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Rises with the Heart	By : AngelaBlythe Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 11670 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-PART I
- 2-PART II
- 3-PART III
- 4-PART IV
- 5-PART V
- 6-PART VI
- 7-PART VII
- 8-PART VIII
- 9-PART IX
- 10-PART X
- 11-PART XI
- 12-PART XII
- 13-PART XIII
- 14-PART XIV
- 15-PART XV
- 3
- 4
- 5
RISES WITH THE HEART
IV.I
The first thing Katara did when the ship landed was trade her favored, expensive waterbending scroll for three fast ostrich horses. Though she lamented her loss, she would gladly give a thousand more expensive waterbending scrolls in order to reach Aang and Sokka safely. As soon as they mounted, Katara, Iroh, and Zuko set off for the far side of Kyoshi Island. Though the island was long, it wasn’t very wide, and Katara hoped to cross it by nightfall and catch the ship as it was leaving.
The sailors in port had said the hurricane was all but cleared up, and most ships would finish repairs before leaving with the tide. Katara knew that time was an issue, and she didn’t haggle long over the ostrich horses like she should have. The three made great time across the slender island of Kyoshi, but Katara felt the stress of the time constraints nonetheless.
And their journey was quiet – insofar as no one spoke. Katara had elected silence towards Zuko – she would give him time and space. Time and space…and silence. She had left herself bare before him… I’ll be sad to have lost you… Gods, had she made a fool of herself. He rejected her because she was a waterbender and a peasant, and a friend of the Avatar. She didn’t care. …So why did she hurt so horribly…?
They crested the hill and saw where the huge Fire Nation ship was docked. Katara sighed with relief. They hadn’t left, and they were still doing repairs. Katara estimated they had a few hours before they reached the port town, but they would be there before the tide changed.
“We’ll have to slip in with the cover of night,” Iroh began in a low voice. He nodded towards Katara, “You’ll go into town ahead of us and ask when the ships are leaving, then trade in your ostrich horse and get us a cheap room at an inn for us to wait in – one close to the docks.”
Katara agreed to the plan, and they began down the hill to the docks. When they arrived in the small Kyoshi town, Katara did as General Iroh asked and found the times the ships were scheduled to leave, trading her ostrich horse for a disgusting room next to the docks. She tied one of her ribbons to the window frame as Iroh said and waited for her two companions to join her. As she waited, Katara felt the uneasiness and nervousness build in her belly. She had a nervous habit of picking at her hair when she felt agitated, and when Iroh and Zuko arrived she had unbraided and braided again her hair five times.
Zuko paced and looked out the window constantly. Iroh boiled water for tea. Katara meditated, trying to calm herself. It worked until Zuko suddenly finished pacing. “It’s time,” he said darkly.
They had gone over the plan several times. Katara knew her part well – just as Iroh and Zuko knew theirs. While Zuko searched for Aang and Sokka, Iroh would engage Princess Azula and Katara would be left with some seventy odd firebenders, Mai, and Ty Lee. It wasn’t something she relished in, but it was the only way. Unless Iroh was able to easily defeat Azula for some reason, Katara was the only one who could take on so many firebenders. If she was within the bowls of the ship she wouldn’t be able to access great amounts of water. Besides, Zuko knew the layout of such ships, and didn’t need anything to do his bending. They could only hope to hold off Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, and however many firebending soldiers there were until Zuko was able to free the Avatar.
She knew the plan was a frail one, but she didn’t see a lot of options, and it was as good as any she could come up with. As she rose from her kneeling position, she saw Zuko’s hand was on the hilt of his twin broadswords. She smiled at his back briefly before following Iroh. Just as she was turning the corner to follow Iroh downstairs, Zuko grabbed her shoulder and spun her against the wall, effectively pinning her.
Katara lost her breath, all her anger, and perhaps a bit of her mind as Zuko leaned over her, his lips and heat so close to her. “In case we don’t make it out alive, Katara,” he said softly, his eyes closed. Then they snapped open, and Katara nearly gasped at the love and longing she saw there. He captured her lips savagely, his hand running from her neck down her shoulder and gripping her upper arms tightly, bruising. Katara kissed him back with equal fervor, her arms snaking around his neck as he held her against him.
