(I have literally no ideas for The Boiling Rock we're just skipping to the end.)
You watch with a face of shock one of the giant Fire Nation balloons descend. "What should we do?" Katara asks.
"Wait." you say, "I don't sense any evil." When it stops, out comes Zuko and Sokka. They've been gone all day. "Well look what the cat dragged in."
"Hey, Y/N." They both say.
"What are you doing in this thing?" Katara asks, "What happened to the war balloon?!"
"It kinda got destroyed." Zuko explains.
"Sounds like one hell of a fishing trip." You say.
"Did you at least get some good meat?" Toph asks.
"I did." Sokka says, "The best meat of all-- the meat of friendship and fatherhood."
"Did someone sneak some cactus juice?" You ask, before three people come from the ship: Hakoda, ...Suki you wanna say, and some big guy.
"I'm new." He says, "What's up everybody?"
"Dad." Katara whispers, tears in her eyes before she runs forwards and embraces him.
"Hi, Katara." He says.
"How are you here? What's going on? Where did you go?"
"We kind of went to a Fire Nation prison." Sokka admits before Katara grabs him by his arm and pulls him into the hug.
When he's done hugging them, his eyes fall on you. He gets to your level before putting his hand on your shoulder. "Where's Shuku?" You ask.
Hakoda bows his head, "I saw what they did to him. They forced me to watch as they tortured him. They beat him and burned him until he couldn't move. He stayed loyal. He endured, he fought so hard and they never got a word out of him." He looks you in the eyes, "Shuku died from his wounds as I held onto him, I promised that he'd be alright. I told him that he'd feel better soon. He didn't." He hugs you, "Shuku was a good friend to me. He gained my trust. It's strange, I only knew him for two months, yet it feels like forever."
You hug him back. "His kids will know his efforts when we win this war." you growl.
(Back to your program as scheduled)
You snap awake at the sound of an explosion, nearly knocking Toph over. As you spring to your feet and see those gigantic Fire Nation war blimps and Aang standing in a fighter's stance as he closes the blast doors. "The fucking roof's about to come down!" You shout. Toph and Haru earthbend a large tunnel away as Zuko tackles Katara away from some rubble. You stand cautiously, waiting for what's next. "This place ain't gonna hold much longer." You note.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Toph replies. You smile at her and she smirks before returning to being serious, "Come on, we can get out through here!" The blind earthbender shouts.
Aang struggles, trying to pull Appa and you join him. "What are you doing?" He asks Zuko.
"Go ahead, I'll hold them off." He replies, I think this is a family visit.
"Zuko, no!" Aang yells. A door gets knocked down and the firebender leaps out. Toph creates a rock cover surrounding everyone, to shield from the rubble as the building collapses.
"Come on, we've gotta get out of here!" Sokka exclaims, him and Katara joining the effort in pulling the flying bison.
After a long time pulling, you give up, "It's no use." You broadcast, "He hates tunnels. Unless muscle-guy over there can bench over two tons, we're fucked."
"Well there's no way we can fly out of here." Katara replies.
"Well we'll have to find a way." Aang replies.
"We need to split up." Sokka decides, running to the rest, "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."
"No. Katara cuts in, "Our family is not getting separated by the Fire Nation again."
"It'll be okay." Hakoda hushes, taking her shoulders, "It's not forever." Katara hugs her father one last time before walking away, as does Sokka who grabs Suki.
"I can clear that away and we can fly out through there." Toph pitches, launching herself off a pillar and onto Appa.
"Um, there's an awful lot of fire in that general direction." Suki warns.
"We'll get through." Aang says. "Let's go. Yip yip!" he yells. Toph shields Appa with rocks as you explode out of the cave. When you're past Azula, Toph drops the cover. You spot Zuko on top of a rising blimp. He launches himself at his sister, blocks her fire and sends some of his own. She dodges it and he attacks her twice more. She easily blocks them and sends a cutting attack with her fire. Zuko flips over it and you fail to see any more as you realize that you're being attacked with fire balls. Katara does a good job of blocking them both. You have to hold on tight to avoid being blown away by Aang flying Appa straight up and over the blimp in front of you. Aang swings back around and catches a plummeting Zuko. You look back and see Azula plummeting to her death, you wish you could be angry or scared or anything. You feel nothing as you watch her.
"She's not gonna make it." Zuko says. Then she does, clinging to the cliffside with a knife. "Of course she did." Zuko grunts. You all fly away.
As everyone sets up camp, you start preparing a small dinner. It's rice and beans. Toph just sets up a simple rock tent before returning to you. "That smells good."
"It'd taste better if I could add sausage, but I can't."
"Great." Sokka groans prompting glares from you and your girlfriend.
"I learned something cool."
"What?" Toph asks excitedly.
"It's a surprise for our date tonight."
"You know I hate waiting." Toph complains.
"Yeah, I know." You tease.
"You're evil."
"Maybe I am." You kiss her, "But you keep me good."
