Sorry for the wait. I got really busy for a while there. And then all writing did was inspire me to rewatch the series each time I sat down to write. Quite the problem to have I guess. The show is still just as good btw. Anyways, a shorter chapter before we change locations/perspectives in the next chapter.

Enjoy.

Hope

It was a long, long night. Katara had remained by Aang's side for as long as her body would allow her. After the second time she dozed off and nearly tipped out of the chair, she decided to move to the cot. However, sleep was out of reach. She could do nothing but think of the man that was in there with her. What things could have and perhaps should have been; but they had both messed things up. At first she had blamed him and then herself; now more than ever. Deep down, she knew it was them mutually screwing things up that put them in this position. Momo's death was hard on the airbender. Other than Appa, the small lemur was the last remaining part of a dead people. She had seen how much it had affected him then, but not what it would snowball into.

After they had separated and she heard of Bumi's death, she herself was devastated but her heart ached for Aang. She had meant to put things aside and come to be there for him, but something stayed her feet. Sadness, regret, fear? She didn't know. But now, seeing him like this, regret was the most prominent of all emotions. They weren't just a couple, they weren't just lovers; they were partners, through and through. We failed each other. She kept repeating it in her head, over and over in a vain attempt to avoid the self-blame Zuko and Sokka had so vehemently denied her earlier. Every time she thought of what had transpired, she couldn't help but think how she could've done one simple thing out of many options that could've prevented this.

By the time she had escaped her thoughts, it was deep into the night. She realized just how cold it was in this room. Immediately realizing this, she moved to check on Aang. His arms, which lay on top of the blanket, were frigid to the touch. She grabbed her own blanket and gently placed it over the Avatar. She fumbled around for a few more moments before finding a candle to light. Using the light, she had just now realized a small fireplace on the wall across the foot of Aang's bed along with brass fireside tools. She moved over to it and started to prepare the kindling. Once that had been prepared, she tried over and over to light it but just a small ember took hold. As the waterbender went to grab the fire blower, she knocked over her lone candle and went blind in the darkness. The next thing she knew, her and the stand with every took went tumbling to the ground in a loud crash.

"Shit…" was the only word that could escape her mouth. The commotion and quite frankly, the cursing caught the attention of the two Kyoshi warriors who were waiting outside. They scurried in to assess the situation.

A simultaneous question echoed through the room. "Katara, are you alright?"

"Yep. Just peachy." She groaned as she gathered herself up; her legs wobbling as she tried to stand. Suki lit a torch on the wall so they could see.

"What in the spirits did you do?" Suki looked around and saw the fireside tools strewn on the floor around her friend, who was still stumbling around as she tried to regain her balance.

Katara pinched her brow, "It's freezing, and I tried to light a fire." She gestured around the entire room, wildly. She was completely and utterly embarrassed. She imagined that she looked like a drunk who had stumbled home late at night.

Suki gave the room a once over, "Good job." The warrior replied sarcastically.

The waterbender shook her head in annoyance. She wasn't expecting any intrusions and frankly she was peeved. Of course, her brother would think she needed protection. This was one of the weaker attempts at 'protecting' her she had seen. Nonetheless, she decided an inquiry was necessary, "What are you two doing here anyway? And what time is it?"

"Sokka ordered us to stand watch over you two." Ty Lee replied. "Aaaaand it's about three in the morning." The young woman smiled.

Katara couldn't help but smile inwardly at her friends reply. Ty Lee always had a way to lighten up the room, no matter the situation. It was appreciated, although Katara didn't show it. "Of course, he did. I don't need watching."

Suki crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She wasn't buying any of it, "Clearly."

The waterbender shot a glare at her friend. She ignored her friend's comment and continued to clean up her mess now that she had light. She worked quietly to get a fire started, but each time one of the warriors moved to help, Katara maneuvered in such a way to block them. "You two can go now."

"We're watching over Aang too, you know." Ty Lee tried to protest. Seeing the waterbender, any of her friends like this, was hard. The aura was just…so wrong.

