"It what?!" Aang asked in a loud, enraged voice. In his turmoil, Aang missed a step and managed to step on Katara's left foot. This caused her to stumble toward Aang, but he caught her quickly against his chest. The new position of his hand on her back just-so-happened to be the location of one of her wounds. The pressure from his hand was too much for her.

With a hiss, Katara sharply pulled away from his grasp and touched the throbbing spot on her back. Her face went pale, and she felt like she was going to be sick. With a clenched jaw, Katara told him, "You're going to have to excuse me." Then, she quickly exited the large ballroom, but not too quickly. She didn't want to draw attention to herself.

By the time she made it back to the staircase, Katara was in a full body sweat. Luckily, it was a back staircase and out of the public's view. Katara collapsed to her knees at the base and rested her arms and forehead on the cold steps. It felt marvelous against her burning skin.

Then, she felt someone sit on the step beside her and place a hand on her back for support. She lifted her head to meet striking grey eyes. "Katara, I am so sorry."

"It's fine. I'm fine," she assured him, but they both knew it was a lie. If she was fine, she wouldn't be on the floor breathing like she had just ran a marathon.

"What happened?" His voice was full of worry. He had never seen Katara in so much pain.

She looked away from him, and he took the opportunity to really look at her. At twenty-one years old, she had matured in the best ways possible. Her body had developed curves but was still lean from staying active. Her hair was darker and longer, but her skin was the same shade of tan he dreamt about. Although her face was depicting pain and embarrassment, she was still as beautiful as she was the day he left. Instantly, he regretted leaving and never fighting for her.

After a few moments of silence, Katara finally answered him with a shortened version of the story. "The spirit was going after Sokka and my dad, so I let it catch me instead. It's three talons pierced through my abdomen. They brought me back to life with Spirit Water from the Spirit Oasis, and I was in a coma for five days. I just woke up this morning."

"Oh, Katara," he whispered to her with hurt in his voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Did I hurt you?"

The color in her face hadn't returned yet, and her forehead gleamed with sweat. "No," she lied with a groan. "You just touched one of the spots."

"It's that painful?"

"Yes."

"Should I send for help?"

Katara finally looked back at Aang's face and saw that he looked tortured. She could tell that he genuinely felt back for her. Suddenly, she felt bad for the way she was treating him earlier that night. He didn't have to be helping her right now. "No, I have a healing session with one of the healers later tonight."

"Can you last that long?" He wasn't sure she could even walk to her room right now.

"I will," she said weakly. Unsatisfied with her answer, Aang carefully scooped her up and into his arms. He gently carried her up the stair, into her room, and laid her down on her bed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Katara," he said with a small smile. "Are you sure I shouldn't go get a healer?"

"Am I bleeding?" Her question took him by surprise, and he blushed as he looked at her body. Katara managed to let out a light giggle. "It's nothing you haven't seen before," she teased as she cautiously rolled over onto her stomach.

Her comment only made his face turn more red. For the first time that night, she sounded like Katara to him. Awkwardly, he inspected her back. "I don't see anything."

Katara slowly rolled back onto her back and began to push herself up. "Can you help me up?" He did so. Standing with her back to him, she asked, "Can you unlace my dress?"

Aang froze. That was not what he expected to hear as he practically held her up. "Um..."

"Aang, it's fine. I need to know if I am bleeding or not." While her comment was true, that wasn't the only reason Katara asked him to help her out of her dress. For starters, corsets are extremely uncomfortable and nearly impossible to get off yourself. Then, there was the fact that she knew she was making Aang flustered. It was payback for his sifu comment earlier.

With shaking fingers, Aang slowly unlaced her corset. He had only done it three times before, and two of those times were still ingrained in his head. But he couldn't think like that right now, not with Katara standing that close to him. Once he had it loose enough, she carefully slipped out of it.

Aang's gasp was all she needed to know. It was not a good sign. She walked over to her full length mirror and turned to inspect her back. Her thoughts were confirmed when she saw that the bulky, white bandages had three red splotches in an upside triangle. They weren't large spots, but it was bleeding through her second set of bandages.

She looked across the room at Aang and noticed that he had tightly closed his eyes. The poor guy was probably traumatized with fear that he had hurt her. His face was still beat red, and she realized it was probably because she was only standing in her tan wrappings and white bandages. Feeling insecure, she pulled on a blue plush robe.

