Saving Grace
Disclaimer: I write Avatar for free… but if one of you were to pay me..! jk, Bryke wouldn't like that.
Rating: T for violence and language
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. They mean a lot!
VampireinDisguise: Thanks~ I thought it would fit them well, too. Haha you and me both; I have no idea where I'm taking this. xD
EagleCodex: Fighting scenes can be difficult to follow, I admit. Thanks for bearing with me and reading it though. :)
BridgetFirste: Don't feel bad. I'm kind of fond of Boon myself… although I suppose I have to be, since I write him. And Boon meets (some) justice in this chap. Haha I'm delighted that you like it so much! Part of the reason I love to write is because other people enjoy it.
ManUGirl: Okay, okay. I can see where you're coming from. And thanks! The ones that are simply romances tend to bore me so I have to throw some action in there.
xReza: Hello relatively-new-reader! (I saw relatively since I've been kind of slow on updates xP) Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad their relationship seems realistic…ish
SokkanTylee: Wow. All I can say is this review made my day. Thank you. :)
AmieBean: Ah, oops. Well I'd love to hear any ideas that you do have! Feel free to PM me whenever.
Thanks to all of you for your patience! I'm sorry I can't reply to all of your reviews (there are so many now!) and I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I was on vacation almost all of August and my beta started school a few weeks ago. Even though school has started for me I'm going to try and update as much as possible.
The other reason updates are taking so long is because I have begun to write an original novel. It's a Steampunk Fairytale with a thief called Salem and a Princess named Aurora. In fact their personalities are kind of like Zuko and Katara. If you'd like to read it, feel free to give Velspar(dot)Deviantart(dot)com a visit. :)
Reviews = Happier writer. What do happy writers do? Write. Do you see how this works?
A rotting, sickly stench reached his nose and he cringed. What was that smell? An armadillo saber-tooth? That's what it was, what it had to be. And it was heading straight for Zuko. Teeth bared. He backed up and his mind searched for an answer to this predicament, a way out of the situation. He was weaponless. Defenseless. He had nothing on him but his clothes. His surroundings? A quick glance told him that he was trapped in a circular arena with smooth walls over twelve feet high and the ground was made of sand. There were no weapons nearby. There was nothing but sand, walls, and, now, his looming death.
Desperate, the fire prince reached down and picked up a handful of sand. Maybe he could blind the creature? Except once he had the earth in his hand he saw that the armadillo saber tooth was gone. In its place stood…
Katara.
He blinked. Then she was gone, and the creature was back. It snarled viciously and lashed out with one paw, it's hooked claws snatching at the air mere inches in front of Zuko and created small rips in his shirt. He backed up just in time to avoid injury. Then he hurled the handful of sand at the animal's eyes. As soon as the sand hit the creature it roared in pain and reared back. It lashed out wildly and backed up. The prince once again searched for an escape. There had to be a way out of this… he looked back at the cat. Maybe if he could vault himself off of the creature, he could get out of this damned arena. It was risky, but at the moment it was the only plan he had.
So he moved towards the hybrid feline. He yelled and screamed and tried acting like he wasn'tnearly paralyzed with fear. Maybe if the creature thought he was a threat it would back off; it worked, sort of... The armadillo saber- tooth roared and began to shuffle backwards… back towards the wall. In a moment its rear hit the wall. It stopped, but the prince still came. It pressed itself closer to wall and turned so that its side touched it as well. Perfect, he thought.
Without stopping to think how crazy this was, the firebender jumped on the creature's shelled back. Then, in an impulsive moment, he reached down and tugged on the animal's ears. Hard. It roared and then reared which gave him the height he needed. I can do this, he told himself, and then pushed. He lifted into the air and his fingers caught the edge of the wall. Yes! Now to pull himself up.
But before he could do that a hot lance of pain shot down his back: torturous, sharp, searing agony. He cried out and lost his grip, falling to the ground. He fell roughly on side; whatever had caused the pain was helping him down. His ribs were bruised. His back… it had been clawed at by the animal. Blood pooled all around him.
He tried to breath, but the wind was knocked out of him. He couldn't bring himself to move. He was in so much pain.
Within in moments the creature stood over him, panting heavily as is began to inspect him. Its huge, blue eyes opened and looked down to meet Zuko's molten gold ones. It leaned in closer, as if fascinated by its prey. Did it mean him harm? It didn't look dangerous anymore. Just curious and…innocent.
That didn't make him hesitate when stabbing the animal in its back.
