Hullo,

Please don't hate me for being gone for forever. I know it's hard not to, but just read instead.

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA

As always, please review. They mean the world to me.

~Rehyou

Recovery

"Well behaved women rarely make history."

Akari suddenly jolted awake with a hand pressed tightly against her mouth. She tossed and turn as much she could, but it was all too easy for the person to hold her down in her weakened state. Her eyes searched frantically in the darkness in an attempt to figure out who was responsible for all this. When she saw golden eyes flash, her confusion caused her to stop flailing like a giant coy fish.

Zuko used the opportunity to pin her down…by using his whole body. Akari just hoped it was still dark enough to hide the blush creeping up her neck. He looked down at her with something similar to pity in his eyes. If he was going look at her like this all the time just because his father scarred her, they were going to have to have a talk.

"It's just me," Zuko breathed, his lips brushing against her ear. "You had a nightmare, and I think the guards might have heard."

His suspicions were confirmed when the sounds of boots and clanking metal got closer from around the corner. A knot formed in her stomach. Of course she would cause this to happen. An apology was just about to leave her lips when Zuko shook his head as he looked down at her. His eyes told her to be silent.

"What is it?" The voice of the soldier sounded distant. Akari relaxed slightly. They were nowhere near them.

"I thought I heard something." Akari's muscles grew taut, and Zuko's wide eyes mimicked her fears. This new voice sounded like it was right in front of them. Akari turned her head to the side in an attempt to see out onto the beach. Sure enough, there was a pair of feet right in front of the thicket they were hiding in.

"It was probably just some villagers."

The boots shifted uneasily. "It sounded like crying."

"Look. The boat takes off at noon. That's eight hours from now. If anybody was planning to compromise the ship they would have done it by now. Besides, what will the person do? Drown us with their tears?" The soldier laughed at his own joke, but the boot man didn't laugh. "Come on. Let's go back."

There was the sound of the one soldier leaving. The boots hesitated and then turned and left.

Akari was trying so hard to hear that it sounded like static in her ears. After a few moments of silence, Zuko rolled off of her. Akari was just about to say how sorry she was when Zuko cut her off.

"Akari, it's not your fault." He waved his hand absently, as if nearly being discovered by soldiers was just a pesky horse fly. Akari sighed but didn't protest any further. She was in no condition to fight him anyway.

"Do you have a plan?"

Zuko hesitated. "No," he admitted.

A silence filled the air. "So are you going to think of one or…?"

"I'm working on it okay?" Zuko snapped at her in the quietest voice possible.

Akari smiled. There was nothing like picking at his temper to brighten her day. Over the next few hours she attempted to get her muscles up and running again. She flexed each muscle, from her toes to her fingertips, trying to gain back more strength and control. By the time a pale sunlight began to filter through the brush, she felt like she had control of her muscles again, but she was still weak.

She figured a few hours were enough time for him to think of something. "So, whatcha got?"

"Well I have a plan," Zuko said with hesitation in his voice, "but I don't know if you'll like it."

Akari rolled over on her side to look at him. She found he was already studying her. Akari raised her eyebrow, indicating that he should proceed.

"We need those two soldiers' uniforms, right?" Akari nodded slowly in agreement. Zuko continued. "Well I was thinking that we could sneak over to the end of our side of the beach. I could hide on one side of the tip of the cliff and then you could lure the soldiers over here by…" The last few words were barely audible.

"What'd you say?" Akari asked, her brow furrowed.

Zuko repeated the words, but she still couldn't hear them.

"I can't hear you. Could you please speak—"

"Seduce, okay?" Zuko whispered in exasperation. "I thought you could turn up your feminine charm and try and distract at least one of them. Then I could ambush them. We just have to make sure this is all of this is done as quietly as possible."

Akari was still caught up on the first part of the plan. "Wait, you want me to seduce them?"

"Why? Do you not think you can? I mean they are easy targets. They probably haven't seen a decent girl since they went to sea. But if you don't think you can…" Zuko grinned devilishly at her.

He was trying to mess with her. And it worked. What most irked her was how he called her decent; as if she was some little kid's swordsmanship that wasn't up to par with the rest of the class. She mumbled complaints under her breath as she sat up; ignoring Zuko's attempts to assist her. She clawed her way out of the thicket, stumbled out onto the sand, and staggered onto her feet.

