Edit: Oh, I had posted this earlier but I forgot some details…and had to take it down! whooopsssssss

Aang was in the midst of practicing his earthbending to distract himself when he noticed a shadow pass overhead and he glanced up knowingly. The sight of his best friend, Appa, greeted him and he knew that Katara and Zuko had finally returned. He quickly dropped his hands and moved the earth back into its original state before making his way over to the direction he had seen them descend.

By the time he reached their location, Zuko had already jumped down from Appa's saddle and was giving Katara a helping hand.

"Katara! Zuko!" Aang happily shouted to them, relieved in more ways than one to see his friends back safely.

Katara immediately brightened at hearing Aang's voice and greeted him with a hug once he was close enough. Aang returned the gesture before pulling back to regard both Katara and Zuko.

"How did… uh…?" he questioned nervously, still remembering how Katara had reacted when he had tried to talk her out of her revenge.

Katara sighed, and Aang took notice at how drained she looked.

"We found him and I had him exactly where I wanted," she closed her fist angrily, "But I couldn't do it. Even after all that he had done, after how many people I'm sure he has hurt, I couldn't do it. I'm not sure if it was because I was strong enough not to, or if it was because I wasn't strong enough to."

Aang gave her a smile. "I'm proud of you Katara, you did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step to healing."

"Thank you, Aang," Katara said before she took a deep breath and then sighed. She then turned to Zuko, giving him an apologetic smile. "And thank you, Zuko. For giving me the chance at closure."

"I'm glad I could help," Zuko nodded and then gestured towards the direction of camp. "I'm going to go check on my sister. She didn't do anything while we were gone, did she Aang?"

Aang immediately glanced away and then gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, funny you should ask that…"

/-/-/-/-/

Azula shifted slightly and then regretted it immediately as a stab of pain shot through her body.

'Bad idea," she thought to herself. Her arm twitched and she bit back a groan.

"Hey," a familiar voice called out to her and she lifted her head to glance over at the entrance of the tent where she could see the top of Toph's unruly hair. "You doing okay there, clumsy feet?"

"Oh yeah," she responded sarcastically through gritted teeth, ignoring the nickname that was an obvious jab to her pride. "Just…. Peachy."

"Yeah," Toph agreed, "you sound great." She gave Azula a smirk which she was sure the other girl couldn't see. "Good news though. Katara and Zuko are back."

"Sounds… exciting. Are we… going to throw them a party?" Azula asked despite her pain.

Toph laughed. "Of course." There was a shift of cloth as Toph disappeared from Azula's view, leaving her alone once more.

She lowered her head and exhaled slowly, careful of her ribs. She then closed her eyes tiredly.

She had almost drifted off to sleep when she heard low voices arguing outside the tent. She tried her best to ignore them and had almost succeeded until someone mentioned her name and she jolted awake in response. Her sudden movement caused a cry of pain to escape her lips before she could stifle it and the voices stopped immediately. She then heard the tent rustle slightly.

"Hey, you awake, Azula?"

She opened one eye and peered over to glare at her brother. Despite her prone position on the floor, she managed to convey her annoyance quite well. He looked at her sheepishly and she grunted in response. He paused a bit before he stepped back, vanishing outside the tent once more. It wasn't long until she heard the conversation continue. Now that she was more awake she realized it sounded like the waterbender and Toph were arguing but she wasn't sure. A few more words were exchanged before it quieted down and she kept her sight at the entrance, waiting to see who would enter and tell her what was happening.

She was surprised when it was the dark-skinned girl that pushed through the tent moments later. They regarded each other carefully, as if unsure how to handle one another.

Finally, tiring of the silence, Azula spoke first.

"Is there something you need?" she asked coolly. She tried to sound intimidating but such a task was difficult when one was lying on their back.

Katara looked over at her and then she shook her head slowly.

"No…" her voice tapered off and she sighed. "Aang and Toph explained to me what happened."

"Then… you came here to laugh at me?" Azula questioned. It didn't seem like the waterbender was going to heal her and she wouldn't be the one admitting she needed help.

"No!" Katara sighed again and then moved over until she was standing over Azula. Her blue eyes stared down at her and she looked at the other girl critically. "I'm doing this as a favor to Zuko, because he helped me. And, because Aang asked me to. I still don't like you, and I will never forgive you." She kneeled down slowly. "However," and here she lifted one of Azula's injured arms. "I'll never turn my back on an injured person, regardless of where they're from or who they are."

