It was a quiet day in the Fire Nation. No one spoke, not one citizen was to be found at work, nor any children were to be found at the academies. All the homes were empty. The silence grew as the people of the Fire Nation gathered in one spot; the courtyard, outside of the Royal Palace. There was a platform, and on that platform stood five statues. The first of; Chief Sokka of the Water Tribe, the second; Toph Bei Fong, the third; Avatar Aang, the fourth; Fire Lady Katara, and the fifth, Fire Lord Zuko. And in front of those statues were four people.
Chief Sokka sat in a chair, a child on his lap, staring out as the Fire Nation citizens walked on to the grounds silently. He looked non to happy as his wife, Suki, -leader of the Kyoshi Warriors,- sat next to him and held his hand with a grave face.
"Suki," he whispered, "are they supposed to be so quiet."
"Yes Sokka," she gave a small smile to the child on his lap and kissed his cheek.
Toph Bei Fong's face was set in stone, she didn't move, she hasn't moved since the crowd started to build in size. Her husbands hands were placed on her shoulders.
"Toph," his lips touched the top of her head, "it's okay, it'll all be okay."
Toph just sighed as she felt arms come around her, "Maybe I can help, Aang," a voice of a young lady sounded very quietly.
Aang sighed and backed away from the two women. He walked to Sokka, placing a hand on the Chief's shoulder, he spoke gently, "Where's Katara?"
"In side thinking, probably," he smiled, "You know her."
"Yeah," Aang swallowed the lump in his throat, "Yeah, I do."
In side to palace, awaited a woman. She sat by the window watching as the crowds gathered at her home. She smiled as she reminisced about old times. Stolen kisses, heartfelt glances at dinnertime, wedding days, child birth, loving looks, their first time. Smiling, Katara leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes.
The Fire Lady held up an outfit, "How about this one, Zuko?"
"Katara, honey, I don't care."
"Zuko! How could you say that?" She smacked him on the back of the head, "This is for your child!"
"You're right," He smiled, "I'm sorry"
"Yeah sure you are," She smiled back as he laughed.
Tears fell from her eyes, as she remembered that fateful night; the night that someone so evil, so cynical, took someone precious from her.
Katara walked with the bundle cradled in her arms, she sang softly as she opened the doors to the garden. It was a peaceful night in the Fire Nation, the fire flies danced around, the moon half full. Katara swayed as she sang to the child, a song made up in the moment. Walking toward the pond, her husband, -Zuko, the Fire Lord,- and her always sat by in the mornings, she sat and leaned against a tree. She heard a noise behind her; rolling her eyes, Zuko always tried to sneak up on her.
"Honey, what are you doing?" she laughed.
No one answered back.
"Zuko? Honey?" She turned and had only seconds before she could bring the water from the pond up and blocked the fire from burning her and the child. "Zuko!" she shook with anger, "What are you doing? What is your problem? I have Koda with me!" Fire shot out of the darkness again. "Stop it!" She screamed as she put out the flames on the bottom of her robes. The child; Koda, screamed and cried, he was awaken by his mothers shouts.
A figure smiled and walked out of the darkness. A man, about Katara's brothers age looked back at her. His golden eyes alight with a certain craziness. "W-who are you?" The Fire Lady stuttered, backing up, turning the pond to ice as she walked across. She angled in a way that hid the baby from the man's view. The man just smiled and shot fire, Katara screamed as a wall of earth lifted behind her. She held the screaming baby tighter to her chest. "Zuko!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Zuko! Zuko help!" Two strong arms grabbed hold of her from behind and the man in front of her took hold of little Koda. "Koda!" She sobbed, "Please, please don't hurt him, please." Katara fell to her knees as the fire bending man retreated into the darkness. She saw a flare of fire and something tossed her way. The wall behind her went into the ground and the man behind her let her go. Katara's eye's widened as she water bended the fire away and she smelt the burning flesh. She turned from the burning object, -that she no doubt knew was her precious Koda,- and turned to the man. With a voice full of venom, the Fire Lady screamed as she thrashed thousands of ice daggers at the man. All the while screaming, "You killed my baby!" Over and over again, until Zuko ran out and shook Katara's shoulders.
"Katara, Katara, honey, tell me, tell me what's wrong."
"He's dead, he's dead," She repeated as she slumped against her husbands chest.
"Yes Katara honey, you killed that man."
"No," She shook her head, "No Koda-" Her head lifted, "No! No maybe not! Zuko I can save him, I can save my baby!" Katara rose to her feet and ran to the small child. The water glowed as she brought it from the pond.
Zuko, not knowing what happened, walked over to his wife, "Katara? Katara, what's that?"
"It's Koda, I'm going to save him, Zuko." She bended and bended, until sweat poured off her skin and tears ran down her cheeks. She kept the chant going, "I'm going to save him, I'm going to save him, I'm going to save him," and so on it went.
An hour had passed when Zuko wiped his eyes, "Katara honey," he grabbed her hand, "Katara, he's not coming back."
She looked up at him, "Zuko how could you say that? I'm going to save him. I can heal him, Zuko. See the water Zuko, it glows, because I can heal with the water. Zuko I can heal. I'm going to save him, I'm going to save him, I'm going to save him,"
"Katara, you've done enough. Koda's gone. He's in the Spirit World, with your mother, and Yue, and Jet. Katara he's gone. He's crossed over." Zuko made that his chant as he took his sobbing wife in to his arms, "He's crossed over, he's crossed over, he's crossed over,"
Katara's face was streaked with tears, her eye's were red and puffy, and she was sobbing so hard, when Iroh walked in.
"Lady Katara," his hand rested on her shoulder, "They're all waiting for you. He's waiting for you."
Katara looked up at him, "Yes," she wiped the tears away, "Well thank you, Uncle."
She stood and walked out of the palace and onto the platform, next to her husband, behind her son; as he laid lifeless on a little bed of wood, all in white. Everyone was dressed in white, the mourning color in the Fire Nation. Many wept, as the Fire Lord made his speech, as the Avatar walked to one side of the little bed, as the Fire Lord went to the other, as they both breathed in and out and shot fire from their hands.
Yes, everyone in the Fire Nation was quiet on that fateful day. They mourned the loss of their first prince in the new land of peace, but they all knew that he made the crossover into the Spirit World, where many awaited his arrival.