Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters, Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko do!
"Mm~" Noa hummed as she had chewed on the cutlet picken that was breaded and fried. "Food has become really intricate these days. They never had this around last time I was in the physical world." She had said to Zuko, who was sitting across from her and eating his own food.
Iroh wasn't with them, he was still taking nap. Zuko had looked away from his thick-sliced, pickled radish and up at her. "What meat don't you like?" He questioned, not surprised that she had enjoyed the croquettes.
"Human meat." Her answer was quick and to the point, the prince was somewhat startled.
"You've tried human before?" He had asked her as she had then frozen in place, now realizing her mistake. Placing her chopsticks down, she had placed her hands in an apologetic prayer form. "It was just one time and he was dying anyway, so I ate a piece of his liver."
Zuko's eyes dilated, placing his own chopsticks down at the table. "And you sleep in my room?! You've thought about eating my liver, haven't you?!"
"I told you I wouldn't!" She had shaken her head, trying to take the ideas out of his head.
"You didn't answer my question." His voice was dangerously low, his eyes squinted as they had locked onto her in a heated gaze.
With a sigh, she had looked down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers. "Once..."
"Just once?" He persisted, which made her chew her underlip. "Noa..." The aggressiveness in his tone made her want to sink in her chair.
"About nine times..." Noa answered truthfully, "But that's because two days ago you tried to make me eat vegetables!" The fox whined, "I'm sorry... I couldn't help it. I was without meeeeeeeeeat."
It was true. He was annoyed by her eating just meat, leaving the quantity of vegetables and rice high. Even the helmsmans had vegetarian meals or two because of her eating all the meats that they had, which made them had to keep buying more meat. He figured he could solve it by cutting back, but the kyuubi's diet was carnivorous.
He couldn't necessarily be mad at her because despite how much she protested, she had did at least try the rice and cabbage and any other meatless food. And his uncle couldn't stand to hear her whining and crying and even scolded him for putting her through something "traumatic".
"Whatever." He decided to let the conversation go but he wouldn't forget that she had thought about eating his liver.
She did promise that she wouldn't eat him and she had stuck true to it, but what would happen if they had been lost out somewhere? Would she resort to eating him? Was he safe with her? He had eyed her suspiciously while she had picked up at picken cutlet and took a bite, chewing slowly with her eyes lowered.
Zuko had then picked up some rice, placing it in his mouth and then chewed. His eyes were still on her as she had wore a guilty and sad look. The same face that would make his uncle scold him and taken her side. He sucked his teeth, shifting his gaze away from her.
"Don't eat all the cutlets." Zuko warned, his chopsticks pointed at her threateningly as she had picked up another one since there was about ten left from the plate. She had eaten a large portion since the stack was smaller.
"Then what am I supposed to eat?" Noa whined as she dropped the picken cutlet back on the plate with her chopsticks, "Don't put me back on that veggie diet!"
The prince rose a brow, "That means that's all your eating for now."
"What?!" Her bottom lip had stuck out in a point, "But I'm still so hungry..." She had rubbed her stomach as she had looked at the culets with longing and sadness.
Shaking his head, he saw the door of the dining hall open as Iroh had walked in. "Ah, there you two are."
Zuko had then looked at Noa, his glare loudly telling her to 'fix her face'. Sighing, she had forced a smile on her face. "Good afternoon." She greeted Iroh, waving her free hand to him.
"Good afternoon, Noa. Are you having a pleasant meal?" He asked as he had taken a seat, taking the steaming fish that was meant for him.
Noa had looked to Zuko, he obviously didn't want her to tell that he had cut her off. With a mischievous grin, she had looked to Iroh which made his jaw set. "Oh, pleasant? Well, I wouldn't say pleasant..."
"What she means to say, that she can't get enough of these croquettes." Zuko chimed in, lifting the plate towards her. "Isn't that right, Noa?"
"Oh, yeah! These picken cutlets are ah-may-zinnnnnnng!" She grinned from ear-to-ear, placing all the cutlets on her plate.
Iroh had chuckled, "I'm glad you enjoy them. You have a healthy appetite."
"I know." She said in a matter-of-fact tone as Zuko rolled his eyes once again.
Seeing as how there was no changing the fox's appetite, he decided to let it go. For now. "Noa." he called her as she had looked at him, chewing a croquette. "After dinner, you'll have to use your ability to search for the avatar, since nobody else knows where he is."
Iroh looked away, knowing that his nephew was referring to him. "Mm." She nodded, agreeing to it as she had ate another croquette.
