A/N: Art should always imitate life, people aren't perfect and neither is art.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Trigger warning: Character death. Mental health. Hahn.
Chapter 19
Scraped hands. Blood. Blank blue eyes. Sirens.
That was what Katara could remember from that night almost eleven years ago. The night she'd lost one-half of the people who made her a whole. She was eight and it was dark, the roads were covered in a thin sheet of black ice and the air was chilly.
Christmas hadn't long passed by and the strung fairy lights and inflatable reindeer were still present on the lawns of their small-town neighbours. It hadn't been that late, late enough to be dark but not late enough for the moon to hang in the centre black of the night sky.
Kya had scolded Katara for losing her mittens again, she'd have to have Gran-Gran sew her another pair, from the bite in the air Kya could tell the winter was going to be a long bitter one, it usually was in the south only a few hundred miles from the tundra.
Katara had been sniffling after her scolding and Kya had felt bad for yelling at her, she was only eight and Kya was fully aware that her kind, compassionate daughter hadn't lost anything. She'd seen the mittens, with the penguin stitching Katara had so specifically asked for, on another child, one who was known to be less fortunate than them.
So she'd begun to sing Christmas carols to soothe her, Kya had a beautiful voice, angelic in nature and soft in tone, Katara did not. But Kya was never going to stop her from singing with her even if she was off-key and out of tune. In fact, it was these small moments, with Katara's small hand inside her far larger glove, shouting the lyrics to Noël into the night, that Kya would think about when her life came to an end.
It had all happened too fast, one moment she was walking her daughter home from her friend's house, where she'd spent the afternoon locked in a snowball fight that her fiercely competitive youngest had no doubt won, and the next she was pushing her out of the way of the oncoming car.
Katara hadn't seen the vehicle swerving on the black ice so when her beloved mother had shoved her to the ground she had been vastly confused and completely shocked. The larger gloves, her mother's gloves, had slipped off her hands in the impact and Katara had thrown her hands in front to catch herself.
She could still remember that sting of the small iced stones of the pavement slicing at her soft skin, still, remember the air being knocked out of her lungs when one of her hands had slipped on the ice and she'd collided against the cold hard concrete, she could still remember the screeching of the tires as the car that had taken more from her than Kataras eight-year-old brain could comprehend, still see the pools of crimson that was almost plum coloured under the winter's moon and still see the blank cerulean stare that had once been so vibrant.
She was eight when she'd first experienced how cruel the world could be and eight when she first screamed from an agonised bleeding soul.
So when her hands collided with the small stones on the pavement outside of Ba Sing Se Universities boys dorm, that was where her mind had taken her. Back to the night when she'd lost her mother. It hadn't been straight away, it had taken her a moment to overcome the shock, but when she'd pulled her bleeding hands from the gravel the horrific memory had taken her.
Scraped hands. Blood. Blank blue eyes. Sirens.
She couldn't hear anything other than the noises of that night, she couldn't hear Zuko calling out to her, she couldn't even hear the pounding of her own blood inside her ears, nor her screams.
It was too vivid, too real. The yellowish stones before her had become that glinting charcoal-tar colour, the warmth of the night had subsided in its embrace and the chill of that winter's night had covered her like a shroud, that oil slick plum liquid was pooling at her feet and those eyes… the terror had taken her, swallowing her whole and refusing to release her, as if she was sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean of despair, not even Zuko could reach her.
But someone did. When she'd felt as though she couldn't breathe, that her body would fail her and she'd be left soulless, she heard singing. It was a low hum, too deep in tone to be her mother, but familiar. And safe.
So she reached, she allowed her feet to touch the bottom of her black lake and propelled herself forward, spared on by the singing. She knew that voice. She knew it well. And when she'd finally broken the surface, she was staring into two very vibrate cerulean eyes.
Sokka.
She was safe. She wasn't eight anymore, she knew it by the angles on Sokka's face, his high cheekbones that had long carved the man from the boy, and the thinning of his once round eyes. If Sokka had aged then so had Katara.
So she threw herself into what she knew was safe. Like she had done when she'd woken up in a blue hospital gown, with the intimidating machines bleeping at her and the cold clinical grey walls towering over her, with her brother holding her hand and singing to her.
She sobbed then, whether it was out of fear, relief, adrenaline come down or just the need to release the bled from her soul so she could be okay again, she didn't know, and she was safe.
