A:TNG One-Shot: Five Years

Author's Note:  I'll tell you right away that I'm not happy with this.  I wrote this over a month ago in August.  As I was looking at the paper and thinking about what to write, the bells went off in school.  That's where the beginning came from, and I just kind of went with it from there.   (As a side note, the bells at my school really aren't that loud.)  I like the sentiment of this story but not so much the actual story.

Five Years

“This place is loud,” Toph complained.  Up and down the street many bells and other noise makers were clanging.

“You can't blame them for celebrating,” Sokka told his fiance as he led the way through the crowd.

“There's celebrating,” Toph grouched, “And then there's making noise.  This level of noise is unnecessary.  They've never been this noisy before.”

“This is the fifth anniversary of the war,” Sokka reminded her.  “It's a big year.  Do you realize that all of the little kids running around today probably have no memories of the war?”

Toph ran that thought over in her mind as she felt the vibrations the excited children around them were causing.  This thought had never occurred to her before.  “Lucky them,” she muttered.  It sounded sarcastic, but Toph's words were true.  None of those kids deserved to go through what Toph and her friends had.

Sokka was also smiling at the kids.  He saw a young Earth Kingdom boy running around with two boys about his age who just happened to be Fire Nation.  It was a sight he never would have seen five years ago.  Sokka marveled over how much could change in five short years.

“Come on,” Sokka tugged on Toph's hand, “We need to find the others.”

“Of course,” Toph began to smirk, “I haven't got to pick on Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen recently.”

A:TNG One-shots: Sokka's Drawings

Author's Note:  I wasn't expecting to write or post another one of these for a long time, but sometimes things happen.  I wrote this almost a month ago in class.  I'd been thinking about how awesome the friendship between Zuko and everyone else is.  (I think I'm going to write a whole fanfiction that just focuses on all of the friendships in Avatar.  I've been on a huge friendship kick lately.  It's what my current story is about too.  If the fanfic happens though, it won't be for a long, long time.)

Anyway, I absolutely hate the ending of this.  It's awkward.  I didn't know what to do with it.  It's staying this way though because this is just a random little thing anyway.  I'm in the middle of writing something else now, and I didn't want to spend much time on this.  I hope you guys enjoy it!

Sokka's Drawings

“What are you doing?” Sokka's head shot up at the sound of Zuko's voice.

“N-Nothing,” Sokka stuttered, attempting to hide the piece of paper he'd been leaning over.  After a brief struggle, Zuko finally managed to free the now rather crumpled paper.  He just looked at it before slowly looking at Sokka with a bemused look on his face.

“You're still drawing these childish pictures at twenty-three years old?” Zuko smirked a little.

Sokka blushed lightly, but attempted to defend himself.  “I want to capture the important moments,” he said with indignation.

“Then can't you get a real artist to do it for you?” Zuko asked.

“This is more personal.”  He snatched the paper back and leaned over it again, resuming his work.

Zuko rolled his eyes, “Whatever, Sokka.”

Zuko often marveled over the fact that he had wound up with someone like Sokka as one of his best friends.  His sixteen year old self would have lost his mind a long time ago.  Actually, who was he kidding.  He did lose his mind when dealing with Sokka all the time.  Why did her put up with him again?

Sneak Peak of my Current Project

It's been about three months since I posted here, so I figured I should give you guys something.  It's not that I haven't been writing.  I've actually been writing a lot.  It's just that nothing's ready to be posted yet.  I've been working on an original story that will be up eventually.  I've also managed to write several short little stories since school started.  Two of them are A:TNG one-shots that will be up in a week or two.  The other is a random little thing that I'm not sure will ever be seen by the public.  It's not just autobiographical, it was written in real time.  I was rather bored, and it's full of sarcasm.  That's all I'll say.

In the time that it will take me to get those posted, I thought I'd give you something.  You're about to be some of the first people to see a little bit of the story I've been working on that has so far been read by only two people (and they only read up to a certain point.  I have a working title for the story, but it's hopefully going to change so I'm not going to give you guys a title.  I'm also not telling you what it's about for various reasons.  Please keep in mind that this still needs to go through a lot of editing.  Just enjoy these little sneak peaks:

 “Michigan,” Madison said in that perfect tone. After hearing her say it, you just couldn't imagine that one word being said any other way.

~

Madison frowned, “They may not be completely aware that they're so obvious about their feelings, but they're definitely aware of most of it.” She thought for a moment before adding, “They're really horrible liars.”

~

The brick wall was warm as I leaned back against it. A glance down the sidewalk showed me that no groups were currently making their way towards me. I watched a young girl run around her yard with two young puppies. She'd been out there for at least half an hour now. When she'd first come outside, she'd stared at me for a few minutes. I'm sure I looked rather odd in my Salome costume.

Yeah...  That first and third one seem really weird our of context.  Two hints:  school play and Outdoor Way of the Cross.  Some of you have no idea what that second one means, but that just makes it more mysterious.  (I'll be really impressed if you can tell me who Salome is.)  If you have any ideas on what the story could be about, I'd be really interested in hearing them.

You have no idea how nervous I got about posting this.

A:TNG Epilogue

Epilogue

Three Years After

Ai was looking into the full-length mirror with a look of wonder on her face. Her three best friends stood around her, each with beaming smiles on their faces as they looked at her. She was dressed in traditional Fire Nation robes for her wedding day.

Her wedding day. She couldn't believe they were finally getting married. They'd been dating for three years, but it still seemed like they'd met yesterday to her. Her marrying a commoner had created quite a stir among the Fire Nation citizens, especially the older, more traditional ones. Ai was surprised at how well her future husband was taking his transition into royalty. He would make a wonderful prince.

“Are you ready?” Ayame asked. Ai could just feel the excitement in her friend's voice even if it was no where close to matching her own.

“Yes,” Ai said in a determined voice. She was set on making it through the ceremony without puking. So far, that was proving to be a tough task. She grabbed for Ayame and Kazuna's hands as she walked towards the door but avoided touching Ichiko's hand. Ichiko wasn't very touchy-feely, and Ai would rather not have any broken bones on her wedding day. Nonetheless, Ichiko offered her friend a genuine smile that was for once not related to someone being in pain. Then again, Ichiko probably did consider Ai's position painful. She'd never been the romantic type.

As a Ai walked down the hallway towards the large room filled with her family, friends, and various “important people” from around the world, she was relieved to have her three best friends beside her. Without them, she'd probably be back in her room panicking about what she was about to do. At the end of the hallway, she found her father standing outside of a large set of doors. He smiled at her, and although panic washed over her at the thought of walking through the intimidating doorway, she found herself smiling back. She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed as tightly as she could. “I love you, Daddy,” she whispered as he hugged her tightly.

