Another one inspired by a dream I had. It seems my favourite fanfictions are all thought up this way. Maybe I should sleep more, heh.
Update: It has come to my attention that this story is similar to a chapter in a longer fanfiction (with a name like 'Book 4: Air') I swear that I did not copy this user. It was 100% coincidence. It matched it only with the idea and its eventual outcome. My fanfiction was inspired by a dream, as mentioned before. I'm sorry for any confusion. I had never read the other user's story before, so please don't think I would steal an idea. Thank you. :)
Please take a few seconds to review and make my day.
Once again, I don't own Avatar.
A few miles away from Iroh's tea shop, outside of the city walls, there was a great amount of well kept farmland. Many villages ensured that the land was looked after and gave the highest yield of crop in the Earth Kingdom, which of course was something to be proud of.
However, it was what was nearby to the farmland that Aang and Katara liked so much. A huge expanse of untouched woodland had been left to grow. There was very little human intervention to change its habitats or growth patterns, meaning it was home to a great deal of wildlife. Rare insects, birds, even a few koala otters inhabited the narrow river running through the wood. The strong scent of wild flowers was carried through the air by the soft breeze. It was one of the few places Aang and Katara could get away from civilisation without flying for days.
An important meeting had just drawn to a close with the world leaders. Such a gathering had now become annual tradition to keep up the relationships between the nations. Having been directly responsible for bringing the new era of peace to the world, Aang had been summoned to attend. Katara, Sokka, Toph and Suki had done so as well, not only because they helped the war end, but also for Aang's moral support. A few Ozai loyalists remained in the Fire Nation, and Aang thought it better than the whole Gaang was present at such a key event in the years after the war. Zuko was also there, as he had the vital position of Firelord in the Fire Nation.
In was five years after the war, and Katara and Aang were nearing the one year anniversary of their marriage. The meeting had lasted several hours and the day was now drawing to a close. The sun would dip behind the line of the horizon soon, and Aang felt it would be good to shake off the stress of the meeting by taking a walk with Katara in the woods.
"I love hearing the sound of the crickets at this time of day." Katara said, holding her husband's hand tightly as they walked through the lines of ancient trees.
"It'll be dark soon." Aang remarked. He looked up at the dense canopy of trees above them. He spotted a cat owl as it began to hoot its evening call from where it was perched.
Very few sounds broke the near-silence of the wood. Even though only a few miles to the west there was several thousand people in the magnificent city of Ba Sing Se, everything around the couple seemed peaceful. Almost too peaceful, but Aang didn't let that bother him. He blamed his small worries on the high strung meeting.
Katara suggested that they should sit where herself and Aang could watch the sun finally become hidden by the horizon. Aang agreed, and smoothed a particular bumpy area of ground in one of the large clearings using earthbending. They sat in each other's arms for what seemed like a wonderful eternity. The sky had turned almost crimson due to the last of the light of day draining away.
And then, Aang heard something behind them.
Dozens of figures, unseen in the trees that surrounded them. They made so little vibrations, the earthbending vision Aang had learnt from Toph now seemed useless. Unable to tell their true numbers, Aang immediately stood up, gesturing Katara to do the same.
The couple stood and waited for the inevitable attack that soon followed. Seeing a flash of red Aang realised their attackers to be a large number of Red Rebels; Ozai loyalists that heavily resented the Avatar and his friends for bringing the war to an end.
Their movements were so fast and silent any normal person would have mistaken them for spirits, but these were extremely high trained assassins; the best in the business obviously sent to 'get rid' of the Red Rebels' greatest threat. The only thing that went through Aang's head whilst trying to combat them was that they reminded him of Azula, too fast to pin down. He turned to Katara, who had since extracted the water molecules from the air around them and was attempting to capture and restrain a few of the assassins. Her expression turned into one of frustration as each try failed as they escaped from her watery grip.
Aang and Katara ended up completely surrounded, the beautiful sight of the orange sunset behind them forgotten as they fought furiously for their lives. This commotion had lately barely thirty seconds, their foes' extraordinary skills astounding. Aang had of as yet managed to land a blow, and whilst he was preoccupied with a single man throwing handfuls of knives in his direction, a number of others closed in on Katara beside him. With the multiple bending disciplines, Aang was able to ward off close range attack using earthbending as a shield or firebending as an offense. Katara on the other hand was just as confident, but of course lacked the ability to defend and attack at the same time from multiple enemies. Aang tried to defend his wife as best he could by standing back to back with her to minimise chances of one of their foes landing a successful strike, but as the time wore on into the minutes, both Aang and Katara began to succumb to exhaustion. The sheer number of foes in such a small area proved difficult to combat.
The Rebels began to realise they had the upper hand, and instantly became more ferocious in their attacks. A flash of silver, a sharp cry…then the sound of gasping breath. Aang turned in horror to see Katara doubled over. Instincts kicked in and within a second a large earth tent separated the predators from their prey. Aang left the attackers clawing hopelessly at the huge amount of earth which contained the couple inside.
Aang knelt down beside Katara who was now on the floor, wheezing in pain. Aang saw the blood seeping through her pale green robes. It was obvious in the split second Katara had let down her defences a single blade had pierced her body, leaving a stab wound in her stomach, just above her right hip.
"KATARA!" Aang shouted desperately. She didn't reply, only clasped a hand over her stomach and writhed in pain.
Aang knew what he must do. Only one person had the wisdom to help. Aang picked up Katara carefully in his arms, took a step back and stamped his foot on the stone ground forcefully. A large hole formed and created a tunnel…Aang's means of escape.
