37~

It was horrible, twisting, rushing darkness. She could not breathe or see or hear. All she felt was pain, but she could not locate it on any part of her body.

Then it was over. She was standing in a field of brilliant emerald grass, under a clear azure sky. In the distance there were mountains, but she would never hazard a guess as to how far away they were. Closer, there were trees of types she had never seen or heard of before, some with strange round leaves or orange bark. And there were creatures as well, also of strange colors or sizes or configurations. Could this be the Spirit World? It was so different from how Aang and Sokka described it. She turned on the spot, mouth open in amazement, and when she had made about half a rotation she saw Iroh standing nearby with his back to her. She gasped, and the sound drew his attention. He turned and saw her.

"Katara?" His expression was horrified. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed you here," she quickly explained. "I bound my chi to yours because you were dying."

If anything his look turned worse. "No. No, you must return to the physical world, quickly! If you stay here too long, you will die as well! Hurry!"

"You have to come too!" she implored. "Zuko needs you deeply. He's terrified, he's distraught. You should have seen his face when he asked for my help."

Iroh shook his head. "My nephew loves me deeply, and for that I will always be grateful, but he does not need me any longer. Tell him to grow old. Tell him to find happiness no matter what. Tell him that love is a choice. Now go! Follow the thread you have left for yourself."

"Thread?" Katara repeated, numbed by her failure, for that is what it was. She had said she would save Iroh but he would not be saved. "What thread?"

In response he pointed to her hand, and she raised her arm to look. Only she had no hand. Her left arm ended at her wrist, where there was a slight blur or mist, and then empty air. As she saw this, she started to hear a voice shouting her name, but from very far away, an impossible distance away. It sounded so scared. And so familiar.

She shook her head and looked again to Iroh. "Please come." She felt tears on her face.

He shook his head as well, his face etched with equal sorrow and joy. "I must not. It is my time to pass on. I will see my wife and son, and you will tell my nephew how terribly much I love him. Someday, far in the future, I will see him again."

Katara could hold herself back no longer, and great sobs shook her body. "He'll hate me," she said, voice indistinct through her tears. She raised her arms to Iroh like a child to their parent, and she saw that her left arm was disintegrating slowly but surely. It now ended at her elbow. She willed it to stop. She had not succeeded yet, she could not return. "He'll hate me if I don't bring you back."

Iroh smiled gently. "He could never hate you. Now go."

Racked with grief and guilt, she obeyed. She stopped resisting the call of the voice and her body disintegrated all in a rush.

Rushing darkness again, though this time it hurt less, and then all at once she was back in her own body, painfully collapsed over the tub, Zuko doing his best to support her from the other side. His grip on the tops of her arms was so strong it was painful. Her head and arms were dripping wet. "Katara!" he cried as her eyes opened. "Are you alright? What happened? You got so cold, I thought you… Spirits, I thought you had died! Are you okay…?" He trailed off, seeing her expression. Fear filled his eyes. "Is Uncle…?"

She started to cry again. "I'm s-sorry," she whispered miserably. "He wouldn't come back with me." The pain in Zuko's face was unendurable. But worse, far worse, was the way he pulled her around the end of the tub and collected her in a tight hug. Where she deserved hatred and contempt for her failure, she found instead compassion and forgiveness. Iroh was right about his nephew until the very last.

A/N

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!