Nighttime had always been her favorite time of the day. The cool breeze and quiet serenity of the darkness always made the day seem better.

On the beach where her father and the other men of her tribe were camped, she sat in the cool sand, trying to enjoy the sound of the waves washing lazily up on the moonlit sand.

Trying to keep to her mind off what had happened the day before.

Lightning.

Then the sickening realization of watching her best friend fall.

She turned her head away from the moon, barely containing a shuddering sob. It wasn't fair.

None of this was fair.

She hadn't even attempted to clean herself up after the fight. After they arrived here.

Her father had looked at her like he was seeing a ghost.

She didn't blame him. There was blood everywhere. Her water tribe clothes were stained crimson with her best friend's life force. The edges of her sleeves and skirt were burned and fraying from the fire blasts that she had narrowly escaped. Her hair was a tangled mess, partly from the fight, partly from the wind whipping through it as they had sped here as fast as they could.

She looked down at her arms and hands and realized bluntly that they too were covered in dried blood. Her stomach lurched suddenly and she was overcome with a sudden need to be cleared of the dark substance. Without thinking, she walked straight into the water she had been watching.

The salty waves rolled against her, but the high tide was calmer than the daytime swells. It wasn't enough to clear her of this horrible memory.

So she waded in deeper and bent a larger wave over herself. The temporary silence of the water was a blessing. Her mind had been running a mile a minute since they'd gotten to Chameleon Bay.

When she was satisfied that the blood was washed away, she walked back to shore and bent the remaining water out of her hair and clothes. The salt was still there, burning in the small cuts she hadn't noticed until now. She ignored the irritating sting and turned to look back at the campsite. Two of her father's men were standing guard, leaning lazily on their spears.

She sighed as her eyes followed the tents and fire burning low in the center of the beach. A dim light from a lantern shone through the main tent her father was in.

The one where Aang lay under a dark blue blanket, covered in white bandages and breathing slowly.

It suddenly became difficult to breathe as she pictured him there. She needed escape, somewhere to run to. Someone who wouldn't ask her if she was alright and send concerned glances her way.

On the far end of the beach, sleeping next to the beached ships, lay Appa. The air bison was laying on his side, his gigantic belly rising and falling in his sleep.

Katara watched her friend's animal companion roll over onto his stomach and groan in his sleep. She shook her head and began walking towards him. Over the past couple of months, she'd grown closer to Aang, and in turn, closer to the young avatar's bison.

She approached the great beast, careful to not wake him. But Appa sensed her coming and one of his eyes opened as she got closer. He heaved a great sigh, his huge head settling into the sand. Katara knew how he felt. She was going through the same thing.

She finally reached out and ran her hand through the fur over his eye, which closed with her contact.

"Hey, Appa."

The sky bison rumbled a sad reply. The air around him vibrating with it. Katara buried her face in his fur, hugging him awkwardly.

She breathed in the earthy smell and bit her lip, trying to clear her mind. Appa shifted in response and pressed his head against her. The tears that she had worked so hard to contain finally rolled down her face. Appa made a low sound in the back of his throat, rumbling against her in comfort and sorrow. She buried her face in the warm soft fur and sobbed her heart out.

Images of Aang , lifeless in her arms, came flashing back. Cutting her deeper every time.

"I-I almost lost him Appa…" she managed between sobs. The aching returned in her heart sfrom that moment- those awful seconds where she'd watched the glow from the spirit water fade and had felt her breath catch when there was no reply- that same anguish ripped through her chest now as she clung to Appa.

Appa rumbled again in reply, the sound of it mournful and low.

"We almost lost him…" she corrected, running her hand through the thick fur. Appa's breath scattered the sand around his nose. Katara shut her eyes to the moonlight. Yue couldn't help her now. She was so lost, and tired… and Aang wasn't waking up any time soon.

When she'd asked Toph to help her carry Aang off of Appa when they arrived, she'd been numb to the questioning stares from her father, Bato, and the other men of her tribe. They recognized her, and the unconscious boy in her arms, whose head lay tucked under her chin, instinctively curled against her in his sleep.

Her father had made a move to help her when her strength had faltered as she'd stepped off the earthen platform, but he was met with cold eyes.

Anger...

and a hurt so deep it reminded him of the day he'd lost his wife. The expression on his 8 year old daughter 's face mirrored 6 years later.

Katara was angry with her father. Angry that so many people in her life kept leaving her. Terrified that she'd lose Aang and what remained of her family. But mostly angry that no one was there to help her when she'd needed them the most.

So she'd taken it out on her dad and barely registered the surprised looks on Bato and Sokka's faces. She ignored them and let Bato lead her to the main tent, where one of the men skilled in healing helped her clean the Avatar up.

When she was sure Aang was stable after countless hours, she'd walked out to the shoreline, barely aware that her brother was explaining everything to their father just meters away at the campfire.

That's where she'd started. Staring out at the ocean, her element.

And now the only person who could comfort her wasn't even human.

Appa settled into the sand as she dropped to her knees, her hands still gripping tufts of fur above his eyes. The great sky bison nudged her with the side of his head, trying in his own way to reach out to her.

