a/n: Umm, hey guys! This is a little embarrassing coming back almost an entire year later but y'know how crazy this entire shitshow of a year has been. This isn't a full comeback, just a little one cos I'm stuck in Tier 4 lockdown (and I have nothing else to do but be indulgent on fanfic haha) so please don't expect too much from me! I don't know if anyone is still waiting for this story to finish but I hope I can eventually give you guys the closure you want. I plan to have one more chapter to finish off this story off so I hope you like it and don't curse me for how short it is...
Disclaimer: don't own
A Date with Disaster
Chapter 7: Breaking Up with Disaster
She took moment. A deep, deep breath.
Zen shuffles closer to her, "Come into my arms Katara—my darling."
A magnetic force tugs at her stomach, pulling her towards him. Her eyes snap open, furious. She throws her arms back, a stream of water from the ocean rockets up, swinging around her in a protective bubble. She swings her arms forward, icy spikes hurtling towards Zen.
Zen barely dodges them, hissing in surprise.
"What the—you're a waterbender?!"
One of his friends snarls, "How the fuck didn't you know that?!"
His merman friends hiss and swerve as Katara's onslaught overwhelms them.
She's calm. Undeniably calm. A suit of water around her, she shoots out ice spikes, pinning and sending all the mermen scattering across the beach. Many of them jump behind rocks and trees, limbs full of gashes bleeding out. She throws two into the ocean that don't surface. She sneaks a short merman sneaking up on her from her left; she throws a bubble of water at him, freezing it on impact. He drops to the ground completely frozen.
"Katara! Listen to me! Stop fighting!"
Zen's hypnotic words twist in her gut, Katara bites down on her lip hard, drawing blood. She would not let him control her—no one was ever controlling her again.
She twists her wrists, turning her water suit into a swirling, twisting cyclone throwing it straight at Zen. Zen growls angrily—confused that his hypnosis was failing him, he was the strongest merman of their tribe dammit!
The cyclone hits him, he flies back, slamming into tree. A rib cracks, he groans in pain as he slumps into a small curl. Katara stalks up to him, eyes blazing with fury. She fashions an array of ice spikes, suspending them in front of Zen, ready to skewer him, ready to finish this—
"Please don't do this."
Zen whimpered. The scales have vanished, the yellow sharp teeth are gone and his beautiful eyes bore into her again, begging. He was once again the boy she fell in love with.
"Katara I love you, please don't hurt me."
A hazy fog clouds her mind, what was she doing? Why was she hurting the man she loved? She loved him, right?
"You're my everything Katara. Please don't do this." Zen pleads for mercy, eyes glowing brilliantly silver as he pulls Katara into his spell.
"Do you love me Katara?" He asks.
"I—I love…"
"KATARA."
Aang voice breaks through her haze, the thought of him feels like an ice-cold shower. Aang. Aang.
And suddenly, everything was clear again.
Zen snarls, scales and teeth back, his lips curled back on his teeth as he growls at Aang speeding down the beach, Sokka and Toph close behind him.
"KATARA!" Zen shouts, eyes molten and bright. "Protect me!"
A dizzying feeling overwhelms her. Her mind once again clouded in confusion, she turns to her friends, unable to stop her arms reaching for the ocean again.
Sokka boomerang flies suddenly, missing her. Toph stomps her foot on the sand, a weak rock wall jumps up, blocking her from Zen. The sudden block is enough to stop her in her tracks, the water drops from the air and her arms slack in confusion.
"Shit! I can't see crap in this sand!" She hisses, her hand on Sokka's shoulder tightens.
"Katara! Please snap out of it!"
Aang is suddenly holding her, pleading. His hands are warm and surprisingly strong on her arms. His eyes bore into hers, trying to find her in her unfocused daze.
Hisses swarm all around them. Zen's friends emerge from their hiding places, reinvigorated and ready to eat. Sokka yelps, shielding Toph.
"What's going on?" Toph asks, voice shaky.
"His fishy friends have come to join the party."
Zen grins a devious smile. He emerges from behind Toph's wall.