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now, let's get you up that aisle.” Ai opened her eyes and pulled away from Zuko to see that her best friends had already started the journey through the crowd. She smiled at her father one last time as she took his arm and started towards her future husband.

7 Years After

“I look stupid,” Ichiko grumbled as she stood next to Ayame. Both were in the traditional wedding dress of a Kiyoshi warrior. It was a lot like their normal uniforms except a little fancier...and girlier. This explained why Ichiko was so uncomfortable. Ayame was sure this was Ichiko's first time ever getting this dressed up.

“You're getting married in just a few minutes,” Ayame told her soon-to-be sister-in-law, “At least pretend to be excited. She shook her head in exasperation at the death glare she received.

“At least you're not as nervous as I was,” Ai spoke up from her spot next to Kazuna.

“This is why I'm glad Kazuna is my maid of honor,” Ichiko muttered, “She doesn't say things in a pathetic attempt to cheer me up.” This time, Ai was the one glaring. She decided that Ichiko was dealing with her nerves by becoming even crabbier than usual, and decided to keep her mouth shut.

“Just shut up and get moving!” Ayame snapped, “I'd like to get married sometime today!”

Ichiko's face showed a brief glimpse of what could have been fear before she moved calmly towards the door. She stopped when she felt something being put into her hand. Looking down, she noticed a white handkerchief. “You may need it,” Kazuna told her quietly. Ichiko scoffed at her best friend and remarked that only sappy people cried at weddings. Later, Ichiko returned the soaking wet handkerchief in embarrassment.

10 Years After

Kazuna squealed in delight as she and Ai jumped off the zeppelin and ran towards their two best friends. They were coming from the Fire Nation where Kazuna had been staying for a few weeks. Ai had decided to accompany them on the return trip in order to surprise Ichiko and Ayame on Kiyoshi Island. Unfortunately, they'd been unable to control their excitement, and the plan slipped out in their letters long before they'd arrived. “I have such exciting news!” Kazuna exclaimed as she finally let go of Ichiko. She glanced conspiratorially at Ai, who was already in on the secret.

“Let me guess,” Ichiko said, “You're finally getting married.”

Kazuna looked at her in shock. “How can you possibly know that already!?”

Ichiko's eyes did their usual rolling motion. “For starters, you two have been dating long enough. It was bound to happen sometime. Secondly,” she paused briefly to smirk at Kazuna, “you're just as bad at keeping secrets in letters as you are in person.”

Kazuna blushed, “I guess the surprise is ruined.”

“Not completely,” Ai smirked, “You still haven't told Ichiko the best news.”

Another smile found it's way to Kazuna's face. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I want you to be my maid of honor, of course, and I've been giving a lot of thought about the bridesmaids dresses. I've decided to go with hot pink.” Kazuna, Ai, and Ayame burst into laughter at the horrified look on Ichiko's face.

14 Years After

Kazuna beamed down at her friends. She'd been close to bursting for days in anticipation of sharing the great news with them. She'd sent out letters to each of them a week ago, asking for them to come visit her in the Southern Water Tribe, and they'd only just arrived. Before she could speak, however, Ichiko said loudly, “Let me guess, you're pregnant.”

Kazuna visibly wilted. Then anger seemed to build up inside her. “Why must you always do that!?” she exclaimed. Ichiko's ability to read her like a book got really annoying at times like these.

Ichiko just smirked and leaned back in her chair as she muttered, “Congratulations, Kazuna.” Her tone of voice didn't match her words. She sounded as if it was of no real importance to her whether Kazuna had children or not. Kazuna knew that Ichiko really did care, even if she didn't wish to show it, and that was enough. “At least now you can come along on those stupid 'play dates' Ayame always sets up when we're all together,” Ichiko continued as she sunk back in her seat and crossed her arms.

“They are not stupid,” Ayame defended, “The play dates are an excellent opportunity for our children to have fun and become just as good of friends as we are!”

“But why do we need to plan them,” Ichiko said in exasperation, “Why can't we just say, 'Go do whatever you want,' and be done with it?”

“You don't understand the importance of an official play date,” Ayame sniffed as Ichiko mocked her quietly.

Kazuna glanced at Ai, and they both stifled giggles. Some things never change.

18 Years After

Kazuna glanced around the crowded party in an effort to find her closest friends. She'd left the children with their grandparents. Katara and Aang were always happy to take them off her hands for a bit, and the children loved them. She was hoping to find Ichiko, Ai, and Ayame, so they could go somewhere to talk, just the four of them. It had been a while since the four of them had been in the same place at the same time and didn't have kids hanging off of them. Besides, Kazuna had never been one for parties anyway, so she would use any opportunity she could to escape.

After a few minutes, she spotted Ichiko and Ai conversing next to a long table with a wide array of different foods laid out across it. Ichiko was munching on some type of meat, while Ai surveyed the room. Ai smiled as she caught Kazuna's eye and motioned for her to join them. After a couple of brief hugs and greetings, Kazuna asked if they'd seen Ayame.

“She was here a few minutes ago, but ran off without much of an explanation,” Ai said, once again glancing around the room, “You know how she is. She'll show up again and explain herself.”

Sure enough, Ayame emerged out of the crowd ten minutes later. “Where have you been?” Ichiko asked before sticking a grape in her mouth.

“I needed to check my makeup.” As soon as she said the words, Ichiko's eyes rolled and Ai and Kazuna shook their heads in exasperation.

After catching up about things such as their husbands, children, and life in general, the subject somehow turned to the past.

“Can you believe how long it's been since we were kids?” Ai asked as she glanced wistfully around the Fire Nation palace's courtyard that they had spent so much time in when younger. “We have so many memories of the four of us in the palace, even at Kiyoshi Island, the South Pole, or the Air Temple. It's so weird thinking back on all of that and to realize how much has changed.”

After letting out a burp, Ichiko speaks up, “Things haven't changed that much.” She laughs, and the others join in.

“I guess that's true. Some things will probably never change,” Ai laughed.

Author's Note: Wow, I don't really know what to say now that this is over. I started writing this almost three years ago. It's crazy to go back and read the earlier chapters because I think it's obvious how much my writing style has changed throughout the years. Hopefully, it was for the better, but I'm not really an accurate judge.

I want to think every single person who ever read this, and I especially want to think the people who reviewed. Every single review made me happy to read it. I love hearing what people say about this story and my writing.

My fanfiction.net profile will probably stay quiet for a while. Now that this is finished, I'm going to be working on a piece of original fiction that I kind of put on the back burner in order to get this done. If you're reading this on my writing blog, you guys may be seeing some teasers for that story on there, but it will be a while before you get to actually read it. Once it's done, I'll do one of two things. The first option is post all of it on my writing blog and my Fictionpress account. However, if I think it's good enough, I may attempt to get it published. The second option has about a .000000000000000000000001% chance of happening, so I'd be looking for it on the blog or Fictionpress.

