a/n Well, over 100,000 words. This is crazy! Thank you for all of the support; you are the reason I write!
Due to technical glitches with my computer and looming finals, I didn't get this chapter completed until now. But now it's here! As far as my updating schedule goes… I've never formally had one. In the past, I've tried to update every 2 weeks-ish, but I think I can do better this summer. My next week will be almost as insane as this week, so I cannot promise an update until… Sunday the 14th. Sorry! After that, I should be updating more frequently!
Last chapter had some well-deserved fluff, but of course, it can't last! So read on…
Chapter 36 ~Fight~
-Katara-
According to Zuko, Aang and Toph should arrive in a day or two. It had already been three days since she sent the messenger hawk and Katara couldn't help but start to worry. Maybe Azula was still too volatile to leave? Maybe Yugoda hadn't arrived yet? Maybe Azula had hurt one of them? Maybe-
"Katara?" Zuko's voice drifted over the tea table and through her thoughts.
"Hmm?" she asked, turning to look at him. "What did you say?" He smiled slightly, but she didn't know why.
"I wanted to know if you wanted a fighting lesson today." She had forgotten all about her agreement to learn to fight without her bending, but she grinned at the prospects.
"Sure! Where will we practice though?" His eyes lit with mischief as he continued to grin.
"I've rented a place." He said nonchalantly.
"Wait what?" She returned her cup of tea to the table with a lurch. How much must that have cost?
"There's a large gym in this town and I rented it for the morning." He explained.
"Whatever happened to keeping a low profile?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He just shrugged.
"I paid off the janitor. No one will disturb us."
"Okay then, when do we start?"
"Since we haven't eaten yet, I'd say now is a good time." So they both stood and she followed them out of their hotel room.
The gym wasn't very far away. She had never been in one, so she wasn't sure what to expect. They entered through a side door and she glimpsed two shirtless firebenders sparring in a ring before Zuko pulled her along the hallway. He beckoned her into a medium sized corner room and closed the door behind them. The room was very open with a large circle painted on the floor and a few cabinets along the back wall. The windows were high up, allowing light to come in, but not peering eyes.
"So," she said enthusiastically while walking into the center of the circle, "What are we starting with? Staffs? Swords?" He chuckled.
"No, not today. Today we're focusing on hand to hand." He explained as he joined her in the center of the room. She tried not to look disappointed. "We'll work up to staffs slowly."
"Okay," she agreed, thinking how she couldn't wait to try her hand at swordplay.
"First things first, make a fist." He instructed. She quickly curled her fingers around her thumb. "Nope."
"'Nope?'" she repeated confused, "What's wrong with it?" He uncurled her fingers and brought her thumb out. As they touched, she couldn't help but feel the familiar spark that had nothing to do with bending.
"If you punch with your thumb tucked how you had it, you're going to break some bones." He rearranged her hand so her thumb was outside her fist. "There."
"Got it."
"Now, you're going to want to block with your forearms." He demonstrated by holding his arms in front of his body, one protecting his head the other his body. She mimicked his stance. "Good. That's the basics. Now you want to aim for the sensitive parts of the body-"
"Stomach, face, and throat." She recited. Her time with Yugoda in the healing house had taught that much.
"Don't forget about the groin." He added, grinning, and making her blush. Zuko was growing much bolder since they first got together. It was nice to see, even if it made her blush.
"Yes," she smiled, trying to turn the tables on him, "We wouldn't want to forget about the groin." She purposefully glanced down at his pant-covered-crotch.
"Agni." He muttered and shook his head. "Anyways, you want to remain light on your feet to dodge you opponent's attack."
"It seems a little like bending."
"Yeah, it kind of is. Just remember it's never worth trying to land a punch if you leave yourself exposed."
"Okay, well, let's do this!" She punched her hand into her other palm in anticipation.
"Actually, I thought we should wrap our hands."
"Why?"
"To soften our punches and so we don't hurt our hands."
"I think we'll be fine." He opened his mouth to disagree, but she continued, "If one of us does get hurt, it wouldn't take much for me to heal it."
"Okay." He agreed, begrudgingly. He took a few steps back until his heels met the outline of the circle. Following his lead, she did the same.
"Don't hold back." She teased him with a smirk and made fists out of both her hands.
"I won't," he promised.
-Zuko-
He never intended to go easy on her. In a real fight, an opponent wouldn't treat her any different so neither would he. She knew what she was getting into and they were both skilled benders. To train her truly in hand-to-hand, he would fight her with everything he had. Hopefully she would block his punches and no one would get hurt.
