Before I begin, let me say thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed and loved my story so far. I really appreciate all the comments and feedbacks and all the love that I got from everyone. When I began this story I was a novice, I still am actually. :) This was my first story ever and the lack of experience reflects in the first couple of chapters. I almost gave up on it but then thanks to everyone's encouragement, I decided to finally walk down the path and finish what I have started. Albeit there were moments when I felt as if my story was going off track or somehow it didn't seem to convey what I was trying to portray. Moments of confusion, moment of writer's block plagued me throughout the course of the story but somehow or the other I finally managed to overcome then all. :)

This is the last but one chapter of this journey, the tale that I span is about to come to an end. I don't know if I will be able to write another story like this again or if this story was good enough. Whatever be the reason or the cause, I am still grateful for everyone's support and kind words. It has been an amazing journey, one that I am glad I undertook :) :)

So without any further ado, here is the story's conclusion.
And of course, there is going to be an epilogue, don't worry :) :)

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A brilliant flash of lightening illuminates the stormy sky, the wind howling thorugh the night and seeing him in front of me once again, I find my resolve washing away with the rain. Am I being honest with myself or is my selfish desire to keep Aang happy making me blind towards the more severe consequences of living a lie? But I am not going to live a lie, I remind myself as a pang of guilt at the very thought of doubting my love for Aang stabs me in the guts. A shudder runs down my spine, forcing me to clench my fists tightly; I don't have to remind myself how much Aang needs me and I can never live with myself if he gets hurt because of me. The rain running down my face makes it difficult for me to look at Zuko clearly but I hold my head high and lock my eyes with him in a defiant gaze; even as his golden eyes pierces through mine, I find myself faltering yet again. I silently grit my teeth and tearing my eyes off of his, I find myself walking away.

A small part of me wishes he would stop me, maybe shout at me for being stupid or laugh at me for being so weak; that would definitely help me wake up from this daze of a nightmare. Even as the thought enters my head, he suddenly reaches out and grabs my arm just as I am about to walk past him and my feet stops moving on their own. Another flash of lightening and suddenly I can see Aang getting hit by that bolt of insane energy, ripping apart his insides. Horrified at the vision, I painfully wrench my arm away from him.

"I didn't mean to worry you..." his voice seems far off all though we are standing just a feet away, our backs towards each other but I can feel the sincerity in his words as clearly as I can feel the raindrops sliding down my face. "I didn't think you would.." He continues.

In spite of everything, I find myself turning back to look at him, surprised at his words.

"What do you mean?"

He doesn't reply and I watch his back, my curiosity getting the better of me. He didn't think I would worry about him?

"I couldn't leave Mai at Azula's mercy" he begins, his shoulders sag a bit as he takes a deep breath and turns around to face me. Almost involuntarily I take a step back, which he notices, for his eyes narrow for just a second before he looks over to the far off cliff, breaking off eye contact. I find myself thanking the spirits silently as he continues, " Ever since we were young, Mai has always liked me..." I try to ignore the tiny tinge of pain that stabs my heart, instead forcing myself to listen to what he is saying. ".. and I grew to like her too." I am almost ashamed to feel my heart clenching over in pain at his words and mortified at my disloyalty towards Aang at the same time. I close my eyes shut, tightly wrapping my arms around me, his voice washing over me even as the rain starts to slow down a bit. "Azula would always take advantage of the fact and seeing her using Mai like that..." His voice almost falters for a second and I find myself opening my eyes to look at him; a decision I regret the second I see his fist clench in pain.

"I know Azula.." he continues forcefully, his gaze still fixed on the dark cliff sides, "And I know she will not hesitate to torture Mai if I had not agreed." He turns to face me and this time I do not turn away, instead gazing back into his eyes, my heart beating painfully. "Kill her..? Perhaps not but do you think I would take a chance like that on Mai?"

I don't say anything and neither does he; the only sound being the thunder above, the rain slowly but steadily slowing down to a gentle drizzle.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." I finally reply back.

"I am not." He answers, the intensity of his gaze almost making me stagger but I hold my ground as he continues. " I don't want any misunderstandings, I don't want you to feel betrayed.."

I shake my head, a small laugh escaping my lips. " What is there to feel betrayed about?" I ask. " You sided with the enemy! Doesn't matter if she is your girlfriend: she is still on the other side!"

