Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

08

❃ Awkward Side Effects ❃

The night had passed quickly. Keya's fever had finally dropped by the time she opened her eyes the next morning (all thanks to Iroh's tea, of course). She groaned and slowly sat up. The girl looked around and observed her surroundings. She still felt a bit thrown off from her fever.

The cabin was currently empty, save for Keya herself. The morning sun shone brightly through the window, carrying a soft breeze. The smouldering remains of a fire provided a warm glow in the corner. Iroh's worn teapot stood next to it. Keya could still see the steam rising through the kettle's spout. It carried the scent of ginseng root! Keya's mouth watered and she decided that she wanted to pour some for herself. But first, she needed to get properly dressed!

Thankfully, none of her travelling companions had deemed it necessary for her to be in an embarrassing state of undress. However, that didn't mean that she wasn't cold! Her body was still recovering, after all, and she hadn't eaten much in the past few days (or years, for that matter). Her core temperature was still quite low now that her fever had passed, so Keya figured that it would be best to grab some warm clothing as soon as possible!

She slowly got out from under her warm blanket and crawled over to her pack. It was still in the same corner of the room where she had left it the morning she went out foraging. Keya felt around for her cloak. Once her hand felt the scratchy fabric, she grabbed it and pulled it over her head.

"Muuuchhh better..." She sighed in relief and looked around for her socks and shoes. Her socks were at the bottom of her pack, while her shoes were placed neatly beside the old thing. Keya quickly sat down and put them on.

Once she was completely dressed, the young Earth Kingdom girl huffed and stood up shakily. She was still very tired and her limbs still shook slightly, but at least she was up. A loud growl suddenly sounded throughout the shed. Keya's poor stomach kept complaining loudly for a bit, before quieting down again. She glanced around to see if there was any food around. The girl quickly spotted Iroh's kettle, still producing soft tufts of steam as it stood proudly on a small heap of smouldering embers.

"That settles it, then." She smiled. It was time for some tea! The lovely smell permeated throughout the entire room and Keya's mouth watered as she sniffed the air.

The combined scent of ginseng root and the warm natural breeze that carried itself through the unglazed windows made Keya grin even more, despite the absolutely traumatic events that had occurred in the past couple of days, ranging from her companion's wound to her newly discovered heritage. Keya stood still in order to take it all in (and also to catch her breath).

A piece of dust floated through the air, being illuminated by the rays of sunshine that lit up the shed through its open windows. Keya noticed the small thing and observed it as it floated its way downward from the cracked ceiling. Her eyes gradually focussed on the tip of her nose as the dust came down and landed her soft skin. The sight amused the young girl. She let out a huff of air in laughter. Quickly, the dust was catapulted back into the air, before making its way down again.

At that moment, Keya made the disastrous mistake of breathing in. Just as the dust was about to settle on her nose again, its path was diverted. The dust disappeared from her view as it was sucked into her nasal cavity. The dust tickled her nerves as it flew in and Keya scrunched her small nose. She could feel a sneeze brewing. Now, normally, this would not be a big deal. However, this time it felt more intense than usual. That could not mean anything good!

"Ha... Ha..."

Her nose itched so terribly! The more Keya tried holding it back, the stronger the urge to sneeze became. Scratching her nose, looking upwards and holding her breath only made the whole thing worse. Nothing was helping! The sneeze was quickly becoming inevitable.