Part V- Wounds and Their Consequences
The group's picnic was brought to an abrupt and horrible end. On their fifth day of being in the Fire Nation they had decided to go to the beach to have lunch and they were all enjoying themselves tremendously. Even Toph, who couldn't see too well on the sand or go swimming, was having fun. And then screams met their ears and the happiness stopped. The cause of the public's alarm was a group of men clad in black and wearing masks.
"Ozai's supporters," Zuko growled, on his feet at once.
Everybody else rose too and while the rest of the beach cleared around them they stayed to fight. As soon as the masked gang caught sight of Zuko they sprang into a fight without hesitation. What they didn't understand was that there was no way they could beat the Firelord, the Avatar, a Master Waterbender, a Master Earthbender and two great warriors. They were losing spectacularly against the group's superior power in no time and the gaang began to relax their guard somewhat.
There was no way they could win or even inflict serious damage. In a fair manner, that is.
They soon found out that Toph was the least confident on the sand and so they went after her. At first she could keep them away with ease but they learnt and each time they came back they played on her weakness more and more. Zuko saw what they were planning for the little Earthbender and he quickly came to her aid.
"Toph! To your left!"
A dozen bodies went flying.
"Behind you!"
And when his words could no longer help her properly he threw off his attackers to ward off hers. Together they managed to send them all away, him with his quick, powerful bursts of fire and her with her sturdy Earthbending. When they were done they rested, knowing the others were in control of their situations.
"You alright?" Zuko panted slightly.
"Yep. Thanks, Fire Boy." Then suddenly she stiffened. "Behind you!"
Zuko spun around and caught the attacker's arm, twisting it and easily throwing him to the ground at his feet. The Ozai supporter cowered, waiting for the next blow, but Zuko would not attack someone when he was down. He glared at the man but took a step backwards. The man clad in black, however, was not that noble. He threw a handful of sand into Zuko's eyes and as the Firebender howled in pain and staggered backwards he grabbed Zuko's ankles and brought him down with a crash. Before Toph could react the man shoved the back of his weapon firmly into Zuko's chest.
It hurt more for him as the weapon made contact with the scar he had gotten from Azula. Grimacing in pain he rolled over and, still blind, tried to scramble up. A crushing blow to the small of his back sent him sprawling back into the sand. If Toph hadn't been around he would have Firebended the man into a roast but because he couldn't see the risk of hitting Toph kept him from striking back. Likewise Toph, unsure on the shifting sand, didn't want to injure Zuko. All she could do was shout for help as the Ozai supporter turned Zuko around again.
Zuko, now able to tell where the attacker was, kicked out at him, sending him flying. He rubbed some of the sand out of his eyes, his back throbbing. He was too late to stop the weapon slashing a very deep gash across his front. He yelled in agony, clutching his chest and waiting for the next blow that never came. The others had managed to come to his aid and while Aang, Suki and Sokka sent the last of the attackers running after their comrades, beaten and battered, Katara washed the last of the sand from Zuko's eyes.
"Are you okay?" Toph whimpered, kneeling next to Katara in front of him. "I'm sorry! I couldn't see him!"
"It's alright. Don't worry about it."
He flinched in pain, feeling the blood from his chest run to his fingers. His back was still throbbing, but it came second to the pain of his chest.
"Hold still," Katara soothed him, placing her water-coated hands on his chest.
Her cool touch felt so nice that he actually moaned slightly in pleasure. He bent back his head to let her work. But before all the pain vanished and before she could even look at his back they were interrupted by the Fire Nation guards and Iroh, none of who gave the Waterbender any time to heal him further.
-x-x-x-
Every step he took shot agony into him from both the front and the back. He had been able to keep erect and unaffected by his wounds all throughout the journey back to the palace and his uncle's concerned interrogation. He had managed to keep Iroh from touching any of his wounds, which was a good thing because if he had there was no way Zuko could have kept up the pretence that nothing was hurting. His male pride and hate for the infirmary both contributed to the lie. But as he made his way back to his room to rest, like his uncle ad insisted, he wondered if visiting the infernal place wasn't worth it if it stopped the blazing pain.
