Yes, I've finally finished it and thank you all for waiting patiently for this conclusion. This is actually the first of the trio that I thought of writing, but for some reason took me this long to get it in shape. Normally, I try to remain faithful to cannon pairings, but this show has proven to be my exception to a lot of my normal rules, so I remain firmly Zutara, despite the finale.

And with that, happy reading.

Technically…Katara is the Firelady

Katara ran her fingers over the red silk, admiring the feel of the fabric that would make up her wedding dress. Her wedding. It still didn't seem real.

Years had gone by since the war and rebuilding the world, specifically for her, her village. Between looking after her father and brother, starting her school for female waterbenders in the south, and the frequent trips around the world with Aang to help stabilize the war-torn areas, she hadn't had time for romance.

In fact, the only purely social interactions she had were when their group would reunite at least twice a year. Despite how most of them had paired off at the direct end of the war, only Sokka and Suki had made their relationship stick. Mai had broken up with Zuko, explaining that as Firelady, she would end up killing half of their court out of boredom and frustration and then killing the Firelord himself. They had parted as friends with Mai headed to Kyoshi to visit Ty Lee and Zuko remaining single on the throne.

As for she and Aang…after the initial spark of their teenage infatuation, they had settled back into strong friendship. The physical distance between them hadn't helped. The Air Nomads were named so for a reason and while Katara had been determined in their travels, she wanted to have a permanent home. Eventually, they had talked it over and decided that while they still loved each other, it would remain the love between fierce friends, teacher and student, even almost like brother and sister.

Katara had given up on her own prospects once she realized that other Water Tribesmen found her intimidating and she wasn't meeting as many Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation men while running her school. She had just about convinced herself to be satisfied with her students when Zuko had sent a pleading messenger hawk, begging her to come to the capitol as ambassador for the Water Tribes.

Katara left without hesitation on the Fire Nation ship that had been sent after her, ironically, with Mai as her escort and guard. On their voyage, the Fire Nation young woman had hinted at Zuko's habits over the last few years, including skipping meals and sleep in order to see to the minutiae of restoring the Fire Nation to honor and redirect their commerce to practices that no longer included war mongering. When Mai had confronted him on it, Zuko would get defensive. Katara wasn't planning on letting Zuko get the change to argue with her.

Arriving at the capitol, Katara saw that Zuko had gotten worse since Mai's departure. Ready for her next challenge, Katara, in turn, cajoled, bullied, and outright ordered the young Fire Lord to see to his own health once in awhile. After the initial few bursts of his temper earned him icy time-outs—Katara had been running after students for the last several years and Zuko had let his fire bending slide—the young man finally learned to just listen to her the first time.

One month into her stay, Katara found herself slowing wearing down on Zuko's personal drive to see to everything himself, pointing out his willing and capable servants and offering her opinion on which nobles in the court could be trusted to act in the Fire Nation's best interest and not their own. Soon, Zuko was eating regularly again, sleeping better, and he was losing the bags under his eyes.

It wasn't until months after that that Katara realized that Zuko had played turnabout as she had flung herself wholly into her new position to her own detriment. It was over the next few months both Katara and Zuko endured the comments and rumors about their supposed star-crossed romance. It was months after that they began courting each other and acknowledged their feelings for one another.

And now Katara stood in her chambers as the Firelord's betrothed as the most fashionable dress maker in the Fire Nation showed her bolt after bolt of fabric. Despite her love and excitement, Katara was still slightly unnerved by the selection: reds, yellows, oranges, golds. At the South Pole, she would have been wearing blue and white.

This is what you signed up for, becoming Zuko's wife and the Firelady, Katara chided herself.

"This comes from the northeastern province of Qayin, my lady," the dress maker explained. "They gather silk from wild fireworms rather than cultivated. Very rare and expensive."

"It's beautiful," Katara admitted, fingering the smooth texture.

"Am I interrupting?"

Katara, the dress maker, her assistants, and Katara's ladies maids all burst into giggles and whispers, seeing the Firelord standing in the doorway to Katara's private rooms. All but Katara knelt or bowed, depending on their rank.

"Playing dress up?" Zuko teased Katara, coming over to kiss her cheek.

"Firelord, it is highly inappropriate for you to be here," the dress maker objected. "The groom should not see the bride in her bridal gown before the day of the wedding!"

"Well, we're just looking at fabrics right now," Katara mediated. "We're not even close to a gown yet."

"But, my lady—"

"Of course, there are so many choices, I can't possibly decide right now," Katara breezed over any other objections. "If you would be so kind as to leave your samples behind so that I might see them in various lights throughout the day? Thank you. The rest of you may go as well."

The women filed out obediently, leaving Katara and Zuko alone. Once they had their privacy, Zuko closed the distance between them that they had properly maintained, sweeping Katara into his arms and kissing her passionately.

When he let her down and she could catch her breath, Katara smiled. "Thank you for saving me. I couldn't imagine making it through the rest of that without pining someone to the wall with icicles."

Zuko frowned slightly. "Is it really that difficult? Just choose something you like and that's it."

Katara swatted him on the arm, a move that would have sent anyone else in the palace into apoplexy and horror. "You have no idea how complicated it is. I can't choose everything from one province or one merchant without insulting everyone else. And…"

She hadn't meant to go on, but her true reason for putting off her choice was about to slip out. And Zuko knew her well enough to pick up on it.

"And what? Tell me."

"The colors," Katara admitted, turning her head aside to avoid Zuko's gaze. "I just never thought that I would get married wearing anything other than blue."

"Oh. I thought it was something like that."

Katara sighed and allowed him to gather her in his arms, her back against his chest and his chin resting on her head.

"What if I told you I had one more sample fabric for you to look at?"

Katara sighed. "Really? You want to try my patience?"

"Trust me."

And the Spirits knew that Katara trusted Zuko, even before she had loved him. Katara closed her eyes when she was told and held out her hands as instructed. When she opened her eyes, Katara saw a bolt of silk in a metallic, vibrant blue that shimmered with bronze. After unwrapping a portion of the length, Katara realized the silk was so thin it was nearly transparent.

"It's—gorgeous," Katara whispered. "But, I can't, it's not red or—"

"Blue is a color of fire, after all," Zuko interrupted. "Look."

The ball of fire that glowed in Zuko's hands was the usual orange color that Katara was used to. "I'm looking at a fire ball," she commented dryly.

Zuko sighed in impatient exasperation. "Look right at the base, the heart of the fire ball."

With that direction, Katara noticed the faint blue core before the fire turned its usual shade of orange.

"Azula used blue fire," Katara pointed out quietly.

Zuko grimaced as he still did at the mention of his sister. "Hard to forget," he muttered. "Blue flame is hotter, more intense, more destructive."

"And that's what you're saying to me to convince me to wear blue?" Katara asked incredulously.

"No," Zuko answered quickly and let the fire ball die. "But if you choose to wear blue, it's a valid argument."

Katara sighed. "Right, that's all I need, one more argument."

Zuko smiled. "Or you could just say that since you were the one who defeated Azula in the Agni Kai, and not me, you are the rightful Firelord to begin with."

Katara stared in shock for several breaths until she burst out laughing. Zuko continued to smile and then stole the bolt of silk from her arms and unfurled its whole length of bronze and blue. Katara found a bolt of orange cloth that complimented it, layering the two together.

"Perfect," she declared, holding the strands against her body.

"Perfect," Zuko agreed, but they both knew he wasn't talking about the dress.