Beneath the Alder Tree- Chapter 7: Fighting

Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA

When the trees began to stir, Katara jumped to her feet, heart racing, mind flying through what may come breaking from the trees. But no one emerged. She remained standing alone with Sokka, silver light glistening around them. The time when Lu Ten and Iroh were supposed to arrive was drawing near, the moon high above my branches.

No word was coming on the wind of what was happening in the village making me just as uneasy as the girl. The minutes seemed to take hours; the wait tormenting.

Sokka moved closer to Katara, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. They'll make it," he said softly to her as sure as he was the sun would rise the next day.

"I hope you're right," his sister whispered in response, eyes still on the woods.

Sokka's eyes remained on her.

"You know, Katara, this may not turn out for the best," he said.

"You've already voiced your concern, Sokka. Don't worry I will follow through on my obligations," she replied evenly, no emotion entering her voice.

"That's not what I meant, Tara," Sokka sighed. "If Zuko is as badly wounded as Iroh thinks, you know how fast infection can take hold. There may not be…"

"No!" She cut him off. "I will heal him no matter what. You know my ability. Don't question it," she stated firmly, almost challengingly.

Sokka's face hardened. He took Katara by the shoulders turning her to face him. "Listen, Katara, I don't want you hurt any more than you are. Do you know how much you've worried Dad and I? You don't eat, barely sleep. This is not about you marrying Aang. This is me wanting my sister to be happy. I can't watch you slowly wither away. And I know it's not what Zuko,"

Sokka was interrupted by a loud rustling from the other side of the forest. Both Katara and Sokka's heads whipped in the direction the sound came from just in time to see Lu Ten and Iroh break through the branches, Zuko slung between them barely conscious.

Katara gasped when she saw him. Clothed in the tatters of his training pants, the bandages on his shoulder and calf were darkened in the moonlight by blood and as they came closer she could see scars and bruises littered across his body. His head was bobbing up and down and his legs seemed to be trying to lift his feet, but to no avail.

The healer began to run towards the trio, but Sokka held her back. Something was amiss. Iroh and Lu Ten were moving too quickly for the state Zuko was in. As they drew closer, Zuko fell unconscious, his head and legs now hanging slack. When she saw, Katara tried again to free herself from Sokka's arm.

"Stay there, Katara!" Uncle called. She froze and watched as they approached. So many expressions crossed her face, but once Lu Ten and Iroh made it to the spot under my branches, it hardened, determination set in her eyes.

"Lay him down here," she ordered. They lowered Zuko placing him gently by my trunk. "Tell me what you know about his injuries," she said as she began to uncover his shoulder.

"There's severe burning on his shoulder and back of his left calf," Lu Ten began to explain. "I think that's from the fight, but the bruises and smaller burns and cuts are from when he was being held. They had him in a back room tied up. His wrists are worn raw from the rope," Lu Ten motioned to the red circles around his wrists, dried blood filling cracks in the skin.

As Katara revealed his burnt shoulder she gasped. "What did they do to you?" she whispered to herself. His shoulder glistened red, cracked at the edges. Some of the skin was torn from where Azula must have placed her boot, small white spots peppered the angry red flesh. It didn't appear to be healing well. Her hand, now encased in water, hovered above him as if wondering where to start. Finally deciding, Katara began to work feverishly as Iroh drew Sokka to the side.

"I'm not sure, but we may have been spotted," Iroh whispered hurriedly. "Lu Ten and I were able to get him with the help of a distraction, but I think there may have been someone who spotted us leaving. We were moving too quickly to gage whether we were being trailed or not, but I suggest we prepare to fight."

"We'll need to surround Katara. She has to finish healing him before we can try to retreat," Sokka said in agreement.

As each warrior moved to their respective places, Katara continued her work, slowly but surely coaxing angered flesh back to its original form. I had seen her heal on the field of battle many times before, the soft glow illuminating her face, the painstaking look of concentration, but never had there been such concern hidden behind her eyes. It was unnerving even for such an old soul as myself. The wounds also had time to set in the body, making this healing much harder and longer than fresh ones.

