Epilogue: Dreams Can Come True

6 weeks later…
It was late, well, more likely early in the morning, still several hours before dawn when Katara awoke. She lit a candle and glanced about the room, still unused to the Fire Nation colors that the ship was decorated with. They were all on their way to the Fire Nation, and Zuko was probably sleeping in the next room. He had mentioned to her at dinner that night that they would probably reach the Fire Nation capital, Sozun, the next afternoon. She was excited. He had made it sound perfect.

So much had happened in the past few weeks she now recalled. The strange relationship that Anzha and Sokka had formed had already fallen apart. Sokka and Katara had returned home for a couple weeks with their father, and the third week Zuko and Aang had joined them. It had been definitely hilarious to watch Aang teach Zuko how to penguin sled.

When Zuko asked her to stay a few weeks at the Fire Nation the day before he left to return home, she hadn't even hesitated. She wanted so much to see his home, and come to know his world as he had hers. He'd taught her to dance, she'd taught him to eat seal jerky.

Anzha had returned to the Fire Nation with Ozai and Iroh, maybe a week after she and Sokka had broken up. She said she missed it there. The look in her eyes said it was something more, but she refused to say.

Sighing and returning to the present time, Katara slipped out of bed. She was wearing a crimson shirt over her own leggings and she silently padded out of her room and to his only to find it empty. Curiosity overcame her, and she headed up onto the deck.

The night wind was slightly chilly, and she wrapped her arms around her. The sky was clear and the stars shined brightly. The deck was dark, and when one hand found the railing, she didn't let go.

"Zuko?"

At first there was silence, and then a flame lit up bare yards in front of her and she nearly yelped.

"Here." Zuko held out a hand to her, which she gratefully took. He led her back to where he'd been standing at the bow of the ship. Her prince was barefoot in a simple red shirt and black pants, and the wind blew at them unrelentingly. She shivered and he walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her; she relished the warmth that radiated from him, and remembered the first time she'd felt that warmth.

His head rested on her shoulder and looked out past the seas to the world they were entering.

"What were you doing out here, Zuko?"

"Waiting to cross into the Fire Nation."

She leaned back into him.

"You've missed it that much, huh?"

"Definitely. We should enter it in maybe an hour. And then we can watch the sunrise."

Until then, Katara was content in Zuko's arms.

Zuko never held her tightly, almost afraid she would break. He loved the way she felt in his arms, the way her body moved when she bended, and the way she could solve just about any strife with a kind word. But most of all, he loved her spirit, her determination. She never gave up on something when she had a cause; she hadn't even given up on him. She should've, but she didn't. Thinking about this, he gave her a gentle squeeze and she squeezed his hand.

The hours passed, and the dawn's first light crept over the horizon. Anzha joined them on the deck and Zuko placed an arm around them both.

As the entire orb showed its face, Zuko took a deep breath of the Fire Nation air. Katara turned and smiled.

"Good to be home?"

"And not chance being arrested? Definitely. Just wait until you see the palace."

"I can't. You made it sound perfect."

Anzha and Zuko laughed and Katara smiled, knowing that nowhere in the world were two siblings more happy.

Zuko's ship reached Sozun without trouble, and the people of the Fire Nation welcomed their Prince back with cheering crowds and celebration.

Ozai and Natalani were married a month later. Three months after that, their son, Evzen, was born.

Anzha and Zuko had never been happier, now formally brother and sister.

Aang took Appa and Momo and set off to search the Air Temples for survivors. Anzha went with him, maintaining her vow to protect him. Together, they found a little over 300 surviving Air Nomads, many benders among them. Aang took up training them as well as mastering the elements.

8 months later, Katara returned home to the South Pole to teach water-bending. As she left, she looked out over the railing of her Fire Nation escort to where Zuko was building a summer home as a get-away for Anzha and himself.

Written over the door of their home when it was finished was simply…

Dreams can come true...

THE END...?