A: TLA © Bryke

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters but the plot is mine... BOOYAH!

A/N: I know my last chapter wasn't as long as my previous ones and that I've taken so long to update. And I'm really sorry. My life has been busy, busy, and busy! I have school, a load of Homework, urgh, and activities. Also, I'm in year 9, so we get a lot of homework to get us ready for the Mock Exams in May next year.

A/N: This has been updated. 13/01/13

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, then it's you.
- Rita Mae Brown

The Opposing Elements

Chapter 6 – The Truth in the Eyes of Water

It was ironic. How she loved water so much she was drowning in it, her lungs being penetrated with the liquid in litres. Oxygen escaping her lips as she silently sank her limbs unable to move because of the frosty temperatures seeped into her skin. Her eyes stayed open, watching with stinging eyes as the sky through the hole she had created drifted away. She couldn't feel anything; it felt foreign but welcomed to be in her opposite element, it was a peaceful element. Zuko must love being a waterbender...

Instantaneously, the water started meandering around her body, wrapping around her like a silk scarf, running across her skin and tightening around her torso. She was surprised when it pulled her up, her clothes were no longer dragging her down like she thought they would, the water was pulling her up...

Breath escaped her as she squinted into the white sky, her back arching as she tried to desperately take in as much oxygen that was possible. Begrudgingly, she rolled to her side, her mocha arms coming to cup her stomach, a breathless moan rattled out of her, reverberating throughout the battlefield.

In mere seconds, minutes... whatever... The ice was painted red with blood, misshaped icicles and trenches, bunkers and piles of snow was everywhere, all with curved corners and dripping water, the result of fire and water mixing. In the centre of everything, of all the genocide and blood-shed, there he was.

His parka was moving with great speed as he manoeuvred from attacks, blocked fireballs and encased firebenders, all the wile, protecting his village. With rippling muscles - despite the thick parka – and a sweaty face, there he stood. Fists were drenched in water, eyes wide and staring at her, his eyebrows beginning to furrow, all in a mere second, he had asked her. 'What are you doing here?' Firebenders were advancing on him, fists alight with a threat of death should he fall by their hands.

One look at his blue orbs made her realize that she was in the right place, and that she needed to do something. With a mighty call, her fists grew ablaze like a light switch, her slopping feet sliding against the ice as she ran towards the fight, yet, not once did she fall. If she fell, her life would be in danger, the villagers' lives would be in danger, and so would Zuko's.

Her feet ascended as a soldier made for a tackle; she simply jumped over, not allowing him to touch ice as she bathed the ice in fire, the firebender falling straight into it. Golden eyes blazed with the fire that the body possessed. Two identical helmets made a run for her, multitudinous fireballs were sent at her, scattering around her body as she countered each one. Words flew from her lips as everything seemed to happen in slow motion, firebenders seemed to turn to face her instead of Zuko, now. She briefly slipped, her flaming fists brought to her face; she was threatening them.

It all appeared like a movie, everything was calm, silent. Almost immediately, everything set off again, multiple soldiers fawning for a chance to attack her, each being taken down by her own hand, falling into the water below as ice continued to melt. Even as she covered ground, even as her body heated to extreme temperatures, even if the ground beneath her feet was completely aimed at, it stayed solid.

But as she was continually being protected from the icy depths below, Zuko left himself open, vulnerable and worth targeting. She never saw it coming, he didn't either... "Zuko! NO!" Despite being surrounded by blood, his seemed to bleed the brightest.

He couldn't speak; the gurgling sound of his own heart pounding seemed to have closed up his throat, the sound of the organ pounding in his ears, resounding throughout his whole body. Then the pain came. A scream tore from his dry throat as he collapsed to the floor, clutching at the hole bleeding in his stomach, his vision turning blotchy as white and black spots appeared, nausea hitting him like the water he manipulated.

His knees buckled beneath him, his hands shakily supporting his face from being buried in the snow, the crystalline white turning into a watery pink, the liquid leaking through his fingers.

A far away scream ruptured from a high voice; one that gave him a headache, but it felt familiar... sounded familiar. But he gave into the darkness that promised unconditional pain release.

She suddenly didn't care that she was walking on thin ice – literally- no, she wanted to get to him, he'd sacrificed his attention and his reluctance for her had caused his fall. Her red fists flickered between white and the orange flames, the embers overflowing from her fists like her anger, spurting from her fingers like never-ending nails, curling with fury at the ends.

With fire-tipped fingers, she stood from the couch she had unintentionally curled into, spreading her fingers to the side of her, the fire in her heart rivalling the exploding flames licking at her palms.

Each soldier stared in amazement, the minor injuries she had obtained from her fights weren't even affecting her, not now that she had lost the person she had tried to protect. Milliseconds past and she was on the first soldier, her fire-claws ripping into the metal armour like uncontrollable rage, her hands devouring the metal around his stomach, before she slashed at the red cloth on the area. She enclosed her palm in fire, laying it straight out on him, he was writhing beneath her, his fists curling and thrashing in her brown locks as she burned him, a permanent mark that had been bestowed upon him. Conveniently, he was the soldier that had attacked Zuko. But it wasn't just any soldier, it was Admiral Chen.

"Feel the pain, Chen! FEEL IT!" She screamed in his face, her form crouched over his as she dragged her fingernails across his scorched flesh, an agonizing scream tearing from his throat as his eyes spilled with tears, blood and fire melted the snow around them, the pure heat emanating from her melted the underneath their bodies. The cracking underneath them caught Katara's attention and she rolled off of him, obtaining safety as she bolted for Zuko's side.