"Wha..? Wait.. You think I did it just because she is my girlfriend?" he asks incredulous. I don't reply back, knowing fully well how unjustified I am being at accusing him of something so mundane, I understand why he did what he did but a sudden anger flares up inside me and I find myself refusing to back down.

"Yes." I spat back, the word coming out of my mouth almost in a hiss.

"She is not my girlfriend anymore!" He replies back. My heart almost stops at his word, a strange sensation filling up my soul. "She was but I left everything behind when I decided to join the Avatar!"

"You expect me to believe that!" I grit my teeth, my hands fisting themselves painfully. How stupid does he think I am?

" I admit Mai and I had something special.. we thought it was love.." He replies slowly, " but it was not. It's all a thing of the past now."

"You risked your life for her!" I snap back, almost afraid to believe him but in spite of myself, I find a tiny tinge of hope filling up my heart but anger and shame gets the better of me once again.

He blinks his eyes in surprise, taking a step back in confusion. "I would have done the same for you and Sokka!"

"That doesn't matter" I snap. "The plan tonight was simple. All we had to do was meet Piandao, get as much information as we could about General Iroh and get back to the temple to plan our next move! Was it so hard to do that?"

He looks at me speechless and though I know I am being a jerk, I still push on. " We could have escaped from Azula if only you had not decided to let your heart rule your mind!" I almost laugh at the irony of me lecturing someone about keeping their emotions in check; any other time I would have stopped but the anger, the pain, the confusion and the guilt that has been building up the whole night has suddenly found an escape route; lashing back at Zuko.

" Escaping from Azula at that time would have served no purpose." He replies back, his voice betraying a hint of irritation; " She would have followed us back and found out about the air temple."

"You think now she won't?" I almost scream in anger and he takes another step back from me in alarm.

"Calm down Katara." he says slowly, "You are not making sense."

"I am not making sense??" I yell back, fisting my arms by my side.

"Yes!" he replies back. " I didn't have any option. I was the one who surrendered, you and Sokka were perfectly capable of escaping! I didn't think you would come to rescue me instead! I never thought you would forget that keeping Aang safe is our main priority!"

To say that I am speechless will be an understatement. I open my mouth to say something, snap back at him for his words but it seems like I have lost the ability to speak; it almost feels as if he has just slapped me hard across the face. I stand looking at him, not even aware that the rain has stopped about a minute ago, just a few drops falling now and then.

"You won't understand.." I finally reply back. How do I explain to him that I am falling in love with him and that the very thought of losing him just when I found him was making my heart rip apart in two? How do I explain to him the terror and the guilt that was consuming me from the insides? How do I explain to him all these emotions that are welling up inside me when I can't even explain it to myself?

He walks towards me and places his hand on my shoulder. Almost involuntarily, a shudder runs through my body at his touch, my heart beat speeding up once again. "You are shivering.." he says softly, his eyes full of concern. "Are you cold?" I shake my head, wondering how he would react if I tell him that his close proximity is what is making me shiver. He produces a small flame in the palm of his hand and suddenly a comfortable warmth spreads throughout my body.

" Here, let me help.." I reply back and with a wave of my hand, I bend the water away from his clothes as well as mine. He smiles at the gesture, almost making my heart stop for a moment and I smile back in return, the warm glow of the flame basking us in a dim golden light.

"Thank you..." he replies softly. " Thank you for not abandoning me once again.."

The flame is still flutterin in his palm but I am not looking at the fire anymore, for somehow I just can't look away from his eyes. The golden glow of the flame reflecting off his eyes mesmerizes me, almost hypnotic in their intensity.

"I thought I lost you..." I find myself whispering, somehow my voice not sounding like my voice at all.

"So did I.." he whispers back. My heart beats painfully in my ribs.. almost as if in a trance, I find myself leaning towards him, my eyelids feeling heavy..

I find my hands slowly putting themselves on his chest, his eyes piercing through mine, a strange look on his face... stop it.. stop it now.. my mind is screaming for me to stop but it's as if I am not in control of my actions anymore. I just can't seem to look away, our breathing getting heavy as we lean in even closer to each other, so near that our nose almost touch, his breath warm against my cheeks.

"I don't want to feel like that ever again.." My heart almost stops at his words, his gaze seeming to pierce right through me.

