Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. Spirits of Life
Chapter 1
It was a cool, late spring, possibly early summer, night. A soft breeze was brushing through the trees, the white blossoms showering down upon the ground like snow. A soft gurgling sound of running water came from the nearby creek comfortingly. My crystal-like blue eyes fluttered open, as a curious voice broke through the calm silence.
"Hello?" It asked a small hint of anxiety in it.
I sat up, "Aang?" I asked sleepily, "What's wrong?"
The boy, Aang, turned towards me, but his gray eyes wandered the surrounding area. "I thought I heard someone." He replied.
"Is it Zuko and Azula?" I asked.
"It didn't really sound like them though… Go back to sleep Katara. I'm going to take a look around."
I stood up, "I'm coming with you." I said "be careful around the cliffs" I added after a moment. "It rained recently, so the ground will be a little weak."
"Ok…" Aang's voice trailed off.
I cautiously tiptoed past Sokka and Toph, not wanting to wake them. It's been about a week since Ba Sing Se was conquered. Things have changed a lot since then. Aang has pretty much returned to normal which is a relief after how he almost died. Well… I suppose he did die. I hate to think about it, but if it hadn't been for the water from the oasis, he would still be dead.
The day after leaving Ba Sing Se, we left the Earth King in a small village nearby so he'd be safe. It doesn't sound very safe, but it's better than traveling with us. It seems as if where ever we go there's both Zuko and Azula, or some Fire Nation soldiers coming after us. Not that it's ever happened before. But now Aang is the only thing stopping the Fire Nation from winning the war so they seem just a little bit more motivated.
"Hello?" I called out, looking around.
The only sound I could hear was the leaves rustling in the breeze. The forest was empty. But Aang heard something… maybe he was imagining it? I sighed and kept on walking. There was no sign of anybody.
Finally I reached the cliffs that I had just warned Aang about.
"Hello?" I asked, my voice echoing in the empty forest and off of the cliffs.
I cautiously walked a bit closer to the edge of the cliffs. I had a peculiar feeling that someone was watching me. I turned my head a bit to the side.
"Hello?" I repeated a bit softer this time.
I shook my head, dismissing the thought of me being watched. The forest was empty, aside from Aang, Sokka, and Toph of course. That's it! They're probably playing a joke me! I bet its Sokka. He's always pretty… well immature. It's hard to believe we're related sometimes.
As I started away from the cliff I felt the earth beneath my feet sink and begin to flow downward.
'Oh no, no, no, no, no' I frantically thought.
My hand instinctively reached for my side, where my water skin was usually, but I found empty air. I had left it back at the camp! My eyes flickered around searching, in false hope that there was some water I could bend to possibly save me.
I shut my eyes, preparing myself for the fall, but it never happened. Someone, or something, had stopped me from falling. It felt as if someone was behind me and they had their hands against my back, stopping me from falling. I felt a gentle shove from behind me pushing me back up to safety.
As I found steady footing, I spun around, expecting to see Aang grinning at me but… there was no one there…
"Katara" Aang's voice called me, and in a moment I saw him running towards me.
He stopped and stared at me as if he had seen a ghost.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He was silent for a moment, his eyes still watching the exact same spot. I turned around, but like a few seconds ago, no one was there.
"Are you ok Aang?" I asked.
"Yeah…" He muttered, still not shifting his gaze away. "I'm fine."
"Let's get back to camp then. I didn't see anybody."
"You didn't?" Aang asked sounding a bit startled.
"No…" I replied, but I remembered the gentle shove that had saved me from being pulled down by the landslide.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Well, I-"
I was interrupted by a sudden yell coming from the direction of our camp.
"Sokka, Toph!" I yelled, running into the forest.
I could hear Aang running next to me. We shouldn't have left the camp! What if something bad happened to them? What if Zuko and Azula had them?
I skidded to a halt in front of our camp.
"Zuko…" I growled, my eyes narrowing at the sight of him. Part of me, no, no I'm sorry, all of me is still angry with me for believing him when he said that he had changed. That of course doesn't mean that I'm not mad at him though.
Sokka and Toph were standing back to back in a fighting stance, and Zuko, Azula, and Mai were surrounding them. For a moment I wondered where the girl, Ty Lee was. But her not being here puts us to an advantage. She won't be able to take away my bending. Losing my bending is something I never want to feel again. I discovered that the first time it happened, at Omashu.
"Avatar it's about time you joined us, it's high time I finished you off, and this time no mistakes"
As Azula spoke, her icy voice rang out in the dangerous silence.
"You'll have to get through me first!" I snapped at her, glancing over to Aang.
Surprisingly though, Aang's eyes weren't on the Fire Nation princess. They were still watching me, or more like something near me.
"If you insist" she said coolly.
She raised one of her hands towards the still star studded sky, immediately swinging he arm down backwards so that her hand pointed towards me as it began its journey up wards again, a jet of blue flame streaming towards me.
I dodged to the left, momentarily stooping down to pick up my water skin. I slung it over my shoulder, opening it with my thumb. The fluid water left the pouch, guide. I sent a thin stream of water at her like a whip.The water whip snapped back into the pouch as it made contact with her. She stumbled back, snarling and her cruel amber eyes glaring at me. I returned the gaze, narrowing my blue orbs at her.
She thrust her fist at me, blue fire erupting towards me. I brought a stream of water out of the water skin but I was too late. A searing pain went through my left arm as the fire made contact with my skin. I fell back, the water dropping out of the air and seeping into the ground. As I brought out a little more water from the sac another burst of fire was sent at me. I threw myself to the side to avoid the fire.
I narrowed my eyes and stood up, backing up quickly before she could attack again, until the creek was behind me at my feet. Ignoring the intense pain in my arm I brought both arms up. Behind me I could hear the water being pulled up in large pillars. Simultaneously I sent the two pillars of water shooting at her. She was knocked back several feet and as she picked herself up from the soaked ground, the water at her feet froze. I lifted my arms higher, water from the ground rising up in the air above her head. I abruptly dropped my arms, needles of ice falling down on her, pinning her in place.
I let out a relieved sigh, turning to the creek. I brought some water up, surrounding my hand, and I put it to my burn. The water began to glow a light blue as it healed my wound.
After that everything seemed to happen in a blur.
The first thing I heard was the sound of chattering ice followed by Aang screaming my name in a fearfully desperate voice. I spun around in time to see Azula pointing her arm up to the sky. A thin bolt of blue lightening grew at her fingertips. In an instant she swung her arm, the bolt of lightening heading straight for my heart.
As the lightening made contact with my heart, in a useless last-ditch effort to protect myself I thrust my arms towards her, sending two rushes of water at her. I fell into the cool water of the creek quickly losing consciousness. The last thing I could remember is Aang screaming my name once more in anguish before the morning's golden and pink tinted sky faded into eternal night.
A/N: Please no flames about character death! I don't mind flames overall just don't scream something I already know, and can't and WON'T be changed in my face. It's obnoxious, annoying, and immature. Get over it if you don't like it.
The second thing I'd like to mention is a thanks to my friend, prongsthewhitehart, for helping me write the fight scene at the end of this chapter and for beta reading this fic.
A few of the ideas from this fic are based off of Full Moon Wo Sagashite but it is very different from it.
Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated but advise is adored.