She heard the stiff, uneven footsteps before he entered the room, and jumped up to pour out a cup of tea for him. She smiled when they locked eyes, and he ambled to a chair. "How was the meeting?" asked Katara as she reached into the cupboard.
"It was okay," the Fire Lord responded.
Katara handed him a cup of jasmine tea before pouring one for herself. "Just okay?"
He took a sip and shrugged. "It went well. We're finally pulling out of the colonies," said Zuko. "They're going to form a new government independent of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom."
"Wow," Katara breathed. "That's great." She sat down at the table and waved her hand over the tea, stirring it with waterbending.
"Yeah," he replied with a proud smile.
Katara held her hands against the porcelain cup, relishing the heat against the chilly air of the evening.
She curiously studied Zuko, who seemed tense and kept averting his gaze. "Is something wrong, Zuko?" she murmured. "You seem..."
"I'm fine," he replied hastily, still avoiding her eyes. "Just...thinking about..." The firebender trailed off, grasping for the next word. "Stuff," he finished weakly.
Katara narrowed her eyes at him briefly, scrutinising his expression and trying to figure out what he was hiding. "Oh," she chirped innocently, "what stuff?"
"Just stuff," Zuko repeated. After a puzzling ten minutes of silence, he finally lifted his head from his cup and met her eyes. They stared at each other for some time. Katara found his eyes searching hers and his mouth trying to work up something to say, but every time his lips quivered like he might finally speak, he kept quiet instead. Katara tired of waiting for him to say something. "Zuko," she said gently, "I know something's bothering you. If you need to talk or anything, I'm here."
Zuko struggled to hold her gaze. She noticed he had suddenly paled, and seemed to be short of breath. "Are you feeling all right?" Katara asked nervously, already reaching for her water skin.
"I'm fine," he murmured shakily. Zuko glanced down into his tea, and his voice strengthened as he said again, "I'm fine. I..." He shook his head and rose from the table. "I can't talk about it right now."
Katara gaped at him, thoroughly baffled and worried. "Why not?"
The Fire Lord didn't respond as he shuffled out of the room. Katara leapt to her feet and rushed to the doorway after him, but he had already disappeared down a corridor. "Zuko?" she called, but no one answered.
Katara closed the door behind her and collapsed onto the bed. What's wrong with Zuko? she wondered. Is he sick again? Did something bad happen at the war meeting? She couldn't remember ever having seen him look that anxious. He was practically scared sick. The full moon is next week, she realised. Is he thinking about another attack? She thought about his appearance and demeanor. She knew when he first walked in that there was something he was hiding, but it seemed the more Zuko considered talking about it, the more afraid he became. What was he afraid of talking about? Katara was certainly no stranger to peril, and the Fire Lord knew that. If there was something troubling, or if he was worried about an impending attack, why wouldn't he share that with her? They had been sharing so much lately. They had become such close friends. For Zuko to leave Katara in the dark like this was greatly distressing.
Katara surrendered her thoughts for the night. She changed into her nightwear, fluffed up her pillows and folded over her blankets. She laid down her head, willing her eyes to close and her mind to calm.
She didn't know how long she had slept before a clamor outside her room pulled her awake. Katara sprang upright, holding her breath as she listened. More clamor—furniture crashing, wood splintering, fists flying, people yelling and grunting. One cry in particular reached her ears, and Katara bolted out of the room in time to see Zuko being thrown back by an angry blast of fire. He staggered and collapsed to the ground, little wisps of flame eating away at the edges of his clothing. "Zuko!" gasped Katara, diving back into her room and grabbing her water skin. She popped open the top and drew out a few drops of water, bending them to his robes and snuffing out the flames. She scurried beside him and ushered him to his feet, quickly running her eyes over him and observing no serious injuries. "I'm okay," Zuko breathed as he pulled himself together.
Out of the corner of her eye, Katara saw three dark figures speeding towards them. They were lithe and nimble, and they were wrapped in black. She couldn't see their features, and their eyes all seemed grey. One of them lunged toward her and unleashed a ball of fire. Katara quickly dove out of its way and retaliated with a bolt of water. She bent a stream around the firebender's arm, then pulled back and wrenched him to the ground. Another figure rushed Zuko, drawing up a fist aimed for the Fire Lord, but Zuko swung out and deflected the attack. He pushed the figure back, and leapt into a firebending stance. The Fire Lord threw his fist, but nothing followed. He tried again, adjusting his stance slightly and attempting to throw a firebending punch, but no fire came. Katara saw panic fill his face, and as a burst of flame shot towards him his eyes lit up with fear. Katara dashed in front of him, whipping out a stream of water. Within a blink, the stream was broken, and another figure came before them. They gathered the remnants of Katara's waterbending attack, pulling the stream back together and whipping it against Katara, knocking the breath out of her lungs as she rolled to the ground.
