Thanks for the reviews guys! Hope you like this chapter, and remember, I wrote this before The Boiling Rock even came out, so some things may be inaccurate now. Enjoy!
The next morning, before the sun had even risen, Katara heard someone moaning from another room. She couldn't quite make out who it was, it sounded horrible, though. She crept her way out the door of her room and into the hall. It was almost pitch black in the temple, but Katara kept moving forward. Ten steps out of her room, she immediately knew where the moaning was coming from.
"Teo?" Katara carefully stepped into the younger boy's room and tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness.
He didn't even acknowledge her presence; Katara wondered if the boy was still asleep. She gave him a gentle nudge, but immediately jumped back in panic. His body was covered in sweat and his skin felt as though it were on fire.
"Teo!" She immediately summoned the water from a nearby fountain and tried to bring the boy's temperature down. After several minutes, Katara gave up; even her healing abilities couldn't help him. The first morning light crept through the doorway, allowing her to take in the whole situation.
Teo's face was red, probably because of his intense fever. However, he was sicker than Katara had ever seen a person before. He couldn't even open his eyes, and even though his body was burning up, he was shivering as though he were surrounded by ice.
Katara knew she couldn't just leave him like that; she needed help. She ran out to the main hall, but it was empty except for Toph, who was sitting alone, facing the fire.
"Toph! Where is everyone? There's something wrong with Teo."
"You mean Teo's sick too?" a voice from behind her asked.
Katara turned around, seeing Haru and The Duke coming out of Sokka's room. Katara inhaled sharply. Not Sokka…
She quickly made her way to his room…Sokka looked even worse than Teo. Katara urgently tried to heal him, but again, even she couldn't help him. Haru, The Duke, and Toph stood behind her, unsure of what to do or say. Sokka was shivering, too; Katara knew this wasn't just an everyday illness that would cure itself. They needed immediate help. But they were miles from any kind of civilization; let alone any non-Fire Nation place.
She fought back the tears as she faced the group. As she organized her thoughts, she noticed that there was something very wrong…
"Where's Aang?" She choked on her words as a wave of fear crashed over her.
Immediately, everyone looked away. The tears blinded her, but she managed to find her way to Aang's room. Zuko stood off to the side, watching as Katara rushed to her friend's side. He was barely breathing; for a second, Katara wondered if he was even alive…
"Aang! Wake up…you're not sick…you can't be…just get up…" Katara broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Aang looked awful; it was the worst she had ever seen him. His eyes were shut, but his mouth was open; almost like he was smiling. She didn't even care if Zuko saw her crying; she barely noticed he was there anyways.
Again, she tried to heal him, but nothing seemed to help.
"You can't heal him," Zuko finally spoke in a calm voice, as though the fight last night had never happened.
Katara whirled around and glared at him through her tears; however, she was unable to respond.
"It's chi," Zuko started again slowly. "It's an illness…that attacks their overall flow of chi."
Katara stared at him in disbelief. "And how do you know this? Why should I even believe that?"
"Someone told me…"
"Who?!" Katara was beginning to panic, there was no time for this…
"I…" As much as Zuko didn't want to tell her, they needed to heal them; and fast. "Ty Lee."
Katara couldn't believe it. Although Ty Lee was his sister's 'friend,' it never really occurred to her that she and Zuko actually knew each other.
"I've seen cases of this before…and I know a cure for it," Zuko added quickly. "But we won't find it here…"
Katara looked at him skeptically. "Give me one good reason to believe you…"
"He's telling the truth," Toph came into the room and stood in the doorway. "He's not lying, Katara."
Toph looked angrily at her; probably still mad about what Katara had said the night before.
Katara looked back to Zuko, carefully avoiding eye contact. "What is it then? Where is it?"
She winced as Aang shivered violently, but tried to keep her mind focused on finding the cure.
"It's a plant…but the only place we can get it is on an island…in the Fire Nation."
"Oh, of course…how convenient."
As much as she wanted to refuse, one glance at Aang convinced her otherwise.
"I can't go alone," Zuko rushed. "I don't know how to fly the bison…"
Katara moaned inwardly. Of course, Toph and Haru couldn't fly Appa on their own either, leaving her as the only eligible person to go. There were a million things she'd rather do than go find this plant with Zuko, but she had no other choice.
"Fine. I'll go."
Zuko nodded seriously and left to grab his belongings.
Katara placed her hand on Aang's moist shoulder. "Aang, I know Zuko and I have our issues, but I'm going to find the cure. You, Sokka, and Teo will be okay. I promise."
After what seemed like a lifetime, Katara turned and faced the others. "Toph, you and Haru are in charge. Take care of the others while we're gone."
She turned to Aang one last time and said her silent goodbye.
Comments, as always, are loved and appreciated. Next chapter is one of my favorites, so stay tuned!