Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my plot and any original characters I introduce.
Author's Note: Thank you for checking out this story. I hope you enjoy.
Summary: Book 2: Earth. At the end of the episode "The Chase," Zuko is struck down by Azula instead of Iroh. Now, the injured and frustrated firebender is forced by his uncle to hide from his sister with the Avatar and his friends, and to endure daily healing sessions with Katara. Zutara all the way!
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"Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together." Azula purred darkly. Her dagger-like eyes darted between the six figures moving in unison to pin her down, like an insect in an exhibit. They were all fools. She was more clever than that. She had a plan.
Zuko held fast his firebending stance as he watched Azula. She backed towards the remains of an abandoned Earth Kingdom building, helpless. Powerful and dangerous as she was, even Azula couldn't stand a chance against Zuko, his uncle, and the Avatar's motley little crew. Working together.
Zuko frowned inwardly. He didn't like to be reduced to having to team up with his enemy in order to defeat a member of his own family. But it was either her, or she could capture the Avatar before he had a chance. Now Azula was trapped, like a dangerous animal in a cage. She was bound to strike. Zuko didn't take his eyes from her.
But then Azula did something Zuko didn't expect. She released herself from her fighting stance and raised her arms, acknowledging her defeat.
"I'm done." She admitted with a scowl. "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."
Zuko smirked at that last bit. He averted his eyes briefly to glance at his uncle, to share his victorious smile with him. But Iroh didn't move a muscle, or even blink. Zuko turned back to Azula just in time to see an evil, malicious smile grace her lips. He barely had time to wonder what she was so pleased about when he heard the sound.
It nearly split his eardrums, it was so loud. A flash of blue light, and then—pain! Zuko felt the enormous energy of Azula's blast strike his chest, blackening and cracking the flesh. The electric current viciously tore through his body, and he felt himself falling. When his back violently collided with the hard, dust-covered earth, he continued falling.
The numbness set in quickly, as did the blindness. For a brief moment, Zuko could only hear the chaos unfolding around him:
"Oh my gosh! What did she do!? Why would she do that?"
"Is he dead? Katara! Do something!!"
"He's burnt! Oh…oh, I can't feel his heartbeat anywhere…Aang! Get me some water from somewhere!"
"Hurry up! He's dying! I can feel it!"
"Oh no…Zuko…hold on…"
Then the dark oblivion took hold over him. He gave in, unable to resist against it. Everything went black. Zuko was lost.
Zuko spent a long time unaware of where he was. His dark prison held him selfishly, and when he felt life tugging back at him again, he wished he'd stayed in that infinite blackness.
The pain came first, before sight, movement, or anything else. It coursed through him, as if it had replaced all the blood in his body. The epicenter of the pain was his chest, his heart. He could feel it beating weakly inside him. Every thump from the aching muscle was torture, and he felt like screaming, but couldn't.
Zuko was unaware of time, but after what seemed like years, he was aware of sounds as well as the pain. They came like nightmares. Aching, pain-filled moans plagued his ears. He was frightened by them. It took a while for Zuko to realize that those sounds were actually coming from him. Each time his heart lurched in an attempt to keep him alive, another red wave of pain washed through him, more intense than the one before, and he felt his throat tearing from his screams.
Every pain-filled breath filled him with more life and brought him closer to the surface.
Every once in a while, Zuko discovered, his pain subsided to give way to a new sensation. Coolness would spread through his body, replacing the hot-blooded, painful feeling coursing through him. This feeling was peculiar to him—it was unrecognizable, like he had suddenly been thrust into a cool river.
Then as fast as this peculiar feeling arrived, it was gone. The pain returned, but each time was a little more bearable, and Zuko's head felt clearer.
Zuko awoke one day during one of these cooling sessions. He had suddenly become aware of not only pain, but acute sensations—and what he felt was to hands pressing down on his chest. His eyes snapped open and locked with two blue pools of sympathy and surprise.
The waterbending girl was leaning above him, her mouth open, her tongue unable to formulate words for a moment. It was she who was touching him and creating that cooling sensation. He glanced downward towards his chest, and to his surprise found that her hands were emanating some sort of spiritual, bluish-white glow.
"Zuko?" The girl asked, her voice laced delicately with concern.
The firebender whispered harshly through clenched teeth, resisting his pain. "Get…away…from me…waterbender."