As for fanfiction, after finishing my original story, I plan to write a series of Hunger Games one-shots for the 100 themes challenge (if you want to know more about that, message me and I'll give you the link). I'm definitely not giving up on fanfiction. I don't know when I'll write another Avatar fanfiction though. I'll probably get sentimental at some point and post a one-shot or two that ties into this story. If I do, it'll be posted on fanfiction.net with the other one-shots and on my writing blog. If anyone has any ideas for a one-shot set in this story's universe that you want me to write, please let me know, and I'll probably write it.

I need to stop writing this author's note before it becomes longer than the epilogue itself. I hope all of you guys had as fun a time reading the story as I did writing it, and I look forward to reading your reviews. Thank you so much!

A:TNG Chapter 22: What's Life Without a Few Near Death Experiences

Author's Note: I know I always have excuses and apologies at the beginning of these chapters. This semester as honestly been the busiest time of my life. Ever. On Monday, I take the AP test for AP biology. I really hope to have a lot more free time after that's over. Two and a half weeks from now, school ends, and I get even more free time. That definitely means more writing.

Although I still have some problems with it, I'm really proud of this chapter. I think it may be the longest chapter yet. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 22: What's Life Without a Few Near Death Experiences?

“How long does this vent go on for?” They'd been crawling for what felt like hours, but in reality was only twenty minutes.

Ai, who was in the lead, glanced back at the questioner, Ayame, when she heard the question. “I can't even see another opening,” she answered.

Ichiko groaned, “Great. We're going to be stuck in here until after the fighting ends.” She turned so that she was sitting with her back up against the wall of the vent.

“If you don't keep moving, then we will be,” Hajime told his girlfriend as he attempted to crawl around her, which was not an easy task in so small of an area.

“Weren't you the one who was most eager to get out of the bunker?” Kazuna asked her best friend as she too crawled around her.

“I didn't think it would take so long,” Ichiko grumbled as she began to crawl again, this time at the end of the line, behind Kazuna. “I hate closed in spaces,” she continued to complain as they made their way through the metal chamber.

A few minutes later, after Ai pointed out a spot of light in the distance, Ayame exclaimed, “That has to be the way out!”

“Sh!” Ai warned, “We don't know what's going on out there. It's better if we stay quiet. Otherwise, they could ambush us when we get out. When we get near the opening, let me go first. If I think it's safe, I'll motion for you to come.” The others nodded in agreement. Ai quietly crawled towards the opening while trying to remain quieter than she'd ever been in her life. Light streamed in, and she had to squint as she came to it. Carefully peaking around the edge of the opening, she was unable to detect anyone. A little less cautiously, she crawled directly in front of the vent and peered out. She turned and motioned behind her, “It's safe. I can't see anyone. It looks like the vents led us about half a mile from the bunker.”

“Half a mile?” Ayame asked with disbelief, “We had to have been crawling for a lot longer than that.”

“It was a rather winding tunnel,” Ikuo rolled his eyes beside her. Ayame shot him an aggravated glare which caused him to look a little sheepish for his smart ass comment.

Turning back to Ai, Ayame continued, “So, where are we exactly then?”

“I think we're at the very edge of the capital,” Ai peered out again, “We're definitely far away from most of the fighting. I can see a few people fighting from here, but they're far off in the distance. I think we could walk around and go completely unnoticed.”

“Still,” Kazuna said as she crawled towards Ai, so she could see for herself, “We should try to be inconspicuous. We don't want to take any chances of being caught.” They all shuddered at the thought of the last time they'd been held captive.

Ai took a deep, calming breath. “Well, here we go,” she said as she began to pry the metal covering off of the opening. She ambled through quickly with Kazuna directly behind her. They others followed soon after, and they began setting off towards the fighting.

It wasn't long before they began seeing evidence of a recent battle. They spotted dropped weapons, patches of blood, and even a few corpses of soldiers who had evidently not lasted long in the battle. What really distressed them was the abandoned arm that they found lying on the ground. Nothing tested their resolve to continue on more than that sight, but still, they went.

XX

Ozai's mouth formed a smirk as he saw the Avatar running towards him. He internally let out a laugh at the determined look on his opponent’s face. He seemed to think that Ozai would be an easy opponent considering his lack of fire bending. The Avatar didn't know that Ozai was perfectly capable of putting up a fight bending or no bending, and he still hadn't forgiven the person responsible for his lack of bending.

Ozai waited moments before the Avatar was directly in front of him to pull out a small dagger. At first, it managed to go unnoticed by the Avatar, who wasn't expected Ozai to be carrying a weapon. The Avatar dodged the dagger, missing it by inches. He directed a gust of air towards the hand holding the dagger, hoping to knock it free from Ozai's hand. However, Ozai had been expecting such an attack, and he managed to maintain a firm grip on his only weapon.

Realizing his first attempt hadn't worked, the Avatar removed enough water from the air to freeze the dagger and Ozai's hand together. Ozai growled in frustration and tried to shatter the ice by banging it against the wall of a building. He grunted in pain when the ice refused to break.

Aang allowed himself a small smirk at the ex-Fire Lord's pain. He used Ozai's moment of distraction to also freeze his feet to the ground. Ozai seemed to have forgotten he had the ability to freeze things because of his water bending. This didn't seem like it was going to be a fair fight.

XX

Taking advantage of a brief moment when Zuko was distracted, Azula glanced around the city that had been converted into a battle field. She glanced Ty Lee fighting twenty feet away and smirked. It was time for the two old friends to get reacquainted with each other. She turned her attention back to Zuko just in time to see him return to a fighting stance. Azula knew that the Avatar and Ozai were continuing to battle behind her, if only she could get Zuko to join them and leave her free to fight Ty Lee. That would never work though. Zuko wouldn't just let her go. Azula quickly calculated another plan. She sent a quick blast of fire back at Zuko. It was just enough to distract him for the second she needed to sprint in Ty Lee's direction. Zuko blocked the fire easily. He didn't understand why Azula would have sent such a pathetic blast of fire his way. Then, he saw the direction she was heading. Zuko rushed after her.

When Ty Lee's current opponent saw Azula coming, he gave a sigh of relief. He was happy to finally be done battling such a tough opponent. He quickly made himself scarce when Ty Lee's attention shifted to the blast of fire sent her way from Azula.

