A/N: Alriiiiight, the chapter that I've been impatiently waiting for you guys to read. A couple of you called it, this is the chapter…I won't specify what I mean by that so not to ruin it early, but you prob can figure out what I mean by that XD
Also, I'm laughing, a lot of you got really mad at Yun in the last chapter, but remember when he left Katara, he knew Aang would be there to protect his son and ex, but Aang failed in doing that, so Yun's frustration is somewhat justified, esp considering he's scared, you say all sorts of things when you're emotionally upset. Funny enough, a lot of you also chose the I'll protect you line in the previous chapter, I should've expected it because it's classic Aang. I'm also laughing because nearly everyone initially suspected Yon Rha was alive at the beginning of the story but because of how many chapters in we are you guys discarded the thought which was part of my plan hehe, glad the twist delivered haha.
Anywho, it's always a blast reading all your thoughts, it's nice to see various perspectives on it and I really appreciate you all for taking the time to share it, I try to reply to all of them, but time gets away from me sometimes, but you can bet your hats that I'm always reading and grinning at them all. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I had fun writing it. Just want to say there's possible *TRIGGERS* in this chapter, so pls be cautious!
Responses to guest reviews:
Guest: Oh yes definitely, Katara is a boss XD
A: Ofc! You're always so diligently taking time to write your thoughts, so thought it was the least I could do! I'm glad you liked it and I hope you had a wonderful birthday. Nah weeds always come back ;) It's SUCH a clever idea and I suppose Yon Rha is kind of the shadow of his past returning XD Haha I guess that was the silent build up to it, kudos for picking it up. Hehe, it's very good ideas, but you know me, I don't like to be too predictable. While the avatar state is great, since Aang used it in PE, I wanted to show some growth on his part. Never fear, I thought to update this one quickly because of the cliffhanger haha. Wow I love that, that's a pretty perfect time to have it finished off by XD Thank you so much, that means so much to me! Hope you're keeping well & enjoying the weekend.
Haneypots: Haha expect the unexpected man XD yep, yep, epic fail on their part haha. Nope, nope we're done with Aang blaming! Kinda XD Lol, sometimes Sokka doesn't check these things, while he's the plan guy, he can have terrible ideas sometimes XD I forgot I wrote that line and scrolled to it and dude you're right, that's a good line pick, it's like Katara silent belief and unwavering faith in him. Haha pfft she wants the Avatar to save her XD Can't wait for ya to read till the end of this chapter. I haven't watched it, but now I'm intrigued! I'm always up for new kataang inspiration XD hehe let's see indeed XD
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3 Days Later:
Katara's POV:
I spit out some blood from my mouth as I look up to stare Yon Rha down defiantly. Determined to show him that I won't break regardless of how many times he hits, burns or kicks me. The firebender clucks his tongue in impatience.
"You were a stubborn brat when you were younger and that seems to have only become more annoyingly prominent over the years." Yon Rha utters irritably.
I hold back a victorious smile, because I know it would only lead to a fresh round of beating and as stubborn as I am, even I know I'm reaching my limit. The burn at my shoulder is definitely going to leave a scar with how long it's been without me healing it. I might not be able to move my hands from where they're tied up to either side of me, but I'm sure my throat is littered with bruises and it hurts every time I take a deep breath in which is classic for likely rib fractures.
"So, what are you waiting for? I thought you were going to use me to blackmail the Avatar." I mutter which causes the man's scowl to deepen.
"Your disappearance is causing more havoc than I anticipated. There are police officers roaming every inch of the city. I can't even step foot out of my hideout to meet the Avatar to state my conditions." Yon Rha growls as he reaches forward to yank the collar of my dress forward. I yelp as my shoulder screams at the sudden jerk. I'm fortunate that I'm already kneeling down, otherwise I might've just blacked out then. I jerk back when I spot flames licking the edge of my collar and watch as the dress disintegrates around my neckline. I press my lips tightly together to stop myself from yelling.
"What good would taking your frustration on me do?" I hiss when he finally draws his hand back.
