Part I
Clever Bitch
She stood, arms crossed against her chest, in the threshold of the doorway. Zuko's view, and passage into the old farmhouse, was blocked by the unforthcoming woman. She wore a simple tunic and breeches over bronzed skin. A mane of dark hair framed her smirking face. Her blue eyes danced with challenge.
"You won't find the Avatar here," she attested.
"Why not?" Zuko sensed he was about to become privy to a joke.
"Because, I don't fuck men with a hundred years on me."
Beside the Prince, a man in uniform snickered at the rebuttal. Zuko narrowed his eyes and stalked up to the woman.
"Do you realize who you are speaking to?"
The woman cocked her head. "You're either the dishonored Fire Prince, or that impersonator. What does she call herself? Princess Zuka? The resemblance is uncanny."
"Uncanny?" He decided to insult her. "That's a big word coming from a—" he gestured at the modest structure "—small household."
"I throw one in now and then."
They fell silent whilst sizing each other up. It was the Prince who spoke next.
"My men and I will search your house," he insisted. "If the Avatar is here—and I have reason to believe he's crouching in your cellar—you will be brought to justice alongside him. So heed my warning woman: it is no secret you have fugitives hidden in these walls. I urge you confess before any evidence is found against you."
"What is your idea of justice, Prince Zuko?" she asked through the fixed smirk. The woman sauntered closer. "Would you throw me in your dungeon?"
Zuko's flush resembled a sunburn. With a practiced vigilance, the woman registered his body's betrayal. Her sly smile deepened to a grin. Zuko felt a surge of anger—as though he had been bested.
"I would deliver you to my father," was his cold answer.
"Then you will sorely disappoint him." She stepped away, and he pushed past her into the foyer.
—
"Clever Bitch."
"Too clever." Zuko grumbled. He surveyed the land in frustration again, as if the Avatar would materialize amidst the rows of cabbage crop. "The Avatar is hidden here, Chang. I can feel it."
"Sure it's the Avatar you're after? I'd swear you gave her the I'm-a-princeling-so-get-down-on-me look."
Zuko glared at his confidante. "I never met such an impudent woman," he scoffed.
"I knew you liked to be dominated." Chang grinned and delivered a slap to Zuko's backside.
The Prince fumed. He seized his friend by the shirt. Flames from Zuko's fists licked at the fabric, scorching it black. "You're sarcasm is fruitless because I don't fuck peasants." Zuko shoved Chang into the rutted path.
Chang lay where he fell. The grin still occupied his face and he shook his head in exasperation. "Prejudice is fruitless. You're a virgin until you've sowed your seed with a country girl."
Zuko pretended to ignore Chang's reasoning of why such was the case. He looked back over his shoulder. In the distance, the farmhouse appeared almost picturesque; its run-down qualities were not visible from afar. A field away, Zuko could sense the icy gaze of the woman. He had left the house empty-handed. Her victory was expressed in a knowing silence—so infuriating—he would have preferred she gloat. She watched the stony-faced Prince retreat down the porch steps. In his last glimpse of the woman, she was perched on a bannister, silent and watchful as a cat. Zuko suspected her salaciousness was a facade.
He continued to stomp in the direction of his camp.
Chang sprung to his feet and jogged after the huffing Prince. "So that's it? We walk away, though you're still convinced she's harboring the Avatar?"
Zuko adopted a commanding tone. "We are going to watch her; we wait until she gives away the Avatar's location."
"What if she doesn't lead us to him? She has managed to keep a score of children hidden from our search of the property, along with an ancient airbender."
"If she is indeed clever, we will smoke them out."
"If you torch the house, they'll fend for themselves in the town. She'll take refuge at the nearest brothel." Chang deduced.
"You're not thrilled at the prospect?"
"Hey, I don't pay to stray."
"You empathize because she is essentially you, but with breasts." Zuko scoffed.
"Ah, so you noticed."
"Yes, I noticed, and she's all yours."
"Knowing my father, she's possibly my illegitimate sister. Copulation might piss off our ancestors—unleash something freaky from the spirit world."
Zuko sighed in annoyance. "Remind me why I keep you around."
"Simple," Chang quipped, "I point out the women you service yourself too."
Chang found himself lying in the dirt again.