We docked in a harbor of several other Fire Nation ships. Our vessel may have been the dingy next to these monsters. Naval ships demanding crews of no less than a few hundred each. I hesitated to dock with so many Fire Nation nationals, but what choice did I have. It took every man aboard to free us from the ice and snow the Avatar toppled upon us. The damages needed to be repaired. The ship barely made it with thew simple patches we fashioned just to get this far.
My uncle and I cautiously walked down the ramp to the dock.
"Uncle." I turned to the old man walking beside me. "I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk loosing his trail." I looked around warily, not sure what to expect of the soldiers here.
"You mean the Avatar?" Uncle asked. I whipped around to glare at him.
"Don't say his name on these docks!" I hissed at him. "Once word get out that he's alive, every Firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way."
"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" My ears pulled back on my skull hard when I recognized the voice. Uncle's did the same. We turned to see the tall middle aged man. His hair was pulled back tight in a small loop and he had a think beard growing on either side of his face, leaving his chin bare. He stood tall and straight, even as he walked toward us. His uniform was freshly pressed, and had many achievement medals hanging on the left breast and shoulder.
"Captain Zhao." I greeted him, not exactly with respect.
"It's commander now." he said giving me a suspicious look. He turned to my uncle and tilted his head in a bow. "And General Iroh. Great hero of our nation."
"Retired General." my uncle corrected him, bowing his head in a show of respect.
"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime." the commander assured us. "What brings you to my harbor?"
My uncle turned to motion to the ship looking rather pathetic behind us.
"Our ship is being repaired."
"That's quite a bit of damage." he replied seeing the dents, holes, and melted iron all across the front of the ship.
"Yes!" I offered, a little too fast and a little too high pitched. "You won't believe what happened." I paused realizing I had nothing to offer as a believable story. "Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened." I panicked, thinking that surely my uncle could get us out of this. The great hero of our nation that he was. I was a terrible liar.
"Oh, uh, yes. I will do that. It was incredible!" he began to my relief. "What did we crash or something?" he asked turning to me. My stomach dropped.
"Yes!" I cried. "Right into a... Earth Kingdom Ship." I had known the moment my mouth opened that my quavering voice would give me away. By then it was too late. We had to stick with it.
"Really?" Commander Zhao asked, humoring himself. "You must regale me with all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?" I knew he wasn't asking me.
"Sorry," I told him, "but we have to go." I turned on my heels but my shoulder pulled back when my uncle placed his hand on it. He leaned in close to make the conversation more private, although, Zhao undoubtedly heard the plea.
"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." He let me go and turned back to the snake of a man we called commander. "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite." He and the commander walked away. I followed behind at a distance. retaining the heat in my palms begging to be released.