Steam: An Avatar Story

Chapter 17

"Zuko!" Suki exclaimed, hitting her knees next to the Crown Prince.

"Shit," Sokka murmured, glancing around. No one was there, thank the spirits.

"Beck, go get Katara, and find another healer." Beck nodded. He caught sight of a young girl, the same young girl that had escorted Ren to the healer.

"Are you one of Yagoda's students?" The young girl nodded. "Good. Go over there, Lee collapsed, he needs attention." The girl nodded, rushing over.

Beck raced through the city, trying to locate Katara. "Why is this city so damned big?" He growled to himself. Then he spotted her, just up ahead, leaning on a bridge railing.

"Katara!" Beck called. She looked up, her eyes narrowed as she marked his appearance. Immediately, her eyes iced, that steely determination replacing the cool, inviting cobalt color.

"What's wrong?" She said sharply.

"Lee, he collapsed." Katara's eyes widened as her hand jumped to her partly opened mouth. Beck's stomach turned with jealously. Why does she care so much about that stupid, pampered  prince?

Katara was shaking, mind reeling as she sprinted through the city, following closely behind Beck. All she could think about was getting to Zuko and seeing if he was okay. They finally got to where Zuko collapsed, a group of people around him. Katara pushed through them and hit her knees beside Suki, pulling his head into her lap. She leaned over his head, foreheads touching, as she prayed to the spirits to save him. The girl who was supposed to show her the way to Yagoda's was kneeling on his right side, eyes closed and hands opened as they glowed blue.

"He's got a lot of internal bleeding, from blunt trauma to his stomach. What did he get hit with?" She asked. The poor girl was pale and sweating, the healing was taking too much of her power.

"A ball of ice," Katara murmured.

"How hard?" The girl asked, breathless.

"It was launched like a cannonball. We were fighting with some Water Tribe soldiers," Suki answered, putting a hand on Katara's shoulder. The poor girl gasped and fell away from him, panting hard.

"I'm so sorry, I can't, I don't have enough strength,"

"No no no," Katara sniffled, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes watered, burning with the force of holding back tears. She gingerly put Zuko's head in Suki's lap without asking as she went to his side, putting her hands on his stomach. She felt it there, the rigidity, and she felt the pull of the water.

Not water, blood. Katara immediately removed her shaking hands, not wanting to ever feel that again. She supposed it was possible, but she didn't want to think about it. Instead, she pulled water to her hands, creating gloves. The water glowed blue as she felt the healing begin to work.

Katara felt the tear in his abdomen where he was bleeding. She willed the opening in the large artery that ran underneath his abdominal muscles and organs to knit back together. She felt her energy draining, and after a minute the tear had closed. No more bleeding.

She also used the water to heal the surrounding tissue that had been injured where he got hit, as well as making the current bleeding disappear. His abdomen slowly became softer, returning back to its natural state. Katara released the water, slumping over his body with exhaustion.

"Katara!" Beck yelled as he saw her fall across the Fire Nation prince. Sokka had stepped to her as well.

"She's fine, that just took a lot out of her," Suki reassured him, removing her hand from where she was feeling for Katara's pulse. Beck released a breath. If that prince had lived while Katara died? Beck would've killed him.