HOME | DD

Description
You awaken in the middle of the night to your little sister, Megara, screaming. You throw the sheets off of you and stumble into her bedroom. She's sitting up in her bed. When you come to her bedside, she wraps her arms around you and begins to cry. You cradle her in your arms and run a hand through her blonde curls.

"Shh, it's okay," you whisper to her. "Everything's okay. I've got you."

Even as you soothe her, you can feel the heat radiating from her body. The fever is striking once more. Meg's small body is covered in a sheen of sweat. You pull her away from you just enough to take in her blood red cheeks. Even her blue eyes are glazed.

"Lay back down, sweetheart. I'm going to get Abriah." Meg leaves the safety of your arms and crawls back into the bed. You wrap the covers around her.

"I'm scared, sissy," Meg says in a small voice. Her bottom lip trembles. "And I don't feel good."

You bend down and give her a quick kiss on the forehead. "You're going to be fine. I'll go get Abriah and he'll stay with you while I go get something to make you feel better. Okay?"

Meg nods.

You exit the room and find Abriah in the kitchen. He's sitting at the table with his head in his hands. He looks up when you enter, an expectant look on his face.

You take a deep breath. "The fever's back. I'm going out to see if I can find a herb that will break her fever." You grab your wool jacket off of the table and shrug it on.

Abriah gets up. "I'll fill up the wash basin with cold water." He moves toward the small bathroom and then stops. He turns to you. "Sister, be careful. There are thieves in the dark." He swallows. "Are you sure you don't want me to go?"

You shake your head. "No. I'll be fine. My waterbending will suit me just fine if I come into trouble. Please, tend to Meg."

He nods, a sad look in his eyes, before moving down the narrow hallway. You wait by the door until you hear the sound of Abriah filling up the wash basin. Satisfied that he'll take care of Meg, you walk out the door and into the night.

You run down the cobbled pathway littered with small shacks that look identical to your own home. The path is slightly illuminated with fire torches and you keep to the shadows. The last thing you need right now is to be caught by firebenders.

At the end of the pathway, you take a left. In order to reach the herb shack, you'll have to travel through the marketplace. You know that the Fire Lord's men spend most of their time traveling through the streets, desperate to find someone out past curfew so they can take them out. What you're doing is very dangerous. A spike of fear hits your gut and you almost stop dead in your tracks. Instead, you clench your teeth and continue on. It doesn't matter if this is dangerous or not; your little sister is going to die if you don't find the medicine to save her.

Up ahead, you can see the outline of another person hiding in the shadows. From a distance, you can't tell if they're a male or female, but their features sharpen as you get closer. The figure is a boy. You can't tell how old he is, only that his eyes are watching you as you pass. You hold your breath as you go, almost sure that he's going to call out and alert the soldiers. But he doesn't. You can feel his gaze on your back even as you put distance between the two of you.

You don't have time to dwell on the mysterious stranger, though, because you are close to the marketplace. You slow down, careful to watch where you are going. You don't want to make a sound. Even the smallest noise could alert a firebender. When you enter the main part of the marketplace, you stay close to the buildings. You'll be harder to spot. With your mind set on getting medicine for Meg, you slink through the shadows like a panther.

There, up ahead, is the small shop that sells all kinds of different medicines. Your heart leaps. You know that somewhere inside that shop is the key to Meg's survival. Still, you feel a wave of shame hit you at what you have to do.

You reach the shop and go around to the back. You've been staking out the shop for days just in case you would have to break in. You pat the wall, grasping in the dark for what you need. Your hand hits something smooth. Glass.

You back up a bit and breathe in deeply. A swell of power courses through you just as water appears in your hands. Unlike other waterbenders, you can tap into the pores of your body and receive water to bend that way. Your body begins to move in a waterbending dance and the water in your hands begins to float through the air toward the window. When it reaches the windowsill, the water slides underneath the panes. In a rush of power and strength, you imitate pushing upward, and the water under the sill begins to swell and push on the panes. Slowly, the window pushes open.

"I figured you as a waterbender. And, like always, I'm right."

Your spell on the water vanishes as you spin around, ready to fight.

