So this is kind of a short chapter... It was extremely intense to write, so I figured it should stand alone. I hope you like it - any medical or bending inaccuracies aren't my fault, kay?

Disclaimer: Yeah. You know.

"This is kinda like the old days," Sokka observed as they walked through the streets. They had already apprehended six of the rebel spies, and one had broken and told them where to find the rest. "Zuko's banished, world's all out of whack, and only we can stop it. This should be easy. We've got plenty of practice."

Aang looked skeptical. "At least it hasn't been going on for a hundred years," he conceded. "It's not as big this time."

"But it's more personal. Poor Zuko," Suki sighed. "I can't imagine."

A sudden wind came from above them, as well as an animal groan. Appa descended on them, and Katara slid down. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" she snapped. "We need to go back to the tea shop, now. Zuko's dying."

"What?" Aang said, scared. "What happened? What went wrong?"

"They poisoned the blade. He's getting worse. But I think I know of a way we could save him."

Aang floated up to Appa's reins. "Tell us on the way."

The others clambered onto the flying bison, and they took off. "Katara, what do we have to do?" Suki asked.

"We need to separate the poison from his blood," Katara said. "I… I'm not sure how yet. But I'll need help."

"Whatever we can do," Toph said. Sokka nodded, pale. "Can't Appa go any faster?"

They reached the tea shop moments later, sliding off of Appa before all his feet were touching the ground. "Stay here," Aang ordered. They barged into the tea shop, stampeding down the stairs to where Iroh watched over Zuko.

"How is he?" Katara asked, kneeling at his side.

"He is getting worse," Iroh sighed. "He is awake, but not lucid."

"Katara," Toph said softly. "I think-"

"Later, Toph," she interrupted. "His fever has risen. He's burning up."

"Katara! Would you listen to me? I know how to save him!" Everyone looked at her. "There's metal in his blood. The poison is metal. If you can bend the blood out of his body, I can take out the poison and you can put back the clean stuff."

Katara stared at her, stunned. "It could work," she said. "It might actually work! Iroh, we need a bowl. Sokka, we'll need you to cut Zuko's wrists, both of them, when we start. He'll bleed into the bowl, Toph will separate the metal, and I'll bend the blood back in through the other wrist. Aang, you need to keep Zuko cool. The fever is the most dangerous thing now."

"Cause the blood thing's gonna be a cake walk," Toph quipped.

"What do we do?" Suki asked as Iroh returned with the bowl.

"You two need to hold his arms down. I'm sure this is going to hurt."

"But are you sure it's going to work?" Sokka asked. "If not, we could be killing him."

"He'll die without this. It might be risky, but we can't afford to wait."

Sokka nodded, propping Zuko's arm above the bowl with a pillow without so much as a sarcastic crack. "Tell me when," he said, positioning his knife over his wrist.

Katara and Toph moved into bending stances. "Ready?" Katara asked.

"As I'll ever be. Go, Sokka."

Sokka dug the tip of the knife into Zuko's right wrist, cutting deep, but not long. The semi-conscious Fire Lord gasped in pain as his blood ran into the bowl. "Other side, Sokka, quick," Katara ordered. "Aang, cool him down."

While Sokka replicated the cut on the other wrist, Aang bended a ball of cool air around Zuko's head, taking some water from the jug and letting it drip slowly on his lips. Toph pulled the poison out of the blood, nodding to Katara once she had a clean batch. She bent the blood in an arcing ribbon over Zuko's chest, tapering it to the size of a needle and forcing it back into the wound. Zuko groaned, his back arching, trying to escape the pain; Suki and Iroh put their weight on him, keeping him down.

Beads of sweat began to form on the bender's foreheads. Despite both their expertise and the small scale of the task, the complexity of the bending was taking its toll. A tiny ball of gray metal spun in Toph's palm as she pulled the minute amounts from the blood. The scarlet arch wavered, but Katara kept it stable, taking a stronger stance and pushing the blood harder. Zuko's agonized yells echoed around the cellar. "How is he doing?" she panted.

"He's in a lot of pain," Aang reported. "His heartbeat's pretty slow. I think we need to hurry, guys."

"How much blood does this guy have?" Toph asked impatiently.

"We must be getting close," Katara said. "We've got to be. Hold on, Zuko."

The room lapsed into silence again, the only sound being Zuko's groans. "It's clean," Toph said finally. "The blood's clean." she sat heavily on the ground. "It's about time."

Katara drained the bowl, forcing the last of the blood back into her friend. Pulling a stream of healing water from her flask, she coated both hands, grabbing Zuko by the wrists. A blue glow lit the room, and the cuts sealed. "He should be asleep for a while," she said. "He's been through a lot."

"So have you," Iroh pointed out. "Go get rest. Relax. I will stay here with my nephew. "