Another Kataang fic, set at the end of the season 2 finale. From Katara's POV. Enjoy!

My blood-soaked hands are trembling uncontrollably and I just don't know what to do. My body is completely numb with shock and all I can do is stare at him as he is slowly slipping away. He is lying motionless in my arms. The breaths whistling past his lips are fast and shallow and becoming slower with each passing second. I can feel the warm blood flowing from the gaping hole in his back, his blood. The blood is dripping everywhere, all over my fingers and my dress. There is just so much blood. It never occurred to me until now that the blood is so warm. I would expect it to be cold, ice cold, like death.

I hold him tightly against my chest and I let the tears flow hard and fast. He is slowly slipping away and I can feel it just by touching him. What used to be his internal organs are completely fried and not doing what they were supposed to. No waterbending could heal the extent of his injuries, and I know that. All I can do is hold him as he dies, because he isn't going to last much longer.

"Aang," I moan into his shoulder as I hug him close to me. "Please don't go."

The heat of his shallow breaths on my neck stops and I realize he isn't breathing anymore. I pull back and lay him on Appa, looking up at Sokka as I did. Sokka has Appa's reins and I can see he is trying not to cry. He failed miserably as the tears began to cascade down his face.

"What's going on?" Toph asked worriedly.

"Aang, he's…dead," Sokka said, his voice coming out huskily from the sadness clogging his throat.

"What?" Toph asked, trying to get to Aang. Sokka pulled her back and held her to his chest as she cried. He gently stroked her hair as horrible sobs racked her body.

I tried to look away from Aang's lifeless face, but it was impossible. My throat began to burn terribly as I tried to keep the rest of my tears at bay. Aang, my best friend, was gone forever. Or maybe he was more than just my friend. These past couple months I felt something a little more. Like love. It felt like a part of my heart was missing, that part that Aang fit into so perfectly. I didn't really care that the world's last hope was gone: all I could think was that I had never told Aang how much I cared about him. How much I loved him. Now he would never know.

The tears finally traveled past my eyes and cascaded down my cheeks. I grasped at my mother's necklace and held it in a death grip. That's when I felt the other chain around my neck. I ripped it off and quickly yanked the top off of the container filled with the water from the Spirit Oasis.

"Katara, what are you doing?" Sokka asked, his voice still sounding as if he had a bad cold.

"I think I can heal him with the water from the Spirit Oasis," I said while pulling the water from the vile and wrapping it around my hand.

"Come on Katara," Sokka begged. "He's gone. You can't bring him back."

"Shut up Sokka!" I yelled at him. "This will bring him back!"

I turned him over on his stomach and placed my hand on the hole in his back. My hands were still trembling uncontrollably and I fought to keep them as still as possible. The water entered his body and I used it to feel around for his injuries. I used it to heal all of the internal organs that had been fried and most of the skin that had been lost. When I pulled back, there was still a large blood-red scar in the middle of his back. I placed him on Appa, waiting for the precious movement that would show he had come back, never letting my hands stray from his body.

"Did it work?" Toph asked desperately.

"I don't think so," I said, dropping my head low and letting go of all the hope that I had found. Aang was gone and he wasn't coming back. That's just how the world was. It was cruel and uncaring. The world didn't seem to realize that it had taken away that one person I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. Now I knew that person was Aang. And he was gone forever.

Letting out a low moan, I let myself collapse onto his chest and cry. I stayed like this for a few moments until I thought I felt something. Stopping my heavy sobbing, I stilled myself for a second. That's when I felt it: he was breathing.

I shot up and yelled out in triumph and happiness.

"What happened?" Sokka asked, leaning over to get a better look at me.

"He's breathing!" I yelled out ecstatically. Then I heard Aang cough weakly and when I looked down I saw him staring up at me. He smiled at me and then slumped back down, unconscious. I leaned against Appa and pulled Aang to rest against my chest. It was so comfortable to have his body on top of mine. I could feel him breathing, something that had become a rarity a few minutes ago. His heart was beating in time with my own. The fall of Ba Sing Se was in the back of my mind for now. All I cared about was the fact that his heart was still beating. He wasn't gone just yet and I would never let him leave this world again if I could prevent it. For now I was content to lay here, his warm body against mine. I would tell him how I felt when he woke up, because he was going to wake up.

"How's he doing?" Sokka asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"He will be just fine," I said.

"Thank goodness," Sokka said, wiping his eyes across his sleeve. I saw Toph do the same. I hugged Aang closer to my chest and savored the brief moment of peace. These kinds of moments would become few and spread apart in the future, and I knew that. The world had its savior back, and I had that piece of my heart back. The piece Aang had won when I had first met him. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't been able to bring him back. Is it even possible to live with such a big hole in your heart? Aang fills such a big part of my heart, and I don't know what I would do without him, and I don't want to know. I know in my heart that Aang is that person that I am destined to be with. I am sure Sokka would think that this is complete nonsense, but I believe everyone has that one person they are supposed to be with, like a soul mate. And my person is Aang. Inside I know Aang loves me and I hope he knows that I feel the same way. We can be together. But for right now, I just want to savor this moment with that special person. I snuggled closer to Aang and whispered in his ear:

"I love you Aang."

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Please leave me a review!