"So, Noa, how come you never told us your name before?" Iroh had asked, "Then again... I don't think I've asked."
"You didn't." She had smiled, "Besides..." She had swallowed down her chewed food, "I liked you calling me young lady on the occasion."
He smiled. "Well, you indeed are and now that I know your name, it doesn't take away from that. It's just your name reminds me of this play I've seen a lot."
"Oh," She nodded, "Zuko told me about it. "Love Amongst the Dragons", right?"
He replied with a nod, "Yes. It was Zuko's mother favorite play."
Iroh had reminisced of Ursa, Zuko doing the same as he had began to eat his garnished fish. "Where is she? Isn't she in the Fire Nation?"
"No." Zuko answered instead of Iroh, "She was exiled."
The atmosphere became thick and heavy, and she had immediately blamed herself for it. "Oh..." She had muttered, "Anyway. I'm done eating."
Every cutlet of picken was gone, the whole plate cleared. Noa had patted her full stomach before picking up the warm raspberry tea. "Mm, I never had this flavor before!"
"You like it?" He had asked as she had nodded, "Good. It's pretty hard to find ripe raspberries in the markets. Usually the ones they sell are bad."
"It's delicious~" She had said with a smile as she had taken another sip, grinning from how the flavor wasn't strong but weren't weak either.
Zuko watched as she had lilt, her shoulders swaying as if she was listening to music. How she became so happy because of a simple sip of tea? He couldn't fathom. "Now I need you to find the Avatar, Noa."
With a nod, she had placed the cup down and looked at them both. "Keep it quiet." She had told them, Iroh nodding and Zuko giving a nod of confirmation too. Her eyes had fell close as she had breathed in and then exhaled, opening her eyes to reveal a shade of blue as her eyes saw behind them ship and vast ocean and searched for the avatar.
Her ears that were now opened to the world had twitched upon hearing his voice, "This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"
Breaking out of the power, she had blinked several times and shook her head. "The Avatar is on Kysohi Island."
She furrowed her brows, her head tilting to the side. Was that Island there when she was in the physical world? Avatar Kyoshi had came many years after she was there, so that couldn't have been Kyoshi Island before.
With a nod, Zuko had stood. "Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time." And with that, he mentally began to prepare a strategy.
Noa had looked at the fish, which Iroh had his eyes on as well. Iroh looked at her as she had nodded and then looked to his nephew, "Are you going to finish that?"
With a scowl, Zuko walked back to the table and picked up his plate of fish off the table. "I was going to save it for later!" He said as he had walked out of the dining area.
Both Noa and Iroh had sighed, pouting. "Maybe next time..." She had tried to cheer him up.
Standing from her seat, Noa walked towards the dining area door. "Where are you going, Noa? Are you going to go with Zuko to Kyoshi Island?"
She stopped and looked over her shoulder, "I don't really like islands because it's surrounded by water... but I'm curious. I never heard of Kyoshi Island."
"You never heard of Kyoshi Island?" He questioned, his brow arched. "It's been around for centuries."
She shook her head, "Nope!" She had answered. "Anyway, I'll be with Zuko and the other helmsman, so it'll be okay."
Once the rhinos began to move, Noa's eyes had dilated from behind startled with how quickly their movements were. Quickly, she had grabbed the back of Zuko's shirt as they had made their way down the gangplank and onto the small island. Zuko had looked over his shoulder as she had looked around the island, her eyes scanning each and everything.
"There's a town up ahead." One helmsman had said, "We'll definitely find the Avatar there."
With a nod, all the soldiers and Zuko had made their way towards the town. The rhinos had moved quickly even though their steps were heavy, much too heavy for Noa's liking. She kept feeling like she was going to fall off and Zuko didn't tell her to cling and so she tried her best not to.
"I smell food." Noa had said as she had sniffed the air, "Oh... It smells so good..." She whined, biting down her bottom lip with her eyes closed as she had enjoyed the scent of the food from the village filling her nostrils.
"Noa," Zuko called her name, which made her open her eyes and look at him, "now isn't the time to be thinking about food."
Feeling embarrassed, she had let out a nervous laugh as then froze. "I definitely smell the Avatar. Mm, it's his scent. He smells...earthy!" She had smiled, "Zuko smells like fire while the Avatar smells like a forest."
His brows had furrowed his brow at his words, "Like fire?"
"Mm!" She nodded, "Kind of like a burning wood kind of smell. It smells nice, it's not too strong."
