Prompt: #81 - Ashes
Word Count: 438
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There is an old belief in the Water Tribes that dying in the same way
as someone you love will bring you closer to that person in death.
Author's Notes: Yet another fic where I burn people alive. Joy.
There is an old belief in the Water Tribes that dying in the same way as someone you love will bring you closer to that person in death. But now, there is no more Water Tribe. The war is over, and all she has left is ashes.
Sokka is dead, stabbed in the back by a friend. Or at least, someone they had thought was a friend. It was in the middle of the night, and she awoke the next morning to a young man face-down in the bed next to hers, sheets drenched in blood. She still has the knife that killed Sokka, and has considered using it on herself more than once.
Toph is dead, shot by a Yu Yan Archer's arrow. Katara remembers it clearly, the moment that the arrow pierced her chest. She'd staggered back, clutching the arrow and ripping it out violently. Katara had treated the wound, stopped the bleeding, but it was in vain. The arrow's tip had been coated in poison, and the girl was dead within minutes. She still has the arrow, and she hasn't washed the tip; she's considered plunging through her own heart several times.
Aang is gone. Of all her friends, he is the only one whose death she did not witness. In fact, she isn't entirely sure that he's dead. But it doesn't matter, because he disappeared when they needed him most, when she needed him most, when the world needed him most. He disappeared, left the world to fend for itself, and she's not sure she'll ever be able to forgive him for that. She has no keepsake of his, no instrument of death to remember him by. She considered disappearing herself, or poisoning herself, or stabbing herself, and she wondered if such a death would bring her closer to those she'd lost. But she didn't disappear, or poison herself, or stab herself; instead, she kissed Zuko until she forgot about everything except him.
Zuko is dead now, killed in the final battle against his father. That day is a blur to her, a dizzying assault of colors and screams and death. She can, however, clearly recall the exact moment of his death. She remembers exactly what he was wearing, his dual broadswords, his fierce expression. But in the end, all the righteousness and hope in the world was not enough. He went up in flames, and all she has left is ashes.
She closes her eyes as they light the fire beneath her, flames licking at her feet. They're burning her alive, just like him, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
END.