fire in your eyes • zuko

xvi

Zuko looked pale by the time they got back to their apartment.

"You did the right thing, letting the Avatar's bison go free," Iroh said as they entered.

"I don't... feel right..." Zuko said feebly. He stumbled forward a step before he fell to the ground, taking a vase down with him.

The porcelain shattered as Zuko's head hit the floor.

"Zuko!" Iroh gasped, rushing to his nephew's side. He put a hand on his forehead and looked to Nava. "He's got a fever. Get a bucket of cold water and a cloth, I'll put him on the bed."

Nava snatched the bucket from the counter and left the apartment. She dashed to the well up the street and pumped water into the container.

Zuko was on the cot when she returned. She knelt beside Iroh, dunked and wrung out the cloth she grabbed from the counter, and then handed it to him. He folded it and laid it across Zuko's forehead.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked worriedly.

"He's gone against his entire personal code by freeing the Avatar's bison. His brain couldn't handle it and it essentially sent him into a meltdown. He's at war within himself, and whichever side wins will show his true values and desires."

"How long will that take?"

"As long as it needs to. I suppose the Jasmine Dragon will have to wait."

"No, you can go get the shop set up and get our apartment in order and I'll stay here with him," Nava said. "He doesn't need two people watching over him."

Iroh gave her a meaningful look before gazing down at his nephew.

"He cares deeply for you, you know," he said. "I believe that if he can't see the right way himself, he will look to you for guidance. Please help him to make the right choice."

"I'll do as much as I can, I swear it."

"I'll leave in the morning. Get some rest, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

///

Iroh woke Nava up right after dawn.

"I'm taking a wagon to the upper ring to see the shop. I'll be back sometime this evening," he said as Nava shuffled into the main area, biting back a yawn. "If Zuko wakes up, give him some water and offer him something to eat; it's okay if he doesn't but make sure he drinks something. This isn't a regular sickness, so doctors won't be able to do much about it. This is something he needs to work through on his own, but that doesn't mean we can't help him along."

"He's in good hands, Iroh," Nava said. "Have fun today and don't worry too much."

With a final glance at his nephew, Iroh left the apartment, leaving Nava and Zuko in silence.

She made herself a pot of tea and sipped from her cup as she did housework; sweeping, dusting, cleaning some dishes. She hummed to herself work songs from the Yuyan.

Zuko didn't do much until the early afternoon.

Nava was replacing the string on her bow when she heard him groan.

She knelt at his side and offered him a cup of water. "You've got a bad fever," she told him. "Your uncle went to the new tea shop this morning and left me with you."

Zuko snatched the cup from her hand and downed the water. He then grabbed the bucket and poured it into his mouth, but most of it just dumped down his front. He tossed the empty container away and curled back up under his blanket. A coughed feebly as he fell back asleep. Nava pushed his bangs out of his eyes and returned the cloth to his forehead.