Chapter 58: Recovery

Katara had kept Zuko bedbound for a few days after he woke up, much to his disgruntlement.

"Katara, I'm fine. I can go for a walk." He'd insisted, attempting to rise from the bedroll.

She'd crossed her arms and glared down at him. "Azula almost killed you less than a week ago. You're not getting up until I'm certain that you're not going to undo all of my hard work."

The Firebender had sighed, but settled back. He'd muttered, "I've had worse, Katara, and I didn't have a Waterbender to heal me."

Her had face softened and looked almost sad. Her eyes dropped to his chest, covered by a shirt from his bag. He'd put it on not long after he woke up, refusing to meet anyone's gaze as he did so.

She said, "That may be the case, but that doesn't change the fact that I need you to stay in bed for at least another day. Just give me that much; a few more healing sessions and you can start moving around."

He sighed again. "Fine. One day. Then I'm up."

She smiled at him. "Good. Now, shirt off."

He flushed, as he had every time she'd initiated a healing session. He reluctantly, and with some difficulty, removed his shirt.

Katara tried to keep her face professionally blank, even though half of her felt sad and angry over the Firebender's many scars, while the other half of her… Well, the other half was thinking things she didn't want to put a name to. She cleared her throat, willing her own blush to go away.

She started unrolling the bandages, putting them to one side to be cleaned. It wasn't ideal reusing them, but she didn't have much choice. She'd been boiling them over the fire and hoping for the best.

When the last bandage was removed, he laid back down for her to do her work, his eyes fixed on the rock ceiling.

Katara eyed the wound critically; on the one hand, it was looking pretty good to say that it was less than a week old. On other hand, though, it looked… Well, it was going to scar no matter what Katara did.

She'd told him this, and even offered him the Spirit Water that Master Pakku had gifted to her. She was unsurprised when he shook his head.

"Save it for something important. Life or death. Not this."

She'd nodded, even as she wanted to argue the importance of saving him from another scar. Another scar that had been put there by his family. She hoped that it was just the ones on his face and chest that were done by his family, but she doubted it. She suspected the lashes on his back had come from his father, though she'd not brought it up.

Every time he'd removed his shirt since waking up, Zuko had done an admirable impersonation of a mute. She'd tried engaging him in conversation early on, to try and get rid of the tension, but he'd stayed resolutely silent. She'd decided to just go along with it and hope for the best.

She cleaned out the wound with her bending water, washing away remnants of the burn salve they'd been using along with traces of dirt that had found their way in. Then there were the patches of dried blood; if he moved too quickly he'd reopen places that she'd only partially healing and caused bleeding under the bandages. She washed that away too.

Then she began healing for real. Her bending water glowed, bathing the two of them in blue-white light. Katara allowed herself to get lost in her work.

Since he'd awoken, Zuko's chi lines had lost some of their intensity, but they were still vastly different from any she'd worked on before. She'd even convinced Toph to let her examine her's just for comparison. Unsurprisingly the Earthbender's chi lines were remarkably unyielding, however they still lacked the burning intensity of Zuko's. She'd talked about it with the others while Zuko was unconscious.


"His chi is just… it's strange, okay. Like nothing I've seen or read about when we were at the North." She'd said.

Toph just shrugged, not fully understanding, or caring, about what she was talking about. Sokka was of a similar disposition.

Aang had scratched his head. "Maybe it's just because he's a Firebender? They rely on their chi more than other benders."

She'd frowned at the boy. "What do you mean? All bending relies on chi."

Aang had nodded. He screwed up his face in thought. "Kuzon told me a little about Firebending, a long time ago. He said… He said that to create a flame a Firebender uses their chi to ignite it. That they're burning up their chi every time they use their element. Other types of benders just use chi to control an element."

Katara frowned. She stared back towards the cave where Zuko was resting.

"He burns his chi when he bends? That… that doesn't sound good."

Aang had shrugged. "I don't know how true that is, it's just what Kuzon said. Besides, if it is true, Firebenders have been doing it for thousands of years. I'm sure it's fine."

She'd nodded, though she was biting her lip.


Since then she'd try to pay close attention to the integrity of his chi lines whenever she healed him, trying to spot any damaged areas beyond the obvious spot on his chest. There were none.

At least, none that she could see. If only she had another Firebender to compare with… She shook the thought away.

She put her bending water away and said, "Okay, we're done for the day. I just need to reapply the salve and re-wrap it with clean bandages."

Zuko just nodded, not saying anything. She sighed internally.


Sokka had carved Zuko a very basic staff to hobble around with. It wasn't anything fancy; it came to about his shoulder and it had been carved smooth. At either end there were faint signs of where the Water Tribesman had begun carving symbols and patterns from his culture. Zuko recognised them from the boy's own weapons; his club, his machete, and, of course, his trusted boomerang. They were all carved with patterns of wolves and phases of the moon, along with great fish and monstrous sea serpents, and shapes that he could put no name to but felt significant.

He'd thanked Sokka for it, even as he resented that he actually needed something to lean on just to move around.

Katara told him, "It's going to take time before you're fully recovered. If you push yourself too hard you could cause more damage. Permanent damage."

