"So you're serious about this? You're becoming a cop?" Tenzin asked, looking at the clouds.

"A police officer, yes." Lin said, "What, you don't think I'm strict enough?"

They were both lying down in Oogi's saddle, eyes fixed on the sky, while they flew above the water just outside Republic City. Their bodies were facing different directions, but their heads lied next to each other. While they were both dressed formally, Lin looked way weirder in her long green dress than Tenzin could ever in his tux.

"I think you're just the right amount of strict. I just never heard you talk about it before."

"I've thought about it. But I never really saw the appeal until a few months ago when we were faced against the Red Lotus. They're not the first to try something like that and they won't be the last. I want to help people. Lock up the bad guys..."

"I just wanted to point out that we're still young. Unlike me, you actually can be whatever you want, and no one expects you to decide right now."

"You have choices, Tenzin..."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Like who you'll marry."

"Speaking of that... I've been meaning to ask... What are you doing Saturday, ten years from now?" he turned to face her, still lying down.

"Pro-bending match, semi-finals." Lin said dead serious, causing Tenzin to chuckle.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to get drinks after and then later, if we're not too tired, marry me."

Lin turned to him.

"You seriously need to stop asking me to marry you."

"I will. When you say yes..." he grinned.

"Someone's overconfident... Someone thinks they're such a catch." Lin teased.

Her words made Tenzin smile again. She, of course, couldn't resist that smile, so she closed the distance between their lips. Their upside-down kiss lasted for a while until Tenzin turned to the sky again.

"You do know you'll be working with your mother?" he asked.

"Way to ruin the mood."

"I'm serious. She'll be your boss."

"Well, what else is new?" Lin sat up and straightened her dress, "What?"

She caught him staring again.

"You look really pretty." he blurted out, while getting into a sitting position.

"You know, I really hate this banquet thing. I know supporting our parents is important, I know remembering the war is important... But I really can't stand those formal things." Lin complained.

It was the same thing every year. A banquet held to commemorate the end of the Hundred Year War. Of course, their parents were in the center of it all and, of course, they brought along their kids every year.

She was a bit happy that everyone was going to be back together for the first time after the Red Lotus attack. She'd get to see Izumi and Zari who were usually miles away from her. But it was still not worth parading around, all dressed up like dolls. It helped a little bit that tonight's event was also supposed to celebrate Azula officially becoming an advisor to the Fire Lord. Lin did approve of that, since she liked Azula and Zari were sticking around.

"You didn't have to dress up, Lin. I'm sure your mom wouldn't have been mad. She doesn't care about those things, like my mom..." Tenzin tugged at his jacket's collar trying to breathe in properly.

"I know... And I would have no problem walking in there in my training clothes, but I just... I don't like those girls staring at us together, thinking to themselves: What's Tenzin doing with that slob..." Lin sighed.

"What girls? You're not a- I don't care if you're weari-"

"I know you don't. It's the Air Acolyte girls. Your little fan club." Lin chuckled, "And you just know, Aunt Katara would immediately run up to me with the sweeties..."

"Sweeties?"

"You know..." Lin straightened her posture and tried to make her voice as similar to Katara's, "Oh, sweetie, didn't your mother tell you it was a special occasion? Oh, sweetie, you could have asked me if you didn't have any dresses. Oh, sweetie, I can fix your hair in the bathroom...."

"She doesn't sound like that..." Tenzin obviously contradicted himself by laughing.

"Look, I love her, but she acts like I'm mentally challenged because I can't arrange an outfit."

There was a bit of silence before Tenzin spoke up:

"At least you're not paraded around like a zoo animal. Look over here everyone, the last of his kind, a real airbender in his natural habitat!"

"You're right. This night is going to majorly suck for both of us." Lin lied back again, "I can't decide what's worse, my mom joking about us naming our first child, or your mom actually asking about it..."

Tenzin just silently nodded.

"How about we just don't go?" Lin added after a while.

"Be serious."

"No, I am serious. They really don't need us there. We could just not show up."

"I see you're going to make an excellent cop..." Tenzin teased.

"Hey, Airhead, last I checked it was still not illegal to disobey your parents. Let's just break the rules once."

"OK, who are you and what have you done to Lin?"

Tenzin flew Oogi right to Suyin's window, but was careful not to let the bison land, since such a big mass would certainly alert Toph to their presence. Now it was just inches above the ground, while Lin leaned over to look through the window.

She immediately spotted Su sitting on her bead, brushing her hair for the banquet. She was already dressed and everything...

"Su, climb up." Lin whispered.

"Lin? What are you two doing here? Why didn't you use the door?" Su stepped closer.

"No. Damn, Su, be quiet. Me and Tenzin are skipping tonight and going away to do something fun. Wanna come with us?"

"You two are skipping? Is this a trick? Are you trying to teach me not to listen to anyone when they tell me to run away with them?"

"No..." Lin shook her head, "This one time, I wanna bail on Mom and go do anything else. You're in or you're out."

"Are you ready yet, Su?" they heard Sokka yell from the hall.

"In a minute, Dad!" Su yelled back. Spirits, she loved saying that...

