Disclaimer: The Avatar world and characters belong to Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
Just a little note that last week I rewrote and updated chapter 8 so if you want to read a slightly different Hakoda reaction then please feel free to read the new version.
Thank you for the reviews and all the support!
Katara was asleep in her bed when, suddenly, everything began to shake. She woke up to see a pair of panicked golden eyes staring at her as she blinked in surprise, uncertain as to what was going on. Zuko was leaning across her, his fingers wrapped around both of her shoulders as he shook her out of her slumber.
"Katara, wake up! We have to get out of here," he shouted in her face.
Alarmed and annoyed, Katara's arms instinctively trailed up Zuko's shoulders to shove him away.
"Get off of me!" She pushed him away and sat up, still somewhat dazed. Katara had desperately needed a few more hours of sleep after staying up so late talking to her father, and felt disorientated after being woken up so violently. She noticed that the room was still shaking - in fact, she could feel the whole temple trembling.
"We're under attack." Zuko was pulling her out of her bed now, dragging her up by her hands. "I'll be right back!"
He reached down to pick up Katara's clothes, which were folded neatly at the foot of her bed, and threw her water tribe outfit at her before darting out of the room and towards his own room.. Katara quickly shrugged on her clothes, and had just finished pulling on her top and was slinging on her waterbending pouch when Zuko dashed back into the room. She watched as he swiped her plastic ring off of her nightstand and pocketed it.
"What are you doing?" Katara asked, finally coming to her fully-conscious senses.
Zuko ignored her question. "Come on!" His voice was frantic. He grabbed Katara's shoes, which she hadn't had time to put on, and gestured for her to follow him with his free hand.
As they ran down the hallway, Katara stared at the scene in front of her in shock. She could feel her feet being caked in dust and soot from the explosions as she swerved to avoid the little chunks of rock that littered their path from where the temple was caving in. Katara felt the vibrations get stronger with every step they took the beautiful temple was shaking to pieces from what she assumed were explosions.
The bombs rained down across the Eastern Air Temple as they ran; it was hard to see the courtyard at the end of the corridor due to the smoke and clouds of dust that had arisen. Zuko had stayed a step or two ahead of Katara as they ran, shouting the occasional warning where he thought she might step on something sharp. They had nearly reached the end of the corridor when he noticed something small and shiny bounce off of his shoe as he ran.
"Fuck!" Zuko hissed, stopping in his tracks to search for the ring that had dropped among the ruins. Katara's pace carried her past him, but she slowed to a stop when she realised he wasn't running next to her anymore. She paused at the foot of the courtyard's entrance to glance back at Zuko.
"Zuko, come on! What the hell are you doing?" Katara shouted.
He wasn't leaving without the ring. It was stupid, Zuko knew; he was risking his life and Katara's to look for it. Zuko could feel his charred ring in his pocket, so it was Katara's that had fallen out. He was aware that the ring was just a piece of plastic, but it felt too important to leave behind. It was a symbol of their marriage, after all - what would happen to them if Zuko left this ring behind in the burned ruins? He was on his hands and knees, Katara's boots by his side, frantically feeling the floor around him for the tiny plastic band.
"Ah!" Zuko cried as spotted it, lying on the ground a few feet from him, already half covered in dust and dirt. Zuko picked it up and slid it onto his pinkie finger, the only finger small enough to fit Katara's ring size, as he was worried that if he put it back in his pocket it would fall out again.
As Zuko stood up from the ground, picking up Katara's shoes and preparing to sprint again, another bomb went off nearby.
Katara ducked, flinching from the noise and vibration, raising her arms over her head. Zuko watched in horror as the ceiling and archway above her began to crumble and disintegrate.
"Look out!" Zuko shouted as he surged forwards, grabbing Katara by the waist and tackling her through the archway. They fell through the air, Zuko skidding onto his back to take the impact of the landing. The momentum caused them to roll across the ground, into the exposed courtyard. Katara was closer to the floor while they lay on their stomachs, and Zuko kept her pinned to the ground as he caught his breath and assessed their surroundings.
"What are you doing?" Katara asked, confused as to why they were still lying on the ground.
"Stopping you from being crushed by rocks," Zuko snapped, irritated by her lack of gratitude.
"Well good work. I'm not crushed, so you can get off me now," Katara grunted as she tried to push herself up from under Zuko's arm. She grabbed her boots, which had fallen a few feet from them, and ran towards the metal shutters. Or at least, what remained of them; there were gaps in them large enough for her to fit through.
"I'll take that as a thank you," Zuko responded sarcastically as stood up. Zuko stared at the enemy air balloons hovering across the canyon, recognising the insignia immediately.
Katara jumped through the gaps in the steel panels, joining the others, and Zuko quickly followed suit. He grabbed Sokka and forced him to hold out his hand where he proceeded to deposit his burned ring, Katara's ring which he slid off of his finger, and the marriage certificate which he had nestled under his shirt.
"Please look after these," Zuko grunted as he began to run away from the group, hopping over the remains of the shutters.
