Chapter Text
When I open my eyes again, I'm still on the deck of the Fire Nation ship.
At least this time I don't think I've been captured.
Everything comes back in pieces as I push myself up. Running through the halls, trying to escape, finding Appa, and then seeing everyone on the deck. Sokka. Toph. Katara. I remember Katara throwing her arms around me, and after that, nothing. Seeing her was the first moment since waking up that I hadn't been scared.
They're all still dressed like Fire Nation soldiers, we're still somehow traveling on a Fire Nation ship, and I'm apparently the only person who has no idea what's happening.
“Why are we on a Fire Nation ship? Why is everyone dressed this way? And why am I the only one who's completely out of it?”
There are more questions I want to ask, but even sitting up feels harder than it should. I hate it. My body feels heavy and weak, like I've already spent the whole day training even though I just woke up.
Katara stays beside me while everyone else is moving around the deck. I'm glad she does. Everything feels strange enough already, and having her next to me makes it feel a little less like I woke up in someone else's life. I notice she's watching me closely. Every time I move, her eyes follow me, like she's worried I'm going to fall over again.
“You need to take it easy, okay? You got hurt pretty bad.”
I know I got hurt. I just wish I could remember how.
Then Katara smiles at me.
“I like your hair.”
“I have hair?”
I reach for my head and freeze when my fingers actually find some. Hair. I have hair. I run my hand through it, trying to figure out when that happened.
Katara likes it.
I almost smile a little at that, but then another thought catches up with me. Hair doesn't grow this much in a couple of days.
“How long was I out?”
“A few weeks,” she says, still smiling warmly at me.
My heart sinks. Weeks? So much can happen within a day, let alone
Before I can ask anything else, Katara's dad walks over to us.
“Everything okay?”
“We're fine, Dad.”
I glance at Katara. She looks away from him when she says it, and there's an edge in her voice that catches me off guard. I've heard her talk about her dad enough to know how much she missed him, so I don't understand why she suddenly sounds like she'd rather he wasn't here.
“I'm Hakoda; Katara and Sokka's father.”
He holds out his hand, and I start to reach for it, but Katara puts both hands on my shoulders and stops me.
“He knows who you are. I just called you ‘Dad’, didn't I?”
“I guess you're right.”
I look between them, even more confused than before. Whatever is going on between Katara and her dad, I definitely woke up in the middle of it.
I move Katara's hand from my shoulder and reach out to shake his.
“Nice to officially meet you, Chief Hakoda.”
“It's an honor to meet you.”
“Great, great, so now you guys have finally met. So would you mind giving us a little privacy?”
“Of course.”
Hakoda walks away, and I watch him go before looking back at Katara. She's still annoyed, and I can't figure out why. Of all the things that have changed while I've been asleep, Katara being angry that her dad is around might be the strangest one yet.
I wait until Hakoda is far enough away before asking, “Are you mad at your dad or something?”
She watches him leave with the same annoyed look she's had since he walked over, but when she turns back to me, she looks genuinely confused.
“What, not at all. Why would you say that?”
I shrug and murmur under my breath, but the movement sends a sharp pain through my back. I gasp and tense, immediately regretting it.
Katara's annoyance disappears. “Maybe we should go upstairs.”
She moves closer and helps me to my feet. I lean on her more than I want to, but Katara doesn't seem bothered by my weight. She just keeps an arm around me and lets me take my time.
“You need a healing session.”
I let her help me toward the stairs, but I can't stop thinking about the way she talked to her dad. A few weeks doesn't sound that long, but apparently it was long enough for things to happen that I know nothing about. Katara has been dealing with all of it while I've been asleep, and I don't like knowing I wasn't here when she might have needed me.
Back in the room, I sit with my back to Katara while she pulls water from her pouch. I feel it settle against the scar on my back, cool at first, before the familiar warmth of her healing spreads through me. The familiar warmth of her healing spreads through me, and some of the tension leaves my shoulders. I've lost count of how many cuts and bruises Katara has fixed since we left the South Pole. Usually, sitting here with her means the worst part is already over.
“Tell me where the pain feels most intense.”
I concentrate on the ache running through my back. “Mmm, a little higher-”
The second she moves the water, something flashes through my mind.
I'm underground again, surrounded by glowing crystal. I'm rising into the air as the Avatar State takes over, light pouring from my eyes and tattoos.
Then I'm back on the ship.
I blink and take a breath, trying to shake off the strange feeling the memory leaves behind.
“Wow, you're definitely in the right area there.”
“I can feel a lot of energy twisted up around there. Let me just see if I can-”
Katara starts pulling the water away.
Pain tears through me.
My whole body jerks backward, but the room disappears before I can even catch myself.
I'm back beneath Ba Sing Se, floating above the cavern floor. Blue light explodes behind me, and suddenly lightning is ripping through my back. For one horrible moment, I can't move. I can't breathe.
Then I'm falling.
The memory changes.
Katara is holding me.
She's crying.
I'm lying completely still in her arms as Appa carries us away from Ba Sing Se, and looking at myself is somehow worse than remembering the lightning. My eyes are closed. My body hangs against her like there isn't anything left inside it.
The room comes rushing back.
Katara is behind me again, but I can still see myself in her arms.
“I went down! I didn't just get hurt, did I? It was worse than that. I was gone! But you brought me back.”
“I just used the spirit water from the North Pole. I don't know what I did exactly.”
For a moment, I don't say anything.
I remember that water. Master Pakku gave it to her before we left the North Pole, and she carried it all this way without ever using it. Until me.
I turn around and look at her.
“You saved me.”
Something in her expression softens. Katara reaches up and rests her hand against the side of my face. I don't know why she suddenly looks like she might cry.
“You need to rest.”
I lift my hand and place it over hers, keeping her palm against my cheek for just a moment longer. After remembering what it felt like to be gone, I'm not ready for her to let go.