Author's Note: Finally! I'm almost at the end so I can post the newest chapter. Once done, everything will be new and at a more believable pace. Thank goodness!
Once this and the next chapter are done, it's going to be longer between posts. I'm going to try to have a chapter posted every two weeks, but I work full time and sometimes just want to vegetate with a videogame or two. Feel free to poke me with a review or two if I go to long between posts. I have most of the chapters plotted out and paced, but that doesn't mean I won't get struck by writer's block. Hell, you guys can review even if I don't go long between chapters.
I love reviews!
Katara stared at the mask with a mixture of emotion. She knew that mask: Her childhood had been spent hearing the legends of the masked hero that had stalked the shadows through history. Time had peeled through the azure paint, gouging down from the eyes to curve down to the grinning maw. It chipped at the wood to create a tear down the mask's left cheek. This should have revealed some glimpse to the face beneath, but all Katara could see were the shadows. Even behind the pointed teeth and the outward curling tusks, where her savior's lips should be was hidden by the stretch of his under shirt's high collar.
By all accounts, she should be terrified of this new addition to the fray. The legend of the Blue Spirit painted him as a bandit- a rogue who took what he pleased, when he pleased it. It was only in the Age of Avatar Aang that the spirit had turned over a new leaf. Becoming sort of a patron saint for the Fire Nation, he had played the role of vigilante for close to a century. But surely this was a man like any other, and yet…. "Who are you?" Katara breathed, his voice striking a chord within her. The voice was too distorted, but the smoky rumble was familiar.
"I'm a friend," was the only assurance he gave, seizing the moment to kneel beside her. A gloved hand reached up to hook his index finger beneath Katara's chin- an act that should have repulsed her. She should be appalled to have some strange man she didn't even know take such liberties and actually touch her without her concent. And yet, the familiarity brought her back to the days when she and her brother would play with the young prince.
She remembered how he would always play the role of her rescuer behind his blue paper mask, despite little Sokka's dastardly plots to stop him. Katara hated when they made her play the damsel. Prince Zuko the Younger would always "check for injuries" before the two would work together to defeat Sokka's wicked Melon Lord.
The stark similarities of then and now rendered Katara mute. The living embodiment of the Blue Spirit's palm cupped her cheek to turn her head in search of any lasting harm. The back of his hand then found her other cheek, careful of the dragonhide segments sewn in as he turned Katara to face forward once satisfied. His hand did not fall from her jaw, instead allowing his knuckle to brush against her parted lips.
Something else that should have disgusted her, but his attention was solely on the girl that now rested on Katara's lap. The last seizure had ended, leaving her panting through the occasional twitch and spasm that curled her hands into tight fists. She needed medical attention soon. There was no telling the extent of the damage inflicted on her.
"Can you help her?" Katara asked, watching him lift the girl from Katara's arms and throw her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.
Unfortunately the Blue Spirit was a fighter, not a doctor. He firmly shook his head before surveying the surroundings. He had managed to scare off the thugs for now, but the sound of fighting had not yet died down further down the alley. He could still hear Sokka calling for Katara despite all that- an underlying trauma leaving his voice raw. They had been herded down another alleyway, tucked behind the neighboring building. Out of sight, Sokka's fear only mounted. It would be best to return Katara to him in the condition he found her.
Catching Katara's hand, the Blue Spirit pulled her to her feet as he stood. They needed to move quickly. The Blue Spirit held Katara's hand tight in his, guiding her over and around the downed thugs and debris. When one groaned with mounting consciousness, the vigilante delivered a swift kick to the man's head to render him unconscious again.
Rather than wrench her hand free to avoid being dragged like rolling luggage, Katara quickened her steps to match his stride. Hyper aware of her surroundings but trusting the Blue Spirit's legend, she surrendered more of her attention to the girl over his shoulder. Pale faced and breathing shallow, she looks to have calmed enough to make this rescue marginally easier.
Or perhaps the thought formed a little too soon.
Turning the corner, Katara barely had time enough to catch a glimpse of her brother before a wall of stone shot up to block the mouth of the alley. A beaten dumpster was upturned to spill black bags of filth and decay onto the ground, tripping one of the remaining assailants. His gun went off to send a bullet flying into the wall, just as it blocked Sokka's image.
"Sokka!" Katara cried.
"Katara!" Despite the shot nearly taking his life, relief flooded his system to see that Katara was unharmed. It took him only a moment longer to realize that she wasn't alone. "Who-"
Whatever he was about to say was drowned out by the thug that had been scared off. "It's him! I told you: The Blue Spirit!"
The vigilante in question growled low in his throat. This was not needed at all. A quick survey revealed that his advantage had long since gone. Regardless of the two men trapped neck deep in the ground, and the two others unconscious in the gutter, five more had spilled from a nondescript white van down by the other alley. This blitz attack exceeded overkill, so this was clearly more than just an attempted drug and kidnap campaign. Rough Rhinos by the looks of them, guns and knives were brandished in preparation for the possibility of the Blue Spirit's arrival.
Don't I feel special, he couldn't help but think. All the gangs have upped their armaments with the prayer of it stopping him. That being said, the assault riffles were becoming more common. Military grade- some serious shit that was not easy to come by even in the black market. No, they were finding another way to come in. Great, I hate guns!
"I hate guns," Katara near whimpered behind the Blue Spirit's shoulder.
The Blue Spirit nodded just as the men still standing charged forward. Shit. This was not going to be easy with dead weight on his shoulder, but what choice did he have? Tightening his hold of Katara's hand, he started a run to side step the encroaching gang. He only had one shot to get both of the girls over the stone wall unharmed, and he prayed to Agni that help would get there soon.
Katara cried out when one of them men drew to close, giving the Blue Spirit reason enough to turn, ready to defend her. It was unnecessary when Katara froze the puddle beneath the attacker's feet to ice. A ribbon of water spiraled from another, too thin to be considered a true water whip, but just as effective when it struck hard across is face. The man fell hard onto the ground, cracking his skull against the pavement to knock him out.
Nice. He always did have a soft spot for waterbenders, and watching Katara knock a man three times her size down definitely worked for him. Once he had her attention, he canted his head in thanks before pulling Katara around the debris to duck behind the overturned dumpster.
"What are you-"
The Blue Spirit coaxed Katara to duck out of sight and safe from someone deciding to take a shot. Kicking off the rusted metal, the Blue Spirit mounted the stone wall in an upwards wall run. He made it three steps before kicking off to catch the ledge. Beyond he could see the rest of Katara's friends, Sokka and Suki. Three assailants lay defeated on the ground, marking the last of the mob. Again, he was struck by the force of numbers used. Something was going on; something big.
A whistle caught their attention just as the last fell, pulling Sokka forward.