As abruptly as he had trapped her, he let her go. Katara reeled from the kiss for a moment then followed Zuko down the stairs and into the late night, sea cooled air. She paused and inhaled, then hurried to catch Zuko and Iroh on their brisk walk to the docks. They were close enough to smell the salt in the ocean.
The closer Katara got to the familiar pull of the Southern Ocean, the more powerful she felt her bending bond become with the water. Her bending was always stronger at night, and with the half-moon shining and the ocean so sweet and close, Katara felt Tui and La with her personally. The harmony she had felt on the night of the full moon had been wonderful – but new and uncontrollable. Katara had used her newfound waterbending powers several times since then in very refined fashions. She was surer of her powers now, but no so much that she was swelled with pride. The pangs of Toph and her brother still weighed heavily on her.
As her connection with Tui and La increased, Katara felt all the memories and techniques of warrior waterbending flow back to her. They were clear as ice crystals and ready to be used. She nodded at Zuko and Iroh when Iroh gave the signal. Katara sprinted up the gangplank behind Zuko, and Iroh was close on her heels. Before anyone’s attention was drawn to them, Zuko slipped silently, stealthily down a nearby manhole and disappeared. With Iroh at her side, Katara felt bravery rush through her.
“AZULA!” Iroh bellowed, his face heated and angry. “AZULA! FACE YOUR DEATH!”
Immediately, the two were surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers. But the plan was to lure out Azula and her two little friends before the attack began. It was nearly instantaneous – Azula appearance on the captain’s command deck and Katara’s waterbending. She summoned a huge wave that rocked the ship violently and crashed around the soldiers – several of whom flew overboard. Azula’s response was immediate. A blue flame rocketed at Iroh and Katara, and Mai and Ty Lee were close to follow, leaping down from the command deck onto the main deck.
IV.II
Zuko waylaid a soldier and took his armor, slipping it on sloppily and making his way down to the prisoner level. He couldn’t afford to be spotted, and running and rushing about was probably the best way. It tried his patience, but he walked slowly to the prisoner level, passing by several guards. Many of the doors were unguarded – Zuko assumed his sister would place a heavy guard on the door to the Avatar’s cell. She would probably use the same kind of restraints as Admiral Zhao had when he had captured the Avatar.
“Soldier,” someone barked behind him. Zuko’s hand itched to go to his swords, but he turned around and saluted.
“Sir!” he replied.
The officer looked at Zuko’s uniform and frowned. “Have some pride, man,” the officer said in a disgusted voice. “Next time I won’t let you off with a warning. Where are you going?”
Zuko’s mind searched for an answer. “Sir, I’m – fuck it!” Zuko blasted the officer into a nearby room and melted the door closed behind him. Zuko was so close to the Avatar he could almost smell him. Throwing off the firebender soldier uniform as he ran, Zuko headed straight for the heavy-duty cells that dangerous prisoners were kept in. He assaulted four guards, taking them by surprise before he unlocked the doors and swung them open urgently.
It was dark, and Zuko entered with stealth, lighting a fire in his hand. “Zuko?” a voice cracked incredulously from a corner.
The Avatar was bound by chains – tight chains – to the wall, and metal was welded around his waist. Zuko frowned. If he got the manacles off the boy’s feet it was possible he could slip him right through the waist restraint. With precision and strength, Zuko sliced the chains clear off the Avatar’s feet. Aang yowled in pain.
“Shut up, Avatar!” Zuko hissed. “This is a rescue!”
“They broke his hands and feet,” a pained voice said from the opposite, dark corner. Chains rattled, and boy from the Water Tribe shifted into the light. “I mean…I broke his hands and feet…” The boy with blue eyes hung his head.
Zuko frowned. “This is going to hurt,” he said to the young Avatar. His eyes weren’t focused correctly, but he nodded. Zuko sliced the manacles on Aangs hands like he had on his feet, but this time the Avatar said nothing, though tears rolled down his cheeks as he bit his lip. Zuko lifted him easily out of the restraint at his hips then set to freeing Sokka, Katara’s brother.
