Fragile Days
Katara smoothed his hair away from his forehead and pressed her water-wreathed hands again on his wound. "I told you to not strain yourself."
Zuko sighed and flopped his head dramatically back on the fluffed pillows. "I survived my first Agni Kai, beat Zhao twice, escaped from a heavily-armed fortress, got blown off my ship, swam through the frigid Nothern sea, beaten by the Avatar and you and Sokka, somehow live through that damned lightning bolt, and now I'm mortally ill because I overtaxed myself."
"Exactly," Katara started to say, but started for moment as she mused over his list of injuries. "Blown off your ship?"
"Pirates. Hired by Zhao. Created a fire shield at the last minute and crashed through the window." Zuko closed his eyes, either reliving it in his mind or giving into his exhaustion. Katara shook her head, ignoring the weary, dry strands that flopped in her face as she checked the hole again. It was almost the same, to her dismay.
Aang's wound had been terrible. He had been shot in the back, and the lightning had exited through his foot. But the difference between his and Zuko's was that, as she and Zuko figured out, Zuko had no exit wound. That, and this was Sozin's Comet lightning—a hundred times more powerful, right in a fatal area. The exit wound and the healing sessions she'd given Zuko had improved his breathing, but there was still something wrong.
Katara, not for the first time, wished she had spent more time in the healing huts. Sure, Yugoda might not have specifically addressed lightning wounds, but Katara could have deducted something if she'd stayed longer, she was sure. She could only guess, she sighed as she stroked Zuko's hair in thought. Was it infection? Was it because the lightning was in a different place? Was it because of the power? Did something go wrong in the first healing process? Did she not get to him in time?
"Zuko?" she asked him. "What do you know—" She stopped, once she saw that Zuko had fallen asleep. All she could do is smooth his hair again and find an excuse to leave his side.
Zuko did not open his eyes for three days.
Katara's worry increased day by day, then hour by hour. She forced water and broth down his throat with Waterbending, as she did with Aang when she was out, but he gave no sign of waking. Healing water seemed to do no good. She tried the same process with boiled water, warm water, cold water, soapy water in different degrees, but to no avail.
The girl found herself crying over him, kneeling by Zuko's bedside, murmuring childhood prayers to Tui and La and Yue. Rin, the little girl, watched her and offered prayers too in, she guessed, the traditional Fire Nation way, kneeling with cupped hands. She tried to remember if she ever saw Zuko praying, but she couldn't ever recall. She'd heard Zuko drop "Dear Agni," "May Agni bless them," "Agni curse them," or simply swear the god's name in a hiss if something minor happened, like a sineged hand or a stubbed toe, but unlike Aang or Suki or sometimes even Toph, she'd never seen him bow his head or place his heads together or close his eyes in thought.
Katara wondered in a moment of paranoia: What if Water Tribe blessings didn't work? Would Zuko wake if his god...Agni...was prayed to?
"Rin?"
The girl jumped. Katara wondered what happened to the girl that made her so skittish, if Azula was as cruel a mistress as she was an opponent.
"Can you help me with something?" she pressed on, making her tone as soft as possible. Rin nodded mutely, sitting on her heels, eyes wide and alert.
"What are Fire Nation prayers...for healing?"
The kitchen was as empty as usual, and Katara hastily heated up the broth she'd made yesterday and grabbed some rice and bread for herself and Rin (the silent guard fed himself). She carefully carried the pot, the two bowls, and the loaf over to his room successfully. Already waiting there were dishes—noodles with curry, fried rice, steamed dumplings, and a fruit bowl. Rin was already gathering some dumplings—they smelled of chicken-pig—to eat when Katara stared, arms holding a pot of fresh broth for Zuko.
"Sir Yan, he did this." Rin says with a happy grin that showed a missing tooth in the back. Katara can't blame her. She'd been bringing back nothing but rice, vegetables, and bread for her and the girl since Zuko fell into his...sleep. Snatching her hand to take a piece of mango, she headed over to find Yan and thank him.
"No problem."
"It must have taken you—"
"Hush, now." Before Katara could look offended (she hates being told to be quiet), he smiles gently at her. "You've been so worried about the prince that you're not eating well. Like the little girl. You two need proper food."
Katara bows, Fire Nation-style at him, and checks on Zuko again.
Katara is bathing in the lovely warm water the Fire Palace offers in the gorgeously elaborate bathtub, allowing herself to relax. She loosely trails some water from the bath and lazily bends it around to forcibly calm herself down, sort of like nervous pacing for others. The lather on her head and shoulders smells of jasmine and something else, and it's extremely soothing, despite the loud shades of red and gold in the washroom. There are no windows, and the door is shut, so the air is pleasantly warm and soporific. The water underneath the bubbles is gray.
She is rinsing the suds out of her hair when she hears Rin give out a little scream, and Katara quickly Waterbends herself dry and throws on her robe and rushes out, the door banging behind her.
Inside the room is the Head Sage looming over Zuko, extending his hand, while Rin is sprawled out to the side, presumably shoved. Katara thinks fast, and the bathwater smacks the Sage full in the face and freezes him to the wall.
The Sage, of course (Katara remembers), is a Firebender. He can bend himself out, and he does, and Katara gathers the steam out of the air, collecting the water around herself and letting it swirl around her as a shield. She still feels a bit tired from the days tending to Zuko and slightly hazy from the warm bath, but she still glares, chin up, ready to strike if needed. Remembering from her spars with Zuko, she allows for the Sage to make the first move. Firebenders cannot stand waiting.
He shoots out a blaze of flames, almost too big and too hot for the confined space, and Katara quickly realizes her problem as she douses it with her bending water. She cannot simply dodge, for the room will catch on fire, and everyone could inhale too much smoke. Her water supply is not on equal footing with the Sage's fire; she could keep collecting vapor from the air, but it would run out quickly, and she doubted he would let her run to the washroom to run more water.
Katara water-whips him across the head, puts out another huge whoosh of fire, and knocks him into a table. The silver trays scatter and crash. Rin shakes against the floor at the sound. Katara immediately hammers him with a small wave, shoving his chest with a bit of ice at the end, winding him. She manages to get him closer to the doorway, where Yan is arriving with a tray of of roasted picken and hot soup, in which the guard takes all of this in, sets the tray calmly and carefully against the wall, and tackles the Sage, pinning his arms behind his back.
The Waterbender nods to Yan and turns her steely gaze towards the old Firebender. "You were here for Zuko."
"I did come here to end him. He is not the true-" Katara slapped him, hard, across the face. In a swooping, terrible feeling that clenched her stomach with the sickening smack, she tried not to flinch as the sound echoed.
The Sage met her eyes again, his voice fierce and cold. "The whelp will not live. I have warned you."
Notes:
Okay, so decided this will be in...five parts! (Yeah, not ground-breaking news, but I'll try to have the next chapter up soon!)