Book I: Resurrection

It was certainly a life-changing decision.

Korra really didn't know how else to put it. She had the power to either set things back exactly the way they had been for thousands of years or to change things potentially beyond recognition. Yet the thought still nagged at her mind, what if Unalaq had been right? What if spirits and people weren't meant to be separated?

"You're the Avatar," Tenzin said evenly, his warm hand resting gently on her shoulder. "Whatever your decision, I will support you."

For a brief moment, Korra wanted to scream. That wasn't what she wanted, no, needed, to hear right now. She needed Tenzin's infinite fountain of wisdom, how he always knew how to make the right decision. She did not need Tenzin to tell her "it's up to you" when she was deciding with consequences no one could ever predict, but she didn't scream. Avatars didn't scream when forced to make hard decisions, after all. At least, Korra didn't think that they did.

"I… I think I should-" Korra began before a familiar voice rang out across the small clearing they had found themselves in the Spirit World.

"Hey, guys! You will never guess what I just found! Come check this out!" Bolin's eternally upbeat voice rang out, getting the attention of everyone present, turning heads to see the Earthbender waving them all over to him as he stood at the entrance to the Tree of Time.

Thankful for the momentary distraction, Korra rushed over to her friend alongside the others present to see what Bolin had found, hoping against hope that it could help her decide to either close the Spirit Portals or keep them open.

"What'd you find, bro?" Mako asked, his calm, even tone cutting deep into Korra as she flinched at the very thought of the Firebender. All of her memories had come crashing back not long ago, including the hurtful words they had said to one another and especially how that fight had ended. She wasn't ready to face that dilemma either.

Bolin didn't respond verbally, instead, he gave the group a toothy grin and pointed upward. Following the finger, Korra heard the gasps of the others present as she stared at what seemed to be a very large sphere of amber within the Tree of Time. Unsure of why Bolin would call them over for something so natural, Korra squinted her eyes and looked again, trying to figure out what Bolin had thought was so important.

Then she saw it. Distorted by the amber surrounding it, but still visible if one looked hard enough, was what seemed to be a person trapped inside the amber of the Tree of Time. Korra couldn't make out much, but they seemed to be wearing red, had pale skin, and jet black hair that you could only find in one place in the world, the Fire Nation. Or whatever was left of it, anyway.

"Is that a… person?" Korra heard Tenzin tentatively ask from her left, causing Bolin to nod his head as he also stared at the person encased in amber.

"I think so! How badly do you have to screw up in life to get trapped in the Tree of Time for your afterlife, Tenzin?" Bolin asked, nudging the airbending master lightly. Tenzin did not laugh at the attempted joke, in fact, his forming frown only deepened as he studied the scene in front of him. The resulting silence was deafening as Tenzin stared up at the amber, his mind racing at a thousand miles an hour. Even the ever-optimistic Bolin's smile slipped for a second as Tenzin pondered his words.

"I haven't heard of anything like this before in my life. The Tree of Time was a somewhat mythical place even by Spirit World standards, with many believing it to not exist at all," Tenzin began, his eyes never leaving the amber. "That being said, there were stories, fairy tales really, about the Tree of Time. They claimed that its amber was able to slow aging. If this person has been encased in the amber entirely… there's no telling how old they could be. The amber might have stopped their aging entirely. They could be hundreds, maybe even thousands of years old. Potentially predating Avatar Wan's clash with Vaatu that left him trapped inside the tree itself."

"So… you don't think we should break them out?" Bolin asked, causing Tenzin to shake his head softly.

"I haven't the slightest idea of what we should do," Tenzin admitted, his eyes still trained on the still form of a person trapped within the frozen sap.

Idly, Korra knew that Tenzin was deferring to her judgment once again. He'd said mere moments before that he would respect her decisions about letting the Spirit World and physical world interact freely, of course, he'd want to know her opinion on breaking this mystery figure out of the amber before making a decision.

