Chapter 7
Katara couldn’t say she sprinted, more like she hobbled and wobbled towards the prison section. Most of her internal injuries were healed thanks to the Earth kingdom’s advanced medicine. Her bruises on the other hand looked angrier. She got safely to the first level of the prison section. She sighed in relief when she saw the person sitting in a small booth. He jumped to his feet. “Miss Katara, how are you? How is the prisoner?”
She blinked at him. He was asking her? “What do you mean? Haven’t you been going to check up on him since I wasn’t coming?”
“Miss? When was the last time you were here?” he said, his voice was raspier than usual. He had been here the first time she came. There was another guy who didn’t want to let her in. He had fought for her and promised to look after the prince if she couldn’t take him. Why promise something when you can’t keep it? Katara forced her muscles to relax and not strangle the guy. The older man's face paled, sweat gathering on his balding head.
He couldn’t see her face and yet she still didn’t have to say it. She didn’t have to. It was written all over her--the last time they saw each other was the last time she was here. She didn’t dare take the hoodie down. The guard tried to get a look at her face but she avoided him successfully as she walked closer to the door. “Has anyone been down there to check on him?”
“I can’t say. I wasn’t here, I had a different post assigned. I’m sure someone would check on him. I’ll check the logs.”
“No need.” as she spoke a wall opened. She stepped into the box and heard another voice as the door closed.
“Who was that?”
“The waterbender that travels with the avatar.”
“Really? Why didn’t you call me?! I’m a huge fan. Where is she going? Is she going to see the prince? Do you think she will torture him?”
“Quit talking nonsense and tell me if anyone has checked up on him?”
The last thing she heard was the younger guy’s voice becoming nasal. “It’s such a long way.”
Katara’s hand balanced on the wall as the cubicle she had stepped in moved downwards. It’s such a long way, the words rang in her ears. After a few minutes the elevator halted to a stop. The wall whooshed open and closed behind her as she stepped out. She was plunged into darkness. The elevator left a few seconds later.
She adjusted to the darkness in a few seconds. No sound disturbed the silence. She left the door shut behind her and took the stairs--in this tower stairs seemed endless. Her movements were slow, she took a break to calm her breathing before she stepped into the small hallway leading to his cooler.
Originally, she thought she could do without candlelight. Now that she was in the total darkness not for the first time her heart broke. She was disoriented after a short time. He was here for a week now. Katara fished out a candle from her bag and lit. She moved the candle away from her, hiding her face.
He wanted to be silent? Whatever.
She was just doing something the guards should be doing. If they did, she wouldn’t even be here. She repeated to herself as she walked closer to the metal bars. They were frozen, like the walls inside the cell. She could just make out something in the middle on the opposite side. Realizing her face was too close to the candlelight, she looked down. She leaned her bag against the metal bars. As she was about to draw a smaller bag out of it, a hand shot between the bars and circled her wrist. Startled, she screamed. The hand held her in place, preventing her from falling backwards.
“Who did this, Katara?”
She looked up and the hoodie slipped down her hair. Another scream bubbled up in her throat but the sound didn’t make it out. The person crouching on the other side was a far cry from Prince Zuko. And the prince she saw last time was already a far cry from the prince she met for the first time. The last time she saw him the bald sections were covered in hair. Now it was sticking out in every direction. He was wearing different clothes, a prison uniform. Probably to keep him from completely getting frozen. She wasn’t sure what good it would do if it was burned in a few places. A black smudge was on his chin and forehead. What in the crazy Spirits happened to him?
At first, she thought it was the shock that made her face numb. Because what else could it be? She spoke, no, more like mumbled. Her words were utterly inaudible. Then her lips lost movement and sense before her tongue became limp in her mouth as well. All the sounds she made were muffled and inaudible. She wanted to grab her throat only to realize her hand didn’t move either. She no longer felt their contact point. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her body swayed. It wasn’t like she had no control over her body. She was sure her legs would obey commands but her mind was too fogged to give any.
“Katara!” she heard a desperate scream as a loud noise pierced through the sleepiness but not enough to keep her awake. She fell face forward. Her nose never made contact with the floor. Or maybe it did and she was too numb to feel it. She had no choice but to let the darkness pull her way.
Katara was groggy. Her eyes fluttered open. Why was she in an icy cave? Was this a dream? Her pains were real, it couldn’t be a dream. Her back was stiff as usually happened after they spent too long sleeping on the hard ground. At least she had a soft pillow. Then the events came crashing down on her. She rolled her head to the side, and squinted as the candlelight overloaded her vision. After fireflies stopped dancing in her eyes, her gaze traveled further to the side.
