Darshi fixed her brothers hair, adjusting his shirt as he slept. He had not waken since her final battle with the Fire Lord, but he was breathing so she kept hope. Letters had been sent out to the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe about the result of Darshi’s fight, and she had been told the Earth Kingdom was attempting to stabilize itself with one of King Shichiro’s many relatives ruling the kingdom.

“You can’t go back.”

Seokjin was leaning against the wall with his arms cross against his chest, hair hiding part of his expression. Darshi fixed Jungkook’s blankets one final time, standing up to face the new Fire Lord head on.

“I must,” she murmured, grabbing a small bag with a few supplies she had asked for. Seokjin blocked her way not allowing her to pass.

“You are my wife now.” It was said like a whispered plea, as if he already knew this would not be enough but was desperate to try anyhow. “You are needed here more than you are dead.”

Darshi glared, shaking her head. “I killed off more than half of the Northern Water Tribe. I must pay for what I’ve done.”

“It was me that killed them,” he said plaintive, desperate to take all of the blame. “I manipulated you.”

“I still chose it. I could have refused, but I didn’t.”

“And allow me to kill off your tribe?” he said in disbelief. “Who would choose that?”

“An air bender,” she said stubborn.

“For the flames,” he mumbled to himself. “You weren’t an Air Nomad then! You still aren’t now. That culture is dead. How can you live in a way that no one has taught you?”

“By reading and understanding, Seokjin! Honestly, it’s not that complicated,” she grumbled.

“No, we didn’t agree to this. You told me that night that you would rule by my side to make sure I was doing as promised. You married me. You came up with this crazy scheme! Not me, you!”

If she were honest she only married him to make sure he really meant what he was telling her. There was no going back on marriage, not unless she was dead. A feat that would be nearly impossible. She already knew if she survived afterwards that she would not be living long. She would not break her promise to the Northern Water Tribe despite what had happened here.

“You’re supposed to be the Fire Lady. I don’t know if I can do everything you want me to without you here with me,” he admitted.

“You have what you wanted,” she murmured, avoiding him. “I gave you the credit of killing the Fire Lord. No one knows otherwise but you and me. With the rest of the world believing that the nobles here will not doubt you. They will know you’re powerful without me and follow you into a new era.”

“You said your reasoning for marrying me would be taking you as spoils of war and taming you, but really you would be the one whispering what to do,” he defended.

“You know what you need to do, Seokjin. You just have to stick to it. Your father is no longer looming over you and making you feel trapped.”

“Your brother needs you.”

She shook her head, lips pinched as she held back her emotions. Jungkook had always been a soft spot for her. “He doesn’t need me,” she whispered. “He hasn’t for a long time.”

Not since he was fourteen and decided he no longer needed or had any desire to listen to her. Since that day they had only shared a home, more like roommates than anything. When she left the South he was alone too and was perfectly fine without her.

It was Darshi that needed him. It was always her.

No, it was a want, she told herself. She could force herself to live the rest of her life without him if she had to, although there would be an emptiness to it. She’d learned that much in the passing months when she thought Jungkook and the rest of her tribe were dead.

Seokjin leaned closer until their foreheads almost touched, Darshi’s breathing becoming shallow with the proximity. This close she could feel his little breaths against her lips, all the golden flecks that filled his eyes. He reached a hand out, running it through her hair.

“Maybe that was an excuse,” he whispered. “Maybe I’m the one that needs you.”

Darshi turned her head, pulling away from him as she shouldered her pack. “Why are you like this now?” she murmured. “You were never like this before.”

He had always insisted he held no romantic interest in her. She didn’t understand the sudden change. Besides, she should hate him. It was because of him that innocent people died, that her tribe’s warriors were all taken and killed. Even though he had changed that didn’t undo the wrongs he had done.

Darshi could never love him.

“On the ship I didn’t understand or recognize my feelings, and then during the trip here I knew one wrong move would end my life.” He took another step closer. “You don’t have to go back. No one can make you. You’re Adarshini, the most powerful bender in the world. You could do anything you wanted with that title.”

“Then that is the difference between me and you,” she whispered. “Between fire and air. I know I could avoid my punishment if I wanted to, but I have more integrity than that. I understand what I’ve done is wrong and I need to atone for it.”

“By dying?” he said incredulous.

“By trying to fix one of the many wrongs in this world.”

“Forgive me if I cannot forsee how killing the savior of the world would do it any good!”

“Because I am not good!” she screamed. “I am a selfish, despicable human being! I’m too powerful for my own good! Even my past actions show I cannot be trusted!”

They stared at each other, Darshi slowly calming down until her breath was even and her shoulders no longer bunched with tension. It felt as if the loss of anger made her lose every other emotion she had, and only emptiness filled her. Not a black hole, not a gnawing hunger unable to be filled.

Emptiness. A plethora of nothing.

“You are capable of running the Fire Nation. You were trained to do so since birth. I believe you can make proper decisions now that you see the rest of the world is just as human as you.”

She had outlined her letter to all of the other nations and an ambassador from both the water and earth kingdom's would be sent over at once to keep an eye on him. After all, Seokjin was not as undefeatable as his father, and it was better the enemy they knew than the one they didn’t. The most important thing right now was building, and Seokjin was willing to extend a hand and help everyone by making war reparations for what the Fire Nation had been doing for decades. The Air Nomads would be alright too, free to live in the air temples and start anew without fear.

Seokjin shook his head, hands in his pockets with a plaintive look upon his face. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I love you.”

“You don’t love me,” she denied immediately.

“I do. I really do, and I know I don’t deserve to. I’ve done horrible things in my life, but I really want you to stay. I want you to be here with me.” He took a deep breath in, slowly exhaling. “Or at the least spend a night with me. Just sleeping, nothing more, so that I can at least know what that feels like.”

Darshi’s throat bobbed, recalling what King Shichiro told her what felt like a life time ago. “One night,” she agreed.

Because life wasn’t about what you deserved.

Darshi pulled herself off her horse, taking in the earth bender wandering around Lake Laogai. When he noticed her he hurried over, giving her a deep bow before bending open the steps.

The Northern Water Tribe had not left yet. They were still preparing and struggling to get back on their feet after the entirety of the North had been flattened. Prince Namjoon had sent a few workers up to start building so that they’d have something to work with and did not have to live out of boats. The rest of the elementals had gone back home. Even the air benders, who Darshi heard was being run by Ishan at the moment. They were in capable hands with him. Darshi didn’t have to worry.

Her arms wrapped around the non-bender as he ran up to her, struggling to give him a smile. “What do you plan on doing now that everything is over?”

Hoseok let out a deep sigh, taking in the emptiness of the streets. The only people here were dressed in blues, with the occasional color dotted here and there.

“Probably travel the world. Someone has to need help rebuilding.”

“You’re not going back home?” she pried carefully.

He shook his head, a melancholy gleam in his eyes. “That’s not an option. What I did… I’m lucky to still have my life.”

Darshi nodded, not pushing him further. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it. Darshi understood that. There were things she felt the same way about.

“Will Jungkook be coming back?”

“When he’s better,” she said, voice certain. She refused to believe anything else. A water bender was even staying behind to care for him. The woman had made it clear she did not do it for the Fire Lord, but for Jungkook.

“How is Seokjin’s takeover going?”

“As good as could be expected,” she admitted. She had only been there a few days, but Seokjin had filled her in on everything that was going in. “The nobles are at unrest, but not full out rebelling. They understand power, and Seokjin is not showing a weak front.”

He couldn’t if he wanted to survive. He released all the slaves under the excuse that the Fire Nation did not need to depend on anyone and that keeping slaves showed they were w