Chapter 8: The Storm
...
It was close to noon by the time Naga got back to the house with Korra. Katara and Jinora had arrived after the storm let up enough for Katara to get the jeep through to the cove. They found the duo lying on the steps at the front door, covered in mud and soaked to the bone. Korra was unconscious and already burning up with a fever.
"Korra?! Korra!"
Naga wined to Katara, earnestly, and the woman took the young veteran into her arms. "Oh she's burning up- Jinora, here!" she tossed the keys to the jeep to her granddaughter. "You know how to get to my doctor's office? On the east side of town?"
"I- I- don't have my li-!"
"Good! Go get him! She needs serious attention right now!"
"But Gran Gran I don't-"
"Quickly Jinora!" and as the young high school senior still protested and stood unsure of what to do, Katara, with strength unexpected from most old, bent, gray-haired women, took a hold of Korra and heaved her onto her back.
"Gran Gran!" Jinora exclaimed in alarm. She took a step forward to help but Katara turned and her blue eyes flashed fiercely.
"Jinora, I will not tell you again!" At that, the young woman nodded dumbly and stumbled towards the jeep.
"Oh man oh man oh man oh man," she mumbled under her breath as she scrambled to remember everything from studying the student driving instruction book. Her hands shook and her heart was beating wildly, and she talked to herself to try and focus. "Keys… in ignition… turn it- Ahh! Not that hard oh my God! Okay, put it in reverse… Uh… shoot, is gas left or right? Oh my GOODNESS BRAKE!"
As Jinora was figuring driving out as fast as she could, Katara carried Korra inside, all the way down the hall to the bathroom. She deposited her on the floor and undressed her. Working deftly and quickly, she wiped her down with a warm washcloth. As she worked, Korra began to mutter unintelligibly as if trying to escape a dream.
"It's okay sweetheart," Katara muttered. "It's alright, you're safe." When she was clean, Katara picked her up and carried her to her bedroom and set her down on the bed. Korra was beginning to sweat, and her murmurings became more comprehensible as her caretaker tried to pull a nightshirt over her shoulders to conceal her nudity.
"Run…" her voice was raspy and strangled, her fists clenched and unclenched. "Run…"
"It's alright Korra, it's okay," Katara said soothingly. Her eyes darted around the room until they found the bag from the herbal pharmacy resting untouched on the desk. A moment later, she was rubbing lemon balm on Korra's temples, on her chest, and on the back of her head where the cut was healing. The herb did its job; Korra calmed down and began to breathe more steadily, though the look on her face was still disturbed.
…
"What's your name?"
"Korra. What's yours?"
"Asono. Do you like my dress?"
"It's beautiful, I love it."
"Thanks, my mummy made it. I went to the store with her to pick out the fabric."
"Well she did a great job, you look like a princess."
Giggles. A little hand grabs hers and pulls her.
"What is that?"
"This is my rifle."
"Are you a hunter?"
"No, I'm a protector."
"Who are you protecting?"
"You."
"From who?"
"Bad guys."
"Korra! Come here!"
She looks up. "What?" As she walks over.
"Look over there." She shields her eyes. "What is it?"
"I don't know… Birds?"
He shakes his head. "No… birds don't fly that straight." He shields his eyes and squints. "Oh no…"
"What?"
"Get inside! Get inside now!"
Explosions. Screams.
"Run! Run! Korra!"
"Mako get them! Run! Run get out of here! No! No! Get them! What are you doing?! Run!"
Screams, darkness, blood… darkness.
"Do you like my dress?"
Darkness and echoes.
"My mummy made it."
A little hand in hers. A little smile. Big brown eyes.
"Who are you protecting?"
You.
Blood.
Darkness.
Screams.
Darkness.
Echoes.
Darkness.
Pain.
Darkness.
Korra's eyes opened. She was standing, naked, all around her was darkness. It was still, silent. It was not a pleasant silence, it was eerie. Chilly.
"Hello?"
She could see nothing. "Hello!"
Korra.
She spun around. "Who's there?"
Korra.
She searched the emptiness, fists clenched ready to fight. "Come out!" she screamed.
Come out?
Her breathing quickened, and vaguely, then more clearly, she heard a terrible clicking noise. It filled her ears and then she looked down at her own chest and watched in horror as the skin moved about then broke as a huge and hideous centipede crawled out. She grabbed at it and threw it away but just as she did another took its place and suddenly they were pouring out of her. She clawed at her skin as they crawled all over her, suddenly all she could see were claws, and pinchers, and bugging black eyes. And then she was falling. Falling through darkness, the horrible bugs fell with her. Red, and parasites, darkness, red, and pinchers, and that awful clicking, and she fell, for hours, she fell.
