Lean On Me

In which Zuko learns weakness is permitted.

Nightmares (Aang)

Takes place shortly after 3x13

Zuko once again stood in the Agni Kai area. He stood up and turned to face his opponent.

It wasn't the general. It was Father and Iroh was standing beside him in support.

"You have betrayed everyone." Came Iroh voice as he stood behind Ozai.

"You will learn loyalty and respect," Ozai stated, "and suffering will be your teacher."

Ozai lit his hand on fire and brought it towards Zuko's face. Iroh and Azula smiling in the background.

"Zuko, wake up!"

Zuko felt a hand shaking his shoulder.

"Wake – up!"

Zuko shot upwards, gasping for breath. His hand were trembling and he felt ill.

"Zuko?"

Zuko looked towards the sound. Aang was crouched near where Zuko had been sleeping. Clearly he had been the one to wake Zuko.

"Are you alright?" The young monk continued.

"I'm fine!" Zuko growled.

"You don't look fine." Aang countered

"It's nothing, just a nightmare." He face softened slightly. "Thank you for waking me."

Aang blinked and moved closer. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Zuko placed his head in his hands as he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's okay," Aang replied instantly. "I just thought you might feel better afterwards."

Zuko didn't answer, he continued taking deep breathes, trying to calm his racing heart.

Aang placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want a hug?" he asked hesitantly.

The last person to hug Zuko had been Uncle. A lifetime ago at the opening of the Jasmine Dragon. Those hugs always made him feel safe and loved.

"Yeah." He rasped softly.

Aang gently gathered Zuko into a hug, guiding Zuko's head to his shoulder.

Zuko shuddered his breath hitching into a sob.

"It's okay." Aang rubbed soothing circles on his back and gently cradled the prince's head. "Let it out."

Zuko began sobbing softly, feeling protected in Aang's arms.

Aang stayed silent, continuing to rub circle over Zuko's back.

Eventually Zuko quieted and sat back, rubbing a hand over his eyes to remove the remaining tears.

"Feel better?" Aang asked softly.

Zuko nodded. He was still trembling slightly but his breathing was easier than it had been since before the eclipse. "What were you doing anyways?" he asked.

"Firebenders rise with the sun." Aang stated in a solem voice. "I was coming to get you for sunrise meditation."

Zuko winced slightly. "I'm sorry." He whispered as he curled in on himself. He was here for the sole purpose to teach the avatar firebending. Any more mistakes like this and he would surely be removed from the group. Or at least that's what Zuko believed.

"Zuko look at me." Aang encouraged softly.

Zuko tilted his gaze upwards to look at Aang.

"It's alright." Aang said. "The others won't be up for a few hours yet. We've got plenty of time to work on firebending before they get up."

Zuko relaxed and nodded. "Don't tell the others, please?"

"I won't." Aang promised. "There's nothing wrong with needing help though. That's what friends are for."

Zuko gave a tiny smile. "Thanks Aang."

"You're welcome." He airbended himself to his feet and extended a hand to help Zuko up.

Zuko accepted the hand and got up.

"I'll race you Sifu Hotman."

Zuko rolled his eyes at the name. "You're on."

The two raced off, Zuko feeling lighter than ever.

—

Blindness (Toph)

In between Firebending Masters and Boiling Rock.

Zuko wandered through the woods near the Western Air Temple. He and Toph had been tasked with foraging for fruits and veggies while Katara and Aang worked on their waterbending.

Zuko and Toph had separated to cover more ground but stayed close as Toph's feet were still tender.

Zuko looked around spotting a bush of strawberries. They looked ripe and would be delicious with the cream he and Aang had purchased on their return trip.

The fire prince stepped forward and began plucking berries off the bush.

Suddenly a mouse panther sprang out of the bush, clawing at Zuko's face.

"Agh" he sprang back and clamped a hand over his right eye. "Stupid mouse panther." He removed his hand, opened his eye and, nothing.

Zuko rubbed his eye frantically. Still nothing. He couldn't see anything.

