And ta-da! Here is the last chapter! ^_^ Or the epilogue... whichever you prefer. :D Thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope to see your reviews at the end of this chapter too.

Read, review and ENJOY THE LAST CHAPTER OF BENEATH THE EARTH!!!

Epilogue: The Last Few Months

As Katara began to regain consciousness properly at last, she could hear voices; people moving around her. She was lying on her back on something very soft and warm and there was a blanket over her. She felt very comfortable, but at the same time, very stiff. But for the first time in a little while, she felt safe.

A warm hand pressed against her forehead and left her skin tingling and as she took in a deep breath, she knew that hand must have belonged to Zuko. She could smell him there and feel his presence, still somewhere nearby.

"Is that a sufficient amount of gold for you?" she heard his voice.

A familiar woman's voice chuckled, "It's perfect. Thank you, Your Majesty," the voice said with a slight mock to it. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"Thanks for helping; we couldn't have found them without you."

There was a moment of silence where Katara imagined whoever the woman was must have just shrugged silently. "All in a day's work. Come on, Kalo."

"See you round," an unrecognizable male's voice said.

"Goodbye."

Two pairs of footsteps grew fainter and fainter and disappeared after the sound of a closing door.

"That Kalo guy still creeps me out," Toph's voice said. Though her voice sound weak, Katara's heart skipped a beat with joy and relief.

"Ssh! He might still be able to hear you!" Sokka whisper-yelled.

"I am sure he would understand, Sokka," said Iroh's voice.

"I'm sure he gets it all the time..." There was her father's voice.

A few people around the room chuckled and Katara felt Zuko's hand find hers and hold on to it. He rubbed little circles onto the back of her hand with his thumb and her heart pumped with excitement. She wanted to spring up and pull him into her arms and hold on to him forever. But there was no way she had that type of energy at that moment.

At last, she managed to open her eyes. And sure enough, there he was, sitting at her bedside. Though he was holding her hand, he was not looking at her at that moment – his eyes were fixed on someone on the other side of the room who was talking to him.

"I'm just glad that someone was able to help us find them," said Suki.

"Yea, if Jun hadn't helped us out, we would probably still be on a wild and unsuccessful goose-frog-chase," Zuko said, the corner of his mouth twitching up slightly.

Seeing his face again... Katara couldn't stop the smile of joy that spread across her face, lighting up her eyes and making her blush just that little bit. She looked around the room a bit – it was a large room with a row of beds along either wall. She was lying in one of them and she could also see Mai lying motionless in one. Toph and Aang had one each too but they were sitting up in theirs. Zuko, Sokka, Suki, Ty Lee, Iroh and Hakoda were all standing or sitting at certain places in the room.

"Hopefully, we won't need any help like that again," Sokka said. "Hopefully, things will not get tough again and no one will get kidnapped or disappear or anything. Ever again. And we can all just relax now."

"Life isn't perfect, sweetie," Suki sighed.

"Well it should be!"

"You're only saying that because your dad grounded you for back-chatting."

"And for swearing," Hakoda added. "His punishment will do him a world of good."

"Seriously, I can't believe you grounded me, Dad, I'm a full-grown, married man!"

"Guys, can we not have this argument again? Please?" Ty Lee cut in.

"Yea, as entertaining as it was last time, we're sort of trying to recover here and you giving us headaches with that stuff isn't going to help," Toph said.

Katara smiled, "Looks like I missed out on a fair bit then."

All eyes swiveled to look at her.

"Katara!"

"You're awake!"

"How are you feeling?"

She pulled her hand gently out of Zuko's and slowly sat herself up, screwing up her face as her stiff and aching joints and muscles protested. Zuko fixed the pillow behind her so that she could lean back on it and then took both of her hands in his again. They smiled lovingly at each other.

"I'm feeling fine," she promised, speaking directly to her husband. "I'm just a little tired and stiff. No harm done."

