A/N: So, short chapter. But it's warm. Anyone ever heard the song "Say Something?" The beat of it was inspiring. That and Bowling for Soup's "Me With No You." But hey, that's probably more than you wanted to know. Anyways, hope this makes up for all the angst and sadness earlier.

Healed and Hunted

Say Something

Chapter Forty Five

Fifth Floor

Kat

Neither of them have spoken, and it's been ten minutes. She isn't crying yet, which was good. She wanted to look away from him- or rather, she wanted him to look away in shame for not letting her know- but she was afraid to do so. If she blinked, she might wake up alone.

So neither of them look away, and neither moved.

Around them, nurses and patients carry about their business, and overall no one is paying them much attention. Still, she can't figure out what she wants to say first. She doesn't want to be angry, but she can't help the rage that pulses through her. Haru explained what he had seen and learned, and she was furious. She was also elated that he was here.

Lee shifts to make room for her on the bed, and he pats the area next to him.

She can't bring herself to sit next to him, or to touch him. Not yet. Kat sits at the foot of his bed, far enough that he could not touch her with his hands. For this, she felt she was being cruel, but she had to protect herself right now.

"Please say something," he says finally. His voice is softer than she remembers. His accent was, she thought, stronger. Perhaps from being in Russia so long, speaking Russian and not English. Maybe she was imagining it.

"I don't know what to say. I've had this nightmare before." She answered, trying to take the sight of him in.

His cheekbones-all of his bones- were prominent beneath his skin. He probably weighed less than she did. There were healing bruises under his eyes. His hair has been shorn off, but it was growing back. Some of his teeth seemed to be missing, and a glance at his hand said a few of his nails had been ripped off. She fights off tears, at that. To think that he had been tortured like that, that it was probably worse than she could see.

"Nightmare?" He repeated, sounding incredulous.

Kat took in a breath, "It starts like this. We meet, you're alive. Everything is as it should be. And then I wake up."

She hadn't told anyone about it. Not Aang, not Toph. It was too shameful to admit that there were times when she sat alone and awake in the dark instead of trying to sleep because she knew what was waiting for her there. There had been too many nights where she had cried herself to sunrise, knowing full well that her dreams- while very and actually painful- were nothing more than that.

"I've had that nightmare, as well." He admitted.

She watched him struggle to sit up, but did not move to help him. Haru said he had been down on the ground floor earlier, which meant he was perfectly capable of sitting himself up. Or, perhaps an even simpler task, picking up a phone.

"Azula didn't make it." Lee told her, looking at her clenched fists.

She gave her condolences, but they felt empty. Anger gripped her throat, and kept her silent. It was irrational to be angry, in this moment. Shouldn't she be dancing with joy? Yet, her anger was also justified. It just wasn't the time or place to be angry with him.

"Aang said you've been volunteering in hospitals for the past few months."

Her eyes cut to him, too harsh for someone who had been through what he had, "Oh?"

Lee nodded in reception of her anger, suddenly interested in his bed sheets. He picked at them with nervous fingers, understanding his mistake. His hands stilled, and he looked directly at her.

"I understand you're angry at both of us, but-"

"Don't start. I can't, right now." She interrupted. Kat closed her eyes and added, "I don't want to be angry right now. But I can't seem to put it aside at the moment, so just don't."

He closed his mouth. His eyes seemed tired.

Kat knew she couldn't stay like this forever. So, trying to get things moving she asked, "How bad…are your injuries?"

He cleared his throat, "I'm not really sure. It was bad. They said I almost died. When they rescued me, I was under a lot of debris, and it crushed some of my bones, including some of the ones I broke last time in the Pit. They've been resetting this whole time. I've only recently been able to walk. That's nothing short of a miracle."

Kat levels her gaze, trying to bite back the heated words that bubbled on her tongue. It took far too much effort. She was out of practice of fighting emotions. It affects her breathing, she notices, so she takes care to inhale deeply.

She closed her eyes, trying to think of something to say.

