Mazlou was crowded, and humid, and full of annoying little potholes that Katara's feet seemed to be increasingly attracted to.

And it was getting dark; she had one hand wrapped tightly in Zuko's much larger one, and he was leading her through the myriad clusters of bars and trinket shops. Iroh and Ursa led the way-Iroh knew where he was going, apparently.

"The cheapest little store in town," he promised them before, as they waited along the outskirts for night to fall.

Zuko had looked at him skeptically, but said nothing.

And now they were risking breaking their ankles to get to this shop. Katara was sweating, hungry, and had been leered at far too many times by drunken old men.

Something bumped her back; she turned to give whoever it was a piece of her mind.

"Excuse me!-" She trailed off, staring into a pair of the tired, gray eyes of a young boy. He was small, and skinny, and his lips were set tight in a frown.

A chill ran up her spine as the pale boy's mouth dropped open. He stared at her, motionless.

Time slowed dramatically, as a million thoughts collided in Katara's head.

But then she felt the pressure of Zuko's hand tugging her along, her heart pounding in her throat, and she watched the pale gray-eyed boy be swallowed up into the crowd.

His knees weakened and the sour taste of vomit rose in his mouth as he watched the Katara-ghost fade.

It had been...too real. The tan of her skin, the blue of her eyes, the way her hair lay under her cape...all so familiar...

He swayed unsteadily. He was not used to having his dreams played out before him, close but too far to touch.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he turned and ran.

He had to find the others, gain some semblance of normality. Make sure everyone else was real.

The black spool of thread was clutched tightly in his hand; it had been his job to get it, and now he had to get it back. He focused on this task, this careful holding of the thread and running back to the group, because if not he would for sure lose his mind.

The crowd began to slowly thin out as he neared the edges of town. The forest loomed before him, dark with night, but he plunged in, desperate to find the group and tell them.

"I saw her," he gasped, stumbling into the campsite. "I saw her, she was right in front of me-"

"...Saw who?" Suki asked, uncertainly.

The group was gathered around the small campfire, cooking a small pan of fresh-bought rice. Everyone was already back, and the wares were set in a small pile near the fire.

"Katara!" Aang murmured. "Katara."

Sokka sighed, staring into the fire. "No, Aang. No. You didn't see her. She's dead."

"No, she's not!" Aang countered. "She was in the market. She looked just the same as she used to but she was wearing red. I was going to talk to her but she disappeared-"

"Of course she disappeared," Sokka said, standing. "She's dead! She's not real! I don't know if this is some weird 'Spirit World' trick or whatever, but she is not alive and you don't need to pretend she is!"

He turned and stormed off into the woods, but not before a noticeable tear slid down his face.

It was then silent, with only Sokka's fading footsteps and the crackling of the fire heard.

"Umm...well, who wants some rice?" Toph forced out, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Everyone quickly dug in, using the meal as an excuse to not discuss...whatever had just happened.

Aang sat, dumbfounded. Did they really not care? Had they all really given up hope? Or was he just going crazy, disillusioned by his pain?

Sokka ran through the woods, getting hopelessly lost. But he had to get away from Aang, who had clearly lost it, and all the sadness and misery he felt.

He sat down on an old, rotted stump. It was really dark here, illuminated only by the moon light and the occasional firefly.

His breath shuddered, and he held his head in his hands. He could see the fire of a group off in the distance, but that wasn't unusual; many foreigners (and the homeless) would camp on the outskirts of the town.

Standing slowly, he started to walk toward the group, if only to give him something to do and occupy his mind.

He could hear the deep belly laugh of an old man, and them the rough voice of someone younger. They seemed to be having a playful argument about something...maybe tea? Or trees? He turned to go-he didn't want to get caught by two men who could possibly be dangerous-when the next voice brought him to his knees.

It was the high, tinkling laugh of a young girl. It was a laugh he easily recognized, as it sounded exactly like Katara.

The prospect of his sister being alive and being here in Mazlou was too much to bear.

He let out a short cry as pain surged through him. He had to be hearing things.