"Zuko! What are you doing?" Toph called.
"I'll hold them off!" He yelled back. "I think this is a family reunion." Zuko sprinted towards the fountain and the cliff edge, hoping to draw the attacker's attention.
"Zuko, no!" Aang yelled, moving to follow his firebending master before Sokka held him back.
"It's gonna be okay, Aang, let's just get the others out of here."
The fourth wall in their box was not made of steel, but was part of the mountain. While Zuko had gone to grab Katara, Toph and Haru had used their earthbending to create a tunnel through it, leading to safety. Katara stared at the group of people waiting at the tunnel entrance: Haru, the Duke, Teo, and her father. Hakoda rushed forward and swept Katara up into a big hug.
"I couldn't leave without knowing you were okay," he told her. Katara pushed her father away, looking at her brother and friends.
"Why are we not going with them?!" Katara asked, her voice panicked.
"Appa won't go underground. We already tried, but he won't go, not after what happened in the Cave of Two lovers," Sokka explained gently. Appa roared in the background as Aang tried to guide him out of the corner. "We're staying with Aang, and the others are using the tunnel to get to Zuko's air ship."
"I'm sorry to break this up, but you guys need to go before we all become part of the rubble," Toph interrupted, struggling to hold the tunnel's form under all the shaking rock.
"No! It's too soon! The Fire Nation can't separate our family again," Katara argued, turning back to her father. "You can't leave, we just got you back!"
"It'll be okay, Katara. It's not forever," Hakoda promised her.
Katara stared up at her father for another moment before resigning herself to the fact that there was no time left to debate it. She tightened her arms around him briefly before nodding and turning away. She climbed onto Appa while Sokka hugged his father goodbye. After letting Hakoda go, Haru's group began sprinting down their escape route. Sokka pulled Suki with him towards Appa, and Katara helped lift the Kyoshi Warrior up into the saddle. Toph placed her hand against the shaking cliff edge in an attempt to ground herself so she could see her surroundings better.
"I can clear that away and we can fly out through there!" Toph yelled to the group as she pointed in the direction of a wall of debris. She used her earthbending to push herself up onto Appa.
"Um, there's an awful lot of fire in that direction," Suki mumbled nervously.
"We'll get through," Aang said as he grasped Appa's reigns. "Let's go."
Zuko swerved past another canister explosion, jumping through the smoke until he finally reached the edge, aiming several fireballs at the ship in front of him. The smoke cleared enough for him to see Azula watching from her airship on a raised platform. Her sadistic smirk and overly-confident stance confirmed what Zuko had already suspected when the first explosion went off.
"What are you doing here?" Zuko shouted.
"Isn't it obvious yet?" Azula held the railing with both hands while she tipped her head back, laughing manically. "I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child," she called back at him in delight. Still holding the railing, Azula flipped forward, sending a spiralling stream of blue fire from her feet straight at Zuko.
Zuko knew that Azula's fire would have a much bigger impact than any of the canisters. He ran for his life, jumping over the fountain as her attack obliterated it to smithereens. The impact of the explosion knocked Zuko forward, and he grunted in pain as he rolled onto the ground, coughing as he inhaled the smoke. Zuko knew that the canister explosions were only a warm up for what Azula really had planned.
The temple pillars began to crumble, with more rocks crashing down and the ground itself beginning to give way as the temple fell to pieces. Not one to back away from a fight, Zuko used the growing pile of rocks and debris as his base of attack as he ran forwards, launching himself into the air. Mid-jump, Zuko seriously regretted his decision as his momentum began to slow. The cliff face and nothingness hung beneath him, and Zuko kicked his legs in a running motion, circling his arms to propel himself further. He landed in a grateful heap onto the nearest air-balloon ship, clinging to its side for dear life.
The gang burst out from under the rubble, with Aang earthbending a shield of rocks in front of Appa to protect themselves as Azula shot fire towards them. Azula ducked as they blindly flew right over her before turning back to find Zuko. Aang dropped the rocks to allow himself to see and steer properly. Sokka, Katara, Suki, and Momo all looked back from Appa's saddle to watch Zuko face Azula.
Zuko had climbed to the top of the airship he was on, facing his sister's ship across from where she stood. He had never really thought that it would come to this; battling Azula on airships while she tried to kill him. But he had always sort of known that when he left their family as a "traitor", Azula wouldn't hold back; he had just hoped she would aim for imprisonment over murder. Either way, Zuko was determined to stop her from capturing his friends.
He ran forward, using his firebending to push him off of the ship and through the air. Azula stood, waiting, and sent a deadly blast of blue fire with a precise flick of her hand. He blocked it mid-air with a kick as he landed. He countered with a punch of his own, causing Azula to jump back, giving him enough time to land safely on the side of the ship. Azula sliced her arm through the air, sending a line of fire which Zuko avoided and blocked with a kick.
"And I'll have to get rid of your poor wife too," Azula said tauntingly. "I can't go and leave her as a widow with a potential heir to my throne, can I?"
