Disclaimer: I do not own: Avatar the Last Airbender
There was so little to be done at the Fire Nation Capital. Azula was defeated and had been safely taken away by the palace guards. Zuko spent the last few hours on a bed, healers moving in and out of his room, the healers saying all he needs now is time.
Katara was sitting in the courtyard where the Agni Kai took place on one of the stone benches in silence, eyes darting to the sky every other second, desperate for news. Her mind was sick with worry. It took far too long for word to reach them that the Avatar had won.
"Aang, please come back to me" She whispered, voice weak, a singular tear trailed down her cheek. She couldn't help but think that his last memories of her were, her rejecting his love and them fighting about whether he should kill the Firelord or not.
Katara regrets not telling him her true feelings, she would never forgive herself, if he died without knowing how she truly felt about him. The waterbender sighed and rubbed her temples, she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten or gotten any rest, but she had never felt less hungry, the thought of food made her stomach clench and she didn't feel tired at all.
Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps, turning her head in the direction where the sound came from, she saw Zuko limping towards her. The firebender took a seat next to her saying nothing. They stared at the sky in silence.
Zuko broke the silence."Are you okay?" the firebender asked, having noticed her tear stained cheeks.
Katara nodded.
"I'm fine"
Zuko didn't look convinced "You're worried about Aang aren't you?" He guessed, a knowing smile on his face.
"Yeah" She replied, voice quiet.
"I wouldn't worry too much, he's a talented kid. I've never seen anyone with so much raw power, if anyone could beat my father its him" Zuko said trying to make her feel better, one hand clutching his chest.
"I'm not worried about that, I fully trust him and I do believe that he'll succeed. I'm just worried that he'll get hurt in the process, or that he somehow goes down with Ozai" She choked on her own words.
"I can't lose him again, Zuko I can't" Her voice cracked, her hand covering her mouth.
Zuko didn't know what to say, he knew that she was thinking about that day in Ba Sing Se, when he had made the mistake of helping Azula and in doing so, Aang had been shot in the back with lightning.
"I'm sure he'll be alright" The firebender lamely replied, not knowing what else he could say to that.
Before their conversation could continue, they saw an airship approaching the capital. Katara shot up in her seat.
"Is that...?" She started, rising from her seat.
"That's one of the airships in the fleet" Zuko exclaimed and stood up, muscles tensing.
They watched with bated breath as the Airship landed and three figures walked out of the Airship. They weren't firebenders.
Zuko blew out his cheeks and relaxed, a wide smile forming on his face as he watched his friends come out of the Airship.
"Sokka! Suki! Toph!" Katara exclaimed, grinning, and ran towards their friends, Zuko limping behind her. The waterbender tackled her brother in an eager embrace before he could say anything, elicting a painful grunt as he was forced to step on his injured foot. Katara gasped and backed off immediately.
"What happened?" She questioned eyes filled with worry as she noticed he was using a crutch and was favoring his left leg.
"Well you know, just broke my leg trying to stop the Airship fleet, nothing major" He shrugged a small grin on his face. She made a mental note to take a look at it later as she embraced Toph in a tight hug.
"We did it Suqar Queen" Toph whispered smiling as she hugged her back, normally she would've punched anyone who tried to hug her, but she enthuasiastically returned the hug this time.
There were tears forming in the waterbender's eyes as she moved in to hug Suki, tears of happiness. The war was finally over, they could live their lives now without worrying about their safety every single day and having to be cautious everywhere they went, they didn't need to hide anymore.
It felt unreal, all her life before she met Aang she had always thought she would have to live and grow up in a world of war, stuck in her village. The idea of the war ending let alone her helping to end it, seemed impossible. But thanks to the young Avatar the war was now over. If it was possible, her love for Aang grew.
Speaking of the airbender...
Katara glanced at the group, and her smile faded. Aang wasn't with them, they were supposed to meet up with him. So where was he?
"Where is Aang?" She questioned desperately, holding her breath.
Their faces fell, Sokka shared a worried glance with Suki. Toph was looking at her shoes, her face solemn.
Her blood froze in her veins "No" she gasped. "Where's he?" "Where is Aang?!" She shouted when they didn't answer her, raw panic in her voice.
Sokka grabbed her shoulders gently yet firmly in an attempt to calm her down. "Calm down Katara, Aang's not dead. He defeated the Firelord, he won. He is resting right now inside the ship in one of the rooms"
Katara let out a breath and tried to calm her heart He's alive he's fine.