By the time Zuko fought his way out, she was already kicking off her boots. She tossed them over to his feet. Her legs shook violently as she pulled of her leggings and threw them at Zuko.

"Hold those."

Zuko's eyes widened a bit, but he shoved them in his pocket anyways. Akari took a hold of the side of her flowy skirt and ripped the hem far past anything that would be considered decent; exposing a lot of bare leg and even her under wrappings that reached just a quarter of the way down her thigh. She would have taken off her long sleeves to be in just a loose tank top, but she didn't want to show her scar. She settled on unlacing the shirt some more to expose what little curves she had. Then she let her hair tumble down to her mid back for good measure.

"Come on." Akari ignored his wide-eyed stare and started walking when his hand grabbed her.

"Wait, take this." Zuko placed her sheathed butterfly swords in her hand.

She had no idea how he had saved them from the wreckage, but she didn't question it. Akari fumbled with the straps that would allow her to attach the blades to her upper arm. After hardly five seconds, Zuko pushed up her sleeve, gently attached the sheath to her arm, and then concealed the weapon. All she could think about was how his hands felt as they danced along her arm.

They made slow progress down the beach. Every now and then her legs would give out and leave her in a heap in the sand. Eventually, they made it to the tip of the peninsula of sand and cliffs. Akari situated herself so that to her left was the beach they had come from and to her right was the cove where Zhao's enormous ship was anchored. She stretched one leg out, had the other bent, and propped herself up on her hands. How the hell she was going to be sexy enough to distract two soldiers was anybody's guess.

Zuko disappeared into the shadows of the cliff behind her, and before she knew it she heard the guard calling out.

"HEY YOU!"

From her right he started jogging towards her, his other buddy was taking his time. When he got within fifty feet of her his pace slowed down to a cautious walk. It looked like Zuko's plan was actually working. Weird.

"What…what are you doing?"

"Just watching the sunrise." Akari tried to sound as casual as possible—which was difficult given the fact that she was talking to a man in full uniform that was about to be ambushed. "Would you like to join me?" The words sounded formal and so unlike anything she would say, but she threw in a smile and patted the sand next to her. Her arms were beginning to shake from holding her own weight up.

The man hesitated, as if weighing his options. He glanced over his shoulder at his buddy whose pace was as lethargic as ever. Then with a shrug he began to sit down next to her.

That was when Zuko attacked.

As quiet as a whispering wind, he clasped a hand over the soldier's mouth and dragged him into the shadows. The struggle was silent, but Zuko was having trouble keeping the soldier from calling for help and knocking him unconscious at the same time.

At the same time the other guy started to run towards her. Thank Agni he didn't have the common sense to raise the alarm. Akari unsheathed her swords and jabbed the hilt into his gut with a shaking hand. The blow bounced pathetically off the soldier's armor. The man laughed and slapped the blades right out of her hands. Akari watched helplessly as the swords buried themselves in the sand as if they were ashamed.

Akari used the last of her effort to kick the man's feet out from under him. He growled furiously, and despite the high pressure situation, she found herself stifling a laugh. He grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her up with him as he stood. She was dangling in the air; her feet barely brushing the safety of the sand.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," the man growled, but this time it wasn't so funny. Her hands clawed weakly at his iron grip, but it was hopeless. His eyes trailed greedily down her body, causing shivers to rack her body. Or maybe that was the convulsions from lack of oxygen. "Air sounds real nice right now, doesn't it? Breathing…such a wonderful sensation. Too bad you will soon be taking your last—"

He never finished because suddenly a metal helmet was throw with eerie precision against his own. He slumped to the ground; taking her down with him. Even though he was unconscious, it took Zuko a few minutes to loosen the man's fingers from her shirt. He sat next to her with is hand pressed against her back as she took short, ragged breaths. Her lungs didn't seem to remember what oxygen was.

Although she felt light-headed, she still had more common sense than the other member of this raid. "Not much time," Akari managed to rasp.

The prince snapped to his senses and left her side. All she could hear was the sound of the soldier being dragged through the sand. Zuko placed a pile of clothes and armor next to her, with the helmet resting on top and her swords right under it. Then he wandered a bit away and stared pointedly in the other direction. She appreciated that.

By the time she had just finished fumbling into the clothes; Zuko was already decked out in full armor.