"I'm not taking my frustration out on you. This is for my own personal enjoyment. Plus, a bit of pay back for what your actions did to my face." The firebender throws back as he rests a hand on his hip. I scrunch my nose up at him.
"You're blaming me for your scarred face?! You're the one who set off the bombs!" I retort incredulously. My response earns me a hard slap across the face.
"Next time you speak back like that, I'll be scarring that pretty face of yours until it matches mine." Yon Rha growls and that finally silences me.
I swallow, wishing someone would just save me already. 'It might've been just a few days, but it feels like a lifetime of torture.' I think with a grimace. The firebender is about to say something else, but suddenly he eyes me in a way that makes my blood turn cold.
"You've got quite a few scars from me already I see." He murmurs to himself as his fingers brush against the scar at my collarbone.
I force my body not to shiver at his touch and I'm relieved when he finally pulls back his hand in thought. His eyes drop further to my knees where the end of my dress has been crumpled and ripped. Suddenly his eyes brighten and a smirk is painted across his lips.
"Oh, I have a fun idea." He voices to himself as he reaches forward to rip open the front of my dress.
Whatever fear I had before pales in comparison to the terror that runs through me right now. My heart is beating so fast that it feels like it will rip out of my throat, but for once my words fail to come out. His hand snaps forward to grasp my face, his fingers press into my cheeks as I feel his fingernails digging into my skin.
"G-Get off me." I demand, but it's feeble even to my ears and that makes the man more smug.
"Oh, now you're finally scared?" He mocks as he fishes his phone out from his pocket. "I wonder what your ex-husband would do, if he received a photo of you half-bare like this? Do you think he'd get the wrong idea?" Yon Rha wonders cruelly and my eyes widen in horror.
"Y-You wouldn't!" I stutter as my stomach swirls in alarm. 'Aang got jealous over my own fiancé. If he was led to believe that I was...he would explode. Oh spirits, what if Yon Rha doesn't settle for just a photo and he actually does...' Nausea slams into me and I have to close my eyes to stop myself from crying.
"Perfect." I hear the sound of a camera click and my eyes snap open. "And send. Let's see if he'll meet me quietly without telling anyone." Yon Rha voices to himself. I bite the inside of my cheek hard. 'Shoot. That's not a picture I'd ever want him to have in any situation. Forget the possible implications attached to it for this.'
"I don't know how someone could become so cruel." I snap, but it barely bothers the man.
"I could take it a step crueller if you like." Yon Rha utters as he rips off the rest of my dress, leaving me clad in just my undergarments. I can't help it, I flinch hard. 'Why did I open my stupid mouth.' I curse myself as panic overwhelms me to the point of tears. I'm saved by the ringing of a phone. "Ah that must be your ex. Let's put it on loudspeaker." Yon Rha jeers as he answers the call.
"What did you do to Katara?! If you touched her, I'm going to kill you." The venom in the Airbender's usually calm tone shocks even me. But I can't help the flutter in my chest at hearing his voice.
"Now, now Avatar let's be cordial. We've known each other for a long time after all." Yon Rha voices flippantly and my eyes widen in panic at the firebender finding out about Aang's lost memories as the line on the other end becomes eerily silent.
"I don't k..." The Air Nomad starts and I quickly jump in before he can reveal anything.
"Aang!" I yell, cutting him off from whatever he was going to say. I hear my ex-husband's voice catch, but before I can say anything further, I receive a swift kick to the side.
"Shut up peasant." Yon Rha orders and I double over in pain, gasping for air.
"Katara! I'm going to save you, I promise!" I hear the Air Nomad babble as emotion laces his tone of voice.
"That's enough from you or I'll do worse to her than what I've already done." Yon Rha orders and Aang promptly goes silent. "Meet me in an hour at the old park by the graveyard. Don't tell anyone. If you do, I'll defile her again and then kill her." The firebender threatens just as a member of his gang steps forward to deliver some news.
"Yon Rha sir, you need to cut the call before it gets traced." The man, who appears to be his second in command, advises.
