A/N: I do not own ATLA, nor do I make any profit from this story.

Prologue :The Night Under the Comet

The sky was a spectacular shade of crimson and orange, in the distance, a large fiery orb could be seen blazing through the sky, leaving behind a trail of fire. Zuko could feel the power of the comet coursing through him, the energy threatening to overwhelm all sense of self-control and restraint. It was like a thundering river held back by a dam. Who would have thought that the one thing that made him so powerful could also be the one thing that could lead to his destruction? The only thing that kept him sane was a need to be sane.

Zuko's eyes widened as a powerful wave of blue fire was hurled at his face, he called the power to his hands and unfurled a massive barrier that split the powerful wave in two. For a moment a bright light blinded him as the two flames collided. Eventually, the flames disappeared, and he was able to see his opponent across the Agni Kai arena. Azula was panting now, panting with exhaustion, with outrage, fear and panic. Zuko knew a weakened opponent when he saw one.

He had her right where she should be, he should have felt glee, but instead, Zuko felt nothing.

Taking advantage of her exhaustion, Zuko unfurled a powerful stream of fire followed by a large cartwheel. The sudden attack caught Azula off guard and she leapt aside to avoid it. It was evident now, the look on her face told him that she was shocked that her brother could do this to her, shocked that he could equal her. Zuko knew that she would try something different. He was not disappointed.

Azula summoned her impressive blue flames to her hands and feet and began skiing across the arena.

Zuko couldn't help but smirk at this, looks like his sister was becoming predictable.

As long she was moving, she was defenceless, now was his chance. He aimed at her feet, trying to get her off balance, stream after stream of blazing fire, the surrounding buildings burning to the ground because of his power.

But even in the pits of her madness, she was too quick for him.

Zuko decided it was not a good idea to follow her. Instead, he got to his feet and performed a spinning kick; fire blazed from his feet and flew in a wide circle to all ends of the arena. The move that outdid Zhao, outdid Azula. She gasped in pain as she lost her balance, every part of her body hitting the unforgiving ground hard. Panting heavily, she got to her feet, barely keeping a steady pose. Zuko looked into those gold eyes but did not see his clever, scheming, vicious sister, instead he saw a person who was empty of soul and mind. If her mind was going mad, then surely she won't be able to perform lightening? Surely it would blow up in her face just like it did in his? Zuko decided to take advantage of this.

"No lightening today?" he called, in a sneering voice. "What's the matter? Afraid I might redirect it?"

He was using her weakness against her it felt cruel to be doing that.

She won't hesitate he thought. She won't hesitate to use my weaknesses against me.

How right he was.

Azula rose to the bait. "I'll show you lightening!" she roared.

Her hands went through the familiar circular motion that he had once feared. The cackle and roar of raw lightening came alive in her hands. For a brief moment, Zuko was surprised, but it did not matter, he could still counter it. He took a deep breath, feeling the comet enhance his chi in a matter that was both exhilarating and terrifying. He stretched out his hands, his eyes locked with hers.

The prince was ready to end this, he was ready to end this blood feud, and claim his rightful place on the throne, tonight would be his brightest and darkest moment.

Then suddenly, something unexpected happened, for a brief moment, her eyes flickered to his side and then she fired the lightening to his right…. away from him.

Surprised, Zuko turned around to see where Azula aimed the lightning, and his heart stopped as he saw her target. Katara, the most compassionate, kind-hearted, loving and infuriating woman he had ever known. Katara, the most powerful waterbender he had ever seen, Katara, his best friend. Katara, the one person who he trusted her to see him perform his darkest deed, was standing in the direction of the oncoming lightening. She was defenceless; there was no way she could get out of the way in time, and there was no way her waterbending would save her. Azula let out a cruel laugh.

Even in the pits of her madness, she had outsmarted him.

Zuko roared in anger and determination, this was supposed to be their battle; Katara had nothing to do with this. He would not let anyone take her away from him, he would not let anything happen to her, not after what had happened between them under crystal caves of Ba Sing Se, not after the understanding they shared after hunting Yon Rha, he refused to let anything happen to her. Zuko glanced at her large, fearful blue eyes and that was all the motivation he needed. With determination he ran, right in the way of the lightening. Yelling his feelings as he did so.