The boy from the shadows is leaning against the wall of another shop a few yards away. Even in the darkness, you can see the smug look on his face.

"What do you want?" you hiss. "If you wanted to turn me in, you already would have."

The boy nods. "You're right. I would have." He pushes off the wall and ambles toward you. "I just thought I'd help you out. There's an easier way inside, you know."

You can't help the flash of anger that fills your body. "And what would that be?"

He fishes for something in his pocket. He produces a small key. It glints in the moonlight like a beacon.

"How do you have a key? I know for a fact that an old woman owns this place."

He tilts his head as he looks at you, an amused look on his face. "No questions. I don't ask you why you're breaking into a medicine shop and ignoring the curfew and you don't ask me why I have a key. All right?"

"Fine," you mumble, brushing past him. "I'm assuming that's a key to the front door?"

He smiles. "Sure is." He ushers me forward. "Please, ladies first."

The both of you end up at the front of the store. In a matter of seconds, the boy has opened the door and you run inside, eager to get out of the open. He follows behind you, although he's slower about it, as if he isn't afraid to get caught.

You look around the shop and curse, wishing you had brought a lantern. As if reading your thoughts, the boy lights his hands with fire. You glance over at him, stunned, and immediately back away from him.

"You're a firebender?" you shriek, blasting a wave of water at him.

He dodges it easily and then holds up his hands in surrender. "Whoa," he starts. "I'm not here to fight with you."

"Then why are you here?" you ask, backing into a small isle. "Not many people around here go out of their way to help others. Obviously you want something in return."

He shakes his head. "I'm not looking to get something out of you. In fact, I was coming here anyway. We both had the same idea. Although I will have to say that my method of breaking in was much better than yours, don't you think?"

You roll your eyes. "What do you need in here that's so important to you?"

The boy lights a flame again and begins searching through the isles. "Questions, questions. I thought we had a deal, remember?" he calls from another isle.

You say nothing because at that moment you find a small lantern on a shelf. It doesn't give much light, but it's enough to browse through the medicine. You scan the wooden shelves quickly. Every second that you don't have the medicine is another second that Meg suffers. Finally, you come across what you need. A herb and frozen frogs. It's a recipe that calls for cutting up the frogs in a broth with other ingredients. The herb is sprinkled onto the liquid as a final touch. It's been known to cure any fever. You place the lantern back on the shelf after extinguishing the flame.

"If I'd only been able to get it sooner," you mumble to yourself. You'd hoped that Meg would get better on her own; that you wouldn't have to steal. You didn't have money to buy the ingredients. Stealing had been the only option.

"Did you find what you're looking for?"

You spun around at his voice. "I did," you say, tucking the ingredients into your jacket. "Did you find what you need?"

He still hadn't extinguished the fire in his hands. In the flickering light, you could see his face more clearly. He looked only a year older than you. His hair was a shaggy brown and ended at the base of his neck. His hair also hid most of his face, but it couldn't cover up the puffed and red skin around his eye- a serious burn that had healed as best as it could. You know that scar. You've seen it from a distance many times.

His eyes, golden and brooding, meet yours.

"I've found what I need," he said softly.

You swallow hard. "Good," you say stiffly. "Thank you for your helping hand. I appreciate it greatly." Your heart feels like it will burst from your chest as you turn away from him and move down the isle.

"You know who I am," he says. It isn't a question.

You turn to face him, terrified and exhilarated all at once. "Yes."

His expression grows dark, half-angry and half-sad. "It was my scar, wasn't it?"

You don't know what to say, so you say nothing. The two of you stand there, staring at one another, both unable to speak anything at all. His stare matches yours- full of fear, sadness, and... something else. You don't know what to make of it.

Finally he speaks softly, "My scar is ugly. Imperfect."

"It's not what makes you who you are," you blurt out without thinking. "Your actions determine who the real you is. A scar is only something from your past. You might not have the chance to rewrite it, but you can have the chance to change the future."

He says nothing at first, just stares. Then the hard look on his face softens. The cold glint in his eyes fades away until all that's left is warmth. He takes a step toward you, then falters. He swallows and looks away. "What's your name?"

