Hello Everyone! I overcame my writer's block, and now here you have Chapter 12! This one gets a little serious, but I hope you like it anyway!
This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted! I got so many wonderful responses, I don't even have the time to list everyone! Thank you so much! I'll do my best to do specific dedications next chapter! You have no idea how much I appreciate the support, and this story wouldn't be where it is without you guys! Hope you enjoy!
Katara was less than happy at being awoken only a few houurs after falling asleep. She glared at the noisy silver phone that's screen lit up her room. She slowly reached a hand out to shut off the device as her ringtone came to an end. Whoever it was could wait until she was awake. She was surprised however, when the phone rung a second time, right before she was able to shut it off. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at the caller I.D. only to see it was from her sarcastic, spunky, green-eyed friend.
'Why would Toph be calling at such an ungodly hour.' Katara thought, answering the phone, her greeting was drowned out by a loud growl of thunder, a flash of lightning briefly illuminating the walls of her dark room.
'It's raining really hard out there', she thought quickly before her attention returned to her obnoxious friend on the line.
"Katara?" she heard a small voice call from her phone, so feeble it was almost drowned out by the pounding rain right out her window.
"Aang?" his voice had sounded strained and weak, as if he had been crying. She gave a small smile as she shook her head at her friends' antics.
"Did the movie make you cry? That must've meant you lost your bet. How much money did you guys bet anyway?" Katara asked, snickering. Aang was not smart to take that bet, he knows he always cries during scary movies.
"Katara, It's not that. I-"
"Really? Then why are you crying? Wait! Why are you on Toph's phone? Did yours fall in the toilet agai-" however, her inquiries were interrupted by an agitated yell errupting from her phone, echoing off the walls of her room.
"Katara, can you shut up for just one second!" Aang bellowed from his end of the line. Katara was shocked stiff. Never since they had met had Aang ever spoken to her like that. She didn't even know how to react. She was so silent, over the thuderstorm outside her window, she could hear Sokka's snores through the wall that seperated their rooms.
"Katara, I'm so sorry. I just- Toph is hurt." he stuttered into the phone, Katara's eyes widening at his final words. Still shocked at his outburst, she silently waited for him to continue.
"We were riding the bus home and then the rain started coming down really hard and the bus slipped or something and... and..." Aang's next words were barely coherent, nearly completely drowned out by his sobs, but it didn't matter, for Katara's motherly instinct had kicked in, and she was already grabbing a pair of sneakers from her closet and slipping on a jacket.
"Where are you?"
"We're close to the Goaling Diner, about eight blocks away from the movie theatre." Aang replied meekly. He sounded weak and drained, as if it took all of his energy to speak. Katara could hear the sounds of an ambulances drawing closer as the sirens slowly increased in volume. Unfortunately, listening closely, she could also hear the screams of people faintly in the background, their cries for help being drowned out by the storm.
"Aang, don't worry. Sokka and I will be there ASAP! I want you to get checked out by the paramedics the second they reach you." she yelled into the phone quickly before ending the call and slipping the mobile device into her pocket. She glanced at the clock and knew her dad wasn't home yet. She would just have to tell him to meet her at the hospital.
She ran to the bathroom, and fast as she could, soaked a rag with cold water. She knew how hard it was to wake Sokka, and frankly, they just didn't have the time. She ran to his room and rang the water out of the rag, right over his head. His eyes shot open, and she was grateful the time in which it usually took to wake him was cut short at such a drastic time. She interrupted him before he could protest her rude awakening.
"Toph's hurt. Explain in car. Gotta hurry." was her brief summary of the situation, extremely happy Sokka shot out of bed the second 'Toph's hurt' had escaped her lips.
The two siblings ran out the house without another word, both clad in pajama's and sneakers. A strike of lightening caused Katara to shake her head as she ran towards her brothers car.
'I hope everyone else get's home safely. No one should be out in this weather.' and that's when it hit her.
'Zuko'
She immediately took notice to him not being in her frontyard and ran towards the rear of her home. She could hear Sokka calling to her, but she ignored him.
"He wouldn't have stayed once he saw the rain, would he?" and her statement was proven false when she saw Zuko's unconcious form leaning on her house in an uncomfortable position. She faintly smelled smoke, but she ignored it as she frantically ran towards Zuko in his comatose state. He wasn't even heavy as her adrenaline gave her the strength to carry him back to Sokka's old car. Her eyes widened as she realized he was very warm, but she didn't even give it a second thought as she threw him in the backseat. She jumped into the passengers seat amd had barely gotten the door closed before Sokka sped out of the Miyuki driveway.
"Goaling Diner." she said breathing heavily. How much stress had she suffered in these last 8 minutes alone?
"What the heck happened, Kat?"
"Bus crashed. Aang hysterical. Toph hurt." Was her curt response, too worn out to talk. Sokka nodded in understanding knowing he would eventually get the full story. The car quieted down until a strange hissing sound started coming from the backseat, the car began to fog up and Katara quickly started rubbing away any moisture that blocked any of Sokka's view, dreading the thought of living a similar fate as the bus. She glared at the backseat, however, her eyes widened when she saw the steam coming from the golden-eyed boy that resided there. When it finally stopped, she saw that, besides being a bit damp, Zuko was dry. His eyes fluttered open, though she couldn't bring herself to rip her gaze away from the strange boy.
"Wha- where am I?" Zuko muttered, sitting up, before grabbing his head and moaning in pain. He glanced around, his eyes locking with Katara's startled blue orbs.
"Master Katara?" he said, seemingly slipping in and out of his drugged state.
