Chapter 20:
Freya sat on the end of the bed, crosslegged and swirling water around her hands. She sat looking troubled, her face still tinted red and her eyes glowing amber.
Who would've thought… she muttered looking at her hand as the water formed a shape above it Suppression is bad in the long term… the girl scoffed "Not that I had a choice."
"So," Freya sighed and looked back down at her hands. "You're fever's gone then." the girl looked up
"Depends what you mean by fever." she muttered to the prince. He was standing tall and strong at the door. Freya knew as well as everyone on the boat that there were two guards standing out side the doors, Zuko's way of making sure she behaved. "Skin still feels like it's on fire but I'm no longer sick." she admitted "You can put me back down in that nice cool cell now." she smirked ever so slightly
"Or I can throw you over board." Zuko offered
"Both will work." Freya muttered and Zuko looked at her angrily, her lack of emotion from his words causing him infuriation.
"There's a third option," Zuko admitted as he looked down at her, keeping his aggravation in check. Freya simply scoffed
"Really?" she asked "You're gonna offer I remove the heat by letting me bend?" she chuckled "By now I can promise I know you're way to desperate to give me up, even if I've said nothing about Aang and even if I refuse to, I'm still a piece of hope that could lead to my best friend's capture." Freya explained as she raised her hand to hold the water up for the candle light to shine through it.
"You're not going to let me up to let off some steam, I've wiped the floor with you before and I'll do it again so you know better than to let your last trump card go."
"I don't think you'd even try to leave." Zuko strolled forwards in front of the water bender and she watched him with curiosity. "I've noticed a few things lately since you've been up here. And as it turns out, it seems our stocks of food are lower than they should be, so our cook is under the impression that someone's been stealing food." Zuko said slyly.
"Your point?" Freya wondered
"I've seen you bending in those cells, and you said yourself you weren't locked in." Zuko said
"Are the locks broken?" Freya asked him
"No. But I went down to have a little look anyway." Zuko walked forwards and leaned towards the girl "Do you know what I found?"
"Enlighten me." Freya allowed
"You moved cells." Zuko said darkly.
"Oh." Freya sighed "I thought I got the wrong one." she muttered "You can promise I took more care in which cell it was for the next few times."
"How did you get out?" Zuko questioned. Freya's water raised between their faces and shaped into a key, hardening before it melted again.
"Water is flexible and changeable." she said "It's not that hard to unlock a cell when you've got access to it. I could have broken your cage or cut through it but what kind of good prisoner would I be if I did that?"
"And yet, you didn't run?" Zuko said
"I told you Zuko, where would I go?"
"I'm sure a water bender can manipulate the water to carry her away." Zuko stood up and began to pace.
"Alright then," Freya uncrossed her legs and got to her feet. Zuko stopped to watch her as she strolled past him. "I get on deck, I jump over board, the waves carry me off and you loose your prisoner, easy simple and in my favour." Freya shrugged "What do I do next?" she turned to Zuko and prince looked down at her
"You find land." Zuko said
"How?" Freya replied "I have no map. I cannot wait until the sun sets to use the stars. I do not know where we are to begin with." she admitted.
Freya began to circle the prince as she continued.
"But let's pretend that didn't happen. Let's say I found shore. Great!" she grinned "Except I have no money, no food and no method of transport." Her enthusiasm diminished. "Let's say I get transport." she shrugged "Where do I go? And what likely hood is it that I'll find my friends again anyway?"
Zuko stared at the wall before him as she stopped beside him and crossed her arms.
"You may have me kept prisoner Zuko but when contemplating my odds, staying safe, on a ship, which feeds me and is transporting me back to my friends in the long run is a much better option than going it alone by myself."
"So that's why you're still here." Zuko turned to her "You're using me to return to the Avatar."
