Notes: I wrote this last year, and for some reason never posted it here. So here is another story from the Smoke Demons' series! :)

PART ONE


A shiver coursed over Suki's frame as she swayed in place beside the door to Zuko's office. Her gloved hand clenched on the hilt of the sword tucked into her belt, as if that might stop the swirling sensation in her stomach. She blinked a few times, trying to keep the shivers wracking her from showing in her shoulders.

Her stomach tightened, clenching and roiling around the tea she'd had earlier. Despite the turmoil in her middle, she felt strangely hollow, as if someone had blown a gigantic hole in her chest. Biting down on the inside of her lip, she stubbornly tried to ignore how lightheaded she was feeling.

She was not getting sick. She refused.

Focusing outward was hard though, but an excuse to watch Zuko was one she would gladly take. The Fire Lord was bent over his desk, hard at work signing document after document that Fen, his fussy secretary, put before him. Zuko's brow was furrowed as he stopped and read a few lines of the parchment in front of him.

"Do we really need new topiary in the gardens?" he asked Fen, gesturing to the requisition form.

"Well, sire..." Fen started, one hand on his cocked hip in exasperation. "If you'll recall, you and the Captain decided to set fire to the old garden outside your dojo."

"There was an assassin," Zuko explained, pulling a little grin as he glanced up at Suki, who found it in her to return the expression, even though thinking about that afternoon in his dojo still gave her anxiety. That had been a close call. Far too close.

"And there was a garden. Now it's a scorch mark," Fen huffed.

"We didn't do it for fun," Zuko said defensively.

"Well, it was a little fun," Suki spoke up, with a small shrug. Zuko turned his attention back on her, his grin wide, eyes twinkling with amusement.

"How hilarious. Meanwhile, the royal gardeners are up my backside about replacing everything. What should I tell them?" Fen hissed. Zuko tore his gaze away from her and looked back at the forms in front of him. He chewed on the end of his brush and then rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Replace it all. But no topiary. It creeps me out. Tell them to put in a flower garden instead," Zuko said, signing his name with a flourish. "What do you think, Captain? Might be nice to smell flowers instead of sweat after our workouts."

It took her a moment to realize that Zuko was addressing her again. She started, swallowing the lump in her throat. Zuko glanced up from his paperwork again, his gaze centered on her. She saw his mild amusement turn to worry in an instant and wondered what he might have seen in her face to cause that. She couldn't give away that she was sick. How humiliating.

"Suki?"

Her head spun toward the sound of Zuko's voice, and she immediately regretting the movement, because it made the whole room tilt a little. Zuko's brow furrowed at her she swayed in place.

"Yes?" she said thickly, as if through a haze.

"Are you all right?" Zuko asked, concern in his voice as he glanced from her to Fen, but the secretary was shuffling papers and hadn't looked at her since walking into the room.

"Yes, why?" she said, drawing herself up, even as a shiver wracked her frame.

"You look...I don't know. Are you okay?"

"Of course," she lied, and cleared her throat. "I was just spacing out. What were you saying?"

Zuko looked like he didn't believe her, but he said slowly, "Nothing important. Are you sure you're okay?"

She took a deep breath and then nodded. "Yes, Fire Lord Zuko. I'm sure."

I only have an hour left of my shift. I can be okay for an hour. I can hold it together. I will not puke. Not in front of Zuko. Anything but that.

As Zuko cast her another worried, and unconvinced, look, and then bent over the document Fen thrust under his nose, Suki stubbornly made deals with her body. She had never left a shift before and she wasn't about to start now. She'd been fine at the start of her shift that morning, but after lunch it had crept up on her slowly but surely. She hated that Zuko had noticed that she wasn't herself. She didn't want him to doubt her protection for a moment.

She could stand a lot of things, but she would not tolerate losing Zuko's confidence in her skills. Especially not because of some stupid little fever.

She drew herself up, ignoring the roil of her stomach, the spin of her head and the shivers slowly taking over her body. Her skin was starting to feel clammy and there was a noticeable shake in her limbs.

Hold it together, dammit.

Fen was putting the papers back into his leather case and Zuko caught her eye as he sat back in his chair with a gusting exhale, dropping his brush back into his ink pot. He rubbed at his neck.

"Please tell me that's all for today," he groaned, rolling his shoulders.

"I'm afraid not, sire. You have that meeting with Mayor Yukishima in the council room in ten minutes, remember? I dropped a reminder with your breakfast."

"Damn," Zuko said, his whole body slouching with disappointment. "I was hoping you'd forget."