"I think we should break him out," Korra said, only realizing a half-second later that she had said the words out loud. As Korra realized she had indeed said the words aloud, she became acutely aware that every pair of eyes in the tree turned to her, leaving her scrambling for her reasoning. "I mean, I literally just took out Vaatu, so chaos has never been weaker right? If this person works with him or is in any way in league with Vaatu, he should be super weak too then? If not, then they probably don't deserve to be locked in a giant glob of amber for all of time," Korra explained quickly and was beyond relieved when she saw a few heads, namely Bumi, Kya, and Bolin, nod at her reasoning. Mako looked far from convinced, something Korra could worry about later, while Tenzin looked thoughtful.

"As I told you earlier, Korra, you are the Avatar, but more importantly, you are a friend. I will stand by your side no matter your decision," Tenzin said, nodding his head at her. The relief that Korra felt flood through her system at the realization that she hadn't made an ass of herself could scarcely be described, but to put it mildly, it felt good.

"Tenzin, get ready to catch them," Korra ordered before pivoting her foot forward and jutting her arm forward, a plume of fire leaping forth from her fist with just a thought. The arc of fire spiraled gracefully up the Tree of Time before slamming into the dome of amber and dissipating, causing eyebrows to raise on the ground.

"Did that… do anything?" Mako asked cautiously, squinting his eyes to see if her fire had even left a mark on the amber.

"I don't know, hit it again Korra!" Bolin called out, squinting just like his brother at the amber frozen to the ceiling.

Pivoting quickly, Korra spun herself around and kicked upwards, sending another blast of fire upwards towards the amber that was quickly followed by two more blasts thrown from her punches, all of which slammed into the amber without mercy. The resulting impact reverberated throughout the tree, something that set Korra slightly on edge before she saw a few pieces of amber trickle down from the ceiling and land at her feet.

"Mako, give me a hand here!" Korra called out as she threw another plume of fire towards the amber prison. Her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend? Korra honestly didn't know at this point) didn't even hesitate before kicking another blast at the target. As the blasts landed, more chunks of amber were thrown from the prison, and out from the smoke came a figure falling from the amber itself.

"Tenzin!" Korra called out, her eyes widening as their mystery figure plummeted to the earth once more. The airbending master didn't hesitate, in an instant a whirlwind had been summoned to slow the figure's fall, catching him like a mother turtle-duck would her chick, and slowly lowering him to the ground.

Rushing over to the now freed prisoner, Korra stopped just short of touching them and gave them a quick once over. They were clearly male, the well-defined body, tight muscles, and facial structure gave that away pretty quick, but what caught Korra's attention were two things.

Two scars to be specific. On the mystery man's stomach, a horrible, sunburst-shaped scar covered most of his abdomen, like he had taken a direct blast from a cannon or had one of the Equalizer's gloves burning into his gut for minutes at a time. The second scar covered most of the left side of the mystery man's face, stretching from his eyebrow, down onto his cheek, and all the way back to his ear. The mentioned ear had been left shriveled and deformed from the intense scarring.

What stood out to Korra perhaps the most, was the man's age. She wasn't even sure if she could call him a man, he couldn't be much older than she was. Maybe a year or so older than her at best. What had someone so young done to be imprisoned in the Tree of Time for all of time itself?

As she cradled his unconscious body, Korra felt him slowly stir in her arms. Glancing at his face, Korra saw a pair of golden eyes slowly open, yet they were still completely unfocused. Slowly, they glanced at her and focused somewhat on her, more specifically on what she was wearing.

"Katara?" The mystery boy whispered ever so softly, his voice low and raspy, yet not unpleasant on Korra's ears. "Did we win?"

Korra wasn't sure what she was expecting him to say, but it certainly wasn't that. Katara? Her waterbending instructor and one of the best healers in the world? Hero of the Hundred Year War and wife of Avatar Aang? That Katara? Who was this guy?

As soon as the words passed his lips, the golden eyes of… whoever this guy was, rolled back into his head and his eyes drooped closed, his body going limp in Korra's arms. With a jolt, Korra realized that his breathing (which hadn't been that strong, to begin with) was starting to slow and his heartbeat was slowing down dangerously. He needed a healer, and fast. Luckily, she knew just the woman.

