Lightning flew from Azula's fingertips.
The world slowed down. Katara's eyes widened, not ready for death, but knowing that she had to accept it anyway, when the pain never came. Her eyes were wide open, but somehow, she hadn't seen Zuko jump in front of her. Maybe she only sees what she wants to.
Lightning coursed through his body. Even standing quite a few feet from him, she knew he was right- there was so much energy being held in one body.
He tried to redirect it, but the last minute movement had messed up his stance. He was able to redirect some of it, but what he couldn't was lethally close to his heart. He fell to the ground, twitching, some electricity still pulsing through him.
She could see the bright red area on his chest, still smoldering. She tried to run to him, but was met with a new bolt of lightning. Azula laughed sadistically and shot another.
Katara's instincts kicked in- she immediately made a wall of water to deflect the lightning, causing a cloud of steam. It gave her enough cover to duck behind a column.
She could hear Azula's mocking tone- "Zu-Zu, you don't look so good!"
She had to get to him soon- if she couldn't heal him…she didn't want to think about that.
She wondered where this…love for Zuko had suddenly come from. Even after he helped Aang learn firebending, rescue her dad and Suki, and even helped her confront the man who killed her mother, it wasn't love. When he was fighting Azula, with so much power, he seemed to different. She realized what a firebender was capable of.
And knowing that he had given up living in a world where he was worshipped at his feet so that the rest of the world may be happy…it was kind of incredible.
Lightning cracked the pillar that Katara was hiding behind. She ducked, letting the wood splinter around her. She looked around frantically for some source of water. She saw a large basin and swiftly tried to attack Azula- but the princess wasn't standing on the roof ledge anymore.
Katara heard the sound of searing flames behind her before she could turn around. Azula flew in behind her- but somehow, Katara managed to duck and save herself from certain death.
Azula attacked again- Katara, now knowing that there was a plentiful source of water at her disposal, used it to create a sort of "ice wave" to escape from Azula's grasp.
She stumbled, barely avoiding Azula's blast of fire. She could feel water beneath her- looking for something to protect herself with, she realized she was hunched over a grate- with a supply of fresh water underneath it.
She got a crazy idea.
She looked around for something to tie down the princess with- a rope of some sort…she looked around, and spotted a chain.
It seemed fitting, chaining the princess- her nation had kept the others in chains for nearly 100 years. It would be the Fire Nation's turn to burn.
Azula came stalking around the corner as soon as Katara grabbed the chain. "There you are, you filthy peasant…" Azula hadn't noticed the chains Katara carried- about to be lifted.
Katara used the water she had to attack the princess, not wanting her to know about the water beneath her feet. Just as she hoped, Azula rushed forward, intending to end it.
Katara smiled.
As soon as Azula stepped over the grate, Katara threw up her hands. Ice cracked its way around both of them, encasing the two in an eternal stare down.
Azula's eyes looked around, terrified. For the first time, she was frozen in her place.
Katara breathed out, melting the ice around her. She wrapped the chains around Azula's wrists, tying her to the grate. She shut her eyes, longing to breathe.
She threw her hands to the ground, and the water melted, leaving the two women sputtering for breath.
Katara tightened Azula's chains, while the princess grunted and groaned, trying to get free.
But Katara had someone else's wellbeing on her mind.
She rushed to find Zuko still on the ground. She ran to his side and turned him over.
He could barely breathe. She put her hand over his heart- it was beating quickly, but very faint. She tried to heal him. She really did. All she needed was damn spirit water- but it was all the way at the North Pole.
"Ka-katara…" the Fire Nation prince whispered. Her teary eyes turned to his face. He was pale, which made his scar stand out. She wished she could have healed that, too. "It's…okay. It really is." He said, louder than a whisper, making it easier for her to hear. She looked at him, shocked. "What? Zuko, just hang on, I promise I'll get you help…"
But he shook his head as best he could. "No. Don't try- it will only make matters worse for you." He smiled. "Aang made it. I just know he did." His eyes shut, then opened again. "Do me a favor, Katara?"
"What?" the young waterbender asked, her voice now the whispered one.
"Ask my uncle to be the new Firelord. Please."
Katara knew that his uncle hadn't wanted to be Firelord- he wanted to see the nephew he loved so much, the one who had learned the lesson of life through enduring pain, be able to make a difference in the world.
But if he was gone, could General Iroh really refuse?
So Katara nodded her head.
Zuko smiled up at her. His heartbeat was slowing down. She could feel it. "Zuko…"
"I'm just happy that I got to help you out. I had spent so much of my life causing pain that…I wouldn't want to die any other way."
And with that, he did.
Katara wondered how General Iroh would react. Ozai was defeated, balance restored. Azula was locked away, he knew. But he had yet to know what had become of his nephew. He probably thought that Zuko was at the palace, already getting ready for his coronation.
She wondered if he could take it. Even she had broke down. She sobbed with her head on his chest while listening to his sister's howling laughter.
She slid off Appa after landing in the White Lotus's camp outside of Ba Sing Se. They had taken back the city, ready to forge a new path for the world.
She met up with Pakku. He hugged his new granddaughter tightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw General Iroh.
She had brought Zuko's body with her. She felt it was the least she could do for the old man who had to say goodbye for the second time.
Iroh was in a mood like no other he had been in before- his destiny had been fulfilled- he had taken back Ba Sing Se. The Avatar had defeated Ozai. Balance was brought back to the world.
He was going to see his nephew on the Fire Nation's throne.
He had been waiting for the bison to return. He nearly ran when he saw it. He wanted to see his nephew. He wanted to hug him, see his eyes, realize he was smiling.
He saw Katara first. But the second she saw him, the world slowed down.
Everything the two had been through…she just started crying.
