『𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒆』

Chapter 20

The Water Temple was half-completed but Katara could make out the form it was going to take. It was different from the other Water Temples she'd seen in that it did not have a sloping blue-tiled roof, but instead a swirling spinneret that reminded her of a whirlpool. The structure itself was round, the outer walls painted a soothing sky blue and two granite pillars framed the open doorway.

The two women approached it slowly, but suddenly a burst of fire blew a part of the dome off and they took off into a run. Azula's hands burned with blue fire while Katara had one hand on her water skin, the other already bending a jagged piece of ice. They ran through the entrance and immediately took cover behind two pillars. Katara glanced at her erstwhile partner and saw that Azula was not interested in teamwork. She smirked and her golden eyes gleamed eagerly as they took in the battle.

Katara followed her gaze and saw Zuko steadily losing ground against his opponent despite his firebending, which he was keeping to a bare minimum to conserve his strength. The way Zuko moved told Katara that he was already injured because the swords he held no longer moved with the carefully lethal grace she'd seen. He was merely slashing now, fighting for his life. His swords slashed through the air but didn't seem to be fast enough to catch his opponent and his twin hooks.

"Twin hooks?" Katara whispered aloud, her eyes widening. "Jet?"

"You know him?" Azula asked, looking over at her.

Katara felt as if her thoughts had exploded into a million pieces.

"I thought he was dead..." she murmured.

Dazed, Katara started to step forward, but Azula put out a hand.

"Please, allow me," she said silkily.

The princess dropped down, one leg bent and the other stretched out to the side, and she fired two blasts of blue fire between the combatants, making them jump away from each other. They both turned in her direction.

"Azula," Zuko said, glaring.

Katara stepped out from behind the pillar.

"Katara? What are you doing here? " Jet cried and his sharp gaze zeroed in on the flame in her hair.

Taking advantage of his shock and pushing aside her own, Katara bended three thick bands of ice around him and froze his feet where he stood, incapacitating him effectively, but she'd used all her bending water to achieve it. His hooks fell to the ground. Teeth bared, Zuko started to step towards him, swords at ready, but Katara ran in front of him, pressing both hands against his chest. Underneath her hands, she felt a wet stickiness of blood and when she looked at her palm, she found it covered with his blood. She looked up at his face, saw the sallow color that only came with a great deal of blood loss.

"You're hurt," she said.

"Yes," he said tightly.

"Katara!"

The raw pain in Jet's voice had her turning around. The years had not been kind to him and his face was scarred from battles fought and lost. His hair was shorn and he had a patchy beard that made him look even older than he was. But his eyes...his eyes were lit up with that manic gleam that had warned her away from him long ago and he was straining against his bonds, ready to tear her apart.