Once she was covered, she called, "Aang, you can open your eyes now?" There was a hint of flirtation in her voice.

He opened one slowly, and his innocence made Katara laugh. Once he realized she was covered, he opened both eyes to really look at her again. "Are you okay?"

She crossed the room and carefully sat on the edge of her bed. "Ask Sokka for Miki," she sighed knowing it was the right thing to do. If she didn't get help now, her healing process would be delayed, and she needed to heal fast. She had a plan.

Aang practically ran out of her room, down the stairs, and into the ballroom to find Sokka.


By the time Miki made it to Katara's room, Katara had already closed the wounds by healing herself. Miki healed her regardless. "Wanna tell me how you got out of that dress?" Miki asked being nosey while she rewrapped Katara's abdomen.

Katara, feeling stronger, uncontrollably laughed so hard it hurt her stomach. After a grimace, Katara responded with a simple "No."

Miki gave her a pointed look. "You know, you're brother and a certain Avatar interrupted my dancing."

Katara rolled her eyes. "There's only one Avatar, Miki."

"Yeah, and he was busy taking off your dress!" Miki squealed. Katara's mouth flew open as she reached out to hit her friend's arm, but Miki easily stepped out of the way. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better. You certainly have something to heal for."

Katara sent a weak water whip in Miki's direction, but the girl deflected it. Then, she left Katara's room with devious giggles.


Katara had awoken from a nightmare again. Her heart was pounding, and her mind was racing. She had seen the evil spirit again. It was holding her in his hand again, its grip tightening. But something was different this time. Katara's arms were pinned by its grasp, and there was no way for her to waterbend her way out of it this time.

The spirit brought her closer to its face, where its razor sharp teeth smiled at her. Then, a laugh escape its mouth.

That's when Katara woke up with a start. She could still hear the laugh in her mind, but she couldn't place it. It was familiar, but not familiar enough for Katara to know its source.

Knowing that there was no way she would be able to fall back asleep, Katara carefully slipped out of her bed. There was a full moon tomorrow, and she had already slept for five days straight. Rather than tossing and turning all night, she pulled on her thickest coat and snuck out of the palace.

The moon was high in the sky, and the ocean was calling Katara's name. She walked to the outskirts of the tribe and sat along the edge of the water. She gingerly pushed and pulled the waves. It felt good to bend after the day, or days, that she had had. So much had happened since she woke up this morning, and it felt good to be by herself. No one was treating her like glass. It was just her and her element.

Katara heard the faint sound of wind and found it was odd because there was hardly any wind that night. She knew that sound and looked up to the sky. Against the dark sky, Katara had to squint to see a the familiar outline of a glider... It was Aang.

She stood up quickly and began to walk back towards the palace when she heard the snow crunch behind her. Out of fear of being wrong, Katara turned to face her visitor, ready to strike.

"Easy," Aang told her cautiously. Katara relaxed her arms and stared at him. "You know, there's a dangerous spirit on the loose. It's not safe for you to be out here alone."

Katara debated her response for a moment. She could tell him he was right because he was, or she could challenge him. She had waited years to see him standing before her, and she had a lot of built tension she needed to release. But he was so nice to her earlier that night, and she didn't want to lose a friend... again.

"Full moon," she replied keeping her response short. She knew he would understand as the waterbender in him was surely keeping him awake as well.

Aang only nodded. "It's the same for me. Being so close to water isn't helping either." And being so close to her...

"I should get back," Katara told him, fearing what would happen if they were alone any longer. She turned back towards the tribe and began to walk again, her fists in balls at her sides.

"Hey Katara," he called out after her. When she turned to look at him again, he continued, "I was hoping we would find a chance to talk while I'm here." His voice was sincere and so were his eyes. Years of tormented feelings were depicted on his face.

Katara studied him for a moment and decided that she hated to see him like this. He wasn't trying to push her, but his face was pleading with her. "I'm not ready," she said barely above a whisper.

He heard her anyways. "Katara, I-"

"You had six days to prepare to see me. I had hours. I'm not ready." Her voice was louder this time. It was harder, and her face was emotionless. She feared she would crack if she said anymore.

Aang nodded at her in understanding. He knew she was right. Despite having time to prepare himself, it was still hard for him to be around her. He needed to give her time and space. She had just died and come back to life. That alone was a lot to digest. "Okay," he replied.

Katara turned back around and returned to the palace with silent tears rolling down her face.