A/N So yay, here's chapter two! And I know I forgot a disclaimer on chapter one, so maybe if you squint your eyes and tilt your head to the side that will help. Thanks a bunch and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA and I never will, it makes me sad.
Zeph's POV
Zuko slammed the door to what I assumed was his bathroom behind him, making me flinch. The banished prince sure had anger issues. Issues like that made my mission a little harder to complete, but I was not going to give up now. I had not almost froze myself to simply throw the towel in. The sound of running water filled the room. I sighed and laid back on the bed, his bed. The whole place smelled of him, a mixture of spice, mint, and smoke. Overall very mouthwatering. Too bad he had to act the way he did, but did I really expect anything different? His home life growing up must've been terrible. Just like mine.
I took the time I was given to reflect and meditate. Pulling myself into a sitting position, I rearranged my make-shift dress and began to remember just exactly why I was here. I thought back to when I was 13. It seemed so long ago even though it had been only 3 short years. I remembered the orphanage that I grew up in, seeing as I was abandoned by my parents. All because of my eyes. The Nurses voice from my home since I could remember echoed through my head, explaining on why I was there. Her words had shook me, giving me nightmares as she told me that my parents wanted a firebender for a child, and even though I possessed the talent I'd have to give it up. Because of the color of my eyes. I was a green-eyed firebender, and if I didn't give up my bending, then I'd be taken out by the Fire Nation Army before I could learn to bend.
My flashback suddenly switched to a scene I used to have dreams about. No, not dreams but nightmares.
"Zephina! I have you now!" The cruel voice of one of the older girls at the orphanage bounced off the walls, making it to my hiding place underneath the stairs. A moment later the girls leering face appeared right in front of me, her amber eyes glowing wickedly.
"I'm sorry!" I wailed. Even though I was 13 I couldn't protect myself from this girl. At least not without bending, and I was thought to have given that up already. The girl was 17, almost 18, and as cruel as the Fire Lord himself.
"Oh, you will be!" She grabbed my by the hair and dragged me out into the hallway. All around up were the other girls and boys from the orphanage, chanting 'fight'. The older girl's name was Azrah, and she terrorized the home. "You took the last cupcake, the one that was mine!" Azrah announced my crime to her audience. They started booing me and I felt tears run down my face.
"But you ate them all!" I shouted, becoming angry. "It wasn't fair! I only wanted one!"
"You know the rules!" The older girl brought her fist back to punch and I got that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, the one that made me think that I was about to explode. Normally I crawled into a dark corner when I felt like this, but now I had no where to go. No way to control myself. All too soon Azrah's fist came flying towards me and connected with my chin. I flew back into the wall behind me, leaving a hole. The feeling in the pit of my stomach expanded, filling me with fire. I stood up out of the rubble and screamed. The whole room became silent as flames erupted from my fists and I launched myself at Azrah. The girl barely managed to dodge my attack, jumping to the side at the last minuet. I turned around and saw my reflection in Azrah's amber eyes. My face looked wild and my green eyes seemed to glow. With a sadistic thought I raised my face to the sky, or rather to look up all 5 stories of the orphanage, and let out a brutal scream. The noise wretched itself from my throat, allowing all the fire I'd been holding in over the past 8 years to shoot out of me. When I'd finally stopped I looked around. Everything was burning, the house where I'd lived for the past 12 years was set ablaze, and I couldn't seem to care. Everyone had run off, everyone except Azrah. She'd been the closets to me and she'd been sent flying backwards into the stairs. The blow must have knocked her out because she laid unconscious before me. I took one last look at her face before turning and calmly walking out the backdoor, leaving her to burn along with my childhood.
I gasped for air as I was violently wrenched from my flashback. It was horrible, every time I looked back I felt just how out of control I was. I was never allowed a teacher like the rest of the firebenders, I was never even allowed to make a small flame, for that very reason. I was supposed to give firebending up, to relinquish my power, a task only green-eyed firebenders could accomplish. But I didn't. It was my only form of defense and I just couldn't. So I'd fled, but not after setting the orphanage on fire, all because I didn't have control. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in with a deep sigh.
"A lot on your mind?" Zuko's voice came out of no where, pulling me all the way back into the present. He was pulling on a red shirt before slipping on his armor over it.
"Not really! Just trying to meditate!" I gave the prince my famous, cheery smile but he didn't seem to believe me. The grin tried to slip off my face but I wouldn't let it, no one had ever second-guessed that smile.
"I'm going to eat dinner. You should...do something with yourself." Zuko barked at me like he was ordering a slave around. I felt my anger flare but didn't let the smile on my face fade. I needed him on my side.
