I... Don't like this chapter. It was hard. And weird. And messy. And DRAMATIC. Sheesh. I need to comfort-eat after that sesssion...
Whispers, shadows and blurs.
Muffled voices, and the numbed awareness that someone was moving his limbs for him.
And then suddenly there was pain. Excruciating, burning pain: like he was being sawn in two. His insides were on fire.
He screamed.
Arms descended to pin him down, keep him still. He writhed and twisted, arching his back, his fingers scrabbling at the fabric beneath them.
The pain ceased. The hands slackened. He gasped for air as his muscles slowly relaxed. The sound of the blood pounding in his ears shut out the voices completely. Tears stung his eyes, his head reeled. He choked back sobs of relief.
Something soft moved against his cheek. He dimly wondered what it was. While he pondered its identity, his limbs almost forgot to register the tightening of the hands. By the time he realized it was too late.
"I don't know if you'll remember anything." Seeing to the ugly red lines that zigzagged across his abdomen was all Katara could do at this point.
"But…" Everything humanely possible had been done about the rest, but whether it would prove to be enough still hung in the balance.
"I hope you don't." Aang had more than enough scars already, and so she would do her best to save him the anguish of another set.
About Katara's hands swirled dimly glowing mitts of water. They hovered barely an inch above his skin, making slow, deliberate strokes over the wounds. She had pulled her hair into a rough twist over her shoulder and out of the way. Without ceasing in her work, she dragged her knee onto the mattress to get a better angle. So far her patient had remained unresponsive, but in Katara's mind speaking to him kept her sane, despite the fact she knew how well it gave the opposite impression.
"And if," she continued, her eyes flickering to his unconscious face for an instant. "By some miracle you don't remember, please don't ask me about it."
"On the bed, hurry!" With a mutual grunt, they swung the limp body onto the mattress. "Get the lamps!" Suki ripped open the drawer, tearing through its contents.
"No spark rocks!" she gasped. Sokka swore.
"Hello? We're in the Fire Nation! They have people for that, remember?"
"Toph, now is not the right time!"
"Don't you tell me it's not the right time! For your information, I was making a suggestion: find a firebender! And speaking of time, we don't have any, and if you're just going to waste what little we do have on-"
"Guys!"
"I know, I know! Where's Mai?"
"I'm here."
"And?" There was a shocked silence as all eyes (seeing or not) fell on the hunched old man behind her. Sokka was across the room in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, he had the shrivelled figure pinned by the throat to the wall, his little feet twitching an inch from the ground.
"Sokka!" Suki rushed forwards. Toph flung out an arm to stop her, a hard expression on her face.
"Let him have it," she spat. Sokka exploded.
"WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?" The little man said nothing, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. His face was slowly turning blue.
"Sokka, stop it! You're killing him!"
"Get off of him, he-"
"ANSWER ME! WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?"
"He works for me!" Sokka's jaw dropped, and he released the old man.
"Mai?" he spluttered, stumbling back as the Fire Lady bent to help the man (gasping for breath and rubbing his neck) to his feet. "What-"
"Get out of the way." Half supporting the old man, Mai shoved past Sokka, whose expression remained livid.
"Are you insane?"
"Are you? Just trust me!" Suki and Toph weren't convinced either.
"Mai, I don't know-"
"That's the guy who poisoned Aang, and you're just going to let him stroll in here and finish the job?" At this point, the creepy man had reached the edge of the bed, and leaned over the form of the unconscious Avatar. Toph spun on the spot. "Get away from him!"
"Majesty, I'll need a knife, I think. Something sharp enough to-"
"Slit his throat?"
"-get through the fabric. I'll need boiled wrappings, catgut, if you have any. I'll do what I can, but the situation is not optimal-"
"The situation is not optimal! Is that the understatement of the century!"
"-and we will need to find the royal physicians as soon as possible. You're sure none can be located immediately?" Mai shook her head.
"It's Coronation Day."
"I understand. In that case, we shall have to make do. But I must start immediately. I'll need something to stop the blood flow-"
"I can do that." Katara's voice was quiet, but cut through the babble of raised voices like a knife. Kneeling beside the bed, she raised her head. Her face was pale and set.
"Now how in world could she possibly-"
"Katara, are you sure about this? I thought you didn't-"
"I am."
