A decade of war, a decade of carnage and death and destruction. Soon it would come to an end.
Very soon. She felt it in her bones.
For these last ten years since the failed assault during the comet, they had been preparing. They had been training and building skills so they could save the world. So they could end the carnage, death and destruction.
But as hard as they trained, so had the fire nation. So had Ozai, Azula and so had Zuko.
Katara took a deep breath.
She hadn't expected to be facing any fire benders today but they had been ambushed.
Azula and her gang had gone after Aang. Sokka and Toph had gone after them to assist their avatar. Katara stayed behind to help their troops fend off the fire navy.
She had managed to take down about a dozen on her own with a strong tidal wave from the river that supplied their water.
They had not brought too many and if her and the freedom fighters, Kyoshi warriors, the water tribe troops and so on could hold on for just a moment more, they would win this battle.
“I'm going after Aang and the others,” she yelled out to Sukki.
She trusted the warrior with this task. She had managed to escape the enemy prisons and various guards alone.A few reserve troops were nothing compared to her experience with that.
Hitching a ride on the river she made her way towards Aang but had only made it a mile or two before she was being pelted by a blast of fire spheres.
She managed to evade them but was knocked off her wave and submerged her in the water. She only narrowly managed to avoid a blast of water-boiling fire.
Regaining her momentum she burst out of the water and quickly tried to find her assailant.
He saw her first and she was only just able to dive back into the water, the fire he had sent singing her clothes.
Kataras’ fists tightened.
The man who betrayed her trust, the man who almost got their avatar killed twice.
Once again she emerged from the river but with a wave of ice and water shielding her. Zuko paused his attack.
“You should just give up,” he said to her.
Katara held back the desire to roll her eyes. Even after all these years the man was so foolishly arrogant.
But that wasn't really a surprise.
Their first fight in a decade and he was telling her to give up as if she was the weaker one.
It would be laughable if hadn't been so inane.
“Should I now,” she spat back. “I've taken down half your troops by myself and the rest of my troops are taking down what's left of yours. It looks like to me you're the one who needs to back down. Before you get hurt.”
He scowled. It was the same face from their adolescent years. The same anger, sadness and an inherent confusion. Just like that fateful day in the crystal catacombs, the boy (now a man), had no idea what he wanted or what he was doing.
He stood there on the ground, his hair now long, his face now mature and even more handsome but still so...lost.
“Why are you still doing this?” she asked him.
He sneered this time. His nose flared like it always had.
This time she rolled her eyes. She did know why and why was as stupid as day one. Angered by her belittling, he responded with a blast of fire she was easily able to avoid with a well placed thrust of water.
She caught herself and sent a disc of ice at the man who melted it quickly.
“You're a grown man now,” she growled. “And yet you're still looking for your non-existent honor. News flash, if you haven't found it by now then maybe it's not that you can't find it, maybe it's just your lack of it.”
Zuko sent a barrage of flames towards her, all which she avoided.
“What do you even know about me?” he yelled. “You think because we had that little moment in the cave that you know anything about me? That's a laugh.”
The two continued to battle. Fire hitting water, steam and dust filling the air, each avoiding the other's attacks. Finally Katara was able to encause the man in strong and solid ice.
He was effectively stopped and now in her mercy. Even with the blaring sun, she had him tied down.
“I know enough,” she said from her position in the water. “I know from your actions that you're nothing but a coward. I know from your obsession with honor that you're a fool. I know from Iroh that you're a disappointment. This could have all been so different if you had just done the right thing for once!”
Her voice had become deafening for her own ears.
So angry at Zuko, at this war. She was angry at the past decade that was only ever filled with fighting. With death. First her mother ,then Jet , then Gran Gran and so many others. She was so angry at Azula for hitting Aang that time, she was angry at Aang for being hit.
She was angry at Aang for losing the battle during the comet. After that he had never been the same. She was angry at his coldness. She was angry at the earth kingdom for falling so easily.
She was angry at her father for abandoning them again and disappearing to the sea. She was angry that she didn't know if he was dead or alive.
And she was angry, so very angry, at Zuko.
She felt the anger rumble through her entire being. From her head to her chest to her toes. She was so angry and so enraged by Zuko.
She felt her anger try to escape. He must have felt it too because as she sent the strongest wave of water towards him ,he sent the strongest burst of fire towards her.
Ice cold water collided with the hot burning fire. There was an explosion of steam so hot and yet so cold that she could feel her face reddening from the intense temperature but still she kept her water and ice going strong, protecting her from his continuously blowing flames .
What was minutes felt like it had drawn on for hours. Neither relented until the other was all out of power and eventually both fell.
Zuko fell onto the ground and Katara fell into the water.
If she could, she would have taken a deep breath but she had no more strength, no more energy. She could feel her body being dragged down by the pressure of the river.
She lost this fight, she realized. While the man before her would stand and rise after a bit of rest, she would soon lose what remained of the air in her lungs and fully sink to the riverbed that was so far down.
As she sank she wondered what would happen after everyone realized she was gone.
