Dark Puck - Blood Lines

Iroh was, as usual, in his office.

“General?” asked Kouji as he entered.

“Yes, Kouji? What’s on your mind?” the old man asked, looking up.

“Would it be possible for you to cover this afternoon’s meetings for Zuko?”

He frowned, worried. “Did something happen?”

“He fell asleep when Katara was fixing a headache.”

Iroh relaxed. “Oh, good. He needs the sleep. Of course I’ll handle things.”

Kouji grinned at him.  “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, grinning back.

The boy reached into his pocket and removed the schedule.  “Here’s the list,” he told the old man, handing it over.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the schedule and scanning it.

Kouji waited to be dismissed, idly hoping that Katara would remain with Zuko while he slept.

“I should go get started on these, then,” Iorh said, smiling, and headed off to do so.

The boy took his time wandering back — at least until he spotted one of the palace girls.  He then hid in the nearest room.

The girl, thankfully, didn’t seem to have seen him, and continued on her way, arguing with her friend — both of them were too young to be considered as royal brides, but both had sisters in contention, and they were actually taking bets on whose sister would take the prize.

Kouji scowled as he overheard, and privately vowed they’d both lose.

They went around the corner before long, and the hallway was clear for him to continue.  At last, he returned to where he’d left Katara and Zuko.  Zuko was still asleep, with his head in Katara’s lap. Qiang looked up and padded over to Kouji when he came in, nuzzling him gently.

Kouji chirped softly to her before kneeling and hugging the little dragon.

Qiang licked his ear, and Katara smiled at them. “Iroh’s taking over?” she asked, softly.

He nodded as he released the baby and stroked her head.  “He said that Zuko needs his sleep.”

At that moment, the Firelord twitched a little, making a small noise, that sounded like fear, or maybe pain. Katara gently brushed his hair off his forehead. “Shhh…”

Kouji moved closer, looking concerned.  Zuko seemed to calm down a little, though he still seemed uneasy.

“He’s been doing that off and on since you left,” she whispered.

“Nightmares,” he replied.  “He gets them a lot.”

“Oh,” she said, frowning down at him. “…does he get headaches a lot, too?”

“…I… I don’t know,” Kouji said.  “I haven’t been able to keep as close an eye on him lately.”

She nodded. “Let me know if you notice another one, okay?”

“Sure.”

At that point, Zuko started to stir again — not as if he were having another bad dream, but more as if he were on the edge of waking up.

Silently, Kouji willed the Firelord to stay asleep — he needed more, damn it!

Unfortunately, Zuko had other ideas. His eyes flickered open. “…mmm…?”

“Morning, Brat,” Katara said, softly.

“How long was I out?” he asked, blushing faintly when he realized his head was still in Katara’s lap. He didn’t sit up, however.

“Not long enough,” was Kouji’s opinion.  “About an hour and a half.”

That got him to sit up. “You should’ve woken me up, I’m supposed to be—”

“Iroh went in your stead,” Kouji interrupted.

“You need the sleep,” Katara added.

“…but… that’s… it feels… irresponsible,” Zuko finished, lamely.

“Not when so many factors are contributing to your unhealthiness.”

He sighed, exasperated. “I’ve lost a little weight. That doesn’t mean I’m—”

“More than a little, Brat,” Katara said, just as exasperated.

“How often do you get those headaches?”

“Not that often,” he replied, after a short pause.

“…you’re lying,” Kouji noted.

“…Okay, a couple times a week. But that’s—”

“Zuko, I’m being trained by Toph.”

“And I told you. I get them a couple times a week.”

“And how many is a couple, hmm?” Katara asked.

“Or do you get your definition of couple from the same one as your definition of ‘fine’?”

The young Firelord didn’t seem to have much of a response to that.

“All right, forget how often they are. How bad do they get?” Katara asked, figuring they might get more response from a different question.

“And please don’t lie.  We want to help.”

Zuko hesitated a long moment, then, grudgingly, said, “Bad. Light and sound hurt, I have to lock myself in my room and pull all the blinds shut. Sometimes I get nauseous.”

Kouji looked dismayed.

So did Katara.

“…what? They’re just headaches.”

“That’s a migraine, Zuko,” said Kouji.

The waterbender nodded. “How often have you been getting them? And about how long do they last?”

Zuko shifted a little uncomfortably. “Not that often. And usually only an hour or two.”

“Not good… but they could be worse.  My mom gets them on the full moon.”

Katara studied Zuko for a long moment. “If you took better care of yourself, you know, you probably wouldn’t get them as much. Or as badly.”

“She’s right,” Kouji said.  “When did you start getting them?”

“Headaches in general, or the really bad ones?” Zuko asked, again shifting uncomfortably, but glad they hadn’t pressed and asked how often “not often” was.

“Both.”

“Headaches in general, I’ve gotten every so often for a couple years. Really bad ones…” He frowned, thinking back. “A few months ago. I guess after the heart attack?”

“…and you didn’t say anything until now,” Katara said.

He shrugged. “No reason to, really. Don’t happen often enough.”

Kouji slapped his forehead with his palm.  “Zuko.”

“What?” he asked, frowning at the younger boy.

“Migraines can be a symptom of something more serious.”

“…what, really?”

“Yes,” Katara said, annoyed. “Besides, however “not often” they happen, headaches bad enough that they make you nauseous are generally something you should see a healer about.”

