This is what happens when you try to explore those forbidden, dark and gloomy corners of your brain...twisted, extremely melodramatic fanfiction.
But, hey: this it what the world's all about, right?
DISCLAIMER - Avatar is not owned by me, but it would be awesome if it was.
Read on, my brave warriors!
Katara had always been ready for anything – it was something she had viewed as an essential skill. Never let anything catch you off guard, never let anything surprise you. The worst thing to expect is the unexpected.
Of course, she had never expected this.
The joy and wonder of youth had blinded her. She had forgotten that one crucial event, that follows any lifetime, no matter how bad or smart or dumb or good you were.
Katara had never imagined this day would come
She had forgotten that, one day, Aang would be lost to her forever. And she had never imagined he would be the first to go.
"I love you, Katara," Aang had murmured as he slipped away, looking at her even though just about the rest of his world stood around him, clinging to each other – some wept, others whispered, others stared, others just stood in silence. Suki, Sokka and Toph had been holding onto each other, Sokka hand in hand with Toph whilst he pressed his face into Suki's hair, wishing he could forestall the inevitable. Zuko had stood opposite Katara, watching in absolute silence, determined not to miss a second of his friend's last moments – whilst Mai stood in the deepest, darkest corner she could find, hood thrown over her head, dark hair obscuring her vision, feeling as if her heart was being ripped in two but not understanding why; she and Aang had never been that close.
"Don't be scared...I'm not. I promise it'll be ok. I'm sorry for giving up, but don't you ever...give up..."
She hadn't been able to speak as his stormy grey eyes finally cleared, and his last whisper of breath floated into the air, carrying the faint gasp of his last words.
"Don't you ever forget."
One last, horribly weak squeeze of her hand, and he had been gone. Lost...she had stared for one more second, before her heart realised.
For, you see: her heart had never believed he would leave. Her head knew it, but her heart hadn't.
Now she had to accept the inevitable, and she had never imagined how much it would hurt.
Katara...
His voice was drifting away on the wind, and she had turned, dropping his cold hand – it was nothing more than flesh to her now – and run to the window, pushing through the ranks of what seemed like nothing more than ghosts to her now that stood about her, hands grasping the windowsill, pushing her body out.
Katara...
She almost believed she could see him in the eddies; in the gusts of wind that rustled the land, that curved in great waves of grass across the world – she almost believed she could feel his touch in the warmth of the summer sunshine that played across her face, which shone in her eyes and in her hair. For a second she saw him, clearer than the ghosts, as if he were the living and they were the dead, walking down the road away from her; then she closed her eyes against the bright sunlight, and as soon as she opened them again, he was gone. She searched for him, but she knew he would not be there. She knew he would never be there again. She stood there, silent against this realisation, as everything slowly trickled away.
"No!"
The shriek was not hers. She had nothing to scream; she had no feeling inside of her at all. There was nothing inside of her.
She was going with Aang, wherever he had gone. It was going to take a lot to drag her back.