Kingdom of the Sun

5

2 Years Ago...

Tsai paced around the room anxiously. Her head flinched at every little movement or sound that she could hear. Her concerned eyes always coming back to the struggling expression of Zuko who had gone into a moral decision comma and was currently unconscious and laying on his bed where he sweat profusely once again at an internal conflict with himself.

She had sent for his mother, the palace staff and the family physician.

She sat on the edge of his bed keeping a cool rag pressed against his forehead. It took a couple of moments before Nezu, his assistant, and some other servants walked rushed into the room.

Her eyes once again darted back to the Fire Lord's face. How had this happened? How had somebody managed to sabotage the candles in the Dragon Catacombs and manage to sneak into her room to leave a threatening message?

Tsai looked at the staff uneasily. She didn't trust any of them. Whoever was doing this had both internal and personal information about their lives. She knew that Fire Nation guards were practically useless having gotten past them several times before herself.

"How....Did this happen?" She growled out in a menacing tone demanding an answer. Her clothes stained with soothe and ash from the impact of the blast.

She saw them all exchange a nervous glance between each other. There wasn't an answer. Uncertainty filled them.

"How did this happen!" She shouted.

Somebody could've died. Hell, Zuko could've died.

"Uh-" Nezu, Zuko's assistant stepped forward stammering. "The two of you were left alone. The guards stayed at the entrance of the Fire Temple?"

That was beside the point. Whomever had done this had prepared for this. They had obviously set up the bomb before time when the two had been at the play.

"Dismiss the Fire Lord's guards from their duties," she ordered. "Send note for the Kyoshi Warriors. They'll be the Fire Lord's new guards."

Again the staff exchanged a nervous look. "I'm sorry, but you can't do that," Nezu said looking down at a scroll he seemed to be carrying around all day. "You have no authority."

She stood up to the bed and rounded about it not removing her angry eyes from the assistant.

"Do you have vision problems?" She probed her tone unfriendly, warning.
"I-I'm sorry?" he stammered.

"Do you not see what just happened? Are you unaware of all the assassination attempts? Who's going to respond for him when he's unconscious? You will send for the Kyoshi Warriors and you will do it. Now. I don't care if it's not authorized. His guards are useless and as for me, good luck getting me out of this room."

The assistant licked his lips and nodded his head before turning away and exiting the room before uttering another word. She let out a sharp breath feeling some guilt at her uncharacteristic angry burst.

Just then Ursa and the family physician rushed in.

Zuko was in a comma for two nights.

She never once left his side. The little sleep she got, she got while bundling up next to him waking up every couple of hours to change the cold rag on his forehead. The only person she trust enough to enter the room or bring food to them was Ursa who would come every couple of hours worried out of her mind.

Tsai was tired. She wondered if this was what her grandfather had referred to the last and final time that they spoke...

"People might change but their natures don't. Don't be a fool Tsai. He is troubled and I sensed he will always be. Especially when reasoning right from wrong..."