When a dagger appeared in his hand, Zuko reached up, without thought, and plunged it into the animal, just above where the shell stopped protecting its flesh. He buried it deeper and deeper until it hit the creature's heart.
He watched with satisfaction as those blue eyes drained of life.
Relief flooded him as the animal lost control of its limbs and fell on him. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. He'd killed it. He was okay. He'd survived the arena. Now all he had to do was get this stupid cat off of him and go see Katara to heal the scratches on his back.
But… the weight on top of him didn't feel very much like what he'd imagine a heavy armadillo cat's would. It was too light. He opened his eyes.
And choked.
Katara lay on him, blood dripping down her back. She rested her elbows on his chest and stared at him with disapproval and sadness in her cold, dead eyes.
"Why'd you do it, Zuko?" she asked. "Why did you stab me in the back?"
"Please… forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Katara, it was a mistake!"
"I'm dead because of you," she snapped, no mercy in her voice. In the next second she was motionless against his chest.
"KATARA!"
"KATARA!" If he'd been lying on his back he would have bolted upright. Instead he was facing down and instinctively rolled onto his side… and immediately regretted it.
"Kuzon!" The familiar voice could only be Katara's. Spots of light were flashing before the prince's eyes as pain electrified his body.
"Ohhhh Spirits," he moaned, and allowed the firm hands to push him back down against the mattress. His body was wracked with a cough, but that simply sent more pain through him. He hurt all over. His back felt as if it were on fire. He didn't think he could breathe properly; it hurt his ribs too much to do so.
"It's going to be okay, Zuzu," she said softly. In the next moment he felt her cool hands slide onto his ribs. Instinctively he gasped, expecting pain to prickle him. Instead he felt… relief. Ease. A sigh escaped his lips and he closed his gold eyes.
"Don't stop," he said with genuine longing.
"Now don't get too crazy over there," a bitter and familiar voice said, ruining the moment, causing Zuko to push himself up on his forearms.
"Kuzon," Katara said harshly as the fire prince narrowed his eyes at the sandbender teen who was propped up against a wall with his legs stretched out across his cot. A quick glance around the stone room was enough to tell him that there were several guards there as well. It now made sense why she was calling him Kuzon and Zuzu.
"Why's he here?" Zuko asked in a raspy voice. He refused to lie flat against the mattress again with Boon in the room. Instead he continued to rest on his forearms and glare at the other youth.
"You and I got into a little tussle," Boon replied hotly. "Or can't you remember? Did they hit your head too hard? Aww, poor baby," the bender said with as much animosity as he could surrender. Enough was enough. The firebender ignored his pain and moved to sit up straight and swing his legs over the edge of the mattress—
"Kuzon, you're in enough trouble already," Katara hissed at him. He turned to look at her blue eyes. Those eyes… the same eyes he'd seen drain of life. He choked, and nodded, unable to get words out; he lay back down. "And Boon, keep your fat mouth shut," she added with a disdainful look in the other boy's direction. "You're the one who started all of this."
"I started it?" He protested, "he was the one who hurt you!"
"I forgave him for it," she replied firmly. "And you didn't stop to ask me, did you? You just… assumed and then made the wrong choices because of it." He could tell from the way that she spoke Katara was really pissed at Boon. Part of Zuko couldn't help but feel victorious. She was mad at Boon and she was tending Zuko's wounds and worrying over him, like he really mattered. He felt cared for and… loved…
The thought surprised him when it came, but it felt true. Maybe it was just a friendship love, but it was love none the less, and it pleased and warmed his heart.
Anger consumed her: She was in enemy territory, so she kept the fact to herself (mostly) but she thought that Boon thoroughly deserved having the shit beaten out of him. He had been ignorant and judgmental and reckless, and now her friend was paying for his bad decision.
Isn't part of this your fault? She asked herself as she pulled out a powder and mixed it into a cup of water. You were the one who didn't think to stop Boon earlier. You didn't think anything was wrong. A pang of guilt hit her. I'll make it up to him, she decided as she moved around to offer him the solution.
"Zuzu," she said softly, "I need you to drink this." She wanted to anesthetize all the pain he held but, for now, she would numb what he would endure when she began another healing session on his marred back. He looked up at her, his piercing golden eyes meeting her own in a question. Why? But she wouldn't tell him. She feared that if he knew he would try to put on a tough face and get by without it. She didn't want him to suffer any more than he already had.
"Just trust me," she said whispered. He looked down at the cup in her hand dubiously for a moment, shrugged and drank it in one go. She smiled at him, and he lay back down against the mattress. Now to mix the herbs in some water and work on healing his back…
"Kuzon?" She said to him as she began another mixture, this time in a bowl. "Are you asleep?" she asked.
