Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Prisoner of War: Akai ❯ Seeking Warmth ( Chapter 1 )

Prisoner Of War: Akai

 

Chapter 1

~

“At night I hear it creeping,

At night I feel it move,

I'll never sleep here anymore,

I wish you had never told me,

I wish I never knew…”

~

Katara glanced at Lady Izumi shyly; the older woman was quickly emptying her supplies from her koala otter skin bag without a word. Her eyes began to wonder the small cell- like chamber the single sleeping mat was already occupied with the unconscious prince, and a small torn blanket which he would also use. The room was small and bare, devoid of windows the only light source was a lantern which was not far from Lady Izumi.

“Now look here miss, I'll show you what you need to do.” The other woman said at last, Katara arched a slender brow at the old healer, “You're not staying?” She asked slowly, almost afraid to hear the woman's response; Izumi snorted at the mere thought. “Of course not!! These damn places get far too cold at night for my old bones, and I have a husband to get home to…. You were the one who wanted this, young lady.” Katara averted her eyes, her lips drawn into a tight line of annoyance.

“Come over here child, I've got to be going! Now here's what you'll need to do, I left you some of my best supplies for his wounds and some food for the two of you. I wrote up these instructions so you can get each step right, the first thing you need to do is clean and heal his wounds…”

Katara blinked in surprise, “Me…? Heal his wounds? I've only ever healed myself once before, so how will I be able to help him?” She asked incredulously, the older woman frowned at this. “… Well, I'll show you then. You will have to go and see Yugoda before you leave child, she can teach you a thing or too about healing… First off remove his jacket, and be quick about it now!”

Katara mumbled a few lines under her breath as she began to slowly and gently remove Zuko's thick and now; bloodstained jacket. Her eyes widened as he gasped in pain, she could see where the drying blood was making his jacket stick to his open wounds. Looking away and biting her lower lip slightly she tugged on the jacket, quickly pulling it free.

“Alright, good job… Now, take that vile there and bend the contents into each of his wounds; that will clean them and start the clotting of the blood.” Nodding Katara grabbed the small bottle and followed Lady Izumi's instructions carefully.

“Can you help me turn him over so I can get the gash on his stomach?” She asked, but the old bender shook her head, “No, we're going to focus on that wound for the healing portion. That would be the wound that would kill him. Place those seaweed bandages over the whip marks, they'll help with the healing as well.”

The older woman watched as Katara quickly and silently followed her instructions without further questions, “You'll make a fine healer one day young one, you remind me a lot of some one I once knew… Well in any case, you may roll him over now.” Katara nodded as she gently began to move Zuko, she felt pity ripple through her as she took notice to his handsome face contorted in pain.

Izumi watched Katara's expressions carefully, the elder woman smiled inwardly at the younger girl's compassion. She took Katara by the wrists gently, “Now, bend some water from the floor… Yes, just like that, and now place that over the wound….”

Katara watched as the same glow from before swept through the water as she bent it over the gash, she could see the muscle tissue as it repaired itself; strand by painful strand. “All right child, you can stop now… That's nothing more than a scratch at this point; I'm going to leave now. Don't stand up for a while, you'll probably find yourself sitting again quite quickly.” The old woman sighed at Katara's questioning glance, “You used a lot of your chi to heal him, you're weak dear. Now good bye and good luck; stay warm tonight.”

~
Sighing Katara pulled her warm, thick gloves back onto her hands, “How am I to keep Lord Ihaveastickshovedupmyass warm?” She asked aloud giving his blood soaked jacket a disgusted glare; she then heaved a second sigh and ran her hand through the Prince's dark hair without thinking. He was handsome, despite that horrid scar that marred the left side of his face, but she could deal with the scar, not his temper.

“Get your filthy hands off of me, water wench.” Zuko growled, jerking his head away from her wandering hand. Katara gasped drawing her hand back to her quickly, “How long have you been awake?” She asked, he glared at her coldly through his good eye. “Since they threw me in here, it's pretty hard to sleep through something like that.”

Blushing with a pout, the young water bender turned away, “A thank you would be nice since I saved your life and all….” Zuko laughed at this, his voice dripping with venom as he responded. “And? You think you've done me a favor? Prolonging my life for a mere two weeks of torture inside this frozen hell? They'll probably just kill me then anyway and hopefully end my pathetic life.”

Katara turned on him suddenly her face darkened with anger and frustration, “Maybe if you can act like a decent person they'll reconsider! But no, you have to be a pompous asshole!” I don't even know why I saved your sorry hide!” She cried taking him back slightly with her sudden outburst, “I'm going to sleep, and Izumi said it gets cold in here, so you might want to cover up.” She growled throwing the thin blanket over him and then stomping to the far side of the cell.

~

Zuko shivered slightly, as he tried to pull the tiny blanket over him so that it covered him completely. After failing miserably he attempted to curl into as comfortable of a ball as possible and then covered himself again, `…. I'm sorry uncle; I probably won't see you again…' He thought sadly, that being his only regret in death.

Who else would care if he died? His father would probably have a heart attack from sheer joy when Zhao returned triumphant with the news of his death. And Azula would probably giggle with glee at his unfortunate demise at the hands of the Northern Water Tribe.

