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“Come this way!” Katara calls out to the villagers, gesturing for them to rush past her towards Aang and Toph. Sokka and Suki are doing the same on the other side of the village.
Katara continues to motion the civilians along and sends a worried glance over her shoulder where Zuko is fighting the Silk Demon. Strands of silk shoot from the demon’s hand and slam into the ground at Zuko’s feet, while he nimbly leaps to avoid them. His dao swords lay tangled, trapped across the square.
She just has to trust that he can handle himself until they can evacuate the remaining villagers. A loud boom splits the air and then a rush of wind staggers her. The townspeople cry out in panic. When the dust settles, she spins around to check on Zuko, but he’s disappeared. As fear grips her heart, there’s another boom, this time from outside the village in the direction of the nearby forest.
He’s fine, she reassures herself. It doesn’t work. Katara bites her lip, sparing one final glance towards the commotion, then forces herself to turn away. She helps the nearby villagers to their feet, ushering them along.
“Katara!” Sokka calls out just as she starts to move with the last of them. She can’t sense anyone else alive nearby. “Our side is clear.”
“Did you see Zuko?” she asks. Her brother jogs up and falls into step next to her.
Sokka shakes his head. “Sorry, sis.”
They make their way around to the village to a clearing already full of refugees. Her heart constricts with worry for Zuko. She wishes her bowstring hadn’t snapped, so she could be fighting alongside him.
“You worry too much,” Sokka says with an elbow to her ribcage. “Zuko will be fine. He’s not exactly a normal human.”
Katara elbows him back harshly and ignores his instant complaints. The idiot didn’t have to phrase it like that.
Half-demon, the humans call Zuko. Half-human, the demons call him. In between both worlds. And despite the insults and prejudices both sides have shown him, Zuko is good. His kindness isn’t from his human side. His strength isn’t from his demon side. That’s just who he is.
Even when they’d first met and he was angry and misguided, Katara had seen him.
Sokka’s words replay in her head and her scowl deepens. Not all humans are good. Not all demons are bad. Some of them don’t eat humans.
…Lots of them do, but that’s beside the point.
“Katara! Sokka!” Suki calls out, waving them over to where she, Aang, and Toph had gathered at the forefront of the group.
“Is this everyone?” Katara asks as soon as she’s in range.
“Yep, sugar queen,” Toph replies, popping her lips on the ‘p’. Aang nods affirmative.
“Why, thank you for gathering all my prey up in one spot for me,” a feminine voice purrs. “Saves me a lot of trouble.” They all spin around to face the voice, raising their weapons. The voluptuous Silk Demon grins menacingly.
“Where’s Zuko?” Katara demands.
“Oh, you mean the little half-human?” The demon’s smile turns even more malicious. “I left him tied up in the forest. By now, he’ll be disintegrated.”
Disintegrated. The word thunders through her mind.
“You’re lying,” she says, barely audible. “You’re lying!”
It’s only Sokka and Aang’s hands on her arms, holding her back, that prevents her from lunging at the demon, who startles to cackle.
No. There’s no way Zuko is dead. Katara inhales deeply, closing her eyes. Resolve settles over her like armor.
“I’ll trap her, you guys attack,” Katara orders, opening her eyes. She doesn’t have to see her friends to know they all nod.
Her lips twisted into a snarl, the Silk Demon lunges straight at Katara. Just as Katara raises her arms, summoning her spiritual power to erect a barrier and trap the demon, a blurry shape zooms from the corner of her eyes. It slams into the demon and knocks them away.
“Zuko, buddy!” Aang exclaims cheerfully. He’s alive. Relief courses through Katara. Zuko attacks the demon again, swiping his arms, his hands curled, fingernails elongated into fearsome claws.
Something’s wrong. He’s not moving normally.
“His demon blood has taken over,” Toph says a moment later. Though her eyes are blind, the younger girl can still, in a sense, see energy. “As soon as he takes care of that she-demon, he’ll go after the next largest threat. Us.”
“Zuko would never harm us,” Katara protests.
“When his human side is in control, sure, but right now, he’s just running on demonic instincts,” Toph explains.
“We have to fight him?” Aang asks, horrified.
“We’ll have to… kill him,” Toph admits. “There’s no way to cure him.”
“There has to be some way,” Suki presses. Sokka wraps an arm around her and hugs her close. When he glances at Katara, she turns away. She watches Zuko fight, tuning out her friends’ conversation. There’s no way she’s going to just stand by and let them kill Zuko. Even if it takes the rest of her life, she’ll find some way to re-balance his energies.
The Silk Demon shrieks. “No!” And then she dissipates into strands of white silk before winking out of existence.
Zuko stands, back towards the villagers. A sense of tension fogs up the air.
“Zuko?” Katara calls out hesitantly.
He turns around and she instantly knows. The person standing in front of her is not the same Zuko who once carried her down the mountains after he stomped off in a rage and she chased after him and sprained her ankle. It’s not the Zuko who she and her friends fought against in the beginning, where even though he was their enemy, he was honorable.
It’s not the same Zuko, who, three nights ago, on the new moon, kissed her nervously and swore to protect her.
She’d made the same promise. That she’ll protect him. Even from himself.
Spiritual power flows off of her. Zuko’s head snaps towards her; warning bells ring throughout her skull. Katara swallows the small lump of fear in her throat. Whatever it takes.
She steadily creates a barrier as Zuko rushes towards her. Sokka and Aang reach out to stop her from taking a step forward, but her spiritual energy repels them and sends them flying back. Katara almost feels guilty about that. Almost.
The barrier snaps into existence a mere moment before Zuko reaches her. He crashes against the barrier. It repels him with a nasty shock. Zuko locks his eyes on her and snarls. She doesn’t recognize him.
The man she loves is in there somewhere. Katara knows that without even a smidgeon of doubt.
“Katara, don’t—” Suki cries out too late as Katara steps through the barrier. Zuko can’t escape it. No one else can enter it, as evidenced by Sokka and Aang’s attempt and subsequent repulsion. Katara ignores her friends’ cries and focuses on Zuko.
He tilts his head, almost curiously.
“Zuko,” Katara says a lot more calmly than the tremors shaking her hands would suggest. “Come back to me, please.”
He lets out a small snarl and shakes his head.
“Zu—”
His hand is abruptly on her throat. Zuko pushes her against the barrier. Katara pushes away the instinctual panic; his grip isn’t choking her, it’s just a threat. She reaches up and gently cups his cheeks. He growls, tinged with confusion, as his grip around her neck tightens a little bit.
“Zuko,” Katara whispers. Please let this work. She leans in until their faces are scarcely a centimeter apart. His hand remains on her throat, while a war of confusion and violence plays out across his face. “I love you,” she says firmly, pouring every ounce of her feelings for him into those words that pale in comparison.
In every story, true love’s kiss saves the day, and right now, Katara could use that kind of miracle.
Katara presses their lips together.
His grip once again tightens before his hand moves up to cup her cheeks. Then he returns the kiss with searing passion. A sob chokes her throat at the familiar movement of his lips.
Her Zuko’s back.
They part with a gasp, and Zuko looks down at her with a mix of wonder, fear, and something intangibly soft. A mix of wanting to berate her for her recklessness and embrace her for her courage. It’s a look he often wears around her.
“I love you, too, Katara,” he says, then brings their lips back together for another kiss.