"Let me help you." His voice was gentle, but unrelenting. She was going to open her mouth to refuse, but she had an idea that it was hopeless. Instead she swallowed her pride and held still as his expert hand slipped her armor into place. They didn't speak besides him asking her if her arm brace was too tight, or if the breastplate pinched her shoulder. When he was done she looked down at herself. The clothes were huge—she was practically swimming in fabric. All the armor made her feel like a lion turtle. It felt like if she hunched her shoulders she would become forever lost inside the metal shell.

When she looked back up he was still looking at her, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lip. But then his eyes turned serious. "Are you going to be alright?"

Akari suppressed a groan. "Zuko, stop worrying about me. This is why I didn't want to tell you about my scar. I knew you were just going to think I'm weak because it hurts all the time and that you would start to underestimate me and—"

"Akari," Zuko cut her off quickly. "I wasn't talking about your scar. I was talking about the fact that you can hardly stand, let alone walk, and that your arms are shaking as we speak." Akari kept his gaze, half ashamed that she had assumed he had been worried about her burn this whole time. "But does it hurt?"

"I'm fine." Akari decided that was a safe answer. Not quite honest, but not deceitful. Besides, she couldn't stand lying to him at the moment. "Let's go."

They patrolled the beach just like the other soldiers had done. With luck, the rest of the enormous crew would just assume they were the next shift. Akari shambled along, tripping over her own feet more than taking actual steps. Zuko, however, was pacing so furiously that he was grinding a path into the sand. The sound of a horn startled her so badly that she fell forward onto her knees. Zuko pulled her onto her feet and kept his hand against her elbow as the marched towards the ship. Akari found she was torn between smacking him upside the head and taking his hand in hers.

Before she could pick between the two, they were swept into the ranks of soldiers marching to the vessel. The soldiers came together like a river, somehow forming organized rows even as more and more people flowed in. It took absolutely everything she had to march in the militia style. The only thing that kept her on track was staring at Zuko's feet in front of her. Higher ranking men stared stoically from the outskirts; inspecting them like birds of prey.

Soon their feet were stomping against the loading ramp and filling the air with the sound of metal rain. She could feel the pounding of the officer's gazes beating against her in time with the pulsing of her scar. Akari was not sure how much longer she could be part of this mindless organization. And suddenly they were filtered into the dark mar of the ship's belly.

The atmosphere inside was completely different. Zuko and Akari overflowed into a huge staff room full of soldiers. There were large overstuffed sofas, dozens of metal tables, posters of water tribe and earth kingdom leaders with darts poked into their foreheads, all drenched in dim lights.

A man was standing on a table, calling out half-hearted orders to the crowd. "Everyone, go to your posts!" The mass majority of the crowd dismissed his pleas, and instead shambled lazily in the general direction of one of the many exits.

Zuko pulled her in the direction of one of the exits, causing her to stumble. "Come on. The boiler room is the best place for us."

They were just about to leave when a beast-of-a-man stepped in front of Zuko. He seemed ready to lash out, but Akari pulled him back next to her—the gold fire insignia pin told her that this man was of high rank. He stood in front of them; his arms crossed and chin sticking out.

"Where are you two going?"

Zuko opened his mouth to answer, but for better or for worse, Akari beat him to it. "The boiler room."

The man eyed them suspiciously. "I thought we already had a man going down there."

Just then the ship creaked and groaned, a tremor rolling down its spine as if it was a giant beast awakening. Akari almost fell to the ground as the ship trembled. They had officially launched.

The man raised an eyebrow at her stumble, but Zuko spoke, "She hasn't gotten her sea legs yet." His gaze did not waver from the imposing figure before them. The more he spoke, the stronger his voice became. "We figured it would be best if she was out of the way, where she couldn't do any damage. Zhao would be very upset if something went wrong on such an important voyage."

He sounded so sure of himself, that Akari practically believed that was the truth.

His iron gaze bore into them for a while longer. "Carry on."

Zuko nodded and waited until the man sauntered off. Once he was gone, he grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her down various hallways. "Hurry up."

Akari was struggling to keep up, mainly being pulled forward by Zuko's hand. "How do you know where we are going?"

"I memorized a map."

"Of course," Akari muttered under her breath.

The boiler room was extremely hot and stuffy. Random plumes of steam would puff out from pipes that looked like giant whistles. Big things that looked like giant metal ovens glowed red. Looking up, Akari could see up into the other levels of the room, filled with similar machines. Akari decided to switch between hiding in a corner by an air vent, wandering around the room, and working her muscles. Zuko, however, had some kind of timeline to keep to. He quickly set to a routine. He would disappear for hours at a time, and then return with news from his uncle and other things he had picked up on.