"We need to get him to Katara!" Korra barked out, causing the others nearby to jump at the tone of her voice. "His heartbeat is slowing down, he needs a healer to fix whatever being in the amber did to him!"

"I got him!" Bolin called out, scooping the boy up into his arms with little effort as they took off for the spirit portal. As they sprinted through the portal and the frosty wind of the South Pole hit her face, Korra realized idly that she had made her decision already. The portals should stay open, the Avatar didn't need to be a bridge between the worlds. Spirits and people should interact with one another, not be separated entirely.

But that could wait, right now Korra had a mystery that needed Katara before he died in their arms minutes after being freed from the Tree of Time's sap.

Seventy-One Years Ago

The sky was blood red, and Zuko had never felt more alive. Sozin's Comet soared across the sky, leaving the Fire Nation Prince feeling like the volcano Avatar Roku had nearly brought down on his head, volatile and powerful. Shivering involuntarily, Zuko took a slow breath in, before exhaling just as slowly to tame the inferno dancing just beneath his skin.

"What does it feel like?" He heard a voice come from his left. Opening his eyes and turning his head slightly, Zuko found himself looking into the slightly concerned blue eyes of Katara, her hands gripping Appa's reins tightly as they soared across the sky towards Caldera.

"Powerful… dangerous. I don't want to try anything while we're on Appa, I'm afraid I might incinerate us both," Zuko admitted as he took another slow breath. "The power that wiped out the Air Nomads… I always thought that Sozin was a master tactician, but now I understand. Even the weakest firebender could take on a dozen earthbenders with this power."

"That's… terrifying," Katara muttered softly, her gaze turning back to the horizon and the rising sun. "You really think we can take out Azula when this comet is juicing her up too?"

"We have to. When Uncle frees Ba Sing Se and Aang defeats my father, Azula will be the last obstacle preventing the war from ending and believe me, she is just as dangerous as my father," Zuko answered, a frown marring his features as he remembered all the close calls he'd had with those terrifying cobalt flames, how she had genuinely attempted to kill him at the Western Air Temple. Whatever was left of his sister Lala was gone, only the terrifying Crown Princess Azula remained. His heart ached, but Zuko knew what he had to do. Azula had to go down.

"You sound so sure that the others will succeed, what about us?" Katara asked, her eyes flickering back to Zuko. The banished prince sighed in response.

"I don't know. I guess I always knew deep down that it would come down to Azula and me at some point, I just never wanted to acknowledge it," Zuko admitted as he gazed at the rising sun. "We were always pitted against each other. My father favored her, my mother favored me. She bends blue flames, I can use swords. It was discovered that Azula could bend only three days after me and she's two years younger than me. For a Firelord's family? It only makes sense that we would wind up fighting for the throne."

"But you don't want to," Katara observed, noting the frown that was growing on Zuko's face.

"She's still my sister, Katara," Zuko said softly, his gaze never moving from the sun. "Her first word was Zuzu because she couldn't pronounce my name properly. I called her Lala. For a time, we were happy. How would you feel if we had to take down Sokka because he wanted to drown the Earth Kingdom?"

He didn't need to mention that Sokka would never, in a million years, try something so boneheaded or stupid, but Katara needed to understand that his family was different. His father didn't love him, his sister saw him as an obstacle to overcome (which she had, repeatedly) and his own mother abandoned him. Agni, he would kill for his family to resemble her's in even the slightest way.

"I would feel horrible," Katara whispered, her concerned gaze turning back to Zuko. "Are you still sure you want to do this? We could still turn back and grab Toph, Azula has no idea how to deal with metalbending."

"What I want doesn't matter, Katara," Zuko said simply, his eyes far away. "I don't know if it ever has. This is about what needs to be done and what's right."

A warm hand on his shoulder finally tore his gaze away from the rising sun, turning Zuko's gaze to the concerned waterbender to his left once more.

