Salvations Sunrise

Despondency

This is a Zutara fic. There will be other pairings as the story continues and is rated M for graphic violence and sexual situations. This follows cannon up until Sozin's Comet then goes into an AU. The standing of each character following Sozin's Comet will be revealed as the work continues. There is a two year time jump. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender and it's characters belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon. Enjoy!

The world they knew had fallen. The invasion on the day of Sozin's comet was compromised and nothing had been the same since. An infiltrator had revealed their plans to Ozai and the Fire Nation was ten steps ahead ever since. Aang had been injured during the attack, he was bombarded and Fire Lord Ozai - now recognized as the Phoenix King took the opportunity to have him captured. Every rescue mission, every search party, all the attempts had been futile. He had become the Fire Nation's most guarded prisoner and not even Appa was able to pick up on his scent.

"Katara, we have to keep moving. It'll be nightfall soon." Sokka urged as he rubbed his hands together for warmth.

Realizing she had zoned out for the thousandth time that day she began to push forward. It was now winter and before the war, this had been her favorite season. None of this was supposed to happen. They were supposed to win, her friends should have been celebrating the defeat of the Fire Nation and most importantly her father was supposed to be alive.

Katara thanked the spirits her brother, Toph and Suki had made it out alive. Hakoda and a handful of other Watertribesmen had sacrificed themselves in order for many others to escape with their lives. There were just too many Fire nation soldiers. There was a part of her that wondered if she was being punished because it seemed as though everything was being taken from her.

Suki traveled back and forth between Kyoshi island and visiting Sokka wherever they were camped for limited amounts of time. It was never safe to stay in the same place for long. Iroh seemingly disappeared, but the wanted flyers indicate he is both alive and on the run along with nearly everyone else that survived that day.

The area in which they were traveling was unfamiliar ground which made them uneasy to say the least. They were fugitives once again, however, times were especially dangerous because the Fire Nation was rounding up benders from every region of the world.

The raids were not new, but from word of mouth these benders were not being killed this time around. Katara could not even imagine being a prisoner after the stories Hama told her.

"This is a good place to make camp," Top suggested dropping her share of supplies to the ground. "I can't sense anyone for miles."

"Are you sure, Toph? I get a weird feeling from this place." Sokka eyed their surroundings making sure they weren't followed.

"Yes I'm sure. Even if I wasn't, there's no way I'm walking another twenty miles so this is our best bet." she said wryly.

As they began to set up for the night Katara realized they were running low on food and they would not be able to avoid going into town for much longer. The Fire Nation soldiers were positioned around nearly every major city and it had been this way for years. They were still struggling to fully take Ba Sing Se and most of Ozai's attention was directed towards this effort but he had posters of them plastered at every turn, determined to make them pay for the attempt on his life.