Note: Sorry that I didn't update sooner but I couldn't get Chapter Eight right until now and I didn't want to post something that I didn't like.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Avatar: Last Airbender characters or the story line.
Chapter Eight
"Fi-fi," the little boy repeated pointing to a severe burn on his chubby leg.
Zuko's eyes widened, the boy couldn't have been older than six.
"His name is Jade," Caine informed him icily, "Your soldiers killed his family and burned him, a child."
Jade pulled on Zuko's pants leg; he looked down to see the boy's arms out stretched beckoning Zuko to pick him up, "No, now go away."
Jade whimpered, opening and closing his chubby little hands, small tears swelling at the base of his eyes.
"No," Zuko hissed at the six year old; his arms now lost all feeling and were still slightly bleeding.
Jade followed Zuko and Caine into a rather large hut, clinging to the fire prince's leg adamantly. The hut had two rooms to it: the first, and the one they currently stood in now, was huge with three stone tables embellished with blue silk sheets and blue pillows. The walls were covered with shelves filled with all kinds of different herbs; the only other piece of furniture was a large golden chest in the far right corner of the room. Next to the chest was a door, or what Zuko could only assume to be a door, made of long strings of glass beads all shapes and sizes.
"Laia!" Caine's voice boomed; Jade gripped Zuko's pants tighter, "Put Kara here."
Struggling to put Katara on the middle table, not only due to his injury, but also now due to the child, he mumbled to the quivering Jade, "Come on."
"Laia!" Caine repeated.
Once Katara was safely on the table, exhausted, Zuko slid to the floor just as a very mysterious female voice came from behind the beads, "Ah, Caine back so soon?"
Jade climbed in the fire bender's lap clumsily, accidentally hitting Zuko's bitten arm; Zuko, out of pain, sucked in the air around his mouth sharply through his teeth. If he had been younger he would have knocked the child out of his lap, but his days as a fugitive with his Uncle Iroh had softened him.
Jade looked at him with big soft green eyes, questioningly, at the sound he had made; now I get it, Zuko thought, what a suitable name for a child with such bright green eyes.
Placing his hand on the child's chestnut brown hair, he tried to give the child a comforting smile.
"Laia-" Caine was cut off.
"You want me to heal your friend, do you not?" the young woman called Laia questioned as she came into the room, just as she shifted the glass beads Zuko notice a pair of brown boots sticking off a bed.
"Stop reading my mind!" Caine commanded, "and yes."
Laia's abnormal, deep purple eyes meet Zuko's amber ones sending a shiver down his back.
"Interesting," she hissed, her long silver hair flowing behind her, kneeling beside Zuko she touched the bite marks gently, "What is a fire bender like yourself doing here?"
Zuko flinched when her cold yet surprisingly soft hands touched the tender flesh on his arm; he could feel Jade wiggling in his lap. Laia let go of his arm as a cool feeling swept over his body, looking down at the boy in his lap she said, "Jade you surprise me, normally you would never become so close with someone, especially a fire bender let alone their prince, so fast. Perhaps you know something I do not?"
Jade smiled.
"Ah, so you remain mute to all but him?" Laia asked smiling back.
Mute?
"Laia she needs your help more than him," Caine protested.
"Yes, I'm aware of her condition, Caine," Laia rose to her feet and walked to the stone table that Katara was currently lying on.
Zuko glanced down at his arm, letting out a slight gasp; the injury he had sustained was now gone with no signs of it ever being there but the dried blood.
Reading his mind Laia said, "Yes I healed you."
"Why?" he couldn't understand why a refugee that his nation had created would help him.
"The answers you seek," she informed him as she stood over Katara, "will come in time."
"In time?"
Laia's hands hovered over Katara's neck, the air glowing a pale white, she clicked her tongue.
"She has been cursed with the Death Kiss, and her ribs have severe bruising on the bones."
Caine turned to Zuko, "What did you do?"
Caine's base tone made Jade shrink in Zuko's lap.
"Watch your tone," Zuko warned coldly; Jade buried his face in Zuko's chest.
"Enough," Laia snapped holding up her hands, "Her ribs were injured by falling off a massive creature into the ocean. As far as payment-"
"Payment?" Caine repeated furiously.
"Nothing in life nor in death is free, you of all should know that."
"What do you want?" Zuko inquired stroking Jade's hair gently trying to soothe him.
"Her tribal necklace."
The room became quiet, all eyes focused on the healer.