"What you want should always matter, Zuko. I hope you'll see that one day," Katara said firmly, before giving him a soft smile. "But, for what it's worth, I think that you'll make a great Firelord with that attitude. You're good at putting the needs of others before your own wishes."

Zuko nearly scoffed at the notion. He wanted a great many things, but he knew none of them would ever happen. He wanted a father who wasn't a genocidal maniac bent on killing thousands. He wanted a mother who was still in his life, with her soft smiles and warm hugs. He wanted Azula to be the good kid he remembered pulling out of the waves at Ember Island. He wanted Ozai to love him for who he was, not hate him for it. He wanted a world where the war had never happened, where he had never made so many mistakes blindly chasing his father's approval.

Most of all, he wanted to ignore how his stomach flipped at the simple action of Katara putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him.

"What gave you that idea, me spending months chasing you guys around the globe so I could return home, betraying you beneath Ba Sing Se or hiring an assassin because I was afraid my father would find out that I was the failure he always told me I was?" Zuko grumbled, feeling the power of the comet struggling to tear free and burn everything that stood around him. A slow, deep breath, just like Iroh taught him, helped steady the raging inferno his inner flame had become as sadness swirled in Katara's blue eyes.

"None of that. I know you'll put others before yourself. You gave up everything you had ever wanted to come to train Aang because you knew it was right. You helped Sokka free my father and Suki because you knew it was right. You let me hate you and still helped me confront Yon Rha because you thought it right," Katara responded gently, her hand never leaving Zuko's shoulder.

"As I said, what I want doesn't matter. It's about what's right," Zuko grumbled as he turned his gaze back to the waves. "I can see Caldera on the horizon. It's almost time."

Sure enough, dancing along the horizon line stood the Fire Nation's Capital City. Even from a distance, Zuko could make out its famous landmarks. The palace he grew up in, the marketplace that he and Azula had once snuck out to go visit, the statue of Firelord Sozin which stood in the capitol square, the Great Gates of Azulon, and even, if he squinted, the gardens where his mother would comfort him after Ozai scolded him for never being good enough.

"Promise me you won't do anything rash, Zuko. You know how Azula plays on your emotions," Katara warned, getting a small smirk to form on the lips of the former fire prince.

"Me, do something rash? Never."

Present Day

Korra knew she would need to apologize to Katara for probably breaking her door at some point, but that could wait. She had a dying mystery man to save before worrying about the fact that the poor hinges of Katara's door had definitely suffered some form of permanent damage from the impact of her boot slamming into the door.

The door itself, luckily, shot open like a lemur-bat out of a cage. In a heartbeat, the solid oak swung open and slammed into the walls, sending a crack echoing throughout the healing igloo as the structure itself shook from the impact. Rushing through the now open door, Korra and Bolin surged inside, with the Avatar wildly looking for Katara. She would know how to help, she had to.

"Master Katara!" Korra cried out, her eyes sweeping the igloo several times over with no luck before she heard a faint voice respond.

"Yes Korra, what's wrong?" Katara asked softly, emerging from a different room with a raised eyebrow. "Who needs healing?"

"I… well we don't really know. He was trapped in some sort of prison in the Tree of Time, so we freed him. He woke up for like two seconds, said your name, passed out again and we think he might be dying!" Korra blurted out without warning. Judging from the complete lack of understanding on Katara's face, Korra realized she had probably done a pretty poor job explaining what had happened to someone who wasn't there, but now wasn't the time for that. He needed a healer and quick.

"All right…" Katara trailed off slowly, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the limp figure in Bolin's arms. "Put him in the water, I'll see what I can do,"

Without any grace at all, Bolin all but threw the mystery man into the healing pool Katara kept in the middle of her igloo. Luckily, he landed face up (Korra wasn't looking to bend the water out of an unconscious guy's lungs) and floated gently in the water as Katara gave Bolin something of a flat look and made her way over to the pool. Far too slowly for Korra's liking, but then again, she wasn't eighty-five. Katara was probably moving as fast as she could.