He had remained silent after her compliment, deciding to focus on the mission ahead. When they had entered the town, she had looked around to see that the streets were deserted. The different scents and the auras she could feel were all around, but there was not a single soul on the streets. "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Zuko shouted, he then looked to his soldiers. "Find him."
Noa had looked in the direction in which the Avatar was, Zuko had followed her gaze as the helmsman had proceeded down the street of the village with caution but were unable to prepare themselves for the attacks that ensued.
Girls dressed in warrior-like outfits had appeared, katanas at their hips and gold fans in their hands. They wore such unusual makeup, which made Noa looked at them with curiosity. "Whoa, they are all girls. Girl group warriors? How cool!"
"Now isn't the time to be fascinated." He warned as one girl had then came speeding ahead at the them, but Zuko had turned his war rhino just in time so that she could be hit by it's tail. "Prove your usefulness and deal with her while I get the Avatar."
"Mm." Noa nodded, swinging her leg over and jumped down the saddle. She had seen a sword on the floor from one of the girl warriors and picked it up. "I'm kinda rusty with this thing though." She had puffed her cheeks and then looked to the girl who had attacked Zuko, "You should take it easy on me. I'm... I kind of lost my groove." The girl merely kept a stone-face, which made Noa frown. "...Well, I guess we can't be friends. Girls really should stick together."
"If that was so, you wouldn't be fighting for the enemy." Her opponent had said, placing her hand on her sword and unsheathing it form it's scabbard.
"I suppose you have a point, but your enemy isn't my enemy." Noa nonchalantly said as she had tightened her grip on the sword's handle. She had watched at the girl had cartwheeled towards her, pointing her sword towards her. Noa had already unsheathed her sword, tossing it in the air and twirled behind the Kyoshi warrior, and caught it and pointed menacingly behind her back. "Aw, that was too easy. This has to be fun."
She heard a growl rumble through the girl's throat, she had spun around and jumped back and charged for again. Noa had followed suit, jumping over the sword once the girl had swung the blade. Frustrated that she had missed again, she spun around and their swords had clashed this time, the noise echoing through the town.
Zuko had looked over his shoulder at the battle, surprised at Noa's swordsmanship. He didn't take her for using a sword or fighting at all. Noa had then flipped over the Kyoshi warrior, who attempted to stab her in the back, but was stopped by Noa's sword.
They went into a heated battle, the green-clad girl had blocked each of Noa's strikes while stepping back, defending herself. Noa had grinned as she had slashed repeatedly, pushing the girl back towards the wall of a nearby home.
When their swords clashed again, sparks had went flying through the air and the girl's sword was thrown from her hands and she had winced, expecting the sharp pain of the sword being thrust through her chest.
But it never came.
She opened one eye to see Noa throwing the sword on the ground, "That was pretty fun." She had looked at the girl and nodded, "You're skilled but you're not that dexterous. You should work on your sword skills so that we can fight again. Next time, we should go hand-to-hand maybe."
The Kyoshi warrior's eyes were wide as she had watched the strange girl walk away, make no intentions of coming back towards her. "Huh?" She managed to utter, looking down at her sword.
Sniffing around, she had looked in the direction where Zuko was. "I wanna see him fight again." She had said, "He looks so cool when he fights~"
When she found him, he looked to be searching for someone; probably the Avatar. Did he get away? She had ran over to Zuko, who had tilted his head back to see the bison flying through the air with the Avatar and his friends in the saddle. "Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko ordered his men.
He had then looked to Noa, grabbing her arm and leading her back to the war rhino. She had blinked twice, allowing him to pull her along. She climbed up the rhino after Zuko and he made the rhino speed towards the ship, causing her to wrap her arms around so that she didn't fall of the rhino.
When they had entered the ship, Zuko had immediately jumped down from the rhino and made his way towards the fore deck of the ship, looking through a telescope to look for the Avatar. "He's getting away!"
But it was too late, the Avatar was too far away.
. . .
"So, Noa, where are you from?" One helmsman asked, a group of them all sitting together at the fore deck. "Well, I know we were in the Earth Kingdom when you joined us."
Noa had looked at them all, not sure how to answer that question. She couldn't tell them that she was from the Spirit World. "Uh, I'm from the Earth Kingdom. There like this place filled with firebenders."
"Oh, one of the colonies?" Another helmsman had said, nodding. "How is it like there?"
She gave a rather nervous smile, "Well.. It's nice and the people are nice. Everything is just nice there."
"Then why did you decide to join Prince Zuko?" Another queried, "I mean... You seemed like you had a good life."
A good life? She had looked down at her cup of white tea that Iroh had made for her few minutes prior to them seeing this as the opportunity to speak to her. "Mm, I was lonely." She had answered.
