"The Killer Within"

By Songbird21

Rating: PG13- for gruesome death of a bad guy.

Summary: When Katara thinks Aang has been killed she uses a technique that will scar her soul forever...

Spoiler warning: If you haven't seen "The Puppet master" then don't read this cause it has MAJOR spoilers!

This is a one shot. I really only wrote it to take a break from my gigantic Naruto fic and to see if I can get rid of my writer's block. Lol.

Aang barely managed to dodge the deadly lightning blast that had been sent his way. He stared intently at the Fire Nation princess, trying to gauge her next move. He blinked rapidly and shook his head in an effort to get rid of the dizzy feeling plaguing him. He'd been sick for three days and was now silently cursing himself for not listening to Katara...

--Three days earlier--

"Hey, Sokka!" Aang called excitedly.

Sokka groaned and strained to open one eye. "Is it food?"

Aang's face twisted in confusion. "No."

Sokka growled a bit and rolled over in his sleeping bag. "Wake me up when it's food."

Aang frowned and shook his friend. "Come on, Sokka! I think Hawky's back!"

Sokka bolted upright and threw off the covers. "Why didn't you say that in the first place!" he scolded as he ran out of the tent.

Aang pursed his lips in annoyance. "I was trying to." He then shrugged and followed after Sokka.

Aang emerged from the tent to find the rest of his friends watching the sky as the speck, barely recognizable as a messenger hawk glided in closer to the group.

Sokka stretched his arms out to the bird. "Hawky!" he said with cheerful affection.

Zuko squinted his eyes against the bright rising sun and saw a metal crest on top of the bird's hood. His eyes widened with recognition. "That's not Hawky."

Sokka turned to Zuko. "What?"

"That bird...is Azula's," Zuko replied, practically spitting his sister's name.

The tension in the air was instantaneous. "But how did she know where we were?!" Katara asked.

"Because that's no ordinary messenger hawk." Zuko held out his arm to give the bird a spot to land on. He winced a bit as the talons made tiny cuts in his skin. "She's a blood hawk. They can pick up scents in the air from miles away." He took the scroll container off the bird's leg and unrolled it. After a few seconds his eyes flattened into a glare that would've sent his father running for cover.

"What is it?" Aang asked.

Zuko crumpled the paper in his fist—venom dripping from his words as he answered. "She has my uncle."

Appa yawned as they headed for the meeting spot Azula had described in her letter. Zuko occasionally made complaints about the sky bison's lack of high speed, but mostly everyone sat in silence.

Katara had made it very clear she thought the whole thing was a waste of time. She was convinced Azula was lying and terrified Aang was going to get hurt again. But though she had argued about it passionately, everyone else was convinced this was the right thing to do—so now all she could do was fume and once in a while send poisonous glares at Zuko.

It also didn't help that Aang had caught a cold the morning they left and it seemed to be progressing quickly. Toph sidled up next to Katara and whispered to her. "Aang's making funny vibrations when he breaths. I think he's got gunk in his lungs," she said as her face crinkled into a worried expression.

Katara bit her lip and looked at Aang. His face was pale and he looked like he was having a hard time staying awake. She suddenly set her jaw. This meeting would happen over her dead body. "No!"

Everyone jumped a little at the sudden break in the silence. Aang looked at her. "Katara?"

"I won't let you do this! Look at you!" Katara said, pointing at Aang.

"Katara..." Aang began weakly.

"No! You can barely stay awake!" Katara said angrily. She turned to Zuko. "We'll go, but Aang is going to go with Appa and hide somewhere!" she said with conviction.

Zuko was immediately panicked. "But if he doesn't show up, Azula might kill my uncle!"

Katara walked up to Zuko and looked him in the eye. "Go ahead—tell me Aang should die for your uncle. It'll be the last thing you ever say," she said in a dangerous tone.

Zuko gritted his teeth and looked away.

