Walk The Path

Chapter Thirteen

April

Three weeks had come and gone since Aang was injured and became comatose. The world outside his hospital window changed around him while he stayed the same. Unbeknownst to Aang, his condition altered the lives of more people than he would ever know. The person who felt this ripple effect the most was Katara, sitting by his side from the very beginning to the very end of visitation times. She only knew the times and days of the week because of the visitation schedule. Outside of seeing Aang, she lived a sort of half-life. Sleeping in short intervals of one to two hours at a time and showering only when Sokka commented on her odor. Nothing seemed real to her and everything she experienced was all so painful.

During these past three weeks, Katara had lost a significant amount of weight. In a foggy memory, Katara overheard Toph whispering about the slow, sad heartbeat present in Katara. The young waterbender couldn't deny the truth in what Toph had said. This is what it felt like to have your heart slowly breaking, she was sure of it. She continued to deny the food offered to her from her brother, her father, and Monk Gyatso. "Please eat something, Katara," was the refrain she too often heard. The only time she would eat would be at home when she couldn't sleep and needed something to focus on. Katara had become accustomed to her sparse meals of rice and bone broth.

Much to the approval of Hakoda, the school allowed Katara to end the semester early due to the traumatic event and bravery shown during their fight with Ozai's forces. School was the furthest thing from her mind. She barely remembered that she would typically be focused on homework during the times she visited Aang in school. Periodically, she would get visits and texts from friends, but were often ignored or met with muted enthusiasm. When she wasn't with Aang, she was alone.

Katara would spend the majority of her visitation time healing Aang. Sometimes she would play a playlist he made for her but it wouldn't last long as she would begin to cry and worried she wouldn't be able to stop. Her despondency over not seeing any changes and not knowing if he was getting better only grew more and more. She wasn't family and didn't want to ask Gyatso how Aang was doing. It tore her up inside but she continued every day moving her glowing, hands across his meridians and over his injuries. This is all she could do so she would forge ahead as long as she was able.

About an hour into her time with Aang, she heard shuffled feet enter the room but she brought her attention back to healing. She had assumed it was Monk Gyatso or her brother. "I'm fine and I don't want any food," she said curtly. Her peace was interrupted by the words spoken behind her. "I didn't bring any food but I do want to apologize." Katara whipped her head around to see Zuko standing in the middle of the room with his eyes full of sadness and regret. He slowly walked over to the right side of her.

Katara turned her eyes back to Aang as she scoffed, "I can't believe you're showing your face here after all this time. Why now?" Zuko's shoulders slumped, "I know, Katara..it's been too long. I've felt nothing but shame since Iroh told me what happened. Every time I tried to leave to visit, something held me back. Then the longer I stayed home, the more I felt like shit. I wasn't sure if I was able to see him like this." After a moment of silence, Katara snapped at Zuko, "You mean you weren't ready to deal with your own feelings. You know how he is, Zuko. He felt so guilty after talking to you that he...," the words were lost to her, "All he wanted was to make things right. He did this for you after you shut him out. You give him a guilt trip and then you don't see him for three weeks?"

Katara was now glaring at Zuko, as her hands hummed with water over Aang's right leg. Tears began to well in Zuko's eyes. He spoke softly, "I know, I'm sorry. I feel terrible. There's nothing I can say to make up for avoiding him. But I'm here now." The young waterbender's hands never left Aang's body as her expression went blank. She no longer appeared angry. He could tell she was disappointed now, which made him feel even worse. "You think this is all easy for us? When I first saw him hooked up to tubes and lifeless, I didn't want to come in," she looked down at her feet, "I couldn't bring myself to accept that this was Aang. I wanted to run away and pretend it didn't happen, but I couldn't." She locked her eyes with his in an intense stare, "Because I love him and even though I needed to escape, he needed me more."