"Fine. Be there with a deed of your jewellery empire or you won't like the consequences." Yon Rha adds before cutting the line. I shiver when the firebender turns to look at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
"You're despicable." I grit out as he crouches in front of me once more.
"Word around the bush is that your son is as much of a genius as his father. Maybe it would be worth kidnapping the boy to use for my own gains. He's young so he'd be easy to mould into the way I want." The firebender voices smoothly and blind rage encompasses me at his mention of Yatsu.
"You get anywhere near my son and I won't be so cautious the next time I hit you with an icicle." I snarl as pure maternal instincts take over. The man reaches forward to slap my face hard and I feel my cheek flushing red from the strike.
"Enough of that now. You're in no position to threaten me and it's getting tiresome." Yon Rha mutters in boredom before his eyes drop to scan my body intently. I cringe when he releases a low whistle. "I really did leave a lot of scars on your flawless body. No wonder why the Airbender divorced you. You were probably a little too blemished for his taste." Yon Rha jeers mercilessly.
My throat closes up as he rips open my old mental traumatic wounds. I try to swallow and tell myself he's just trying to rile me up, but his words hit a little too close to home. Having my insecurities laid bare in front of the man who inflicted them is a low that I'd never have imagined myself being in. A tear leaks out unbidden from my eye and the man leans back on his heels as he watches me.
"I could make up for that if you want." He murmurs as his hand runs over my shoulder. It brushes over the strap that holds my chest bindings and I stiffen up immediately as I try to twist myself away from him desperately.
"Over my dead body." I hiss and his hand draws away from me as he shrugs.
"Fine by me, but I'm going to have to leave a few more burns on you before I drag you out to meet the Avatar. Just so he knows how powerless he is against me." Yon Rha reveals. He doesn't give me a moment to protest as his hand snaps out to my bare side. An intensity of fire like no other singes my skin and it doesn't stop, no matter how hard I try to pull away from the blazing agony.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" The scream that rips out of my throat is so feral and foreign that I barely recognise my own voice. I quickly move to clamp my jaws and eyes shut, but the torture becomes so much that I end up blacking out.
Meanwhile, elsewhere at Yun's House:
Aang's POV:
When the phone that I had on loudspeaker goes silent, I see Sokka dropping to the floor on his knees.
"Yon...Rha?" He croaks out as Toph punches the wall beside her, leaving an indentation in the surface while Yun and I glance at each other utterly clueless. I flicker my gaze to Hakoda, who I recently found out is Katara's father and who I briefly recognise from a couple of run-ins during the early days after my memory loss before he retired. The man's face has lost all colour as he drops into a nearby chair. Even Zuko, who has been pretty stoic the entire time, has his mask cracking as he runs a hand through his messy hair.
"Spirits, this is bad." I hear him mutter. I clench my jaws and shake my head.
"Who's Yon Rha? Why is this bad?" I fire out, hating that I'm so out of the loop like this.
"He used to work for my father. You and Katara had a few encounters with him in the past." Zuko replies as he starts chewing his lip worriedly. I furrow my eyebrows at him in confusion.
"Your father?" I echo back, but Toph is quick to wave off my question.
"It's pointless trying to explain this to you. We need to figure out what we're going to do. That man is dangerous and doesn't play fairly. He doesn't know that you had your phone on loudspeaker and that we were all listening in, we need to use that to our advantage somehow without putting Katara's life in danger." Toph explains carefully, but I'm still frowning as I try to piece together the missing pieces of a puzzle that's so out of my depth.
"How can I figure out anything to help Katara when I don't even know who I'm up against? What does this guy want from me? Why is he using Katara like this?" I demand. I watch as Zuko shares a glance with everyone else and it's Sokka who finally speaks up.
"Yon Rha killed my mother and he has previously kidnapped you and Katara when you were at uni. It's how Katara got all those scars on her body. And he's the catalyst for your relationship breakdown with my sister. He...he was supposed to be dead. Katara told me that he blew himself up, but he must've had an exit strategy. Spirits, I thought we were done with him." Sokka growls out as his hands clench into angry fists.
