100 Story Challenges # 18

18.Show: Avatar
Rating: K-T
Pairing: Zutara
Theme: Burn
Genre: Angst

xoxoxox

A weak candlelight flickered pitifully against the cold, hard stonewalls. It was hard to see, what with all the shadows dancing in and out of vision; but Zuko didn't have to see. Hatred was his fuel. His drive.

Revenge was a dish best served cold.

His scar tingled at the feeling of now-caking blood spotting his near-perfect face. His whole body was shaking, but whether or not it was from fear or the cold was unknown. His hair was matted and dishelmed, clothes torn and burned. He had the look of a manic man, ready to dive into the dark depths of the chlorinated pool. His knuckles were ghost white, tightened as much as they could around a (only after he broke it, did he realize) flesh neck.

His sister's neck. Azula.

Of course, she was already dead. She had been for some time, but too far gone Zuko never realized that she stopped breathing and that the air around him from now on would never have to be shared.

"I hate you…I hate you…" His lips trembled with a fury that went beyond that of any fire. His built shoulders (they looked so small now…) shook. Raising her neck and head from the ground, he began to tormentingly (can you really hurt the dead?) beat her already bruised, broken, burned, and bloody head into the stone floors.

"I-"(Hit)"-Hate-"(Punch)"-You!"(Bang)

Tears streaked down his dirty cheeks, carrying blood and dirt along with them. His voice was cracking, but he continued to scream. "Burn! Burn! I hope you burn in Hell! I hate you! I HATE YOU! BURN, BURN, BURN, BURN!!!!!"

Katara followed the twisted screams into a dark, cold room, lit only by one candle; the rest lay battered on the floor, broken and extinguished. Their final resting ground. She squinted her eyes and sprinted to the hunched over figure. Even amongst the darkness, his skin still glowed with that odd shade of rare pale. Prying his hands off of the dead girl's neck; her body fall to the ground with a 'clump', like a once-pretty porcelain doll, shredded of its life.

"Zuko…Zuko…Zuko…ZUKO! STOP IT, JUST STOP!" A spark. She didn't let go of his wrists, afraid that he might run, like the frightened animal he was right now. She cooed, wiping away the bloody-dirty tears from his face. "It's okay…She's dead…It's okay…It's okay, Zuko…"

She pressed his head to her shoulder. Katara didn't seem to notice the tears running down her face, she was too busy trying to avert her eyes from the crumpled mess that was once his sister.

He panted heavily, eyes wide with recognition of what he had just done. "Oh, God…No…I-I-I…" Katara looked down at him, pressing his face away from the twisted body. "Don't look. Just….Keep…breathing…" She fisted a hand in his dark hair, stroking it with a force to keep him from looking.

"Now…Let me treat those burns…"