He attempted to rise, maybe even attack, but his own weight and gravity were his greatest enemies. Another scream wrenched his throat, and he dropped back to the earth, gasping and writhing. The waterbender girl attempted to calm him, but her shouts fell on deaf ears.
"Zuko! ZUKO! Listen to me! I'm trying to help you! Stop struggling!"
Clever witch, trying to cast water-spells on him with her craft. He wouldn't let her. Where was Uncle? Had the Avatar and his group taken him hostage too? Zuko furled and unfurled, clenched and unclenched. His battered body failed him. The pain in his chest was on fire now.
Suddenly Zuko felt the very rock beneath his body shift, and suddenly he was fixed to one spot. Pressure around his arms and legs told him that he was being restrained by—something. His yellow eyes darted around the room—was it a room? His vision was blurry from the pain. He managed to see what was holding him down: rocks molded into cuffs, carved from the very earth. Zuko looked up to see a second figure enter. This one was small, clad in greens and yellows. An earthbender. So the Avatar was quickly gaining new friends. Zuko screamed and attempted to free himself, but his struggles only caused his pain to increase. The waterbender continued to try and talk to him.
"Zuko! Please—you're hurting yourself! Toph!"
A second voice, belonging to the tiny earthbender: "I pinned him, he's just squirming. Should I get Iroh?"
Zuko's head snapped up, his fiery eyes burning into the flesh of the earthbending witch. "What have you done with my uncle!?!" he roared, biting back his pain.
More figures flooded the room; these Zuko recognized. The water tribe boy, the Avatar. Then, the most welcoming face entered—his uncle. Zuko screamed at him.
"Uncle!! Uncle...what are they doing to me?! What is going on? Why are you with them?"
Iroh kneeled at the side of his nephew, his face a picture of concern, and the waterbender backed away. Zuko finally fell silent when he felt his uncle's voice resonate within the small space.
"Stop fighting, Prince Zuko." The old man's voice was rough and stony, but calming. "You are injured. They are trying to help you."
Zuko gasped in pain and disbelief. "Why would they help me!?" His voice was unnecessarily loud, from him having to force out the words.
The tiny earthbending girl piped in. "Because he asked us to! Why else would we have helped you?"
"I would have helped him, even if Iroh hadn't have asked!" The waterbending girl cut in, her voice still concerned. "If I hadn't, he would have died. Why are you guys still completely insensitive to that?"
"Sorry…" the earthbender's boldness weakened like a crumbling wall.
"Zuko," Iroh whispered through tight lips. "Don't fight them. Katara is right. You would have died days ago had she not helped you. She's been healing you for days now."
The young firebender furrowed his brow and groaned; those surrounding him found it hard to tell if his display was caused by pain or anger. Maybe it was a combination of both.
"You must allow Katara to finish the healing. You will feel much better after that." Zuko listened to his uncle's words reluctantly.
Zuko shifted, and a new ripple of hurt took hold over his body. He screamed into his mouth, but bit his lip and refused to let the sound exit. Then he turned on his uncle.
"How can you be in league with these people!?" Zuko cried.
Iroh's lips closed, forming a thin red line. His eyes cast a disappointed look upon his nephew. Then he stood up and turned away, gesturing for the others to follow. The water tribe boy threw Zuko a disgusted look before he disappeared through the doorway. The young Avatar looked down on the Prince with sympathy, and left as well. The earthbender, however, insisted on staying.
"I better stay here to make sure he doesn't start thrashing around again," she explained.
The former General Iroh exited last, but not before looking back at his helpless nephew. Zuko could see the hurt the old man had endured in his eyes. It made him wonder how long the situation had been like this.
Now Zuko was alone with the earth and waterbending girls. How he hated this, but he was pinned. He had no choice.
The waterbender lowered herself once more, reaching her bewitching hands towards him again. She had two bowls of water beside her; Zuko could see the liquid in one of them was stained dark. It was red. Suddenly he knew the source of his pain.
Azula. She had struck him with her specialty attack. Lightening. Now he remembered the cracking boom, the flash, and the sudden burning pain.
Zuko felt fingers upon him once again, and looked up to see the waterbender drawing her element from the cleaner bowl. The clear liquid swirled around her digits and palms, causing the eerie blue glow he'd seen earlier. Before she touched him again, she glanced once more at his face.
Her face was marred with unease. Zuko got the feeling that she wasn't comfortable touching him while he was awake and aware of it.
"Why don't you just finish your witchcraft and get out of my sight, waterbender."
