The reason that this isn't with the rest of my oneshots is because I felt it was a little bit more... er, serious. I worked so hard on this and hopefully you will be able to tell. Azula is completely out of character. This is my first time trying something like this and I just want to see how it goes. This was really hard for me though it seems to be so simple for some others. I've read a lot of fics like this, but a lot of people go too far for me. So I wanted to write this, but tried not to take it too far for people like me, though it's still pretty serious. So please... er... just check out my attempt I guess. Oh! And please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. Breathing. It was something he now had to remind himself to do.

Aang forced him self to roll onto his side and pushed himself to his knees, breathing deeply. His arms shook with his weight leaning on top of them, and finally they collapsed and he was back on the floor.

His eyes wanted to close and his body was begging him to let it sleep. But Aang wouldn't allow himself to fall sleep for fear he would forget to remind himself to breathe.

Tears ran up to his eyes but he didn't make a move to wipe them away. He was being tortured here, but at least everyone else was safe. For the most part anyway.

He knew he needed to get away. He had to help everyone, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could handle the pain being dealt him. Though "handle" wasn't exactly a choice word. More like "barely live through".

He heard a creak and instinctively closed his eyes, using what was left of his strength to push himself into a ball on the far wall and burying his face in his arms.

He shuddered as the footsteps came closer, feeling incredibly weak and angry with himself. But the best he could do was hide the weakness in his face and keep his mouth shut when they tried to get a tormented sound to come from it.

"How's my favorite prisoner?" a sharp female voice asked. One he had become acquainted with all to well.

Aang stayed silent, leaning on the wall to try and give himself the appearance of being more supported.

"Well?"

Still nothing. He clenched his teeth, preparing himself for what he knew was coming.

"I'm running out of patience." She hissed. And indeed she was. Aang made a mental note that she didn't even sound like herself anymore and shuddered.

Without warning Aang felt a hot flare hit his side. He yelped and then clenched his teeth once again.

"Answer."

Still nothing.

The next moment Aang had to hold his breath to keep from crying out. His entire body felt as if it was on fire, and a terrible smell drifted from every new burn. He vaguely realized that this might be the last hit his body would be able to take before he hit the ground, immediately unconscious.

Aang woke up when he felt ice-cold water splash over the top half of his body. Despite the cold there was a moment's relief from the burns. Katara…was the first word that went through his head. Then he opened his eyes and realized where he was.

He didn't move for several moments, and when he did he felt a wave of pain cover every inch of his body. Tears ran to his eyes though he tried to hold them down. There had to be something he could do.

"Aang?"

Aang's eyes opened groggily until he could see Katara looking down at him. He stared at her face, tears in her eyes, and then turned swiftly away. "No." he muttered.

He knew it wasn't really Katara. His mind was playing tricks on him again. He had been locked up too long. That or being tortured so much was making its way to his mind. Either way, Aang had a habit of looking up and seeing Katara instead of his captors.

"Aang." She said softly.

"No!" Aang pushed himself away from her to the wall.

"Aang, it's me."

"No!" he repeated placing his hands on his ears. Then he repeated the word quietly to himself. "No. No. No. No. No."

"Aang."

Aang opened his eyes shakily. He wanted so much to believe it, and she looked so solid. So real. "No…."

"Aang… it's me. Really."

Aang felt his arms reach towards her without his consent. His whole body shook with the effort.

Katara smiled and ran towards him, arms outstretched as well. Aang felt his heart speed up as she collapsed into his arms.

And then she was gone.

Aang's arms stayed up, holding onto thin air. Then the effort became too much and he dropped his arms to his knees, burying his face in them and sobbing.

Aang awoke to another splash of cold water. This seemed to have become a reoccurring practice for some reason Aang didn't understand.

"Breakfast."

Aang's eyes widened. "Breakfast" was a word not often used around him any more. He pushed himself up shakily and looked around to see a guard standing beside the door with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh…. So that worked did it."

Aang looked at the floor, upset at himself for falling for it. Of course it wasn't true.

"Aang."

He looked back up.

Katara was in front of him with a smile and an outstretched hand.

"No…." Aang covered his ears and pushed away from the guard. "No."

The guard blinked. The boy never talked and now he seemed almost crazy. "O-Okay…." He exited, closing the door tightly behind him and leaving the bucket previously full of water with Aang.

Aang closed his eyes tightly, willing his stomach to settle. He stared at the bucket for a moment, then crawled forward and emptied a meager amount of what was left in his stomach into it.

"Good morning." A voice said strongly, its happiness mocking him. "How are you feeling?"

'That should be obvious.' His brain hissed angrily as he wiped his mouth on his arm.

