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"There you are, Twinkle Toes!" Toph flung a boulder deep into the Fire Witch's ranks. "I thought you were going to miss the battle."
"I needed to talk to someone." He thought of the Lion Turtle, and the Fire Princess's sharp knife cutting downward into his body, and shuddered. Then smiled at Toph. "Don't worry. I have a plan."
She wasn't the only one to shoot him a dubious look, Katara's its near twin. Sokka put the sharp end of his gifted sword into a werewolf and said for all of them, "Might be a good time to get started on that."
"Right." Aang snapped out his flyer and lifted into the sky toward the Fire Witch.
The Fire Witch's army was led by his general and daughter, Azula, and large and deadly enough to demand the full attention of his companions, the other son of Adam and daughters of Eve, with all the gifts they'd been given: Toph's stone that became any weapon or tool in her hand as needed, Sokka's sword that always struck true, Katara's healing water tied on a cord around her neck and the ice whip able to turn back or dissipate any fire from the Fire Witch or his daughter.
Aang thought of Aslan and flew for the Fire Witch surveying the battlefield above. From his vantage, he was able to flash-heat too many of Aang's friends and allies, sculptures of ash appearing in the shape of humans, and Aang felt anger burning inside him as he flew faster toward the Fire Witch.
Aslan had died for him, returned to life and broken the stone table, then breathed on Aang with a greater gift than the flyer from Father Christmas. The fire of dragons, the waters of blessings, the stone of the earth, the breath of the wind, the touch of the spirit. All of them rose up to answer Aang's call, and power met power when Aang met the Fire Witch above the battlefield. He felt like he was burning up with light.
The Fire Witch turned flame against Aang, and ice and wind knocked it aside. He stretched out his hand to turn Aang to ash, but the fire of dragons burned in Aang's blood and kept him alive. Behind him, he could see Azula fighting Katara with lightning and fire, Toph and Sokka fighting werewolf after dwarf after witch with sword and boulder. Aang reached out and took hold of the Fire Witch and fought with spirit.
When it was over, Aang dropped wearily to the earth.
Toph had put her stone back on her arm as an armband and came to sit beside him. The tide of the battle had turned, the enemy had fled. She punched him hard in the shoulder, and he just about fell over. "Ow."
"You did good, Twinkle Toes."
Aang found himself smiling.
Aslan attended the coronation, though he was usually content to allow Narnia to conduct its royal affairs on its own when no major upheaval had been had.
The Fire Witch had ruled Narnia for more than a hundred years in perpetual burning summer. The forests had begun to turn green again with the Fire Witch's total loss of power. Water ran in the rivers. Life returned to the earth.
"It's as it should be," said the Great Dragon of the West as he served tea for the new royals. "Fire is meant to renew, not to utterly destroy."
"Yes, Uncle," his nephew said wearily. "The platypus bears would like more tea now that winter can finally come again." They were putting in a belated attempt to eat many times their current weight to ready for hibernation.
The Great Dragon went to pour them another gallon.
"I'm a queen," said Toph to Sokka with a grin, adjusting her crown, then rubbing her hands together gleefully.
"Don't let it go to your head," Katara admonished with a motherly tone.
"Sure thing, Sugar Queen."
"I'm older," Sokka complained. "Why does Aang get to be High King?"
"Because Aslan said so." Toph hushed him. "I want to hear them read our titles."
The faun in charge of doing so did not disappoint.
Eventually, even the celebration was over, and Aang went to find a quiet place overlooking the sea. The wind blowing around Cair Paravel made him feel a little more at ease. He sighed deeply.
He'd never meant to become a king. Almost anyone could do better than Aang at that.
"Why are you sorrowful?" Aslan's deep voice rumbled through Aang and the night air.
Aang looked back with a small smile at the great lion turtle, who looked back at Aang with compassion in his eyes.
"I had hoped..." But he stopped himself and shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck ruefully. It would be nice to go back to his home and being a kid, but Narnia needed someone, and despite the fact that the Great Dragon of the West and his nephew both seemed like great candidates, neither wanted the job and Narnia was done with dragons sitting upon the throne. "I suppose we're needed here."
"Your friends seem happy," Aslan said.
Aang agreed. "They do."
He turned back to look into the ballroom where talking animals danced with human and dragon and faun and dryad alike, where happiness filled the space where once was suffering, where his friends bantered, and those who'd been turned to ash, frozen in the shape of their last movement, were now alive again.
He wasn't sure happiness filled him, but something like contentment did.
Besides, he decided. His first act as king would be to go on a tour of all of Narnia. He didn't think Toph at least would mind having the palace to themselves.
He turned back to the lion turtle with a smile that felt real this time. "Thank you, Aslan, for everything."
The lion turtle blinked at him. "Son of Adam. You should join the party. It is in your honor."
Aang did love dancing. He brightened visibly and went to go ask the Great Dragon's nephew to show him the dragon dance he'd mentioned earlier.
And the Narnians feasted and danced until the morning.