Azula eyed her suspiciously but stopped herself from telling the waterbender where she could take that self-sacrificing attitude of hers. She would do that later. After she was fully healed. Preferably in an area without any earth and where Toph wouldn't be within hearing range.

"Really…" her voice drawled out instead and she stiffened as Katara uncapped the water flask at her side. She could still remember the poor attempt the Avatar had made, trying his hand at first aid. It hadn't been very successful; her still present injuries were a clear example of that.

"It'll sting for a bit," Katara stated as she gathered the familiar water into her hands. She glanced at Azula, asking for permission to start. The other girl looked at her briefly, wondering if she had any ill intentions. A throb of pain relinquished such thoughts and she figured that if the waterbender wanted to kill her, she hoped it would at least be quick and painless. Probably not. She gave a slight nod.

It was quiet in the tent as Katara tended to Azula's wounds. Neither had anything to say even as the uncomfortable silence filled the air. This continued until Katara moved to heal Azula's ribs and the firebender winced as she felt her bones shift slightly; it didn't exactly hurt but it was a strange sensation.

"It'll be uncomfortable at first, especially when the bones move back into place," Katara explained and then gave a hesitant smile as if trying to comfort her. Azula merely closed her eyes and tried to ignore the other girl. Katara scowled.

Azula was sure she heard the waterbender mutter something about her being an 'ungrateful brat' but she pushed away her annoyance and concentrated on not cringing as she felt more bones reallocate. She grudgingly had to admit though, at least Katara knew what she was doing.

Gradually, Azula felt the fatigue settle in as the pain subsided bit by bit. Even as she tried to fight it, all the events from the days past were starting to catch up to her and her body relaxed despite her best efforts to stay awake.

Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, a random thought occurred to her: she was letting her guard down in front of a watertribe peasant, something her old self would never have done, ever. This abruptly woke her up.

"Relax," the waterbender called out in an unidentifiable voice, "the bones won't set right if you tense up like that."

This tone of voice gave Azula the impulsive urge to defy the waterbender and to attack her. She opened her eyes with the clear intent of burning the other girl but froze as icy blue eyes glared down at her with an intensity that spoke of years full of hate and resentment.

She relaxed suddenly. The familiarity of being hated soothed her wounded soul and she looked at Katara with expectant eyes, waiting for the accusation that was bound to come.

"You know," Katara spoke finally, her voice surprisingly even, "that day Zuko tried to save you, and at first you had refused to take his hand?" she chuckled darkly. "I had secretly wished you would have continued refusing and then plummeted to your death." Katara sighed and moved her hands away. The water almost immediately splashed onto the floor as Katara turned her attention back to Azula.

"You're no different than my mother's killer. You killed Aang in cold blood; shot him with lightning despite the fact of how much he means to the world! How much he means to us…and, to me." She wiped at the tears that had fallen and continued to glare down at the injured girl. "If you had died, that would have been perfect, you know? A life for a life…" and her voice trailed off as she clenched her fists angrily.

Azula was suddenly reminded of a child, of someone who had all at once figured out that the world wasn't fair and that they couldn't understand why. She unexpectedly felt old and laughed quietly at this thought.

Katara took this the wrong way and opened her mouth to yell but stopped when she realized the golden eyes looking up at her suddenly looked so tired.

"Yeah," Azula agreed softly and gave Katara a self-depreciating smile. "I'm sure a lot of people would have liked that."

This was an unpredicted response and Katara seemed lost at the other girl's admissions. She paused and then turned away from the eyes that spoke with honest truth. She reached over, bended the water up from the ground, and without once looking back at Azula's face, returned to the task at hand.

Silence filled the tent once again and Azula closed her eyes as exhaustion washed over her, her earlier anger having left as fast as it had arrived. Before long, her breathing evened out and she had fallen asleep.

Katara watched her for a moment and then with a quick flick of her wrist returned the water back to the container and capped it. For now, she had done all she could but Azula would need a few more sessions until she would be healed completely. Physically, anyway.

The waterbender stood, took one last look at the sleeping figure and then exited the tent, feeling a myriad of emotions running through her mind at their exchange.

Author's Note: it's hard not using the same words over and over again. I need to strengthen my vocab or something and what's thisss? Katara might be warming up to Azula?

No! I am the rightful heir to the throne! Honorrrrrrrrrr