Chapter 5: The Story

Kee insisted for the fifth time that she was all right, and that it was an old scar. She pulled up her kimono and crossed her arms sorely. Nurse Zade scoffed and bustled off to her other patients.

The girl had simply had a headache and a sore throat when she woke up in the medical ward. She was confused until Nurse Zade had explained that a servant had "found her passed out in a corridor." The last thing that Kee remembered was… fire. And she did not feel inclined to share this with Zade.

Hugging a pillow close, Kee pretended it was Dana, her stuffed rabbit-squirrel. Oh no, she thought, Dana will be so mad with me... I just abandoned her in the fire.

Kee was drifting back to sleep when she heard Zade's shrill voice, "Yes, Fire Prince."

Kee's eyes popped open to see Nurse Zade glance back at her, and then walk from the room. The door opened further to reveal Prince Zuko, fully dressed in armor with his hair pulled back into a fire-knot. He looked just as he had when she first saw him.

The two other patients in the ward were fast asleep, making the room silent, besides the quiet whispers of several torches along the walls. Zuko's footsteps echoed in the large room, the light from the torches cast his long, dancing shadow across the floor. Kee pulled the blanket up to her chin when he reached her, and waited for him to speak. He would no doubt be angry with her.

Zuko towered over Kee's small cot. "Are you OK?" the minute intimation of concern in his voice surprised both of them.

"Yes," Kee squeaked, nervously peeking up at his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed. When she didn't respond, he pulled a small stuffed rabbit-squirrel from his pocket.

"Dana!" Kee snatched her up, and hugged her tight. Suddenly, her face grew very solemn, and she set Dana on the bed next to her, Dana's face turned away.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asked, his brow furrowing.

Kee glanced back at Dana, then she leaned up and cupped her mouth over Zuko's ear. "Dana mad at me for leaving her behind in the fi –" the last word was said so quietly, he wouldn't have understood had he not seen it for himself. Kee sighed and settled back down. "I-I lied to the market-men, Fire Prince. I lied a lot..."

Zuko raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What did you tell them?"

"I said –" Kee gulped. "I said I wasn't a bender… and that was a lie. I-I started the fire."

Kee's head was bowed like a scolded child. Zuko did not take this news seriously, but nodded for her to continue.

"I also told them I was Fire Nation. That was sort of a lie, too…" She finally looked up and met Zuko's hard gaze. "Before, you asked why I was at the North Pole… are you still curious, Fire Prince?"

Zuko nodded wordlessly. What else could he do?

Kee took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "My mother was from the Fire Nation, but my father," she hesitated. "Is from the Water Tribe. He was a servant in the Fire Nation when he was a boy. That's where he met my m-mother."

The girl paused.

"Her father was a very rich man who had many, many servants. And my father was one of them. He had been captured from the North Pole... like me."

Kee blinked rapidly so she wouldn't cry. This was the first time she'd ever told anyone about her parents.

"They loved each other very much, but my mother's father didn't like my father, so they ran away from there. My father took my mother back to his home in the Northern Water Tribe, and they were very ahppy. Then I was born. They loved me very much, but..."

Kee touched her left shoulder, and Zuko recalled the scar he had seen there.

"When I was 8-years-old, my parents had a bad argument. They yelled and fought about it. I tried to stop them... Mother was so angry..."

Zuko's eyes grew large when he realized what she was saying. "You mean, your own mother –"

"It was an accident!" Kee defended, tears pooling in her eyes. "She said so! She said she loved me and she was sorry! But Father was still so angry!" she exclaimed, tear falling freely now. "And one day..." she rubbed the tears from her face. "One day, I found Mother sleeping… Father said the Spirits took her, but later a found a vial... and it said..."

Kee sobbed into her hands. Zuko was shocked, to say the least. Her mother loved her too much to bear it, he thought sadly. Who would have thought that so much tragedy had befallen a girl so young?

Zuko cautiously shifted closer and pattered her trembling shoulder. Kee took the unintentional invitation and fell onto his chest, her small frame shaking with sobs. "Then the m-men found m-me, and brought m-me here..."

Zuko fought against the compassion he began to feel. This girl wasn't even supposed to be there, and yet… He looked down at the tiny girl in his arms.

"Kee..."

And that's all I've written.

Any interest? Suggestions? Review and tell me.

-Scarlet