"Monkey Feathers!" he muttered. It would be just his luck that the animals had gotten the eye he could see out of.

Zuko turned around and began to walk towards where he thought the bush might have been only to trip and face plant.

Or he would have if a pair of hands didn't reach out an catch him.

"Whoa, Sparky." Came Toph's voice. "Watch where you're going."

"Toph?" he asked, unable to keep the relief out of his voice.

"Who else Sparky?" Toph steadier him and let go. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"I know when you're lying." Toph sang gleefully.

"I can't see." He murmured softly.

"What was that?"

"I can't see." He said slightly louder. "Mouse panther got my right eye."

"What about you're left eye?"

"That's where my scar is." He sighed. "I haven't been able to see out of my left eye for a while."

Toph slid her small hand into Zuko's, providing him with an anchor in the black sea of unknown he was currently trapped in.

"Can I take a look?"

"Sure." He bent down to accommodate the height difference between them.

Toph gently placed her hand on his chin and slowly slid her way up to his right eye.

Zuko was tense under her touch. It hadn't gone so well last time someone touched his face.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Toph reminded him quietly.

"I know, it's just hard to remember that when I can't see anything."

Toph hummed softly and removed her hand. "As far as I can tell it's just the tissue around your eye that's damaged. Katara should be able to fix it."

"Katara hates me." Zuko replied sullen.

"True," Toph agreed. "But Sugarqueen never turns away someone who needs help."

She pulled on his arm. " Come on, let's go. I'll get us back safely."

"I know." Zuko replied gratefully, "and thank you."

Toph gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and began guiding him home.

—

Support (Sokka)

On the return trip from the boiling rock

Zuko sat in the corner of one of the many rooms on the airship. He had directed Chit Sang how to operate the furnace before disappearing to one of the bunk rooms.

The time he had spent in the cooler was catching up to him. Breath of fire or not, firebenders cannot function at sub-zero temperatures for very long.

Zuko was freezing, his head pounding with exhaustion. He was curled up against the wall to try and conserve body heat, too tried to use his bending.

He heard footsteps echoing in the hall and looked up anxiously to see Sokka enter the room with a pile of blankets and two bowls of steaming stew.

"Here," he passed one of the bowls to Zuko. "You look like you could use a good meal."

Zuko accepted the bowl with a grunt, relishing in the heat that came off the bowl.

Sokka sat down beside him. "Are you alright?"

Zuko gave a weary nod and sipped at his soup, sighing softly as the heat rushed through him.

"How's your arm?" Sokka asked. They had both heard the sickening pop when Sokka had caught Zuko by the arm and pulled him into the gondola.

"Sore." Zuko admitted with a wince.

"Mind if I look at it?"

Zuko only shrugged which Sokka took as a yes. He gently moved the neck of the prisoners tunic aside to examine Zuko's shoulder. His fingers brushed against Zuko's chilled skin.

"You're freezing!" Sokka exclaimed, pulling back.

"Tell me something I don't know." Zuko growled softly.

Sokka paused for a moment, the continued his previous task, revealing Zuko's bruised and swollen shoulder. "Ouch." He murmured sympathetically.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed.

Sokka placed a hand gently over the injured joint, allowing his body heat to soak into the cold and aching tissue.

Zuko relaxed slightly, leaning back against the wall. "Feels good," he whispered as Sokka began massaging his shoulder to prevent it from seizing up.

Sokka didn't say anything, looking his friend over with concern.

"The cooler didn't agree with you." Sokka noted

Zuko shook his head unconsciously leaning closer to Sokka's warmth.

Sokka continued massaging his shoulder finally feeling it loosen up and relax. "There we go." He said softly. "How's that?"

"Better." Zuko agreed. He closed his eyes and leaned his aching head against the wall. He felt Sokka pull back and stand up, he whimpered softly.

"Hey," Sokka placed his hand on the back of Zuko's neck. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm just grabbing you a blanket, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded.

Sokka left his side and returned moments later with a blanket that he placed around Zuko's shoulders.

"Thanks Sokka."

