I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or any of the names or characters of the show. I merely controled them for my own twisted pleasure.

Epilogue: Till the End of Time

Katara didn't look back.

She couldn't look back. Not to see Iroh and Hanae watching her leave without Zuko. He hadn't even had the decency to watch her go. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes but downright refused to let them fall. Not anymore.

She hated him.

They walked for a long time before she slowed down and let Aang's hand go.

"Katara," his voice was full of worry, and she realized she needed to let him know that she was okay. But, she just couldn't. She didn't want to talk and she didn't want to move, but she had to get away from that place and those people.

"Katara," Aang repeated, "I think we should head back to the river." She nodded, barely, and he must have seen it as a sign to go on because he continued. "Sokka said we should gather there later, and I'm starting to think it's a good idea." Without talking she turned back toward the river; at least it wasn't back toward the camp.

"So, did you manage to heal him?"

She spun. "I don't want to talk about it, okay!"

Aang just stared at her with big eyes. "Okay." He said it meekly.

It wasn't what she needed and it only made her angrier. Great, now she was yelling at Aang. He hadn't even done anything wrong!

But she wasn't in the mood to apologize either, so she turned around and kept walking. Luckily, the airbender got the hint and kept his mouth shut for the rest of the way. It was a good thing too, because she wasn't sure what she would have done if he asked her about Zuko again.

As they made their way through the thick trees, she found herself putting more and more distance between them. Was she really becoming so depressed she no longer wanted company? If anything, Aang should make her cheer up, not become more upset.

She felt the water before she heard or saw it, and they arrived at the river not much later. As Aang ran up to it and knelt down beside the water to fill up his flask, she stood back.

She should calm down and think things over before blowing her top like that.

"Arhg!" she screamed and threw her flask at a tree. The river, however, responded in kind and Aang yelped as water went everywhere, soaking them both in about three seconds.

She huffed in frustration and sat on the ground, fuming.

"Umm…"

"I'm fine, Aang," she sighed and put her head in her hands. He walked up to her and floated down on the ground beside her.

"Katara, what's really wrong?"

She couldn't possible explain this to Aang. The feeling of betrayal rushing through her. The thought that everything that had happened was just gone. Forgotten. Forever.

"It's hard to explain," she said and settled into a more comfortable position. Taking off her dress in a swift movement, she laid it out in front of her to bend the water out of it.

All she wanted to do was find her brother and get as far away from here as possible. But no! Aang had to ask all these questions that he had no idea were completely embarrassing and awkward for her.

She wouldn't think about Zuko. She wouldn't think about his smile or his kiss. She wouldn't think about-

"I thought you said he didn't hurt you!" Aang's outburst surprised her so much she dropped the water she had just bended out of her clothes. Anxious at first, thinking maybe she'd been speaking out loud, Katara turned to him.

"What?" she said, trying very hard not to sound guilty.

"I thought you said he didn't hurt you!" Aang was yelling and she didn't understand what was wrong.

"He d-didn't," she stuttered.

"Then why are there burn scars on your back!"

"What?!" she swiveled her head around to look at her back, and failed to see what he was talking about.

"Three burn marks, right in front of my face. Burn marks that you didn't have last time we trained." He was so angry she couldn't understand were it was all coming from. "He hurt you didn't he? I trusted him to take care of you, and he hurt you!"

"No," her own anger forgotten, she watched in horror as Aang's childlike innocence twisted with rage. Where had this come from? When had he become so much like Zuko?

She knew there were holes in her binding, but she didn't remember burn marks. "Zuko didn't hurt me Aang," she said quickly, recognizing his first step towards the Avatar state.

'Then who did!" His eyes narrowed.

"The soldiers did! Why did you think I hadn't followed you?" she demanded, "I wanted to stay behind!?"

That knocked him back into his senses. "No," he said, confused, "I just…"

"They shot me Aang, remember! Three arrows: two in my back and one through my arm!" She yelled at him because he'd assumed Zuko had done the damage. It had most likely been Iroh anyway; Zuko wouldn't have thought to burn the wounds to keep them from bleeding.

"What?" Now he sounded horrified. "You were shot? We thought you and Zuko had to escaped a different way or gotten captured or something."

That stopped her. "You mean… you didn't know I was hurt?" That surprised her. They'd been searching for her all that time and hadn't even known that she'd almost died. "I guess a week is a long time," she mumbled to herself.

"You really think that Sokka wouldn't have done anything if we had known? That I wouldn't have done something?" he dropped his arms to his sides and jumped at her, hugging her tightly to him. Surprised, she just looked down at him before wrapping her arms around him to hug him back.

