Taboo
A speculative fic. May be AU in a few days.
Kya learned waterbending from none but the best; her legendary mother Katara. But there was one technique that her mother deliberately neglected to teach her. Now, on a full moon night, when the only way to save her little brother's life is to stop his massive internal bleeding, Kya pulls out all the stops and discovers a potential she never before dared tap into.
Pulling themselves back up the cliff was agonizing.
Bumi admitted to not being the best at relocating limbs, and Kya wanted to save her energy to help others injured by Zaheer's cabal. And with very little water available in their current location, there was precious little she could do to repair Bumi's broken and bruised ribs, let alone her own sprains, bruises and newly relocated shoulder. The fact that they were both entering their senior years did not help matters. But all either sibling could think about was making it back up the cliff to reunite with their family—particularly Tenzin. How had he fared against Zaheer and his fellow freak benders? Neither sibling said a word, but both were clearly fighting more than just the pain. The sinking feeling in their guts weighed them down more than their injuries and fatigue.
When they made it to the top, they paused to catch their breath. Kya glanced at Bumi with concern as the new airbender lay on his back, inhaling shakily.
"I know it hurts, but you need to breathe deeper, Bumi," Kya chided as she leaned over to catch her own breath. "You'll give yourself pneumonia if you don't."
The retired commander grunted in response before rolling over and gingerly rising to his feet. "Don't worry about me. We gotta find Tenzin. We've already been out way too long. It was broad daylight out before we took that tumble. Now the moon's almost overhead, which means it's pretty close to midnight."
Kya glanced up at the satellite in question. Full tonight. Somehow that did little to make her feel better. The armless waterbender she had just fought had received just as much of a power boost from Yue's orb as Kya had herself. Kya straightened up, clenching her jaw against her protesting muscles.
"Let's go find Tenzin," she said simply. Bumi nodded, and the two siblings set out to look for their younger brother.
It didn't take them long to find him. Tenzin lay face down in an unmoving heap near a wall, signs of his struggle with the four intruders evident in the masonry around him. Kya's heart leaped into her throat, and she broke into a run.
"Tenzin!" she squeaked as she slid to her knees next to her little brother, carefully rolling him onto his back to assess his injuries. His face was swollen and bruised almost beyond recognition. Kya placed two fingers against his jugular, praying she would feel even the slightest pulse.
"Well?" Bumi asked, kneeling next to her.
Kya shook her head, then glanced around. Nearby was one of the temple's many fountains, and Kya summoned the water to her with a flick of a wrist. She immediately went to work, the water encasing her hands and glowing at her command as she willed Tenzin's heart to beat.
"Kya," Bumi said, hesitantly. He swallowed, his voice shaky as he continued, "if there's no pulse...the others...we need to focus on helping the others."
"He has some energy left," Kya said, somewhat curtly. "There's still a chance. I can still save him. I have to save him."
"Look, he'd want us to think of his family first."
"We are his family!" Kya snapped. "And right now, I'm thinking about Mom. It'd kill her, Bumi! We have to save him. Not just for ourselves, or even Pema and the kids. I could never face Mom again if I lose him."
Bumi said nothing, instead placing a hand on her good shoulder and squeezing gently.
Kya worked in grim silence for what seemed like hours. Tenzin never stirred. Bumi tried to remain stoic, but his jaw trembled. Finally, Kya's exhaustion won out, and she dropped the water, burying her face in her hands.
"I can't do it," she choked out. Her shoulders shook as she wept. Bumi pulled his sister into an embrace.
"What happened to that stubborn sister of mine?" he said gently. "You don't give up this easily."
"He's bleeding internally," Kya said, wiping away tears. "I-I can't s-stop it."
"Come on, there's nothing the world's greatest healer can't do," Bumi said with a small smile he didn't really feel. "Especially on a full moon night."
Kya shook her head and leaned into Bumi's shoulder, silent for a moment. Suddenly she sat up straight and looked at the moon.
"A full moon night," she repeated, her voice just above a whisper. She looked again at her patient. Did she dare? Was it even possible?
Her mother had been exceedingly careful to never bring up the subject of bloodbending. The first time Kya had heard of it was after the trial of notorious mob boss Yakone, who had turned out to be a bloodbender capable of performing the rare feat independent of the full moon. After that, Katara had told her children the history of bloodbending, and Kya could distinctly remember the look of utter guilt and disgust on her mother's face as the master waterbender admitted to performing the act herself. Twice. She'd made it clear in no uncertain terms that Kya was not even to broach the subject at any point during her training. Bloodbending was and would always be the lowest point to which a waterbender could ever stoop.
But Kya was already at her lowest point; or so it felt to her. If this was her one chance to save her brother, why shouldn't she take it?
The healer took a deep breath, reaching out and feeling the gravitational pull of the moon with all her being. She stretched out her arms, blood vessels on her hands standing out as she commanded the hemoglobin in her own veins to move to her will. Kya then gently placed her hands on Tenzin's torso, feeling for the water in his body and calling it to her.
Bumi's eyes widened as he watched his brother's body arch and stiffen as Kya took hold of the blood in his veins. Then Tenzin seemed to relax as Kya became focused on his torso. With subtle movements, she began to command the stray blood in Tenzin's abdominal and chest cavities to disperse. She found the wounds from which his blood leaked and forced them to close.
But it wasn't enough to simply stop the bleeding. She had to get his heart beating again. Gently, ever so cautiously, she began directing the flow of blood through his body. She pushed and pulled on the vessels in and around Tenzin's heart, massaging the organ, coaxing it back to life. She found that one point of resistance to total death, that one last bit of willpower, and encouraged it to come forward. It was a faint rhythm, just enough to keep the body from teetering all the way over the brink into true death. Kya gently persuaded the beat to strengthen. She applied her will, her hands beginning to glow as she poured her healing energies first into her own blood, then into the fluids of her patient's body.