The waterbender took a seat near the fire and stared blanky into the crimson embers at its base. "I'm watching him."

Suki shook her head, dismissing her friends' retort. "Have you slept at all, Katara?" The waterbender was silent. She had no response because she knew it was true but would never admit her…weakness. She didn't need sleep. She needed to be here when Aang woke up.

"And that's why we're here. I'll stay with you and watch over Aang while you get some sleep."

The waterbender didn't need this right now, "I'm fine."

She was fine. She had been through this before. The thought brought a cold feeling around her; around her heart. The mere fact that she was going through this again…with Aang, was too much to bear. You're not alone. Right…they had all gone through this before, well at least Toph and her brother. Both of whom were not here right now. One of them, she had hurt.

Suki had wanted to let her anger loose, but after seeing her friend contemplate something for what seemed like an eternity, the waterbenders head sagged and stared at the floor. "He's not your sole responsibility." The Kyoshi leader's voice was soft and reassuring.

"Suki-" Katara's voice was weak. She tried to protest, but the energy she had for such a venture had long since left her body.

Her friend's lips moved into a warm smile, "I can also keep the fire going for you."

Now that she had begun to relent, Katara's ability to keep herself attentive had started to wane. The only response she could muster was a quick nod.

"Ty Lee, you can go get some sleep. We'll swap in the morning."

"Okay. Goodnight you two."

The waterbender gave one last, feeble attempt at protesting, "I'm fine."

"I heard what happened…last time. You won't be fine unless you let others help."

Katara sighed heavily and moved towards the cot while Suki took the place on the chair beside Aang's bed. When her head pressed into her pillow, a weightless feeling overtook her as she drifted into slumber.

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"Katara, let me explain."

"No! How could you?!

"It's not what it looks like."

"Enlighten me."

"She's just an old friend and-"

"Friends don't do that!" "

"That's not what happened! If you would just-"

"NO!" She took a deep breath. "We-we're….I can't be with you right now."

"W-what?! You're giving up on us? Just like that?!"

"I didn't say that!"

"Then what did you say?"

"I-"

"Katara…" His voice was weak. "Let me-"

"Just…leave."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The waterbender shot up from her sleeping position. The room was spinning, and she nearly fell out of bed. Suddenly, she felt a burning at the back of her throat as she quickly leaned over the edge of the cot and emptied her stomach of its contents. Suki was already by her side, holding her hair out of the way. After what felt like ages of dry heaving, she finally sat up and the Kyoshi warrior already had a cup of water waiting for her. She swished it around and spat it out in the nearby sink, hoping it was enough to cleanse her mouth. She took a deep breath and then downed a new cup of water, only now realizing how dry her mouth was. She had no idea what time it was other than it had to be early as Ty Lee hadn't traded off with Suki yet. She felt like she hadn't slept a wink, yet still felt half asleep.

"You okay?" The kyoshi warrior rested a hand on her friends' shoulder.

Katara stared into the sink for a moment, regaining her bearings. She took a deep breath, "Yeah. Just a bad dream."

"Must've been pretty bad if it made you puke your guts out."

The waterbender was now shuddering in the aftereffects. It was the worst feeling in the world and there was nothing to be done. It was all part of the journey as her Gran Gran said. "No. I don't think that's why."

"Oh." Suki took a step back, to give her friend some space. "Morning sickness, huh?"

Katara sighed and pushed herself away from the sink "Yeah. Right on time." Why did it have to be now, of all times it could've started; weeks ago, or weeks in the future would've been preferable. It just seemed like the world, the spirits or whoever oversaw fate was trying to make her as miserable as possible. She put aside her troubles. She had to persevere. "How is he?"

Suki was taken aback by her friends' ability to ignore her own problems. "I think he's improving. His breathing is less shallow, and it looks like he's got some color back."

"Some good news I guess."

"We'll take what we can get." The warrior rested a hand on Katara's shoulder. "I'm going to change into some normal clothes and grab us some breakfast. Do you want anything in particular?"

"I don't care. I just hope I can hold it down." Her gaze looked to meet her friend's storm-blue eyes, "Aren't you going to get some sleep?"

