Chapter Text
Azula's screams pierce through the chaos, a harrowing backdrop against what feels like too-slow footsteps. Her unending shrieks echo through the air with her bright blue breaths of fire. My feet pound over the still hot stone from their Agni Kai, my eyes fixed on Zuko's lifeless body.
Noise fades to nothing but a dull roar behind the wild beating of my heart. I am not aware of anything or anyone else but him.
I crash to my knees beside Zuko, barely registering the scrape of stone digging in and grinding away skin.
“Zuko! Zuko, stay with me!”
I bend water to my hands, pulling it to me by sheer force of will. It glows with the faint trembling light of healing, but it doesn’t feel like enough. The luminescence is too dim, all wrong.
Tears fall thick and fast as I see the deathly pallor of his face, staring blindly at the red glowing sky. I want to scream. I want to shout at him, argue with him. Tell him that the fight isn’t over, he can’t let it be over.
My hands shake as they hover uselessly above his still chest. Through tear-blurred vision I see the dark stains on his robes, half-burned away from lightning meant for me. My whole body pulses with the rhythm of my sobs, each one an explosion tearing through me. Frantic, I search for any sign of life, pressing my energy outward even as I feel ice slicing through my veins.
There’s nothing.
No pulse.
No heartbeat.
“No. No, no, no.” I whisper the words like a demand.
My focus narrows to a pinpoint, directing my energy straight to his heart.
A minuscule beat, weak and stuttering, flickers through the charred cavity of his chest. Relief floods through me, but the feeling is sickly and thin, like the brief flash of warmth from a dying fire.
Nothing is certain yet. Nothing can be certain until he opens his eyes and breathes with his own strength.
Until his heart can beat without my help.
I force every shred of panic and fear into the background and focus completely on the bending. If I am going to save him, I need more than healing. I need more than chi. I need him to fight with everything he’s got.
I need to bend his very life.
I bend his blood, drawing it outward from where it pools, directing it through the delicate pathways of his veins. The capillaries expand under my guidance, slowly, achingly, bringing his body back from the edge of deaths call.
Zuko’s life dangles in the balance, a thin thread between realms.
I call every ounce of power to my hands, focusing on summoning the healing glow directly to his blood. I know that I am playing with forces that are not meant to be bent. I know that if I don’t focus, if I let my own weakness take hold for even an instant, it will all be for nothing.
My senses stretch beyond just touch. I feel each droplet of his blood, every cell struggling, desperate for oxygen. With delicate precision, I guide his blood through his heart, forcing the damaged muscle to contract and release.
“Please,” I whisper, my voice breaking, “Please, Zuko.”
With each push and pull of his blood, his heart beats infinitesimally stronger, giving me the scraps of hope I need to hold onto strength for him.
Zuko's body convulses. A ragged gasp tears from his throat as his lungs expand, pulling in precious air. His eyes remain closed, his consciousness still beyond reach.
The lightning has done significant damage, and though I've managed to restart his heart and breathing, he's far from safe. His chi paths are scorched, disrupted by Azula's attack. Even as I work, I can feel the damage radiating through him.
Behind me, Azula's screams have devolved into broken sobbing. I don't turn to look. I block it out, focusing entirely on the man lying before me.
All that matters is the faint rise and fall of Zuko's chest beneath my trembling hands.
"Stay with me," I murmur, my eyes tracing the outline of his scar and I continue to bend his blood. "I'm not letting you go."
His breathing is shallow but steady.
Small victories, I tell myself. The water between my hands dims as my energy wanes, but I push harder, drawing from reserves I didn't know I had.
"Katara," a voice calls from somewhere behind me. "Is he...?"
"He's alive," I manage, not taking my eyes off Zuko's face. The scar tissue around his left eye seems almost pale compared to the ashen gray of the rest of his skin. "But barely. I need to get him somewhere safe, somewhere I can work properly."