The Water Tribe boy hummed softly as he sat down beside Zuko. He wrapped an arm around the prince and pulled him into a loose side hug with Zuko's head pillowed on his shoulder. "Get some rest buddy, I'm not going anywhere."

A small smile made its way onto Zuko's face as he drifted off.

—

Forgiveness (Suki)

In between Boiling Rock and Southern Raiders.

Zuko was working on one of his firebending katas. He would train with Aang in the morning and practice on his own in the afternoon, sometimes sparring with Sokka in the evening.

He spun around, releasing a wave of fire from his foot as he moved.

"Ow! Will you watch were you fling your fire!?"

Zuko looked up to see Suki standing off to the side. She was holding a hand to her singed forearm.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay? I didn't mean to - " he panicked.

"It's fine," she stated examining her arm. The hair had been burnt off, but there was no damage to the skin. "You just surprised me is all."

"I'm so sorry." Zuko repeated

Suki looked over at him. He was hunched in on himself like he expected to be yelled at and beaten.

"It was accident." She waved off his apology.

"That's the problem." Zuko exclaimed. "I can't do anything right. Whenever I try I just make things worse."

"Zuko it's okay. I'm fine." She stepped closer to him. "What is it?" she asked noticing how forlorn the Prince looked.

"You wouldn't understand." He muttered.

"Then explain it to me." She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Everywhere I go people get hurt." He looked at Suki. "I hurt people."

Suki was again reminded of what the banished prince had done to her home.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone, I just wanted to go home." He whispered brokenly.

Suki sighed. "Zuko, I won't deny you've done some awful things." She started.

Zuko shrunk in on himself. "I know. I'm a monster, I'll never forgive myself."

"You're not a monster!" Suki argued. "You did horrible things yes, but you had limits. You knew when to stop, any other soldier would have stayed and burnt Kyoshi Island to the ground." Zuko slowly looked over at her. "You didn't attack until after we provoked you and you called off the attack as soon as Aang left."

"But the village - "

"The village is fine." Suki stated firmly. "Aang put out the fires as soon as you left. No one in the village was hurt, just rattled."

Zuko seemed to breath easier as he took in the information he'd been given.

"You really should try to forgive yourself though." Suki smiled at him. "I have."

"You do?" he asked in astonishment.

"Yes." She gently brought him into a loose hug. "Like you said, you didn't want to hurt us."

She left out the part about him just wanting to go home. There was a story there and he would tell it when he was ready.

"Thank you, Suki."

"You're welcome."

If Suki could forgive him maybe others would too, eventually.

—-

Healing (Katara)

Set during the gaang's time at Ember Island.

Zuko took a deep breath before launching into one of his firebending forms.

The Flight of the Phoenix was one of the most advanced and difficult forms Zuko knew. It was the last form Iroh had taught him before they had been forced to hide their bending.

Zuko planned to teach this form to Aang, but he needed to master it on his own first. The part that was giving Zuko trouble was where the bender was supposed to use their flame to project themselves into the air and remain there long enough to execute a spinning backflip. He couldn't seem to get enough force behind the flame to remain air bound for more than a few seconds.

This irked Zuko to no end because he had seen his sister and a few other elite firebenders fly without any trouble.

As Zuko approach the jump he refocused. He was here to teach Aang firebending, to help the avatar restore balance, and to protect his new friends, which were quickly becoming like a family to him.

Zuko shot the flames and went flying upwards. He executed the flip flawlessly only to realize that he had no control over his descent. He managed to get himself into a position where he would land on his feet as the ground rushed towards him.

He landed on the side of his left ankle, pain shooting up his leg as he fell over. He let out a soft cry.

Zuko rolled over and sat up, pulling his throbbing ankle towards him to assess the damage. He flexed his ankle, twinges but nothing to severe. He rotated it, that was a mistake. Pain shot up his leg and He let out a quiet groan.

"Zuko!" Katara called anxiously as she ran into the courtyard where the prince had been practicing. "I thought I heard a crash, are you alright?"

