Final chapter! I can finally check this off as done! And that being said, Asuni's story is being posted right after this is as Break Out! The first chapter is up, whoo! I'll admit, this chapter is nothing but so fluff, so you may want to get a toothbrush ready. If you're diabetic, you may want to avoid this all together, it could be hazardous to your health it's so sweet.

"The South Pole is cold," Zuko said around his chattering teeth.

"What did you expect?" Kyuri chuckled.

"I expected cold, just not… this much."

"You wandered around the North Pole sopping wet and you think this is a problem?" Kyuri said, looking at him in confusion. Zuko shrugged sheepishly.

"It's been a while."

"Clearly."

They walked in silence across the tundra for a while. Sangilak had elected to remain back in the Southern Village to entertain the younger children while Zuko and Kyuri went off by themselves.

"So, where are you taking me?" Zuko finally asked the question that had been on since Kyuri asked him to walk out into the tundra with him.

"Home," she said simply.

"Home?" he replied blankly. "But… weren't we-?"

"I haven't lived in that village for a decade," Kyuri said, shaking her head sadly.

"You're taking me to that cave you told me about!" Zuko realized with a start. "I thought you just wanted to go for a walk."

"Well, that," Kyuri admitted. "And… well, I've seen your home. I wanted to show you mine. It's silly, "she said, shaking her head and blushing, feeling like a fool.

"It's sweet," Zuko said, taking her hand and rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Ooh, you're warm," Kyuri said in delight as she pressed closer to him. "I guess I've been a way so long I'm sensitive to cold now."

"Or maybe you're just looking for an excuse to cuddle," Zuko said, looking down at her smugly. He'd found, to his surprise, that Kyuri was quite the cuddler. It was an unexpected but welcome perk of their relationship.

"I would never," Kyuri said innocently before looking away from him. He watched as her eye brightened and followed her line of sight to a ledge of ice rising in front of them. Two tall stalagmites stuck up from the top of it, but their bases couldn't be seen because of the angle of the ledge.

"Is this it?" Zuko asked, looking around for a cave entrance.

"Up there," Kyuri said, nodding at the two stalagmite. She pulled Zuko close to the base of the ledge and raised her hands. The ice under their feet peeled up, rising into the air along the side of the ledge. It paused at the top and Kyuri and Zuko stepped off. Kyuri flicked her hand and the little pane of ice attached to the ledge, waiting for them to leave on it.

"That's it," Zuko said, looking at the hole in the ice between the two icicles shooting high into the air.

"Yes," Kyuri nodded.

"Can we go in now?" Zuko asked interestedly.

Kyuri laughed and nodded. "You don't have to ask me," she said, walking towards it. Zuko followed interestedly. They went into a wide, downward-sloping passage. For a while, it looked like they were headed straight for a dead end, but Kyuri suddenly turned to the right and he saw it was just the way the ice was reflecting the area around it that made it look that way.

"Wow," Zuko said, looking around in awe as he stepped into a huge ice cavern after Kyuri. He'd always though the palace was the most beautiful place he'd ever seen, with its ornate carvings and carefully-painted mosaics. This place though, sparkled like the walls were solid diamond, reflecting the furnishings back at him. It made it look much larger than it actually was. And to Zuko's surprise, it was actually pretty warm. He looked around curiously and saw a hot spring bubbling in the corner, sending steam into the air.

"You have a hot spring?" Zuko said in surprise.

"Yoshio picked her hideout well," Kyuri said, nodding appreciatively.

"Did she bring all this down here?" Zuko said, looking at the low bed draped in Fire Nation red, the chests along one wall.

"Yes," Kyuri nodded. "I didn't do much to the place," she said with a shrug.

"I'm assuming that's where Sangilak sleeps?" Zuko said, looking at the deep dent in the otherwise smooth ice floor. It was scratched and scuffed as if by scales and claws.

"Yes. He's warm. The ice melts on him frequently and he wakes up soaked some mornings," Kyuri recalled. "It irritates him. He doesn't really like being wet."

"I know how he feels," Zuko said with a huff.

"You never minded swimming with me," Kyuri said in surprise.

"That's because you were there," Zuko admitted sheepishly, ruffling his hair. His hand knocked his topknot slightly crooked. He still wasn't quite used to wearing his hair up yet.

"Here," Kyuri said, unwrapping the tie holding the topknot in place. His hair flopped loosely around his face and she caught the crown before it hit the ground. "Much better," she approved, tossing the two accessories on the bed casually.

"What, you don't like my topknot?" Zuko said in mock offense.