Would Sokka be okay? She didn't want Sokka to be hurt by this.
Would Aang finally be consumed by the ever so creeping darkness that had been after him since the day of black sun?
It was getting unbearably cold now. Even the coldest nights back home were nothing compared to this cold she was beginning to feel.
She looked up above her. She could just barely make out the sun. How for once she wanted its power , its heat on her.
Her eyes began to get heavy and not from the pressure of the water. It was almost over now.
She could hear her mothers voice. She could see her arm reaching for her now. She couldn't move to grab it but still she felt a strange comfort when it grabbed her.
Suddenly she was being hauled up and out of the water, her body taking an immediate gasp of air into her lungs.
She was back on land now and once she was able to catch her breath she found Zuko laying next to her in a heap.
He had saved her, she realized.
The confusion of it all had her falling into a heap right next to the firebender. She could feel his warmth and it was comforting.
“Why?” she managed to say.
There was a long stretch of silence. Only the sounds of the wind pushing the pebbles on the floor and the running water of the river beside them.
She turned her head to glance at him. The confused fool.
She did know why and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew what she needed to do. What the universe was telling her to do.
“Iroh would forgive you, you know. He never used the words disappointment. I was just embellishing it.”
His good eye turned to her from its periphery.
“I know he would. And I know I'm a disappointment. But I know uncle would forgive me if I...you know..”
“Then why can't you just....do it.”
He was lying. She knew he was afraid and so did he.
“Aang , Sokka and Toph are going to stop Azula,” Katara continued. “Aang isn't the same little boy who you fought against back then.”
“Fortunately for the avatar, Azula is the same,” Zuko replied. “Her arrogance is as bad as my delusional hope and it's only made her messier.”
“Hope isn't delusional,” she replied. “What's foolish is what you're hoping for. You can leave with me right now Zuko. I'll vouch for you. Iroh will be happy to see you. We need something more to end this war and I think it's you. I think it's always been you.”
His eyes brightened, she could see it but a moment later they dulled again and he turned his head away.
“You're the last person I ever expected to consider me trustworthy,” he began. “You always struck me as someone who could hold a grudge.”
She laughed a short, huffy laugh.
“Maybe I would have if this had been when we were kids but I've grown up. I've had to learn to embrace more than just a change in people but the complete replacement of some of them even when they're still here.”
That harsh reality hurt her chest a little.
“You're talking about the avatar aren't you.”
She sighed. She was. Her fingers dug into the soil beneath her. She couldn't really find the words.
“We haven't fought in a few years,” he said. “But I've fought the avatar many times since black sun and I've noticed the constant change in him. I think it's my fault.”
Katara felt her chest tighten even more.
“It is,” she replied. “Sokka told me about your encounter with them and with your father during black sun.”
Aang never talked about it but Sokka did.
Zuko was the obstacle before reaching Ozai. He stood against the trio of Toph, Sokka and Aang with his swords. Sokka had said he was way more skilled than anyone could have expected.
He nearly succeeded in hitting Aang and had succeeded in slashing at Sokkas’ chest. Sokka nearly died. While Toph tried to stop the bleeding ,Aang had no choice but to follow after Zuko who had fled.
From then on no one knew what happened, only that Aang had not faced Ozai.
“He asked me to join you guys,” Zuko said, finally finishing the story. “He asked me to teach him fire bending and I replied by firebending at him. I took off during the confusion.”
“When Sozin's comet came around he asked me again,” he continued. “Right before facing my father he fought me again and I think....”
Katara knew what he was going to say next.
“I gave Aang a good fight,” he said. “Too good and...”
“And Aang was too tired to fully take Ozai down. I wasn't able to stop Azula either. I won the fight but she got away when I went to help A badly burned Iroh. You both helped him escape.”
There was another long silence.
“We should have let him die. Without his bending he was so angry. He turned that anger on me and also became a martyr.”
“Aang felt defeated after that,” Katara admitted. “He still does. It's almost irrevocably changed him for the worse. But I still have hope that I can find that light in him and pull it out.”
The dust and steam they had created finally died down. She could see the colorful sky now, the sun setting off in the distance.
It was calm. Quiet except for the occasional cheers from her comrades. They had won and were probably on the prowl for any stragglers.
“It's now or never Zuko,” Katara said as she began to try and stand up.
There was a strange sensation. Like time had stopped and now she was waiting. Waiting for an answer from Zuko or another betrayal.
He put his arm out and Katara felt a breathtaking fear in her.
It was truly now or never.
He could kill her. He could burn her to a crisp like the fire nation soldier had done to her mother.
He could pull her up and take her hostage. A fate more than likely worse then death.
He moved forward and grabbed her hand.
“I want to end this war,” he said as he hoisted her onto her feet. “And I want to help you be the ones to end it.”
He kneeled to the ground. From the horizon she could see her comrades rushing towards her.
She looked at Zuko who was on both knees now, his body bent forward in a plee for forgiveness.
“If you betray me again I will kill you.”
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