It was now or never. He took a deep breath and raised his fists. With a nodded exchange, the fight was on. She rushed at him and he instantly had to block a fist aimed for his nose. He easily dodged her next attack and tried to counter her with a stomach punch, but she blocked him. Over and over his fists met her forearms or empty air. She was exceeding his expectations, as per usual.
They were both breathing hard. Sweat started running down his forehead, making him wish he had taken off his shirt. Every time he thought he had the upper hand, she retaliated with equal force. Everything was going really well, if only he could catch his breath. His throat felt constricted and his heart hammered against his chest. He needed to stop the fight before he passed out.
"Enough," he rasped, backing away from her. The look of determination on her face instantly melted into concern.
"What's wrong?" she asked, slightly out of breath and sweaty. He was too concentrated on breathing correctly to be able to answer her. He half sat, half collapsed onto the ground. "Zuko!" she screamed and rushed to his side. He wanted to comfort her, but even he knew something was terribly wrong. "Zuko!" The world felt fuzzy and his head began to spin. He vaguely felt her rip his shirt off. He would have snickered if able to, but he wasn't. Instead, the world grew dark. He tried to hold on, to keep her precious face in focus, but he slipped out of consciousness.
-Katara-
No. No. No. This was not happening. He was burning up. His heart was beating violently. She had ripped off his shirt to try to cool him down with icy palms, like before, but it wasn't working. What was she supposed to do? She had to slow his heartrate. How? Then it came to her. Her hands stilled their frantic wandering and she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She didn't know what would happen if she did something wrong, but she knew she was running out of time and options. She had to break a vow she made to herself. She had to bloodbend.
-meanwhile in the air-
-Aang-
The sooner Toph and he reached Turpan the better. Things had gotten a little awkward the past three days, but with any luck, they'd reach their destination by nightfall, sooner if the wind picked up. Toph had been kind of distant and quiet. Most of their flying time was spent in silence. It wasn't like he could comment on the beautiful scenery.
Aang felt bad for leaving as soon as Yugoda had arrived. He hoped Guru Pathik and she could maintain control Azula for a few days. Azula had to wear a straightjacket to prevent her from hurting anyone, but she would still breathe fire like a dragon. Aang didn't want to take away her bending if he didn't have to. He wouldn't admit it aloud yet, but having that power scared him. So hopefully Zuko's appearance would have a positive effect on Azula…hopefully. Aang didn't want to think about what would happen if Azula's condition got worse.
Flying in silence also gave him time to think through everything that had happened over the past 15 days since Sonzin's Comet arrived. It really was a new world. Fire Nation troops were withdrawing or rebuilding cities they had been ordered to destroy. The Fire Lord was marrying the Southern Water Tribe's Princess. There was still some mistrust among people, but for the most part things seemed to be looking up. And surrounded by the beautiful sky, everything seemed peaceful. So why wasn't he?
Over the last two days, Aang had grown more and more anxious. He wanted to think it was just because he felt guilty for leaving Guru Pathik and Yugoda to deal with Azula, but deep down he knew that wasn't entirely it. He glanced over his shoulder at Toph. It had been 18 days since he first kissed her. He had tried to kiss her again since they left the Fire Nation, but he couldn't work up the courage to. Either way he liked thinking about their kiss. It made his heart flutter in a nice way when he remembered how she felt in his arms with his lips against hers. He almost kissed her last night, but ended up pulling back. Maybe that's while she had been so aloof lately. She didn't like him like that and was subtly trying to tell him she wasn't interested… But she had kissed him back at the Summer Palace! He was sure of it. Or was he?
"Ugghh!" he groaned in frustration.
"What's the matter Twinkle Toes?" she called up to him. Oops! He didn't think he had groaned aloud.
"Nothing," he said quickly, "Everything's good."
"Wow, we're not even on solid ground and I can tell you're lying. Man up, Twinkle Toes, what's the matter?"
"You."
"Me?! I've just been sitting back here riding this smelly bag of fluff, no offence, for the past two days in utter silence. So I don't know what I could have done to offend you."
"I'm not offended. I'm just…confused."
"And your confused about… me?" she seemed genuinely surprised.
"Yes," he answered, his cheeks turning pink despite of himself.
"Why?" Did she really not know?
"I kissed you at the Summer Palace, but nothing ever really happened. You let me hold your hand a few times, but we've never really talked about what happened or what we want to happen."
"Oh come on Aang! You know I don't like that mushy talk."
"I know, I know, but it has made me wonder if you feel the same as me…" His voiced died off. She didn't say anything and he was too embarrassed to continue talking. It was going to be a long flight to Turpan.
