EDITED
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"What happened?" Aang asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the others. Katara struggle to tear her thoughts away from Zuko as they moved through the cave to an open area with a blessedly flowing fountain. She took a seat on the ledge and idly ran her hands across the surface of the water, drawing comfort from her element as her bottom lip quivered. She bounced her legs in discomfort as she refrained from making eye contact with Aang, somehow afraid he would see the longing in her eyes.
"Nothing happened," Katara lied, stumbling slightly over her words. Everything in her protested against calling this sudden connection to the firebender 'nothing', and Aang looked unconvinced. As Katara tried to focus her mind on anything but Zuko and convince Aang further, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as Aang's grey eyes widened in fear. Katara spun around, hands already coming up in a fighting stance, and was met immediately with her own version of a walking nightmare.
The firebending Princess stood in a relaxed stance that belied the calculating anger in her eyes. Somehow, despite her relaxation, she simply radiated power and assurance. Every piece of her carefully manicured appearance screamed power and royalty.
Katara felt exhausted just looking at her.
"How sweet," Azula said in a way that clearly conveyed she thought the scene was anything but. "The Avatar and his Waterbending savage."
Katara struggle to get her shivering under control as she tensed. Aang looked at her concernedly as her hands visibly trembled. The Fire Princess' golden eyes zeroed in on Katara as she cackled.
"My apologies, I thought that icy hovel where you and your peasant family are from was cold," Azula stated lightly as she stalked them, hands behind her back, clearly at ease. "I must have been ill-informed."
Hot anger welled up in Katara, hot enough to overcome the icy cavern in her chest that threatened to overwhelm her. Now that she thought about it, she was actually very angry...angrier than she had ever felt. She tensed as Azula's arm began to outstretch, tired of playing cat and mouse and ready to attack head on. Her pristine fingernails began to glow blue─
Without warning, a blast of fire rose up between them, forcing the princess back. Unlike every other time Katara had been confronted with her opposing element, the fire felt warm and welcoming, energizing her and focusing her mind. On autopilot, she gathered a large portion of water to knock Azula off balance, snaking the watery arm around the princess' ankle as she stood frozen in surprise.
Unfortunately, Azula was a more than worthy opponent, and she managed to break her watery manacles with a precise blade of blue fire. Assisted by another jet of her element, the princess catapulted up to a higher vantage point in the cave.
The smoke slowly cleared to reveal a scarred face. Zuko, Katara breathed a sigh, her whole body relaxing in his presence. Without conscious thought, she moved towards the Prince, all the while aware of Azula's gaze watching them calculatingly.
She paused when Zuko shook his head minutely. Don't give her a reason to focus on you, Katara realized. She stopped where she was and tried to tear her eyes away from Zuko, looking at Aang's face pinched with worry instead. Luckily (or unluckily) all of Azula's attention seemed to be reserved for her brother.
"Well if it isn't dearest Zuzu?" she practically purred. Her brother's eyes glinted with some unknown emotion as he regarded his sister. For the first time, Katara realized everything that was at stake. Right here was the time for Zuko to make a choice. She had been sure before, with the way he was talking that he was ready to switch sides, but now, facing his sister, Katara realized exactly what she was wordlessly asking Zuko to give up. She, a stranger, was asking him to turn on his family, his life's effort, everything he had ever known, on a whim, on the hope that they'd win...On her. If Zuko didn't make the right choice here, all of their lives would be at stake. They'd probably be at stake even if he did decide to side with them.
Zuko's brow furrowed in rage as his lip curled up, his fist clenched at his side. Katara felt her own ire rising as she glared at the Fire Princess with hatred.
"Azula."
She relaxed carelessly out of her firebending form as she regarded the group mockingly.
"I have to say brother, though I always deemed Uncle a traitor, I never would have imagined you would turn on our great nation so completely."
Zuko visibly grit his teeth, the vein near his jaw pulsing.
"I want the Fire Nation to be great just as much as you do," he bit out. The Princess rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure you think you do, but unfortunately, I have no time for the ravings of a former Prince. What will it be, dear brother?" The corner of her berry red lips raised in the ghost of a smile as she examined her nails for any imagined imperfection. "Come home and rule in your rightful place...or hang out with the Waterbending savage in jail."
