I woke up in Zuko's arms. Everyone around me was still asleep. That included the boy passed out with his arms around me. I can't even fully remember how I ended up like this. I looked up at his peaceful face. I wanted to touch it. Make sure he was really here, even though I could feel his arms wrapped around me. It felt good. Like I finally had something I was always meant to have.
I was frozen in time. Only broken from my trace when I heard someone yawn on the other side of the room. I slowly, and regrettably, pulled myself from Zuko's arms.
I watched as birds flew away from the fountain. It took me a moment to realize why. Bombs. Their explosion woke up everyone else.
Aang ran to the edge, watching as a fire nation airship descended on us. Aang and Appa came back towards the camp. Bombs kept assaulting us. The ceiling roof, as it began to crumble and finally caved in.
Katara stood directly beneath the crumbling ceiling, it started to fall but she was pushed out of the way by Zuko, "Watch out!"
I could barely hear their conversation over the bombardment of explosions.
"What are you doing!?"
"Keeping rocks from crushing you."
"Okay, I'm not crushed. You can get off me now!" She pushed him off and ran off.
I helped him stand, I could barely hear his muttering, "I'll take that as a thank you."
"Come on! We can get out through here!" Toph and Haru had opened up an underground exit.
Everyone started funneling in, but Appa resisted. Aang and I both noticed Zuko standing near the edge, watching the ships descend.
Aang called out, "What are you doing?"
He turned to look at us, "Go ahead! I'll hold them off. I think this is a family visit."
"Zuko! No!" I couldn't tell if that was me of Aang, the water tribe siblings came and got us.
Sokka was pulling me back, "Come on! We've gotta get out of here!"
I joined in the attempt to pull Appa into the tunnel.
Aang kept pulling, "I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!"
Katara groaned as she kept pulling, "Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here."
I let go of the reins, "We'll have to find a way!"
"We need to split up," Sokka turned to the others, "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."
"No!" Katara went to her father, "The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!"
Hakoda smiled at his daughter, "It'll be okay. It's not forever."
Katara hugged her dad, then ran back to us.
Toph touched the wall nearby, "I can clear that away and we can fly out through there!"
Suki was the only one brave enough to express concern, "Um, there's an awful lot of fire in that general direction..."
Aang looked at Appa, "We'll get through. Let's go."
Appa flew through to the outside of the temple, covered by a shield of rock in front. Azula tried to bring him down, but the shield stopped her attack. Appa escaped and the shield disintegrated. Worry flooded me until I saw Zuko rise on a different ship.
Appa weaved through balls of flames. Katara used her bending to deflect large whips of fire. We rose above the airship. I watched as Zuko and Azula battled. They were pretty evenly matched. Both of the siblings were flung from the ship.
Appa swung down. Zuko reached out to Katara, she pulled him back onto the saddle.
"She's... not gonna make it..." Zuko watched as Azula used her bending to throw herself on the wall, "Of course she did."
Night fell and we had set up camp.
"Wow, camping..." Aang smiled, "It really seems like old times again, doesn't it?"
Zuko took the opportunity to joke, "If you really want it to feel like old times, (Y/N) and I could, uh... chase you around a while and try to capture you."
The rest of us burst into laughter. Except Katara, "Ha, ha."
Sokka held up his cup, "To Zuko! Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today he'd be our hero?"
Everyone, with the exception of Katara, raised their cups, "Hear! Hear!"
Zuko smiled, I loved that sight, "I'm touched," He stopped smiling, "I don't deserve this."
Katara got up, "Yeah, no kidding," She stormed off.
Sokka watched his sister leave, "What's with her?"
She stood to follow her, "I wish I knew."
I let him go on his own. I looked at the others, "You think this is about the time they were both held captive in Ba Sing Se?"
Sokka looked at me oddly, "Why would it be about that?"
I leaned back, "It has to be. I've done everything else she could possibly be mad about. And She likes me, or at least I think she likes me."
Sokka smiled and wrapped his arm over Suki, "I'm sure it will all be fine."
I woke up next to Zuko on a rock. Not as plestant an awakening as yesterday, but beggars can't be choosers.
"You look terrible."
Zuko looked at her as I continued to pretend to be asleep, "I waited out here all night."
"What do you want?"
"I know who killed your mother, and I'm going to help you find him."
I bolted up, "Wait that's what we're doing!?"
That was what we were doing.
"I need to borrow Appa."
Aang laughed, "Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko and (Y/N)?"
Safe to say, Katara was not impressed, "Yes, it is."
Aang was surprised, "Oh. What's going on?"
"We're going to find the man who took my mother from me."
Sokka stood.
"Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him."
I raised my hand, "And I just follow Zuko. That's just a thing I do. I also jump at the opportunity to kill a man."
Aang ignored my comment, "Um... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?"
"Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand," She walked away.
"Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?"
Zuko defended her choices, "She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice."
"I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge."
She turned, lashing out, it was eerily familiar, "Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!"
"Katara, you sound like Jet."
"It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster."
Sokka finally spoke up, "Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right."
"Then you didn't love her the way I did!"
"Katara!"
Aang tried to reason with her, "The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself."
This felt familiar, Zuko rolled his eyes, "That's cute, but this isn't air temple preschool. It's the real world."
"Now that I know he's out there..." Katara looked down, "Now that I know we can find him, I feel like I have no choice."
