The news of Fire Lord Zuko's collapse was news that Katara feared she would one day receive. She was definitely hoping it would be longer than six years.
The Fire kingdom physicians confirmed her suspicions: the young Fire Lord was suffering from organ damage he had accumulated from a lightning bolt. More specifically, the hit he had taken from Azula to protect Katara. Katara had done her best to heal him after the incident, but once he had gathered enough strength to go about his days normally, he refused anymore treatment from her.
Now, this decision could possibly mean his death. She and Aang quickly packed their bags (though they were already packed since they traveled the world together nowadays) and met Toph, Sokka, and Suki in the Fire Kingdom.
The past two weeks had had a solemn feel. The possibility of death's appearance, especially to visit their friend, forced the group to almost be in a constant state of mourning. Sokka's jokes had become few and far between, Toph had grown quieter, and Aang, though he stayed put in the palace, was almost impossible to find. It seemed Katara and Suki, the more mature members of the gaang, were the only ones trying to brighten everyone's spirits.
Katara couldn't speak for Suki, but she was stressed out of her mind. She couldn't trust anyone else to heal Zuko and felt that it was her duty to save him, since she was the one he took the dive for anyway. Her mental state must have been obvious to her friends because whenever she attempted to speak cheerily and brighten the mood, someone suggested she lay down and catch some sleep.
How could she sleep? How could she possibly sleep when, at any moment, Zuko might die? Collectively, Katara was sure she had gotten a full night's sleep in the past two weeks. She was ashamed to admit a good portion of her sleep had been brought on in the middle of her healing sessions with the Fire Lord. Why did healing have to have such a soothing feeling?
On their way back to the Fire Kingdom, Aang and Katara stopped by the Northern Water Tribe in hopes of receiving more spirit water. Chief Arnook sadly told them he could not allow anyone else to take some spirit water. Katara, though frustrated, understood the sacredness of the liquid and that it could not just be continually given out. The situation seemed to make her even more determined that she be the one to save Zuko.
"Katara?" His weak voice called her away from her thoughts. It wasn't often that Zuko was awake, though she wasn't sure if the it was the organ damage or healing that forced him into unconsciousness.
The waterbender could already feel herself begin to tear up. "Hey, Zuko. How are you feeling?"
"I feel like six years ago my mentally unstable sister shot a lightning bolt at me and now I'm suffering organ damage," he closed his eyes, attempting to crack a smile.
Katara, in all her worry, found herself laughing. "Stop it! You need to rest."
Zuko opened his eyes just to narrow them at her. "It doesn't look like you have been. When was the last time you ate, Katara?"
A growl from her stomach answered the question for her.
"You can't sit by my bed all day, Katara. Constant healing isn't going to make it any better if you're in such a bad state that your bending hardly works." Katara followed his gaze to the puddles of water on the ground when she had lost control of the liquid. "I'm hungry. Go find something for both of us to eat."
Katara knew it was a 50/50 chance Zuko was actually hungry, but she knew he was right and she clumsily bent the water off herself in an attempt to look… not like a complete mess.
Along the way to the kitchen, Katara made sure to tell her friends that Zuko was awake if they wanted to see how he was doing. The only person she couldn't find was, as usual, Aang. No one knew where he hid in the palace, but the farthest from people was probably it.
Oddly enough, Katara didn't find herself missing her boyfriend's presence. She had been traveling with him for the past year, which was obviously full of their share of arguments and disagreements. There weren't many points in the year that they had time to be away from each other. Still, two weeks in and she wasn't necessarily looking forward to the sparse encounters she had with him.
"Hi, Jiao," Katara greeted the passing young woman. She had very recently been hired as a servant in the palace and was, therefore, not as quick to carrying out orders due to her not having experienced the wrath of Ozai or Azula. Katara found her more human in a way. Easier to speak with.
"Hello, Ambassador Katara," the young woman referred to Katara by the title she went by when she had lived in the palace a few years before. All the other servants still called her that, so Jiao must have followed suit. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Is there anything prepared already that Zu- the Fire Lord can eat?"
Jiao nodded eagerly. "Absolutely. Would you like me to bring some food for you as well?" An offer like that would not come out of any other servant's mouth. They often conducted orders exactly as told without any questions.
Katara nodded tiredly, attempting a grateful smile. "Yes, please."
"Wait here. I'll be back as quick as I can."
The likelihood of that statement being true was not very high. Jiao was known to get easily distracted, but she would eventually finish her chores. Katara could only wonder how long Jiao would survive in this palace with Ozai and Azula as rulers. Zuko would find her nice to be around, even if irritating at times.
The waterbender stared up at the paintings in the hall. They were grand, larger than any painting needed to be, but beautiful. Most pictures were of nature using monochromatic color (predictably, the red, gold, and black colors of the Fire Nation). She knew farther down the hall were paintings of the previous Fire Lords, but she averted her eyes from them. The cold eyes of Ozai brought back memories she rather not relive. She was reminded of the third day after she arrived in the Fire Nation, when Toph had called her away to show her a storage room she had discovered, eager to know if anything in there was interesting.
Katara, at first, found nothing. Eventually, she moved a sheet to find an unfinished portrait of Azula wearing the Fire Lord crown. Katara decided she rather not explore the palace anymore.
