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Maya slowly paced back and forth around the main room of their little house in the swamp, gently bouncing a screaming baby Lar in her arms. A worried look sat upon her face as she stared down at her youngest child. His face was bright red and soaked in tears, and snot.
Something had been wrong all day; she could tell. He had been hesitant to eat. He was usually happy being strapped to Ray's back while he and Maya worked, but today he had been squirming and crying, clearly uncomfortable. That was the biggest sign to Maya that something was wrong. After a particularly loud wail, Mya had put down her tools and the chestplate she was working on to go and lift him out of the makeshift baby carrier on Ray's back to see what was wrong. Hopefully he just needed to be changed. Or maybe he'd scratched himself and was freaking out. Babies did that sometimes. As soon as she felt his skin, though, she was shocked.
The poor boy was burning, much hotter than he should be. He clearly had a fever, which must have been why he was squirming. Ray was the one who usually wore the baby carrier because, being the Master of Fire, he was always quite warm, and Lar loved that. But with a fever, the heat must've been unbearable.
Ray had turned around as soon as he felt Lar's weight leave him, eyebrows furrowed and orange eyes full of worry.
"Is he okay? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Poor thing has a fever," Maya said softly, hugging her baby close and trying to comfort him. "I... I don't know what to do, Ray... what can we even do here...?" she asked quietly, looking up at her husband.
"I... I don't know..." he had replied, feeling helpless as he looked at his poor son. Guilt weighed on him as he realised he'd only made Lar feel worse.
That was when Maya had started pacing, trying to come up with a plan. She couldn't just let her baby boy suffer.
Kai and Nya had gotten sick sometimes as babies, of course. Maya, Ray and Wu had all panicked when baby Kai had his first fever. There was still some fear when Nya had hers, but by then they had learnt what to do, and they could always bring her to a doctor if they were really worried. They still worried, as parents do, but they knew the children would be okay.
But now, here in this damned swamp, in Krux's captivity, they had no medicine for him. There were no doctors, or no way to call anyone for help. Perhaps worst of all, Wu wasn't even here to help keep them calm, or to swoop in and save the day with some old folk remedy. Now, they were more anxious than when little Kai had that first fever.
"He should've taken him to Wu," Maya muttered bitterly, remembering how Krux had basically laughed in her face when she asked for her son to be brought to the rest of his family, who could look after him properly. She stopped pacing, and walked into the little side room that served as their bedroom. "Do you mind...?" she asked, looking back over at Ray, who shook his head.
"If he's got a fever, you're the better one for this. I'll only make him feel worse... I'll keep working, and I'll finish your chestplate too."
"Thank you, dear," Maya breathed, sitting down gently on the little bed the three of them had to share. Ray gave Lar a sad look.
Having to look after or even comfort your baby in turns was far from ideal. But if they both spent time looking after him, comforting him, bathing him, or even playing with him... they wouldn't have as much armour made for Krux. And if they didn't meet his stupid weekly quotas...
Maya's heart ached as she held Lar close, remembering the last time that had happened. She laid down, baby on her chest.
While she had been pregnant, Krux had punished them for not producing 'enough' armour by taking Ray to the holding cell. Which meant Maya had to work by herself and try and make up for it. But now that Lar was a few months old... Ray wasn't the one taken anymore. It had been a horrible night, being forced to work away while hearing your baby's cries echo throughout the desolate swamp. It broke their hearts hearing that, being unable to go and take care of him or soothe him.
It was torture.
Krux must've known it was torture.
Ray and Maya would do anything to keep that from happening again. Lar deserved better than that.
So, Ray worked away while Maya laid down with Lar stomach-down on her chest, his head turned to the side. He wasn't screaming anymore, just whimpering occasionally, and his face was less red than it had been.
Maya wracked her brain, trying to think of fever remedies that were even remotely possible here, in case things worse. Light clothes would help - but he was already wearing light clothes. His only clothes were old shirts of Ray's and Maya's, adjusted so they wouldn't slide off his shoulders. She could try feeding him again, or she could give him a cool bath... Doing that would tire her a little, though. Her powers were growing weaker, a sign that they would be moving on soon. Ray's were doing the same, and he wasn't as warm as he used to be. Using their powers now took much more out of them than it used to.
They had both been fine, before, with the idea of losing their powers. That was the biggest reason they had waited so long to have children, after all. They wanted to be sure they were ready to pass on their powers. But once Krux had separated them from their family and brought them to the swamp, they became essential once more. Essential for blacksmithing, and for looking after the baby that would arrive soon.
Maya, laid on the small, uncomfortable bed, looked down at her baby boy and started gently stroking his soft, blonde hair. That usually seemed to soothe him. She was grateful it seemed to be working now too, as his whimpering died down.
Lar, who had almost learnt how to crawl well, shakily pushed himself up on his arms to look up at his mother's face. The poor thing looked absolutely miserable, Maya thought. He awkwardly crawled up to rest his head in the crook of her neck. His mother couldn't help but chuckle fondly. He was a very cuddly baby; it reminded her so much of Kai.
"It's okay, baby..." she said quietly, going back to stroking his hair. "You'll be okay... Papa and I will make sure of it..." She gave the top of his head a soft kiss, and he made a humming noise she knew to be one of contentment.
Lar's eyes and ears were like Wu's, and his hair was almost as fluffy. He was sensitive to the cold, too. Whenever he made that sound, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd end up purring like Wu as well. That would be cute, she thought.
"Everything's gonna be okay..."
Ray looked through the doorway at the two, smiling softly. He didn't need to worry so much... Maya would know what to do, she always knew, or figured something out... She'd be able to help Lar...
He'd just have to keep working, and work even harder than before, so Lar could stay with his parents and not be all alone while he was sick. He could hope Krux wouldn't be that cruel, but... he couldn't rely on that.
Ray tore his eyes away from the half of his family he still had, trying to return his focus to the anvil and the nearly-finished helmet in front of him. He pulled out a newly-finished stamp from his pocket, looking at it for a moment. It would stamp his signature mark into the still-soft metal. He then pressed it to the inside of the helmet.
Please let this work...