Chapter 9

Zuko was covered in sweat. It was slowly burning him up. He steadily felt the rise of bile rush to his throat. He need to wake up. But he couldn't. He was trapped in a past event that had one purpose; to burn one side of his face. The fire was coming closer, soon it would impact.

Suddenly he shot up just before he was sick. Zuko wiped his forehead; it was soaked. He looked out of the small high slits-that was the pathetic excuse of a window- it was probably close to midnight, but it looked so bright it could have been morning, if not for the unmistakable silvery light that shone in pools through the slits.

He averted his eyes back to the room he shared with twelve other guards. He didn't belong. No matter how much he wanted to leave his past behind him, he couldn't.

Zuko silently shifted from his bed creeping past the soldier, who were all soundly asleep.

Pulling a spare cloak around his now cooling shoulders, he slipped out of the dormitories; through the armoury and walked to the palace walls, he started to detest the way snow crushed under his feet, it always meant you could be followed, heard and seen.

The only thing that he did like, was looking up at the shinning beacon of light. The moon. It would be full tomorrow night. He smiled. He liked the way the moon danced on his face it was almost as nice as the sun.

The only problem was now that he heard footsteps hounding at his feet. Zuko knew it was too late to creep away, so he enjoyed the last few seconds staring at the moon before probably being question, sent back with some kind of notice that means he won't be able to….

"Beautiful. Isn't she. "

Zuko spun round to see a lone man, who was slightly shorter than him by a good inch-which Zuko liked a great deal- some kind of pony tail, dark hair, clear blue-grey eyes ,with a defining warrior badge on his blue uniform. But the young man wasn't looking at him. He was looking at what was now behind him the moon.

"I often come to see her. Just to know she's here, not dead." The man spoke softly gazing up at the glinting moon.

Zuko looked back at the moon, but still saw nothing other than a glowing planet.

When Zuko looked back. The blue -eyed man was gone.

B.O.T.P

Katara rose with the moon and it was almost full. But she resisted the urge of getting up and going to the private palace gardens to play with the small bit of water in the pond or going to the Oasis, to feel the warmth of the air.

As the night dragged on, her mind wondered back to the Blue Spirit and what lay behind the mass; nothing, was it hollow or a monster or perhaps just a person, who just wanted to hide from something. She wanted to find out, no she needed to know.

At some point close to dawn she heard a lone pair of footsteps; her brother, probably coming back from a late night shift.

She turned over again. She'd be sixteen soon. Sixteen was the age her mother married her father. Sixteen was the age where you were supposed to be married.

Finally, Katara at last saw the glinting sun come through the impressive balcony windows. She dressed in a plain- floor length light blue gown. Carefully tying her unmanageable hair in a white head scarf, before opening her bedroom doors to find her two guards Rue and Kae stationed by her door.

Katara greeted both of them with a simple good morning. Then quickly departing down the main stairs, rushed into her father on the main stairs.

"Katara,"Hakoda nodded to his daughter

"Father," Katara beamed before kissing her father on the cheek, before quickly hurring to the main hall.

Katara arrived at the Healing huts just as the Healers were doing the first medical check-ups on the patients that had stayed the night. Katara had always wanted to be a Healer, but it was forbidden for a female-Royal to complete their full training.

P.O.V- Katara- Hut 3: Overnight Patients

As I smiled as I finished cleaning all dirt off the floor. Yep, it looked fine- so fine, that I could see my reflection in the compacted ice that I stood on.

As I turned around I saw Aya -a Healer and a good friend- quickly steering her way around the beds to the far end where I was supposedly putting a medical kit away.

"Katara, you are needed in Hut 11; c section." Aya's usually cheerful face was contorted into a calm- in- control mask, but the friend behind that mask was panicking. Of all the times I'd worked with Aya in a birth, she'd never looked so calm.

As we hurried out of Hut 3 and through the snow into Hut 11, I thought of the last mother who had a breech birth and quickly hushed it out from my mind as the unwanted pictures of both mother and child….

I hurried to the only patient in the room, who was at the moment made quite distinctive by her screams echoing from wall to wall.

Pulling up some water from a full bucket into my empty hands, I let it start to glow before telling the mother what I was about to do- Her screams were becoming harsher as she started to suffer from over exhaustion- I knew she couldn't really concentrate on what I was saying or really care.

I swiftly, but as gently as I could put my hands on her abdomen, concentrating on soothing as much pain as I could, I could feel a big knot of pain where the baby was in the wrong position.

Whimpering was all that was now coming from the mother as a Healer turned the baby around, trying to get the head to come first.

I tried to say soothing things to the mother as Aya monitored the mother's stability. I soon found myself being lost in the pain as the Healers tried to ease the baby out.

Twenty minutes later, I heard the cry of a baby. I let a gasp of relief escape my mouth as the mother called out in a horse whisper for her baby.

Whilst the Healers did a medical check I held the mother hand, not needing to contain the joy I felt, when she held her baby for the first time, it was what I saw on all mother's faces when they all see their child for the first time; true unwavering love.

AN: Hope that chapter was okay. Sorry I haven't posted for so long, stuff has just go into the way. Anyway PLEASE REVIEW / Follow / Favourite !

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