Find Me | Zuko x reader | Avatar the Last Airbender | Book 1

Chapter 19: Someday

          Zuko knew the moment his clothes didn't dry something was wrong, but it took him a bit to realize it. He half expected to feel boiling pain all over his body any second, but he felt fine, other than being frigid to the bone. 

          He wiped the freezing water from his eyes as he felt himself being hauled out of the hole in the ice. With a quick glance around, it was obvious they had made it past the wall, a small but meaningful victory.

          "You did it!" Zuko congratulated with a smile, calculating where to go from there. There was no response. "Y/N?" He turned around, and saw her, slumped over in the snow, her clothes still sopping wet. She wasn't moving.

          "Y/N!" Zuko's tone was somewhat demanding, almost angry. You can't do this to me anymore. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gently turned her over. Her E/C eyes were open, and slowly looking around, so she was conscious, but barely. Her lips were turning blue, and her breathing was quick, labored and shallow.

          "I can't get up..." she whispered, attempting to move onto her side to prop herself up. 

          "Don't try. I'll carry you. Where would the healers be?" Zuko lifted her up, carrying her bridal style through the snow. The night had no wind, just dead, cold stillness.

          "Behind the front lines, you can't go there." Y/N rasped, her voice somehow strong but barely audible. "Find the Avatar. If my sister has spent more than 24 hours here she'll already have bothered some poor teacher to train her. That's my hope, at least."

          "Avatar. Probably Spirit Pool... got it." Zuko began trudging through the snow, letting out a breath of relief when the ice and water was pulled from his clothing, making the cold more bearable.

          "Please hurry. I can't feel my legs." Y/N spoke calmly, but he could hear the rising panic. "I can't feel my legs anymore. It's spreading." What's spreading? Zuko glanced down at her legs and stifled a gasp of horror. Dark red and purple lines snaked across her skin, visible through the tear in the shin of her pant leg. The jellyfish.

          It was hard to move fast, but once he got to an abandoned side street, he was running. Every labored breath Y/N gulped in seemed as if it might be her last, and Zuko's panic didn't help his sense of direction. It had to be here somewhere, near the back of the city, near the towering ice cliffs.

                             —|〰️〰️〰️|—

                              Katara's POV

           Aang had entered the Spirit World a few minutes ago, leaving Katara and Princess Yue to stand in silence, watching the koi spirits Tui and La swim circles in the pool beside them.

          "Do you want me to send for guards to watch over the Avatar's body?" Yue offered, but Katara waved her off. I've gotten stronger.

          "That won't be necessary. I can protect him." 

          "If I may..." Yue continued after a few moments of silence. "Sokka mentioned you had an older sister, but he wouldn't elaborate." Katara felt her heart drop. They had never found Y/N in the river, no matter how long they looked or called for her.

          "There was a horrible accident not too long ago." She responded, not daring to look up at Yue, fearing she would immediately burst into tears. "We were being chased, and she fell into a river, knocking her unconscious. We... we never found her." 

          Katara couldn't hold back the tears now, letting them flow down her face freely.

          "I'm so sorry, Sokka must be devastated as well." Yue hugged Katara, who stared down at the circling fish.