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The first thing Hakoda said to Zuko as they escaped the prison was: “my children say you’re on our side now, and I would like to trust their judgement. But if you attempt to betray us, I will kill you.”
“Yes, sir,” Zuko said, and then made sure to give Hakoda a wide berth from then on.
>--<
Everyone liked Chit Sang. He cracked jokes, and was good at catching birds that they roasted over their fire in the evenings.
But he glared at Zuko when no one else was watching, and made snide jokes about Firelord Ozai and his family when he knew Zuko was within earshot.
Zuko gave him a wide berth, too.
>--<
Hakoda got a little better every day. He gave Zuko appreciative nods when he lit a fire or made tea, and he ordered Zuko to rest and have some food when they had been training hard.
Zuko didn’t like to be ordered, but he had also never been ordered to do something that felt nice.
Yes, Hakoda got a little better. Chit Sang only got worse.
>--<
They tied fishnets to use in the little stream they had discovered half a mile away. Zuko had learned the skill from a sailor on his ship. A subordinate who shouldn’t be allowed to speak with him, but Zuko had been desperately bored and lonely.
“Well done, Zuko” Hakoda said warmly when he inspected the net. Zuko gave a little laugh, startled at the praise.
In the corner, Chit Sang glowered.
>--<
It was early morning. Dark storm clouds had gathered last night so they had moved into the temple to sleep that night.
Zuko was always up early. He had gone outside to see if there was any dry wood for a fire. It had not rained much, and he managed to gather twigs and dry leaves from underneath thick bushes where the rain had not penetrated.
He went back inside with his arms full of kindle.
He moved down the unlit, stone hallway and almost jumped when he saw the large silhouette of Chit Sang appear out of the darkness. “What were you doing?”
“Gathering wood,” Zuko said calmly, and he tried to step around him.
Chit Sang’s hand shot out and it clamped around his upper arm so forcefully that Zuko gasped and dropped the twigs and leaves.
“Prince Zuko,” Chit Sang sneered. “Your family destroyed our proud nation. Destroyed my family.”
Zuko’s heart was in his throat, but he learned a long time ago not to let his fear show. “I have done nothing but serve my people,” he hissed.
Chit Sang growled with fury, and then his other hand clamped around Zuko’s throat and squeezed and squeezed, and Chit Sang hissed something about better off dead and it hurt and Zuko couldn’t breathe…
A flash of fire burst from his fingers and Chit Sang suddenly released him with a hoarse cry. His left sleeve was smoldering and he hastily patted it out with his other hand. He cursed.
And of course… footsteps.
Hakoda and Sokka both came running. “What is happening?”
“The fire brat attacked me,” Chit Sang growled, yanking his sleeve up past this elbow to expose red, blistering skin.
Three pairs of eyes looked up at Zuko, accusation written all over their faces.
Zuko ran.
“Zuko!”
He could hear running footsteps following him. He rounded a corner left, then right. He saw a wooden door, still quite intact and ducked inside, slamming it shut behind him and wedging a stick under the door to block it. He found himself in a small room that was probably once used as storage space.
Behind him, the door rattled.
“Zuko, get out here!” That was Sokka, he sounded furious. “Get out here, coward! If you’re brave enough to burn Chit Sang, then be brave enough to come out and face us.”
Zuko stepped back until his back hit the wall, and then slid down to the floor. His chest was heaving. His throat burned and there was a shooting pain up and down his arm that he only noticed now.
“Sokka.” That was Hakoda. He had caught up.
“He’s in here. I’ll break the door down,” Sokka snapped.
“Nothing drastic,” Hakoda said calmly. “He’ll have to come out soon enough. I’ll be waiting here when he does.”
Zuko started shaking.
>--<
Time went by. Every now and then, Zuko heard murmured conversations outside the room. He couldn’t make out the words, but it was clear they were still standing guard outside.
The pain in his throat was getting worse, swallowing was extremely painful. He painstakingly shrugged out of his outer robe and scrunched it up into a pillow, leaning his head back against it.
He must have dozed off at some point because the next thing he knows, he jolts awake when there is a banging at the door.
