Chapter 5- Its Good to See You Again

" As he sat there injured, something inside me awoke, as if it had simply been forgotten "

.

Sounds of steel clashing woke Katara the next morning. Blinking open blue eyes, the child looked around the clean room she found herself in. The wall she faced was covered with a tall shelf that held many books and few dying plants. Curtains blew gently in front of the open window over the cot she slept on.

Flashes of the night, almost dreamlike fragments of memory surfaced in her mind. She saw a stool set beside her bed, a lone glass of water sitting on it, waiting. Katara sat up and felt her head spin. She was forced to wait a moment for her balance to return before she reached for the glass and downed the entire thing.

"Oh, you're up."

The girl looked up to see a middle-aged man walk into the room and approach the bed she slept in. She clutched the empty water glass.

He continued, "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," she answered slowly. The man chuckled to himself and offered her a small plate with pieces of bread, sliced meat, and cheese; everything was cut into small pieces. She would have wondered why if she had not been so hungry.

The last few weeks had been nothing but bad luck for her. With the increasing amounts of refugees- whom Katara had no idea why Fire Nation citizens were in the streets like her, her ability to steal food while she searched for her father and brother or even anyone from her tribe had been extremely limited.

"Now eat slowly. I'll get you more water." The man left the room, but when he returned, the food was gone. He offered Katara the refilled water cup. She drank it slowly as he talked to her from the stool where he rested.

"I didn't think you'd make it through the night. You were shaking when I got you. I think dehydration had set in." He paused then added, "I sat with you last night, sitting you up, giving you sips of water every hour or so. I guess it was like having a baby to care for. But I'm glad you're looking better. He'd kill me if I let you die." The child wasn't sure if the man was kidding or not, she could only assume so.

"Who?" She did not know of anyone still in her life that cared for her.

"You wouldn't know him."

"Was it the man in the blue mask?" She squinted her eyes as she thought. "He was the Blue Spirit right? The fighter in the arena."

"You recall what happened last night?" The man asked after he nodded in response to her question. The girl shook her head.

"Only pieces." After a moment of silence proved she would share no more on her own, the man prompted her.

"What's your name, little one?"

"Katara." Her name enough answered the man's next question about her parentage: it was not a Fire Nation name.

"Well Katara, I've been tasked with your recovery. When you are healthy once more, you are welcome to assist me here, as was his recommendation, or I can attempt to find you another-"

"Where are we?

"The Arena."

"We're in the arena?" Katara asked. She scrambled to kneel at the window, fought the dizzy spell which overcame her, and looked outside, still swaying. The afternoon marketplace was all she saw. The man helped her sit back down on the cot and motioned for her to sip more of the water.

"I'm the doctor who looks after the fighters," he explained. "This building is part of the stadium's walls. Out this window is the city surrounding it and inside through the main room is the door to the arena floor. Silence fell as the words settled in Katara's head.

"A doctor," Katara sighed, thinking of GranGran. She held back tears. Kanna told it her it was not safe to stay with Oran Zu, but how did she know it was safe to stay with this man?

She did not want him to send her away to someone else as he had been about to mention. He seemed kind; Katara decided to take her chances here instead of braving the capital city once more. It had been terrifying watching the other people who stayed out on the street being rounded up by the Fire Nation soldiers. She had become good at blending into corners, becoming small and invisible. She would much rather stay here then face that again.

She turned to him and said. "If I wish to stay and help you here, what should I call you?"

"My name is Shiyu Tung. But please, call me Shiyu, Katara. Everyone else does. Well, that or just Doctor." The child nodded and finished her water, savoring every drop.

"Now, you stay in bed for the rest of the day, sleep is best right now. I'll get you more to drink."

...

"I need more bandages to stop the bleeding," Katara called. The earthbender in front of her lay on the polished stone table the doctor had in the main room he and Katara called home. The whole living space was minimal compared to her last residence. There was the main area where they worked with the injured, almost in front of the doorway that lead into the Arena. No wall separated the cooking area from it, which made heating and fetching water much easier.

Beyond the kitchen was the room that Katara had taken over, once Shiyu's medical library. There was a set of steps in the main room that rose into the second level, where the doctor's own bedroom was. Under the steps was the single bathroom. It was sparse, but neither of them seemed to mind.

The earthbender grunted in pain as Katara applied more pressure to the gash in his arm. Today's first match had been him against a sabertooth moose-lion. He won, but the animal took a good chunk out of his arm in the process. The doctor returned with his stitching needle and more cloth.

"Flush the wound, and I'll stitch it shut," the doctor explained, though he did not need to. Katara had already moved into position to best help.

After five years of working as his assistant, she knew what to do in almost any situation. It had been hard at first, the feeling of panic when she wouldn't do what the doctor asked quick enough, or when the injury was so gruesome that she felt sick to her stomach. She learned quickly she couldn't save everyone, though most fighters never made it through the doorway if they were too badly injured.

At first, she simply fetched all the objects that Shiyu requested: 'get another rag', 'fill that bucket with water', 'put this needle in the fire for five seconds'. She picked up his techniques quicker than he expected; thus he gave her more responsibilities.

She thrived in her new role. Soon she gained his trust completely, and he quickly saw her as more of an equal than just an assistant. He would have never guessed the sickly child he had been tasked with reviving would become such an asset.

Katara had truly proven her worth two years previous when Shiyu fell ill from food poisoning one of the days when there were matches in The Arena. Every seven days the Arena opened for the gladiator sports and betting. That happened to be the one day he fell ill.

Before the matches began Katara sat with him, trying to coax him to get a nasty concoction of herbs and minerals into his stomach and changing out the cool towels on his forehead and neck. Once the fighting began, she assisted the injured to the best of her abilities all while caring for the doctor between patients.

She made it through the day exhausted, sweaty, and splattered with blood. Luckily, no one had been in such serious condition that they died on her watch. The worst case was a waterbender who suffered a burn on his neck and a gash to his left shoulder.

Burns she could handle, they just needed to be cleaned with cool water, the already formed scar tissue removed and the healing salve applied with clean linen. She was fortunate no one had been ripped to pieces and needed stitching, as the man she held down now did. The concept was simple enough, but it was a job for two people and the doctor could perform this type of task with his eyes closed. After that day, the doctor thanked Katara for her work, even mentioned that she had more than repaid him for saving her life when she had been nine, almost ten.

"Just a few more stiches," the doctor explained aloud, bringing Katara back to the present. She had her weight, which wasn't much, leaned on top of the bender to keep him still. Most of the warriors thrashed and jerked wildly when faced with the stitching needle. While she had made up the body mass she lost while living on the streets, she was still a thin girl for her age. It was not helpful when trying to restrain a muscle-bound warrior. The doctor tied up the thick threads and moved aside while Katara poured water over the sewed-up wound to clean it once more.

"I want him back in seven days to check on the stitches," the doctor explained to the guards. It was standard protocol.

"You'll have to tell his new owner," the one firebender explained. At least one arena guard always accompanied the wounded into the doctor's medical room. They typically waited at the entryway, out of sight and typically out of earshot. They had better things to do then listen to Shiyu and Katara pass instructions to each other on healing.

At first, the guards had frightened Katara, bringing back memories of when she had been brought here as a small child with her tribe. The guards asked about her when she started helping Shiyu as well, questioning where she had come from. The doctor had well-rehearsed answers and gold coins from the Blue Spirit's payment if they asked too many questions. The guards learned quickly to ignore her.

"Doesn't he belong to the stadium?" asked Shiyu. "I thought benders aren't allowed outside it." Katara dotted herbal ointment onto the angry line of stitches on the earth bender's arm and helped him sit up, her back to the conversation.

"They aren't, but a rich noble is buying all the fighters he thinks are any good and is training them with the official acceptance of the Fire Lord. He thinks he'll make a ton of money off the betting revenue. The Fire Lord is looking to tax the money he makes. The fighters will be moved to a separate section of cells, but they'll still be housed here. The new owner is bringing in his own guards." Katara offered the earthbender a cup of water mixed with pain numbing herbs. The door was thrown open and another warrior was pushed inside. The doctor straightened.

"Katara, take a note for me," he called, guiding the new injured man to the table. The man's face was covered in blood, and he shook like he was shivering. Katara moved to the instrument table and dipped her brush in a pot of open ink. It had been a pleasant surprise when Shiyu learned the little girl knew her letters and had decent handwriting.

"The gash on your fighter's arm was stitched and cleaned. He needs to be back in my office in seven days' time. Plenty of rest is required to maintain full mobility," the doctor recited. Katara blew on the paper, drying her letters in an instant, and gave it to the doctor to pin onto the men's belt.

She began washing the blood from the new patient's face. The lone soldier escorted the earthbender out and the other remained to watch the new patient.

Katara finished wiping all the blood from the man's face and discovered the gash that caused it. It ran from his eyebrow to just above his ear and through his light brown hair. Shiyu watched as she patted it clean and applied the medicated ointment he made each day. They sent the man on his way.

The rules of The Arena had changed over the years that Katara worked there, thus keeping the medical office busier than ever. Before, matches had almost always been to the death; she learned if a fighter won ten matches consecutively, he was freed from fighting and allowed to live as a citizen of the city, no matter his nationality.

In her five years there, she had only seen three men who had done it. Even once they won, they were not allowed to leave the capital and return to the homes they had been taken from. Though she knew it would have been impossible for her to return home, she did not agree with the ruling. The winners could not be truly free if they couldn't go home, could they?

Now, a fighter could win as long as they immobilized their opponent. Death was still how many matches ended up being lost, but more and more fighters were simply knocking out their enemies or wounding them enough to give up. The office had been busy.

Katara knew most of Shiyu's pay went into replenishing his supplies of herbs and medical necessities, since the Arena itself didn't pay for them, and he needed more and more of everything lately. She had often wondered how he received the money he did, since no one ever delivered it and only once did he tell her he was paid to do his job.

She was glad he was an excellent doctor. Anytime one of the masked nobles came in needing attention, he usually got a few extra gold coins for his work.

The next couple of matches ended without incident. If a fighter was killed, the body was dragged off to the crematory and they never saw it. Katara set about washing the dirty bandages and preparing the room for the next patient. The doctor vanished up into his room to work on a handbook he was creating for the new medic. He had been talking of retiring for the last few years, but he needed to find a replacement. His age, which Katara guessed was somewhere near sixty, was starting to catch up to him. The handbook detailed what to do in every situation he had come across. Katara did not want him to retire just yet; as gruesome as it could be, she enjoyed helping him with the injured fighters.

The door was pushed open; Katara jumped and accidently splashed dirty water onto her worn outfit. She tried her best to squeeze it out, and finally turned to guide the newest man in. She blinked.

There was something familiar about this young man. His skin was the same shade as hers, his eyes the same striking blue. The warrior stared back, just as confused to see someone like him- maybe more so then even her, in this room. Katara fought to place him in her memories. Could it be?

Her brother.

It had to be. He was beginning to look like her last memories of their father, even under the dirt and grime that covered all the warriors. After what felt like hours, the firebender pushed him towards the stone table.

"Sit down boy," he commanded. He turned to Katara. "Get the doctor."

"No need, I'm here," Shiyu called. He glanced at Katara who had just started to wring out a towel. He sent the firebender back to the entryway and took a look. Shiyu found it weird that his assistant had not moved in to clean the boy's injuries yet, she seemed to be in a state of shock, simply staring at the young man on the table. Shiyu noted the resemblance, but made no mention of it. All the fighters from their respective nations looked the same to him. Surely Katara had treated another Water Tribe fighter before this?

He shook his head and focused. "Minor cuts and a good-sized burn on his side. I'll trust you can handle this one on your own, Katara." The doctor watched the fighter's eyes turn to his assistant with barely concealed surprise as she nodded. "I'll be in the other room if you need me." Shiyu left them. Katara lifted the cool cloth in her hands and pressed it to the burn.

"Jeeesh Katara," Sokka hissed as the cloth touched his skin, "that hurts." His voice, even as it started to deepen was all she needed to comfirm it. Katara fell silent, pulling the rag back. When she finally looked up, tears filled her eyes.

"I can't believe its really you!" She threw her arms around him, dirt, blood, and all, and gave him a long hug. The boy winced, and his sister let go. She saw that he was clad in the typical fighter's clothing, a grey set of threadbare pants with no shoes. He wore a dark blue waist scarf that looked like it had seen better days.

"I was looking for you and dad. I never knew I actually made it to you." She went back to cleaning the sand out of each cut on his arms and back, needing to pause to wipe hot tears from her cheeks.

"Dad was worried," Sokka explained as he sat on the table. "When they took us away, he was sure GranGran and you would be separated."

"We weren't. A nobleman took us both. He wanted GranGran to watch his two children. I guess I was just a bonus at that point." Katara paused, took a breath, and added, "GranGran is gone Sokka. She... got sick."

There was a pause as the both of them remembered their grandmother. Then Katara explained further, finishing her story. "I ran away looking for you and Dad. I ended up here. Are you two still together with the village?" Sokka looked around the room, noticing the simple artwork hung on the wall and the plants in the corners. He looked to his sister, noting that the clothing she wore seemed to be in good shape, though it was worn with use. The burgundy vest and tunic was slightly too big for her, though the brown tie at her waist helped, and she had cut the loose sleeves on the darker undershirt to fall at her elbows instead of her wrists.

"A lot of our village is gone Katara. There are only five of us left now. And Dad and I won't be together for long. Some noble is buying up the fighter's contracts and trying to make a ton of money. He bought mine after watching a few of my matches, even though I was losing then. Dad isn't coming with me."

"The guards mentioned that. They said you're just moving to another set of cells. What's a contract?" She bandaged a deeper slice on his arm and pressed the cool cloth to his burn once more.

"All of us have one, even you," Sokka explained. "We watched another group of prisoners come in one day while we practiced. Somehow, the guards forgot that we weren't supposed to be let out during the process, and we watched how it happened before they herded us inside again. Every time one person was sold off, the man who bought them was handed a signed piece of paper. One for each prisoner: that's the contract. Its proof they own you. The other warriors called them 'birth certificates' in jest but as long as someone else holds it, none of us are free."

Katara recalled when each of the benders won their freedom after their tenth match; the announcer would tear up a sheet of paper and hand the man a brand-new scroll. She wondered what Master Zu had done with hers since she ran away. Was it simply gone?

Katara wrung out the cloth and applied it a second time to Sokka's burn. The skin was red and angry, it would blister and might scar. She noticed the other injuries on her brother's body and desperately hoped this burn would not be added to the count. The water on her hands tingled as she pressed the towel flat on his skin.

And then it glowed.

"Katara?" Sokka asked, his voice a few octaves off. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure." Within moments, the cooling light faded and the towel was dry. When she pulled it away; the burn had vanished.

Sokka grabbed her hand in shock. "Katara. You didn't tell me you were a-," he lowered his voice, "a you-know-what! And a healer too!"

"I didn't know I could do that," Katara answered in shock. She had not even thought about her bending in years. Her new job was so fully consuming that she had been able to forget about what could happen to her if she was discovered. She lowered her voice. "I mean, I knew I could bend, but not that. That's new!... Sokka, no one can know!"

"You don't think I know not to say anything?" Her brother said, his voice still lowered. He looked away for a moment, then spoke with such gravity. "There was a woman bender in the cell a few down from ours for a while. The Arena isn't a place for women. There's no way I'd ever let them find out about you." Sokka gritted his teeth as he stopped speaking, but Katara could tell he had more to say about the topic at hand. Something had happened, and she knew he didn't want to share it with her.

"What happened to her?"

"She was killed after two matches; at least we think she was. She wasn't seen again after that, though the guards looked smug about the whole incident. Usually they just ignore the deaths, they've seen so much of it and don't care what happens to us." Sokka explained after a moment's hesitation. "But Don't worry Katara, your secret is safe with me."

Katara nodded, looking at the fresh pink skin. "I'm going to wrap where the burn was, so it looks like it's still there. Keep this on for a few days just to be safe." She paused. "How did you know what I was doing was healing?"

"We met a healer from the north when we first arrived. He was an old man, but he still did what he could without the guards knowing when one of us came back injured. He died after a few months in his sleep." Sokka explained. "He was a good man. He helped Dad out after his first match when he came back injured."

The doctor returned to the room just as Katara tied off the knot on the bandage.

"Nice work Katara," Shiyu smiled. "This young man looks as good as new." Sokka slid off the table and grabbed Katara's shoulder, facing her.

It was a warrior's gesture back in the Southern Water Tribe. Even as young children they learned it meant 'good luck' to those headed into battle or off to a fight. She returned it and gave him a smile before the two of them parted. Sokka was led back with the guard and escorted out. Shiyu turned to Katara when the door was shut.

"Someone you know?"

Katara hesitated, answering only after a moment's thought. "My brother. I'm glad he's still alive."

Shiyu ndded. "He must be doing well. You more than anyone should know the obstacles the warriors face, even if children don't have actual matches until they're teenagers." Katara nodded. It would be so easy to give up in the arena. Any clean cut by one's enemy would end a life simply. Yet they all chose to keep on fighting to live another day in hopes they would be free.

"I'm sure your brother will be fine," the doctor added, placing a hand on Katara's shoulder. "He seems like a strong young man."

The two of them stared at each other for a minute. Katara smiled up at him, appreciative of the kindness he always showed her, and Shiyu subconsciously understanding that the moment they just shared was not typical between people of their different social standings. He did not plan to dwell on it.

They fell back into their routine as if nothing ever happened when the next fighter was led in.

...

Since the workload during the next fighting day was slow, the doctor suggested they watch the matches from the balcony. Katara had never been on the second level of the office. It was the doctor's personal room and study.

Once they moved up the steps, she was amazed at the amount of space there was to the single room. It made sense the more she thought about it, since the two levels had the same amount of space and this floor had less rooms in total. An open window which led out to a balcony looking over the arena was the main feature of the room. On the other side was a set of windows to the market and buildings outside, the same view Katara woke up to except one story higher. She noticed a second set of stairs in the back corner.

"Where do the stairs go?" Katara asked. She followed Shiyu onto the balcony and immediately was drawn into the fight below.

"Down to the backdoor leading outside the stadium," the doctor explained. "When they lock up The Arena at night, I still need to leave sometimes if I'm called in to look after someone who is sick or injured." Katara nodded in understanding and chastised herself for being stupid enough to believe the office only had one door. The doctor was a free man. He had a right to leave whenever he wanted.

The match ended and two new opponents came out: both were nonbenders with swords. The swordplay was fun to watch, but it almost looked choreographed. Eventually the weaker fighter yielded when the other broke his stance. They left the field without any blood being spilt. The crowd still went wild. They watched as the day went on, only being needed twice right after the break for lunch for minor injuries. Finally, the last few fights were announced and Katara heard a familiar name.

The Blue Spirit walked on onto the arena floor to face off against two benders, one earth and the other water. She really had not had the chance to sit and watch the fighting since she came here. Every now and then she would open the door to the arena to watch one or two matches before being needed to help with a new patient, but she never had this much down time.

It was exciting to be able to watch a full match. Somewhere deep down, Katara knew that it could very easily be her fighting in the warriors' place for the crowds, but she never thought about it, so the connection had not been consciously made.

On days when the arena was not hosting the fighting matches and nothing else as going on inside its walls, she would accompany Shiyu to the market and replenish their supply of medicinal items. Not many venders had what they needed, so sometimes it would take all day to return victorious. Even though they were always searching for the supplies, Katara enjoyed leaving the Arena on these trips. She realized that since they always left through the main door and walked through the fighting area, that it made sense why she had not known about the back door.

The capital city was huge, even larger than what Katara could remember from when she roamed the streets years ago. The central city was laid out in a huge circle surrounding the palace. The Arena had been built on the southern side of the city, near the path that led down to the harbor. The waterbender had been unaware that the city was divided into two parts, Capital city in full and the Royal Caldara City inside the volcano until one day the two of them made the long journey down to the bazaar near the water to locate a more unusual item known for its ability to numb muscles and nerves in very small areas of the body.

The moment they reached the port and its surrounding homes and shops, Katara noticed the increase of refugees. They milled around, looking generally unhappy with their lives. Shiyu only shook his head when she asked about them and why they gathered. The Fire Lord had essentially rid the elite city of them, but they simply fled down here and gathered in the slums.

Except for that one occasion, Katara never left the caldera. Slowly, she learned the area closet to the Arena, but once they moved into the maze of buildings, homes, and small markets further out she was lost. The people here seemed content with their lives, not thinking about anything other then what was to come the next day.

While the majority of the citizens in the elite city were rich, Katara did see a handful, mostly some shop owners and the freeborn servants, who did not dress in finery to walk the streets. Children would race in the walkways, weaving in and out of shoppers, pretending to be firebending soldiers chasing down the enemy. Laughter and loud voices always rang in her ears when they finished and returned home.

Even when they had nothing to go out into the market to find, Katara was never bored. They typically were out searching the shops once a week at least. When they weren't, she picked through the doctor's library of health manuals and scrolls from other nations. Since they were all kept on the shelves in the room she slept in.

Still in the cot by the window, it was easy to select one at will and page through it. They all seemed to be thrown together, each book would contradict the others; it was incredible Shiyu knew what to do at all. Though, she had never seen him pick up any books except the ones written by Fire Nation authors. She wondered if he had had a tutor to teach him these things, as Bai did with writing and etiquette.

On days when Shiyu left her in the office alone, which he seemed content to do more often, Katara enjoyed the silence. No one ever came here when the Arena was closed, and by now she knew he vanished on specific days every year. The day that the sun filled the sky the longest was when she expected not to see him at all. She wondered where he went off to on the Summer Solstice. He never took her with, and the market by her window was strangely quiet on those days. She never thought of following after him, she had other things to do to keep her occupied.

When he would leave her alone, Katara practiced her waterbending. Ever since she had healed Sokka, her interest in her seemingly forgotten ability grew. She never tried anything big, just tricks she could do with the water from the rag bucket. Without anything to go by or a master to teach her, Katara learned by trial and error. Her progress was slow, but she was progressing. She was always sure to give herself a wide margin of time between when the doctor left on his rounds of house calls and when she could practice. As much as he had been good to her, she was not sure he would continue if he knew her secret.

Silver flashed in the Arena as the Blue Spirit drew his swords and deflected a boulder thrown his way. Katara had almost forgotten the fact that her thoughts had drifted while watching the match. The way he knew to move to avoid the attacks was mesmerizing. The match ended too soon when he finally did win by setting up his opponents in such a way so that they took each other out. From her vantage point, Katara spotted another balcony jutting out over the inner arena wall as the people on it went wild over the win.

"What's that area for?" asked Katara, pointing at the screaming band of people.

"That's where the betting takes place," the doctor explained with a sigh. Katara wondered if he had ever been there, betting on one of the fighters below. "The men who put a lot of money into their bets get to watch from there. This kid is worth a lot with the wins he's racking up. I'm sure he'd be swamped with challengers if people knew who he was. There's lots of speculation since he doesn't bend and is good with swords."

"Do you know who he is?" Katara asked eagerly. The Blue Spirit sheathed his dual swords and retreated to the shadows. Shiyu looked at Katara, trying to understand her question.

"No. He's never come to me after his fights. Even when he's been injured. So I've never spoken with him to make a guess."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"I want to thank him," she replied in a heartbeat. "For saving my life." Her response should not have surprised the doctor, but the purity of it caught him off guard. Such wholeheartedness was at a distinct lack in the fighting arena.

"I'm sure you'll get a chance," he explained, then quoted a friend with his next statement. "These things have a habit of going full circle." She gave him a smile and turned back to the stadium to watch the last match of the day.

(Original Author Notes) Yay! Sokka's still alive, and Katara's doing pretty well for herself. I hope I described things decently so you can get a better picture of what's going on.

I also realized that I never posted the link to the cover art for this story. It is at my deviantart (username: gallopingcowgirl) if anyone wanted to see it bigger then the thumbnail fanfic provides.

*Chapter title is from "Do you Remember" by Jay Sean*

I'm loving all your comments and reviews! Next chapter is another short one, it should be up soon :)