As soon as Ty Lee saw the blue flames, she felt a wave of dread wash over her. Facing her childhood best friend was not something she wished to do. She flipped through the air to avoid Azula's fire. She began doing many complicated moves in order to get away from Azula's attacks. Azula knew what all of Ty Lee's weaknesses were. She wasn't letting Ty Lee get anywhere near her. Ty Lee wasn't able to preform any attacks of her own.

Zuko was just seconds away from reaching the pair when a hand suddenly grabbed him from behind. At first, he was startled and, thinking it was a rebel, started to attack. When he turned to face his wife though, he quickly extinguished the flames coming from his hands.

“Mai!” Zuko yelled in anger, “What did you think you were doing!? I could have attacked you!”

Mai rolled her eyes, “You realized it was me in time. I was fine.” Before Zuko could respond, she continued, “Go help Aang with Ozai. I'll help Ty Lee fight Azula.”

Zuko glanced to both pairs before turning back to Mai. “Are you sure you want to face Azula?” he asked with slight concern in his voice.

“I have to,” Mai told him as she watched Ty Lee continue to dodge Azula's attacks. “You and Katara got to fight her last time. Now it's Ty Lee's and my turn.” Zuko nodded in understanding and rushed off toward Aang, leaving Mai to run to Ty Lee's aid.

Azula and Ty Lee didn't even notice as Mai approached them. Mai shot a shuriken at Azula while her back was turned. Azula suddenly found herself flying forward. The blade struck a wall, and Azula found herself pinned there by her left sleeve. Mai quickly threw another shuriken, attempting to pin Azula's other arm, but this time Azula was prepared. She was able to maneuver herself so that the blade harmlessly hit the wall. What Azula didn't see was Ty Lee sneaking up to her. Before Azula could right herself, Ty Lee punched her in the right arm, rendering it useless.

In retaliation, Azula kicked her right leg towards Ty Lee and sent a blast of fire. Ty Lee, who had been expecting something of the sort, jumped out of the way. Another one of Mai's blades sunk into the fabric of Azula's pants. Now, Azula was almost completely defenseless. She didn't even attempt to use her left leg. She tried in vain to rip her sleeve from the grip of Mai's weapon. The sleeve gave a little, leaving a small tear, but she was still attached to the wall. She looked up at her old best friends as they advanced upon her.

XX

It wasn't long before the kids encountered a small battle taking place. They crept along quietly, trying to conceal their presence. Within moments of their approach, the rebel soldier had slashed the Fire Nation soldier's throat. The children's gasp of absolute horror alerted the soldier of their presence.

“Well, it seems I've found the jack pot,” the woman smirked, “Your parents would be devastated if something happened to you, wouldn't they?” She slowly began advancing towards them, but they held their ground. They were determined to prove their bravery. They wouldn't let it turn out like last time. Besides, what could a random soldier hold against the ex-Fire Princess Azula.

They were ready as the first blast of fire came their way. Ai sent her own stream of fire towards the rebel. They collided in the air, and the children found themselves knocked to the ground as a wave of heat blasted towards them.

Once the flames had cleared, the children saw that the rebel had also been knocked down. She was middle-aged, and this kept her from getting up as quickly as the children. While she attempted to regain her footing, Ikuo rumbled the earth beneath her feet, making it even harder for her to stand. The rebel slowly straightened up, but she soon found her feet encased in rock. Ikuo smirked as the rebel growled in anger. She attempted to blast him with fire, but the flames weren't very deadly as fire bending is a style that relies heavily on the use of the bender's feet.

The rebel began to realize that she was in a bad situation. Her techniques were now limited, and it was six against one. She had to force herself not to panic. Panic would only make the situation worse. She concentrated on creating the biggest flames she could manage using only her upper body movement.

The next stream of flames were able to travel farther, but the children were prepared. Kazuna, who always carried a pouch of water with her, bent a wave of the liquid over the flames streaming from the rebel's left hand. Meanwhile, Ai was able to conquer her own flames to block the one's issuing from the rebel's right hand. As soon as the flames were gone, Ikuo shook the earth beneath the rebel's feet yet again. This time the rebel lost her balance, and Ikuo was able to in case her hands in the dirt. Now she was forced to remain on all fours, defenseless.

For a moment, the six of them all looked at each other as the rebel hung her head in shame. She couldn't believe she'd been beaten by children. After a moment or two, Hajime finally spoke up, “Well, I guess we're done with that then. Should we move on?”

Ichiko sighed, “I felt completely useless. If we meet another rebel, I vote that Hajime and I get to take them alone.” She began running towards the battle again with the other five following closely behind.

However, they never met another rebel to battle. It seemed that they had all been either killed or imprisoned already. The remaining Fire Nation soldiers had gathered around the only two battles still taking place. Even some of the rebel prisoners were being permitted to watch as their Fire Lord and the Avatar fought their old oppressor and their Fire Lady and Ty Lee fought their former princess. No one so much as attempted to step in and help. They stood and watched, almost as if they were entranced by the powerful skills they were seeing in front of them.

XX

Azula glared at the two traitors that stood in front of her defeated form. This whole situation felt just like the last time she'd lost twenty years ago. Only, it seemed to be worse this time around. Maybe it was because this time the two people who stood before her had once been her friends. At least, they'd been the closest things to friends Azula had ever had. She'd treated them horribly, but she was the Princess of the Fire Nation. She couldn't help it if she was better than they were.

Azula had been hoping to fight them this time. She wanted to make them regret betraying her. She internally cursed herself for ending up so vulnerable, again. Her mind quickly ran through strategies and attacks, but she couldn't think of one for her current predicament. As Mai and Ty Lee began closing in on her, Azula's thoughts became even more frantic. They were less than a second away from reaching her when Azula completely began to panic. It was almost as if she couldn't control herself. Fire burst from her mouth, and tears began to flow from her eyes. She didn't dare look her two old friends in the face. She was ashamed. She'd let it happen again! It was the second time Azula had been absolutely humiliated, and this time there had been even more people there to witness it. Yet again, Azula had failed the one person she'd tried pleasing her whole life: Ozai.

XX

When Zuko had made his way back over to Aang and his father, he found Aang in a bit of a predicament. Ozai was surprisingly good at fighting without bending and with his feet frozen to the ground. Zuko shot a blast of flames toward Ozai before Ozai had even realized his son's return. Ozai felt the heat behind him and managed to dodge the fire at the last minute. He turned his head to see his son running towards him again. His ever-present smirk widened. Ozai always loved the chance to fight and humiliate his first-born.

Ozai held his knife over his head as soon as Zuko was within reaching distance. In his anger, Zuko paid no attention to the knife. It was seconds from entering Zuko's flesh when a blast of air send it flying. Zuko looked behind him to see Aang in an air bending stance. There wasn't much time for words at the moment, so he made a mental note to thank Aang later. Ozai quickly recovered from the lose of his one weapon and grabbed Zuko by the arm. Before Zuko could react, Ozai had his arms pinned to his side, rendering them near useless for fire bending, but Aang was quick to react.

