It took me twelve chapters, but here it is: the final chapter! No time for long intros this time, the only thing you should do now is READ THIS AND KNOW HOW THE STORY ENDS!!!

(P.S.: Yes, I KNOW Ozai's supposed to be young and healthy, but I wrote this BEFORE I saw Ozai's pretty young face. I always thought he was old(er), and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that…)

Chapter 12

Together forever

The next day, Zuko saw everything black. He was heading for his father's room and saw the doctors running from one side of the palace to the other, it was obvious: something wasn't right. So Zuko started to run himself.

He opened the door of his father's room and walked in, staring at the bed.

'Father?' he asked. His father looked up at him and pulled a light smile over his face, and with a hand motion he made clear to his son that he had to come closer. So he did, and he squattered down next to the man. Ozai coughed and stroke his hand over Zuko's head kindly.

'We have an improvement.' he said weakly. He expected Zuko to cheer now, but the only thing he did was pulling a smile over his face. Ozai frowned and pulled his son closer to him.

'What's wrong, boy? Aren't you happy now?'

'Of course I am, dad…' Zuko said quietly. 'I'm just in a strange mood today, that's all.'

Ozai sighed and wiped whatever was on Zuko's mind away.

'Anyway, that means I'll still be able to teach you. You'll turn out to be a great firelord: someone with love for his nation, care for his family and passion for his work. And of course someone who reminds the promises you had to make.'

He pulled Zuko's face up by his chin and stared him in the eyes. 'You DO remember the promises, right?'

Zuko took a deep breath and released it as a sigh.

'Never tell a lie, never make a promise you can not keep and never betray the ones you love.' he said, proving he hadn't forgotten about them. Ozai smiled and nodded in agreement.

'And are you keeping those promises?' he asked.

Zuko averted his eyes. He wasn't the one lying, Katara was. He wasn't the one not keeping his promise, Katara was. And if SOMEONE was betraying the one she loved, it was Katara. He was keeping his promises, he knew that for sure now.

'I am, father.' he said quietly.

Ozai took a deep breath and sank away in his pillow.

'Good, son. Now please excuse me, the medication is making me feel a bit drowsy… I'd love to enjoy a nap now.'

Zuko nodded and stood up, bowing for his father before leaving the room. He quietly closed the door behind him and released a deep sigh.

Katara… How could she EVER do this to him? She knew he loved her, she really did! He loved her from the first moment he saw her on the beach, from the first moment he ever touched her, from the first moment they ever kissed… Even the very first time he saw those beautiful, blue eyes back on the south pole, his soul was sold to her. Why was she torturing him on this cruel way? Why was she breaking his heart? His once so solid heart, that turned out to be fragile once it laid in her hands. And she simply scattered it to pieces, as if it was a game to her.

'There'll be more girls.' Iroh said suddenly. Zuko gasped and turned, facing his uncle. He sighed and sat down on the floor, leaning against a wall.

'No there won't, uncle…' he said sadly. 'I'm sure of it: Katara was the only girl I could EVER love, and she broke me.'

Iroh bit on his lip and squattered down in front of him.

'But Zuko: you'll HAVE to marry someone sooner or later, a firelord needs successors.'

'Then it'll be a political marriage, a marriage that has nothing to do with love. I can't do it anymore uncle! I can't possible find another girl that can look at me without staring at my scar, that treats me the way she did!'

Iroh remained silence. He simply threw his arm over Zuko's shoulder and sat down next to him, holding his nephew close. A smile colored his face as he closed his eyes.

'You've changed a lot, Zuko.' he said. 'Katara changed you VERY much. You're so much calmer now, sensitive and kind. Maybe it's also because you have your place in the family back, but I'm sure Katara has something to do with it.'

Zuko glared at his uncle and snorted. 'Wow, you're really making me feel better!' he said sarcastically. Iroh shook his head and rolled his eyes.

'I'm serious, Zuko! Even if she broke your heart, you've learned a lot about love when you met her. It's great to see how much you've changed.'

Zuko didn't reply anything to that. His gaze was locked on the floor in front of him, while Iroh kindly laid his hand on his shoulder, comforting him a bit.

'It'll pass…'

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Katara sat on her room, staring at the floor in front of her.

'So it really is going to happen…' she said to herself. Her father had found blood on her white dress a few days ago, but he hadn't told her anything about it. But the point was, that it gave him the chance to give her to Konu now. He hadn't waited a day longer than necessary, since he would give her to him today. Today probably was the worst day in her entire life.