The formation around her remained alert, static rippling from their skin ready to attack at any sudden movement. As minutes wore on, Katara lost in her task, and Sokka, Iroh, and Lu Ten ever on guard, imminent danger seemed to be far from the silent scene beneath my branches. But even in the silence I could sense their presence, ever quiet, but deadly all the same.

Three girls strolled out into the moonlight from the shadows of the trees. It was the trio I had seen before, the ones who helped Azula retrieve Zuko. Lu Ten was the first to notice their presence.

"Azula," he sneered.

A smile flickered across her face at the remark. "Ah, Lu Ten, cousin," her eyes scanned the rest of the group, "And Uncle! Well, well, what a party we have here. All the traitors in one place," her voice sharpened at the end with the gleam in her eyes.

"It would seem so," Iroh stepped forward.

"Father will be so glad to be able to deal with all three of you at once, especially since you took his most prized prisoner, and apparently have decided to work with the Water Clan," Azula remarked, eyes flitting over to Sokka.

"The things my brother has done are nothing to be proud of. I'm working to regain a balance among the clans. As should you be," Iroh stated calmly.

"Oh, Uncle. It's exactly that ridiculous talk of balance that made you such a bad leader to begin with. We all know the Fire Clan reigns supreme because we are the dominant element," Azula replied as if talking to a child.

"That mindset, Azula, will be your downfall," he replied.

Azula's sly smile turned to a grimace.

"No, Uncle, it will be yours!" She yelled as blue flames burst from her fists.

The quiet that had enveloped the night quickly dissolved as the warriors jumped into action. Iroh easily dispersed Azula's blasts and countered with his own volley. As they continued their fiery exchange, Iroh drew Azula away from my base, scorch marks littering the field.

The girl with knives, Mai I believe Azula had called her, struck out at Sokka throwing several small blades his way. With amazing speed he parried them with his sword and moved in to attack. Their fight was blade on blade, long sword against short blade, tumbling in and out, circling back and forth locked in battle equally matched.

Lu Ten was quickly confronted by the girl who bends like branches in the wind. Her smile could be seen even in the darkness. His dao swords drawn, he glared back at her.

"Lu Ten!" she sang, "It's just like when we were kids isn't it?" she added with a giggle.

"Ty Lee," he replied calmly, a ferocity gracing his eyes. "If I remember correctly it was never quite as fun playing with you."

"Hmm, well it was fun for me," she said putting a figure to her chin as if thinking about it. Lu Ten took the opportunity to attack. Ty Lee leaped gracefully out of the reach of his blades and their dance began.

The spars continued around Katara and Zuko, but she paid them no heed. She had just finished working on his shoulder and had moved to his leg, rolling Zuko to his side to reach his calf. Breaking the edge of consciousness now he hissed at the pain caused by the movement.

"Shh, it's ok, Zuko. Just a bit more and we can get you out of here," she murmured, taking a quick glance around at the fighting.

Most of the duels had moved away from the base, but she still needed to hurry. I could see in her eyes the will to join the fight, but she turned back to her task at hand.

While Katara continued to care for her patient, Azula appeared to be taking the upper hand in her battle with Iroh. I could hardly believe it until I noticed the reckless force she was placing into her flame and the defensive positions Iroh was taking. I could see what he was doing. He was trying to wear her down, but as Katara settled into her task, Azula glanced over and a devious glint entered her eye. She began to send curved attacks toward her uncle, forcing him back near my branches as he evaded them.

As the two firebenders drew closer, Lu Ten had begun to gain ground on Ty Lee. Her fighting style was very rare, I had only seen it a few times in my years for it seldom entered battles. She was a chi blocker. She focused all her energy on hitting certain points of the body, but it appeared Lu Ten trained with her enough when they were younger, for he blocked her effortlessly. Every attack Ty Lee made, Lu Ten had a block.

"I'm impressed, Lu Ten," Ty Lee huffed out after he had managed to evade a particularly intricate move. "You haven't even scratched me with your swords."

At this Lu Ten leaped forward. Ty Lee attempted to evade him but was, for once, not quick enough. The hilt of his right blade caught her on the head and she fell to the ground with a thud. Lu Ten paused momentarily in a defensive position in case she leapt back up, but she remained still. He turned to the nearest fight, Sokka and Mai, who were now caught up in close range combat a short way from Katara. He headed that direction to help the other swordsman.