"Thank you, Master Katara. Your help is appreciated. Fire Lady Mai, could you attend to the instruments please-" Mai turned on her heel and left the room. "-and I'll need light to operate by." Sokka stiffened.
"Operate?"
"Yeah, we noticed the lack of light, thanks for pointing out. Only, there's a problem: your stupid country doesn't seem to have any spark rocks-"
"I'll find some." Suki shot out the door after Mai.
"Master Katara, if you'll remain by his head… Yes, perfect."
"Wait, did you say operate?"
"Yes, operate. That wine in his stomach will go directly into his bloodstream if it is not removed immediately."
"Why can't he just… You know, throw it up?"
"Well, for one thing he's unconscious-"
"Straight into his bloodstream?"
"Yes." To everyone's surprise, Katara sighed in relief.
"Katara, I don't think that's anything to be happy about!"
"If I can stop the blood flow, what's to say I can't isolate the poison?"
"And how do you plan on getting it out?" Silence. Katara mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?"
"A… A cut."
"How large?" Katara gaped at the old man, horrified.
"How la-? No, we can't, I-"
"Katara, it sounds like we have two options: both involve cutting him open-"
"Don't say it like that!"
"-only one means we'll have to do a little less slicing and dicing-"
"Stop saying that!"
"-as opposed to potentially killing him by poking the wrong-"
"SHUT UP!" Sokka shrunk under his sister's fury.
"Master Katara, how large?" Katara found herself staring at the face of the unconscious airbender lying motionless on the bed. This is stupid, she thought suddenly. Why am I wasting time worrying about cutting him, when I could be saving him? With a shaking finger, she slowly traced a long line along his abdomen. "Very well." Sokka snapped his fingers.
"What about anaesthetic?"
"I doubt that's necessary. He's out cold."
"But what if he wakes up?"
"He won't."
"But say he does!" The little man was silent.
"Then you had better hope," he said quietly, "That you can hold him down."
"And if I do remember?"
"If you do remember… Then we won't talk about it."
"That doesn't sound healthy."
"It's better that way."
"I thought we were supposed to trust each other with these sorts of things." Katara winced, visibly hurt by the words she had only imagined.
"Of course we are," she said softly. "That's what friends are for." She abruptly pulled back from the bed, depositing the water in a bowl on the edge of the bed with a careless flick of her wrists. Frowning, she examined her handiwork. At a glance the thin white scars were all but invisible. But Katara knew he would notice. And so would she. The water flowed about her palms once more, and she pulled herself up onto the bed, swinging her leg over his knees this time.
"Katara, don't." She ignored the voice in her ear. "You've done more than enough already."
"No, not yet I haven't," she muttered, taking a deep breath. The glow of the water intensified to the extent that her hands were now a mass of white light. She screwed her eyes shut. Focusing. The light brightened.
"Stop. You'll hurt yourself."
Across the room, her untouched teacup began to rattle, its contents now spherical and rising into the air. The cup slipped, smashing on the hard wooden floor. Unnoticed.
"Katara, please. You don't have anything to prove."
"Yes," Whispered Katara, her face now drained of colour, her shoulders shaking with the effort. "Yes I do." About her the very air rippled and condensed, water drawn from every possible source. The Fire Lilies on the windowsill crumbled to dust, the rain tearing through the paper shutters and shooting towards the glowing white hands of the waterbender like tiny silver arrows.
As every available drop was pulled into Katara's grasp, the lamp hissed and spat, throwing the room into darkness. Now the only source of light came from the quickly brightening light about her hands. The water began to hum.
"Enough. You've already sucked the room dry." Except, that wasn't true. There was still one more source of water left. "Don't try it." But she was far beyond rational thinking now. Her entire being focused on one mission. She would succeed, even if it meant…
Slowly, painfully, the tips of her fingers began to shrivel and blacken.
"KATARA!" Someone seized her fast about the waist. Her stomach lurched as she was dragged from the bed and onto the floor. The water swelled and burst like a balloon, flooding over the bed and across the floor, and the light abruptly vanished.
Darkness.
She screamed, lashing out blindly at her attacker, scrambling for the bedpost. She hadn't finished. Not yet. She couldn't stop now- Someone had grabbed her by the ankle. Instinctively, she kicked, relishing with savage pleasure the crunch of bone beneath her heel. Her fingers clawed at the sheets, trying desperately to pull herself back onto the mattress.
