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The Price of Peace	By : Looneyluna Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 19165 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Interlude Twelve –

Covered in soot, Aang staggered out of the palace and into the courtyard. Guards ran past him, the captains yelling orders to their underlings as the smoke rose into the night air. The right choice had been made. Katara and Zuko were safely tucked away on a ship and on their way to the South or North Pole.

Which one, he couldn’t remember. General Iroh had gone over the plan so quickly that he had missed out on the finer details. Zuko’s uncle had needed his help and he had responded. He only hoped that they were able to put the fire out before it spread to other areas of the palace.

Rounding the corner of the garden’s trail, Aang stopped. He saw a group of people up ahead and he got that sinking feeling in his stomach that portended bad news.

Toph paced back and forth, wringing her hands as Sokka and Pakku knelt next to someone on the ground.

Shoving his fists together, air surrounded him and cleansed him of the evidence of his part as arsonist. Toph looked up and headed his way.

“I’m sorry,” her voice was shaky, a fearful quality he never associated with the Earthbender in her inflection. “I tried my best. I couldn’t save her.”

Aang frowned. “What?”

Toph moved to the side, giving him an un-obscured view of Aunt Wu’s lifeless body.

Her words mixed with the feeling in his gut and a pressing sorrow closed around him. He closed his eyes and willed his grief to stay steady and flowing, lest he lose control and succumb to a fit of rage in the Avatar state. Grief was a close cousin to anger.

His gray eyes widened as he drew nearer. He was unprepared for the sight that awaited him. Sokka cradled Meng’s pale head in his lap as Master Pakku covered the rest of her body in water from the nearby Koi pond.

“I killed them – the ones who are responsible for this.” Toph bowed her head. “I didn’t mean to. I –”

Embracing his grief-laden anger, Aang yielded to the Avatar State.

The slight breeze shifted as the Avatar summoned its host’s natural element.

Sokka tapped Pakku on the shoulder and pulled the Waterbending Master out of the way.

Meng’s almost lifeless body was lifted into the air and placed gently into the Avatar’s arms.

The young Earth Kingdom girl gave a small groan of pain.

Seeking the minerals of earth and water inside her body, the Avatar sought to heal the damage, its soul merging with the innocence of Meng’s. It could see the delicate threads of life that connected the Airbender’s loved one to the earth fraying and floating to the heavens.

It could see the worried spirit of the old fortuneteller hovering over the girl as if waiting for her companion to join her. It could see the intricate weavings of this plane and the next – those who went before her and those that shall succeed her. The girl carried the soul of several Air Nomads within her womb.

“Move on, fortuneteller,” the Avatar commanded. “She is not meant to travel to the other realm just yet.”

The solemn spirit nodded her head and traveled alone, relinquishing her hold to the earth.

Dark, malevolent spirits hovered nearby, calling to the girl’s soul. Even in death they tried to carry out their evil mission.

Incensed, the Avatar shoved their spirits away, hurling their souls into a void of nothingness.

The girl’s soul wavered, flickering as if it were a small flame in the wind.

Placing a gentle kiss upon her lips, the Avatar released its energy and went seeking within her body. It called the minerals of earth and water into the delicate frame, entreating the soul to stay rooted to the earth as it repaired the damage.

As the damage to her body healed, the Avatar released its hold on the Airbender.

--

Iroh perused the damage of the royal suite, his expression guarded and wary. He shook his head in sorrow. What should have been a joyous day had turned into one tainted with desperation.

Fire Nation soldiers guarded the wing as others searched through the debris for signs of life. The Airbender had done an excellent job accelerating the destructive power of fire. Hardly anything was recognizable.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned as Hakoda of the Water Tribe observed the destruction. Iroh nodded to the worried father reassuringly. He had made certain that Zuko and Katara were clear of the rooms before he had started the fires.

The fire was the tool of “death” for the Fire Lord and his new bride. It was unnatural and his countrymen would talk of how the Fire Lord and his Water Tribe bride died at the hands of his nation’s element – assassinated by a radical faction that would never accept a Water Tribe peasant as their queen.

Hakoda approached Iroh, the lines on his face worried and pained. He gave the de facto Fire Lord a slight nod of acknowledgement to let Iroh know that Zuko and Katara had set sail.

Iroh smirked. Would his nephew ever learn? While concocting the elaborate hoax, Zuko had been adamant about one thing and one thing only – Katara’s safety. Whereas, Iroh had been perfectly content to hide her and his nephew in the vast estates of the palace, Zuko had insisted that Katara be returned to the South Pole.

His nephew was under the impression that his bride would be happiest and safest among her people. Zuko was probably going to piss his new wife off. Although Katara was a kind and forgiving person, the Waterbender had a quick temper and would probably freeze his nephew’s body parts in retaliation.

Coughing to cover his chuckle of realization, Iroh cleared his throat and watched Hakoda walk near the ashes of the bridal bed. The Water Tribe warrior was about as subtle as a rhino as he planted his daughter’s old necklace in the ashes.

Hakoda straightened and walked out of the royal suite.

With a eye like a messenger hawk, Iroh peered around the room to make certain that no one had seen the drop. They had come too far to have the plan fall apart now.

Tomorrow would be interesting. It would be the day that moved the whole world forward or plunged his nation into a civil war. Tomorrow would be the day that he would assume the role he had been destined for since the day he was born.

He would become the Fire Lord – an old man without a line of succession. Sighing, Iroh turned away from the ashes and smoldering smoke. He yearned for the uncomplicated times of his youth and prayed that nothing held up Zuko’s return to him.

He didn’t know how long it would take to flush Qiang out. He didn’t even know if Qiang would fall for the elaborate deception. One thing was for certain – he needed to make certain the contender for the throne knew of tonight’s events. With a determined heart, Iroh made his way to his study to write the letter that he would dangle as before the young noble.

--

TBC
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The Price of Peace