"Where's my sister?" He demanded, running forward.
The Blue Spirit didn't answer. Once Sokka was close enough, he dropped the girl from his shoulder instead. He didn't need to wait and see if Sokka caught her, turning and dropping in time to avoid getting shot. Again.
"Hey! My sister!" Sokka called after him. "Toph you have to let me through!"
"Don't you dare!" Katara shouted through the wall, catching the Blue Spirit by the leathers and pulling him down with her behind cover. A miscalculation had him landing hard on his rump and dislodging his balance, knocking him into her and sending the two tumbling back onto the ground.
Ouch, that's going to hurt in the morning. The Blue Spirit groaned at the throbbing in his tailbone, but was otherwise grateful for the soft landing Katara's body offered the rest of him. Daring to turn, he was again struck by Katara's image.
Mahogany waves and curls fanned out behind her and cascaded around her face as it tumbled around her. The knot in her turquoise sarong had come undone to spread out beneath her and protect her skin from the grime beneath. Then he saw it, the bone and shell pendant hanging from her neck. It can't be…
"You can get off now," Katara growled, finding the line that her rescuer was definitely not allowed to cross. The weight of his body settled between her legs, pinning her down. Soft leather caressed her inner thighs and caught the edge of her bikini bottoms to give an unsettling tug when he shifted above her. The Blue mask contrasted against the black of his leathers, hovering over her heart as he seemed to start at…something. She didn't know what it was that had his attention so fully, but now was definitely not the time to be distracted when the gangbangers were getting closer.
Sapphire and quicksilver glared through the holes of his mask, wrapping a noose around his neck and heart. It all had to be coincidence, and yet the effect was the same: He was a slave to those eyes. He didn't know how she did it, or if she was even aware of the power in her gaze. All he knew was that those eyes were dangerous to him.
It's a coincidence. It's not that rare, but those eyes, on a Katara with that kind of necklace was too strong of a coincidence. If he had the time, he'd pull her into the light to know for certain. He HAD to know. He just- Could really it be her?
"Blue?!" Katara didn't get much more out when one of the thugs jumped from around the dumpster with his gun pointed and half scared out of his wits.
The Blue Spirit rolled off of her in time for Katara to knock the gun from his hands with another small stream of water. The Blue Spirit was then on his feet and on the move.
"Toph, can you block them in?!" Katara called out, crawling forward to the edge of her safety zone in time to see the Blue Spirit push the gunner face first into a brick wall, pilfering the dagger from the man's belt as he fell. With his other hand he caught the gun to switch on the safety. It was then thrown through the glass window of the shop they fought by, setting off the anti-theft alarms and summoning help.
"Of course I can!" Toph called back before the asphalt cracked and split to allow another stone wall to rise up and block off the other end of the alleyway.
The Blue Spirit took advantage of the remaining thugs distraction, dropping to the ground and sliding on the patches of ice Katara had created. He sprung up onto his feet once he found himself surrounded completely by three of the burly men. The dull edge of the blade was braced against his arm as the Blue Spirit punched upwards in an uppercut, carving into one of the men's chest. Blood flowed freely from the wound, not deep enough to kill, but enough to have the man screaming his pain and dropping the crowbar that he chose to use as a weapon. The next thing the man saw was a leather clad elbow shattering his nose before darkness took hold.
Two left.
The Blue Spirit wasted no time in kicking off the slumped man so he could roundhouse the nearest with enough force to topple him over. It was the continued flow of energy and momentum that enabled the Blue Spirit to hook his foot around the second man's neck as he fell to knock him in the opposite direction- directly into the last man to unsteady him.
The Rhino didn't even try to catch his gang mate, stumbling backwards into the pile of trash. There he was sent swiftly after the others in unconsciousness when a ball of ice struck his jaw to knock his head into the dumpster's lid.
There she was, sarong secured around her waist and looking every ounce the warrior princess. "You okay," Katara asked once she had perched herself on top of the dumpster's side, safe from having to suffer any more filth from the ground. Only when she was sure they were safe did she stand fully, sighing her relief before waving over the wall at her friends.
Is it her? Was this Katara his Katara? Kicking off the wall to clear the garbage and join her above the aftermath, he made his way to her side. He canted his head to answer her question, fortunate that the only injury he'd sustained was when he fell. This close, and in line with the street lights a bit of a ways away, he could catch a glimpse of the pendant hanging from Katara's neck. Just a bit closer and-
Again he was stopped from inspecting the pendant hanging from her neck. This time by the blare of the sirens as law enforcement peeled down the street in their direction. He would have to check later. Though he loathed doing it, the Blue Spirit would have to depart. In private the police appreciated his help, but they were still bound by law to arrest him along with the gang members. It would be especially bad when they realize that he and the crowned prince of the Fire Nation were one and the same.
Katara looked back in time to see the Blue Spirit vanish into the shadows as if he was never there. Part of her wanted to follow after him. From this high she could easily climb onto the fire escape and just follow from the rooftops, but her brother's voice calling out to her had her scaling the wall and dropping down on the other side. Sokka's arms crushed around her shoulders in a bone crushing hug when she landed.
"Can't breath," Katara gasped, trying to stay conscious despite her deprivation of oxygen. She gave his shoulder several pats, "tapping out" with the hope that her brother would let her go in time to address the woman approaching them in a hurry.
"Toph?!" a new voice called as a woman ran from a sleek black muscle car. The red and blue lights and the sirens shattered the illusion of the unmarked car, revealed the woman as an officer of the law even with her civies begging the contrary. Long dark hair framed darker eyes and stained burgundy lips. The coal around her eyes gave her wide eyes a sultry edge. The black bustier and skinny jeans exposed toned arms inked with tattoos and powerful legs that went for miles.
"Auntie Jun!" Toph called back, throwing on a fake smile and praying against all hope that she didn't have a flip out.
"What the hell are you doing here!? Forget that; are you okay?" Reaching the girl, Jun gripped both Toph's shoulders to check her for any sign of injury. "Fingers. Toes." All present and accounted for, but Jun hooked her hands under Toph's armpits to lift her feet into the light- just in case. "If your mother finds out about this-"
"You're not going to tell her, right?" Toph panicked, knowing that her mother would never let her out of the house ever again if she found out that Toph had taken part in a fight of any kind.
Jun looked about ready to strangle Toph for even suggesting that she lie to her own sister. Poppy was crazy when it came to her baby. That being said, the alternative was far worse. Toph would essentially be put on house arrest and Jun would somehow find herself blamed for this calamity befalling the youngest member of their family. This isn't my first cover up… "Fine, but start talking: I need to know everything that happened. If I so much as suspect that you're holding out on me, you'll be grounded for a month and YOU will be the one to tell your mother why."
