snorted, Tatsuo coughed into his fist to cover up his laughter while Suki, Zuko, and Mai stared down at the drawing without amusement.

"At least you don't look like a boar-q-pine." Zuko grumbled in annoyance, waving his hand towards the drawing of himself with comically long, spiky hair standing next to a figure, that was no doubt meant to be Xiaodan, with squiggly lines all over her face. "My hair's not that spiky!"

"And my tattoos do not look like weird little worms." Xiaodan added, through her sniggers.

Mai tilted her head slightly as she regarded the drawing of herself with an angry expression and deadpanned, "I look like a man."

"But a very cute man." Tatsuo quipped in his deep voice, snickering along with Xiaodan. Without looking back at him, Mai elbowed him in the stomach and stated flatly, "At least he made you look like a woman, Tatsuo."

The former prison guard shrugged easily, unperturbed by the fact that the drawing Sokka did of him did, in fact, resemble a woman. His hair was longer than what was considered fashionable among the Fire Nation.

"Sokka," Suki stated drily as she stared at the drawing of herself holding a fan with one hand and firebending with the other, "Why did you paint me firebending?"

Sokka looked up at his unamused girlfriend and shrugged sheepishly, "I thought it looked more exciting that way."

"I'd say it's more ridiculous than excited." Xiaodan giggled, biting her lip and smiling innocently when Sokka whipped his head around to frown petulantly at her.

Momo suddenly leapt onto the table and began chittering at the painting. Sokka whisked his attention away from the still giggling dualbender to frown at the lemur.

"Oh, you think you can do a better job, Momo?" Sokka demanded, pointing the bristle-end of his brush at Momo, who chittered at him.

Aang, who had remained seated on the floor in front of the table, smiled at his friends and sister and got to his feet, slipping out of the tea shop as Iroh and Toph made their way over to Sokka's table. He patted Appa's nose gently as he walked past the sky bison, lying beside the entrance to the tea shop.

"Hey," Iroh protested with playful indignation as he pointed at the painting. "My belly's not that big anymore. I've really trimmed down!"

"Well," Toph exclaimed sarcastically as she threw her arms in the air, "I think you all look perfect!"

Sokka groaned and dropped his head on the table as everyone laughed at the blind girl's sassy comment. Aang glanced over his shoulder when he heard his friends' laughter then looked ahead of him again as he walked up to the railing that framed the small courtyard in front of the Jasmine Dragon.

Smiling softly, he watched the sunset over Ba Sing Se. Katara, noticing Aang's absence, glanced over at Xiaodan, who nodded towards the entrance. The waterbender smiled slightly and made her way outside, quietly walking towards Aang.

Stopping beside him in front of the railing, Katara looked over at Aang and blushed faintly when he turned his head towards her. She turned towards him completely and placed her hand on his shoulder before embracing him.

Aang hugged her back, both of them smiling gently. After a few moments they pulled apart and looked back at the sunset. Katara bit her lip and glanced at Aang then turned to face him again. When he looked back at her, Katara leaned forward and kissed him. Aang wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss as Katara slipped her arms over his shoulders.

"Aww..." Xiaodan cooed, almost dancing in place as she peered out of the entrance at her brother and Katara as they kissed.

She giggled, feeling inexplicably happy for her brother and friend, even though she couldn't help but think that it was about time. Standing beside her with his arms crossed, Zuko shook his head at her in exasperated amusement before uncrossing his arms and pulling her away from the door and to the back room to give Aang and Katara some privacy. "C'mon, you creepy pest."

"Hey-" Xiaodan started to protest only to be cut off when Zuko spun her around and pressed his lips to her, effectively silencing her. Her eyes widened for a moment in surprise before falling shut as she kissed him back, her fingers curling in tunic.

They broke apart and Xiaodan flushed at the smug look on his face, punching him in the shoulder with a muttered, "Jerk..."

Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but Xiaodan grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him down to her. This time, she was the one that silenced him with a kiss. A kiss that Zuko was more than happy to reciprocate as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"Love you, Firebug." Xiaodan murmured as she rested her forehead against Zuko's and stroked his scarred cheek after they had broken their kiss.

Zuko smiled and closed his eyes, leaning into her touch slightly. "Love you too, Xia."

The End...?