Then she opened her eyes again. She stood. The bugs were gone. She was in a white room. Three screens stood before her. On each screen floated an image planets in space. Each screen was a different color; one was red, the other yellow, the third, green. Her body felt like lead.
WAR.
"What?"
THE WAR IS GOOD.
"What are you talking about?"
OUR WAR BRINGS FREEDOM.
"War brings death. And pain. Shut up."
It was the red screen, she glared at it, angrily, she found herself walking heavily towards it.
THIS WAR IS JUST.
"Shut up!"
OUR WAR BRINGS LIBERATION TO THE OPPRESSED.
"You don't know what you're talking about! I was there! I was fucking there!"
OUR WAR IS NECESSARY FOR PEACE.
"Stop it! You don't know anything! Shut up! Shut up!" She choked and could feel pressure rising in her chest. "There was nothing wrong! Nothing! There was nothing there! There was nothing there and they killed everyone!"
OUR WAR IS YOUR WAR.
"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
She was standing so close to the screen her face grazed it. All she could see was angry red planets zooming through the solar system.
THE GREATEST NATION.
"No…" tears streamed down her cheeks. "No… shut up you don't know anything."
WE ARE FREE.
"I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
She smashed the screen with her fists, glass flew everywhere and cut her skin, she fell to her knees. Fell into darkness. She floated through, crying. Floating, crying.
Then…
Tick
Tick
Tick
Steadily.
Tick
Tick
Tick
She didn't see it, but she felt it. It was a clock. Ticking, steadily, lightly, ticking, tick, tick, tick, ticking.
She had stopped crying, she didn't know when. She listened to the clock.
"You're stupid," she muttered. The clock ticked. She smiled. "I hate you." It only ticked. She listened. And listened. And listened. And her smiled faded. "Stop that."
Tick
Tick
"Seriously, stop."
Tick.
Tick
She started to panic. "Stop."
It ticked steadily.
She tried to open her eyes. She needed to find that thing. Needed to destroy it.
"Where are you?"
Tick
Tick
Tick
She was running, reaching, searching, frantically. She was running out of time.
Tick
Tick
Tick
"Stop, please!"
Tick
Tick
Tick
"PLEASE!"
Tick
…
She was sweating and whimpering again.
The doctor wiped his brow and sighed as he watched the former marine struggling with her subconscious.
"What did you do to her?"
"I did nothing. You're just seeing everything she's been carrying inside of her." He dabbed at Korra's forehead with a cool washcloth. "Who is she?" he asked.
"She's Tonraq's girl. He asked me to help her. The way I helped Aang, since she's suffering very much in the way he did." Katara sighed and wrung her hands worriedly. "She'll be okay, won't she? She feels so heavy, and she tried to hide it but… I can feel it. Wherever she is, there's such a heaviness in the air."
"Tonraq's girl," the doctor muttered. Korra whimpered again in her sleep and cried out something incoherent. He shushed her. He lit a small clay cup of herbs and swirled it around her nose. She breathed it in and her breath steadied and she seemed to relax again. "Sleep Korra… You will survive this." He turned to Katara. "We should leave her alone for now." The old woman nodded and the two exited into the kitchen, leaving Naga to continue her faithful watch over her sleeping master.
"Tea?"
The doctor nodded. "Jasmine."
"I know."
He smiled slightly, and watched in silence as she moved about the kitchen. "How are you doing Katara?" he asked. His voice had not lost the huskiness that once sent goosebumps up and down her arms.
She smiled weakly. "I'm alright."
"I've missed you. You should move back for good."
She poured the tea. As she set the cup down in front of him, he took a hold of her cool old hand. "We don't have a lot of time left you know."
"Zuko…"
"I still love you. I've never stopped thinking about you."
She did not pull her hand away. She sat in the chair next to him, and they remained there in a warm silence for a long while. "Me neither." She said finally.
"I think it's time… Katara, please."
"I don't have much left to offer you Zuko." She choked as her eyes began to shine.
"You know that's not true." He smiled at her, and he kissed her forehead. "You've always been my world."
The night had settled in comfortably. The stars were out. The storm which had raged so violently for so long had abated. It was still cold outside, a light mist was settling in it, but the worst was over.
Yes, I know, I'm sorry, this took forever for me to post and it's not even that long. The next one will be better I promise. I cannot say when it will be posted, but hopefully it won't take as long as this one did. I have classes now and they take priority, and I have been doing a lot of writing for them, especially for my playwright class (which is AWESOME).
As always, I didn't proofread this so it's probably a mess. Reviews are appreciated.