Zuko listened on from the side of the ship, his arms folded as she had listened to the conversation. "Lonely? Don't you have family?"
"No, I didn't have anything like that. Nobody raised me, I always lived alone." She answered, "There was this woman who was like a grandma to me that looked out for me but she wasn't really nice."
"Wow..." Hummed a helmsman, "That's why you jumped at the chance to leave home?"
The kyuubi took a sip of her tea and sighed, "Prince Zuko was kind of nice. He wasn't mean."
"What?" All of them had said in a unison, "What do you mean he was kind of nice?"
"Oh, like... He's the reason I was able to get away from that place. He saved me." Noa nodded, smiling. "So that means he's kind of nice, but even so... He doesn't treat me bad and he lets me eat a lot! He just doesn't like that I eat too much beef and pork."
"Oh, so it is true? General Iroh said you could eat a whole hippo cow!"
She had nodded her head quickly, "I loveeeeeeeeeee hippo cow! It's so good! Especially when it is grilled, it's great!"
All them men laughed at her enthusiasm, "You should come eat with us sometimes!"
"Yeah, it'll be nice to have a feminine presence." Another had said.
"It seems like Prince Zuko keeps you all to himself!" The one who gives her candy, Daiki, added.
"I didn't know I could eat with you all, I'm sure Prince Zuko wouldn't mind that. I never really asked him." Noa had tilted her head to the side,"But would you be mad if I ate all the picken and hippo cow?"
"No, it's fine. Some of these guys need to cut back anyway." One man added, now joining them.
All the helmsman around her had looked up, immediately standing. "L-Lieutenant Jee!" They had rose and bowed.
"Ah, I see here is the infamous Noa." The man said, giving her a genuine smile as he had outstretched his hand. "It is nice to meet you, I'm senior officer Lieutenant Jee."
Noa had looked at his hand curiously, unsure of what he wanted her to do with it. Seeing her confused expression, he had lowered his hand and placed it back at his side and bowed instead. She had done the same out of respect. "It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant Jee."
"We don't see you out much, I assume Prince Zuko kept you away from all these men, huh?" He asked her, which made her nod.
"It's not safe for a girl to be around a bunch of men." Noa said, "But Prince Zuko knows I am capable of handling myself. I just like tailing around him."
He had chuckled, "I see."
Zuko had then came out of hiding, walking towards the deck. Noa had looked over at him and blinked twice, wondering why he had finally made his way out. She could smell him from where he was and she figured he must've been surveying how the men would act in her presence. "I'm ready for training."
Two of the helmsman assigned had left the small group and walked over. "Did you get a full tour of the ship?"
"No." The fox had answered, "I've only been in a few places but this ship is really big."
"Indeed it is." Jee nodded,"But it's smaller compared to the other ships."
It had happened suddenly, the ship tilted to starboard and knocking Zuko's sparring partners off balance. "Someone's changing our course!"
The Prince had gone to investigate, leaving the sparring match. Noa had then shifted her attention back to Lieutenant Jee, "Why would someone change course?" She asked, "D-Did I eat all the meat again?!"
He shook his head with a smile, "I assume it was General Iroh. He's the only one that has that much authority."
"Oh," Noa blinked a few times, "then it must be important. Iroh would never intentionally anger his nephew."
Jee kept his smile but somewhat doubted her words. "Right."
"I'm pretty hungry though." Hanging her head, she sighed. "I tried my best to control myself from eating too much at breakfast but I felt like I didn't eat enough."
"If you keep eating like that, you just might break the chef." Jee had said, patting her head.
"Break the chef?" She repeated, "A-Are they tired and worn out because of my eating? I didn't know!"
Jee didn't answer but laughed and bowed again, "I have duties to attend to but enjoy yourself." Noa had nodded and then waved as he had walked across the ship's bridge.
Standing, she had then looked to the helmsman. "I'm going to look for Prince Zuko," She had waved and left the area.
She had walked down the hall, sniffing out his scent. When had pinpointed the exact location, she had walked towards the cabin and pressed her ear to the door. "Agni..." She had heard him mutter, "All for a stupid lotus tile? What about the Avatar?!"
Frowning, she had then forced herself to smile and entered the cabin. "Prince Zuko, I just met Lieutenant Jee today! He was really nice." She had then raised her finger, "Oh! And the helmsman think I should eat with them sometimes, but I wanted to know if that was okay with you."