"Thanks aunt Jun!" Toph threw her arms around the older woman's shoulder just as a few more uniforms approached to collect their statements. Paramedics were not that far behind, already rushing to the girl's aid.
"Detective?" One of them voiced, too scared to interrupt the surprising display of family love.
"If you have time to gawk, you have time to round up those thugs. Get moving before they wake up," Jun barked, holding her niece in her arms as if Toph weighed nothing.
"Yes, ma'am."
Even Katara and the others flinched back when Toph's aunt turned stone faced and frigid against the responding officer. The man was twice her size, and yet he still lept to follow her order as if his life depended on it.
So this is the legendary Jun, Katara marveled at the woman. She was everything Toph said she would be and more, which was more than a little intimidating. I can see why Toph idolizes her so much. Even so, Jun clearly loved her niece. Toph was lucky to have her.
Katara smiled to herself at that before turning to survey the damage now that there was ample light. For the most part it was contained between the retail stores where the alley carved a path. Even so, there was damage enough to make Katara flinch with guilt. The Blue Spirit was only responsible for one shattered window; the other three had no explanation beyond a stray piece of hale or stone. Then there were the bullets embedded in the wall. Fortunately only three of the gang was armed with guns, or else things could have been so much worse. Katara didn't even want to think how things would have turned out if that were the case. It was that 'what if' that had her trembling now that the adrenaline was wearing off. They were safe now, right? Part of Katara didn't feel safe, and wouldn't until she was surrounded by sturdy walls.
Another sweep of her gaze revealed something she was not expecting at all: Dressed in black, he leaned against the wall of a neighboring alley. Arms crossed and face set in a dark leer. His amber eyes practically glowed, flashing crimson as the lights from the police cars glared through them. A jacket of leather parted at his chest, yet revealed nothing of the dark shirt underneath. It would have been easy to confuse him for another of the gang members.
She wanted to call out to him, but his expression was the same viciousness of earlier that night. Was he mad? What about? As a bystander he couldn't just approach, but he must have recognized her. "Zu-"
"Excuse me, miss?" one of the officers called out to her, pulling Katara's attention from Zuko's brooding form. "I need to ask you some questions."
"Yes…of course…" Katara nodded in understanding, watching as Zuko stalked off into the shadows without looking back. In his wake was one question that drowned out all other thought: What's he doing here? The image of his scar was branded into her mind's eye.
The thought had plagued her long after they had gotten home. Gran had been unconscious when they arrived, which was for the best given that a police escort would be hard to explain. It was decided to keep things secret so as to not stress the older woman into a heart attack. Jun accepted that easily, given that she was keeping the secret as well. Regardless, it was going to be a little while before the jitters would fully pass.
The sounds of the city reached far into the neighborhood, which had Katara jumping at every engine backfire, bark, and screech for the entire day that followed. Unable to leave her room, it had her sitting at the edge of her bed, staring at the moonbeams that filtered through her curtains upon the day's passing. She couldn't help it: every sound was a gun firing. It was a bullet ripping through flesh and shattering bone. It was life fading from cerulean eyes as crimson pooled beneath a broken body.
It was the assassin that took her mother away, for no reason beyond the illusion of politics.
Every time she closed her eyes, Katara recalled her mother's death with vivid clarity. She remembered the happiness of a perfect dance recital and the promise of sea prunes shattered in an instant. She and her mother had all the protection in the world, it seemed. When looking down the barrel of a gun, it all amounted to little. Two good men laid down their lives to keep Katara and her beloved mother alive, if only for a moment longer. Each of them powerful benders in their own right, and yet that meant nothing. The gunner dispatched them in rapid succession, the spray of bullets ripping through them before spires of ice could take form.
Katara remembered her mother scooping her up into her arms, running as fast as her legs could carry her while screaming for aid. None came. Not fast enough. A bustling downtown road was suddenly void of life. The gunner shot her three times. Despite all that, her mother kept running with inhuman focus. Her only priority was to protect her baby: Katara. Another bullet had them spilling onto the cobblestone road, her mother's life pooled as it crept down the slope to the gutter. It was the end of the beloved Lady Kya; wife of the High Chief Hakoda, and a goodwill ambassador between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes.
She would have died too. At eight years old, Katara would have been killed for reasons beyond her understanding. The disruption of the status quo may have been justification enough to the desperate, but to her….
The screech of sirens announced the glare of crimson and azure lights long before they could illuminate the darkness beyond her window. The police? An ambulance? The traumas of the night before and her own past had her tossing the thick coverlet from her lap as she pushed off from her bed. The plush rug absorbed the sound of her bare feet falling onto the ground, giving way to frigid cold tile of the hallway. She paid little mind to the discomfort as the single thought monopolized her mind: Was there someone else screaming for help?
A wall of light and sound assailed Katara once the door was open, filling the slumbering home with din. In that moment, she was stunned and blinded by the chaos. Darkness chased after Katara's vision in the form of spots that burned just as viciously as the glare of the cold lights. Aquamarine eyes blinked them away to create an image of law enforcement filling the road further in the cul-du-sac, forming a wall of metal and men. Their gruff voices were drowned out by a woman's shrieks of terror.
Was she calling for help, or was she the one to be feared?
Regardless, Katara was resolute to move forward with the hope that if someone needed help they would not go unanswered. It was not enough to have the police there. Though she respected the law and those that enforced it, she knew that the level of fear in those screams needed more than gruff voices and jaded eyes could offer.
"What the hell are you doing?!" A familiar voice called out just as Katara made it passed her front lawn. The trance like focus of Katara's thoughts shattered a she turned to see Zuko a few feet away from her. Hair was slicked back as if fresh from a shower. Dressed down for bed, a hoodie was thrown haphazardly around his body with the zipper jammed half way up his chest. "You should go back inside," He continued once their eyes met.
In the harsh red and blue lights, Katara felt her heart skip a beat. In her mind's eye, she could see his body flanked by flames of searing intensities. The smoldering red to searing white of scorching flames contoured the hard lines of his profile. Electricity cackled with the echo of thunder booming in her ears. Wicked laughter grew in volume as lightning flashed overhead, adding to the severity and making the harshness of Zuko's scar intensify. A line of pain burned her her palm. Katara shook her head with the hope of ridding herself of the illusion.
"Katara?" Zuko approached her in quick strides, bringing clarity to his visage. "You in there?"
Katara remained mute, turning to face the scene that had was slowly becoming a regular occurrence. A chilly wind blew passed, carrying with it the smells of the city and the underlying scent of smoke and sandalwood that would forever be part of Caldera. Katara took deep lungfuls of it, allowing the night to invigorate her even as her body shivered from cold.
