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“Azula, you can't leave!”
Azula ignored Katara's protests as she continued packing up the makeshift camp she had set up a few kilometers from Full Moon Bay where Team Avatar and hundreds of warriors from the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes were sheltered.
Katara frowned in despair as Azula continued to ignore her so the waterbender bended the water out of Azula's canteen.
Raising an eyebrow unimpressed Azula shrugged and when she finished packing some supplies she walked to the small river that flowed down the mountain to the sea and refilled her canteen.
“Azula! Please…”, Katara pleaded on the verge of tears.
The firebender stood up with a shaky sigh and walked over to where Katara was standing and rested her hands on her dark cheeks.
“Kat, you know I have to go…”, Azula said again to her girlfriend.
"But I don't want to... Azula there has to be another way to solve this-"
But Azula was already shaking her head before Katara finished her sentence.
“Honey, my family is in danger. I have to return to the Fire Nation and… and fight for my father… for my nation,” Azula explained, her heart sinking in her chest before leaning down and tenderly kissing Katara's forehead.
Katara shook her head and pushed Azula away, her tears now falling freely down her face.
"Then leave! Go away! I don’t want to see you again!"
The words hit Azula harder than her father could have ever hit her. Nodding crestfallen, Azula finished packing her small camp and began walking to where she had her wood boat hidden in one of the dozens of coves that were in that border town of the Earth Kingdom.
“Agni… take care of her while I can't… please…”, Azula prayed to the sky. "Even if it's at my expense."
Katara walked with slow, hesitant steps over the grimy gray stone flags of the prison hallways of the Fire Nation Palace. The waterbender passed through the cells uncomfortably as she saw several prisoners whistling, swearing at her, or some of them doing both.
But Katara continued to advance despite the prisoners, the poor sanitation of the cells and almost absolute darkness since the little light there was was provided by a few oil lamps that had not been changed for several years due to the rust on their metal.
She finally reached the end of the hallway and with a shaky sigh walked towards the bars of a specific cell.
“Azula.”
Azula, who was sitting with her back resting against the wall and her eyes closed, immediately turned her head towards her voice.
“Katara…” Azula's voice came out so quietly that Katara almost didn't hear it. "What are you doing here?" The firebender asked in confusion as she stood up and approached the bars of her cell.
Katara opened her mouth to answer Azula's question but before that she wanted to ask her own question to the Fire Nation prisoner.
"Why?"
Azula frowned with confusion. “Why what?”
Katara swallowed and looked down at her feet before looking up to see Azula's golden eyes fixed on her.
“Why did you surrendered? “Why didn’t you fight against me?”
Azula sighed tiredly and rested her forehead against the bars before speaking.
“Because I asked Agni to take care of you… and he put you in my path knowing that I would be unable to harm you,” Azula smiled sadly. “I guess he heard my prayers and fulfilled them.”
Katara looked up sadly at Azula and swallowed hard before asking her one more thing but the firebender interrupted her.
“You know perfectly well why Katara,” Azula responded, knowing Katara very well and sensing what her question would be.
Both girls stood up staring at each other's eyes deeply with only some bars separating them and after a few minutes and without saying anything Katara turned around abruptly and ran away.
At that moment Azula's heart shattered.
“Katara, wait!” Azula shouted at the top of her lungs so Katara could hear her. “Please… please, don't leave,” the firebender pleaded as she burst into tears and held on to the metal bars so hard they creaked.
Azula's world collapsed when Katara walked away from her, not even the betrayal of Zuko, Ty Lee and Mai hurt her as much despite she risked her life for them.
Azula forced her eyes to open when she heard the unpleasant creaking sound next to her and before she could process that someone had opened the door of her cell, Katara was hugging her.
Without thinking, Azula wrapped her arms around Katara's waist and returned her hug so tightly that for a moment she was afraid she was taking the other girl's breath away.
After several tens of minutes hugging, both benders separated a little, enough to be able to look into each other's eyes but still be holding each other.
Azula opened her mouth to ask Katara why she had returned despite the decisions Azula had made but the blue-eyed girl interrupted the firebender before she could utter any words.
“You know perfectly well why, Azula,” Katara smiled, her eyes bright with tears.
Azula smiled too, her first sincere smile in weeks, and she leaned down to kiss Katara.
'Thank you Agni,' Azula thought, enjoying the feeling of being able to hold Katara in her arms again. 'Thank you'.