Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I'm proud of your efforts and achievements XD
I'll try to put formal thanks in the next chapter.

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Chapter Fifteen

There was an odd smell in the air around Zuko as he finally breached the barrier of consciousness. It was a mix of different plants, and though Zuko had never been much of an apothecary himself, he could discern the distinct pungent odor of ginseng oil.

"Uncle?" he said instinctively.

"No, Zuko," Aang said.

"Where am I?" Zuko asked drowsily.

"Pretty much in the middle of nowhere, like the rest of us," Sokka grumbled.

"You weren't far off, though," Katara said, coming into Zuko's line of view. "We did just barely escape your uncle on that island."

"What?" Zuko shouted, shooting himself into a sitting position. He stared down at his arms and legs in shock. "I can move," he breathed. Suddenly, the bison and the sky in front of him swam in a mix of unnatural colors, giving him a headache. Katara pushed him back down to the ground, a coy smile on her face.

"Yes, you can, but you really shouldn't. You're not completely recovered yet." She organized the blankets that covered him and lifted his head onto a soft cushion.

"My uncle was here?" Zuko asked. He was a little shocked that she was the one taking care of him and not Sokka.

"Shh," Katara scolded lovingly, placing her hand gingerly over his mouth, "don't worry about it, Zuko. Everything's going to be fine."

"What is that smell?"

"Just the medicine we're trying to use to clean you up a bit. Go back to sleep."

"But…"

"Zuko," she said, leaning down very close to his face, "just relax." He could feel her warm breath. It smelled oddly sweet, like flowers. Suddenly, he felt her lips on his...

"He's not waking up," Katara said, staring at the unconscious prince.

"What are we supposed to do, Jay? We have to wake him up, otherwise he'll choke on the elixir," Sokka said, his voice cracking slightly.

"Is he breathing, Katara?"

"Very shallowly." Concern and panic were laid heavily on her voice.

"Okay, here is the plan," Jay said in a very leader-like fashion. He took a small vial off a hook on his belt and gave it to Katara. "Well I tell you to, uncork this and wave it under his nose." Then he handed Sokka the steaming bowl full of the potion Jay had made. It was supposed to attack the infection from the inside while the salve worked from the outside. "Then, once she's done that, Sokka, you have to pour this down his throat."

"But he'll choke," Sokka repeated.

"No; the ginseng oil is so asphyxiating that it closes the breath passageways. He'll be fine," Jay explained. He lifted Zuko's head onto their makeshift pillow: Sokka's bedroll. "Okay Katara, Sokka, let's do it."

Zuko's mind raced as he felt her close to him. He had never kissed a girl before. He had never kissed anyone before, not even his mother of father. The only thing his lips had ever touched was food and drink, but Zuko much preferred this feeling. But as he reached up to either wrap his arms around her or push her away (he hadn't quite decided which one), he felt air. There was nothing in front of him. He opened his eyes to see Sokka pouring a bowl of…some unforgiving and scalding hot liquid down his throat and Katara…Katara was nearly shoving ginseng oil up his nose.

"What're you doing?" he wanted to yell, but his lungs were clogged by the stench of the oil. Instead, he stared Katara down with heated eyes. He didn't understand what was going on; had she really kissed him or had he just been dreaming? He wasn't quite sure which answer he preferred.

Hang on a second, Zuko! Get a grip on yourself! She's a Water Nation peasant keeping me hostage! There is absolutely no attraction there; I'm just tripping over the infection.

Yeah, but she is really pretty.

She's a Water Bender.

A really pretty Water Bender.

Stop it, fool. I'm a Prince. Gotta keep my eye on the prize.

Right on cue, Aang flew on to the scene carrying Momo and what looked like a decapitated Elephant-shaped candle.

"I got the Beeswax," he said, coming to a sitting position between Sokka and Jay.

"Zuko?" Katara asked. "Zuko are you all right?"

"What are you doing?" he asked, finally able to.

"We're saving your life, you ungrateful brute!" Sokka said harshly, though it was rather obvious that his heart was no longer in his insults.

"Are you all right?" Katara asked again, her eyes shining and her face filled with concern.

"I'm fine," he said indignantly. He tried to get up, but he was still unable to move his limbs. The numbness had spread almost to his hips and shoulders, and breathing was becoming a chore.

"Here," Jay said, handing a second bowl and a small cloth to Sokka. "Dip the rag in the salve and rub it on the back of his neck."

Sokka, with Aang's help, lifted Zuko (who protested viciously) into a sitting position. He did as Jay told him, though his face betrayed his disgust at having to have any physical contact with the Fire Bender.

"No, Sokka," Jay said, stepping over and taking the cloth from the older boy, "you have to rub it in little circles; don't just dab at it like it's a dying rat."