He was still irritated about his uncle and this missing lotus tile for Pai sho. Though seeing how happy she was and how she was trying her best to avoid the subject that annoyed him, he thought he could cut her some slack. "I don't care." He simply put it.
"But that means we won't eat together." Noa had said, somewhat hoping he would've rejected the idea. "But I guess that means you don't have to worry about food going missing." She had then forced herself to laugh, "You just want all the food to yourself."
He rose a brow as she had her hands on her stomach, still laughing. It looked and felt forced but he dismissed it. Why would she force herself to laugh? "You can do whatever you want as long as you stick to your job. That's what I freed you for."
"Right." She nodded, "Well... I'll leave you be. You're probably gonna be studying your map, right? You're good at finding the Avatar even without me." With a bow, she had dismissed herself from the cabin and shut the door.
Zuko had stared at the door for a few minutes and then sighed, massaging his temples. "What's with her?" He asked himself, "She's acting weird."
He had then shook his head to clear his mind from it and then looked back at the door once again. Growing anxious, he had walked towards the door and opened in to see Noa walking down the as slowly as she could.
She was distracted, he could tell, but what about? Noa stopped and looked over her shoulder before fully turning around to look at Zuko. Now unsure of what to say or do, he had cleared his throat and walked forward. He had continued on, walking right past her.
Noa had spun around again, her frown growing as she had filled her cheeks with air. Her hands had curled into loose fists and placed them on her cheeks, playfully punching the air out of them. "Why is he being so distant?"
Unsure if he should follow him or not, she had stood in the hall in thought. She had looked up in the direction he went and then looked behind her towards the cabin. Maybe she should lay down and rest? She had liked naps even though she always believed she was going to miss something if shehad took one. It would be a while before they reached wherever they were going and so with a shrug, she had walked to the cabin and took a rest on her futon.
o
"Is she awake?" Noa could clearly hear that it was Iroh, both him and Zuko were outside the door. Her eyes were half open, a sleepy gaze there over them. "We just arrived at the pier and I wanted her to come with us. She might be good at finding the lotus tile."
"Uncle, I don't think Noa can find a lotus tile. Why are we looking for it again? Why is it so important to you?" His nephew questioned, still unable to fathom why they were going through these lengths for a piece of a game.
Iroh sighed, "I already told you." Noa stood and opened the metal door. Both of them had turned to look at her as she had rubbed her eyes, "You're awake? That's good."
She had nodded and then looked at them both. Her nose had then wiggled as she had sniffed the air, "We're at a pier? I smell foods and lots of people. So we're at a village."
"That's a very talented nose." Iroh said with a smile, "Would you like to join us."
Noa nodded quickly and followed Iroh, who had led the way while his nephew seemed to be dragging his royal feet.
Once they disembarked the ship, they had entered the village and Noa's nose was filled with so many smells. She could smell lots of fish, lots of scents of people, the ocean as usual, and other strange smells. She had squinted her eyes as she had tried to make sure that she didn't feel too overwhelmed.
All three of them had traveled to the market area with Noa ogling at everything strange she had seen. The clothes women had worn, the toys that the children had played with, and the smell of foods that she had never smelled before. "Wow, there's so much..." She had said in awe, not even paying attention to half of the things Iroh had brought.
"Noa, is there something you would like?" He asked her, "Oh! I know just the thing." He had then grabbed her arm, pulling her towards a shop that a woman merchant had owned. "Do you have any clothing that would fit her? Something red."
The woman smiled, "I know just the outfit!" She had looked through the clothing in the back before placing it in a box.
"I'll trust your judgment." Iroh had smiled and paid for it, handing the box to Noa. "You should try it on when we get back to the ship." Noa had nodded with a smile.
"Thank you." She had thanked him.
"It's something you needed. Don't think of it as a gift, but as me taking care of the only woman on the ship." He had patted her head as she had smiled. He knew that if she had seen it as a gift then she would try to return him the favor. Zuko had looked to Noa, noticing how her eyes had stared at the box. "You'll need shoes with that outfit!"
As they had followed Iroh around the marketplace, they had stopped by one area of the place. Noa had waited patiently, holding her clothes and shoes in a stack happily. Despite how many of the helmsman told her they would take it for her, she had refused. These things were hers and so she wasn't willing to lend them to anyone.
Zuko had seen the happiness on her face and kept looking around, wondering if he could get any clue if the Avatar had been there without Noa's help. He had then saw a shop that was selling a large variety of accessories. He had walked over and the one he noticed the most was the simple decorative chopstick with four bloomed cherry blossom. Zuko had inspected it and then looked to Noa.