Sokka sighed. "I hate to admit it, but Katara—in her own 'I wanna spill Zuko's intestines' kinda way—is right. Aang's in no shape to fight if we get into trouble." He looked to Zuko. "We'll try our best, but Aang's not going," he said with a firm, yet gentle tone.

Zuko, whose heart was now racing with panic, sighed, nodded and sat down.

Unfortunately, Aang was not very good at keeping himself from wanting to help the people he loved.. He had circled the sky around the meeting site with Appa, watching for trouble. It was obvious, fairly quickly, from the scene below that Iroh was not Azula's prisoner and the entire thing was indeed only an attempt to lure them out of hiding.

Aang watched as a battle raged between his group, Azula and her friends. When he saw Katara hit by Ty Lee's nerve jabs he couldn't hold back any longer and dove into the fray.

So now here he was—barely able to breath, sweating buckets and his vision starting to blur. The others were trying to get to him but Azula's Dai Lee agents kept everyone busy.

Frustrated tears slowly leaked from Katara's eyes as she struggled to regain her mobility. She had just been able to stand when she saw Aang swaying on his feet and teetering dangerously close to a nearby cliff. Panic filled her chest as she pushed her burning leg muscles into a run. Time seemed to slow as adrenaline pumped through her veins, giving her the strength to break her body's limit.

Azula smirked as she noticed Katara trying to get to Aang. Perfect timing. She sent out a fire burst just strong enough to finish the job. As the sun sank below the horizon Aang stumbled backwards and sailed over the edge of the cliff.

"AANG!!" Katara screamed. The others called for him as well, but were held back by their opponents. The tears increased as she skidded to a stop at the edge. She looked into the chasm, desperately searching for any signs that the boy she loved was alive—but her hopes were dashed when his body vanished under the mist halfway down. "AAAANG! AAANG!!" she screamed his name over and over, her voice becoming more shrill each time, but it was to no avail. He was gone.

Once there was a break in Katara's screaming Azula decided to use the opportunity to torment the grieving girl. "My my. He really fell head over heels for you, didn't he?" she asked with a cruel smile.

The air almost seemed to drop in temperatures Katara slowly stood and turned around. If it were possible, the expression on her face could have turned Azula to stone—and the full moon over head only added to the look. "You killed Aang," she said in a low, dangerous voice.

Azula's smile widened. "Yes it seems I did. I'm just so sorry," she said mockingly.

Katara's body began shaking as tears streamed down her face in tiny rivers. "You killed Aang!" Without even thinking, she raised her arms.

Azula's eyes widened as she suddenly found she couldn't move. A strange, prickling kind of pain began to grow under her skin and she didn't know why, but she was terrified.

"YOU KILLED AANG!!" Katara screamed at the top of her lungs. She spread her arms wide and Azula screamed as her blood—frozen into millions of razor sharp shards of ice—exploded out of her skin, shredding her body to pieces in an instant.

The sadness of loosing Aang was momentarily replaced by the horror of what everyone had just witnessed. "AZULA!!" screamed both Ty Lee and Mai. They dropped into battle stances, prepared to avenge their friend, but a glaring glance from Katara and they lost their courage, crying in mourning as they ran off into the darkness of the night.

Aang stood slowly, testing his equilibrium. He was amazed he was still in one piece.

When he fell he'd lost his grip on his new glider. After a moment of drifting in and out of consciousness his head cleared enough that he was able to use airbending to suck the glider to him. He opened it quickly and managed to stay awake just long enough to crash land onto a small ledge about halfway down the chasm.

He was a little shaky, but he had to risk flying. He had to let them know he was alright.

Toph was shifting her feet, trying to find Azula. "What happened?! Sokka! Sokka, tell me!"

Sokka couldn't answer. All he could do was stare at the mess on the ground that used to be the Fire Nation princess.