The prince sat with his knees to his chest, watching her. The black smudge was gone from his face. His golden eyes were bright as he searched her face. Katara tried to sit up, but her hands were still unreliable giving under her weight. Two large hands circled her waist, lifting her into a sitting position. Her mouth was slightly hanging open at their proximity. Katara’s nose almost touched the skin at Zuko’s throat! Her brain hadn’t recovered and it was thrown into a new roller coaster. As if he realized he shouldn’t have done that his hands let go and he stepped back.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” Prince Zuko said, avoiding eye contact as he leaned down and picked up the blanket that slipped from her body. His voice was low and rumbly. She shivered, not sure if just from the cold. Why was it that the first thing you forgot about a person was their voice? She shivered, not sure if just from the cold.
Katara simply nodded. She was certain if her mind was clearer her frustration with him would come out in all sorts of wrong ways, sarcasm being the least of his problems. In her current state she was slower and calmer for some reason. She felt like an alien in her own body. For so long she was curious to see the hidden depth of the cooler and now she was on this side. She didn’t want to miss the opportunity to take it all in.
Wait...how was she on this side. Her eyes darted towards the door. Her mouth opened in a soft ‘oh’. A large black splotch was on the ground in front of the door or where a door once had been. The door barred with metal pipes at intervals was now leaning on the other side of the room. The candle she brought was still there. It was halfway down. Yeah, half an hour tops.
She realized the room wasn’t as cold as it had been once. Why wasn’t the ice layer thicker? It looked as if it was melting. Her eyes moved around the rest of the place. There was a sink with a mirror on her left and a toilet on her right. There was no shower. The bed she sat on was more like a bench. It was against the wall and next to it a small table. Nothing more in the entire place. Well, she couldn’t see very well on her right. Light didn’t reach the wall on that side. And definitely no lights. What was with the no lights thing? Were they really the good guys if they could be this cruel? Did it really matter who it was?
Her eyes fell back on the burned spot on the ground.
“What happened there?” she heard her voice ask.
He sat back down on the ground, bringing his knees up. Prince Zuko followed her gaze. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Katara’s heart thumped in her chest. Then she heard it. She saw his lips move more than heard him, really.
“You didn’t come back.”
“I’m sorry.” She couldn’t believe she actually whispered the words. She imagined what it must be like for him with each passing day not to know why she wasn’t coming. She hoped the guards would tell him. Hearing no one came to check up on him made her blood sizzle in anger. She was the only interaction, source of food and water, not to mention light, he had. Putting herself in his position made her insides clutch with despair. How could she not say those words?
He nodded. His eyes found her and she sucked in a breath...spirits, his eyes were liquid. “Thank you.”
She took as long as she needed to be sure her voice wouldn’t come out squeaky, which was a really long time because he refused to break their eye contact. She couldn't stand his stare and couldn’t get enough of it at the same time. When he looked at her, electricity charged her skin making her hair stand on its ends. She was instantly addicted to the feeling. Her fascination with her body’s reaction to him was merely scientific, she tried to convince herself.
“It’s not for free. In exchange you leave Aang alone.”
Prince Zuko didn’t hesitate nodding his head. “Of course. Katara--” he started.
She interrupted him, looking back to the black spot. “You still haven’t told me what happened there.”
He scowled at the spot like the sheer power of his annoyance could obliterate it into nothingness. When it didn’t work, he spoke, “The last time I saw you I still couldn’t move more than a few steps without collapsing. I don’t know if it took me a day or two but my strength returned. I knew I’d need to break out of here one way or another. And I needed to wash up. There is warm water but no way to dry clothes. I thought I’d dry my clothes and blast the door at the same time.” He poked one of the holes at his stomach. “Not as smooth as I expected.”
Her jaw hit the floor. “You can firebend? here?"
He looked up at her under the lashes. Prince Zuko’s lip curled into a smirk. “When you bring candles to a cooler it loses its function, Katara.”
A small laughter burst from her lips. She closed her eyes as if she could hide from the pink tinting her face. “Well, I’m glad.”
She couldn’t believe after hearing him speak she would be so calm. She thought she would bombard him with questions. She still wanted to know why he hadn’t answered her before. He must have questions too. He wasn’t talking or asking. She opened one of her eyes to see what he was doing. He stared at her as if content by just doing that. She wasn’t. She was squirming under his warm gaze.
Her eyes dropped down to his chest. Through another burned hole she could see the bandages. “How is the wound?”
“Mostly healed. Thank you.”
“Can I look at it?”
He looked at her in confusion for a second, then visibly gulped. He looked so panicked her eyes narrowed in suspicion. He looked up at the ceiling before grabbing the hem of his long sleeve t-shirt. Katara’s jaw hit the floor. Spirits! Maybe a little warning before he took his shirt off?! In the haste to unglue her eyes from his naked upper body and get as far away as possible she fumbled off the bed. Her legs got tangled in the blankets and she fell on the very chest she was avoiding. Her cheek rested on the warm surface, a heartbeat like a thunder in her ear.
Spirits!
Why was this happening to her? Her entire body was warm and tingly and not from whatever had numbed her face. Cold replaced the warmth when he stepped away from her. His hands let go of her waist and held her arms until she was steady on her feet. She stood frozen in her spot. From the corner of her eye she watched him. The prince walked to the bed and sat.