Ozai was soon knocked backwards by a strong gust of wind. His body bent at a weird angle with his frozen feet making it impossible to lay flat. Before Ozai could even attempt to right himself, Aang earth bent his arms to the ground as well. Ozai was now completely defenseless. The ex-Fire Lord's position eerily reminded Aang of the man's last defeat over twenty years ago.

Aang and Zuko, who hadn't been aware of the crowd of people surrounding them, turned in shock to see everyone cheering at Ozai's second defeat. As Mai came running towards her husband, Zuko saw that Azula had also been defeated for the second time. He gripped his wife tightly as soon as she was by his side. Before long, his daughter was also in his embrace. It took a few minutes before he realized that she wasn't even supposed to be there.

“How did you get out here!?” Zuko exclaimed suddenly as he held his daughter at arm's length.

Mai also scrutinized her daughter as Ai looked sheepishly at her parents. “We kind of crawled through an air vent.”

Zuko sighed and glanced around at the celebrating crowd. He decided he could wait to discuss a punishment until tomorrow at least. Zuko and Mai found the other adults also questioning their children. There seemed to be a mutual consent to not worry about it until further notice. The crowd began to part as the group made their way back to the underground bunker.

Upon their arrival, they discovered Haruki and several others still standing guard at the entrance. Haruki seemed startled to see Ai and the other teens with the adults. He glanced quickly at the door as though expecting to see it open or maybe a large hole that they'd blasted through it without his noticing. “Wha-What?” Haruki stammered.

Ai smirked at her boyfriend. All she said was, “Air vent.” Haruki hung his head in shame, feeling like he'd failed the Fire Lord.

“I'm sorry, sir,” Haruki addressed Zuko's feet, “I failed you and the Fire Nation. I promised I'd keep them safe, and I wasn't able to. I deserve to be punished.” To further show his regret, Haruki knelt before Zuko on the ground. Zuko's friends and family chuckled a little upon seeing all of this, and Zuko felt a blush spreading across his face. He didn't look like such a powerful Fire Lord at the moment.

“Haruki,” Zuko addressed his daughter's boyfriend in an attempt to end his embarrassment as quickly as possible. “That's really not necessary. I'm not my father. I know it wasn't your fault, and no one was hurt. You're not going to be punished.” He paused a moment before adding in a whisper, “And please get off the ground before someone else sees you. My friends are already going to mock me about this for a long time.”

“Sorry, sir,” Haruki said as he hastily stood up. At the sound of yet another apology from the boy, Zuko felt a slight shudder run through his body.

Zuko's prediction proved to be true soon enough. As the made their way back to the palace, Toph fell in step beside him. His other old friends following close behind. The children had fallen behind a bit as they discussed things they obviously preferred the adults didn't hear. Zuko glanced over at Toph only to see her looking at him with a smirk on her face. He knew what was coming and groaned. “Toph,” he said exasperated, “Can you please not make fun of me today. Let's just be happy everything's finally over, please?”

Toph shrugged her shoulders and stepped back to walk beside Sokka. “You're safe for now, Mr. Fire Lord, but I can only guarantee you twenty-four hours. My self-control to mock such an easy target can't last longer than that.”

Zuko outwardly sighed, but inside he was smiling at his old friend. “Thanks, Toph. What would I do without you?”

“Live a dull and uninteresting life,” Toph smirked. The others all chuckled in agreement.

Meanwhile, the children were having a conversation of their own as they trailed behind their parents.

“Do you think they'll be locked up for good this time?” Nori asked.

“I hope so,” Kazuna told her little sister. “This has been enough fighting to last me a lifetime.”

“What are you talking about?” Ichiko asked her best friend in shock, “This past week or so has been the most exciting of my life!”

Ai rolled her eyes, “You have the worst definition of exciting, Ichiko. I'd much rather do exciting things that don't involve almost dying.”

Ichiko just shrugged her shoulders. “What's life without a few near death experiences?”

Hajime laughed at his girlfriend as he put his arm around her shoulders. “I think we've had enough near death experiences to last us a decade or two.”

“You guys have no sense of adventure,” Ichiko sighed as they continued towards the palace. Her friends just shook their heads, all agreeing that she was out of her mind. If Ichiko had seen it, they would have all received the evil eye, but thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. Hopefully, Ichiko's temper would be the closest any of them would get to danger in quite a while.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter of Avatar: The Next Generation! I'll have the epilogue up as soon as possible. I hope to begin working on it tonight or tomorrow.

A:TNG Chapter 21: Be Careful

A/N: I know, it's been over a month. Why was this chapter not up sooner? I'm not happy with it. At all. Here it is though. I hope you enjoy it.

Avatar: The Next Generation

Chapter 21: Be Careful

Zuko glared as he met his father's eyes. Ozai was about twenty feet away and seemed to have been just waiting for his son to make an appearance. Zuko didn't pay his wife and friends any attention as he made his way towards his father. In the same manner, Ozai didn't seem to notice Azula smirking at Zuko behind him. The two men's eyes never left the other's glare.

Aang followed closely behind Zuko. It wasn't that he doubted his friend's ability, but no one could take on both Azula and Zuko at the same time.

There was a tense moment as the four of them just stood facing each other. They were poised to strike at any moment, but none seemed to want to make the first move.

Then, Azula, always eager for an opportunity to fight Zuko, struck first. She sent a blast of fire straight toward Zuko. Zuko noticed it just second before it would make contact with him. I bent his own shield of fire to stop Azula's from touching him.

This seemed to set the ball rolling. Suddenly, Aang shot a blast of air at Ozai and Azula. The air pushed them both back from Zuko and Aang about twenty feet. This gave Aang enough time to glance at Zuko quickly at make sure he wasn't injured before Ozai and Azula could strike again.

Azula recovered quickly and was soon shooting fire and Aang and Zuko again. As the battle waged on, Azula seemed to be holding her own against Zuko and Aang, who wasn't using the Avatar state.

Ozai hung back. Even with his fire bending gone and having spent many years in prison, he was still very agile. He wasn't attacking anyone, but he was easily able to avoid any attack that came his way. Aang found it odd that Ozai was out in the open instead of hidden away somewhere safe. Unless Ozai had some way of fighting that he just hadn't shown yet. With this in mind, Aang fought his way past Azula towards the past Fire Lord.

XX

Mai ducked as a sword was swung at her. As soon as it was gone, she threw a shuriken straight towards the rebel carrying it. He soon found himself stuck to the ground. As he hurriedly tried to free his clothes from the weapon, Mai set her sights on a different target.