While he was gone, her thoughts lingered on her experience about her parents from the other night. It consumed her. She found that she was no longer upset because her parents were dead. They had seemed so happy. But what still killed her was that it was all her fault. Nothing could change that fact. At times she wondered if it was real or all in her head. She decided that just because it was in her head, doesn't mean it wasn't real.

Her mind was so enveloped in her memories that she didn't realize Zuko was right in front of her position on the floor. When her mind snapped back to reality, he was on the balls of his feet, one of his hands on her knee. His lips seemed like they were about to speak her name, but they closed when he saw her staring back at him.

"What?" Akari asked.

"Errr…Nothing." However, Zuko stared at her with a peculiar look that was hard to place before leaning back against the wall across from her. He glanced back and forth before saying in a hushed tone, "I talked to my uncle. Apparently we will arrive at the North Pole tomorrow evening."

"And then we'll wing it from there?"

A tiny smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "That's always the plan, isn't it?"

Akari didn't answer, she just leaned her head back against the cool metal wall. Her muscles ached from walking around all day and her scar kept sending sharp jabs of pain throughout her body. Silence engulfed them as sleep began to ease over her body. Just as she was about to drift off, something possessed her to speak once more.

"When I almost drowned," she mumbled sleepily, "I had this…vision that I was in this infinite palace with a glass roof."

Zuko was eyeing her with a strange mix of interest and worry, but she was staring unseeingly at the space in front of her. "You had a vision you died?" His words were very slow and measured, as if he was speaking to a child.

Akari's head rolled back and forth, "No. I wasn't dead. It was something in between. But I don't think many people get to go to that palace—it was like the spirits were giving me a choice."

"Wait—you think you went to the Spirit World?"

That thought had never occurred to her, but she wasn't sure where she had gone—if she had even gone anywhere at all. "I don't know. But I saw my parents. I saw my dead parents, Zuko. And they looked so happy. They were all smiles and it seemed like it would've been so easy to just go over to them and take their hands. I wanted to. I wanted to go with them so much."

Zuko crawled across the floor and sat next to her. He asked gently, "Why didn't you?"

Akari closed her eyes and smiled. She could almost feel the wind and hear its noises and hear his voice as it had been in that moment. "There was this wonderful and terrible wind. It was full of singing and laughter and tears and shouting. And in the back of my mind it reminded me of the freedom I had wanted for so long when I was stuck in the Fire Nation. It sounded like…like being alive."

After a moment Akari snapped back to reality, suddenly very conscious of what she was telling him. She turned her head to find Zuko was staring at her with his brow furrowed.

"But that wasn't what really made me chose the wind; that's not what really broke me. There was this voice that my mind recognized instantly, which really isn't surprising." Akari laughed a short, faint laugh. Still, Zuko studied her stoically. "All the voice said was my name, but that's all it took. After that there was never another moment of hesitation in my mind, because I knew there was no way I could run from that voice."

"Whose voice was it?"

Akari was very aware that her answer could affect him in a multitude of ways. She realized that she was putting herself out there. But wasn't that the point of her choice? Something had changed in that glass palace. No longer was she going to hide because she was afraid of the consequences. She chose everything about living—along with the good and bad that comes with it.

"Your voice."

He was quiet for a long time. It felt like an eternity and for a while Akari figured choosing death would have been better than the unending silence. She wanted to take his head and shake it while screaming at him to answer. But she knew that was how to get an argument out of him, not a response. Eventually sleep began to overtake her. Once her chin had touched her chest for the third time, she just left it there instead of jerking it back up.

Akari felt his arm wrap around her and pull her head into his shoulder. The rhythmic feeling of his shoulder making her head gently rise up and down with his breathing was quickly pulling her under the fuzzy blanket of sleep.

From the blurry edge of her consciousness, she could have sworn she heard him whisper furiously into her ear, "I am glad you are alive. I don't know if it was because I pulled you out of the water or because you heard me in the wind, but either way I am so happy that I was able to bring you back. I—"

Either he choked up or she finally fell asleep, because the low, melodic voice stopped speaking.