It was the secondary hand on her shoulder that had caused her to seize, the shock had yet to wear off fully so the idea that someone else's was there made her stiffen, wiping her head to snap at whoever had touched her, she was met by two honeyed eyes, they weren't vibrant like Sokka's, they were beautiful and swimming in there own lake of hidden pain, but she knew them to be safe too.
Zuko.
So she didn't hesitate to throw herself into his arms, to feel his warmth and comfort around her. She didn't need him to understand, although she knew on one level he did, she just needed to be held by him In his silence, and he gave her that.
By the time the adrenaline had left her veins, leeching itself from her gut and ebbing from her muscles she was tired. So tired that the world around her seemed to slow and melt away, she could feel Zuko's steady heartbeat against her own, smell his smoke and sandalwood scent and feel his raven hair stick to her wet cheeks, for a moment she felt as though she could sleep there.
But when time slows to such a degree it has to correct itself, so by the time, Katara's clock had rightened itself she was staring at two unnecessarily bulky campus security guards restraining her brother. She was once again looking at the smug grin of Hahn and she was hearing the word 'Expulsion' being thrown around.
"No! You can't do that!" Katara cried as she lifted her head from Zuko's shoulder. "My brother was defending me!"
"They instigated it, officer, I was seeing my girlfriend out when she started accusing me of cheating" Hahn spoke as he rose to his feet brushing himself off.
"You are cheating!" Katara hissed as she whipped her eyes at Hahn.
"See officer? Her boyfriend attacked me to" Hahn spoke coolly as folded his arms over his chest.
"You'd be in worse shape if I had" Zuko returned as he climbed to his feet, aiding Katara to hers, the idea of kneeling on the floor with Hahn looking down on them boiled his blood more than it should have.
"He's my roommate officer, I don't feel safe" Hahn spoke, laying on the act so thick it was beginning to suffocate all of Katara's last nerves.
"Do you have somewhere else to stay tonight son?" One of the officers sighed as he passed his brown eyes over to Zuko.
"Don't call me son" he snarled, it was a knee jerk reaction to the title, it was such a commonly used phrase but it lit him all the same, he knew he'd probably just further convinced the guards of Hahn's ridiculous story. "And yeah, I do"
"I suggest you take the night to cool off" the guard returned, his brow quirked.
"What about my brother? You can't just kick him out on his word!" Katara cried, she didn't so much as throw a glance in Hahn's direction.
"We'll escort him back to his room for the night and deal with this in the morning" the other man spoke, he still had his arm firmly fixed around Sokka's.
"Then I'm going with him!" Katara replied.
"That's not a good idea, miss. He'll be on dorm arrest until otherwise. No visitors allowed" the brown eyes officer spoke.
"What!? Are you the campus security or the chief of police!?" Katara spoke, planting her hands squarely on her hips.
"She is my girlfriend's roommate, I worry for Yue, with such a volatile girl sleeping so close" Hahn spoke, as he offered his best look of concern.
Katara bared her teeth at him. Where was his concern for Yue when he was sleeping with Meng?
"Do you have somewhere else to sleep tonight, miss?" The officer sighed as she levelled his irritated and annoyed stare at Katara.
"I've just told you, with my brother," Katara replied, not an ounce of waver in her voice.
"It's okay Tara, I'll be fine" Sokka spoke as he offered her that toothy grin he always did when he was trying to make her feel better. She felt a pit in her stomach open up, she knew Sokka well enough to know that even he didn't believe that.
"But Sokka-"
"Doesn't your uncle have a place in the city, Zuko?" Sokka spoke over Katara, as he stared at Zuko.
"Yeah, he does. Kat can stay with me tonight" Zuko spoke, he offered a subtle nod to Sokka.
"Alright, now that that's settled, you were escorting me back to my dorm?" Sokka spoke as he gave the security guards a grin.
"I'll take him" the man with his mitts still clamped around Sokka's arm spoke first. "You see if those two need to grab anything from their dorms, '' he added, throwing his meaty thumb in Zuko and Katara's direction.
"Oh wait! Zuko, you left your phone on the table in the cafeteria" Sokka spoke as he dug in his pocket and produced the phone. With that Sokka was led away, and Katara was left to watch, feeling her stomach twist in knots.
Zuko and Katara were led to Zuko's dorm room first, where Katara was made to stand out in the hallway. If she wasn't so riddled with anxiety for her brother, who'd worked so hard to get a full ride, then she might have lamented the fact that this was the first time she was seeing her boyfriend's room and she was stuck in the hallway.