XX

As soon as he spotted the rebel running towards him, Sokka reared his sword back. He brought it down as the person came into range. His sword clanked against the man's helmet. Sokka knew the man wasn't dead, but he appeared to be unconscious. Sokka did a quick scan of the area, and saw Toph fighting a large group of people. He threw his boomerang that way and watched it slice the arm of one of the rebels. He ran forward to catch his boomerang as it returned to him.

XX

Toph grinned to herself as she felt one rebel collapse after something hit him in the head. She could only assume it was Sokka's boomerang. Her suspicions were confirmed when she felt him catch the object as it soared back to him. Toph brought up a block of earth directly in a group of rebel's path. They didn't have much time to react and ended up slamming right into the wall. Then, she brought up a block of earth and sent it flying towards another group of rebels. She smiled as she thought about how much she'd missed this.

XX

Haru quickly pivoted as the rebel attempted to pierce him with a spear. He earth bended a large rock towards the rebel from behind. The rebel had no clue what was coming towards him until he'd been knocked unconscious.

XX

Ty Lee was running from three rebels when she spotted a column holding up the awning of a nearby store. She grabbed it and used it to swing herself around and back towards the men. She knocked them right off their feet. Ty Lee let go and angled herself so that she landed on her feet. She quickly blocked the rebel's chakra before they were able to move. She smiled to herself before getting ready for the other group of rebels coming towards her.

XX

Kaimu slashed his knife through the air, but was unsuccessful in hitting his mark. The rebel had jumped out of range seconds before the knife would have sliced his skin open. Swearing in frustration, Kaimu ran after the rebel as fast as his feet would take him. His knife connected with nothing but air a few times until it finally found flesh. The rebel's neck poured blood as he collapsed to the ground.

XX

Katara whirled around with the water creating a circle around her as she moved. She made it into a whip and struck the nearest rebel who went flying backwards from the pressure. She continued to move the water whip out as she spun and succeeded in hitting multiple rebels. After completing a full circle, she ran towards another group of rebels ahead of her.

XX

Suki twirled her fans around as she ran through the group of rebels. She spun and kicked, knocking three of them out almost at once. She continued through the group. More and More kept coming. It seemed almost never ending.

XX

“Well, that didn't work,” Ai said matter of factly as Ikuo sank to the floor with his back against the door.

Ikuo had spent the last fifteen minutes attempting to metal bend the door unsuccessfully. He had managed to make a small dent in it but nothing major. He apparently needed to work on his metal bending skills.

“What are we going to do now?” Ayame sighed as she flopped onto her back.

“There's nothing we can do,” Ai said, “We're just going to have to wait here.”

Ichiko let out a loud, frustrated groan, “I hate this! I want to be out there!”

Hajime laid his hand on her shoulder, “We all do, but there's no way to get out of here.”

“There has to be,” Ikuo was looking around as if an escape would suddenly present itself, “We just need to think harder.”

Saki rolled her eyes at the older children. “Isn't it obvious,” she scoffed. Everyone turned to look at her in confusion. She raised her hand to point towards an air vent high on the wall. “Honestly, do any of you read. Everyone escapes through air vents.”

They all looked at each other. Finally, Ichiko spoke in disbelief, “How did a five year old think of that when we didn't?”

“So, we'll go through the air vents then,” Ai stood up.

“I'm coming,” Saki said with excitement in her voice.

“Absolutely not!” Kazuna yelled at her little sister.

“But I'm the one who thought of the air vents!” Saki whined in the beginnings of a temper tantrum.

“You're only five,” exclaimed Kazuna.

“You're only fourteen!”

“Saki,” Ai began, “I agree with Kazuna. You need to stay here for now. You don't know enough bending to help. It wouldn't take long for you to get hurt.”

Saki crossed her arms in anger and frustration as she plopped down on the floor and began to pout. The other young children began to speak up as well. They also wanted to go.

“I'm sorry, you guys,” Ai addressed the group, “But none of you are going. The six of us,” here she motioned towards Ichiko, Ikuo, Hajime, Kazuna, and Ayame, “are the only ones that stand any chance out there, and honestly, we don't even stand much of a chance.”

The others began to quiet down. For a moment there was just silence. Then, Akiyoshi jumped up and ran to hug his sister. “Be careful,” he whispered.

“I will be,” she whispered back.

Soon, all of the siblings were in group hugs. Ichiko and Ikuo, who were in a rare moment of showing they actually cared for each other, even pulled Ayame into their hug, not wanting her to feel left out. After a few minutes, everyone began to break apart, and the six oldest began lifting themselves up into the air vent.

A/N: I hope next chapter will be better especially since it's the final chapter. I can't believe it. I only have one more chapter and an epilogue, and then this story is over. It's so weird.

Don't Make Me Laugh

A/N: This was written for A Very Potter Challenge, and it should most definitely not be taken seriously.  I was given a quote from AVPM (which is in bold) and had to incorporate it into the story.  Enjoy!

Don't Make Me Laugh

Ron wandered into the bathroom to find it completely empty. He found that weird since classes had just been dismissed. This was usually the busiest time for going to the bathroom. All of the kids who had teachers that didn't believe in bathroom breaks usually had to empty their bladders right about now.

He heard lots of commotion out in the hall, but no one entered the restroom. Ron shrugged to himself as he made his way over the the nearest urinal in the otherwise deserted bathroom.

He was almost finished when he caught sight of Harry entering the bathroom. Harry had just spotted Ron when he tripped over his robes. Unable to catch himself, Harry fell straight to the ground.

Ron immediately burst into laughter. “Don't make me laugh! I'm pissing!” he exclaimed.

Harry's face began to turn a little pink as he stood up, rearranged his robes, and walked over to another urinal, as if nothing had even happened.

An A:TNG One-shot: First Day

A/N: Hey look!  I finally posted the last one of these here!  I (yet again) forgot that I still needed to post this here.  This is the last one of these (for now at least).  I hope you enjoy it!

An Avatar: The Next Generation One-shot

First Day

"What if nobody likes me?"

"Of course people will like you, Kuuya," Katara told her son as she helped him get ready for his first day of school.

"I mean for a reason other than the fact that my dad's the Avatar."

Katara sternly looked her son in the eye. "That's not what I meant. They'll like you for you."

Kuuya was attending school with Kazuna at the Southern Water Tribe where the family lived during part of the year.

"Besides," Katara continued, "You already have some friends who will be in your class."

"What if they don't want to be seen with me at school?"

Katara smiled down at him. "That won't happen. I promise."

"Kuuya," Kazuna yelled from the other room, "Hurry up, or we're gonna be late!"