The next morning passed similarly. Akari didn't see Zuko once all morning—which both relieved and worried her. It wasn't until around noon that he flopped down on the ground next to her. He was just about to speak when suddenly there was the slightest shift in movement. It was just enough to make her weight jerk forward slightly and then let her fall backwards again.

Their eyes met. "The ship stopped," Akari spoke, almost disbelievingly.

Zuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her along after him. Between her stumbling feet, weak muscles, and his hand dragging her behind him, it was a miracle she was able to keep up. He wound his way through the passages as if he knew where he was going—which he probably did. They eventually came to rows upon rows up doors each one labeled "Boat Launcher" followed by a number. He ran all the way down to number 13 before sliding inside. There were only three walls. The fourth one was a gaping hole that opened out to sea with a small boat ready to be lowered off the side.

The view was absolutely breathtaking. Akari was so transfixed by it that she walked all the way to the edge. She probably would have walked off if Zuko hadn't grabbed her around the waist and kept her from continuing.

A giant wall of ice arced gracefully across the cove, but at the same time its presence was threatening. It reminded her of the wing of a protective mother bird, shielding her children from harm. Akari was tantalized by spires of ice buildings and glimpses of palaces of snow peeking out from behind the ice wall. And the snow, the snow was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen—excluding a certain young prince. She had heard descriptions of it in books and stories, but she could have never imagined it to be so gorgeous.

And that was when she noticed the black soot tainting the falling snow and clouding the skies. A giant crack filled the air and a ball of rock and flames smashed into the side of the wall. The graceful ice fortress crumpled like paper. Another flaming projectile toppled a spire of what Akari imagined to be a magnificent building. A metal claw gripped her heart at the sight. Yet in the mist of all the cracks, smoke, flames, sot, and heart wrenching terror, a large figure rose up into the air out of the city. The form came closer and closer in the thick, dark soot and eventually emerged as a giant bison with none other than the Avatar perched on his back.

A small sense of relief filled her. It was very, very short lived. She watched him attempt to bat back the ammunition back at the Fire Nation ships. A few sunk, but Akari knew it wasn't even enough to phase the attack. The grip around her waist tightened. When she tiled her head back just slightly, she could see Zuko completely immersed in watching the Avatar. His eyes were full of focus, passion, hope, determination, pain, and desperation. It absolutely terrified her.

The Avatar was finally forced to retreat, but Zuko continued to gaze longingly in the direction he disappeared. The silence was broken by a very pointed cough from Akari. Zuko staggered backwards, and released her waist.

"Uhh, r-right." Akari got vast amusement from watching him fumble over his words. Zuko strode over to a corner where a pile of grey garments lay. He tossed a pair towards her, which she barely managed to catch. "Put those on."

He turned his back to her and began to take off his own clothes, so Akari quickly turned and began to the same. The task took longer than she would have liked, but she was happy to find that her muscles were strong enough to do everything herself. Just as she finished pulling on her left glove, the door creaked open and Iroh stepped in.

"If you're fishing for an octopus, my nephew, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape." Akari looked just as confused as Zuko.

"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle," Zuko protested softly as he stared out unto the city, his back towards Iroh.

"I'm sorry, I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son…" Iroh choked on his words, unable to continue, and tucked his chin into his chest.

"Uncle you don't have to say it," Zuko says, his own head bowed.

"I think of you as my own."

Iroh's statement was so profound and genuine. Akari could hardly begin to comprehend how much it meant to Zuko—let alone Iroh. Zuko turned to face his Uncle. His face was as soft and concerned as she had ever seen it. Akari's own heart ached with loneliness. He crossed his hand over his chest and bowed deeply to Iroh, full of respect.

"We'll meet again—" Zuko's words were cut off as Iroh engulfed him in a hug. Zuko gently removed himself. "After I have the Avatar."

Zuko stepped into the canoe and motioned for her to join him. Almost dejectedly, Akari started towards the vessel. Then Iroh caught her by the hand. His hand cupped her cheek and the other gripped her shoulder.

"Watch yourself little one, my heart can't stand losing you again." Tears gathered in his eyes, and Akari felt a knot grow in her throat. She quickly kissed his forehead and then got into the canoe and settled herself next to Zuko.

The prince nodded to his uncle and began to lower them down. The ropes creaked and the huge warship dwarfed the tiny vessel as it scaled down their side. The last thing she saw was Iroh's concerned gaze watching them as they disappeared from view.