Painted Blue (A Zutara Fanfiction)

Ch. 5 Yu Dao

Katara woke to the feeling of  wind whipping through her hair. She sat up on Appa's saddle, groggy from her late night. She glanced around half-asleep, trying to make sense of where she was. "Good morning sweetie!" Aang greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and a cheerful smile. A rosen tint coated the water-bender's cheeks.

"Sorry if we surprised you. I had to carry you onto Appa. We tried to wake you but –"

"But you were basically in a coma! And you were snoring!" Sokka teased with his arms crossed. "Ow!"  He whined when his sister reflexively punched him in the arm, eliciting a chuckle from the monk. "We are about an hour away from Yu Dao." Sokka informed, using the brand new spyglass he'd purchased on his last outing.

"Good  that will give me some extra time to meditate. There has to be another way to bring balance without..." he trailed off, alluding to the promise he'd reluctantly made to his fire-bending teacher and friend.

"Without killing the firelord?" Toph finished the sentence, flicking a booger she'd picked from one of her nostrils off the flying bison. "If the situation really is as bad as the message from the hawk says, you might not have a choice.

The fire nation has been occupying earth kingdom territory for too long. It's time for them to get out! Plus the fact that Zuko has taken Yu dao hostage isn't helping his case." The Earth bender quipped, her grayed eyes fixed on the sky above.

"Zuko's occupying Yu Dao? But Last night he was–"
Katara had to stop herself before she could say anything incriminating. "I mean, he wasn't at the palace last night?" She asked, tugging at her loopies. Another of her anxious ticks.
"Apparently he was, but left sometime in the middle and stationed himself with soldiers at the City's entrance and refused to let any refugees out." Aang clarified as he assumed his meditation position.

Katara's chest felt constricted. She tugged at her collar as she watched Aang's arrow begin to glow, signifying his transition into the spirit world. "Oh Zuko...what are you doing?" She fretted as she set her sights on the approaching horizon. Was he really going back on his promise? Didn't he realize what that meant Aang would have to do? What it meant for her as his friend?

The Gaang arrived at the city gates a few minutes past the hour like Sokka had predicted. Cheers erupted from the crowd below when Appa's bellow shook the ground. "It's the Avatar! He'll help us!" Smeller-bee cheered along with the crowd of earth kingdom protestors. "What's going on?" Katara asked as soon as they'd dismounted. Sokka and Toph went off to do some crowd control.

"The treacherous fire-lord is holding our city hostage! Fire nation out! This is earth kingdom territory!" The freedom fighters cheered as they threw rocks and objects at the gates. "Wait a minute everybody.  Let's stay calm. Zuko is our friend. I'm sure if we just talk to him, everything will be ok!" Aang enthused but was met with a resounding boo.

"Don't boo the Avatar!" Sokka scolded as Toph earth-bended a couple of rocks at the culprits. "Guys, can I trust you to hold down the fort out here for a bit? We need to talk to Zuko; have him explain what's going on and why he withdrew his support for the harmony restoration movement."

Toph cleared her throat before spitting out a loogie and cracking her knuckles; limbering them up for smoother bending. "Don't forget who you're talking to twinkle toes." She grinned before messing with some more protestors.

"Ready? Hang on." Aang instructed Katara as he wrapped an arm around her waist and opened up his glider. At the sight of her nod, the air-bender took off with his fiancé in tow. The manipulated air currents took the pair over the wall easily, depositing them on the other side of the gates.

"Stop! By order of the fire-lord; No one is allowed to enter or leave!" The fire nation gaurds warned as they surrounded the pair. "Its alright. I'm the Avatar, Zuko is my friend. I'm here to talk things through. I'm we'll be able to–!"

Aang's sentence was cut short as a fire blast barrled in his direction. "Attack!" The main guard instructed, prompting all the other soldiers to act. "Woah! Wait! We're not here to fight!" The Avatar protested as he dodged and flipped out of the fireballs' way. 

"Aang!" Katara fretted, as the flames narrowly missed her husband to be. "I'm fine!" He fibbed, tripping over himself and nearly getting singed. "You're on fire!" The water bender warned as she sprung into action. "Leave my fiancé, alone!" She growled,  uncorking her water skin and knocking half of the soldiers down with a sturdy wall of ice. As more soldier's approached, Katara turned the wall into shards and aimed, preparing to attack again.

"Katara, stop! You're hurting my men." A familiar voice growled from behind her."Ow, hey!" She protested the firelord's grip around her wrist. Her ability to bend was halted for a moment, causing the ice to melt back into water and splash onto the floor. "Zuko!" She huffed, brows furrowed as she faced him for the first time in over a year.

Katara's heart cringed when she laid eyes on the exhausted and frazzled looking fire-lord. He looked terrible; Like he hadn't slept in weeks. He'd also lost a considerable amount of weight.
'What happened to you?'  She wondered, heart aching for her friend.

"Zuko, you're hurting me." Katara protested. "Let her go Zuko!" Aang demanded, his staff gripped tightly in hand. "I will as soon as she promises to stop attacking my people!" Katara flinched as Zuko tugged her closer.

"They attacked us first!" The Avatar reminded. "All we wanted was to talk!" He assured before  filling his lungs with as much air as he could and blowing it out with incredible force, sending the firelord flying into a cobblestone pillar.

"Maybe roku was right. A Promise is a promise!" Aang growled as his tattoos began to glow. Katara stumbled to her feet and bolted to her fiancé's side. "Aang! No! Remember you have to be calm and lucid when you make this choice!" She reminded as she reached for his hand and pulled him down from his air bubble. "Please calm down sweetie. For me..." She begged the monk, who slowly floated back down.

"Zuko...I was about to...I'm so sorry." Aang apologized, feeling ashamed that his emotions had gotten the better of him. "Maybe we should calm down and talk." Zuko grumbled as he sat up, his back sore from the hit. Aang scowled. "That's all I wanted to do in the first place!"