"Neither do I.." I reply back. My breath hitches in my throat, my heart hammering painfully in my chest as my grip on his shirt tightens. I am not aware of what is happening or when the flame in his palm had extinguished as his hands slowly wraps around my waist pulling me closer, I have never been this close to him before and all I can feel is the eratic beating of his heart beneath my palm before my eyelids flutter shut by themselves.. so close..

"Katara!!"

Through a daze, I can hear someone calling me from far..

"Katara!!"

Zuko's grip on me suddenly loosens and my eyes slowly flutters open as the warmth of his breath moves away from my cheeks. We look at each other in surprise, my head still reeling a bit, my heart beat echoing up my ear drums.. he looks back at me through glazed eyes, suddenly widening as realization hits us both at the same time. Instantly he lets go of me and I stagger back in shock.

"Katara!!"

Both of us turn to look around, just in time to see Sokka running towards us, Toph leading the way. I look back at Zuko in wonder: what just happened? He looks stunned, his eyes reflecting the shock that is running through me as he shakily runs his hand through his hair.

"Why are you here?" Sokka pants, coming to a stop in front of me "I told you to wait near Appa!"

Zuko nervously shuffles his feet and I try not to look at him. "We got lost...?" Zuko replies tentatively.

Not trusting myself to speak, I merely nod my head, my numb brain still reeling in shock.

Sokka gives me a curious look which I try to avoid, instead taking in a deep breath to clear my head and slowly but surely, reality crashes through me, almost feeling as if I got hit by a bolt of lightning itself.

"Where's Aang?" I panic, suddenly feeling guilty all over again but before anyone could reply, Toph suddenly shouts out: " Get down!!"

A loud boom echos throughout the atmosphere and the sky immediately lights up in a bright orange glow. Almost instinctively, I throw myself down on the ground, covering my head with my arms. Even though we are so far away from the summer house, the heat radiating out from the blast still manages to pierce through. A billowing black cloud slowly starts forming high up the ground, the angry flames hungrily eating up the wooden house.

"Come on!" Zuko calls out urgently, getting up on his feet and within seconds we are all running back towards the cliff, further away from the burning house.

"Is Aang all right?" I gasp out, scrambling up the last few rocks as the cove comes into view once again. The next instant my question gets answered as I look up to see Aang urgently pulling Aapa out from the sheltered cove. It is not until the immense sense of relief hits me at his sight that I realize how worried I was about him.

"Get on!" He shouts at us, airbending himself on top of Aapa automatically. Without another word, we scramble up into Appa's saddle and the next instant, the familiar sensation of rising up in the air as the wind whips past my hair hits us once again. The night sky rushes towards us, the faint twinkling stars trying to see through the scattered strom clouds as we rise higher up in the air, the house burning angrily beneath us.

"Katara! Take the reins and get out of here!" Aang bellows and before I can register what is happening, Aang takes a dive through the clouds, whipping out his glider as he disappears below.

"Aang! No!!" I shout out but he is already gone. I scramble forward on my hands and knees, grasping hold of Aapa's reins as I try to steer him towards where Aang seems to be heading. Appa lets out a giant roar, changing directions mid way and I can hear Toph let out a small scream as we suddenly dive down.

"Careful there! I can't exactly see where we are going in case you forgot!"

"Sorry Toph" I reply back, gritting my teeth, the familiar swooping sensation rising up my guts. Appa swoops in and out through the flying burning debris raining all around even as Sokka screams out to be careful. For an instant I almost lose sight of Aang's tiny frame against the bright yellow orange flames and as I crane my neck around desperately to catch sight of him, a sudden whoosing sound arises from my right. I look back just in time to see a huge wave rising up from the sea, Aang waterbending himself on top as he rides the wave.

"He can never get the water to reach the house!" Sokka screams. "It's too far away."

I hate to admit it but Sokka is right, there is no way he can waterbend all that water and carry it so far away from the beach. I look on anxiously, wondering what he is planning to do next and even as I watch, Aang forms an air scooter and lands on the beach, the water still rushing towards him.

"I am going to give him a hand!" I shout out but before I could even complete the thought in my head, a fierce gale of wind blows down on us, almost driving Appa off course. I immediately grip the reins tighter, my knuckles turning white as I try to steer us through the onslaught of the wind bursts. I peer through the wind and burning debris just in time to see Aang create a huge whirlpool of air, circling around the wave and forming a fierce tornado of water and air. Toph lets out another terrified scream, Appa veering dangerously in midair.

