Yooooooo all. Sorry I meant to post this LAST monday, but i had a competition to go to in Annapolis that weekend which left me NO time to actually write it :P Also, due to finals coming up for me in about 2 weeks...idk when ill post chapter 3 :3 but no worries it shall happen eventually.

Chapter 1 is definitely my favorite so far. This one is ok but i like action...which this has nothing of. Im thinking chapter 3 WILL have some action in it though! so stay tuned :)

Numb.

Everything was numb.

I tasted numb. I heard numb. I felt numb.

Blissful, blissful numb.

I no longer felt pain or suffering or fear.

I just didn't feel anything.

It was so beautiful. I was relieved.

I knew that I had finally died, that my prayers were answered and that I was free.

Finally, I was free.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()*Zuko POV*

When I brought her back to my camp, Uncle was already waiting for me. He had a fire going with a tea kettle heating up on top of it. He had already set up one of the sleeping bags as support so she would be comfortable.

I didn't expect her to be in such bad shape, but Uncle obviously wanted to be prepared.

I laid her gently on her stomach so that my Uncle could work on her back. He looked sadly at her and, for a moment, I thought that he didn't know what to do. Then he sighed and reached into his pouch where he took out several different leaves and herbs. I watched as he mashed them together into a paste with the hot water. He cleaned her back of the crusted blood and pus that had oozed out of her open wounds. He spread a generous amount of the paste on her back evenly. Then he turned around and watched the fire. She didn't even flinch.

"You can have the other sleeping bag, Zuko. I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight."

I nodded, but lay down on the ground anyway. I didn't sleep either. Who could after seeing something like that?

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() *End Zuko POV*

The darkness that surrounded me was damp and heavy, like I was drowning. My head felt like I was balancing a ton of bricks right in the center, an immediate weight of pain. I tried to move, but then a sharp, searing pain stung my nerves.

Everything hurt.

The numbness that I remember vaguely from eons ago had long faded and in its place was a horrible, blinding pain. My chest felt like there was a dense weight inside it, making it harder to breathe. Breath escaped my lips in short bursts.

I tried to focus on something else to calm myself. Focusing on my breathing only made the ache sharper, so I just shut my eyes (unless they were already closed) and listened to the thunder roaring in my ears.

The pain slowly faded the less I thought about it. All I could hear was thick thunder, but it was soothing.

Behind the thunder, I heard something else. It sounded like words, only they were muddled and meshed. I listened harder, trying to tune out the thunder and focus on that one window of new noise.

The voices were unfamiliar, which is odd considering I recognize every voice on my Master's guard. I figured it was maybe new recruits or something

The more I blocked out the thunder, the more I could hear outside of it. The sounds were slowly coming together, forming words, then phrases.

"…when I found her…blood everywhere…she was barely conscious…thanked me."

The phrase was muddled and thick, like the person was talking underwater. I couldn't be sure as to who they were talking about, but I had a hunch that it was maybe me.

Curse my hopeful thinking.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to move again. But the pain was just as intense as before.

Dying is just as bad as living.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()*Zuko POV*

The next morning when the sun rose high enough for me to "wake up," I went right to the girl. She looked the exact same as I had left her; on her stomach, brown gunk on her back, and barely breathing.

She was completely still.

Uncle was already awake. He was making tea and ripping apart pieces of rabbit jerky.

"Good morning, Nephew." He said, but he didn't sound chipper like he normally did in the mornings. For once, my Uncle's voice was flat.

"Morning." I said, still looking at the girl. I hoped she would wake up. But Uncle and I both knew that there was little chance she'd wake up at all. "How is she?" I asked quietly.

Uncle sighed as he poured tea in two bamboo cups. "I put some more medicine on her back. She has old scars. This was not a first time thing."

I clenched my fists.

"She's really thin, probably hasn't eaten a decent meal in months. Most of her other injuries are infected."

I shut my eyes tight, shaking. I felt sorry for asking.

"Her breathing is very shallow, but even all the same. I'm not sure if she understands what has happened to her yet. I believe she is still conscious but her body is too weak and exhausted to respond to what she wants to do."

I couldn't take it anymore. I snapped. I let out a frustrated scream and punched the cave wall, the area turning bright red and chipping away a few pieces.

"How could anyone treat a human being like that!" I asked Uncle. Because Uncle knows everything. "She's not even an adult! She's a child. Like me! I knew there was something fishy with the man when he took her back to his ship but I didn't know he was putting her to the brink of death!"

I punched the wall again. "We should have saved her before he found her. Or at least untied her!"

"You know we couldn't have." Uncle said calmly, almost sadly.

"AND WHY NOT!"

"Because we're supposed to be in hiding, Zuko!" Uncle exclaimed. His voice wasn't hysterical like mine, but it was a tad shaky, "We would have been in the same situation and she would've gotten whipped anyway! Then no one would have saved her."

I took a few shuddering breaths. Uncle was right. In order for me to save her, I had to play dumb with the man who "owned" her. I feel guilty for making her go through that probably for the 50th time in her life, but it was the only way to truly saved her.

I hated when Uncle was right, but for right now, I needed to stay level-headed. I needed to be strong. At least for her.

I sat back down and snapped my fingers. My whole hand engulfed in flame and I stared at it, trying to calm myself from the warming heat of the fire.

"The ship was armed," I began, "There were guards everywhere, but they were young soldiers, probably just being soldiers for the sake of pretending to be heros. They were easy to get rid of. I wanted to go after the guy, but my mind was set on finding her. I just…had a really bad feeling and something was pulling me more towards her then the man. So I searched the ship. There were many rooms, but I found her." Zuko sighed, "When I found her, she was on the lowest deck in the farthest room at the back of the ship. I kicked open the door and…all I saw was red. There was blood everywhere, as though she had to drag herself back to her room. She was laying in the corner on top of a blood soaked towel. She was shaking really bad. Like she was cold but when I touched her she was so hot. She was just barely conscious. When I picked her up she looked up at me…she looked at me with these huge, brown eyes. Then…she thanked me.

"Uncle…I think she thought I was a real spirit…and that I was taking her away to the spirit world. I think she wanted to die."

I looked up from my flame to see Uncle frowning, "I have a feeling that she will wake up."

"What makes you so sure?" I asked bitterly.

Then, Uncle smiled.

"Because if you notice right now, she can hear us talking."

I looked at her, alarmed. Her eyes were still closed but her face looked like she was straining. Then she stopped immediately and took a very deep breath.

"She's alive, Zuko. But she needs her rest now more than ever."

YAAAAAAAAAAAY Girl is okayyyyyyyy :D I also would like to thank all of my reviewers :) i appologize if i came off as a little rude/self centered/mean/angry/spoiled/all kinds of nasty things :) i hope everything can be better naow.

NIGHT O_O