Zuko looked over at her. As much as he didn't want to bother her given their newfound friendship, he wasn't going to get anywhere on his own.

He shook his head. "I think I sprained my ankle." He answered

Katara hurried over and knelt down beside him. "I'm going to have to take your boot off to get a better look. I'll be careful."

Zuko nodded stiffly.

Katara undid his boot and slid it off. Zuko hissed softly at the pain.

"Sorry." Katara murmured

"It's okay." Zuko replied.

Katara gently began to prod at his ankle, her cold fingers soothing against the damaged tissue.

"You did a little more that sprain it." Katara revealed grimly. " You've got at least one broken bone in there."

Zuko winced and looked at the ground, guilt filling his eyes.

"Let's see what I can do." Katara bent the water out of her canteen wrapping it around Zuko's injured ankle. The water glowed a calming blue.

Zuko immediately felt his ankle go numb as Katara worked.

"You've got a hairline fracture in addition to the sprain." Katara diagnosed. "Even with waterbending you're not going to be walking on it for a few days. Sorry Zuko."

"What am I supposed to do." Zuko groaned. " Aang still has so much to learn before the comet."

"You can still watch him." Katara said. "He's got the basics down so it's really just a matter of fine-tuning his technique and working on more advanced combat moves." She reminded him.

"I just hate being a burden." Zuko muttered.

"You're never a burden to us." Katara assured as she began healing Zuko's ankle.

Zuko was silent.

"I'm sorry." Katara stated, "I shouldn't have treated you like I did. You didn't deserve that." This was the first time she had brought up her previous treatment of him since their field trip.

He shrugged. "It's okay."

"No it isn't." Katara countered. "I was so angry at the world and I took that anger out on you. It was cruel and it was wrong. I'm sorry."

Zuko looked at her and nodded, letting her know she'd been forgiven.

"That's all I can do for now, how's it feel?" she asked letting the water back into the canteen.

Zuko rotated his ankle carefully, "Better" he decided, "just sore."

"Lets go inside so I can bandage it properly." She suggested.

Zuko got to his feet, Katara providing a steady hand on his lower back for support.

She assisted him inside and sat him down at the table. Katara left returning moments later with a bandage that she began wrapping around Zuko's ankle.

"Thank you Katara."

—

Vulnerable (All)

Approx. one week before the comets arrival

Zuko curled in on himself as he lay on the beach. He had woke up this morning with a headache. After completing morning training with Aang he had headed down to the beach to get away from the noise of the others.

That had been six hours ago, the headache had morphed into a full blown migraine by this time and Zuko could hardly think from the agony crashing through his skull.

He was beginning to wish he had stayed at the house. Even with the added noise at least he wouldn't be alone.

"ZUKO!" shouted a nearby voice.

"SPARKY! WHERE'D YOU GO?"

Zuko open his eyes a slit, groaning softly.

Toph and Aang were walking down the beach toward him.

Zuko opened his mouth and lifted his head slightly to respond, only to whimper as the pain ratcheted up another notch.

"Zuko! Guys, over here." Someone ran over and landed on their knees beside him, blocking the intensity of the sun.

He gave a soft sigh of relief as he once again opened his eyes.

Toph and Aang were kneeling beside him with looked of concern on their faces. The other three rushed over.

Katara knelt down beside him as well, gently brushing his bangs to the side. "Zuko?" she asked gently.

The fire prince leaned into her touch desperately, her cold fingers a soothing balm on his aching head.

"Toph, can you make us an earth tent?"

The blind girl nodded, quickly constructing an earth tent.

Aang lit a fire in his hand as Sokka and Suki arrived.

"What's wrong with him?" Sokka asked his sister.

"I'm not sure." She replied, keeping a cold hand on Zuko's head as it seemed to help slightly. "It looks like a headache, but I've never seen one this bad before."

"It's probably a migraine." Aang stated

"What's a migraine?" Suki asked worryingly

"Imagine the worst headache you've ever had and multiply it by ten." Aang replied.

The other winced in sympathy.