Each shiver chased away the memories and left her in the present with Zuko looming over her. The flimsy cotton of her nightgown did little to shield Katara's body as a stronger gust of wind howled passed, adding a new scent to the mix: blood.
"Katara?" Zuko called again, gripping her shoulders as if to give her a shake. He looked over to the scene and back to the young waterbender nervously. The wails of the woman have slowly ebbed to a frail rasp that was swallowed by the blaring sirens. Her silence was as oppressive as any scream, and yet there was little that could be done in light of their situation. It was in police hands. Katara has seen enough of this City's darkness. "You should really go inside," he pressed, his voice softer despite the urgency in his tone.
"What's going on?" She finally spoke, shivering as she strained to see beyond the lights. Did the woman finally get help, or was it too late?
Before Zuko could answer, the loud crack of a bullet released from its chamber brought forth a man's cry of pain. Without further thought, Zuko wrapped his arms around Katra and pulled her to the ground as several more bullets were freed. Chaos followed the sound as a stampede of police officers stormed the house in a surge of black and red. The woman was secured beneath the blues of a paramedic who used his own body to shield her.
Zuko cursed under his breath and stood, lifting Katara up onto her feet and dragging her away into his house just as the glare of orange was added to the blinding lights that filled the once tranquil night. Behind him he could feel the ground shake as more shots were fired.
"Let me go!" Katara demanded, unable to break free of Zuko's firm grip around her wrist. That woman looked hurt, and the paramedics were struggling to keep her from further harm. She could help them, even with the limited medical experience she had. "Zu-"
"No, Katara," Zuko growled, slamming the door of his home shut behind them before backing Katara away from it. "It's either a drug bust, or some other raid: There's nothing you can do." Zuko didn't look at Katara as he spoke, more concerned with the flimsy wooden door that served as their only true defense against the outside. He could still feel the tremors of the earth beneath his feet, but he did not fear for the house- just those that worked beyond it. The houses may be constructed with earth and firebenders in mind, but human bodies were not. As of now, Zuko didn't know whose side had the benders or who was even winning. All he did know was that if he took his eyes off of Katara, then who was to stop her from running headlong into danger in a half baked rescue attempt?
"How can you be so sure?" Katara countered, unable to mask the flinch that followed a rapid succession of gunshots. Despite her own fears, she felt compelled to help. What if someone was hurt and alone like that girl would have been? She would not delude herself into thinking that she wasn't scared, but she wasn't going to be a bystander when someone needed her.
It was this bravery in spite of her fear that gripped Zuko's heart. He knew that fire in her eyes. It burned within his own. Regardless, they would do more harm than good in this situation. "I'm sorry to say, but this is par for the course around these parts of the city." There was little anyone could do about it beyond fight the good fight on a day by day basis.
Their battle was done. A little girl was safe, and would survive because of Katara's actions. That did not mean she could save everyone. No one had that kind of power. Zuko sighed with his own melancholy. It almost blinded him to the darkness that clouded Katara's starlit eyes. Loss and trauma danced with each echo of gunfire. "Will you be alright?"
"...I…." A high pitched ringing cut her off, startling the two before Katara realized where the sound was coming from. She watched as Zuko reached into the pocket of his well worn black sleeping pants to pull his phone free. By the fifth ring, he had the device to his ear.
"Hey, is my sister there?" Sokka's voice demanded, panic thick in his voice.
"Yeah, she's here," Zuko answered simply before mouthing' his name to Katara. "Here she is," Zuko announced before handing his phone off to her. As an older brother, he understood the random surges of protectiveness. Sokka wouldn't be soothed without proof of health.
Accepting the phone, Katara announced herself in time for her brother to ask "What are you doing there? Are you alright? I'm coming to get you." The sound of movement and creaking springs alerted Katara to his hasty movements, and it warmed Katara's heart to know that he would risk going outside for her sake. Even so, she could not let him jeopardize his own safety. She was safe where she was, and the short distance between their homes would make very little difference if that safety wasn't enough.
"No, don't." Katara said after a moment of thought. The tension in her body eased from her rigid spine to allow a small semblance of a smile. Katara leaned heavily against the wall with a sigh, the lack of adrenaline leaving her weak kneed and exhausted. "I'm fine. I ran into Zuko and he dragged me inside before everything started. I'm safe. Watch over Gran-gran and let her know where I am okay?" Katara requested. She did not want for her family to worry. They had enough to think about as is, there was no point in adding more.
Sokka hesitated for a moment before responding- clearly not liking the idea of Katara not being safe at home where he can keep an eye on her. Logic won out in the end. He was still worried, but he was relenting to the fact that there was no need to go and get her. "Try and stay near water, okay sis?"
"I will," Katara assured him.
The sound of doors creaking met Katara's ears, letting her know that Sokka was wandering around the house. He was probably on the way to Gran-gran's room. He most likely wouldn't wake her up, just watch over her to make sure she was fine given her old age. "Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?" Another pause. More sounds. Probably another circuit around the house to check the locks again.
Katara could paint the scene in her head: His calloused hand would be flicking the locks a few times each. Once done, he would pull out an old switchblade their father had given him. The clicks that reached the receiver assured her of this. The following 'flick' and 'swish' sounds of him snapping the blade open and closed punctuated each thought in his head. It was such a comforting thought that Katara found herself craving his presence. He was her big brother and he always made Katara feel safe.
"…No, I'll be fine. But I'll call you in half an hour to check in if I'm not home by then." Katara may want to run to him, as she'd always done when she was little, but she was a big girl now. She needed to be able to handle this on her own. She got into this mess on her own so it would only be fair that she could get out of it on her own too. But then again, she had Zuko in Sokka's stead. Part of Katara wondered if the trade was a better one or a step in the wrong direction.
"See that you do. Take care sis." The anxiety was still clear in his voice, but Katara could tell that Sokka trusted her enough to let her stay, even in their current situation. The previous night's events were proof enough that she could handle herself. Still, Katara didn't hang up until the line went dead. Listening to the dead tone, she wondered if she made the right choice.
Even without her brother looking over her shoulder, she doubted it would be that much trouble to get back home. It was what? Twenty, maybe thirty feet between their houses? She could make it just fine. If she happened to get a good glimpse of everything, she'd know for certain that she wasn't needed as well.
Katara wasn't so sure.
She didn't trust herself not to go and investigate out of principle, even though logic and reason sided with Zuko's words of assurance. For now.
Though he was loath to admit it, Zuko was glad Katara chose to stay with him. There was a healthy dose of fear in her eyes, which was good: It meant she wasn't stupid. Her fear wasn't a crippling force against her, either. That in itself was where an unfamiliar set of problems came in. Zuko knew how to handle someone who was mid-panic. Unfortunately, he has had years of hands on training in that regard. This however- this ease Katara had with overcoming the emotion for the sake of doing what was necessary to help another- this was something worthy of respect. Zuo hated to admit it, even to himself, but he found the respect he had for Katara growing even more. She didn't let trauma get in the way of her goals.
