Chapter 7:

Everyone's mouth dropped open. The last thing they expected was to have the Fire Nation princess collapse on her face right in front of them. After a few moments of baffled silence, Zuko stepped forward.

"Stop!" Sokka blurted. "It's a trap! She wants you to let your guard down and get close, and then the next thing you know, you'll be fried to a crisp!"

"Are you sure?" Zuko hesitated. "It doesn't seem that Azula would use such a demeaning trick."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka growled. "Your sister would be willing to do anything to kill us. Azula always lies."

"Toph?" Aang called. "Um...can you tell us if this is a trap or not?"

Toph scoffed. "Well if you're asking me to see whether or not her unconscious body is lying, you're out of luck."

"See?" Zuko murmured. "She really is hurt."

"No!" Sokka injected. "Azula has fooled Toph before, and she can do it again!"

Aang sighed. "Well we can't just stand around here forever."

Despite what Aang said, the Gaang still found themselves staring at Azula's body, marveling at what to do.

Katara narrowed her eyes at the princess, trying to determine if she was up to something. After all of the times Azula had deceived those she knew, Katara could not trust the princess, regardless of whether she was unconscious or not.

Then something caught her eye. The rocky ground which Azula was lying on had a strange red tint to it. Katara realized that it was lathered with dark blood.

"No," she said flatly. "Azula truly is injured. She's bleeding."

Zuko did not hesitate to dash over to his sister's side. He slid a hand under her stomach and gently flipped her over. Swallowing, Zuko realized that Azula was far too warm to the touch, and her robes were soaking wet. When he removed his hand, his palm was covered in sticky blood. Zuko began to feel a sense of panic rising in his chest.

"Could she have gotten hurt in the crash just now?" Aang wondered aloud.

With shaking hands, Zuko unfastened her sloppily tied belt and tore her robes open. His breath caught in his throat. Sokka dropped his boomerang, and Aang and Katara could not find the words to describe what they saw.

Azula's torso was completely painted with blood. The skin on both sides of her ribs and stomach looked as if they had been brutally torched, as if someone had blasted her with a jet of fire for an extremely long time. The ghastly burns continued onto her back, chest, and arms.

The most minor of her injuries consisted of bruises and blisters, small burns. The worst ones revealed tender tissue beneath the scorched layer of skin.

The smell of burnt flesh filled the air and Zuko nearly gagged.

"Oh...my goodness," Katara gasped.

It took Zuko a moment to realize that he had just stripped his sister right in front of everybody. "Er..." he hastily covered her torso with the robes.

"There's no way she could have gotten those injuries from the crash we just set up," Sokka exclaimed with shock.

"She didn't," Aang gulped. "Her clothes were still intact. That means she received those burns before she got here."

Zuko's face turned into grim disbelief. "There's only one firebender in the world strong enough to scar Azula like that."

"...What do you mean?" Katara inquired.

"Never mind. It's nothing," Zuko's expression was pained. "Anyways..." he looked around at the group, who still had not moved. They were hesitant. "Could someone help me out here?"

Sokka and Aang shifted slightly, but then Katara sighed, "Fine," and walked over to Appa to retrieve a blanket. She took Azula from Zuko and began to peel off Azula's clothing under the blanket. "Boys, why don't you go wash this in the fountain over there. Toph and I will tend to Azula."

Katara tossed the bloody articles of clothing to Sokka, Zuko, and Aang, who rushed off to do their job. Katara waterbended some water from the fountain into an empty bucket, and soaked a towel in it.

Toph sat down as Katara began to dab at Azula's broken body.

"So tell me," Toph spoke quietly. "How bad are her wounds? You know I can't see..."

Katara didn't answer, but Toph continued. "Are you going to heal her?"

"No." Katara replied impassively. "I'm not going to heal the person who has caused so much damage to the ones I love...I'll bandage her up, only because I can't let a person just die like this. Not even if it's the terrible princess of the Fire Nation." Her voice tightened. "I've always wanted Azula to suffer horribly, just as the Fire Nation made my family suffer," Katara smiled bitterly. "I guess I got what I wanted."

