This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

Strangers

Icho was left in the brig come next morning. It was a fight with Ranaka to prevent her from going to throw the young man right off the ship and into the ocean. She seemed less upset that he had tried to come into her room for her than she was that he had cornered Nima in the hallway. Captain Koika almost seemed inclined to let her do it - or do it himself his eyes blazed so much when he heard what happened - but he ultimately told the crew to leave him in the brig.

"He'll get his, but I won't have anyone on my crew stooping to his level," said Koika.

Ranaka scoffed. "I can re-elevate myself, I promise."

Koika chuckled gruffly, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Yes, I know, but we'll find somewhere nice and cozy to send him. Don't you worry. We picked him up in Republic City. We'll drop him back off there. He was running away from there for a reason and I have a feeling it's a group called the authorities," he pointed out. "In the meantime, Janje, make sure you get this ship smelling as good as you can. I want that mouth watering smell to permeate the entire ship if you catch my drift."

Koika winked at his cook, who cackled and wagged a knife at him with approval. "Best way to torture a man is through his stomach. Aye, cap'm. I'll get working on that duck I've been keeping in that salt barrel."

"Duck?" Nima said, her mouth instantly watering. Her Uncle Daw sometimes cooked duck. Gods, she missed her Uncle Daw's cooking so much. His vegetables were something amazing too. She missed him making her his scrumptious special seasoned carrots for a snack.

The idea almost depressed her. Would she get to see him again? Get to eat anything he cooked? Taste every bit of affection her had for her in those special recipes he knew she favored?

Koika's hand clamped down on her shoulder. "It's okay, lass," he said solemnly. "He won't be able to get you or anyone else down there. And there he stays until I throw him off this ship. If I don't do so anytime soon." He looked up at Dan, who was standing beside her. "Good lookin' out, kid. I wish you could stay. I could use men like you. Of course, I'd love to have you around too, lass. No offense."

Nima smiled. "None taken. I like it here. I just have to get back to my family."

"Aye, they're lucky to have you."

Nima refused to let her smile falter, no matter how untrue Captain Koika's station might be.

Aside from finding out about what Icho tried to do, the day went on as normal. Janje's duck was enough to drive Nima crazy and she could hardly work with that smell going throughout the ship, but it made dinner all the more worth it. She heaped on the vegetables, grabbing slices of duck and almost fainted finally having some good food in her mouth. The time she spent in Huiyanshan was mournfully absent of food to eat. She mostly survived on a myriad of swiped snacks, fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, her Uncle Tyyo had taught her how to pickpocket food easily. Here, Janje was a good cook. She'd never say he was better than her Uncle Daw, but the past few days on the ship had been much better than Huiyanshan. Familiar even.

"Quite the appetite you got there, Nima," said Hyun, nodding appreciatively at her plate. "Even The Lonely Mountain over there is still only on his first place."

Nima bit her lip, glancing over at Dan who paused in his eating for just a moment, eyes blinking coldly. Well, it wasn't a completely unfair assumption. Aside from his general grumpiness, Dan was a mountain compared to Hyun. Hyun was short, shorter than Nima, really, by half a head, his naturally tanned face clean shaven aside from a little scarring and bald head wrapped in a red bandana.

"I'm the resident stomach on my ship, normally," she said. "Unless my uncle's made blackberry pie, then my brother can and will eat it by himself. My uncle just goes ahead and makes a whole pie just for him now."

Hyuna flashed white teeth and grunted, amused. "You're brother's a boy after my own heart then. I love me a good blackberry pie. Janje makes a blackberry cake when my birthday comes around. Bless him."

"I've got you, brother," said Janje from across the table, waving a sheathed knife in hand. "If he's real good, I put rum in it."

Beside Ranaka, Saika was a rather unassuming looking young man, his well brushed hair as brown as his eyes. Still, his tan skin offset the beige shirt he usually wore. He smiled. "That's if Captain hasn't finished all the rum, of course. He downs it like water."

Ranaka chittered. "And he sings when he's drunk, too."

