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Piece

When Katara woke, the first thing she noticed was the sun high above her, its bright light sending pin-pricks into her too-blue eyes. Secondly, everything was slow. Her body felt heavy as if she was pushing through a fog made of thousands of tiny hands, each one grabbing at her and pulling her down.

She was exhausted and that exhaustion pulsed through every fingertip.

Closing her eyes against the bright sun, she attempted to grasp the images that danced against her eyelids. The feel of endless water tickled her memories, the currents had drunk her soul and the swallowed her whole, rushing through her head. In her mind a figure floated on the currents of murky water, inky hair radiating in a dark halo with a smile cut like a razor stared back at her. She knew him, this razor mouthed man.

But who was he? What happened?

Her thoughts scattered as her stomach rolled, pushing onto her side she saw the grass swim into focus before murky water fell from her mouth in a violent torrent.

"Tara!" The familiar voice of her brother called as he rushed to her side. She felt the warmth of his hand as he pulled her long tangled hair from her face and the murky water. Warmth radiated through her as his fingers rested gently on her skin and she dimly realized how cold she was, as if every bit of warmth she had, had been stolen from her and she may never feel warm again.

"I told you it would take her some time." A voice that sounded like water running over rocks called, dark amusement in the lilt of his words.

"You're still surprised that I wouldn't trust you?" Her brother snorted.

Wiping her mouth she searched for the speaker and found only the razor mouthed man from her stilted dreams. Meeting his dark gaze sent shivers jumping through her fingers; watching him made the current thrumming in her mind surge, not painfully but grating, in a way that made her exhaustion call to her again. Dropping her head to rest on the rough braces strapped over her tunic sleeves, she tried to remember; what had happened?

Thoughts poked out at her, memories tickling her mind. She remembered stepping into the clearing. The beautiful Spirit Bridge with its so very green leaves and vines that waved at her in the breeze had shown itself finally. There had been a river under it. One that twinkled under the sunlight and sang to her bending in a way the glaciers of her homeland never had. The currents had called to something inside of her…the memory of wanting, no, needing to touch the water had been overwhelming. She had ached to feel the cool water under her.

…Then nothing. Just the murky remnants of her dream visions swirling through her thoughts.

Sokka's fingers continued to gather her long, damp hair away from her chilled face, his deft hands twinning it out of the way.

"Sokka, what's going on?" She croaked, finding her throat raw.

Pushing to sit up, she turned to keep both her brother and the strangely familiar man in her sight. His features tweaked uncomfortably, a tilt of his brows, a twist of his mouth and she knew she wasn't going to like whatever he had to say. Surprisingly, the ashen-skinned man spoke before Sokka.

"You decided to go for a swim in my river. Unsurprising, really, little bender but water in the spirit world is so much more alive than you're used to. My river, she has needs and didn't mean to harm you." He answered as he strolled closer with the languid grace that Katara had studied in the rolling tides back home.

"Harm me?" Katara echoed with her scratchy voice, eyes darting between the two men in front of her. Sokka avoided her searching gaze, fingers twisting in his lap.

"When we got here…it was exciting, but you were obsessed with the river as soon as you saw it. I kept trying to stop you but you were possessed or something. You kept trying to get at the water and so I let you. I mean, you're a waterbender, I thought you would be fine. But you weren't." He murmured, not meeting her eyes.

"Nothing happened though, I'm right here" Katara insisted, gaze bouncing from each of the silent men in front of her.

Sokka finally met her gaze, his red rimmed blue eyes stared into her, she saw the shadows hidden in them. "'Tara…you…you drowned."

She tried to see the joke, tried to tell when he would laugh and goad that 'you should have seen your face', her brother wasn't one to not tell a joke just because it was inappropriate, but she couldn't see how this could be one of those times.

"I couldn't have drowned, I'm not dead." Katara responded, shaking her head slowly, still waiting for the punch line.

