Song Name: Slipped Away
Singer/Band: Avril Lavigne
Story Title: I Miss You
Rating: T
Pairings: None At All; just poor little Katara against her thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful song by Avril Lavigne, nor do I own any characters or themes from Avatar: The Last Airbender by Nickelodeon.

A/N: Here's the final one I have so far. 'I Miss You', a sad story about Katara's memory of her mother dieing, and how she copes along on the night of the anniversary. I felt pretty proud of this one--I think I've gotten better...don't you guys? Please review! Thank yous!

I Miss You

'I miss you, miss you so bad.
I don't forget you, oh it's so sad.
I hope you can hear me,
I remember it clearly.'

A lone figure stood out against the darkness, darkened face illuminated by the raging fire in the pit. The moon shown boldly down upon her back, and she welcomed the warm rays as comfort and strength. It had been so long…so long since she had had a dream about her mother, but of course it was no surprise she had had it this night; it was the anniversary of her death. So long, and it had always been so hard to endure the nightmares. Now that she was nearly a grown woman, at age eighteen to be precise, Katara had thought that she would not have those dreams. Not again, not ever. But she had, and now she sat by the fire, gazing into its dancing flames searching for some sort of condolence. She had not awakened the young Avatar, who was now coming into his sixteenth year. Nor had she awakened her older brother, but that was no surprise. He could sleep through a Fire Nation raid if he chose to. Toph, the young sixteen-year-old earth-bender, wouldn't stir even if she had been paying attention. The stubborn teenager stayed in her make-shift tent as long as she could during the night, and would only stir if she felt danger.

Katara remembered the day like it was yesterday. She had been watching her mother play with the water, spinning it in front of Katara just to keep her entertained. Katara was sick, lying in her make-shift bed with a bad cough and a high fever. She had been delirious, and had called her brother 'daddy', and he had started crying and ran out of the room. Katara had felt terrible, wondering why she had made her daddy cry when her mother came in to bathe Katara in the boiled water. Katara laughed slightly, clapping her hands together, oh how she loved her mother when she played with the magic water!

'The day you slipped away,
Was the day I found it won't be the same.'

A rustling made her look over to Sokka, who was just rolling over onto his side facing toward Katara, making Momo roll off his stomach. Silly Momo; despite Sokka's cruel treatment of the animal the lemur still seemed to stay with the young man as a companion and friend. Throughout all these years, Sokka had taken onto a handsome young man with a built body and gorgeous, brown hair that was pulled into that silly ponytail of his. She smiled slightly when he muttered something under his breath, something about kicking Princess Azula's ass in the dirt. Something like that.

Katara's cobalt eyes glazed over and turned back to the fire. The flames licked at the wood, and silently she fed the blaze. She shut her eyes as her memories continued. Everything was going great, and her mother sincerely thought that Katara was getting better and over that silly cold. Sokka, on the other hand, came running in and yelled at Katara, telling her that he hoped she never got better. Angered, Katara flung her small fists into the water, making waves splash out of the basic. Waves that, even with the contact of her fists to the water, should not have appeared. Her mother looked at her in amazement; her daughter was a water-bender as well! Katara's eyes widened, and so did Sokka's. Then Sokka yelled something about magic water and stormed out of the tent, his mother on his tail.

'I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand.
I wish that I could see you again…
I know that I can't.'

Katara shut her eyes painfully, her chin wobbling as she fought back the tears. When her mother left, that was when the attack happened. Katara had stepped from the basic, draping herself in her robes and blue clothes, and sat in her crude bed, waiting for her mother to return. She never did. First, Katara smelled unusual smoke. Then, she heard yelling which quickly turned into shrieks of pain and surprise. Her mother had been one of the many water-benders in which had tried to save the small South Pole tribe. By this time, the men had left for the war, most at least. All the older men in their late sixties could hardly do anything, and the younger men in their teens were too eager for battle.

She remembered screams, and then she remembered her mother running into the tent. 'Hide, Katara!' she said in a rushed, hushed tone. She looked behind her shoulder and panic stroked across her beautiful face; Katara had never seen her mother so terrified, and she panicked. Her mother swung around, 'Katara, hide, damnet!' She shoved her daughter under the bed, against the frozen tent. She heard her mother's hard voice speaking to someone. And then a scream and she saw flames lick the ground and heard water splash. She knew her mother would never give up without a fight. Katara hid her face with her hands, and then she heard it. The sound she had never thought possible to be heard. A shriek so terrible, the small igloo in which Katara hid in cracked slightly.