"Looks like—"
Boomerang strikes the back of his head, Zen cries out in pain. Sokka and Toph laugh as boomerang flies back into Sokka's waiting hand.
"Take that fishface!" Sokka bellows as he taps Toph's hand. "In front!"
Toph moves swiftly, striking two mermen in one blow with a storm of boulders and careening them back into the ocean.
"To the left!"
"What left!"
"My left!"
"What's your left!?"
"Argh I mean your left!"
Toph growls frustrated, deciding to send rocks in every direction. Some strike, some don't. But the merman learn their lesson quickly enough and are able to start dodging her attacks.
Sokka grabs Toph's hand and puts it on his shoulder. "Come on! We need to get your advantage back!"
Toph nods as he starts sprinting to find solid ground, the merman hissing on their heels.
Katara's head was splitting in two.
"Katara we have to get out of here. Please, tell me you can hear me." Aang's voice is low and pleading.
A warm hand touches her face, breaking through the headache for a second. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out, her voice is still gone.
"Ugh—that son of a—I'll eat him first." Zen hisses, rubbing his head as he gets up. He looks at Aang and gives a cruel laugh. "Don't even bother trying. She's mine now."
Aang's eyes flash, "She doesn't belong to anyone!"
Zen rolls his eyes, "She's under my spell stupid. No one can break out of my true love's kiss."
Aang stiffens. "She's not in love with you."
"Oh yes she is." Zen moves towards the ocean, beckoning her, "Katara, darling, come here."
Katara jerks slowly, turning towards Zen. Aang grips her arms tightly, panic etched on his face.
"Katara! Please snap out of it! You don't love him, you don't love him!"
Katara can hear Aang's desperate, sad voice reaching out to her; but her limbs are so, so heavy and she can't do a thing, she can't feel her body anymore. Like ice in her veins, she stumbles towards Zen robotically, mechanically. She flounders, torn between jumping into Zen's arms and pinning herself to the ground.
"Come towards me love. Let's go home."
Zen is now ankle deep in the water, hand reaching out to her. Water. Water is her element. She likes water. She moves towards him before her feet are locked by sand that solidifies into rock.
Aang breathes heavily, guilty and angry, arms poised.
Zen gives him a curious look, "Funny. You don't strike me as the earth bender type."
"She is not going with you. Ever."
Katara squirms on the spot, ankles cutting, drawing blood.
Zen rolls his eyes. "God, all this fuss over one woman is boring me."
"Then leave her alone." Aang spat.
"Sorry—I've invested too much in her to let go now. She was so easily swayed by my charms and it's so hard to find a woman like that. I might keep her around for a bit, play with food before I eat her y'know." Zen contemplated lightly.
Aang grips Katara's hand. "Katara, I hope you can hear me. Forgive me for what I've done," he glances guiltily at the blood on her feet before he gives a soft, firm kiss to her hand. "Come back to me, please. I can't imagine my life without you." Aang gives her a hand one last squeeze before letting go.
He turns to Zen, who looks completely bored, and squares up his shoulders.
"Now," Aang's eyes start to faintly glow, "What the fuck did you just say about my girl?"
In the corner of her mind, she knew that she was trapped.
She could see them—the two most important people to her fighting over her life. If only she could make him understand that Zen was a good man, this wouldn't be happening. If he'd only listen to her she could make him understand.
But there was something wrong with those words. She knew. A niggling that persisted in the corner of her heart that stubbornly insisted that something was wrong.
She struggled against the restraints on her feet, drawing blood. She needed out, she needed to follow Zen. It would all be over if she listened to him, followed what he said.
Warm lips touch her hand. A faint voice that sighs, "I can't imagine my life without you."
For a long moment the words dwell in her heart and simmer under the surface.
A voice urges her: look closer Katara. You're not confused—you're in denial.
An angry shout of fear strikes through her heart.
"Who are you?!"
"Someone you should have never messed with!"
Another cry—and the spell is broken, Katara is shackled no more.
a/n: I hope you guys enjoyed this! I know my writing style has changed a lot since the last update but I hope the change isn't too weird or jarring. Please leave a review if you enjoyed this, your support and love is what keeps bringing me back!
PhantomPotterGirl