"...Did you hear that?" The Katara-voice asked. The group quieted, listening carefully.

Sokka clumsily rose, shaking off the dirt and leaves. He had to get out of here.

"It is good tea! High quality!" Iroh protested.

"That doesn't change how much it costs..." Zuko sighed in frustration.

The two were having yet another argument about the infamous tea. She and Ursa were unpacking the days purchases and watching the two fight.

She came to yet another package of tea, and laughed out loud. Tea of Love, it read. Keep your passions ready!

She was just about to show Ursa when a shriek came from the woods.

"...Did you hear that?" she asked.

Iroh cocked his head and gave the woods a suspicious stare. "It could have been a pirate. I did hear they have many of those here-"

"Uncle. We are in the middle of the forest. I'm sure it was an animal. I've heard they have many of those here, too."

The group had packed up early the next morning. Sokka had arrived back at camp, dazed, several hours into the night. He had not spoken a word to anyone, keeping his secret locked in tight. He knew that with a slight opening of his mouth, it would tumble out, making him seem just as deluded as Aang.

Aang had been in a closed off, dream-like state, and had steadily avoided any contact with Sokka.

No one knew quite where they were going, but all recognized the need to get away from Mazlou and its ghosts.

The stars were still high in the sky and the sun just beginning to rise as they set off, onto a dusty back road. Tang Hao was the next destination, where they would meet up with Haru and the rest of the earthbenders and hopefully find Aang a firebending teacher.

It was very silent; not even the birds were awake yet. The group plodded along tiredly, the younger ones falling asleep on Appa, who trudged along behind. It was much too dangerous to fly him in the Fire Nation, and no one wanted to take the risk of their transportation being shot down in the sky.

It was only luck (and maybe a good bit of karma) that had allowed them to sneak through the Fire Nation without being caught. Suki mused that it probably couldn't carry on for much longer.

She and Hakoda were at the front of the line, trying to keep the group in a semblance of order. The old man had kept himself together surprisingly well, keeping a level head throughout much of this ordeal.

She took in their surroundings-how different from Kyoshi! Different trees, flowers, animals, roads. She glanced down the rough expanse before them, when something caught her eye.

She could faintly make out...something heading towards them. A small, black mass, far off down the road.

Nudging Hakoda, she carefully pointed it out. No need to alarm the group.

He squinted, tired eyes searching. "Have Bato take Aang, Appa, and the children into the woods," he whispered.

Suki nodded and turned to the man following behind. "Bato?"

"Mhm?" he murmured.

"Tell Aang to take himself and Appa into the woods. Make sure all the younger ones and non-benders go too...well, leave Sokka. There's something coming this way on the road, and we don't want them here if it turns bad."

He nodded, and turned to briefly talk to Aang. The boy nodded and guided Appa into the woods, a few children following behind.

The mass was moving closer and closer; Suki could make out about four people, all in dark red clothing and hoods.

Great...firebenders.

She could feel Hakoda bristle as the group moved forward.

They were about ten steps away when the leader looked up. He was short and portly, with a big belly. Probably some bloated merchant or smuggler-

"...Iroh?" a small voice said from behind her. The man looked up, a scared expression on his face, and nervously glanced at the group.

Toph let out a loud laugh. "I'd recognize those footsteps anywhere, old man!" And before Suki knew it, the earthbender had walked forward and hugged this 'Iroh' person.

After this, things got a little blurry.

She could remember the shortest figure glancing up. A girl, dark skin, with a worried expression plastered on her face.

A million things ran through her mind as she watched the girl's face light up in a smile so blindingly bright, she couldn't help but recognize her.

Katara.

Katara.

Katara. In the flesh, right before her eyes.

Katara let out a tiny shriek before throwing herself into her father's arms.

Her family! Her friends! All right here. She had finally found them, finally, on this dusty road near Mazlou. Her heart was thudding its way out of her chest as tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Dad," she cried. "Dad."

But Hakoda remained unresponsive in her arms, frozen like one of her ice statues. She felt his warm hands grasp her shoulders and pull her away at arms length.

