CHAPTER 34- Healing the Hurt
He nodded as he walked forward. "These are other members of our tribe. They're benders and healers."
"Okay, well, can we get a healer over here please?" Zuko questioned.
A woman with equally grey hair came over. "Bring her over here, please," she said pointing to a spot on the floor with no blood on it. Zuko moved her over there.
The woman laid her flat on the floor when Zuko let go of her. "Okay, quickly, move her hands away."
Zuko moved Katara's hands and the blood spilled out faster. The woman hurriedly put a cloth down on it. Using one hand, she Bended water over it for the catalyst so she could heal Katara. In one motion, she moved the cloth away and pressed her water covered hand over most of the wound. After a few minutes, she took her hand away. Zuko looked at the wound. It was still about the same size, and the bleeding had only slowed, not stopped completely.
"Master Pakku," she began as she put the cloth back on the wound. "I can see now that normal water won't be enough. The wound is too deep. If we can't find a way to heal this, I'm afraid she won't make it. Her breathing is already slowing."
"Here, use this," he said, coming up to her and handing her a vial on a string.
"Hey, I recognize that vial. It's the same one Katara had, only a little bigger," Zuko said.
"Yes, I gave her that one as a gift," Master Pakku said.
The woman opened the top of the vial and bended the shimmering water out of it. It floated above her hand for a moment and it began to glow as it spun. She had Zuko remove the blood soaked cloth and she pressed the water onto Katara's wound with both hands. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole," the lady began.
"Oh, trust me, I know all about it," Zuko said.
They all watched as she pressed her hands down. When she removed them, the water had definitely served its purpose. The bleeding had now completely stopped. The wound that had run so deep was now only a small gash in her side.
The old woman spoke. "By the way, my name is Yagoda. I'm an old friend of Katara's grandmother," she said.
After a few moments, Zuko asked her something. "Aren't you going to fix the gash still remaining in her side?"
"Not today," she said. "We need to give her body a little time to help itself first. We'll wait for her breathing and heart rate to go back to normal and wait until she regains consciousness. Then we'll heal what's left of the wound. I'm going to bandage her up."
The other healers helped everyone; Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee. Yagoda healed Aang, but he was still out. The elderly healer hunched over Katara and told the others to turn away while she bandaged up Katara. When she was done, Katara's dress had been pulled down so it now hung like a skirt. From her waist to her collar bone were white bandages. Once everyone was patched up inside, the healers went to heal the troops out in the gardens. Zuko clutched Katara's hand as he sat back down next to her. Her breathing was still a little shallow, but her pulse and her heart rate were slowly returning to normal.
Master Pakku looked down at her. "Thank Tui and La we got here in time. When we got Katara's letter from Ba Sing Se, we didn't hasten to come here to try to help."
"We appreciate it. You guys saved Katara's life," Sokka said.
Toph had dragged Aang over and was sitting next to him. "So, where's the Fire Lord guy?" She asked angrily.
Zuko used his free hand to point to a crimson robed lump on the other side of the room. Toph used Zuko's vibrations to find out where he was pointing. Toph got up and went over to him. She carefully checked for a pulse.
"He's dead," Toph said, a hint of happiness in her voice. Toph 'looked' at him disdainfully and kicked him in the ribs. Seeming satisfied, she came back over and sat next to Aang again.
"What happened?" A voice from the door asked. There was Iroh and the generals in tow. In their hands they carried everyone's bags.
The gang went over to grab their possessions. Zuko told the generals that pretty much everything had gone according to plan.
"That's good," Iroh said. "What happened to Ozai?"
"Lightning happened," Zuko said.
Iroh looked at him confusedly. "Do you mean-?" Zuko nodded. "Zuko, I'm so proud of you!"
Iroh went on to explain what they were talking about. Ty Lee and Mai were the first to congratulate him.
"So, what happens now?" Sokka asked.
"What do you mean?" Ty Lee asked back.
"Well, we're in the Fire Nation, the current Fire Lord is dead, and we're kind of in the middle of everything," Sokka replied.