DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender or any related material. Please review!
Zuko's eyes flew open at the faint sound of a bush rustling about fifteen yards south from where he and his teammates were sleeping. After living on the run for so long, his senses seemed to always be on a high alert default setting. The sun was barely peeking over the mountaintop and the rest of his friends were still soundly asleep, including Appa and Momo. It had taken a little while to get used to Sokka's heavy snoring, but Zuko learned to adjust. He quietly tossed his blankets aside and rose to his feet. It was time to train.
As he soundlessly sidestepped Momo's tail, Katara's water bag, and Aang's glider not to wake anybody, Zuko quietly whispered, "Morning Toph," as he passed the earth bender's rock shelter. A faint "You're up early, Zuko" greeted him back from beneath Toph's tent of stone. There was no point in trying to sneak past Toph; when he first joined the group, Zuko didn't realize Toph could actually feel the sensation of him and his movements. She had pranked Zuko a couple of times in the beginning by shifting the ground underneath him, sometimes leaving Zuko to fall flat on his face. All he heard was giggling from her rock tent and he learned to laugh along with her. After all, he did try to hunt Aang and them down. It was a friendly form of payback.
Zuko made his way over to the open clearing in which he trained for most of the day. He would spend hours teaching Aang firebending and practicing his own technique, but then would end the day by helping Katara cook dinner and hang out all together around their nighty campfires. Yes, they were being hunted down by the Fire Nation, racing against the clock and Sozin's comet, planning to bring down his father, and avoiding Combustion Man. But those campfires were the part of the day when he forgot all that, his past and future, and could pretend all their lives were normal.
But it wasn't time for wishing at the moment. Zuko spent hours firebending as the rest of his friends slowly but surely awoke. By the time Aang flew in to practice, Zuko was drenched in sweat and producing powerful flames from his bending.
"Wow, Zuko. At this rate, maybe you should take on the Firelord instead of me," Aang joked as he marveled at Zuko's technique.
"Thankfully I'm not tasked with that pleasure. My father is one of the strongest firebenders in the Fire Nation. Next to him, I'm not even considered a challenge," Zuko stated as Aang gulped in nervousness.
"Don't say that, Zuko," Katara chimed in as she overheard their conversation when she entered the clearing, "You're one of the best firebenders I've ever seen and Aang couldn't have a better teacher. Your uncle would be proud if he could see you now, I'm sure."
Aang nodded enthusiastically, "Katara's right. Without you, I wouldn't stand a chance against the Firelord."
Zuko looked at the ground as not to reveal his emotion at the mention of his uncle and his friends' faith in him. He smiled a rare, tiny smile, 'Thanks guys."
"Enough with the lovey-dovey friendships," groaned Sokka as he entered the clearing with Suki, his boomerang secure in his hand, "Let's fight! Hiyah!"
After screaming his battle cry, Sokka launched the boomerang out of his hand where it was making beeline towards Toph. Just in time, Toph raised a wall of stone in front of her to protect herself and the boomerang clattered against it.
"Watch it, Sokka!" Toph yelled at him in warning, "Or say bye-bye to Mr. Boomerang."
"Sorry Toph!" Sokka quickly apologized. Clearly, this was routine for them.
The training session began and stretched for most of the afternoon. All of the gang each practiced fighting against one another and were exhausted by the end of Sokka's training exercise.
Toph stretched her aching muscles after the grueling training session, "Man, my shoulder knots have knots!"
Zuko had to agree, his arms and legs were shaking from the exertion of hours of endless training.
Suki had a brilliant idea, "Hey, there are those hot spring pools right around the corner! What better way to relax sore muscles than a sauna?"
"Suki! You're a genius!" Sokka pulled her into a bear hug as she blushed before running in the direction of the hot springs.
"What do you say, Katara? Are you up for a swimming race at the hot springs?" Aang challenged her.
"You're on," Katara responded with a mischievous look in her eye, "You coming, Zuko?"
"Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea, taking a quick break from training…" he mumbled to himself.
"That's the spirit, Zuko! We've been training and preparing nonstop, I think we all deserve a little relaxation time," Katara agreed.
As they reached the hot spring pools, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were already in the warm water and feeling quite relaxed. Sokka splashed water on Suki playfully and the two start to have a water fight. Aang and Katara were having their swimming competition as promised and Toph was the judge. Zuko went to the far end of the pool as not to disturb any of his friends, he hadn't felt this happy or relaxed in months. He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning into the warm water of the hot springs.
Suddenly, the clear water around him morphed into a bright neon orange, like lava. Zuko opened his eyes in shock as the warm water around him suddenly rose to a boiling temperature.
"What the..?!" Zuko could not figure out an explanation,
The rest of his friends were at the other side of the pool, oblivious to what was happening.
Suddenly, the lava water was bubbling and tendrils of orange water began to wrap themselves around Zuko. He tried swimming away, but water was everywhere and began to encompass his body.
"What's going on-" but before he had time to finish, he saw a large mass moving within the scalding orange waves. Were those neon scales?!
As soon as it had begun, the ordeal was over. The water returned to clear and the boiling temperature returned to a mild lukewarm. Zuko was breathing hard, trying to absorb and understand what had occurred. He shook his head, composed himself, and swam to the edge of the pool. Break time was over.
He could hear Sokka call behind him as he walked back to camp, "Hey, Zuko! Where you going? Aang was about to show us his new water bending trick!"
"I'm a bit tired," Zuko gave them a half-hearted excuse, "I'll catch up with you later."
By the time Zuko trekked back to their camp, he was sweating. Yes, he could attribute it to the day full of training, stress from whatever happened with the orange water while he was the hot springs, and the walk back to camp. But…it did seem a bit unusual for Zuko. Instead of feeling relaxed and rejuvenated from the warm water of the pools, his muscles felt like lead and he was shaky. Above all else, he was unbelievably tired. As he stomped into camp, his eyelids felt droopy and were halfway closed. Why do I feel so sleepy? It's the middle of the day! Maybe I'm exhausted from training this morning? But I train like this everyday, if not more so! Zuko thought.
He couldn't put it off any longer. He lay in his makeshift bed and wrapped himself in his blankets. Zuko started to shiver ever so slightly, even though it was the height of the summer. Before he could even begin to worry something was wrong, Zuko's eyes closed into darkness.
…