As she made her way to the pool, Katara's face was the calm, collected, and confident healer that Korra had known all her life. She had spent decades learning from the best masters in the world after all. There was no wound Katara couldn't heal, no disease she couldn't wash out and no infection she couldn't cleanse. She would fix whatever was wrong with their new, recently liberated, prisoner, Korra knew it.

At least, Korra thought she knew it until Katara looked down into the tub. In a heartbeat, all the color drained from Katara's face, and the aging waterbending master stumbled back as if someone had struck her. In an instant, Bolin was at Katara's side helping steady her and looking to Korra for some sort of explanation, but Korra had none. Gone was the calm, collected, and confident Katara that Korra had known all her life. The aging master's skin was an ashen white, her breathing was coming in short, rapid breaths and her balance seemed to be thrown off as Katara took another look into the healing pool. Apparently, her second look confirmed whatever Katara had seen at first, but this time the old master didn't tear her gaze away. Instead, she stared unflinchingly at the unconscious man in front of her like he had just returned from the dead.

"This… this is impossible," Katara muttered to both herself and the unconscious man as tears began to well up in her eyes, leaving Korra to fear for the worst. "I watched you die, all those years ago. I cried at your funeral and watched Iroh burn your body. How are you here?"

"Master Katara?" Korra ventured cautiously, snapping Katara out of whatever trance she had been pulled into. Blue eyes, once so comforting and caring, were now cold as ice and twice as guarded as they swiveled to Korra. In that exact moment, Korra felt like she was a little girl lost in the spirit world all over again, small and unsure as Katara's piercing gaze looked directly into her soul.

"Where, in the name of Tui and La, did you find him?" Katara all but demanded.

"I just told you! He was trapped in some sort of amber or sap in the tree of time. What do you mean you watched him die and burnt his body? He looks pretty alive and uncooked to me, Master Katara!" Korra shot back, feeling utterly left out. Katara clearly knew something about the mystery man that Korra had pulled from the amber but wasn't letting on. Was he some criminal? A friend of Katara's? Korra desperately hoped she hadn't accidentally freed the man who killed Katara's mother.

The incredulous look on Katara's face certainly didn't answer any questions. The waterbending master simply turned to the unconscious boy in her pool and began to move her hands, causing the pool to glow softly as Katara began to heal their new guest. At least she could scratch the killer of Katara's mother off the list of possible suspects.

"You always did have the worst luck," Katara muttered softly, but whether it was meant for Korra, Bolin, or the mystery man, Korra had no clue.

"Uh, I feel kinda out of the loop here. Who is this guy exactly?" Bolin piped up, causing Katara to glance up at the two young benders in her igloo before sighing heavily.

"Korra, Bolin, you… you have no idea who you've brought to me, do you? This boy, he's an old friend of mine. His name is Zuko. He was… is, heir to the Dragon's Throne, son of Fire Lord Ozai and Ursa, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation… and I watched his sister kill him during Sozin's Comet seventy years ago."\

Seventy-One Years Ago

They were magnificent. Really, they were. Katara had never seen anything like it. Flames of blue and orange erupted constantly across the arena in the deadliest dance Katara had ever seen, and they were in perfect contrast with one another. Azula danced around the arena with grace and dexterity, lashing out with her cobalt flames whenever she thought she could find a weakness in Zuko's defense.

Zuko, in comparison, was a rock. Katara wasn't sure he had moved an inch since the battle had begun. Everything that Azula had thrown at him, the Banished Prince had thrown back tenfold. While Azula's breathing was starting to quicken, Zuko was calm and collected. It looked as if he hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Idly, Katara wondered if Zuko had been holding back when he was hunting them for all those months or if what he and Aang had learned with the Sun Warriors was that much more powerful than Sozin's methods of firebending.

She should probably apologize for laughing at 'the Dancing Dragon' when this was all over. It seemed to be doing wonders right now.

Quick as a rat-viper, Azula snarled and let loose another torrent of flames at her brother, but Zuko didn't even flinch. The Fire Prince set his feet, grit his teeth, and threw his hands out, erecting a wall of flames that stopped the cobalt torrent dead in its tracks and dispersed the flames Katara feared so much with seemingly no effort at all, leaving Azula slightly worse for wear and Zuko unfazed.

