The Tale of Zuko and Liena

Chapter 2: Liena

Zuko awoke to a throbbing ache in his head. He wanted to reach up and rub the soreness away but his arms felt like lead. His eyes opened slowly, his blurry vision slowly coming back into focus. He was staring up at a thatched roof. He could feel the weight of a blanket on his chest and the bandages around his forehead and arm. Someone had helped him. If the New Ozai rebels had captured him, he wouldn't be lying on the floor so casually.

Zuko turned his head slowly to the side, his body allowing the movement to be pain-free. What he saw were bookcases upon bookcases next to each other, they covered the walls. Books were even stacked up to the ceiling from the floor. It still didn't tell him where he was.

"He..." Zuko tried to talk, but his throat was dry. He cleared it, smacking his dry lips together to try and form some wetness. "Hello?" He called out, his voice barely a whisper.

He was met with silence. Maybe they had healed him and then left him. He probably wasn't dressed the best for a first meeting. Considering he couldn't remember much after staggering from the river, he probably scared any sort of help off with the blood that had coated his body.

Zuko moved his arms under his body and attempted to sit up. His injured arm, the one that had been sliced by the exploring carriage, protested under the weight, but he gritted his teeth and managed to sit himself up.

The blanket fell away from his chest, revealing his bloody and singed robes. Zuko glanced over at the white bandage that covered his arm and examined his hand strength. He could clench his fist with no pain, so luckily the cut hadn't gone too deep.

His head was another story. Now that he was sitting up, all he could feel was a hard thump in his head every time his heart pulsed. Zuko clutched at his head, willing the pain to go away.

Where was Katara when he actually needed her?

Zuko's body tensed when he heard a small shuffle come from the nearby door. He felt his body heat up, the energy flowing down his arms, ready to strike if the person in the house was a foe and not a friend to him.

"Whose there?" Zuko called out, his voice was still not as strong as it normally was, he didn't sound as threatening this way.

There was silence behind the door, and Zuko thought that maybe he had imagined the noise. He wasn't the first in his family to go nuts. Zuko's body relaxed slightly as he tried an attempt at standing on his own feet. That was until he heard the door open quietly. If there had been any other noises in the house, he may have missed it, but he definitely heard it. Zuko pushed through the intense ache in his body, to raise himself to his full height.

"I know there is someone there," Zuko called out. He could see the door open the smallest of cracks. He couldn't see beyond.

"I...I have a knife," a small, timid voice spoke back to him. Zuko was taken aback for a moment. It sounded like a child. Surely a child couldn't have dragged him into this house by themselves?

"I'm not going to hurt you," Zuko replied. "Please, I want to thank you for saving me." Zuko waited, his eyes focusing on the door, waiting to see if his healer would step out and greet him.

"How do I know you aren't going to hurt me?" The voice said again.

Zuko had to lean against the counter to support his weight, standing was making him dizzy because of his head wound. "I swear to you, I mean you or your family no harm. You saved me. I'm not exactly in the position to be hurting anyone right now." Zuko laughed lightly.

Long, thin fingers hooked around the door and pulled it open, and out stepped a girl. Zuko's gaze was still a bit blurry, and he blinked a few times to make sure that he was seeing her correctly. She was not a child, but maybe a few years younger than he was. She kept one hand on the door, and the other was clutched around a medium-sized hunting knife with a wooden hilt.