Author's Note: This story takes place a few days after "The Southern Raiders."

The forest was dark, and eerily quiet. As Katara slowly crept her way forward, she could feel a cold sense of dread creeping up her spine for she could sense that there was something very wrong about this place.

Worse was that she suddenly realized that she had no idea how she'd gotten here, or where the rest of the gang was for that matter.

"Hello?" Katara called uneasily as she suddenly got the feeling that she wasn't alone...

There was no response, and the only sound to be heard was a slight rustling in the trees. And yet, somehow, Katara could feel that someone or something was out there...watching her.

Something moved... A shadow in the dark...

"Who's there?" Katara called again, her fear beginning to spike, "I said, who's there?!"

There was still no response, but after a long, tense moment, Katara could have sworn that she'd seen another shadow moving at the very edge of her field of vision.

"Come on, show yourself!" she challenged, trying to both sound fierce, and ignore the fear in her own voice, "Nobody sneaks up on me without getting water-whipped!"

Suddenly, there came a rustling sound from Katara's right, and she lashed out at it, cutting a nearby bush in two with a waterbending slice. But there was nothing there...

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Katara noticed a dark, hooded and cloaked figure standing a short distance before her. Alarmed, she stumbled over her own feet, and fell backwards onto the ground. As Katara tried to regain her feet, she saw a blast of some kind of dark bending coming right at her, forcing her to quickly roll out of the way.

Katara stared at her assailant in disbelief; whoever they were, it looked as though they had been bending the very shadows themselves.

Then her assailant spoke.

"I wasn't behind the bush. And I wouldn't try waterbending again..." the voice was stone cold, and utterly devoid of emotion.

Slowly, Katara got to her feet. As she regarded her mysterious attacker, she soon found herself unable to shake the feeling that there was something very familiar about this person. But try as she might, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she finally asked.

"Well, this seems familiar doesn't it?" the dark figure continued, ignoring her question, "So tell me, Katara, how did it feel?"

Katara blinked, "What?"

The figure tilted their head, "Didn't it feel good to finally give in to your hatred after so long? Didn't you finally see just how powerful you became when you let the hate fuel you instead of all that stupid compassion and hope you're always preaching about? It was glorious."

Katara suddenly remembered it all: Zuko offering her the chance for vengeance against Yon Rha, the man who'd murdered her mother. Her nasty argument with Aang and Sokka. The things she'd said and the things she'd done in her fit of unbridled rage. And then finally, the confrontation with Yon Rha himself...

"But then..." the figure continued, "You just had to go and ruin the ride by NOT actually going through with it!"

It was true; when she'd finally come face to face with him, Katara had ultimately found herself unable to take Yon Rha's life in spite of what he'd done to her and her family.

The man she'd always seen as a monster was long past his prime, and the look of burning hatred that she'd never forgotten seeing in his eyes the day he'd killed her mom had long since faded. In fact, he had cowered in terror before her, even going so far as to offer his own mother's life in exchange for his own, prompting Katara to write him off as a pathetic wretch not even worth killing.

"I couldn't go through with it." Katara insisted, "He wasn't worth it!"

"Is that really how you feel?" the figure asked skeptically, "That you were 'strong enough' not to do it? No, you just don't have the guts to admit that you were TOO WEAK to do it!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" snapped Katara.

The figure chuckled darkly, shaking their head, "I know you better than you know yourself."

"Who are you anyway?" Katara demanded.

"You know who I am." the dark figure said simply, "I'm your shadow."

Katara blinked, "What?"

"Have you truly forgotten so easily?" the shadow asked.

It was in that moment, even as the shadow's words sank in, that Katara suddenly realized with growing apprehension what she'd actually known from the beginning. She DID know the shadow, in spirit if not in name.

In fact, the shadow was Katara's worst enemy. And with that realization came the next...

This was NOT their first confrontation with one another; the shadow had been haunting her for the past several nights, ever since the day she'd sought vengeance against Yon Rha...

In the light of the full moon, Aang sat alone in deep contemplation on the front steps of Fire Lord Ozai's own beach house on Ember Island. He had to admit that despite his initial reservations, it was a rather ingenious idea on Zuko's part for the Gaang to hide out in his family's old summer home as it was the last place either his father or sister would think to look for them.

According to the Fire Nation Prince, his father had stopped coming to this place long ago, and Azula herself disliked coming here as she found it "depressing", so there was little chance of them coming here by happenstance either. Moreover, through the rumor mill of Ember Island's population, they would be able to keep in touch with what was going on in the Fire Nation. So truth be told, this was probably in fact the perfect hiding place for them.