I stare at him with wide eyes and I have to reach for the wall beside me to stop my legs from giving out. 'When Katara wanted to cover up our past, I had figured that something must've happened, but I didn't think it was this bad. Least of all, it never occurred to me that her mother was murdered. No wonder why she always looked so sad when she mentioned her.' I think in horror while Yun shakes his head in disbelief.
"But why go through all that hassle for Aang? What's so special about him that Yon Rha went through such lengths to target him? And to target your mother as well? Is he a psychopath or something?" The doctor queries with tightly bunched up eyebrows. Toph shakes her head.
"I'm afraid that's classified information." The chief throws back, denying the man a response. I watch as Yun crosses his arms over his chest.
"Fine. I can tell when I should leave. I'll be with the kids. Discuss what you need to and then let me know what's the plan." Yun mutters as he leaves the room. My heart pities him, it's hard being out of the loop while someone you care about is in danger. I take in a deep breath before pinning my gaze on Sokka.
"Yun is right though, why all this effort? How did he even know I was the Avatar? Barely anyone is allowed to know that." I ask, picking up from Yun's line of questioning. Sokka purses his lips as confliction enters his blue orbs.
"Aang, it's a long story and we don't have time to go through it. You'll just have to trust us when we say this guy is bad news." The ponytailed man mumbles as his gaze drops to the floor. Zuko bites his lip as he flickers his gaze to me.
"Long story short, Yon Rha killed a lot of people that you cared about and..." The firebender is silenced by a firm shift of the ground under his feet.
"That isn't your place to tell him." Toph orders with a tone that brooks no argument. I feel my lips trembling as I run over his words in my head a million times.
"Then who's place is it?" I fire back tightly as Sokka finally looks up from the ground.
"It's Katara's. She knows more about it than any of us and if she doesn't want to tell you then we should respect that." Sokka voices sternly as he pushes himself up to his feet. "Anyway, I think I have a plan to get Katara back and finally capture Yon Rha once and for all." The ponytailed man reveals and everyone huddles in closer towards him.
As I listen to Sokka's details of his plan, I can't stop thinking about who on earth Zuko meant. 'He killed people that I care about? Who? I'm an Air Nomad, my people generally don't have parents or siblings and we don't tend to get attached to people very easily. Who was there that meant so much to me?' I wonder with a deep frown.
"Aang, are you listening?" Toph interrupts my train of thoughts and I jerk my head up in embarrassment at being caught for zoning out.
"One more question that I need to know the answer to. Why didn't Katara want me to know?" I ask quietly. No one replies for the longest time until Hakoda finally clears his throat. He's been silent the entire time so I'm surprised that he decides to speak up now.
"She didn't want you to unravel like before." Katara's father discloses and my lips part wordlessly as the full weight of his words eludes me. Yet the meaning behind it sends ominous chills through me.
1 Hour Later:
I'm standing at the old park by the cemetery alone waiting for Yon Rha to show up while wondering if Sokka's crazy idea will work. I chew my lip as several minutes tick by before I finally catch sight of the man who kidnapped Katara. He's not wearing a mask or a hood like the last time I met him, instead I'm able to see the deep scars that run across his face. I furrow my eyebrows, 'I hope I wasn't the one to give him that.' I think anxiously as my people's teaching flash across my mind, but as soon as I see him dragging Katara behind him, all thoughts of my culture and rational beliefs dissipates.
The waterbender is clad in nothing but her undergarments and is looking like she had just gone through hell and back. My hands clench so hard that it brings everything in me not to unleash the Avatar State at the sight of her. Yon Rha throws Katara in front of him on the ground and she lands roughly on her knees with an 'oof.'
Her eyes flicker up to meet mine and she tries to give me a reassuring smile, but seeing the pain taunt on her face nearly sends me over the edge. It's currently pitch black and raining, so it's hard for me to make out exactly what he did to her under the limelight of the lamp posts, but seeing her shiver from the cold has me biting my tongue.
"You couldn't have shown her a shred of decency?" I growl as the earth trembles underneath my feet. Yon Rha snorts as he points to my surroundings.
