Here we are, the last chapter of my story. Well, I'm not sure if it's the last chapter. Sorry it took so long to update. Fan Fiction wasn't letting me update mychapters for somereason. Plus,I'm so busy lately with school work and crap. "But before wereach this tale's bloody climax" in the words of Bill, I need to talk to some of my respected reviewers. Hold out a little longer.

Kryah: That is an awesome idea. Why I didn't think of something like that before I don't know. But I already know what I am doing for the ending. Maybe you could use the idea in one of your stories if you want. If not, can I use it in another Avatar story? If you need any help with anything, just ask.

Christine: You're funny. I like that twitch phrase. I love your reviews. They make me laugh.

And now, filled with blood and gore, suspense and drama, love and desperation, air, fire, water and earth, the chapter that everyone has been waiting for…oh screw it. I suck at introductions. Here's the next chapter.

The Final Battle

Katara wept with her face down in the pillow trying to muffle her loud sobs. Everything was going to hell on her. She loved Aang and Zuko equally. She knew she couldn't have them both, but she couldn't think of living without either of them. She knew that they were both preparing for the duel as tears fell down her face. How could she have let this happen? She tried to think back to a point where she could have stopped this all, but nothing came to mind. It's my fault, she thought. All of this is my fault. And now, either Zuko or Aang will have to die because of me.

Then a thought hit her. Someone would come get her for the battle. Maybe if they came to a dead girl, maybe Zuko and Aang would call off the fight. And if they didn't, she would spend the rest of eternity with one of them. That would be good enough for her. But how could she do it?

She looked around the room and finally spotted the saber that Zuko had given her for protection. She quickly grabbed it and held it to her heart. With one quick thrust all the pain would go away. She would be at peace with her mother. She would be able to be free.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a husky voice said. She turned only to have her eyes meet with Iroh's. "Not many women have such perfect breasts. It would be a shame to ruin them." Katara hated sexists. If there was one thing she hated worst than chauvinists, it was perverts. In any other situation, she would have slapped him till he couldn't stand. She just turned away from the old man.

"Please, leave me. I don't want you to watch this."

"Then don't do it, Katara. You don't need to shed your blood."

"It's the only way I can have peace." More tears fell down her cheeks. "How can I possibly live knowing that I am the reason that Zuko or Aang will die?" Iroh started walking towards her. She only tightened her grip on the rapier. "Stay back, Iroh! I will kill myself in front of you!"

"Go ahead. Do it if you want. But let me ask you one question. Do you really want to throw your life away for these boys?" Katara opened her eyes. What had he just asked? "If you kill yourself, Katara, the Avatar and Zuko will blame your death on each other. They will fight till there is only one left. Then your death will be in vain. You still have a destiny. You can save us all, Katara. Don't waste your life." Katara shook and slowly dropped the saber. Iroh drew her into an embrace as she cried out loud.

"How am I supposed to live, Iroh? After this is over, I will have nothing. Sure, one of them will be alive, but I will have lost them to darkness. What am I supposed to do?" Iroh held her chin up with his hand.

"We'll just have to see how it plays out," he said calmly. "Have faith, child. Have faith." Katara smiled through her red puffy eyes. She would have to have faith.


The two boys knelt down with there backs turned in the giant arena, Zuko on the north end with his uncle and Aang on the south end with Sokka. Both men were trying to psych up the fighters. Aang had his staff and Zuko had removed his shirt.

"Come on, Aang," Sokka urged. "You take this spoiled brat." Aang was trying to concentrate and work out a plan to defeat him. He thought he had the advantage since he knew air, water, and earth bending. He couldn't find a suitable fire bender that would help him. He hoped that the other three elements were enough.

"Focus, Prince Zuko," Iroh said. "Remember your basics." Zuko knew he could take him. He also had an advantage. The Avatar didn't know that he had control over water, earth, and fire. He just hoped that his fire could beat his air.

They both stood up and faced each other, ready to fight. Sokka and Iroh headed towards the wall were Katara stood. They made sure that they stood on opposite sides of her. Katara watched as the two warriors bowed to each other and got into there fighting stances.

"I hope it's alright that I use my staff," Aang requested.

"Fine by me," Zuko answered back. They didn't take there eyes off each other. All they heard was Lord Ozai's instructions. He sat in a tower overseeing the entire field.

"The rules are simple. Anything is fair play except for the use of live reinforcements such as other benders and animals. At the sound of the gong you may begin. The last man standing alive is the victor. The victor will take Katara as his bride. Do you understand the rules?" Both warriors nodded in agreement. "Let the battle begin!"

The gong rang but the fighters didn't move. They had a stare off trying to intimidate their opponent. It seemed like time had frozen in that one moment. Then Zuko made the first move. He threw his fist forward sending fire at Aang's chest. He dodged it quickly and counterattacked by sending a blast of air with his staff straight at Zuko. He also dodged the attack and ran to the Avatar, throwing fire at him. All his fire was reflected by Aang's bursts of wind. They continued to repeat their attacks for some time. Their audience was in awe.

"They're moving too fast!" Sokka exclaimed. "I can't keep up with them!"

"I have never seen Prince Zuko move with such agility," Iroh informed the young warrior. "This will prove to be a worthwhile fight." Katara was ignoring them completely. She was concentrating on the fight so hard that she didn't hear one word they said. What will they do? She thought. I'm sure Aang has learned to control the other elements like Zuko. What will they do?

