Chapter Text
After making their way back to the heart of the temple where they made camp, Hakoda gave Zuko a proper bowl of porridge and made sure he ate it slowly, much to the anger of Katara. Zuko, who was very confused insisted that he was fine and thanked Hakoda through it all.
Sokka and Toph decided to not ask what had changed and instead be happy for Hakoda’s change in heart and enjoy Zuko getting flustered at everything.
Later that day Katara confronts Hakoda,
“Dad, what are you doing!?” She said, just short of screaming.
“What do you mean honey? I was sharpening Sokka’s boomerang but if you need help i—”
“Why are you and Zuko so buddy buddy all of a sudden? I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one!” she bursted, cutting off Hakoda.
Hakoda thought for a bit of how to explain this “ do you know how old the prince is?”
“What? How does that have to do wi---”
“do you know?”
“21? But that doesn’t—”
“He is 16, he is a child, 2 years older than you, I know his age doesn’t excuse what he has done in the past but the fact that he is owning up to it shows that he has had to grow up too fast and I know you understand what that is like, I know you are hurt but so is he. You don’t have to forgive him yet but please try to see it how it is. I know that you are extremely mature so I hope you understand”
“…” realization dawns on Katara that if her dad is saying this then she must have overdone something to Zuko. She remembers the porridge and feels guilty.
“The first step to doing this is to treat him how you would anyone else, you could start by checking if he is ok from the prison visit. As a healer you are the only one who can do so.”
Katara’s mind wanders to the time when they were in the catacombs together, the bitter memory resurfaces when Zuko lies to her about changing and his mother dying.
Was he lying though?
Maybe he wasn’t trying to get her pity… maybe its true…
Sighing she replied “fine, il check on him but I doubt he is injured, whatever you saw he was probably faking it, it is his fathers prison after all, no one would dare touch him. And if he shows anything to suggest he is working against us he is going down” she says reluctantly.
Smiling at his beautiful daughter Hakoda agrees knowing that it wouldn’t be and easy decision for her.
All throughout dinner Katara stared at Zuko thinking of a way to approach him while keeping an eye for anything suspicious so she could bail. Unfortunately, nothing came up and everything went smoothly.
Mentally preparing herself, she watched as Zuko washes the dishes, waiting for a quiet moment.
Everyone was laying down for the night and quiet chatter consumed the room, echoing though the empty halls. Hakoda gave Katara a knowing look before loudly suggesting hitting the hay.
Naturally everyone followed suit and the room went quiet. Katara made her move to leave when Aang caught her hand before she could get up,
“Where are you going?” he askes with wide eyes that made her stomach feel like goo
“ Just going to get water” she replies as she extracts herself from his grasp
“Don’t be too mean to him, kay?” He mumbles laying down to sleep, surprising her and making he wonder if she heard wrong.
She stood there, unmoving, staring at the door, working up the guts to knock without hatred.
Knock knock.
Rustling. Footsteps.
The door opens and there stands a half asleep Zuko. His eyes widen in shock before his body tenses ready for an attack. Awareness takes over his scenes as he is ready to get kicked out from the group, his mind replaying the day trying to place what he did wrong.
“Hey…” Katara says breaking the awkward silence
“ Um hi” Zuko replies, the silence stretches for a few more seconds before Katara speaks
“ I was told to check everyone for injuries if they went to the boiling rock so…”
“Oh, ok”
“ do you have any injuries…?”
“ No I’m fine” He replies a little too quickly
The familiar feeling of the responsibility of being a healer settles upon her
“Let me look over you first”
“ No, I’m good” he says panicking a little
She starts to shout “WELL—” pausing realizing that she would wake the others up
“well,” she shout-whispers, “as a healer I have to! So suck up you ego and let me in”
She pushes past him and enters the room before promptly freezing as she took in the cold lonely room that lay bare of anything except a bed roll and a small bag.
A chilly draft comes in and the cold seeps into her bones. Zuko keeps the door slightly ajar and follows her into the room.
Katara gets over her shock “ Take of you shirt and lay down”
“What!? No! I’m fine—” she cut off his protest by gabbing his arm and pushing him onto the bed roll
He sat there stunned
“now take off your shirt” she says determined to figure out why he was reacting like this, surly it was because he was acting injured with Hakoda so now if she see that he is fine Hakoda will find out too.
At that thought a wave of new determination washes over her, she needs to out his acting so that her father will believe her.
“Ughh stop making a fuss, it’s just a t-shirt hurry” she groans
Anger washes over Zuko, who was she to demand this? She is the person you betrayed and can make everything you have done to get here useless by kicking you out, his mind answers helpfully.
Ashamed he complies and slips his shirt of and lies down.
Scars. Every inch of his skin. You could go a few centimeters with finding one, big, small, every shape possible. Some were burns and some deep cuts. EVERYWHERE. She tried not to gape seeing that Zuko was watching her carefully.
The next thing she notices were the dark blue, boot shaped, bruises that littered his torso, all of them recent that it makes Katara wonder. In the mix were scratches but more worryingly cuts in uniform size and shape that make them look intentional.
“I going to touch you now” She doesn’t ask for consent, just states the fact before beginning to try to tell how bad the damage was before she heals it.
Her hand barley contacts skin when he flinches, Katara glares at him but secretly worries, she had seen people flinch a the slightest of contact but those were only water tribe soldiers who had endured extreme torture for long period of time.
She presses down on his torso slightly earning a sharp hiss of pain that he tries to hide. Quickly She opens her water pouch and draws water and starts to heal, Zuko watched with caution before relaxing slightly when he felt relief from the pain he must have been in.
Slowly the bruises faded to a light orange and the cuts closed up. Katara did everything in her power not to think of what might have happened for him to get them. When she finish, she looked proudly at her work and she tells Zuko to flip over so she can check his back.
All the tension returns to his body and he refuses and thanks her for what she has done already.
Getting annoyed again she summons tentacles of water and forcefully flips him over.
Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.
Whip marks maimed the entirety of his back. Angry red and bleeding lines ran all the way from his collar bone to his hip, maybe lower.
Katara gasps, hand to mouth trying to not start crying as her mind spun with reasons and explanations.
Zuko lay unnaturally still, as if waiting for a bomb to go off, not daring to look back at Katara and stared at the floor.
Without thought Katara reached out and touched a line that was particularly red and saw his whole body tensing and his hands balled up in fists.
Zuko felt waves of pain wash over him as if his back was on fire and it took everything in his power not to recoil. He didn’t want anyone to see him in this pitiful state, least of all Katara but he couldn’t help but feel a little pit hopeful that she would relieve him of the pain that has been plaguing him for the past day.
“Sorry” she whispered, her voice cracking with bottled up emotion
“it’s fine” he replied but she could hear his tense voice.
Her hand shook as she worked to heal him and it was painful to watch every flinch of pain but it was over fairly quickly.
She couldn’t heal all of it but the red has subsided and all that were left were semi healed scars that were added to the collection.
“done” she says while standing up, watching as Zuko slips his shirt back on and looks at anything except Katara, ashamed.
She turns to leave “ I will see you tomorrow” she says with finality
“Thank you”
Karata turns to see Zuko looking at her without emotion, feeling conflicted she nods and leaves.
Back at the camp Hakoda watches Katara return and makes her way over to him. Without a word and starts to cry. Sobs wracked her body as she explained everything.
They stayed hugging in the dark for a long time and Hakoda reassuring her the best he could.
If Katara gave Zuko a little more porridge and talked to him normally the next day no one said anything.