It was a brand new experiment. The idea of using the water in a person's blood to heal had never once crossed her mind. Kya was surging into uncharted territory, and somewhere in the back of her mind she felt some small sense of exhilaration. But she kept her focus. One wrong move and she could just as easily be the one to snuff out that last flame of life Tenzin was desperately clinging to.
Several tense minutes passed, and Kya could feel herself tiring all too quickly. Even if she were in pique condition this process would undoubtedly leave her exhausted. She knew she wouldn't have anymore energy to heal for several hours after this. For a moment she wondered if she were being foolish in expending her energy on her brother. What if Pema or one of the kids was in greater need of her abilities? She would have nothing left to give.
Her moment of doubt was interrupted when she heard Tenzin softly—very softly—inhale and exhale. It was agonizingly slow and shallow, but at the moment it was the most beautiful sound Kya had ever heard.
Bumi hadn't missed it either. The eldest sibling held his breath, waiting for his brother to take his next. Tenzin breathed a second time; stronger and deeper. Bumi released his own breath as a relieved grin spread across his face. He gave Kya's shoulders a shake.
"You did it! He's alive!"
"Trying to focus here," Kya said sternly, though the relief and joy she felt herself manifest as she smiled slightly. She summoned her healing water back to her, releasing Tenzin's blood as she worked to encourage his body to continue its recovery on its own. Tenzin's breathing settled into a gentle rhythm; one Bumi seemed to want to dance to, as the retired commander jumped to his feet and did a jig.
"Wahoo!" he shouted. "I can't believe it! You saved him with—"
"Sssshhhh!" Kya hissed. "Do you want Zaheer to come back and finish the job?"
Bumi sank back to his knees, his wild grin still plastered on his face. "Sorry," he whispered. "But I'm sort of geeking out here. You saved our little brother with bloodbending!"
Kya blushed. "Not a word of this to Mom!" she growled.
"Aw, come on, Kya! She'd love to know about this!"
"No, she really wouldn't. Mom made it very clear that I was to never even think about attempting to manipulate someone else's blood."
"Yeah, but that's because she was always taught that bloodbending is a weapon," Bumi argued. "No one had ever used it for anything good. Until now. And since we know that people can learn to bloodbend without a full moon...Kya, you've just opened up a whole new field of medicine! Why wouldn't Mom want to know about that? You took something that was supposed to be evil and totally taboo and you turned it into something good. Not just good; incredible!"
Kya paused in her work, taking in Tenzin's bruised face. He even seemed to be regaining some consciousness, as his face began to contort a bit in response to pain and other stimuli. The healer smiled in spite of herself. Her little brother would live. He had a long road to recovery, but he would live. There was hope this night at last. She turned to her older brother.
"Maybe you're right," she admitted. "If bloodbending can be a tool for healing, it should be explored as such. I'm still not sure Mom would approve, though. You know how stubborn she can be."
"I'm sure she'll make an exception for this one time," Bumi said.
The siblings' attention was suddenly drawn back to the battered airbender before them as he softly groaned and said, "Kya..."
Kya placed a hand behind Tenzin's head as the airbender tried to turn his face in the direction of her own, cracking his eyes open with clear effort. "It's okay, Tenzin," Kya assured him. "Bumi and I are both here. We're a little beaten up, but we're okay."
"Better than you, at any rate," Bumi said with a small smirk and a grimace. "Don't you scare us like that!"
Tenzin gingerly swallowed, trying to gain better control of his lips and tongue. "M'srry," he muttered. "Try not to...in the future."
The two elder siblings smiled and chuckled a bit. Suddenly Bumi turned serious again. Kya was certain she'd never seen him so consistently lacking in mirth.
"We need to move him somewhere safe while I do some reconnaissance," he stated simply. "We have no idea where Zaheer is, or if the others got away."
"Pema," Tenzin whispered. He tried to lift himself to a sitting position, but Kya restrained him.
"No, Tenzin, Bumi's right. You're in no condition to go anywhere. Neither am I, really. I used all my waterbending energy on you. We just have to sit tight and trust big brother." She cast an encouraging smile at their eldest sibling. "If Pema and the others are safe, Bumi will find out and let us know where to meet them."
Bumi saluted. "I know my mission, and I will not let you down! C'mon, little brother, let's get you somewhere more comfortable."
Together, Bumi and Kya gently lifted Tenzin and carried him into an enclosed part of the temple courtyard, leaning him against a wall. Kya found a pitcher and filled it with water, encouraging Tenzin to drink. Once she'd rested a while, she'd attempt to continue healing Tenzin's broken body.
"Well, wish me luck," Bumi said. "I'll report back within the hour."
"Good luck, Bumi," Tenzin said softly. "Please be careful. Please bring good news."
"I'll do my best," Bumi promised. "Take good care of him, Kya."
Kya nodded, and Bumi turned to leave on his mission. He let out a soft chuckle before saying to himself, "What a story this'll make. Mom will never believe it!"
Kya smiled and shook her head. Same old Bumi.
"Mom will never believe what?" Tenzin asked.
"Oh...you know," Kya said hesitantly. "Falling off cliffs and...stuff. And impossible healing on the full moon." She gave him a sidelong glance. "You were dead, you know. Well, mostly dead. Dead enough for Zaheer, at any rate."
"Then my continued existence in the land of the living is a testament to your skills." He took her hand and squeezed it. "Thank you, Kya."
Kya smirked. "You have no idea, little brother," she murmured. "You really have no idea."