Kouji nodded.  “Mom had to drink a special tea in order to function when she got them.”

“..oh,” Zuko said, quietly.

The boy frowned slightly.  “…actually, Yui was starting to get them too, the last couple months before I left…”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Katara said.

“Mom said it was a part of growing up.  Which is weird.  I’m growing up too and I haven’t got them.”

Katara got a very strange look on her face, as if she’d just come to a rather awkward realization.

“…what?  What is it?”

“Um, well, Kouji, sometimes girls have… headaches, or-or occasionally other problems, once a month, when… um…” She was bright red.

Zuko made a little choking noise, also going bright red. “Um, I’m going to go take over for Iroh now,” he said, very quickly, and left the room even faster.

“…They do?  Why?  Why did Zuko just…?”

“…oh, spirits, you never— no one ever…” Katara sighed, and flopped down, still blushing furiously. “Why me?”

“No one ever what, Katara?  Why are you blushing?”

“When a girl reaches a certain age — sometimes as young as ten or eleven, but usually a couple years older… oh, I’m doing this all wrong,” she complained to herself, still bright red.

“…there’s a right way?” he asked, confused.

“…Okay. Okay, um, well… oh, no one else is going to— dammit! Sit down.”

“…okay?”  He sat.

It was painful, and highly embarrassing for both of them, but over the next hour or so, Katara managed to successfully explain the Facts of Life to the young nobleman.  When she was done, Kouji was as red as she was.  “Oh… so that’s why Yui hurts every month…”

“Y-yeah,” she said.

“Um.  Wow.”

“Yeah,” she repeated.

“…thanks?”

“Y-you’re welcome,” she replied.

“Um.  So.  Sex.  Um.  Is it something that… girls can do?  Without guys?”

Katara went, if possible, even redder. “Um. Yeah, but… most prefer to do it with a guy.”

Kouji was a brighter colour.  “Oh.  I see.  Um.”

“Why do you ask?”

By now, Kouji’s face matched his clothing.  He mumbled something.

“Sorry? I — I didn’t hear that…”

“…I saw Azula.  With Minami…”

Katara went even redder. “Oh. Oh. Um. I-I wouldn’t tell Zuko if I were you,” she said.

“Haven’t.”  He hesitated.  “Does it… usually… hurt someone?”

She blinked. “…not that I know of… I-I mean, a girl’s first time is supposed to hurt a little, but, after that…”

The boy honestly looked relieved.

“…Was Azula hurting Minami when you saw them?” Katara asked quietly.

He nodded, and hesitantly explained what he’d seen.

“…That’s…” She clenched her fists. “That’s… not usually what sex is supposed to be about. I don’t think. I mean, if— if the two people agree, and they’re safe… but I can’t imagine anyone agreeing to be hurt like that. Or Azula keeping Minami safe.”

“Minami was crying,” Kouji said softly.  “I was thinking… that if that’s how it’s supposed to be… I don’t want to…”

“It’s not,” Katara said, firmly. Virgin the young waterbender might be, but she’d read enough novels to know that love and intercourse were not supposed to be about making people cry.

“Good,” was the soft reply.

“But you don’t have to think about this yet,” Katara said hastily. “I mean… you’re what, eleven? That’s way too young to be… thinking about this.”

“I’ll be twelve in a month and a half.”  Still, he looked relieved.

“Still too young,” she insisted. “So don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.”

She smiled at him. “When does the Brat get out of his next meeting?” she asked, to change the subject.

He gratefully seized onto it.  “Just before six.  You should grab him then and take him to dinner.”

“Maybe I should,” she mused.

“You really should,” he urged.

“…no, I’ll let you do it,” she said, after a moment. “He’s probably… better if you do it.”

“How do you mean?”

“I sort of… well, I was really, really mad at him… and sort of… um… told him I’d kill him if he misbehaved.”

Kouji blinked.  “…oh.  Wow.  No wonder he seemed wary when I first met you all.”

“Well, I mean, I had a reason,” she said. “But… still. He’s probably still afraid I’ll do it.”

“So you should take him to dinner and straighten that out.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s probably a bad idea. People will think I’m courting him or something.”

Kouji failed to see the bad in this, but sighed.  “All right.”

“…I think he could probably use a break. Like, a good, long break. A few days, at least. To get away from all this stress.”

“He won’t be happy about another vacation,” Kouji mused.  “But he does need one.”

“Another vacation?” she asked, puzzled.

Carefully, Kouji explained that Zuko had gotten excessively stressed before the explosion and “convinced” to go on a two-week retreat to another island.

“…I’ll bet he loved that,” she muttered, and sighed. “How bad was “excessively stressed”?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“…that bad?”

Kouji said nothing.

“So, that bad. Wow.”

“You can see why the General, Healer Leilani, and I sent him off.”

Katara nodded. “Yeah, I can.”

“And it was like pulling teeth to get him to agree.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to convince him to take a second.”

“I can try, at least,” she offered.

“Would you?”  He smiled at her.  “That’d be great.”

She smiled back. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”

Kouji nodded.  “That’s all I ask.  I’m going to see what I can get for Zuko’s dinner.”

“Good idea.”

The boy glanced at his dragon.  “What about you, Qiang?  What’re you gonna do?”  She yawned, curled up, and promptly fell asleep.  Kouji laughed.  “Of course.”  He bade Katara goodbye, then ran off to see to dinner.