Tia sat cross legged with her back against the cold biting metal of the ship she'd been taken aboard. There was no way to escape. There was no way to get her hands untied. They were wound tightly and securely behind her back. Her eyes traced the slats of sunlight filtering down from the grate above. If she could just break the chains on her wrists she'd be at least able to jump the ship. She sighed leaning her head back against the metal closing her eyes. Footsteps slowly ascended the haul downwards towards where she sat barred away as a prisoner. Commander Zhao looked Tia over carefully with a dark smirk on his face before crossing the expanse between them to meet her. He nudged his toe against her thigh when she didn't acknowledge his presence.
"Still think you're a tough little women eh?" he questioned. Tia refused to open her eyes nor look at the man.
"Do what you want. You will anyway." She remarked shifting her shoulders just a fraction. She waited for the outburst. Zhao was not a calm tempered man all of the time. She could remember from the handful of moments she'd witnessed his anger when she'd been a child at the palace.
"Oh no. See, I'm going to take you back to Azula and let her decide what to do with you." Tia's eyes snapped open quickly.
"If you take me back to Azula, she'll take the credit. She'll tell everyone that she caught me. You won't see any recognition." Zhao took a long moment to respond. He crossed his arms over his chest staring down at her.
"You're lucky to have even survived. I can't imagine those burns feel pleasant on your back." He whispered. Tia's back ached and throbbed in ways he wouldn't understand but she would not give him that satisfaction.
"She will not give you any credit. Keep me on your ship. Keep me hidden, then when she fails, you can use me to shift your position higher than hers." Tia's words came out quickly.
"You're a fast thinker." Zhao chuckled. "A ruthless woman really. I tell you what. I don't know what you think you'll get out of this…but I'll take the bait. I keep you safe, you're my prisoner, you stay alive, and I'll use you when the time comes. I guess really you get to live. Azula would just kill you at this point." Tia let out a dry breath biting her lip glancing at Zhao.
"I can work." She looked down at the floor. She knew that with a man like him, bent with pride, she'd have to make herself seem small. "I can work on this ship and earn a keep." Zhao raised an eyebrow.
"Are you proposing I unchain you?" she didn't move for a moment trying to let the possibility sink in for him.
"I can cook and wash. I'd even clean the deck." He laughed again but this time more heartily.
"Add the latrine buckets to that list and I might consider it." Tia held her breath.
"I'll do it." She nodded before looking up at him hopefully. "I can do all of it. I did more work than that at the palace." She whispered softly.
"Then it's a deal. You start in the morning." He turned barking at a man in armor by the door. "You there, grab an extra blanket for the prisoner." Tia blinked surprised.
"What…" he knelt down beside her and reached for her wrists behind her back. She made to scoot away from him but stopped when he smirked at her.
"Trust the serpent and eat the apple." He clicked a key into the lock and the wristlets fell off her arms. Tia slowly brought her arms around her front as the man came back with an old shoddy blanket. "I'm going to put trust in our deal little girl. Betray that trust and I will burn you." He nodded to her before standing back up and left. The guard was dismissed from the doorway and Tia was left alone. She snatched the blanket off the floor and wrapped it warmly around herself. Trust the serpent and eat the apple; take what he was giving her because it was the best she could get. He didn't know what was about to hit him. Tia smirked before closing her eyes gently. He thought he could burn her? Nothing could burn her as bad as she was already burnt.
The moment her feet hit the ships upper deck, Tia gulped down a large deep breath. A smile broke out on her face. Despite having a mop in one hand and soot covering her arms from fingers to elbow, she smiled. She brought a grimy hand up to her forehead and wiped at her brow creating a thick black coal line from where she'd scrubbed the engine room. Cleaning had always been something Tia could do. She'd cleaned and scrubbed the fire palace as a child so why not clean their stupid ship too? If it meant she could fool Zhao into trusting her so that she could escape, what did it matter? A temperate wind caught her face stinging with chilled air from the mountains and Tia shivered a moment.
"You had better get to work." A soldier snapped eyeing her. She grinned at him.
"Not a prisoner anymore. I scrub the decks." She slapped the mop down as if to emphasize the new job. "So, unless you want me to conveniently wax up the deck where your look out duty is tonight…you might want to be nice." His mouth opened and shut as he worked to create a response. She wiped the mop by his feet and past him letting the fumes steam from his ears.
Tia knew that tonight she would have to make her move. They would be docking at a small town near the earth kingdom and if she were smart she'd wait until they were sleeping. She would make the case that her work wasn't finished and that the moonlight would provide plenty of light for her to work by. She knew that Zhao would leave someone up to watch over her but she also knew that his pride would ensure him that she was too scared to renege on their deal. Problem was, she wasn't scared and anywhere was safer than near a fire nation ship. She knew that Azula was looking for her but she wasn't the primary concern. If she stayed silent and holed up out of the war Azula would have no need to kill her. Zhao would eventually be the one to kill her when the time came if only to prevent Azula the satisfaction. She needed to run from here and the sooner the better.
By the time the sun fell Tia was still silently mopping the deck on the backside of the ship. Zhao was making a round and idly strolled past her discussing their docking port in just a few minutes. They spoke of particular items they needed to buy and supplies they were running low on. She waited until there was a lull in the conversation. The soldier paused to begin a sentence and Tia accidently jabbed the mop into his foot. She sucked in a breath stumbling making it look like she'd slid on the ship deck as a wave had rolled against the hull gently.
"I'm so sorry!" She apologized profusely gripping the mop for support.
"Why you little!" The soldier began raising an arm. Zhao put his hand out instantly to block him.
"It was an accident. Let it be." Tia hunched up her shoulders taking a step back. Zhao needed to feel important. She knew he needed to feel as if he were in charge here.
"Sir, my work…it's not finished." She rushed on glancing over the deck. "If I could just work on it a while longer tonight it will be done for tomorrow." Her grip on the mop tightened as she counted the heartbeats that passed while waiting for an answer. Finally he spoke.
"Alright. Finish but rest after you are done. Tomorrow there will be more work to do." He nodded to the soldier she'd interrupted. "You're her watch. You sleep when she sleeps." And with the order he walked away. Tia let go of a small breath. Very soon she'd make her move. Very soon she'd be on the run again. She was merely waiting for Zhao to go to bed below deck when they docked. She'd be a free woman the moment their ship hit the ground. She'd done it once, she could do it again.