As he went to aid the nonbender, Azula had drawn Iroh back to the other side of my trunk, much closer to my base than I would have liked. She paused, Iroh still in his defensive position, she sent a volley towards him so quickly it nearly created a wall of flame knocking Iroh aback. Just as she completed the maneuver she twisted away, around my trunk landing mere feet from Katara.

Katara barely noticed her presence before she heard a small chuckle.

"Ah, so the little water wench appears again. I should've come back earlier to take care of you, but I was too busy interrogating my brother," she sneered, mouth raised to one side in what seemed to be an attempt at a smile.

The liquid encasing Zuko's calf diminished and dripped from his leg as Katara froze and looked up at the person who had disrupted her. Her shock lasted but a second though as she leapt to her feet pulling water from her bag and the air around them, taking her fighting stance.

"Stay away, Azula," she growled out.

"Oh, defensive of traitors are we?" she glanced down at Zuko. "Only to be expected from Water Clan peasants," she sneered.

To this day I can't be sure of who moved first, whether it was Katara or Azula, it happened so fast, but the next thing I knew there was the steam of water meeting fire. The two girls were locked on each other. Iroh had finally made it over to them, but the two were so set on their battle it made no difference. At first Azula spat out remarks about Katara's family, how she could never fathom how her brother could possibly betray his own people by meeting with a bitch from the Water Clan, how he deserved to die for it. With every comment Katara pushed back harder, swung out more furiously drawing water from the humid air hanging about the field as well as the grass. Azula was soon breathing too hard to say much of anything.

It wasn't long before the others took notice of the fight. Lu Ten and Sokka exchanged a quick glance when Mai was knocked away for a moment. Sokka started for my base as Lu Ten fully confronted Mai.

Katara and Azula fought on winding in and out, but without the grace I had grown use to from Zuko and Katara's fights. Azula was raw power, Katara raw change both moving quickly, decidedly, deadly. As they fought they danced around my base, Katara ever aware of where Zuko was in order to protect him from the blasts. Azula threw more than one wide shot trying to hit him, but Katara held her in place, matching her evenly step for step. It was Zuko's stirring that changed the tide.

He began to shift, eyes fluttering open, going in and out of focus.

"Katara?" he questioned.

The sound of his voice caught his love's ear and she turned, distracted.

Azula saw her opportunity and struck out with a burst of flame.

At the roar of fire, Katara turned back to her opponent bringing water up to block even if it would be too late. Just like when she was a little girl I once again wished I could reach down and protect her, but Sokka did it for me. He leapt in front of her taking the blow of fire before she could complete her block.

"Sokka!" she screamed, tears entering her eyes.

She looked back up to Azula who stood with a smile on her face, but before she could direct an attack at her a blunted blade flew through the air, knocking her to the ground.

To the side, Mai stood arms in the air in the end position of her attack, then relaxed, Lu Ten now at ease beside her.

Without taking a second to wonder at what had happened, Katara was on the ground kneeling next to her brother. The hit fully covered his left arm and side, shirt burnt through, red angry flesh visible as he convulsed from the shock. Katara struggled to still him, but was soon at work, water making the burns fade from red and white back to brown untainted skin. As the water worked its magic, Sokka began to still, breathing becoming less labored.

I could tell how much easier it was to treat fresh wounds, for Sokka's side was entirely healed in minutes and she had started his arm when in her concentration as her arms began to quake and sweat graced her brow. Though fresh wounds knit themselves back together more easily, her energy was wearing from how much she spent on Zuko and her brother combined.

She was so enveloped in her task of healing she did not notice the talk around her.

"What do you plan to do when Azula regains consciousness?" Iroh had taken a place by Mai and Lu Ten, watching the waterbender work her magic.

"I'll tell her Lu Ten knocked me out first and then most likely came up and struck her on the head," she said emotionlessly.

"I hope that she wasn't too perceptive at that point and that excuse works," Lu Ten replied.

"It should if I'm lying on the ground when Ty Lee wakes up."

