Azula's funeral was a somber affair. It was traditional for the funeral of a member of the royal family to be a public proceeding. That allowed the citizens of the Fire Nation to mourn their beloved ruler.

But there was no such publicity for Azula's death. The Fire Lord had demanded a private service, with only friends and family. Though it wasn't as if Azula really had any friends.

The funeral took place at sundown on the third day after Azula's death. Zuko had stood vigil over her body alongside the Fire Sages down in the catacombs beneath the palace.

Ursa and Iroh had taken over in his absence, making sure that all of the traitors had been secured. The day after the battle, they had Sokka lead the raid on Ukano's hideout and found more traitors there. Then Sokka had assisted Toph in interrogating the servants—which mostly meant he had taken notes. As far as Toph could tell, none of the servants had been a part of it.

Aang had sent Dagny home on the second day as well, after the phoenix had been able to eat and rest. Katara was sad she hadn't been able to say goodbye, but she couldn't bring herself to leave her apartment. She didn't want to risk running into Zuko. She wasn't sure she could bear it.

Ryoko had found and released her cat from the prison Azula had put him into, and after a day or so, he seemed to be back to normal. With those tasks accomplished, Aang and the Conduit set out to repair the damage to the courtyard and palace. They had long conversations while they worked that no one else was privy to. There seemed to be much that they could learn from each other.

Katara had spent those three days locked away in her apartment, refusing to come out. Her friends brought her meals, but she would do little more than open the door to take the tray of food from them. They were all worried about her, but they knew she had to work through what she had done.

On the third day, they all convened: Zuko, Ursa, Kiyi, Iroh, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang, Ty Lee, Mai, and the Conduit. Katara noticed Ozai's absence and thought that was strange. Surely, even as a prisoner, he should have been permitted to attend his daughter's funeral.

They went out to the ceremonial courtyard, the one where Zuko had been crowned Fire Lord.

Azula's body lay wrapped in a white shroud on a funeral pyre. Katara couldn't tear her eyes away from the body. The Fire Sages stood over Azula, prepared to read her final rites and bless her journey into the Spirit World.

Those gathered knelt in a line behind the remaining members of the royal family, who kneeled before the pyre. Katara chose to sit on the end of the line, next to Ty Lee, but her eyes never left Zuko. She hadn't seen or spoken to him in three days.

Her guilt and shame were burning her up inside, and the ache in her chest was nearly unbearable. She hadn't been sleeping, and had barely been able to eat the food Suki or Aang brought to her. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see were Azula's terrified eyes. And the air bubbles. She always saw those, too.

Her eyes burned, but she had no tears left to cry. She wished she could just be numb, but her emotions were there, just below the surface, waiting to emerge.

Katara felt like she was hanging in limbo. She didn't know what she was doing. Were things over between her and Zuko? Did he want her to go? And if he did, where would she go? To Yu Dao? Back to the Southern Water Tribe? She didn't feel like she had a home anymore. But what if he—

She couldn't let herself finish the thought. She couldn't let herself get her hopes up, in case Zuko decided he didn't want her anymore and told her to go. The thought broke her heart, but Katara wouldn't blame him if he did.

Maybe I should just leave, she thought. That way she wouldn't make him look her in the eye, to see what she had done reflected there. For the second time in her life, Katara's heart ached dreadfully at the thought of not knowing if she would lose Zuko. She was terrified.

But there was no more time for thinking as the chief Fire Sage stepped forward and began to speak.

"Blessed Agni, we ask that you look down upon this funeral pyre and open your arms to your daughter, Azula, and welcome her home. We ask that you cleanse the sins of this life, so that she may be reborn anew, and live a pious and pure life in the next. Agni, we ask that you guide her spirit from this world and into the next, so that she may be at peace until the day she rises from the ashes of this life to be born again."

The Fire Sage bowed, hand over fist in the Fire Nation way, and everyone else did too. As Katara bowed, she let her eyes close and sent up a silent prayer: Agni, Tui, La, whoever may be listening...please...let Azula have peace.