"You're one to talk when you've hidden a bunch of your buddies in the bushes with guns. I told you I'd kill her if you disobeyed me." The firebender retorts sharply and without another word I reach into my pocket and throw a scroll at his direction. He catches it, but spares it no attention.
"That's the deed to my jewellery empire. Now, let her go." I bark, but the man simply smirks.
"You think this is all I want? After all the misery you've put me through, I'm going to return the favour." The firebender jeers as he rests a hand on Katara's shoulder. When I see her face contorts with disgust, my feet start moving on their own.
"Not a step closer or I'll hurt her." Yon Rha orders and my feet come to an abrupt stop.
"What else in spirits name do you want from me?!" I yell and it grates on my nerves when I see his features becoming smug as his other hand lands on Katara's other shoulder. His fingers digs deep into her skin and I hate it when I see her clench her jaws tightly.
"You're going to join me in my drug business. Then we'll expand it from there. You'll steal for me, kill for me and do exactly what I say or else I'll make your woman suffer." The man threatens as he leans forward to press his face close to Katara's.
I thought my blood was boiling before, but a feeling of pure fury encompasses me and it's only when Katara locks eyes with me do I stop myself from losing control. I inhale deeply and stare him down.
"I'm not going to do any of that and you're not going to touch her." My voice booms loudly as I gaze at the man in disgust. The firebender pulls away from Katara with a smirk.
"I thought you'd say that which is why I thought to double the blackmail against you." Yon Rha utters as he clicks his fingers. I frown in confusion.
"What are you talking about..." I demand, but my voice trails off when I see a man appearing from behind Yon Rha carrying a kicking Yatsu in his arms. Beside him, I spot a beat-up looking Yun on the ground with a tied up Fuki crying near her dad. My heart stops and it feels like the world has stopped spinning.
"Blindfold those two, but not the boy. I want him to see everything." Yon Rha barks as he motions towards Fuki and Yun. The henchmen carrying them does as asked as fear grips at me.
"You didn't." My voice wavers as Katara's eyes widen in a panic. I watch as she tries to wrench herself out of Yon Rha's grip to reach out towards her son, but the man cruelly yanks her down.
"One more move and I'll slit your son's throat." He barks at the waterbender just as a bullet starts racing towards the firebender's face. I'm shocked when I see him simply step out of the way.
"H-How?" I croak in disbelief as Yon Rha regains his grip on Katara's arm.
"I told you, I knew about your buddies with guns. I've gotten very good at being able to dodge them. Now, if that's the end of your interruptions, I'm still waiting to hear a response." The firebender voices impatiently.
My mind races with possibilities on how to get everyone out of this unharmed, but the pressure is getting in the way of my thinking. 'Airbending is my best bet, but with the way Yon Rha has his hand clasped around Katara's arm, I doubt his grip will loosen much unless he was taken by surprise, but that plan failed miserably.' I think with a grimace.
"Let my Mummy go!" Yatsu bellows as he struggles against the man holding him. A strong rush of air exits from his mouth and hits his surroundings, making Yon Rha drop to one knee from the intensity of the wind.
"Shoot, how is a child this strong." I hear the firebender curse as he briefly lets go of Katara to catch his footing. My eyes widen. 'Thats my cue.' I stamp my feet and earthbend the man holding Yatsu up in the air, which sends the two flying, but I pull Yatsu towards me with an air current and I hold back my sigh of relief that at least he's safe.
I'm just about to do the same with Katara, but Yon Rha has already righted himself as his face takes on a mask of anger. I glance around me to find the police officers that Toph had posted in the bushes have come out to surround Yon Rha and his men. I watch as he grips Katara by the neck with his arm as he pulls out a knife from his back pocket.
"One move and I'll kill her." Yon Rha barks and I clench my jaws. 'I was too slow.' I curse myself as the police officers halt. Toph makes her way to stand in front of them with a hand on her hip.
"Give it up Yon Rha, you're surrounded." Toph barks with a passive aggressive expression.