"Kazuna seems excited," Katara said after glancing toward the door that her daughter's voice had come through.

"Of course she is," Kuuya muttered while staring at the floor, "She's been to school before and has friends there."

Katara kissed the top of his head. "It'll all be fine."

They started walking towards the front room to find Kazuna standing halfway out the front door impatiently waiting for her brother.

"Finally!" she exclaimed upon seeing them.

"Are you turning into Ichiko?" Kuuya asked his sister with a worried look on his face.

"No," Kazuna rolled her eyes, "I want to go to school and see my friends."

Katara, now carrying Saki the youngest of the kids, said, "Calm down Kazuna. You'll have time."

Kazuna didn't pay any attention to her mother. She ran over, grabbed her brother's hand, and began dragging him out of the door. Both children yelled goodbye to Katara on their way out.

"I can't go in there."

"Stop being a baby, Kuuya. I'm going to go find my friends."

"Kazuna!"

"What!" This was probably the most annoyed Kuuya had ever heard Kazuna. They'd never fought that much. They actually got along with each other very well with just the occasional argument.

"Please go in there with me."

Kazuna rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room. She briefly introduced him to the teacher before pulling him over to where the other children were playing. His friends were no where in sight.

"Just go over and introduce yourself to people." Kuuya completely ignored his sister and just continued to stand there. "Honestly, Kuuya, where is this shyness coming from? You're never shy."

"I've never gone to school."

"How is it any different?"

"If they don't like me, I'm still going to be stuck with them every day for over ten years."

"That's stupid. You wouldn't have to talk to them. Besides, they'll like you." Kuuya didn't look convinced. Kazuna decided that she was going to have to do this herself otherwise she wouldn't get to class until she was forty. "Come on," she took her brother's hand and led him over to where a boy and girl were playing with some toys. The girl was obviously a water bender as she was attempting to use waterbending to play whatever game it was the two children were playing. Kazuna had no clue what they were doing. As the girl hadn't had any formal training yet, her attempts were admirable but not all that good.

"Hey guys. My name is Kazuna and this is my little brother Kuuya. He's going to be in your class. What are your names?"

The children looked up at Kazuna and Kuuya in wonder. "Are you Avatar Aang and Katara's kids?" asked the little girl. Kazuna nudged Kuuya's shoulder to get him to answer.

"Yeah," he said while nervously glancing around the room.

"My name is Machi," the little girl said, "This is Nozomu. Would you like to play with us?"

"Sure," Kuuya sat down next to the two other children. He was still slightly hesitant but was beginning to look more sure of himself.

"You're an airbender aren't you?" It was the first time Nozomu had spoken. Kuuya nodded his head. "That's so cool!"

Kazuna smiled as the three children began playing the game Machi and Nozomu had been playing before. She figured it was time for her to leave. She went off to finally find her friends. As she did, she reminisced about her first day of school, and how she'd met her friends very similar to how Kuuya had just met Machi and Nozomu. He'll be fine, she thought. More than fine.

A:TNG One-shot: Beautiful and Scary

A/N: I feel like I need to say here kind of what I did over on fanfiction.net because of a review I got.  This was written during my Spanish class.  We were celebrating Cinco de Mayo, so I decided to incorporate that into the story just because.  I know that Avatar is based on Asian cultures, but this story was really just written for fun.  I don't expect this to be taken seriously or anything.  I was just bored in class and writing a somewhat random story.

An A:TNG One-shot

Beautiful and Scary

"Wow," Kazuna stared in awe as the fireworks exploded around her. She'd never seen anything like them before. "They're so beautiful."

Kazuna's two year old brother Kuuya had his face buried in his mother's neck. The loud bangs terrified him. Not to mention you never knew when a little bit of the scary fire in the sky would make it to the ground.

It was May 5th and an important holiday in the Fire Nation. Kazuna's dad Aang had told her the story on their way to the Fire Nation town of Puebla. Just because the Fire Nation had been the last nation to attempt to conquer the world, it didn't mean they were the only nation to ever try. Five hundred years ago, the Earth Kingdom was making its way toward the Fire Nation capital in an attempt to conquer it. When they got to the fire Nation town of Puebla, a group of Fire Nation citizens, mainly civilians, were able to defeat them and keep them from advancing.

The story amazed Kazuna. She couldn't believe that the Fire Nation had won using things like pitchforks while the Earth Kingdom had expensive weapons. It was amazing how hard people will fight to defend their homeland.

Kazuna spotted her cousins laying on a blanket while watching the fireworks. "Happy Cinco de Mayo, guys."

"Happy Cinco de Mayo, Kazuna," Ichiko and Ikuo said in unison.

The name of the holiday meant May 5th in the ancient Fire Nation language. It had been spoken throughout the Fire Nation until about three hundred years ago when the four nations had agreed on a universal language. Today, most people knew very little of their nations' ancient languages. Kazuna thought that was a little sad actually.

"Aren't the fireworks amazing?" Kazuna asked as she laid down next to Ichiko. Her parents and brother had sat down by her aunt and uncle a few feet away.

"They're almost as amazing as I am," Ichiko joked. At least, Kazuna thought it was a joke. Ichiko probably did think she was more amazing then the fireworks.

"They're beautiful and scary at the same time," Ikuo said, "The colors are beautiful, but if something went wrong or they were used in the wrong way, they could be deadly. It's crazy that something could be both of those things at once." Wow, those were pretty profound words for a five year old. Ikuo was a lot smarter than he let on.

Ichiko and Kazuna mulled his words over as they watched the fireworks. "If you think about it," Aang spoke up. The adults had apparently been listening. "You could probably say the same about the Battle of Puebla. It was obviously deadly, horrible, and ugly because of all of the lives lost. At the same time, it was beautiful because the Fire Nation was able to keep it's freedom. It all depends on your point of view. A lot of the time something horrible can change into something beautiful, or something beautiful can also be deadly. If you think about it, even child birth is that way. It involves a lot of pain, but in the end you get a beautiful child."

"Ew, dad," Kazuna groaned. Her and the other children made faces. "Did you really have to bring that up? It's disgusting."

"Not to mention cheesy," Toph said while rolling her eyes, "You are way too soft, Twinkle Toes."

"I think it's sweet," Katara smiled before kissing Aang.

"Okay," Sokka said covering his eyes, "Now, that is disgusting." The children voiced their agreement. "How about I take you guys over to get some food? I'm starving."

Toph rolled her eyes again. "Isn't that a shock. I'll go with you. We can leave Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen here to be lovey dovey alone."

"Best Cinco de Mayo ever?" Ichiko whispered to Kazuna on their way back to where they were staying later.