She never really liked white dresses, the past weeks had changed a lot. A white dress was like a murder weapon to her now. And today, once again, she was been giving a white dress. Her wedding dress.

If she would marry someone else today, the dress could have been beautiful in her eyes. But now it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen. Of course, the villagers where pleased with the news of the wedding: to them it meant a party with free food. But to Katara it was horrible, maybe the wedding itself wouldn't be that bad, but the night after it was different.

She stared at the wedding dress in her arms, releasing a quiet sob. This night, Konu would probably rip the dress off her body roughly. And nobody would be there to stop him. He was SUPPOSED to do that tonight, everyone in the village expected this to happen. Thank god she was no virgin to him, that would have made everything even worse…

And once again, she couldn't help to cry. Zuko… She should have told him about it, but she couldn't. She simply couldn't. Great Agni above, what had she done? What kind of horrible thing had she done to deserve this faith?

Slowly, she took the white dress she wore out, and stared at the wedding dress. The moment she realized she still was naked, she took on the wedding dress. Maybe Konu would've watched her, and she refused to give him that joy. He'd see her naked once they were married, but now she still was single. He had no right to see her bare skin yet, not even a single inch of it.

Suddenly, the door opened, letting Hakoda in. He stared at his daughter in the wedding dress, pulling a fake smile over his face to hide his compassion. What had he done to his daughter?

'You look absolutely stunning.' he said quietly. Katara didn't react to that, she stared at herself in the mirror, a bit uncomfortable. The dress hided most of the skin on her legs, but if she'd pull the collar a few centimeters lower, she'd be as good as topless. She didn't want to walk to altar like this, especially not for Konu…

Hakoda bit on his lip a bit, before he took her hand and guided her outside.

'Konu's waiting by the altar, it's my turn to hand you over to him.' Again Katara said nothing. She only sobbed quietly, tears dripping off her chin, deep inside begging Agni to strike Konu with lightning.

Sokka crawled from under Katara's bed, where he'd been hiding for a while, making sure he could protect her. Of course, Katara didn't knew about him watching her, but that didn't matter. He still was her brother and he had the right to protect her.

He stared at his sister, who was the house slowly, heading for the church. No… He couldn't let this happen to his baby sister! He couldn't just let her entire life being ruined! There just had to be something he could do against this, someone he could ask for help…

At that moment, he had an idea.

He ran away, as fast as he could, heading for the palace.

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Iroh and Zuko were still sitting there, saying nothing. Iroh knew Zuko was sunken away in thoughts now, he needed some time to get over this relationship he had.

Suddenly, they heard a few guards shouting. Sokka ran in their direction, not sure whether he ran because of his sister about to get married, or because of the guards chasing him.

'Zuuuuuuuuko!' Sokka shouted. Zuko stood up and yelled something at the guards, commanding them to leave Sokka alone. Sokka was breathing heavily once he stood in front of Zuko, but there was not much time left.

'Zuko…' he sighed, still trying to breath. 'It's Katara… She… She's going to get married now…'

Zuko crossed his arms and averted his eyes, glaring at something invisible on the floor.

'So? Are you offering me a front seat or something?' he said sarcastically. Sokka shook his head and grabbed Zuko by his shoulder, roughly shaking him back and forth.

'You don't get it! She's going to get married to Konu!'

Zuko pushed Sokka back and lost his temper. 'And I don't think I want to know the lucky guy's name!' he snarled.

This time, Sokka wasn't planning on giving up. His sister was about to ruin her life, and Zuko HAD to help her. He was the only one who could stop this all. It was about time for that guy to wake up. So he hit Zuko in the face, hard, making sure he had his attention.

'Shut up, Zuko! I'll do the talking, and you'll shut the fuck up!' he shouted. 'Katara isn't in love with Konu, she doesn't even like him! It's a forced marriage, and she's the unhappy bride! Konu's just the son of a rich guy, and that's why she has to marry him: for the money! But it rips her apart, it's about to ruin everything, and she'll have to spend the rest of her life with him!'

Zuko gasped, rubbing his hand over the cheek Sokka had hit. Katara was about to marry someone she didn't even like? Sokka continued his story.

'The only one Katara loves is you, Zuko. And if you won't do something against this, you'll never forgive yourself! She'll never forgive you either! And neither would I!'

Zuko stared at something invisible in front of him. Katara… still loved him? How could she EVER survive a marriage, when she's in love with someone else? The words of his father ran through his mind again…

Never tell a lie, never make a promise you can not keep…

Zuko looked up by the last part.