"Answer the question."

Aang pulled his knees up, and then pushed himself to the other side of the cell, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Aang heard the cell door open and stiffened. Instinctively he curled around himself. Protecting the parts of his body he felt could take no more.

The next moment Aang exhaled in shock as he was slammed to the ground, Azula's hand on his chest, warm from the fire flowing through her veins.

Azula's glare penetrated through Aang's shocked gaze then turned into a sneer. Aang's gaze stayed on hers as suddenly her hand began slowly heating up. He gasped and shut his eyes cutting off the connection as finally the burn tore through the skin.

Hot liquid seeped up and through Azula's fingers and she got her wish, as Aang let out a strangled cry, tears running to his eyes because of the pain.

His hands clenched into fists at his side as he desperately tried to form a flame to fight back with. Azula felt the small heat flare Aang managed to produce at her side, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.

Azula smirked and allowed the fire in her hand to lose some of its heat without going out completely. She lowered her lips carefully to his ear and whispered, "Where are your friends Avatar? Why aren't they here yet? How do you know that we don't already have them?"

Aang clenched his teeth and turned away, feeling the hot liquid pour over his chest and sides. The words she continued to hiss stung nearly as much as his chest did.

"Guess they assumed that the Avatar could take care of himself. But they were wrong, weren't they?"

Aang wanted desperately to prove her wrong, but couldn't find the strength to do anything.

Azula pulled back, allowing her hand to linger and heat up at the last second, as if to emphasize her point.

Aang's gaze was watery and unfocused as he tried to get a grip on the world around him. Azula's hand heated temporarily again, and Aang gasped shakily and clenched his eyes, more tears running to the surface.

He could no longer get a grip on anything around him, but the voice above him was unmistakable.

"Lock him up."

As if they really needed to in the state he was in. Aang heard feet around him and held down whimpers as he felt the hands pulling him up touch the raw flesh on parts of his body.

His hands were raised and cuffed, but it really made no difference.

"I'll stop, when you tell me to."

Aang barely had time to register the meaning of the comment before a long jet of fire slashed across his front. He let out a shocked cry and then bit his lip, finally realizing what she meant.

He quickly debated with himself whether to speak and give into her or to keep his tongue where it was and just hope the pain ended soon. The second seemed ridiculous and prideful, he was sure it would be better to just have it over with. But if he did give in then there was no telling that she would even honor her word, and it would mean that the Avatar was giving into the fire-nation.

There was little he could do in a cell, completely exhausted with his hands cuffed to the wall, and the fire-nation princess bearing upon him. So he decided that he would do what he could, and the fire-nation wasn't going to kill the world's last hope.

So for the next hour or so, Aang gritted his teeth and held his breath, praying that as each minute passed it would be the last one of torment.

"He's-He…well… that way." The guard finished pathetically.

Katara pushed past him with the rest of the crew right behind her. They had gotten inside as soon as they could, which unfortunately had been a while considering where Aang was being kept. He was the Avatar, and the security was intense.

The entire group was sweaty, dirty, and tired. But they were so close now.

Katara pushed past another guard. After so many hours they were finally in front of the room where she was sure Aang was being kept.

Katara froze the locks one after another and then broke each lock into pieces. Within moments, the door lay open before her.

On the ground, curled around himself, was Aang. Katara faltered for a moment. She almost didn't recognize him. His head was covered in a short crop of brown hair, singed in places. His arms and legs were covered harsh burns, and his outfit couldn't even be considered an outfit anymore. It was falling apart.

She stood still, an intense guilt building through her chest, then tears sprang to her eyes and she ran forward.

"Aang!"

Aang looked up blindly and felt his heart constrict tightly in pain. "No…." He put his hands on either side of himself, pushing as far way from her as he could. "No!"

"Aang!" Katara fell to her knees beside him with tears running down her face. He looked so alone. So lost and hurt.

"No. No." he repeated, his voice scared and strained. He put his hands out and pushed.

Katara wondered what on earth he could be doing. Why was he pushing away from her?

"S-Stop. Please." He broke into fresh tears, trying to get the image of Katara to go away.

"Aang." She said softly. "It's me."

"No!" he sobbed. "This isn't real! This isn't real! G-Go away…! Please, just go away!"

"Aang!" Katara jumped forward, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "It's me Aang. It's me. It's really me." she whispered desperately.

He continued sobbing, and Katara felt tears run to her eyes to join him. She wasn't sure what else to do so she pulled him closer, running her fingers delicately over the thin line of hair on his head.

Finally Aang stopped struggling. Katara wasn't sure if it was because he believed her, or because he just physically couldn't anymore.

