Born Beneath An Angry Star

6. Time stands still and two hearts catch fire

It was minutes before sunrise but Zuko had already been up for a couple of hours. Last night he had slept in fitful spurts after being plagued by nightmares. He rolled across his bed yanked the curtains open just in time to see the sun rising. It was one of the most beautiful sights in the world to Zuko. He could feel the blood in his veins pumping faster as the sun rose higher in the sky. The hairs on his arms stood up as if greeting the sun. It didn't matter how many sun sets he saw he never tired of seeing them. Once he'd only seen the sun as the ultimate source of power for firebending, but now he saw it as life and energy. The sun rising in the sky meant a new day and a chance to start all over again.

He pulled his robe down to his waist and lie bare chested in the sun. It reminded him of the times he lie on the beach with his mother. Back when he and Azula were young enough to be happy and going to Ember Island was something to look forward to. He had been dreaming of his family a lot lately. Mostly his mother. He'd been dreaming about her so much that it was almost like having her back in his life and that only made everything worse.

There was a knock at his door. Then Katara asked. "Are you ready for another healing session?"

"Yes, please come in."

Katara walked into the room with her usual bag of medical supplies and sat in the chair beside his bed. Chunhua and her cat Miyuki walked in right behind her.

Zuko sat up and slipped his robe around his shoulders and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. Despite not sleeping well he was regaining a lot of his energy. Miyuki jumped into his lap and curled into a ball and began purring. "Hey there Miyuki." Zuko said and petted the cat.

Katara examined his chest and arms. "Your blisters have shrunk in size considerably , and none of them are infected, that's a good sign that you're healing up nicely."

"Stinging scorpion nettle, what did I tell you." Chunhua said. "By the time you've finished your training you're going to be the finest healer the world has ever seen. Mark my words."

"After everything I've done to you I know healing me is the last thing you want to be doing, so I just wanted you to know I owe you my life." Zuko said.

"I became a healer to heal people and not to have anyone owe me anything." Katara took her flask of bending water and bent it into the palm of her hand.

Zuko watched Katara intently. He had never seen her heal him and it was amazing watching her work. Her hands glowed and she worked the water in a figure eight motion over his blisters.

"It must be nice. I've never learned anything for the sake of helping others. It was always for the Fire Nation. For our honor, for our power, for our glory." Zuko said without pathos.

"Well when your people have been slaughtered till the point of near extinction you learn to help each other out or you parish." Katara replied.

"That must have been very hard. I'm sorry."

"Sounds like you didn't have much fun growing up either." She said as she continued to work on his blisters.

"Azula had enough fun for the both of us. Everything always came easy to her. She's a Firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born."

Katara gave a squeaky little gasp.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Zuko felt the same sensation he had when he'd fallen off the airship and hurtled helplessly through the air. Why had he said that? What in the hell was he thinking? He certainly didn't mean to speak those words out loud. Spirits, knew he wasn't the spill your guts type, but the words came out as naturally as bending. Now Katara was looking at him like he was the last puppy to be picked out of a litter.