Hey guys! I forgot to mention, I know there's an actual canon comic that shows what happened between this and the awakening, this is more just to dive into Katara's feelings and thoughts as this occurred. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
Blue. Katara never thought that she could hate the color as much as she did right now. After all, it was the color of her tribe's symbol, the color of her people, the color of the water she so enjoyed bending. She had never thought that she would hate it, but that night proved her wrong.
The blue tendrils of electricity sizzled with power as they shot forward, unchanging, unmoving except for the one direction she didn't want them to go. And all she could do was watch as the young Avatar was struck down.
Katara couldn't quite believe it as she felt the tears start to fall. She had never thought that it would come to this. Sure, she had always known that it was a possibility, but she didn't think that this was even remotely possible.
All she could do was watch in horrified fascination as the lightning coursed through Aang's body, sending her into absolute shock. And all of a sudden, she was a kid again.
"Mom!"
That horrible day flashed through her mind, the day that she would never forget, the day that she lost her mother who she dearly loved.
"Mommy, I'm scared."
Katara was frozen in place, feeling all of the fear come over her once again from that wretched day. That day that had taken her mother away. In that moment, she felt herself as a child again, afraid of what would happen to her friends, her family, her people.
"Go find your dad, Sweetie. I got this."
She wished her mother had truly had the situation under control, but there was nothing she could do. When they had come back to their house, she was gone. The one who had taught her so much and been the most amazing mother to her was gone.
And it broke her.
But as she watched the young Avatar that she had called a friend be shot down like a bird in the sky, she couldn't help but feel her fear spike, even more so than when her mother had died. No, no, no. Not again, please not again, she thought in agony as the tears made her way down her face.
It was in this moment that she realized what that fear meant. She had loved her mother so much, but this pain and fear was even worse than when she had lost her mother. Seeing the once joyful face so full of pain and anguish... it broke her heart.
And that's when she realized that she was in love with him.
She had known that she had feelings for him, but she had no clue that she had fallen in love with him. After all, she had never been in love before, so she didn't know what the signs were.. Bur right there, in that moment, she knew with absolute certainty that she was in love.
That she was in love with a dead man.
As the lightning finally finished its course through his body, the young Avatar started falling to the ground, and only one thought came to mind. Catch him. Love and fear renewed her energy, allowing her to bend a large tidal wave to get to him.
In this moment, she didn't care who got in her way, who drowned in the tidal wave that she had created. All she could think about was getting to him. The boy who had stolen her heart, the one who had done so much for her. When her life had felt meaningless and dull, he had turned her life around. He offered her a chance to see the world, to make a difference and had brought so much joy and fun that she had been missing since the death of her mother.
It was horrifying, really, to see the once joyful face mired by pain and suffering. It made her want to destroy everything in sight, but she couldn't. Because she needed to get to him, to catch him as he slowly fell to the ground.
I'm in love with him. The truth repeated itself in her mind as she finally caught him, not even caring that every soldier had just been overtaken by the wave she had gathered to get Aang. She looked down brokenly at the young boy who she was desperately in love with.
"You've got to get out of here!"
Katara looked up and saw Iroh in between them and his niece and nephew. Knowing there wasn't much time, she nodded and carried Aang over to the waterfall, letting the water carry them up as Iroh held off their attackers.
She was still in a state of shock. Her mind was still trying desperately to register what was happening, but it couldn't. It was too torn by one fact: That she was in love with a dead man.
After some mindless walking, trying to get out of the horrible place, Sokka and Toph found her and landed Appa. Appa groaned sadly at seeing his dead best friend. "What happened?" Sokka gasped as he jumped off Appa to help.
Katara couldn't respond, still too heartbroken and exhausted to answer. After a few moments, she finally managed to get out, "We, we were… and Azula... " Sokka's eyes widened at this, but Katara couldn't say any more, for she had begun crying again.
For the moment, Sokka decided he could wait for an explanation and got Appa moving. "Appa, yip yip!" Appa groaned and launched into the sky, moving as quickly as he could to get them away from the wretched place.