Nima giggled at the image. Her Uncle Lefty flashed in her mind. The last time he got drunk, he had the whole crew roused. "My Uncle Lefty can outdrink anyone. One time, my grandpa was feeling confident enough to challenge him to a contest about it. We had to drag him to the sleeping quarters because he blacked out. And he's not exactly a lightweight."

"Well, now it's official," Koika's voice boomed as he laughed. "I've got to meet this Lefty. Sounds like a man who knows how to keep his liquor down!"

"If you asked him, he'd tell you tales about where he's drunk all the best alcohol. He has a story for everything."

In the corner, Foba was a quiet young man. He wasn't anything like Icho, no,. He was nice, smiled when you looked at him. He just seemed to prefer a journal and a pencil than to long conversations. Janje mentioned that he'd saved Saika's hide once with a handy bit of swordsmanship. Still, he did speak from time to time, his blue eyes startling and black hair wavy. "What ship do you come from, Nima?" he asked. "If it's okay, I mean."

"Oh, uh… Well, my ship's called..." Nima glanced at Dan, but he continued to eat his own food, cutting his eyes over to her once. A clear signal that whatever she said was her own decision. It wasn't his life, she supposed. She turned her attention back to the table. "It's called The Rosebud. We're a small ship like this one. Do some plundering here and there, but nothing huge."

The Rosebud? She was, frankly, appalled with her choice of fake ship name. The Rosebud, indeed.

Koika nodded slowly, patiently even. He flashed a smile that he almost seemed like it was twitching. "The Rosebud. Well, that's a… a lovely name."

"Yeah, right terrifying. For a pony, mayb- ow!" Nima heard Hyun mutter before a very obvious Tehan gave his shipmate a hard nudge in his side.

"So, how did you two meet anyway?" asked Tehan. "Were you from the same ship?"

"No," said Nima, shaking her head. She was well aware of Dan's preferred choice not to do the talking. To anyone, if he could manage. "He came to find me. I, uh, kind of got lost see-"

"Oh, we see alright," snickered Tehan. It was Hyun's turn to do the nudging.

"Don't mind them. Not every pair of the opposite sex has to be eyeing each other in some way." Saika shook his head at his crewmates. "Even if you do have some kind of chemistry."

"Saika usd to be a matchmaker in his village," said Ranaka, placing a hand on his shoulder. "So, he should know."

Nima could feel her face getting hotter by the second. "Nope," she said quickly. "No chemistry here. Not even bubbles. I mean, he's-" Well, Dan wasn't exactly friendly. "-he's doable, but- oh gods, that's not what I meant."

Hyun and Tehan cackled, Hyun slapping his knee as Saika hushed them both. Even Foba in the corner there was clearly smiling behind his conveniently now open journal. Koika chuckled. "Oh, lass, they're just teasing. Don't get yourself in a knot. Alright, you all, cut it out. Leave these kids alone."

"Sorry, you two," said Tehan, grinning. "It's just fun having new people on the ship."

"It's fine," said Nima. She couldn't bring herself to so much as look at Dan at the moment. "I'm kind of used to it most of the time with my family. I guess it's just different with newer people…"

At that, Tehan seemed to sober up a little. His smile turned slightly sad it seemed. "You miss them, huh?"

She could only nod with a weak, "Yeah," added to it.

She did. She could only hoped they missed her nearly as much as she did them.

Koika stood up. "Well, we'd better get cleaned up and hit the hay soon. We'll be porting in Hidama early in the morning."

-:-:-:-

If there was one thing Jangi was good at it was lying. Lying came easily to him. Even lying to his Captain wasn't exactly the hardest thing in the world - though it did make him the most nervous. Still, Captain Quil wasn't a hard man to lie to. That is, if you told him half truths with it.

But today he would not lie. He couldn't lie about this.

The sun was sapping away what little energy and patience he had left as he swiped things from the marketplace. Quil always paid for his things, but it was more of a condescending "of course I can afford this" rather than a moral compass. That man lacked a moral compass. Or, at least, it'd been broken for a very long time. That was why Jangi followed him, of course. Who better to be first mate to than to a man who didn't care when you did a thing with ethics right out the window? As long as it didn't cross any of his own personal rules, agendas or codes, then Quil generally didn't care how you did something. Just get him results.