Then the Fire Sage spoke again.

"We endure the loss of Princess Azula, the second-born child of Princess Ursa and former Fire Lord Ozai, granddaughter of Fire Lord Azulon and Fire Lady Ilah. She is survived by her mother, her brother, Fire Lord Zuko, her sister, Princess Kiyi, and her uncle, the retired General Iroh."

The Fire Sage seemed to cut off suddenly, and Katara realized that this was the part where her accomplishments should be named. But all of Azula's accomplishments had been done from a place of malicious intent. Had she not done any good in her life?

Now she never would. Katara had stolen that opportunity from Azula. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

The Fire Sage turned toward the funeral pyre and raised his hands, ready to ignite it.

"Wait." Zuko stood up and approached the pyre.

He wore all white, as did all of those gathered who were from the Fire Nation. It was the color of mourning. His hair was pulled back into its topknot, and the diadem of the Fire Lord adorned it. He was tragically handsome, Katara thought. She felt like an imposter in her cheerfully-blue kaftan.

"I'll do it," he said to the Fire Sages.

"As you wish, my lord," the head Fire Sage said with a bow. He and the other Fire Sages retreated back a respectful distance.

Zuko approached the pyre. For a moment, he only cast his eyes upon the shrouded form of his sister. Then he raised both hands, and set the pyre aflame.

The flames were bright in the dying sunlight. Katara stared into them until they were all she could see. Then her vision blurred as the tears came, but she made no move to stop them or to wipe them away as they traveled down her cheeks.

After several moments, Zuko returned to his place beside his mother. He bowed his head, and Katara watched as Ursa wrapped her hand over his.

No other words were spoken as the pillar of black smoke rose to the darkening sky. After an hour had passed, Suki and Ty Lee had left for their shifts of guarding. Sokka followed shortly after, and then the Conduit, then Toph. Ursa took Kiyi inside soon after that, and Mai went with them.

Then it was just Zuko, Iroh, Katara, and the Fire Sages.

Iroh and Zuko exchanged soft words that Katara couldn't quite hear as more time passed. She felt like an intruder, but she couldn't find it in her to leave. She needed to see this through.

After several hours, the body had been rendered to ash. The Fire Sages bowed to their Fire Lord and took their leave. Iroh departed soon after that, as the pyre burned to embers, and then it was just Katara and Zuko.

Neither of them moved for several long minutes. Then, as the embers began to die out, Zuko stood and turned toward her. Katara looked up at him. Zuko took a few steps toward her. He couldn't quite look at her.

"I'm sorry I haven't come to see you," Zuko said quietly as he stared out over her head. "I needed some time...to think about things."

Katara swallowed hard and said nothing.

"And I can't...I can't presume to know what happened in the garden. I don't know what was going through Azula's head, or yours for that matter." His jaw clenched. "But I want you to know, that I saw...I saw what she did to you, and what you did to her...and I know...that you did what you thought you had to do."

Zuko stopped talking, but Katara didn't dare move or speak. She didn't trust herself. She knew that if she opened her mouth, her guilt and shame would pour forth, and she didn't need to unload all of that onto him.

He took a few steps closer to her, and finally, he looked down at her. He was illuminated by the soft glow of the lanterns that the Fire Sages had lit around the courtyard, and she could see the way his eyes smoldered with the intensity of his emotions.

To her surprise, he held his hand out to her. Katara took it, and let him help her to her feet. Her legs were numb from kneeling for so long, but she hardly noticed. All she could think about was that Zuko was talking to her, he was touching her, and the last three days had felt like an eternity without him.

For a moment, he only held her gaze. Then he pulled her into him and he embraced her with a crushing strength that exposed his pain and grief to her. Katara wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest as she bit back the sobs that threatened to bubble up out of her chest.

But as she felt his familiar warmth surrounding her, breathed in his soothing scent, and heard the beating of his heart in his chest, Katara couldn't hold her grief inside anymore. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks and she clung to him desperately, as though he could hold her together when all she could do was fall apart.

