Hey, everyone. This next chapter is rather dark, so I just wanted to warn you in advance. But please, if you haven't read Chapters 42-45 yet, go back and do so. Key plot stuff. Anyway, no, I do not own these characters or the show. So there.


The next two days couldn't be more nightmarish for poor Aang and Katara. Quite literally, too. Despite Katara constantly by Aang's side, even sleeping next to him, they both still had terrible nightmares, always ending in or focusing on Aang's impending death. What made matters worse was that Katara was beginning to come down with a terrible cough. Though she insisted she was fine, Aang was extremely worried. After a particularly nasty coughing spout, Katara hacked up a couple drops of the purplish fluid that Aang had been ejecting (for lack of a better word).

Aang gasped, his eyes widening in horror. "No…not you too!" he cried out.

Katara was shocked. "I—I must've caught it from you…Iroh never told me I could catch it from you!" She coughed again, more fluid escaping her lungs.

"Katara…I-I'm sorry," Aang whimpered meekly, sobs threatening to escape his lips. "I didn't mean—"

She put a finger up to his mouth. "H-hey, it's okay," she said, trying to smile. "We're both gonna be fine. Sokka and Zuko are probably on their way up the mountain now."


Speaking of Sokka and Zuko, the two had just landed their craft at the foot of Mt. Wu Xing.

"Uh…how do we know this thing isn't gonna blow us up?" Sokka asked apprehensively.

Zuko finished pulling his climbing gear on. "We don't," he said simply as he began to scale the mountain.

"And it's almost five miles high. How do we know we'll be able to breathe up there?" Sokka questioned, pulling the last of his gear on and following the Firelord.

"Because these heavy backpacks we're carrying are oxygen tanks," Zuko replied in annoyance. "Now stop asking questions and start climbing. Our friends need us."

"But what about lunch?" Sokka whined. Zuko groaned. "There are yucca plants all over the volcano. Now shut up and climb faster!"

"Yucca?" Sokka echoed, disgusted. "Yuck!"

Four days. It took FOUR DAYS to climb the mountain, thanks to Sokka dropping his boomerang halfway up and insisting on retrieving it. By the time he and Zuko reached the summit, it had been six days since Aang first got sick.

The sun hung low in the sky as the two encountered a small patch of gold-colored flowers. "These must be golden panda lilies," Zuko said.

"They're so beautiful," Sokka breathed.

Zuko nodded. "Pick one for Aang."

"Knowing my sister, she's probably hovered over him this whole time and caught the disease," Sokka replied, picking three. "Another for her, and I want to give one to Suki."

"Fair enough," Zuko agreed. But then, he facepalmed. "Sokka, you idiot, we have no way back! We can't reach the bottom and take the airship back in time! What do we do?!"

"All right, hot pants, first of all, I am not an idiot," Sokka replied sharply. "Second of all, I have a plan. Just wait for it."


Four days seemed like four years to Aang and Katara. Neither one of them could stop coughing and puking the purply fluid, which was now turning sickly black. Aang began to feel very weak, to the point where Katara had to help him just to walk to the bathroom. (Luckily, his room had its own bathroom, because Toph wouldn't go anywhere near either of them.)

Eventually, Aang began to lose hope, and he said so. "Katara…I'm not sure I can keep my hopes up anymore."

Katara felt her heart breaking door the poor boy. "Aang, no, you're going to be fine. We both are."

"Sokka and Zuko should have been back by now…" Aang said brokenly. "I-I'm staring death in the face, Katara, and I'm so scared…"

And for the first time since the terrible earthquake, Katara finally let loose the tsunami of sobs she had been holding back. "I know…and I-I am too. I tried to be st-strong for you, but I'm just as s-scared as you are."

The grief-stricken couple wept openly for a good ten minutes before Aang began to choke.

Katara stopped crying, realizing Aang's situation. "Uh-oh…" she uttered, before Aang heaved. And heave he did. He simply couldn't stop. A continuous stream of disgusting purple gunk…more than enough to make Katara gag. Her stomach, however, was able to contain its contents, unlike poor Aang's. By the time he stopped, Aang was gasping for air.

"Oh, Spirits…that was awful." He shuddered, more hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "Katara, I don't want this to be the end," he sobbed. "I-I—"

"I kn-know, Aang," Katara replied with a shuddering breath. "I know…"