He'd nodded, realising the truth to her words even as he resented them.

The first day he emerged from the cave, it was to the distant sounds of Earthbending. The noise made him flinch, and he cursed himself for it.

Katara had asked, "You okay?"

There was a look on her face, one filled with worry. It wasn't a look he liked seeing. He forced a smile and nodded.

"I'm fine. Just a twinge."

She'd nodded, though it was clear that she didn't completely believe him. He could feel her eyes on him, watching his every move.

'She's watching for your weakness. It won't take her long to spot it. It's plain to see.' The voice in his head alternated between sounding like Azula and his father. It was an unsettling blend of sounds.

He pushed the thought aside. She's just worried, he repeated in his mind. That's all.

He said, "Aang's learning Earthbending, then?"

There was a distant crash of rock against rock. It made Zuko flinch again.

Katara nodded, though she looked hesitant. She said, "Well… Toph's Earthbending at him. I'm honestly not sure how much actual teaching is happening. Aang didn't seem to be getting it the last time I spoke to him."

Zuko nodded. "His opposite element?"

She nodded back. "I think so, yeah. Like I said though, Toph's being, well, tough with him. Aang needs a gentle approach."

Zuko snorted slightly and then regretted it when his chest flared with agony. His free hand came up and rested against it as he breathed deeply through his nose.

Katara said quickly, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, even though he wasn't. "I'm fine. Don't think I'm ready for laughing yet, though."

She nodded. She said, "Well, you shouldn't laugh at me, anyway. I was being serious."

He nodded as well. A smile flickered across his lips. "I know you were. Aang might have responded well to the gentle approach with Air and Water, but that doesn't mean you can teach Earth like that. Definitely can't teach Fire like that."

She frowned. "Why not?"

Zuko went to shrug, and then aborted the motion halfway. He said, "It's a… harsh element. If you do something wrong with Waterbending, the worst that can happen is that you get wet. Usually!"

He said the last word placatingly when he saw her face.

He continued, "Fire, though; Fire is alive. It burns. Most novices burn themselves or someone else the first time they try. Fire requires discipline and rigid control."

Katara nodded. A troubled expression crossed her face. He watched as she rubbed her hands together.

She said, "We never told what happened with Jeong Jeong, did we?"

He replied, "Odds and ends, but nothing concrete. Why?"

She sighed. "Aang burned me."

"He what?"

She held her hands up. "It was an accident! Jeong Jeong had given him some sort of breath control exercise and, well…"

She looked away. "He bit off more than he could chew. The fire got away from him and he burned my hands."

Zuko reached out and grabbed one of her hands, turning it over and over as if looking for scars.

She gripped his fingers. "That's when I discovered I could heal. I ran away to the river and put my hands in the water and it started glowing. I did it instinctively."

Zuko sighed, relieved. He squeezed her fingers back and said, "I'm glad."

She nodded. "Jeong Jeong said he wasn't ready to learn Firebending. Avatar Roku turned up and made him."

Zuko blinked. "Avatar…?"

She nodded again. "From what Aang said, there was a moment where Roku took control of his body and when Aang came back, Jeong Jeong was agreeing to teach him."

"But Aang got impatient?"

"Yeah. He thought Jeong Jeong was just wasting his time in the hope that he'd go away."

Zuko shook his head. "Before he deserted, Jeong Jeong was a highly respected Admiral in the Fire Navy. He was a prodigy. He was also known and respected as a great teacher of Fire. Whatever he was doing, there was a reason behind it."

Katara nodded. "That's what I figured. Aang didn't listen though. And, well," she held her unscarred hand up. "He lost control."

Zuko shook his head. "We're lucky you can heal."

She nodded again. "Didn't stop Aang from swearing off Firebending."

Zuko said harshly, "He did what?"

She frowned up at him. "He said that he never wanted to Firebend again."

Zuko shook his head with a sigh. "He's going to have to, eventually. He's awoken his inner flame."

Katara looked confused. "What does that mean?"

Zuko sighed again. He gestured towards the empty firepit and hobbled over to sit down beside it. Katara had to help lower him down. He ignored the flush that it brought to his face. She sat down beside him.

He flicked his hand out at the firepit, igniting it. She snapped, "Zuko! I said no Firebending."

He waved her comment off. "It was barely anything. Besides, I'm about to give you a basic introduction to Firebending."

He smirked as he said it. She raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Well, then, proceed, Sifu Zuko."

His smile widened. He said, "Most Firebenders start bending when they're around the age of five or six. Usually six. This first act of Firebending is referred to as 'waking the inner flame'. Our inner flame is what allows us to bend Fire. It's Agni's Gift to us."

He pointed to the fire and then to his torso. "When I bend fire, I'm channelling my inner flame, using my chi to power it. I tell it what to do and then it travels along my chi lines and happens. Sorry, that made almost no sense, didn't it?"

She shook her head, brows furrowed. "No, I think I know what you mean. Healing deals a lot with chi and chi flow. It sounds… almost similar."

He nodded. "Good. So, when a novice Firebender's chi is awakened, that means it's burning deep inside them. Fire needs fuel."

