"Okay, I'm not crushed. You can get off me now," Katara said, her voice dripping with obvious annoyance. Both at the fact that she'd needed saving, and the fact that it was Zuko of all people who'd saved her. Argh. She would've been completely fine without his help. With a quick shove, Katara dashed out from under him. Even in the noise of the rumbling temple and the Fire Nation air ships, she heard him mumble something unintelligible behind her and rolled her eyes.
Toph and Haru shoved their arms forward to push the wall of the courtyard away and create a tunnel. "Come on, we can get out through here!" Toph yelled.
Katara hurried forward with the rest of the group. Instinctively, her eyes searched for her brother and her father. She felt a small amount relief when she noticed they were close to the tunnel too. Just then, something else large and heavy rammed into the temple, giving the place another good shake and knocking more large rocks down around them.
"What are you doing?!" Katara heard Aang yell. She whipped around. No. Aang was struggling to get Appa into the tunnel. How had she forgotten that he didn't like tunnels? There was no way this was going to work.
Then she saw what Aang was looking at. Zuko was standing close to the edge of the wall Aang had created by bending the panels of air temple closed to protect them. "Go ahead," he yelled, not turning around to face them fully. "I'll hold them off. I think this is a family visit."
Katara's brow creased. What a hothead. How arrogant did he have to be to think this was a good time to face his crazy sister? They were no match for her now. She had too many resources. Right now, the most important thing was getting out of here safely. How was he planning on finding them again after? If he wasn't stupid enough to get himself killed in the process that is.
"Zuko, NO!" screamed Aang, dropping Appa's reigns slightly. Oh, spirits, thought Katara. They were all going to be killed if they didn't get a move on. And soon. Right then, Zuko bound gracefully up recently fallen rocks and disappeared past the partially destroyed temple wall. What an idiot.
Katara ran angrily towards Aang, noticing in her peripheral vision that Sokka had run forward too. "Come on," Sokka said to Aang. "We've gotta get outta here." They stood on either side of Aang and tugged the reins, helping him get Appa into the tunnel.
Just then another bang hit the temple, shaking it greatly and threatening the safety of the ground they were standing on. A few more rocks fell around them. She closed her eyes and yanked harder on Appa's reigns, digging her feet into the ground as a foundation. All it would take was one well aimed falling rock to kill one of them. She angrily pushed the thought away and tugged harder.
Appa let out a low, loud roar. "I can't get him to go in there," said Aang, his face scrunched in concern and worry. "Appa hates tunnels." Katara could hear the fear in his voice.
"Aang. There's no way we can't fly out of here," she said, a slight edge in her voice that she didn't intend to come through. They were still all pulling tight on Appa's reigns, as if the strength of the three of them would be enough to pull the 10-ton bison into the tunnel against his will.
"We'll have to find a way," he replied, dropping the reigns. Small rocks and debris continued to rain down on them as the temple and the ground beneath them shook.
Katara saw her brother suddenly turn more serious. "We need to split up," he declared. Katara's heart sank. Sokka turned and ran to the group huddled at the entrance to the tunnel. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship.
"No," said Katara firmly. "The Fire Nation can't separate our family again." Her voice shook just slightly, revealing her fear and sadness. She moved to take a step away from Appa and towards her father and brother when the world around her blew up.
A large fire bomb had found its mark near them. The bang made Katara's ears ring loudly, and she felt herself lift into the air forcefully, flying away from her group. Debris and shrapnel flew around her while she was in the air, cutting and scraping up her skin. Still, the ringing was all she could hear. Her surroundings started to not make sense. She stopped comprehending what she was seeing. A pain flashed through her head.
She felt herself hit the stone ground hard, far away from where she'd been. A stabbing pain shot through her leg. Her vision darkened ever so slightly, but she willed herself to stay conscious. The sound of her breaths was loud in her ears, which were still filled with a high, obnoxious ringing. With her weak arms, she lifted herself up just slightly and looked around. Her vision was still blurry, but she saw no one. No flash of color to tell her that her friends and family were alive. That they'd survived. Argh. The ringing was getting annoying.