But even so, Aang was still concerned, so much so that he couldn't sleep, although it wasn't the Fire Nation that had him worried.

While his firebending training under Zuko was going quite well, it was impossible for the last airbender not to notice a change in the Gaang in the past few days since they'd arrived on Ember Island.

Namely, there had been a noticeable lack of brother and sister bickering between Sokka and Katara, which had been a near constant amongst the team ever since Aang had first known the two of them. In fact, the Water Tribe siblings seemed to be purposely avoiding one another. But what truly concerned Aang on the matter was the fact that neither of them had been acting at all like themselves lately.

Sokka, for example, seemed to have completely misplaced his sarcastic personality, keeping his jokes to a bare minimum in the past few days, with even those few that managed to pass his lips sounding very half-hearted. This, of course had not gone unnoticed by his friends, but whenever anybody had tried to express their concerns, Sokka had merely waved them off, and insisted that he was fine.

Nobody had bought it, but they were all hesitant to press him further. Suki in particular was especially worried about him.

But Aang understood perfectly what Sokka trying to do, for he himself had done the very same thing after Appa had been taken away by the Sandbenders in the desert.

Sokka had been deeply wounded by the painful words that had passed between him and Katara right before she'd left to confront the man who had killed their mother. And now, Sokka had been spending nearly all of his time trying to keep busy with whatever he could even as he kept his emotions buried deep within himself, as though he wasn't even allowing himself a chance to think or feel anything at all.

Just as Aang had done after losing Appa.

And then, there was Katara...

Aang let out a heavy sigh at the thought, for it was the change in Katara that troubled him the most.

Katara had always been the team mom of the group, the nurturing, soothing figure who had always kept them all together during their darkest of moments. Moreover, she was truly the most kind and compassionate person he'd ever known, always desiring to help those in need, and willing to give just about anybody they met a chance. She had even come to finally forgive Zuko for all of his past actions.

But these past several days...

Katara's fury before leaving to confront her mother's killer had been shocking to behold. She had said things he never would've believed she was capable of saying, and he genuinely feared the possibility that she might cross over the line in her quest for vengeance.

Aang had never seen her like that before. For a moment, he was reminded of what Katara had said to him at General Fong's fortress about seeing him in the Avatar State:

I saw you get so upset that you weren't even you anymore. I'm not saying the Avatar State doesn't have incredible and helpful power, but you have to understand, for the people who love you, watching you be in that much rage and pain is really scary.

If Aang hadn't understood her then, he sure did now.

Thankfully, Katara didn't go through with taking the life of her mother's killer it in the end, and Aang had hoped that that would be the end of it, and she'd soon return to normal. But she hadn't; instead, she had just undergone another change.

Ever since she'd returned, Katara had been uncharacteristically distant from the rest of the group, and even when she was with them, she spoke little, and tried not to make eye contact with either Aang or Sokka. She seemed to be trying to avoid them because she was afraid...

Not necessarily afraid of them, but afraid of herself.

Not only that, but she clearly hadn't been sleeping well either. Aang could hear her in the middle of the night, plagued by nightmares.

He had never seen her like this before either, but he did know why it was happening. Katara was still in pain, although this time, her pain came from a different place.

Both of the Water Tribe siblings were in pain, and they needed each other. But first, Katara needed Aang.

At last, Aang got to his feet.

It was time to have this out.

Katara pushed deeper into the forest, desperately trying to find a way out and away from the shadow. But no matter how far she went, the forest seemed to have no end, and she could always feel the presence of her enemy lurking somewhere in the darkness.

Suddenly, Katara froze dead in her tracks when she suddenly heard haunting laughter coming from all around her. Panting, she darted her gaze about, frantically trying to locate her adversary.

"Where are you?!" Katara shouted.

Then, a long, thin shadow reached out of the darkness, wrapping around Katara's leg like a tentacle, and pulled her foot out from under her, causing her to fall flat on her back. Frantically scrambling to get back to her feet, Katara barely dodged another strike from the shadow, who seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere.

Growing increasingly desperate, and agitated, Katara finally stopped trying to escape, and began to fight back with nearly every trick in her waterbending arsenal. But no matter what she threw at her opponent, the shadow effortlessly dodged and countered everything with their mysterious shadowbending as though they knew Katara's every move before she made it.

"Honestly, this is getting old, Katara! Why can't you just accept the truth?" the shadow demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked, "What truth?

