when the world stops spinning
chapter one: all fall down
Disclaimer: I do not own this.
Dedication: To Sara, this is all your fault.
Katara shifts slightly so his weight is steady against her shoulder. Her hip brushes his, but she ignores it. There is a madwoman in chains not thirty feet away and the sky is on fire and he was just struck by lightning. She is fourteen and none of this is right.
Then again, she isn't quite sure what life is supposed to be like in a time when the world is at war and the aggressive side has a comet that makes them a hundred times stronger.
"Is it really okay to just leave her like this?" she asks.
He nods. "We need to get out of here. The Sages will be returning soon."
"They might let her go."
"They won't." He sounds so sure. She takes one last look at where Azula is fighting against the chains, blue fire flowing everywhere, before shifting Zuko's arm once more. She takes water from the air and thanks the ungodly humid climate of the capital. The water shines blue as she presses it against his chest, the angry red burn calming slightly under her touch. When his breathing evens out, he takes her hand and they start running.
How much time has passed? The comet is still in the same position it had been in. No, it isn't. It's moved slightly, she thinks. But not much. That battle against Azula felt like it had lasted ages. Instead, it seems it was over in less than an hour. That gives them more than enough time to meet up with Sokka and the others. Where did they say they would go again?
"Do you have the whistle?" he asks.
It takes her a moment to realise he means the bison whistle. She nods and fumbles for the white object in her belt. They are outside of the palace when the bison settles onto the ground, ash in his fur. They need to get to Sokka and the others and here's to hoping Aang shows up in time. The more time they waste here, the more time for reinforcements to go to Ozai's aid.
She dashes up his side and into the saddle, holding out a hand for Zuko. He takes it and quickly drops it, "What's wrong?"
He's holding one hand to the wound on his chest, the other supporting his weight against Appa, "It just stings a little."
That's not good, but she doesn't have the time or the resources to do a proper healing right now. She uses what water she can summon to pick him up. He settles softly into the saddle and she gets Appa into the air before moving over to him. Zuko needs to be battle ready when they rejoin the others.
She closes her eyes. Breathe. Draw water from the sky. Try not to think about the empty water pouch at her side. Wrap the water around her hands. Breathe. Press them to his wound, press the water in through his skin. Mix it with his blood and watch the damage light up against the healthy tissue. Breathe.
This isn't good. The damage is all around his heart and the valves aren't functioning right. The beat is steady, but irregular. She heals what she can and tries to drown out everything around her until it's just her and his heart. The healing isn't working right. She can't correct the damage with normal healing.
Katara opens her eyes. Zuko is stretched out across the middle of the saddle, gold eyes focused on the comet above. Despite all the soot and fire and death around them, he's completely serene. For once. She can't really blame him. Azula is done for and Aang will defeat Ozai (hopefully). His worries will be mundane from today on if everything goes well. He'll become Fire Lord. He'll help lead the world into an era of peace. He'll be a wonderful leader. He'll reunite with everyone he's left behind and in doing so, likely leave behind those he's met along the way.
"Katara?"
"Yes?" she says. He's looking at her and she remembers what she needs to do. "I'm sorry, but this is probably going to hurt."
He looks confused but says nothing. She crosses her hands over his heart and closes her eyes again. She can see his heart pulsing, the healthy portions of the organ a comforting, warm amaranthine. It's the harsher red portions of it she's concerned with. She's never done this before, but she knows the theory, knows that the full moon isn't necessary for little things like this.
It has always been a dream of hers to turn the dark legacy of the Southern Water Tribe into something to be proud of.
The blood is the same comforting red as the healthy tissue. It just shines differently; it has the siren's call of water with it. It shouldn't be that hard. It's just healing using the patient's own blood. It's just manipulating the water deep in the tissue to fix its home.
It takes longer than she's comfortable with. There are tiny vibrations in her vision where he's fidgeting. Maybe she shouldn't have warned him. This will hurt more if she screws up.
There's also a very good chance that this could kill him, but it's easier to think about other things, like saving his life.
She counts to five and moves the water. She can feel his body tensing beneath her hands. The time she's willing to bend around an organ as delicate as the heart is almost running out when something gives and the glow of health returns to the harsh areas. Katara waits a few moments before backing away.
