[Earth on Fire] Zuko x OC

Chapter 21: Bitter Work

Zuko dropped to his hands and knees, panting heavily. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes, struggling to regain his breath, before he lifted his head.

His uncle lay on his back, arms and legs spread out with his eyes closed, and Kioni was collapsed in a pile a few feet away. Lurching to his feet, Zuko ran over to his uncle and turned Iroh's body towards him, a choked cry of surprise escaping his mouth.

Zuko knew exactly what Iroh's burned chest should have looked like. It should have been inflamed red, a burning raw texture that made his stomach churn and his throat ache. Azula's blue fire should have produced at least a second-degree burn, but the skin Zuko gazed down upon was not the blistering, painful wound of such a burn.

Instead, the skin over Iroh's chest was smooth and a shiny, bright pink that didn't look completely healed yet but was definitely infinitely more healthy than it should have been. Zuko glanced over at Kioni's fallen form, his mind reeling. He thought he'd been imagining things when she leaned over Iroh, her hands glowing green and pressed to his chest, but the evidence was plain as day in front of him.

Somehow, Kioni had healed his uncle.

A groan from Iroh pulled Zuko out of his thoughts, his hands instantly flying to his uncle's chest to make sure everything was okay, but Iroh simply shifted, his eyes scrunching up, but not opening.

I should get him inside, Zuko thought. But first, I need to find some bandages.

Locating his knapsack lying on the dusty ground a few yards away, Zuko brought it over and rummaged through it until he found the meager first aid kit Sela had indiscreetly slipped into his bag when he stayed with them. He winced slightly, remembering the expression of hatred on her face after he'd revealed himself, but it wasn't the fury there that had hurt as much as the underlying fear.

Pushing the painful thoughts out of his mind, Zuko started dressing Iroh's wound. It was quick work, mostly because he barely had to treat the burn, just make sure it stayed covered and infection-free. Wrapping the rest of the bandages into a small roll, he placed them back in the knapsack and looked around the area for a shelter.

He located a small, run down shack that hadn't been entirely burned down in the fight, and hooked his arms under Iroh's, starting to pull him over. His uncle was too heavy for him to carry, so Zuko had to settle for half-dragging him into the shelter. He tried his best to avoid all the rocks in the path, wincing whenever Iroh's body was jostled.

Finally, after some careful maneuvering Zuko managed to prop Iroh up against the wall of the shelter and put some sacks of feed under him for support. He wiped his brow and stood up, staring at his uncle for a moment, a sad pang going through his chest. As he went back outside to grab the rucksack, Zuko's eyes landed Kioni and he stopped, hesitating.

The intense anger and hurt he'd felt at seeing her had burned away into shock as he'd watched her heal his uncle, but it still throbbed painfully somewhere deep in his chest. At the same time, he found himself unable to turn away and leave her for the buzzard wasps. Lying there, on the hot ground, she looked so... fragile.

Zuko was reminded uncannily of the night of the explosion, the way cold panic had gripped him when Kioni had passed out on the beach beside him, the paralyzing fear of not knowing if she would wake up.

You can't just leave her there, a soft voice said to him.

"Why not?" Zuko grumbled, unaware he was speaking aloud. "I don't care what happens to her." Even he could hear the falter in his voice.

Yes you do, Prince Zuko, the voice said again, sounding faintly amused. Besides, she saved your uncle's life.

"She betrayed me," Zuko protested, unable to quash the hurt feelings. Despite any misgivings he might have been having, Zuko also remembered all too clearly the contempt on her face that night at the North Pole when she'd humiliated him.