Blades and Fans

The Savior

Zuko's mind was spinning; the smoke and fumes choked at his lungs. His eyes grew heavy, slowly losing consciousness as he laid in Suki's arms. He could still hear a voice echoing in his ears calling to him.

"Wake up!"

"Wake up."

"Wake up..."

"Time to wake up." Another voice called to him making Zuko stir, trying to open his eyes. "Mom?" He called out to the voice in the darkness, his eyes remained shut refusing to open. "Come on Zuko, it's time to wake up," the soft motherly voice called out again. "Mom?!" Tears began spilling down his cheek as he called out pleadingly. "Come on Zuko, don't make me ask again," the voice said in a cheerful, loving tone but the voice felt distant, slowly drifting away. "Mom?! Please no, come back to me," Zuko cried out his voice shaking.

Zuko's eyes finally burst open as his body shot up. His vision was blurry as he looked around to figure out where he was, but his left eye only saw darkness. He reached up to rub his eye but he felt fabric wrapped over it. "What's going on?" He reached up tugging at the bandage that covered his left eye and tore it off. He tried to blink to clear his vision as the room around him started to appear. It was one of the rooms at the inn that seems to be turned into a makeshift hospital room. When Zuko looked down at himself, he saw he was covered in bandages along his arms and chest as he sat atop a table in the centre of the room. His memory was still foggy on how he got here as he leapt off the table. He turned and stumbled over to a mirror and water basin at the edge of the room. He reaching his hands into the water and started to wash his face, letting the cool water wake him further up from his daze.

"Well look who's up and about," A girl's voice spoke behind and he quickly turned to see who had entered the room. Zuko raised his brow as he spotted a young Earth Kingdom girl carrying a tray of food into the room, resting the tray on the nightstand. She smiled sweetly at him as she folded her hands in front of her and fiddled with her braided hair. "I brought you some food, I thought you might be hungry when you woke up," she smiled sheepishly at him. Zuko paused as he looked at her then the tray of food. "Umm thanks," he said as he took the towel next to the basin to dry his face. "You're welcome," she said again, still very cheerful. "My name's Jin by the way. It's an honour to meet you, Blue Spirit," she said as she gave a little bow.

"Blue Spir-?" As Zuko tried to clarify what she meant, it finally dawned on him what's going on. His eyes shot open panicked, his mind racing, his cover was blown, they saw his face, and this girl heard his voice. He clenched his fists as his breath hitched in his throat as his nervousness began to overwhelm him, but he took a deep breath to calm down "She called me Blue Spirit, they don't know who I am. At least not yet," he spoke to himself as he fixed his gaze back on Jin. "Where is everyone, what am I doing here?" Zuko asked as he tossed the towel on the counter.

"Oh, well after the... attack last night you sort of passed out," Jin began to explain. "Your friends brought you here so the healer could tend to you. She said you nearly suffocated and you were covered in cuts and burns," she said and bite her lip as she looked up at him. "She tried her best to treat you, but she wasn't able to heal the burn over your eye," she said as she felt herself getting flustered.

When Zuko heard her, he was actually a bit relieved to have this scar. He reached up to touch his left cheek thinking if they think he got this scar from last night they don't know who he is, at least for now. Though he will still need to take precautions about them finding out. "Thanks," he said softly as he turned to glance at the mirror, looking at the scar that covered his left eye; the mark of the banished prince. "Well honestly it doesn't look that bad, you still look quite handsome," Jin blurts out as her cheeks become beet red. Zuko too felt his cheeks heat up as he heard her "Umm thanks," he spoke as he rubbed the back of his neck.