His heart rate is back to normal. He should be able to fight again. That's all that matters right now. Appa dips down below a cloud of ash as Zuko sits up.
"Feel better?" she asks, trying not to show the sudden rush of exhaustion. Fighting mad princesses and then doing something like bloodbending to heal? Not a good idea, apparently.
He nods. "You weren't joking when you said it would hurt."
"Sorry."
"It's nothing." He waves her off, turning around to look out over the bison's head. There's nothing but water around them now. Even with Appa flying as fast as he can, it'll be close to the end of the day by the time they reach the Earth Kingdom. That's cutting it dangerously close. Victory has to be secured by then.
There is nothing to do but wait and pray Aang wins.
She hates waiting.
Zuko leans back on his arms, turning back to face her once more. "What are you going to do when this is over?"
"Go home."
It's a basic answer. She wants to see the Southern Water Tribe rebuilt. She wants to see her homeland stand on equal footing with its sister. She just doesn't think she can stay in one spot for very long. There's still so much of the world she hasn't seen. And even the places she has seen, she wants to see them when they aren't torn by death and heartbreak. The world is such a beautiful place. It shouldn't be marred by horror.
Once the comet passes. Once Ozai has been defeated. Once Zuko takes the throne. Once everyone has a place to belong.
All except her.
"No." he says. "You're not the type to stay put, not without a reason."
"Home is a reason to stay. My family will finally be whole again after this."
Lies. The Northern Water Tribe has been deprived of its heir because of this war. Though the Southern Tribe has fallen in prestige because of the destruction of their culture and waterbending population, it doesn't change the fact that the chiefdom is still hereditary. It's merely their sister tribe being snobs that keeps them from acknowledging that Sokka and Katara are of the right blood. But now that Yue is gone, Sokka and Katara are the only heirs left in the entire population.
Katara will likely go north. Her new step-grandfather will have too much praise for his home tribe to ignore her. Her grandmother is old and frail. Her father has been away for far too long. Her brother has to stay in the South. She will have to go alone.
If this war has taught her anything, it's that her family is stronger apart than it is together.
He's shaking his head. "Not for you."
She almost wants him to say what everyone expects. He says nothing more, though. There is no wink-wink-nudge-nudge like with Sokka. There's just nothing. Zuko doesn't even look at her.
"What about you?" she asks, even though she knows the answer.
"I'll likely let Uncle take the throne."
Katara blinks a few times before slowly trying to form words. "What? He said he wouldn't."
"I'm sixteen. That's way too young to lead a country." He shifts uncomfortably. "It's too young to be fighting a war. And to be Fire Lord, I have to be married or engaged. Uncle can circumvent that."
She's getting the impression he and his uncle have discussed this before, despite the General's refusal to take the throne. The too young quotes sound like something her father would say. "What about Mai?"
He is silent for far too long. "Mai and I have no future." The words are carefully chosen, she thinks. He's saying everything and nothing at the same time. And to think, he was a terrible liar when they met.
"Never say never."
"No, this time I can say never." He assures her. There's something he's not saying, but she won't push this time. He's talking to her and that's enough for now. They have too much time to kill to be antisocial. "What about you? Is there a Water Tribe boy your father has picked out for you?"
"The only one of marrying age is my brother." She says. "And we don't do arranged marriages. My grandmother would strand him naked among the polar bear dogs if he tried."
He starts laughing and the conversation turns from awkward to comfortable. The specter of the war is briefly gone, though they remain surrounded by the blood red of the comet's trail, the clouds black with ash.
She realises now that this could easily be the last time she is ever on Appa. Because these are her choices. She can go home and stay there; she'll marry a nice boy from the Northern Tribe and maybe she'll go lead them through their backward ways. Or, she can stay with Aang and become the Avatar's wife.
Both choices leave a bitter taste on her tongue.
She wants to travel, to adventure. No worries, no stress, and maybe even without company. Her entire life has been defined by other people and by caring for other people. She wants to know who Katara is. She's only fourteen, after all.
The comet is sinking low on the horizon when land comes into sight. Appa bucks slightly and she knows what that means. Aang is ahead. He's returned.
