Chapter Text
“Hey, Sparky, wake up!”
Zuko held back a groan as he pried his eyes opened, the harsh sunlight making him cover his eyes in protest. After a brief second to compose himself, the banished prince sat up and looked at Toph.
“What’s going on?” Zuko asked roughly. “Are we under attack?” He listened intently for a moment, but frowned in confusion when he heard nothing but the birds chirping and Appa chomping on some hay.
The blind earthbender rolled her eyes, looking at a spot just above Zuko’s head. “No, but Sokka’s going hunting and he wants you to go with him,” she replied, then added bluntly, “but he’s too much of a wimp to wake you up himself.”
“Not true!” Sokka yelped from a few feet away. “Toph just wanted to be the one to do it! I’m not a wimp!” He stood up from behind a large rock that he’d clearly been cowering behind. Zuko heard him muttering “firebenders” and “not getting a face full of flames again.”
Zuko did his signature (almost) smile/grimace, and pushed himself into a standing position. He stretched for a moment, his back popping as he arched it. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to go hunting right now?” he asked, shrinking back slightly when an annoyed Katara glanced over at him.
“What is that supposed to mean?” she snapped. Zuko flinched as she glared at him; he knew he deserved the rage but it didn’t make dealing with it any easier.
Zuko blinked; he hadn’t meant to offend Katara but it seemed that she took his comment personally. “I just- the Fire Nation is on high alert because of what happened at Boiling Rock, and there’s been disturbances here because of the assassin-”
“-that you sent after us,” Katara hissed. “We need food, and I know maybe your lazy royal fire prince ass might not be used to hunting and working, but you’ve got to contribute too. Or, you know, you can just leave.”
Zuko flushed slightly and sighed. “Sorry,” he muttered, missing the glare that Sokka sent his sister. He bowed his head quietly, ignoring the twinge in his scar that he felt whenever somebody yelled at him. It wasn’t as bad as it used to be when he’d been full of anger; back then, it was as if he could feel his internal flame scorching his face every time he was mad. Now, however, his scar only ached a bit, likely because his flame was no longer fueled by rage. Zuko sighed again and put his head in his hands. Katara had the right to be angry at him, but it didn’t make it any easier when he’d worked so hard the past few weeks to earn their trust and possibly their… friendship.
“Jeez, Sugar Queen, calm down,” Toph muttered. “We need Sparky here to teach Aang firebending, unless you’ve forgotten?”
Zuko’s heart sank when he heard this. Yes, he was aware that he was here to teach Aang firebending, and that was the only reason. It would do him good to remember that.
“Don’t call me that,” Katara shot back angrily before storming away.
“Somebody must’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed,” Toph sang teasingly. She patted Zuko sympathetically, eyes narrowing slightly when she felt his body stiffen at the touch. “Don’t worry, Sparky,” the earthbender said. “Katara’s just angry and missing her dad again. I like having you here! And Twinkletoes says you’re a great firebending teacher, so you’re not entirely useless.” She punched him in the arm.
“No, Katara’s right,” Zuko said softly. “I need to pull my weight more. I still have to make up for everything I’ve done to you guys.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Toph called, but the banished prince was already walking away.
As he passed Sokka, Zuko said gruffly, “When are we leaving?”
Sokka scratched his head. “Uhm, now?” he said. “It’ll be fun!”
The two of them grabbed some supplies and mounted Appa, steering him over to a densely wooded area. As they hopped off of Appa, Sokka continued to chatter excitedly. “So, then, I told Katara, ‘I guess I’m just too cool ’. Get it? Zuko?”
Zuko snapped his head aside to look Sokka in the eye. “Sorry, uh, yes?” the confused firebender replied.
Sokka sighed. “You know, Zuko, you can relax a bit. We’re here to have some fun!”
“I’m here to go hunting and get food for everyone,” Zuko replied gruffly. He knew he had to work harder to prove he was worthy and truly apologize to Katara for everything he’d done.
