Standard disclaimer applies.
The Light of Day
When he awoke again it was quiet. The sun felt warm on his face and he wondered where he was. He lay there still, trying to remember what had happened when suddenly he envisioned his uncle. The earth kingdom soldiers had captured him. He needed to go after them! With a start he yelled out for his uncle and then tried to get up. His head swam and he felt sick to his stomach.
"Whoa! Slow down. You're not ready to charge into battle just yet." The girl's voice said to him. Slowly he opened his eyes and turned towards the sound of her voice. To his astonishment it was the water tribe girl that traveled with the Avatar. Where had she come from and why was she sitting with him?
"Awake at last." She said and smiled. For a time there we weren't sure if you were going to make it."
He gazed at her with confusion. "Where am I?" he croaked. She offered him water and while he drank she spoke.
"We found you two days ago amidst a pile of rubble. You were pretty messed up. We thought you were dead. I'm still amazed that you survived."
Two days had passed? He had lost too much time already. Maybe his uncle had escaped. Just maybe he was still here and safe. "My uncle, is he here?"
She looked at him with a combination of pity and confusion. "I assumed your uncle died after your sister shot him with the blue fire. There was no one else here when we found you."
He closed his eyes to hold back the tears that suddenly sprang forth. He had to find his uncle. He had lost valuable time, but he could still save him if he left now. With a grunt he tried to get up again. He turned to the girl. "I have to go. I must find him soon or he will be dead!" He pushed up to sit. Pain shot through his left arm and he cried out and fell back to his mat.
"You really shouldn't try to move. You've been sick with a fever for the past two days and your body is still healing from the accident. If you can't tell already your left arm is broken. I've set it but it will take some time to mend. There is no way that you will be of any help to your uncle in your present condition."
"You don't understand. Earth Kingdom soldiers captured my uncle. They intend to take him to Ba Sing Se to stand trial for war crimes. They will most likely kill him. I have to go help him."
"And I'm telling you that there is no way that you can do that given your present condition." Her voice started to rise and he could tell that she was beginning to get angry. But he was angrier. He had to save Uncle Iroh. He was all he had left in this world.
"My present condition is thanks to those same soldiers that captured him. Earth benders", he spat, "they collapsed the ground beneath my feet and brought down the surrounding rocks on top of me. They don't care about my uncle. He hurt his leg during our escape. It may be broken. He may not even survive the journey to the capital. But that won't matter to them. He is just an old man. No one understands that. He needs my help or he will die!" The anger continued to rise within him until he felt that he would explode. He had to get up now. Slowly he rolled over to his right side and pushed himself up. He fought the nausea back and focused all his strength on the task of sitting up. He could hear the water tribe girl yelling at him, but he was determined to get out of here. After catching his breath he sat up. The world swam before his eyes and before he could stop himself he fell forward and started to retch.
"Stupid, hot headed, arrogant jerk! You wouldn't listen to me. You think you know everything. I told you that you were in no shape to get up. But you just had to try. You deserve to be sick. I don't know why I even tried to help…"
"Could… you …just…be…quiet…for…one…minute." He panted.
"Be quiet? Why should I be quiet? I stayed up for almost two days nursing you back to life. I think I can say whatever I want." She screeched at him.
Still panting, he rolled over onto his back again. He was exhausted from throwing up the water she had just given him to drink. Overwhelmed by the situation he could feel the tears of frustration start. He closed his eyes again, but it was too late. He could feel the hot, wet tears make their way down his cheeks. Shame permeated every pore in his body and he wished that he were dead. Suddenly he realized that it was quiet. The girl had fallen silent. At least one good thing had come from this humbling situation. She had finally shut up.
He lay there for a few moments still not wanting to open his eyes and face her. Finally he knew he had to deal with her. He opened his eyes and focused on her face. To his astonishment she was sitting there crying as well. She stared at him with tears streaming down her face. In silence they stared at each other until finally she spoke.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you those names. It's just that I haven't really slept since we found you two days ago. You were so sick and I thought that you might die. The whole time I was thinking to myself that maybe I should have just left you alone to begin with. What if you tried to hurt us or take Aang when you woke up? The whole situation was just plain weird. And now that you're awake I still wonder if I made the right decision. But really what choice did I have. I couldn't just let you die. I'm sorry about your uncle. I wish that things were different, but you still need to mend. I wish there was more I could do but my healing powers can't mend bones or fight infection. Only time…"
He looked at her with amazement and cutting her off in mid sentence he said, "You healed me?"
She actually blushed at his question, but replied, "Well yes. Yes I did. I learned to heal with water some time ago and perfected the craft while I was in the North Pole."
She could heal using water. He had heard of this ability before, but had never seen it much less experience it first hand. Suddenly he was embarrassed. He was so consumed by his need to find his uncle that he had let his emotions rule his actions. She was right. There was no way that he could rescue him like this. He would be of little help even if he could find his uncle. He looked at her and said, "I'm sorry. You were right. I am in no condition to help my uncle. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you." He could tell by the look on her face that the last thing she expected from him was an apology.
"It's ok. I know it must difficult for you right now."
He stared at her and then spoke again. "I … I don't know your name."
"Katara." She replied quickly. "My name is Katara."
"Well then Katara, thank you for going against your better judgment and healing me. I owe you a debt of gratitude."
Amazingly she blushed again and then smiled.
"Your welcome." She answered. "Someday though, I may have to call you on repayment of that debt."
He could only imagine that she was referring to the Avatar. Well one thing at a time. Right now finding and rescuing his uncle was more important that capturing the Avatar. He closed his eyes amazed at how tired this brief encounter had made him.
"You should rest." she said. "Aang and Sokka should be back soon with some supplies. I'll make us a meal and when you wake up you can try to eat something."
She was too nice. He knew that he didn't deserve it. In fact he didn't deserve any of the kindness that he had been shown by others over the past few months. But most of those people didn't know who he was. Katara knew full well who he was and his drive to capture her friend. Still she treated him with compassion. He felt bad accepting her aid when he knew that most likely he would hurt her in the end. He would eventually capture her friend. Not now, but sometime soon. And then she would regret being so kind. She wouldn't look at him and smile like she had moments before. The thought made him sad. It would be nice if just once he could return kindness with kindness.