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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, NOR DO I CLAIM ANY RIGHTS TO IT, OR THE CHARACTERS IN THIS FANFICTION. I AM ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLOT AND SETTING OF THE STORY.
"Father, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes. It is time you went to the battlefield. I know how hard you've been training for this moment. It is time to make your people proud," said Hakoda clapping his son on the back.
"Yes, father, I will make you proud," said Sokka. He stood and saluted his father then walked out the door to begin packing to go onto the battlefield.
"Spirits be with you, my son," Hakoda had whispered staring at the door. He only had two children. His wife, Kya had been killed in a village raid years ago when Sokka and Katara were just children. Something inside of him had just snapped and he had stopped feeling. It hurt too much to feel anything. He had gone to war then and proven himself a worthy soldier and so been given the honour of being promoted to head of the Southern Army base.
Now he had to watch his only son go into battle for their country. He turned in his swivel chair and sighed. He pulled a photo of Kya out of his breast pocket and stared at it lovingly. His beautiful wife. They had been so happy before the raid. She had been making dinner in the kitchen. He was sitting on the counter beside her as she worked. He had kissed her and she had smiled then they heard a shot and her eyes had widened.
He had stared into those shocked eyes in horror, wondering why she was standing so still. Then she fell to the floor, blood staining her apron. She had been shot dead. Hakoda couldn't move for all of two minutes, his heart and mind arguing; one in favour of the numbing pain he felt at that moment and the other in favour of keeping the rest of his family safe. Sparing only a glance at her lifeless body, Hakoda had run to his children's rooms and got them both to safety.
The raid had not lasted long, but he had sat with is children thinking only of how Kya would feel if he left them to go fight outside and if he was killed. They would have nobody left. His brave little boy, Seven year old Sokka, had been training to be a warrior ever since. Katara had been greatly affected by her loss and made a resolve to become a medical doctor.
Kya's funeral had been small, but decent. It was better than the alternative of a mass burial. Hakoda had dug the grave himself in their back yard. Sokka had tried to help and Katara had only watched on, expressing all their pain in her tears. After a few prayers and farewells, Kya was laid to rest and Hakoda covered the grave. That was the last time they ever spoke of her, but none of them ever forgot her and they knew it.
Now, almost fifteen years later, the little family of Southerners was running a base. Sokka was a skilled soldier in the army and had earned a good number of medals for his valance and agility. Katara was one of the best doctors in or around the base for miles. She was named one of the five best in the territory. Hakoda was the head of the base and also a master strategist. He had come up with numerous tactics for defeating the enemy and so far, they had all worked brilliantly.
His latest plan was genius, seeing that it involved one of the enemy soldiers he had retrieved from the battlefield. It was a plan he could only hope worked well. It had never been tried before and if he succeeded, he would go down in history as the greatest general who ever lived. His deputy General How was working closely with the scientists and so far they were making good progress.
Hakoda put away the photo and turned back to his desk on which lay his newest battle strategy. It was definitely easier to choose to feel nothing. He had survived plenty and he still would.
Zuko was getting better, feeling better too. Most of his bandages had come off and he could now walk without so much pain or having to strain. Katara came every day at the same time to check his wounds and to give him his medicine.
She was all he ever thought about lately. He supposed it was a good thing since Mai had left him nearly two years ago. She had broken his heart so absolutely. He had waited for her to change her mind, but she never did. He hadn't received a letter from her in all that time. Now, his doctor was something else. Maybe she could help him forget...
She had spoken to him maybe twice or thrice in the last three weeks. Not much, and only about his condition, but a start. He smiled and watched the clock as he lay back down on his bed. Even he had noticed that the blue eyed beauty could barely resist staring at his muscles. He had caught that familiar gleam in her eyes and he could even have sworn that she had blushed a couple of times during his examinations.
His doctor was warming up to him, not that she'd ever tell him that of course. She was due to come in and see him in a few minutes. He watched the hands of the clock tick slowly by. Right as the clock began to chime, she walked in, medicines and clipboard in hand. She shut the door and went to work immediately, saying nothing to him.
"Good morning Doctor," he said cheerfully giving her one of his most dazzling smiles. She didn't even look at him, just began setting thing down.
"I'm feeling much better thanks for asking," he said still trying to get her to speak.
She removed the bandage on his eye and looked satisfied with the progress. She didn't replace it though and he assumed that that was a good thing.
"You will see through this eye, though not so well. I can't do anything for the scar and quite frankly, I think it's a miracle you're still alive. I will see you tomorrow," she said finally still scribbling on her clipboard. She packed her medicines and got up to leave when he spoke again.
"Why do you keep doing that? You keep hiding behind that clipboard. Why?"
She stopped and took a deep breath. Clearing her throat she opened the door and left. He sighed and lay back on his pillows. At least he had gotten through to her. Her reaction was promising. Clearly, he had touched a nerve. He would see how well his strategy had worked in good time.
"Are you okay?" asked Sokka noticing the look on his sister's face.
"Yeah, It's just been a long day, you know?" she said packing away her medicines. Sokka looked at her and packed up his bag saying nothing.
"Is the prisoner giving you a hard time? I could tell dad and..."
"No, that's not it. He's not giving me any trouble." Sokka sighed and turned to her.
"Look, I know how hard it is for you to take care of the enemy, but you have to. For the sake of everyone here and in the entire territory. Dad has an idea that, if it works, will end this war once and for all. We'll win and you'll never have to go through this again." Katara began to tear and went into her brother's open arms. That was one of the reasons she was so uncomfortable around the prisoner, but not all of it. It served as a good excuse.
