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The explosion in the Fire Nation ship rippled through the sea with a terrifying force that seized the movements of every soldier. The Fire Nation soldiers knew they had to retreat because the battle was lost. Hakoda couldn’t believe they pulled of the infiltration and explosion of the engines of the Fire Nation ship without casualties, but now he had to assess his men’s injures and the state of the ship. Before he could do anything, he heard screams coming from his cabin where Zuko was told to hide. Without noticing it Hakoda was running to Zuko’s direction and when he opened the cabin’s door, he almost lost all rational thought. Zuko was pinned to the floor under Zhao and naked from the waist down. Hakoda screamed as he took a knife and stabbed the Fire Nation General in the back. After that he lost time, because one moment he was holding a blooded knife and the next time he opened his eyes he was being hold back by Bato as he saw Zhao body drifting away into the sea.
“Koda are you with me? Can I trust you to calm down?”, asked Bato in a worried voice that he rarely used.
“Zuko? Where’s Zuko?! What happened? I need to help Zuko!” Hakoda tried to free himself from Bato’s arms, but it seemed he had no strength.
“It’s okay, just try to breath. You already saved Zuko, that man will never touch him again. I need you to calm down before I let you near Zuko, or you might upset him and right now he needs you. Do you understand?”, Bato uttered every word very slowly and calmly as if he were talking to a scared child.
After heavy minutes that weighted hours Hakoda was able to compose himself a bit and let go of his tunnel vision. He needed another moment to regain full control of his limbs but with Bato’s help he managed to straighten himself. Flashes of what happened to the man that attacked Zuko were becoming clearer, but he regretted none of his actions.
“Thank you”, he said with a firm voice. Hakoda was grateful to Bato, but now he needed to be a captain and abandon any hesitation to act as such. “Gather the injured in the infirmary and don’t let anyone came to my cabin unless you hear me call the healer. Do you understand?”, he used a firm voice so there was no room for discussion. Bato bowed his head in confirmation of his orders and stepped back.
Hakoda took steady steps to his cabin as he felt the eyes of the crew following him. Most of the crew had no clue to what had happened, all they saw was their captain murderous eyes as he fought a Fire Nation soldier that was hiding in the ship. The only ones that saw what really went down were Bato and Nanouk. While Bato helped Hakoda it was Nanouk that protected Zuko from the curious eyes of the rest of the crew. He swiftly closed the door and stood guard while the crew was distracted by the commotion in the deck. He trusted his crew like he trusted his family, but his protective instincts enhance when he is in the young prince’s proximity. He wanted to comfort the younger boy, but Zuko barely allowed Hakoda to touch him and only on good days. Today was not a good day. The only way he knew how to show his affection for the boy was standing guard and pretend he didn’t hear the muffled cries coming from behind the door.
Hakoda was walking in his direction, but Nanouk was afraid that he would frighten Zuko more. When he arrived Hakoda told him to let him pass with a voice that left no room for choice but thanked him for protecting Zuko and ordered him to not let anyone pass without his permission. In that moment Nanouk felt his body relax and a weight he didn’t know was pressing him down left him. He could trust his captain, Hakoda would know how to help Zuko and everything would get better.
Hakoda opened the cabin’s door determined but when his eyes landed on the small boy curled up into himself, trembling, crying and still naked he almost lost himself again. He took a deep breath to steady himself and slowly closed the space between him and Zuko. The first thing he needed to do was to cover Zuko, he didn’t want this situation to have any more power imbalanced that it already had.
“Zuko? Can you hear me? It’s Hakoda. You don’t need to worry I am just going to lay this blanket on you.”, Hakoda used a quiet voice and all of his movements were slow to appear non-threatening. But as he took another step to lay the blanket on Zuko he flinched back and hit his head against the wall behind him.
“Stay back! D…d…don’t touch me!”, Zuko screamed with a voice that made him seem much younger. “Get out…please…please…leave.”, he resumed his crying but uncurled himself and opened his eyes.
“Zuko I would rather die than ever lay a hand on a child. You have my permission to kill anybody that touches you like that like, me included. Do you understand?”, Hakoda cried out with a hoarse voice. “I have never touch you without permission and I won’t start now. But I need to make sure you are not injured; I need to you to talk to me even if it’s difficult. It’s my job to protect you now, do you understand?” Hakoda finally let his unshed tears fall freely. In this moment he admitted to himself what he couldn’t yet admit to the crew but couldn’t hide from Bato. He looked at Zuko and saw a son, his son. Zuko had always been his he just hadn’t known it.