"I'm glad you're alright," she said, finally.

He didn't answer. What could he say, after all? He'd known she was alright for six months now. It was no great surprise to him that she was healthy and alive. He hadn't sat up worrying about it, now had he? And Aang! That bastard. He was someone who she could take her anger out on.

Kat rose to her feet, decided on her course of action, and smoothed her clothes.

"I'm expected down stairs," she said as way of good bye. She couldn't manage anything else, not right at this moment. She ran off before he could say anything else.

She thought to find Aang, first, but she really did have work to do. She found her station and clipped her name tag to her shirt, hands surprisingly stable and deft. She was healing the wounds of a young girl when Haru came up to her.

"I didn't think you'd be down so soon." He said, moving next to her. He busied himself by sorting her medical equipment.

She paused her healing to look at him, "Neither did I."

"So, why are you?" He wondered.

The child moaned, and Kat resumed her work. She knew her answer was taking too long, but Haru had grown to be a patient man, and he did not press her for a quick reply. She appreciated his willingness and sincerity in the question.

"Because I don't want to be angry with him. But I am." She said at length.

He nodded, "Because he's made you worry, all this time. And it was unfair of him to know that you were safe, when you've spent all this time pacing a hole in the gardens."

That made sense, when he said it. When she thought about it, it was what her own thoughts had been, just much more concise. Like he had taken the storm of her thoughts and shaved it down to sunshine.

She narrowed her eyes, "Did you learn to read minds in the army?"

They laughed, even though she felt like screaming.

"What did you do when you first found out he was missing?" Haru wondered, placing a roll of gauze to one side. He'd rearranged the trey three times now.

Kat tried to remember, but couldn't. That whole first year was blank. She had lived in a haze, and had only very recently woken up. This, she told him, wasn't what she wanted to find when she finally broke free.

"But, if you look at it in a certain light, Kat, he's been waiting longer than you have. I doubt he was in a similar haze while incarcerated. For you, the first year of the war was nothing. And he's been sitting in that bed for eight months wanting to find you, knowing you were just a spitball away," She tried to interrupt him, but he kept going, "I'm not saying what Aang did was right, but I can see why he did it. What do you think would have happened if you found him before you woke up?"

"The same thing, probably, that happens when I sleep. I would write it off as a dream. And, when he didn't go away… I don't know. I probably would have thought I was crazy." Kat answered honestly.

They moved to the next child, and Haru sat down and held the adolescent's hand. She was humbled by his kindness, just in that one motion. It was good to see him like this, grown and compassionate. She had always wondered what had become of him. Now she knew.

She didn't speak for three more patients, but Haru stayed with her. He was persistent, too. Foggy memories of Toph teaching Aang about earth bending filled her mind. It was more than an element, it was an attitude.

"He should have called. At the very least, he should have called. When we spoke, just now… I realized I had forgotten the sound of his voice." Her own voice cracked at the admission.

Haru didn't seem surprised.

"I thought that I had preserved his memory, kept it safe. But time wore it away, and it was like a stranger was in front of me. I didn't know what to say. All I wanted to do was yell at him." She told him.

"I'd be willing to bet he wants you to yell at him. If he missed you half as much as you missed him, he would probably take any treatment you deigned to give him, just to hear you talk."

The words pierced her like she imagined an arrow or a lance or a bullet would. The wind left her lungs, and the world stopped spinning. In those few moments, she was realized what an idiot she was being.

Lee was alive. He was alive, and he had let her worry for so long. She was going to yell at him about it for the rest of his life.

She finished her patient numbly. Her rounds went in silence after that. Haru stayed, but said nothing. He seemed rather pleased with himself. He walked along with her, and when she was so tired that her legs shook, he offered a supporting hand. Haru took her to the cafeteria and bought her a sandwich.

As tired as she was of sandwiches, that was really all there was here. And besides, it was kind of him to buy one for her. It had been a long time since anyone bought her anything close to a meal. When she was done, Kat made one more purchase and said goodbye to Haru.