"Once we're done eating." And with a small squeeze of her shoulder, Suki left the room.

After a few minutes, Yagoda entered the room, but gave her space. She did her routine with Aang, checking him over. She informed Katara that the color was returning to him, but his body temperature was still low. She added another blanket over the top of him. She also worked him head to toe with healing water to aid in blood flow. He was making progress, albeit slow.

After some time, Suki returned with some casual robes, Ty Lee and Zuko. She brought a cart full of food for the four of them. Despite the situation, it was…nice. They caught up a little bit, reminiscing. It was melancholic and somber, but still nice. Zuko had explained that the Earth King would like to visit, to which she agreed but in a few days' time.

Suki excused herself and returned to her quarters to sleep. Ty Lee remained outside the door. Zuko and Katara stayed in the room in a typical awkward silence they so often shared. Occasionally Zuko would ask pointed and silly questions about how she was feeling while pregnant. She guessed that he was comparing her experiences with Mai's. Probably to see if he got the short end of the stick.

Eventually, Katara moved to the second most pressing topic: Toph, "How's Toph?"

"She's Toph."

"Fun." Katara rolled her eyes.

Zuko grimaced. He hated playing diplomat with his friends. Especially the two most hard headed people he had ever met. "We can't let this tear us apart."

"I know. I know. It's just that she's so…"

"I know. But understand, she was the first there. It wasn't pretty and she's closed herself off; more than normal. I'll talk to her and see if she'll come talk."

"Good luck."

"Hey! I'm the fire lord. I think I can be rather diplomatic."

Katara gave him a skeptical look, shaking her head.

After Zuko had left, Katara sat there in silence. She was trying to clear her head with her version of meditating from a chair. She did pick up some habits from the airbender and she grew to really enjoy it. It was hard given the circumstance, but nonetheless she tried.

She was jolted from the meditation by the creaking of the door. She looked to see the blind girl shuffling in. "Hey."

"Sup."

"Look, Toph…" She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry about everything."

"Don't apologize to me."

Katara understood the hidden meaning in those words. The earthbender very rarely cared about such things when it came to her. She was referring to a certain Avatar in the room. As her dark thoughts returned, her gaze fell down to her feet, "I don't know how he could ever forgive me."

As opposed to last night, Toph took her time now to really take a good look or…feel at Katara's emotions. All she felt was sincerity and melancholy. A young woman who was distraught, confused, and ashamed. "Look. What I said last night…it…crossed a line." Toph moved towards her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Katara."

"But, you were right."

"No. I should've been more supportive too. I should've been there for him." The earthbender took a deep, yet shaky breath, "I should've seen this coming."

"Toph-"

"I pushed him."

Katara shook her head and leaned back in the chair. Toph was blaming herself now, "What?"

"The last time I talked to him, I was yelling at him to get off his…well, I didn't use kind words." Toph's eyes began to create a small stream of tears falling down her cheeks.

Katara pulled her friend into a tight hug. "We'll get through this."

Just then, a small groan emanated from the bed. The two of them whipped around and Katara rushed to Aang.

"Sweetie, are you awake?" She gently squeezed his arm, "Sweetie?!"

Nothing. A hard silence took over the room. It felt cold. Empty. Toph tried feebly to improve the mood by sharing what little good news she had. "His heart rate and breathing are the same. He's still unconscious, but I'd say that's a good sign."

Katara's sorrow overtook her. Her hope had allowed her to expect him sitting up in bed, smiling as she turned around. But all she saw was a motionless, near-lifeless body laying in the bed. She tried to take a deep breath as fresh tears began to prick at her eyelids. As she slumped into the chair next to the bed, she punched her own leg, just above the knee, in anger as she began to shake uncontrollably.

"Hey. Hey. It's okay." The earthbender made an unexpected move as she embraced her friend in a tight and unrelenting hug. The two friends sat in silence, with Toph continuing the embrace. Katara, however, slouched motionless in the chair. There was nothing they could do, and it took everything in their willpower to not give into despair.