He started cursing as he heard footsteps coming up the corridor. He was leaning rather heavily against the wall and his other arm was clutching his chest and so it was rather obvious he had been lying.
Ten more steps and I would have been there…
He hoped it wasn't his uncle and it turned out not to be. Instead, Katara appeared.
"Zuko?" she gasped taking in his position, pale face, shaking legs and agonised expression.
Without another word she walked forwards and made him lean on her. The extra support was very welcome, and he found out her body was cool; a very nice addition as it soothed his chest wound a bit. She slowly and carefully helped him to the door of his room and then opened it for him as he stood, panting and wincing but refusing to cry out. There was no way she would get to hear him scream. She then started to lead him across the room, firmly correcting him as he tried to head towards the couch.
"You're hurt; there's no way you're sleeping on the couch. I will, at least until you're better."
He had no strength left to argue and instead just let her take him to the big bed. Very gently she eased him down, but even so his face contorted in the pain and when his back made contact with the bed he couldn't help but gasp.
"You're going to have to take your shirt off so I can heal you properly," she told him, refusing to blush at her words.
"I don't need healing," he said through gritted teeth.
She stared at him, first in shock and then in irritation.
"What is it with you and your ego? Look at you! A platypusbear could tell you're in pain and yet you're refusing to get healed!"
"I don't need healing," he said again, a growl of annoyance in his shaking voice.
He really didn't want her to see him as weak. For some odd reason he felt almost like he needed to impress her…Katara's nostrils flared as she folded her arms against her chest.
"Fine! I won't heal you, then. See how I laugh tomorrow when it gets infected and you can't move!"
He glared and opened his mouth, his body readying itself for the argument. But instead of a comeback all that came from his mouth was an "Ugh!" of pain. He had pushed himself up using his elbows but neither his back nor his chest liked him for that movement. He fell back onto the bed, grimacing and clutching at his chest. Katara's glare disappeared as she stepped over to him again, now fully concerned.
"Please, Zuko. Even with my skills I'll have to heal you tomorrow as well as today to make it completely better. Just let me heal it," she begged.
Zuko sighed but gave in, the pain becoming too much. She helped him gently pull off his torn shirt. She swallowed, her face heating up in both awareness of his toned body and shame that she was thinking those thoughts. For better control she climbed onto the other side of the bed and knelt next to Zuko. He closed his eyes as her soothing touch was on him again. It felt just like it had the time before when Azula's lightning had caused the wound. The feeling was also calming and he felt himself slipping into sleep. As he drifted his subconscious seemed to be telling him that it wasn't just because she was healing him that he liked her touch. He frowned, wondering what his mind was going on about.
"Roll over so I can do your back. Carefully!"
It was a relief to feel the mussels relax and the pain fade from there as well. And although his chest still throbbed, Katara was able to completely heal his reverse wound.
"And roll over again," she said calmly.
He did so and she ran her hands over his front wound again. She smiled, pleased with herself, as she realized she'd be able to take almost all the pain away from him that night.
"Tomorrow I can make it completely disappear," she told him as she leant forward to get the edge of the wound.
"Thank you," he replied, watching her and meaning it.
Katara was paying so much attention to healing Zuko's wound that she didn't notice she was kneeling on a cushion. As she leant in even more the cushion shot out from under her knees and she tipped forward. She gasped and threw her arms out in front of her to stop herself from crashing onto Zuko's wound. She managed to keep her body from hitting his, but she hadn't thought of where her face would land up.
Her lips collided with his and time stopped as they both froze in shock. Wide blue eyes stared into wide gold ones and neither of them were able to move and pull away. Katara suddenly fully grasped what was happening and she was about to pull away when Zuko's lips parted from the solid line they had been and formed over hers.
She was shocked beyond words again, but she couldn't find an inch of her that wanted to pull away.