I feel for his pulse again, stronger now but still faint. Unconscious, but breathing. It will have to be enough for now. Slowly, I release my bending from the flow of his blood, a small relived breath leaving me when his breaths come on their own.
I brush a strand of hair from Zuko's forehead, my fingers lingering on his skin. It's cooler than it should be. Firebenders always run hot. The wrongness of it twists in my stomach.
"I'm not losing you," I tell him fiercely, though I don't know if he can hear me. "Not after everything. Not like this."
Carefully, I slide my arms beneath Zuko's limp body. He's heavier than I expected. His head lolls against my shoulder as I struggle to lift him, my knees threatening to buckle.
"Let me help," the voice says again, and this time I recognize it as Suki's. Her hands appear in my field of vision, steady and sure where mine are shaking.
"We need to move him," I say, my voice raw. "Somewhere quiet. Somewhere safe."
Between us, we manage to lift him. His body is dead-weight, and I feel a fresh surge of panic at how little resistance there is in his limbs. The Palace courtyard stretches endlessly before us, each step a small eternity.
"The Royal chambers," I decide, remembering the layout from our earlier infiltration. “They’ll be secure.”
Suki nods, adjusting her grip on Zuko's legs.
Behind us, the sounds of Azula's breakdown continue, but they're being handled by others now. The Fire Princess is no longer my concern.
My world has narrowed to the shallow rise and fall of Zuko's chest and the weak flutter of his pulse beneath my fingertips.
The Palace corridors are eerily empty, most of the staff having fled during Azula's descent into madness. Our footsteps echo against marble floors, the only sound besides Zuko's labored breathing.
I count each breath, terrified that any one could be his last.
When we finally reach the Royal Chambers, Suki kicks the door open. The room is opulent, with a massive four-poster bed dominating the center. We lay Zuko down carefully, and I immediately return to my healing stance.
"What do you need?" Suki asks, her breaths heavy.
"Water. Clean cloths. Bandages, lots of them. Herbs if you can find them—ginseng, jasmine, anything with healing properties." I don't look up as I speak, my eyes fixed on Zuko's face.
As Suki leaves, I tear away what remains of Zuko's scorched robe, revealing the full extent of the damage. The lightning's entry point is a starburst of angry red on his abdomen, the skin blackened and cracked like the surface of a volcano.
The skin around that is blistered and raw. Thin, branching lines of burned flesh spread outward from the wound, tracing the path the lightning took through his body.
Where it exited through his back, another wound mirrors the first, though smaller.
"You idiot," I whisper, my hands shaking against his chest.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆
The day passes, bleeding into night, the sun setting low and crimson on the horizon. Its fiery light spills through the windows, painting the room in dark reds and deep shadow. Beyond the Palace walls, the comet is gone, taking with it the terrifying specter of Ozai’s siege.
My whole body trembles, my hands going numb from hours of healing. But I still can’t stop, not while Zuko’s heart remains too weak, too irregular.
I barely notice as the Palace begins to stir again, the staff returning tentatively as the threats of the day fade.
Night falls, my friends filter in and out. I lose track of who is here and who has gone.
Iroh came in at some point, though I didn’t even notice him until his gentle voice rumbled, whispering thanks to the Spirits over his nephew. Now he sits in the corner, occasionally stepping over to replenish my water reserve or hand me different oils to mix with for more potent healing.
Suki reappears and disappears with cloths and herbs, but I can’t stop for even a moment to thank her.
I shove everything out of my mind but healing, pushing the focus of my energy through the shaking in my muscles and the blurring of my vision. The night is long, stretching endless before me.
But I won’t let go.
Not until Zuko is safe.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆
A pale light begins to edge the darkness in the room as dawn breaks across the Fire Nation's capital.
My hands falter, the blue glow of my healing flickers like a dying flame. The room spins, walls and ceiling blurring together as exhaustion pulls at every fiber of my being. I try to focus on Zuko's face, but darkness creeps in at the edges of my vision.
"Just a little longer," I whisper, though I'm not sure if the words actually leave my lips.