"Katara!" Sokka's shout pierces through the howling wind. " There are fire benders below!"

Before I could even comprehend what he means, a huge ball of fire passes by us, a few inches to the right and it might have taken my head off. Gritting my teeth, I try to manuveour Appa through the oncoming fire but the wind is making it even harder. From the corner of my eye, I can see another fire ball heading towards us and just when I think it is going to hit us, a sudden flame of fire swirls around us, covering us inside a coccoon. For an instant, the fire surrounding us cuts off the fierce wind, almost feeling as if we have suddenly dunked underwater.

"Katara.." Zuko says urgently, his voice straining from the effort it was taking him to maintain the huge fire shield against the howling wind as well as the oncoming fire while trying to keep it far enough so that it doesn't burn us instead " Trust Aang.."

Our eyes meet for a second and even in that infinitesimal amount of time, I can feel my doubts melting away. I give a quick nod of my head and for once in my life, decide not to let my instinct to help Aang get in the way of my belief in him. I resolutely tug Appa's reins upwards, just as Zuko dissolves the fire shield around us. Trust Aang..

Immediately, a huge tornado of water races towards us and Appa moves at the last instant to avoid slamming into it.

"Oh my..." Sokka whispers in awe and I can feel the hair rise up on the back of my neck at the spectacular display of bending below. Aang has used his air bending to swirl the air violently around the huge wave of water that he had waterbended earlier, creating a giant tornado of water, the air circling around it at fierce speed keeping the water from giving way. The mass of swirling water and air smashes into the beach, the terrified firebenders screaming to get out of the oncoming onslaught. Even as I watch, the water rises up about thirty feet in the air and stops just in front of the burning house for a moment. I can hear Sokka take in a sharp intake of breath and my eyes wander over to the tiny frame of Aang in the beach as he stamps his right feet in the ground, his hands lifted up to his chest and then suddenly he turns around on the spot and swings his arms forwards, releasing the huge gale of water on top of the house. As the water hits the house, it's almost as if someone has extinguished a giant lamp. A roaring hiss echoes throughout the atmosphere, the acrid smell of smoke and damp wood coming up till here, the fire disappearing instantly under the tremendous amount of water falling down on it.

"Move now!" Zuko's sudden shout snaps me back to reality and I instinctively tug Appa's reins, making him swoop down towards the ground just where I can see Aang standing under the moonlight. Even as we swoop in, Aang uses his glider and flies up towards us, landing in gracefully on the saddle as I steer Appa up into the night sky once again, the welcoming rush of cool air enveloping us. I turn back to take one last look at the island, no longer glowing orange but the house looks as if Aang doused the flames just in time. The huge black smoking house stands out errily among the cliffs, who would have thought so much can happen withing such a short span of time?

"Aang!!" Sokka exclaims enthusiastically. "That was some display of bending!"

I can feel myself smiling like a fool, a huge grin on my face. I let go of Appa, stumbling and crawling my way towards Aang instead and before he could even register what is happening, I fling myself on his arms, almost knocking him off his feet.

"Ooomph" Aang wheezes and I let go of him in alarm. "Aang!" I cry out, "Did I hurt you?"

Toph lets out a snort and from the corner of my eye, I can see Zuko's face break into a smile.

"I am ok" he winces, gingerly rubbing his ribs "though I can use some warning next time."

He flashes back his big goofy grin and for the first time ever since we started on this journey, I finally feel the tension webbing away.

"What about Azula?" Zuko blurts out.

"She escaped." Toph replies nonchalantly, "melted the shakles right from the base of the metal floor."

"Aang.. How..?" I begin but he cuts me off.

"There is plenty of time for questions and answers Katara. Right now is not it. Let's get back home first."

I nod my head as he makes his way forward and takes hold of Appa's reins. So much has happened tonight, so many questions and so many conflicting answers but as I make my way towards where Zuko is sitting, his eyes still fixed on the receeding Island, I find myself putting my hand on his shoulder. He looks back at me, his eyes reflecting the same questions that I am struggling with but as he gently sqeezes my hand in return, somwhow it feels as if the answers that we finally find will be exactly what we are looking for.

But not tonight.

Tonight we let it go for tomorrow is another day.

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*reviews are always appreciated* :D :)