He gave her a significant look. "Chi." She said. "It's burning chi. All the time?"

He nodded. "It's why control and discipline is so important in Firebending. It protects other people from your Fire, but it also helps to protect yourself. Meditation, breath control, katas; they all help handle and manage the inner flame."

Katara said, "Wait, Aang hasn't Firebended since before we went to the North Pole!"

She shot up. Zuko grabbed her wrist and halted her. The action made him wince. He said, "He's fine. Sit down and let me finish."

She reluctantly sat back down, though she was worrying at her lower lip.

He continued, "It takes a long time for damage to occur. Even longer for that damage to become permanent. Besides, Aang's the Avatar; he's practically overflowing with chi. He could probably do with some of it being burnt off. Might calm him down a little.

"My point was, eventually, he's going to have to Firebend. He is a Firebender, in the same way that he's an Airbender and a Waterbender and an Earthbender. Fire is a part of him, especially since Jeong Jeong's training."

She asked, "Could you teach him?"

Zuko eyed her. "We've had that conversation, Katara. It was a while ago, but my answer hasn't changed. I'm no Master. Nowhere close."

"If not you, then who? Jeong Jeong was a bad fit anyway, plus who even knows where he is? Every other Firebender we've encountered has wanted to either kill or capture Aang."

Zuko hesitated. He said softly, "There… may be someone. Maybe. I—Never mind, I'm being stupid."

He shook his head and went to try and climb to his feet. Katara stopped him. She looked at him a serious expression.

"What were you going to say?"

He sighed. He looked into the flames crackling away in the firepit. He said, "When we were in the swamp I had… I had a vision."

She nodded. "We all did, Zuko. There's nothing stupid about that. What was your vision?"

He replied, "Some of it was… just stuff from my past. Azula was there. My father. I saw myself. But, there was another part to my vision too. I…"

He paused and took a breath. "I heard my Uncle."

She frowned. "You have an Uncle?"

Zuko nodded. "I did. I do. I don't know. He was my father's brother."

Katara's face darkened. Zuko shook his head. "He's not like my dad. Trust me. Well, he kind of is but not in the way that you're thinking."

She sighed. "Zuko, slow down. You're not making any sense."

He stopped talking and then said, "Sorry. Let me start again."

He went on to tell her about his Uncle. His failed siege against Ba Sing Se. His title of 'Dragon of the West'. The love he'd had for his son, the son that died at Ba Sing Se. How, when he came back from the war, he was like a different person. Quieter, softer, sadder, but also, somehow, more at peace.

"He took over a lot of my Firebending training. I learned more from him than I did from anyone else, though I still had to have sessions with the tutors my dad picked."

He sighed and continued, "Not long after I… after I was deployed I heard a rumour come out of the Caldera that my Uncle had been assassinated. Someone had broken into his rooms and killed him."

Katara put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. If he's dead, though, how can he help us?"

Zuko shook his head. "That story never felt right to me. I believed it, but something always niggled at me. My Uncle is one of the greatest Firebenders in Fire Nation history. He was a powerful and skilled General. And some assassin just got the drop on him? It didn't feel right.

"Then, when we were fighting Azula a week ago, she implied that Uncle was still alive. That the story was a lie."

Katara said, "If all of that is true, surely your Uncle would have tried to find you while you've been wandering the Earth Kingdom?"

Zuko shook his head. "I've done my utmost to remain hidden. Fake names, disguises, constantly moving from place to place, sometimes in random directions and patterns. I've been hiding from the Fire Nation, but the same manoeuvres would prevent my Uncle from finding me, or even knowing I was alive. I was officially declared dead at Osaru. The Army wrote off the entire Division without even checking the bodies."

Katara nodded. "Okay, but how do we find him then? You haven't heard anything about your Uncle travelling the Earth Kingdom, have you?"

Zuko nodded back. "That brings us to my vision. I heard my Uncle's voice. He told me to go the Ringed City."

Katara frowned. "Isn't the Ringed City—"

Zuko nodded. "—Ba Sing Se, yeah."

She asked, "Why haven't you said anything about this? The rest of us all talked about our visions but you never really said anything."

Zuko shrugged, instantly regretting it when it pulled at the wound on his chest. "I was, I don't know, I didn't think it was real. Not really. Not until the past week and the whole thing with Azula. Now I think it might be true."

"So you want to go to Ba Sing Se?" She asked.

Zuko frowned. "Well, I mean, there's no hurry. I mean, I know you guys were talking about taking some downtime while Toph teaches Aang Earthbending."

Katara nodded. "We were, but if you wanted to—"

He shook his head. "Ba Sing Se isn't going anywhere. It famously isn't going anywhere. Don't—Can we not tell the others about this? Not yet. Let Aang focus on Earthbending and we can have a little downtime."

Katara nodded again. "Okay, if that's what you wanna do."

Zuko nodded back. "It is. Besides, it's a long way to Ba Sing Se. Practically the entire Earth Kingdom is between here and there. Not to mention the Si Wong Desert."

Katara laughed. "Yeah, I don't mind a little heat, but we are definitely avoiding the desert if I have any say in the matter."

Zuko laughed too, being careful of his injury.