Torn Apart (pt. 1)

"A-aang.....it hurts.." Katara stuttered, sweat dripping off her forehead.

"It's ok, Katara," he said, stroking her cheek. "Its almost over." He gave her a reassuring smile, while masking his own fear. It had just been a normal day. Aang and the rest of team Avatar had been taking a vacation on Whale Tale Island,and were all taking a walk on the beach. Everything had been peaceful and calm. That is, of course, until Sokka decided to splash Zuko with water. Zuko put on his best "I'm gonna knock the cactus juice out of you" face and splashed him back,making him fall back in the ocean. Zuko laughed and chased him further into the ocean, Toph and Suki not far behind. Aang and Katara stayed behind, looking at their friends laughing and splashing eachother with water. Everything was simply.....perfect. The Hundred-Year War was long over, Republic City was at peace, and the best part, they were all together. Aang, Sokka, Katara,Toph, Zuko, and Suki- Team Avatar. United forever.

Aang couldn't take his eyes off of Katara. Everything about her just amazed him. The way the wind blowed through her long chestnut brown hair, the beautiful spark in her ocean blue eyes when she looked at him, her bright,radiant smile- he was as crazy about her now as he was when she first got him out of that iceberg in the South Pole twelve years ago. She noticed him staring at her and blushed. He moved closer and wrapped his musclular arms around her slim waist, pulling her closer. A huge smile spread across her face as she cupped his face in her hands. For the longest time, they just stared into each other's eyes.

"Aang?" Katara asked.

"Yes?" Aang said.

"You love me, right?" she asked, a serious look on her face.

"Of course I do," he responded, getting slightly worried. "Katara, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything is just fine, there's.....there's something that I need to tell you," she said.

"What is it?" he asked, holding her tightly.

Katara took a deep breath, and started to say, "Aang, I-" then she just stopped,mouth still open in mid-sentence.

"Katara?" he asked. "Katara, what's wrong?"

He got no response. He put his hand to her cheek. It was ice cold. Then, with no warning at all, Katara fell over. With lightning-fast reflexes,he caught her before she fell in the sand. His heart was racing as he frantically tried to figure out what was wrong with his wife. His eyes looked all around her body looking for anything wrong, and his eyes fell upon something that almost made him throw up. There was a long arrow stuck in her lower back.

"A-aang, I-I need to tell you-" Katara started to say, but a huge wave of pain and dizziness hit her like a rock to the head. All she remembers is looking into Aang's soft-brown concerned eyes, and then everything went black.

"KATARA!!" Aang screamed as he held the unconscious waterbender in his shaking arms.

"Katara,answer me,please!" He brushed her brown hair out of her face just to see that her smooth tan face was getting paler and paler by the second. He began shaking her, desperately trying to get a reply. The others had noticed something was wrong, and started wading through the blue water towards the married couple. Sokka was the first one to notice what the problem was.

"Katara!!" he yelled just like Aang had moments ago. "Oh spirits.....what happened?!"

"I-I don't know!" Aang answered, his voice shaking. "She was trying to tell me something, and then-" he pointed to the arrow sticking out her skin. "Then THAT happened!" Zuko and Suki stared at the arrow in horror as Katara's dark red blood dripped on the sand. Toph, being the blind one, was completely confused.

"What?! What's wrong with Katara?!" she asked frantically.

"S-She was shot with an arrow," he replied,a big lump forming in his throat. Then his instincts started to kick in. He wouldn't let this happen. Katara WOULD make it through this.

Blinking back tears, he started giving orders. "Ok guys, let's pull it together. Suki, go get a towel to stop the bleeding. Toph, I want you to contact Katara and Sokka's dad and tell him to meet us at the Whale Tail Island Hospital." He turned to Zuko and Sokka.

"Sokka, go get Appa. Zuko, I want you to help me get Katara on Appa's saddle." Everyone quickly snapped into action. Sokka blew Aang's Sky Bison whistle and seconds later, Appa was landing near them. Aang and Zuko carefully lifted up Katara and climbed the Bison's huge tail. As they set her down, she began to stir. Aang's eyes widened at this.

"Katara!" he said, placing both hands on both sides of her face. "Katara, can you hear me??" Her eyelids barely fluttered halfway open as she dizzily stared at her concerned Avatar husband.

"Aang......." she whispered. He weakly put a hand on his cheek. "A-Aang, w-what ........"

Aang tucked one hand underneath her head while stroking her pale face with the other.

"Katara, everything is gonna be ok," he said, trying to keep her calm while trying to keep himself from having a nervous breakdown.

"Aang, I really need to tell you somethi-" she started to say, but was hit by a wave of pain and groaned painfully. Aang took her hand and squeezed it.

"Katara, try not talk. Save your energy," he said to her.

"Is she ok?" Aang turned around to see who had said that. Toph and Suki. climbed on Appa's tail and sat down next to zuko. "Is she ok?" Toph asked again.

"Y-Yeah.....I'm fine," Katara answered weakly.

"Here's the towel, Aang," Suki said, handing him the soft white towel. He took it from her and faced his wounded wife.

"Katara, this is gonna hurt," he said before pressing it around the arrow to stop the bleeding. Katara groaned and whimpered as he pressed the towel against her bloody flesh.

"Sokka, grab the reins and get us to the hospital now!" Aang shouted. Sokka acted without hesitation. He scrambled on Appa's head and yelled, "Appa, Yip yip!!" Appa launched himself in the air and Sokka steered him toward the hospital. Aang and the others stared at their dear wounded friend. At the same time, they were all assaulted with memories of when they were children,fighting in the dreaded war. They were reminded of all the battles they fought, all the tears they had shed, and how Katara had been strong for all of them. For the longest time, she had been the "mother" of the group. Katara had been the glue that held them together. If anything happened to her.......no. They weren't going to think like that. Aang wiped a tear away and spoke.

"Katara, looks at me," Aang said. Slightly unfocused, she slowly turned her head towards her concerned Avatar husband.

"Aang.....I-I'm scared.." she said, tears in her scared blue eyes. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I know you are, but you're gonna be ok. I'm NOT letting you go."

"None of us are," Suki added, placing a hand on Katara's shoulder.

"Hang in there Sugar Queen, we're almost at the hospital," Toph said, trying to lighten the mood. Katara smiled through her tears.

"I-I love you guys," she whimpered, her voice small and shaking.

"We love you,too," They all said in unison. As they approached the hospital, many questions ran through Aang's head. How are the doctors gonna remove the arrow? Is she gonna be alright in the end? Who shot the arrow in the first place? But more importantly.....What has Katara been trying to tell him all this time?