fire in your eyes • zuko

xxiv

Nava woke with a headache the next morning, a dull throb that quickly escalated into white-hot pain as she sat up and tried to open her eyes.

"Zuko," she said, feeling around for his arm and giving it a light tap once she found it.

Zuko stirred with a deep breath. "What's wrong?" he asked groggily.

"I can't see."

"What?" he sat up abruptly, all traces of sleepiness gone.

"If I try to open my eyes, my head starts to hurt so much that all I see is white."

"I'll go get Katara."

While he was gone, Nava felt around for her shirt and pulled it over her head once she determined which side was the front. Zuko came back in right after, with Katara in tow. Katara took some water from a pitcher Zuko had grabbed last night and got to work, pressing her hands over Nava's eyes.

"It feels like there's a lot of pressure in your head. You haven't done anything recently that made you move your head around a lot, have you?" Katara said. Nava shrugged. "I can only do so much, but I think you just need to give your body time to readjust," she removed the water. "I'll try again later if your eyesight hasn't improved, alright?"

"Sure, thanks," Nava said.

"I'm going to go grab something," Zuko said once Katara was gone. "I'll be right back. Don't move."

Nava listened as he left and came back a minute later. He knelt beside her.

"I have a headband of Aang's that I can tie around your eyes so you don't have to keep them closed all day," he said. 

Nava sighed. She really didn't want to but she knew that Zuko was going to hover over her otherwise and she didn't want that either. "Fine," she said.

After tying the headband and determining it wasn't too tight, they both finished getting dressed and went outside for Nava to sit with Toph and Katara while Zuko trained with Aang.

"Don't you think it's kinda weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own home?" Katara said.

"My father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy, and that was a long time ago. No one will ever think to look for us here," Zuko said

Sokka's voice cut in from the distance,

"You guys are not going to believe this: there's a play about us!"

"We were in town and found this poster," Suki added.

There was the sound of paper rustling. From beside Nava, Katara got up and walked over to her brother.

"How is this possible?"

"It says 'the Boy in the Iceberg is a new production by acclaimed playwright Pu On Tim who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar and his journey,'" Sokka recited. "'His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage. Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players.'"

Zuko made a disgusted noise as he plopped down beside Nava and put an arm on her knee. "My mom used to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."

"Sokka," Katara said. "Do you really think it's a good idea for us to see a play about ourselves?"

"Come on, a day at the theatre? This is the kind of time-wasting nonsense we've been needing!" Sokka protested

"What do you think, Nava?" Zuko asked.

"I think I'll pass this time around. I've done enough sitting to last me a lifetime," she said with a shrug. "I'll wait around here until you get back."

"Are you sure? Someone can stay behind with you if you want."

"No, don't worry about it. Plus, I don't think sitting in dim lighting will be good for my eyes."

///

That evening, Nava sat on the deck while her friends left for the play. Zuko seemed very wary about leaving her alone, but she insisted she would be fine, and he reluctantly left her with a kiss on the cheek.

At first, Nava busied herself by exploring the summer home. She discarded her blindfold and made her way through the long hallways. Everything had a thin layer of dust covering it, and there were no pictures of Zuko over the age of ten.

She stood in front of a family portrait. Azula was still an infant, being held to her mother's chest. Zuko sat on Ozai's knee, a shy smile on his face. Nava hated to admit it, but when she looked at the family, she didn't feel anger; she just felt sadness. They were all people thrust into a fight they were expected to finish. Ozai was poisoned by his father's expectations, which he passed onto Azula, who was probably more deranged than her father. Nava was almost glad Zuko was banished – she didn't want to think about what would have happened if he followed in his father's footsteps.

Stepping away from the portrait, Nava traversed further down the hallway. She came to a stop in front of Zuko's parent's old bedroom. She slid the door open and poked her head in, half-expecting someone to jump out. When no one did, she took a tentative step into the room. It seemed frozen in time. A comb sat out on a fancy vanity, a robe was laid out on the bed, and a half-written letter was on a desk in the corner. Nava leaned over the parchment and scanned over the neat handwriting.

Fire Lord Azulon,

I have just received word that Iroh has returned from his Earth Kingdom excursion and was injured in combat. Please give him our sincere hopes for his recovery. Father, I urge you to consider what I asked you about before you sent us away to Ember Island.

The letter ended there. Nava furrowed her brows. What had Ozai suggested? A part of her hoped it was a suggestion to end the war peacefully and she almost laughed at her naiveté.

Nava left the bedroom after that, wandering out to sitting area in the heart of the cottage. She spotted a clay plate nestled among some miscellaneous items and picked it up. The centre of it had the imprint of an infant's hand. Turning it over, she saw 'Zuko, age 2' inscribed on the bottom part of it. Nava flipped the plate back over and rested her hand over top of baby-Zuko's. A warm feeling settled in her chest and she put the disc back.

///

The group returned a few hours after dusk, looking miserable.

"How was the play?" Nava asked, even though she was sure she already knew the answer.

"Awful," Katara said. "I kind of wish I'd stayed here with you."

"What did you do while we were gone?" Zuko said.

"Not a lot. I did some dusting and played in the sand for a bit, but it wasn't as fun alone," Nava said nonchalantly.

"So, I guess we all had a pretty terrible night," Katara said. "I'm going to go to bed and forget it happened."

Everyone but Zuko hummed in agreement and the left him and Nava alone after bidding them goodnight.

"Was the play that bad?" Nava said.

"You have no idea," Zuko said with a shake of his head. "The person who played Toph was this huge buff guy, Aang was played by a woman, and the guy who played me had his scar on the wrong side."

"Sounds disastrous. Who played me?"

"You know, funnily enough, the actress looked just like you. Except she had both eyes."

"That's unfortunate. Actors these days don't get as much into method acting as they should, and the quality of the product suffers because of it."

"I'm sure it does," Zuko said, throwing an arm around her. They walked towards their bedroom. "Maybe when all this is over you should teach them all a thing or two."