Spark [Prince Zuko - Book One]

❃Chapter Twenty❃

Trigger Warning. There is mentions of torture and rape in this chapter. Read at your own risk.

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Asake hadn't left her room on the ship in weeks. There was no way she'd face anyone after what happened to her. She didn't want to see their sympathetic faces or hear them tell her that she was a strong girl when she wasn't. Then again, none of the crew even bothered to try to come check on her. None of them saw her or made sure she was okay. It was only Zuko and Iroh that visited her sometimes. Did it hurt that no one else would come see her? Not really. She wasn't ready to see the crew, not after what happened.

She tightly wrapped her arms around her thin body, wishing she could be somewhere else – anywhere else. Her whole body ached, the bruises and burns slowly fading away. The wound on her heart would never go away, though. Asake didn't allow anyone to check her wounds that she had acquired from being beaten and tortured by Zhao. She made sure that the burns were well treated for, not wanting a repeat of the huge scar on her leg. However, some of them were already too far gone. Her body was a battlefield and the scars showed all the battles she had fought.

A wave of exhaustion rolled through her body. She hadn't hardly slept since she got back on the ship, too afraid of what her dreams might bring her. She was constantly reminded of the way Zhao treated her, that she was an instrument in his plans to get to Zuko, by the way her body responded to touch and stares. She hid away from everyone, even herself.

A sharp knock on the door jolted her from her thoughts. Asake hoped it was Iroh, who promised her tea earlier. He had been so nice to her lately, and she couldn't thank him enough for it. She slowly stood up, slipping out of her bed. Her nightgown hung from her body that had been beaten, bruised, and violated. She quickly put on her silk robe, tying it at her waist, trying to cover the scars and bruises from view. She slightly limped over to the door, opening it only a little bit. Asake peered out and saw Zuko standing there. "What are you doing here?"

He pushed the door open without a word, walking into her room. She warily turned around and leaned against the open door. She didn't have much strength to do anything else. He stopped in front of her bed, not facing her. "You need to eat. There is food in the kitchen for you to eat." His voice was low, and she hardly heard him over the sound of her beating heart.

Asake reluctantly shut the door behind her. She sighed, walking over to her bed. She sat down in the midst of her hovel. Most of her covers were on the floor, discarded. She found it difficult to sleep with covers on now because it felt like she was suffocating underneath them. Zuko stared at her with emotionless eyes. "I don't feel like eating."

"You haven't felt like doing anything!" His face contorted into a frown. He didn't seem angry with her, though. He seemed angry with Zhao – and more importantly, himself. "What did he do to you that made you like this? Where is the Asake that I knew?"

His question hit her hard, so she turned her head to the side so she couldn't see him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about what Zhao had done to her. There was no way she could tell him about what happened to her; she didn't want to picture it again. She whispered, "I don't want to talk about it, Zuko."

Asake heard him walk forward and felt the bed dip beneath his weight. She glanced over at him to see his head in his hands. "How bad did he hurt you?" he whispered.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember much, but what I do remember . . .," She trailed off, trying not to get lost in her memories. Shuddering, she swallowed hard. "It wasn't pretty."

He looked over at her with a pained look on his face. She could barely stand it, the look in his eyes. It was the same look that Iroh always had on whenever he was with her. "Where? Where did he hurt you, Asake?" She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. She couldn't tell him, no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn't do it. "I'm going to kill him for what he did to you."