Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. *wishes she did*

Author's Notes: New chapter story ahead! And this time, it's one of my favourite animes/cartoons ever, Avatar: The Last Airbender! I love it sooooo much, it is one of my favourite shows ever, and I just recently watched all the way through it again and just... re-fell in love with it. And this story is featuring my favourite couple from that series, Zutara (I know they never become romantic)! So, on with the story!

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Chapter 1 – The Invitation

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A year had passed since that fateful battle between his father - Fire Lord Ozai - and his friend - Avatar Aang. A year since he had nearly been killed by his own sister... Zuko turned under the covers of his bed, staring out his large window and pulling a hand up to the large scar in the middle of his chest. Unlike the scar on his eye, this one was still tender, still painful to the touch. He cringed as he felt at it, remembering how he had been struck down and then saved by Katara. He owed her his life.

It became apparent to Zuko now how much he missed his friends. It had only been a year, but it had been a busy year full of royal responsibilities for the newly crowned Fire Lord. All he wanted to do now, even if just for a bit, was to see them again and pretend it was like old times: before he had all those duties that he had once yearned for.

Well, I am allowed to take a break whenever I please... thought Zuko to himself as he flipped back over to stare at the wall. Maybe I should invite them for a visit...? He pondered for a few moments, before nodding. It would be a nice chance to catch-up with everyone, and he could thank Katara more formally once again.

Slowly arising from his bed, Zuko walked a few feet forward before coming to a desk. Sitting down, he pulled out a piece of paper from a drawer and began to write a letter. Within minutes, it was written, and wanting to send it out immediately, he set off to search for a messenger hawk somewhere in the palace.

Smiling as he walked down the hall, he already couldn't wait until they arrived.

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"Squawk!"

A shrill sound cut through calm air of the Temple of the Western Air Nomads, echoing. Sokka grumbled, flipping over onto his stomach and throwing his pillow over his head. "Someone get the stupid bird messaging thing... just make it shut up!" Momo, who had been sleeping on his stomach, worked his way under the pillow, as well. Toph couldn't care less, and was snoring away in the corner of the spacious expanse.

Katara was fast asleep, as well, and Aang, not wanting to bird to awaken his girlfriend, sat up, yawned, and they air-rushed over to the hawk. "Okay, shh, shh," he told it, removing the message from the pouch on his back. As he opened it and began to read it to himself, Katara slowly made her way up, having been awakened anyhow after she noticed that the warm person she had been cuddling with had left her alone.

"What is it, Aang?" she yawned out, wiping at her eyes and pushing back her long hair.

"It's... a letter. From Zuko," he said simply to her.

"What does it say?"

"'Dear friends'," Aang began, "'It has been far too long since we have last seen each other! I would think you would agree. And so, to fix this, I would like for you all to come and visit me in the capital for a significant amount of time. It would be greatly appreciated on my part to see you all again... Love, Zuko'."

At this point, Katara's eyes brightened and she perked up. "Zuko wants to see us? I'd love to go the capital – this temple is getting kind of boring..."

Toph, unable to stay asleep any longer because of the talking, wandered up to the pair. "I'm going to have to agree with her, Twinkletoes. There's not much to do here after a while – I've explored the entire place. Twice."

Aang was about to open his mouth to speak then, but Sokka turned over and yelled at the three of them. "Will you all just be quiet? I'm trying to sleep here!"

Katara gave her brother a look. "We're discussing whether or not we're going to the capital of the Fire Nation," she crossed her arms.

"What? No way. I don't wanna go there! Aang have ended the war, but I still don't like that place," he argued, awake now and sitting up, with Momo chittering away at him, irritated.

"Huh, that's too bad," Katara feigned disappointment at him, turning around and winking at Aang and Toph. "You know, we'd be staying in the palace since Zuko's inviting us. And you know what they have in the palace? The softest beds in the entire country where you could sleep all day long. But you know, your choice, Sokka."