"We were so worried about you, Katara. We all care for you so much. Even Toph was worried," he paused, "a little."

Katara laughed. "I'm so sorry Aang," she said softly. "I didn't mean to just disappear like that. Zuko and his uncle took really good care of me, I promise. They didn't hurt me."

That was a downright lie, Zuko had hurt her. A lot. But right now, Aang didn't need to know that. He needed her to be strong. So, she was.

Aang sighed and held on tighter. "If you say so."

She pulled back, feeling light headed. So much had happened. So much had appeared to change, and yet, it was almost like everything was the same. Her heart broke at the thought that their week apart hadn't happened. That her week with Zuko had been nothing more than a dream.

"Aang," she said, and pushed him back so she could look at him. "I have to go do something."

"What?" His childlike manner was back and she was thankful for it.

"Girl stuff. Don't worry about it. I'll be back in a few minutes," she said as she picked up her dress and bended the rest of the water out of it. Putting it on, she walked back towards the tress and picked up her flask along the way, just in case.

"Katara, I don't think you should go out there alone," Aang said stood up, taking a couple of steps after her before stopping and blowing his clothes dry with a deep huff. "I'll come with you."

"No Aang, stay here." She said and she walked away. "There aren't any firebenders around her anymore, anyway right. I know Hanae got rid of them, at least for a while."

"Well, yeah," the boy said and rubbed his head, "she sent them back to the ship with Sho, but…"

"Then everything will be fine," she said with a smile on her face, but her insides were shaking.

"But-"

"I'll be right back!" she called as she ran behind the thick coverage of trees.

She knew where she was going. It wasn't every far from the place they'd been the night before, and she would know her way to this one spot for the rest of her life.

As she walked through the trees she wondered what she was going to look for. Proof? No, that wasn't right. A reminder?

Maybe.

But as her feet walked on their own, she knew that she'd been going there the whole time. She'd been dragging Aang to that spot for the last hour and hadn't even realized it.

She ran.

She ran until she couldn't breathe anymore, and didn't stop even then. As the clearing come into view, she slowed down, but only enough to fall her knees in front of the very important spot.

With shaking hands she dug down into the dirt like she had before. She dug until her fingers grabbed a hold of the dolls Zuko had buried with their names on them. The Eternity Dolls.

But as her hands closed around them and brought them to the surface, she realized quickly they weren't alone anymore. Tied around the female doll was a small piece of parchment with messy writing.

She took a deep breath, not sure what she wanted it to be, and unfolded it.

I may never know whether or not you read this, so I am writing it as much for my sake as yours. You once told me that my mask was my real face, and that my real face was a mask. I didn't realize until I sent you away how right you were.

So I'm making a promise; when I can throw away this mask and still be the man you fell in love with, I'll find a way to come for you.

Even if you forget, the rain will forever remind me of you.

Until we met again.

She read the hurried note once and didn't believe her eyes. She read it again and couldn't see through the tears.

She read it until she no longer needed the note to hear the words in her mind. Dismayed, she knew she couldn't take it with her. If she took it and one of the others found it, it would lead to too many questions, especially if Aang saw it first.

She would have to burn it if she didn't leave it behind, and to destroying it would be like denying the existence of her and Zuko's short but wonderful time together.

He promised to come back for her. It was all she would need until he was back in her arms. And when he was, she'd never let him go.

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This is where my Author Notes go...Enjoy.

OMFG, it's finished. It's really over this time. We're not dangling another chapter in front of your face (just a sequel hehehhe –evil grin-)

I hope you enjoyed this at least half as much as I did, because I have to say, I had fun. You guys were the greatest readers a girl could have and this isn't goodbye.

At the end of this major endeavor that started merely because I hated everything else about it I read, I have to say that you guys altered the course of this story. It is no longer for me. It is for all of you.

I hope you at least 'author alert' me because there is a sequel coming. In fact, I've already written an eleven page One Shot to act as a buffer between the two fics (warning M rated for sexual content) that should be out on Thanksgiving Day.

Hopefully, it should make up for the lack of chapter 26, because I'm just not gonna write it.

Tis too late now.

See you in a few days. And I shall treasure your reviews from now until forever.

Much love and the highest regards,

Jamie Hasaku

BTW. It's after Thanksgiving Day, so the One Shot had been posted!! Only it came out in four chapters. But check it out. Its call WTMCO Pre-Sequel Conquest.

Thanks.