"Well you will lead me straight to him even if I don't tell you where he is… not that I would know anyway, Aang's so unpredictable." Freya shrugged
"I guess it's good I'm keeping you locked in that cell then." Zuko threatened
"Except you now know that it's not keeping me locked up anyway." Freya said and Zuko stopped "I mean you're welcome to post a guard outside, maybe two, I could use the workout." she nodded
"Maybe throwing you over board is in my best interest then." Zuko wondered
"Either way I will find my way back to Aang and the others so you pick and I'll deal with the consequences from there." Freya shrugged moving to look at the Fire Nation tapestry that hung on the wall.
"Or I could kill you instead." Zuko hissed at her. He stood behind her and Freya turned her head, debating over the option.
"I don't think you could even if you wanted to." she muttered before she turned to the Fire Prince. His eyes were narrowed and his expression was set, but as she stared into his amber eyes there was a wavering of emotion behind the ferocity, behind the desperation. Uncertainty and rejection sat swimming in his irises. Freya's expression turned to a frown.
"Zuko, have you actually ever killed someone?" she whispered "Or been responsible for someone's death?" Zuko stared down at her, his eyes hardening but he said nothing. "You may be hunting my best friend, and you may be with the Fire Nation. You may have burnt down an innocent village and you may put innocent people in danger for your quest, but I doubt you're a murder." she said.
"And how would you know?" Zuko questioned, stepping closer in order to intimidate her
"I'm making a guess." Freya muttered "More so by the fact that you decided to help me, instead of leave me down in the brig. And here you are offering compromises despite finding out I haven't been the angel of a prisoner you thought I was."
"You already said you were my trump card, is that not why you're not frightened of me." Zuko reminded her
"I'm not frightened of you Zuko, because you're not scary." she whispered
"You think so?" Zuko asked doubtfully, turning his face ever so slightly so that the scar that travelled across his left eye to his ear was more exposed.
"A scar doesn't make you scary Zuko." Freya couldn't help but reach up and trailed her fingers ever so lightly over the scared skin. Zuko glanced at her and his hand twitched ready to pull her hand away but she noticed his reaction and did so herself.
"Then what does it make you?" he wondered, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"A surviver." Freya shrugged before she turned and walked back to the bed, Zuko's eyes following her. "That's probably why you're still after Aang, despite the odds. I mean he is a child but he's one of the best benders I've met and he's the avatar so it's one hell of a competition."
"He's the only Airbender you've met." Zuko believed but Freya stopped with her back to him. Zuko looked at her with interest at her sudden reaction.
"Actually he's not." Freya muttered before she sat down. She turned to him and the Prince was surprised by the sadness over her face.
"The Airbenders have been extinct for one hundred years! There's no way you met any more." Zuko snapped and Freya looked at him annoyed.
"Oh yeah? Then where did Aang come from?" She asked "How is he an airbender and twelve years old?"
Zuko was silent.
"No wonder you haven't been able to track or keep up with him Zuko."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he scoffed
"You haven't done your homework that's what!" Freya snapped, getting to her feet again "You're hunting something you know nothing about. You know if you did a little research instead of blindly charging forwards you might have had more luck so far, but you're so desperate all you do is run headlong into the fight, you under estimate your opponent." Freya admitted. She smirked and crossed her arms
"Probably the same reason you failed against me." She said smugly
"I admit I underestimated your bending ability." Zuko said eying her.
"I don't think that's it. I think you just put yourself higher above others." she accused "You think no one trains as hard as you."
"I've been training for years in preparation to meet the avatar…"
"And then you got beaten by a water bender." Freya grinned "Tell me, how can someone teach you how to fight an avatar when he's been gone for one hundred years, and anyone who knew about him is gone?" she asked "And how do you expect to beat the avatar when you cannot beat a simple water bender?"
"You're not a simple water bender." Zuko said, his expression having grown more irritated by her words. Freya raised an eyebrow with a grin.
