CHAPTER 5: Helpless

"The wound is the place in which the light enters."

Aang was sitting in a lotus position with an aura of tranquility enveloping him. His slender frame was seemingly poised with grace and balance, his back erect yet relaxed, and his breath was slow and steady like a rhythmic melody, a gentle hum that seemed to emanate from his very being.

Zuko and Katara moved slowly towards the center of the stone platform that was the sanctuary, as they did not want to disturb his practice.

However, their presence was soon recognized by the winged lemur Momo that curiously chirped from Aang's lap before he flew over to greet them.

"Hush, Momo," Katara whispered in a smile, as the lemur landed on her shoulders, and she raised her hand to greet him by gently scratching the soft fur behind one of his large ears. "Let's not disturb him."

Momo produced a gentle purring sound from her touch, causing a breathily giggle to escape the young Water bender's lips.

As Zuko took another step towards Aang, Katara quickly stopped him and suggested that they wait for him.

"It looks like he's still in the Spirit World," she realized in a low whisper. "Let's just sit here for a short while, I'm sure he'll be back soon."

And so they waited, their faces turned to soak in the warm yellow rays of the sun. Zuko spent most of his time there playing with a lock of Katara's hair, letting his eyes travel over her as she laid there on the lukewarm pale stones with her eyes closed.

He admired her in ways he had never thought possible. Her strength and fierceness, her deep compassion and love, her unwavering determination.

She was an inspiration for him.

He was fire and she was ice.

He felt that with her mere presence, she helped him balance out the different parts of his being.

Zuko could glimpse Aang out of the corner of his eyes, but he paid him very little attention, as he enjoyed the sensation of his heart beaming with love for his girlfriend right there in front of him. That was until…

"Um, Katara?" Zuko whispered with confusion in his voice, as he sat up straight in a quick movement. "Is that normal?"

Katara shot her eyes open, before squinting them in Aang's direction, holding up a hand for her to see better in the bright sunlight.

Aang's body seemed to have stiffened in a strange way, and from where they were sitting, Zuko noticed that the monk's clothes were moving ever so lightly, as if he was shaking.

"Aang?" Katara called out.

There was a slight tremor in her tone, an unmistakable edge of fear that sliced through the air as they both rose to their feet and ran as fast as they could.

Katara gasped out loudly, when she pulled him over to her and saw his face.

It seemed like the muscles in his face were convulsing somehow, and suddenly his body joined the erratic movements, his limbs jerking and twitching with spasms as Katara pulled him into her lap. His hands were closed in tight fists, his knuckles turning white with strain.

"Zuko!" Katara barked. "Help me! What do I do?!"

The cadence of her speech had quickened, the words tumbling out in a jumbled rush, as if she were racing against time itself. And yet, beneath the frantic urgency, there lingered a haunting sense of vulnerability, an exposed rawness.

Zuko stood as if frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

He felt helpless.

He had never seen anything like this.

"Uh," he breathed as he looked around in confusion, his eyes desperate to fall upon something that could be useful to them.

The only thing he saw was Momo, and he hissed out as he watched Aang fall out of Katara's grip and onto the hard stone flooring, immediately causing a small gash near his eyebrow that left drops of blood to dribble down his temple and behind his left ear.

"Momo!" Zuko rushed. "Momo, get Appa! Now!"

Momo squeaked.

He heard Katara crying.

"I need water," she whispered as if talking to Aang, rocking his twerking body back and forth. "I need healing water."

Then, Zuko broke into a sprint, his feet soon pounding against the pale stones as he darted down the thousands of stairs to get to the meditation garden where he hoped that he would find Appa.

What was he thinking, asking Momo to get Appa?!

Idiot!

He felt the blood rushing in his ears as he pushed himself forward, and his chest soon burned with exertion.

Yet he refused to slow down.

Images of Aang's body jerking and the drops of blood on the stone flashed through his mind, spurring him on with determination.

He felt as if he were almost flying as he made his way further and further down the many stairs in something between a half-run half-fall, but he soon landed in the courtyard that would lead him to the meditation garden camp.

Summoning the last reserves of his energy, Zuko raced towards the garden, and he felt relieved as he saw both Sokka and Toph sitting on a bench near their camp.

"Please," he begged, his voice raw with emotion, earning both of them to look up with surprised faces.

Their smiles immediately faded away.

"Aang's hurt," he managed to rasp out in between breaths. "Need help. Appa. Water."

Toph and Sokka, taken aback by Zuko's urgency, quickly sprang into action, their expressions filled with concern.

"But Appa just took off with Momo?" Sokka yelled out, pointing up into the air where the bison currently seemed to be flying towards the sky sanctuary.

Zuko barked out a laugh in disbelief before he fell to the ground on all fours, heaving for air.

"I'll get them," Toph bellowed.

And before anyone could answer, she planted her feet firmly on the ground, her muscles tensing as she summoned a massive pillar of earth to rise beneath her. With a swift, fluid motion, she propelled herself upwards and into the air, the ground soon falling away beneath her as she soared upwards with astonishing speed.