"Katara!" She heard her name called from the left as a door opened up further down the hallway.
She turned to be greeted by the familiar green eyes of Zuko's friend, Boe? Brolin? she cursed herself for once again forgetting a name. She'd remember to chastise herself at a later date.
"Are you alright?" He asked his doe eyes filled with concern, she really wished she remembered his name because he obviously did hers and had the decency to be concerned for her.
"No, my hand's sting, my brother is under dorm arrest and me and Zuko have been banished off campus for the night" she huffed, as she felt a headache forming, she was far too tired and far too weary to bother pretending.
"Because of earlier?" He asked his eyes wide with shock.
Great. The whole dorm saw? She spat. She'd feel embarrassed about that later.
"Hahn is saying we attacked him before Sokka did" Katara sighed, messaging her temples with her fingertips. The events of the day had long since been weighing on her, now she just wanted a shower and to snag a few hours before she tried to think of a way to save Sokka.
"But that wasn't what happened" He spoke as he scratched his head, a hand on his hip.
"Try telling him that," Katara grumbled as she shot a glare at the back of the officer's head.
"Excuse me, son but I need you to head back to your dorm," the officer spoke.
Zuko had to follow the same rigmarole when arriving at Katara's dorm, only he had Yue to keep him company. He found himself eyeing the platinum blond girl for a moment, she'd seemed genuinely concerned with both the appearance of a campus officer and Katara's injured hands. He wondered how someone as soft-spoken as her ended up with a guy like Hahn.
"Zuko?" She spoke softly, if they hadn't been standing in a deathly silent hallway, even with his good ear pointed towards her, he'd have missed it.
"What happened to Katara's hands?" She asked as she turned her eyes towards him, he couldn't help but notice how her eyes were just a shade or two lighter than Katara's.
"Hahn shoved her" he replied honestly, he wasn't surprised by the ensuing gasp or the wide eyes shock, he'd imagined he'd get that reaction. He doubted he'd be believed anyway but he was too tired and too emotionally drained to care anymore.
"But? But why? Why would he do that?" She asked softly.
"Look, I didn't know Hahn had a girlfriend, not until Sokka told me" Zuko sighed, his eye beginning to throb again.
"I still don't understand?" Yue spoke as she flicked her eyes to the dorm Katara was currently slamming around.
"He's cheating on you, he has been all year, Katara found out and he shoved her for it" he spoke, digging the heel of his hand into his aching eye. He just wanted to sleep.
"I know…" Yue spoke with a soft sigh, as she flicked her eyes to the ground.
"You know!? And you're okay with it?" Zuko spoke his eyes wide, he felt a sharp stab drive straight through his injured eye. He shouldn't have been angry with her, her relationship with Hahn was her business, but when Katara gets hurt it becomes his business.
"It's complicated" she spoke shuffling from foot to foot, a deep red stain flushing her cheeks as she avoiding looking at him.
"Yeah well you're complicated relationship got Katara hurt and Sokka expelled" he snapped.
"W-wait Sokka is being expelled?" She gasped as she pulled her eyes from the carpeted floor of their dorm hallway.
"Thank your narcissist" he scoffed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was done talking to her, he was done with the whole drama. He wished he'd never even agreed to help in the first place. Everything was a complete mess and the only person who stood to gain from their interference was Hahn.
Katara was injured, Sokka was looking at getting expelled and he didn't know what would happen to him, he'd more than likely get kicked out of his dorm and that was if he was lucky. He knew for a fact there were no cameras outside the boy's dorm, only on the inside, so there was no way to prove who hit who and to top it off neither he nor Katara had helped their case. They'd both bit back when the reasonable thing to do would have been to play it calmly like Sokka.
He let out another frustrated sigh, as Katara emerged looking equally as annoyed as he was feeling. The night held many questions, but they were both just too tired to answer them. So he held out his hand to her and she took it.
They'd figure it out in the morning.
A/N: I know some people were expecting something else from the last chapter, but I just wanted to explain something.
Hahn is a narcissist, narcissists don't accept responsibility for their own actions. This is only the first arch to this story, what happened had to happen for the rest of the story.
This is a story about growing pains. Zutara is the central couple but other characters are leading lives too and they all have their own parts to play.
So please trust me on this.