Title- Depression
Pairing- hints of Sokku
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Summary- Katara is too late to save Zuko after the fight with Azula... what will his lover Sokka do when he finds out...?
A/N- Warning, explicit death scenes... yes scenes as in more than one...
anyways, if that's not what you like... I suggest you leave... like now.
XD, enjoy... and of course I changed the time of day once or twice and some of them are really OOC... especially Sokka... XD
Depression
"Zuko! We have to go." Katara called from on top of Appa.
"Yeah, just a second." Zuko said dismissively, waving his hand at her. Sokka brushed his hand over Zuko's cheek, drawing his face up to kiss him quickly. "I love you Zuko." he said looking down into his amber eyes.
"I love you too." Zuko answered. "I always will."
Zuko smiled softly, a smile that only Sokka would see, and climbed onto Appa as Sokka rushed down to the eel to leave with Suki and Toph. Zuko watched the eel swim through the water as Appa flew over it. He hoped Sokka would be okay.
It wasn't a long trip to the firenation palace, but it felt like forever to Zuko, he wanted to get this over with so he could get back to Sokka.
He jumped off of Appa as he landed, interrupting the initiation ceremony.
"You'll never be the Firelord, Azula. I will." he said standing straight and tall.
He watched her every move, his mind working quickly as she challenged him to an agni kai... was there any way at all out of this? He tried to think it over, but soon found that, that was impossible since he had to concentrate on each of Azula's attacks.
He fought with her, returning each of her attacks with as much brute force as she had used... but then he saw something change in her eyes, saw her look toward Katara who had gotten in the way. He saw the blue light of lightning bolt from the sky to be bent at Katara by Azula. He jumped in the way, but didn't move quickly enough, instead of bending the lightning away, he held it in his body. The worst pain he had ever felt, -worse even than the pain he had felt when his father had burned him- coursed through his body, and he dropped to the ground, clutching his stomach where the electricity felt like it was still burning a hole right through him.
He heard Katara scream, and knew that Azula was after her now, but he couldn't do anything, accept close his eyes and try to block out the pain. He could feel blood running over his hands to pool on the stones beneath him. He was becoming light headed, and when he opened his eyes, he could see the darkness closing in on him, until everything went black, and all he could feel was the pounding of his heart and the pain.
He wished it would stop, but it didn't. He couldn't breathe properly, and that scared him he didn't want to die, he was only sixteen for god's sake, he had so much more to live for. And Sokka... he couldn't leave him behind, he had to get through this.
Zuko wasn't aware of how much time had passed, but was aware of Katara's ice cold hands trying to heal him. It was too late... he couldn't feel anything, even the pain had stopped.
"Katara..." Zuko breathed weakly.
Katara looked down at him and saw how his eyes were glazed over, she had seen that look many times on dying people's faces. She felt something snap and lost control of the spirit water, it splattered across the ground as she grabbed onto Zuko's shirt.
"No! You can't die! You die and you leave Sokka here alone... he would never do that to you!" she screamed hoping to bring him into a more concious state.
"Sokka... t-ell him... I-I love... him." Zuko gasped grabbing onto Katara's arm with bruising force.
Katara let Zuko hold onto her arm until his hand went slack, and the rest of the light left his eyes. She buried her face in her hands, weeping uncontrollably. She wasn't able to save him, she couldn't do it she had failed Sokka again.
She threw her head back, watching as the sun rose past the blood-stained clouds.
"You rise with the moon... I rise with the sun."
She remembered Zuko saying that to her once in the north pole, and looked down at him. She reached out and closed his golden eyes, knowing that neither he nor Sokka would ever forgive her for this.
She stood on unsteady legs, and looked at Azula who was staring at her and laughing manically. Katara gathered up her water, putting it back into her pouches before walking over to Azula with a threatening glint in her eyes. She got out some water and made it lengthen and sharpen into a spear point which she pressed against Azula's neck.
