A/N – A very special thanks to Looneyluna this time around, because upon receiving her corrections and suggestions this time I realized my editing skills had failed me completely. Without her, this would very much resemble Polish, which while a wonderful language in its own right, is not at all like what I'd have you read.
This is my largest chapter to date, and the largest single piece of writing I have ever composed, fanfiction or otherwise. I would like to thank anyone who has read this, whether you've commented or not, for inspiring me to think that, yes, maybe I can do this.
But we're not done yet. This ride still has a way to go. Thank you all, and, as always, enjoy!
Chapter 6: Friends in Need, Part II
Sokka and his fellow escapees from Da Bao had slipped off in a stolen wagon toward the east just as those fiendish Fire Nation girls rolled into the village. No one saw them leave because everyone was too busy crowding around the noise. Or hiding from it.
"My friend will tell them we headed west," Zuko's uncle explained. There was a distant look in his eyes as he said this, but Sokka found himself unable to fathom it. The old man sat in the back with Toph to tend to Katara and Aang, which left Sokka up front with Zuko. It was not a seating situation that brought joy to Sokka. Momo curled up against Aang, and stayed remarkably quiet.
The six traveled for about half an hour. Fortunately the Earth Kingdom abounded with hills and sheer cliffs. There was enough starlight to see by, so they decided not to light a fire. Sokka climbed into the back as soon as the wagon had stopped, and touched his sister's skin. Katara still felt like the heat was leaving her body.
"Toph, " said Sokka. The Earthbender glanced in his direction. "Could you keep a... feel-out?"
She folded her arms. "I'm always doing that."
"Oh, right." Sokka's eyes went to the old man. "Do you know what's wrong?"
"Lightning is a very deadly expression of Firebending. Your friends are lucky to be alive." He held two fingers over the middle of Katara's chest. "The energy of lightning will destroy the heart in most circumstances, although some possess an inner strength of will or tenacity of body that may allow them to deflect a part of this energy. Even so," he moved his hand back and forth rapidly along Katara's torso, "it will disrupt the flow of the body's chi, making it chaotic and unpredictable like the lightning itself. Eventually a person's own chi will take a toll on the body, until the damage is irreversible." The fingers on his hand splayed and he turned his palm up. The simple gesture left far too grim of an image in Sokka's mind.
A lump formed in his throat, and an urge to retch brewed in his stomach. He fought down the vile taste rising in his throat and choked out a question. "And my sister? Is it too late?"
The old man's hand settled on Sokka's shoulder. It was a fatherly grasp much like his dad had given him in the past in times of hardship. With that single gesture, the gap between the man and his nephew widened even more for Sokka.
"Your friends are strong. But many hours have passed, and they weaken steadily, especially the Avatar."
"This... Azula hit him pretty bad." Enough to get through his crazy glowing eyes and infinite power. He began to tell the only man who might be able to save his sister what had happened.
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They were asleep. After Sokka had regained consciousness in the desert and it was determined that—while he was covered wolf tail to boot in sand—he hadn't been injured, the Sandbenders continued onward. They reached the edge of the desert the next morning after sleeping, and uneasy farewells were given. Aang and Ghashiun had not managed to resolve their differences in a night.
Still suffering from the loss of Appa, Aang wanted to press on into the night. No one cared to disagree with him. After all, there was a town along their path, and they could stop there to sleep. Aang agreed. He might have been frustrated and impatient, but time appeared to be cooling his head and leading him to listen to reasonable suggestions.
Eventually, though, they needed to sleep. As desperate as Aang was to get Appa back, there was only so much distance they could cover on foot before fatigue dragged them down. After two days out of the desert, as the sun was setting and they were just a few hours from Da Bao, they had to make camp.
Katara's yell had woken Sokka. Through hazy eyes he sized up the combat. Toph was just getting to her feet and a weary Aang stood uneasily on his. Sokka grabbed his boomerang and saw the two lizards and their riders.
And then the lightning came. Azula held out two fingers and sent an azure bolt sizzling through the air in an instant, knocking Sokka's sister from her feet.
Sokka screamed. Aang screamed, and the raw anger of the Avatar state consumed him. His eyes and tattoos began to glow a pale, brilliant blue. Sokka flung his boomerang forward with all his weight and rage.