Katara wiped away her tears and composed herself. She knew there was something she could do. And to think, she would have wasted the healing water on the man who had betrayed them, betrayed her. She had thought Zuko had changed, that he might prove to be a valuable ally, but no. It was because of him that Aang was now dead.
Rage built up inside her, but she pushed it down. She would have to use that rage another day, because right now, Aang needed her. Taking the necklace off of her neck, she opened the vial and felt the small amount of water come out at her command. It spun until it glowed bright, as bright as Aang's tattoos would glow…
She decided to choke back the sob that threatened to escape her throat and bent Aang so that she could see his back. Please, Spirits, let this work, she begged them as she put the water in his back. The water entered his wound, but there was no movement from the young Avatar. She had failed.
Tears streamed down her face as she hugged him tightly. No, no, no. He can't be gone. He can't be gone, he just can't be! She thought brokenly as she held onto him.
Then, a sound came from his body and she felt a small groan come from him. She gasped and pulled away to see him open his eyes, and when she saw him smile weakly at her, she felt a new wave of love as tears of joy and relief fell down her face before she gave him another hug.
As they flew off, Aang quickly fell into unconsciousness, completely exhausted from the event that had cost him his life. Katara was worried, but as she checked his heartbeat and felt a weak pulse, she knew that he was okay. She was just happy that he was alive.
And so with that, the team decided that they would go back to Hakoda and plan next steps there. Katara didn't care about anything else other than getting to work on Aang. He needed her, now more than ever.
Hakoda came out of a tent as Appa's groan signaled their arrival. "Katara? Sokka? What's going on-" he cut himself off as he saw Katara holding tightly onto Aang, looking like if she let him go, she would die, too.
Sokka explained what happened, but Katara wouldn't speak. She couldn't. All she knew was that she needed to get Aang somewhere nice and warm where she could begin his healing. The sooner she started, the sooner he would get better, she reminded herself.
She walked in a sort of daze as Toph lowered her to the ground with an Earth pillar, but she barely recognized anyone else at the moment. Her mind had only one thought in it at the moment: Heal him. She let Hakoda lead her to the medical tent where a doctor was waiting, but Katara shook her head and got some water from a pot that she had ordered Sokka to get. She didn't trust anyone else to try to take care of him like she would. Only she would be allowed to heal him, unless there was something that she couldn't do that the doctor could.
And Katara made a pledge at this moment that she would spend every last ounce of her energy if it meant that Aang would come back. If it meant that he would be with her again, if it meant that she could see his smile that she had come to love so much. Seeing his usually happy face mired by pain and exhaustion… it made her want to choke Azula to death.
So with her resolve, she spent days healing Aang. Barely eating, barely sleeping. Being remote and distant from the others as they tried to help her, but she would simply refuse. She ate and drank what she needed to keep herself going, but she would often have sleepless nights, pouring all of her energy into trying to bring him back.
And after some time, Aang was improving, but it was clear to them that they needed to start making headway to the Fire Nation, lest they be caught. It was a miracle they hadn't been caught already. Sokka came up with a plan, and with his father's support, it would come to fruition.
They waited until they found what they were looking for. A Fire Nation ship that would help them disguise themselves and allow them the perfect way to blend in and get closer to their true destination: the Firelord's palace.
Katara didn't care about any of that, even as she helped them take over the ship. She had been reluctant to leave Aang's side, but he was in a stable condition and she knew they would need help, so she had gone with them to take it over. Once all was said and done, she got Aang up on the ship and resumed her healing, not wasting one bit of energy, knowing that it could help him awake again.
Although she was relieved that he was alive, she wanted to see him awake again. To see him smile and laugh like he used to. Now, he just laid there, like he was dead. She knew he wasn't, but if she didn't watch him for most of the day, it would have been hard to notice the small breaths he was taking.
Others tried to get her to rest, to get her away from him, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. He meant too much to her. Seeing him die… she had died, too.
"Katara, you have to get some sleep."
Katara looked over her shoulder to see her brother looking at her in concern.
"I'm fine, Sokka," she muttered as she returned to her work.
"No, you're not," he insisted as he walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You haven't gotten sleep all night. He's doing fine, why won't you just go get some sleep?" Katara didn't answer him, just went back to healing the young boy before her.