“Hey, man, you do realize that Katara was being harsh, right?” Sokka said, narrowing his eyes as he studied Zuko’s face. “You don’t have anything to prove to us. You- you risked everything to help me break my father and my g- uh, my Suki out of prison.”
“It was my fault they were in there in the first place,” Zuko growled.
Sokka raised his eyebrows. “I mean… was it? Because I think th-” He snapped his jaw shut as Zuko held up his hand, signalling the Water Tribe warrior to listen.
“Do you hear that?” Zuko hissed. Sokka nodded, and the two of them crept along toward the disturbance. As they approached the clearing where the rustling was, Zuko and Sokka made eye contact and jumped out at the same time (Sokka barely managing to withhold his battle cry).
They surprised a massive puma goat that had been foraging for food. It reared back on its hind legs and roared at the pair. Sokka’s battle cry finally manifested in the form of a surprised, strangled yelp of sorts, but he remained determined and started setting the net as Zuko corralled the puma goat into a corner.
“Sorry, buddy, but we gotta eat,” Zuko growled as he shot blasts of fire to keep the massive creature contained. He felt a bit bad for killing an innocent creature, but the image of Katara’s furious glare caused him to power through, creating a wall of fire with a renewed strength.
Sokka finally managed to net the beast and he quickly and cleanly delivered a killing blow. As the pair paused for a moment, catching their breath, Zuko sent a quick silent prayer of thanks to Agni for their success and Sokka bowed his head in respect as the beast let out its final breath.
The two of them silently worked to clean up their kill and package the puma goat. Both were satisfied at the size of the creature, as they knew it would feed them (minus Aang, who refused to eat meat) for a few days.
After they finished bundling up their kill, Sokka and Zuko began the laborious process of carrying the puma goat back to where Appa was waiting.
“Well, I’d call that a successful hunt if I’ve ever seen one,” Sokka drawled, trying and failing to hide his excitement at such a large kill. He glanced over at Zuko, who was trudging along silently and kept on shifting the weight so he’d be carrying more than Sokka. “Dude. Come on! You can celebrate, this is an epic kill.”
Zuko forced a miniscule smile onto his face, but he knew that it wouldn’t be enough to earn Katara’s forgiveness. “It’s a start,” was all the firebender said.
Sokka scoffed. “It’s more than a st-”
“Over there! I knew I heard someone!”
Sokka and Zuko whipped around as a trio of Fire Nation soldiers burst into the clearing, their eyes widening as they saw Sokka and Zuko. “Agni… it’s the banished prince!” one of the soldiers breathed, then yelled, “We found them!”
Zuko took a step back as nine more soldiers appeared in the clearing. He knew that him and Sokka could handle themselves against three Fire Nation soldiers, but twelve… twelve might be too many.
“Get to Appa as quickly as you can,” Zuko muttered. “I’ll hold them off.” The banished prince took a step back, bracing himself for firebending attacks.
Sokka opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the soldier closest to them. “Prince Zuko,” the man drawled, “or should I say… ex-prince Zuko. We didn’t expect to see you here.” The soldier looked at his companions, who surrounded Zuko and Sokka and lifted their spears and bows at the ready. “We thought for sure that you would’ve high-tailed it out of the Fire Nation after what you did… but maybe you’re just eager for a matching scar on your other side.” As he finished speaking, the man’s hand cradled a flame and he stalked toward Zuko.
Zuko stiffened, instinctively turning the scarred side of his face away from the soldier. As the man laughed, Zuko turned and shot a blast of fire at the men approaching Sokka. “Get out of here, Sokka!” Zuko yelled as he began dueling the lead soldier.
Sokka hesitated. He wasn’t going to leave Zuko, of course, but all he had to defend himself with was a spear and a hunting knife. The Water Tribe warrior turned to see a trio of Fire Nation soldiers approaching him, swords at the ready. The nearest soldier lifted his sword to hit Sokka but the teenager ducked down and rolled behind him.
He turned and swept the legs out from one of the soldiers, snagging his net around the soldier’s leg and using it to tangle up one of the other men as well. As the two of them struggled, Sokka whipped around to face the third soldier but let out a squeak of surprise as his throat was grabbed from behind, a muscular arm wrapping around his neck.
