Dribble: A collection of drabbles, oneshots, and other pointless fluff.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. That's why it's called fanfiction.
Inspired by the song Tourniquet by Evanescence.
Warning: Slightly macabre, sad, and graphic.
Something serious for your palate.
Am I Too Lost to be Saved?
Her eyes locked on the the large iron door. She would have to move it herself. Behind her lay life as it had once been, as it always should have been, but now never could be. In the room behind her - oh how she wished to turn back - laid the bodies of her nemesis: Princess Azula of the the Fire Nation, but also her brother: Sokka of the Water Tribe. Both were dead. The battle had been long. In the end, Azula's friends fled, but Sokka had received a lightning bolt to the heart. He'd died instantly. Azula's body now, much like the Titanic, remained lifelessly skewered at the end of a large spire of ice. The working of a Waterbender.
Katara stared grimly at what lay ahead. He had been there too. Helping his sister to try and stop the Avatar. But they'd failed, and Aang was on his way to face the Fire Lord alone, but at full strength. Katara had made sure he couldn't follow. An awful, bitter smile crept onto her lips. At least Sokka had managed to give him a nice belly wound to live with. She's seen him stagger off, away from the fight, after the Avatar. Katara wasn't worried. He would never be able to get to Aang now.
Toph was holding down the fort at the front of the palace, keeping reinforcements from entering through the entrances. The blind girl had really become quite an extraordinary bender, Katara noted with appreciation. If any one could handle a bunch of desperate firebenders, it was Toph. But that left her to open this gigantic metal door all on her own. How had he gotten through? It seemed impassable. But no. There had to be something. Then, Katara spotted it. A weak spot in the door's hinges. With all her might, the young waterbender struck the door with a barrage of ice missiles.
I tried to kill the pain
But only brought more
So much more
Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, heard the giant door slowly creak open. She was coming, he knew it. What would she do to him? Kill him? Zuko knew he deserved her wrath. He'd only tried to help, so long ago, and now it had come to this. It was his family, or her. Her brother was dead because of him, his sister was dead because of him. She might die because of him. Perhaps he ought to die, just so that he didn't have to live with that on his chest. The Prince knew he could hardly stand more weight bearing down on him. If the Fire Nation somehow survived, the Avatar and his friends could never govern it. His country was in it's darkest hour. And more innocent lives would be on his conscience.
Pain ripped through his body. The wound the Water Tribe warrior had inflicted before his death was taking it's toll on him. Blood seeped through his clothes, and onto his hands as Zuko tried to apply pressure and stop the bleeding. If I don't stop it, I will die. But he knew he was going to die anyway. No one would help him now that he'd tried to stop the Avatar from saving the rest of the world. He couldn't blame them, but he wished... Zuko wished someone would give him a second chance.
Not likely, the voice inside his head taunted. Just look what you've done! You really are a disgrace. It mocked him. The sweat dripped down his face. His eyes fixed on the pool of blood on the floor. Zuko screamed in rage, terror, and grief. In the end, he couldn't be everything his father wanted him to be.
I'm dying
And I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal
Katara saw him standing at the top of the stairs. She heard him scream, the agony of his mortality and his rage coursing through the air. She saw him double over, blood spilling from his wound onto the floor, and collapse. His body tumbled down the stairs and landed in a crumpled heap at the base of the incline. She saw the sweat and blood that soaked most of him, his hair matted thickly with his own life source. Katara saw it trickling off of his fingertips, but restrained from moving.
He's losing a lot of blood. If he doesn't get help soon, he will die. The alarms went off inside her head, but Katara refused to act. No. She would let the Fire Prince die. Everything was his fault! She walked forward, passing him. Her footsteps sounded at her feet hit the marble staircase. She heard Zuko mumble something, and stopped. She turned and looked at him. What was he saying? Katara leaned to hear. Was Zuko... crying?
It couldn't be.