The grey skinned spirit stepped forward in response. "Of course not, your brother made a deal. His…willingness to help the Spirit World means you have another chance at life. You both will carry the signs of your commitment to our world." Katara could feel the echo of his words, reverberating under her skin along with the vague impression of his smug amusement. His presence lurked, curled around the back of her thoughts.

"Woah, woah, woah, what does that mean?" Sokka asked, the first time she'd seen him jump past the guilt written across his face.

The Spirit turned, murky green eyes met glacier blue for a heartbeat of time before a pained gasp dropped from Sokka's lips. Sokka began to claw at the braces over his own tunic sleeves, quickly undoing the laces of the thick, blue dipped hide he shoved his sleeves up and Katara sucked in a breath at what he revealed. Slowly, as if someone were slowly etching the pattern, rather than burning it, into the mocha skin of Sokka's wrists, tiny twists of vines and leaves appeared to encircle each wrist.

"I, Loh, Guardian of the Southern Spirit Bridge, give this son of mortals the symbol of his oath and connection to his Spirit Mission to aide our world against the unbalanced scourge of Fire Nation greed in return for his sister's life." The Ashen skinned spirit intoned as the glowing vines continued to burn themselves into Sokka's skin. Twin tears trailed Sokka's cheeks as the burns flared and then grew dim once more, darkened smudges on his skin.

Loh turned his dark eyes on Katara and she braced herself for the burning pain to begin on her own wrists, but nothing came.

"Silly waterbender, you will not carry Spirit Scars. Your brother has sworn an oath to be of use to us, when the terms of the mission are met he will be released. You will never have that. Ashes to ashes, you have been reborn of the Spirit world and thus will never leave us behind. I am part of you." He voice slithered across the clearing, echoing in her mind with that same sense of amusement as before.

Questions beat like heavy snow across her thoughts. A torrent of words, but she was distracted from those questions as a spot between her shoulder blades began to itch under his steady gaze. The sense of amusement running as an undercurrent in the back of her mind shifted into something akin to boredom. Katara tried to focus on that feeling, but it slipped away from her thoughts, in front of her Loh smirked his razor smile and she felt him brush against her mind… "you have much to learn, little bender…."

What he meant grew clearer to Katara as words that were not her own whispered in her head like a final piece clicking into place. "Why are you in my mind?" She exclaimed, horror colouring her words. Sokka looked at her in alarm, but Loh only laughed.

"You're quick, very good. As I said, you have much to learn Little Bender. The monks at this temple haven't seen a spirit touched mortal in some years. Try going North, with your brother, if you want answers Little Bender." He began to rise, long limbs stretching until he stood above her. Outrage filtered through her but he merely quirked a brow and chuckled before she ever spoke. "I look forward to learning you, Katara." He offered a mottled hand to help her to her feet, but she stood on her own, staunchly ignoring his kindnesses.

Sokka scrambled to his feet next to them, grasping his hide bracers in one fist, confused anger written across his features. "This should be interesting." Loh snorted at them. Tucking his greyed hands into the loose fabric of his breeches, Loh studied the Water Tribe siblings as he began to fade. "Cross the bridge for your walk or don't but either way, leave." His only parting words, faded with him until only the two siblings were left in the clearing.

After he was gone the clearing looked the same as when they had entered, as bright and harmless, with a bridge made of vines that fluttered in the breeze and a river that bubbled along the banks. The only movement came from the siblings as Katara threw herself into Sokka's arms, burying her face as shame and tears burned her skin.

Everything was the same, yet it was all different, as one found them-self scarred for a mission taken in desperation and the other was no longer fully from the mortal or spirit world.

And…Katara is alive again….sorry for scaring anyone. I'm sorry this chapter took a moment to get out; life is pretty busy right now. I've started new classes for my degree, we're trying to buy a house and it's not going as smooth as I hoped, then work and the holidays. I am working on the next chapter though, so I hope to have it up soon!

Next chapter is Sail! Don't forget to review and tell me what you think! I love feedback :D