“Can you walk?” Zuko asked Sokka roughly.
Zuko could see the beginnings of a grotesque infection forming on Sokka’s chest. He had been burned rather badly, and not cared for well afterwards. Sokka nodded, not even questioning Zuko’s presence or motives. The Avatar moaned painfully as Zuko hefted the boy over his shoulders.
“My uncle and your sister are causing a distraction,” Zuko said quietly, hoping most of the guards had moved up to the main deck for the fight. “We were hoping for help from the Avatar…”
He heard Sokka’s steps falter, but he continued the journey through the bowls of the ship. When they emerged from the surface, Zuko couldn’t believe what he saw. The carnage…
IV.III
It had worked more or less exactly as Iroh had told her. A private duel between Azula and Iroh kept the sociopathic princess occupied, but left Katara alone with two deadly girls and a heaping, angry ton of firebenders. The initial wave that broke over the deck had taken care of many firebenders, but they kept surfacing from the depths of the ship en masse. Not only that, Mai and Ty Lee were no easy foes.
Katara had broken many of Ty Lee’s fingers when she had attempted her pressure point attack and the waterbender had frozen shields in place. This had only served to make the acrobat angry, though that might have been a bit of an advantage for Katara as well. Katara kept freezing Mai’s hands, but someone was always around to thaw them.
Finally she had gotten smart and whipped the little assassin over the edge of the ship, freezing her to the hull with deadly precision. Fending off firebenders took a lot of her concentration, but she constantly had to worry about Ty Lee’s swift, angry attacks. In addition, Katara was acutely aware that Zuko hadn’t surfaced yet.
Using a technique that her mentor had taught her, Katara employed the Octopus Technique, but instead of six or eight arms, this octopus had over fifty. She snapped them and danced wildly, terrified to make a mistake, but thrilled at the danger. Adrenaline pumped through her heart in mass quantities, and Katara lived in the balance.
The next technique she used was by far more complicated. She extended the water around her in a flat, plate-looking formation about elbow high on the firebending soldiers. As it encased a group of twenty or so, she froze it, effectively pinning their hands to their sides. Katara’s mind reeled as she pushed the great circle of ice out into the open ocean, and she felt to her knees.
It was an opportunity Ty Lee was looking for. The tiny girl’s foot slammed into Katara’s stomach, sending her skidding into the side of the ship. Katara bent enough water to encase Ty Lee’s foot in ice, and then dodge out of the way as the acrobat’s kick landed on the ship’s metal side. Katara was sure the girl’s foot was broken by the way she screamed.
That was when a huge wall of fire rushed up to her – blue and angry. Katara screamed, forming a wall of water to bear the brunt of the fire. It knocked her back to the rails of the ship, and she hit the back of her head hard. That was when she saw Zuko, with Aang on his back and Sokka hobbling behind. A group of firebenders was closing in on Katara when Zuko unleashed a terrible flame, knocking them away and running over to her.
“Oh, gods! You’re all safe,” Katara said in relief. It was short lived as she saw Aang’s condition – and Sokka’s.
“Heal him fast, Katara,” Zuko commanded. “I’ll hold Azula off with Uncle.”
Sokka and Katara shared a look, and then Katara set her sights on Aang. Concentrating on his discolored and misshapen hands and feet, Katara summoned her knowledge of healing bones – a very difficult thing to do – and released the water onto Aang’s form. She almost couldn’t stand Aang’s screams of pain, but she didn’t have time to learn to set bones painlessly. There probably wasn’t a way.
“Katara,” Aang cried quietly, holding his hands and curling into a ball.
“Aang,” Katara said quietly, cradling the smaller boy in her arms. “Aang, you have to fight. Zuko and Iroh can’t take on Azula alone,” she pleaded.