Zuko walked through the field of blood and body parts in a daze. There was nothing—nothing that could identify the parts as his sister. Not that he really cared about her, but she had been someone he'd known all his life. His foot hit something and he looked down. Half of Azula's chewed up face stared up at him with one eye. It was then that he vomited.

Toph walked to Katara slowly. She didn't like the way the ground felt. It squished between her toes and once in a while something sharp poked her feet. Once she was at her destination she knelt down. Katara was on the ground, shivering and crying for all she was worth. "Katara? What happened?" No answer. This was one of the few times she truly hated being blind. She'd heard Katara yelling that Aang had been killed but she couldn't see for herself whether it was true or not. And something else terrible had happened, but no one would tell her what. All she did know was there were a lot less people in the immediate area. Tears began to make their way down her face. She just felt...lost. No. Twinkle Toes can't be dead. He just can't!

Katara couldn't answer. It felt like no matter how hard she cried, it just wasn't enough. Aang, the boy she loved more than life itself, the most important person in the entire world to her, was gone. She wanted to die—wanted to dive over the cliff after Aang, but she didn't have the strength. "Aaaaang! Aaaaaang!" She cried over and over.

Sokka was crying over the loss of his friend, but his heart also went out to his sister. Never in his life had he heard a sadder sound than the loud, mournful wail that rose from her throat.

If he hadn't happened to glance toward the cliff he would have missed it. Even though Sokka was seeing it with his own eyes, he was almost sure he was hallucinating. Aang's glider had just cleared the top of the cliff and he was landing not far from Katara. "Aang..." he whispered in disbelief. Suddenly his eyes came to life and he began running. "AANG!" he yelled happily.

Toph looked up at Sokka's voice. "What?!"

"Katara! Aang's alive!" Sokka said as he reached them and shook Katara gently.

Katara could barely hear her brother. The pain in her heart was so great that it nearly blinded her to outside stimulus. But after a moment her mind clicked and she was suddenly sitting up. Her eyes widened to her full capacity as she saw Aang close his glider. "AANG!" In an instant she was running like her life depended on it. "Aang! Aang!" she yelled over and over again with a joy that overflowed her heart.

Toph and Sokka followed her. Everything—everything had been forgotten in the joy of that moment. Even Zuko allowed himself a slight smile. He wasn't all that fond of Katara, but he'd come to care a little about Aang as a friend and he was happy he wasn't gone.

"Aang!" Katara yelled again as she slammed into him and hugged him with all her might. "Aang, Aang, Aang!" All she could do was hug him, cry and chant his name in pure happiness. She felt alive again.

Aang smiled and closed his eyes. "Katara," he said softly as he stroked her hair. Before he knew it he was being hugged from all sides. "I'm so sorry I worried you all."

Sokka put a friendly arm around Aang's neck and pretended to choke him as he chuckled. "You knucklehead," he said as he gave him a brotherly kiss on the top of his head.

Toph grinned. "I knew you weren't dead, Twinkle Toes!"

Aang laughed but then his smile suddenly dropped from his face. His mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he stared at the gore that covered his field of vision. "What...happened here?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

As soon as Aang's words had left his mouth Katara's brain suddenly registered what she had done. Her expression fell as she stared with frightened eyes at her own handiwork. Her head jerked from side to side as she took in the sight of every bone, every organ, every puddle of blood. Her hands flew to the side of her head as though she were trying to block out some sound only she could hear. That sound...was her heart screaming.

Zuko, from his position a few feet away from the others, grimaced. He felt fairly useless in this whole situation and it was frustrating to him.

Aang's face was a mix of trepidation and confusion. He reached out a hand and touched Katara's shoulder. She slapped it away.

"Don't touch me!" she cried. "I'm a monster!" Katara couldn't help it. She felt disgusted with herself. She felt dirty—like she didn't deserve to have anyone near her ever again—and so she continued to cry.

Aang's confusion only increased at this display. He turned to Sokka. "What's going on?"