"You didn't hear me, I have the peasant here. You have to let me go or I'll do something which can't be undone." Yon Rha warns as he presses the knife into Katara's skin. I hear her breathing change as she tries not to yelp aloud. Yatsu's eyes widen in horror as he tries to leave my arms, but I tighten my grip around him, preventing him from running off into danger.
"Mummy!" Yatsu shouts with tears in his eyes. My heart trips over itself, hating that he's seeing any of this. 'He shouldn't have been here.' I think with grit teeth just as Katara softens her features to reassure the boy.
"Yatsu, it's ok sweetie. Just look away." Katara murmurs gently as she flickers her gaze briefly to me. I choke at her implications. 'Oh spirits no.' I think in terror as my arms start trembling.
"My men and I are leaving with the waterbender. Don't stop us." Yon Rha barks as he starts backing away with Katara. I feel Yatsu squirm in my arms more violently in a panic at seeing his mother being taken away.
I grit my teeth and dart my eyes around. 'There. The tree branch.' I think to myself, I wait a few more seconds just as Yon Rha approaches directly underneath the tree branch and blow out a blast of air, cutting the branch in two as it hurtles down towards the firebender. His neck snaps up at the sound and he's forced to let go of Katara as he jumps backwards to avoid the heavy tree branch.
I stamp my foot to earthbend Katara towards us, but Yon Rha must've anticipated that as he grabs the waterbender's leg who responds by kicking at him. I quickly pass Yatsu into the arms of the nearest police office as both Toph and I sprint forwards to pry Katara out of the man's clutches.
A blood curdling scream has my feet coming to an abrupt stop. There in Yon Rha's hands is a blood-stained knife that glints in the moonlight as he pulls it out of Katara's abdomen.
"I told you not to make another move." The firebender spits as he rises to his feet and dashes into the bushes. I hear Toph curse under her breath as she yells at the officers to give chase to the man and his fellow fleeing gang members. I force my feet forward before dropping to my knees a metre away from Katara who's clutching her abdomen with a pained expression on her face.
"No, no, no, no." I croak out as I stare at her with wide disbelieving eyes. The waterbender flickers her gaze towards me and gives me the weakest smile.
"Sorry...this...you weren't meant to have this happen a-again..." Katara breathes out as she grimaces. I choke as I stretch my arm towards her. "Look after Yatsu for me." She whispers as her arm becomes lax and drops to the floor.
Time stops moving as blood starts to pool around the woman. 'I can heal her, I can.' I suddenly remember but as I draw nearer to her, something about the blood stops me. 'I don't know why; blood has never stopped me before.'
As I stare at the dark red liquid, a flash of someone. An Air Nomad, lying in a large pool of blood as someone that looks like me is kneeling, crying beside him. I gasp and try to blink the image away, but it morphs into someone else, but the person lying on the ground is an old man, seemingly from the Fire Nation as he breathes his last. Flashes of depressing images continue to assault me and I find myself clutching at my head hard, trying to force them out as it all becomes too much.
"Aang, snap out of it!" A hard yell and harsh slap snaps me out of my self-induced shock.
I blink twice and look up to find Toph standing over me. Behind her, Katara has been strapped onto a stretcher and is rushed into a nearby ambulance. The distinct sound of loud, broken cries finally makes its way to my ears.
"Your son is crying and needs you. You can fall apart later when he isn't around." The earthbender orders and with a numb nod, I get to my feet, trying not to collapse back on the ground as I turn to find Yatsu kicking against his uncle's arms in an attempt to reach his mother before the ambulance doors close.
"MAMA!" He screeches so loudly that it splits the air around him and that's enough to break me out of my funk as I swiftly move towards Sokka and reach out for my son.
"Hey, hey Yatsu. It's ok, it's ok. Mummy will be fine. She's very strong." I whisper as I press the boy's head into my chest and hug him tightly. I instantly become aware of how badly he's shaking and I feel sick, especially when I know exactly how he must be feeling right now. I hold him closer and rub his back.