Strangely or not Zuko looked at Hakoda as if he could read his thoughts. Still trembling he extended a hand to accept the blanket and Hakoda. Zuko covered himself in the shaggy blanket and tried his best to calm down with the breathing exercises his uncle had thought him. Hakoda saw this as the opportunity to make sure the prince wasn´t injured.
“Zuko I don’t need details right now, but I need to know where he hurt you, so I can help you.”
“He burned my clothes. He burned me. He touched me. He…he…he touched…”
“Shhhhh… It’s okay. Can you show me the burns, or would you prefer to show them to Toklo?” Hakoda knew that the healer and Zuko were on good terms, and more important than knowing what had happened was attending to Zuko’s injuries.
“No! Please don’t tell anyone!” Zuko understood by Hakoda’s face that people already knew. “Who?”, he asked in a small voice.
“Just me, Bato and Nanouk. They won’t said anything, we respect your privacy, only you have the right to tell anyone what happened. If you don’t want healer Toklo to came do you allow me to treat your wounds?” Hakoda didn’t want to be to overbearing but he couldn’t allow the burns to infect or Zuko to fall ill.
“I don’t…want you to see. I don’t want you to be disappointed in me. I couldn’t defend myself. I was weak.”, he said as more tears fell from his eyes.
“Zuko I would never blame you for something you couldn’t control. Did you ever see me angry over my men’s injuries? If I am not mad with soldiers how could I be mad with my son for being attacked?” Hakoda called him son without thinking, maybe it was too soon or the wrong moment, but it was said.
“You can treat them”
Hakoda left silently and came back after a couple of minutes with his hands full of ointments and bandages. He had helped treat a lot of burns as a Water Tribe Soldier fighting the Fire Nation, but he asked Toklo for advice just to be safe without telling him anything that happened to Zuko.
“I brought you clothes but I need to treat the wounds first okay?”
Zuko moved very slowly as he walked and sat down on the chair next to Hakoda. He removed the blanket to reveal two burns in the shape of hands in both sides of his hip, dark bruises, and cuts in his legs. Hakoda suspected that his jacket was hiding more injuries but now he needed to concentrate on what he saw.
“I am going to put an ointment in your burns now, it's going to hurt. Try not to move but tell me to stop if it’s too much. Tell me to stop and I will stop.” Zuko nodded his head but said nothing.
Very carefully and with a kindness he had only showed to his wife and his kids he tended to the handprints marking Zuko’s pale skin. The burns were not as bad as he first thought and with a little luck, they wouldn’t leave scars. After asking for permission again he treated a few shallow cuts and when he was done, he looked into Zuko’s eyes. Now came a worse task.
“I need to touch your legs and feet to see if anything is broken or sprained. Is that okay?”
“Yes”, said Zuko now more composed.
Hakoda started to touch his thighs slowly and in the most professional manner possible, but when he touched Zuko’s inner right thigh he jumped in the chair but said nothing. Hakoda took a step back, waited a few moments and continued his examination. By the looks in Zuko’s face he was pretty sure the boy had a broken ankle which explained a lot. He used a piece of wood as a splint and bandaged his ankle. He would need ice to help with the sweeling and pain. Hakoda helped a now calm Zuko into the pair of pants the brought earlier and asked Zuko permission to treat his upper body. They felt into a reassuring silence as Hakoda continued to treat cuts and bruised ribs. When Hakoda stops Zuko looks sleepy and Hakoda leaves to bring same jasmine tea. That always helps Zuko relax. Just has he passed the cup of tea to Zuko’s hands did he noticed a broken finger that he immediately treats. Zuko must have a great pain tolerance if he can look so composed with these injuries. Hakoda didn’t want to think about this.
“Zuko I want you to take this”, Hakoda pointed to a remedy Zuko knew to reduce pain, but also to cause sleep. Zuko didn’t want to sleep but he also wanted to please Hakoda, so he brought the cup to his lips with shaking fingers. Just as he was taking the first sip a hand grabbed the cup.
“I don’t want to force you to take anything. Tell me what are thinking about.”
“I don’t want to be alone and if I take this you will leave me”, said Zuko afraid of being rejected.
“I am here for you and I won’t leave until you wake up, you have my word”, Hakoda ensured. As Zuko drunk the remedy Hakoda felt the need to translate the feelings he had carried in his heart for the last months into words. “Zuko I think you already knew this, but I am yours and you are mine. Under Water Tribe law we just need verbalize how we feel and if you feel the same you can officially be my son.”
Zuko just stared with his big eyes searching Hakoda’s for a lie, but he found nothing. With a bright smile he said, “Thank you dad”.