Azula moaned quietly, her faced twisted with pain. Katara was not gentle with her cleaning, and the rough towel scraped against Azula's burns. Katara felt a twinge of pity, but then shoved the feeling back down. She did not want to feel sorry for the person who had nearly killed her friends countless times.

During this time, the Aang was soaking Azula's robes in a suspended orb of water. Because the clothing was red, it disguised the fact that it was drenched in blood. Dark red liquid quickly began to color the sphere of water, and the three boys widened their eyes. Aang carefully bended the water so that the blood and dirt were wrung out.

Sokka was scowling. "Tell us again why we're helping this witch?"

"Because she's my sister!" Zuko shot back.

"Yes, and your beloved sister nearly rid the world of the avatar, forever," Sokka countered.

"Do you expect me to just leave her here?" Zuko snapped.

"Do you want me to answer that question honestly?" Sokka grumbled.

"Okay, guys, that's enough," Aang interrupted. "We can't let Azula die, but that doesn't mean we're going to be her friends either. We'll just make sure she survives, and then drop her off near the Fire Nation or something."

"Aang!" Sokka protested. "We're talking about the girl who nearly killed you! You have every right to throw her off the cliff right now!"

"No," Aang sighed. "She may be our enemy, but we're not going to have her death on our hands."

"So whose hands should they be on? Tell me and I'll deliver her to them right now!" Sokka began to wildly swing his boomerang around.

"Stop it!" Zuko hissed. "Just stop talking!"

Sokka shot him a death glare. "And I'll bet you're happy to be reunited with your sister. Maybe one day she'll shoot you in the back with lightning! Then we'll see how much you care about her!"

"That's it!" Zuko stood up abruptly.

Sokka recoiled, terrified that Zuko might attack him. Even Aang tensed up, ready for conflict to break loose. However, Zuko merely turned around and stalked toward the direction of Toph, Katara, and Azula.

Katara had just finished wrapping Azula's entire torso with soft white strips of cloth. She was forcefully tightening Azula's bandages, ignoring the unconscious princess's groans of pain.

Zuko cringed at his sister's treatment. "Do you think you can be a little gentler?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Why should she?" Toph answered flatly.

Katara gave the bandage one last yank. "Not killing her on the spot is considered gentle enough."

Zuko took a deep breath. "Well...thank you for taking care of her."

"Sure," the short answer came. Katara picked up the materials and stood up. "I'll leave Azula to you, Zuko."

"Um..." Zuko hesitated. "Could I ask one more favor of you, Katara?"

"What is it?"

"Azula doesn't have any clothes to wear...you and her are about the same size, so do you think you could let my sister borrow some of your clothes?"

Katara shot him a look. "Her clothes are just wet. I could waterbend the water out, or you could just use firebending to dry it. It's not that difficult..."

"No, that's not it," Zuko explained. "Her clothes are damaged beyond repair, especially her pants. She's going to need better things to wear..."

"I'm sorry Zuko," Katara shut her eyes. "I know you might think I'm acting cold, but...Azula has done so much wrong to so many people. Honestly, I can't even look at her without trying to hurt her. I can't stand helping someone who has attempted to murder my friends so many times. I just can't! Even a small act such as lending her my clothes symbolizes that I'm assisting her. Bandaging her wounds is the furthest I can go. I'm sorry."

Zuko clenched his teeth, trying not to yell. He could feel his frustration boiling in his core. How hard was it to lend someone an extra shirt or a pair of pants? Did Katara harbor such hatred that she could not perform such small insignificant tasks? It was somewhat understandable, considering all that Azula had put them through...He took deep breaths, willing himself not to erupt in anger. He had to remember that Azula was one of the Gaang's worst enemies, and Katara having to care for her was like choking down acid.

Finally, Zuko uttered through gritted teeth, "Fine. She'll just wear my clothes."

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I apologize if I made Katara and Sokka jerks in this chapter. But let's be realistic here: After all that Azula has done to Team Avatar, I'd say that they have a VERY good reason to treat her..."less-than-nice." Anyways, reviews are greatly appreciated!