"I know, Appa. He'll be fine. He has to be," she assured, her voice cracking from disuse and emotion.

Appa sighed in reply and she released her grip on his fur, her hands wiping at her tired eyes.

Momo appeared over the side of the saddle and chattered questioningly. Appa groaned in reply and Momo flew down, landing in the young water tribe girl's lap. The lemur's ears drooped as she'd sadly smiled at him, scratching his favorite spot behind his ears.

He curled up against her and she sighed, leaning her forehead onto the side of Appa's head.

It always seemed that the two animal companions of their group were the best listeners. Sokka had said once that he thought they knew exactly what humans were saying and could read emotions better than humans themselves. She agreed with him now.

She wanted to be close to Appa, because of the connection between the bison and Aang. That little bit of stability and reassurance was comfort enough.

She yawned suddenly, realizing that she'd spent the whole night awake. She glanced back over at the campsite and realized the guard had already changed for the early morning shift. She sighed and gently picked up the sleeping lemur from her lap, placing him on Appa's forearm, where he curled up into a fuzzy ball.

She ran her hand over Appa's fur again as the bison stared at her. She smiled despondently at him in response and walked back to the camp. The guard closest to where she had been nodded at her, which she returned tiredly.

The light from inside the main tent had long since burned out, so she relied on the moonlight to guide her into the place where the sleeping Avatar lay on his side, propped up to keep the lightning wound on his back aired out.

A slit in the fabric of the tent allowed some light to shine through and disperse, illuminating her young friend in a soft light. She swallowed painfully and approached him. She was relieved to see his chest still moving under the blanket.

A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead into the pillow below. She kneeled and reached for a cloth, dipping it into the bowl of water beside the mat. Katara wiped it gently over Aang's forehead, trying to cool him down. The Avatar mumbled in his sleep, his eyelids squeezed shut as his eyebrows furrowed together in pain.

The waterbender's breath caught in her throat. She hated seeing him like this. It was far worse than when he'd slipped into the Avatar State in the desert. At least she could comfort him there. Now, she had to only hope her efforts keeping him stable and in minimal pain were working.

She moved to the other side of the mat and unwrapped the bandage on the wound in his back. The severity of the burn made her feel sick. She bent a stream of water out of the bowl and placed it on the wound, covering her hands and the lightning wound in a blue light.

Aang groaned loudly and her heart stopped again.

"-tara."

She pulled her hands away, releasing the water from her control. It soaked into the mat, ignored. Katara gently flipped him over on his back, placing some larger bandages under him. He groaned again.

"Shh, Aang it's ok. It's me. It's Katara."

He moaned loudly, trying to move, obviously in pain. Katara placed her hands on his shoulders, keeping him still, preventing him from reopening the burn on his grabbed the wet cloth from earlier, wiping his face, which was twisted in pain again. Tears trailed down her face, unnoticed by the concerned waterbender.

Aang suddenly tensed up, his back arching in pain. He cried out in pain, and Katara fought to keep him from hurting himself.

When he calmed, Katara covered her hands in water, running them over his torso, searching for the source of his pain.

"K-k….ara"

She looked up at his face to find his eyes cracked open slightly. He had a glazed look in his eyes, like he wasn't completely there. She smiled sadly, "Hey Aang."

"….t hurts," he mumbled, "where…we…" He was slipping back into unconsciousness. His body shutting down from the pain. She worked harder to find the problem, but he slipped back into sleep despite her efforts. She sighed.

She finished trying to heal him, rewrapped the bandages, and tossed the dirtied water out the front flap of the tent quietly. Then returned to Aang's side and watched him sleep.

He'd at least responded to her. So that was good. He had to be exhausted.

She was exhausted, but that didn't matter. She'd stay up with him forever if need be. She'd do anything for him. He was her best friend.

Almost losing him shook her to the core.

She couldn't deny loved him, and there was no way she was going to live without him now.

He was her everything.

An orange glow started lighting up the tent slowly. So, she was probably going to regret staying up all night with Aang, but at least she'd made sure he was ok.

Her eyes fought with her, begging her to sleep, but she managed to stay awake, watching Aang as the light grew brighter and the noise started from the warriors around her waking up.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by Bato walking into the room, with an armful of blue cloth. He was startled to see her.

"Oh, Katara. I didn't know you were in here. Sorry." He laid the cloth down by the entrance and turned to walk out, sending her a concerned look over his shoulder. She ignored it and curled her arms around her knees.

Sokka was the next one to enter the room, not much later. He had a bowl in one hand and a water skin in the other. His hair was out of its normal ponytail and dark circles marked under his eyes. He hadn't gotten any sleep either apparently. The look of concern on his face mirrored Bato's.

He set the bowl and water skin down beside Aang and sat down, cross-legged, facing Katara. He sighed loudly and held out the water skin to her. She took it and nodded, thanking him before taking a drink.

The siblings sat in silence. Sokka watched his sister as she looked at Aang. She looked worse than he did. Her hair was wild and her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and crying too much.

"Katara…"

TO BE CONTINUED...