His life was pointless now, he didn't even know if capturing the Avatar would do him any good. His father thought he was a sorry excuse for a son and a disgrace as a warrior. He had been branded and was now well known throughout the world as the traitorous Prince. His only reason for living had been to please his father once his mother had disappeared, but he doubted there was anything he could do to prove that he was an honorable and powerful son worthy of the title as the next Fire Lord.

The Prince mumbled something incoherent as he slipped into a deep sleep his form shivering slightly and his brow glittering with a light sheen of sweat, his mind was troubled with nightmares. Both of his past and his possible future, he felt a sick feeling sink into his heart as he relived the day his mother disappeared and the day that he acquired the scar that would forever mark him as the banished Prince.

~
Katara opened one eye her vision blocked by her grogginess as she attempted to focus in the dim lighting of the cell. She could see Zuko hadn't moved, `Well… What did you expect?' She questioned herself with a sarcastic tone; she sat there for several minutes watching the Prince and listening to the gentle crashing of the waves as they lapped upon the nearby outer wall.

Suddenly her heart sank in her chest; now that her eyes had fully adjusted and she was semi-awake she took note to Zuko's bluish tinted lips and still form. “Oh gods…” She gasped crawling over to him quickly, her heart pounding in her ears she lifted her hand to his neck slowly and felt for a pulse.

She felt a cold sweat begin to gather on the back of her neck as her fingertips met his cold flesh, `Nothing… Oh no, I've killed him already…' She thought bowing her head feeling that she'd failed to up hold her vow of keeping watch over him until his trial, but suddenly her eyes flew open as she felt a slight bump against her index finger.

With a gasp she laid her head down gently upon his chest, her ear pressed to him as she listened intently, she smiled as she heard the dull and uneven thud of his heart. “This isn't good though… He's freezing, I have to do something or he'll die…” She thought aloud, Katara stared at the face of her enemy. `Is he even worth saving? Didn't he say he'd rather die?' She sat there for a moment, her mind attempting to grasp all of the information at once. `He killed our people; he's the Prince of the enemy nation…. But, can I really let him die?'  

Grumbling slightly the water bender removed her thick coat and laid it on the ground next to her; she then grabbed some of the extra cloth bandages from the bag Izumi had left with them. Wrapping the Prince's feet she hoped they would at least be warm enough to not let out too much excess heat. Then shifting slightly she took up the small blanket and laid down next to him covering them as best she could with it.

Then finally, she grabbed her jacket and laid it over top of their upper halves. She could feel the cold still clinging to his pale skin, `This really isn't good… Fire benders are supposed to have a resistance to the cold; they're supposed to be warm!' She thought wrapping her arms around him with a slight grimace, “You owe me big time you jerk…”She hissed into his ear, even if he was unconscious she felt like it needed to be said.

She could feel heat pulling at her cheeks at the close proximity she was sharing with the young man; it was going to be interesting trying to sleep like this. She was relieved when, several minutes later she began to feel a great warmth surge from the body next to her. Zuko took a deep breath, as if he'd just resurfaced after being under water for a long period of time. Katara removed her arms almost reluctantly and rolled over so that her back was to him, she really didn't want to be facing him when the morning came.

`He smelled…. Good, like spices, not like Sokka and Aang.' She thought, scrunching up her nose at the thought of her brother's horrid smell of fish and ocean air, and Aang? He didn't smell like much at all, but she'd never really been that close to him; and she really never would have thought to sniff him. Katara's eyes widened as she felt Zuko roll over towards her his one arm making it's way over her slightly, `Is he awake?! Or… Is he doing this in his sleep…?'

She thought blushing, even if she hated him she wasn't going to move away from the heat that he provided. `He's like a furnace! Are all Fire Bender's like this???' She sighed slightly, wondering how she'd ended up in such a situation since they had arrived earlier that same day. Shrugging slightly she felt her eyes beginning to droop with fatigue once again, the healing she'd done earlier had left her body feeling totally exhausted. Katara's eyes finally fluttered closed several minutes later, the arm of Prince Zuko still wrapped around her loosely…
~
“Hey, Aang wait up!” Sokka cried as he chased after the young monk through a crowd of water tribe members, the festivities were finally over and Sokka had managed to flirt with Yue almost the entire time. “Sokka… Aren't you worried about Katara?” Aang questioned meekly his eyebrows furrowed with worry of his own, the warrior snorted slightly. “No, not at all, she was stupid to do what she did. Zuko deserves to die, Aang. He wants to kill you, and he killed five men just to try to get here so he could capture you. If you want we can go visit her tomorrow in the afternoon okay?”

Sokka asked in a slightly exasperated tone, Aang raised his eyebrows slightly. “Why in the afternoon?” The older boy laughed slightly, “Because it's late and I am not gettin' up early just to go and visit those two, if we're lucky Katara will have castrated him by the time we get there from sheer annoyance.”

Aang blinked slightly, “….Castrated…?” He asked in a confused tone, Sokka glanced at him sadly, “Never mind, come on, I'm tired lets head back and get some shut eye kiddo.”

Zuko's trial is in 14 days.