ultraviolence | avatar, the last airbender

18

KIARA WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING IN ZUKO'S ARMS. In her half asleep daze, she naturally scooted closer to him and nestled her head on his chest. That was before she quickly realized that she was asleep in Zuko's arms. Under normal circumstances she would jump far away from him. But...for some reason, it felt nice to be held. He wasn't holding her because he wanted something out of her. He was holding her to warm her up because she had a fever. Maybe she was looking into it too much, but she started to remember why she liked Zuko in the first place.

Kiara had a crush on Zuko for as long as she could remember. Each time she would go to the palace to visit Azula, she would feel butterflies if she caught a glimpse of Zuko. He wasn't just Azula's older brother, or son of the Firelord. He was kid, who was a little rough around the edges but sweet to those he cared for. She noticed the small things he did. Something nobody else had done.

Zuko moving his arm slightly took Kiara out of her daze. He moved his arm down slightly and pulled her closer. Kiara's heart skipped a beat. She looked up to check and see if he was awake and he wasn't. He was still asleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Kiara closed her eyes again and allowed herself to drift off to sleep once again.

When Kiara woke up again, Zuko wasn't next to her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw him rustling in their bags for something. Kiara rubbed her eyes and sat up. Before she could even say anything, Zuko stuck his hand out to her. "Here," he said.

"What's this?" Kiara asked.

"Medicine," Zuko said flatly. "Sela was able to give me some. It should help bring down your fever."

Kiara took the medicine from Zuko and swallowed it. She didn't feel as feverish, but she definitely felt her nose starting to get stuffy. "Thanks," she said dryly. She didn't know whether to feel glad that Zuko didn't care that they basically cuddled the entire night or not.

Before Kiara and Zuko left, the earth kingdom soldiers from earlier paid a visit to the farm. Zuko gave Lee his knife that Iroh gifted him from the earth kingdom before they departed. Kiara held onto Zuko's waist again as they rode on the ostrich horse away from the farm.

"That was really nice of you to give Lee your knife," Kiara said.

Zuko's face remained unchanged. "I wanted him to have it."

"Who gave you it?" Kiara asked.

"My uncle," Zuko replied. "Right before Lu Ten..." He trailed off.

"Right," Kiara said softly. She remembered Lu Ten, even if the moments she shared with him were brief. He was older than Zuko and Azula, so he didn't hang out with them much. He also spent most of his time fighting in the war. However, Kiara remembered him to be polite. She knew Iroh missed him a lot, but she wondered if Zuko did too.

The pair stopped at a nearby pond to let the ostrich horse drink some water. Kiara hopped off of it and laid down in the grass, looking up towards the sky. She still didn't feel well at all, but she knew she had to keep going. They still had so much ground to cover. Zuko came and sat next to her.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Zuko asked suddenly.

Kiara sat up and frowned slightly. "Uh...sure."

"Last night," Zuko started. Kiara's heart skipped a beat again. She thought he was going to bring up how she fell asleep in his arms and stayed that way until he woke up. "You said something to me."

Zuko paused and Kiara stared at him. It looked like he was waiting for a response. Kiara chuckled. "I say a lot of things. You're going to have to be more specific."