"Could I come with you? I'm starving." I heard my girly voice ring out. "Near-death experiences always take a lot out of me." Prince Zuko rolled his eyes at me and then left, but he kept the door open. Taking that as a 'yes', I shuffled out after him, trying to tie the sheets around me so that I wouldn't have to hold them up with a hand. I saw the boy in front on me glance over his shoulder. Zuko was trying to read me, but if he thought it was going to be that easy he had another thing coming. I beamed at him and watched smugly as his eyebrow furrowed. He moved his head back to face front and I was able to focus more on my surroundings. We were walking down a metal hallway; Zuko's feet tapped along but I padded silent behind him. Every now and then there would be a Fire Nation tapestry hung on the wall, or a couple of doors which I figured had to be the crew's rooms. I tried to take everything in, every turn we made down the windy hallway, but my gaze always settled back to the figure in front of me. Zuko's head was shaved, save for the long, glossy pony-tail that hung proudly off of it. The chunk of thick hair looked soft and silky to the touch, and I had to retrain myself from reaching out and gabbing it, from running my fingers trough it. At the thought my hands twitched and I cursed under my breath. Once again Zuko looked back at me, though this time it was over his left shoulder so all I could see was his scar.
One would think that such a scar would make him ugly, but Zuko pulled it off. I found myself staring back at him in aw. Sure, it had hurt when I was told that my parents didn't want me because of my green eyes, but I didn't have to hear it from them. Zuko...Zuko's own father had done that to him, had burned his own son. I couldn't tear my eyes off of that scar, the result of the prince refusing to fight his father in an Agni Kai. What kind of father would challenge his son to a duel anyways? Let alone scar and banish him for not fighting back. I tore my gaze off of Prince Zuko and headed it back down to the ground in front of me.
"We're here." Zuko's voice was rough as he led me into a large room. All around me were tables and cushions and a sort of long table where all sorts of food was laid out. I watched as members of the crew went through the line, picking up what they wanted and heaping it onto their plate. "You can sit wherever you like." I followed the prince's finger as he randomly pointed to a table. I stopped, ready to sit down with him, but he kept walking.
"Where are you going?" I called out.
"I'm going to eat in my private dinning hall." Was the gruff reply I got from him.
"Couldn't I go with you?" I glanced around nervously at the crew, who were staring at me like they hadn't seen a girl in years. Which they probably hadn't. Of course I wasn't fearing for myself, I never did. Instead I was fearing for my mission, if they caused me to explode then that's be it. I turned my pleading eyes back to Zuko. He stood in front of me, his strong arms crossed over his chest.
"My Uncle probably wants to talk to you anyways." With that he spun on his heel and stalked off again, leaving me to scurry behind him. In many ways I felt like a dog, a stray that the prince had been guilt-tripped into keeping whether he liked it or not. The feeling made my blood boil, he was just so infuriating, no matter what he did. But I had to keep my calm. I had to.
Zuko paused only briefly to fling open to wide, red doors at the other end of the mess hall before storming inside. I followed more timidly and was struck dumb. In the middle of the private dinning hall was a huge, red table made out of exotic wood. It stretched the entire length of the room, but only one person was seated at it. An old man with a gray beard and gold eyes looked up as we entered. A large grin broke out on his face.
"It's good to see that you are up. I was afraid that you were lost to us." Wisdom seeped out of the man's mouth in such a way that I wanted to do nothing but listen to him talk for days.
"Yes, thank you very much for rescuing me." I gave a small bow before walking over to the old man. "My name is Zephina, but I go by Zeph." It was a great relief to me when he took my out stretched hand and gave it a friendly shake.
"I am Iroh, but you can call my Uncle. Just like my nephew!" I glanced over a Zuko who looked like he wanted to do nothing more than blast us both with the raw energy I knew he had. "Please, take a seat and have some breakfast. I know! I'll get you some tea!" Uncle got up and left then, leaving me to sit across from an easily angered prince.
"I like your Uncle." I stated mildly. Zuko raised his head just enough to glare at me. The expression on his face frightened me, for me this time. I sat there, relishing the feeling. Zuko scared me, and it was great.
"Listen, pheasant." His words seemed to hiss from his mouth like smoke. I shrank back a little bit. "I don't care who you like, I don't care who you hate, I don't care about you. If it were up to me, you'd have never been fished out of the ocean. You're lucky my Uncle is soft, but here's a warning: I am not. I want nothing more but to toss you overboard and be done with this." Zuko's tone never increased, it stayed low and deadly through out his whole monologue.
"Well, there's a problem with your wants, Zuko." I said, my confidence being boosted back up as I grinned at him like a mad man, feeling my eyes glow slightly. "You couldn't do that even if you tried."
