A/N: Some days you wake up, and suddenly a fanfiction idea that never even once crossed your mind inexplicably sounds like something that needs to be written. I'm still not convinced this was a good idea, but it got made anyway.

Just to be clear—I'm a huge Distorted Reality fan (can be found in my favorites list, naturally), but much as I love bloodbending villain Katara, this is not meant to be a Katara-goes-evil story. Just an exploration of what could have happened, if Katara's choice had been different.

Rated T for violence, serious injury, death, and potentially disturbing themes. (Also I don't guarantee a happy ending.)


Chapter 1: Monster

The rain fell.

It drove down hard against her barrier above. Droplets hung suspended in the air around them—each one at her command.

His eyes had widened as he stared back at her, and saw. Saw the power of a waterbender.

She circled her arms, and the water she had collected moved with her. Once more the rain was pelting at her head, and with a shout, she brought it all down in a crashing wave, freezing it into an array of deadly spears.

Instinctively he flinched back, covering his face with his arms.

At the last possible moment, she drew in her fingers, and the ice spears halted. They hovered in the air before him, jagged and deadly.

Aang's quiet voice drifted up from the back of her mind. Let your anger out, and then let it go.

Killing this man, this monster, wouldn't bring her mother back. She could still picture her mother's face so clearly—kind and gentle and full of love. Katara knew if she were here, she would probably tell Katara not to do this—to simply focus on her own happiness.

Katara gazed out at him through the gloom of the rain, watching as he trembled. His eyes opened, and he stared up in terror at the ice around him.

Katara hesitated, and she almost let go. Almost let the ice collapse back to the ground as rainwater. But as her eyes slid closed, her mother's face flashed in her thoughts again—gazing across their home at her with quiet strength and love, past the dark shadow cast by this man in his black armor. Knowing she was about to take Katara's fate on herself.

Her insides burned. White-hot and scalding. Her eyes opened—and she looked on his terrified face once more.

"Please," he whispered in a small voice, bowing his head. "I know I... did a bad thing. You deserve revenge. You could... take my mother. That would be fair, wouldn't it?"

Katara gazed down at him. She could see him now—small and sad and pathetic. He had no remorse, no love for anyone but himself. He was empty, of even a shred of humanity.

"Please, spare me," he whimpered.

Let your anger out, and then let it go.

The fire raged inside her. Her mother had not begged, but if she had, would he have spared her? Would he have let her go?

The fire surged, searing and unbearable. It wouldn't bring her mother back, to kill this man. But the fire that had left her mother's kind, loving face a black, unrecognizable mass still burned. Burned inside her, and it had to go somewhere. She had to be free of it.

"You," Katara whispered. "There's nothing inside you. Nothing at all." She could feel herself shaking, and yet her hands, hovering in the air, remained steady. "You can go, like she did. Only unlike her… no one is going to be sorry."

His eyes widened again. He had one hand in the dirt of the muddy path behind him, the other raised in front of him, as though as a shield. He looked into her eyes, and whispered a final plea, barely audible above the pounding rain, "Please…"

Katara gave a final shout—and, with all her might, shoved both hands forward.

The spears of ice surged with her, and at the last possible moment, staring into his terrified eyes, Katara's eyes snapped closed.

A horrific scream pierced the air, echoing off the trees, the rocks, and something heavier than water splashed against the ground. The scream faded to a gurgle, then all was silent.

The rain was pounding against her head, soaking her to the skin. Katara turned around, and she opened her eyes to stare out at the gray horizon, watching the water pool in the barren spots of land. Her heart was beating strangely in her chest. She couldn't breathe—couldn't think.

At long last, she whispered, "Is he…?"

Zuko's feet splashed against the soft, wet ground, moving to the spot behind her. At last he said, "...Yes."

Katara's hands, clenched at her sides, slowly relaxed, fingers falling limp. She heard the splash of water, as shards of ice collapsed back.

Zuko said in a low voice, barely audible beneath the patter of the rain, "We should... probably do something. To hide it."

Katara understood. Funny how she had not thought once of what would have to be done... after. She had not thought of anything beyond this point.

"If you could... freeze," Zuko began. "I'll bring Appa. I'll go out to sea."

Katara did not respond, said nothing to either agree or disagree. However, she swept her hands to one side. Some of the falling rain moved with her, gathering in the air. She felt the slight resistance of the mass behind her as she wrapped it in water like a shroud. She tensed her fingers, and the water froze. All the while, she didn't turn.

"I'll go get Appa," Zuko muttered. He turned and splashed away.

Time passed. She had not felt the chill of the rain before, but now she did. Her clothes were heavy and dense.

And yet, before long Zuko was back again, awkwardly asking her to use her bending to move the frozen object to the saddle. Again, she complied without speaking. It seemed natural somehow for Zuko to take charge now—her part was over.

Zuko left with Appa, muttering again that he would be back soon, leaving her there standing on the muddy path.

The rain had slowed to barely a drizzle now. The fire had gone. She felt... cold. Devoid of thought, or feeling.

At last, Zuko returned again, the saddle empty. Katara climbed up Appa's leg, her hands slipping on the slick fur. Though the rain had nearly stopped now, Zuko hesitantly muttered about how they might catch cold in their wet clothes. In answer, Katara pinched her fingers together, drawing the moisture from his clothes first, then her own, sending it all over the side to collapse back to the ground.

Without discussion, Katara laid down in the back of the saddle, as Zuko remained at the reins. Though the weight of the water from her clothes was gone, her limbs still felt heavy, her eyelids sinking with exhaustion. She had pushed herself to the brink over the past days, and now she felt every lost hour of sleep.

She had done it. He was gone now. She still vividly recalled those many nights years ago, when she would wake up in the dark, shivering and crying, as his horrible, cruel face loomed in her nightmares. And realizing all over again that her mother was gone. Picturing her still, blackened form in their home, surrounded by her cooking pots and sleeping furs and everything else that had once been full of happy memories. Stolen away from them, replaced instead with horror, a cold, heavy grief that she could not escape.

For a moment, as Katara teetered on the edge of consciousness, she wondered vaguely if his mother would miss him. Even a monster.

Then she drifted off into oblivion.


A/N: And, that's it for this one. This chapter's a bit on the shorter side from how the rest will be, though I have tried to keep most of them a little shorter than my normal standards. (No set update schedule for now, but we'll see how it goes.)

Thanks for reading! If you have a moment, let me know what you thought, and hope to see you in the next one!

Posted 9/23/22