Sokka let go and looked into Katara's eyes smiling at her.
"I have to go now. Bato and his men are waiting for me. This will all be over soon. Don't worry," he said wiping one of her tears. Katara rubbed her arm and watched her brother, her only sibling, her closest friend for the longest time walk away from her, probably forever.
There was still so much she wanted to tell him, so much she wished she could tell him, so much that now depended on whether or not he made it back alive. Pushing her worries aside, she went back to putting away medicines and taking inventory. He had to live, otherwise, she would never forgive him.
He was at the window again when she came in. He turned and her heart skipped a beat at the obvious smile on his face. She set down her medicines as he wordlessly sat on the bed and took off his shirt. She sucked in a deep breath and put on her gloves. For some reason, each examination was harder than the last. She picked up her needle and medicine. It was the last injection he would receive. After that she would check his heartbeat and internal injuries. Then she would be done.
She turned and found him staring at her. He had been doing that since he had asked her why she was hiding, as if he was still waiting for her reaction. He was still smiling at her, that disarming smile of his. She wished he wouldn't do that. It was distracting her and she was getting annoyed.
"Is something wrong doctor?" he asked. She met his gaze still saying nothing. He smiled again and continued, "you look a little flustered. Maybe the examination should wait?" he asked. Katara shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Stop looking at me like that," she said shooting him a cold look.
"How am I looking at you?"
"Like I'm some prey you feel the inborn carnivorous need to catch. I'm here to treat you and that is that," she said picking up the needle and jabbing him non too gently. On the bright side, she didn't miss his vein, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She put a cotton ball soaked in spirit on it and went ahead with the examination.
"That was uncalled for," he said pouting and holding the cotton ball in place. She smirked to herself. It was unprofessional of her, but he deserved it. She felt justified in a sadistic sort of way.
She coloured a bit having to touch such a well-muscled chest. It must have taken a dozen training exercises to get him in such good shape...
Thankfully, there wasn't much left to do and she started putting her things together to leave. She reached for her clipboard as he reached for her hand again. If he only knew what such contact meant to her!
She looked at him with what she hoped was her coldest stare ever and felt herself falter at the look in his gentle amber eyes.
"Talk to me, please. I'm asking you nicely now. Please just talk to me."
"And say what? What do you want me to talk to you about? How your people have ruined my home and land with this war? Would you like me to get you a cup of tea while we chat about how my brother could die out there?" She was still angry. Her tears began to fall. He could see she was hurting and now understood her conflict. It was bound to happen.
She stood there crying, her hand in his for a few minutes more. Then she pulled her hand out of his, wiped her tears and put her barriers back up. He could physically feel them coming back up and effectively shutting him out.
He watched her dab at his wounds silently. It didn't hurt so much any more, but her pain, the one she tried to keep locked away, was worse than any physical pain he could take.
She picked up the medicine and put it on her tray. He caught her hand in his as she turned her attention away from him making her turn back to look at him. Before she could stop him, he had pulled her down on top of him.
Her small cool hand rested on his chest where she had put it in an attempt to brace herself from falling. She blushed realising how close she was to him. he simply smiled and raised her face to his. He inched slowly towards her and she found that she couldn't bring herself to pull away.
He kissed her.
Katara's legs melted from under her, even as she struggled to control whatever feelings were growing inside of her, threatening to burst out.
She should have left. She should pull away right now and leave. She knew she should. Her heart pounded in her chest and her mind fought a losing battle. His lips felt amazing pressed so softly, so gently, so lovingly against hers...
She found herself kissing him back, her fingers running through his hair. His ran up her arms and around her waist. She sighed and her eyes flew open. What was she doing? She pulled away with a gasp and looked into his confused eyes.
"Is something wrong?" he whispered.
"Is something wrong? Is something wrong? You're an enemy soldier for crying out loud..." she said and leaned her head against his, not meeting his gaze.
"We shouldn't be doing this," she whispered and he felt tiny warm drops fall on his bare chest. He made her look up and saw that she was crying. He wiped a tear away and pulled her into a hug. She had to admit even to herself that it felt good to have such a strong pair of arms wrapped around her promising so much, giving so much...
Then, in the middle of that wonderful moment, a picture of Jet came to her mind. He was laughing at her weakness. She had let herself fall again. She had let her heart fall to another man again. It was like she looked for love in all the wrong places.
She pulled away and stood. He watched her saying nothing. She gave him one last look then she left the room.
Katara locked her door safely behind her and put away her clipboard. He had offset her so completely that day. If there had been any plans or schedules for the day, they were very carefully forgotten. She had been trying to be brave since her father had gone on this vengeful spree, but she couldn't take it any more. Her brother would probably die in the war. She had no idea what her father had planned for the handsome prisoner in her ward, but she was sure she wouldn't like it. He may have been an prisoner of war, but even she had her limits when it came to dealing with human beings.
She sat on her bed. It had been a terribly long day, one she felt the need to urgently sleep off. She rose and headed for the bathroom where she ran herself a bath. What she needed was a nice long soak in warm water. She undid her hair, now in a mess from her kiss, and looked at herself in the mirror. She bit her lip as she realised something she could never reveal, something that up until then she had been loath to see for herself. The golden-eyed prisoner in her ward had broken through every last one of her barriers and no matter what she did, they would always come crashing down at his feet.
She began to undress. Her coat fell as she realised that she had given up fighting herself. Her skirt and blouse joined the coat on the floor as she decided to try to resist one more time. Dipping her feet into the water, she entered the bath and sat leaning back against the wall of the tub. She shut her eyes and decided not to think about it any more. There would be plenty of time for that the next day.
