And here is part 2! Thanks for all those who are watching or faving this, and especially those who took the time to comment.

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Zuko had seconds to live if she wasn't quick- she knew it the moment she took in his face distorted by the pain, the unnatural limpness of his limbs, and the difficulty breathing. Everyone was asking her what the matter was, what was happening, but she had no time.

"Give me some space! Stop all this racket NOW!" she nearly screamed, and the room fell silent so quickly that her voice lingered in the air as she grabbed Zuko's robe and yanked it open so violently that it nearly tore the belt.

Her hand was already coated in water as she placed it firmly up against his star shaped burn mark where Azula's lightning had hit him. It was just like Aang's, that scar, though lighter and less severe because the new Fire Lord had managed to still redirect a good part of the lightning away from his heart- but not all.

The moment she began the healing, her senses were violently invaded by the agony of a body suddenly, irrevocably, imploding on itself. Death was coming swiftly and the Water bender groaned under the waves of pain that coursed up her hands, burning her, tearing at her, threatening her with the never ending darkness- no, not me. It is HIS sensations that I am feeling.

The water seeping in Zuko's body in vain tried to control the irregularly beating heart, and a big part of it threatened to evaporate under the sheer heat of the fever suddenly spiking, adding to the heavy demand for Zuko's soul to depart. For one overwhelming moment, Katara battled, trying to encase the heart as she had already been shown, trying to soothe and cool, but the raging inferno that each heartbeat fueled in Zuko's chest only became worse, and worse and worse…!

"Argh!" cried Katara and reflexively her hands pulled away from Zuko, who groaned without regaining consciousness, without moving, without getting better. She turned her palms up, and saw the skin there red and angry, as if she had been trying to touch coals.

"No," whispered Mai, her expression shifting for a moment, fingers clenching helplessly as she realized that the healing hadn't ended, it was interrupted. Iroh gripped Katara's arm, as she was panting, shocked and frightened:

"Don't give up on him, Katara. I beg you. I beg you!" she blinked into the old man's eyes that were so haunted with pain which had never healed. They were red rimmed and wild with fear. "Please, Katara, help him. Don't let this son be taken from me too."

"I…" Katara stammered, her own heart thundering in her chest. She wasn't giving up! She wouldn't let Zuko die!

"What can I do, Katara?" Aang's voice was low, yet clear and supportive.

Get your act together. You are letting him slip through your fingers!

"Aang," she said, "make sure- make sure the air keeps getting in his lungs. I… I will do the rest."

Please, Zuko, forgive me.

The Avatar nodded his assent, and breathing in himself, his eyes flashed lightning white once as he called upon the knowledge of all his past lives to ensure he did it, and did it right. Gently, he carefully began coaxing Zuko's lungs to keep inflating and deflating, the air saturating the young man's blood and filling it with oxygen. It left Katara to use all her energy to bend the one thing she was always too afraid to bend.

Her fingers splayed and seemed to knit the air as she grit her teeth, and Zuko seemed to turn on his side by his own accord- but everyone knew it was not him, but Katara who was bending his blood the same way Aang was bending the air entering through his nostrils.

It was enough to bring tears to Mai's eyes. She had never seen Zuko so dreadfully helpless, a puppet with no strings at the mercy of anyone but his own self, and still weezing and coughing meekly as the air he was so dependent on right now was also choking him. The sheer sight of her loved one, the one she had been willing to die for back at the Boiling Rock, so close to death with her able to do nothing turned her heart colder than ice, and she had to shut her eyes to even manage not to crumble next to him.

Iroh, on the other hand, was staring with desperate hunger upon the scene, watching Katara bloodbend Zuko and hoping beyond hope that it would be enough, enough to see his nephew open his eyes again, even just a crack. Zuko's head was turned heavily to the side, and it was his scarred side that was showing, the gnarled and twisted flesh in high relief upon the pallid face that had turned ashen while it retained its dead crimson colour. Iroh grit his teeth, thinking of Ozai and how he had mangled Azula's mind the way he had mangled his son's face. Ozai, if Zuko dies at Azula's hands, it is you who will follow him, and in exactly the same way.

Katara was drenched in sweat right now, not unlike Zuko himself, and for the longest time she feared that if she released her control on the blood, the firebender would die. How could such devastation happen so suddenly? It was everywhere in his chest, flooding the heart and threatening the lungs, gushing with pressure from the severed main artery of his heart, filling his body in a way that frightened her. It was her, and only her, that was now demanding that this blood seep back into the great artery, and stay there, pump forward with every irregular heartbeat.