She looked at the sink. In theory there was nothing wrong with her legs. They hadn’t lost their function. And by now all the affected body parts were already functioning normally. Was this like a second wave of attack? Why did she lose feeling in her knees? Her mind flashed images of large hands on her body, naked chest… spirits!
“Katara,” he said softly. She suppressed a shiver at the prayer-like quality her name took when he said it. “Are you alright?”
She took a deep breath and berated herself for being an idiot. This was insane and it needed to stop. No more scientific fascinations. Pure healer-patient relationship.
Yeah, right.
She nodded and walked to the sink to wash her hands like nothing happened. She brought a small kit which was still in her bag. He had brought it inside and now lay at the foot of the bed. She sat back on the bed and put the red box on her knees. She needed to distract herself. Hadn’t she been sure it’d be better if he remained unconscious? Less worries? She still had no idea how much better it’d have been. She definitely didn’t remember cleaning and dressing his wound setting off a chain of minor heart attacks in her chest.
“So? Why haven’t you escaped?” Her voice was in contrast to her trembling hands. Carefully she removed the gauze, avoiding all unnecessary skin contacts. Afraid her brain would short circuit from the electricity.
“I haven’t solved the dead end problem.”
Of course! She nodded. “I’ll show you how to bring the elevator down when I leave.”
When he said nothing for a long time she looked up. His eyes were wide in surprise and he seemed lost for words. After clearing his throat he whispered, “You will?”
“Yes. You can walk me up the steps if you can and I’ll show you.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to,” she spoke softly, unsure she wanted to speak at all. “I had no idea this would happen. I had no idea this existed. I should have done something on the first day. I guess I was mad you weren’t responding. Not that I’m making excuses. This isn’t okay. We can’t be this horrible, no matter who you are. I’ll talk to the general or the king or start a freaking revolution to change the prisoner treatment on this side of the war if that's what it tak--”
“I guess I shouldn’t mention the dead body in the corner.”
Her head snapped up, mouth hanging open. Her voice squeaked when she spoke, “What?” He ducked his head, the edges of his lips fighting the urge to smile. Without realizing her actions, she hit him lightly. “Not. Funny.”
He caught her gaze, the boyish smile melted into seriousness. “I believe you. I’m the proof you can do the impossible. But it’s not necessary to worry, Katara, I’m fine.”
Katara’s first thought was to stab him with the scissors she held. How dare he think she worries about him?! She released the breath she was holding. As much as she wanted to cling to denial it was pointless. Her actions couldn’t contradict her words like she was a child. She cared. She refused to dwell on whys and hows of it but for whatever reason she cared and worried.
Even now, her fingers moved with gentleness she had no idea she was capable of as she secured the gauze in its place. The wound had bled a few times but luckily the open places weren’t infected by the grimy gauze no one bothered to change. She’d closed it with glue before covering his shoulder.
When she’d demanded the key to his cell, they told her a soldier must be present if she wanted to enter the cooler. She wasn’t sure how she’d gone through that conversation without freezing all of them. At the end she had to lose that one to win the right not to have her beg checked. She already had a hunch candles were a big no no, and Zuko confirmed it with his remark. She couldn’t help her smile at remembering his words.
“Besides,” he said breaking the silence. She had gotten lost in her thoughts and forgotten to reply. “The avatar must think I deserve worse.”
She shoved the supplies back to the box, shutting the cover with more force than necessary. She glared at him, getting to her feet. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to guilt him over anything. He shouldn’t be expected to care. He hasn’t forgotten you exist, he thinks you’re in prison and as fine as you can be. If he knew this he’d care more than he should. He has too much on his plate as it is. And his name is Aang, not ‘the avatar’, Prince Zuko.” In anger she and Sokka were similar, both became two-year-old again. There was no way she could stop herself from mimicking his voice. By the time she was done, his scowl had deepened. She grabbed her bag and strode towards the door.
A hand circled her wrist halting her movements. She looked over her shoulder. The remnants of the scowl were fading into something more hesitant. “It was a bad joke. I shouldn’t have said it. I don’t expect anything from anyone. Please call me Zuko.”
Her eyes were stuck on his hand holding her wrist. He didn’t let go. She didn’t pull. She knew he was talking to her but she couldn’t wrap her head around any of it. How could she feel like she’d known him for all their lives? She was rarely this comfortable with anyone. He seemed as comfortable with her, and somehow she doubted it was normal for him either.
Prince Zuko tugged her wrist, his hand tightening just the slightest. Her eyes traveled upwards to meet his liquid golds. Her breath clung to her throat. He looked desperate. “Katara, you can’t leave without telling me why you have bruises. Please. You can’t.”
Usually when someone said ‘you can’t’ it made her want to prove ‘oh, yeah, I can’. This time she felt like she was holding a precious glass sculpture and someone told her ‘don’t drop it’. She found she had nothing to prove.