"Tui and La," she whispers as they draw closer, tiredness fading from her limbs and all excitement at the return of hope draining away, "What is he doing?"
The sky here is not the plain red of the comet. It is vibrant with a poison vermillion and a bright playful blue. It is energy, pouring out of two figures atop one of the stone trees along the coast.
The blue is too comforting to be dangerous, so that must be Aang.
Then the red is Ozai.
Aang is doing something amazing and she really doesn't like how the red looks stronger than the blue. She takes the reins and has Appa fly next to an airship. She and Zuko hop on, Katara keeping one eye on her companion to make sure he's really ready for battle. Once they've settled onto the airship, Appa disappears towards Aang.
"Katara?" Zuko says, tugging on her arm. "What exactly is Aang doing?"
The blue is wavering dangerously. There's a sinking feeling in her stomach as she tells him that she has no idea what the Avatar is doing. Avatar-stuff, she says. That's all she knows.
Sokka and the others are standing on the platform of the nearest airship. Katara can see that Sokka's sword is missing and he looks like he's been through hell. Given that there don't seem to be any firebenders on any of the airships, he probably has. There's some communication on the other side before the earthbender launches herself across the gap. Katara is half-way to worried sick when Toph lands and she realises that there was bending involved in that jump.
Sure enough, the blind girl has that wicked smile of the mischievous across her face. "You two took long enough."
"You have met his sister, haven't you?" Katara says.
Toph's grin widens, blank eyes staring at the space between water and fire. "Weak. Both of you."
"What do you need us to do?" Zuko cuts in. He's fidgeting again. It's starting to get annoying.
"Sokka wants to try something stupid and crazy."
Katara glances over at her brother. "How crazy and how stupid?"
"Steer the airships on the end into the ones in the middle and then make a suicide jump and hope Appa catches us," Toph says.
"No," Katara and Zuko chorus. She's too busy watching the blue fighting the red to pay close attention to what's being decided, though she can hear their voices. Aang is really the main concern. It doesn't matter what they do to the airships if he loses. Either the Avatar or the Fire Lord. One of them isn't going to walk away from this.
For the sake of the world, it really needs to be Aang who makes it.
Not for the first time, Katara thinks there must be something supremely messed up in the realm of the gods if they thought a twelve year old boy was the most inspiring hero for a world in need of saving.
"Crashing them makes more sense." She heard Zuko say. "Between the two of us, we'd be able to control the crashes so no one gets hurt. If need be, I can set them on fire after they're on the ground. The comet will take care of the rest."
Everything goes still then. Something isn't right. Katara looks around and finds everyone—bar Toph—staring in the direction of the two fighters. There's bile at the back of her throat but she forces it down to look over towards them. The sky is split perfectly between red and blue, the fissure between them searing white as the two clashed together. Aang is gaining ground. That's good. But that bright line where the two are in conflict is not.
The air is trembling. She feels something on her arm, pulling her down. The smell of dew and spices fills her senses as she's dragged down just as the world explodes. Even with her eyes closed, the blast of light is impossibly bright.
And the sound. Her ears are ringing to the point that she can't hear anything. Her sense of balance is off too; she nearly tumbles over when she tries to stand. She closes her eyes to the world and focuses on the water: her own gentle blue, Toph's sturdy green, and the unceasing red of Zuko. Now she can recognise the scents. The dew is Toph's hair. The scent of spices is coming from Zuko, who pulled the two of them down to shield them from the explosion.
It was an explosion, wasn't it? Katara tries to look around, but there is dust everywhere and her sense of balance is still off. The farthest she can see is Sokka on the edge of the platform, motioning like mad towards the area where Aang was. Someone needs to go check on the Avatar. That's what she thinks he's saying, because that's what's needed right now. The Avatar must be okay. If he is lost, then all is lost.
Zuko has gone very still beside her when the sound of chirping birds fills her ears. She only knows her hearing has returned by the way everyone else is reacting to it.
There is no warning when Zuko grabs her and Toph, racing towards the edge of the platform. "Jump!"
And they do, just as the fire strikes at the airship they were on. Her leg scrapes against the metal of the platform, her shoulder hitting hard against the metal. There's a scramble as everyone moves to jump to the next airship. Toph and Zuko are both having to use bending to help everyone cross the gaps.