"You don't pay me to forget."

"Are you angling for a raise?" Zuko countered, making Fen drop his professional fussiness for a moment. Suki saw him bite back a smile.

"If only," Fen said and then closed his case. "I know you don't like the Mayor."

"The feeling is mutual. I can't wait to hear what he's coming to complain about this time," Zuko groused, pushing himself away from the desk. He stood and stretched, working out his shoulders again. Suki bit down on her lip. He was going to work himself into a backache soon.

"Just try to be polite," Fen said.

"I promise nothing," Zuko said darkly and then sighed. "What's after the meeting?"

"Nothing until five, when you have your regular Council meeting. Oh, and Councilman Osamu will not be attending. He's fallen ill."

Zuko pulled a face. "Madam Biyu last week, and now Osamu. Half the palace is out with this stomach virus. It's really going around."

"Yes, and from what I understand it's not pleasant. Osamu collapsed at the breakfast table."

"Is he okay?" Zuko said, alarm on his face.

"He is, but the table isn't. Rumor has it he fell face-first into his miso. His wife was frantic, but he was relatively fine. Fever, chills, and...he was throwing up when they called the healer in to look at him. According to his missive he should be fully recovered in a few days. This illness hits quickly and it packs a punch, I'm afraid. Here's hoping you don't catch it yourself, Fire Lord Zuko."

"Yeah. Be sure to send him my sympathies. Perhaps some flowers and a card?" Zuko said with a wave of his hand.

"I've already seen to it," Fen said with a bow. Zuko ignored him. He was staring at her.

She was swaying again. The tremble in her legs was getting worse and she was starting to get dizzy. No, not just dizzy. The world felt strangely dim. As if she were watching Zuko through a long tunnel. She blinked back dark spots on her vision and felt sweat sliding down her skin, beading up on the white paint on her brow. She flexed her fingers, feeling cold straight down into the core of her body, despite the layers of her armor.

"Suki?"

"Yes, Zuko?"

"Are you-" he started, but she cut him off.

"I'm fine. We shouldn't leave Mayor Yukishima waiting. You know how offended he gets," she said thickly and—she winced—with a slight slur that she hoped he hadn't noticed.

She could tell by the look on his face that he had though. Zuko's eyes were narrowed in suspicion, his gaze flicking down her body. She felt annoyance embarrassment go through her. And something else. She was all too used to the thrill that shot through her skin and settled behind her heart when Zuko looked at her. She was good at ignoring it, usually, but her defenses her down.

Fen walked past her and opened the door of the office, stepping into the hallway. Suki grabbed for the door and missed it, stumbling forward as the world tilted on its axis.

She was vaguely aware of Zuko's arms suddenly around her, holding her up.

"Whoa!"

"S-sorry, I tripped," she said, looking up into his worry-filled eyes. He was so close she could count his eyelashes. His hands felt warm on her body and she shivered, tempted to wrap herself around him to feel that warmth down in her frozen bones. Instead, she put her weight back down on her heels, putting her hands flat on his chest.

Her heart pounded as his gaze met hers for one long moment.

"Suki—" he started, but she pushed herself back with trembling arms.

"Clumsy..." she mumbled, and reached for the door. He grabbed it before she could and opened it for her, putting one hand on her back to gently guide her through it. Her clammy face burned with humiliation.

I am not sick. Just one more hour. Just put one foot in front of the other. Just get through your shift. And don't look him in the eyes.

Fen was waiting on them, studying his schedule for the day with an intensity bordering on obsessive. He glanced up at them as they joined him, but didn't seem to sense that something had happened between them in Zuko's office.

Not that anything is happening between us, she thought stupidly and then shook her head a little. Which turned out to be a huge mistake. The dark spots on her vision seemed to be coming back.

As they walked, Zuko purposefully refused to take his rightful place two paces in front of her. Protocol demanded she walk behind him at all times; Zuko liked to buck protocols as often as possible, especially with her, but this time she knew he was doing it to keep an eye on her. She could still feel Zuko's hand on her back, but he seemed very far away all of a sudden.

Everything seemed very far away. The tunnel was back, and she was falling into it.

"The Council meeting will likely be short, due to Osamu's absence, but I know they're going to want to discuss the trade agreement with the Northern Water Tribe again," Fen was saying, his boots clacking on the marble floors.

Suki was barely listening. The floor was buckling beneath her as she walked and she let out a shaky breath. The black spots were growing. She blinked them back, but they wouldn't leave. Sweat beaded on her skin and she felt her stomach lurching as the world tipped.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Zuko..." she gasped as the blackness slipped over her, and her eyes rolled up in her head.