"Oh it's been eating at you hasn't it?" Freya teased "What the doctor and I were talking about." Zuko stared at her "That's why you're here to propose your options, because you want to see what it is that makes me 'remarkable'. You want to know why I'm burning at over one hundred degrees. But will you risk having your crew see you put on your ass and my escape?" Freya raised an amused eyebrow and watched as suddenly Zuko took a stance, his hands raised before him. His expression was hardened and serious.
"I hope you realise you have no water here." Zuko warned.
Freya smiled and uncrossed her arms, she swirled them around and before Zuko's eyes water emerged from drops and turned into a ring around the girl.
"Is that so?" she wondered.
Zuko struck first.
A guard heard a smash and came running around a corner to see Zuko lying in the corridor. The prince glared into the room and got to his feet before fire flared through the hallway and into the room he'd smashed through.
"Sire!"
"Stay back!" Zuko demanded as the guard ran forwards, several more heard the noise and joined as well.
"But sire!"
"Only interfere is she tries to escape." Zuko ordered as he glared at Freya who stood smirking with her hands up ready.
"I promise not to go easy on you but if you decide to give in I promise to stop." she said giddily. Zuko huffed before Freya waved her hand to disperse the fire and water went shooting at the Prince, he jumped out of the way and the wall behind was frozen before Freya ran out of the room, the ice melting and flowing to follow her.
"Running will get you no where!" Freya called and she waved her hand as she jumped, the entire ship tipping and Zuko slamming into the wall. He stopped and turned to her, punching his fist forwards for fire to flare down the corridor at Freya. She swung her hands down and water rushed over her head and blocked the fire before it dispersed and Freya continued after the prince.
"Where are you even going!?" Freya demanded until she saw him run up a set of stairs and light streaming down.
The girl got to the stairs before she stopped.
"Freya, feeling the push and pull of water is how water benders become masters. You have to feel the energy. However very often those benders forget to find the connection."
"What connection?" Freya and her mother were bending on an ice block, a little ways off from the shore where the Southern Water tribe village sat.
"Freya, the human body is mostly made up of water, therefore water benders have a connection to their element just as tightly as the air benders do." Azure said. "You can think and feel through it, as it is literally an extension of yourself. Water benders feel the movement of water but they do not feel the flow of energy. Freya, feel the water within and connect it to that that is around you."
"But how do I do that?" Freya asked
"Meditate. Close your eyes and feel it." Azure whispered, placing her hands on the young girl's shoulders as she stopped and listened.
Freya grinned as Zuko stood on the deck, his hands ready and his hard gaze piercing the door he'd ran through.
The ship shook and from either side of the boat two streams of water jumped out of the sea, towering up over the ship's deck. Zuko stared up them with wide eyes, his hands wavering as he looked between them and then back to the doorway. Freya was yet to come through it.
Freya's eyes were closed, her hands raising beside her as she concentrated.
The water rose up until it was hovering right above the deck and Zuko spun around looking at it all as Freya grinned. She dropped her hands and the water suddenly released and dropped straight down onto the deck, covering it all in water and leaving a few inches over the metal. Zuko spluttered and shook his head, his pony tail hitting himself in the head as he looked around.
"Now, let's see how you make fighting an enemy you can't see," Freya whispered to herself.
Zuko jumped backwards as suddenly the water spiked up and froze before him, the skewer barely missing the edge of his nose as he flipped himself backwards.
More spiked up around him and the prince ducked, dodged, dived and spun out of the way as the water below him moved after him, following and attacking. Zuko's eyes kept scanning the deck, looking for the master behind the attacks but she still sat within the doorway to the deck. Several guards were looking on from the windows and the helmsman watched with a smirk. A few watched Freya at the end of the hallways, the smirk on her face amusing them as well as the grace she showed as she bended, moving through her stances with poise and elegance.
Zuko rolled over the deck before ice ran over the deck towards him, quickly beginning to ice his outstretched arm. Zuko quickly broke through the ice and jumped up onto a balcony, the helm tower having been behind him.