"Don't hesitate, Katara," Aang said gently as he kept bending the air as she had asked. She didn't dare turn to look at the Avatar lest she lose the concentration needed for the extremely delicate bending she was doing. Zuko's life was literally in her hands now, just like hers had been that horrible day of his Agni Kai. Aang's encouragement was bolstering her now as the Avatar continued to speak: "Don't hesitate. You are the one who brought me back. You are the healer that didn't let the avatar circle break. You will also save the Fire Nation's chance for redemption. Don't hesitate- heal what there is to be healed."

Katara didn't reply. She simply nodded and breathed out.

I am so sorry, Zuko, for this pain.

Pushing her hesitation and fear aside, she closed her mind off to compassion for what she was going to cause to Zuko, so that she would be able to save him. Her fingers jerked forward aggressively, and Zuko groaned, the pain forcing him to break through the unconsciousness, and still his body didn't jerk to the pain.

"Zuko!" Iroh gasped, not daring hope more or smile. Zuko's eyes were glazed with pain and all he did was gag against Aang's constant airbending as he also tried to yell.

And Katara was deaf to it all. She didn't hear Zuko's agony, she didn't see his tortured face and the widening of his eyes to the point even his fused eyelids were widening. All she heard was the heartbeat, all she saw was the artery she had to seal, and the blood she had to keep within it while she did it.

The time seemed to stand still and nobody had moved from their positions, watching, hoping, pleading with the spirits, and wincing at the yelling of the new Fire Lord that he could not control.

But in the end it was all over, and Aang stopped the airbending, Katara the bloodbending, and Zuko the screaming. His face eased with relief, and breathed with a tired sigh on his own.

"Nephew! Zuko!" Iroh gasped, gently cupping the lad's face as he wiped the sweat with his wide sleeve off.

"Un…uncle," Zuko's voice was hoarse, but he was there, and he wasn't dying any more. His eyes traveled to Mai in a silent plead, and she immediately took his hand.

Only then did Zuko look at Katara and Aang, and smiled softly again with emotion that implied how he still didn't believe that anyone would fight with Death so fiercely over just him.

"Th…ank you, Katara…Aang," he added laboriously. Aang grinned in relief and Suki scrambled into action, to call for help and further assistance from Zuko's entourage that was stationed not far away from the tea shop.

But Katara's eyes were stormy, and her expression closed. She forced herself to smile for Zuko.

"You have nothing to thank me for, Zuko," she said as lightly as she could make it- he didn't need to hear burden in her voice. "Sleep. You need to sleep, and have complete bed rest," she added, nodding to Iroh who picked Zuko up so gently that the young man almost didn't notice before he was lifted up.

As soon as uncle and nephew with fiancée were out of earshot, Katara turned to Sokka.

"We need Yagoda here. He can't travel, and he doesn't have much time. I need help if he is to survive."

Sokka nodded and didn't try to crack a joke at all.

"We'll send falcon right now. Katara, I thought we were done! Didn't you heal him?"

"I only patched him up so he won't die," Katara said gravely. "His condition is beyond just me."

"He will live," Toph spoke up only then, startling everyone with her mere presence. The blind girl's eyes were immobile but full of her emotions and determination. "He will live, because he wants to, and Zuko doesn't stop fighting until he succeeds."

But though she didn't shed any tears, everyone saw how she blinked far more than she ever had.

/

And that's part 2 done! I hope you like it. I must admit that the whole water healing isn't too well explained in the cartoon, but I am adapting it to have some semblance of medical validity, even if it is fantastic medicine.

By the way, Zuko's condition actually exists, and is consistent with chest trauma and blood pressure irregularities, albeit a rare one. It is called Aortic Dissection, and if it is not immediately tended to, it's fatal.

But hey, he lives yet! ;)

Review responds:

Insanely Irish: Thank you! Here's a fast update for you ;)

Dragonwitch250: well, he is not dead… yet.

Densharr: You are most welcome! I was kind of disappointed that there wasn't more drama. I suspect because they didn't want to fuel the whole Zuko-Katara pairing more, but strong, real friends can have drama and anguish over each other dying anyway. And there can be two of the opposite sex that are just good friends.

Laytonsuperfan: Thank you! Here's a quick update :) Mai was taken aback, the way we shriek when jabbed when we least expect it, just as I analyzed in PM. Thank you for the review!