"Is that it, Zuko?" Katara asked.

Zuko pried one of his hands away from his head and squeezed Katara wrist in affirmation.

"What can we do to help?"

"Kouzon always would rest somewhere dark and cool for a while, but I don't know if-" Aang was cut off by a soft whimper from Zuko.

"Would that help?" Katara asked gently.

Zuko gave her wrist a light squeeze.

"We can't move him." Toph murmured softly. "His hearts already too fast."

"We'll make do." Sokka stated. "Suki can you run back to the house for some towels?" His girlfriend nodded and took off. "Toph, go down to the water and bring back a couple buckets of water. Katara can make some Ice balls and set them around the tent. As they melt it'll get colder in here." Toph nodded and she left as well.

"Let's get you more comfortable." Sokka stated looking down at Zuko.

Katara shifted slowly bringing Zuko's head to rest in her lap. "Try to relax." She soothed

The boys gently stretched Zuko's legs out until he was lying in a boneless heap rather than the tense ball he had been when they found him.

Toph returned with four stone buckets of water that Katara froze and placed around the tent. Suki returned moments later with the towels.

Katara soaked one in cold water, laying it over Zuko's forehead and eyes.

Zuko gave a sigh of relief and relaxed.

"Do you want us to leave?" Suki asked, figuring the Prince might prefer to be alone right now.

"NO!" his eyes opened and he attempted to push himself up. Aang and Katara both put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stay down. Zuko collapsed back with a moan. "Don't go, please? I don't want to be alone." His voice a barely audible plea.

"We won't." Toph assured, placing a grounding hand on his arm.

Sokka moved towards the prince's feet. He undid the straps on Zuko's boots and carefully removed them. Suki and Katara doing the same with his shirt.

Aang snuffed out his flame and ran his heated hand over Zuko's tense back to help relax him, as tension and stress would only make the headache worse.

Katara lifted his head a little and placed a folded towel underneath to provide a better cushion.

Zuko blinked tiredly, now that the pain had begun to fade exhaustion was taking over.

"Get some rest." Katara encouraged as she began running her fingers through his hair.

"We're not going anywhere." Suki assured him.

"Wake me if I have a nightmare?"

"Promise." Sokka agreed.

Zuko smiled weakly and slowly drifted off.

Later

Zuko slowly began to wake up. The first thing he noticed was the pleasing absence of his migraine.

Slowly awareness of his surroundings returned.

His head still rested on Katara's lap as her cool fingers played with his hair. Aang's warm hand rubbing soothing circles over his back. He could feel Toph's head on his hip as she napped against him. Sokka was sitting at his feet, running a thumb over his ankle bone. Suki sat beside her boyfriend, her fingers resting lightly on his other leg.

Something warm settled in his chest. They had stayed.

"Sparky?" Toph lifted her head, placing a hand in its place.

Zuko opened his eyes slowly. "Hey," he rasped weakly.

"How do you feel?" Katara asked as her fingers stilled.

"Tired." He replied with a yawn.

"I'm not surprised." Sokka said "That was awful."

Zuko hummed his agreement. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours." Suki replied.

Aang removed his hand, to Zuko's displease and leaned over to pear at Zuko. "Are you alright?"

"I will be," he admitted. "Right now I feel like I got trampled by a heard of komodo rhinos."

"Can you move?" Katara asked.

"I'd rather not." He replied, his body ached with bone deep exhaustion. Zuko frowned slightly. "Aang could you… " he began shyly.

"Sure. "He replied cheerfully. The warm hand returned to rubbing relaxing circles on his back.

Zuko smiled softly as he burrowed deeper into his makeshift pillow.

"How about we stay out here tonight?" Sokka suggested. "It'd be a nice change after being cooped up in the house for a while."

The others murmured their agreement.

"Thank you." Zuko whispered, knowing they'd agreed to accommodate him.

Katara mussed his hair gently. "No problem."

Zuko opened his eyes to better relay how grateful he was for their support.

"You're one of us." Aang assured.

This time Zuko believed it.