Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The whole thing should be winding down…I am making an effort. (At last!) This chapter is more of a memorial, though.

Chapter 28: Mourning And Thereafter

Of course, such a battle as great as the Battle of the Blayders, as it had been named in their honour, is not without consequences. There were deaths of all kinds of people, from the Fire Nation and from the Blayders and from the Water Village. Many people were saved, of course, but not as many who perished.

The Fire Nation soldiers that died were burned on funeral pyres, and the ashes were left to fly where they would.

When the general cleaning up was done – and that took about 2 weeks – a great funeral was held for the people who died in battle. Among them lay people Katara had cherished.

Zuko was now well enough to get out of bed, thanks to Katara's healing, although he would bear a scar from the wound he'd received all his days. He walked slowly to the edges of the ice of the Water Village, where all the dead bodies they could find lay in boats. It was a Water Village custom to lay a dead person in a small logboat, with possessions of their own that would help them in the Spirit World.

As the herald spoke words in honour of the dead, frequent sobs and sudden cries of pain were heard, although they were quickly smothered. Everyone's faces were somber, because they'd all known more than a few of the people who had died, whether as friends, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, siblings, or lovers.

The Avatar himself stood on the rostrum where all the main leaders stood: and the crowd saw him for once, for who he really was. A young boy, not even into manhood yet, but places with responsibilities none of them could ever imagine.

When the words were all spoken, it was Aang's turn to read out all the names of the dead. He probably didn't know even a third of them, but he remembered that they were all people who had died to save the ones among them now. As each name was spoken, Katara and another waterbender she didn't know, dressed in black, alternately bended the water around each logboat out to sea, for eternal peace.

Of course, there were names that they knew.

"Kokoro, formerly of the Blayders."

"Anata of the Blayders."

"Kendel, formerly of the Blayders."

"Sair Lin of the Blayders."

"Hie, formerly of the Blayders."

"Anille, formerly of the Blayders."

And eventually…

"Adept Kestrel of the Blayders."

Katara had already wept all her tears out for the dead, never to return. She hadn't even realised that her old Shifu had come along until it was too late. As Katara had been about to receive a fatal blow from behind, a highly familiar presence had slipped in between them, taking the pike into herself.

Katara had turned to see Adept Kestrel lying on the floor, a pike sticking out of her abdomen. She had looked very much like a bird brought down from the skies with a cruelly barbed arrow.

By the time Katara had been able to frantically scream her Shifu's name, begging her not to die, to live, not to leave her alone…she was already dead. Katara hadn't been able to remove her Shifu's expression from her mind, nor understand it, just before her eyes closed: satisfaction, and a strange sort of peace.

It was Katara's turn to push the small boat out to sea. As she did, her face remained as still as the surface of water.

In the hours she'd spent mourning the dead, she'd been racked in guilt very often. It was her that had asked them to come along, her that had pushed them into battle, and her that had remained alive after they'd died.

She'd spent a day and a night weeping and lamenting in the small chamber she'd been given, having asked for her meals to be brought to her.

At times, a few people would come in to share their grief, like Terke and Hana. Others tried to comfort her, of which she would ignore. Zuko bore upon himself with the responsibility to make her eat. He would stay with her a while each time, comforting her just with his presence. No words were spoken.

With one decisive movement, Katara used her hands to ask the water to take her Shifu away, murmuring a blessing unconsciously.

And then, Adept Kestrel was gone.

TT , TT

Katara immersed herself completely into the duties as a temporary healer at the Northern Water Village, taking part in rebuilding all that had been destroyed. She wore a black armband under her clothes as mourning, discreet because she didn't want her patients to feel that she was unfocused.

She'd hardly see Zuko, Aang, Sokka or Toph. At night, she would eat the food brought up to her room instead of in the dining area they'd constructed for everyone to share their meals. Then she would collapse into her bed, tired after a whole day's work.

A month passed. The same routine carried on, except now there were less people in the infirmary. This went on until one day Katara found herself with time on her hands for an entire day.

"You deserve a rest," they said. "Go find your sweetheart and friends."

Katara flushed slightly. It seemed that although some people were very much against the fact Zuko was of the Fire Nation, everyone was impressed by how he'd fought in the battle, protecting as many of their own as he could. Sokka and Toph were willing to treat him normally now, although occasionally Sokka would find strange excuses to argue with Zuko.

They all also had the idea that their lead healer and the Prince made a very good couple.

In truth, Katara hadn't properly talked to Zuko since he'd first recovered. She wasn't sure how to face him now. A sudden horrifying thought struck her. She knew there were many pretty girls in the Village, much prettier than herself. What if Zuko had forgotten her and fallen in love with one of them?

Her brow creased with worry, so she decided to visit Aang first. She couldn't find him in his office, and was told that he'd gone for a walk with the "blind earthbender girl". She sighed, knowing she was feeling self-pity. Aang had been a couple with Toph for a while now. Katara didn't bother find him, so she looked for her brother.

He was having a hot bath, a new luxury established thanks to Zuko. She sighed again, unhappy at being reminded of the Prince again. She sat on the side of the bath, not caring about the 'Men's Bath' rules. There was no one else at the bath, anyway.

"So…what's up?"

"Nothing much. I've been busy."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her. "We all know that."

Katara flinched at the accusation in those words. "Well, I'm sorry about that. It's just that there were – well, people to heal, things to mend…you know…"

"Well, at least I don't mind so much. But did you think about Zuko?"

Katara slapped her face to her hands. "Could we not talk about him?"

"Why not? Did something happen?" He was being annoying again.

"No, no, nothing happened."

"Then…why?"

"Nothing."

After a lot more egging, Katara told her brother of her fears, feeling childish. To her surprise, he laughed out loud. He explained: "You're both worrying about the same thing, silly. To tell the truth, he's been worried sick about you. When you told him not to come to the infirmary unless he was sick or hurt, he almost demolished his own room. He still has problems expressing himself, huh."

Katara's mouth gaped open. "But that was only because there were loads of sick people at the time, and he could've caught the diseases!"

Sokka snorted. "You try telling him that." Before Katara could answer, Sokka said, "Actually, you won't have to."

That's when Katara heard footsteps. Slowly, she turned around.

Zuko smirked, naked except for the towel that was wrapped around his hips and slightly below. His electric eye contact and familiarly raspy voice sent chills of pleasure down Katara's back.

"When did you turn into a man?"