The Fire Within Us (ATLA Fanfic)

Chapter 19- Anika

When Anika first emerged from the haze of her illness, she felt like she was drowning, clawing her way through murky water from the muck below. After what seemed like an eon, she metaphorically broke the surface and was surrounded by blissfully sweet air. Even though her eyes were closed, the world sharpened into focus. Her mind was clear and open. Sounds of murmuring and rustling reached her ears with amazing clarity. Then the dull numbness of her injuries intensified as well, and she stifled a groan as she pried her heavy eyelids open.

Her vision slid in and out of focus before clearing completely, and Anika took a moment to scan her surroundings. She was in her room at the palace. The curtains of the large windows across the room were pushed aside to allow in the golden light of a beautiful sunset.

She was alone except for a single person... Zuko. He was seated on a chair at her bedside. One leg was propped up on her bed as if sitting there was the most natural thing in the world, something he did day in and day out. He was intently pursuing an old-looking scroll, brow furrowed and a lip thoughtfully held between his teeth. When she cleared her throat, his head snapped up to take her in. "Hi, Zuko."

"Hey, Fire lily," Zuko beamed. His boot-clad foot slipped from her bed and to the ground, and he leaned forward to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Your fever broke yesterday, and the doctors said you'd be waking up sometime soon. How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got trampled by a Komodo rhino," Anika said, only half-joking. She looked down at herself. A far as she could tell, she wasn't wearing any actual clothing aside from her silk pajama pants, but her entire torso was covered with neat white bandages. Her gaze fell to her shoulder and the angry gash running diagonally across her bicep.

"Katara just finished a healing session," Zuko rushed out apologetically when he saw where she was looking. "It's been bandaged up for days, so she thought she'd let the area get a little air."

Anika nodded absentmindedly but didn't take her gaze from the wound. A dark, reddish-black line marked where Kuzen had sliced her open, but there was more. Shiny, red, blistered skin surrounded the main line. The redness made a flame pattern that reminded Anika of the ragged edges of Zuko's scar. How did that happen? Anika reached back in her memory and somehow managed to pull out warped, fragmented memories of Zuko finding her—he'd sealed the wound, hadn't he?

"I'm sorry." Anika looked up at her boyfriend in confusion as Zuko gazed numbly at her arm, a pained expression on his face. "I tried to keep my blade as small as possible, but flames are a hard thing to keep neat and constrained."

Anika brushed aside the apology. "Yeah, how dare you scar me in order to save my life? Might as well break up with you right now." Anika smiled warmly at her own teasing comment, only to be met with a somber expression from her boyfriend.

"That reminds me. Anika, if you don't want to continue our relationship, I'll accept it. The only reason you were targeted was because you're my girlfriend. I can't let you—"

Anika's stomach twisted hard in her gut. "Y-you're breaking up with me?"

Zuko's eyes widened. "No, of course not! I've just been thinking lately that you might not want to be with me after everything that's..."

Anika nodded, cutting off his explanation. "You're right."

Zuko wilted as if that was the last thing he wanted to hear. "I-I am?"

"Yeah, the relationship is just too dangerous. I guess this is it."

Zuko bowed his head and ran a hand through his hair, then lifted his face and stared hard at something outside the window. "Okay, Anika. I understand."

"Zuko?"

"Mm?"

"Can I have one last kiss?"

Zuko's broken expression softened ever so slightly. "I think that could be arranged," he murmured. He stood and stooped over her, his lips tenderly brushing against hers.

Anika reached up with her good arm and found one of Zuko's hands, then pulled it towards her a little too forcefully. Zuko lost his balance and topped onto the bed. He should have crushed her, but his reflexes kicked in just in time, and his hands and knees planted themselves harmlessly on empty sections of the mattress.

Anika smirked up at his surprised face as he gasped, "I could have landed on you!"

Anika shrugged and lifted her arms to settle her hands over his neck. "You reminded me of how much I missed the feel of your lips. I needed more."

"And pulling me on top of you was the only way to get it?"

Anika laughed. "Maybe not, but that was the fastest way that came to mind."

Zuko gazed down at her for two beats, his face a picture of bewilderment. Then a soft, strangled growl escaped from deep in his throat, and the next thing she knew, he had stooped down and brought their faces together. His lips moved against hers with a type of tender passion she'd never experienced before. She'd shared shy kisses, spur-of-the-moment kisses, loving kisses, kisses driven by hungry desire. This was somehow different. It was intense and gentle at the same time, spurred by the energy of someone relishing something they feared they'd never get to experience again.

Zuko's hands lost themselves in her hair, cupped her jaw, trailed down her neck. When he finally began to pull back, Anika bit gently on his lip for just a moment, wanting the experience to linger for a second more.

Anika shook her head as Zuko straightened his arms and gazed down at her. "Dammit, I guess I can't break up with you after all. You're just too good at kissing. I'm also a little in love with you." Anika's pain seemed to melt away as she stared into Zuko's golden eyes and her heart swelled in her chest. "That too."

"You only said you wanted to break up so you could do this, didn't you?"

Anika smirked mischievously. "Maybe."

"Well, it-"

"I brought the fresh bandag-" Anika saw Zuko's eyes widen in horror as Katara's voice drifted in from the hallway, only to cut off abruptly as she entered the room.

Zuko immediately pushed off from where his hands were planted on either side of Anika's face and leaned back onto his heels on the bed. He reached up and sheepishly rubbed his neck. "Err, I can ex–"

"zuKO!" Katara crossed the room and grabbed the Fire Lord's collar, dragging him off of the bed. "She's been awake for two minutes! TWO MINUTES!"

"B-but, I, she--"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Anika rolled her eyes. "Katara, I'm perfectly healthy. See?" She gripped the sides of the bed and began to push herself up into a seated position. Anika let out a pained hiss as the scar on her bicep throbbed in protest and her torso began to quake from the exertion.

"Easy!" Zuko's strong hands flew to her hips and gently helped her the rest of the way up. "You've just recovered from a serious fever that was your body's reaction to an attack that nearly killed you. The healers said you broke a couple ribs, too. You need to give yourself time to relax and recover."

Katara scoffed. "Says the guy who climbed on top of her the second she came to."

Zuko turned crimson. "Okay, you're making it sound terrible. That's not what happened."

Anika folded her hands in front of herself and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, that's basically what happened."

Zuko nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, An--hey!"

"Whatever happened, you need to step aside, loverboy. I don't want the burn to get infected." Katara made her way to Anika's side and began to bind the wound on Anika's bicep, shaking her head the whole time.

Zuko edged towards the door, and Anika raised her gaze to meet his the second before he slipped out of the doorway. Zuko paused, smiled, and mouthed three words before ducking into the hallway.

Anika closed her eyes and did her best to tune out her adoptive sister's disapproving muttering. She ran a reply through her thoughts as she slipped into the sweet release of sleep. I love you too.