Ch. 5- Fight the Feelings
Zuko
Damn leg! It's throbbing, demanding I stop, so I can barely keep up with Song who unexpectedly is nimble on her feet. She turns and looks at me.
"You can wait here if you want." She offers. Before I can protest, she goes into the stables by herself. I sit down and wait for her.
I'm trying to be patient because she just saved my life, but instant gratification conveys how I was raised.
Fortunately, my patience isn't tested. Song walks out and waves behind her. "Thank you Tallulah." She says to a shadow behind her.
"No problem." A feminine voice responds "Good luck with your travels."
"You too." Song is handed the reigns of two ostrich-horses.
"Don't worry these are mine." She says when she reaches me. Her olive eyes are full of merriment.
I don't respond. Nice.
I cough. She colors, probably embarrassed that she said anything. I will not feel guilty.
She silently assists me up the bigger of the two beasts and then, puts her supplies on her animal. I move my legs against the beast. My left leg is finally complying with my wishes. Song does likewise with her ostrich-horse, and we bolt west towards the coast. We pass all the tents and graves, but no one stops us. I sigh with relief. That was easy.
My leg pains me yet again, so I'm reminded of how Azula had stabbed me there and my father was able to hit my side with searing flames. I wince.
My revenge is not complete yet. Azula retreated and I could not follow her. I fainted near the river, by a large rock.
Azula will not be easy to defeat. Especially since I can't bend lightning. I can't do it. Uncle tried but I failed as usual. I scowl.
"Let's stop there." Song interrupts my thoughts with her voice. Her long braid is coming undone and her bangs blow backwards with the wind. She's pointing to a lake in the grove up ahead.
"All right." I agree and we pull on our reigns to slow down the animals. Song easily dismounts, in the process displaying her scar. I wonder how far up it goes…I shake my head. This isn't like me. Song helps me down. I don't even say thank you. I just touch her as little as possible. I'm reminded of how this is just how we parted the last time. I didn't open up to her and I just wanted to get away before she managed to find a way to break my defenses like she's doing right now. I turn my thoughts to dreams of revenge, but I'm unconsciously following her every move.
I reprimand myself for stupid hormones and reach for a bag full of food from my position on the ground. I see a stick lying beside it and I manage to stand up using the stick. I hobble around picking up sticks to maintain a campfire. I'm now frustrated, because I thought this would be an easy task! Sweat pours down my face even though the temperature must be around 75 degrees.
It's too bad we couldn't have waited around for my cane to arrive at camp. Oh well, I'll wheedle this one with my knife and it'll serve its purpose. I assemble the twigs and branches near the tents that Song is struggling to assemble. I'll help her in a minute. I ascertain that this must be her first time camping. At least she's trying.
I look back towards the wood, feel a flame rising from my stomach all the way to my hands and then I let loose flames. The wood ignites and I look back over at Song to see if she's managed to put up the tents. She has a look of complete terror on her face. The last tent is finished, but she is unmoving. She's not even blinking. I take a step forward, ignoring a blast of pain.
"Song." She puts her arms around herself and stares at me.
"You're a fire bender?" I sigh. Might as well get this over with.
"Yes. But you might as well know also that I'm the son of the deceased fire lord and brother to the new ruler. I was banished by the fire kingdom." I say carefully, daring her to hate me. I wonder how she'll react.
She blinks and she says "oh…" That's a good sign. I continue to hobble toward her.
"You don't have to stay if you don't want to." She's still in shock "I can manage on my own." I can't withhold my bitterness. Alone once again. She shakes her head breaking the spell.
"Wow. No, no it's not you. I'm just afraid of fire benders ever since… well you know… one burned me." She looks thoughtful for only a moment. "I can't leave you like this when you know perfectly well that someone tried to kill you." Great, she pities me. I look into her face and see that it is sympathetic and caring, but her eyes are determined.
"Thanks." I say. At least she doesn't hate me…yet. My leg gives another sharp throb. I lower myself to the ground.
"Is it hurting again? Let me take a look at it." She attempts to sound authoritative but fails miserably. I humor her and roll up a pant leg. She unravels the bandage, and I'm sickened to see that the wound isn't healing properly. The skin is irritated around where the bandage was and the wound itself is an unhealthy bluish color. Song is extremely composed when she's in nursing mode. It's a tad unnerving. "I think I should clean it in the water." She says finally. "It's infected." She takes one of my arms and places it around her shoulder. She's too small to be trying to carry me around.
