nothing to lose | zuko x oc

18

knocking on the door to zuko and iroh's apartment, vada felt content.

it was his uncle who opened the door and greeted the young waterbender. "vada, what brings you here?" the kind man questioned.

"i was wondering if Lee was home. I wanted to come visit." she smiled.

iroh gave her a sad grin, "my nephew is home, but he has unfortunately conducted an illness."

vada's face immediately morphed into a frown. "oh my, that's not good. where'd he get it?"

iroh invited her inside with a gesture as he spoke. "I have no idea. he has a high fever and a dry cough."

the two of them walked to zuko's room and vada saw that he was in a bedridden state.

"I'll take a look, mushi."

aeri was curled up next to zuko, watching him worriedly. and she let out a soft quack at the sight of vada.

the pearly-haired waterbender pulled down the covers on zuko's abdomen, almost beginning to blush at the sight, but she reminded herself that the boy was ill and in need of help.

she bent some water over his abdomen, sensing his chi, his bloodstream and his oxygen paths.

his chi seemed to have gone extremely low even for a nonbender, but before vada could inspect any further, the water that was touching the boy's skin began heating up.

she ripped her hands away and streamed the water back into the bucket.

iroh came in with two cups of tea.

"this isn't any natural illness." she told the older man. "everything is normal except for his chi flow and body temperature."

iroh looked at the girl quizically, "what do you mean?"

"well," she let out a sigh, "his chi flow is very low, even for a non bender, so I'd guess there's a mental blockage so big that it turned into a physical one."

iroh nodded at her words, thinking at the choice that his nephew had made under the lake.

vada placed her finger on zuko's arm, almost burning from his body heat, "his body temperature is extremely high, I am actually confused on how he..." she stopped for a moment.

high body temperature.

"nevermind. his fever is just very high, so I'll suggest a cold cloth."

"vada, can you try and clear his mental blockage?"

vada looked at iroh strangely, how was she to do that? she could only soothe the pain, not clear the blockage.

but the look of worry on iroh's face made her smile at him. "I'll try."

sitting at zuko's head, vada bent two bubbles of water by his temples, and as they started glowing, Images began flashing through the waterbender's mind.

a beautiful woman with dark eyes. a flaming palm, aang, herself, and a blue mask.

vada retracted her hands and pinched the bridge of her nose. what was that?

"are you alright, dear?"

vada had almost forgotten that iroh was there. "I don't think I can clear the blockage, mushi. I'm sorry."

a soft smile painted iroh's features. "don't worry, it's okay."

"its getting late, I should head home." she said, bending down to plant a kiss on zuko's forehead, "thank you for the tea, mushi. I hope Lee feels better soon"