The South Pole

Day 3- Lightning and Thunder (part 3)

Warning! Contains: swearing, crying, physical theray, etc ??

(May 11th, 12:00)

THIRD PERSON:

"What the fuck do you mean, Sparky?" Toph spat, turning to Zuko and actually looking his way for once. "Where the fuck else could he be?" Zuko turned around frantically, meeting the blind girl's eyes before turning to Suki, then Katara, then Mai. "I mean he's not there. I could check Kana and the twins' tent, but he wasn't at the meeting so I doubt he'd be there."

"Okay," Suki shouted, "how in the name of him isn't he there? Sokka's adamant about meetings and they left together!" Zuko shrugged, putting his hands in the air in mock surrender. He turned to Mai, who sighed lightly. "Suki, Toh, calm down. Katara," she turned to her, "Aang is fine. We just need a plan." 

"Okay then," Suki said. "I'll stay here with Katara. Mai, wake Tylee up because she fell asleep," she shot the girl a nod of her head, "and go with Zuko to find Aang. Toph, go get Sokka." 

"Okay, now how the hell do I find Sokka? I'm fucking BLIND and it's the South Pole!" Suki winced. "Okay, chill. I'll find him Can you stay with Tara?" Toph nodded, her hands shaking around the bed to find an empty spot to sit. 

Suki picked her up and placed her next to Katara. "If anything goes wrong I know damn well you can fight with your feet closed." Toph smiled lightly, her hand making its way to Katara's chest slowly. "Got it." 

Katara's eyes slowly began to water as a few sobs were heard from her mouth. "Toph," she whispered, "where's my boyfriend?"  Toph slowly shook her head, carefully making sure her hands didn't turn into fists on Katara's chest. "I don't know, Tara..." Katara shut her eyes tightly. "I don't know." 

ZUKO'S POV:

"Zuko, go get Aang. She had a nightmare, just say 'code navy' and he'll come running." 

I nodded, running out the door, in a hurry to find Aang. I know he needs to see Katara and she needs to see him or else she's gonna go insane and he'll kill me for not getting him. And I mean they barely trust me yet, I don't know if I wanna die just yet. 

I burst through the doors to the meeting igloo, where Aang should be. "Is Aang in here?" The moment Hakoda and Sokka started to give me weird looks, I quickly added, "Suki needs to ask him a question but won't tell me what it is." 

"No," some old guy with white hair and a goatee said, "he never showed up." I turned to Sokka with wide eyes, and he just shrugged. "He said he was gonna go to the bathroom but never came back. I assumed he went back to sulk next to Katara... is she okay?" 

I nodded, my face turning red quickly. "Yep, just peachy. I'll... just go now..." Hakoda raised his eyebrow as I ran out the door, straight back to our igloo to tell Suki he was gone. 

"Aang's not at the meeting." 

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TOPH'S POV:

"Okay," I said, trying to smile even though it would do no good since Katara hasn't opened her eyes once. Well, that's what she told me. I don't blame her, she was just shot by lightning- that shit's gotta hurt. "Let's try something. How do you feel on a scale of one to ten?" Katara groaned loudly, her hands trying to move but not having enough strength to. "A negative infinity," she whispered. Her voice was so low, I felt so bad for her. 

"Welp," I said, "don't give a shit. Try this with me, okay?" I could hear her head moving, not knowing if she nodded or shook it. "I'm still blind here," I laughed. Katara spoke up a little, "okay. What're we trying?" I smiled. 

I moved my hands a little, feeling around to see if I could feel where her hands were. I could, they were at her sides, laying down. I grabbed one, tangling my fingers with her, taking in a deep breath as I moved my hand up, around afoot. 

"There was this one girl," I whispered, my voice low. "She was my best friend. Granted, she was my only friend... but also my best friend." Katar gulped a little, and I could feel her arm struggling to stand up. "She was our best maid's daughter. She didn't have enough money to afford a house, so my parents let her stay in our house. But she wasn't allowed to tell anyone I existed." 

I sighed, feeling my eyes water a little. No. I don't cry over anything. I'm strong, and I don't let feelings control me. "Her daughter, Qiang, would live in my room. We spent our days together." Katara gasped for a little more air, and I offered her a little smile, holding her arm with my free hand, feeling up and down to make sure I wasn't overworking the muscle. 

"She was struck by lightning. She in the back... just like how Aang was, though." I could practically hear the tears in Katara's eyes. I could feel it. I knew she was crying and I knew this wasn't an appropriate story for right now, but I'm going to tell it anyways because I need her to know what I'm doing right now. 

"She died. But it took her a whole year to die- she's one of the strongest people I know." I smiled lightly, a small scoff-laugh coming out of my mouth. "Spirits dammit, we were fucking eight years old. I love her so much and would give anything to see her smile again. 

"The point of this story is," I laughed a little, letting a tear fall down my cheek, "I would give her physical therapy like this for a while. When her mom, Maya, was still finding a doctor she was able to afford, I would be the one helping her grow stronger. I helped her a lot. The doctors told me I saved her life." 

I heard Katara grunt, knowing I was pushing her limit. I slowly let go of her hand, reaching for the other one and doing the same with it, ignoring her grunts of pain. "You're gonna get stronger with this, okay? Katara, I want nothing but the best for you." I knew she was smiling for a split second, I could feel it from the heartbeat change. 

"Th-thank you," she whispered lightly. I nodded, my face smiling. I wiped the tears off my cheeks with my free hand, sniffing. I won't let fucking emotions take me down. I'm stronger than that. This would only prove my parents right and that's the last thing I need. 

"Does that mean I'm gonna die?" 

"Qiang died from Leukemia, Sugar Queen."

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okay darlings, so this chapter and the next chapter are a little bit flipped- because while I'm redoing this i accidentally made a big mistake and i don't know how to fix it now because I'm also in a hurry- it's 13:16 and i only have until 14:45 to write, so i can't redo this whole thing again because that would take me the whole time and i still have to do the next chapter, so im sorry if it's a little wonky !! <3

wc: 1213

Much love xx -Ema