"Do I?" she whispers. Her breath on your face gives you a tickling sensation. "Or am I bad too?"
"You're trying to seduce me."
Toph pulls away, "What, me? No."
"Yes you were. And I'm not gonna give it up that easily. You don't realize how stubborn I am."
"You're so tedious." she says, turning away.
"Guilting me won't work either."
"You're no fun."
"I think I'm plenty of fun." You say, defensively.
"Keep telling yourself that." She giggles.
"I will." You reply, stretching.
Suddenly, Zuko has joined you. "Y/N, can I ask you a personal question?" In truth, you knew this was coming, there's no way it wasn't. Now here it is. Maybe you should've prepared yourself for it.
"Sure."
"What did my sister do to you?"
Your smile twitches and you look down. Even though you knew it was coming -- well, it's a hard memory that you never wanted to experience again but... he's an ally. He deserves to know. Toph puts a hand on your back. "It was about three years ago, maybe four now. Without Zei, the days blend together. Anyway, my family, as you know, was famous for their assaults on the Fire Nation. They would liberate cities from your dad's filthy mitts. One day, they were followed home. I was away at the time, so I never even got the chance to help. They were all found dead. Your sister killed my family."
"That's... that's rough, buddy."
"Rough doesn't scratch the surface." You laugh awkwardly, setting the rice aside and mixing everything together. "Try: awful or horrible or tragic. Anything but 'rough.'"
"I'm sorry my sister did that to you-"
"Don't be. You didn't do it." You turn around, "Food's done! Come and get it." Then you plate for you and Toph before taking her to the cliffside. After you've gotten yourself situated, she leans into you.
"What? Did you learn how to fly?" She asks.
"No but it's romantic."
"If you say so." She replies, "I don't really see the hype."
"Why don't you try your food?"
She does, "Wow. This is good." She turns her head to face you, "It's really good."
"Thank you, it's an old recipe." You say, "Mom made it better." You two finish eating in hushed silence before you look out over the ocean as the sun sets, stealing a look of it before closing your eyes. You hear a gasp beside you and you smile, "I've figured out that light has a sort of pull that I can grab. I have the ability to sort of control it, so I figured out that I can guide it straight to you." You turn her face towards you, "You have five minutes."
"I never thought... I'd get to see you." She whispers, "I always wondered how you look at me, what your eyes looked like, what you look like." She looks at you with tears in her eyes, and you give her the same loving smile you always do and put a hand on her cheek.
"I'm no prince charmi-"
She puts a finger on your lips "Shut up and kiss me." You oblige. When you pull away, you feel the strain of what you're doing start giving you a headache. "I've seen everything I'll ever need to." She says, looking at you. "You can let me go."
"Okay." You do and sigh in relief when the headache disappears.
"That was... amazing." She says, "Thank you."
"Was it worth the wait?"
"You tell me." She kisses you again. "I wish there was a way I could repay you..."
"You have. Every day I'm with you and I'm not insane, I'm not bad, I'm not someone I don't wanna be, that's repayment enough." You smile at her and grab her hand. "I want to hold you, I want to be with you. Your existence is all it takes to make my day."
"Well let's get to the tent. I think I need a massage."
"After you."
You wake up and find Katara storming towards Appa. "What'd I miss?"
"We're going to find the man that killed my mother."
"We?"
"Me and Zuko."
"Why is everybody running off with Zuko lately?" You ask, yawning. She ignores you. "So do you even have Cueball's permission to take Appa?"
"...No. Why would I need it?"
"Just the small fact that it's his bison." Then you look up, "Oh, hey Zuko."
"Hey. You coming too?"
"This seems like something you two should do alone." You decide, "Be careful, don't die-"
"So you were just gonna take Appa anyway?" A voice you know as Aang's asks.
"Yes." Katara replies.
"It's okay, because I forgive you. That give you any ideas?"
"Don't try to stop us." Katara states.
"I wasn't planning to." the Air Nomad explains, "This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man." Katara nods and climbs on top of Appa "But when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out and then let it go. Forgive him."
"Okay, we'll be sure to do that, Guru Goody-Goody." Zuko says.
"Whatever you choose Kay, make sure you know the consequences." You bow and step aside.
Katara nods at you before looking at the boy who thinks the world of her, "Thanks for understanding Aang. Yip yip." And she's off.
You yawn. "Anyway, I got up to take a piss. Aang, you're in charge."
"How come I'm never in charge?" Sokka asks.
"Is that really a question you want answered?"
"No." Sokka says, dejectedly.
"Thought not." You run behind a tree and do your business, before spotting Suki looking out at the horizon. "What's up?" You ask when you're finished and put away.
"Hm! Oh. Not much."
"So... you and Sokka. That's a fucking match if I've seen one."
"Same with you and..."
"Toph?"
"Toph!" she exclaims, " Right, yeah, I was shocked when Sokka told me you only got together in Ba Sing Se. I could've sworn you were together when we met."
