"Nolan?"
It was about 1:00 in the morning. Zuko entered Nolan's bedroom where he had sent Nolan a few minutes ago, after some city guards had brought Nolan home from a party they broke up. A party that Zuko told Nolan he wasn't allowed to go to.
Zuko looked around the room and didn't see Nolan.
"In here." He heard his son's voice call from the bathroom.
When Zuko entered the bathroom, he saw Nolan kneeling over the toliet.
"I don't feel so good..." Nolan said, begining to throw up almost immideatly after.
"Nolan! Did you drink?" Zuko half scolded as he began to undo his son's top bun, gathering his long hair into a pony tail, which he held back as Nolan vomitted.
"No, but I think the punch I had might have been spiked..."
"Nolan! You gotta be careful at parties like this, it's not uncommon for the drink being served to be spiked. This is an example of why I didn't want you going to that party."
"I'm sorry," Nolan barely got out the words, as he threw up again.
"Yeah well, we will talk about that later..." Zuko said some what akwardly, after his son threw up, for the second time. "How much punch did you have?" He asked.
"Well, I was pretty thirsty..."
"Nolan the alcohol was probably dehydrating you."
"Mhmh." Nolan responded.
"Here," Zuko sat down on the ledge of the tub and began using his free hand to rub Nolan's back. The other hand was still holding Nolan's ponytail.
Nolan threw up one more time, and then after several minutes of no vomit, Zuko stood up from the tub.
"Are you able to stand?" He asked Nolan.
"I think so." Nolan reached up and gripped the sink with one of his hands, as he began to stand. On his other side, Zuko had outstretched his hand as an offer to help his son up, which Nolan accepted, grabbing him with his free hand.
Zuko helped his son over to the front of the sink.
"Here, why don't you rinse out your mouth and get into your PJ's. I will be right back."
"Ok." Nolan answered. Zuko left the bathroom.
When Nolan was done rinsing out his mouth , he went into his walk in closet and changed into his PJ's. When he came out he found Zuko placing a small trash can beside his bed.
"Here, this is in case you get naucious again." Zuko explained, as Nolan headed over to the bed.
Zuko reached around to Nolan's night table and grabbed a cup of water, which he had placed their for his son moments before.
"Also drink this." Zuko said, handing Nolan the cup, "you need to stay hydrated." Nolan drank the glass of water.
"Can you get me some more?" He asked, somewhat sheepishly. He was pretty sure he was still in trouble for disobeying his dad and sneaking out to the party, so he wasn't sure he was really in the position to be asking for favors at the moment.
"Sure." Zuko said with a smile. He left the room and returned with a full cup of water. Nolan drank a bit of it and placed it on his night stand. He then began to crawl into bed. Zuko pulled the covers over him and sat on the bed.
"You feeling any better?" Zuko asked
"A little bit."
"Good. You're still in trouble, you know?"
"Yeahhh I know."
"I still love you though."
"I know that too, Dad," Nolan said, looking up at Zuko. "Thank you."
"For what?" Zuko asked, lovingly.
"For everything I guess. For being a good dad."
"Don't mention it." Zuko responded, placing his hand on his son's back and slightly. He paused for a few moments.
"You're going to spend next weekend helping the servants with their chores." He said to Nolan.
"Ok." Nolan wasn't happy about it, but he knew he hadn't listened to his dad. Plus, some of his friends would have probably gotten a much harsher punishment than what his dad just gave him, a two week grounding or something, rather than two days.
Zuko looked down at his son, whose hair was still pulled back into a pony tail. Nolan looked a lot like he did when he was younger, of course with one striking differnce...
"Now I'm going to head back to bed. You get some rest. And come get your mom or I if you need anything."
Zuko stood up from the bed "I love you."
"I love you to."