Blazing Crystal (Revised Version)

Chapter 45: Her Prince Charming: Part 2

Chapter 45: Her Prince Charming: Part 2

(Crystal POV)

My body felt so heavy, and my mind was in a foggy haze. As my senses came back, I could vaguely hear the sound of two voices bickering back and forth. One was female, and the other was male. The voices grew louder and clearer by the second as I regained more connection with my body. Once the voices were audible, I recognized that they belonged to Katara and Jaka.

"... gonna lose! What are they thinking? We have to stop this madness! You know this is wrong! You know it is, Jaka!"

"Katara... I can't allow you to interfere. I promised Uncle I'd keep you and Crystal both out of it. This is between the men. It's best you stay here and worry about Crys. If you want, I can even escort you to the Avatar so you can check on him."

"We're not the North Pole! Don't treat me like they treat their women! I have a voice, and I will speak my mind! This fight is foolish! Someone will get hurt!"

"I told you the rules. No killing is allowed. The first person to yield is the loser. The fight won't last long so no one will be hurt too terribly."

"And then what? My sister is going to be forced to marry a guy she doesn't love! This is madness! You all are treating her like a voiceless doll! She has a right to choose who she spends the rest of her life with!"

"Your father-"

"My father is blind by prejudice! He's being a fool!"

"Katara. Enough!"

"No Jaka! I'm not going to stand by and let Crystal lose her free will! I promised her I'd do something about this!"

Opening my eyes, I saw through a blurry mess two figures standing across from where I lay. The taller one blocked the smaller figure's path at the tent flaps. As my tune to reality grew stronger, my back felt hot and I cringed in pain. The fever had broken though. I knew this because the heat that once coursed through my body and boiled my skin was gone. Although I was soaked with sweat, I was relieved the worst of the infection was over. Katara's healing had restored my health, and I knew I had to get my strength.

"Ka... Katara..." I found my voice, although my throat was parched from thirst. I had gathered enough from their conversation to understand something was happening that needed to be stopped. "What's going on... Where's Zuko?"

At my cracked voice, Jaka and Katara turned their gaze towards me in surprise. Katara was relieved to find I'd come back to the world. "Crys! You're awake! Thank the spirits! The infection in your back caused you an awful fever." Katara came to my side and dropped to her knees. "You had us all worried."

As she spoke, I began to get control of my body once again. I'd been on my side to stay off of my back, and I carefully moved so I didn't fall onto the damaged skin. Slowly finding my stability, I sat up fully, letting the blanket drop from my body. My chest was covered by my shift, and I had bandages wrapped around my midriff to cover the damaged skin that started to pulse once again from my movement.

Katara's hand had grabbed my shoulder to assist me as I sat up. While she supported me, she brought towards me a flask of water saying, "You need to drink."

Pushing the flask back, I met her gaze seeing my vision had cleared. My voice was still weak, but I managed to get it out. "What's going on? Where's Zuko?"

She frowned and brought the flask back towards me. "Drink first. Then I'll tell you everything." Knowing she meant it, I willingly took the drink this time not realizing I was actually dying of thirst until the water slid down my throat. After drinking a good amount, I pulled it away and my eyes looked over at Jaka. He was watching me from where he stood at the tent entrance, and I could see he too was glad I'd finally woken.