Katara lands steady on the third airship, only for it to rock precariously as the burning second crashes into it. She slips and hits the platform shoulder-first. There's a slipping feeling around her neck. She opens her eyes just as another ball of fire burns it's way towards them.
And in the flames' way is a fluttering blue ribbon with a Water Tribe pendant. The fire consumes the necklace, searing across her hand as she reaches out to try and save the heirloom. She's only vaguely aware of someone's hands on her waist, pulling her up, when another fireburst breaks through the first and comes too close. The air she's breathing is burning, leaving none for her to breathe.
It takes only a few seconds for the world to go dark.
Zuko sees the necklace burn, sees Katara reach for it, and knows that this is not going to end well. By the time he pulls her away from the fire, she's unconscious. This is the part of fire no one teaches outside of the Fire Nation.
Get too close, and it'll burn up the air in your lungs.
He doesn't have time to do anything but make sure she's still breathing—she is, thank Agni—and to pick her up. Her hand is burned; that'll have to wait until after all of this is over. He tells Toph to get ready to run, but she's stopped, blank eyes turned towards the top of the airship. He's never seen her face something she's sensing.
"What's up there?"
"Nothing." She says. Her face scrunches up. He wants to ask about it, but there's not enough time. He grabs her shoulder, pushing her towards the edge of the platform.
They jump, her using metal to help and him using the now-waning power of the comet. When they settle, he sees for the first time that Appa is circling back towards them. Aang is stretched out across the middle of the saddle, much like Zuko himself was when they left the capital.
Katara shifts in his arms and he sets her on her feet. She's unstable, but slowly coming to.
He turns towards the youngest bender present, "Toph, if we have to jump from here, do you think you can use the stone trees to help us land?"
"They're too far away. I can't find them."
He looks around. Appa can be seen in the distance, near where they left Sokka. When did they leave those two? They're not benders, he remembers. They can't make it across the larger gaps. They climb into Appa's saddle, one of them checking on Aang. It must be okay, because they're coming towards them now.
"Zuko?" Toph says. "What's going on?"
He blinks for a moment. What's going on? Everyone's safe and they're about to get on Appa to get—oh.
This place—Wulong Forest if he remembers right—is too quiet. If Aang is unconscious, then that means the one attacking the airships is Ozai. His father isn't the kind to just back off like this, even with the comet's power waning.
And it is. This needs to be finished fast. He always wakes up with the sun, every firebender does, but this comet made him feel awake in a way the sun never has. Its power is burning through his veins, searing the ends of his nerves with the need to burn something.
The war suddenly makes sense now. He can understand how Great-Grandfather Sozin went mad. This kind of power can drive anyone insane.
His father is already insane. It's impossible to tell what that man will do. He remembers his father being irrational at the best of times—Azula had to inherit her instability from somewhere. Maybe Grandfather was unstable too and whatever happened to Sozin permanently stained the bloodline.
So, if Zuko were insane, what would he do? He'd attack Appa. Ensuring the Avatar's death is a priority, but if everyone the Avatar loved and trusted enough to be here at what was meant to be the final battle was all in the same place, he'd attack there. Emotional damage is sometimes more effective than physical damage, after all.
Which means Ozai is going to attack his own airships. But from where? Zuko can't see any sign of his father, not in the dim light of the coming twilight. The comet-enhanced duel has left the area burning, ash and smoke filling the sky. There's too much cover and the only one who can clear it is knocked out and likely worn out.
Sokka's near enough to yell for them and that's when Zuko realises what his father was waiting for.
"Get back!" he shouts, letting go of Katara to run to the edge of the platform. "It's a trap!"
He's too late. Appa jerks suddenly, veering down before soaring up. He can see Sokka looking on in fear and he can hear something being shouted.
Katara. Why is Sokka calling after his sister?
His feet leave the platform and he realises then that Appa didn't move. The airship did. There's a loud groaning filling the forest, the metal of the ships warping under the heat. Katara and Toph are already falling; the waterbender has lost consciousness again. He can hear the bison moving towards them, but the fires are too violent by this point. They're cut off. The Avatar's three surviving masters and they're in freefall above a burning forest.
