Fire and Rain

Iroh spent the next two days bedridden. Or, as it were, blanket-ridden. He’d found what he thought were goji berries, but their tea turned him fever-sick within hours. In retrospect, he thought later, it was blind luck that Kea had wandered off for several hours to find food. If she'd been there, she'd have taken his poisonous tea without a second thought. Fortunately, she'd avoided being poisoned. Unfortunately, she'd lost all their food when she returned to the camp and found Iroh collapsed and struggling to breathe. The last thing Iroh remembered before darkness swept over him was the bag Kea carried, stuffed full of fruits, nuts and game, go tumbling into the fire as she threw it away in her panic.

During his conscious periods, Kea brought him water and bade him drink, drink, drink. It seemed like gallons. He wondered dizzily why, until Kea spread her hands over his belly. Then the most curious sensation overtook him. It was like a fan had begun turning in the pit of his stomach. The blessedly cold breeze it created pushed through his entire body. Through every muscle, organ and vessel, out to the tiniest capillaries. Seconds before he lost consciousness for the fourth time, the intense concentration slid out of Kea’s face and body. “Finally,” she whispered.

            For the first time in his life, he found the climb from soupy, drugged unconsciousness to wakefulness a battle, like swimming up from the bottom of a pool of honey. But when he woke, he knew his fever had broken. He also knew it had something to do with Kea and the gallons and gallons of water she’d made him drink, but his memory of the past two days was rather sparse.

            He sat up and immediately regretted it as a wave of nausea swept him. He groaned. The sound alerted Kea, who rushed over, worry flitting like frightened firelight in her eyes. “Lie down, you great fool. If you undo all the work I did on you, I’ll re-poison you myself.”

            Iroh smiled wearily. “It seems I haven’t learned my lesson.”

            Kea gaped. “You mean you’ve done this before?”

            “Not with these berries, but I did mistake white jade for white dragon lily. I made tea and I swelled up and it nearly killed me!”

            The expression of utter disbelief on her face was comical. She facepalmed, shook her head, flapped her hands in resignation. “Just lie down. You’re still working the last of it out of your system. If you have to throw up, don’t try to keep it down. It’s a side effect.”

            “Of what?”

            “Of the process by which I extracted the poison.”

            “Oh.”

            He didn’t have to throw up, thankfully, and by the time Kea started the fire (which was amusing for Iroh to watch), he was well enough to walk and help her cook supper. Kea wouldn’t let him eat as much as he normally did, and frequently checked him by placing her hands on his belly. Echoes of that curious cooling feeling pulsed in him every time.

            “Do you feel well enough to…er…” She gestured at the fire. It was tiny and ill and red. Iroh chuckled and lit a small flame in his palm to test his strength. Almost back to full. So he reached out to Kea’s little fire and nursed it to health. Kea fed it with more logs, laid out her bedroll close to him and settled in, all the while cutting her worried eyes toward him. Her concern touched him.

            “I’m feeling much better now, and I owe you my thanks,” Iroh said in an attempt to allay her worry.

            “You owe me a promise that you’ll never do that again.” She glared hard at him.

            Iroh laughed. “You can be most certain of it.”

            “Good. I just found you and I’m not about to lose you.” A blush crept into her cheeks.

            Without knowing completely what he was doing, Iroh leaned in and kissed her. He felt her tense, then relax. She put a hand on his bearded cheek and moved her lips against his with a little moan. Iroh meant to pull away, but Kea moved her hand to the back of his head and flicked her tongue into his mouth. It was cool, soft and slick and tasted like jasmine tea. He gave a mental shrug and put his back into the kiss. They remained like that for a long time. Kea kept her hands above his shoulders and did not tease him like he’d expected. To his mild surprise, she was the one to break the kiss. With her eyes dreamily closed, she exhaled a thick, swirling cloud of steam.

            “If that were any hotter, both of us would be breathing fire right now.”

            The spark in her eyes told him there were already flames, just not where he could see them. That knowledge only made the tide of desire in him surge.

            “I’ll try to turn it down next time.”

            “By the way, teasing me when you’re sick is way unfair.”

            “I know you will pay me back for it.”

            “Don’t be so excited about it. When justice comes, it will be swift and brutal.” Kea set her face and flexed her muscles. To Iroh it was unbelievably endearing.