Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

So far, the night shift had been uneventful. Izara had been posted outside the Fire Lord's room and was pacing through the hallway just so she didn't have to stand still for 8 hours straight. It was around 2am, and everything had been quiet so far. She had been told that it usually took guards a little longer to be put on the night shift since it was statistically the most likely time someone would try and attempt an assassination. Of course, Izara already knew that, but apparently, she had proven herself well enough to have the honour of protecting the Fire Lord himself, even if she was filling in temporarily. She had settled in well, and everyone had been friendly to her. Kazan being here helped, too, since they had been friends for years while he was posted with her Uncle Uzan.

It was nice to finally feel after such a long time that she was doing some good and that people here really valued her presence. She never really got that with her Uncle since she was a glorified maid. She had taken a chance coming to the Capital and was glad she did. Thus far, it had been the best thing in her life.

As she did her usual patrol outside in the gardens, she checked the windows were closed and locked and that all the doors were. It was a normal part of the job that had become second nature for her to do every hour. Still, she did her best to ensure she didn't let the monotony cause her to make a mistake or miss something. In fact, that was one of the most challenging parts of a job like this. It would be expected for people doing the same thing over and over again to lose focus, but it wasn't an option when guarding the Fire Lord himself.

Everything was quiet, but she suddenly heard strange noises from the Fire Lord's room. It sounded like some groaning, and alarm bells rang loudly in her head.

Something was wrong.

Without thinking, she ripped the window open, breaking the latch as she did, dagger drawn and ready to fight. At the sound of her coming in, he woke up and sat up in his bed, staring at her in surprise. Using firebending, she lit all of the candles in the room and stayed on her guard. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find out why he was making the strange sounds. She stalked over to the windows, confirming that they were closed. Had someone broken into the room? Had someone hurt him in his sleep?

Her dagger glinted menacingly as she prepared for the worst, but the Fire Lord's voice distracted her.

"Uhh, I think that was me...." He offered cryptically, and she looked over at him in confusion.

She spared no time approaching him and inspected him to ensure that everything was okay, but her eyes went wide as she saw his hand shake as he ran it through his hair. As he pushed it away from his face, she saw that he was sweating and his shoulders were tense. Ignoring that he was shirtless in favour of her panic, she saw that he was covered in sweat, and his other hand was fisted tightly in his sheets. His eyes were panicked but not scared, and she didn't quite understand what was happening.

"My Lord..." She wasn't sure what to say, but her anxiety faded into concern. Her eyes lost their determination, and her brow knitted together in worry as she knelt at his bedside.

"I was dreaming. It was a bad dream." He replied to explain his state, but that didn't make her feel any better. Now that she wasn't concerned about a threat, she was just concerned.

"Are you alright?" Without thinking, the hand not holding her dagger reached out to rest on the hand he had fisted in his sheets.

When he glanced down at her hand, to his surprise, she pulled back after realising that it wasn't appropriate. She knew very well how tormenting nightmares could be and regularly woke up in a similar state to him after going through the same thing. Her understanding of how he felt seemed to have caused such a reflexive reaction from her to want to comfort him. Although it was definitely crossing the line to touch the Fire Lord, he hadn't flinched from her touch but had relaxed into it.