Carved In Rock || ATLA

My Immortal

Bitter Work

"You used to captivate me by your resonating light now I'm bound by the life you left behind. Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams, your voice it chased away all the sanity in me. These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real, there's just too much that time cannot erase. When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears. When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears. And I held your hand through all of these years, and you still have all of me. I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone but though you're still with me, I've been alone all along." - Evanescence

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The sound of everyone else sleeping while Sokka was losing his mind might just be the reason he finally snapped if Aelita didn't make it back to camp soon. He leaned back further against Appa and sighed as he looked up at the stars in the sky, his head falling over to stare at the ruined village in the distance. No one had argued with him when he refused to go any farther than this to set up for the night, he didn't want to give Zuko any more room to try and slip away with her. What the warrior didn't understand was how anyone else had been able to relax enough to sleep, exhaustion be damned. In the boy's lap, Mushu continued to toss and turn.

"I know buddy, me too," Sokka whispered as he scratched the ferret behind its ears. "I'll tell you what, if she's not back soon then we'll go and get her ourselves."

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"You can go now," Zuko said from his corner in one of the few buildings that had been left fairly untouched. His eyes were closed still as he sat against the wall, his head laid back lazily. "You've done enough."

Aelita continued to watch the steady rise and fall of Iroh's chest as the man slept. Her eyes drifted down to the bandages she had wrapped around his charred skin and the phantom smell of burning flesh danced around her nose. It had been a long night. Azula was strong and deadly, the burns easily one of the worst degrees. Aelita's fingers drifted to the amulet hanging from her neck still full of waters from the Spirit Oasis. She had been able to stabilize Iroh without it but she would've used them in an instant had he needed it.

"I'm still worried." She said quietly. "Burns this bad are prone to infection and leave the body open to sepsis. His bandages will need to be changed regularly until he's completely healed and his wound will need to be cleaned again."

"I can handle it." Zuko finally opened his eyes and immediately regretted it when he saw the sadness carved into her face. He tried his best to ignore it, reminding himself that that wasn't his problem anymore. "I've been doing just fine without you around."

"That's good." Aelita tried to ignore his hostility and the way it made her feel. "But the truth is you're not a healer and I am. Remember, this isn't about us."

"You're right." His eyes met hers. "It hasn't been about us in a long time."

Zuko was the first one to look away. Aelita glanced out the window of the home where she could see the glow of her team's campfire in the distance. There she was wanted. Here she was needed.

"What happened to you before the North Pole?" She asked to fill the silence. "Your face was covered with old bruises and busted cuts when you found us."

The Prince debated on ignoring her but decided he saw no point. "Zhao happened. He really sank low enough to put a hit out on me, said it was because he knew I was..." He caught himself when he realized how easily he had fallen back into their normal. Into their routine. Into telling her everything. Into them.

"The Blue Spirit?" She asked to his surprise. "I already know." She shrugged. It was easier to let him assume Aang had told her than it was to explain she had been there in a way.