"No!" Katara screamed, trying to run towards him. The enemy's hands grasped her arms behind her back, holding her in his strong grip. She lunged forwards again, trying to fight him with only her strength. Her brain was too muddled to waterbend without motion, and at the moment she could not move her hands.
She watched, the world slowing down before her as Aang's back arched with pain. Then he fell limp. She let out an animalistic scream, lunging forward yet again, fighting her captor savagely, the foolish thought in her mind screaming that if she could only reach him, he'd be okay.
His right hand, clenched around his staff, loosened, and she watched as the staff rolled away from him.
Tears streamed down her face as she continued to fight, her screams becoming higher, more intense. She gasped for breath between each scream, and suddenly the hands around her arms fell away. The screams died, and she raced towards his body, collapsing beside him.
Her hands flew to the side, forcing water into the air, towards her. It arrived in her hands, already glowing, ready to heal. The tears stopped, her mind convinced she could save him. She forced it over him, the glow lighting up the blue arrow tattooed across his chest. Nothing happened.
She screamed again, unaware of the battle around her, only aware of the man in front of her, and the fact that he was dead. Really and truly dead.
Azula's gloating face from all those years ago appeared in her mind. She couldn't bring him back from the dead this time.
The battle ended, but she still did not notice her surroundings, her senses encompassed by his cooling hand, clenched in both of hers.
"Katara," a familiar voice behind her said, careful and measured.
She felt the tears return, and her neck gave out, her head landing on his chest.
"He's dead Sokka. Aang is dead." Her voice was hollow, emotionless.
Sokka walked towards her, and fell to his knees beside her. He pulled her towards him, and held her as she cried.
Hours later, when they had returned to Air Temple island, someone told her, "The Avatar Cycle has to go on, Katara, even when it hurts."
...
Katara looked down at the four year old in the arena. The girl had her hair pulled back out of her face, and was dressed casually.
"Alright. You may begin," the man to her left ordered her. The girl immediately launched into a crazy mash of all four elements at once.
She couldn't watch for long. The display may not have been smooth or controlled like his bending, but the mesh of all four elements was enough. Fire, water, earth. The only thing missing was air.
She had to turn away. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back a sob, the tears already appearing, threatening to overflow.
It was too soon. He'd only died five years ago. She couldn't deal with this now. Normally an Avatar wasn't found for at least a few more years than this. It shouldn't have been time, but it was. The words some one had told her five years ago came back, The Avatar Cycle has to go on, Katara, even when it hurts.
Memories of Aang bending, from the day she meet him to the day he died, flew through her mind. Some were tinted with fear, like the middle of a battle, others happiness, like when they teased each other.
Happy moments of their lives together joined the parade. Their wedding day. The day Bumi was born, then Kya, Tenzin. The day they learned Kya was a waterbender, the day Tenzin became an airbender. The handful of family vacations. The day Tenzin received his bright blue airbender tattoos.
His death replayed in her mind. The way his body arched before slamming into the ground, bouncing twice before it came to a rest. The way his grip had given out, his staff rolling across the rocky ground away from him. Every last second was crystal clear, not at all dulled by time like every other moment of her life.
The girl finished her display, and Katara pulled herself together. She turned back towards the little girl, who was now looking expectantly up at her.
"I'm Korra," she said excitedly, "the new Avatar."
It took all Katara had not to let the tears overflow.