Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own the awesomeness of Avatar The Last Airbender.
Katara watched with horror as Azula's lightning struck Aang. Tears welled in her eyes. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion and and the only coherent thought that formed in Katara's mind was "get Aang." The waterbender used the water around her to form a huge wave that carried her to the airbender that was hurtling towards the ground. She got to him just in time to catch him. The smell of burnt flesh came from his body. Crimson blood openly flowed from the gaping wound on Aang's back, mixing with the water that was puddled on the ground around them and turning it red. Katara looked up to see Zuko and Azula taking offensive positions toward her. "Is this the end?" Katara thought. Suddenly, Zuko's Uncle Iroh shot a ball of fire towards his niece and nephew.
"Go! Get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!" he said, turning to Katara just long enough to say those words. As Iroh sent some more fire blasts at Zuko and Azula, Katara bent some water to carry her and Aang out of the cavern. Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King were right outside with Appa.
"Katara!" Sokka said. He ran over to his sister, but stopped when he saw Aang, bloody and burnt, completely still in her arms.
"Oh no…" Sokka said.
"We need to get out of here," Katara managed to choke out.
Sokka immediately took charge, ushering everyone toward Appa. He then helped Katara carry Aang up onto Appa.
"Yip yip," Sokka said, and Appa took off into the night sky. Katara put her head to Aang's chest, listening for his heartbeat, but heard nothing.
"No," Katara said hoarsely, "You can't be gone." She then thought of the water from the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole. She pulled out the vial that held it and bent in out. The water circulated in her hand, casting a blue glow on her. Katara gently brought Aang into a position that allowed her to access the wound on his back. The ruined loose pieces of bloody and burnt flesh flapping in the wind. Katara bent the water into the wound, but nothing seemed to happen. Katara let out a heartbroken sob and clutched Aang closer to her chest. Suddenly his tattoos glowed and he let out a quiet groan. Katara gasped, pulling away to look at Aang's face. After a moment, Aang's eyes fluttered open. He saw Katara looking down at him. The wind tossed her brown hair about and her cerulean blue eyes stared down at him. "Gosh she's beautiful," Aang thought. He tried to speak, but found he could not. So, he did the next best thing and gave her a small smile. Katara returned a small smile and pulled him into an embrace. Much to his dismay, Aang found himself drifting off into a state of unconsciousness again. "No! I don't want to go! I want to be able to stay awake. Must…stay…awake…"
However, the pain was too much and Aang fell unconscious in Katara's arms. When Katara saw he was unconscious again, tear pooled in the corners of her eyes. "At least he's alive," she thought, trying to find a positive side to this whole disaster, "Now I just got to keep him that way."
Appa landed at Chameleon Bay. The gang had decided to head there since that was where Sokka and Katara's dad, Chief Hakoda, was. When Appa touched down, Hakoda came rushing toward them. Sokka jumped down and Hakoda pulled him into a quick embrace.
"What happened son? Why are you here?"
"Dad, while we were in Ba Sing Se, something happened," Sokka said. Hakoda then saw Toph lowering both Earth King Kuei and his bear Bosco down using earthbending.
"What is the Earth King doing here?" he asked. Then, Toph lowered down Katara and an unconscious Aang down. Hakoda gasped at the sight of his daughter. Her hair, which was usually braided with her trademark hair loopies, hung loose. Her face looked sad and exhausted. And, her clothes were stained with blood, Aang's blood. Chief Hakoda rushed over to his daughter.
"Katara! What happened? Are you alright?"
Katara could only look at her dad with a broken expression as Sokka ran over to explain.
"Dad, Ba Sing Se in under Fire Nation control," Sokka said, "While we were there, Azula shot Aang with lightning. He was gone dad, like gone. Katara managed to save him with that spirit water she got from the North Pole, but he is hurt pretty bad and is unconscious."
Hakoda listened intently as his son explained. When Sokka had finished, Hakoda spoke.
"Me and the men will help in whatever way we can," he said. He then turned to Bato. "Get two men to bring a stretcher. We need to get the avatar to a tent." Bato nodded and did as ordered. Two men came with a stretcher and walked over to Aang. They carefully lifted him onto the stretcher and carried him to a tent, Katara following numbly behind.
"Now you follow me Sokka. I think we need to talk about what we're going to do," Chief Hakoda said, turning to his son.