Double Bender

Part 56

A few hours later, the sun started to seep through the clouds and lit up the room. A little while later, Zuko opened his eyes and looked at me. "Morning." He chimed. I smiled. Then, he noticed the trail the tears had left on my face. "What happened?" he asked, sitting up quickly. I didn't answer. Instead, I quickly changed the subject. "Do you remember anything?" I asked. Zuko thought for a moment and then said, "I remember Azula...she tried to hurt you!" He sat up quickly and cringed. "Don't you'll hurt yourself." I protested. "You saved me. By the way, don't ever scare me like that again! Remember this for next time, I can move, you don't have to move for me." He chuckled. "And then..." he continued. "You and Katara...you defeated Azula!" I smiled and nodded. "I'm surprised Geo wasn't in on that." He continued. "Someone like her should jump at a fight like that." My smile faded. "What?" he asked sympathetically. I turned away, unable to tell him. "Where is Geo?" I put my hands against my eyes, shook my head, and remained silent. "Tatiana?" Zuko asked. "What. Happened?" I opened my eyes and turned to face him. "After Azula shot you," I started, "I ran over to you. But Azula shot another bolt of lightening. I didn't see...but Geo did." My voice started quivering. "And, she jumped in front of us." "But...Geo doesn't know how to redirect." "She knew that." I said, tears forming in my eyes. "She did it anyway." Zuko leaned against the wall, shocked with what he'd just learned. "I'm so sorry." I whispered as I looked at the ground, horrified with myself. I knew it was the right thing to tell him, but the look he had on his face made want to take it back and not tell him. But that'd just be torturing him, he'd eventually find out and he'd be even madder than he was now because no one told him. So I just looked at the ground, trying to be strong but it was no use. Zuko had an unreadable expression on his face, shock, sadness, anger, and possibly guilt. He blamed himself for what happened to Geo, that was probably the worst part. He thought he wasn't able to stop her and it's because he was lying on the ground, unable to move that she jumped in front. I walked over to him and put a hand on his cheek. "It's not your fault." I whispered lovingly. "She knew what she was doing. She was looking out for her friends...and she knew the consequences." Zuko place his hand on top of mine. "Would you like to see her?" Zuko looked up and locked eyes with me. "Yes," he whispered. I slipped my hand into his and silently led him down the hallway. Sunlight poured in through the windows and illuminated the hallway, unaware of what had happened in this very place, unaware that someone had just died and that two other someones were falling apart.
I led Zuko down the sunlit hallway and to the dark room, lit up by a million candles. Up against the wall was the bed, in the bed was Geo. "There she is," I said quietly. Zuko stood up straight and reverently walked in. I couldn't walk in with him, I couldn't bare it. I couldn't see her lying there in a coffin, not alive, without sobbing again. Zuko walked over to the bed and knelt down in front of it. I couldn't even imagine what was going on for him, I didn't even what was going on for me! But, Geo was my first friend, she was his first friend. I couldn't believe what was right in front of my eyes. But there she was, lying there. She was looking so peaceful, there was no pain on her face, and she was smiling. She looked like she was only asleep, like she would wake up and start teasing us and asking when we were gonna get married. But I knew better. Wishful thinking was only going to make it hurt more than it already did. It literally felt like everything inside me was crumbling. I had lost her. She wasn't coming back to me. I didn't see, I could have stopped her, I could have saved her. I felt so sad and empty. She made me feel happy, she was my best friend. She was one of the only people who made me feel worth something. She was always there for me...In fact, she was the one who figured out that Zuko and I loved each other. If she hadn't spoken up, we wouldn't had even said anything to each other. Geo was the person who brought us all together, made us into a family. Now she was gone. I'd never see her again. As I was thinking, Zuko got up, gave her one last sad look, and walked out. We locked eyes, I knew he could tell what I was thinking. He wrapped his arms around me and I let it all out. I sobbed harder than I sobbed in my entire life, harder than when I lost my parents, harder than when Zuko left us, harder than I'd cried in the boiling rock, harder than I'd cried every day I was in my village thinking I'd never get out. I cried harder than ever. I looked up at Zuko, tears in his eyes too. He held me even tighter, fearing that if he let go, I'd slip away, just as easily as Geo slipped away. So we stood there, both of us in tears, not saying a single word.

Hey guys. Sorry I didn't post this sooner. Something kinda big happened in my life that I don't really want to talk about it. For the sake of my family, I'm not going to go into detail. Just keep my family, especially my cousin, in your thoughts.
Hope you liked this.
Love you guys
~Maeve