A fireball flew out of no-where, a sheet of metal obscuring a view a second later. She covered Zuko's body with her own, nodding at Aang as he kept the sheet of metal he had ripped off of their boat in front of their bodies. The soldiers' boat probably had more supplies, anyway.

Tears blurred her vision as she clotted the bleeding with her own hands, desperation coursing through her veins for the man underneath her, his skin was turning a much chalkier tone than it already was, his lips turning blue from the exposed wound that sent shivers up Katara's body just by looking at it. His eyes tried to remain open, she could tell from the way they kept drifting closed, only to pop open a moment later; he was doing it for her.

It's painful... "Ka-Tara..." Her eyes looked down at him, her eyes full of tears, the embers of fire that were burning in her eyes extinguished in one look at his painful features. "I'm... Sorry," she hushed him, wanting him to keep the breath in his body. She rubbed warm palms over his waxy skin, trying to keep the warmth on the inside of him.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Zuko. It's my fault. You protected me," she smiled at him, it was eerie, it lacked any happiness; it was just right for the situation.

"Yo-Yon Rha, too." The 'Rha' came out as a rawr instead of the intended pronunciation, but that didn't stop the shock from bursting inside her.

"You mean you were the one who-" He was going to nod, but he didn't have the strength, so it was a slight incline of his head, instead. As much as she wanted to hate him for it, for taking his life, she couldn't. She was about to be killed by Yon Rha, even if she had the upper-hand, she would've died from blood loss. "Oh Zuko," a sad smile graced his features, his eyes closing. "Zuko, I'm going to stop the bleeding, okay?" His eyes opened to half-slits, an indication that he was losing more blood, his brain not getting enough oxygen.

"It's going to hurt," she pulled out the small knife she always carried around in her boat, surprised to actually see it had stayed in it's hiding place. With a small intake of breath, she cut open his parka and the layers he wore beneath, revealing what used to be white and pale, like his face. A tearing sound reiterated in her own ears as she widened the bare patch, intending to burn his skin but not set his clothes alight.

"Three," her hands instantaneously grew alight, "two," Katara took a deep breath, blowing her loose bangs from her face, her golden eyes travelled across his body, the drenched fabric she had torn, the pain in his face, the torture of his face... "One!" She pushed them down onto his stomach, and he screamed bloody murder.

The pain he had felt before was heaven compared to the new one; the reason being that he was close to peace, but now... The pain amplified. He couldn't breathe; the oxygen had lodged in his throat, just like his scream. His eyes attempted to roll into the back of his head, the ruinous agony multiplied as Katara begged him to stay awake, this time, and it was the throbbing in his heart. He tried to take in raspy breaths; the lump in his throat wouldn't let him.

She had stopped the bleeding, his pain didn't stop though. It echoed in her ears... That scream... I thought... It sounded like I had did it myself, I felt as if I was the one to kill him... Tears dripped from her face as she hunched over his form, her hands on either side of his head as she stared meaningfully into his eyes, pleading him to stay awake. 'Don't leave me?' The silent question was answered with a grunt as he lifted up his arm slightly, his wrist cramping, releasing and circling...? "You're water bending..." She realized he wanted to heal himself, internally.

With a curious gaze, she watched as water travelled up his body, blood picking up with it and making it a pinky tint, then it soaked through his skin and into his wound. The area glowed with a bright blue through his skin, it was like a shadow puppet show, you could see what was going on inside. "You can bend blood...?" Another grunt showed his acknowledgement to the question.

Toph looked at the hunched over couple with a sad eye, a smirk flirting with her lips a second later as she took another soldier down. "Seriously?! Can't I have a challenge?!" A taunt was the best type of provocation. With a spin of her staff, three faceless soldiers were knocked back into the ice, the slippery sheet cracking with the added strain. Aang was doing quite well, too. Even though he wasn't a waterbender and he was surviving on bending metal, he was being fairly creative.

Her voice stuttered as she attempted the two-syllable name, "Zu...Zu-ko?" He grinned at her, despite his eyes being closed and his form heaving with exhaustion, he was very much alive. Katara squealed in delight, wrapping her arms around his neck awkwardly. Inhaling the waxy smell of his skin, she pulled away, sticking her tongue out. "I think Aang managed to warn the villagers, I think Toph protected them too," she gestured to the floating metal in front of them, "courtesy of Aang." A broken chuckle escaped his lips, a smile forming on them a moment later.

Happy tears dribbled from her eyes as she tried to help him stand, "Lean on me," with that confirmation, he did just that. She managed to get him up easier.

"Thank you, Katara." Although his voice was deeper than usual, even though his eyes were more tired than the energetic blue she had usually seen when he was in the cell, even though she hadn't known him that long, she was glad she sacrificed her crown for him. Is asked why, she wouldn't be able to give you a definite answer...yet.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" The frenzied voice of the Firelord ricocheted off the walls of the palace, the walls shrinking back in fear, the servants cowering even though he wasn't in the same room and Sokka, standing at the other end of the conversation, chills shooting up his spine. The armoured boy glared at his father, the man's face was ruddy with anger, and fists alight with flickering blue-green fire, boots stomping over the same course repeatedly.

"Katara..." Sokka's voice held an aura of fondness, one he had been too scared to show because his sister had always been the one to get everything... But when he learned just how much she hated being on the receiving end, he finally doused that hatred. "Katara's finally followed her own path; she's made the right choice."

'Make sure you protect your sister with everything you have, Sokka. Make sure she isn't consumed in the element she's encased in. Make sure she follows her own path; make sure she does the greater good. Make sure you don't smother her, make her a strong person.'

Mom, Katara has finally become strong enough to walk her own trail. My work is finished. Katara, I'm coming to find you, little Sis.

Edited. Review please, new readers! :3

BlackTorment