Birth Of Fire

True As It Can Be

This chapter has been edited.

...

Aang and Zuko are upstairs, with Katara and Toph. It was lunchtime just three days after the last time the two mates made love.

The mouth-watering smell of freshly made rice was filling the kitchen as Katara cooked, and the sound of sizzling meat hit everyone's ears.

Aang was at the sink washing the dishes and cleaning whatever mess Katara made with the pots and spoons she used to cook.

He scrubbed at the greasy dishes with some soap before rinsing off each one, letting the roughness of the sponge scratch away at the leftover food from the morning's meal. He scrubbed away at hardened rice buds and soiled beans, soggy bread mixing with the ugly foods and washing down the drain.

It wasn't until he lifted a bowl up did a smell hit him.

A disgusting smell.

Aang's nose crinkled in disgust, his stomach turned as he looked down to see a piece of chicken laying in the bowl that was beneath the one he lifted up.

His stomach rolled as he stared down at it. It was so fowl smelling, that he could feel his mouth watering up from nausea.

Zuko looked up from where he sat at the table, looking over to Aang, "Aang, you okay?"

He was going to be sick.

He slowly turned around, ready to make a mad bolt for the bathroom, but he already knew that he wasn't going to make it. Just turning around made his head spin and bile start to make it's way out.

Zuko got up and grabbed the trash can sitting conveniently by his seat and super sped over to hold it in front of Aang.

Just in time, right as the can was placed below his chin, everything that was once inside his stomach was out of it.

Katara stopped cooking when the sounds of Aang's sick hitting the can hit her ears, quickly she went over to the shelf and grabbed a cup and filled it with tap water. But before she gave it to him, she put her free arm around his waist and gently lead him over to the table so he could sit down. Zuko held the can and pet the top of Aang head as he threw up.

Aang's eyes watered, how did this happen so fast? He was just washing dishes, had felt perfectly fine. He didn't remember feeling sick before this, and breakfast had been delicious.

Was he really just that disgusted with the piece of chicken in the sink, it's soggy wrinkled flesh and that nasty rotting smell was so bad that it made him sick.

That's never happened before. Aang has never been one to have such a weak stomach. He had done dishes before and had come across plenty of things that smelt a lot worse than the chicken.

He had been cleaning after Appa since he was a child for crying out loud! That bison dropped really heavy and stinky ones yet somehow the chicken smelt worse than a giant pile of bison doo.

It didn't make sense.

Zuko looked down at Aang, reading his thoughts. He could just have a bug, but Zuko didn't smell anything different in Aang's scent. Usually, when the boy was sick, his odor would smell different, as if Zuko could smell whatever it was that was attacking Aang's system.

There was nothing.

Even Zuko was confused then, he knew from personal experience that Aang did not have a weak stomach like this. He looked over to the sink and looked at the innocent piece of chicken still resting there in the bowl, it was grey and looked like an old lady's foot but it was otherwise not so bad.