Author's Note: Okay guys, today is a special day. Why? We've reached Chapter 10 of The Hidden Enemy! Double digits people! To some of you, that might mean nothing, but I still want to use this chapter to say a special thanks to a couple of people. So many have followed or favorited this story and I'm very thankful for that. I also want to thank y'all for all the nice and helpful reviews. I especially want to thank two people in particular: thekataangfan and As A Ghost (you should definitely check out both of their writing too!). They have eagerly followed this story and given great reviews and advice. When I see reviews like theirs, it made me want to keep writing. So thanks guys, your support means more than you will ever know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender.
As the sun rose in the east, it colored the ocean in a fiery glow. Sokka watched in awe, never having seen something so beautiful, except for maybe Suki, in his opinion at least. He knelt down to where the Fire Lord was sleeping and shook him awake.
"Zuko! Wake up! You've got to see this!"
"Huh?" the firebender groggily responded, sitting up and rubbing some sleep out of his eye.
"Look!" Sokka said pointing at the water below them. Zuko yawned and stood up to see what the Water Tribe warrior was so excited about. What he saw just about took his breath away.
"Is that from the sunrise?" he asked in disbelief. He'd never seen something like this, for he never typically woke up this early.
"I think so," Sokka replied. The two just stood there staring at the sight before them for a little while. Then Sokka piped up.
"It's hard to believe that the whole world is continuing to go on like normal when the avatar's life is at stake," he said quietly.
"Yeah. I guess one would think the world would stop if they knew him as well as we have the privilege of knowing him," Zuko agreed.
"And yet life goes on as if nothing of significance is happening."
"Mhm," Zuko nodded. A few more moments of silence passed by. Suddenly Sokka slammed his fist down on the railing of the war balloon, causing Zuko to jump.
"Aang better pull through this!" the warrior growled, "If he dies on us, it'd break my sister's heart, and if he breaks my sister's heart, I'm going to kill him, avatar or not!"
"But, if he died, you couldn't exactly kill him again," Zuko said.
"Whatever! He just better stay alive." Sokka grew quiet. "Katara already lost mom. If she lost the guy she loves, she wouldn't be able to go on. She was so devastated when we lost our mother. She just seemed so hopeless, which is not characteristic of her. I couldn't stand to see her have to go through that kind of pain again. It's my duty as her older brother to keep her form that sadness."
Zuko listened quietly. When the Water Tribesman had finished speaking, he spoke up.
"You really do care about your sister despite the way you act around her, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, she is my family. Of course I care about her," Sokka answered.
Zuko sighed. "I can't help but wish that me and Azula had had that kind of relationship. Maybe if I had been a better brother, she wouldn't have turned out the way she did…"
"No," Sokka firmly stated, "It's not your fault Azula turned out to be a firebending psychopath. She chose that path herself."
"Thanks Sokka," Zuko said.
It had been over twenty four hours since Sokka and Zuko had left for Whale Tail Island, and in that time, Aang's condition had greatly worsened. Katara nervously wrung her hands as the doctor checked him. He turned to her, his face grim.
"It seems I may have underestimated time it would take the poison to work its evil. I'm afraid the avatar has less time than we originally thought. Unless your friends get back her in the time they said they would, the avatar is going to die."
"No…" Katara said in disbelief, "That can't be true."
"I'm sorry," the doctor said, gathering his supplies and heading out of the room, "I'll leave you to have some time alone with him." He walked out, leaving a heartbroken Katara alone with Aang, who was completely unconscious. Katara felt tears spring to her eyes and a choked sob broke out of her throat. She fell to her knees, crying. "Aang, you can't leave me!" she sobbed, "You can't! I don't think I could live without you! Please, you have to live. You have to." She held on his hand, crying. Then she remembered some of the doctor's advice from before, when she'd asked what she should do.
"Try recounting your old adventures together. I don't know exactly what it might do, but it could possibly help not only him, but you."
"Sokka had taken me with him on a fishing trip," she started, "While he tried to catch a fish, I practiced waterbending, which I didn't know much about at the time. I managed to catch the fish in and orb of water, but then Sokka, being the annoying sibling he always is, managed to accidently set the fish free, and in the process, he got himself soaked. He got irritated with me, and then, we got caught in some rapids. Our boat was lost, and we were stranded among the ice flow. Then, Sokka blamed it all on me, and I got mad and inadvertently waterbended, causing and iceberg to crack. That's when I first saw you. You were frozen inside that iceberg. I remember grabbing Sokka's club and rushing towards the iceberg. Sokka shouted something about it being dangerous, but all I could think about at the moment was getting the person who happened to be you out of the ice. I broke the iceberg and you stumbled out and fell into my arms. I remember you acted all serious and asked me to come closer. And then, you asked me to go penguin sledding with you out of all things! I was pretty surprised. I said yes and when we went, I had more fun than I'd had in a long time. I remember when I found out you were the avatar. I remember when you found out about the death of your people, how devastated you were and how I comforted you. I remember when Aunt Wu told me my fortune. She told me I would marry a powerful bender. When you saved the village from that volcano, Sokka nonchalantly mentioned how powerful of a bender you were, and I realized Aunt Wu could have been talking about you. I remember how devastated I was when Zuko captured you at the North Pole and the fact that I wasn't able to protect you from him. I remember the first time we kissed, in the Cave of Two Lovers. I remember when we were in the desert, how devastated you were about Appa. You went into the avatar state. It hurt me so much to see you in that much pain. I remember holding you and getting you to calm down out of the avatar state, and how you cried in my arms. I remember your state of hopelessness while we were in the Serpent's Pass. I remember when you finally got your hope back, I was so happy. I remember when you got shot down in Ba Sing Se. That was one of the worst times in my life. It was horrible, seeing you die right before my eyes like that. Thankfully, I was able use the spirit water to bring you back. But still, you were unconscious for weeks. I barely left your side. When you finally woke up, I was so relieved. I remember that dance party you through and how you danced with me. I remember when you kissed me before the invasion. I remember when you kissed me during the intermission of that horrible play about us by the Ember Island players. I still feel horrible about how I reacted. It's just, I was really worried that if I admitted that I loved you and then lost you to Ozai, then… Well, I just couldn't handle it, but I realize now that if you had died without me ever telling you how I felt, that would have been even worse. I remember the relief I felt when I realized you'd won against Fire Lord Ozai. I remember when we kissed on the balcony of the Jasmine Dragon, in Ba Sing Se, after the war had ended. I treasure all these memories I've shared with you, each and every one of them. And I want to make more memories together." Tears streamed down the waterbender's face. "I want us to continue to date. I want us to get married. I want us to have kids together. I want us to grow old together. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Aang! So, don't die on me now. Just hold on! Sokka and Zuko will be back in no time with the cure. Hold on to life, for me. I love you Aang!"
When the doctor came back, a few hours later, to check on Aang, he found Katara curled up in the bed with the avatar, asleep and holding onto him tight.