"Why do you guys look like something terrible had happened then?" She questioned, after having calmed down.
When no one else seemed to be answering her, Toph let out a harsh breath "Twinkle toes killed the Firelord" She stated bluntly.
Katara's eyes widened along Zuko's who had just reached them and heard Toph.
"Aang killed my father" The firebender repeated, his right hand absetmindedly touching his scar. He wasn't sure how to feel. This is what he wanted, right? Infact, he himself had encouraged Aang to kill his father. Ozai was cruel, he was abusive, he was the reason Zuko's mother disappeared and left him. Zuko hated his father, so why does part of him feel sad?
"Yeah, he did" Suki confirmed, running a hand through her hair "He told us he was fine but anyone could see that he is broken inside" She finished frowning.
"We thought that maybe if Katara talked to him, he'd open up a bit and hopefully he'll let us help him get through this" Sokka added, rubbing his chin.
"Of course" Katara whispered, still in shock. She didn't know why she was so surprised. This was the only way the war could end right? It's not like Aang could've taken the Firelord's bending away. And throwing him in prison would be too risky and dangerous. She's not sure if the Airbender sees it that way though.
Aang is probably beating himself up over what he did. She thought, biting her lip.
Running inside the Airship Katara started looking around for the airbender. As she opened the door of the second room she noticed it was completely dark, except for a small lit candle in the corner of the room by an empty mattress. Judging by the covers that were tossed around he must've slept here, but she didn't see him anywhere, which worried her even further.
Looking around the room he finally spotted the young Avatar sitting on the floor against the wall arms around his knees. Quickly moving towards him, she enveloped him in a hug.
"Aang!" She exclaimed hugging him tight, tears streaming down her face, before pulling away and taking a better look at him.
Only to see his eyes look.. distant. His usually bright eyes were dull, like all the light that had been there had disappeared, and his cheeks were wet with tears.
"Aang?" She called out voice cracking "Aang, please look at me" She said, her hands shaking as she cupped his cheek
"What do you want Katara" The airbender finally replied, as he removed her hands from his face.
Katara swallowed, she was hurt by his actions but didn't show it.
"Aang you did what you had to. Ozai needed to be stopped. You did the right thing" She told him, voice soft
Aang felt a jolt of anger at those words, of course she wouldn't understand. None of them did. They don't understand that by doing what he did, he betrayed his people. He is the last airbender, his people were counting on him to end things peacefully. The Lion turtle gave him a way out, gave him a chance to do things right, by granting him the ability to energybend and end the war peacefully. But he messed up! He let his anger cloud his judgement, he let them all down!
He scoffed "Of course you'd say that, you guys think that I can go around killing people I don't like. You act like its a simple solution, you people act like killing Ozai is easy when an entire nation is resting on my shoulders and are counting on me to end things peacefully!" He snapped, hands tightening into fists.
More tears streamed down Katara's face as she heard those words. She understood where he was coming from. She wished there had been another way. She opened her mouth to say something but before she had the chance to, the airbender kept talking.
"Why are you even here? Did you come here to tell me to just suck it up? Or did you perhaps come here to break my heart again, what one time wasn't enough? Here to do it again? Can't you just leave me alone and stop acting like you care." He spat out bitterly. In the back of his mind he knew that he was being unreasonable and that Katara didn't deserve any of this, but it was so much easier to be angry at her than let himself be vulnerable to her again only to get his heart shattered into pieces.
"Are you serious right now?!" Katara shouted and stood up, hands squeezing into fists "How can you say that? After everything we've been through how can you say that I don't care?! At the balcony in Ember Island I told you!" She pointed a finger at him "I told you that I was confused because of the war, not of my feelings for you. But of course you couldn't get it through your big head. You didn't listen and kissed me anyway! How can you be so selfish?! I get that you're upset about killing the Firelord but that doesn't mean that you can take it out on me!" She finished. her nostrils flaring and fists clenched.
Aang scoffed, but didn't say anything. He stood up and started walking toward the door. Just as he opened the door and was about to step out, the waterbender's voice stopped him.
"Where are you going?!" She fumed, arms crossed over her chest.
"Out" was the only response the airbender gave her as he walked out of the Airship.
Katara sighed and slumped down on the floor. All the anger in her body disappeared and was replaced by tremendous sadness. She pulled her knees to her chest and started sobbing.
How did things get so bad.