"…No," he replied quietly.
"Well, Boon is." She told him and glanced over to the other boy who had curled up in his bed and fallen asleep. Apparently watching Katara heal Zuko wasn't very thrilling. "Hey… uhm, what was your dream about…?" she asked as she settled her water gloved hands on his back. Maybe if she could keep him talking he wouldn't think about his pain.
"My… dream?" he repeated softly.
"Yeah," she said, "you woke up screaming my name." She felt his muscles tense underneath his skin but assumed it was a reaction to the pain
"It was… nothing."
"Are you sure? It didn't sound like nothing," she told him as she went about her healing. She was trying to fully restore his skin; she'd managed to stop the bleeding when she'd first gotten him to her room, but the minor wounds occasionally leaked. "You can tell me if you need to, Zuzu. I won't judge you for it." The nickname felt more and more familiar on her tongue every time she used it.
"I…" he was still hesitant. "It was… like Ba Sing Se. In the cave. But… worse. More violent." He said, sounding sick with himself. Did he felt guilty? "You… I… I really hurt you, Katara," he said, sounding really upset. How could he get so upset over a dream?
"It was just a dream," she told him softly. "It doesn't matter. Besides, I forgave you, remember?" No, he probably didn't remember. He must have been nearly unconscious when she told him, probably a little delirious too. He'd been bleeding pretty heavily when she had finally shown up to cut him down.
When she thought about it, she really did forgive him. In her eyes, he had redeemed himself. He'd searched for her in the desert without any food or water. He had fought and taken a beating by the sandbenders, but at least it had reunited them. He carried her things and endured Boon. He would be going into an arena to fight for his life. He'd fought with Boon and dealt with thirty lashes (among other injuries) to pay for it. He wouldn't risk escaping without her. And so far no Azula or other Fire Nation soldiers had shown up to save him. By now she had to admit it was undeniable that Zuko was on their side.
And she was grateful for it.
As she worked on his back the Fire Prince rested his cheek on his arms. Through half closed eyes he noticed that she had already healed all the damage done to his wrists. They'd been red and the skin had chafed from wear against his metal shackles and then the thick leather belts. His wrists weren't completely perfect, however. The wounds were faint pink marks. Are they going to scar? He couldn't help but wonder. Am I going to look like an ex-slave for the rest of my life? He didn't know why the thought bothered him so much. The fact that he was exiled outcast was marked with a blatant warning sign on his face.
He sighed softly, and decided to try and relax. Think of something else. Katara's hands on his wounded back. Surprisingly, they didn't hurt. In fact it felt—Something besides her hands! But try as he might he always came back to the Water Tribe girl and her smooth, gentle, careful hands. Those hands in my hair, her breath against my cheek, her body—Oh Spirits, no. This was not happening to him. He was not fantasizing about her. No. He wouldn't accept that.
He didn't go back to fantasizing about her, but his thoughts remained on the girl.
She came to rescue me, he realized suddenly. She saved me. She may have even saved my life. He was hit with the sudden urge to get up and pull her in to an embrace. At the same time, he felt humiliated. He couldn't save himself. This…. Waterbender had had to.
In the end he said nothing.
Sleep had claimed Zuko about halfway through the healing process. She didn't wake him. Especially since this sleep seemed peaceful, versus his fitful nightmares from earlier. What could make him cry out like that? She still thought it was weird that he had said her name. Weird… or cute? She quieted the voice. The Fire Prince was nothing more than a friend. That's still an upgrade from 'acquaintance'.
Well, she trusted him now. She had forgiven him. He had asked—begged for her forgiveness and she had given it to him. And his dream… he said it had been violent. It was like Ba Sing Se. It had really upset him. Did bringing harm to her really scare him so much? Remember how he snapped at Boon? And then they had that whole fight about you! They had a fight over protecting you! No… Boon fought with Zuko because he thought that he had hurt you. Zuko… he was just defending himself. But was he really? Or had there been some other reason? Something about her? She sighed, tired of the empty holes that diseased the event. Maybe she could ask Zuko when he woke up.
