The Traitor Princess

Chapter 19 - The Blue Spirit

Sokka's teeth were chattering and his whole body shook with shivers. He pulled his thin blanket tighter around his shoulders.

Aang and Katara were sound asleep atop Appa's saddle. Sokka was trying desperately to follow their lead, but his violent shakes made it hard to drift to sleep. Eziri...well Eziri was a whole different story. She laid in her position on the saddle with racing thoughts. Her mind was still reeling with their near-death experience and she couldn't quite bring herself to sleep. She was afraid of the dreams that might plague her if she did. It seemed that the longer she traveled with her friends, the worse her nightmares got. She didn't know how to quell her anxiety about her father so she just spent many nights lying awake until she was too exhausted to think.

However, Eziri's overthinking kept her awake enough to hear the soft clatter behind her. She sat up and turned around, searching for the noise. She squinted her eyes in the darkness and noticed Sokka's shoulders shaking.

"Pssst. Sokka?" She whispered.

"Hm?"

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Y-yeah." He whispered. His voice was just as shaky as the rest of him.

Eziri looked at him with concern and inched towards him. She positioned herself right behind him and started lifting up his blanket.

"Wh-what are y-you doing?" Sokka protested. Eziri didn't answer him. She just scooted herself underneath the blanket and wrapped her arms around his middle. She immediately started raising her body temperature. "H-how are you so warm?"

Eziri smirked. "Firebender. Remember?" Sokka just huffed and shifted so his back was as close to Eziri's chest as possible. He felt his limbs start to defrost with the added heat from his favorite firebender. If he weren't so desperate for the warmth, he might have been nervous about their proximity.

Eziri carefully heated her left hand and started rubbing it alongside Sokka's arm. "Better?" She asked. Sokka hummed in response.

"T-thank you." Eziri's gentle touch sent a different kind of chills up Sokka's arm.

"Anytime." Eziri smiled softly at the content look on Sokka's face. She could just barely make out his features in the moonlight. It wasn't long before his shivers subsided and he drifted off into a heavy sleep. Eziri stayed up for a while to make sure Sokka was warm. She lightly snoozed in short bursts, staying awake most of the night so she could keep her body temperature up.

--

The group had been flying for about a day when Sokka became too sick to travel. Eziri was worried for him. The more delirious he got, the more she wished she were a healer. Eziri stayed curled up behind him all through the night and close by his side through part of the day. They originally thought he was merely cold from the storm, but one hand to his forehead told them he had a fever. Eziri made it her personal duty to make sure Sokka kept warm. Eventually Katara took over caring for Sokka and told Eziri to keep her distance to avoid getting sick.

Eziri thought she was probably immune to whatever Sokka had. She was on the boat in the ocean too--if she had been around Sokka all that time, she probably would have shown symptoms already. Plus, being a firebender had its perks. With a higher body temperature Eziri rarely fell ill; viruses couldn't survive long under the heat. Regardless, Eziri didn't protest. She knew Katara was likely worried for her brother and she could understand. Katara probably wanted to care for Sokka herself and Eziri didn't want to get in her way.

The group stopped at a disheveled, abandoned structure. The building was overgrown and in ruins but it provided enough shelter for them to make camp. Katara made Sokka get in his sleeping bag and curl up on top of Appa. She pressed a cool cloth to his head.