"That there's nothing special about you at all." answered her opponent, "That deep down, you're no different than Jet or Hama. So why don't you just embrace the darkness with me?"

"NO!" Katara shouted, "I am nothing like Jet. I am nothing like Hama. And I am NOTHING like you!"

The shadow tilted their head, "No? You certainly have a funny way of showing it considering just how far you proved willing to go in your thirst for vengeance. Lashing out at your friends and family like that, actually trying steal Appa from Aang, and even BETRAYING your own principles!"

"N-No, it wasn't like that! I was doing it for my mother!" Katara angrily protested.

"For your mother?" repeated her foe questioningly.

"Yes!" Katara insisted, "For my mother!"

"Really? What was it you said to Aang to again?" asked the shadow.

Even as her enemy spoke the words, Katara was suddenly shown a flash of from the moment when she had argued with Aang about going after Yon Rha.

This is about getting closure, and justice, Zuko had said.

I don't think so. Aang had replied, I think it's about getting revenge.

Fine! Maybe it is. Katara then snapped, Maybe that's what I need. Maybe that's what he deserves.

Then, the memory was gone, and Katara found herself back in the forest with her dark adversary.

"'Maybe that's what I need.'" the shadow repeated her own words back to her, "'Maybe that's what he deserves.' Tell me, just where did your mother get mentioned? Come on, Katara. Be honest; you did it for yourself."

As the shadow's words sunk in, Katara found herself stuttering, "N-No...! No! I... I-I was..."

"And for a while, until you messed it up in the end, you didn't disappoint..." continued the shadow, "You should've seen yourself when you and Zuko attacked the Southern Raiders' frigate. You let NOTHING stand in your way, and then, when you reached the bridge and found the commander..."

The shadow's words caused Katara to freeze in horror, for she remembered...

In the heat of that moment on that ship, face to face with the man she'd thought had killed her mother, Katara had let her rage overtake her, and she had done something she had sworn to herself that she would never do again. And now, after several days of trying not to think about it, the full implications of what she'd done suddenly washed over her.

The distraction was enough for the shadow to strike Katara in the face with a shadow whip, sending her sprawling to the ground. As she struggled to sit up and regain her bearings, her opponent began to circle her like a sand shark.

"You actually bloodbended him!" the shadow continued, "You could've just froze him to the wall or something, but you actually bloodbended him! And it wasn't clean or quick either, oh, no. You tortured him. You tormented him. You wanted to make him suffer, didn't you? So much for principles, huh? Hama would be so PROUD of you."

Katara's body began to shake as another memory flashed in her head.

Congratulations, Katara. You're a bloodbender... Hama had said after she'd succeeded in forcing Katara to learn the terrifying method in the hopes that Katara would carry on her vengeance against the Fire Nation.

Katara had VOWED to herself after that she would NEVER bloodbend again, much less that she would use that power in the way that Hama would want her to. But all it had taken was one moment of weakness for her to break that vow and do EXACTLY what Hama had wanted her to do.

The realization made tears of shame well in Katara's eyes.

"Too bad he wasn't actually the one you were after, huh?" mused the shadow, "I mean, did you even bother to make sure who was before you did it either? Just imagine if you'd killed him before you realized he was the wrong man! But to be honest, I would've said 'well done'. He was Fire Nation, he probably would've deserved it anyway, don't you think?"

Katara staggered back to her feet, "No, that's what Jet would've said, and I will NEVER let myself be like him!"

"But you already did, didn't you?" the shadow taunted, "At least, you did until you let your little bald boyfriend's words get to you. And why? Just what did Aang know about how you felt?"

"Everything!" an outraged Katara fired back, remembering Aang's pain and rage when he'd discovered the remains of Monk Gyatso at the Southern Air Temple, along with the realization that he truly was the last airbender.

Aang! I know you're upset, and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. she had said at the time to calm Aang down from his Avatar State, I went through the same thing when I lost my mom. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and I! We're your family now!

"Aang lost Monk Gyatso, the closest thing he had to a father!" she shouted at the shadow, "Along with his entire people! He understood how I felt better than anyone!"

"Oh, I agree completely..." the shadow said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

It then that another memory flashed in Katara's head of her argument with Aang about going after Yon Rha.

I knew you wouldn't understand... she had spitefully scoffed when Aang had argued against it.

"Actually, I don't agree." amended the shadow, "Just why do you keep changing your mind all the time?"

Another wave of shame washed over Katara, and this time, a few tears slipped out in spite of her efforts, for she now realized that Aang had probably understood her pain and rage even more than she herself had. Katara may have lost her mother, but Aang had lost everything. And yet, that hadn't stopped her from accusing him of not understanding her...

