Sunburn

19

Tsai was the first one to walk in to the new apartment that the three would be sharing in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Sea. It was spacious, clean and had been built recently. It didn't smell like moisture and had large windows in which you could see the outer rings of the city. It was incredible she even had her own room.

 They had really accomplished the dream. Coming into a land with nothing and making something out of themselves. The prince shuffled inside with his shoulders slumped and his dao blades' sheath dragging across the ground. General Iroh behind him.

"You did the right thing." Iroh commented proudly as he entered the apartment and shut the door behind him softly, "Letting the Avatar's bison go free," he reminded.

Tsai was still upset at Zuko but when she looked at him he looked paler than usual.

"I don't feel right." Zuko mumbled weakly as he swayed slightly, his vision going blurry before his eyes shut and he fell forward. Without any hesitation Tsai lunged forward, catching him before he hit the ground, she strained against his sudden deadweight and collapsed to the ground as well holding his body.

"Zuko!" Iroh exclaimed in shocked worry and he rushed forward to see his unconscious nephew.

Tsai looked up at Iroh with an anxious and slightly frightened expression as she gently shifted Zuko in her arms so his back was against her chest and his head was resting on her shoulder.

She exchanged a worried look with Iroh without saying another word.
They took him to the bedroom which belonged to them and laid him to rest on a sleeping pallet on the ground.

He was out cold. She touched his hands, his face and pressed her face to his in order to feel his temperature. His skin was hot and clammy with prespiration.

"He's completely drenched!" She said in an alarmed tone. Her brain racked for the concoction to fix this. What tea to use or what plant had the medical properties that would aid in bringing it down. She rested her palm on his forehead and his eyes fluttered open, they flickered around the dark room.

"You're burning up. You have an intense fever," Tsai remarked.
Iroh knelt next to the prince's form and dipped a cloth in a bowl of cool water then he placed it on his nephew's forehead, "This will help cool you down."

"So thirsty." The scarred teen rasped and he tried to sit up, but both Iroh and Tsai gently made him lie back down.

Tsai then grabbed the spoon from the bucket of clean water, carefully handing it to Iroh before she helped Zuko sit up slightly.

"Here's some clean water to drink." Iroh said as he held the spoon to Zuko's mouth, "Stay under the blankets and sweat this out."

Zuko grabbed the spoon and drank the water quickly, some of it spilling down his chin and chest then he tossed the spoon aside. Tsai shifted in surprise when he suddenly turned onto his side and grabbed the bucket before he tipped the water into his mouth, causing more water to spill. She winced when he threw the bucket aside, hitting the wall with a loud clatter, but she readily helped him lie back down on the sleeping mat. Iroh gently pulled the blankets up to Zuko's shoulders, exchanging a worried glance with Tsai.

"I'm going to get some medical herbs," she said as she quietly left the apartment to go to the market. She came back as soon as possible and wasted no time in working a pasty concoction of basil, ginger and honey. All three ingredients possessing healing properties that would help in reducing his fever.

"I'm going to get some more water," Iroh said quietly as he stood up, picked up the bucket and left the room. Leaving the patient under Tsai's care. She looked at him. He was in a lot of pain.