“I can’t,” he shuddered. “It hurts…”
“I know, I’m sorry,” Katara said urgently. “But it’ll hurt a lot more to die by Azula’s hand. Please, Aang…”
Pain washing over his face, Aang stood with Katara’s help. Then he promptly fell to the ground. Katara gazed in horror as she saw Iroh and Zuko battle Azula. Though they moved in perfect unison, every block and attack mirroring each other, Azula was still holding her ground.
“He can’t fight, Katara,” Sokka yelled, watching the whole affair silently until then. Katara looked worriedly at Zuko and Iroh. “Let’s just go, Katara,” Sokka said in a strained voice. “Let’s go while Azula is distracted.”
“We can’t leave Zuko and Iroh,” she replied stonily. “They saved your life, Sokka – and Aang’s.”
Sokka’s face went hard. “Then what?”
Every moment they hesitated was another moment Zuko and Iroh lost ground. Katara looked anxiously at her companions, then at Aang and her brother. She didn’t know what to do. She had to save the Avatar – but Zuko and Iroh…they were her friends, too, now. Fortunately, Katara was spared this decision. In the first bit of good luck since they had been attacked by Azula almost a week ago, Aang opened his eyes and pointed into the sky.
“Appa…” he whispered.
Appa appeared, cutting across the moon and landing next to Aang, Sokka, and Katara.
“NO!” an enraged princess shouted, fire exploding and surging all around her. She looked terrifying, like a demon of hell.
“Get Aang on Appa and leave, Sokka,” Katara commanded. “I’ll help hold off, Azula, and we’ll meet at the Southern Air Temple.”
As the injured Sokka attempted to get Aang onto Appa’s saddle, a familiar voice rang out. “Is that you Katara?”
A huge wave of relief passed over Katara. “Help Sokka with Aang!” she yelled, running over to the struggling Zuko and Iroh.
Having been battling the psychotic princess for so long, Iroh was showing is age. Zuko’s rage flowed evenly through his strokes, but Katara saw his worry. Iroh couldn’t keep up anymore. Katara made a decision. With a whip of water, she flung Iroh out of the way of a stream of fire and towards Appa and her brother. She could only hope that they took the older firebender when they escaped.
For a moment Azula’s rage seemed to boil over, and when Appa left the surface of the ship into the night air, she fired volley after volley of fireballs in their direction. Appa dodged the fist few, but Katara raised a wall of ocean water on the side of Appa’s escape, and all she could see was the blurred form of the bison and exploding balls of fire trying to breach her wall.
That was when Zuko renewed his attack. Locked in a close range firefight, there wasn’t much Katara could do to help him, but when Azula blew him away into a wall, Katara waved her arms in a complicated pattern, encircling the firebending princess in a bubble of water…and then freezing it.
It only slowed her attack, as the water melted and exploded, engulfed in blue flames. “You didn’t think that was going to work, did you, peasant?” Azula cackled.
For a moment there was a standoff – Zuko and Katara stood against the Princess Azula. Zuko gave Katara the briefest of looks. This wasn’t good – that was what it said.
“Isn’t this cute,” Azula taunted. “My brother’s got a new girlfriend…hm, well, she could have done a lot better, I think.” She laughed maniacally then brought her fingers together in a signature move.
Zuko stiffened beside her. “Shit… RUN!” he shouted, pushing Katara towards the side of the ship. He followed her, urging her on as Azula gathered the forces of lightning around her body. Just as Zuko pushed Katara over the side of the ship, she saw him falling after her, a bolt of lightning passing through his hand…
And out the other!
Katara hit the water hard, followed by an unconscious Zuko. Balls of fire followed them into the ocean’s depths, and Katara dragged Zuko’s lifeless body behind her, unwilling to surface and give the princess a target for her rage. Katara swam under the huge belly of the Fire Nation battle cruiser, oxygen burning in her lungs. She pushed off the belly of the ship, rocketing herself with the help of waterbending to the far side along the hull. It was decorated by mollusks and mold, but it was shaded by the docks. With the help of waterbending, Katara made a quiet, difficult trip through the legs of the large dock and onto the grainy, cold beach – all the while tugging an unconscious Fire Prince.