Zuko pressed his lips against her back of her hands and then laced his fingers with hers properly, kissing the tips of each of her fingers.

"What you did was amazing, Katara," Ty Lee enthused. "We thought there was no way Toph would be able to pull through – but you saved her!"

The waterbender smiled at her friend and then let her eyes travel over to where Toph was sitting up in her bed. The earthbender smiled blindly back at her and made the peace sign with her fingers.

"Seriously, Katara, I owe you my life," Toph smirked. "Thank you."

"It was no problem," Katara shrugged, trying to be modest although she knew that what she had done was truly amazing. "It was the least I could do after you guys came to rescue me and Mai."

On mentioning the other girl's name, everybody looked to the bed next to Katara's. The girl still hadn't moved or awoken and Katara frowned in disapproval to her lifelessness.

"What happened to her?" she asked, a little afraid of what might be revealed.

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"She saved me," Zuko murmured. "She saved my life and nearly lost hers."

"Aang was in the Avatar State soon after and managed to stop her from dying, but... she isn't showing any signs of planning to wake up any time soon," Sokka said.

"She got hurt worse than I did," Toph added.

Katara frowned, eyeing Mai.

"The main thing is, we did all get out of there alive. And I think we can all safely say that none of us are going to die any time soon – everyone who got hurt is in a stable condition at the very least and Mai's the only one who hasn't actually woken up yet," Suki said.

"The doctors have said she may not wake up for a long time. She's in a perfectly stable condition, but she's not well enough to wake up yet. Her body needs time to recover and she also needs to recover mentally and emotionally. What happened to her was a little more severe and complicated than what happened to anyone else," Zuko said.

"But she will be alright in the end, won't she?" Katara urged.

Zuko nodded quickly, "Yes, as long as we make sure we keep taking care of her. She'll pull through."

Katara looked back over to Mai, "Good."

Later that day, after the doctors have given Katara a check up and assured her that both she and her baby were in good health, she was allowed to leave the built-in hospital and go to other parts of the palace. She'd have to return there once more later that day, just before dinner, just so that the doctors could be certain she was alright. But she could sleep in her own bed with Zuko that night. Toph and Aang, however, would be required to stay there longer. The doctors wanted to be sure that all of the drugs the Dai Li had used on Aang were out of his system and that he was being properly fed and nourished and in good physical condition before they released him – that would take a couple more days. Toph's body was still in shock from what had happened to her, but she would probably be released at the same time as Aang as long as she kept getting better.

Mai, on the other hand, would be transferred to the real hospital if her condition worsened. She would otherwise stay where she was in the palace medical facility until she was awake and the doctors had decided she was well enough to leave.

On the brighter side of things, both Katara and Suki were nearing the five month mark of their pregnancies. The doctors assured both them and their husbands that the babies they carried were perfectly healthy.

With things looking up, they all found means to be happy. Even Ty Lee relaxed and was assured that Mai would make a good recovery in due time. She, on the other hand, had a little issue of her own in her hands...

"So, you ran away to join the circus huh?" Windu chuckled as she showed off her balancing skills along one of the balconies.

"Mhm, it was one of the best things I ever did. It was so much fun!" she said cheerily, standing on her hands.

Windu shifted uncomfortably, a little afraid of what might happen if she lost her balance for even a second.

"Are you sure it's safe for you to do this here? I mean... it's an awful long way down..."

Ty Lee giggled, "Don't be silly – I've done this sort of stuff for years and even if I did fall, I'd mostly likely be able to find something to grab on to or do something to make sure I didn't hurt myself. I'm a professional!"

Windu laughed nervously, subconsciously inching a little closer so he could catch her, just in case...

"I'll be fine, Windu," she smiled at him, up-side-down.

But just to spare him a heart attack, she flipped herself back over to the safe side of the balcony and then leaned herself against it, smiling at him with her bright, childish eyes.

"You're cute," she said simply.