I want to protest, but she puts her other arm around my waist and hoists me to my feet. We walk the little distance to the lake at a turtle-like pace. I long to run. This speed is annoying, and I feel like a child.
Despite this, as much as I hate to admit it, part of me is thrilled that I'm touching Song. Her body is messing with my head. She adjusts her hold on me and in the process making my heart beat even faster. It's just hormones. It's just hormones. Finally, she sets me on the ground near the bank of the water. A few stray hairs have escaped near the nape of her neck and a few beads of sweat pours down her face. She over exerted herself. She goes back to camp and grabs soap, bandages, and a bottle of something.
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Song
He's heavier than I thought. My back is a little sore, but I'll survive. I go back to the lake with my things and put Zuko's foot in the water. I have to push him forward a bit to get the whole foot in. I try to angle myself so I don't have to get wet, but it seems as though I have no other choice.
I slip off my socks, my shoes and even my traveling dress and lay them on the sand. I know I'm wearing normal underclothes, a light orange form fitting dress with cream shorts that go an inch above my knees, but I feel heat rising to my cheeks.
"I don't want to get these wet," I say dumbly.
I step into the water and it's frigid! I avoid Zuko's eyes and begin cleaning his wound. He flinches and tries to move his leg away, but I keep a firm grip. I wash the soap away, and step out of the water. I then move his leg onto the sand and apply some anti-bacterial cream on his laceration. Next, I grab the fresh bandages and wind it around and around his rather muscular leg. It's hard not to notice that he's extremely well built. He's hurt you before. He'll do it again. It was just a harmless observation. He's not looking at me anyways. Not that I care.
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Zuko
Her under clothes are extremely flattering. I avert my eyes the whole time she was treating my lesion. This is extremely difficult because I'm facing her. Unable to resist my earlier curiosity, I discover that her scar runs just past her knee. At least her disfigurement can be covered up.
She does her work so methodically and quickly. Before I know it, she finishes and slips her dress back over her head. I'm surprised to find myself disappointed. I scowl and she wearily gets me back on my feet. At least my leg isn't stinging anymore… Once we get back to camp we eat some good I unpacked. Song claims that she is exhausted, so she heads for a tent.
"Do you want me to help you to your tent before I go?" she asks as an afterthought.
Part of me is tempted to say yes, but tune it out. I don't want to be over-indulged. I also would like some space. It's partially because I'm an introvert, but it's mostly because I don't like the way my emotions are going out of control.
"No I'll be fine."
"Good night." She says and I hear rustling in her tent and finally silence. I reach for a large stick and begin to soften the ends. In so doing, I get a splinter embedded in my skin.
"Shit." I cuss quietly. I use my teeth and pull the bit of wood out of my finger. I spit it out of my mouth. I'm such a klutz!
After the initial throbbing wears down, I lift myself up with the assistance of my new 'cane'. I put out the fire and head to the woods. I do my business, clean my hands in the lake, and go into my tent. I don't zip it up. It can't keep out the bugs anyways and besides I want to hear what's going on.I only take off my shirt while trying not to strain my stitches in the process. I attempt to put my body in the sleeping bag. Once done I lay my head on the pillow and listen. Lately I just rest like this for hours. I listen to the cricket-locus and I hear the muffled sound of Song's breathing. She doesn't really snore, but she moves around a lot in her sleep. She probably can't get comfortable. I feel darkness overwhelm my consciousness. On the other hand, she could be having a nightmare…A visual of her trembling, holding herself as she did earlier comes to mind. I cannot dispel it from my mind.
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Author's Note
This is a little more fluff than I imagined… Don't worry I'll make up for it with some action in the next chapter.
Let me explain how I was inspired to write this chapter. I happened to see some pictures of Aang, Katara, and Sokka when they were wearing their underclothes when I was constructing ideas for this chapter. Then bam I thought hey it would be funny to see Zuko fight his feelings if Song was dressed like that!
I've gotten sooo many reviews last chapter. Thanks for the praise and the constructive criticism. Thanks to dragonblade3200, LavenderValley, felicia19, and Strawberry Flames. I'm up to seven reviews now.