"No, I don't," Kyuri chuckled. "You look entirely too stiff. Then you're Fire Lord Zuko instead of my Zuko."

"Oh really?" Zuko said with a smirk, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"What?" Kyuri asked curiously, resting her hands on his chest, one of them fiddling with the edge of his collar casually.

"I don't like it when you're Dragora Kyuri instead of my Kyuri. You look entirely too stiff." He ran a finger under her eye and held up the blue paint-covered digit pointedly.

"And how are you going to fix that?" Kyuri chuckled.

"Like this!"

"Ah!"

Kyuri shrieked and Zuko's grip on her hips suddenly tightened and he picked her up, tossing her to the side. She splashed into the water, the hot water a shock to her system. Kyuri broke the surface, panting, and saw Zuko doubled over laughing. She huffed and knocked a strand of sopping hair out of her eyes. Zuko saw her expression and laughed even harder. His laughs faded as her expression became sly and cunning.

"Kyuri," he said nervously. "It was just a joke, you know that, right?"

"I know," she said lightly, turning away from him. She reached back and tugged at the fastenings of her body suit, glad she hadn't worn her armor or weapons today, something she'd been doing increasingly often.

"Kyuri," Zuko said, swallowing thickly as more and more of her russet back was exposed, broken only by the clean white cloth of her breast bindings. She bent forwards, submerged for a moment, and then her clothes hit the ground with a wet smack. Kyuri turned around, smirking at a dumbfounded Zuko.

"Well?" she said, crooking a finger at him. "Are you going to join me?"

Zuko nodded absently, tugging at the collar of his shirt to loosen it as he undid the belt at his waist. Kyuri suddenly found herself on the other side of things. She'd intended to tease Zuko, but she had to admit, though he'd lost some muscle definition from when they'd first met, she much preferred the leaner Zuko. Her eyes trailed over his chest and she frowned at the ugly scar at the base of his ribcage. Self-consciously, Zuko covered it up, seeing where her eyes had gone.

"No," Kyuri said shortly. "Don't cover it up. You saved Katara. Don't be ashamed." Zuko gave her a weak smile as he tossed his shirt onto the bed, leaving him in his pants. He stepped forwards cautiously. His foot hit an ice slick and he went down, sliding into the water. He surfaced to see Kyuri laughing wildly.

"You're face," she choked out as he gaped at her. "You looked… so silly…" Her laughs slowed as she saw his expression. Now Kyuri was the one who was self-conscious as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "What?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you laugh like that," Zuko said, looking at her intently. "You should do it more often."

Kyuri bit her lip. "I don't know, things that funny don't happen often."

"Come here," Zuko said, settling on a ledge under the water. Kyuri swam over to him easily and rested lightly next to him. He stretched out an arm around her shoulders. She sighed contentedly as she leaned closer, trailing her fingers across his chest. She traced the outline of the scar and Zuko shivered under her.

"Oh, sorry. Is it still sore?" Kyuri said, looking up at him with an adorably concerned expression on her face. Not that he'd ever tell her that. She'd hit him if he ever implied that she was in any way adorable.

"No, just sensitive," Zuko said, shaking his head. He kissed the top of her head as she went back to leaning against him. Droplets of water glinted in her hair and on her skin, the steam drifting around her giving her a mysterious appearance.

"I wish we could stay here forever," Kyuri sighed dreamily. "I wish you didn't have to go back out there and be Fire Lord and I didn't have to go be a Dragora."

"You'll hurt Sangilak's feelings thinking like that," Zuko chuckled. The sound rumbled in his chest against her ear and Kyuri smiled at the feeling.

"You know what I mean," she said, poking him lightly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Zuko agreed. He bit his lip nervously. Was this the right time? "It would be nice if we could stay together forever," he said slowly, testing the waters.

"It would," Kyuri agreed, resuming her tracing as her fingers skimmed over the divots and dips of his chest and stomach. Zuko shivered. She wasn't making it easy to concentrate…

"If we didn't have to sit apart at festivals, you with the Dragora and me with the court," Zuko said contemplatively. "If I could bring you to meetings of state and you could give your opinion."

"I'd like that," Kyuri nodded, recalling when they'd gone to a feast in the Earth Kingdom. They hadn't been able to talk all night, interested parties pressing in on them from all sides. Zuko had to sit by King Kuei and she was several seats down among a knot of Dragora who were in Ba Sing Se at the time. They'd only been able to manage one quick dance the whole night.

"I'll be right back," Zuko said, screwing up his courage and pulling himself out of the hot spring.