"Zuko, you-" Her attention however, shifted to the red and blue lights that shone in her peripheral vision. The car was indeed stuck in traffic, but the two teens abandoned the vehicle and ran towards the scene before them. It was a traumatizing sight to behold. A bus was completely turned over, and screams couls be heard still coming from inside. Blood was being washed into the sewers by the rain, though it's source was clearly that of any injured or killed in the accident. There were television broadcasters, firemen, policemen, paramedics. It was a tragedy to behold. Katara was surprised when the scene before her blurred and she lifted a hand to her eyes to wipe away her tears. She blinked them away and they mixed with the rain that ran down her face. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked over, surprised to find the comforting limb attached to a certain Zuko Noaya Mana.
"Katara, what happened. Who's in there?" he asked, his shaggy dark hair now clinging to his face.
"Toph she's-"
"Toph? The little black-haired girl?" he asked, pointing to the turned over vehicle. "She's in there?"
Katara could only nod her head slowly, too depressed to utter words. She glanced at the strange boy at her side and she could faintly see his eyes glaze over. He was slipping back into his drugged state of mind.
"Then I'll save her! You can count on me, Master Katara!" he exclaimed, running towards the scene of the accident.
"Zuko!" she called out to him, but her voice was drowned out by the rain. He had already jumped over the police tape and ran into the bus before anyone took any notice to him.
The first thing that Zuko noticed when he got near the bus was the smell. It was revolting, blood, burnt flesh, it smelled like death.
'It smells like the day my father scarred me'
He ignored the smell bringing light to the second thing he noticed. He heard moaning, and screaming and crying. Al different sounds coming from all different directions of the bus. He looked at the suffering people in the seats. Gashes and burns; injuries of all kind could be seen, and at that moment, he knew he couldn't just save Toph.
"Hey kid, you can't be in here." said a fireman holding an unconcious woman bridal-style.
"Shut up, and do your job." he ordered, continuing his search for 'Toph'. It was dark and his vision was blurred from the rain, as well as being fuzzy at the edges. He was fairly concious of his actions, but had little to no control over them. He felt himself slipping out of his Azula-induced drugged state, knowing the effects were wearing off, but it still clouded his judgement. Suddenly, he came to two particular people that made his blood run cold.
He didn't know them, no, that wasn't what caused him to freeze. It was what they were doing that made him go numb. He couldn't move, he couldn't hear, he could only see the two bloody boys kneeling beside what he presumed to be their dead mother.
"Mommy? Mommy, wake up!"
"Shut up dumb dumb! She's dead! She's not waking up!"
"She's bleeding! What if she's not just sleeping?!"
"Didn't you just hear me, Kibou? She's not waking up! Stop hoping for something that's pointless!"
Zuko moved on his own, he walked up to the two boys' mother and grabbed her wrist.
"Hey! What're you doing? Don't touch our mother!" cried the boy, called Kibou. Zuko ignored him, and felt her pulse. Very lightly, he felt a soft, slow, thumping, that indicated a living, breathing heart.
"She's alive."
"Wha- Hey, don't you dare lie to us to make us feel better! We're big boys, we can handle the truth." cried the other boy.
"I am telling the truth. She's alive. I've had it tough, so I don't like to sugar-coat." he said, inspecting the two boys. Kibou's leg was twisted in the strangest way, and Zuko knew it was broken, the other had a large gash on his head, but otherwise, seemed to be fine.
Zuko carried the woman away, then went back for her two sons, and carried them out as well. Before, they could utter a word of thanks, he ran back towards the bus, while they were ushered away by paramedics.
Zuko walked through the bus and eventually, his eyes landed on a mop of black hair. He ran to the pale-skinned girl and lifted her from the floor below her unconcious body. The bus had turned over on it's side, and it seemed the girls head had collided painfully with the window she sat next to. He lifted her gently and carried her towards the ambulance. The second he left the destroyed vehicle, he set her down gently and applied pressure to her head-wound to stop the bleeding, patiently awaiting a paramedic.
'It's raining cats and dogs! I should grab one! I've always wanted a pet dog!' he thought, feeling the drug take affect.
'Gah! Stop it Zuko! Keep your head in the game!'
When a paramedic came to take Toph to an ambulance, Zuko attempted to make his way back to the bus, however, this time, he was stopped by an officer.
"You did good kid, but you can trust us to do our job. You can go. We promise to get everyone here out safely."
Zuko merely nodded. He was tired and... dizzy. He couldn't think straight and his head hurt. He could barely even see clearly. Flashing red and blue lights, the smell of death, his wet jeans clinging uncomfortably clinging to his legs, and then... he felt like he was falling forward.
Through all the rain, and voices, and sirens, he faintly heard a feminine voice call out to him before everything went black.
So sorry this took so long! I had writer's block. Knew where I was going, but not how to get there. This chapter is less light-hearted than the others, and I hope that's ok. I'm really excited because I can finally write all the things I have planned out for this story! Don't worry, I will try to preserve some of the story's humor and charm, even though the plot is getting more serious.
Speaking of humor and charm, I'm very happy with the feedback I got about Cactus Juice!Zuko! You guys seemed to love him. I loved him too and I'll see if I can bring him back later in the story. For now, we have regular Zuko back, who is just as loveable! But, how about this? If I reach 100 reviews, I will write a one-shot where Zuko drinks Cactus Juice in the Avatar world!
Meh. I'm not super proud of this chapter, but I hope you guys liked it. Next chapter, some heartfelt hospital scenes, then, the plot truly starts! I will do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.
Please review! I need reviews, for your reviews motivate me to write! Without reviews, I have no motivation, and therefore, can not write.
Keep on Reading!