'I hope you can hear me cause I remember it clearly;
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same.'

Katara quickly looked away from the flames, toward the large flying bison. It had moved slightly closer to the flames, but was asleep nonetheless. Katara smiled sadly, and shut her eyes tight as a few tears slid down her face. Katara, strong and determined Katara, was crying. She hated it, but she loved it. To let out the pain in which she had held for so long…it felt nice. She buried her head in her arms, her knees pulled against her chest. She slid her cheek against one arm, and muttered a few words. She remembered it so clearly, like it had happened yesterday. Perhaps it had happened yesterday.

She remembered her mother's dieing cry, and then Katara saw the flames lick the snow-covered ground as a torn-up and flaming body hit the floor near the bed. Katara covered her mouth in terror, and shut her eyes tightly. She heard feet come closer, and then move away. She didn't care. She was scarred, seeing her mother's burnt and bleeding face. Katara would never know what went through her mother's head that day; she would never know how her mother lost to such a brute from the Fire Nation. She would never know.

'I had my wake up,
Won't you wake up,
I keep asking why,
And I can't take it,
It wasn't fake,
It happened, you passed by.'

Katara had crawled from the bed and sat by her mother's burnt and withered body. Her once smooth and beautiful face was torn and smeared and melted, and the smell of burnt hair and burning skin was unbearable. Katara had thrown up, but she hadn't left her mother's side. The second thing Katara realized was that the igloo's entrance was covered by snow, and that she was stuck in the igloo. That didn't register until after Katara had tried to revive her mother. She tried everything she could think of; she poured melted snow on her, she shook her, she patted her melted cheeks, she cried against her mother's stomach. 'Wake up,' she remembered crying, 'Wake up, mommy…' She had cried and cried, never stopping until sound outside the igloo caught her ears. She pulled herself against the farthest wall as she could as the snow was slowly removed, and Sokka came rushing in. He grabbed Katara in his grasp, burying her head against his chest as she began crying once more. Sokka kept his eyes downcast from his mother's body as the villagers removed it, and Katara never forgot that Sokka had shed one tear. One tear, because he remembered the last words he had said to her. 'I hate you,' he had yelled.

Katara felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Sokka sit next to her. Katara's chin shuddered as she found the tears coming against, and Sokka wrapped one arm over her shoulder, and she leaned against her brother. Somehow, Sokka had known that Katara was hurt and upset. It was a brotherly instinct…it came with the position of older sibling. He kissed the top of Katara's head, and that's when Katara started crying. At first, she fought it. One tear, two tears, three tears…and then they all came at once and she was burying her head into Sokka's shoulder. And just like all those years ago, Sokka grabbed his sister in a fierce hug and placed his hand on the back of her head, as she cried into his chest. Somehow, he had known that she had had one of her dreams. Somehow, he had known that she needed him, not the warm heat from the fire. Not even Yue, the moon spirit, could have helped her. Sokka ran a hand through her messy braid, and whispered calm words into her ear. Somehow, he had known that she would remember that fateful day all those years ago. Katara whimpered into his chest, her tears still coming. She felt a hand on her other shoulder as Aang sat next to her. He looped his arm through her free one, and placed his head against her shoulder. Katara's bottom limp trembled, and then she felt hand wrap around her neck and looked up to see Toph leaning in, resting her head on Katara's head.

Katara looked into the flames with a new confidence; it was her mother's death anniversary, and yet Katara felt more determined and more loved than she had ever felt. No longer was she silent or depressed on this day. She had a reason not to be. She was the strong one; the one who never cried. She felt embarrassed by being seen in this pathetic state, but she felt that it was only destiny that she had been caught. Now she knew she wasn't alone. Now she knew that she was loved. Now she knew she was needed. But her mother's burned face still laminated in her mind. She shut her eyes tightly as a new set of tears sprung from her eyes, and the picture of the burned face disappeared. It was replaced by a smiling picture of her mother, holding Sokka in a bear-hug with Katara jumping up and down for a hug as well. Katara smiled sadly at this memory, and whispered softly:

'I miss you.'