"Katara, you do have a choice: forgiveness."
"That's the same as doing nothing!"
"No, it's not. It's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive."
My head hurt.
"It's not just hard, it's impossible."
I followed Katara and Zuko to Appa.
"So you were just gonna take Appa anyway?"
Katara was cold, "Yes."
"It's okay, because I forgive you," Aang smiled innocently, "That give you any ideas?"
"Don't try to stop us."
"I wasn't planning to. This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man. But when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out, and then let it go. Forgive him."
Katara was already on Appa, Zuko helped me up, "Okay, we'll be sure to do that, guru goody-goody."
I pulled Zuko up, and Katara took the reins, "Thanks for understanding, Aang. Yip-yip."
I watched as Zuko and Katara made plans, Zuko told her the information, "We need to find the Fire Navy communication tower. All the navy's movements are coordinated by messenger hawk. And every tower has to be up to date on where everyone is deployed."
We approached the commutation tower, "So once we find the communication tower, we bust in and take the information we need."
"Not exactly. We need to be stealthy and make sure no one spots us, otherwise they'll warn the Southern Raiders long before we reach them."
We hid Appa in the woods, I turned to the two, "I'm going to stay with Appa while you get the information."
Katara nodded, and left.
"(Y/N)?" Zuko looked me over, "Are you okay? You're not the type to sit out on adventures."
I nuzzled into Appa, "It's nothing, just a headache."
"There! See those sea raven flags?" Zuko tossed Katara the telescope as I woke up, "It's the Southern Raiders."
"Let's do this."
I don't know why, but this felt all two familiar. I just wanted it to be over.
Appa submerged underwater, Katara waterbended a bubble around us so we could breathe as we approached the ship.
I could hear soldiers talking on deck, "So there I was, and I was like, 'You know ...'"
Katara shot a water whip and coiled around his body, dragging him off the ship. Appa surfaced and Katara bent two huge waves to attack its men. Appa landed on the deck.
We ran through the corridors of the ship. Stopping at a doorway.
I stood behind Katara. Zuko looked at her, "This is it, Katara. Are you ready to face him?"
Katara pulled down her mask, sending a small flood of water through the door. The commander sent flames towards us. Only to be blocked by Zuko.
"Who are you?"
"You don't remember her? You will soon, trust me."
My head pounded. The commander stood, and went to bend at us, but he only trembled.
"What's..?" His arm moved erratically, "happening to me?"
He was sent flying to the ground.
"Think back. Think back to your last raid on the Southern Water Tribe."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Please, I don't know!"
"Don't lie! You look her in the eye and you tell me you don't remember what you did."
I felt sick.
"It's not him," She set him free, "He's not the man."
"What? What do you mean he's not? He's the leader of the Southern Raiders! He has to be the guy!"
Katara just walked away. Zuko grabbed the man and pressed him to the wall, "If you're not the man we're looking for, who is?"
"You must be looking for Yon Rha. He retired four years ago."
Zuko let him go, then followed Katara out, gently pulling me with him, "Come on."
"That was him. That was the monster," Katara spoke from our hiding place.
Rain fell. Moments passed and Yon Rha screamed, "Nobody sneaks up on me without getting burned!" He dropped his basket and threw flames towards a bush.
Zuko and I appeared before him, Zuko in the front, "We weren't behind the bush. And I wouldn't try firebending again!"
The man fell on the ground, using his arm to defend himself, "Whoever you are, take my money. Take whatever you want. I'll cooperate."
Katara came forward and pulled off her mask, "Do you know who I am?"
"No. I'm not sure."
"Oh, you better remember me like your life depends on it! Why don't you take a closer look?"
"Yes, yes, I remember you now. You're that little Water Tribe girl."
He told the story. I don't understand. I feel like I'm going to throw-up.
"She lied to you! She was protecting the last waterbender!"
"What? Who?"
Is this guy an idiot?
"Me!"
Katara held both her arms out, halting the falling raindrops and creating a shield above us. She sent a forceful stream of water at Yon Rha, transforming the stream into a flurry of ice daggers midway through the attack. She let the ice float in midair before letting them melt and fall to the ground.
The man fell to his knees, "I did a bad thing! I know I did and you deserve revenge, so why don't you take my mother? That would be fair!"
Katara had a sad, twisted look on her face, "I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing, but now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you, nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty."
He cried out, "Please, spare me!"
Katara didn't even look at him, "But as much as I hate you... I just can't do it."
I guess I felt a little better, but something was still off. I followed Aang and Zuko down to where Katara was on a dock.
Aang looked at her, "Katara? Are you okay?"
She didn't look up, "I'm doing fine."
"Zuko told me what you did. Or what you didn't do, I guess," Aang rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm proud of you."
She turned her head towards the sky, "I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger at him, but I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it or because I'm strong enough not to."
Aang smiled, "You did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing."
Katara stood, "But I didn't forgive him. I'll never forgive him," She smiled and walked up to Zuko, "But I am ready to forgive you."
They smiled at one another, then Katara walked away.
Zuko looked at Aang, "You were right about what Katara needed. Violence wasn't the answer."
"It never is."
It was finally my turn to speak, "I have a question for you Aang. If that's true, what are you gonna do when you face the firelord?"
He didn't have time to answer. Everything went black.