Chapter two:

Everything that held water erupted. The pipes in the wall that took water to the suites bathroom, the jug that held what Katara had been using to heal him, the water in the few potted plants in the room burst and froze where it was, suddenly the walls were coated in ice and Katara kneeled in the middle of the chaos, staring at the floor, unmoving.

Zuko had instinctively leapt into a defensive form expecting an attack but when he saw it was only Katara he lowered his hands. He had almost forgotten how powerful she was.

Quickly he turned to the servant.

"Gather some supplies in a war balloon enough for a journey to the earth kingdom." The servant rushed away immediately and Zuko turned his attention to the grieving waterbender.

Katara couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. That was the hardest part, breathing.

She stared at Zuko's carpet.

The room spun and spun and spun.

Aang? Dead? No.

It couldn't be. Aang couldn't just die. Someone like him didn't just die. he couldn't. The world needed him. She needed him. He was her closest friend, and her greatest ally. He couldn't just cease to exist. He was the Avatar.

The last time they had spoken to each other they had argued. That would be his last memory of her; angry, frustrated.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't breathe.

Katara's body spasmed with the effort. Sobs began to rack through her chest.

No

No

No

No

NO.

Amber eyes. Amber eyes looked into hers. Warm like the sun, worried, angry, and scared.

Zuko.

Suddenly everything snapped back into focus. It was jarring. She felt like she needed to hurl. She gagged and nothing came out but a sob.

Zuko.

His hands were in her hair, tangled and knotted. They anchored her to reality, to this room. He was whispering something but she couldn't hear, not over the great ringing in her ears.

Zuko.

He brought her into an embrace. His strong arms encircled her. Finally Katara let the tears fall. She felt Zuko's breath against her neck it was warm like the noonday sun.

Aang.

He was gone.

He had left her. Aang left her like her father had. Aang had left her like Jet had, like her mother had. Aang had left her again like all the times before. He always ran away, like in the desert, like on the ship, like he had just a few days ago. He ran and ran and ran. Yet, he always came back. No matter how much she doubted, he came back.

Aang wasn't coming back this time.

Zuko pulled Katara all the way into his lap. She found herself driving her head into his shoulder, putting pressure on her eyes. Looking for something, anything, to release this numbness, to release the numbness that curled up her chest and made her blood run cold. Katara finally began to hear what Zuko was saying.

"Katara, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'll always be here." She heard him sniffle a bit. "I'm here, it's okay, you're okay, I'm here." He repeated it like a mantra.

"He was supposed to win, it was supposed to be okay, I was supposed to go home, I want to go home Zuko." She whispered into his skin. The robe he had draped over his shoulders had fallen somehow. He smelled like spices and something clean and fresh and entirely his.

"I know Katara, I know. But people need you, your brother and Suki and Toph need you. The world needs you, we need to save the world. I need you Katara. I can't do this by myself. Please Katara, we have to leave, my father will come soon and we can't still be here when he arrives." He took a deep shuddering breath, he skin began to heat up. "Goddamn I'll kill Ozai with my two bare hands if I have to."

Katara breathes deeply. I need you. That's what Zuko had said. It was just them. Them against the world, people needed her to be strong. Katara never turned her back on the people that needed her. She stayed strong when her mother died, for Sokka and her father. She stayed strong for her tribe when her father and the warriors left. She stayed strong when Aang ran, for her friends and now she will stay strong, for Zuko, for her family, for the world.

Katara straightened up, took a deep, shuddering, breath and looked into Zuko's eyes,

"What do we need to do?"

Katara moved to the bed as Zuko stood and went to retrieve the note.

"There was more after my uncle signed it." He murmured, almost to himself.

Katara finally looked around the room at the damage she had done. It was beautiful, in a strange way. The ice that coated the room glowed as the sun went below the horizon. It was otherworldly. She should probably clean it up, but they didn't really have the time.

Katara turned her attention to Zuko as he read over the note again. Afew stray tears rolled down his cheek and he had a strange look on his face she had only seen once before when he told her about his mother below Ba Sing Se. It was vulnerable and childlike, with an underlying anger. Katara realized this was Zuko grieving.

"My uncle wants us to go to Master Piandao's mansion, there will be more directions there, apparently Sokka and the others are on the opposite Earth Kingdom shore." Katara nodded and stood and grabbed her bag over in the corner of the room, continuing to wipe away tears that wouldn't stop falling.

"We can take Appa." She spoke up.

"No, we can't," Zuko shook his head. He began gathering his clothes as well, he had to shake ice off a couple items. "he's too noticeable. We'll be flying over fire nation territory."

"I know, but we can't just… leave him." Katara stood still. She thought of all the adventures she and her friends had on the back of the bison. She remembered how panicked Aang was when he was stollen.

Aang.

Katara shook her head she needed to focus, it's what Aang would have wanted.

"I know… but… it's dangerous Katara."

Katara had made up her mind.

"We have to take Appa, it can work. If we fly high enough and I bend cover, it'll be okay." Katara turned to Zuko, he had stopped packing to and was looking at her. "And he's Aang's and I can't just leave him behind."