What were those traumas? Zuko couldn't help but wonder as he studied her. "Are you alright?" He found himself asking.
"I'll feel better if I knew what was going on." Katara admitted, her eyes committing the house to memory. The addition of the garage made the house look bigger when in actuality it was almost the same size, minus a room.
The hallway they were in opened up to an open concept. The kitchen was the first room, separated from the living/dining room by a peninsula. Like her home, but here there were barstools that looked to get more use than the glass dining room table. Documents, reports, and returned homework were scattered over the surface. There was room enough for one person to eat, maybe?
The rest of the house was mostly clean. Lived in, but clean. White tile gave way to what felt like the standard in beige carpeting on the living room half of the combo. A black leather sofa and matching ottoman monopolized most of the space. Large enough to seat all the friends that would come over to play hours of video games on the wall mounted entertainment system. Zuko's leather jacket was draped over the back of the couch, along with an abused shirt.
Maybe it was because she didn't know how to process the fact that she was alone with Zuko in his house. She'd never been inside before, at least never beyond the garage. She was never invited, and the desire to enter never fully played out. The sounds that often came from within were incentive enough not to. There was rarely a time when Zuko was home. If it wasn't the raucous guffaws of 'Bros' hooting and hollering, then he was otherwise occupied. Mai was a frequent visitor during the daylight hours.
Approaching the shirt, Katara lifted the ripped up material into her hands. There wasn't another soul in sight. No parents. No siblings. No roommates. It was just Zuko. Zuko with his disarrayed school work, and destroyed laundry. Katara could recognize the simple black tee as one Zuko had worn yesterday. Bits of sand still clung to the cotton. Her fingers parted the torn material, and played with the crust that sealed the edges. Dirt?
Zuko choked on an apology as he started to tidy up around Katara. Suddenly self conscious and hyper aware of the garment she held, he pulled the shirt from Katara's hands before she could discover the cause of the damage. The material was balled up and chucked into the hallway. The jacket sailed after it before Zuko felt compelled to get the controllers into the compartment inside the ottoman.
"When did you get back?" She blurted out in her need to alleviate the awkward silence that had settled between them.
"Excuse me?" he coughed, dropping his phone onto the ottoman as it was sealed shut.
"From the party, I mean, I didn't hear you come home." She clarified, having spent the the day listening for Zuko's return. It was only a fraction of a moment later that had Katara realizing how aware of him that she was. The few times she'd left her room was to investigate the rev of an engine, only to realize belatedly that it wasn't him. Could it be that on a subconscious level, she was worried about him? Given the events of last night, Katara wanted to assure herself that what she had seen was a trick of the light.
She stared down at her toes, her self awareness mounting. Dirt and bits of grass still clung to her toes to discolor the chipped electric blue paint of her nails. A dainty string of shells and pearls circled her ankle twice over, carrying more earth to track onto the surprisingly clean white tile. Looking back, she realized that she had left her mark in the form of muddy footprints.
"Not that long after you did," Did she see him? It was possible: she looked right in his direction. Again, Zuko cursed himself for lingering the way he did. His paranoia had him narrowing his eyes to study Katara's form standing awkwardly in his home with the length of her braid pulled over her shoulder to give her hands something to interact with.
"I see…did you hear about what had happened yesterday?" Katara continued, unsure what to ask in order to get more information. It was definitely him in the alleyway, watching as law enforcement grilled them for information. Even in the darkness, she could make out his features.
"I did…" Weighing his options, Zuko lowered his eyes from the intensity of Katara's gaze. "It made the news…. Were you there? I only ask because it happened close to the pier." Feigning ignorance was an easy task, and yet he could not meet her eyes as he did so. Anyone else, and he could lie to their face without a single tell: another unfortunate skill picked up over the years. With Katara, it was different. Rather than lie to her, he wanted to demand why she would take such a risk.
So it wasn't him?
No: he must be lying. No one else bore the same scar across their face. "I was." Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Katara nibbled it while she debated calling Zuko out on the lie.
The girl was alive and well because of it, but the tables could have easily turned and it would have been Katara seizing on the floor. What if he didn't make it in time? If not drugged, she or one of her friends could be dead. Thank Agni Suki was there to help, because the rest of them could have easily been overpowered. They're not trained fighters. As far as he was concerned, they all got so very lucky.
"You weren't involved, were you?" The charade had to be maintained, and yet Zuko was torn between the desire to honor how she handled herself, and berate her for how foolish her rescue mission was.
Katara nodded her affirmative to that as well, shivering in place as she studied him as intently as he pretended not to study her.
"Then why would you…."Zuko was unable to finish his question, yanking the zipper down on his sweater when he saw her shiver again. "Here," Zuko held out his sweater for Katara to wear. His home was kept cold for his own sake, but he wasn't the one in such thin material. "Why would you come out after having gone through that? You must know how dangerous it is?"
"It was the right thing to do," Katara explained, letting Zuko place his sweater over her shoulders. The smoke and sandalwood of Caldera city mixed with the cologne of clove, leather, and tobacco. A heady scent as warm as the thick black cotton lined with fleece. "If not me, then who? I couldn't just stand by and watch when someone needed my help. I won't let anyone go through that if I can help it." The intended barb lost its bite under the kindness of Zuko's actions.
It was something Zuko understood on a fundamental level. At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, it still bothered him that Katara could take such a risk in light of the horrors of their city. "What if you got hurt? It's commendable to want to help people, but what can you do with a bullet in your head?" No one comes back from that. At point blank, you're dead. He's been shot enough times to know that even flesh wounds could be crippling if not treated right.
"I know that better than most, and it won't stop me just the same."
The honesty of Katara's words struck a chord within his heart, filling him with palpable dread. The image he maintained of sweet, innocent, and naive Katara slowly shattered under the reality of her past. He did not doubt her words, which lead him to a terrible question that he dared not ask. Like His own Katara, this one also suffered at the hands of pointless violence. His Katara...
Honey eyes lowered from intense aquamarine eyes to focus on the hollow of her throat. Delicate skin was unadorned, exposing her throat and the slight discoloration where a necklace should have been. Was this another coincidence? "And if you were the one drugged, what then? Dying isn't the only thing you have to worry about. You're…" Zuko dare not finish that sentence either.
"I'm….what?" Katara pressed, unyielding in her curiosity. Was Zuko…. Blushing?
He was. Zuko was absolutely blushing as he floundered to maintain a mask of nonchalance. "You don't need me to tell you that you're beautiful," he managed finally, avoiding her eyes for a different reason altogether.
