As soon as Katara exited the tent Momo flew out after her and settled down on her shoulder, his large green eyes looking around the camp.

Sokka had taken charge and was currently checking the Bags on Appa's Saddle. The Waterbender felt a pang of guilt that she hadn't noticed the Bison's absence during the battle but decided that there was no use feeling bad about it now.

Toph and Suki were walking through the clearing looking at each rebel, burying the bodies of the Earthbenders according to their Nation's costumes.

Zuko had left Azula with Mai and was disposing of the Firebenders.

Katara went over to Sokka and the Water Tribe siblings took care of the Waterbenders.

.oO*Oo.

Toph stopped in front of an Earthbender and knelt down beside him, hands flat on the ground. The faint heartbeat vibrated through her fingers and her eyes widened.

"Sweetness, we got a live one!" Katara dropped what she was doing and ran over to the blind Earthbender.

Katara knelt beside the wounded man and called water to cover her hands. The man's heartbeat was slow, hardly even there, but she fought for him.

Well, she fought for him for Aang.

Fighting to save a man's life for the sake of another.

Guilt filled her at the thought. This man had tried to kill her friends, and here she was trying to save his life.

But then a thought occurred to her, this man could give them answers as of to why the Earth and Waterbenders joined with Azula. The man's heartbeat started to fade and Katara used Bloodbending to force blood through his heart, making the muscles contract.

The heart started to beat on its own but it wasn't enough.

As soon as she let up it quivered and stopped. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at the dead man before her.

She failed.

"He's gone." she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to cry over the death of an enemy.

Tears slipped from her eyes anyway and she stood up, turning her head away from her friends. She brought her hand up and swiped it across her face, removing the tears.

"Come on Sokka; there still more Waterbenders to take care of."

With that said she walked away from her friends, her older brother trailing after her.

.oO*Oo.

Back in the tent Aang was sitting next to his little sister. Despite what Katara had said about him being a good brother, he couldn't bring himself to believe her.

He was a bad brother and Anima's shallow breathing seemed to reaffirm that.

He's the Avatar; he should have been able to keep his sister safe.

"I'm sorry." he mumbled again, feeling just as miserable as he had before. His eyes shined and hr blinked the tears away. He would be strong for her. He had to be.

.oO*Oo.

By the time they were done the sun was beginning to set and they knew that they would have to make camp. Toph made earth tents for everyone and Zuko stated a large fire so Katara could cook.

Dinner ended up being a rather large roasted bird, that Sokka and Suki caught and fruit for Aang. Anima and Azula were still out cold.

They gathered around the fire and the Waterbender passed out food.

A small crash behind her told her that Aang had left Anima's side; one look at his face told her that Anima's still hadn't come around. Katara held out the bowl of fruit to him but he didn't even look at her, opting instead to walk right past her without so much as a glance.

Katara's face fell and she could practically feel the guilt and shame radiating off of him in waves.

Katara started to get up to follow him but Sokka held his hand up.

"I'll go talk to him." The Water Tribe Warrior stood and went after the Airbender.

Sokka found him standing on the edge of the stream, back straight and stormy eyes staring out towards the rushing water.

Sokka walked up to Aang and stood at his side, arms limp at his sides. The Water Tribe boy opened his mouth up a few times before any words came.

"Aang, as a big brother, I know how you feel. Your little sister got hurt and you're blaming yourself for it. I mean, you're the Avatar, you should be able to keep the people you love safe."

Aang's eyes closed for a brief moment and his jaw tightened.

That's not making me feel any better, Sokka."

The older boy shook his head.

"Just hear me out, okay?"

The Airbender nodded and Sokka plowed forward.

"When Katara would get hurt when she was little, I would feel like a failure. I still feel that way when she gets hurt. It's in my bones, as her older brother, to keep her safe."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "When we were little, Katara fell off of small ice tower, only about ten feet high or so, but I couldn't get to her fast enough and she sprained her wrist. I was so mad at myself for letting her get hurt that I stayed by her side until she got better. One night while everyone was sleeping my mother came into my room and woke me up, saying that she had something important to tell me."

Aang was looking at Sokka now, curiosity deep in his eyes.

"What did she say?"

"She told me that older siblings weren't just there because they were born first, but because they would be needed to help the younger ones. And that the younger ones help the older ones as well. After mother died and father left I found out what she ment. Katara had to grow up and she took the place of our mother, and took care of me more then I took care of her, like I should have."

A tear slipped down his cheek but he kept on talking.

"When we could you and she wanted to go with you, I had my chance to take care of her like I should have for all those years."

He turned to look Aang in the eye.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's okay to feel bad about Anima getting hurt, but it wasn't your fault. Azula shot the lightning at her, not you. She's gonna get hurt, physically and emotionally, but you have to be there for her when she does, and let her be there for you, too."

A small smile crossed Aang's face for the first time since the battle.

"Thanks, Sokka." Sokka smiled.

"Anytime."

Okay, first off, thank you guys for all the awesome reviews and I am SOOO SORRY that it took so long to get the chapter up. I had to fight my way through writing this and with school and family I didn't have a lot of time to spare. So again, sorry it took so long.

I will update as soon as I can.

Please keep the reviews coming, it really helps me to see all the awesome feedback I've gotten on this!