More rocks than ever littered the ground. The area barely resembled what it'd been before. Thick smoke and dust filled the air, filling her lungs and stinging her eyes. She coughed violently, increasing the pain in her head. It was worse than the worst migraine she'd ever experienced. Her vision started going black again, and she moved quickly to stand. She needed to find Aang. And her dad and Sokka.
Her leg screamed as she put weight on it, and she stumbled again. The smoke caused her to cough again. That's when she felt it. She didn't hear it with the incessant ringing in her ears, but she felt it.
Looking down, she saw it. A crack beneath her feet on the stone ground of the temple. A crack that was growing and slithering like a snake. She moved but couldn't move fast with her leg. The crack grew longer and wider, smaller ones branching off from the large initial one.
Katara's heart pounded. There was nothing beneath this. Nothing but air and a long drop. She tried to move again, forcing her weak and pained limbs to carry her away from this. Her mind was muddled and black still hung at the edges of her vision. Her heart pounded in her chest and adrenaline coursed through her veins.
But it wasn't enough. As if in slow motion, the crack grew until it reached all the way to the edge of the cliff. A whole half of the section of the temple shook and rumbled. Katara moved faster to get to the side of the temple that was solid. The side on the other side of the crack.
Blinding pain shot through her leg and she tried not to think about how it was probably broken. If she didn't get across the crack, she was going to fall.
That's when it happened. Another blast of fire from one of the airships hit the temple. The shaky half of the temple that Katara was standing on gave one last rumble before it started to break away from the other half and fall.
With a jump, she launched herself towards the other side. The side that was still solid. Half her body landed on the ground, but her legs dangled off the newly made cliff. With nothing to grab on to, she started to slide. Katara's heart pounded faster.
She slid faster. The feeling of nothing beneath her feet was terrifying and her hands skidded around, looking for the smallest ridge in the completely flat ground that she could use to hold onto. There was none. Before she knew it, she was dangling completely off the cliff, her fingertips gripping the edge. Fear like she'd never felt before coursed through her veins. Her arms were too weak to pull herself up.
Suddenly, a warm hand wrapped around her forearm and gripped her tightly, almost to the point of being painful. But she didn't care. With a strong, sure yank, Katara felt herself hauled up and over the edge of the cliff, collapsing on the stone ground next to the person who'd saved her. Katara recognized the heavy breaths of the person and didn't need to look to see who it was.
Katara let her heartrate slow. She was okay. She wasn't dead. Katara coughed again weakly and stood, ignoring the stabbing pain in her leg. She looked around. The area was completely unfamiliar now with all the rocks, both large and small, that completely covered the area.
She took a step towards where she knew her family and friends were. Because they had to be alive. She couldn't see the tunnel or Appa or anything. How far had she flown in that first blast? She took a few more steps.
Just then, another fire bomb hit the temple, this time just above them. More rocks and debris rained down around them, some landing dangerously close to her.
A warm hand, the same one from before, grabbed her elbow. He had to yell over the sounds of the airships.
"Katara!" She didn't look at him. "We have to get out of here."
She yanked her arm out of his grip, ignoring the pain in her head and her leg, which was making it hard to think. "No. I need to find the others first." Her voice was a little manic and desperate, but it was forceful too.
"They'll find a way out. We'll meet up with them." More rocks fell around them. "We need to go now!" he yelled again. Katara finally turned to look at him. He wasn't in great shape either. Cuts and scrapes and burns were scattered across his usually ivory smooth skin. His eyes were serious when she looked into them. She knew he was right, but there was no way she wasn't at least going to look for the others first.
"You go. I'm staying." She tried to run again but yelled out when her leg reminded her that was impossible. She stumbled, her knees hitting the stone ground painfully. Just then another blast hit somewhere farther away, but it still shook the ground they were standing on.
Zuko's warm and annoyingly tight hand wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her forcefully to her feet. She wanted to fight against him, but her head throbbed, and her mind was too muddled.
