A/N: Once again, thank you for the RFFs! :D
Oh, and remember that one-shot I was talking about last chapter? It's called "Through Hakoda's Eyes." Feel free to check it out sometime :)
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.
They were able to get Katara to the pond without any more trouble. It was probably due to Kya's "do-you-really-want-to-fight-me?" look, Bumi's crazy smirk, or Tenzin's glare.
Or it could have been all three.
They set Katara down as gently as possible, mostly thanks to Tenzin. They then took a moment to take in the place, thinking how they had just been there that morning, and how different the circumstances and their priorities were now.
Kya bent down and checked on her mother's pulse. Thankfully, it was still there, although it was still weak. "All right, we have to get Mom's burns in the water," she said.
They carefully shifted Katara's position so that her burned parts were in the cool pond water.
"So, um, now what?" Bumi asked.
"Come on, come on," Kya muttered. A minute passed, then another.
Nothing.
"Kya, shouldn't something have happened by now?" Tenzin asked softly, breaking the tense silence.
"M—maybe we just have to wait," she stuttered, trying to hold back her tears. "It's barely been two minutes."
"Kya, it usually doesn't take this long for Mom to heal," Bumi said in the same quiet tone as Tenzin. "The water's not glowing and—"
"Well, of course it would take longer! She's half-dead, isn't she?" The two boys winced; she said the D-word. "How do you expect her to be all right in a second when she's unconscious and burned?" she snapped.
Bumi recoiled as if she had slapped him. Seeing his hurt, wide eyes and Tenzin's shocked, scared ones caused her to redirect the anger she was feeling at herself and at the world in general.
"I'm sorry, Bumi," she said, ashamed. "It's just—Mom—I—"
"I understand, Kya. We're all worried." He swiftly threw a glance at their mother. "This is my fault." He hung his head.
"No it's not, Bumi. If it's anyone's fault, it's either the rebels' or Azula's," she spit out.
"But if I hadn't run out with Dad's glider—"
"The past is past." The two older kids turned to their youngest brother, a bit shocked. Tenzin was usually the quiet one. "That's what Dad would say." He averted his eyes.
"Tenzin . . ."
"Kya, do you know what happened to Dad?" he burst out. "Why's he acting like this? You told me that if something goes wrong, Mom will heal him. But how will she when she can't heal herself? What's going to happen?" The questions shot out of his mouth like bullets.
They fell silent. Tenzin had just voiced out every question they didn't dare ask.
"To who, Tenzin?" Bumi asked quietly.
"To Mom! To Dad! To us! To everyone!" He threw his hands up, panicked. "What's going to happen? I'm scared." His voice broke at the last word. He sniffed and tears started to roll down his cheeks.
"It's going to be okay, Ten." Bumi went over and hugged him.
Kya looked at her two brothers. Tenzin had already cracked, and she could see that Bumi was trying to hold himself together for Tenzin's sake. For her sake.
She didn't blame him. She was doing the same for them.
"No it won't," Tenzin mumbled. He sounded older, nothing like the little brother she knew.
Something in his defeated tone fired up something in her, some kind of raging stubbornness and resolve. Tenzin was too young to be defeated, to give up, to lose hope. He was too young to be broken, to be devastated. He was too young to experience death of a loved one. What kind of monsters would do that to a little kid?
The same monsters who killed our grandmother, she thought angrily. She remembered how Katara's expression would either sadden or darken every time she talked about her mother, Kya. She didn't want that to happen to Tenzin. She didn't want him to live the rest of his life with inerasable pain.
She would not allow it.
"Yes it will," she said confidently.
The boys looked up. "How?" Tenzin asked. "Mom's still hurt, and she can't heal herself."
"I'm going to heal Mom."
To say that they were shocked at her bold declaration was an understatement. "Are you sure, Kya? No offense, but you've never really—"
"Yes I have."
Bumi's jaw dropped open, and so did Tenzin's. "W—what do you mean?"
"Someone pushed me off the swings at school. I fell, and my hands got scraped really bad. Of course, I water whipped that kid good—" She paused, smirking. "—but my hands were still bleeding. I remembered that washing a wound was the next best thing to a healer, so I went to the bathroom. When I ran the water on it, it glowed, and well, the bleeding stopped and the cuts were gone, too. Like nothing happened."
"That was the time you got in trouble at school, wasn't it?" he asked, recognition in his voice.
She nodded. "I couldn't say that it was because some guy pushed me, 'cuz I didn't have any evidence."
Tenzin spoke up. "Why didn't you say so? It's unfair that no one knows the real story."
She shook her head. "I didn't want to be a healer, remember? I didn't want anyone to know. But like I told you, it's in my blood. It's not my choice.
"I know that I know next to nothing about it, but I've healed myself before, without knowing it. Maybe I could do the same for Mom. Besides, what have I got to lose?"
Bumi studied her, not saying a word, only nodding. She was right.
"You can do this, Kya!" Tenzin told her. "It's our last hope."
Kya bit her lip, wavering for a second. Last hope. Everything depended on her.
She had never healed on purpose before; but then again, there was so much at stake: their mother's life, the safety of their home, and their father's . . . sanity? She wasn't even sure what had happened to him. As she said, there was nothing to lose by trying.
And there was so much to gain.
The fiery determination flared up inside her again and all doubts disappeared. She had to try.
She carefully adjusted Katara's position so that she was completely out of the pond. Kya felt a stab in her stomach when she noticed how limp and lifeless she was. And how her mother's pulse seemed even weaker than she thought was possible.