"Zuko?" Kyuri said, her chin resting on her hands folded at the edge. She was looking at him curiously, admiring the way his wet pants clung to him. He rummaged though his shirt and pulled something out. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he said slowly as he returned to the edge of the spring. He knelt at the side instead of slipping back in with her. "I just…"

"What is it?" Kyuri asked as he stumbled over his words. Zuko took a deep breath, trying to get the words straight in his head, but they kept flying away as soon as he opened his mouth to say something. Finally he just shut his mouth and wordlessly held out his fist. Kyuri looked at it as he opened his fingers. Her eyes widened as he pulled his fingers back and exposed a thin strip of blue silk. A little blue carved circle dangled from it.

"Zuko," she breathed. "What… Is this… Are you…?"

"Will you marry me?" Zuko asked in one big breath. She just gaped at him and he immediately backpedalled. "I mean, we don't have to do it now, and it's not just to get the court off my back, I really think we could be happy, and I know I'm not so great at carving yet, but Sokka's teaching me, and you said you wanted to, so I just thought-" He was cut off as Kyuri slapped a palm over his mouth. He locked eyes with her and saw that she was beaming, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Of course I will," she said, nodding jerkily. "I told you I would, silly. I just didn't think… so soon."

"We can have a long engagement, if you want," Zuko assured her. "I don't want to rush you or anything. This is enough for me, for now."

"Thank you. Zuko, I…," Kyuri swallowed thickly. She turned away from him and swept up her sopping hair. "Will you… will you put it on me?"

Zuko hummed in agreement and slid the necklace around her throat, fastening it at her nape. He toyed with it gently, centering it, before placing a kiss on her shoulder.

"I love it," she smiled as she touched the pendant. She spun around the face him. They kissed, soft, slow, and unhurried, just reveling in each other's company and this new step they'd taken together.

"We should get back," Kyuri finally said, pulling away from Zuko's chest. He'd long since slipped back into the water with her and pulled her close.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "It'll be night soon. The others will get worried if we're out much later."

They stepped out and dressed, Kyuri giving a glance back at her home before they stepped out of the door.

"We can have your things brought from here to the Fire Palace," Zuko offered.

"That would be nice," Kyuri smiled as she touched her necklace again fondly. Zuko smiled proudly as he saw the stone shining at her throat. Finally she was his. He'd had to put up with several young men hitting on her since they arrived here. Now they wouldn't dare go near her, because she was his.

"And we have hot springs there too," Zuko said slyly. "The Fire Lord has his own private springs."

"Ooh, aren't we special?" Kyuri chuckled.

"I'll share," he assured her, hissing her temple.

"I may take you up on that," she smiled as they stepped back into the large igloo they were sharing with Katara and Sokka's family. It was packed to capacity with Suki and Aang there as well. Toph was even present, having finally lost her patience and run from all the suitors her dad was pushing at her.

"We were about to send out a search party for you guys!" Katara exclaimed as they entered.

'Did you get lost?" Aang asked innocently.

"I don't think that's what happen," Suki said slyly, catching sight of a bruise on the side of Kyuri's neck. She nudged Katara and pointed to it, giggling. Katara started to giggle as well, but then her eyes went huge and she choked.

"Kyuri!" she shrieked.

"Yes?" she smiled.

"That's a- That's a-!"

"Hey, you've got a necklace like Katara's!" Aang grinned, then he gaped. "Wait, but those are for-"

"You're engaged!" Sokka roared, jumping to his feet. "How did this happen? When did he do this to you?"

Kyuri chuckled. "Sokka, I did agree to this."

"You're engaged!" Katara said, leaping up at tackling her friend in a hug. "That's so wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"

"Way to go, Icicle. You and angry Boy be happy together," Toph said casually.

Aang stood up and approached Zuko, looking as stern as they'd ever seen him.

"If you hurt her, they'll never find the body," he said seriously. "I'm the Avatar, I can get away with things."

Zuko stepped back, giving Kyuri an edgy look. "Uh… I'll remember that Aang. I won't hurt her. I mean… I love her."

"I love you too," Kyuri said, going up on her toes to peck his lips.

"Okay gross," Sokka sighed. "Kyuri, we're happy for you, but just keep the PDA to a minimum, okay?"

"You're one to talk, kissing Suki all over the village!" Katara said pointedly.

"Hey Sokka?"

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at her, only to find Kyuri pulling Zuko down to her level, kissing him passionately. "Oh, come on!"

"Get used to it, I'm not stopping any time soon," Kyuri said, breaking the kiss and smiling up at her fiancée.

"Me either," Zuko said, nuzzling against her cheek.

"People in love are gross," Toph concluded.