She took the stairs up to the fifth floor, pausing for breath behind the door. Inside was quiet, well, quieter than normal. It was, after all, nighttime. She'd been gone longer than she'd intended.

Seconds later, she walked in, trying to make as little noise as possible. No one seemed to care that she was there, which she was grateful for.

He was asleep, though a dim lamp was illuminating his face. Even asleep he looked tired, like rest wasn't enough just yet. His shifted and she froze, but his eyes remained shut. She shifted him to where she could sit next to his sleeping form.

Kat sniffled, "I'm really mad at you, you know. You've been cruel. But, that's alright. I'll yell at you for it. But, I've been terrible, too."

At the sound of her voice, he moved closer. He always did, and that he did so even now, in this time and place, made her smile.

"I've been focusing on me, which is also alright. But…you've been having a hard time of it, haven't you?"

He started muttering something, but she didn't speak Russian very well. Even though she'd been here for a while, she had only barely started to pick things up. But she could take a guess.

"I brought you a pickle. But if you tell the nurses, I'll do very bad things to you."

Fifth Floor

Lee

She can't even look at him. Not really, anyway. She won't touch him. This, he realized, was what he had been so afraid of. He didn't want her to see him like this, but she had. It was game over. If she was here, here in this moment, seeing him like this… She was never going to be able to unsee this. This was what he had avoided her for- not because Aang had said it was a good idea, or that she would benefit from his absence. He didn't want Kat to see him broken and frail.

But she had.

He closes his eyes and pretends to sleep until he passes out. The past two years had given him something of a talent in doing this. He drifts asleep before it is dark outside. Sleep is, as his medication often made it, empty and stifling.

He's warmer than he's been in a while, and he was afraid to wake up. He knows this warmth and smell, and god he missed it. Lee is content to dream a while longer before opening his eyes. He knows the sun rose a few hours ago-fire Inheritor and all-so it surprises him that the memory has lasted as long.

He breathes and rolls over, only to be blocked by something. It was then he realized he was constricted. Something was pinning the blanket around him, and he began to panic.

But a voice soothed him and ripped him from his sleep.

"Hey. Shh, hey. It's me."

And there she was.

He didn't move, didn't even breathe. He swallowed, trying his best at being a statue.

"You there, Lee?"

His eyes glanced up and met hers. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Yesterday she hadn't even wanted to touch him, and now here she was wrapped around him. There wasn't a handbook for returning prisoners of war.

"I'm here." He answered breathlessly.

She put a hand on his arm, tender but firm. Her touch was soft and warm and it terrified him.

"Me too." She told him. Kat bent down to put her forehead on his, "You're late."

A broken laugh erupts from him, "Sorry, love. Traffic was hell."

He wants to kiss her, but is worried about being too forward with her. It has been, after all, nearly two years since they've seen each other. One of her hands lays against his chest, the other touching the unscarred side of his face.

It seemed like she was struggling, also.

"Are we…okay?" He asks, trying to focus himself. Her proximity was always distracting, but after two years of being away, this was damn near incapacitating.

She shakes her head, "No way. You're in big trouble. But I'm here, Lee. And so are you. And that's a good start."

He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his lips, not risking anything further. They were a long way from okay, but for right now, here was going to be more than enough. Lee shut his eyes, adjusting himself so that she could lay more comfortably. However long she'd been here, she hadn't bothered to move him. She must have been sleeping so awkwardly.

Still, when more thought was applied, that made sense. The woman that he loved lived to serve, and would have carried any burden so that another would not have to. Even if that meant sleeping against hospital bed rails.

Kat slipped under his blanket, and buried herself against him, finding a place that was comfortable for the both of them. Her hair was everywhere, though she tried to pin it back, and he eventually told her to leave it. It had been two years, and he had been waiting to wake up to crazy-bed-head-Kat every single day of it.

And for the first time since being captured, Lee found he could breathe.