…and never betray the ones you love.

That's it: he had told Katara he loved her, and it was no lie. He had promised her to stay with her forever, and he was about to do that. And he loved Katara more than anything else in the world…

'I can't possibly betray her!' he said to himself. Iroh smiled and Sokka cheered, as they saw Zuko running away, heading for the church.

He ran and ran and ran, as fast as he could. Sometimes he tripped over something but he didn't care: he was NOT about to betray Katara.

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Katara walked in the church, slowly. As the door opened, she saw Konu staring at her, giving her a nasty smile. Hakoda guided her to the altar, still not realizing what he was doing. But that didn't matter: it was too late to run away now anyway. It was about time for him to say goodbye to his daughter, and he always knew that day would come. But he had never expected her to go through a forced marriage...

Once they made it to the altar, he had troubles with letting go of Katara's arm. Eventually he did, before he joined the crowd. He stared at Katara, deaf for the words of the priest. That was his daughter standing there…

Katara's gaze was locked on the floor for minutes. She refused to look up at Konu when she heard him saying the words she had feared for so long by now.

'I do.'

The priest didn't even give Katara the chance to say "I do not", since he had been told about the situation of this marriage. The only thing she wanted now was to run, run away from this place, off to somewhere safe. But it was too late now… Things had gone wrong.

She was forced to look up at Konu, as he slowly leaned forward, ready to give her the sealing kiss. She wanted to spit in his face, but her father would probably hit her again if she did. It had no use anyway. She was doomed to spend the rest of her life with him from this day on.

Suddenly, the doors were opened. A bright smile appeared on Katara's face when she recognized the face of the man running in the church.

'Zuko!' she cheered. Zuko ran through the crowd, his gaze locked on the love of his life.

'Katara!' he yelled on his turn. Konu frowned, not understanding anything of this, and held Katara's hand tight, not wanting to let go. Katara gave him a firm kick between his legs, before she ran off the altar.

She ran to Zuko, jumping in his arms once they were close enough to each other.

The embrace made some people in the crowd gasp, and other people cheer. Zuko held her tight and whispered something in her ear.

'You're mine…'

After they heard those words, the entire crowd cheered. It was obvious that love conquered all. Zuko held Katara's hand and they ran outside, together. Konu's voice was a bit strange after Katara's kick, once he saw the couple running away.

'What the hell is going on here?!' he squeaked. He turned to Hakoda and started to complain, ask questions, and nag.

Hakoda had enough of it… Katara was his baby girl, she had the right to be happy, to love the ones she wished to love. What was wrong with him? Why had he done this to her? She loved someone else and she hated Konu, how could he EVER force her to do something like this? The answer was simple: he couldn't.

'Konu…' he said quietly, interrupting his nagging.

'Shut the fuck up.' After saying that, he hit Konu in the face, making him smack on the floor. Unconscious he laid there, giving Hakoda the chance to smirk. 'DAMN, that felt good!' he yelled.

Zuko and Katara were back on the beach. The sun was setting, as they stared each other in the eyes, breathing heavily from all their running.

Zuko felt like it had lasted long enough by now. He knew he'd love Katara for the rest of her life, and he knew that if he wouldn't do something now, she'd be marrying that Konu-guy. It was about time for him to do what he had dreamed of so many times the past days, but never really dared to say or do.

So he kneed down in front of her, taking her hand in his.

'Katara, I've been an idiot. I should've known you hate that guy, but I guess I was too jealous to see that.'

Katara wanted to react to that, but Zuko gave her no chance.

'The point is that I… Well, I…' He took a deep breath before continuing his sentence.

'I love you, I love you with all my heart. And I'm sure I'll do that for the rest of my life. Oh, and please, PLEASE don't break my heart by giving me a "no" as an answer to my question. Katara…'

He ripped some cloth of his shirt and wrapped it around Katara's finger, using it as a ring. A smile colored his face as he looked back up at her.

'…will you marry me?'

Katara couldn't help to cry again. Not because she felt sad, but in happiness this time. She pulled Zuko up and locked his lips with hers. No words were necessary, they both knew the answer. From this day on, they finally were about to be…

Together forever.

Aww… A happy end, it's been a while since I wrote something with a happy end.

Well, I guess this is it… The story is over now, and I definitely hope you liked it. Thank you all for reading, I appreciate your attention a lot. I'd be pleased with a review of course, in case you'd want to, or in case you feel like you have to.

Zutara, to fight for what's right!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

(P.S.: Who's up for a sequel?: ) )