"Um... thanks," he grinned, leaning against the railing of the balcony next to her.

They looked each other up and down for a moment before they slowly leaned in and closed their eyes...

Gran-Gran stayed in the Fire Nation, even after Hakoda and the others of the Southern Water Tribe and Kyoshi Island returned home. Until the Chief of the South or the Chief of Kyoshi passed on, Sokka and Suki would remain in the Fire Nation as well. Gran-Gran was glad that she would be present for the birth and growth of her great-grandchildren.

Zuko, Katara, Sokka and Suki all helped each other with decorating a single room which their children would share in the palace once they were old enough not to have to sleep with their parents. Aang even insisted on pitching in and by the end of the sixth month of Katara and Suki's pregnancies, the room was painted, each wall a different colour – red, green, blue, and orange – and there were little pictures of stars, moons, suns, lemurs and bison all over the ceiling. It would be a perfect little sanctuary for their children to grow up in.

As the seventh months came into being, Gran-Gran took the girls shopping for baby clothes.

"You know, Katara, this reminds me of when your mother was pregnant with you and with Sokka – we didn't have such a big market down South, but preparing for the arrivals of you little wonders was still just as exciting!"

Katara laughed, "I'm beginning to understand what you mean, Gran-Gran."

"I'm really excited to! Oh, I can't wait to be a mother!" Suki grinned.

"But don't be too blinded by your excitement girls – being a mother is a lot of tough work."

"Yea, we'll have to be up in the middle of the night to feed them and change them... and we need to feed them and change them anyway!" Katara said.

Suki snorted, "I can imagine what Sokka's face will be like when I get him to change her."

"Her?" Katara raised her eyebrows.

Suki smiled, "I can just feel it in my gut – it's going to be a girl!"

"Really?" Katara smiled. "Ha, I wouldn't have a clue if I'm having a girl or a boy."

"I think it's a boy," Gran-Gran and Suki said in union.

They all glanced at each other in shock and burst out laughing.

She found him in the hospital, standing next to Mai's bed, just watching her.

"Honey?" she said gently, walking up behind him. "Are you ok?"

Zuko turned to look at Katara. His hard expression softened at the sight of her face and he smiled lopsidedly at her.

"I'm fine," he whispered in an assuring tone.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. He held her close to him and breathed in the scent of her hair.

"I'm just worried about her."

"I know," Katara said softly. "It's ok."

"You've done a bit of checking up on her yourself, haven't you?" he asked. Katara nodded. "What do you think? Do you think she'll be ok?"

"It's like the doctors said – she is ok. But... I don't think she's going to wake up for a while. She got hurt pretty badly, Zuko."

Zuko's face contorted for a moment and he took a deep breath to compose himself.

"Zuko? Are you sure you're ok? Do you want to talk about it?"

"This is all my fault!" he yelled suddenly. He clapped his hands back over his mouth to suppress any other outbursts and then let Katara pull him into her arms again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

"It's alright – you're just upset. But listen to me, Zuko," she said. "What happened was not your fault. We've had this conversation before – you can't keep putting the blame on yourself. The situation was out of your hands."

"If I'd just been more careful..." He looked back at Mai's still body.

"Well you weren't, and what happen has happened. We can't turn back time, honey. What happened, happened and we can't take it back. But that's life – and you weren't to blame for any of what happened."

His eyes were still cold; she could tell that he still held himself responsible to some extent. She held both of his hands in both of hers and pressed them against her stomach. Upon feeling the kick of the child, he couldn't help but smile and let his tense body relax.

"You're going to be a father soon," Katara whispered. "You and me... we're going to have a baby. This kid is going to look up to the both of us and we need to show it how to handle things like making a mistake or getting caught up in a sticky situation. Zuko, listen, even if it was your fault, you need to learn to forgive yourself and let go of what happened."

"I know..." he murmured.