Sokka chewed on his lower lip, looked at Katara, looked at the body parts, and then looked down. "Everything on the ground around us...is Azula."

Aang's eyes became as wide as dinner plates as he resisted the urge to throw up. "How?" he whispered.

"We all thought you were dead," Sokka said sadly. "Katara got really angry—angrier than I've ever seen her and...she killed Azula." He didn't look up, but if he did he would have seen Aang's expression become one of pure shock and disbelief. "She used blood bending. I don't know how, but she forced Azula's blood out through her skin and..."

Sokka didn't finish, but Aang didn't need him to. He looked down at Katara now with understanding and pity. She was hurting so badly and he felt like it was his fault. "Katara," he said softly. He knelt down next to her. "I'm so sorry. If I'd stayed out of the fight like you wanted me too..."

"I killed her, Aang. I ripped her apart. How can you even look at me?!" Katara cried.

Aang threw his arms around her. After a moment of struggling she became limp in his arms and continued sobbing. "Katara...I could never stop looking at you. I care about you too much. You lost control because you thought I was...gone. I could never blame you for that."

Katara turned her head to one side to lay on Aang's chest. "I'm glad you don't hate me but...I still hate myself," she said, her voice full of sadness.

"I know it'll take you a while to feel better, but I want you to know that I'll be here to help you," Aang said as he held her just a bit tighter to show his support.

"We all will," Toph chimed in.

Sokka and Toph joined in the hug for a moment and then Sokka pulled away. "We should get her out of here."

Aang and Toph nodded. "Come on, Katara. We should go."

Katara nodded numbly and slowly, with Aang's help, got to her feet. As they walked toward Appa Zuko appeared beside them. "Katara?"

Katara stopped walking but turned her head away from him.

"Look—I know you hate me, so my advice probably doesn't mean much but..." Zuko paused for a moment, trying to find the words. "I know what you're going through. My first kill was an accident too."

Ever so slowly, Katara's face turned toward the Fire nation prince. She didn't speak, but her expression showed reluctant curiosity.

"When I was eleven I was training with some other children father had chosen to spar with me. One of the boys I was up against teased me about my mother leaving—said she must've been a traitor." Zuko swallowed down the sudden surge of anger at the memory. "It w

asn't long after she'd left so the pain was still fresh. I got angry and burned a hole through his heart."

Katara's hand flew to her mouth as a gasp escaped her lips and Aang winced.

"And the worst part of it all...was that was the first time my father had praised me. Praised me, for killing an innocent child," Zuko said through gritted teeth. "At least...at least your first kill was an enemy." With that, he turned around and walked away.

Katara watched him go. She still didn't care if he had been the one to fall over that cliff, but her hatred of him had subsided a bit. "Aang?"

"Yeah?" Aang said gently.

"Let's go," Katara said with the vaguest hint of a smile.

Aang smiled and nodded. They boarded Appa and flew off into the evening sky.

Well, that's it. Sorry to the Kataang people for denying you smoochies but I felt any kissing would've overshadowed the seriousness of what happened.

It's funny, but I thought of Katara using a technique like this looooooooooong before "Puppet master". I know it's gruesome but I truly see this as the full potential of the destructive power of water bending.

I doubt I'll be adding any more to this. I rather like where I ended it and anything else I added would just be to satisfy my need for romantic mush and smoochies so I think I'll leave it alone. Lol.

If anyone would like to use my high level blood bending technique you may, but I would love it if you linked me to the story. Also please credit me. :)

I hope you all liked it. Please review. Even short reviews make me happy. :D And please check out my other fics. I write Naruto, American Dragon, Inu Yasha and Harry Potter fics also. :)

To those of you waiting for the next chapter of COLAD: It is coming soon! I promise! I'm so sorry I'm late again. Things just seem to keep getting beyond my control. Not to mention I've had some writer's block, but I think I've figured things out. :D

Laters all,
Songbird21