The thing about Quil was that his favorite results were the ones he reaped himself. And he very much meant reap. That was why Jangi did a double, no - triple take when he got a good look at the girl. The girl.

Light brown skin, brown hair, green goddamned eyes that he swore looked like-

No, it couldn't be.

But damn it all to hell, the height was right and he remembered very specifically the build of her body.

No, it literally could not be her. But he looked. And he looked again for good fucking measure.

That girl.

That girl was dead. He'd seen it with his own eyes when Quil drove his sword clean through her.

But, somehow, here he stood on the other side of the market street, staring at the profile of the Gyatso girl Quil had killed - he had fucking seen her die. This shit wasn't right. She turned toward him and apparently didn't see him. Fuck, fuck, fuck. That was definitely her face.

He had to be seeing things. Had to. Shit, it was that drink last night, wasn't it? Had to be. What the hell had Taino that swinefucker put in it this time?

But his heart stopped when she turned toward a tall, muscular young man with long dark hair and brown skin of the Water Tribe-

Wait. That was the bounty hunter Quil had hired from that one captain, wasn't it? There sure as hell no mistaking him. The kid was a goddamned oak tree with legs.

This time, she turned again and looked straight. He didn't stay to see if she'd recognized him.

Who was he going to get to tell Quil this one?

-:-:-:-

"What is it?" Dan asked her, glancing in the direction Nima was looking in. Nima cocked her head, feeling the oddest feeling as if someone had been watching her.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Anyway, what's that schedule looking like?"

Dan glanced back into the bar Tehan was busy drinking in- and cajoling his old buddy to provide him with the schedule to The Sozin. With the rest of the crew busy, Nima didn't feel quite right being on the ship alone without Dan. As much as she liked Koika and his crew, it still wasn't exactly… home. Or maybe it did remind of her of home and that was the problem.

Oddly enough, Koika hadn't been seen that morning. When she asked, Ranaka told her that he was still in his quarters taking care of some paperwork. The ship was a little quiet that morning. Thankfully, Tehan had invited her and Dan off the ship.

"It sounded like it was going just fine," he said, drifting into the shady spot under a canopy next to them. "You didn't tell them about what ship you're actually from."

Damn it. She was hoping he wouldn't mention that.

He went on when she didn't answer him. "You don't trust them either."

Nima frowned at him. "That's not it. It's just not really important, is it?"

He shrugged. "That's your call, isn't it?"

Making a face, Nima crossed her arms. "Don't you ever, you know, smile or like people? Not everyone has ulterior motives or wants to take advantage of you."

At that, Dan's face didn't so much as twitch. He leaned against the wall of the bar, crossing his arms over his chest. Stoically. Like the most stoic stoic to ever stoic. What was new? She walked up to him and put her arms in front of her chest, shaking herself out as she frowned fiercely. This time, he raised a brow at her. "What are you doing?"

"Acting like you," she said, glaring at passerby who weren't paying her any mind. "Hating the world and everyone in it."

"I don't 'hate the world and everyone in it'," he said. She was impressed. He kind of sounded like he wanted to get defensive. "I just don't think everyone's out to help you. Because they're not. I didn't think I'd have to explain that to you."

Nima rolled her eyes, unwinding her little performance when a couple people started to glance at her. "Okay, but not everyone's out to eat you alive and gut you and stuff. I mean, yeah…" She cleared her throat. "Last night was bad, but Icho doesn't exactly represent everyone I'll ever meet so…"

Dan actually frowned at her this time. "Do you ever take anything seriously?"

"Of course I do," she said, shrugging. "I just didn't get my copy of the The Suspicions newspaper this month."

"You do realize that he would have raped you last night, don't you? I thought you understood that," he said coldly. "Everything can't be some peachy game that you get to shrug off whenever you want."