-Katara-
She hated blood bending. She never wanted to use it again, but now it might be the only way to save her love. He had already passed out so she needed to act quickly. Her own breathing slowed as she concentrated on feeling Zuko's blood. How it flowed, how his heart pounded. She brought her hands over her chest and tried to slow his heartrate. She could feel his body resisting. It didn't appreciate her tank over and she had to sit on his legs to keep them from moving as his body started to writhe and fight.
"Shh!" she soothed even though she knew he couldn't hear her. When she finally got a grip of his heart, she was both relieved and terrified. Manipulating his heart gave her a sickly feeling, but she tried to push it away for now. She needed to concentrate. Very carefully, she started to slow his heart and set a normal speed. Thump-thump…thump…thump-thump.
As his heart began to accept the new rhythm, she gently relinquished her grip until it was beating on its own. Immediately after she let go she felt like throwing up. She spied a cleaning bucket in the corner of the room and flung herself in its direction. All of her morning tea and last night's dinner flew into the bucket. She kept her head over the bucket after the immediate heaving stopped, which was a mistake. The smell of her vomit only induced more nausea.
After she emptied the contents of her stomach into the bucket, she slouched against the wall exhausted. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the foul taste in her mouth. For a moment it felt like she had drifted off, but she forced her eyes open. Zuko was still lying in the middle of the floor. She needed to go to him and make sure he was okay. She didn't know if she could muster the strength to stand, so she crawled over to him. He was still unconscious, but at least his heartrate and temperature seemed to have normalized. She surveyed his chest looking for any side effects or injuries. She frowned when she noticed the faint leaf-like scar spiraling out from where he had been struck by Azula's lightning. Of course, she had seen this on him before, but she hoped it'd fade. Apparently not.
Now that he was in stable condition, she knew he had to be moved. Taking him back to their room seemed like the best option, but it would be impossible for her to carry him alone. Maybe there were others in the gym that could help her?
"Help!" she cried. Silence. She pulled herself to her feet. "I'll be right back." She whispered to an unconscious Zuko as she started walking towards the doors. "Hello?" she called. There was no one in the gym. Nobody sparring or learning forms. As she passed a window, she noticed that the sun was no longer shining. It can't be evening already. Can it? she wondered.
Without really thinking about, she walked outside. She needed to find help. If she recalled, correctly their hotel was to the left, so she headed in that direction. Not a moment later she paused, thinking she heard someone call her name. Her real name too, not the false one she had been using. But who here would know her by that name?
"Katara!" The voice called again behind her, getting closer. She sighed with relief because she'd recognize that voice anywhere. Sure enough, she turned around to see Aang and Toph running towards her.
-Zuko-
He didn't want to open his eyes. If he truly acknowledged consciousness, would the pain return? So he just remained still. He had almost slipped back into oblivion when he heard Katara's voice. She sounded like she was so far away and he strained to hear her.
"Please wake up soon." He heard her whisper and felt a faint brush against his hand. "I love you." Now he wished he could open his eyes. He wanted to see her. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her too, always. Instead, the darkness reclaimed him.
The next time he felt the tingle of consciousness he forced his eyes open.
"Katara!" he cried out, sitting up abruptly and looking around the unfamiliar room.
"She's fine," an older woman said appearing from behind a privacy screen. "She's over here, sleeping." He was very disoriented. Where was he? "You're confused, that's understandable." The woman continued as she came closer before kneeling by his side. Soon water coated her hands and they glowed like Katara's did when she healed him.
"You're Yugoda," he finally said. "So…I'm at the Eastern Air Temple…?"
"Correct," she said smiling. "You and the others arrived this evening. You've missed over two days."
"'Over two days!'" he repeated, his voice rising.
"Yes. Shhh! You'll wake her." He immediately felt guilty and lowered his voice.
"Sorry."
"You should try to get some rest, it's late."
"I think I've slept enough for a while."
"You want to see her, don't you?" He nodded sheepishly. She stood up and carefully pushed the privacy screen back. A flood of relief fell over him all because he knew she was safe.
"Thank you, Yugoda."
"Oh, you're welcome. That was nothing compared to what she did."
"What did she do?"
"She'll tell you in the morning. Now you should go back to sleep." It felt strange to be taken care of by Yugoda and not Katara or Uncle, but he did what she asked and settled back down into his furs. He had a bunch of un-answered questions, but for now he could sleep easy knowing everything was okay. He turned his head sideways so he could look at Katara as he slowly lost the fight against sleep and his eyelids grew heavy and finally closed.
a/n Definitely some drama going on. At least the ending wasn't quite as dramatic as previous endings! Please let me know what you thought in a review and thanks for reading!