Wasting no time, Zuko thrust his right fist forward. A column of bright orange flames erupted from his outstretched fist towards Azula, forcing the Crown Princess to throw herself sideways to avoid being cooked alive. Giving her no time to breathe, Zuko dropped down low and swung around on his back, his legs kicking as he did so and sending twin waves of fire at his sister. Azula threw herself down low in response, managing to duck under the first wave but getting caught directly in the chest by the second. The resulting impact threw the princess off her feet and sent her tumbling across the arena. From over fifty feet away, Katara could hear the almost inhumane snarl that tore forth from Azula's lips as she threw herself to her feet and turned to face her brother.

There was nothing but hatred, malice, and pure insanity dancing within Princess Azula's eyes at the height of Sozin's Comet.

"No lightning today? What's the matter, Lala? Afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko called out, his features calm and stoic as he faced his homicidal sister, and Katara stared at him in amazement. When had he gotten so confident? The boy who had shown up at the Western Air Temple was shy, reserved, second-guessed himself constantly, and danced on eggshells around them all. Now, Zuko was openly taunting his sister, who had outclassed him his entire life, in the attempt to throw her off balance.

Yet, with that exact taunt, Katara could almost hear something deep down inside Azula shatter.

"You want lightning, Zuzu? I'll show you lightning!" Azula snarled, as she slowly and methodically began to wave her arms in a circular motion that Katara remembered from the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se. Instinctively, Katara clutched her mother's necklace and prayed to Tui and La that Zuko could redirect the lightning properly. If he didn't, there was no spirit water to pull anyone back from the edge this time. It would kill him.

Zuko set himself firmly on the ground as Azula spun her arms, his face calm and collected. He knew what he was doing, Katara told herself. She had seen Zuko practice this exact move hundreds of times, teach Aang the move himself, and he had even shot lightning from the Firelord right back at him with no warning given whatsoever. He could handle this.

But nothing ever went right when Sozin's Comet was screaming across the sky.

Katara barely had time to register that Azula's gaze had shifted from Zuko to her before the Fire Princess threw her arms forward and the cold fire came screeching out. Blue flooded her vision as the lightning came thundering towards her, but Katara couldn't move. She felt rooted to the spot.

I'm going to die. Katara thought idly as she stood, petrified. Azula just killed me.

Faintly, Katara heard Zuko scream in protest and outrage as the lightning leaped off of Azula's fingers, but she still couldn't move. The entire world seemed to be moving through molasses as the bright, blue energy spiraled across the courtyard towards Katara, with each passing moment dwindling what precious time remained in Katara's soon-to-be-ending life.

Then, someone threw themselves in front of the lightning. Before her mind had even fully registered what had happened, Katara knew who it was. There was only one option as to who it could have been. Zuko.

The lightning slammed into Zuko like a falling star. The blue light got inexplicably brighter, blinding Katara and forcing her to look away as the cold fire tore into Zuko's body. A thundering boom echoed throughout the courtyard and every so faintly, Katara could hear the sound of a body hitting the ground as the explosion began to quiet. Blinking the spots from her clouded vision, Katara turned her eyes back to the Agni Kai arena and felt her blood run cold at what she saw.

Zuko lay convulsing on the ground, arcs of electricity still bouncing around his body as his body rebelled against him, constricting and locking without mercy and swallowing whatever screams that Katara knew Zuko was trying to let out. Instead, he was left gasping for air as his body shut down, and Katara felt colder than she had ever felt before inside.

What broke her out of her paralysis was not Zuko's agony riddled form on the floor of the arena, it wasn't the realization that she needed to do something, anything or else her friend was going to die, it was the maniacal laughter that echoed across the Agni Kai grounds.

"Zuko!" Katara heard herself scream as she surged forward, intent on fixing what had been done to him, her own safety be damned, before his life came to an end. She got a whole three steps towards the downed prince before another bolt of lightning came screaming towards her, slamming into the ground in front of her and forcing Katara off course as Azula's insane laughter increased.

