Day Three: The Spark

Katara paced the length of the palace courtyard. The only times she had ceased pacing since the comet's disappearance were for follow-up healing sessions with Zuko. He sat nearby, having claimed that the only reason he stayed outside was because the palace was so empty, but she suspected he was just as anxious to see their friends as she was. Above them, the sky was just beginning to make the transition from night to day.

"Katara," she stumbled slightly as Zuko interrupted the silence, "look." He pointed. A single airship approached from the east, looking like nothing more than a black spot against the lightening sky. It felt like she held her breath for the ship's entire descent, and the moment it landed she ran to it, with Zuko following at a much slower pace.

The airship's hatch swung open, and Katara reflexively reached for her water pouch before she recognized the alighting trio. She smiled, but it faltered when she realized that her brother was hopping on one foot and supported on each side by Suki and Toph.

"Sokka, what happened? Are you okay?" She hugged him tightly.

"Eh, just broke my leg saving the world." He waved an airy hand. "No big deal." On either side of him Suki and Toph rolled their eyes, but both were smiling.

"I think you mean Aang saved the world, Snoozles," Toph snorted. Ignoring his indignant "We helped!", she turned to Katara and answered her unspoken question, "He's still on the ship. With Ozai."

Zuko, who had finally caught up, narrowed his eyes at this. When he spoke, his voice was controlled, like he was trying not to show any emotion. "My father's on that ship...Alive?"

"Yep, we saw the whole thing." Sokka hobbled forward, excitement radiating off of him. "They were fighting, and there was fire everywhere, and then Aang went all Avatar State, and then the whole sky turned orange and blue, and then just blue, and Aang won!"

Seeing Zuko's and Katara's confused faces, Suki stepped in. "Aang told us that he found a way to take people's bending away. Ozai can't firebend anymore."

"I can't believe he actually found a way to do it without—" Sokka stopped midsentence with a guilty look at Zuko, but the scarred teen was focused on the stone underneath his feet.

Katara cleared her throat. "I just can't believe we're all okay—Well, except for Sokka's leg, of course" she added as her brother made a noise of protest. Just then she froze as she caught sight of another figure behind the others, so weary he was stumbling over his bare feet.

"Aang!" Later she wouldn't be able to recall if she whispered it or shouted. She ran towards him, and the hope she had been clinging to in the hours of waiting exploded into triumphant joy. She had just enough time to register the smile on his face before she nearly tackled him in her enthusiasm. However, even as he hugged her back he couldn't stop a small groan of pain. She started to pull away, worried that she had exacerbated some unseen wound, but he just gripped her tighter and mumbled, "No. 'M fine."

Reassured by his voice, tired as it was, she gently squeezed him back.

"I knew you could do it," she whispered, and his answering sigh brushed her neck. There was so much she wanted to say to him, so much she needed to say, but she knew it could wait. In that moment, he was there, they were all alive, all whole, and that was more than enough.

If following the prompt was a job, I think I'd be fired. I decided "the spark" = the hope Katara was pressing back until she finally saw Aang. Yeah...Anyway, tomorrow's will actually have romance! Today's is 600 words.