At the very sound of 'sleep all day long', Sokka was out of bed and packing things. "Okay, I'm in. Just let me sleep in peace when we get there. Also... I guess it would be kind of nice to have the family back together again." He smiled then before walking over to the Appa, petting the giant air beast gently and nodding approvingly. "Yeah, I'm okay with it."

Katara pumped her hand in the air before high-fiving Toph. She then turned to Aang. "So, what do you say, Aang?" she asked. "Want to go to the capital?"

"Well, I don't know..." he trailed. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, it was that he knew some people – namely loyal followers of Ozai – were still living within the capital, and would be less than impressed to see the guy who had taken him down within their city's limits.

"Aww, c'mon, Aang," Toph whined at the Airbender, clasping her hands together.

"Yeah, Aang, you've been training day and night for the past few months – you of all people deserve a good break... and what better place to do that within the comfortable leisure of the Fire Nation palace?" Katara pleaded, a big smile on her face.

Aang looked down at the ground thoughtfully then. He had been working very hard for a few weeks now...

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged, a smile coming onto his face.

"Whoo!" Toph cheered. "I'm gonna start packing up." Katara nodded, as well, and followed Toph off to start cleaning up her things. Aang followed suit, and dug through his small bag of things to find a tiny vile of ink and a brush. Setting down the paper on a pair of steps, he flipped it over and wrote:

'Yes. Thank you for inviting us, Zuko. We hope to be there by either late tonight or tomorrow morning.'

Standing up, the Avatar returned the letter to the hawk, placed it in the messenger pouch, and the bird was off. Ten minutes later, everyone had gathered their belongings and they were all eagerly sitting atop Appa.

Turning to look at his friends, Aang grinned. "And we're off to the Fire Nation capital! Appa, yip, yip!" And at that, Appa took off into the sky, following in the direction the bird had taken off to.

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"Fire Lord Zuko, a messenger hawk has arrived for you."

Zuko turned around, both delighted and a little confused. He'd sent that messenger hawk out less than nine hours ago, and it was already back? Walking over to the guard, he extended his arm for the bird before bowing to the guard and dismissing him.

Setting the hawk down and removing the pouch from its back, he read the quick message. His heartbeat hastened at their conformation, excited for their return, but then he began to panic. According to this message, he only had a little more than half a day to prepare for their arrival!

He began to pace. "Okay, what do I start with," he placed his hand on his chin to think.

Right then, Mai entered the room. "What's got you so stressed out all of a sudden?" she asked laxly, leaning against the large doorframe.

Zuko stopped, and turned to face her. "I invited Aang and his friends to visit us here for the next few weeks. I hope you don't mind, I know I didn't tell you and—"

"Hey, it's fine," she smiled at him, walking over and putting her arms around his neck. "But that doesn't explain why you were pacing..."

"I've got to get their rooms ready. My duty as Fire Lord means that those that I invite here feel the utmost comfort," he told her calmly. "But they're coming sooner than I thought – I thought that maybe they were at the Eastern Air Temple, not the Western! So I've got to begin preparing now!" At that, he was now flustered again. He broke from her grip, pacing again. "Oh, what do I start with..." he repeated himself from before. He was now thoroughly set on making their stay perfect. Distractedly, he wandered from the room, mumbling incoherencies to himself.

Mai simply rolled her eyes and smiled – that was her Zuko – before following him to help him out with the preparations.

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Author's Notes: Chapter one, done! I hope to update his very soon – I'm quite pumped for this. It's my first chapter story in a while – let's hope I can actually keep focused on it! I guess I should put some insight into what is going on here - it takes place a year, quite obviously, after Ozai was defeated and Zuko is just now a great, albeit bored, Fire Lord. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph decided to keep exploring the world and Aang decided to continue training his bending abilities, and they mostly "live" in the Western Air Temple. And it's main universe, not AU. Okay, that's all!