Sea and Sky

Chapter 27: The Likelihood of Coincidence

As he came to the stream, he found Suki hunched over Katara's form. Below her, Katara groaned, face wrenched as she doubled over in pain. With a swift current, he dropped down next to the warrior woman and waterbender.

"What the hell happened?!" His voice was a shaken panic as he dropped down next to Katara.

"Watch her, someone ambushed us. I'm going to search now!"

Before he could offer any sort of argument, Suki was gone, dashing into the tree tops. Winding through the branches, the warrior searched for what had been the source of the small blade currently lodged in Katara's right thigh.

Throwing her head back, Katara gritted her teeth in agony as she tried to quell the pain radiating from her thigh. The blade, sharp as any surgical instrument, sliced through the fabric of her leggings and sat at an odd angle. Wincing, she pulled the blade out of her muscle. As the blade made contact with the air, it rusted, clattering to the forest floor beneath her.

Hot crimson welled from her exposed wound, creating a rush of red that seeped into her leggings. "Aang, my waterskin - it's over-" Before she could finish, another fresh wave of pain seared over her.

With no hesitation, he pulled the waterskin to her with a quick burst of air. Quickly, he pulled the cork off and dumped the water into her waiting hands. As the cold liquid made contact with her skin, it glowed an ominous blue.

Pressing her hands into the wound, she drew a deep breath, willing any energy she had into the slice. It seemed that even deep in the forest they weren't safe. Another lance of pain slashed across her as her skin slowly mended, the tendons weaving back together, pain blossoming behind her eyes as she collapsed into the overturned tree trunk.

"What happened?" Aang asked, his voice low as he sank down next to Katara, mind whirling with confusion.

"I don't know. Suki and I were talking, the next I knew I had this -" She paused for a moment, picking up the dagger next to her. "Sticking out of my leg."

Taking the dagger from her, Aang turned the knife over in his hands. Behind them, Sokka barreled into the clearing, sword drawn and ready to attack.

"I heard a scream. Are the girls okay?"

Before either of them could answer his question, the image of Katara's bloodied clothing and red-smeared hands was more than answer enough. "Someone attacked Suki and Katara. Suki went to look for the whoever threw this."

Handing the knife to Sokka, Aang watched as the man turned the blade over in his hands, examining it like he and Katara had just moments before. Feeling his stomach sink, Sokka folded the knife into his tunic before sitting next to Katara.

"I know this metal. It's steel, derived from meteorite. Just like my sword."

Minds whirling, the group fell into a collective sense of confusion. The name of the dagger's source peeled through Sokka's mind, unbidden. Pian Dao.

"We can't stay here. I'll find Suki. Get my sister to Appa. I'll be back as quickly as I can."

Hefting Katara into his arms, Aang noticed several wedges of ice jutting out of the ground. The stream had been half frozen, hunks of half-melted ice sticking up like wayward spikes. It seemed that Katara had enough time to react before the dagger had sliced into her thigh. Shaking his head, Aang cursed himself. If he had waited just a few more minutes instead of wandering off, perhaps he could have protected her from what could have been a worse of situation.

Parting the trees as he moved, he listened as Katara let out a low moan. Gently, he kneeled and sat the waterbender on another overturned tree.

"Katara..." He trailed, unsure of how to reveal what he knew. The situation between them have just grown infinitely more difficult.

Dropping to a knee, he took her hands in his, holding them tightly in his own.

"I... I know. About..." He trailed before bringing one of her hands to his lips and placing a kiss against her knuckles.

The spark of realization and truth flared in Katara's mind as she listened to Aang's uncoordinated words. She knew what he was trying to say. He knew she was pregnant.

Slowly, she withdrew her hand from his and dropped it protectively onto her abdomen. As her blue eyes met his stormy grey ones, invisible sparks passed between them. Drawing her lips together, she stifled her own cry, salty tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

Dropping his head down, Aang tried to hide his own emotions. He was torn between feelings of confliction - happiness for what the future held for them, unease and anxiety over what had just occurred. A sureness overtaking him, Aang felt his heart lighten as she took his face into her hands, drawing him to look up at her.

"Yes, I'm... we're going to have a baby." She stumbled over the words. The words felt foreign and heavy as she spoke them aloud.

Love. Sacrifice. Forgiveness. Release. He felt both weightless and shackled to the Earth at her words. It felt as if the cycle of life was finally completed within them, the link between him and the waterbender undeniable, unbreakable. While it was Katara who kept him rooted to the physical world, it would be their child that kept him tied to her. The eternal bond linking them felt comfortable on his wrists as he buried his face into her lap.

He wasn't alone in the world. He had a family. Although his family wasn't conventional, he wouldn't wish for anything different.

Pulling back from her embrace, he looked up at her. "You have to go to Ember Island. I'll send you back with Suki and Toph. Sokka and I will track down whoever did this..."

As he separated from her, he looked down at his own cloaks. A large red splotch had settled into the orange fabric, creating a devastating contrast. Had he not known the source of the blood, Aang would have thought that he'd been the one attacked with the knife.

Panic sized Katara. "You can't leave me alone. Not like this." Her voice wavered.

"I need you Aang. Please." Her pleading words broke him.

"If I thought I could keep you - both of you safe - I would stay. This situation is getting out of control. What are the odds that the knife wasn't meant for someone else? What are the odds that Rana didn't send that assassin?"