"Ambassador Katara!" Jiao's bubbly voice made her turn around from the paintings and from her memories. She held a tray with two steaming dishes of food resting on it. Katara felt her stomach grumble in anticipation. "Would you like me to walk the food with you?"
Katara shook her head. She wanted to get to the room as fast as possible so she could eat whatever meat was on that dish. "No, thank you, Jiao. Continue with your chores."
Jiao handed her the tray before bowing and walking off to (hopefully) do as she was told.
Katara took off in the opposite direction. She hardly had enough energy to take her feet off the ground, but somehow she found the willpower to trudge on. The walk back to Zuko's room seemed to be longer than the walk away, even though she had stopped three times to tell Sokka, Suki, and Toph that they could go visit him. No matter what the reason for the long walk, Katara took the time to digest the visuals of the palace. There were small details she didn't recall seeing before.
There was a small burn mark near the floor over there. And up on the ceiling was a large spider web that surely someone must have to clean off soon. That painting was slightly tilted. Toph had left her room door open. That was odd. Katara could have sworn Toph was closing it before she even spoke to her.
Well, Katara walked over to close it for her, when she noticed an engraving in the stone wall. Upon closer notice, Katara realized they were words. Were they supposed to be there? It was so neat, it looked as though an earthbender bent it. The fire nation would have to chisel that out. She read the first line.
Toph,
Oh. It was not chiseled out for decoration. It was a personal message, obviously. Katara shouldn't read it if it's a personal message.
Toph,
I would love to have a moment to have you to myself
"Love." Did Toph have a secret lover? Perhaps just an eager friend. But the engraving was so neat! Only a lover would take the time to chisel it out so perfectly so that their blind love could read it. Why was it secret?
I would love to have a moment to have you to myself to speak. It has been too long since we had a moment to ourselves without others around.
The mood lately was very somber. If Toph had a lover, she may have felt it was inappropriate to make it public knowledge. Katara wasn't outside of Zuko's room often, but she could only assume Sokka, Suki, and Toph were normally together to make sure everyone was alright. At least, when she attempted to start an activity, the three were together already.
It must be hard for Toph to get a moment to have a heart-to-heart conversation with a mysterious stranger. A mysterious stranger who had access into the palace, Katara realized! Or a mysterious stranger skilled in secrecy.
By the spirits, Katara was tired. Her imagination was running far too wild. Just finish reading the message since you're already going to go through Toph's private life, she convinced herself.
If you miss our time together as well, please meet me tonight in the dining room when everyone else is asleep.
Yours,
T
T? Whose name started with T? Katara racked her brain through the servants in the palace, even the female ones, but sadly realized she knew the names of very few servants. She made a note to herself to pay more attention. The closest she could think was Teo, but that was impossible since he was in the Earth Kingdom.
Katara took one last look at the message, admiring the handiwork again, before grabbing the tray of food again and rushing outside the room before Toph came back. She hesitated for a moment, her hand on the knob, before leaving it a crack open as it was when she arrived.
Suddenly, Katara had a burst of energy and rushed back to Zuko's room. She was surprised to see the trio standing outside the room. They all wore pensive looks.
"What happened?" Katara's mind immediately spiraled downward. She dropped the food on the ground without thinking. "Is he OK? Did he relapse? Let me see him!" She attempted to push past them, but Sokka grabbed her wrist.
Katara stopped, shocked at her brother's response.
"Zuko is fine, Katara. But you're not," Sokka looked sadly at her, as though he didn't want to say what he was about to say to her. Most likely, he probably didn't want to have to tell his sister what to do. "Zuko told us that you're here almost 24/7. You need to rest."
"That's not true," she protested. "You've seen me out! I always try to get you guys to do something exciting, but you are all the ones who want to mope around all day."
"And when we tell you to go lay down, do you do it?" Toph asked her, her eyes were hidden behind her bangs. Katara was reminded for a moment of the message she had read off Toph's wall. She was keeping something else hidden behind those bangs.
Katara huffed and didn't respond.
"No you don't," Sokka answered for her. "You come back here and wear yourself out, trying to heal without any energy to do it."
The waterbender took her hand back. "Fine. But I brought him food. At least let me give him some food."
"I'll take it," Suki piped up, grabbing a plate from the ground. The food hadn't moved much even after the rough landing. She walked inside Zuko's room, closing the door quickly behind herself as though Katara was going to try to race in after her. Actually, Katara might have tried that if she saw the opportunity.
Katara crossed her arms. "Alright, fine. I'll stay out of there… for the day. But that's it."
Both Sokka and Toph smiled at her. The pair tackled her with a hug, actually making Katara fall due to how weak her body was until Sokka grabbed her arm and Toph bent a rock wall bend her.
"Oof," Katara closed her eyes, taking in the impact of hitting a solid rock wall.
"At least, you have all day to rest that," Toph grinned.
SOOO. "Yours, T" is now being upgraded into a multi-chapter story. It's alright if you already know the twist, it's revealed in the next chapter (and like... if you look at the character tags...). I'll post the original one-shot again after I finish this. I don't think it will be too long, maybe 5-7 chapters? It depends on where my imagination goes with this. Tell me what you think so far of the premise! Thank you so much for reading!