But that demon from the Fire Nation simply brought another arm up and summoned forth more lightning from her fingers. It sliced through the air like twisting, screaming razors of light—directly at Aang. Whatever ancient energies roiled within the Avatar deflected some of it, but it didn't stop enough.
It was like watching a candle blown out. The light in the Avatar's eyes faded, and a helpless twelve year-old child tumbled to the ground. Sokka heard his boomerang twirling back toward him, having struck nothing. And then the mongoose-dragons shrieked, smashed into a bloody mess by walls of stone. Their two pursuers flew through the air and rolled through the dirt and sparse grass. They did not spring to their feet.
"Run!" Toph shouted, even as Sokka ran to his sister. He listened at her mouth for a breath, and felt for the pulse of life within her neck. Neither was strong. He clutched her hand and hefted her into his arms. No noise came from their attackers.
They hustled north, as fast as their tired feet could carry them. The lives of their friends depended on it.
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"I thought she would yell or cackle or laugh... anything," Sokka said as an afterthought, staring at the wooden wagon bed. "But she didn't. Not one sound. Just a thin smile on her lips."
"My sister is a monster." Zuko spoke up from his seat just to the side of Sokka.
"Your sister? Well, I guess I should have seen the similarity. A family of monst—"
Zuko's fist knocked him against the side of the wagon and he almost tumbled over the low barrier. Sokka clenched his hand into a fist and started to shift his weight to return the blow as he sat back up, but Toph grabbed his forearm. She had an amazingly firm grip. He sneered and glared at her.
"I think you deserved that," she said.
"We'll see who deserves what!" Again he tried to shift his weight forward, but Toph held him fast. Fine. We'll play this your way. "Alright. Maybe I did. Could you let my arm go now?" So I can break his jaw...
She cocked her head to the side and gave him a reproachful look. How does she do that? She can't even see me and yet she not-sees right through me. "Okay. So maybe I said that for practice. I mean it this time. Let me go, please."
Angry or not, he wasn't willing to tempt Toph's wrath by hitting Zuko when she finally let go of his arm.
"Can you do anything for them?" he asked the old man. "Katara can heal wounds—maybe if you help her..."
Zuko's uncle grunted. "I will try to help them both, but it will not be easy. You see, in order to restore the correct flow of chi, I shall have to pass more lightning through your sister's body, and the Avatar's. With short bursts, there is a chance it will shock their chi back to its normal course. I will not lie, though: it is very risky. But without it, they shall both die."
"Is there anything I can do for her? Hold her hand, or..."
Katara's potential savior shook his head and frowned. "I understand your desire to comfort your sister, but holding her while lightning passes through her is quite dangerous." His expression softened, and he patted him on the shoulder once more. "Take a moment. Zuko and I will be right over by that marvelously fascinating rock when you are ready. Isn't that right, Nephew?"
Zuko growled.
"Focus yourself, Zuko. The young lady will need your help as well."
Suddenly the exiled prince's eyes widened. "What?"
Sokka was just as shocked. Zuko help Katara? There had to be another way. But there isn't. But there had to be! These two are all the hope we have. If it meant he would have to swallow his pride, well, it wouldn't be easy, but he would manage. For Katara. And for Aang.
Zuko's uncle chuckled. "That's the spirit. Come on and help a tired old man off this wagon."
As Zuko rose wordlessly to his feet and began to pass by, Sokka looked up at him. "I'm sorry about what I said."
For so long he had regarded Zuko as an enemy. Not that he didn't have reason. He was not surprised when the exiled prince didn't respond and helped his uncle off the wagon. But then, just as he was stepping away, he turned back. He and Sokka watched each other in silence for a long moment.
"You're wrong about me," Zuko finally said. "I'm not at all like Azula." Then he went away with his uncle.
"This is all your fault," Sokka heard Toph muttered just after their unlikely allies from the Fire Nation walked out of earshot.
Then Sokka realized she was talking to Aang. "So worried about that bison. I tried to save him, but I told you, all the sand... Now you're dying because we went running ourselves into the ground to help you and I was too tired to feel them coming. So this is what you get, Twinkletoes!"
"Toph..."
"They can't die, Sokka!" she threw herself into him with the force of a landslide, and Sokka could only open his arms as she connected with his torso. It was then he noticed tears coming from her milky green eyes, running freely down her cheeks. Not knowing what else to do, he hugged her uneasily.