While she worked at cleaning up his meat slab of a back, she noticed his cheek rested against the bed so that his scarred eye was visible. Barely. It was fringed with layers of his thick black hair. Katara reached forward impulsively, and before a real thought had even fully formed in her mind she was gently pushing back the thick strands of hair. What am I doing? She asked herself. The waterbender didn't have an answer. She also didn't stop. His hair was coarse. It was warm. It was as thick as it looked. Past all the blood and sweat, he smelled faintly of sandalwood and wood smoke. It was barely strong enough to make it past the overwhelming oppression of the gore from his back, but it was there. It reminded her sharply of camp, and a pang of loss hit her. She missed Aang. She missed Toph and Sokka. She missed Appa and Momo. She missed sitting around the fire and listening to them complain about… the food, the campsite, the fire nation, anything. She smiled at the thought. They also joked about everything under the stars. They told stories and acted out scenes and enjoyed each other's company. Well, all of them except for Zuko… he usually sat off to the side. He ate by himself and usually went for a walk after he finished. He wasn't very close.
But he'd been trying. Recently he'd been coming closer and closer, sort of like he was trying to ease his way in. He'd make a remark about a story here or there… although the first few times he did it everyone went silent and stared at him because it seemed so out of character.
He's trying, she thought as she traced his scar. He wants us to trust him. He wants to help.
"Waterbender," a voice caused Katara to look up. Guilt was plastered all over her face. She should've been working on healing Zuko's back. Instead she was brushing back his hair, tracing his scar and thinking about how selfless he seemed.
"…Girl," Sashain said again, her eyes filled with disgust as her gaze fell on Katara's hand, which was still dangerously close to the Fire Prince's face. The waterbender didn't have to ask to know what question Sashain wanted answered.
"I was just seeing if I could maybe heal his scar," she said, grasping the first logical thought that came to mind. Thank the Spirits it was a logical explanation.
"Leave his scar." Sashain said simply. "Focus on his back. I want him to be fighting in the arena tomorrow." This caught Katara's attention. Immediately she stood up.
"He's not going to be ready by tomorrow!" she protested, her hands open, her muscles tense.
"That's too bad," Sashain replied and crossed her arms casually. Her eyes were hooded. Katara was again hit with the feeling that the chief was a predator.
"You're not even going to give him a fighting chance?" she asked, her words rough.
"Of course he'll have a fighting chance." The bender replied. "I believe in fairness." Then I'm the Fire Lady. Sashain uncrossed her arms and gracefully moved to stand at Zuko's cot. A smirk graced her face. When she saw that look on the sandbender's face a chill went up Katara's spine. "I want you to heal him faster." She said as she reached out to place a finger on the ex prince's face. Katara used everything she had to suppress the desire to knock the lioness of a woman out of the way.
"It's not good for him to—" Katara replied, her words clipped and controlled.
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Sashain's finger stopped tracing Zuko's jaw and her grey eyes snapped to Katara's face. The girl blinked and her throat worked up and down. She should hold her tongue. But…
"No. But I don't care. You can't do this." She stood up straight and clenched her hands, her blue eyes defiant.
Sashain smiled wickedly. Katara's determination wavered.
"Oh yes, I can."
"No," the waterbender said. She had to fight this. "I'm not going to heal him any faster, and you can't make me. There aren't any other healers here. If you want me to cooperate with you, then he's not going to fight in the arena until he's fully healed."
"Katara…" it was the first time Sashain had said her name. She inhaled sharply and her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists more tightly. "We've been kind to you so far. We gave you a place to sleep, patients to cure, food to eat. I didn't let one of the men take you. I didn't force you in with the Fire Nation prisoners. I let you befriend Boon." Those grey eyes bore into Katara. The girl shifted her weight uneasily and met the leader's gaze. "But things can get hard for you, girl. I can take Boon away. I can take your patients, your food, your water, and what limited freedom you have." Sashain wasn't moving, but Katara felt like she was being circled. Cornered.
And suddenly the woman changed tactics.
"Why is he important?" she questioned. "You were never so close to any of the other prisoners."
Silence.
Sashain was patient though. She would wait.
Katara caved.
"He's different."
"He cares about you," Sashain replied immediately after, her voice a hiss. "And you know it. Do you know why that's a problem?" The waterbender didn't reply. "Because it gives him hope. Because it gives you hope. You shouldn't be dreaming, girl, you should have your head here. Here is where you can die. Here is where your life hangs in the balance… you got that?" Katara was motionless.
A burning pain suddenly slashed across her face and caused Katara to cry out. For half a heartbeat she heard Boon moan… but he still slept.
"You can heal him or you can leave him," Sashain said, her voice dangerously low. "Either way he's going into the arena at noon today." And with that the woman walked out of the stone room and disappeared.
For several moments after Katara stared at the exit, blinking back tears. Her knuckles were still white, but there was nothing left for her to fight. There was nothing she could do. She slowly sank to the ground and tears mingled with blood fell to the stone floor.