The soft exhale of his name was the only warning he got before Suki's whole body slumped forward, like a puppet with cut strings. His arms were around her in an instant though, catching her around the waist and pulling her against him as gently as he could.

"Suki! SUKI!" he said, frantic as worry and fear exploded in his middle. Fen whipped around and let out a high-pitched screech at the scene.

"Captain! What happened? Assassins?" Fen exclaimed, lifting his leather case over his head like a shield. "Is she shot?"

"No, she fainted," Zuko grunted, pulling Suki's limp body against his chest. He went down on one knee, turning her over to face him. Her head flopped back against his arm, throat exposed. He could see the sweat on her skin, beading up through her paint. Her red mouth was slack. He lifted her eyelids with one finger and saw the whites of her eyes. He cupped her face and tried to shake her a little, but she didn't respond.

Another shot of fear went through him like lightning.

"Fainted? The Captain?"

"I knew it," Zuko said through his teeth, shaking his head as he took her golden half-helm off and set it aside. He put his bare hand on her forehead. "She's burning hot. I knew it. I could tell something was wrong. She wasn't acting like herself. Damn stubborn woman... Why didn't she tell me?"

"It's probably that virus that's going around," Fen said, bending down beside him. "Careful, sire. You might catch it. I should send for a—"

"I've been around her all day. I've already been exposed," Zuko cut him off as he eased her down onto her back on the cool marble floor. He gently put her head down, pushing her sweat-soaked hair out of her face with care.

"Still! You could get sick!" Fen was saying, but he ignored him, cupping Suki's face as if he could pour the strength of his fear and worry into her. As if that might wake her up.

"Suki... Suki? Sukes, come on... You're scaring the shit out of me," he said, and his voice cracked a little. He'd never seen Suki like this before. She was always so in control, so focused. He'd known something was wrong in his office, when she'd looked him with her eyes all glassy. Gulping, he pulled off Suki's gloves one by one and tossed them aside. Then he reached for the buckle on Suki's belt.

"I hardly think undressing her is going to help, sire!"

"She's burning up inside this damn armor and it'll be easier carrying her to the ward without it. Besides, they'll take it off of her there anyway," Zuko said impatiently, pushing her belt open, her fan and sword clacking as they fell to the floor. Then he reached for the buckles on her armor.

"I'll call a guardsman. He can take her to—"

"I can do it," Zuko said shortly as he sat her up like a drunken doll and carefully slipped the armor off over her head. He set it aside and then draped her limp arm around his shoulder, putting one arm around torso, the other scooping up beneath her legs.

Then, with a lurch, he stood. Suki was dead weight in his arms, but she wasn't as heavy as he thought she might be. She looked tiny without her armor, actually. Frail, even, but maybe that was just the sickness. She shivered against him as he cradled her against his chest.

He was trying not to panic. Trying to tell himself that it was just the stomach thing that was going around. Osamu had fainted. He'd seen a guardsman do the same thing last week. She was going to be okay.

He tried to tell himself that, but his rationale had flown out the window the minute Suki had fainted, and he knew it. Suki didn't faint. Suki was strong. Suki was his rock. His friend. His... But he stopped that thought, burying it beneath his fear.

She needed him. Nothing else seemed to matter.

"Sire, the Mayor?" Fen said, wringing his hands as Zuko turned toward the healing ward. He stopped and turned back to his secretary.

"Damn. Tell him I have a personal emergency. Reschedule."

"He'll be angry!"

"I honestly don't care. And clear the rest of my day."

"Cancel the Council meeting too?"

"Yes, and take the Captain's things to her room when you're finished. And find Ty Lee. Send her to Suki's suite and tell her to wait for me there," Zuko said decisively.

"Sire, I'm not sure it's..."

"It's what?" he challenged Fen, who looked like he had a lot to say all of a sudden. His secretary caught the look in his eyes though and stopped himself.

"Nevermind, sire. It doesn't matter."

"You have my orders," Zuko said and then spun on his heel and took off for the healing ward, leaving Fen staring holes in his back. He held Suki against him as he went down the staircase, passing several servants who gaped at him, and a few of his guardsmen who bowed as they passed.

No one stopped him though, or commented on the strange sight of the Fire Lord carrying his unconscious chief bodyguard in his arms like she might break if he held her too tightly. Her head lolled limply against his shoulder.

"When you wake up, I'm going to kick your stubborn ass," Zuko mumbled to mask the fear rolling through him. "Just wake up first. Please."