The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

Sent Shivers Down My Spine

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes as I woke back up. Zuko wasn't there anymore. I looked back down at Uncle, who was still not awake. I checked for a fever, which thankfully he didn't have.

Zuko walked in with some sort of fish. "Oh, you're awake. I got something for us to eat."

I made a half smile. I hated fish but I was grateful he thought ahead and got something for us to eat. "That's great!"

Zuko smiled proudly and placed it on a flat stone, then heated it up to cook it. He also started making some sort of tea which didn't seem very appealing.

"Uncle seems better." I commented. "I think we should put a fresh dressing on his wound after we eat though."

Zuko nodded and handed me a portion of the fish. I ate it tentatively. Oh how I missed the food back home.

We both worked together to replace Iroh's dressing on his wound. Iroh let out a tiny grunt as we finished and opened his eyes.

"Uncle!" Zuko said in surprise. "You were unconscious. Azula did this to you."

Iroh attempted to get up but winced in pain.

"It was a surprise attack."

"Somehow, that's not so surprising." Iroh responded. He grunted in pain as he moved to lean up against the wall.

"Would you like some tea? I think I found herbs that will work well."

Iroh nodded. "I would live some tea."

Zuko smiled slightly and handed him a cup. "I hope I made it the way you like it." He handed me one, and I smiled, taking it hesitantly.

I watched as Iroh took a sip from the cup and his eyes widened. He let out a cry of disgust, but managed to mask it.

I looked down at my cup I had and took a tiny sip just for the hell of it. I couldn't suppress my disgust. "Eugh!"

Zuko handed Iroh another cup and looked at my accusingly. "What's wrong? Is my tea bad?"

I met his eyes and plastered on a smile. "Well, you know me Zuko, I tend to be kinda picky when it comes to these things."

Iroh quickly chucked his tea out the window.

Zuko twitched his eyebrow. "Well, what do you think, Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"Mmm, good. That was very, uhh... bracing!" Iroh said with a cheeky smile.

Zuko sat up straighter, seemingly proud of Iroh's fake compliment. "So uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

"No, she's crazy and she needs to go down. It's time to resume your training." Iroh said as he stood up with a grunt. "Ashley, would you like to join us? I can teach you the basics."

I let out a tiny breath of amusement. "No thanks, Uncle. I have other things to do."

They both went outside and I heard Iroh start preaching about the four nations. I smiled peacefully and got out my walkman. I placed my headphones on and clicked play. Nothing happened. I clicked it again. Still nothing. I looked at the screen and saw that it said 'low battery".

I let out a weird noise of anguish and ran outside. "Zuko my walkman is dead! I need some batteries."

"Oh yeah, that must be why it stopped playing." Zuko replied. "What are batteries?"