"I thought we had a deal."

The corner of his mouth tugs up. "Forgive me. I wasn't thinking."

"That's all right." Both of you move toward the front of the shop. "My name is ______."

He looks over at you, a strange expression on his face. "That's a lovely name."

Your cheeks grow hot. "And you're Prince Zuko."

He snorts. "Banished Prince Zuko."

"I thought you were off looking for the Avatar?"

"I was," he says with a sigh. "But my uncle was hurt by Azula. I had to get medicine for his wounds."

"In an Earth Kingdom that's being ran by your father?" you asked, incredulous.

He laughed. "Let's just say I was in the area." He glances over at you. "What's a waterbender doing in an Earth Kingdom?"

"My siblings and I were taken from our tribe during a battle years ago. We were brought here. I was told never to use waterbending again or I'd face serious consequences." You smiled. "I guess you can see that worked out really well. Anyways, we've lived here ever since."

"And your parents?"

A pang of sadness hits you square in the chest. "Dead."

"I'm sorry," Zuko says.

You look at him until he meets your eyes. "Your father was the one who ordered the take-down of our tribe."

A pained look crosses his face. "My father... he wasn't always like that. He used to be a good man." He sighs. "All I wanted to do was make him proud. Capturing the Avatar will put me back in good standing."

You whirl around. "So you're going to do it? Even after everything that your father has done!"

"It's my duty! I'm the prince!"

Before you can say anything else, you hear the hoots and hollers of the Fire Nation soldiers making their rounds. Zuko extinguishes his flames. Both you and Zuko duck behind an isle and huddle down. The soldiers come up to the front door.

"Did you see someone moving in there?" comes a muffled voice through the door.

"I thought it was just me. Come on, let's check it out," says another soldier.

You turn to Zuko. "The window."

Both of you dart across the shop. It takes several tries to locate the room with the window, and by then the soldiers are inside. You waste no time in shoving the window open with water. The window makes a loud squeaking sound, but you don't care. The soldiers already know you're inside.

"Go!" Zuko yells, pushing you toward the window.

You want to protest, but you drag yourself up into the window so that one leg is inside and the other outside. There is loud pounding on the door.

"It won't be long before they blast it with fire," Zuko says. "Please, go!"

You nod, getting ready to jump down, when Zuko grabs your arm. Before you can say or do anything, he presses his lips against yours. It is a quick kiss, full of urgency, but it sends shivers up your body nonetheless. It's gone all too quick, though, and then he is pushing you out the window.

You hit the ground at the exact moment that the soldiers blast their way into the room. You pull yourself from the ground and get ready to waterbend when Zuko launches out of the window like a rocket and lands on the ground at your feet. You help him up, and the both of you break out into a sprint. When you turn a corner, a mass of soldiers are coming your way. But one firebender in particular catches your eye.

"Azula!" you breathe out.

Zuko's eyes widen as he glances back. When he twists around to look at you, he grimaces. "Keep running, okay? They're after me. They won't come after you. So, run, and I'll fight."

"No!" you shriek, alarm coursing through your body.

Zuko stops in his tracks. You stop, too, and try to pull him forward. "We'll see each other again, ______. I can't stay in this city much longer, but I promise I'll find you." He takes a second to run a hand across your cheek. "You're right about my father. Next time I see you, things might be different."

You look ahead at the looming mass of soldiers gaining ground and Azula, with eyes full of rage and hatred, running at full sprint toward her brother.

"Promise me you'll get away," you plead. "Promise me we'll see each other again."

Zuko smiles. "I promise that when I see you again, I'm going to kiss you a lot longer."

Before you can say anything, he drops his hands away from your face. You reach out to him, but he swivels away and charges toward the Fire Nation soldiers. He lights up with fire, his entire body bathed in reds and oranges.

You look at him, the banished prince, one last time in all his glory before running in the opposite direction. Even after you are far away from the fighting, you can still see the boy made of flames in your mind. You can't help but think of him as a phoenix, rising from the ashes of his past and meeting a new future where anything was possible.

"We'll see each other again, ______."

Yes, you thought to yourself. No matter what.