"NOOOO!!!!"

The lightening was so close and he was in mid-leap. Desperately, he tried to redirect the lightening towards the sky. But he knew he was too late.

The lightening struck him, it felt like a fiery hot spear piercing through his chest with ruthless ferocity. The shock ran through his body in tidal waves, numbing his mind and exposing his body to all the pain possible. He barely felt himself fall to the ground, the pain throbbed through his body, as if he was attached to a hot wire. He curled himself into a ball, hoping that it would abate the flow of pain. He was panting hard, trying to stay awake. He heard somebody call out to him followed by maniacal laughter. Ignoring the agonizing pain, he uncurled himself, and looked around. His vision was blurred, and spots of purple and black clouded his vision, but he could vaguely see a blue blur moving around.

Katara!

She needed him, she needed his help, he tried to get up, tried to reach out to her, tell her that he wasn't going to leave her. But his body protested with a bolt of mind numbing pain and he collapsed. He could barely make out the sky from the burning buildings but he knew that he was fighting a losing battle. He was losing consciousness, but he couldn't pass out now. Katara needed him! The thought gave him strength, but it wasn't enough. He felt his world going black, he felt his eyelids drooping, he felt the pain abating. Somebody called out his name, but it was no use. He couldn't save himself, he lost, and now Katara was in the hands of a madwoman.

The pain disappeared, the shocks abated, he opened his eyes and looked around. He was on top of a hill with a tall tree at it's very peak. Zuko gasped in shock and scrambled to his feet, and looked around. The prince could see brown plains for miles but he did not see anyone else.

"Katara!" he yelled. "Katara! Where are you!"

"She cannot hear you, Prince Zuko" said a voice.

Zuko wheeled around, sliding into a firebending posture. A man was standing before him with a kind smile on his face. The man seemed to be ancient, guessing from the long beard that trailed down his chest. He wore dark red robes that were out of fashion in the Fire Nation years ago. The topknot of the crown prince adorned his white head. Zuko realized who it was and gasped.

Avatar Roku smiled at him. "Do not fear, my son" he said. "You are not dead…or at least not entirely"

Zuko took a deep breath in order to calm himself. He needed to find a way out of this.

"What is this place?" he asked his great grand father.

"You are standing in the Farplane" said Roku. "A world that parallels the Spirit World in so many ways, but it is not the Spirit World itself. People who are on the verge of death, or who are not willing to accept their death come here"

"How do I get out of here?" asked Zuko.

"Your fate lies in the hands of your friend" said Roku. "You are clinging on to life with the tiniest of threads"

That did not comfort Zuko one bit. As if sensing his distress, Roku walked upto Zuko and clasped him firmly on the shoulders.

"Don't worry, Prince Zuko, I know that you will live"

Zuko looked up at the near mythical figure of his great grand father.

"How do you know that?"

"Because your destiny is written in the stars, Prince Zuko" said Roku. "From the moment you were born, you were destined to cleanse the sins of your family, as well as my own"

Zuko smiled, humbled by what the avatar was saying. "But your story has only begun, my son. Aang maybe the one who has to maintain balance and peace" continued Roku. "But he cannot do it alone, and neither can you, you will both need each other for the years to come. The fates of the avatar and the Firelord has always been intertwined; my son, but none so like yours and Aang's. Aang needs to keep balance in the world, but you will need to keep balance in the Fire Nation"

"But-"

"Do not be fooled by the term 'four nations' my son. The nations are linked in an intricate balance, if the balance is upset than the entire mechanism will fall out of place"

"But" said Zuko, ready to voice a worry that had been cropping up at the back of his mind. "What if I'm not ready to be Firelord?"

Roku's smile was even more gentle and paternal at this expression of uncertainty. "My son, you must do what's best for you, and not what others expect of you, only then can you achieve your destiny… I would have thought that you would have learned that, by now?"

Zuko smiled sheepishly. Roku turned away with a small frown on his face, before turning back to his descendant.