Azula tried to push Zuko onto the defensive, but he continued to fire attacks as he made strides up the side of the ship. He was aware that he needed to keep his momentum moving forward to avoid being pushed backwards off the ship.
Katara was well out of earshot for Azula's threats. Aang was busy swerving Appa through the onslaught of attacks from the airships through the canyon whilst Katara stood in the middle of Appa's saddle, using her waterbending to deflect any remaining attacks from behind. They were heading straight into a ship, with several firebenders ready to blast from the side, causing Aang to pull Appa up into a steep incline and began circling back towards Zuko. Everyone screamed while they struggled to maintain their place on-board.
Zuko knew Azula was just trying to rile him up, but she had always been good at it, and knew which buttons to push. What infuriated Zuko the most was that he doubted Azula was lying - he wouldn't put it past her to kill Katara because she was married to him.
"No!" Zuko shouted, continuing to block Azula's attacks as he neared the top edge of the balloon. They were nearly on equal footing, and Azula snarled in fury with each step that he took forwards.
Azula threw a number of hits in his direction before she surged towards him, aiming her backhand fist at him.
"Argh!" Zuko yelled as he simultaneously blocked her offence and countered with his own backhand fist, flying towards hers. Their punches met across the short distance simultaneously and the impact from the explosion of fire sent them both flailing backwards down different sides of the airship.
Azula bounced onto her back, her body somersaulting as she fell backwards, spinning through the air as she fell. Meanwhile, Zuko rolled down his side of the ship, unable to grab onto anything to steady him; he also plummeted down, free-falling through the sky.
Katara watched as Zuko fell. For the most selfish of moments, it crossed her mind that if they didn't catch him, Katara wouldn't have to worry about being married to him anymore. But for the most part, she felt fear as she watched him fall. Katara pushed the ugly thought away and stood up, stretching her arms out towards Zuko as Aang steered Appa underneath the skydiving firebender. Katara felt a surge of emotions Zuko plummeted towards them; and she didn't want to think about why she was so nervous about him or why, when their hands finally made contact and she grabbed hold of him to pull him down into the saddle, she felt such a rush of relief. Zuko had saved her life, and she owed him for that, she tried to reassure herself A life for a life.
Zuko's landing into the saddle was far from graceful; he was a heap of limbs, half in Katara's lap and half face first on the saddle.
"Thank you," Zuko gasped as he righted himself into a seated position, watching in disbelief as Azula continued to spin through the air. "She's not going to make it."
As if Azula heard him, she suddenly flipped, kicking fire from her legs to propel herself towards the mountain wall. She used a clip from her hair to stop her descent, scraping it against the cliff face as she slowed to a halt. She hung there while she watched Zuko and the group fly off.
"Of course she did," Zuko muttered to himself.
Everyone sat in silence, catching their breath and calming their heartrates. Katara moved to sit next to Sokka, putting on her shoes for the first time that day. She curled up against her brother's side, relieved that they were safe but very aware that they were separated from their father again.
"I hope Dad and the others are okay," she murmured, and Sokka nodded his head in understanding; he hoped they were all okay too.
After a while, once Katara could no longer hear her heart hammering in her ears, she managed to drift off to sleep, her head resting on Sokka's shoulder. She was finally catching up on her lost hours while they were in the safety of Appa's saddle.
Sokka waited until he was sure Katara was deeply asleep before reaching into his shirt, carefully, with the arm that she wasn't resting against. He pulled out the document Zuko had shoved at him earlier, and held it out to the firebender. Zuko reached across the saddle to take the paper, and the rings Sokka subsequently pulled from his pocket.
"Thank you," Zuko said quietly.
Zuko stared at the two rings in his hand. His was no longer a perfect circle that would fit around a finger; it was burned and blackened, melted into an odd shape. Katara's ring looked immaculate in comparison; even though it was a little dirty, it still held its tacky plastic shine and neat shape. Was that how Zuko looked next to Katara?
"What are those?" Suki asked in confusion.
"Our wedding rings." Zuko answered grimly.
"Plastic and… charred plastic?"
"I didn't exactly have time to go ring shopping." Zuko rolled his eyes as he defended the rings. "Unless there was a gift shop aboard that prison ship that I missed?"
"I meant to get a key chain from there before we left," Suki shrugged.
"Thank you for going to get Katara earlier," Sokka added quietly. "I know there wasn't time for him to say it earlier, but I know my Dad thanks you too. He was impressed at how quickly you acted."
Zuko nodded, unsure of how to answer. He looked over at Katara's sleeping form and thought about giving Katara the ring back, or asking Sokka to slip it into one of her pockets. Zuko hoped that maybe after he had saved her life and she had saved his that she would trust him again, and they could be amicable enough that she would be ok with keeping her wedding ring. But Zuko was not an optimist, and he had learned his lesson several times over in the past few weeks; if he presented Katara with her ring now, she would just see all of his previous actions as attempts to force her into accepting their marriage.
Zuko sighed, and slid both rings back into his pocket. Maybe another time.