"You love him, don't you?"
Katara's entire body stiffened at this, and she felt the water drop from her hands into the bucket Sokka had given her for it.
She didn't respond for a few moments, but then nodded miserably as Sokka walked up to her and gave her a half hug. "It's okay, Katara. He's alive. You did that. He's alive because of you, and he'll be okay if you go get some sleep for a few hours."
"No, Sokka. I'm not leaving him. He needs me," she whispered defiantly.
"Katara, don't you see how tired you are?" Sokka shot back, making Katara look as he picked up a small mirror from the troom and bring it over to her. She was surprised to see heavy bags under her eyes, with tear stains down her cheeks. "How can you bring him back to life when you look like you're about to die?"
Katara became angry at this. "He's not dead, Sokka! He's-"
"I know, I know, he's in a coma," Sokka interrupted. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're exhausted."
"I can't leave him, Sokka," Katara shook her head and looked back at Aang. "I can't."
Sokka smiled a little and shook his head. "I'm not saying leave him, I'm saying get some sleep." Taking the bed roll that was in his hands, he let it out across the floor and motioned for her to lay down. After a few moments of hesitation, she reluctantly got up and laid down on it, letting Sokka drape a blanket over her as she felt her exhaustion start to claim her. "Aang wouldn't want you to lose sleep because of him."
Despite her tiredness, Katara felt herself get angry again. "Sokka, don't talk about him like he's gone. He's right there!" She pointed to the boy she was in love with.
Sokka put his hands up in the air. "I'm not! I'm just saying, if he was awake right now, he wouldn't want you to lose sleep because of him. Just get some rest, okay?"
Katara was once again hesitant, but with her tiredness and the warm blanket lulling her to sleep, she finally closed her eyes and got some much needed rest.
Two weeks later, she woke up next to Aang and watched his peaceful slumber. He was still asleep, but he had recovered quite a bit since he had been…
No, she wouldn't think about it. Not right now. Not ever if she had her way, but she decided to push it aside and got up, looking at the peaceful look on his face. At least his face wasn't mired by pain anymore. It amused her to see the small patch of hair on his head. She would have shaved it off for him, but she found that she liked it. With bated breath, she decided to do something risky and ran her hand through it, feeling the soft tingles on her fingers that his hair caused. After a few moments of rubbing it, she did a quick healing session and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. She wanted to kiss him on the lips, but until she knew how he felt for her, she wasn't going to do that.
Once she was sure he was okay, she decided that some fresh air would be good and made her way up to the deck where her friends were.
"Sugar Queen!" Toph greeted her with a grin as she and Sokka had been talking. "Finally decided to talk to us?"
Katara rolled her eyes and leaned on the railing, watching her element move below her. "I just needed some fresh air. Aang's okay for now, but I won't be up here long."
"How's he doing? Do you think he'll wake up soon?" Sokka asked.
"I don't know," she admitted with a sigh as she looked down at her feet. "I hope so."
Sokka decided that he was hungry and left to go get a snack, leaving the Earthbender and herself to talk.
The two talked about the young Avatar and his condition for a little while when a loud "Oof!" could be heard. Katara recognized that voice, or at least a part of that voice. It was different than the last time she had heard it, but was it really him?
"Momo?" Aang asked as Momo in confusion.
Pure joy and relief flooded over Katara as she looked to see none other than the boy that she loved laying down on the ground, now fully awake. She smiled, prepared to hug him so tightly, she feared she might squeeze the life out of him.
"Twinkle Toes! That's got to be you!" Toph smiled.
Katara felt the joy and love build up in her as she ran toward him. "Aang, you're awake!"
"Are you sure?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes. "I feel like I'm dreaming." She hugged him tightly, taking him by surprise as she squeezed him, but kept it short, knowing he was still in a lot of pain.
"You're not dreaming. You're finally awake," she smiled in relief as she hugged him. It was in this moment that all of her hours spent healing him and losing sleep were made worth it. Because he was alive and now he was awake, and she would be grateful for that fact for the rest of her life.