"Lovely visual..." Zuko muttered. Katara smiled in spite of herself. He locked his ardent eyes with her passive ones and they were held in a stare; though this one was much different than the one they shared the other day. It was part questioning, part trusting, part vindictive, part sorrowful. Zuko, though he tried, couldn't pull himself away before his eyes divulged his secret:

I'm sorry.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd said that to someone other than his father. He certainly would never say it to someone like Katara. He prayed that she hadn't caught that message in his gaze.

But by the look of her face, and the way her eyes were brighter and her smile more genuine, she had.

"Okay, it's severely saturated. It's worse than the fat in baked beans and tinned pasta. Can I quit with the little circles already?" Sokka asked, frustrated and completely oblivious to the scene going on between his sister and the prince.

"Sure, Sokka. But we're going to have to reapply it in a few hours after it's been absorbed."

Sokka looked thrilled.

Aang watched Katara's face and her fixed stare with Zuko. Uh oh…I hope she's not doing something we're all going to regret, he thought. He looked at Zuko's features, and he thought he saw a small smile toying with his lips. Well, Aang thought sullenly, Sokka's not going to like this, if this is what I think this is.

"Well, Aang can do it then. I've had more than my fair share of dealing with this cow," Sokka said, motioning vaguely, yet pointedly, to Zuko, who was paying him no attention.

Hours later, all five sat around the campfire, even Zuko, though his posture was less proper than the others. Jay's wounds had been cleaned and dressed, and both he and the prince were feasting heartily on Aang, Sokka, and Katara's spoils. The three original travelers, however, ate meagerly; they didn't need as much nutrition as the other two.

"Jay," Katara ventured for conversation, "where did you learn such amazing apothecary skills? Are all Earth Nation children taught so extensively?"

Jay carefully swallowed his bite of hare before answering. "Only around here. See, in these areas, there are two main Earth Nation villages. Both are adamant fighters against the Fire Nation," he said with a sidelong glance at Zuko who seemed unfazed. "One village is full of Earth Benders; this is the village that attacked Zuko. The other village, my home village, is solely inhabited by potion masters and herbal specialists."

"But you're a bender," Sokka said through a mouthful of berries. "Why were you in the other village?"

"I was born there, and I didn't show any bending capabilities before I turned ten, so I stayed with my parents and younger brother to learn the plant arts. But one day, two years ago, when my older sister was visiting, I threw a rock at her without touching it. We, my family, didn't tell anyone about my skills so I wouldn't be taken away from them. My father secretly taught me everything he knew about Earth Bending, though he could never do it himself."

"If he couldn't Earth Bend, how did he know what he was teaching you?" Zuko asked, speaking for the first time. In fact, he had never before taken part in a conversation that didn't directly involve him.

"He use to be a great Earth Bender, but he lost his arms in a battle with a Fire Bender," Jay said, a note of vindictive corruption tainting his voice.

"Oh..." Zuko said stupidly.

"Anyway, I lost control of myself a few weeks ago, and I hurled a boulder at one of the boys on the street who was making fun of my father." The harshness was quickly replaced with remorse. "The entire town saw me and I was sent to the Bending Village. But my caravan was ambushed, and I ended up here."

"Ambushed by whom? Pirates?" Zuko asked, trying to redeem himself for his last unintentionally abrasive comment.

"Fire Benders," Jay said, that same note of bitterness in his voice again.

"Oh..." Zuko repeated himself. His quest for salvation had failed miserably.

But at least he's trying, Katara thought. That must mean something.

Katara thought.
"So what about you, Zuko? What's your story? Why were you banished?" Sokka asked. There was no mask of friendliness to cover his rude words.

"Sokka!" Katara whispered scornfully.

"It's an honest question," Sokka said innocently.

"It's a boorish question," she scolded.

"I disobeyed a higher officer," Zuko said, staring into the fire. The other four were silenced as they stared at him. Sokka hadn't honestly expected him to answer. He was just trying to get revenge for his comments to Jay. "I was weak in the face of commanding Generals and Admirals." His face went rigid as if he were reopening a wound. "High treason," he uttered viciously to no one in particular, "against the Fire Lord."

Aang, Sokka, and Jay sat staring at him, mouths slightly open. Katara looked sympathetic, and small droplets forming at the corners of her eyes. After several quiet minutes, she whispered to break the silence.

"I'm sorry, Zuko."

"Why?" he retaliated immediately, not missing a beat. "You and your friends have saved my life twice in the past two days." The words he needed to say wouldn't come out. Part of him wanted desperately to say them. This was the same part that had wanted Katara's kiss to be real. But the Prince in him said no. I will not stoop so low as to lose what dignity I have left.

They ate the rest of their dinners in utter stillness. Not even Momo or Appa made any noise. But everyone was thinking the same thing, though in different contexts:

What happens next?

/chapter fifteen

A/N: I dunno, was that baked beans and tinned pasta thing too much? I'm scared that I'm getting too carried away... I'm going on vacation for a week, so I won't be able to update, so get used to life without me for a while. Have fun with your summers! Try to get outside every now and then. I know Fanfics are incredibly addicting, but so is fresh air if you let it trip you!