Broken and Fixed

There was blood everywhere. It soaked her hands, her clothes, even her hair. She tired to wipe it away, but it just seemed that more appeared the next instant. Someone gasped nearby, coughing wetly, and she turned. Sokka lay in a growing pool of blood. Toph and Aang lay unmoving further away. Katara fell to her knees, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't call water to her or stop the blood that poured from the half-cauterized slash that crossed her brother's torso.

"Katara," he gasped, sounding completely unlike himself, "it's your turn to keep watch."

"What?" she asked in confusion. "But Toph and Aang are dead! What happened? There's blood everywhere!"

"—keep watch," Sokka repeated.

Someone grabbed her by the arms and she woke with a half-formed scream in her throat. The first thing she saw were gold eyes reflecting in the pale moonlight. She lashed out in surprise, fist connecting with the figure's face. They staggered back with a cry of pain, pale hands immediately rising up to ward off further blows, and Katara gasped in recognition.

"What are you doing, Zuko?" she demanded, guilt making her cheeks heat and her words sharp.

A candle nearby burst to life and Katara had to blink to adjust her eyes to the sudden brightness. He was half-turned from her, clutching his nose and muttering curses under his breath. He jerked back to face her when she moved and she gaped at him. Reflexive tears filled the firebender's eyes, though he was blinking rapidly to clear them. It took several seconds for Zuko to speak, his hands still clasped over his face, "It's your turn to keep watch."

She stared at him in bemusement, the words oddly familiar though she was having trouble placing them at the moment. Zuko used her silence to pull his hands away and examine his palms. He winced. Her eyes sharpened on his face and gasped, "You're bleeding!"

"Of course I am," he snapped at her, smearing blood across his cheeks as he tried to wipe it away. "You punched me in the face!"

"I didn't mean to," she said, rising to her feet. Zuko sniffled, grimacing in distaste. Katara snatched his hands away when he went to wipe the blood away again, reprimanding, "Don't do that. Let me."

Her hands lifted to his face and he flinched back violently, eyeing her warily. Katara stared at him in shock. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said. When Zuko rolled his eyes, she added, "Again."

Zuko's lips pressed together and he kept himself still when she again reached for him. She gently took his face between her hands and traced careful fingers over his cheeks and then down his nose. Concentrating on the faint pulse of blood that flowed and pooled beneath his skin, she frowned.

"It's broken," Katara said apologetically.

Zuko's eyes were closed and she felt the muscles in his jaw tense before he spoke, "You have quite a punch."

His words surprised a laugh out of her. "It's a good thing I can fix what damage I've done."

His eyes cracked open a little and he looked down at her. Blood stood in stark contrast to the paleness of his skin and Katara cleaned it away with a flick of her fingers. Blood still trickled from his nose and down his chin, but she concentrated on mending the broken cartilage and stemming the flow of blood.

"How did you learn to heal?" he mumbled.

"I learned by necessity," she said absently, placing her thumbs alongside his nose. Katara felt Zuko's nose snap back into place and he winced. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he grunted, wrinkling his nose.

She tilted her head, examining his nose with a critical eye. "How does it feel? I'm pretty sure it's straight."

His eyes flew open and he pulled his face from her hands, his own hands rising in alarm. "What?"

Katara caught his wrists before he could smear blood across his face again. "I'm just kidding, Zuko. It's as fine a nose as you've always had."

She called a stream of water from the jug in the corner of her room and washed his hands clean, dumping the dirtied water outside the window. Zuko gingerly felt the bridge of his nose, enquiring, "Can you heal anything? You mentioned healing before."

He didn't mention when that "before" was, but Katara knew he meant when they were imprisoned in the catacombs below Ba Sing Se. He touched the large scar around his eye and then dropped his hands. Katara's brow furrowed and she once again examined the old scar. It was deeply shadowed in the dim light of the candle, which made it look even more terrible. She reached to absently clasp where the vial used to hang around her neck. Her fingers closed around nothing and she sighed. "I don't know if I can heal scars. Scars are wounds that have already healed. I offered before because I had water from the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole. I'm not even sure if it would've worked."

Zuko nodded as if he'd expected as much, watching the habitual movement of her hand. "What happened to the water?"

Katara looked away. "I used it to heal Aang after Azula struck him with lightning."

She almost missed the flash of guilt that appeared on the firebender's face before he turned away. "He needed it more than me, anyway. I'm glad you didn't waste it." He headed for the door, saying almost offhandedly, "Thank you for fixing my nose."

"Zuko," Katara called before he could disappear out her door. He paused, looking back at her. To his surprise, she crossed the room and enveloped him in a tight hug.

"You are a good friend," she told him, "to all of us."

He stiffened under her touch and it took a few heartbeats for him to hesitantly return the hug. His heart leapt beneath her cheek and she gave him another tight squeeze. The hug was brief and Zuko was quick to release her and step out of her arms. Katara smiled at his awkwardness, watching him tug restlessly on his tunic and absently ruffle his hair. Katara laughed quietly, shooing him off with a little wave. "Get some rest; I'll stand watch until it's time to wake Sokka."

The firebender nodded, but accompanied her out to the wide portico that faced the beach anyway. They'd deemed it was the best vantage point to spot any potential surprise attacks. Toph had chosen a room at the front of the beach house and she bragged that Crazy would never sneak up on her again. Zuko shuffled in the doorway, watching Katara stroll across the portico and seat herself on the banister. He put his hand on the doorpost and hesitantly asked, "Do you want company?"

Katara quickly shook her head, wriggling to find a comfortable position that she'd settle into for the next three hours. "No. I'll be fine on my own. You lost some blood so you should rest."

"It wasn't that much," he told her, approaching the rail to glance out at the silent beach that glistened in the waning moonlight.

She laid a hand on his arm, smiling gratefully. "Just sleep, Zuko. And be careful of your nose. It's healed, but it's still tender."

He ducked his head, touching his nose as if to check that it was, indeed, healed. They subsided into a companionable silence that only broke when Katara nudged him and gave him a flat look. Zuko startled out of wherever his thoughts were drifting and turned to look at the waterbender sitting on the rail next to her. To her surprise, he dipped down and brushed a barely there kiss against her cheek.

"Good night," he murmured, swiftly turning on his heel and vanishing into the beach house.

Katara resolutely turned away from watching the empty space where the firebender stood, firmly telling herself that the rush of heat in her cheeks was from the warmth of the breeze. The racing of her heart was definitely from her nightmare. A certain firebender had nothing to do with any of it.

AN: I always said I'd rewrite the #026 Blood prompt (chapter 3). I actually have several under this prompt, but this is the one I've chosen to upload. The others are rather... I guess bloody is the best way I can describe them.