His eyes still showed nothing, but Katara could practically feel the rage radiating off of the Prince. Zuko took a long look around the room, golden eyes focusing on each teen in turn until they landed on the Avatar. He moved his arm stiffly towards Aang and Katara gasped, already starting to draw up water. The Princess was watching on with glee, mouth open as if ready to gloat when─
Zuko's arm suddenly snapped in her direction decisively as red fire, tips tinged with blue shot towards his sister. She barely managed to deflect the blast, visibly shocked, and Katara took that as her cue to put her rage to good use, her battle hardened instincts reacting immediately to press their advantage in the form of a series of ice spikes aimed at the Princess' head. Aang finally seemed to snap out of his stupor and join in, but just as they seemed to be getting the upper hand, Dai Li agents streamed through the door to provide backup, separating the monk from his companions as they struggled against the talented princess together.
She and Zuko fought like a well-oiled machine. Maybe it was all the fighting they had done against each other, she thought off-handedly. She didn't get much more time to think about it as a burst of blue fire interrupted her train of thought, and she was drawn back into the battle that seemed only to be getting worse.
She could tell Aang was struggling. The Dai Li had forced him on the retreat and, as she drew water around her to take up the octopus position again her eyes were drawn to his sad gaze from across the room.
"I'm sorry Katara," his lips said. Then there was a glowing green wall between them as Aang created a small shelter of crystals and hunched himself inside of it. In her distraction watching him, Katara was hit by a blast, and she groaned painfully as she felt her body impact the wall behind. She could fuzzily hear Zuko yelling her name, but she fought her mind and ignored him in favor of watching Aang as he rose above them, the light of his arrow tattoos illuminating the immediate area around him.
He was clearly going into the Avatar State, and somewhere in the recesses of her mind that surprised Katara. Hadn't his chakra been blocked? She struggled to sit up, she could see Azula moving out of the corner of her eye, Zuko becoming aware of her movement at the same time, he ran to catch up with her, but even in her confused state could Katara could tell he wouldn't be quick enough─
Azula struck, bolts of brilliant blue lighting arching around her. She gasped despite herself and could only watch as the bolt of lightning hit Aang square in the chest.
Zuko tackled Azula just then, but it was too late. The shock of seeing Aang fall slid down Katara's spine coldly. She reacted on reflex of a warrior, creating a giant tidal wave that took out the Dai Li and the fighting siblings in one fell swoop. From the corner of her eye she saw Zuko's Uncle rush out of the tunnels, separating the siblings and yelling at them to go. She looked down in her arms and realized Aang was cradled there, but he was warm, too warm.
He wasn't breathing.
The buzzing warmth was back and with it was some immediate relief for her current state. She could suddenly hear and see again, and her eyes focused on Zuko in front of her, his hand on her arm. His eyebrows were pinched together in worry.
We need to go, she heard. She nodded, finding some untapped pool of strength as Zuko took Aang gently from her to free her arms so she could draw water around them. She hesitated as she moved to propel them upwards, looking at Zuko questioningly.
Your Uncle?
He simply shook his head. On their trip up, she caught sight of him surrendering to Azula, many Dai Li agents having been taken out by him in distraction.
She willed the water to move faster, her mind going a million miles a minute in panic. Soon, Azula might turn her attention and lightning on them. They needed to move─to find Sokka, Toph, Appa and probably the Earth King (though hopefully not his pet bear), and then she and Zuko could─
She cut herself off as she realized Zuko had been automatically factored into her plans for the future. That was dangerous. A part of her wanted to rejoice. Zuko was at her side, his simmering warmth constantly floating on the edge of her awareness, keeping the cold at bay. She wanted nothing more than to sink into it, to trust Zuko with all that she could, but she needed to keep her wits. Despite the fact that her faith in him had proven to be well-placed and he had fought his own sister for her, they still had a lot of history, and it was nothing that could be solved in one night.