Like a starving jaguar-fox, Azula lunged across the arena towards Katara, her hideous laughter never ceasing as she threw a plume of sapphire flames at Katara, forcing her further and further away from Zuko. Coming to a stop atop a nearby rooftop, Azula let loose another bout of insane laughter as Katara took cover.

"I'd really rather our family physician look after little Zuzu if you don't mind!" Azula taunted cruelly as she waved her hands in that familiar pattern once more, leaving Katara to scramble for the cover of nearby pillars as lightning came thundering towards her once more. The cold fire slammed into the ground mere feet away from Katara, throwing her into the relative safety of the pillars without poise or grace and forcing the air out of Katara's lungs as she hit the ground, leaving her wheezing slightly as she tried to regain her bearings.

Water, she needed water, any water. She would bend the water from a sewer tunnel if she could get her hands on it. Moisture in the air? No, she would never have enough time to gather it before Azula caught on and put a bolt of lightning through her heart. The water in her waterskin wouldn't be enough, where could she get more water?

"Zuzu, you don't look so good!" Azula cackled as Katara desperately felt the air around her, ground beneath her feet, and breath in her lungs for some sort of water she could use. There, a few feet away, she could feel it. Rushing water beneath what seemed to be a grate of some sort. If she could just reach it, she would be able to help.

Breathing in slowly, Katara readied herself before ducking out of her makeshift cover. Instantly, the pillar she had hidden behind exploded into a shower of sapphire flames. Whatever hair she had on her arms was certainly gone as she shielded her face, sprinting blindly for the running water beneath the grate. It was so close, just a few more feet and she could help Zuko, stop Azula, or maybe even both.

A blast of lightning slammed into the ground mere inches behind her, blowing Katara off of her feet and sending her tumbling forward, rolling to a stop on the cool metal of the grate. She could hear rushing water beneath her and Katara nearly cried in relief, now she had something to work with. She needed more than just water though, Azula needed to be immobilized and the Fire Princess would just melt any ice Katara froze her in. Zuko had gotten through her ice enough times to have taught her that lesson.

Glancing for anything she could use, Katara's eyes landed on a segment of chain hanging from a door, probably to raise the door if Katara had to guess. She could apologize to Zuko for the damages later, she needed that chain now. Quick as a rat-viper, Katara lashed out at the chain with the water beneath her feet, severing the metal from its holdings and no doubt alerting Azula to her location. The Southern Waterbender darted forward, picking up the chain and hiding herself.

"What's the matter, peasant? You don't want to play? Zuzu and I had so much fun together, don't you want to join in?" Azula called out, giggling to herself as she strode forward towards Katara's hiding spot. The insane giggles danced their way down Katara's spine in a most unwelcome fashion, forcing her to involuntarily shiver at the mad ramblings of the Fire Princess. "Now where, oh where, did you scamper off too?"

Gathering her courage, Katara forced herself to step out into the open and face Azula. Instantly, she noted that Azula was a step too far back. If her plan was going to work, she needed her to move forward. As Azula opened her mouth, undoubtedly to mock her again, Katara lashed out with a water whip. She tried not to enjoy too much how Azula's eyes widened and the girl instinctively rolled forward with a snarl on her lips. Perfect, now she was right on top of the grate.

Before Azula could complete her kata, Katara flung her arms up. The water beneath them roared in response, encasing Katara and Azula in water which quickly froze to ice in a heartbeat, rendering both benders completely immobile. Utter and complete disbelief danced openly across Azula's face as Katara tried to quiet the thundering of her heartbeat as she carefully planned out her next step. Slowly, ever so slowly, Katara exhaled what air she had in her lungs, melting just the water around her and allowing her to maneuver. Moving forward, she continued to melt ice as she traveled, before reaching the Fire Princess.