It was not the first time someone had called her beautiful, but never in her wildest dreams would Katara think that Zuko would think as much. Heat crept up to encase her cheeks with crimson as she stammered. "I, uh…" why was this so hard. Peeking through her lashes, Katara was dumbstruck with the turn of the conversation. It was flattering that he thought of her as attractive, even if he wasn't attracted.* "You know that doesn't have anything to do with….you know"
"Yeah, I know. It just doesn't help." The unspoken word was a fear all girls faced regardless of whether or not they were conventionally beautiful or not. Zuko has stopped many attempts to know better, but there was a part of him that feared more for Katara and her exotic features. Though the population of the Fire Nation was increasingly mixed, the people were still predominantly fair of complexion and slight of frame. Katara was neither of those things. It was in her differences that she drew attention in a sea of pale and fair. From her full mane of hair to her fuller stature, she was the antithesis to the average girl of the Caldera. Yes, it was less about beauty then it was about power. Zuko would never delude himself into thinking otherwise or allow anyone else to do so. It just made things harder when you stood out- it drew more attention by comparison. "You just need to be aware of the risks. Next time I-" won't be there to save you was what he found himself about to say.
Biting his lip, Zuko killed the sentence and instead sank down onto the leather of his couch. Zuko leaned forward so he could rest his elbows on his knees. He raked his fingers through his hair, taking a deep breath to compose himself.
"I know that: I'm not stupid. I just refuse to play the damsel in distress, or some cheerleader on the sidelines." Katara insisted, having had similar lectures in the past. Her father has done everything in his power to instill a fear in her heart where strange men were concerned. If he knew where she was now, he'd throw a fit and remind her of the added dangers of hormonal teenage boys that typically lacked the impulse control to understand the word 'no.' Katara didn't buy into the logic that every man without a name was a monster, but she wasn't so ignorant that she'd ignore the few that were. "There are monsters everywhere. If I let myself live in fear of them, then I may as well not live my life at all. Besides; if I chose to stay in my safe little bubble, then that girl would have been lost and those monsters would be free to roam. I don't mind being hurt if it means the people behind me are safe."
"And if the people behind you happen to love you?" Though Zuko could never admit to knowing, the allusion was there. Sokka was distraught with the knowledge that his sister could have been hurt. Toph and Aang would have had to live with the memory of her pain. The thought of her being hurt set his own blood on fire.
It was the one thing Zuko had to say that Katara didn't have an answer for. They would be hurt to lose her. It was an easy matter to say that the needs of the majority outweighed the needs of the small few, but that in no way meant that it was okay for Katara to place them in situations where they were crippled with loss and worry. To that extent, Zuko was right in his concern. Beyond that, it just meant that Katara would be more careful. She would do everything in her power to keep from being caught unaware again. It did not mean that she would just ignore the world beyond the front door.
This was something Katara wouldn't admit to Zuko, who seemed keen on trying to shelter her from the reality of the guns firing outside. "I hear what you're saying, and I do appreciate your concern for me." But she wasn't like Zuko. What was going on wasn't something she could just ignore easily. Each rumble and explosion pulled at her heart, filling her with guilt. It was wrong to stay safe inside and just shoot the breeze as if this was normal. How could anyone allow themselves to be so desensitized to it? "Was that the Red Siren drug? The one that's been killing the students?"
"Yeah, it was." The drug, Red Siren, was the bane of his existence.
"Do you think it has something to do with what's going on now?" She pressed, wrapping her arms around herself to keep herself grounded. The sweater dwarfed her frame, but it chased the chill from her body.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Zuko sighed before his eyes narrowed. Unfortunately, the chances were high. Looks like the drug is getting into homes now. Zuko cursed his luck. If only Katara was safe at home. He would be able to sneak around and find out for sure what exactly was going on. Was there a den distributing the drug in that house, or was it simply another user?
"What does it do?" Katara found herself asking after a moment. She'd asked many times before, but no one has been able to give her a clear answer. Some met her question with suspicion, because why would a "girl like her" want to know anything about a drug like that. Others gave conflicting answers that left Katara with more questions.
"What doesn't it do?" Zuko snorted. His lip tugged into a dark smile that knew no mirth. The results of the drug were too varied to predict and pin down but one of the few common side effect was born from giving the drug to non-benders. "It gives the user unpredictable gifts before making them a bender."
"What do you mean?" Katara breathed, her body shaking in dismay. Was that even possible? You were either born with the ability or not. People didn't just become benders, not without the intervention of the spirits- who deemed someone deserving of the gift.
"It can make you strong. It can make you smart. It can increase your libido and your stamina. It can rid you of all pain. It can help you reach incredible highs and lows. It can be a psychedelic. It can be anything. It never reacts the same way, even within the same person. One day it can calm you down and the next it'll speed you up. That always changes. But one thing that never does is the fact that non-benders can become benders for a short time. The more they use it, the longer the time…then they're filled with rage and go insane before eventually their entire body fails and they die, usually very painfully. That is…if the drug doesn't get you killed first." Usually by lowering inhibitions and logic down to a point where the user thinks they're somehow beyond the laws of physics. Many have thought to step in front of danger as a means of testing their newfound strength.
Katara's daring rescue may be the only thing that saved her from the worst of it, but the girl from earlier that night had suffered another seizure upon her arrival to the hospital and her blood had begun thinning at an exponential rate. It was too soon to know if she would start bending for a short time or not, but Zuko had his suspicions that before long she would have a taste of it. The doctors have no way of stopping it. There's no known way to completely remove the drug from a person's system. All that can be done is to wait it out, and provide her with the medical care she needed.
Zuko only stuck around long enough to watch her get wheeled into intensive care. It was enough to know that she was in capable hands. Zuko made sure her medical expenses would be paid for to keep it that way. He would not allow for her to die like the girl before.*
"If it kills you, why would people want it?" Katara found herself asking, sinking onto the couch. She drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
"Think about it." Zuko offered as he leaned back against his couch again. "Near inhuman strength, being able to think faster than a computer, the ability to fight and fuck without feeling tired or strained. Then there's the chance of becoming a bender thrown into the mix. Who wouldn't want that?" For how far they've come, benders were still placed on a pedestal as the pinnacle of what a perfect human could be. With it came a number of privileges no matter how many laws were put into place to even the playing field.
Zuko couldn't blame people for wanting even half the privileges he had been born into. It was one of the reasons he maintained a no-bending rule. Even if it wasn't about maintaining his identity, he would continue to act out a non-bender. It proved to the world that one didn't need to be a bender to make a difference.
