Chapter Text
Everyone stood around me, watching with fascination and some horror. They quickly backed away when I sat up and looked around.
I could see everything. Each fiber of fabric that made up the tent, the dust in the air. I could hear birds chirping and animals grazing outside.
I inhaled, though I didn’t need to, and the scent of blood hit me. I reached for my throat as a dull aching settled there and realized that as I inhaled again, the blood made it worse. I glanced around and when my eyes landed on Zuko, I knew it was his blood that smelled so divine.
I reached for him and in an instant, he was in my arms. I held him tighter than I dared. He groaned in response.
“Lee,” he said, “you’re a lot stronger than me right now.”
I loosened my grip.
“That’s better,” I heard him mumble. His arms went around me and he stroked my hair. Like usual, I nuzzled my head into his neck. The scent of his blood was very concentrated there and I shuddered. It was harder and harder to fight my instincts, so I ripped myself away.
“Stay away from me,” I rasped.
“It’s a good idea for all the humans to leave,” Aito suggested. He waved everyone out. “Go!”
They all looked at us once more before leaving.
“How do you feel?” Aito asked gently.
“Weird,” I said. “I mean, up until yesterday I thought you were dead.”
“Three days ago.”
“What?”
“It was three days ago.” He smiled nervously. “I’m really sorry that it came to this.”
“What…? Why…?”
“Zuko asked me to. He was panicking. He was desperate to save you- they all were. So when I said I knew you, he had an idea.”
When I didn’t answer, he added, “He wanted to do anything to save you. That was just an option I had…at the moment.”
I nodded. I inhaled again and my throat burned. I reached for it. Aito chuckled. It was such a beautiful sound, after all these years.
“Thirsty, huh?” Aito said, and I nodded again. “I bet we can find something around here for you to munch on. Until you can control yourself a little better, it might not be a good idea to expose you to human blood yet. I’d rather see how you do around an animal first, then maybe ask one of your friends to cut their hand open or something.”
“Zuko’s blood smelled really good.” I breathed again, and the scent was worth the burn.
“You think he’d do it?” Aito shook his head. “He looks at you like he’s willing to take an arrow to the heart for you. Sure he’d ask how high? if you told him to jump.”
I laughed a little at that. Aito patted my shoulder and led me out of the tent, where everyone waited with baited breath.
“How’re you feeling?” Katara asked.
“Careful, Katara, he’ll bite you!” Sokka hid behind his sister and she shook her head, annoyed.
I frowned. “I don’t bite. Not you guys, anyway.”
“Not yet!”
I rolled my eyes at him, but smiled. I had never been so thankful to be annoyed at him, even if I sometimes found it endearing.
“Aito is going to take me hunting,” I said.
“Yeah, we’ll be back soon.”
“But we just got you back,” Aang said, pouting.
“I’ll be back once I can stand to smell you.”
I really hated hurting animals. At least with usual hunting, their suffering would end quickly. I murmured a soft “thank you, I’m so sorry” to each rabbit I killed and heard them squeak and whine as I drained their blood.
At least the others might be able to use their furs for something.
When I returned to camp, everyone’s blood no longer bothered me and inhaling around them didn’t cause that dry ache anymore. All of the pain was gone and I hoped, in vain, I’d never feel it again.
Our plans to head toward the Southern Air Temple were still on, so we decided to turn in early to prepare for the next day, which would be full of travel. The homestretch. And, as usual, we stayed up later than expected, talking and laughing around the fire.
I wasn’t tired at all, and suspected Aito felt the same.
“You know, Lee,” Toph said, “it’s really weird not hearing your heartbeat anymore. I sort of miss it.”
I shrugged. “Sorry. Do I…look weird?”
“You look like you’re sick,” replied Sokka. “Like, really sick.”
“Yeah,” Katara added, “makes me worried.”
“Well…” I said, “I can’t really get hurt anymore.”
A beat passed, then Sokka asked me something.
“You’ll live forever, right?”
I wasn’t sure, so Aito answered for me. “Yup.”
"What'll you do when we die?”
Another beat passed, then I smiled. “I’ll stake my heart.”
Later that night, I wasn’t as cold as I thought I’d be, laying in the grass and watching the stars above with Zuko beside me, not unlike many nights before.
We reached for each other’s hand at the same time and he wasn’t repulsed by my cold skin when I touched him. Now that I thought about it, he didn’t back away, either, when I hugged him earlier. My grip slowly tightened on his hand until I was certain I could hold it without causing him pain.
“Don’t you think I’m gross now?” I asked. “I mean…what I did earlier to those poor bunnies…”
“It’s my fault. I told Aito to do it.”
“I guess. You don’t think I’m…?”
“You’re what?”
“I don’t know. A monster?”
“I could never think that.”
“Even if-”
“Never.”
I finally relented. “...Okay.”
He looked at me and sighed calmly, and I was taken by how beautiful he looked under moonlight. He smiled the type of smile that would’ve stopped my heart if it were still beating.
“I love you.”
I carefully stroked his face as if the action would break him. “As I love you.”
Then I held his face just as carefully, and he leaned in slow enough to remind me to be gentle with him. He kissed me, as soft as the breeze overhead, then suddenly stronger as if pushing the limits.
The scent of his blood was sweet like vanilla, and he was so warm, like a pastry fresh out of the oven; and really, the urge to tear into him like a child tearing into a cake on their birthday was there- but it wasn’t strong. Not like before. I could do away with it now, banish it to those things I swore to never think about, unless on the rare occasion he’d offer himself up.
I noticed that he noticed the way I was staring at him and asked, quietly, “Am I scaring you?” I was afraid of what he might say.
“No, you were just a little intense there for a second.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He kissed me again, and then a few more times after that.
“I’m glad you aren’t dead.”
“Yeah, me too.”
When we tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags, and Zuko slowly fell asleep as we held each other, I promised to stay awake and keep his nightmares away, just as he’d promised me many times before.