As soon as she drew the water out of his lungs, Prince Zuko began to cough painfully. Katara did her best to quiet him, but she knew they couldn’t stay there forever. They couldn’t take the land – it would be swarming with Fire Nation soldiers. The tide hadn’t changed – so everyone was landlocked.
“Zuko,” Katara whispered. “We need to swim.”
Zuko nodded painfully, still coughing. Katara was cautious with her waterbending, not wanting to draw attention to their sea-borne escape. But after rounding the far cliff of the Kyoshi bay, Katara tugged a nearly unconscious Zuko upstream into a tributary, and then onto the soft banks.
It was only then that she allowed herself to close her eyes…style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>
IV.IV
For three hungry, terrifying, uncomfortable, miserable days, Toph had ridden the back of Appa, the Flying Bison. It wasn’t like when she had been on her own, wandering around, trying to find Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Toph had cried when Appa had ‘kidnapped’ her during the night and flew her days and days to a mysterious position. Her only hints had been the smell of the sea, and the small layover on the water when Appa had rested for an hour.
But when she’d heard the voices of Katara and Sokka, Toph woke from her stupor, and her terror, and was filled with joy. She’d never been so happy to hear another’s voice in her whole life. But things were wrong. Very wrong.
Sokka was seriously injured, she could sense that by his movements and voice. Aang wouldn’t speak – whether it was guilt or pain or fatigue, Toph couldn’t tell. And they were traveling with the firebending general she’d met twice before, but he was unconscious in the huge saddle. In addition, Katara hadn’t been able to hold off the Fire Princess and get on Appa before the giant Flying Bison escaped from the Fire Nation vessel.
The second they landed on solid ground, Toph vowed never to leave it. She could see! In a manner of speaking. She could feel they were high, high in the air, on a kind of peak surrounded by fast-moving air. And, despite the first days of summer that had crept out of nowhere, it was quite cold. She curled up on the ground, finally able to sense her companions fully. All the vibrations of their footsteps colored the scene for her senses. Toph was absolutely starving, but that could wait.
“Where are we?” she asked after a moment. She felt a huge structure in the distance, not too far from where they stood.
She heard Sokka groan, about the only thing he’d done since pulling General Iroh onto Appa. “Katara said she’d meet us at the Southern Air Temple,” he said quietly. He sighed and Toph sensed he had pulled General Iroh onto his back. “We have to get into the temple for shelter. Aang,” he said, moving towards the structure Toph had suspected was ahead of them, “try to find us something to eat.”
Aang’s light steps retreated, and Toph followed Sokka towards the air temple. The hike was strenuous, uphill and on rocky ground. Toph’s sure footing was halted by her fatigue, and several times they stopped for Sokka to rest. The firebending general wasn’t light by any means, and Sokka wasn’t exactly in peak condition. Both Sokka and Toph were exhausted, hungry, and scared, so when they reached the shelter of a large, cavernous overhang, they called it quits, and Sokka made a fire before completely passing out.
Toph, however, waited for Aang, who didn’t return for several hours. Though he did return with food. He sat across from Sokka, Toph, and General Iroh. Toph could tell by his stance that he was angry, but she left him be for the moment and ate his food. Fruit and nuts – she’d had worse.
Sokka woke soon after Aang arrived, and ate the food, too. Toph couldn’t help but notice Aang didn’t eat, and Sokka wasn’t as aggressive about his food as normal. Toph frowned. “What happened?”
Aang shifted, but no one said a word.
Toph sighed. “I thought you all were dead… I thought I was dead… What happened?”
In a gravelly, sick voice, Sokka responded. “Azula captured Aang and me. We tried to escape, but then Azula said if I didn’t break Aang’s hands and feet…she would kill us…” He stopped for a long moment. “Then I think there was a storm, and we had to stay on Kyoshi for a long while. Yesterday, Zuko came and rescued us…and then you came with Appa…”
“I thought you and Katara were dead,” Aang said, his head hanging and his voice low. “This is all my fault.”
No one said anything.
“I don’t deserve to be Avatar,” Aang said, standing and walking out of the air temple.
