I can't believe how long it has been.

So sorry for not updating this fic, I just feel so sad to have to let this go. Oh, and I have a job now so I only have computer time from midnight onwards.

So, after nine chapters of mindless brain juice, here is the moment we've been waiting for.

"Ten Things I hate About You"

Number Ten: I hate how I don't have any real reason to hate you

Zuko opened his eyes and glared at the annoying rays of sunlight slipping through the binds he had just newly purchased with his wife.

Zuko smiled at this thought. Wife. Even after five months of being married, he still can't believe Katara actually chose him to be her husband.

He turned his whole body towards Katara, who was still sleeping after all the activities they had last night- putting up the blinds, mind you- and pushed a lock of brown hair behind her ear. Katara instinctively moved closer and laid her head on his chest.

Careful enough not to wake her up, Zuko opened the bedside drawer and pulled out bundles of paper, some crumpled, some burnt at the sides, but all written by Zuko for Katara. He started writing letters right after he and Katara got trapped in the cave back in the Earth Kingdom.

He never had the courage nor the chance to give these to her.

Disregarding all sentimental value because he was Fire Lord Zuko, "the insensitive bastard who got lucky enough to convince a girl to marry him", he burned the papers into dust.

He didn't need them anymore anyway. He already got the girl.

Katara who, after being with Zuko for so long has acquired the ability to smell smoke from miles away, scrunched her nose at the scent of burning paper.

As Zuko watched his wife scratch her eyes with the back of her hand, he smiled.

He smiled because he was the only person in the world who could see Katara in her nightgown with drool on her chin and early sunrays on her face and body.

He, after stealing her mother's necklace, was the person she chose to be the first to say "good morning" to.

He, after all the tears he made her cry, was the person she chose to cuddle with at night.

He, after being just a downright son of a bitch, was the person she chose to love.

And as Katara yawned and stretched like a kitty cat, Zuko decided that he would never steal her mother's necklace, or make her cry, or be a son of a bitch to her ever again.

Except for when it's counted as foreplay.

Because after the war, when everybody was torn apart and cut to pieces, Katara was the only one who helped him get himself together. Very much like the tape that fixes a piece of paper you never really meant to tear.

With that epiphany, Zuko gets a neatly wrapped gift and gives it to Katara, kissing her cheek and whispering to her ear.

"Happy Birthday."

He made so many mistakes before and with this second chance, he'll never let her go.

"You finally got it right." Katara said as she hugged him.

Zuko looked at the piece of the sky through the cracks in the blinds and mouthed,

Thank you.

"Yeah, I guess I finally did."

*Sniff* The last part made me cry.

I guess this is the end.

Thank you all for staying with me every step of the way. I love you guys.

Don't forget to review.

-rm