"I understand." Zuko looked at the window. "We have the cover of night so that's good, we should leave within the hour."

Katara nodded and shouldered her pack. Zuko was looking at her again, this time he was frowning.

"What?" Katara raises an eyebrow.

"You need new clothes." He said bluntly.

"Why? We won't be landing in any towns these ones are fine." Katara was planning on flying until they got there.

"It's a risk I don't want to take you can use some of Azula's. Your about her size." He turned away and cleared his throat. Katara thought of Azula sitting in a cell in the palace dungeons. It must be hard for him.

"I know you don't want to leave her here Zuko."

He sighed and swallowed.

"I just… it's just… my father won't treat her kindly. He'll see her defeat as a failure. He'll kill her, or worse."

Katara crosses the room and untwined her fingers with his.

"We should take her with us. The Fire Lord won't look for her at Piandao's.

He shook his head"No it's not safe to have her on Appa with us."

Katara squeezed his hand once than let go.

"Put her on that balloon we were gonna take and fly her there with a firebender you trust. We'll send a letter ahead to warn them. And if Piandao doesn't like it he'll have us to deal with." She looked into his eyes, they were sad. "We won't leave her behind, she'll be okay."

"Thank you Katara, that's a good idea." Zuko swallowed and sighed deeply.

Katara softly smiled.

"You should still borrow her clothes."

Katara wrinkled her nose, "but won't all the spikes and stuff be a little noticeable."

"She does have clothes without spikes."

Katara ended up with an outfit similar to Zuko's, simple, but well made. It was obviously fashioned to go under armor. As Katara helped Zuko down the stairs and to the ground floor she still couldn't shake the cold numbness of grief. If her mind was quiet for too long she would start thinking about Aang and a tear would fall down her face.

A small part of her still didn't accept that he was gone. With her mother she saw her burn until she was nothing but a scorched parka and her necklace. There were no doubts, just pain, so much pain. But now there wasn't a body just uncertainty and numbness.

Her and Zuko were silent all the way to the front doors of the palace, both of them seemed to be deep in thought.

When they came to Appa the bison was snarling at some servants who held provisions and supplies that they were attempting to load him up with.

"He knows something isn't right." Katara muttered.

Appa has always been fine-tuned to the emotions of everyone. He had such a deep connection with Aang that it wasn't surprising that Appa knew something was terribly wrong. Katara unhooked her arm, which had been supporting him, from around Zuko's waist and tried to walk calmly towards the raging Appa. She made it past the servants and the bison began to growl at her. Katara reached out her hand.

"Hey bud, it's me, it's me; Katara. I know your scared and we're scared too. Aang's gone and he isn't coming back, and I know how upset you are. I understand." Appa kept growling but he lowered his head to look Katara directly in the eyes. Her hand met his muzzle and he leaned into her touch. "I know your sad Appa. I know your confused, but we have to go now. He have to help Sokka and Suki and Toph. I know you remember them." Silent tears ran down her cheeks. It pained her, seeing Appa like this, seeing him so upset and tumultuous. It made all her emotions resurface. She saw herself in the terrified eyes of the bison. "Everything will be okay Appa." Katara came closer to him and wrapped her arms around his head burying her face in his fur. His animal musk brought back memories of the adventures she had on his back,and the adventures she had with Aang.

"Everything will be okay. It has to be"

Katara flew Appa first while Zuko rested in the saddle. The day's events seemed to have taken a lot out of him emotionally and physically. Katara knew he tried to cover it up and put on a brave face for her but she could tell he was exhausted, angry, and grieving. She also knew that his wound wasn't helping. Getting him up onto Appa had been an ordeal and with the bison still being on edge it made the whole project much more difficult.

Katara was okay with not having anyone to talk to. Being by herself up above the clouds gave her time to clear her head. The moon was full and she found herself thinking about Yue.

Just like the Watertribe Princess, Aang had sacrificed himself for the people he loved. Katara had known from the beginning that it was a possibility that the mission would fail but she never let herself linger on the thought for long. Now it was all she could think about. Anxiety bubbled up in her gut as she thought about the repercussions this would have on the world. They had lost their last chance at hope. Katara didn't even know if he had been struck down in the avatar state. Even if he hadn't and there was another Avatar in one of the water tribes, Ozai wouldn't wait around for another decade and a half for them to reach maturity. The world was in her hands now, her and Aang's friends an allies. She and Zuko needed to get to the others as fast as possible. They needed a plan. Aang wouldn't have let them accept defeat.

Wrapping her head around the fact that he was gone was difficult, if not impossible. Every time she thought about it she felt nauseous. Katara had only known Aang for a year now but he had become such a presence in her life. She had put so much faith in him. Probably too much if she was honest. All the hope she had left she had put on his shoulders and he was only twelve.

Was.

Past tense. That was the worst part of death. Aang wasn't an "is" he's a "was".

Katara felt like she should be crying. She should be raging and angry and thirsty for blood but she just felt empty. Maybe the wrath and emotion would come later. Hopefully she wouldn't stay this cold and hollow.

The night sky began to turn grey with dawn. She needed to wake Zuko up. Katara couldn't bend the clouds to create cover and guide Appa at the same time.