"Don't think I won't kill you bitch." Katara growled, kneeling in front of Azula.
"Do it!" Azula yelled. "Kill me, avenge my borther!"
Katara shook her head, standing again and letting the ice melt into a puddle on the ground. As she was walking away, something Azula said made her turn back.
"I knew it... you're afraid. You'll die just as Zuko did!"
Katara couldn't stop herself from creating the ice again, she plunged it into the side of Azula's throat, closing her eyes as blood sprayed over her with each beat of the princess' heart. She felt the blood running thickly over her hand and opened her eyes, Azula had a look of shock on her pretty face, her gold eyes shining brightly with surprise. Katara looked at what she had done, the wound was too bad to heal even if she wanted to, so she just watched the life drain from Azula's eyes, her own completely emotionless as she watched the princess die.
She stood in the center of the courtyard, throwing her head back as a scream tore through her. Her clothing was dripping with Azula's blood, and anyone that saw her and could think properly would have known that most of the eight pints of blood that was in Azula's body was now on Katara...
Katara waited for Sokka to come up the stairs, biting her lip to keep the tears at bay as he looked up at her with a wide smile.
"I'm so glad you're okay." he said softly, pulling her into a friendly hug. "Where's Zuko?"
Katara couldn't hold back the tears now, and they flowed freely down her cheeks.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Sokka... it's Zuko, he's..." she paused taking a deep breath.
"What's wrong with him?" Sokka asked sounding panicky.
"Sokka, Azula killed him." Katara whispered looking into her older brother's eyes.
Sokka's expression turned to one of near horror, as he looked down into Katara's face. "No." he breathed.
"He asked me to tell you that he loves you." she said softly.
Sokka closed his eyes tightly, forcefully making Katara let go of him. "You did nothing. Didn't you?" he demanded, opening his eyes.
"I tried to save him. I tried, but I was too late, Azula kept me from tending to him sooner. Please Sokka, don't blame me, this is weighing on me enough already, don't turn on me." Katara begged.
Sokka turned away from her walking down the stairs. He paused, turning back to her. "It's too late, I already blame you." he said before bounding down the steps and across the city.
Katara dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands for the second time that day.
Sokka moved quickly through the trees, slashing at branches with his sword as he rushed through them. He paused near a clearing to catch his breath. He heard a movement and saw a deer, something passed through him, and he threw his sword, surprisingly catching the deer in the shoulder, making it immobile as it fell onto the ground. He watched it thrash about for a few minutes until it bled to death, before kneeling next to it.
He wasn't sure what came over him, but he pulled the sword from the deer's shoulder, and plunged it into it's side over and over again until his hands began to slide on the handle of the sword from the blood, and tears trailed down his face. He let the sword fall from his fingers and wrapped his bloodied arms around himself as sobs wracked his body. He had never let anyone really see him cry, and realized in a small part of his mind that was still rational that he hadn't even cried this hard for Yue.
He beat his hands on the deer carcass, shutting his eyes tightly. "You left me here! You left me, you were too fucking weak to hold on even for me! I loved you and you left me alone! You left..." he sobbed not really knowing what he was saying. Zuko was dead, he didn't break up with him, he was never coming back.
"Never coming back... I'll never see him again... unless..." he paused picking up his sword and looking up to the sky.
He pressed the sword into his wrist, hissing slightly as the sharp metal cut through his skin. He let the sword slip from his fingers, burying his face in his hands... he couldn't do it, he couldn't do it, others needed him and he couldn't abandon them. He let out a scream of frustration, thrusting his sword into the ground, his wirst stung, and his head was pounding, but those pains weren't even close to the pain in his chest.
He stood after a while and pulled his sword from the ground, looking down at the damage he did to the deer. Blood was everywhere and small bits of tissue and bone littered the ground. He knelt once again, cutting open the belly of the deer and pulling it's insides searched through them until he found what he was looking for. In that part of the forest, deer and other herbivores ate a certain plant that fused with it's stomach acid to make a type of stone. He found the stone, and cut it out of the deer. He threw it onto the ground before the acid could start eating his skin.