"I'm in." she added after a short pause and took her sister's hand to help her climb aboard Oogi.

"I told you, you shouldn't have worn the whole uniform tonight." Izumi said quietly while her and Bumi were strolling through the city, holding hands.

"Why not?"

"Everyone's staring at us."

Bumi raised an eyebrow and then looked around a bit, before smirking back at her.

"That's so cute... No one's looking at me, Princess."

"Stop it." Izumi turned around, not wanting him to see her blush.

"Serves me right... I knew what I was getting myself into, going out with the most beautiful girl in the world." he said and waited for her to turn back around.

"You're not bad yourself, Private."

"Still, when we're dancing tonight, no one's going to be looking at me." Bumi looked across the street, "Except maybe your dad."

"He likes you."

"He glares at me with hellfire in his eyes every time we're at hand holding distance from each other."

"That's how he shows love?"

They both chuckled after that.

"But seriously, Izumi, it's been nice."

"Being on vacation from the unit? I'm sure you love seeing Tez and Kya all the time."

"It's not just that... I meant this. Us. It's been nice."

"So I wouldn't be mistaken to call this trial relationship a success?" she asked. Their relationship was... Well, new. If it could even be called a relationship. They decided they're taking things slow.

"No, you would not." he said as they stopped walking and turned towards each other. He looked into her eyes for a few moments before thinking this might be a good time to kiss her. He took another moment to try and read her body language.

"Bumi!" he heard Tenzin's voice from behind them. Great... You really know how to pick your moments, Tez...

The couple turned and saw Tenzin landing Oogi just on the other side of the street. Izumi noticed Lin and Su in their formal attires, sitting in the saddle and immediately knew something was up.

"We're being called into action?" Izumi teased, "Shall I go fetch the Blue Spirit mask then?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to win your honor back another day." Bumi smiled, "These dunderheads are planning on skipping the banquet tonight, am I right?"

"Are you coming, Bumi, or am I the fun brother now?" Tenzin knew just what to say and Bumi was climbing up in no time.

"Lin? I'd expect things like that from them, but you..." Izumi still wasn't moving.

"It was actually her idea!" Tenzin chuckled.

"It's Azula's special night. She needs us there." Izumi explained why she was reluctant to go. Azula hasn't really been all that popular with the people since she came back. It was hard for her to address the public.

"No, she doesn't." Lin cut in, "You know if she could, she's skip that boring thing, too."

Izumi took a moment to think about Lin's words. Yeah, she had a point.

With Izumi safely onboard they took off. Two more stops to make.

Since the time of the banquet was approaching fast, they had to be a bit more careful while picking up the last two members of their little group. Zari, especially.

They tried to sneak him out of his window, like they did with Suyin, but we caught by Azula almost immediately. She made them land in the garden and wait for her there, but when she came down, she just stared at them, not saying a thing.

"Don't blame them, mother, they just-" Zari started, but went quiet as soon as he saw his mother wave her hand.

"You all know how important tonight is to your parents, how much they value and count on your support there, and you would still leave?" Azula looked at each of them individually.

"Good." she added soon after, surprising everyone with her frown turning into a smirk.

"What?" Tenzin blurted out.

"Your parents could afford to be reminded that it isn't all about the press and popularity polls."

"So I can go?" Zari beamed at her.

She looked at his overly excited face before answering. She really wanted him by her side tonight, since the event was actually making her nervous. Which was a completely new feeling for her. Guess, the years-long streak of doing everything perfectly had to come to an end eventually.

To say the people didn't welcome her back would be the understatement of the century. And they gave her no reason to believe tonight would be any different.

"Go." she said finally, "Have fun."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he quickly hugged her and then ran to climb onto Oogi before she changed her mind.

"Where're you kids going anyway?" Azula asked as they were getting ready to fly away.

"We don't really know..." Izumi said.

"Well, whatever you do, don't go too far, or your parents will form a search party. If you're not back till tomorrow morning they'll make a whole fuss, you know how they are..." Azula complained, knowing full well that if Zari was missing she'd be the first one to go aimlessly wondering thought the night, looking for him.

She loved seeing him this happy, surrounded by friends and excited about the adventure they were about to have. It wasn't quite the same as she had with her two best friends when she was growing up, but he seemed to have sincerely bonded with these people.

No matter how much she tried, Azula couldn't stop thinking about tonight's event. It was different when she first came back... Then she was sure she'd get sick of the palace in a week and run back to her hideout with Zari. She didn't really care what anyone thought of her, because she didn't think she'll have to listen to it for very long.

But now, a few months after, she knew she wanted to stay. The palace was good for Zari. School was good for him. Having a family that wasn't just her.

But she'd lie if she denied being back was good for her, too. She patched things up with Mai almost immediately and then with Ty Lee a few weeks later. She was also on good terms with her sister Kiyi for the first time ever.

Zuko and Zari ended up getting long better than anyone could have hoped. Which made her reconsider everything she ever thought about her brother... Everything was seemingly falling into its place. Except there was one thing Azula had been putting off for a while. And then that night, after a lot of thinking she finally felt ready.

