Summary : After the credits finished and all the Avatar watchers had run off to their computers and Internet, the real, and Zutara, ending started...

Moonlight, the moon was waning, but still almost full, only a slim bit was missing, betraying it. Zuko sighed, feeling somehow, depressed. He wasn't sure how to explain it, somehow everything just felt so wrong, but also final. The light breeze blew through Ba Sing Se, funny how they all ended up back here. He heard footfalls; out of the corner of his eye he saw the brown hair fall. A slender hand moved it back behind an ear, blue eye glancing at him.

"So, what are you doing? Out here?" She asked, knowingly awkwardly. They glanced at each other. Blue met gold, then darted away.

"I could ask you the same." He countered, trying to smooth things out. He wanted it to be natural between them, and somehow knew she wanted the same thing. But something was between them, a wall of something.

"Well, I asked first." She shot back, turning her face to look at him a little more. He grinned the slightest bit before glancing away, thinking.

"Just... thinking. What about you?" He replied.

"I saw you out here. Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.

"Stuff." She gave him a look.

"Well, that was descriptive." He looked at her, grinning.

"Well, I asked you a question. You should answer it." He pointed out. She gave a laugh of exasperation, looking at the sky before hanging her head.

"I saw you out here, and it's a bit cold out here..."

"So where's the blanket?" She blinked, realizing her mistake. She glanced around as he laughed at her blunder, looking for something she could use to cover it. She stopped, glancing at him as the robe fell upon her shoulders.

"Umm... thanks." The awkward feeling ebbed away somewhat, as they smiled at each other. They glanced away, faint smiles on their lips. But the smile faded as they remembered.

"So, you and Mai..."

"Yea. I'm glad we're back together..."

"Yea, I hope you're happy."

"I am." They looked at each other harshly for a moment before dropping their gaze. "Hope you and Aang are happy together."

"Don't worry, we will be." They couldn't bare to look at each other. She was tempted to turn and walk away, but stayed where she was. Somehow they knew this could make or break whatever connection they had. Silence was filled only with the snoring from the house and the chirping of insects.

"Zu-" "-tara." They stood looking at each other, silent. They knew that they would be happy with the people they were with now, but it wasn't right. She wasn't meant for Aang, she didn't feel the connection, nor did he to Mai. Something came into his mind, something that could cover them.

"You know, Ozai told me that my mother might still be alive." He continued after seeing her bewildered look. "And I was wondering if you would want to help me find her." She smiled, catching on and asking her own question.

"All over the world?" She asked slyly.

"Even tougher then finding the Avatar, I'm guessing." He replied, both truthfully and playfully.

"Another field trip? I'm in. Appa?" She grinned.

"Appa. Five minutes?" He nodded.

"Now." She urged.

"Now?" He looked at her confused.

"We can't risk waking anyone up. Now." She said sensibly, but smiling as they found themselves sneaking down toward the sleeping bison.

"Won't Appa wake them up?" He asked, unsure but still getting excited.

"It'll be too late to stop us!" She giggled, using her hand to muffle the sound, her other hand in his. They started to climb onto the bison, shushing the flying bison before he could make a noise.

"Where are you two going? I still need to have my special trip with Zuko!" They froze, looking in shock at the blind earthbender. She sighed.

"I could feel you guys walking around, it woke me up. And either you let me come with you, or I go tell everyone what you guys are about to do right now."

"And what do you think we are doing?" He asked, curious. She laughed, earth bending onto Appa.

"Running away, not sure really. Hadn't given it that much thought. What are you guys doing?" She asked, relaxing and making it obvious she was coming.

"We're going to find Zuko's mom." Toph blinked, not expecting that, but could tell they were telling the truth.

"Alright, since you guys didn't pack anything, we can head to my place first. Stealing from my own house, wow. That'll surprise my folks!" They laughed, agreeing with it. They had no leads, no ideas, might as well explore some first. She blinked, knowing they had forgotten something. She clambered down onto Appa's head, remembering, and picked up the reins.

"Yip yip!" With a groan, Appa sleepily lifted into the air, gaining awareness as she urged him on.

As the sun rose and Toph slept, curled up in Appa's warm fur, they sat together, reins slack in front of them. She yawned, eyes slipping closed as she leaned against him. He grinned, rubbing her arm.

"You sleepy?" He whispered.

"Nope." She grinned, looking up at him, knowingly wrapping her arm around him. The golden light spilled onto the ground far below them, reflecting off rivers and lakes.

"Glad you're running away?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Even though you are with me?"

"Especially because I'm with you." She giggled, looking up at him. He smiled down at her. His smile flickered, her face showed her confusion.

"Katara..." He whispered to the water bender, not finishing his sentence. Blue eyes looked up at him unknowing what was to come, feeling his hand lift her chin. After a moment, he started talking again. "I never got to thank you for saving me."

"But you saved me. I should be the one thanking you." She protested, moving closer. Her blue eyes closed, ready. He kissed her check, backing away.

"Thank you, Katara." She opened her eyes, blinking, stunned. She has expected something, more. She watched him as he just looked forward into the sky.

"Zuko." His name felt so right. He turned back to look at her, surprised when her lips rushed into his. She broke away after a moment.

"Thanks." She whispered, blushing as she moved away. She wanted to kick herself for doing something so stupid. It was clear to her that he didn't really love her, but then why were they doing this? He smiled, getting over his shock of her kiss. His hand caught her chin, making her look at him in confusion before his lips met hers. Their eyes closed as she returned the kiss, leaning into him.

THE END. How it was suppose to end, anyway...

author's note: hehe… I felt so much better after writing this! And if people really want me to, I'll continue the story. Really short, yea, I know. But this was really all I had planned in my head. I just wanted to make it end Zutara and still fit with the show. The show ended Kataang, but that doesn't mean it'll last. -grins- so I wrote this. Something I finally finished. Whoot! Although, if I stopped writing stories that were over 300 pages in Word, I might actually finish one... oh well, that's just how I go. Please give me some feedback! I want to know if anyone here even thinks I can write! No flames though, unless you want a reply of nothing but "haha! I love hate mail!" ... if you do, then fine. You will probably get that reply. Constructive critisism would be rather nice, though...

--author's edit : yes, I will be continuing this. more info in the next chapter. If you only wanted this, then you can stop reading here, you really don't have to continue. I mean, if you don't want to know about Zuko's mom, then alright, that's your opinion.--