A firebender and a waterbender... Katara thought, mentally sizing up their attackers. Zuko leapt to his feet and hurled himself at an attacker, who humoured him and allowed him a clumsy swing before barreling into him. Katara watched him hit the floor like a rag doll, bruised and breathless and powerless. Her heart ached to see Zuko so defeated. She swallowed hard and focused her attention on the attackers, drawing out a ribbon of water and crunching it into shards of ice. Katara moved her hands out towards them—and froze. The muscles in her arms wrenched tight. She willed herself to move, but she was no longer in her own power. One of the masked figures approached her, their arms angled towards her. She could feel the blood in her body churning, and it felt like her veins were being twisted. Then the figure curled their fingers and raised their hands, and Katara's back arched stiffly and her body was pulled straight. She stared at the figure who was bloodbending her, and slid her eyes towards Zuko, who looked on horrified and helpless. Suddenly he screamed as his body was wrenched upwards, and he too fell under the bloodbender's spell. Katara looked back to the figures, who were now all in the same stance as the first bloodbender. Terror flooded her as she realised they were all in total control...and it's not even the full moon!
Katara shut her eyes and took a deep breath. But they're not the only bloodbenders here, she thought, throwing her senses inward and searching for that dark power within herself. She found it nestled deep inside—as she had promised herself she would never use it again—and called it forth. Katara's blood warmed as she summoned the corrupted art, and she could feel movement returning to her, loosening the bloodbenders' hold on her. She directed her power on herself and started to reclaim her will. Inch by inch, Katara broke free, feeling the dark power pulsing through and releasing her. At last, the waterbender took back her power, and she assumed a defensive bending stance. The figures stepped back, momentarily stunned that Katara had broken their bloodbending spell. She looked back to Zuko, who was still in their control.
The waterbender started to lunge forward with a whip of water. One of the figures took a quick step back, and Zuko yelped as he was yanked towards them. Katara threw a glance to him, and the figures took notice. "Maybe you can escape bloodbending," they hissed, "but he can't." With that, all three figures pulled their arms into their bodies, and Zuko flew helplessly towards them. One of the bloodbenders reached out and caught the Fire Lord by the neck. Sheer panic ripped through Katara, and she moved towards them. "Don't hurt him!" She steadied herself and lifted her arm, trying to concentrate on Zuko's blood. She attempted to manipulate him out of the attackers' power, but their hold on him was too strong. Katara saw the bloodbender's fingers tighten around Zuko's neck, and she frantically released a wave of water, hurtling it towards the figures. Suddenly, Katara's arm stiffened and the water dissipated. Her arm wrenched behind her and her knees buckled, and she dropped to the ground. "Katara...!" a voice gurgled. She looked up to see Zuko also being wrenched to the ground, his limbs being bent in unnatural ways. The colour was rapidly draining from his face and his eyes were wide and bloodshot. Katara watched in horror as the Fire Lord collapsed, limp, pale, and gasping for air. The figures stood over him while he struggled to breathe; then, their forms vanished.
Katara regained a little bit of strength, and pulled herself to Zuko's side. Tears came to her eyes immediately when she got close and saw exactly how bad the young Fire Lord's condition was, and how much worse it was getting. His skin had lost all colour save for a bluish tint, and his eyes were glazed over with agony. Katara carefully placed her hand on his chest, and she could feel the beat of his heart and the pulse of his blood slowing. In between ragged breaths, Zuko struggled to speak. But the pain was too much, and no words could come.
"I'm sorry, Zuko," Katara murmured, taking what little strength she had left to curl up beside him. The pain in his eyes softened, and Katara's heart sank to think that, soon, she would never be able to look into his eyes again. She would never hear his husky laugh again, or share a cup of tea with him, or feed the turtle-ducks with him in the garden. All of their shared memories, the good and the bad, hung in the small space between them. With every shallow, grating breath, their memories fell away, leaving Katara and Zuko alone in darkness. Katara felt his heartbeat falter, and knew that he was leaving her. She gingerly took his hand in hers and closed her eyes, begging the spirits that, if he should die, she would die with him. Katara squeezed his hand as if she could hold him in her world, and willed herself not to cry. But the tears came anyway, and when Zuko's hand finally fell from hers, her heart was shattered, and the world around her crumbled to pieces.