"D-Daddy, don't lie to me. Mama's going to d-die, isn't she?" Yatsu's voice is muffled against my chest before he starts hiccupping from all his crying. I feel myself stiffening at the thought of losing Katara like that. I swallow thickly as I watch Yun jump into the back of the ambulance with no hesitation and finally the vehicle races off. I swallow again and rest my chin on the crown of his head.
"No. That isn't going to happen. Yun is with her, he's an excellent emergency doctor. She'd never do anything to hurt you." I voice with as much conviction that I can muster. While I'm speaking, I spot Fuki trembling on the ground just as a police officer finishes talking with her. I swallow and move towards her. I crouch down in front of her and offer a free hand to her. "Do you need a hug?" I offer gently and she launches herself towards me, semi-squishing Yatsu in the process when her arms go around me as she starts crying in sync with Yatsu.
"Do you think she'll be ok?" Fuki whimpers as she rests her forehead against Yatsu's back. I bite the inside of my cheek.
"She'll be ok." I murmur, the lie slips unbidden from my tongue, but I pray that Katara would forgive me for it just this once. I feel my eyes misting over at the thought, but I blink rapidly to push back the tears as I adjust my arms so that I'm hugging the two children closely.
"Aang, I'm going to the hospital for Katara. Do you need a lift?" Sokka voices as he comes to stand beside me. His face is pale and I can tell he's trying very hard not to cry himself as he glances briefly at the kids.
"I want to go to the hospital!" Yatsu demands as he pulls away from my chest.
"Me too!" Fuki follows up with as stubbornness radiates from both their faces. I frown, ready to shoot down their request until Sokka steps in.
"Best we don't leave them alone with Yon Rha still on the loose." Sokka reminds quietly. I clench my jaws at the reminder and nod my head.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." I mumble as I look down at the teary-eyed children. I sigh and nod my head in approval.
"Ok you both can come, but you have to stay in the family waiting area and be well behaved, ok?" I utter firmly and with vigorous nods, I push myself up onto my feet, carrying Yatsu in one arm and holding Fuki's hand with my other. I settle them both at the back of Sokka's car and am just about to enter the passenger seat when Toph points to behind the car.
"I'll send a couple of my officers in cars after you just for safety." The woman voices and I nod my head in gratitude before slipping into the car. The car ride to the hospital is silent which is a stark contrast from the mayhem of thoughts and new-found memories that are wrecking havoc on my brain. I clench my hands tightly. 'Just focus on Katara for now.' I try to tell myself as the urge to vomit hits me hard.
A/N: *crickets sound* you guys ok? Hope I didn't stun you all too much XD While this chapter is relatively short, a LOT happens – from Aang finding out more about his past and getting his memories back, to Katara, well…ya know. Over the course of the story, a lot of you gave multiple possible triggers for Aang's memories and they were all really good ones, but I knew this was how I wanted Aang's memories to be triggered, it made the most sense to me. Aang's trauma is too strong to be unlocked by anything that isn't more trauma. Specifically, it's the blood. In PM I made it a point to show Aang's blood phobia as a result of his trauma and it was the spilt blood of someone that he loves that I wanted to be the trigger of his memories. I did briefly consider Katara going on an adventure to find the spirit, but I thought this way would be so much more powerful and I hope it's a satisfying trigger for you guys.
Also, I'm sorry, I know you guys prob hate me for what I did to Yatsu, but it was SO tempting not to throw a little trauma at him. I'm cruel I know XD The next couple of chapters are a lot of fun I'd say, but this was the chapter that I'm SO happy to have finally let you guys see.
Let's see, fav line would be…this:
"Yatsu, it's ok sweetie. Just look away."
And…
"Daddy don't lie to me."
"Sorry...this...you weren't meant to have this happen again..."
"You were probably a little too blemished for his taste."
Ok so I had fun writing a few lines…the angsty ones ofc XD Wonder which lines you guys will end up picking for this one haha.
So, next update…might be a while tbh. I'm working 6 days next week (incl the weekends) and not sure if I'll have energy on my day off on Fri, but we'll see. If not, it might be the following Mon (11th). Till then, keep safe everyone!
2/11/24