"We're lucky you're on our side. That could have been disastrous," Iroh commented looking at the fallen Water Clan warrior.

"She needed to be stopped quickly, I was just the first to move," Mai answered.

A shaky sigh and a grunt caught their attention and they looked over to see Zuko attempting to sit up and take in his surroundings, only to fall back down.

Katara glanced up from her work on Sokka, eye's torn between the two, but once she saw Iroh step over to his nephew, her focus once again shifted back to healing the last section of her brother's arm.

"Uncle?" Zuko questioned when Iroh was beside him. "What are you doing here? You can't be in the village, they'll catch…"

"Calm yourself, Zuko," Iroh said softly placing his hand on the young man's good shoulder. "Lu Ten and I rescued you tonight. We're in the field by the alder tree, not the village."

As he spoke Zuko's eyes grew wider and he began to frantically look around, taking in all the people who were present. His eyes fell on the back of a blue-robed girl who sighed and sat back, exhausted from healing.

"Ka-Katara?" his brow furled, confusion in his eyes.

She turned back at the sound of her name.

"Zuko. How are you feeling?" she scooted over to the firebender, satisfied that her brother was now healed and safe, if still lacking full consciousness.

"How are you hear? What happened?" he croaked out, voice hoarse from screaming or disuse I know not.

Her hand cupped his cheek. "You didn't show up for our meeting," she replied softly.

"Azula…" he began, but she stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"I know, Iroh and Lu Ten told me. They needed a healer so you could move. You're in pretty bad shape you know," she laughed a little.

His eyes began to water, whether in disbelief or relief or some combination I know not, but I knew the look he was gazing up at Katara with. It was the one he used while she wasn't look. The one that showed how much he truly loved her.

"We need to move," Iroh cut in. "Sokka's up again and Ty Lee and Azula will be regaining consciousness soon as well. We need to be gone for Mai's ploy to work."

Katara looked over at her brother who was now unsteadily standing. He smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Tingly and stiff, but I think your magic water did the trick," he said softly.

She smiled in return and turned back to Zuko who was once again attempting to sit. She wrapped a supportive arm around his waist helping him up while his Uncle and cousin came to bring him to his feet. Once he was secured between the two of them she went to help steady her brother though her own legs quaked. The tattered group left my meadow to the three Fire Clan girls and blackened grass making their way to the Water Clan village, dawn breaking the black velvet of the night.

It wasn't long after that the three girls awoke, making a ruckus. Azula must have vowed to vanquish the Water Clan and traitors at least five times before stomping towards her village in a remarkable display of anger.

It was not long after the three left that I heard the news on the wind. The entire Water Clan was awake and enraptured by the strange visitors. Many were at odds about the presence of two men thought to be dead and the third being the child of their rivaled clan leader. What were they to think? I swear I could feel the suspicion from my spot so far away. But what truly struck me was Hakoda's reply to their presence. He had said that if Iroh was alive and well he would accept him as a guest of their clan, but he had not agreed to either Lu Ten or Zuko's presence, especially Zuko's.

The wind whispered of Sokka and Katara pulling their father aside, explaining that when Sokka had met Iroh in the forest this was the reason they needed shelter. Could he not see that? Hakoda uncharacteristically held his position that he would not allow the two in his clan. The last of the gossip I heard that day was that both clans were in uproar, one over unexpected guests, the other over an unexpected missing prisoner.

A/N: Helloo everyone! Can you believe it? An update! Woah! What has this world come too? And you guys thought I had dropped the story ;) I apologize for my profusely long hiatus. Let's just say the last semester of senior year is not fun, especially when you have an honors thesis to complete. But, here it is, the update (though sparsely edited)! The tensions continue to mount!

Review question! I want your predictions! What's going to happen to Zuko? Hakoda doesn't seem to be budging and it's only days from the scheduled wedding! 5 to be exact. How is everyone going to handle this?

Once again thank you all so much for your continued support! It means the world to me! I really do want to hear what you think whether it be criticism, praise, thoughts, your favorite part, or just a hello!

And once again, if you're interested in my ramblings and other shinanigans you can find me on tumblr at zukes-babe! Wishing you all the best

~Harky