Prologue
It had all happened so quickly. She had been watching the two firebenders fighting, and one thought, one crippling thought, plagued her mind. He's going to lose. Zuko had told her that something was off with Azula, and Katara had noticed it as well. Something had unhinged the girl, turned her from deadly to murderously insane. He's going to lose.
She had never seen so much fire in her life, not even when the Fire Nation armies had raided her village and killed her mother. She could only imagine what Ozai and his forces were able to manage when two teenagers were bending enough fire to burn down a village.
It was beautiful. But it was still deadly, and if she didn't intervene, Azula would kill him. She was running to the courtyard before she could realize what she was doing. "No lightning today?" Zuko taunted his sister. You idiot, Katara thought, knowing nothing good would come out of insulting Azula, even if she had been in the right frame of mind. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?"
Katara watched as Azula's lips curled into a deadly smirk. "Oh I'll show you lightning."
Time seemed to stand still. Katara watched as the madwoman began to conjure the deadly force, watched as she started to aim at Zuko, only to see Azula's gaze change last minute, change to focus on her.
She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She stood no chance against lightning, even as a master waterbender.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She heard a scream, a desperate one; one she knew had not come from herself. She watched in horror as Zuko jumped in front of her, as the lightning struck him square in the chest. She watched in horror as he collapsed to the ground, twitching and writhing in agony.
A rage she had never known before consumed her. Without thinking, she manipulated the water beneath the grates surrounding the courtyard, manipulating and freezing it around Azula and herself. Using her abilities, she chained the princess down and melted the ice, watching as the firebender screamed and wailed, the sounds inhuman.
No. She couldn't allow herself to focus on Azula, not when Zuko was barely alive, if not dead already. She ran over to her former enemy, the enemy who had become a friend, who she had loved and who had loved her in return… She had used the last of her spirit water on Aang, but she still had to try to heal Zuko.
Tears burned her eyes as she turned the prince onto his back and tried to heal him. He glanced at her, eyes dazed and confused. "It's all right," she said, her voice shaking. "You're going to be alright."
He shook his head, the pain of the motion showing in his golden eyes. "I'm not," he said in a weak voice and managed to place a hand over Katara's, causing the water she had been attempting to heal him with fall into a puddle on the fallen prince.
"You have to be," she shook her head. "Aang is going to defeat the Fire Lord. You and he are going to rebuild the world…"
"Katara," he spoke, and she watched as his eyes started to droop closed. "I'm sorry."
"No," she begged. "Please don't do this. Zuko, please…"
But it was too late.
The rightful Firelord was dead.