"Okay, step one: get some water," she muttered to herself. She didn't know much about the healing process, but this was common sense.
She drew a wisp of water out of the pond. Her hands shook as she laid it over her mother's burns.
"You can do it, Kya," Bumi said. She looked over her shoulder. He was smiling reassuringly at her, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
She smiled shakily back. "I'm Master Katara's daughter. 'Course I can," she replied, her words not really matching her level of confidence. She turned back to her patient.
Patient . . . she was really thinking like a healer now.
Now came the hard part. Her mother had only taught her how to heal in theory. Not to mention the fact that she was busy daydreaming or tuning her out at that time.
She shut her eyes tight and tried to remember.
"C'mon, brain, please," she muttered to herself. "Please tell me you saved something Mom told me about healing."
She saw herself pouting, and her mother, looking tired, trying to tell her something.
Kya, are you even listening? She didn't sound angry, just exhausted.
Healing's boring, she had muttered.
A sigh from her mother. Just try to listen to what I tell you, okay? I know you don't want to be a healer, but this might come in handy sometime.
"Like right now," she mumbled.
After you have the water, search for the spot where energy is all knotted up, she had said, demonstrating.
How will I know where? she had asked.
Oh, you'll know, her mother had replied, smiling. You're a healer, Kya, whether you like it or not. A healer would know.
"No, I don't!" she said, frustrated. Who was she kidding? She was just a 10-year-old girl, a waterbender-in-training. A healer? Far from it.
Yes, she had just declared herself one a few minutes ago. But now, it seemed silly. She was already going crazy and the water hadn't even glowed yet.
But she knew she wouldn't get anything out of giving up. She was her mother's daughter, after all. From her physical traits to her extreme stubbornness.
"Here goes nothing." She shifted the water around, trying to find a place that felt . . . "knotted up", or at least different. Then she stopped all of a sudden. She felt . . . . twisted energy. She couldn't explain how or why, she just knew. She could feel it.
"There," she whispered. She tried to remember what her mother had told her next.
Okay, Kya—Kya, please face this way, sweetie, she had sighed. Afterwards, you concentrate. Think about untangling the energy.
Untangling the energy? she had asked.
It's just like untangling your braid. But instead of hair, you're dealing with chi.
Chi? What's chi? You said it was energy! She remembered her patience growing thin.
Her mother had chuckled. Chi is another word for energy, Kya. If you feel anything broken, concentrate on fixing it, putting it back together.
The young waterbender closed her eyes, took a deep breath and imagined untangling the twisted knots she could feel.
She heard her brothers gasp, and she knew the water was starting to glow. You can do this, Kya. You've got this, she told herself.
She imagined fixing her mother's fried nerves and vessels. She clenched her jaw; this was pretty hard. She had to give her mother more credit.
You have to be forceful, but careful so as not to hurt, she realized. It's like brushing my hair after getting airbended by Tenzin. But much more . . . abstract. She grinned at her smart analogy. She would have to tell her Mom about that later. If she gets healed.
When she gets healed, she corrected herself.
She moved the water all around the extent of the burn, careful not to miss a spot.
She heard a small sound, and she knew it came from her mother. Her heart raced. Was that a good thing? Or did that mean she was in pain? Was that her last breath? She didn't dare peek. Opening her eyes would snap her concentration, and that was the last thing she wanted.
She desperately racked her memories for the last step in healing.
Lastly, if you feel anything that doesn't belong, draw it out. Her mother made a graceful drawing motion with her hands. It could be poison, or contaminated blood. It's a bit harder to bend than water, but a talented one like you won't have much trouble.
She saw her mother turn to look at her. Unfortunately, the Kya in her memory was busy doing tricks with the water. She watched as her mother had sighed sadly. That is, if you were listening.
Tears sprung to her eyes yet again. "I'm so sorry, Mom," she whispered. "I am a healer. I realized it only know, but you've known it ever since. I'm going to do the best I can to heal you. You're not going to die," she whispered fiercely.
She took a deep breath and collected herself. Okay, Kya, feel anything that seems wrong?
True enough, she felt something dark moving around in her mother's body. It wasn't dark as a color; rather, its essence was dark. She could sense it. She took another deep breath, and copied the drawing motion she had seen her mother do in the memory.
She clenched her jaw from the effort. Now she knew what her mother meant when she said that it was harder to bend. The dark fluid was like incredibly thick oil.
But she had also said that she could do it. She ended up gritting her teeth from the effort, and soon tiny beads of sweat were rolling down her forehead.
"C'mon, Kya," she told herself.
She was tired, that was for sure. But she concentrated and pulled even harder, her hands and arms trembling.
Just one more, she thought. She put all of her strength into one last pull.
She stumbled backwards from the force and landed on the ground. She opened her eyes and tried to catch her breath. "Thank you, thank you, brain! I guess the healer part of me was listening all along."
Tenzin and Bumi ran over and helped her get up. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me," she panted. "Is Mom fine?"
Yes, the cliffhanger is back! For those wondering about Katara, you'll have to wait 'till next chap :)
Anyway, I told you guys the story had suspense, right? Might as well live up to that promise :D
The poor kids. . . they've been forced to grow up in such little time :( But another Korra-like moment for Kya :) A bit of Kyangst?
Ugh, corny, I know, I know -_-
Did I get the healing thing right? Did it make sense? Water's my favorite element, by the way (if you didn't notice the "slight" bias I showed during the battle scenes), so I really want to do this chap well 'cuz I'll never be able to waterbend in real life xD Please tell me what you think :)
