The Story of The Scar

Part 2

They found Zuko lying in a ditch, unconscious. Blood ran down his face, and his unscarred side was marred with bruises. His legs and arms were burnt, and there was a large gouge on his stomach. It was bleeding heavily.

"Oh no. Aang?" Sokka gasped.

"Sokka, what do we do? He's going to die without Katara's help. Monkey-feathers, this is all her fault! She's not going to help Zuko is she?" Aang ranted.

"Aah, I don't know! Oh Zuko buddy, why did you have to do this?" Sokka questioned.

"Pick him up, and carry him to Katara. I mean, she can't leave him to die," Aang tried reassuring Sokka.

Sokka picked up Zuko's limp body. He was surprisingly light for a sixteen year old boy; maybe from the loss of blood. The water tribe warrior was the most worried he had ever been in his eventful life, all over a fire nation prince who should be his enemy.

"Katara, Katara!" Aang called.

"Ugh what is it? Are you trying to get me to apologise to Zuko? You know that's not going to happen," she replied stubbornly. Sokka showed her his limp body. "Oh spirits, is that Zuko? What has he done?" she asked, with a more caring edge to her voice.

"Katara, your words really hurt him, so he went and did this. Please heal him, if not for him, for me. If he doesn't make it through this, I will never speak to you again," Sokka said, almost crying.

"You know I won't help him," Katara shot back.

"Wha-what? He needs you, or he'll die!" Sokka sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I will not help the prince of the nation that took our mother. He betrayed me, back in Ba Sing Se, and you should see, that now he can't hurt anyone anymore."

"Katara, how could you be so cruel? He's still human!" Aang practically screamed.

"I. Will. Not. Help. Him."

Sokka laid Zuko down in his tent, trying to stem the flow of blood before he bled out.

"Aang, get Suki, bandages and water," Sokka said calmly. Aang nodded, and walked out the tent. Sokka checked the wound on his abdomen, it was swelling up, and was a dark red, showing signs of infection. Zuko couldn't have done this to himself, this was too much. Aang returned, with Suki, and the medical equipment.

"Oh spirits, what happened?" Suki asked.

"No time to explain now, can you please help me bandage his wounds, the stomach one especially?" Sokka replied.

They wrapped a roll of bandage carefully around what appeared to be a knife wound, after carefully cleaning it with water.

"I think it's infected Sokka," his girlfriend told him, then felt Zuko's forehead. "Yep, I was right. He has a high fever."

"Oh no, Suki, what do we do without Katara?" Sokka questioned worriedly.

"Wait, you mean Katara refused to help him?" Suki shouted, almost angrily.

Zuko came round at that, his eyes darted around the room blearily, unfocused.

"The-There was an ambush, they burnt me and stabbed me. Firebenders. Azula must've sent them to get us. They burnt my arms and legs," Zuko said weakly, then passed out again.

"Do you know what this means? Azula's on to us, and she knows where we are. It's not long before she has Aang. We need to move," Sokka said.

"Zuko is in no condition to travel," Suki argued.

"Yes, but he'll only be injured even more if we let them have him," Sokka countered.

"Let's wait till tomorrow to think about this."

Sokka stayed with Zuko the whole night, talking to him soothingly whenever it seemed like he was in a rough nightmare. Sokka wondered what Zuko's childhood was like, with Ozai as a father, Azula as a little sister and his mother gone. He wondered what life in a palace was like, how much food he could eat and if he had friends. The water tribe boy then realised that he didn't know Zuko at all.