Disclaimer—I do not own Avatar, nor use its characters for my own monetary gain.
Gone
Ever since the day Aang had been shot down in the Crystal Caverns, it seemed as if Katara had gone through another metamorphosis. Before we'd lost our parents, she'd been a bubbly little girl. She'd enjoyed penguin sledding, and throwing giant snowballs at my head.
When our mother died and our father left to go to war, she went through her first change. She'd become the strong woman our mother had been. She would always leave everybody's clothes by the fire if she woke up first, (something that usually occurred) she did the cooking, (making at least three extra bowls of food for anyone that was lucky enough to get a whiff of her cooking and would stop in and ask if she might spare a bowl, which she always did) and generally became the responsible, caring, level-headed figure our mother was.
The second change occurred gradually, (so much so, I didn't think anything of it at the time) and she got back a bit of her carefree personality. This occurred after we found Aang. He showed her that there could be balance between both worlds.
The third and final metamorphosis made her who she is now. After Aang died, and, thanks to her healing abilities, (which she inconveniently couldn't have discovered when I'd gotten two fishing hooks stuck in my thumb.) was brought back again, it seemed as if a part of her had died, and gone into a coma with him. She'd been our map when we were out in strange waters, so to speak.
She died with him, and it is the first time anyone's really seen how fragile she really is. I wish I could help her now, but only Aang can do that. Every once and a while, I think I can see a shadow of a smile, but that's like looking for stars at noon. When we'd come across dad, I'd thought she be a bit happier, but even the father we hadn't seen in two years could make more than a small forced smile grace her face.
She warned us that if we went to see him, not to talk about anything sad, as he might hear what we were saying. Everyone had seen him at least once. We didn't really want to see a comrade who, at one point, seemed invincible to us, in that state, but we knew it would break her heart if we didn't, so, for her sake we all went to see him at least a couple times a week. Even though she warned us against it we told him everything that was going on when we visited. From meeting dad, to feeding Appa, and mainly Katara's emotional state, it was all told to the unresponsive Avatar. He didn't show any signs of waking up, but Katara didn't seem to give up hope. She was our rock in a hard place, and, although he may never know it, he was hers. He was, I believe, in her mind, more than a possibility for the war to end peacefully. If he was just the savior of the world in her mind she wouldn't be as she is now. When she comes out of his room for meals, and, more recently forced recesses, there are tears in her eyes, and half-hearted forced smiles and laughs. It hurts all of us to see her this way, especially dad. He always did his best to keep smiles on our faces, and now, it seems the best he can get from her is the lack of a mournful look on her face.
But we try to keep positive, and tell half-hearted jokes. Over meals, although we all know it might never happen, we always talk about what will happen when Aang wakes up and defeats the Firelord. One thought always crosses my mind during the frequent discussions, but is never is voiced is: when he comes back, he'll be able to find her and bring her back to us. Now, all we can do is wait, and hope that they'll come back to us, but for now, the two of them are gone.
I may do some other major parts from the other character's PoV's. Review!