Chapter Text
Katara only felt the pain in her hands as she ran away from Sokka and Aang. Clutching them to her chest she ran until she could not hear their yelling voices anymore, until only the sound of her sobs remained.
Falling to her knees beside the river she had been running along, Katara took a hesitant glance at her hands. They were trembling, red, angry flesh almost glowed against her brown skin. The cuffs of her sleeves were mostly gone, leaving her wrists and small parts of her lower arm with burns as well. The scent of burned flesh and skin was unbearable, more so than the pain.
To try and sooth her hands she put them in the clear river water, the shock of cold against her inflamed skin made her nerves feel like they were on fire once again.
But soon the burning sensation subsided, as her hands began to glow and Katara watched in rapt attention as blue light enveloped her skin and a pattern appeared on her hands. Irregular lines looping and curling around her fingers and palms and blotches with jagged edges appeared on the back of her hand. Taking her hands out of the water as the pain went away she saw the glow as well fading leaving only the patterns on her hands behind, the scars she now possessed were tugging at her skin.
Katara still remembered how surprised she had been to find out she was a healer, Jeong-Jeong had spoken with reverence about waterbender healer's but she could only think of Aang, blaming himself for burning her.
Sokka certainly did blame him, even when she had shown her healed hands to her brother, Sokka's face told her he was still furious as he inspected her scars when she had come running to warn them about Zhao.
She had gone into Jeong-Jeong's hut, despite her brother's protests, Aang was there and refused to leave, Katara needed to get him out of there, they needed to get to safety.
It was dark inside the hut, Katara could only see Aang with the help of a few small candles, his back to her, his head hung low, ashamed.
He had vowed to her to never firebend again but Katara found that stupid, he needed to master all four elements eventually, he couldn't avoid it forever.
But even as she told him her hands were okay, that she wasn't in pain anymore, he had looked at her hands with such shame and guilt that she felt her own conscious being burdened as well. But Aang was soon off to help Jeong-Jeong, and Katara was left with Sokka to gather their supplies and make sure Appa was ready for take off.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sokka asked for the millionth time as he took a sleeping bag from her hands, as if it would be too heavy for her to handle.
"Sokka I'm fine, don't worry." Katara said as she snatched the sleeping bag back. Glancing at her hands Katara did still hesitate, there was no pain, but her burns had been too great to heal without her skin being permanently changed forever, a certain banished prince's face came to mind but she didn't want to think of him. She was fine, but it would take some getting used to, her hands still slightly trembled even now and the scars began to itch ever so slightly. "We need to get Aang and get out of here."
It wasn't long after that Aang came running back and they were airborne.
"Aang your arm is burned!" Katara called out.
It was a shallow burn, and easy for Katara, as a beginning healer to deal with. Aang looked on in surpise and curiousity as Katara's scarred hand, now coated with water began to glow as she put it over his burn. As if by magic his wound disappeared and unblemished skin was left.
Aang moved his arm, no pain, no scar, nothing, it was as if he had never been burned in the first place.
His gaze drifted back to Katara's hands, if he could be healed without a scar being left then why not her? Aang thought, he felt almost selfish for it, if she had been healed completely he wouldn't have to deal the sight of the hands that he had burned.
He averted his eyes from her scarred skin and instead tried to be his cheerful, normal, self. "How did you do that!?"
Katara noticed Aang's attempt to cover up his guilt, trying to act like nothing happened, Sokka didn't comment on it. He was less angry than before but not quite calmed down, yet Katara knew that, with enough time, Sokka would come to forgive Aang, as she had already.
But Aang forgiving himself was something Katara was unsure about, with the way he already tried not to even look at her hands. Maybe, for the time being, it was better to cover her hands, to not confront Aang with it as much, to protect him.
And maybe protect herself a bit too.
The scars breaking through her skin were strong reminders of the danger firebenders posed. So easily could she be hurt by it, so little could she protect herself from it.
It wouldn't just make her think of Aang's shame and guilt. It would also make her realize just how weak she really was.