He then placed it down, shaking his head. She didn't need that and he certainly wasn't going to give it to her. Still, when she had fought her hair was going to br a nuisance. It was pretty long and she would need to find a way to tame it.
Deciding that he would buy it for her benefits, he had bought the accessory and kept it close. The helmsman were watching, he couldn't give it to her at moment. He hid the item and walked towards Noa and Iroh. "Doesn't this place look promising?"
"It doesn't smell promising." Noa commented, her face scrunched up from the foul smell. "It smells like the people haven't bathed in months."
"They must be pirates then!" Iroh was even more excited, charging on ahead. Both Noa and Zuko sighed as they had followed after him, going inside the ship. "Ooo! That is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the gallery?" Iroh asked them as Noa had squinted her eyes.
"They were here." She sniffed the air twice, "The A-"
Zuko had clamped his hand over her mouth and then pressed his lips near her ears. "The Avatar, right?"
Blushing from how close in contact they were, her eyes were wide and face was growing hot and flushing a shade of red. "Mm!" She nodded.
The prince had let go of her and then walked towards what appeared to be the Pirate Captain and his barker."We lost the Water Tribe Girl and the little balkd monk she was traveling with."
"This monk," Zuko had walked close to them, "did he have an arrow on his head?"
All of them had shifted their attention to Iroh as Noa was laughing away at the old man's monkey impression. Zuko had sighed, slapping his palm against his face.
o
"Iroh, do you think it is a good idea to trust the pirates?" Noa had asked as she had adjusted the black band around her waist. When Zuko told them they would be traveling with the pirates, she decided to put on her new attire that Iroh had brought. It was a simple Hanfu, which consisted of a cherry red dress that had flowed down to her feet with a beet red over shirt, which had black sleeves, and a black band around her waist. Her hair was brushed back even though she had wanted it in a updo but she decided that this style was comfortable, at least for now.
Iroh had turned around and his eyes had widened, a grin sprouting from ear to ear. "Noa, this grown suits your so lovely." He had placed his hands on her face, making her look up at him. "Ah, we could've bought you some makeup."
"Make up?" She had sparked up.
"At least to paint your lips. I know girls in the Fire Nation love to color their eyelids and their lips, but I had forgotten." He sighed but then nodded, "But even so, natural beauty is even more splendid. You have such nice features."
"Thank you, Iroh. That means a lot." She fought not to blush out of the pouring of compliments he had given her.
He had smiled and then let go of her face, "But what is it that you asked me?"
"Do you think it is a good idea to trust the pirates?" She had asked him again, her eyes shifting to the floor. "I...I don't think it's a good idea. He could've just used me to find the Avatar, I'm great at finding him."
"Doesn't it tire you to use that power? It's a strong ability, too much of it must not be a good thing." He said, concerned about her health. "Also, won't your hearing be hurt if something loud would've happened? You can't keep taking that risk."
It didn't tire her, she knew that much but it did leave her hearing vulnerable. Since she was a kyuubi it would heal but it still would be painful and take it's time about healing too due to the severity. "You have a point." She nodded.
"Are you going to go see Prince Zuko?" Iroh had asked, "I'm sure he would like to see your new clothes."
"No." Noa quickly answered, "He's talking to the pirate captain and I don't want to be a nuisance."
Surprised, he watched as she had spun and walked down the smal and narrow hall of the cutter craft that they were using during their search for the Avatar. Sh had walked towards the deck, peering out to see Zuko and the pirate captain.
The sky was dark but there was a full moon in the sky. She had looked up and then stepped back, making sure the moonlight didn't hit her. If it did then her tails would show, and Zuko was the only one who knew her true nature. "Noa!"
Her eyes had widened as she had looked behind her to see Daiki. "You startled me, Daiki." She had smiled as she had walked towards him, making sure to stay next to the flame from the torch that had lit up the small hall.
"Sorry about that." He had then looked behind her at the open door that revealed the deck. "Were you going to get some fresh air?"
She quickly shook her head. "No, why would I do that? I don't really like seeing the ocean. I just tolerate it some times."
He nodded, his expression unknown to her due to his mask. "It shouldn't be scary since Prince Zuko is out there."
Zuko had turned to look over his shoulder, seeing Noa speaking to one of the helmsman. He had raised a brow, wondering what she was doing but then heard what sounded like a girl's voice that differed Noa's. He and the pirate captain looked at one another, knowing that it must've been the girl in the Avatar's group.