Freya stopped suddenly and opened her eyes, her expression growing frustrated.
"Great…" she huffed annoyed. The Guards watching her looked confused as Zuko looked down at the waterlogged deck. Nothing moved, not even a ripple swept over the liquid. He raised an eyebrow confused, glancing around. What had stopped the water benders attacks? She'd had no trouble until now…
"That girl is very talented, if I do say so myself." Zuko turned to see his uncle beside him smiling.
"Uncle?"
"To be able to fight without physical visualisation, but to feel it instead." Iroh glanced sideways at his nephew who's eyes widened. He looked down at the water and then to his own feet. So far, he'd been running through the water that was left on the deck, now he'd jumped out of the liquid.
"She was using the water to see me?" Zuko questioned
"Not see. Feel." Iroh smiled "She was using the water to feel where you were."
"How cowardly!" Zuko accused
"Not cowardly, smart. She is using her resources to her advantage as well as displaying her capabilities." Iroh smiled.
Freya waited before her patients began to wear thinly. Zuko had jumped out of her water and she could no longer feel him or where he could have landed.
And if that's the case, then he must be higher up… Freya smirked The balcony. Freya swung her arms and Zuko jumped as the water went frying over the balcony, covering the entire thing in more water and the prince landed on the bars once it all settled. Iroh sniffed and looked down at his wet robes before sighing.
"I'm going to get some warming tea." he decided and he walked through the water to the doorway. Zuko watched his uncle as the man wasn't attacked or stopped.
Is it possible she knows the difference between people? he wondered as he glanced down to the water all around him. He needed to coax Freya out of the ship and onto the deck if he was to have any chance of defeating her.
"I could get rid of the water…" Zuko looked around to the ocean on either side. The water was everywhere, if he removed the water, Freya would just replace it.
"But if she can't find me…" Zuko muttered to himself before he smirked slyly.
Freya stood and waited in agitation. Zuko was yet to touch down anywhere, even on the balcony she'd been unable to find him.
Is he actually smart enough to figure out my trick? she wondered. She then remembered the footsteps through the water of Iroh. She groaned. "No but Iroh is. God Iroh, just had to sell me out!" she complained to herself, kicking the floor and the Guards all rose an eyebrow at her.
Which means there's no point in trying it some more cause Zuko will be staying out of it. Freya realised, crossing her arms stubbornly.
He had no chance before and now I lost my groove. I'm gonna have to go out there. Freya huffed before she turned for the doorway. "He's so stubborn." she muttered before she walked up to the light, shutting her eyes for a second to take in the sudden worth of the sun, something she hadn't felt for a while.
"Right." Freya moved out of the doorway and spun around, shooting water in front of her to block the fire Zuko shot her way.
Freya swung her arm and water went shooting up to the fire prince who was standing on the railing. She grinned as Zuko stared down at her.
"Smart." she smiled at him.
"I'll admit, your bending is rather advanced." Zuko said
"Aww, thanks." Freya grinned before she spun on the spot, her leg shooting out and water following the motion to shoot at Zuko, but not before it turned to icicles.
Zuko grabbed the railing and swung his foot, smashing the icicles before he shot fire through his feet, before jumping back up to land on his feet. Water rose up with Freya's arms and the fire clashed with it before it went tumbling forwards, a high pillar of water towards the fire prince. He jumped upwards to avoid it but the water grew with him, Freya raising her arm that little bit more.
The girl closed her fist and the water wrapped around Zuko, grabbing him and then being flung down to the ground along the deck by a swing of Freya's hand. Zuko shook his head and looked up only to have the water around him grab his arms and legs and lift him from the ground. The water surrounded him and was quickly iced in place, his body all the way to his chin, stuck.
Freya held her position as Zuko attempted to struggle and when he took a deep breath to melt the ice, more instantly replaced it and his head was turned to the sky, his breath no longer able to reach the ice.