If only it was enough. "Everyone wants to be a bender. Then there's the chronic stupidity of human beings; the one where everyone thinks that the bad things won't happen to them." I need a drink. Zuko stood from his couch and walked over to the kitchen in long strides. He kept Katara in his peripherals at all times, taking in her reaction to all he'd just said and filing it away for later analysis. He pulled a beer from the fridge for himself and a bottle of juice for Katara.* He didn't ask if she wanted it because he knew she'd deny it even if she did.
"If people want it so much then why was it forced into that girl tonight?" Yue knew that Katara has seen the worst in humanity. Killers. Rapists. The clinically insane without any hope of a cure. All someone had to do was turn on the news to find the newest chapter in human's extensive practice of wrath and greed. Even so, Katara wanted to believe in the good of humanity. Not everyone was out to do harm. Some people just wanted to go about their lives in peace. Heads down. Cause no trouble. Sound no alarms. Addiction was its own kind of disease, but that did not make someone a monster. The criminal element was its own separate entity.
Was it naive, or wishful thinking to want for that entity to be small by comparison?
Unfortunately every day is a new monster to face. "Its newest incarnation has been found to be a potent date rape drug that vacates all the user's inhibitions." Zuko replied as he handed the bottle to Katara. She accepted it hesitantly with a low word of thanks and in that moment he realized just how fragile she looked, dwarfed in his sweater.
"You know a lot about this drug." Katara breathed.
"There isn't a person here that doesn't." Though it was true; Zuko did know a lot about the drug. He made it a point to know because he felt, at least in some part, responsible for it. It was all he could do to thwart as many attacks as he could whenever he passed by. Sometimes he'd win. Other times he would lose. "The drug has ruined the lives of many in this city, only the stupid go on living without knowing at least the basics. Which you are not. You need to know how dangerous that drug is." Ignorance was far from bliss. It may make perception rosy, but it did little to build defenses against the monsters lurking in the shadows.
Part of Katara wished she could be ignorant. She wished she could go about her days as a normal girl with the stereotypical problems associated with it. "I wish I would have known that before applying to the school," Katara admitted. She lifted the bottle to her lips and downed the contents in one go. She needed the distraction from the intensity of Zuko's gaze.
That lead Zuko to a question he's been wanting to ask, but never found a non-threatening way to do so. "Why did you apply? I realize that it's well outside your demographic if you don't mind my saying." Zuko pulled the remote from beneath one of the couch cushions and turned the television on. The chaos outside was growing in volume as the fight moved onto the streets. He prayed she didn't hear it or that she was too withdrawn into herself to fully comprehend what was going on.
Katara gave Zuko a penetrating look. His words far from antagonistic, and yet she felt as if there was a question beneath this one. She was not too keen on revealing her life's story, even if this version of Zuko was surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Zuko looked to genuinely care for her well being. Still, that could turn in an instant if she were to reveal her name and station. "I want to be a doctor." She answered simply.
Just like his Katara. Another coincidence? Even so, Zuko felt warmth fill his heart at the possibility, even as his mind berated him for getting his hopes up. He's been wrong before, and his heart couldn't take another disappointment. But what if this was his Katara? His… Zuko smiled thinking about how his beloved Katara from a happier childhood would go on about wanting to be a doctor. She also had a terrible knack for going against the grain in her bid to be the hero. "The North Pole not good enough for you?" he found himself pressing, fishing for an answer. He knew how his Katara would respond. Even as a child, she would lose herself on a tangent wrought with her strong feminist views concerning the unfair treatment of women that still ruled most of the Northern Chieftain.
Like his Katara, indignance tugged the corners of Katara's lips down and flushed her cheeks as she readied a long lesson as to why Katara would not set foot in the Northern Tribes in any capacity that could be construed as her supporting their views. As an advocate for the fair treatment of all citizens in the eyes of the law, be they male, female, young, old, gay, straight, bi, trans, able bodied, disabled, or otherwise. She was raised with the ideals of her mother, where everyone was deserving of respect and fairness regardless of the circumstances of birth. That did not mean she was without her own prejudices, but at least she was aware of them and made the attempt to fix what she could. She felt this so strongly that she would try to convince any that would listen to at least understand where those without privileges came from. It was a good distraction from their current predicament, at least in theory. Unfortunately the distraction was too little too late for the both of them.
A massive explosion shook the house, threatening to knock the entertainment system free from the wall. A few movie cases clattered to the ground, followed closely by their shelf. The unit almost clipped Katara's leg, who had jumped from her place on the couch in time to watch the corner snag into the leather.
Zuko was beside her to keep her from stumbling, gripping her arm as another explosion of sound sent another aftershock through the house. Screams of terror and pain accompanied it as glasses shattered in the kitchen where they toppled over.
Katara had sprung onto her feet and was already racing towards the door.
Zuko was not far behind her, acting on instinct just as his phone had started to ring. He answered it absentmindedly, not caring who was on the line as he barked a curt "I'll call you back." The phone was tossed back into the house without a care as to what happened to it the moment it left his hand. He slammed the door shut behind him and skidded to a halt on the front driveway. An entire wall of stone had risen from the ground to split the cul-de-sac in two, cutting the circle of houses off from the rest of that street.
"Katara!" Zuko called, just as an explosion of fire struck the wall of stone. It took him a moment, but Katara's form entered his line of sight. She was highlighted by the near searing white flames with her hair billowing around her form. She had her arms crossed over her face to protect her from the next plume of flames that erupted. She pulled water from an opened fire hydrant and created a shield of ice instinctively.
That was when he acted, taking control of the nearest flames and diminishing them to embers. Zuko was by her side in moments as the hum of familiarity filled him with something that he could not comprehend or understand. The familiarity of it all carved into his palm, throbbing in tune with the race of his pulse. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Katara coughed, dropping her ice shield and making the water glide through the air like a serpent. She extinguished the rogue flames and cleared enough of the smoke to make the surroundings increasingly visible. There was a boy standing in the middle of the road, surrounded by police officers both armed and not. He barely looked older than they were, and yet the bodies strewn out around him painted him as the culprit.
The boy had a crazed look in his eyes as blood dripped from his eyes and nose. His movements were jerky and every step he took was met with a whimper. He twitched and the earth beneath their feet rumbled. A house fell to the ground due to the stress of the constant rise and fall of asphalt, split in two by the wall that had been created.
"Katara, get back." Zuko ordered, placing himself between Katara and the ring of men that circled the boy. "I'll take care of this, but I can't let you get hurt too." He insisted, no longer able to sit idly by and leave things for the police to care for. Their numbers had been whittled down to only a handful. They needed all the help they could get now, but he refused to just add more complications to the mix.
"There are people hurt over there," she pointed, ignoring Zuko's command in order to skirt around the fight and run over to two individuals that were laying face down on the ground. They were breathing and that was all Katara needed to know. "I can't leave them." Zuko was one person; he couldn't do this by himself.