Noa turned to look at Zuko, who had stood next to herself and Daiki. "We found the Avatar, prepare the troops." He instructed Daiki, who bowed and then ran. Noa had then looked to Zuko, who had kept his focus fixated on her. "Shouldn't you be a little more careful?"
"I am." Noa had said, looking away from him even though his eyes were burning a hole in her face. "I can't go with you. The full moon is going to reveal me."
"I know." Zuko watched as she had looked at him briefly, cracking a small smile. "I'll stay here until the sun is up."
She began walking down the hall, his hands reaching in his inside pocket to feel the box with the chopstick. Sighing, he had followed her. "Here." He said.
She had turned around and looked at him and then down at the black box, "What's that?"
"Something to keep your hair from your face." Zuko explained, "It'll be difficult to fight with your hair. It will already be difficult in that dress."
Biting down on her lip, she had taken the box and opened it to see the one lone ornament chopstick. "Cherry blossoms?" Noa mumbled with a smile, she had then used the chopstick to hold her hair in a messy bun. She had smiled and made sure that it was secure that it wouldn't fall out. Seeing the excitement on her face, he looked away covering his hand with his mouth as he had nearly smiled. "Thank you, Prince Zuko." She had bowed politely.
He had looked at her and then averted his amber eyes, "Just don't lose it and cause trouble while you're here."
Noa had nodded, "I can eat as much as I want though, right? You'll be too busy to eat breakfast with me."
A deadpanned expression appeared on his face, "Is that all you think of? Food?"
Noa had looked up at the ship's ceiling in thought, her lips subconsciously puckered. "Uh, yeah. I think about food, a lot." She nodded and then smiled. "I'll eat for you and Iroh, so no extra food!" She had then turned around and ran down the hall.
He had sighed and shook his head.
o
When it was dawn, Noa had left the cutter craft and went on the land. At the river bank was Zuko and his men lined up facign each other while the girl in blue she had seen before as the Avatar's accomplice was tied to a tree while the pirates were tying up the blue clothed boy and the Avatar.
Zuko had turned to look at her, seeing the Avatar's group was eyeing her with distrust. She had walked over to Zuko and stood beside him, noticing the waterbending scroll in his hand that he used to blackmail the pirates.
But something was off, "What's going on?" She mumbled.
"Give me the boy." Zuko threatened.
"You give us the scroll." said the Pirate Captain.
They were having a stand-off? She had looked at her left at Zuko, wondering if the pirates hadn't figured out the monk's identity. "You're really going to hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?!" The boy in blue had said, her question now answered.
The prince had pointed at him, "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other."
"Your friend is the Avatar?" Noa sighed as the Pirate Captain was certainly interested, knowing that this was going to happen.
"Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll." The boy continued on.
"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko barked, Noa noticing that the monk and the girl didn't really understand the boy's plan.
The Avatar, uncertain of his friend's motives had chimed in. "Yeh," he agreed with Zuko to a certain extent, "Sokka, you really should shut your mouth..."
The boy known as Sokka had continued to speak in favor of being taken by the pirates, "I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"
The captain had pointed at Zuko, "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid."
Zuko's face had darkened as the pirates had nonchalantly tied to walk away with the three hostages, "You'll regret breaking a deal with me!"
Zuko and the helmsman had created a flame torrent towards the pirates, bathing the ground with and making them jump out of the way. Noa had fixated her eyes on the Avatar and Sokka, four pirates jumping in front of them to make sure they were secure.
Her eyes widened as they had dropped smoke bombs, covering the ground and sky with a continuous fog. Noa had then ran forward, making her way towards both of them. Aang and Sokka had looked up at her in fear but she had cut their bonds.
Both of them were surprised by her actions as she had helped them both up by pulling them up by their shirts. "Go." She said.
"Why are you helping us?" The Avatar asked her, "Don't you work for Zuko?"
Noa nodded, "I have my reasons."
"You really shouldn't stay with them, they aren't good people." Sokka had said, trying to convince her to leave Zuko. "You could come with us and we'll take you to somewhere safe."
A chuckle erupted in her throat, her hand over her mouth coyly. "I'm fine. I can protect myself. I'm not being forced to do anything I don't want to do." Sokka had frowned as she had pushed them, "Now go."
The boys had looked at one another and then ran, escaping the smoke as she had rushed towards a pirate, giving him a spinning kick to the head that rendered him unconscious. "Stupid, smelly pirates. I knew you weren't worth trusting."
She looked around, searching for Zuko and found him in an intense battle with the pirate captain. No ran over to them but Iroh broke it up, "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship had set sail?"
"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" His nephew yelled in frustration.
