Blood Benders

Chapter 36,

Last Breath

They had Toph wrap the man in rock before they woke him up. There was no sense in his trying to escape, or worse, fight. That was all they needed. A body on the inside. It was much too dangerous, but that was why they were waiting until the dead of night. When they told him to wake up, he didn't seem so alarmed.

"Where are they keeping the assassin known as The Painted Lady?" Sokka asked immediately. There was no sense wasting time. They only had a few more days before she was executed. They had run out of time to sit and wait. They would just have to deal with the complications of rushing.

The young man just stared at the ceiling for a long while.

"Where is she?" Sokka demanded. He made a motion for Toph to tighten the rock-restraints. She did, and the man showed no sign of caring.

"Why?" The man on the bed asked. He still hadn't looked at any of them.

"She's set to be executed soon." Aang supplied.

"And? What difference does that make?"

"We have to get her out before that happens." Sokka said. He climbed on top of the earth cage, though he doubted the man could feel it. He crossed his legs and sat, waiting for an answer.

"In prison." The man answered smartly.

"Do you have some kind of death wish? Don't you realize what situation you're in?" Sokka was really confused. Aristocracy usually panicked at these kinds of things. The man was just too calm.

"I do. But I'm betting you won't kill me, since we're inside the palace. They would up security if they found my body."

"Hey. This is the guy she was dancing with that night." Toph said. Sokka looked down, trying to see in the dark. He hadn't been paying too much attention to the man. He had been too preoccupied with his sister.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I think this is the prince." the blind girl continued.

"There's a prison here, right? What if they kept her here?" Sokka nodded to himself. It seemed logical. It would be easier to access and execute her if she were close at hand. And then, well... it made sense. And they didn't have much else to go on.

"We should go tomorrow. It's already past time." Aang said, his voice sounding far away.

"Let's go." Sokka jumped off and headed for the door.

He had it half way opened when Aang asked, "What do we do with him?"

"He was the mark. Kill him."

…

Katara wasn't sure what hurt anymore. It all hurt. Some places more than others, but all of it was burning and aching. She couldn't pinpoint exactly where it hurt, she just knew it hurt. It felt like relief should be coming any minute, but it just wasn't. She wasn't going to complain. She deserved this and much worse.

She could feel her body was at its end. There was only so much one human shell could bare, despite the sins of its owner. She wished the Moon would hurry and take her, if that was to be her fate. But, of course, she still had so much atoning to do before she even thought about leaving this world. The darkness no longer hurt her eyes. In fact, it was welcome. That way, she wouldn't see what they had done, or what they were doing, to her.

Her throat was dry, but she kept gulping anyways. There were no more tears, but she kept crying. When she dozed off, she couldn't help but pray to never wake up. She didn't want to breathe anymore. It hurt.

…

Her eyes opened, and she almost screamed. What else were you supposed to do when confronted with a spirit? But then, she smiled. A spirit? And not just any spirit. The Blue Spirit. He had come to finally release her from her human pains.

"You came." She choked.

He didn't answer, and of course she didn't expect him to. He was a spirit, after all, and he had more important things to do. He seemed to be watching her as he removed the cuffs around her frail arms.

"I didn't think you would." After a moment's thought, she sadly said, "And I didn't even get to say good-bye to my family." She landed on her feet, almost falling. How long had it been since she'd walked last?

The man-shaped spirit stood back in... surprise? Did spirits get surprised? Guess they didn't know everything. Then The Blue Spirit did something that confused the poor water bender greatly. He removed his mask, revealing the face of someone she used to know. There was something a little wrong with his face.

Her hand went to the spirit's face, "That's very sweet of you. But Zuko doesn't have a scar. Thank you for letting me see him one last time."

And after that, Katara couldn't remember. It felt like gravity was crushing her, and she felt like all of her bones were rebreaking. The Blue Spirit fell out of her vision.

Katara couldn't figure out if she was breathing or not. It felt like she wasn't.