"It is time for you to return to the physical world, there is one thing I must say"

And that's when Zuko felt it, something was pulling at him, it was an odd sensation he couldn't quite describe.

"What is it?"

"The task given to you can be a great burden, even for one so strong willed as yourself, you cannot fight this battle alone"

Zuko felt it again, the tug was stronger this time and he could feel himself slipping away.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Youwill need somebody who balances you, perfectly, someon who is not afraid to fight the good fight beside you"

"What?"

"Follow your heart, Prince Zuko" said Roku. "And your destiny will come to pass"

Roku gave him a small smile. "Goodbye, my son, I will be watching over you"

"Wait!"

Zuko felt himself sinking, with Avatar Roku disappearing from his sights. Suddenly, everything went black, just as he had begun to panic, he felt a searing pain across his chest.

Zuko gasped and opened his eyes, the sky was orange with the comet blazing over his head. A strong smell of ash and burning wood filled his nose. His eyes could see with clarity that he didn't have seconds before he met Roku. The pain was still pretty bad but it wasn't as unbearable as before. Zuko glanced around and saw that Katara was kneeling next to him, her small, delicate hands coated in shimmering water. Zuko could feel the soothing effects of the water, and he sighed in relief. Katara immediately looked up and Zuko could see that she had been crying.

"Thank you, Katara" he said.

"You, idiot!" snapped Katara, banging her fists on the ground. "What were you thinking?"

Zuko's mind went blank; this was not the reaction he was expecting.

"I…"

"You could have been killed!" yelled Katara, not waiting for an explanation. "What if I didn't get to you in time? What if Azula injured me? Zuko! Your chest was a bloody mess, You weren't moving, You were barely breathing and that psychotic bitch laughing when she saw you lying on the ground. Zuko, what if you died?"

Tears filled her eyes, and Katara looked away, unable to hold them back anymore. Zuko raised himself to a sitting position; he took Katara's shoulder in one hand and cupped her cheek with the other.

"Katara, please look at me"

The waterbender reluctantly turned to look at him, her eyes were still glistening with emotion, tears were still running down her cheeks in silent streams.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he said. "I only wanted to save you from Azula's lightening"

"By putting yourself in danger?"

"Yes"

Katara's face was inches from his; he gently wiped the tears from her face, his piercing gold eyes scanned her beautiful, innocent face before returning to her captivating eyes. Not for the first time did he notice how stunning she was. Katara's eyes were wide with surprise, for a moment, Zuko thought that he was crossing the line with his honesty, but he realized that he didn't care. Perhaps it was the comet that was still blazing across the sky, or perhaps because he had come so close to dying, whatever it was, he was no longer listening to his inhibitions.

"Why?"

"I wanted to protect you from Azula" said Zuko. "I want to protect the people I love from my enemies, because you're too important to me"

Zuko's words seemed to have rendered Katara speechless. For a moment, Zuko forgot to breathe, he sat still, wondering if this was the moment when the only girl who ever touched his heart would leave and he'd never see her again. He stared at Katara's face trying to gauge any emotion she felt. After what seemed like ages, Katara spoke.

"How important am I to you, Zuko?" she whispered, in a husky voice.

Zuko growled to himself, enough was enough.

"Let me show you" he whispered.

Without another word, he pulled Katara into a deep kiss. Her lips felt cool against his warm skin, and sweet against his tongue.

Zuko expected the waterbender to push him away, and was momentarily surprised when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and straddled his lap. Her movements caused Zuko to deepen the kiss.

He did not care that this relationship may not work out in the future, he didn't care about their differences nor did he care about the obstacles between them. At that moment in time, Zuko did not want the throne, he did not want to be Firelord, he did want the power, he did not care about his destiny. All he cared about was the girl on his lap, right now Katara was all he needed, all he ever wanted. That night under the comet, all Zuko ever wanted to be was a man on love. Zuko would never forget that night under the comet, the one night he was at peace with the world.

That night under the comet was his darkest hour, as well as his brightest.

A/N: My version of how things should have gone down in the finale.

Please leave feedback. I really would like to know what you, the readers think.