My contribution to P'heer week. We'll see how this goes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra or its characters.
She found herself back in that frozen cell, the cold metal chain being put back around her neck and the metal plate over her forehead.
"No!" She cried. "I can't do this again! No! No! NO!" P'li sat up quickly flames bursting out of her palms. "Get away!" She swung her right arm in an arc across her body, throwing flames that quickly died.
Someone grabbed her wrists and faced the palms of her hands away from her. "P'li it's ok, it was just a nightmare!"
As P'li tried to pull away, she realized that she was in a dark room only lit by the glow of the flames that she created. Zaheer was next to her, he was the one holding her wrists, obviously protecting himself as well at her from her fire. She was breathing heavily and her entire body was shaking. Her heart was pounding and she was sweating, yet she felt cold.
When she extinguished her fire and relaxed, Zaheer pulled the blanket up over her chest. If Ghazan and Ming hua had heard her cries, either of them could burst into the rock shelter Ghazan had made and demand to know what was wrong, only to be met with a sight that they would have rather not seen. They waited for about a minute, and when neither of their friends came, Zaheer let the blanket drop.
"Are you ok?" Zaheer asked facing her, his voice was very gentle. He put his hand on her upper back and began to move it in a circular motion. His other hand held hers
P'li's looked down. "Damn it." She hated for Zaheer to see her like this. With everything they were trying to accomplish, the last thing she wanted was for him to coddle her. She was all too happy that he had never seen her actual prison cell. She wanted things to be the way they were thirteen years ago, but with all that she and her friends had gone through, she knew that wouldn't be possible. They all now had their own issues to work out.
Zaheer was the only one who never had nightmares. P'li suspected it was because he had spent so much time in the spirit world during his imprisonment; a little fact that slightly annoyed her.
She knew when Ming hua and Ghazan were not sleeping well. A few times when she had been on night watch, she had seen Ming hua jerk awake and then immediately jump up and walk away from their camp site with her head hanging. Anytime that P'li had asked if she was alright, Ming hua would simply respond "Bad dream" without even looking at her as she walked away.
Ghazan would whimper, which always woke up Ming hua. Ming hua would nudge him with her foot until he awoke and then would look at him uncomfortably before quickly laying back down, pretending to be asleep. This all occurred before Ghazan was fully awake and knew what had happened. He himself would never admit that he had nightmares.
This was the first time P'li had ever woke up screaming. While it unnerved her that she had started firebending in her sleep, she was relieved that no combustion bending had occurred. Though the possibility that it could happen scared her.
"I'll be fine." She finally responded. "It was just a dream, I'll get over it."
"Was it about your childhood?" Zaheer asked.
"No it was that prison." P'li said, remembering the intense cold she had experienced for thirteen years. Even though they were far away from the North Pole and days had passed since her jail break, her insides still felt as though they were frozen. It was both from the extreme temperature and from the lack of human contact for over a decade.
Zaheer was quiet and she knew what was bothering him. He had felt guilty that things had gone awry thirteen years ago and that she and their friends were put into those prisons. She didn't blame him for what had happened; they had all agreed to go along with the plan. And if it weren't for him, she'd be chained up in another prison as a warlord's slave. The few times in her life that she was free were all thanks to him. She, Ghazan, and Ming hua all had Zaheer to thank for their freedom, before and after imprisonment. Ghazan would be dead, Ming hua most likely would be too if neither had ever met Zaheer.
"I'm cold." P'li said hoping to change the subject. She lit up a flame in her palm and looked into Zaheer's eyes. "You up for round two tonight?"
"Always." Zaheer smiled and he leaned in to kiss her. She extinguished the flame and wrapped her arms around him. He started at her lips and moved down to the right side of her neck making his way towards her chest.
P'li smiled. "I'm already feeling warmer."
AN: Sorry no smut this time. I wanted to get this out before tomorrow and may have to do more editing later.