"I'm here." She whispered softly.

Aang let out a low shaky sigh and relaxed into her grasp, all the tears suppressed for weeks forcing themselves out.

"Aang, we have to go." Katara whispered carefully. "We…We don't have long."

Aang nodded, but Katara could feel the way his body drooped over hers that he just didn't have any strength left.

She stood, holding Aang's arm over her shoulder and started towards the door. It was agonizingly slow work. But finally Katara led him out of the room and down the hall.

When they reached the others, Aang was closed to passing out on her shoulder. The other three ran forward, helping Aang off of Katara. It was at this point that Aang passed out completely.

"Aang…? Aang…? Aang?"

Aang groaned and attempted to sit up but Katara's soft hands on his shoulder forced him back down.

"You need to rest."

Aang didn't answer. His mouth felt dry and his muscles were weak. He wasn't sure any words would come from his lips anyway.

"I'm going to go get everybody." She said quickly standing.

"No…." Aang was surprised that the word came out of his mouth. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he had actually spoken. He reached out and grabbed her wrist on impulse, instantly regretting it as a sharp pain raced up his spine. "What happened?" he asked weakly.

Katara sat back down softly, looking nervously between his eyes. "You were hurt. Badly."

"A-After that…."

"We retreated."

Aang groaned again. "No…."

"The only reason we came was to get you. We were lucky to make it out at all. But, you've already defeated Fire Lord Ozai. And Azula's… she's gone. It's over."

"So… how long have I been out?" he asked. He didn't seem to hear her. But his voice sounded scared, as if he were afraid to delve to deep into the topic.

"A few days."

"That's it?" he muttered. "I thought after Azula…. This seemed so much worse."

"It was."

"Then… what happened?"

"I don't know." She answered truthfully. "At least it wasn't lightning."

"That was almost better…. At least it was quick." His voice was still scratchy. Unused.

Katara bit her lip. "Aang?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you up for a healing session?"

He nodded. "I think so."

Katara sat on the bed beside him and helped him up, then started unraveling all of his bandages.

."K-Katara?" Aang paused and looked at his shoulders, where Katara's hands had stopped.

"Yes?"

He looked back up nervously. "I-It's over?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

Katara looked between his frightful eyes and smiled softly, pulling Aang to her so that he wouldn't see the tears forcing themselves down her cheeks. They were tears of relief that the war was over and happiness to finally have Aang back with them. But also tears of sadness at the state her friend was in. "Yes, Aang. It's over."

Aang realized that his burns and cuts didn't hurt when she touched them and wondered how much time she had spent healing him. He allowed himself to lean on her and whimpered softly, letting out the pent up emotions. He didn't need to think about that. He was with Katara now, and Sokka and Toph. The war was over. Aang hardly believed the words, but the comfort that came was amazing. Aang heard a strange sound from his stomach and let out perhaps his first weak laugh in weeks. "Katara… I'm really hungry."

Katara laughed softly as well and pulled back. Aang could see the tears in her eyes and squinted, feeling guilty at the pain he must have caused her.

"I guessed you would be, so Sokka and Zuko helped me make this." Katara stood and made her way to the corner of the room, bringing back a small tray of food.

Aang stared at it as she walked back over. "Zuko?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Yeah well… He's proved himself." Katara said shortly. She no sooner set the tray before him, then Aang dug into it, not really caring what it was as long as it would fill his stomach.

Katara smiled sadly and watched him, then absently reached up and slipped her fingers into his now clean hair.

Aang stopped with something that resembled a roll half-way to his mouth. He felt his cheeks go warm, and glanced up at the hand in his hair.

Katara noticed that Aang had stopped his rather furious eating session, and brought her hand back to her waist quickly, a blush staining her cheeks. "Um… I'll go get the others. They'll want to know you're awake."

Aang watched her go and after a moment, remembered the food in his outstretched hand, and brought it to his mouth. He saw a mirror in the corner, and shakily raised himself so he could see. The bandages were gone now and he could see exactly what Azula and the rest of the guards had done to him. He grimaced and looked away from the mirror and down at himself, wondering just how bad he had looked before Katara had began her long healing sessions.

Finally he felt the strength in his legs give way, and he dropped back onto the bed. The tray was still present, and Aang quickly finished off what was left. Just as the last bit of food entered his mouth, Aang heard voices nearing his door. Feet running excitedly over the concrete and a short gasps of happy laughter.

He smiled and pulled himself to his feet. It was good to be home.

There! This is my first time trying to write something like this so please review! Yes, I am desperate, but please just review anyway. And if you decide not to. thanks for just checking it out and reading it!