Toph was worried. Aang wasn’t acting normal…guilt wasn’t something he dealt with well. If Katara didn’t come back…how would they survive this? More importantly, how would they survive the next few days? Toph didn’t have to see to know that Sokka was probably dying. Iroh didn’t seem to be in any great shape either. Aang wasn’t taking care of anyone but himself at the moment, and Toph was more worried about Sokka and Iroh than the young airbender.
Toph stretched out her senses and felt the familiar formation of a well not too far away. She wasn’t really positive there was water in it, but as the pulley system descended into the well, the quiet splash of water reaffirmed her suspicions. Toph reached into her pack for a spare shirt and began ripping it into long ribbons. Then she dipped the sleeves into the bucket of water and began to feel around for Sokka’s burns. She was delicate, but Sokka woke with a scream and tried to make her stop.
“You’ll die!” she shouted at him.
Sokka muttered something and let Toph’s soft hands and clean rags wash the burn. Sometime after she had finished cleaning and wrapping Sokka’s chest, she went over to Iroh and tried to feel the extent of his injuries. She couldn’t feel any serious burns – his clothes were whole. She didn’t really know what was wrong with him. None of his bones felt broken…Toph suspected a head injury.
It was a long time before Aang returned. In fact, Toph had been asleep for a while. She felt him stoke the fire, and she went over and sat beside him. Sokka and Iroh were asleep on the ground, their heartbeats steady from what she could feel through the ground.
For a long time she waited for him to say something. When he began talking, he didn’t stop.
“When I jumped off Appa I was only thinking about myself… I just wanted the Fire Nation to leave us alone. I thought if I could defeat them right there they would stop following us… I didn’t know Azula would be there.
“I felt so sure I could do it. I used air-, water-, and earthbending and she was still more powerful than I was. If you, Sokka, and Katara hadn’t showed up…I might be dead.”
He paused for a moment. “I don’t understand why I didn’t go into Avatar State…I could have won easily. Then Azula would be gone…and Sokka wouldn’t be…
“It’s all my fault. I should have listened to you all. I don’t know why I didn’t… I’m so sorry.”
Toph felt the vibrations of water falling to the ground. Aang was crying. Never one for emotions, Toph surprised herself by hugging the young Avatar. And he surprised her by hugging her back and crying into her small frame.
They stayed like that until Aang stopped crying. “What are we going to do?” he asked once his tears had finished.
Toph had the greatest urge to shrug and say, “How the hell should I know?” Instead, she considered the situation. “I think we should wait for Katara until Iroh is able to move. Moving with two injured…just isn’t smart. We need to find Sokka some medical help because…well, his wound smells wrong…”
Aang nodded beside her. “There’s a herbalist on one of the neighboring peaks. Tomorrow I can take Sokka and Iroh on Appa…”
Toph frowned. “I’ll have to stay here to wait for Katara and…and I guess Zuko.”
They sat in silence. “We should sleep,” Aang suggested.
Still confused and scared, Toph turned over and fell asleep to the crackling, snapping fire. Aang was awake for a long time after her, but Toph didn’t want to bother him anymore than he was already bothered.
IV.V
That next morning, Aang woke Toph with a slight shake. He had already pulled a shivering Sokka and the heavy mass of Iroh onto Appa’s saddle. Toph put a hand on Aang’s shoulder before he left.
“I’ll be fine,” she told him, her voice more sure than she was. “Stay with Sokka and Iroh at the herbalist…I’ll wait for Katara and Zuko here. When Sokka and Iroh are healed, you can take them back here. We’ll be waiting.”
Aang agreed. “I’m leaving Momo with you. He’s a great forager, and he knows the temple really well.”
They didn’t say anything for a moment. Aang’s arms circled her, and she fell into his embrace. Then he flipped onto Appa’s back, and the movement of earth told her that Appa had taken off. “Bye, Toph!”
Toph waved her hand in the general direction she’d heard Aang’s voice. Momo leapt onto her shoulder and wrapped his lemur tail around her shoulders. She’d never been fond of Momo – not like Aang – but she could come to love the little flying lemur.
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Rises with the Heart