The Blind Fire Bender (An Avatar the Last Air Bender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 2

When Zuko woke up the first time, he was surrounded by darkness. He was sweating profusely as his whole body seemed to be enveloped in fire. He could hear voices calling to him, but they were too far away for him to understand what they were saying. He slowly drifted back off to sleep...

Iroh sighed as he slumped into his chair. Zuko had woken up in the middle of the night with a severe fever. He and the doctor had been working all night to keep him as cool as possible. Finally, he went back to sleep and his temperature started going down.

~line break~

The second time Zuko woke up, was just as confusing as the last. He still felt warm, but not as hot as last time. He thought he was awake, but he realized he must have still been dreaming. For when he opened his eyes, the world remained black. He felt something squeeze his arm, but he couldn't see what it was. Eventually, his eyes became heavy and he drifted back off to sleep.

Iroh was so happy to see Zuko awake, even if only for a few short moments. It had been a week since they boarded this forsaken vessel, and the only thing that was keeping him sane, was the thought of Zuko getting better. No matter how long it took...

~line break~

The third time Zuko woke up, he knew something was wrong. Once again, he opened his eyes, but he saw nothing but darkness. He gently felt around his face and found some kind of cloth covering his eye. So that was the problem! No wonder he couldn't see! Zuko slowly started to peal the material off his face.

"Prince Zuko don't do that!" A hand suddenly grabbed his arm.

Zuko jumped in shock. He had thought he was alone. "Uncle?" he said with uncertainty.

"You mustn't touch the bandage." He said gently. "It is helping you heal. Making sure you do not get an infection."

"I..." he had so many questions running through his head. "What happened?"

Iroh sighed, he knew this would come eventually. "You... your father... he did something horrible to you... something no father should ever do to a son... Do you remember?"

"I..." Suddenly, it all came flooding back. "The Agni Kai..."

Iroh nodded, "He... he said that you could not return until you have captured the Avatar..."

Tears slipped from Zuko's eyes. How was he supposed to do that?! The Avatar hadn't been seen in a hundred years!

Iroh quickly leaned forward and embraced him. "Zuko... I promise you... that to my dying breath... I will never let anyone hurt you again..."

Zuko continued sobbing as he went back to sleep.

~line break~

This time, Zuko was going to get some answers. He woke up, still unable to see anything. He didn't care what uncle said, but this bandage had to come off!

He reached up, and quickly ripped the bandage from his face. Pain flooded his nerves and he let out a scream.

"Zuko!" his uncle took his hands to keep him from clawing at the injury. "Shh... shh... it's okay..." he stepped away for a second before coming back and sitting on the bed. "Hold still..." he gently held his face and started smearing something over the injury. "This is a special ointment that will help with the pain." He continued spreading the gunk that smelled mysteriously like tea leaves.

"Ow!" Zuko flinched as he ran over a particularly rough patch.

"Sorry. Almost done..." he spread the last bit over his ear. "There. Does that feel a little better?" he gave him a small nod. "Good. Now, why did you take the bandage off? I told you, it's there to help you."

"I couldn't see with it on..." he mumbled. Now that the pain had subsided, he realized nothing had changed. He brought a hand up to his unblemished eye. "I... I can't see..."

Iroh was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I... I can't see..." he said quietly.

"You mean you can't see out of this eye?" he gently tapped the injured eye. "Or you can't see at all?"

"I can't see anything!" he sobbed. "Why can't I see?!"

"Shh... It's going to be ok." Iroh assured. "Let me go get the doctor."

~line break~

"This is strange..." the doctor examined Zuko's uninjured eye. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with this eye. It's just... stopped working..."

"What do you mean?" Iroh was sitting next to Zuko with an arm around his shoulder. He could feel the boy shaking as they received the news.

"One eye, is injured beyond repair." The doctor stated. "I expected that he wouldn't be able to see out of that eye. However, his other eye seems to have shut done from the sudden shock of loosing half his vision. There's nothing medically I can do to fix it."

"So... so I'm going to be blind? Forever?" Zuko said weakly.

The doctor hung his head. "I'm afraid so... I'm very sorry..."

Zuko just sat there in shock as he left the room. "How... how am I supposed to find the Avatar now..."

"Oh Zuko..." Iroh wrapped him in a hug. His own tears falling from his eyes. "Don't worry about that right now... you need to worry about yourself."

"I am..." he said solemnly. "I just want to go home..."

(A/N - Hey guys thanks for reading! :) Flamio Hotman!)