Finally, Katara looked up to meet the shadow's gaze.

"You... Why... Why... Why are you doing this to me?" she choked out, "Do you just take pleasure in hurting me?

"Ah, pleasure..." the shadow mused, "Isn't that a tough word to define. When does the pain end and the pleasure begin? Tell me Katara, when did your pleasure begin when you went on your little rampage?"

"I NEVER took pleasure in it. I've never taken pleasure in harming anyone!" Katara insisted.

The shadow grinned behind the darkness shrouding its face, "Really?

A final memory flashed in Katara's mind. It was of when she had bloodbended that Fire Nation commander she'd initially mistook for her mother's killer.

She saw her eyes blazing with fury, her teeth gritted in rage...

With the hint of a smile forming at the edges of her lips...

"No... N-Nooo...!" Katara gasped out in horror, her knees buckling beneath her.

"Just as I thought, they're nothing special about you." the shadow said in self-satisfaction, "In the end, in spite of all your so-called righteousness, you let the darkness in just like the rest of us."

Tears of guilt and shame flowed from Katara's eyes, and she didn't even bother to wipe them away. She wanted more than anything to say that the shadow was wrong, but the words refused to form on her lips, for she knew that she could no longer say with any certainty that it was true.

"Katara! Help! Katara!" a familiar voice suddenly called out from somewhere off in the distance.

Looking up in alarm, Katara instantly recognized the voice of her brother, "Sokka?"

"Oh, THAT doesn't sound good..." the shadow sarcastically mused.

Katara's eyes frantically darted about until she finally spotted the wounded, limping form of her brother off in the distance.

"Sokka! What did you DO to him?!" Katara demanded as she leapt back to her feet and began to run toward him.

"I'm hurt!" Sokka groaned, "Help me!"

"I'm coming, Sokka! I'm-"

But then suddenly, a dark tendril from the shadow's shadow-bending wrapped around Kateta's leg, causing her to fall flat on her face.

"Let me go!" shouted Katara, before reaching out for her brother, "Sokka!"

"Katara, please..." her brother pleaded, holding out his hands to her. "Help...!"

Then, Katara watched in horror as the darkness surrounding her brother seemed to come alive, reaching out to envelope him with black tentacles.

"SOKKA!" Katara screamed, unable to do anything but watch helplessly as her brother was slowly swallowed up by the darkness before her eyes.

"Katara... I lo-love... you..." her brother just managed to say before he was consumed by the shadows.

And then, he was gone.

"NOOOOO!" Katara crumbled to the ground in overwhelming grief, "Not him to...! Please, not him to... Please, no... No..."

"Oh, come on!" the shadow taunted her, "Why waste your tears on him? He never understood you! And besides, he didn't love her like you did!"

Katara felt as though a dagger had been driven through her heart as she found her own terrible words to Sokka during their argument shoved back in her face. Tears burned down her face like acid, and a flood of self-loathing filled her very being.

And then, with a cry of rage, Katara leapt to her feet and assaulted her the shadow with renewed vigor and a frenzy not seen before. Her enemy quickly stepped up to meet her in what was not so much a battle as it was a slugfest.

Waterbending and shadowbending clashed. Water whips and shadow whips lashed out at one another. Physical blows were exchanged...

The shadow seemed to be almost excited by Katara's vengeful fury, but soon struggled to fend off her relentless onslaught as Katara struck at her opponent with hammering blow after hammering blow.

At last, with a final enraged scream, Katara hit the shadow right in the face with a powerful water whip, sending her opponent sprawling to the ground. Without missing a beat, Katara flung herself upon her fallen enemy, and with a single furious wrench, ripped off the shadow's hood and cloak.

The sight that met her eyes cut straight through the red haze of Katara's fury like a razor, and she gasped in utter horror.

For the face of the shadow, the face of Katara's worst enemy, was her own...

Katara sat straight up in her bedroll, gasping for air as she frantically gazed about, wondering where the heck she was. Finally, she remembered; she was on Ember Island, hiding out with the rest of the Gaang.

Taking a deep breath, Katara tried to force herself to calm down, but quickly found herself feeling that it was useless. Her nightmare was probably just going to start all over again the next time she fell asleep.

Holding her head in her hands, Katara softly began cry.

"You had another nightmare, didn't you?" came a voice from her side.

Startled, Katara turned in the direction of the voice, and there, sitting a short distance away from her with a look of deep concern in his eyes, was Aang.

END OF PART ONE