Episode 27: Katara Loses Her Bending

A/N: So sorry it's late! I'm running a little behind now that we've caught up to where I'm writing. It's a little stilted, editing to come, but it's here! Hope you like it.

"Katara? Katara!"

Katara groaned as she sat up, rubbing her aching head. She was still wearing the ridiculously fancy dress, lying on the floor of the dressing room.

"What happened?" Suki asked. Katara's eyes focused enough to notice her friend kneeling beside her with a concerned expression. Everything felt hazy, like the walls were pressing in on her.

"Did you pass out?" Suki prompted.

"No, I…Azula was here," Katara explained. "With Ty Lee and another girl who-" she stopped herself. "They were warning me off the island. Did you know the bakery had already been leveled?"

Suki pursed her lips, suddenly unwilling to meet Katara's eye. "Sokka and Hakoda know."

"So just…just me." Katara pushed up and moved into the dressing stall, slamming the curtain with a high pitched swish.

"Katara-"

"No, it's fine." Katara slung the sleeves off her shoulders and shimmied out of the blue satin. "Why would I need to know? Why bother Katara? She obviously couldn't handle it."

"That's not what-"

Katara shoved into her shirt. "She'd probably overreact, do something impulsive, maybe smash something?"

"Now, smashing was actually mentioned. Remember the action figure debacle of '03?"

"Sokka really needs to get over that," Katara grumbled, pulling on her jeans. "Did you also forget to tell me about the groundbreaking ceremony?"

"Groundbreaking? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the-" Katara stopped. Looking down at her hand, she flexed her fingers out and then made a fist before releasing the pressure.

"Katara?" Suki asked from out of sight.

No paleness, ample blood flow…had she passed out? Had Azula knocked her out? Ty Lee had done…something.

Something that had stopped her.

Panic started to climb her neck, tightening from her shoulders and curling inward. No. It couldn't be.

Katara looked around for some water. A glass, a pipe, anything. She should be able to feel it through the walls, should be able to sense the ebb and flow of the moon.

Silence.

Static.

Feedback from an empty channel.

Katara ran from the changing room.

"Katara!" Suki called after her.

"Excuse me, ma'am." The lady at the front tried to stop her but she pushed past, heading straight out towards the water fountain she had noticed earlier. She had to find it from memory because she couldn't feel it anymore.

"No." Katara pushed the button on the side and water sprouted from the spigot. The taunting, clear liquid rose and fell to splatter against the metal in a discouragingly steady stream.

Katara released the button and the water stopped. She pushed it and it started. But her hand above the water never tilted the flow.

On and off. On and off. She controlled the water, but not in the way she wanted.

"Katara!" Suki yelled, pulling her around by the shoulder. "What in the world are you doing? You ran out, I had to pay for the dress before they'd let me leave."

Katara realized she must be quite the sight with her wide eyes watering down her face, her finger pressing the water fountain on and off again.

Suki confirmed her unease when she asked, "Uhhh, whatcha doing there, sweetheart?"

Katara turned her leaking eyes to Suki. "I…I can't bend."

When Katara had first discovered her bending, she'd avoided using it. She knew being a bender made her different and using it could put her in danger, but then she'd manipulated the lake water on one of their family camping trips and the thrill of the power had thrummed through her ever since.

She'd spent nights on the roof of the bakery conversing with the moon, drawing from it's power and aligning herself with the pull of the tides. By syncing her emotions with the push and pull of the ocean she'd been able to grow her power and push the limits of waterbending.

After so long, having the power ripped away was like being punched in the gut. Suki had to lead her by the hand out of the mall and then made her breathe into a paper bag for a couple minutes before driving home.

Her tears continued to fall down her cheeks as she stared out the window, watching the lights of the few buildings still intact go by.

"Just stay with me, Katara," Suki kept saying. "Sokka will know what to do."

"Sokka?" Katara wiped her cheeks. "The boy who calls my ancient art 'magic water'?"

"He's resourceful, he'll know what to do."

Sokka hadn't known what to do.

He took one took at her, sitting broken and tearful on the couch, and stated, "We're leaving."

"What?" Katara demanded.

"Look, I love the island, but Zuko's right."

"Don't-"

"Get over it, Katara," he snapped. "The way he talked about it...it seemed like he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was protecting you."

"Then he's an idiot."

Sokka held up his hands. "Hey, no argument here, I'm just saying there may be some things we're missing. At this point, there's nothing more we can do. You tried your little dress up party and now there's no way I'm letting you anywhere near Ozai and his crazy daughter. I'm not letting them break our family anymore. We tried, Zuko's given us a way to leave, we're taking it."

"But…dad?"

Hakoda looked between his two children and sighed. "He's right, Katara. It's time to move on. We can try again on the mainland. Where it's safe."

Katara looked down at her fingers that now felt detached. Years ago they'd lost their mother. Now they'd lost Zuko, Toph and Aang were nowhere to be seen, Iroh had disappeared after the incident at his shop, the bakery was rubble, and she didn't even have her bending to rely on.

Everyone else was getting out…

"I'm scared," she whispered. Warm hands grasped hers and she looked up to see Sokka kneeling in front of her with a small smile.

"It's okay," he said, "you're not alone. We've got you."

No more avoiding it. The plane was leaving in two nights time and that only gave her about forty hours to gather the last of her things, say goodbye to all her friends, and quit her job at the hospital. Not to mention take three finals.

Lucky Sokka just had to let the school know he wasn't going to make it for the commencement ceremony and give them their new address to send his diploma to. She still had to sit through three medical exams and a practicum…no big deal.