"Come on," he grumbled angrily. Katara felt him pull her behind him and lead the way out from the open air where they were visible to the air ships. He moved too fast for her to process the pain this was causing her. Her leg stung terribly, but she plowed on behind him.
He led them up and around rocks and through the temple until finally they were through to the ground above the temple. The sun was shining bright and beautiful. Katara could still feel and hear the booms from the air ships hitting the temple below them. They were completely destroying it, she thought sadly.
She finally looked up to take in her surroundings. Zuko was leading them to the edge of a sparse forest. Katara knew that even though it wasn't dense, it would be a good place for cover. When they finally hit the forest, they stopped to catch their breath. They were both breathing heavy from running so fast and far.
Pain like Katara had never felt before shot through her leg the second she stopped running. It was too much. She succumbed to the black at the edge of her vision, letting it darken everything else she could see. Her body went limp and she fell forward.
. . .
The flickering heat and crackles of a campfire woke Katara up slowly. When her eyes were open completely, she noticed she was lying on the grassy ground, staring at a campfire. She sat up, ignoring the throbbing in her head and the ache in her body. When she stared down, she noticed her leg had been crudely wrapped in red cloth and a split. Whoever had done it, had had no idea what they were doing. She groaned internally when she remembered who'd likely done it. Zuko.
Katara reached to pull the water from her waterskin out to start healing herself but gasped quietly when she realized it wasn't there. Spirits. It must've been blown off her in the blast that had sent her flying. She felt extremely vulnerable without it. Naked almost.
She whipped her head around, trying to take in her surroundings. It was night out, and the glow of the campfire only lit a small area around her. She must've been out for most of the day, considering the airship attack had happened early this morning. She seemed to be completely alone. It also didn't seem like there was any water close by. Katara silently cursed. Her stomach rumbled loudly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since yesterday evening.
Suddenly, some trees around her rustled, and her head whipped to examine them. She couldn't see anything in the darkness. Her body had suddenly tensed, waiting for danger to jump out.
"Relax," said a husky voice. Katara did when she recognized it, but in annoyance instead of relief. "It's just me." Zuko stepped into the glow of the campfire light, his scarred face ominous in the shadow and low light that surrounded them. "Glad you're up," he continued. "I was starting to get worried."
"I'm sure," said Katara sarcastically. She hated when he pretended to care. Zuko didn't grace this with a response. Instead, he sat down all the of the stuff that Katara had just realized he'd been carrying. Kneeling next to the fire, he added some more wood from a pile that was next to it. A flame shot out of his hand when he was done, increasing the light and warmth around them.
"Here," he said, and to Katara surprise he tossed something to her. It landed heavily in her lap and Katara looked at it closer. Her mouth opened a little when she realized it was a water skin filled with water. It was made of dark brown leather and was a little bigger than her old one. "I tried to find some water for us to camp by but there's none around here. Hopefully that's enough."
That was strangely thoughtful, she realized. She pushed the thought away. "Where'd you get this?" Katara mumbled, trying to hide the slight amount of surprise she was feeling.
"There's a town not far from here," he replied without looking at her. Katara watched him sling a bag off his shoulder and begin pulling food out of it.
"So you stole it?" she questioned, her tone accusatory.
He paused at her words and met her eyes. "Yes," he said defensively, as if waiting for her to yell at him. Katara scoffed. Of course he had. Why would she have expected anything else. Another voice in her head reminded her of the time she and the others had stolen Fire Nation clothes. But that'd been different, said the other side of her brain. Katara stared at the waterskin, a sour taste in her mouth. "I can take it back if you want," he said as he started pulling more food out.
Katara didn't respond. She took off the piece of bark he'd used as a makeshift splint and untied the red cloth he'd used to tie it onto her leg. Upon closer examination of him and the cloth, she realized he'd ripped some of the fabric of his tunic off. Though she tried not to let it, the gesture touched her. A little.
She pulled the water out of the waterskin and let it envelop her hands. Quickly, she began healing her leg, letting the water give her a glimpse of what was going on inside. The bone in the lower part of her leg was broke almost clean through. She closed her eyes and worked thoroughly, willing the bone to start fusing back together.
