The Firebender

Matching Scars Are Cool...I Guess?

Iroh and I both jumped awake as the door to a cell swung open, a lot quieter this time, and I was relieved to see that Killie and Azula weren't here to bully me more.

"Uncle," a raspy voice sounded from Iroh's cell. His voice was so...raspy. "Uncle it's me."

If this person was calling him uncle, and it wasn't Azula, it had to be Zuko. Prince Zuko.

Iroh simply turned himself so his back was to his nephew and my chest tightened at the look of pain on the old man's face.

"You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together."

I rose an eyebrow at the statement, beginning to understand just how blinded Zuko had been by his family.

"I did what I had to in Ba Sing Sae, and you're a fool for not joining me." His husky voice was rising in volume and tempo as he spoke, and I imagined that his face contorting into one of both anger and regret. "Are you not going to speak?! You're a crazy old man. You're crazy. And if you weren't in jail, you'd be in the gutter!"

I jumped slightly as a large bang sounded from the cell beside me, along with a sudden flare of light and a scream of rage.

"Zuko."

The noise in the other cell quieted.

"Talk to the girl in the next cell over. Please."

I raised both eyebrows, hoping desperately that he did not do that. "Please don't walk in here, please don't walk in here, please don't--" My whispering halted as a young man entered my room in a long, red robe. He had shaggy black hair and a massive scar covering his left eye that looked a lot like the scars I had on my stomach.

Zuko shut the door behind him gently, taking in the broken, bloody nose as well as the rock cuffs that still encased my hands. At this point, I couldn't feel them at all.

"Did you fight them?" He motioned to my nose.

I shook my head. "They do that before every meal."

His eyes slipped to the tray of food sitting to my side, untouched. "Why haven't you eaten?"

Lifting my hands up a bit, I winced, but figured it was best to show him my bad situation, especially if I wanted his help. "It's a bit humiliating to eat without hands." 

He sat there for a moment, as if he were thinking about something before he motioned for me to get closer. "I can get those off."

I raised an eyebrow in his direction, but slowly stood, limping over to the other side of my cell and leaning against the bars, already out of breath from the movement. Zuko pulled something out of his robe pocket, poked it into the hole on the front of the cuffs, and I gasped as they fell to the ground.

"Can you move them?" He asked gently, his voice becoming softer in an attempt to keep me calm.

A sob escaped my lips as I realized I couldn't. My fingers were stuck, frozen and gnarled together like a grove of trees. I couldn't feel them at all as he took them in his hands, rubbing out the joints and slowly straightening and bending each one. Each movement made jolts of pain shoot up my arm and I gritted my teeth together hard, feet sliding as I tried to find some way to cope with the pain.

"What's your name?" He asked suddenly, letting me slide to the floor before following me down and continuing his work.

"Jiera." I managed before gasping and letting out a small scream as my left pinky finger popped loudly.