"Sooner or later, Mai will wake up. And she's not going to hold what happened against you." Zuko looked back at the girl lying in the bed and Katara kept talking. "It was her choice to save you, Zuko. She would have happily given her life up for you. She loves you, Zuko, and she knows that you love me and we're together and all that really matters to her now is that you end up happy – that's why she did it. She saved you so that you could be happy."

He was silent for a moment. He whispered, "I know," and then turned his gaze back to Katara's deep blue eyes. "And I'm grateful."

They smiled at each other and Zuko leaned down to kiss her on the top of the head. She closed her eyes and sighed.

She pulled away gently after a few seconds. "I need to go and eat something... I'm starving and Suki and I had agreed on a little mother's club between the two of us and Gran-Gran, so I'd better be off. Don't get lost on your way back to the bedroom," she winked, giggling. "I'll be there later."

She turned to walk away and he caught her wrist gently in his hand and pulled her around to face him again, "Katara, I love you."

She smiled, "I love you too, Zuko."

"And... whether any of it was my fault or not, I'm sorry... for everything."

She sighed and stepped in to hug him again, "So am I."

She kissed his lips once more and they held on a moment longer. Then she pulled away again and quietly walked away. He watched her go, longing in his eyes and a faint smile caressing his lips.

"Chin up, Zuko," Toph smirked, stepping in to take Katara's place. "Everything's going to start looking up from here."

He chuckled, "I know, Toph."

The blind earthbender stood next to him and punched him in the arm.

"Ow..." He punched her back.

They smirked at each other, then...

"I'm bored... go make me a sandwich, kitchen bitch."

Zuko sighed and snorted at the sarcasm in her voice. "Fine!"

And so life in the mortal world went on, Ursa, Yue and Azula watching over their loved ones all the while.

Yue sighed, "I love happy endings."

Azula shook her head, "It's not the end. They've still got their whole lives ahead of them. And... Shang is still somewhere out there."

Yue frowned, "What do you think will become of this then?"

"Is it over yet?" Azula asked her mother, though she already knew the answer.

"Now quite..."

Wish a gentle swish of her hand over the surface of the water in the well, Ursa made the image change.

Shang walked silently through a row of prison cells with his hood pulled over his head. He did not stop until he was standing in front of the only occupied cell there, and then he turned sharply on his heals to look upon the prisoner – an elderly woman with grey hair, tied with her arms and legs behind her. She looked worse for wear.

"You are Hama, the waterbender who was last taken from the Southern Water Tribe and said to be the last waterbender from down there until the girl, Katara, was born?"

"That is me," she answered glumly, eyeing him carefully.

"I think it's about time you got out of here and got revenge on the people who put you in here. Do you know of Koh, the Face Stealer?"

She nodded, "I'm listening…"

To be continued...

Woot! End of this one :) So drop a review, tell me what you thought – I mean seriously, don't you just wanna scream at me for leaving you with another cliff-hanger?! :D I'm so horrible.

Ok, so you all remember how there was a few months gap between the end of Behind the Lies and the start of this? Well, that's probably going to happen again because I have my schoolwork piling up on me which is preventing me from writing – I was actually supposed to be doing homework when I wrote this chapter and the last one. Also, I don't want to end up getting bored of the story line, so who knows, maybe you'll see another unrelated fic go up... but no promises, as I said, school :P

And just for those of you who either wanna stalk me/keep in touch with me while I'm not on FF, here are a couple of other random place you can find me:

www(dot)fictionpress(dot)com/u/657750/

appa-appa-away(dot)deviantart(dot)com/

show-me-the-light(dot)blogspot(dot)com/

Yea, they're also on my profile page :) So check em out and leave me reviews and comments and shit like that – it's allllll me :D

Once again A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED THIS STORY!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS LOTSMS AND LOTSMS AND I HOPE TO SEE A REVIEW FROM YOU ALL AT THE END OF THIS ONE AND I HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT SEQUEL!

ZUTARA FOREVER!!!!

XD

A~A~A

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox