Sorry for the wait, guys! Hopefully there are still a few of you willing to read and review… enjoy!

Chapter Nineteen
Out for Blood

His hand hung in the air, his muscles still tense. She was frozen beneath his wounded body, and as his tattoos stopped glowing, she felt the rage seep from his body. With a quiet little sigh, he slumped to the side, sprawling out beside her as she cried out in alarm and scrambled back up. "Aang," Katara said urgently, "what happened? Who did this?"

The monk's grey eyes slid open, and when he opened his mouth to speak, a little river of blood cascaded from his mouth. "I'm so sorry Katara. They… they took her." His gaze slid to the bodies around them, and he gasped in shock. "What have I done?" he murmured, and she shook her head, tears flying from her eyes.

"Don't look at them Aang, just look at me. We've got to heal you- don't move!" She ordered frantically as he pushed himself up, and he collapsed back onto the ground with a moan of pain. Someone had burned him across his right arm, and as her eyes travelled down his body, she saw something that didn't belong- a glint of silver amidst the blood coating his chest. "You've been stabbed," she recited numbly, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to extract the blade without help.

Aang looked up at her steadily. "I need to tell you… you need to know, before I d-"

"Stop talking," she begged him, pulling water to her hands, waiting for the glow and the knowledge to come along with it. "Don't say that… you're going to live, Aang, you've never given up before and I need you now. I need you." He closed his mouth and his eyes as she brought the healing water to his chest, healing the gashes, siphoning off congealed blood until she could see the blade clearly- only half an inch was still sticking out, but it seemed like it had missed all major organs and arteries.

She knew he would die if she moved him any more than she had, and that he would die unless she healed him. No other healer was near, which meant that as horrifying as it was, she had to do this herself. Katara set up a quick prayer to all spirits who might be listening and then looked down at her best friend, bracing herself.

She bit her lip and concentrated, hoping he'd be numb, too numb to feel what she was doing. Then, she made the gash a tiny bit bigger with a needle of ice, threading it down along the blade until she reached the tip. It was harder than anything she'd ever done in her life. Feeding the water down into his body was invasive and wrong, but there was no other way to do it. Katara felt the water surrounding the blade, and then drew a deep breath.

With that, she began to guide the water upwards, slipping the blade from his flesh. Aang cried out roughly but she didn't stop, afraid to lose the progress. "I'm sorry," she whimpered, then pulled harder, watching the silver grow bigger as she healed the space where the knife had been drawn from. It took all her concentration- one slip, and she could sever an organ or lose the grip on the knife.

An entire inch was out now, and blood burbled from his mouth. "No, no," she cried, frustration peaking in her chest before growing into a mass of despondency. "Aang, I'm sorry," she said again, then closed her eyes and wrenched the blade entirely out.

He jolted, screaming inhumanly, then went limp and unconscious, panting as she worked in the wound, trying to weave the muscle back together, closing off the veins until they were connected again, working her way up to his skin. The water surrounding her hands was tinged pink- she discarded it and drew more, seeking out the cuts and healing them, leaving ice over the burns. She wiped the blood from his chin and breathed a sigh of relief when no more spilled, and finally stopped the whir of energy.

Katara relaxed, watching him sleep peacefully, knowing that she'd done all she could. She relaxed some more, knowing she really should get out of there, find somewhere safe for her and Aang. She fought the exhaustion now, needing to know what had happened, but…

When she awoke to the brilliant light of a sunset, the scent of death filled her nose, and the bitter taste of bile stinging her throat. She sat up and cupper her head, not ready for the wave of dizziness, but it didn't last long. As soon as Katara regained her wits, she looked around. Aang was sleeping peacefully beside her, bloodstained but alive, and they were the only living beings in the room. Everyone else was dead. Katara recoiled from a lifeless corpse next to her, then took a deep breath and turned to Aang.

"Wake up," she whispered, "Aang, wake up!" She poked him gently, then harder. "Aang!" she muttered urgently, and his grey eyes shot open. He started, but she held him down, suddenly afraid that she'd not done her job right. "Be careful, don't move too quickly," she said, but he just waved off the advice, coming to his knees.

"Katara, I'm sorry. Please, forgive me, I'm sorry!" he looked around them, distracted, and Katara felt her heart thrum.

"Tell me what happened," she said quietly, and he hesitated. Finally, she succumbed to her impatience, and slammed her hand down on the floor. "Tell me!" she demanded, and the Airbender sighed, slumping over. Katara had seen that posture before. She had seen the shame on her father's face when he told her that Mother wasn't coming back. She'd heard it in Jet's voice as he died, unable to continue his protection of her and company. Now, the resignation covered Aang's face as he prepared to tell her something she didn't want to hear. She hadn't wanted to recognize it, but one fact sat quietly on the edge of her mind, waiting to be brought forward.

"Where is Lani?"

Aang closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Katara. We were attacked and they took her." The words hit her like stones, and she looked at the dead bodies around them with new eyes. Had one of these men hurt the one little piece of innocence left in her world? "I took her to see Toph first, because she's so close- she's still on the peninsula. We stayed with her for a couple nights, then were on our way to Kyoshi Island when I noticed we were being followed. Appa could smell the smoke from their machines long before I could. They started firing at us- great big flaming boulders, like when we were kids. I made Appa take Lani somewhere safe, and then fought them off. They were just regular thugs, and they ran when I came after them. I decided to take Lani straight to Iroh in Ba Sing Se, and we traveled nonstop for a good couple of weeks."

He paused here, and Katara stared steadily into his eyes. "Keep talking," she ordered hoarsely, and he nodded.

"We got to Iroh's safely. He had been sick- nothing big, don't worry- and was still weak, so I left. I thought the guys who went after us were after me… I wanted them to be as safe as possible." Aang unfolded his legs from underneath him and then sat cross-legged, resting his palms on his knees. It was a pose he'd often taken when he was upset and trying to calm down. "That night, Roku came to me in a dream. I was scared, thinking he was going to tell me to save the world again, but instead he just said that I hadn't done my job fully yet. You needed me to get Lani to Iroh safely. I hadn't done my job. I woke up and went back to Iroh's shop in Ba Sing Se, but by the time I got there…"

"What is it, Aang? Please!" she begged, and his mouth hardened into a straight line. Fury edged his grimace and narrowed his eyes.

"They took her as soon as they were sure I was gone. Iroh said he put Lani to bed early because she'd been tired, and that when he went in to check on her, she was gone. He'd notified the guardsmen, and they were searching the Third Ring by the time I left. I was going to come straight to you, but Caldera's borders were being patrolled, and the soldiers wouldn't let me into the city. I even tried to force my way through with the whole, "I'm the Avatar!" thing, but it didn't work. When I finally got through, I came here and was ambushed. They were along the entire street… I recognized a couple of them from the attack in the forest, but there were so many of them… some of them ran any, including their leader, I think- I went into the Avatar State, and…" his eyes flickered from hers, to the bodies around them, and for a moment she saw nothing but the scared little boy he'd been when she first knew him.

"Oh, Aang," she said, and stood up. He stood as well, towering over her for a brief second before he groaned and collapsed. She instinctively grabbed him, trying to keep him upright, but his tattoos flashed blue, then went dim and he groaned. "You can't walk yet, you're too weak," she muttered, and pulled water from her pouch and the surrounding area. She saw pink streaks, and froze, watching the blood sink back into the floorboards. She carefully collected clean water, and let Aang fall to the ground, lifting him on top of the water and carrying him out of the ruined apartment on a whirlpool.

She reached a healer's hut around the same time the sky went dark, sweating furiously, and bent the water back into her pouch, hauling his arm over her shoulder and leading him inside. The bitter smell of herbs and bodily excretions made her stomach churn. "Help me, please, someone!" she cried, and immediately a short, stubby woman came through a doorway and rushed over to her. "Lay him down, he's very weak," she instructed, and together, the two women got Aang onto a bed.

Katara stayed with him until he woke up, twisting her sleeve around her fingers until it was worn and frayed. When she heard him stir, she asked him to describe the kidnapper. "Long black dreadlocks, Fire Nation for sure. He had amber eyes and a big nose, and a huge birthmark on his neck, right here," Aang motioned to his chin and pulse point. "It was purple. He's tall and skinny, and he wears this weird armor- it's shiny, but dull at the same time."

"Where were you attacked the first time?" she asked, and he thought about it for a moment.

"We were next to this huge waterfall, right outside of Bashi. Katara… what are you going to do?" he yelled after her as she stood and turned away. She reached in her pockets, found a handful of coins and walked up to the healer.

"Is this enough for you to keep him here for a while, and for you to not mention anything?" The woman peered at her, then cracked a toothless smile.

"Keep your money, missy. I'm not blind, I can see his arrows and I'm honored to care for the Avatar. In silence, of course," she added hastily, laying a weathered hand on Katara's cheek. "You just go do what you need to do. No woman would leave a handsome young man like that unless she really needed to!"

Katara nodded, smiled and went back to Aang, already calculating how long it would take to travel by foot, what she would need to bring. She knew she'd need more knives, and more practice, but she didn't have time to learn strategies. She'd need food and a lot of water, but she could get the water anywhere as soon as she left Caldera. In three seconds flat, the waterbender had a plan.

"Katara, what are you doing?" Aang demanded again, and Katara bent down, placing a swift kiss on his forehead. She remembered her own mother doing that when she and Sokka had been frightened, telling them it was protection against nightmares and demons. But Katara knew better than anyone that a mother's protection was only temporary, however permanent their love was.

"I'm going to find Lani, Aang. Stay here until you feel better, then do me a favor and go tell Sokka you've found me and that I'm safe. Tell him I love him." She left without looking back, without answering his panicked cries for her to stay. Lani's sweet little smile filled her mind, pushing against the sides of her skull until tears squeezed from her eyes. "Watch over her, Yue," she murmured, and the moon seemed to grow brighter as she began to run.

….

The forest was a lot thicker than it used to be, or maybe it just felt that way. Katara swept another cobweb out of her way, ducked beneath a branch, and barely avoided tripping over a tree root. She had her supplies in a pack slung over her shoulder, and her hair was braided over her shoulder and already filled with twigs and pine needles. She'd gone through Bashi last night, and the sun had only been up for about an hour. She had no way of knowing if she was anywhere close to the waterfall except for Aang's direction and a sloppy map drawn by a friendly bartender.

Katara had gone straight from the healer's hut to her apartment, and scavenged what she could. Then, she'd bought a thick black cloak to replace her tattered one and set out. It was easy to press a spot on a guard's neck and watch him crumble, only passing out of the city borders once she was sure that no one saw her leave. Once she was certain she was alone, Katara had smeared dirt all over her skin, wrapped her hair in a scarf and dressed in a Fire Nation robe. She had started walking, hitching rides, asking for the way to Bashi as an anonymous road woman, one of many widows who were struck so alone by the war. She looked no one in the eye and answered no questions truthfully. She thought of Blue mostly, wondering if he was alright. She knew she couldn't go back to him until she'd laid Zuko properly to rest. He deserved as much, after everything he'd done to put her back together again. And, she mused, so did she.

Bashi had been uneventful. She'd been exhausted, and knew she wouldn't be able to sleep thinking about everything. She had went to a motel and paid for a room, then went to the bar next door and had the barkeep pour her something. She'd had two small glasses and then mentioned the waterfall casually, hoping he'd be too caught up in pouring her drinks to concentrate on what she was saying. He had drawn her something on a piece of parchment and crumpled it up in her hand, and she was gone. She had gone back to her room, passed out on the bed, and woken up ten hours later with a raging headache.

Katara was still walking with a headache, trying to remember why she'd been so desperate to sleep, to escape her brain. But then she pictured Blue standing above a random thief in the street, raising his swords in a fury. She pictured Lani, scared and alone, surrounded by enemies. Younger than she or anyone else had been during the war. She bit her lip and pressed on, ignoring the pain in her head and the sway in her step. Branches snagged on her clothing and bit her cheeks, but she closed her eyes, drew water from her pouch and began bending it in a swirl around her, fast enough to push the branches back. She began walking faster, pleased with herself, and then abruptly came to the edge of the woods and stumbled out, guiding her water back into the pouch just in time. She glanced up, just then hearing the roar of crashing water, and saw a tall, broad waterfall. At the base was a cave, and standing at the front of it was a man.

Katara dropped to the ground, and he didn't seem to notice her. She began crawling towards him, her stomach on the ground, moving slowly as her father had taught her to do on thin ice. She drew her hand back when she was close enough and pulled a cord of liquid around her fist. Then, she stood and cracked the water whip, wrapping it around his neck and slamming him forward into a tree. He slumped to the ground, and she pulled up octopus tentacles and ran into the cave.

Men surrounded her, and within seconds, they fell at her feet. Katara stood among them, searching for one in particular. She knelt down, checking one man's collar, and he grabbed her and quick as lightning. She screamed and rolled on top of him, but her momentum carried her over until he straddled her, pinning her down. She threw her hips up and bucked him off, then drew a knife and turned the other direction, running. He grabbed her ankle and she fell, blindly slashing out, hearing a gurgling sound and a thud. Another man got up, an arrow in the notch of his bow, and she threw the knife without thinking, hitting him directly in the chest. He slumped into the wall of the cave and didn't get back up.

Katara stepped back, and tripped over a body. She fell down and froze, bracing herself for an attack, but this man was still passed out, his dreadlocks covering his face and his chest barely rising. She saw blood on his neck and her eyes widened, but then she looked closer. It wasn't blood on his neck. Instead, a deep purple stain marked him as the leader, as the one with the information she needed. Katara stood over him and jerked him up, dragging him further into the cave and tying him up with rope from his own camp. She had nothing to worry about until he awoke.

She scanned herself for injuries, and noticed that her head no longer hurt. Her entire body felt jerky, the adrenaline keeping her alert. It paid off- she was able to see the man wake up, even though he tried to hide it by immediately closing his eyes again. He strained tenderly against his bonds, and she laughed harshly.

"Don't you think we're a little old to be playing games?" she taunted him, and he sighed, raising his head and staring at her hatefully. "You give me the information I want, or you die. It's really very simple." She stepped closer to him, letting a lantern in the corner illuminate her face. He spat at her feet.

"Water tribe whore. I would rather die than tell you anything! You are right. We are too old to be playing games… but I know someone who is just the right age for games. She loves them." Katara let out a strangled yell and punched him across the face, but he just spat again and laughed. "Water witch. Kill me, then. I am not afraid of death."

Katara felt a strange heat in her limbs, and raised her arms slowly. Her brain screamed at her to stop, but he'd pushed her past her limits. "Not afraid of death?" she asked quietly, and he smirked. "Then I guess I'll have to find out what you are afraid of, won't I?" His face fell into a stony mask, but she was beyond that. After learning to decipher Blue's emotions behind his steely leer, this vermin's expressions were clear as water.

"I think you're afraid of pain. You cause others so much of it, though… maybe you should get a taste of your own medicine." Her fingers tensed in that awfully familiar way, and the man before her froze. She remembered the moon, just two days past full. She felt forbidden strength flow through her arms, and slowly, ever so slowly, his left hand came up, fingers spread wide, and she made him stay like that.

Katara came closer, imagining Lani, imagining what this filth could have done to her. "Where is my daughter?" she asked, and the man shook his head. "You see, bastard," she said, bending down to cut him free of his bonds, "I control your body right now. I can make you do anything you can think of. Things you normally wouldn't be able to do." She spun her wrist and concentrated, sweat standing out on her brow, and his finger went into his wide open mouth. She closed her hand into a loose fist, and his jaw began to close.

"You know, it takes the same amount of force to bite through a carrot as it does to bite through your finger. Normally, your brain wouldn't allow you to do it- but right now, I'm controlling you." His eyes widened in fear, and anger surged through her gut. "Tell me where my daughter is." He moaned, no words, and she clenched her hand harder, watching his teeth press into his knuckle. "Tell me." Now he was squealing, a high, keening pitch. "Tell me!" she shouted, and he broke out into muffled sobs, not able to speak around the digit in his mouth. She bent his arm towards her, gave him back his mouth, and he screamed.

"I'll tell you! Please! Please, I'll tell you!" he sobbed, and she threw him out of her control, back onto the ground, limp and broken. Shame slit through her resolve, but she merely stood above him with her arms crossed, praying she'd be able to forget this, knowing she never would.

"Then talk."

Hey guys, thanks for reading. Sorry for any mistakes, and also for the wait. Please review!