"We pretty much were, really. Me and Toph spent like two weeks getting to know each other in the desert. At that point, me and Cueball loathed each other, so we stuck together."
"Sokka and I have a long past. We met on Kyoshi Island. He was awful, He disrespected us, made fun of us. Then he challenged us. I kicked him all around the building, and he learned to respect us."
"Well shit, ain't that an awkward story to tell. Imagine your kids. 'Mommy, how'd you meet Daddy?' 'Well son, Daddy was a sexist friend of the Avatar...' I can see the awkwardness from here. Then you'll send a crow for their uncle Y/N to pick them up."
"You're Y/N?" She asks.
"Huh?"
"Sokka told me all about you. He called you the greatest fighter he's ever seen."
"Me? No. You're a Kyoshi Warrior and his dad is the best leader I've ever met, you must be mistaken."
"And you're the last L/N and a protege of the greatest adventurer who ever lived. I'm fine with being second to you. You might even be the greatest in the world." She says, "Also you trained him, that might have something to do with it."
"Piandao trained him."
"In one day?"
"...Fair."
"Exactly. And he's become a much better swordsman because of your help."
"You think so?"
"Well judging by his movement, yeah. Maybe you should train people. You'd probably make good money."
"Maybe. Anyway, I'm gonna get back to Toph. It was good to talk to you."
"It was good to talk to you too. You're smarter than you look."
"I'm gonna take that as a compliment."
"As you should."
You leave and go back into your tent, slithering in with Toph and turning onto your side to face her, brushing her bangs away so you can see her face. When she's asleep, she's so cute. You gently caress her cheek and look at her. I wonder what her dreams are like. Her smile only grows wider. You quit bothering her and lie down. "I didn't tell you to stop." She murmurs.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty. It's like not even close to dawn, we should get more sleep." she wriggles towards you, rests her head on your shoulder, drapes her arm across your chest and holds your leg hostage with hers before she looks up and you give her one last soft kiss goodnight-- or good morning and drift off into the ocean of unconsciousness.
Aang wakes you up, "Y/N. Hey."
"Huh?"
"Katara's at Whaletail Island."
"Yeah? Did she kill him?"
"No."
"I'm guessing that you woke me up to go see her."
"That and Zuko knows a place that's safe for us to stay."
"Okay, fuck, just- We'll be right out." Aang nods and leaves as you pull yourself free from Toph and put on your shirt and change into your trousers before looking at Toph. "Toph, darling." You whisper, rubbing her upper arm.
"Mm?"
"We're about to pack up camp." She nods and you leave the tent as she gets dressed and then she makes you come back in to help her with her hair. When you're finished, you both leave the tent to follow him. Zuko and the Avatar wait on top of Appa and you throw on your boots before joining them. "Made it." You groan, "How long were we out?" Sokka and Suki are next and Appa takes off.
"About fifteen hours." Aang says. "What did you do last night?"
"Nothing that would've kept me out for fifteen hours."
"How well soundproofed is that tent?" Zuko asks.
"I don't know, why?"
"No reason." The Fire Nation prince responds quickly. Then chuckles to himself. "So are you well rested?"
"...Not really."
"Sorry to hear." Zuko says.
Eventually you land on the familiar pier of Whaletail Island and look at the girl. "Let me butter her up." You decide, before walking up to her. "Hey, Kay. I heard what happened. You must still be processing, wondering if you made the right choice. I hope you know that I'll never be as strong as you are. I would've killed him. I would've gutted him like a fish and strung his entrails like decorations, although I'm changing. I know that I couldn't have done what you did, and I'm proud of you for doing it." She hugs you. "I know how impossible emotion is to escape. I can barely control mine. As you get older, you get wiser and as you get wiser, your mistakes become apparent, and your foundation weakens. The principles you built yourself up on fall as you can't understand this newfound wisdom. You have grown wiser through this, it might take a long time to figure out why you did it, but you did. That's all that matters." She pulls away and you rise. Aang is next.
"Zuko told me what you did." He says, "Or what you didn't do, I guess. I'm proud of you."
"I wanted to do it." Katara replies, "I wanted to take out all my anger on him. But I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it, or I'm strong enough not to."
"You did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing."
Katara gets up, "But I didn't forgive him... I'll never forgive him." She closes her eyes before looking at Zuko, "But I am ready to forgive you." She hugs the pale teenager and walks towards Appa.
"You were right about what Katara needed." Zuko says after a moment. "Violence wasn't the answer."
"It never is."
"I don't know about 'never.'" You reply. Aang and Zuko look at you. "I'm just saying that you won't beat the firelord with kind words. Action speaks louder than words, as the old saying goes."
"Fine. In most cases." Aang corrects himself.
"Perfect." You reply.
"That's something you could learn yourself." Aang says.
"Hey, look. I'm getting better about it, yeah?"
"Yeah." Zuko agrees. "Yeah, but maybe you should also take a page out of Y/N's book, Aang. What are you gonna do when you face my father?" Aang doesn't meet his eyes.