The waterbender looked hurt, and slightly annoyed. "You know, I'm only trying to relieve you of your pain. The least you could do is be grateful."
Zuko laughed hoarsely though dry throat. "I'll be gracious, waterbender, when I get out of this. I won't kill you and your brother instantly." He spat out the words like curses, then cried out as the pressure around his legs and arms worsened, causing him even more pain. He whipped his head around to stare at the small earthbending girl.
She smirked, and for the first time Zuko noticed that she was blind. "Better behave, your Royal Highness," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Or I'll have to do something worse than restrain you with my earthbending."
Zuko was struck speechless. Did the earthbender know that he used to be royalty? He'd never seen her before, and of that he was certain. What sort of information was his uncle dishing out to these people? Suddenly, he felt the waterbending girl touch him again, and he looked back at her. She didn't return his heated glaring—she was too concentrated on her glowing hands.
The cool feeling began to spread out from her fingers. Zuko felt it wind within his insides, filling him up. He didn't struggle this time, because what the girl had said was true. This did relieve his pain. Slowly, he allowed his head to drop back onto the ground, and he began to realize how terribly exhausted he was.
The coolness sank into his bones, forcing him to relax. Zuko hated it. It made him tired. His eyes were heavy-lidded…his head filled...
Katara sighed when she saw Zuko's eyes close and breathing deepen. Knowing that he wasn't conscious to her touch made her feel much less uncomfortable about healing him. She glanced down at his face, and was mildly surprised to find an expression of peace upon him. She wasn't used to seeing him without a face full of rage and anger.
"Did he fall asleep?" Toph asked, more for the sake of conversation than for actual inquiry.
Katara looked up at the blind earthbender and smiled. "Yeah, thank goodness. He is certainly a handful."
Toph replied by pressing her lips together and blowing out air between them, making an impolite sound. "Maybe for you people. I can handle him easily."
"You've never seen him awake."
"I just did."
"I mean, awake and uninjured. He's actually quite dangerous."
"How do you figure?"
Katara moved her palms across Zuko's torso slowly, sensing his chakra and chi. She glanced back up at Toph. "He's capture Aang and I a couple of times. And I fought him at the North Pole. He's not so easy to take down as you might think."
"Whatever." The earthbender curled herself up into a small green ball, curling her toes into the dirt. She waited and listened to the vibrations the earth and rocky walls around her. Katara's energy was pulsing throughout the room, pumping it into the young firebender's body and attempting to heal it. Toph found it interesting—Katara's ability to heal. The vibrations it made were different from most she felt, though Toph couldn't place exactly how they were different.
Shortly afterward Katara finished the healing session. Toph felt her retract her hands and stand up slowly. Toph followed suit, and the two girls exited the room, leaving a still-pinned-down Zuko sleeping on the floor.
The other three were gathered silently around a small campfire. Sokka had found this small hidden town, carved carefully into the side of a rocky cliff, and he wanted very badly to keep it that way. Any light, he had said, could alert the three Fire Nation girls of their position. And with an injured person on their hands, their chances of escape were slim.
"How is my nephew?" Iroh asked immediately after the girls had sat down.
"He's angry," Toph offered.
Sokka bit into a piece of meat. "That's no surprise."
Katara shot her brother a disapproving look, then turned to the old man. "He fell asleep when I continued the healing. I think in a day or two he might be able to get up and start moving around."
Aang, who had remained silent until now, piped in. "Do you think actually letting him move around is a good idea? I mean…you know…until he…" His meek voice trailed off as he looked towards the Fire Nation general.
Iroh nodded in understanding. "I know why you are wary of my nephew, Aang." He'd gotten to know all of the young people on a first-name basis over the last few days. "He has made some bad choices in his life. I am sorry they had to involve you, but I am grateful that you and your friends have offered your help."
Katara smiled sadly. "I'm happy to help."
"I thank you." Iroh replied.
The five of them sat silently in the firelight, watching the shadows dance in circles around them. Eventually they one by one peeled off from the group and crawled into place to sleep. Iroh was the last to succumb to the night. He liked to stay up and worry and watch, even though he knew it wasn't good for him, not at his age.
Zuko remained on the stone floor within the small room. His sleep was shallow, his dreams plagued with thoughts of darkness and anger and confusion.
In the morning this dance between them all would begin again.
((((((((((((((o Personal Thingy o)))))))))))))))))))))
Yay! Only one chapter and already so far into the story! Please read and REVIEW!! Thanks for reading.
Roseblade22