They left the Ember island just an hour later. Katara and Aang tried to figure out where exactly the herbal institute was located, while Toph, Sokka and Suki were taking care of Zuko. Using her Earthbending, Toph hat covered a corner of Appa´s saddle with a thin layer of earth, so that he wouldn´t accidently set it on flames. Suki had started to wipe his face and arms with a cold, wet cloth, while Sokka was sitting next to his friend´s head with a bottle of water, trying to convince him to take a sip. "Come on, Zuko, it will feel way better when you drink some cold water.", he said when Zuko refused to let the bottle touch his lips. The feverish boy was shaking heavily and looked at Sokka from the corner of his eye. When Sokka carefully lifted him up and tried to give him water again, he let it happen. As soon as the cooling sensation ran down his burning throat, he startet craving more and took big, relieving gulps. But when he drank too fast, he suddenly choked on the liquid and started to gag. Only after Sokka patted his back a few times, a violent coughing fit shook Zuko. Sokka, who was perfect within reach for the flames, wanted to jerk away, but was surprised when there was no fire this time. Instead, smoke and grey steam escaped Zuko´s mouth. His trembling fingers were clutching Sokka´s shirt in panic, and hot sweat and tears were running in streams from his face. He tasted metal and wondered if the fluid he felt coming up his throat and moistening his lips was blood. When the coughing subsided, he got aware of someone rubbing his back, and suddenly a memory popped up in his head.
He remembered being sick as a little child. Like right now, he was suffering from a cough, and back then, his mother was the one taking care of him. Six-year-old Zuko was coughing, and his mother hold him in a hug, stroking his shaking back. "You will be alright, don´t worry, my little Zuko." But would he be this time? He knew that there was no medicine for Ember fever, so why were they even flying to that institute? The rhythmic rubs calmed him down a little bit, and despite his hammering headache he drifted off in a dreamless sleep.
"Now, that was interesting.", Suki noted. "When he drinks water right before a cough, he won´t spit fire." Sokka nodded, his eyes on Zuko who had just gone limp in his arms. "Is he alright?", Toph asked. "I mean, as alright as he can be right now…" "He´s alive, if you mean that.", Sokka confirmed. "I think he either passed out or fell asleep. Whatever it is, it´s probably better so."
As the time went by, it was getting darker. Every now and then Zuko was jolted awake by another coughing fit, flames and smoke coming out of his mouth. However, they were getting less extreme, every fit was a little weaker than the former. The group was relieved at first, but then they realized: It was Zuko who was getting weaker. He didn´t wake up completely anymore, as if he was just tossed around by his body´s actions. Therefore, Aang decided to fly through the night, so that they would reach the herbal institute by daybreak. The next few hours were strength-draining for all of them. Katara constantly tried to heal the burns and wounds inside of Zuko´s body. None of them could sleep for longer than a few minutes, as the coughing attacks didn´t leave the firebender alone for long.
Suddenly, Aang spotted something at the horizon. "Hey, guys, look!", he shouted out and pointed at the mountain tops appearing in the dawn dust. He gave Appa instructions to drop a little. "These are the mountains where we encamped back then. And I think I know where the herbal institute must be…" He peered in the distance when a blast of fire came out of nothing and nearly hit his face. "Wow, keep him down a little. He nearly grilled me!" "That… didn´t come from Zuko.", Katara said confused. Aang frowned and looked around. In the next moment, fire coming from under them shot in various blasts in their direction. "Fire nation!", Sokka screamed. Appa did his best to avoid the shooting flames while Aang tried to prove his progress in firebending by redirecting as many shots as possible. But then it happened: A huge explosion in front of them forced Appa to rear up, causing the kids to nearly fall off. Aang grabbed Appa´s fur, Toph, Suki and Katara got hold of the saddle. Well, and Sokka got hold of Zuko, who grabbed… Sokka. With a scream coming from both of them, they fell.