"They're not going to die," he told her. Slowly his own eyes began to rebel against him. He glanced down at his sister lying there, helpless like she hardly ever was. His torso twitched as he began to cry as well, right there with the Earthbender. "They won't... won't d—do it. I can't... I don't know what to do... without her..."
And so they wept together there in the wagon in each other's arms, Toph practically crushing his ribs. All the stress and fear of the last few hours bled out of them through salty tears. Toph raised her head and Sokka found himself staring at her face, although she did not quite return the look. For the space of a single breath, the sounds of sadness ceased.
Immediately they both spun away from each other and wiped their own faces as if shooing a large and dangerous spider from their cheeks. Just as quickly they whipped back around so that their noses were only an inch apart.
"If you ever tell anyone..." they both shouted in unison.
"I'll break your arms," Sokka fumed.
"I'll crush your knees," she spat.
Sokka scooted past her and took his sister's hand. He leaned down close to her ear. "Alright Katara, I'm going to let Zuko's uncle and... well Zuko too. I'm going to let them help you. And Aang. I know you'll be alright, because you're my sister." Gently, he kissed her forehead, and looked off in the direction the other two had gone.
"We're ready!" he called out. Zuko and his uncle turned around and headed back toward them. He squeezed Katara's hand one last time. "We're ready."
Sokka and Toph sat a short distance from the wagon as Zuko and his uncle saw to their wounded friends. The old man told Sokka it wasn't something he would want to watch. So he sat there on the ground and thought.
"I'm still shocked they're helping us," he told Toph, who was currently bending a pebble in circles. "I mean, we come all this way, just to run into them again and again."
Not turning her attentions from the pebble, she spoke. "It is the whim of such as we, tied with knots and bindings we cannot see, to think of silk for those held dear and iron chains for whom we fear. Yet all the same, silk or chain, they keep us very near."
Sokka blinked. Hard. Twice. Six times. "That was awfully... poetic of you."
Toph chuckled and laid back as if she intended to gaze at the stars. She chewed on a long stalk of grass. "I did come from a wealthy family, you know. They tried to make me learn something. Sometimes I even paid attention. I like poetry. You can hear its beauty, unlike a book."
"Well that's sweet," he gibed.
Suddenly the ground beneath him met quite painfully with his lower back. "Oof."
"I learned some epic poetry too, you know." Toph's voice was quite threatening. "And that's all about bringing on the hurt."
"Okay, okay."
Her voice grew more serious. "You worried?"
He sighed deeply. Just yards from them his sister's life was riding upon an ocean of chance. "Yeah."
"Me too."
Footsteps.
Sokka twisted around, but it was Zuko's uncle, not some shrouded attacker. Oh no... please, please let her be—
"Your sister has recovered," the old man told him. His breathing was ragged and even under starlight Sokka could see his eyes drooping from fatigue. But even so, he held himself in such a way that attempted to be both strong and friendly. "I have assured her that Zuko does not wish to harm her, and he is speaking to her now."
"Why?" It was the only question Sokka could think of. He noticed his hands were quivering. She's alive. She's okay. Oh Katara, don't ever frighten me like that again!
"We need her help. Restoring the flow of her chi was very strenuous. I will not trouble you with an explanation. Suffice it to say, with a Waterbender who can heal, and my nephew and helping, I believe the Avatar will be fine." He held out a hand. Sokka took it, and the man who saved his sister lifted him to his feet.
They walked back to the wagon, where Katara was slumped against the side and talking to Zuko in a very soft voice. Sokka examined both their faces and saw neither was too comfortable with the situation. Good. Helping us is one thing, but we don't need Zuko getting all friendly with us. He rubbed his cheek, which still reminded him of how well he and Zuko had gotten along just a short while ago.
"Katara."
She turned a little and saw him. "Sokka!"
He jumped into the bed of the wagon and saw Zuko breathe a small sigh of relief as Sokka hugged his sister fiercely. Katara gasped a little, so he eased his hold a bit and looked to one side in embarrassment. "Sorry."
"No. It's alright. I need to move anyway. Aang needs my help..."
Almost as if the little lemur had understood her, Momo bolted upright and looked at them. His eyes glowed in the dim light of the stars, and he chattered anxiously. Katara smiled, and patted him on the head.
"Everything's going to be alright," she said.
Sokka smiled. "Yeah. I think it will."