Katara is closest. He grabs her arm and pulls her to his left side. Toph is beyond his reach. They've fallen too far for him to try and go to her when he feels something slam against the still tender wound above his heart. The black stone is gripping his shirt, the earthbender using it as an anchor to pull herself in.
"Stay close," he tells her. "And help hold Katara still."
The comet is weak now and he has no idea if what he's going to attempt will work. Someone like Uncle could do this. Someone like Azula could do this. Zuko has to do this.
The airships finally fall to pieces in a blast that shocks his ears and fills the sky with fire and metal. He has to pull on the last remnants of that searing bright power to do it, but he pulls the explosion around them, below them. It's not perfect, but it slows their descent enough for Toph to get a sense on the earth below them. They land roughly on one of the collapsed stone trees, sliding down to the ground. He adjusts Katara in his arms once they're settled. Her legs are scraped from the fall and she's out cold. Beside him, Toph is kissing the earth.
"We need to get out of here, don't we?" she says.
He nods. "Yeah. Now."
The first pieces of steel crash down around them when they make it into the still-standing portions of the forest. The earth is rolling beneath his feet as they stumble, his legs and arms burning with exhaustion. Katara is lighter than she should be given how old and how tall she is, but with the comet's continued disappearance, the weight is really more than he can handle. It's difficult to breathe down here where the ships are crashing. Ash and dirt and metal dust are filling the air, the acrid smell of burning everything choking his lungs.
Toph manages to get ahead of him, her pale skin a beacon in the dampening light. Even from behind, she looks like a madwoman: her hair flowing unbound as she runs barefoot across a fire-ravaged landscape. She veers to the right and he turns with her, his footing unsure as a large piece of a hull crashes down close enough for him to feel the heat radiating off of the steel. It sends the earth heaving beneath them.
The comet is too far to help him now, he realises. This exhaustion he's feeling isn't normal. When Sozin's Comet arrived, he felt more alive then ever. He was deliriously aware of his power and what was going on around him. Now, his senses are dull in comparison and his firebending feels like it's weak beyond measure. He should have known. For every high, there must be a low, just as every low must be followed by a high.
He calls after Toph, but she doesn't react. He doubts she can hear him above the explosions. She's still running at a breakneck speed towards the deeper part of the forest. It's all he can do to keep up and keep a steady hold on Katara.
He's close to falling, to dropping the waterbender, when Toph slides to a stop at the base of a thick stone structure. The airships are still falling on top of them. How many of them were there again? How big?
"In here," he hears her say. She knocks against the stone and opens a cavern inside it. They all rush in, Toph closing it behind them, just as a mass of flaming canvas blankets the ground.
He sets Katara down softly and feels the earth moving beneath his feet. Toph is in formation beside them. When she relaxes, the movement stops. To his left, the stone opens up. They are above the majority of the damage in the forest, the sky slowly clearing as a wind rolls in from the sea. He can't see any Fire Nation ships or balloons in the area, but he can see a small white spot slowly leaving the area.
They are inside a stone tree amid a burning rock forest and they've been left for dead. He needs to sleep off the effects of the comet. Toph looks wearied as well. Katara is hurt and he has no idea how bad it is.
"Zuko?" Toph asks, "What's going on?"
They've been abandoned in a world where Ozai is still king. It was stupid of them to let a twelve-year-old try to fight his father. Avatar or no, Aang is still a kid. Zuko was thirteen when he was forced to confront his father and he has the scar and messed up life to prove how much of a bad idea challenging Ozai is.
Now Avatar and Fire Lord have battled and Ozai is still alive to try to conquer another day and Aang is hopefully alive to make another attempt at stopping him. The world is still at war. The only good they've done is stop his father from succeeding in world domination. Azula will be released once the Fire Lord returns to the palace. The Wulong Forest is in complete disarray; only nature has the power to stop and heal this kind of damage. He has no idea what's happened in other parts of the world.
But the Avatar and his group have left and the implications of that are not hard to figure out.
"We're on our own from here on." He says. "Aang lost."
Here ends chapter one of book one in a series that currently stands at five stories and a drabble series. Sara, this is all your fault.
I'm terrible at writing action. Can you tell?
~Nautica Dawn
(formerly Hikari Adams)