When Zuko woke up, he couldn't see and his entire face was numb. He panicked, but in his state, he only managed to roll over and begin moaning. Light broke and Zuko found that he was lying inside of a tent.
"Get the healer." A familiar voice said and then the light disappeared. Footsteps moved closer to him and Zuko felt someone sit on the ground next to him.
"How are you nephew?" His uncle asked gently and Zuko reached out for him, still moaning.
"Is he awake?" Light again broke across his uneven vision and his mother swept in with a breeze. He felt a hand fall on his side and his moaning subsided.
"Do you see now why I must go to Hira'a?" Ursa's whisper was sharp and Iroh's sigh was pained.
"He will look there." Iroh said.
"And he will not find me." Ursa insisted.
"You will have to leave Zuko here." Iroh said.
"Mmmmm….. Nnnnnnnnh-" Zuko groped wildly in the hazy dark and felt the familiar softness of his mother's hands.
"You will stay with him?" She asked as she bent over. Zuko could feel her breath on his fingers.
"Of course." Iroh answered just as Ursa kissed his hands.
"Mmmm! N,n-no!" Zuko managed. He struggled upward and his mother caught him, holding him close. Confused, and having a pain he could not properly feel, Zuko started to cry. Light burst in and a third person walked into the tent.
"Here, majesty." A woman's voice was worn but friendly. Zuko felt another pair of hands gently pull on his shoulders, dragging him back down. As his back hit the mat, someone braced his shoulders and Zuko felt something bump against his mouth. Liquid poured down his throat and Zuko coughed. Still, he was made to swallow a bitter liquid and his choking turned to gagging.
"Will he lose the eye?" Iroh asked once Zuko had calmed. He was laid back down and could already feel the edges of his mind continuing to fall into the ground.
"No, the burn was mostly superficial. But the heat was intense and he will most definitely have a lifelong scar. The bandage must be kept on for three months. Change it twice a day, more if there is any oozing or bleeding." The woman said. She paused and Zuko could hear breathing. "If I had been a Bender, maybe…"
Sleep claimed Zuko.
The next week passed in much the same way. Zuko would awaken for only a few minutes and his vision was always dark and cloudy. He did not always awaken in a tent, and sometimes was jostled into consciousness by the shaking of a cart. Then he heard many voices, and occasionally there were voices that he knew.
When Zuko finally, really woke up, it was like he had just broken a fever. He sat up, fully alert, and feeling dried out while his skin was still slick with sweat. There was a heavy pad bandage over his left eye and that half of his face was covered in a thick, viscous gel. It numbed his face and smelled like anise and wintergreen.
His first instinct was to rip it off but he knew it was on there for a reason.
Zuko pushed the blankets off of himself and stood, with his knees shaking, in an empty tent. There was another cot close by, but it was empty. Listening carefully, Zuko could hear the buzzing of insects and low chatter, and he could feel the ambient heat of day trapped in the canvas walls. It was day, probably late afternoon, and there were other people in camp.
Walking slowly, and unsteady on his feet, Zuko made it to the flap of a door in the tent. He pulled it back and winced in the sunlight. People milled about in the area outside, but no one that he recognized.
"Prince Zuko!" A young woman approached him and Zuko shrank back into the tent. The woman stopped and held up her hands, still smiling. "I'm Zinna. I've been helping Ilora with your healing."
"Where are we?" Zuko asked and cautiously looked around. When he looked back, he saw that Zinna had stepped closer.
"We've just gone through the Usui Pass." She answered.
"We're heading east?" Zuko asked. He furrowed his brow and then hissed as the skin around his left eye pulled tight. Zinna rushed forward and braced him.
"You should lie down." She said and Zuko pushed her away.
"No. I don't need to rest. I need to eat." He put a hand lightly on the bandage and glared at Zinna.
"You're bleeding." She stated. Zuko lifted the hand from the bandage and tentatively touched at the space under his eye. He felt the gel but as he raised his hand up to examine it, he saw the bright red stain of fresh blood.
"It's most likely just the skin, but we'll need to look at the eye." Zinna softly pushed on Zuko's shoulder as she spoke, urging him back inside. "I will get Ilora and your uncle if you go lay down."
With that, Zuko nodded and backed into the tent. Zinna stood, holding the flap open, and watched till he staggered back to the cot and collapsed onto it. Then she left it close and disappeared.
Zuko pulled himself fully onto the cot and laid back, putting a hand back onto the bandage. He tried to remember what had happened to cause the injury. It had been night and he just remembered Azula's frightened face. Then a burst of blue light. Zuko tried to filter through his moments of lucidity, to try and remember if he had ever heard her voice. His memory from that night till now was murky at best, but Zuko knew his sister hadn't been in to visit him.
As his consciousness slowly caught up to him, Zuko mulled over a mental map of his country. They were heading east, down toward the volcanic island at the tail. He wondered why they were heading toward one of the largest military outposts in the nation if they were trying to escape his father.
Now a lump appeared in his throat as he connected Ozai to Azula. His sister had said something about their father wanting to kill him, and Zuko felt something snap in his chest. His father didn't like him, he had made that perfectly clear, but Ozai loved him. Zuko was his son, his first born, his heir. Surely he loved him. Ozai had to love him.
Fathers didn't kill their sons.
Zuko sniffed as his throat tightened and he vigorously rubbed at his unharmed eye. He was a crybaby, as Azula had often told him. He knew he had to be better, be stronger, so that when he returned to his father, there wouldn't be any more shame. Zuko would be welcomed as an honored son and everything would go back to normal.
Why had they even left?
The noise outside of the tent continued and Zuko waited in silence. He knew they were on a journey, though he didn't know what destination was in mind. He knew they had to leave in a hurry and that something bad had happened. Understanding those two things, Zuko believed that he would some day return to his home.
All he had to do was wait.