They stood like that for several moments until Zuko pulled back. His fingers trailed down her wrist, across the palm of her hand, before he let her go. Her hand fell back to her side.

"Katara, I love you," Zuko said, his voice stilted as he tried to keep his emotions in check. He reached up as though to rake his fingers through his hair before remembering the topknot, and settled for rubbing his hand down his face instead. "But I loved Azula too. Despite everything she did...she was still my sister. And part of me always hoped that...that someday she could change, like I did."

"And now she never will, because of me," Katara choked out. She scrubbed the tears from her cheeks, but more came.

Zuko's eyes scorched her as his brow furrowed. "Yeah."

Katara dropped her gaze.

Zuko spoke again. "I need to...to work through this." He took her hand. His palm was warm and calloused against hers, and so familiar that she ached. "I have to, and I will. Because despite what you've done...I still love you." He shook his head. "And I know...there's just no way that I could let you go forever. I know myself better than that. I would think about you every single day."

Katara looked up at him, surprised, but Zuko wasn't looking at her. He was looking down at their interlocked hands. His brow was furrowed, and he was frowning.

"I want to forgive you." His voice was barely above a whisper. "But I also need to forgive myself." Zuko finally met her gaze. "And I think you need to do the same. We both know the choices we've made that have led us here. Now we have to learn to live with them. Because despite everything...I still want you here, by my side."

He kissed her then, just a soft peck on the cheek, his lips ghosting across her skin. Then Zuko let her go and walked away, leaving her standing next to the burnt pyre of the woman she had killed.

Katara stayed there long after Zuko had gone, long after the embers had died. She stayed as the moon rose in the sky. She stared at the funeral pyre, her hand over her ribs where the scar Azula had given her was hidden beneath her clothes.

The words she had spoken to him in the Garden echoed through her mind: what's another scar in exchange for the world?

Apparently, it was this. It was the scars she would carry inside of her. It was the pain she had caused the one she loved the most. It was the death of a girl who was her age, still so young and with a future that held opportunities that she could have had if only Azula had taken them. But Katara had snuffed them out like a candle flame.

The price to pay was so much more than blood.

Finally, Katara turned and went inside the palace, uncertain of her future. The only thing she was certain of was that Azula would come to visit her in her nightmares for a long, long time.

To Be Continued…

That's right, folks. To. Be. Continued. We are going to be pumping out a sequel to this amazing tale, so stick around for it.

I've got big plans for Zuko, Katara, the Conduit, Aang, and the rest of the gAang. If you thought this story was amazing, I promise, you haven't seen anything yet.

In the mean time, me and FireLadyFae are turning our attention to Play With Fire. Originally, I had another beta working with me on it, as there was some content the amazing LadyFaePhillips wasn't comfortable with. However, my other beta was no longer able to work with me on PWF, so Fae and I came up with a solution: write an expletive-free version. So I've been hard at work on that while finishing up "The Conduit", and we'll be getting the first 6 chapters of PWF up in the next 2 weeks, maybe a little less.

On top of that, I'll also be reposting the original 9 chapters I have of my expletive-laced version that have had a LadyFaePhillips editing overhaul (sans swearing on her end, but don't worry, I'm keeping the swears in the original). We'll be planning to upload 1-3 chapters each week of PWF.

And of course, we'll be working on various other one-shots I may come up with, including more of artist!Zuko.

I just want to thank each and every one of you who has read this story, left a 3, or a review. It gave me the inspiration to keep writing this fic. I never imagined when I sat down and pounded out the prelude and the first chapter (in one night) that this story would become what it is. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I plan on writing Zutara for a long, long time, and you are all a reason for that.

And of course, a special thank-you to the dedicated FireLadyFae/LadyFaePhillips, who has worked just as hard (if not harder!) as me on this story. Thank you for all of your time and effort to make this story as amazing as it is. And, of course, I seriously love you for all of your fluff additions. This story would be nothing without you 3.

-Sincerely, the_savage_daughter0627