"Damnit, Katara!" Zuko barked. He made a move to give chase, but was cut off by the shaking of the ground which had become more violent as the boy became increasingly agitated. It took him only a moment, but Zuko charged at the wall just as the ground split open. Running up along the wall, Zuko used his new height to jump onto a lamp post that was still standing and swing down over in front of Katara. The shock of landing on bare feet set a rush of electricity up his legs, leaving him frozen for a split second too long.
Undeterred, Katara managed to avoid crashing into Zuko's form and ran over to the two unconscious individuals. It was a mother and child, both buried under rubble. The mother had used her body as a shield to protect her child, taking most of the damage as her son lay prone beneath her. "Are you alright?" Katara asked of them as she dropped to her knees. Her words weren't answered, but Katara didn't think they would be. She didn't wait. She started pushing and pulling at the debris of the fallen house, desperate to free the two.
"Katara!" Zuko cried as another explosion sounded. He dropped to his knees behind her before wrapping his arms around her. Before Katara could make a sound of complaint, Zuko shoved her to the ground to shield her as a roar of flames sailed over them. Zuko didn't rise till he was sure it was safe and even then he maintained his hold over Katara.
The area was dangerous, but Katara was right: The family needed to be helped. Zuko needed to think fast if he was going to save the mother and son as well as keep Katara safe. Zuko looked around the vicinity quickly, searching for anything that could be used as a safe haven from the fight going on around them. With the earthen wall in the way, they were cut off from the squads of cop cars and ambulances, but even then that shouldn't mean they were without safety. The earthen wall was weak and with many holes and low rises. It could be climbed.
"Let's hurry. I think we can get them to one of the ambulances if we try." Zuko told Katara as he finally let go of her. With his added strength, the debris was removed and Zuko was able to lift the mother onto his back. "Grab the boy and follow me."
Katara nodded as she lifted the child and secured him to her back. Fortunately the boy was small and did not weigh much, but Katara feared for the affect the older woman's weight would have on Zuko's ability to navigate through this urban warzone. "Will you be okay?" She shouted, her voice carrying over the din surrounding them.
"I'll be fine. Let's go." Zuko took off running as if the woman on his back weighed nothing. His steps were sure and graceful as they ghosted over the shaking surface of the ground. He could hear Katara follow close behind him, her footsteps a light echo in his ears. They followed the wall the earthbender had created all the way to the end, occasionally dropping to the ground when the flames of the firebenders overflowed to their side of the wall.
Things were getting increasingly heated and the wall began to flux in size and height. The asphalt groaned and cracked under the pressure and pipes burst beneath the ground. One such burst pipe resulted in a geyser of water erupting a few feet ahead of Zuko and Katara.
Katara didn't know if it was the adrenaline pumping through her veins or some hidden strength that had only been recently tapped into, but she took control of the water readily given to her. Katara took the lead and seized it, forcing it to create a pathway that would take them up and above the fight going on. She hardened it to ice and snow so that they could run over it with minimal slipping.
"Sweetness…" Zuko smirked as he passed her, finding it necessary to pay the waterbender a compliment even with the situation as it stood. Maybe she wasn't as much as a detriment as he feared. It was well worth it to see Katara blush, and the roguish smirk grew to be a permanent fixture on his face as he ran. Something about working alongside Katara like this felt so…nostalgic.
It felt amazing.
It felt right.
Zuko didn't know why, but he didn't question it. With each step he took, the ground fell farther and farther away from them as he and Katara ascended high over the ground with the aid of the frozen bridge. In the corner of his eye Zuko could see a few of the police cars had been destroyed or flipped, but several remained and even more were speeding towards them from afar. There were three ambulances as well. One of which was far enough from the combat to remain steady on the road. That was their target.
"We have to hurry up, I can't keep the ice frozen for too long in this heat." Katara cried as part of her bridge crumbled away behind her due to another burst of flames. Katara was forced to jump ahead, which resulted in her sliding forward and almost off of the bridge. Zuko's arm caught hers to steady her, and in that moment all Katara could see was him.
"We'll make it," Zuko assured her before he continued forward, not letting go of Katara's hand. The end of the bridge was in sight and with it was a downwards slope that would speed them along. Zuko didn't slow down. He ran for the slope and slid down once Katara was tucked under his arm and the mother he held was safe in his other. He used his own body as a cushion against the ice, fighting back a cry of discomfort when the frigid coldness bit into his skin and numbed his body to a point where he was almost rendered useless. It didn't matter because the paramedics were already running towards them with stretchers.
Katara sighed her relief and leaned against Zuko fully, exhausted and unable to hold herself up anymore. "And you thought I'd be in the way…." She managed to chuckle, the night's third spike of adrenaline leaving her in a rush and Katara felt her world spin out of whack. It was in that moment of exhaustion that an entirely new question drifted to the surface: Was all this adrenaline even healthy for her?
She felt much better to have done something for at least the mother and child. She knew her limitations: there was nothing she could do for the fire fight going on behind her, but she could at least do this. Heavy eyelids drifted shut as Katara listened to the paramedics work on the mother and child, lacking the strength to open them back up again. Even if she could, Katara didn't think she really wanted to. Besides, Zuko was so very warm and comfortable. Katara might as well enjoy his embrace while it lasted. He's not so bad I guess…
*1 – I know the Blue Spirit doesn't talk, but for Katara he's making an exception. He's currently using the "batman voice" to keep his identity safe. (The batman voice is when he intentionally deepens it to lessen the likelihood of being identified)
*2 – Zuko does not have his signature Dao swords…yet, so as of now he just uses what's available to him and when nothing presents itself he's a very skilled street fighter.
*3 - you can think of someone as attractive without harboring an infatuation. Hence the stresses on the tenses. Little does Katara realize that yes, Zuko is very attracted to her.
*4 - Earlier that year, Zuko was able to save a young woman from a mugging, but he was too late in getting her medical help. Like with the girl at the pier, somehow the gang member was able to get the drug into her system during their scuffle. By the time the fight ended, her heart and lungs failed her before she became a firebender. She'd been institutionalized not long after when she started hallucinating.
Then there was another that he couldn't save, who bled out without a single wound being inflicted on her. Zuko still had nightmares.
*5 - Yes, Zuko is a minor and therefore shouldn't have easy access to alcohol. Doesn't mean he doesn't have his fridge stocked. Half of it is confiscated from parties he'd broken up as the Blue Spirit, the rest was just left behind from a number of his own house parties. He doesn't get drunk easily, so beer and other hard drinks are no different than soda. If someone wants a drunk Zuko, they'd need to stick with hard liquor with a proof of over 80.
Hasn't stopped people from trying to get him there. Jet especially loves to try and push the limits because he finds it absolutely hilarious.