My body betrays me. The water splashes across Zuko's chest as my body gives way, and I feel myself falling forward.
Then nothing.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆
I'm back in the courtyard, but something's wrong. The air is thick with the smell of burning flesh and ozone. Zuko lies before me, but his chest isn't moving.
"Zuko!" I scream, "Zuko, please!"
No matter how much water I bend, no matter how brightly it glows, he remains still. His skin grows colder beneath my touch, the warmth of his Firebender's spirit fading away.
"You failed," Azula's voice echoes from somewhere behind me, "You couldn't save him."
I bend more desperately, tears blinding me as I work. But it's useless.
His heart won't beat.
"No," I sob, pressing my forehead against his chest. "Please, no."
The courtyard darkens around me, and I'm alone with his body, the world gone silent.
"I'm sorry," I whisper tracing the puckered skin of the scar I've come to know so well. "I wasn't strong enough."
His face begins to crumble into ash beneath my fingers, disintegrating like parchment in a flame. I try to hold him together, but he's slipping through my hands, disappearing—
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆
I jolt awake with a gasp, my heart hammering against my ribs. For a moment, I don't recognize where I am. The room is dimly lit, unfamiliar. Pain shoots through my body as I try to sit up, every muscle screaming in protest.
"Easy, Master Katara." A gentle hand presses against my shoulder, guiding me back down. "You must rest."
Iroh's weathered face comes into focus, his kind eyes creased with concern. Memory floods back—the Agni Kai, Azula's lightning, Zuko falling—
"Zuko!" I struggle against Iroh's restraining hand. "Where is he? Is he—"
"My nephew is alive," Iroh says firmly, "Thanks to you, he still breathes."
"I need to see him." I push myself up again, ignoring the dizziness that threatens to pull me back into darkness.
"He is right here." Iroh gestures to the bed beside me.
Zuko lies where I left him, but his breathing seems steadier now, his chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm.
His face is no longer gray, and though it’s clear he's far from recovered, a measure of color has returned to his skin.
He's alive.
"You have done some incredible healing," Iroh murmurs, handing me a steaming cup of jasmine tea. "Now it is time for you to recover your own strength."
My hands shake as I take the cup. I sip the hot soothing liquid, a relived sigh loosening the tension in shoulders a fraction. I can't let myself relax too much just yet, not with Zuko's life still hanging by a thread.
The door opens behind Iroh, and I hear footsteps—careful and soft.
"Katara?" Sokka peeks into the room, Toph at his side.
"I'm here," I say softly.
"You're awake!" Sokka rushes in dropping into the chair beside me, barely settling before Toph unceremoniously shoves him aside.
"I told you she was fine," Toph says. "Seriously, Snoozles, when have I ever been wrong?"
"I'm alright," I insist, taking another sip of tea. "Just tired."
Suki enters next the weight on her shoulders lift when she sees me awake and talking. "Hey there, you scared us all pretty good there."
I giver a soft smile, "Sorry about that,"
"Don't be sorry," Sokka ruffles my curls, "just don't do it again."
I swat at his hand playfully, the knot in my chest easing lightly at my brothers lighthearted affection.
"How's Sparky?" Toph asks gently.
"He's going to be okay," I say, letting certainty begin to mold itself around hope. My eyes meet Suki's, gratitude welling up for the dozen small ways she's supported me.
Toph grins. “If anyone can survive a bolt of lightning, it’s that stubborn jerk.” She bumps my shoulder with a soft fist.
Zuko stirs inhaling a deeper breath than before, his fingers twitch slightly on the blanket.
My heart leaps wildly.
"Did you see that?" Sokka says excitedly. "He's moving!"
I ignore the pain in my body and push myself up to look at him more closely. His face is unbearably peaceful, like he doesn't know how close he came to—
“Relax,” Toph says softly, reading the spike in my heart rate. "He's okay."
But Zuko had moved, however small it might have been...he moved.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