“Where’s the Avatar?” the soldier hissed.
Sokka froze, his body growing limp as he stopped struggling. He’d really hoped that these soldiers wouldn’t make the connection between him and Zuko and Aang. “Um… who?” Sokka asked dumbly, unsure of what to say. His arm was inching toward the knife that he’d strapped in his belt, and he snatched it just as dark spots began to appear in his vision.
The teenager twisted and sliced the soldier’s hand, catching the older man by surprise and giving Sokka the time and room to wiggle away from the arm around his throat. He gasped for air before rolling out of the way as the soldier swung a large, gleaming sword toward him.
“Hey!” Sokka yelped as he dove out of the way, the sword barely nicking his arm. “Not nice!”
The man continued to swing at Sokka as the teenager dodged his attacks frantically, blocking a few with his spear. This stopped, however, when a particularly enraged attack from the soldier resulted in his spear snapping in half.
“That was my favorite spear!” Sokka fumed as he hefted a tree branch and swung at the soldier, knocking the armored man off of his feet.
Meanwhile, Zuko was fending off nine soldiers, three of which were fairly skilled firebenders. He dodged several attacks before one of the men managed to slice a large gash across his side. Zuko let out a soft hiss of pain before retaliating with a blast of fire and a ferocious punch to one of the firebenders.
The first firebender collapsed, out cold. They continued to fight, exchanging blows. Zuko was holding his own fairly well; he’d knocked out two more soldiers with the butt of his sword, leaving him facing six soldiers, only one of them a firebender.
Unfortunately for Zuko, he was surrounded, exhausted, and dripping blood from a deep wound in his abdomen. As the teenager turned to deflect a blast of fire from the firebender, one of the other soldiers smashed Zuko’s kneecap with the hilt of his sword, causing Zuko’s leg to buckle and leaving the teenager on one knee.
Zuko growled and managed to produce a wave of fire so strong that it sent the firebender flying off of his feet and colliding into a tree behind him, out cold. As Zuko turned, a brutal kick to his ribs left the banished prince groaning on the ground. He hissed as another soldier kicked him, this time right on the bloody gash from earlier.
“Not so tough now, are you?” one of the soldiers jeered. She laughed as she grabbed Zuko’s throat and lifted him up, her iron grip unforgiving as he struggled to breathe.
“Wanted dead or alive,” another soldier spat as Zuko struggled weakly. “Firelord Ozai probably wants ‘im alive, though, so he can have a go at ‘im in front of everyone.”
Zuko narrowed his eyes at the mention of his father, but stayed silent.
The soldier holding Zuko scoffed. “Kill his friend, and chain him up,” she ordered.
Zuko’s eyes widened as two of the soldiers went and helped to grab Sokka, who’d actually held his own quite well against the trio of Fire Nation soldiers. Sokka struggled and the soldier retailed by smashing the butt of his sword against his head.
“No!” Zuko shouted as Sokka sagged in the arms of his captors, clearly having been knocked out. The banished prince gasped as black spots danced in his vision and one of the soldiers punched him in the face. He struggled again, nearly escaping from his captor’s grasp.
“ Stop moving !” the female soldier yelled before throwing Zuko down to the ground and levelling the point of her sword at his throat. Zuko gasped for a moment as the new finger-shaped bruises on his throat throbbed.
“You will come with us quietly or I will kill your friend right now,” she threatened.
“Please don’t-” Zuko gasped, only to flinch as the soldier holding Sokka snapped his right wrist. The sickening crack echoed through the clearing. “I’ll come! Just let him go!” the firebender yelled.
He held still and let three of the soldiers grab his arms, but froze when the female soldier spoke again.
“Kill the water-peasant and dump his body… anywhere, really. I don’t care.”
Zuko growled and, with more energy and ferocity than he knew he possessed, shot a blistering blast of fire into the faces of his captors. They dropped him with a yelp, clutching their heads as Zuko collapsed onto the ground. He forced himself to his feet, his injured left knee trembling as struggled to bear his weight.