His eyes searched her face, filled with unbelief and doubt.

"Katara?" Her father asked uncertainly, slowly. "You're not dead?"

"Dead?" She laughed. "No, dad, I'm not dead...I'm fine. Just fine."

And then her dad smiled, a sight that made her heart soar. "And this isn't a dream?"

She shook her head, but was interrupted by being pulled into a tight hug. She could feel her father shaking with sobs, which was enough to send her over the edge again.

That's how most of the reunions went; lots of unbelief and tears, joy and hugs. Sokka and Aang seemed to be snapped out of a stupor; Toph actually hugged her; the younger children looked very confused; her father just grinned; Suki looked she was going to faint; and the firebenders looked a little lost. But it was all good...they were family now. Together.

The fact that she was traveling with two of their greatest enemies didn't seem to bother them. She would have thought that Aang or Sokka would have a fit upon seeing them, but they hadn't even been acknowledged, much less attacked.

They were sitting around a campfire, even though it was already morning. Suki and Ursa were making a special stew, while everyone else was sitting and talking excitedly.

"So..." Katara started. Everyone silenced almost instantly.

"Why did you all think I was dead?"

The camp was awkwardly silent. She looked expectantly from face to face, but no one seemed to want to meet her eyes.

Finally, Sokka stepped up.

"Well...during the eclipse, we decided to break into the palace and rescue you. We went into the cells and looked for you but we couldn't find you...all we found was your dress. And a lot of blood." His voice shook near the end. "And after searching for you for a long time, and hearing nothing about you...we just kinda assumed...that you were..."

"We had a funeral for you!" The Duke piped out.

"Oh," Katara mumbled. "Umm...thanks? But you guys didn't have to worry; Zuko rescued me and-"

"What?" Sokka gasped. "What? Zuko?"

A light went off in his eyes as his gaze landed on the blushing man sitting beside Katara.

"You didn't know I was here?" Zuko asked uncertainly.

Aang did a double take. "Katara...how could you? He sided against us at Ba Sing Se and let you be taken captive-"

Sokka broke in. "And he's a firebender and a liar and a stealer and he's dangerous-"

"And he fed me while I was being starved and healed my wounds when I was being tortured and got me out of the prison!" Katara yelled, hands on hips. "He's not the same guy he used to be!"

The group was silent.

"She's not lying," Toph said quietly. "And I've known Iroh...and I know he's not a bad guy. I"m getting good vibrations from all of them..."

"He saved my life," Katara said slowly.

Sokka glared at him. "This isn't smart..."

Zuko cleared his throat. "I'll...I mean, me and my uncle will teach the Avatar firebending. Katara said that he didn't really know...and we want to help."

Aang and Sokka's eyes brightened considerably.

"Well, we did need to find Aang a firebending teacher..." Suki started.

"Don't be blind, Sokka," Toph grumbled. "You two moan about finding a teacher and then when one-no, actually, two!-show up right in front of you, you're too blind to see it! Am I really the blind one here?"

Aang sighed in defeat. "I'll give them a chance..."

"But if you try anything funny, I will kill you!" Sokka shouted, waving his boomerang in Zuko's general direction.

Zuko nodded slowly; Katara almost knew for a fact he was suppressing laughter.

"Well," Katara said, smiling. "Now that that's settled..."

"Let's celebrate with some tea!" Iroh chuckled.

Hello everyone! Sorry for such a long hiatus. Real life took over and I ran into some challenges with this story. I did a lot of editing to previous chapters to try to improve them, since my writing has changed. I also tried to go back and catch my mistakes in plot-like did anyone notice Appa/Momo haven't been mentioned until this chapter? Ugh! I forgot about them and am going to try and fix that.

Hopefully this chapter was everything you expected it to be-there were so many ways I could plan it, and I tried to get a little mix of everything-comedy, sadness, happiness, and more.

I want to say an extra special thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I never thought I would break 150. I am so honored and happy. Thank you all very, very much.

Please review!