ZUKO POV
I went down. This is the end.
The electricity running through my body has finally come to a stop. My thoughts are becoming harder to form. My breaths have become increasingly short and frantic.
I can't talk. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her that I love her. She can make me feel like I can do anything. She'll tell me my faults right then and there. She understands me. She's like the mother that was taken away from me.
I do love Mai. But it's just not the same. I can't tell her about my internal conflicts. She couldn't possibly relate. But Katara has seen sides of me that I'm ashamed of. She met me as the banished Prince Zuko seeking the corpse of the avatar. She can understand the guilt and shame that I plague myself with everyday. But, Mai, she hardly knows me at all.
"ZUKO!" cried an unknown entity
Is that Katara? Or, could that be mother, calling for me? Waiting for me to join her? Is she even dead?
The crashes of water and the crackling of flames have faded away. All can hear is my name echoing in my head.
"Katara, I love you" I tried to say. I have no clue if that could be heard, but I hope that it's known.
I'll be of no use in my condition anyway. Why not give in to the temptation of unconsciousness? The Fire Nation will burn the world to the ground. We'll be tortured and killed. I'll skip the torture and humiliation and go straight for death.
So many other memories, regrets, and doubts came to mind.
And right there, as I reminisced, I inhaled for the last time.
There goes my last breath.