The two remaining soldiers looked terrified as Zuko limped toward them.
“Let go of him,” Zuko said, fury radiating from every syllable. He worked to hide his concern as he took in Sokka’s pale face, the trail of blood trickling from a blooming bruise on his forehead, and the odd angle of his friend’s wrist.
“G-get any closer and we’ll- we’ll kill him!” the female soldier said, her voice now frantic.
Zuko glared at them and, without any further thought, sent two deadly accurate tendrils of flame at the Fire Nation soldiers. He dove forward to catch Sokka as both soldiers went limp.
Gritting his teeth, Zuko pushed himself upward as he carefully supported Sokka’s head. After checking the other teenager’s pulse, he limped toward Appa, only relaxing once Sokka was safely on the bison.
Zuko inspected the gash in his side before hastily bandaging it with scraps from the back of his shirt. He’d have to take care of this one himself, there was no way Katara was going to-
The scarred teenager froze. Katara was going to kill him. He’d let Sokka get seriously hurt- almost killed - and it was all because of his problems. He sighed and shook his head furiously before crawling over to Sokka. The Water Tribe boy wasn’t looking too good; his face was paler than Zuko had ever seen and his wrist looked awful.
“Damn it,” Zuko muttered as he tried and failed to wake Sokka up. Appa bellowed as the pair touched down beside Katara, Aang, and Toph.
“Took you guys long enough-” Katara began, before she took in the sight of Zuko dragging Sokka off of Appa’s back. “ Sokka? What happened?” She whirled to face Zuko, her tone dangerously calm. “What the hell happened?”
“Fire Nation soldiers attacked,” Zuko rasped as he gently laid Sokka down. He looked down, ashamed. “I- they attacked because of me.” He couldn’t meet Katara’s eyes as he swayed slightly, fighting to stay on his feet.
Katara’s eyes narrowed in anger as she glared at Zuko. “Get out of my sight,” she spat before turning to inspect Sokka’s injuries. “Aang! Toph! Get over here now! I need your help to set his wrist.”
Toph frowned as she felt Zuko stumble away. His gait was uneven as if he was limping, and both his breathing and his heart rate were off. “You good, Sparky?” she hollered.
“He’s fine,” Katara cut in scathingly. “Sokka’s the one who’s injured, Toph, and I need your help now.”
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Toph muttered as she made her way toward Aang and Katara. She couldn’t shake the feeling, though, that something was off with Zuko.
“He’ll be okay, right, Katara?” Aang asked anxiously.
“Tui and La, he better be,” Katara replied as she started healing her brother. After they set his wrist and she’d healed the cut on his head (which was fortunately fairly superficial), Katara sat down with a sigh. “He’s probably going to have a fantastic headache when he wakes up, and his wrist will need a few more days and healing sessions to be good again, but he’s going to be fine,” Katara announced gratefully. Toph and Aang let out sighs of relief.
Meanwhile, Zuko had collapsed to the ground of his tent. After a moment of rest, the teenager forced himself to sit up and inspect his wounds. His voice was raspier than usual because of the abuse to his throat, but that (and the accompanying bruises) would be better in a few days. His knee wasn’t too bad and would just need some rest, but at least two of his ribs were definitely broken. Zuko gritted his teeth as he unwound the cloth he’d tied around his abdomen and dabbed the bloody gash in his side with a hot rag in an attempt to clean it. The cut was deep and the bruising around it made it even more sensitive to his touch. The teenager sighed as he wrapped it with clean bandages, barely managing to withhold a yelp as he pulled them tight.
Zuko slowly pulled on a clean shirt (which was, luckily enough, dark red and would hide any bloodstains perfectly). He knew he’d have to take a quick rest before he continued working tomorrow; he now had even more to prove to Katara and he was planning on going hunting again first thing in the morning. Exhausted and in pain, the teenager closed his eyes and hoped for a calm night of sleep.
“Everything will be better in the morning,” Zuko muttered to himself.
Of course, he couldn’t sense the infection creeping through his body yet. Little did he know, the morning was going to be much, much worse.