Iroh had pointed towards the pirate ship sailing down the river, "It's no proverb."
"Bleeding hog-monkeys!" The pirate yelled, running down the river banks.
Noa chuckled as Zuko found himself laughing as well, but in that instance they had seen his ship following behind it and filled with pirates. One of them dared to pull their trousers down to moon them, in which Iroh had covered Noa's eyes just in time."That's my boat!" Zuko shouted, running down the river bank.
Iroh had uncovered Noa's eyes and then scratched his chin in thought, "Maybe it should be a proverb. What do you think?" He asked Noa.
"It sounds like a good one." She smiled, "It might need a little bit more... spicing up, but I think it's a good one."
"Noa!" They had looked in the direction of the voice, "Uncle, come on!"
Both had ran after Zuko, Noa didn't use her full speed and tried to run as humanely fast as possible. She had caught up with Zuko as they had watched the cutter nearing the pirate ship down the river. It had eventually rammed into it, which had lift the starboard side of the pirate ship out of the water, which damaged it greatly for the use the pirates made out of it.
They had vacated the ship and went back onto the bison as the pirate ship had fell down the waterfall but sadly, Zuko's cutter boat had followed behind it. "My boat!" Zuko yelled, Noa sighed and looked to Iroh who was huffing, panting heavily from the running.
When he had managed to catch his breath, he had stood up straight. "Hehe, Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this." Both of them had looked at Iroh, "The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
Noa had sighed heavily, shifting her focus away as Zuko had tried to control his temper through breathing as his uncle held the lotus piece. His nephew, however, had quickly snatched it away from him and threw it as far as he could.
Even though it wasn't right, she couldn't necessarily blame Zuko for doing it. The situation of finding and capture the Avatar could've been extremely different if they didn't let Iroh search for the tile. Noa had easily found it, knowing where it landed. "I'll go get it." She had said, leaving the both of them as Iroh had sulked.
Returning the lotus tile to Iroh, she had went to the cabin to see Zuko sitting on his bed with his arms crossed. He was still obviously angry by the turn of events and she couldn't necessarily blame him. So instead, she had sat next to him, giving him some distance. "What?" He spoke, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Nothing." She shook her head, keeping a smile on her face. "It's just today is the first time I heard you laugh." Surprise was clear on his face, his arms unfolding and his hands resting on his thighs as he had turned to look at her. "It was nice."
"Why do you care?" Zuko asked her, wondering why she seemed so fond of him laughing.
Her head had slightly tilted to the side, "As a kyuubi I lived for over four-hundred years, and you've only lived for sixteen-"
"How did you know how old I was?" He immediately asked, disrupting his sentence.
Noa rose a brow, "Iroh told me. He asked how old I was before, he was comparing our ages."
"What did you tell him?" Zuko asked.
"I didn't tell him I was centuries-years-old. I said I was fifteen." She nodded, "I think I look fifteen, don't you think?"
Zuko had studied her for a few minutes. "I guess..." He had looked away.
"As I was saying before you disrupted me..." She had folded her hands on her lap and looked down at her hands. "I've lived for all the centuries and you've only lived for sixteen years. And in my life time, I have seen and experienced a lot of things but you, you're life is still essentially beginning. You need more laughs, you need to be happy more." She could tell by the look on his face that he was going to get angry but she continued on, "I know you're not happy now and I don't really know the whole reason but I know you feel like you have no reason to be but laughing once in a while can ease the pain."
Raising her hands, she had pressed them against his face and smashed his cheeks. "What are you doing?" He asked her, his brows knitted together as she had tried to stop herself from laughing. "Noa, stop it." She had then attempted to close his mouth together, making him speak incoherently. "Noghsa."
Noa laughed, her eyes closing tightly from laughing so hard before opening them again to laugh more at the face he was making.
His hands had grabbed onto her wrists, but he couldn't find himself to pry her hands away but instead she had watched his lips tremble before he had finally let out a fit of laughter. Her eyes had lit up on the sight, letting go of his face slightly as it continued for a few seconds before it died down. "See, that wasn't so bad."
A red scarlet stain appeared on his face, his eyes averted as he was too embarrassed to look at her in the face. "That's enough with the childish games." He said, clearing his throat as he had put on an austere act. "Playing around laughing isn't going to catch the Avatar or let me return home."
Zuko walked out of the cabin, leaving Noa to sigh deeply. Just when she thought she had closed the distance between them, he pushed her away again.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took me so long.
I decided to turn o to mean later on and this to mean the next day(s) or just indication that a day or a long time has passed . . .