Cautiously, Katara reached out and melted the water around Azula's right arm, snapping the chain around Azula's wrist before the girl could react and tugging it with her, continuing to liquefy the frozen water as she went. Upon reaching Azula's left arm, Katara repeated herself before tugging the chains tight and neigh unescapable. Looping the chains quickly through the grate itself locked Azula in place, allowing Katara to finally wave her hands and drop the water around her.

At once, the sounds of an unsubmerged world came rushing back to Katara. The crackling of fires, the crumbling of rocks, the howling of the wind all returned in a rush as Katara and Azula heaved for air in unison, and Katara couldn't stop the giddy feeling that began to spread through her chest. She, a waterbender, had just immobilized possibly the most powerful firebender in the world at the height of Sozin's Comet.

It was the strangled gasp for air that rang out across the courtyard that snapped Katara out of her bliss and filled her with dread. Zuko. How could she have forgotten? In a flash, Katara was on her feet, dragging water from the drains across the courtyard with her as she sprinted towards the injured Fire Prince.

Sliding down onto the ground next to Zuko, Katara gently flipped him over to take a look at what the damage was. Immediately, she flinched. Zuko, who was pale by nature, was deathly white, gasping for air and convulsing beneath Katara. On his stomach, where there had once been smooth, pale skin now lay an angry, bright red sunburst-shaped burn where Azula's lightning had slammed into him.

"Hold on, Zuko. I've got you now," Katara whispered into Zuko's ear as she covered her hands in water and placed them over his stomach and concentrated, with the water beginning to glow a soft blue. Instantly, Katara could see all the damage done to Zuko. It wasn't good.

His nerve endings were fried, almost all of them. The lightning had coursed through his respiratory system as well, burning away much of the delicate alveoli in his lungs, which explained his gasping for air. His heart was singed and beating irregularly, slowing down gradually and weakening as time passed and parts of his spinal cord had been nearly incinerated by the cold fire's damage. Faintly, Katara realized that she might not be able to save him. There was so much damage.

"I… I failed," Zuko gasped out weakly, his golden eyes looking at nothing as he continued to gasp for breath, causing Katara's eyes to snap over to him.

"No, no you didn't, you saved me and now I'm going to save you," Katara declared, but the darker parts of her mind taunted her, asking if she was trying to stay brave for Zuko or herself. After all, she had only been able to save Aang due to spirit water. The realization hit her like one of Ba Sing Se's trains. Zuko was dying.

She could feel his heart slowing down in her hands as she desperately tried to fix the damage to his lungs, but so much had been burnt to ash. So little was left to take in air and deliver it throughout his body. There was even less in his body that could take it in as well.

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Zuko asked, far too calmly for someone whose insides had just been reduced to ash and facing mortality before his twentieth birthday.

"No! You're going to be fine!" Katara snapped, focusing on his heart next, even if that meant keeping his lungs partially unfinished. His heart needed to keep beating, weak as it was. It couldn't stop, Katara wouldn't let it.

Gently, a hand wrapped around Katara's waist and guided it away from Zuko's chest. It took Katara a second to realize that it was Zuko himself who had done it, smiling softly as he still stared at nothing, seemingly at peace.

"Tell… tell Uncle, tell him I'm sorry," Zuko wheezed out, his heart slowing more and more as Katara's desperation skyrocketed. Slowly, the Fire Prince's eyes began to droop, causing panic to flare throughout Katara's entire chest.

"No, no no, Zuko! You don't get to die right now, who is supposed to be the Fire Lord if you die? Keep your eyes open!" Katara snapped, putting both hands on Zuko's chest and pouring all of her energy into keeping his heart beating, but it was a losing battle. It was slowing quicker than she could speed it up, growing weaker as it pumped its last contractions.

"It's okay, Katara. You're safe… and thank you, for forgiving me," Zuko whispered softly as tears finally broke free from Katara's eyes, spilling down her cheeks and onto Zuko's chest. Then Zuko's weakened, charred and broken heart missed a beat. Then another, then a third, before it stopped together and Zuko exhaled for one last time.

Beneath a blood-red sky, Katara threw her head back and screamed as Zuko died in her arms.