"Where are the others?" she asked tersely.
Zuko hesitated and Katara looked up from her work. "I haven't seen them all day." Katara's eyes widened. "But I'm sure they got out," he added.
No. Tears stung behind her eyes. They were completely split apart now, with not that long until the comet. Aang needed to keep training with Zuko. Were the rest of them all together still? Or had they been separated too? Had they made it through the tunnel? How were they all going to find each other? What if some of them…NO. They all were alive. They had to be. Aang would've flown out on Appa and the others would've made it through the tunnel. Even with the blast.
Katara looked away from Zuko without saying anything and began working on her leg again. Her stomach rumbled again, this time a little painfully. Healing was taking a lot of her energy and was harder on an empty stomach.
Zuko walked over to her and held out a piece of fruit and some bread. Katara stopped healing but didn't look him. "Katara, just take it. I know you're hungry." That was stolen food. She couldn't take it. And by the way he was talking, she could tell this clearly was not the first time he'd stolen food like this. Spirits. She hated everything about him.
Her stomach rumbled again and Katara reached a reluctant hand up to take it. Zuko walked back over to the other side of the campfire and plopped down, already chewing his own food. He stared at the fire.
When she finished, she began healing again, already feeling the boost in energy the food had given her. Her thoughts wandered as she worked. She could feel Zuko's eyes on her and knew he was watching her heal.
Though she hated to admit it, Zuko had saved her a lot today. First with the falling rocks, then at the cliff, again when he'd pulled her from the crumbling temple and gotten them to the forest, and now again with the water and the food. Not to mention the way he'd clearly tried to help her broken leg. He'd done a lot.
When she was finished healing, Katara guided the water back into its container. Her leg wasn't completely healed, but one more session would probably do the trick.
"Umm" she said quietly. Zuko turned to look at her face. "Thanks. For everything." She may not like him, but it'd almost be rude not to acknowledge everything he'd done. Zuko smirked at her but didn't say anything. She was suddenly angry again at his expression. "What?" she said more forcefully.
Zuko shrugged. "Nothing," he said lightly as he shook his head. "I'd just figured you didn't know how to say thanks. This is a nice surprise," he teased. His golden eyes glinted in the firelight and for some reason Katara's heart leapt. Then she rolled her eyes and looked away. It never took him long to remind her just how arrogant and annoying he was.
"You know, I'm pretty sure this whole thing is your fault anyways," she said, her voice thick with hatred. "If you hadn't been there, your crazy sister wouldn't have shown up and blown the place to bits and we wouldn't even be in this situation! Nothing but destruction follows you, Zuko."
His face turned serious. It was a moment before he spoke. "I know." The sadness in his voice caught her off guard, wiping away some of the anger she was feeling. "I'm sorry." Had he already had this thought? Was he already blaming himself? Katara sighed, suddenly feeling a little bad for him. Maybe she'd been a little too harsh just then.
No. This was Zuko. The person who'd betrayed her in Ba Sing Se. Played her. Taken advantage of her caring nature and then thrown it back in her face. Because of his choice, Aang had almost died. She could never forgive him. And she would never make the same mistake with him again. No matter how hard he tried to make her feel sorry for him.
They sat in silence a while longer. Sleep tugged at Katara's eyes, which didn't make sense considering she'd been knocked out all day. "We should look for them first thing in the morning," she explained after a while. Even though she wanted to, there was no way they could tonight. It was too dark and too late. And she was beat.
"Agreed," Zuko replied, his voice low. The fire had burned down considerably. She could just barely make out his outline across from her. He must've been tired too, because she saw him lie down on his side, using his arms as a pillow. It seemed he wasn't eager to make conversation with her either.
Katara laid back too, looking up into the starry sky. Before she knew it, she was asleep.
A/N Hey guys! Thanks for reading. I have a lot of ideas where this could go. I'm not planning on it being long, but hey. That's what I said about my last story lolol. And I promise, things between these two are going to ramp up quick :)