Well, they would have plenty of time to work through it, she thought to herself. She looked at Zuko next to her, his hand still on her arm. His face had gone back to that impenetrable brick wall, but somehow she could sense the sadness behind his eyes. She simply looked at him, attempting to communicate with her eyes as her hands were still occupied with Waterbending.
I'm sorry about your Uncle.
He looked at her, leaning into the warmth between them subconsciously. His lips twisted into a sarcastic smile.
As soon as I decide to be good, my Uncle is taken from me and the Avatar in injured. Where do I belong that I won't mess things up?
It's not your fault, Katara thought sadly. It's none of our faults.
Katara caught his gaze again as she used the last of her strength, dipping into the warmth buzzing between her and Zuko and delivering them from the belly of Ba Sing Se.
She dropped to the ground exhausted as Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King approached them at a jog.
"Hey!" Sokka yelled, waving his hands, "We finally found you guys!" He grabbed Katara in a brotherly hug, then finally seemed to catch sight of Zuko holding Aang's limp body.
"Hey!" He pointed an accusing finger in Zuko's face. "What did you do to Aang and my sister?"
Once again, his face betrayed nothing, but Katara could easily sense the intense rage and shame simmering under Zuko's skin, clearly at the end of his rope after watching his Uncle be arrested and facing his sister. She decided to intervene before things got out of hand.
"No time Sokka!" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him back the way he came. "We need to get Appa and get out of here! Zuko's coming with us," she stated firmly.
The Prince glanced at her in surprise and she swallowed nervously. She and Zuko hadn't spoken about him coming with them, but Katara was sure he would prefer it over waiting in the Earth Kingdom for Azula to find him.
Toph began walking next to them, not even sparing a glance for Zuko as she examined Aang.
"He's injured," she deadpanned.
She nodded a little maniacally. "Yes, we just need to get to Appa and as far from here as possible and I can heal him." She tried to state this confidenty, despite not being at all confident in her abilities to do so.
The halls blurred into the night sky as they stole away from the palace under the blanket of darkness. With Aang's injury, no one had yet spared much thought for Zuko, so he and Katara were able to trail behind the rest of the group without question as Toph floated Aang on a makeshift earth stretcher. Katara was eternally grateful when Zuko once again rested his hand on the small of her back without prompting, keeping her exhaustion and worry somewhat at bay.
Thanks, she directed to Zuko. He didn't respond, but he nodded stiffly as they continued on. Katara sensed that he was barely holding it together, and worried her bottom lip as she wondered how she might make him feel better.
You're doing it right now, Zuko's thoughts floated into her brain. She looked at him questioningly. He shrugged.
Making me feel better, I mean.
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It was not until they soared high above the sky on Appa that Katara was able to focus again.
She seated herself next to Zuko in the corner of the saddle, purposefully brushing against him she did so. The shock of warmth in her stomach invigorating her as she leaned over the Avatar, yanking the chain of the Spirit Water from its place around her neck. Small, precise wrist movements coaxed every last drop from the vial in her desperation, forming the water into a glowing blue ring which she directed to the horrific burn on her friends chest. She willed it to heal him from the inside out, rearranging the broken chi paths inside him with the surgical precision of a healer. Then she prayed feverishly to the Sprits in the name of their only hope.
After several tense moments, Aang's grey-blue eyes fluttered open.
"Katara?" He asked weakly.
She threw her arms around his neck as tears streamed down her face, blowing back into the air from the wind. She could feel Zuko behind her with his hand strategically placed out of sight on her leg.
The Earth King seemed to have been roused by the Avatar's awakening. He glanced up to state the obvious news, his words settling into a pit in her stomach.
"Ba Sing Se has fallen."
Appa bayed mournfully as the Avatar slept on.
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Author's Note: Below is the original Author's note. This is an edited chapter. Okay, that was interesting. I thought my memory was fuzzy of this episode because I couldn't remember how they got to Appa after all that but, reading the transcripts, the show doesn't seem to show it? Let me know if I'm wrong, though I suppose it doesn't matter too much as I personally like my rendition :D. No Zutara next chapter. I'm digging deep into the fandom to write an accurate account of what happened in the month that Aang was sleeping before The Awakening. So I am going where my muses are taking me—Azula.