She still had some time before she was expected to show up at the banquet so she made a short detour before going there. It was a maze of underground tunnels and annoying guards before she finally found herself in front of a metal door. Standing just outside it, she could clearly hear nervous mumblings of an old man. Just hearing that voice hurt her more than she expected, but she went in anyway.

Inside, there was a cell, and behind the bars laid a grey-haired man with his face turned away from her. He didn't even flinch after hearing the door open.

"Hello, Father." she said after letting the door slam shut after her.

Ozai froze at once, and then stood up as quickly as his old age allowed him. He stepped closer to the bars to get a good look at his visitor.

"Azula?"

Now that she was thinking about it, she didn't really look much like herself. Well, like herself last time he saw her.

"I thought they'd killed you long ago." he added.

"I escaped years back. I thought they killed you."

"Are you here now to free me, daughter?" he stepped even closer, pressing against the bars.

"No, I came to tal-"

"Can I feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The spark, you still have it? Or did the boy take it from you as well?"

Azula finally understood what he meant, so she carefully walked to the bars and put out her hands to make a small flame in her palms. At first the former Fire Lord just stared at the little, flickering light, but eventually he reach out to touch it. Knowing it would burn him, now that he had no connection to the element anymore, he grabbed hold of Azula's palms instead. They were warm, hot even, just as he remembered it felt.

Azula studied his expression the entire time, and was honestly surprised by what she saw. Never before had she seen her father look at something with such emotion in his eyes. Not his wife, not his children, not even his empire. She thought him incapable of such emotion for much of her life, but it turned out he could show true grief, yet only for his bending.

As she was studying his face, his eyes moved from the flame to her. The sudden eye contact spooked her a bit, but she knew better than to let it show.

"You look like your mother." he whispered, "It's the only thing I never liked about you. You look like that wretched woman, but you think like me!"

He reached out further and grabbed hold of the fabric on her shoulders.

"You will avenge me, won't you? You will uphold my legacy. It was always supposed to be you, Azula! Will you finish what I started?"

"No!" she pushed his hands away, "You were wrong! We were wrong..."

"They got to you! She got to you too. Ursa must have been so proud when you came running back to her in tears like a scared little girl..."

"I didn't!" Azula felt herself lose control for a second, but she calmed herself almost instantly, "I moved away, I saw the world, I had a son. And I realized I didn't really want what we fought for all those years ago. It was never my destiny to be Fire Lord..."

"If you play this right, your son could be Fire Lord some day!"

"Zari would probably hate being the Fire Lord even more than Zuko." Azula chuckled.

"You named him Zari?" Ozai smiled slightly, "Like the only royal advisor in our nation's history to be more famous than his Fire Lord?"

"I should have known you'd be the only person in the world to get that." she smiled back, "You were the one that made me memorize all those scrolls..."

"And you were always so fond of the story of him retaking three Fire Nation cities without a single blast being fired. I remember."

"Too bad that can't be the only thing we remember."

Zuko had been pestering her to visit Ozai for literally months, but she didn't see the purpose behind it. Not until now at least. She had to face her father. She had to show him he no longer had any power over her.

Finally feeling like she was truly done with that man, Azula silently left the room.

"So where are we going?" Su asked when they were back in the air.

"We don't know." Lin said.

"I thought you just didn't want to tell Azula, but you really didn't make a plan?"

"Let's make one now." Tenzin interrupted.

"I wanna go to the Fire Nation! We didn't get to see any of it last time." Su continued.

"We were on a mission, Su." Izumi said, "And it's a bit far."

"Hey, we're young, we're fierce... Let's go find ourselves some criminals to kick around." Bumi stood up, "It's what we do best."

"So what, Bumi? We just kick down a door of a gang and start hitting people?" Lin asked, sarcastically.

"If we want to. Look around, we could take down anyone." Bumi really believed that.

"Why would we go looking for trouble?" Tenzin cut in.

"And no way we're taking an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old to fight a gang. Get serious..." Izumi shook her head.

"How about this..." Lin started, "My mom told me about a group of bandits that have been pulling robberies on the south beaches. She said she couldn't get to it until next week."

"So we perform an intervention? Love it! Let's go!" Bumi pointed south.

"Wait, we'll just go there, hoping to get mugged?" Zari didn't really get their plan.

"They usually attack in public places, like the town square or the theatre."

"Let's go there! I wanna see Love amongst the Dragons again." Su looked over to Zari with a smile.

"The rest of you?" Bumi asked and everyone nodded.

"It's summer. I'm sure they're showing it somewhere." Izumi concluded.

"Aren't you forgetting one little thing?" Tenzin cut in, "Our sister, Bumi? Remember her?"

"I know, but it's getting late and we have no idea where she is." Bumi said.

"She might already be at the banquet." Lin didn't want Tenzin to feel bad for leaving her.

"She's on a date with What's-his-face, they could be anywhere..." Bumi started again, "And we can't waste time looking for her because we could get caught before we find her..."

"There she is." Tenzin pointed at the street below them. He was really on fire with the interruptions today.