Sokka slowly opened his eyes wishing that that would help make the pain go away. His back was on fire and he thought that Azula was back to make him talk again. "Sokka?" he heard a strange voice call.

"Wha?" he asked still confused. Everything was swimming and despite the fire that was raging on his back the rest of him was shivering. He tried to regain control of his body but nothing seemed to be listening to him.

Zuko dabbed the cloth against Sokka's forehead as he tried to figure out how to make the infection go away. Kaya had already seen Sokka and done all that she could, which turned out to be very little.

"Sokka, you need to wake up," Zuko said again as he tried to wash out the infected wound. Sokka had been thrashing in his sleep making almost everything impossible for Zuko.

"Katara?" asked Sokka as he barely opened his eyes. Zuko sighed in relief, finally he was awake!

"Sokka, you need to take your medicine," Zuko said in as calming of a voice as he could manage. Sokka was so out of it he didn't realize who he was talking to, so he nodded and gladly accepted the strange liquid that was poured down his throat.

Zuko laid Sokka's head in his lap as he slowly tried to sooth the younger teen. He could see Sokka's obvious shaking and even four blankets had done nothing to make it subside. Zuko hoped that he would be able to help, as he carefully started to heat up his own body temperature.

Sokka seemed to slowly calm down and finally stop shaking. Zuko smiled as Sokka seemed to go off into a deep sleep and no longer be bothered by the trembling.

Zhao was surprised by the crest of the bird, it had come from the royal household. He opened the letter and was happy to see that it had the crest of the Firelord stamped on the front.

He quickly read over the letter and only became happier at what he saw. He was usually given missions that were against other nations but this time he was going to settle a personnel score.

Zuko tried to meditate as he listened to Sokka's labored breathing. He had done everything he could, but it looked like Sokka was just getting worse. What would he do if Sokka died? Tao would be all alone.

No! he couldn't think like that! Sokka would get better. He tried to reign in the fire that had exploded at the thought of Sokka dying. This had gone on for far too long, Sokka couldn't be a friend. He was a prisoner.

"Zuko?" Zuko looked up surprised to see Sokka trying to sit up on the bed.

"You're awake!" Zuko jumped up to go and help him.

"Wh-what happened?" asked Sokka confused as he tried to figure out why he felt so horrible. Zuko slowly helped him up but as soon as he was on his feet the room started to spin and Sokka fell to the ground throwing up what little food that was left in his stomach.

"Are you alright?" asked Zuko trying to help him make it back to the bed.

"No," Sokka moaned as he tried to catch his breath. He started to feel like he was going to get sick again but felt better when he finally laid down again. "What's wrong with me?" he asked trying to think of what would cause this much pain.

"One of the wounds that my sister inflicted on you seems to have become infected," Zuko explained as he grabbed a cloth and walked into the washroom. He could see Sokka's surprise when he walked back out. "I think that you got past the worst part though," Zuko said laying the cloth across his forehead.

"Thanks," Sokka said confused. Zuko wasn't supposed to be nice and try to help him. This was the enemy! But nothing he had done in the last two weeks were actions of an enemy. Sokka tried to stop thinking as his head started to pound with a headache.

"When you feel well enough you should probably take a bath," Zuko said looking back at the mess that Sokka had just made on his floor.

Sokka was surprised at how calm Zuko seemed. Usually, he figured, Zuko should have just let him die because of the infection. Maybe Zuko was more human then he had thought.

Sokka slowly tried to stand up again, again being assisted by Zuko. This time he made it all the way to the tub, that was full of steaming water. It had been a long time since he was able to actually take a bath and he gratefully sunk into the water.

"What are you doing?" asked Zuko confused. Sokka looked at him questioningly and then figured out the reason for the strange look. He had gotten into the tub of water fully dressed.

"I didn't feel like taking them off," Sokka lied as he lowered himself into the tub. Truthfully he didn't know if he had the strength to even take off his shirt. Zuko had practically carried him the five feet to the washroom.

Zuko shook his head as he leaned down and started to pull off Sokka's tunic. "What are you doing?" asked Sokka tensing up.

"I'm helping you take off the tunic you threw up on," Zuko said with practiced patience. Sokka tried to calm down as Zuko took off his top layer. He was too weak to fight anyways. Sokka sighed at how low he had become.

"I'll go get these cleaned while you wash up," Zuko said shutting the door behind him. Sokka relaxed into the water, his muscles seemed to calm down a little but his back still felt like it was on fire. There was no way to be truly comfortable but Sokka just tried to ignore it.

After what seemed to be like an hour he finally decided that it was time to get out of the water. His legs felt heavy but that's what he got for leaving his pants on. He had to use up a lot of strength just to stand up.

He slowly tried to get his leg over the side but slipped and slammed his chin into the ground. He cried out in pain as he felt the blood from his lip slowly start to run down his tongue. He tried to get up but his arms just gave out and he was stuck on the floor, bleeding.

He slammed his fist against the ground in anger, it barely made a thud but it felt like he had crushed it with a giant air bison. He cried out in pain, this was just too much. He couldn't take anymore!

"Are you throwing a tantrum?" asked Zuko walking into the room. Sokka looked up surprised, he hadn't heard the Prince walk in.

"No, I just fell," lied Sokka. Zuko looked mildly amused as he slowly helped Sokka up and walked him back to the bed. As soon as Sokka was seated Zuko started to help him dry off by running the towel through his hair. Usually Sokka would never allow this kind of thing, especially not after Jet, but he liked it when Zuko did it. It almost felt...comforting.

Sokka was so confused by the weird thought. He had been having a lot of those lately. Maybe they were right. Sokka shook his head, figuring he could think about it later.

Zuko smiled as he saw Sokka slowly relax. It was nice to see that side of him when he was awake and not just asleep.

I haven't written in forever so hopefully two chapters in one will make up for that!