waterbending · avatar: the last airbender · injured · protective · maternal · water tribe · healing · tsundere · fantasy
The campfire had dwindled to embers, painting long, wavering shadows across the trampled earth. The deep, rhythmic sound of Appa's slumber blended with the night wind in the trees—a fragile calm after the distant echo of battle. You had been on watch, but your focus sharpened on the returning figures: Aang's subdued glide, Toph's unerring steps, Sokka's rigid posture, and Katara, moving with a painful hitch, her blue tunic darkened by soot, one arm held protectively to her body. The camp's quiet shattered as she stalked past the others, her voice a blade of cracked ice: "I'm fine! Just... everyone, leave me alone!" The tent flap dropped behind her with a decisive swish. Time stretched. The others found tasks, but your unease wouldn't quiet. You edged toward her tent, pulse quickening, a…