The Lost Waterbender (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction)

Healing Process (Again)

I wasn't passed out for long. When I did wake up, the hours passed in a blur.

Haizu had set my leg and foot and wrapped them in bandages and a splint. I was back on crutches, and this time I had to use them.

I wasn't the only hurt one. The pools were full of burned and injured people. Haizu never stopped moving. He applied salves, wrapped bandages, and comforted those who were freaking out. Aside from a few serious injuries from shrapnel and close encounters with fire, most people had minor burns.

No one was talking about the heist. Everyone involved in it felt like a fool, me included. We ignored all the signs. We got on the boat too easily, it was too small to be transporting materials that high of value, and it was made of wood, which surprisingly, burns easily. We had lost five people to that heist. No one ever been killed on a mission before.

A few days after it happened shrouds were made for those who were killed and burned in a special ceremony. Hikura sent them off with a traditional Fire Nation prayer. Speeches were made in their honor. The worst was when Narziko's fiancée tried to make a speech and completely broke down. She had to be led away by one her friends.

After the service Raiko and I went aboveground to escape the depression that had infected everyone. We walked down the streets, not talking.

Finally, I said, "I don't understand how this could've gone so horribly."

Raiko nodded. "It was supposed to go so smoothly. I mean, we practiced all week."

"Well, it's hard to prepare for something when the other people know exactly what's going to happen."

We ended up at the port, where we sat on an old box and looked out over the sea.

"Narziko was my dad's friend, you know," Raiko said.

I was surprised. Raiko had never really told me about his past. Whenever I asked him, he'd get really quiet. I didn't reply to his statement; I wanted to hear what he was afraid to say.

"My mom died when I was little," he said sadly. "My dad lost his job so we began living in the streets. We met Narziko, who was pretty young himself." He stopped talking. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "If you need to vent, go ahead and do it."

He gave me a look of thanks. "A couple years later, my dad was killed in a street fight, leaving Narziko and I to fend for ourselves. He took care of me, and eventually we made it to the hideout." He stopped and sniffed. I was startled to see he was crying. Raiko never cried. "He was like my big brother."

I put my arm around him and leaned my head in his shoulder. He put his head of mine we sat there, watching the sun set.

"This week really sucked," I said.

"Tell me about it."

{}

I stayed in the City of Outcasts a lot longer than expected. Haizu was actually there to make sure I did everything he said, unlike Inya, who just kind of left.

I was on two crutches for three months. The missions these days were a lot smaller and less risky than usual, but that didn't matter for me because I wasn't allowed on them anyway.

Haizu changed my bandages once a week for the first month and applied new slave to the burns. It was nasty and painful. My skin was brilliant red and completely scabbed over. The areas where my bones had broken were swollen and sore. During these processes I'd have to have something to hold onto and a piece of cloth to bite to keep from yelling. On the bright side, the burns on my upper body were healing quickly and painlessly.