"I promise I'll overthrow any other move you make to escape so keep trying." Freya grinned
"I've got to say, I'm very impressed." Iroh clapped from the balcony Zuko had been standing on the railing of. Two guards walked out and began to set up a table with some tea for the man as he'd changed his uniform for his robe, the former being wet.
"However my dear, did that really relieve any of the pressure?" Iroh raised an eyebrow and Freya smiled
"Relieved some. Haven't been able to let loose since I got here after all." she grinned turning to the prince, still struggling.
"I'll let you down if you admit I beat you!" she said, raising her voice a little. Zuko struggled before he sighed.
"Fine. You win." he grumbled
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Freya smiled, putting a hand behind her ear. Zuko ground his teeth.
"I said you win!" he shouted and Freya smiled before she rounded her hands and brought them down her centre, the water all melted and Zuko cried out as he fell into the liquid. Freya however caught him and set him on his feet before all the water on the deck, around the prince and on the balcony ran away and splashed back into the sea on either side.
Zuko coughed slightly before looking at the smiling water bender before him with a scowl.
"I did warn you." Freya shrugged at the prince's annoyed look.
"It's a good learning curve for you Prince Zuko, and accepting defeat is the honourable thing to do." Iroh smiled. Zuko looked irritated, despite the word 'honour' causing him to hesitate slightly in the emotion.
"That's alright, he said I win, I'll be understanding if he's somewhat embarrassed by being beaten by a girl." Freya smiled as she walked forwards towards the balcony. She waved her arm and water splashed over the balcony. Zuko instantly rose his hands, expecting to be attacked or for the girl to take her escape. However the water formed a stairway and Freya made her way happily up to Iroh where she jumped over the railing and sat beside the man.
"I don't suppose I could trouble you for a cup?" Freya asked Iroh
"Of course not." Iroh smiled and poured her some tea.
"Uncle!" Zuko called as Freya's staircase squashed to the deck and the water ran away down the sides of the boat. "Do not give our prisoner tea!" he demanded as he ran across the deck to hurry and climb the stairs in order to join the two.
"You know, between you and I," Freya began with a smile to Iroh "I don't feel very much like a prisoner."
"You don't act much like one either my dear." Iroh chuckled as Zuko came running through the door. Freya looked at him over her cup of tea, his eyes racking the deck for some sort of escape plan.
"How many times do I need to say it Zuko, I can't go anywhere, we're in the middle of ocean. I'd probably loose consciousness from exhaustion of overexerting myself in order to reach land, causing me to drown, before I got to any solid ground." Freya shrugged in seriousness. "But if you want to cuff me to the balcony until I want to return to my room, or my cell if you feel safer with me down there, then go ahead."
"A lady such as you should not be within a cell." Iroh thought "Prince Zuko does not wish for you to go back into that cell either." Freya rose an eyebrow and turned to the prince who was staring at the two of them with frustration. "Besides Prince Zuko, it's good to test your skills against other benders. Miss Freya here is a good match for you as well."
"After all, how can you think to defeat the all mighty Avatar if you cannot beat a simple water bender." Freya grinned, opening one eye to look at the prince as she repeated her earlier words.
"He's not all mighty! He's a kid."
"He's what, three years younger than you?" Freya scoffed "Well, physically."
"Physically?" Zuko questioned as he approached her.
"I told you, you have not done your homework." Freya shrugged "If you did, you'd know where Aang's been all this time. Where that light came from when you first found him in the south pole," Freya put her cup down. "Besides, having been raised by monks Aang has a lot more wisdom within him than most kids nowadays and he's able to keep himself level headed in situations. Unlike some." she pointed to him and Zuko's hands balled tightly.
"He has no idea of the serious of situations because he's a child." Zuko believed as he stalked forwards
"And how would you know?" Freya questioned "You've seen him what, three times?" she asked "And if he didn't understand the seriousness of situations he would not have let you take him onto his ship all those weeks ago in the South Pole in order to save the water tribe there."
Zuko said nothing.