The Dragon and The Ocean // Zutara

Desperate

Katara's POV

I need to get to Zuko. I need to see how bad his wound is. I need to see if he is...alive. Even if he is, I'm pretty sure he isn't going to live for much longer. I have to heal him or I'm going to lose him.

I tried to get to him right after he was hit, but Azula was faster. She may be my age, but she was always faster. I can't compete with someone of her level and I know that. I'm not as ambitious as Zuko and I know that even insane, Azula is still a fighter and she is still very powerful.

Doubt eats away at my mind the moment Azula fires the first blast. The only way I'm even going to stand a chance, is if I home in my focus and push all distractions away. I try to push away all of the thoughts of Zuko, all thoughts of failure, and all thoughts of doubt. If I can't beat her then my life, Zuko's life, and the fate of Fire Nation will be at risk.

"I'd really rather our family physician look after little Zuzu if you don't mind!" Azula says with a smirk.

She's harnessing another lightning strike. I need to move now or I'm going to get hit. Just dodging isn't going to let me win in this fight though. I need water and I need to make an offensive move, or I will never get to Zuko.

There's a water source to the left. It looks almost like a trough. If I was fighting someone my level, I would ration that water with quick attacks so that it would last longer, but I know that if I'm going to even attempt to knock Azula off balance I'm going to need something bigger and stronger.

I don't have enough time to think about how to ration this water because Azula shoots her harnessed lightning blast at me. I have enough time to bend the water as sort of a barrier that allows me to dodge and protect myself form the electricity.

I run behind one of the poles under the awning of one of the nearby buildings. Most of the building is on fire from Zuko and Azula's battle. I cower behind my protection as she shoots her blue fire in my direction. The heat is intense, but the thick pole blocks the fire from hitting and burning me directly.

"Zuzu you don't look so good!" Azula shouts from her place on the roof.

I peek my head around the pole to see that Zuko is clutching his side; he is laying still on the ground on his side, probably trying to keep his fresh burn from making contact with anything. If I hadn't heard the faint sound of him groaning I almost would've thought, he was dead.

Zuko's POV

The pain in my core gets worse every second. I look at my chest to see that there is a burn the size of a platypus bear's egg spanning down to my stomach. It is a deep red color and I can't tell how deep the burn the burn actually goes. It feels like it's going all the way through me. I may as well just have a hole right through my middle.

I can't tell if being on my stomach is better than being on my side. There's a breeze and the warm air makes me want to sob as it blows over the irritated area. The charred ends of my shirt also keep brushing over it which doesn't make matters any better.

In order to try and relieve myself from the pain, I bring my trembling hand up to the wound. Carefully, I place my hand over it, shielding it from the ground as I find hoping that maybe it will shield it from the stone floor.

When I feel the back of my hand touch the stone floor, I realize that I don't have the strength and finesse to lower myself slowly back to the ground. I all but collapse onto the floor and have to bite my tongue to keep from screaming out.

I try to wait for a bit, but this position doesn't seem to provide any sort of relief. There isn't anything else I can do in this weakened state but lay here and take it. I can't help but worry that my only savior, Katara, isn't going to get here soon enough.

Actually, I'm worried that she isn't going to make it. She's strong and has grown much stronger since I remember first seeing her. But I'm worried she's going to doubt her strength, especially going against someone like Azula who definitely isn't making this battle easy on her mentally.

I look up trying to find Katara, to see if she is okay. She has just ice surfed away from Azula and to the other side of the courtyard. What is she going to do now? She is probably out of water and Azula's intensity is not faltering.

All I can think of to do now is stay alive and wait. I know that I need to stay alive for Katara. If I close my eyes right now, like I really want to, I won't be able to open them again. I need to make sure that Katara stays safe and even if that means I just stay alive until she beats Azula then I will do that.

Katara's POV

As I ice surf away from Azula I realize that this is it. I'm out of water. I only have what's in my pack left and that won't be enough to knock Azula down. Plus, I need that to heal Zuko...if I can even get to him.

I make another turn in order to avoid succumbing to the flames Azula shoots at me. I'm now on the other side of the courtyard, underneath the awning. I jump off the ice and stumble to the ground as Azula shoots yet another blast at me.

As I fall forward, looking behind me to see if she is on my tail, in which I would need to get right back up again, I don't feel stone when my hands touch the ground. It feels almost as if I had landed on a grate.

When I look down in confusion, I almost shed tears of joy. Underneath my hands is a in fact a grate and underneath that is what must be a sewage system of sorts. It's a source of plenty of flowing water.

I have to think fast because last time I let Azula get to me first and that put on the defensive for too long. There has got to be something else I can use here I hear Azula's uneven footsteps from behind me, but it is then when I spot a loose chain hanging off one of the pillars. I can use that.

I barely have time to grab the chain and put together some semblance of a plan before I spot her in my peripheral. I'm relying on the fact that I have the advantage in this situation. As soon as she steps on this grate, my plan will be in motion. I just have to get her there.

"There you are filthy peasant." She sneers.

She stops just few feet off the grate, but before I can panic my hands move. I bend most of the water out of my pack in multiple different streams, in order to get her to dodge. I slide so that I'm facing her newly acquired position and before she can strike and the bring the water up from beneath us, freezing the both of us and an elaborate, icy trap.

Panic is the first thing I see in Azula's eyes. I have her trapped now. She didn't know what was going to happen, so she probably didn't have time to inhale. I could kill her right now if I wanted to, but I know that Zuko wouldn't want that for his sister, even though she is obviously deranged.

I breath out, allowing the ice around my figure to thaw. Before that thaw can even reach Azula, I'm bringing the chain around her arm and moving to tie her arms behind her back. Once I thoroughly wrapped the chain around her wrists and looped in around the grate to hold her in place, I send the water back to its sources.

Azula immediately starts coughing when she is given the ability to breathe again, so I take that chance to pull her bindings tighter in order to prevent her escape. She groans as her wrists are pulled back so abruptly but I could care less. The moment I know she's secure I sprint over to Zuko.

I haven't seen him move since I was on the opposite side of the courtyard, however, as I get closer to him, I can hear his quiet groaning and see his chest struggling to move up and down with his breathing, signaling to me that he is still alive. I can help him if he is alive.

He is lying on his stomach, one arm over his wound, keeping it from touching the ground. I kneel down next to him and carefully, but as quickly as possible, I flip him over onto his back and rest his head down gently. He groans, his eyes barely open.

I don't have time to dwell his condition, so I bend the very last of the water from my pack that I'm so glad I saved into an oval shape over the burn. The water that I have is just barely enough to cover the span of it.

This is going to hurt, I thought as I slowly, I place the water onto Zuko's chest.

Thanks for reading!