So today was packing and studying. Katara was just finishing tossing the last of her things into her case when she looked over to Zuko and Sokka's room. Hesitating, she looked towards the kitchen where she could hear Sokka and Hakoda talking before her gaze went back to the room's doorway.

"Could it hurt?" She asked herself. "Probably." She walked towards the room. "But I'm going to do it anyway."

Inside the room, Sokka had emptied his side and left Zuko's untouched. Due to this fact, Katara knew exactly where to go, which drawer to open, to find what she was looking for.

Pulling it out, Katara recognized the maroon hoodie Zuko had been wearing the first time they'd gone on a walk. The one she'd found him sleeping on his desk in just a couple weeks before. He'd looked so cute with his slack face and mismatched socks.

She shook her head. No crying allowed.

Stealing one of your ex boyfriend's hoodies? Probably one of those mentally unhealthy things people were supposed to recommend against. That was Katara's thought as she shoved it into her duffle bag.

Her eyes then landed on the only remaining item sitting open upon Sokka's desk. The file Ty Lee had handed her. The file that contained their future.

Only this time, she noticed something strange about the contents. The shadows made the papers appear bent in odd patterns.

Katara rolled her eyes. Leave it to Sokka to mess up the most important documents of their lives at the moment. Stepping over, she made to flatten out the stack when her fingers brushed over something bumpy. Curious, she lifted the stack and tapped it against the desk.

A small packet fell out.

It was a red, bulky envelope addressed to her. With shaking fingers, she opened it.

Peering inside, she caught sight of something blue and gasped. Her mother's necklace! She pulled it out and rubbed the satin ribbon with her thumb as she observed the item for any damages. It was perfectly intact, the marble shining as though recently polished.

Then she saw the note. Setting the necklace aside, she pulled out the thick parchment and unfolded it. There was a single page of writing, the letter written in a messy scrawl she recognized from the last semester of looking over her partner's notes.

Katara, it read. I don't know if you'll actually read this, I'll understand if you don't, but I needed to write it anyways. I found your mother's necklace. Don't worry, my father never got a hold of it, just a thief (and I don't mean me). I've been keeping it safe as best I could, but once I had an opportunity to return it to you I had to take it. I know how much your mother meant to you, and as much as I wish I could hold on to some piece of you, I'm happy knowing you'll be wearing it again.

I don't expect you to understand, I don't fully understand it myself to be honest, but I hope you know that everything I did was an attempt to protect you. And because of that, I cannot apologize for what I've done. It pains me to know that I've hurt you and ruined any relationship we might have had, but I would give up all that and more to know that you're safe.

I wish I had a way of knowing you were actually going to read this note and not just toss it in the trash.

There are a lot of things I wish, but mostly I wish for this: go to the mainland. Become a doctor. Save lives. Bring joy to the world. Don't worry about me, I'll do what I can to keep fighting your fight here.

Be safe.

And maybe one day, if you don't mind, maybe we could see each other again.

Forever yours,

Zuko.

Katara was fully crying as she dropped the note on the desk, wiping her face of tears. "That jerk," she muttered, "that selfish, annoying idiot. I'll kill him."

After a good night's sleep Katara felt quite a bit better. She arrived twenty minutes early to her first final and finished the test in just over an hour. That gave her two hours to study organic chemistry before her second test for the day. Walking home she decided to stroll through the campus park one last time. The flowers were all in bloom, the swaying vines of the willow tree flowing gently in the breeze, and all Katara could think about was the fact that she didn't know if any of these beautiful things would survive Ozai's purge. In the center of the garden was a fountain where Katara stopped. The stone had been preserved and was often cleaned keeping it a pristine white with sprouting marble vines in the center that spouted out random streams of water into the main basin. She held her hand out to hover just over the surface of the clear water, peering down towards the various gold, silver, and bronze pieces students had thrown in for luck on finals week.

Just like yesterday, she was caught off guard as a thrum of energy passed down her spine. Like electricity shooting through her veins, a sudden influx of power hummed from her fingertips up through her arm to her center.

Not yet allowing herself to get too hopeful, she gave a tentative tug on the small body of water beneath her hand and watched it swirl into a mini whirlpool in response. Smiling, she sent a stronger wave across the surface and watched the water slosh as if a strong wind had passed over it.

Her bending was back. Had something changed? Had whatever Ty Lee had done to her simply worn off? Whatever the reason, Katara knew that her situation was not as hopeless as she had realized.

Back at the apartment, she was paced between stacks of boxes. "Just listen to me, Sokka. With my bending back I can make a difference again! It's not as hopeless as we thought. I need to go to that groundbreaking ceremony."

Sitting on the couch, her brother stared at her over his steepled hands. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes and said, "I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea, but that sounds…really terrible."

"All I have to do is wreck the construction equipment to set back the warehouse building until the villagers can gather themselves together and then-"

Sokka stood up. "No, nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed! I'm not powerless anymore," she said, "So I'm going down to the company and I'm going to do whatever I can."

"Katara, this is crazy!"

"I'm going, Sokka. I'm not giving up. I will fight for them." She moved to walk away when his hand wrapped around her wrist.

"Sokka…" she complained, turning back to face him.

He was staring at the ground, his brow furrowed in thought. "I'm coming too," he said.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"You're my sister," he explained, "and I will never turn my back on you."

Katara swallowed, unable to speak past the emotional buildup in her throat. Then she nodded.

"We need a plan," Sokka said. Then a slow smile spread over his face. "And I think I have an idea."