The Avatar's Marriage

Trials by Lighting

The next morning, Katara awoke to find that Aang was no longer at her side. Normally, she wasn't surprised by such a thing because, over the course of their young marriage, he had proven himself to be an early riser. But Katara hadn't expected to see him up yet, judging by how drunk he had been the previous night. She knew from personal experience that being that drunk would lead him to have an unpleasant morning.

She sat up, glancing around the room for her husband. She didn't see him in the room, but she could hear the water running from the bathroom, and a slight glow that told her that he was either in the Avatar State, or he was healing himself. Naturally, it was the later.

Katara pushed herself out of bed, and moved over to the door. "Aang? Are you all right?"

A few seconds passed and the door opened. She only needed one look to know that he was feeling lousy. He was even more pale than normal and was squinting at her, as if he couldn't bear to open his eyes all the way. "No, I'm really not all right." He groaned. "I feel terrible."

"It's just because you over-did it last night." Katara said. He took his hand and led him back into the bathroom. "Here, let me help you. Healing never seems to be as effective as someone else doing it when you try it yourself." She sat him down on a stool and dipped her hands into the water that Aang was using in the failed attempt to heal his hangover. She allowed the water to coat her hands and then allowed her chi to infuse the liquid until it began to glow brightly. Then she pressed her hands to his temples to first heal his headache. Once his head stopped pounding, she'd be able to get him to drink a few glasses of water to counter the dehydration caused by the alcohol.

After a few seconds, Katara could tell when he started to feel better. His tense muscles visibly slackened and he let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Katara."

"You're not done yet." Katara said. She grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim with water. "Drink until you can't anymore." He looked confused as he took the glass. "Alcohol causes dehydration. That's why you feel so terrible. I've eased up the pain, but if you don't get some water in you, the pain will just come back." She said, and then Aang drank the water without complaint, then three more glasses.

"That was… unpleasant." Aang confessed as he finished off the last of his water and refused another glass from Katara. He was sure that if he drank more water, he'd just get sick again. "How do people handle that without a Waterbending healer nearby?"

"They learn their limits." Katara said. "You just haven't had time to learn when to stop. Until then, they over-drink and just have to suffer through it. I knew you wouldn't have a good morning, judging by how drunk you were when you came back last night."

"I actually don't remember much of last night. It all started getting fuzzy while I was drinking with Zuko, and then the next thing I know, I'm waking up here and I felt terrible. I wasn't… too hard to deal with last night, was I?"

"No, you weren't too bad." Katara said. "You're definitely an affectionate drunk and, honestly, there are worse things you could have been."

"What time is it?" Aang asked suddenly, standing up and moving out of the bathroom so he could see how bright it was. When he saw how high the sun was, he let out a gasp. "Oh no!" He began to run around the room, grabbing his robes and quickly pulling them on. Katara stared in shock at his sudden flurry of action.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"Zuko's trial to become the Firelord is supposed to begin at noon!" Aang said. "And judging by how high the sun is in the sky, I'm going to be nearly late!"

Katara also gasped in shock and began to run around for her own clothes. She didn't know what was required for the Fire Prince to become the Firelord, but she did know that the Avatar had an important role, and Aang could not be late to this.