Lily walked towards the battle arena, with her head down, tears brimming under her eyelashes. The gold chains around her ankles and wrists clanked softly as she walked. There was a gold neckpiece around her neck, with a chain coming from behind it, leading to Princess Azula's hand. From the neck there was a chain that attached to the one linking her wrists. She shivered, but it wasn't from the temperature. Her bare feet moved silently over the floorboards as she shuffled in behind General Iroh, lifting her head to see the young Prince Zuko, kneeling on the ground, ready to fight. Slaves were not normally permitted to see Agni Kai in action, but Princess Azula has graciously given her a spot next to her. Lily knew she just wanted to see her suffer as her dear friend was hurt, she had always been closer to Prince Zuko than her and it amused Azula to make Lily watch. Through the silk veil that lay over her face, Lily watched as Prince Zuko stood and turned, ready to face his opponent, only to see his own father.
Lily wrung her hands nervously, the stress of the situation taking hold. She heard Azula chuckle as Zuko knelt before his father, begging for mercy. Lily closed her eyes, tears spilling over her face. Then she heard the scream, and she was sure this was the worst day of her life. She covered her mouth with her hands as she let out a strangled cry at the Prince's tortured scream. She felt sick. She wanted to run, run away from the horrible sounds, the terrible smell of burning flesh, she wanted nothing more than to run to Zuko and hold him, protect him and take away the pain, but she sat rooted in her place, until Azula tugged harshly at her chain and she got up, following the princess out of the arena, and trying to cry silently. She looked at General Iroh's wretched expression, and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.
"I'm coming with you." She said quietly, her chains making soft clinking sounds as she shuffled into the doorway.
"No." Zuko said hoarsely, his firm weak but firm. "I won't see you join me in banishment."
"You'd rather I stay here with your sister?" Lily asked rhetorically.
She got to the bed where Zuko lay, and reached up to his bandaged eye. He flinched away from her, and she let her hand fall.
"I swore an oath to serve you my lord," she murmured. "I would follow you to the ends of this world to uphold that oath."
"How sweet,"
Lily froze when she heard Fire Lord Ozai's voice filter through the door, and turned to see the ruler smirking at her and Zuko. Zuko looked away, refusing to look at his father, while Lily seized her courage, and glared at the Fire Lord.
"Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain to a lowly slave why you have banished your son and scarred his face Your Majesty," she said tightly.
"To teach him some respect." Ozai replied. "The same lesson that you still need to be taught it seems, my daughter's lessons haven't seemed to help."
Lily's courage faltered as she looked down at herself. As a slave, she didn't wear much clothing. She wore red billowing genie-like pants, and a red sleeveless crop top, showing her midriff. The revealing clothing only served to show her many burn scars that littered her body, a reminder of all the times she had stood up to the princess and been punished accordingly. Her eyes flickered from Ozai to Zuko. What more could they do to her?
"The only lesson you have taught him is how cruel his father is," she muttered darkly.
"Would you care to repeat that, slave?" Ozai hissed.
Zuko's good eye widened, and he reached over to grip Lily's wrist, shaking his head tensely, silently telling her to be quiet.
"Your brother is far more suited to the throne," Lily snapped, wrenching her arm from Zuko's grip. "You're nothing but a tyrant. What kind of man tortures his own child for speaking his mind?!"
"Enough!" Ozai snarled. "Clearly you have had too much luxury here, you have forgotten your place here slave."
Luxury?! She was a slave! Lily opened her mouth to retort, but Zuko reached over to her again and dug his nails into her arm, warning her to keep silent.
"After all, it was out of the goodness of my heart that were not immediately killed the moment my soldiers brought you back to the Capital. Any other scrawny Earth Kingdom girl would have killed for such mercy, but clearly you don't appreciate it. Let's see how banishment treats you instead, you will join my son in exile!"
With that the Fire Lord stormed off, unaware of the smug grin Lily was now sporting on her face.
"What have you done?!" Zuko cried. "You've done it now Lily, now you're banished with me!"
"Exactly." Lily said simply, and turned to smile at Zuko.
Zuko was stunned, he simply looked at her, not knowing what to say. Then, his one visible eye filled with tears, and he let out a choked sob. Lily rushed forward and put her arms around the boy as he cried, overwhelmed at her sacrifice. To Lily, it was no sacrifice, but Zuko didn't need to know that.
Lily sipped at her tea as Prince Zuko threw fireballs this way and that, going through his morning routine with his uncle watching critically. She glanced up at the sky through unveiled eyes, and hummed to herself as the ship passed iceberg after iceberg.
