Inspired slightly by the song From Finner by: Of Monsters and Men

A seagull called in the distance. The waves washed over their feet as the breeze and silence brisked through the awkward salt-filled air. Zuko frowned as he gazed into the horizon, his mind lost deep in thought like the deep abyss of the ocean in front of him.

"Sometimes..." Zuko began, speaking to his friends beside him at the shore, "I wonder..." He paused, taking in a deep breath, a sarcastic, bittersweet chuckle beneath his breath as he cautiously continued, "Would anyone even miss me if I were gone?"

The rest of the teenagers eyes widened in awe, or their faces scrunched up in shock, surprise, maybe even a little hurt by the comment. Zuko chuckled again, digging his toes into the moist sand, flicking hardened clumps of it up with his toes nervously.

"Uncle might be a little upset," Zuko stated, running a calloused hand through his shaggy, light, raven-colored hair, getting bristles of sand caught in between. Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Suki just exchanged saddened glances, Toph clenching her fists, not knowing what to say, how to correct him. Katara, typically, gave the first attempt.

"A little upset?" Katara nearly shouted, her voice cracking behind the swelling of her throat. Zuko turned around with perplex written all over his features as he looked at his friend. Katara, looked to the side, laughing. "Who do you think you are?" Katara stated, shaking her head. Everyone else silently watched.

"What...I don't understand," Zuko answered in confusion.

"What don't you understand?" Katara declared, raising her voice slightly. Zuko began to speak, but wasn't given the opportunity, "You think we all just think of you like some random guy on the street?"

"Katara is right," Aang added quietly as he kept his focus deliberately to the ground, concentrating of the tide's push and pull of a stubborn twig debris.

"I just..." Zuko began, inhaling sharply as he bit his lip.

"You just what?" Katara snapped, "Thought we didn't care about you?" Katara said with a sarcastic laugh, "Are you stupid?"

"I think so," Zuko confessed with a sigh.

"What did you think, Zuko?" Sokka now added, "That you taught Aang firebending and now we're done with you? Have fun being Fire Lord? Thanks for your help ending the war, have a nice life!"

"You're important to every, single one of us, Zuko," Aang stated. Zuko didn't turn around, he was embarrassed.

"Miss you if you were gone..." Katara mocked while shaking her head, almost as if disgusted. Zuko squeezed his fists together tightly as his lip trembled. "We'd be a train-wreck."

"How could you think that we'd just shrug it off, Sparky?" Toph asked.

"And, your uncle? I don't even want to imagine what'd become of him," Suki supplemented, "What about Mai, too? You really think she wouldn't miss you? That none of us would even miss you?"

"I don't know...you all just seemed so...and...I didn't think...I didn't know you all..." Zuko's eyes trembled, a small, silver tear escaping his unscathed eye. No one had ever cared about him so much, no one aside from his uncle, and his mother while she was still around. He'd never had friends before, not that he'd ever had much of a family either. He loved them all dearly, but he always found it somewhat unrequited for some reason.

"You didn't know we all loved you?" Katara spoke, finishing his sentence as the word piqued Zuko's mind, his eyes widened.

"You what?" Zuko repeated, needing reassurance. Katara smiled warmly, despite the pang of sadness at the thought of Zuko being so shocked to hear those words and dubious to accept them.

"You heard me," Katara said kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"She's right," Aang agreed with his girlfriend, giving his friend a friendly slap on the back, "We love you, Zuko."

"That goes for all of us, buddy," Sokka said as he put a brotherly hand on Zuko's other shoulder.

"I don't get mushy often, but it seems like someone here needs some love, Sparky," Toph said with a lighthearted smile as she punched his arm affectionately.

"All of us," Suki said as she catalyzed a group hug. They stood there by the shore, wrapped tightly in each other's arms. Surrounded by the unbreakable friendship that was bonded so tightly by their collaborative salvation of the world. Another seagull calling in the distance.