Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I do however own this story and my OC, Rera.
Just a quick note. Words in italics are used for dialogue that is in sign languge.
On an island not far from Fire Nation territory, a strange and powerful force had flattened out an entire forest. No one truly knew what it was, but one person had an idea of what caused the forest to demolish and was determined to find out the truth on his own. Prince Zuko set out to search for the Avatar on the remote island early that morning, only to return to his ship carrying an unconscious, bruised, and starved girl in his arms. Why settle for so much trouble on just one mere girl? Even he couldn't answer that. His only goal at the time was to search for the Avatar, not bring home a girl who was of no meaning to her.
Though, he did feel somewhat sorry for her when he found her among the forest debris all pale and shivering, so he decided to warm her up with a little firebending in his hands. Passing by the dock carrying the girl in his arm to what would become her cabin, he shot everyone a silent, deadly stare not to say one word about what was happening.
"Prince Zuko," said Uncle Iroh standing outside of his cabin smiling "when you said you were out to capture the Avatar, I didn't expect you'd come home with a bride."
"I don't have time for your light sarcasm, Uncle!" Zuko yelled in all his annoyance.
"My apologies" Iroh said while inspecting the pale, unconscious girl. "She's going to need lots of medical attention and looking after."
"Which is why I'm leaving you in charge of her." Zuko said handing the girl to Iroh and walks off to his cabin.
"Prince Zuko, don't you want to help out a bit? You must be quite concerned about her to bring her onto the ship."
Zuko turned to his uncle, giving out a cold, uncaring look. "The only concern I have of right now is capturing the Avatar." And with that, Zuko slammed the door behind him, leaving a bellowing sound that echoed throughout the ship.
It was midnight and Prince Zuko had awakened from a nightmare that had been haunting him for 2 years now. The dream was just but a flashback of when he lost to his father in Agni Kai and was exiled from the Fire Nation. Touching his scar, he could never seem to get use to his dream, even after 2 years. Zuko decided to get up and walk around the ship, careful not to disturb anyone, when he heard crying coming from the room that the girl he found was staying in. He tried to ignore it, but the crying continued and drove him to see what the problem was.
Zuko opened the door, seeing Uncle Iroh snoring loudly while sleeping in his chair (He can sleep through almost anything). Right next to him was the girl sitting up, with her wounds covered in bandages and crying with a sort of strange, nasal, and guttural sound to it. Watching the tears fall down her cheeks, Zuko tried hard not to give into sympathy, so he decided to cover it up with some strict order and yelled at her.
"Would you quit crying already! If you don't like being a captive on this ship, then I suggest you leave this ship at once!"
But the girl hardly responded to his strict, almost heartless yelling. In fact, she didn't seem to notice the prince at all. This was quite a puzzle to Zuko. He crept over to the girl, placed a hand on her shoulder, and she instantly flinch up all scared and began to make certain hand gesture that looked all too much like sign language.
"Please don't hurt me! I didn't mean to do it."
It was then that Zuko realized that the girl was deaf, and seeing how her light gray eyes never seemed to focus on anything, he realized that the girl was blind as well. He knew that he shouldn't feel sorry for such an insignificant girl, but his sympathy seemed to grow more as she cried alone in her dark and silent world. Luckily for Zuko being born into royalty, he had been taught in many forms of high education, including many foreign languages along with sign language.
Zuko took the girl's hand and signed into her palm. "Don't be afraid. My name is Zuko and I've taken you on my ship. How may I address you by?"
"My name is Rera and please don't hurt me. I would never mean to hurt anyone."
Zuko was now a bit more confused. What did she mean by 'I would never mean to hurt anyone.'? If she was talking about the forest being leveled down, it almost seemed impossible for her to do so. Not only because she appeared so frail and innocent, but because no man, not even a single bender (except for the Avatar), could have as much power as to wipe an entire forest on one huge island.
"Well Rera, if you need help just ask anyone on this ship... But don't come to me! You're none of my concern and I don't want to have anything to do with you. Good day to you."
Just like that, Zuko left the room and slammed the door behind him. Rera was now left in utter confusion. He helped save her from dying and he seemed nice when he first talked to her, so why would he turn so bitter and say that he didn't care? Again, Rera was left alone in the dark, and continued to sob in her solitude.
I know what you're thinking: Its crap. Don't worry. It'll get better with time and Rera's character will be revealed more developed and less Mary Sueish. Anyways, Please R&R.