Her thin clothing did nothing to keep out the cold, but the prince had gifted her with a thick dark red cloak to wear over her slave outfit to keep her from freezing while they were in the South Pole. Her veil no longer covered her face, but only from her nose down, and she replaced it once she had finished drinking her tea. Her wrists and ankles were free from chains, and she thanked Agni again for letting her stay with the kinder royal sibling instead of remaining in the Capital. She could feel the sun, weak on her back, but it rejuvenated her, the sunrays giving her strength in this cold climate. Her attention on the sky was interrupted by a bright light off to the east, and she gaped at the sight.
"Prince Zuko! In the distance!" she cried, pointing to the light.
"Helmsman! Set a course for the light!" Zuko ordered. "Uncle did you see that? Do you know what this means?"
"I won't get to finish my game?" Iroh said dryly. Lily giggled.
"That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be the Avatar!"
Lily sighed. She didn't want to discourage the prince, but they had been searching for the Avatar for years and there had been so sign of him. She didn't wish to upset Zuko, but she had lost faith in the quest before it had even begun.
"Or it could just the celestial lights, Zuko we've been down this road before," Iroh began.
"No General, a mysterious blue light, in a land full of spirits, can only be a 100-year-old Airbender that no one's seen for a century." Lily muttered sarcastically.
"What does that mean?" Zuko snapped.
"I'm just saying that this Weird Light + Hopeless Quest = Avatar Sighting logic doesn't really wash," Lily shrugged.
Seeing Zuko's murderous glare however, she quickly backtracked.
"But you know, hey what do I know about tracking the Avatar right? It could totally be him, in fact I reckon it is, mysterious blue light out of nowhere it's got to be him," she stammered quickly as she sprang to her feet. "In fact, I'm going to go make sure the men's weapons are in tip-top condition, ready for battle and ready for anything the Avatar can throw at us. General, Prince Zuko, if you'll excuse me."
She high-tailed it out of there, sprinting down the length of the ship and downstairs to the armoury to escape the Prince's ire. His uncle would have to deal with him now, and besides she had chores to do. As much as she appreciated being away from Azula and Fire Lord Ozai, being stuck with a moody, overbearing prince wasn't exactly the lifestyle she'd expected when she came with him all those years ago. Zuko had changed in his banishment and Lily almost didn't recognise him anymore. He wasn't kind anymore, he was bitter and cruel and sometimes Lily questioned her decision to leave the Fire Nation, sometimes she even contemplated running away, back to the Earth Kingdom where she came from, but she would never leave. As unpleasant as he was sometimes, Zuko was all she had, and after they'd gone through in the past, she would never leave his side.
"Some thanks I get," she sighed, and went on with her chores.
"Well Lily, weren't you saying you wished something would actually happen just last week?" Zuko said as she joined him at the bow of the ship.
"Can't argue with that," she agreed. "But what if this isn't the Avatar?"
"It has to be." Zuko said, and then softer, "it just has to be."
Lily's eyes softened, and she rested her hand on Zuko's arm. "Then it will be." She half-smiled. "And you'll bring him back to your father and regain your place in the Fire Nation, I just know you will."
He gave a small smile. She giggled. "Is that a smile Prince Zuko? You haven't smiled in so long I forgot what it looked like,"
Zuko rolled his eyes at her. "You're hilarious."
"I know," Lily grinned. "But try to contain your excitement, you might pull something."
"Just make sure the men are ready for apprehending the Avatar," Zuko muttered.
"Right away Prince Firefly,"
"Lily!" Zuko shouted over her laughter, going red in the face. "What have I told you about calling me that?"
"That I…shouldn't?" Lily said innocently.
"Yes." Zuko hissed.
"Must have slipped my mind Prince Zuko," Lily smiled.
Zuko just sighed in aggravation, and Lily took pity on him.
"Don't worry, soon you'll have the Avatar, and we'll be on our way home."
Zuko's face softened for a moment.
"Even if this quest is pointless because your father is a crazy dictator who doesn't deserve this," Lily muttered under her breath.
"What?" Zuko said sharply, but Lily was already turning away, humming to herself and doing her best to appear innocent, like she hadn't said anything at all.
"Think we'll find anything General?" Lily asked as she joined Iroh at the Pai Sho game table.
Iroh looked thoughtful. "Truly, I do not know. But Zuko has a good feeling about it, and to abandon hope that the Avatar can be found…who knows what will happen to Zuko then."
"I guess you're right." Lily sighed, moving a tile across the board. "Anything to get Prince Zuko to stop scowling for five seconds."
Iroh chuckled.
"I heard that Lily!" Zuko shouted.
Lily winced. "Apologies Prince Zuko!" she called back, and looked down to see she'd lost the Pai Sho game.