Back to Aang.
Back to redemption.
She howled in disappointment as she was dragged away from the bed once again, bringing the sheets with her, kicking and twisting with all her might. There was a heavy thud as something fell to the floor: a cabinet, perhaps.
Katara somehow managed to scramble to her feet, only to have her wrists seized fast and twisted behind her back. A shriek of pain escaped her, quickly silenced when she was slammed face-first against the wall. She winced as, suddenly, the orange lamp sprung back to life, accompanied by shouts of horror from the doorway. She blinked feverishly, adjusting her eyes to the sudden light. For a moment there was nothing but silence, broken only by the heavy breathing of Katara and her attacker. Finally, she lifted her head to the doorframe.
Zuko, Mai, Suki and Toph. All wearing equally stunned expressions. She glanced over her shoulder: holding her wrists firmly behind her, chest heaving, nose askew and blood dripping from his bottom lip… Sokka. Taking a lungful of air, Katara began to squirm with renewed vigour.
"Kuhtawa," gurgled her brother through a mouthful of blood. "Sdopid!" When it became clear that Katara could potentially escape from his grip, there was a flurry of movement as the others hurried into the room. Suki prised Sokka from his iron grip on Katara's wrists; Toph, Mai and Zuko surrounded the cornered waterbender. Sokka spat into the bowl offered to him by Suki. He craned his neck over his human shield, meeting his sister's wild eyes.
"What were you doing?" he yelled, wiping the remaining blood from his lip.
"Nothing!" Katara screamed back, swivelling on the spot.
"That pretty display didn't sound like nothing," scowled Toph, crossing her arms.
"Just… Go away!" Katara turned back to face the wall, cradling the shrivelled tips of her fingers. Then, in a much quieter voice: "Leave me alone."
"Not until you tell me what you were-"
"What's wrong with her fingers?" Silence. Katara cast a guilty look over her shoulder, before reverting her gaze to the wall.
"What's wrong," repeated Mai slowly, "With her fingers?"
"Nothing! Get out!"
"They look… Burned."
"No, they're-KATARA!"
"I was healing! Healing!" A tear slid down Katara's cheek, but she made no move to wipe it away.
"That's it. You need to get out of this room. Three weeks is long enough."
"No!"
"Katara, you're not thinking right. Aang will be fine, you don't need to be here for-"
"I'm not doing it for Aang!"
"Well that makes everything better, doesn't it?" said Toph angrily. "He'll love to hear that!"
"So you're staying locked up in here for fun?"
"Yes! NO! I-"
"Why are you still here?"
"BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT!" Katara choked on her tears, still facing the wall. "It's my fault he's like this!"
"Katara," said Sokka seriously. "This isn't your-"
"The scars, Sokka! It's the scars!" She sobbed. "I… I just can't get rid of them."
"Of course you can't," said Zuko simply. "They're scars!" Katara wailed. Mai shot him a stern look.
"Zuko, you're not helping."
"No, no!" Zuko said quickly. "What I meant is-" He was interrupted by a small groan from the back of the room. All focus switched to the bed. The empty bed. A very tense pause ensued, broken at last by a soft croak:
"…Guys?"
"AANG!" Toph vaulted over the bed, wrapping the floor-ridden airbender in a bone-crushing hug.
"He lives!" she crowed.
"Ow…"
"Oh, sorry."
"Aang, buddy! Welcome back to the land of the living!"
"Good to see you're awake."
"Finally."
"How do you feel?" Aang shook his head groggily, to clear his still spinning vision. He grinned up at his friends.
"Pretty awful, to tell the truth."
"Nothing a good dosage of sea prunes can't fix!" said Sokka cheerily, clapping him on the shoulder. Aang laughed nervously.
"Sure," he said, curiously glancing about at his surroundings as if he had just realized where he was. "Just, before you to poison me again, can anyone tell me why I'm on the floor?" The four exchanged dark glances, leaving poor Aang looking even more bewildered.
"It's a long story," said Zuko hesitantly.
"Oh… That doesn't sound good…" Suddenly, his face brightened, catching sight of something over their shoulders. "Katara!" Aang's grin slowly faded. "Katara?" The door slammed. "Katara..?" Aang blinked up at his silent friends, hurt and confusion etched all over his face.