The Fifth Element

"Are you sure this is wise my Prince?"

Zuko turned towards the officer that questioned him with a glare. It was enough to quell any further questions. He didn't care about safety, only his uncles life mattered right now. The trip here was harsh, and he was certain his uncle would not last another night. Zuko looked about where he and his men hid. There was not time for them to scale the mountain and search for a home. Their best bet was to lay in wait at the ruins for this mute girl to show up.

He could only pray she arrived in time.

As fate would have it, it was just over an hour when one of the soldiers signaled that someone approached. As they all tensed, they watched a young girl make her way into the clearing. Zuko smiled to himself, knowing he picked well this location. It was the largest gathering of the rare jiayana blossom, and that was exactly what she was after.

Zuko signaled his men to hold briefly. He had to be certain this was her. She was dressed in the remains of what was once an expensive kimono. It was tattered and torn along the edges and it draped loosely over her thin frame. She wore a thick cloak, with the hood up, that hid most of her features, but the Prince could see that even her face was itself wrapped in a thin muslin wrap to hide her features further. He could think of no reason for this other than to hide a disfigurement.

He signaled a few of his men to move forward and surround her. She had knelt in the center of the meadow and carefully picked the entire plant. She took pains to keep not break or damage the root and placed them in her basket with equal care. She didn't seem to realize they were there. Good. It would make her capture all the easier.

As Zuko's men moved around to surround her, she paused and froze. Something was wrong, the whispers around her became insistent, urgent, and they pleaded with her. They told her to run. She placed the last of the delicate blue flowers in her basket and stood up to leave, but it was too late.

The first of the men came into the clearing towards her, and she backed away, only to realize there were men behind her. Her eyes, the only visible feature on her face, grew wide with fright as she searched for yet another escape route. She turned another direction but found more soldiers.

As his men moved in, Zuko smiled. This would be easy. As he watched the girl frantically search for an escape his smile lessened. He couldn't place it, but something seemed vaguely familiar about this person, the way she moved, her mannerisms. He dismissed the feeling with a frown. She would heal his uncle or she'd die.

The basket fell to the ground as one of the soldiers raised his sword to strike her with the pommel. It was a blow meant only to knock her out. She would wake up with a headache, nothing more. But, just as the sailor struck, she turned inwards towards him and the blow struck her across the temple. What parts of her were visible began to purple instantly.

His face full of regret, the man who had struck the girl bent to pick her up, but he staggered away as a small fiery explosion slammed into him. Zuko was furious, his face twisted in rage. The sailor's incompetence could have destroyed his uncle's only hope. Lieutenant Jee stooped and gently picked up the girl. She was light and easily carried and the soldiers took her back to the ship.

The world came into focus slowly. Her face hurt. Something was wrong, the smell was wrong, she felt like she floated. As her eyes fluttered open, she felt herself being shaken roughly. Fear flooded Taya's senses and her gaze darted around the room like a caged bird.

There was a face in front of her. It was blurry still, as was the rest of her vision. And it was frowned at her. Its mouth moved, it shouted something and it was what shook her now. She struggled to find her bearing and finally, it all flooded back to her. She was a prisoner.

His prisoner.

The boy stood before her, his features somehow familiar to her, despite the fact they were contorted in fury. But she saw more there, Taya saw pain...and fear. He was not how he should have been. A large scar completely covered his right eye and most of the surrounding area. His head was bald, except for a patch of hair at his crown that was gathered in a topknot. He was taller than her, by a few inches and he radiated a fearsome sort of power, but somehow Taya was not fearful of him. With a hand she reached up towards his face, towards the scar.

Zuko blinked in astonishment. She dared to try to touch him. With all his furious shouting she seemed to ignore his more fervent orders. What absolute gall. Swiftly he seized her errant hand and threw her to the floor at his uncle's bedside. "Heal him!" His patience had ended, and his voice shook with a finality that caused Taya to look back up at him fearfully at last.

Taya gazed up at him, her eyes sad, and then she turned towards the man in the bed. Iroh?! She thought to herself with a gasp. Quickly she held her hand out over his unresponsive body. He was very near death, and she knew that to heal him would leave her vulnerable and weakened. But, she knew she had no choice.

As she concentrated, a small flicker grew under her palm. A flicker that grew into a swirling blue flame that pulsed with a strange radiance, wispy tendrils stretched from the core like hands, hands that searched for a target. They found Iroh's body and plunged into him with force, enough so that his body convulsed violently. Taya struggled to control the power, it would be delicate. Too much too fast and his body would go into shock and still die, too little, and it wouldn't go fast enough.

The prince watched as the power surged from the girl into his uncle. He watched with concern as his uncle jerked on the bed and he considered tearing the girl away from him. The blue flame grew brighter still, until with a blinding flash, disappeared and plunged the room into shadows once more. Iroh still did not breathe.

Taya, drained, collapsed on the edge of Iroh's bed, and tried to center herself. As always, to invoke so much of her power, with such an emotional connection behind it, left her weak and dizzy. She felt the Prince haul her roughly to her feet, and she struggled to stand there and face him. She could hear his hoarse growls at her and she wanted to shrink away.

Zuko narrowed his gaze at her. "If he is dead, girl, then you'll regret this day for the rest of your life..."

Taya's eyes met his. "...you've changed...so much."

The prince was startled. He had been told she was mute. Yet she spoke as if she knew him. Spoke with a casual certainty. She told him words that struck chords in his mind, in his heart. But, before he could address his confusion, she bolted from his grasp, towards the door more swiftly then he would have guessed.

In a heartbeat he was after her. She had nearly reached the door when it erupted in flame and she jumped backwards faster than her momentum could let her and she fell backwards on her rump. She looked back quickly but she knew he was on her. It didn't stop her; she gathered her feet below her and was going to run through the fire anyway.

There was no way the prince was going to let her do such a thing. Like a snake he reached out and took her arm, and put to a halt her attempt at escape. It did little to quell his curiosity, and much to incite his anger. She would go nowhere until he was finished with her. His momentum spun the two of them around in a pirouette that ended with as he slammed her against the wall roughly. She let out a small squeal. He leaned his face close to her and narrowed his good eye at her. "Who are you?"

Even as he glared at her, the realization came to him. But he did not have time to voice it as Iroh sat up in bed behind them. "You have a strange way of treating such a beautiful woman, young prince."

Zuko could only stare in shock as Taya looked past him towards Iroh, her smile reflected in her eyes. "Iroh!" She broke free from Zuko's suddenly weak grasp to run toward Iroh to fall into his tight embrace. After a moment he pulled back from her. "How you've grown, child. You've matured into a delicate flower."

Beneath her wrappings, Taya blushed. No one had ever called her beautiful before. It was a warm feeling, especially coming from Iroh. She smiled at him warmly and he asked. "Why do you cover your face?"

She reached up and began to pull off the cloths. "I..." She said quietly. "I do not wish to go back home. If they know I am still alive...I will be taken back." Taya said sadly, even though she knew that was her inevitable destiny.

She dropped the remainder of the wrappings on the floor and pulled back her hood. A wealth of hair, the color of smoke fell about her face and flowed down her back like a shadowy waterfall. Large, crystal green eyes, flecked with red, turned their gaze back to Zuko, eyes that still reflected a sense of fear and ache.

"...Taya." It was all the prince could manage to say.