1. The Prologue

Damn right, I'm republishing it from '100'.

Why, you say? To pass on the story's beautiful message? *snorts into mug of coffee* Just because I feel like it, then? No, fool. Because there's just way too much fun to have with these characters ^_^

Disclaimer: Don't own A:tLA.

Realistically, none of it would have happened if Aang was capable of moving on, or if Suki ever made the slightest effort to keep her boyfriend under control, if Ty Lee could see bad ideas for what they were and Iroh didn't have a repressed and shockingly devious inner child.

Nothing would ever have happened if Mai's single joy in life wasn't a lack of joy, if Jin had grabbed Zuko's hand before he ran, leaving her standing by a fountain dancing with firelight in the falling dusk. There would have been no problem at all, come to that, if Zuko wasn't such a cauldron of trouble waiting to happen, with all that inner turmoil and teenage angst just waiting to manifest through hormones. Maybe if Ozai had been a better parent, he wouldn't exist in a perpetual state of self-doubt, and he wouldn't have dreamed to question himself and Mai in the first place. Hell, if Azula wasn't all crazy, then she might have kept her brother and best friend in line, and the hell he would have been getting friendly with a waterbender.

And Spirits, none of it would even have been possible if Katara wasn't… well, Katara.

So really, logically, if you thought about it, it was everyone else's fault but theirs.


Nothing is Tokka's fault. Ever. If you try hard enough, you can blame anything on Katara X)