Pakku grabbed her shoulders. She looked at Iroh, then pushed her grandfather away. She walked towards the general, barely able to speak.
"I'm…so…sorry…" her voice came out in gasps. Her looked her in the eyes. "What's the matter, child?"
"He's…gone." She whispered. As much as she didn't want to go into farther detail, she knew she had to.
"Zuko…your nephew…is gone." She took a deep breath, and looked at him through her tears.
"Zuko is dead."
Iroh couldn't believe it. He stood there, staring at the Watertribe girl for so damn long it hurt. But something within him knew that she was telling the truth. Something within him told him that Zuko was gone.
The light that had filled his soul only moments ago was blocked by a new darkness, like a raging fire burning away to ash.
His world crumbled to soot.
"I…brought his body back." The girl was hugging his frozen body. "I thought that was the least I could do for you." She stepped back and sniffed.
She took a hesitant step away from the shocked old man. She turned and ran to Pakku, who welcomed her back with open arms.
The old man shook his head. He felt the tears nagging at the corners of his eyes, wanting to fall in mourning. But he would not let them. Not yet.
First, he had to see Zuko.
His legs moved numbly towards the bison. Appa moved with unease, but Katara appeared to calm him. The bison steadied, and she nodded at the saddle.
Iroh climbed up, wanting to stop when he reached the saddle. But his body kept moving. He had to know.
Katara left him alone with his dead nephew.
She had been right. Everything. Once sentence, "Zuko is dead." Those three words seemed so insignificant, yet made a person fall with no hope of ever getting back up.
So Iroh fell to his knees next to Zuko.
He didn't think he would ever be able to get back up.
The tears that had wanted to fall before finally got their way. They themselves sobbed as they fell from Iroh's eyes- one of them landing on Zuko's cheek.
He sat there and cried for an eternity, never wanting to realize he wasn't dreaming up a nightmare. He was simply living one.
He knew they could hear him. He didn't care. The Avatar had returned. He didn't care. He also knew that Zuko wanted him to be Firelord. He didn't care.
All he cared about was that the nephew he loved like a son was dead.
As soon as he found happiness with his destiny, it was ripped and torn away from him. He knew it was Azula's fault. The lightning had been deadly.
He realized his mistake. He had not wanted to fight Ozai because the world would view it as a brother killing a brother for more power- now he realized, it had been a sister killing a brother just for the hell of it.
He brought Zuko into his arms- he stroked his hair, never wanting to let go, but wanting this to end. He couldn't understand it. Couldn't understand how he felt. It was like he never wanted to let Zuko go again, never wanted to let him stray, never wanted to find him lost again. But Zuko was already gone. He was somewhere untouchable, somewhere Iroh knew he would never see.
So he wanted his own life to end, just so he could see Zuko again.
But he had a job to do- he had to finish what his nephew had started. Iroh knew that Zuko's fire would be the one to light up the world again, but it was put out. Zuko's heart and soul had become just like fire- burning so bright.
But Iroh had fire, too. Zuko had wanted him to be Firelord. Though Iroh wanted nothing more than to live a life serving tea and playing Pai Sho, he would carry out his dead nephew's wishes.
He just wished he could carry out his own.
"All hail Firelord Iroh!"
The crowd cheered, ready to welcome a new era to the Fire Nation, and also to the world. They had all thought Iroh was going to bring peace. But the Avatar and his friends knew better.
They mourned Zuko's death as soon as they found out. He had never seen an Avatar cry before, but now he could add that one to his list.
Iroh hadn't slept since Zuko died. Most nights he spent in Zuko's old room, staring up at the moon.
Did he have what it takes to run a county now?
Even if he didn't, he knew he still had to try.
He stood up and cleared his throat.
"We have suffered many losses, combined with great triumphs, over the past hundred years." Iroh began, "A new era is ahead of us- however, the road ti getting there will not be easy."
"The world had been peaceful for many, many years. There was always good in the world, something it kept even through the war, deep within. But when flames licked its soul, the scars made it bitter. Fire is a dangerous thing. It can also be beautiful, when used the right way.
For many years the world struggled, fought, and even betrayed. But a new light was shown- the world was enlightened by the Avatar just in time.
I believe the scars can be healed with love. Maybe not the physical scars, the many lives lost in this war, but inside, we can learn to accept each other for who we are, and find our own path on the winding crossroads of destiny."
The crowd erupted into applause. They didn't understand who Iroh was talking about- the parallel between the world and Zuko was undoubted by him.
But the Avatar knew. He had seen straight into Zuko's fire, just like Iroh had. He knew that there was something beautifully brilliant inside of him, and when the time came, it showed itself.
The Avatar spoke.
"The world has been faced with many hardships- both the war and those deep inside.
In the final battle against the Fire Nation, I lost a very good friend of mine. Prince Zuko, the prince that your nation betrayed. Yes, Zuko did not betray your nation. He was banished because he tried to protect those below, those of the Fire Nation that the war generals deemed expendable.
He gave his own life to protect the love of mine. There is no greater sacrifice, no greater love than that. He laid down his life in the hope that Katara would live. His sister was defeated.
I will not allow what he did to be in vain. I myself will make sure that the world is reborn from the Phoenix King's ashes, the world that Zuko wanted."
Iroh went to find Azula.
He walked through the prison. Ozai tried to mock him as he passed, but Iroh had no interest in his younger brother.
He had to know.
He came to Azula's cell. Her hair was messy, even messier than his had been in prison. It was cut at a strange angle. Her eyes were wild and crazy as she shrunk away from him.
He kneeled down next to her cell door.
"What do you want?" she spat at him.
Iroh didn't love Azula. She was a nasty witch. A nasty, murdering witch that would never be changed.
But he had to know.
He cried as he spoke.
"Why? Why lightning through the heart?"