“Prince Zuko.” It’s Hakoda. His voice is stern. “It’s been long enough. This is futile. Open the door.”
Zuko knew it was futile. He could hardly stay in here forever. But they were going to kill him when he left this room. Hakoda had warned him he would. The air in the small room was dry, it prickled at his eyes and made his throat burn worse.
He thought about the time he had hidden under his bed as a kid because he had broken something valuable and now his father was looking for him. Ozai had found him eventually, dragged him out from under the bed, his eyes shooting flames......
.......and that was the exact moment that the door slammed open and Hakoda filled the doorway. He held a metal bar in his hand that he had used to force the door open.
Zuko had learned not to show his fear, but he couldn’t help it this time. He recoiled, pressed himself into the corner, imagined that metal bar swinging straight for his ribs and shuddered.
The metal bar clattered to the floor. “Spirits” Hakoda muttered.
Zuko stared up at him, breathing raggedly, sharply following every single movement the man made.
Hakoda… crouched down. Like Zuko was a small child he wanted to comfort. “Zuko” he said. His voice was soft. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Zuko looked back, bewildered. He didn’t understand why Hakoda suddenly wasn’t angry. “Wha…?” his voice cracked. It hurt to speak. He winced. Hakoda winced too.
“You’re hurt.”
Zuko glanced down at the arm he was still cradling to his chest. Over the few hours he had spent in here, deep bruises had blossomed from wrist to elbow. He couldn’t imagine what his throat must look like right now. All the evidence was suddenly visible all over him.
“He hurt you.” Hakoda said. It wasn’t a question.
Zuko didn’t say anything, because he wasn’t sure what Hakoda wanted to hear. He was still shaking and he didn’t know why; it wasn’t as if he hadn’t ever been in danger, hadn’t ever been attacked and hurt.
… But he was tired of it. He was going to be banished all over again; from this group. He didn’t want to be alone.
“Stay here,” Hakoda said. “I’ll deal with Chit Sang.”
He left before he explained himself further. He left the door wide open and Zuko wondered if he should just run. But if Hakoda was going to kill him, wouldn’t he have already done it?
He would be an idiot to chance it, though. He got to his feet and took a hesitant step towards the door…. but then Katara appeared in the doorway with wide eyes. “Dad told me to…” she started, and she looked him up and down. “Zuko, sit down, you’re hurt.”
There had always been something commanding about her presence, even when she was just being nice. And Zuko knew the danger of saying ‘no’ to sisters. So he sat back down.
“I want to try to heal you,” she said. “I’ll have to touch your throat, is that okay?”
Zuko nodded and she immediately shuffled closer. Her hands landed on his throat and a pleasant cool feeling spread through the bruised skin.
“Did he hurt you before?” She asked, worried. “Did we not notice?”
It was difficult to speak so Zuko said nothing. But then Katara’s face darkened, and he could see she was jumping to conclusions. He leaned away from her hands. “No,” he rasped. “He has just been… He didn’t hurt me.”
“He has been what?”
“He didn’t hurt me.”
Katara did not seem satisfied, but she didn’t ask anymore questions and continued healing him.
Hakoda returned. “That looks better,” he said and he sat down on the floor next to them. “I’m sorry, Zuko.”
Zuko frowned. “You didn’t do anything.”
“I assumed. I shouldn’t have been banging on this door and yelling while you were in here, hurt. I made you feel like there was no point in asking for help, I’m sorry. I told Chit Sang he is no longer welcome here. He left and Toph pelted him with rocks pretty viciously as he went.”
Katara chuckled. She looked satisfied.
“I need you to know that I wouldn’t have hurt you, Zuko, even if you had burned Chit Sang for no reason. I was banging on the door to get you to talk to us, nothing more. I know I made threats in the past and I should have… I’ve seen that you are not here to hurt anyone. My children said you’re on our side now, I should have trusted their judgement. You are on our side. And Zuko, I’m on yours.”
Zuko’s throat was burning again, and it wasn’t because of bruises this time.
“Okay,” he whispered.
Hakoda squeezed his shoulder. “Hey, guess what, Aang gathered your twigs and dead leaves and actually got a fire going! He’s been taught well. Come on, kid, let’s go drink some tea.”