He heaved a sigh and looked at a small puddle of water that the stone had landed in, then he looked at his palm... Zuko would want him to at least try. He drew a deep breath and extended his hand, going through a few movements that Katara did. The water didn't move for the first few seconds, but as his movements grew to be more persistent, the liquid began to shift back and forth until it and the rock had been lifted from the ground. In his excitement of being able to waterbend, he lost consentration and the water and stone dropped to the ground.
"Damnit!" he cursed, reaching out and picking up the stone. He rubbed it softly until the burned part of it flaked off to reveal an almost perfectly round stone that looked like flames had been trapped inside of it. "A flamestone..." he said softly, getting out a small tool for making holes in things. He set to work, grinding at the stone for nearly an hour until the metal edge of the tool broke through.
He pulled a thin strip of leather from the stitching of his jacket pocket and threaded it through the hole, tying it just above the stone before wrapping it around his neck and tying off the back of it. He held the stone tightly in his hand, and gently waved the other one at the water, making it swish back and forth lazily. A sudden thought of his sister entered his mind, and anger coursed through him. He flung his hand to the side, watching as the water followed, crystallizing into ice and stabbing into a tree.
He sat stunned for a few minutes staring at the ice that slowly melted in the heat of the sun. He realized then that he and Zuko were complete opposites, destined for love, but parted by hatred. He stood from where he knelt and walked slowly through the trees. He could hear Toph's voice in the distance and remembered that there were others and they were looking for him. He lifted his hand, bending the water from a small creek to his right into the direct path they would have to take. He heard Aang ask Katara about other waterbenders that were around and she said that Sokka himself was the only one out there.
He parted the water, consentrating on what he was doing. He saw Katara, and the water crystalized once again. She walked towards him through the center of the parted water, making the ice melt behind her as she walked slowly forwards.
"I didn't know you could bend." she said softly.
"Neither did I." he answered.
A ray of sun broke through the trees, surrounding Sokka with blinding light. He swore he could feel Zuko's arms around him, and heard his soft voice.
"Rise with the sun as I once did, draw your power from it's warmth as I drew mine from yours."
Sokka could hear Zuko's voice, but he didn't see him, he couldn't see anything but the golden light around him, then it disappeared. He was standing in the forest with Katara, Aang and Toph, but he continued to look at the sky.
"Draw your power from it's warmth..." he whispered, looking at the sheets of ice that surrounded him on either side. He closed his eyes, letting the heat of the day wash over and through him, and slowly moved his arm, opening his eyes to see what was happening.
The ice melted and smoothly followed his most subtle movements, and a smile crossed his face as he continued. The others watched in complete surprise, Sokka had never been able to bend before, so this was new. His bending abilities were as strong as Katara's but no one knew that his worked opposite of hers, strengthening in the daylight hours.
Zuko was now a spirit of the sun, and Yue a spirit of the moon, he had loved two spirits, and each would help him through the rest of his life... one more than the other.
~Fin
Okay, I know what you 're thinking... that was too weird... and the ending was really abrupt... but then that is how I always write isn't it? XD, anyways to explain a couple of things...
One- Zuko became a spirit of the sun, and could only communicate with Sokka the last time when he was standing in direct sunlight.
B- He gave Sokka the ability to waterbend in the day, and Yue would help him at night, but because Zuko was so much stronger than her, Sokka will take his strength in the day.
Last- I think that Zuko loved Sokka more than Yue, so he will do all he can to show that love even in death.
Now, I apologise for killing Zuko... I know it was horrible of me, but I kinda had to do it to make this work... it wouldn't be quite as much of an impact with lets say... Suki. Am I right? Of course I'm right... so I hope you liked it and you leave a review, that would be great. =D