They continued to fight. Aang quickly formed a ball of water and sent it to Zuko's head. When it splashed over the prince he thought his body would go into shock. He snapped out of it as Aang ran to him. He stomped the ground, sending a giant boulder into the air, and kicked it at the charging Aang. Caught off guard, Aang barely avoided the rock. It wasn't until he landed back on the ground that he noticed the boulder had grazed his side. He stood up and faced Zuko.

"You surprised me," he said. "I thought you were a fire bender."

"I am a fire bender," Zuko stated. "I just learned some tricks from an old book. This one I learned from Katara!" He threw a stream of water that surrounded Aang's head. If he could hold it long enough, he would drown the Avatar and everything would be over. His concentration was broke when he felt a jagged edge hit his shoulder. The water dissolved as Aang tried to catch his breath. Zuko knew that the Avatar had thrown the sharpened rock at him. If he hadn't have had him inside the water, the rock might have went through his neck.

"I learned that from a mad genius," Aang said thinking about his crazy friend.

"So we both know how to control the elements," Zuko concluded.

"Well, I haven't learned to fire bend yet. No one will teach me. I suppose you had something to do with that." Zuko smiled at the monk's words.

"I haven't been able to master air bending. It's hard when all the air benders are extinct." Aang growled. "Are you ready?" Aang nodded and they started running across the arena, always across from each other. They were throwing rocks and water at each other as they went. Zuko managed to hit Aang in the other side and cut up his arms pretty bad. Aang landed blows on Zuko's legs and one big gash in his side. When they stopped running, Zuko and Aang threw a blast of fire and air at each other, sending themselves flying against the walls. When the dust cleared, they stood up. Both were exhausted from fighting. They had both lost a lot of blood and energy. They both huffed and puffed as they faced each other.

"You are strong, Avatar. You managed to crack some of my ribs." Katara gasped as she saw one rib bone sticking out of Zuko skin. When she looked at Aang she had to muffle her scream. His left arm was covered in water blisters and bleeding burns. Both fighters had severely damaged each other.

"You're not bad yourself," Aang said letting his arms dangle. "I'm about ready to collapse." Both boys started laughing but stopped when they saw Katara's somber eyes. They suddenly remembered why they were doing this. "So we are both evenly matched with water and earth. What do you say to fire against air, our strongest attacks right now?"

"Yes, let's end this." Zuko put his hands to his side as Aang put his hands in the air. Instantly, balls of air and fire appeared in their hands. They let the balls get bigger and bigger.

"This is bad," Sokka said. "Really bad. The energy is too much."

"That energy is enough to destroy a city," Iroh said with concern. "They will be able to control it to send as much energy to each other as possible. We should get out of here."

They didn't have to explain it. Katara knew what would happen if they threw the elements at each other. If they let their wrath loose, both warriors would be dead. She couldn't let it end this way. She couldn't live with that.

Katara, Sokka, and Iroh weren't the only ones aware of this. All the people and fire benders watching, including Lord Ozai, fled the stadium at once.

Zuko and Aang let their energy go at the same time. When fire and air collided, it created a giant explosion, destroying the entire stadium and anything within three hundred yards radius of the center point of the attack. Fortunately for the kingdom, all the people in the area had evacuated and reached safety in time.

When the explosion dispersed, Iroh put his shield down. He was able to deflect the explosion without any serious burns. Sokka looked up at him in gratitude. "I guess not all fire benders are bad." The man smiled at the young water warrior. His smile quickly faded when Sokka asked that horrible question. "Where is Katara?"

Both the fighters were lying on their backs. They slowly sat up to see if their attacks had hit their marks. Instead of their faces showing great triumph they showed devastation. When the dust cleared, they didn't see their rival's body. Instead, they saw…

"KATARA!" they yelled in unison as they ran to her motionless body. They sat her up slowly and tried to shake her into consciousness. There was a deep gash in her stomach. Her clothes were soaked from her own pool of blood. She slowly opened her and focused the two boys into view. She smiled seeing them together without fighting.

"Katara," Zuko said. "What did you do?"

"I couldn't very well let you two kill each other," she answered weakly. "I had to stop your attacks so I used a water shield to deflect your air and fire upwards. I'm sorry to say that I couldn't deflect all the energy." She winced in pain as she tried to touch her wound.

"Don't move, Katara," Aang begged. "We'll get you some help. Just hold on. We don't want to lose you." Tears immediately filled Katara's eyes.

"Don't you see?" she whispered. "This had to happen for the sake of our nations. You two have come together. Don't you realize that things are going to change?" She coughed into her hand after which was covered in blood. Aang and Zuko looked at Katara as blood dripped from her mouth down her chin. That was the first time that either of them ever cried. "Please don't look at me like that. It breaks my heart to see you hurt."

"Please, Katara," Aang sobbed. "I need you."

"Katara, don't go," Zuko wept. "Don't leave me."

"Don't worry," she said touching both their cheeks. "I will never leave you. I will always be with you. I'm never too far. Just promise me one thing." She took a deep breath for her final request. "Don't forget me." Her hand fell to the ground as her life left her body. Both boys gasped and cried harder. Both of them let one final cry before they both fainted.

"KATARA!"


I know. Kind of a dumb ending. I couldn't decide which pairing to go with so I made it this way. I hope I made you guys cry a little. Come on, you're crying. I can see it. Ok, maybe you're not. Can you blame a girl for trying? Jeeze.

Gohan is mine not yours: You read my mind. I decided this a long time ago around chapter five. Don't sue me!

There should be one more chapter after this. I hope this chapter is long enough. It took me four hours to write it. The battle scene was kind of hard. Well, it's almost 11:00 p.m. so forgive me if I sound a little crazy. There should be one more chapter. Keep reviewing and watching. I'm thinking about doing another Avatar story. Cya.