"Ichiko, it was the first one we've ever celebrated," Kazuna answered.

"So?" Ichiko asked.

Kazuna couldn't help but agree. "Next year will be even better," Kazuna said.

"I sure hope so. Feliz Cinco de Mayo, Kazuna!" Ichiko ran off towards her room.

Kazuna yelled after her, "Feliz Cinco de Mayo, Ichiko!"

A:TNG One-shots: Biting

A/N:  So, I kind of forgot that I still needed to post some of these here.  There are only two more to go!

An A:TNG One-shot

Biting

"Ichiko, it's time for your nap!" Toph yelled to her two year old daughter, "Ikuo's already asleep."

"Mom! I'm not tired!" Ichiko didn't want to leave Ai, Kazuna, and Ayame. They were in the middle of a very exciting game of tag.

Toph took her daughter's hand and began leading her inside. "It's a rule." Toph said, "You know that you have to take a nap every day."

"The others don't," Ichiko stubbornly said.

"Ai and Kazuna are older than you, and Ayame's parents set the rules for her."

"I'm not going!" Ichiko wrenched her hand out of her mother's and ran toward her friends.

"Ichiko," Ai spoke up, "You need to go with your mom."

"No," Ichiko was stubborn enough without going through the terrible twos. Toph was on her way back over already.

"It's no fair!" Ichiko screamed. Out of no where, she grabbed Ai, who was trying to push her towards Toph and bit her on the hand.

"She bit me!" Ai was in shock. It was even bleeding.

"You're coming with me now!" Toph grabbed a kicking and screaming Ichiko and carried her inside.

Apologizing to Girls

A/N: This was written for nerdyclever's 100 Random Quotes Challenge. I was given three random quotes and had to incorporate them into my story. The quotes are in bold. I hope you enjoy it!

Apologizing to Girls

“There's more to life than Quidditch!” Lily exclaimed as she stormed away from her boyfriend. Her red hair quickly disappeared up the staircase to the girl's dormitories.

James looked around at his three best friends, not quite sure what to say about what had just happened. In fact, he didn't even really understand what had happened. Sure, he might have forgotten about his three month anniversary with Lily because he got a little too excited about next week's Quidditch game, and he may have even scheduled a practice at the same time that he'd agreed to spend time with his girlfriend. They were playing against Slytherin for the cup next week though! This was the game of the year! She should understand that.

“You are in big trouble, mate,” Sirius shook his head in slight amusement at his best friend's dilemma.

“She can't be that mad. Can she?” he asked as he glanced at his of his friend's in turn.

“I don't know, Prongs,” Remus said as he looked up from his book, “She looked pretty pissed.”

James groaned and sunk down lower into the couch cushions, “Great. I don't know what to do. We've never gotten into a fight before.”

Sirius and Remus both snorted in amusement. It took Peter a few minutes to join in although he clearly didn't understand what was funny. “Are you sure about that, Prongs?” Sirius asked him as he laughed, “I seem to remember quite a lot of fights between you two.”

“That was different,” James replied, “That was before we were dating. There was no making up involved. I don't know how to apologize to a girl.”

“James,” Remus began, “You've had plenty of girlfriends. What did you do when you fought with them?”

“Um,” James looked around a little nervously, “Nothing. That's usually when the relationship ended.”

Remus just shook his head at his friend while Sirius continued to chuckle to himself.

“Well,” Remus said as he picked up his book again, “Unless you want your relationship with Lily to end the same way, you'd better figure out how to apologize to a girl soon.”

James glanced towards the staircase that Lily had stormed up. He could feel his nervousness growing. This would be interesting.

XX

The next morning James made his way down to the great hall for breakfast with his friends like normal. What wasn't normal however (for the last three months at least), was the way a certain red-headed girl was giving him the evil eye from a little way down the table.

“Why's she staring at me like that?” James muttered to his friends, “I'm frightened.”

“Wow,” Sirius said as he leaned over a bit to get a better view of Lily from down the table, “She looks pissed. Good luck patching things up, Prongs.” He laughed a little, as if he was sure that no amount of good luck would save James from Lily's wrath.

“Why can't she just get over it,” James sighed, “So I made a mistake. It could have been something much worse.”

“You forgot about your anniversary though,” Remus explained, “Of course she's going to be mad. It was important to her. Just go apologize.”

“Are you kidding?” James asked in disbelief, “She looks like she's about to rip my head off.”

“She probably will if you don't apologize,” Remus said as he buttered his toast.

“If you're such an expert at this, Moony, why don't you have a girlfriend?” James asked in slight annoyance, but Remus just chose to ignore him. James glanced over at Lily a few times. She'd finally turned her glare from James to her food. James also noticed that she wasn't participating in her friends' conversation at all. He sighed as he realized that now was as good a time to do something as any.

“If you sense I'm in any serious danger,” James told his friends as he stood up from the table, “Please come rescue me.”

“Sure, Prongs,” Sirius smirked as James began to walk away, “We'd love to be your knights in shining armor.”

At first, Lily didn't notice him standing behind her. It wasn't until she realized that her friends had suddenly gotten quiet that she looked up to see her boyfriend standing over her.

“Lily, can we talk?” he asked with a nervousness in his voice she wasn't used to hearing.

She didn't quit glaring but nodded her head. She said good bye to her friends as she followed him into the hallway.

“Lily, please just listen to me,” James began quickly as soon as they were outside of the Great Hall. “I'm sorry that I forgot about our anniversary. It was stupid of me. I want to make it up to you though. How about we go on a picnic tomorrow, out by the lake. It'll be just the two of us. I'll make sure Sirius doesn't bother us.”

A small smile made it's way across Lily's lips, “That sounds perfect.”

James seemed shocked that Lily hadn't yelled at him even more. “You mean, you're not mad anymore?” he asked in disbelief.

Lily shook her head, “No, you apologized, and I can tell you mean it. Like you said, it was a stupid mistake. Just don't let it happen again.” She gave him a stern look at the last part.

James smiled at her, “Of course I won't.”

“Good,” Lily smiled as they each began to lean in for a kiss.

Before their lips touched, however, a voice rang out for the whole hall to hear, “I do not wear frilly knickers! Who told you that?”

Lily and James both burst into laughter at the sound of Sirius' voice. After a moment, Lily had calmed down enough to ask, “What was that about?”

James smirked at her, “I may have said something to a few people the other day.”

“Of course you did,” Lily shook her head as she smiled. She took James' hand in her own and began to lead him back into the Great Hall where he would probably have to face a very irate Sirius.

A/N: If any reader of A:TNG also reads this, I promise that the next chapter is coming. As I've said in several places, this chapter is giving me a lot of trouble. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before it's up.

Anyway, please review!