Nima's throat closed up. She stared at him for a moment, feeling her face falter. Whatever words she had withered in her mouth. Unable to really look at him right now, she turned away, finding a fruit stand to busy herself with until Tehan was done.

She found that she wasn't hungry.

-:-:-:-

On a normal day, Quil usually let the things Jangi sent others to tell him slide. Normally, whatever issues he had with what was said were taken out on whoever was within his proximity. Whoever had actually delivered the message. He didn't particularly care who caught the brunt of his wrath, personally. Later, he would question Jangi about it. The little weasel seemed to think he was so smart it was always rather amusing watching him half grovel as he lied through his teeth.

Today though.

Today was too… insulting. He wouldn't stand for this kind of blatant disregard to his own intelligence. Jangi clearly thought he was either insane or stupid. And, that, he would not have.

"You called?" Jangi's voice was timid as he knocked on the door. "Boss?"

"Get in here and shut the door."

Thin as a reed, Jangi slipped into the room and did as he was told, noticeably staying close to the door. Quil's lips twitched into a small smile. He tapped his desk with a brush pen. "I suggest you get closer or else I might have to come over there."

That seemed to make the weasel get a little smarter. Jangi stepped forward, into the center of the room and across from Quil's desk where he could see the white of the man's eyes, at least.

"Boss?" Jangi inquired, his voice trembling. He was standing at attention, but Quil could tell that he was doing his best not to go about wringing his hands like he did when he knew he'd been caught.

"Care to explain why you sent that idiot, Shenmang, to deliver that bold lie of yours?" asked Quil, drumming his fingers on the arm of chair. "The last time I checked, you were there when I killed the girl."

"Boss, I swear." Jangi shrinked under Quil's gaze. "I'm not making it up. I only thought it convenient to have someone tell you so I can take care of other-"

"Save it."

"I swear that I'm not making it up, Boss. I saw her. I saw the girl. She was alive!" He got on his knees when Quil stood up and walked around his desk. "I even saw that bounty hunter, what was his damn name? The tall one…"

But Quil bore down on his first mate, on his knees, and made sure that eye contact was clear between them. Jangi's face fell, his mouth open as if to beg for mercy, but Quil beat him to it.

"I killed the captain's daughter. I personally slaughtered her like the livestock she was. Nima Gyatso is dead. And I may be a busy man, yes." Quil grinned. "And I am many things, yes. But insane, senile or stupid are not among my many qualities. Do you understand?"

Jangi nodded miserably, the fear clearly making his limbs shiver.

"Good," said Quil, reaching out and adjusting the collar of Jangi's shirt before he yanked it so their faces were close enough that Quil could see his first mate's quivering irises. "Now get back to work before I get some other lying moron to do your job. And I don't have enough room on this ship for someone who can't serve me with any respect. I'm sure you can understand that, can't you?"

Jangi nodded again. "You won't hear about it again, Boss."

Quil didn't let him go right away, staring him in the eye to make sure that was real fear there. When he was satisfied, he threw Jangi back to the ground and let him scramble back up to his feet.

"I'm glad we have that understanding," he said, going back to his desk and settling back in his chair. He only had so much daylight before the sun would leave him to finish this paperwork by candlelight. He dismissed his first mate with a wave of his hand. "Now get out and go make yourself useful."

-:-:-:-

Nima stayed away from Dan for the rest of the day. She found other things to do, other things to busy herself with. He didn't ask her about her distance. Not that she ever expected him to.

Tehan had been able to get his friend to agree to deliver the schedule to him first thing in the morning. Despite Tehan's friendliness, Nima was still a little surprised.

"It's just a stretch, that's all," she said, washing dishes while Foba beside her was dried. He rolled his long sleeves up to his elbows, revealing white skin and a horizontal thin scar on his left arm. "I can't believe someone would just give that kind of schedule up."

"Never underestimate alcohol and people who hate their job," said Foba, smiling faintly. "I hear the warden doesn't treat his soldiers very well."

"So, I'm guessing that means he's actually horrible and his men can't stand him?"

Foba actually laughed. "Pretty much."

Despite his quiet nature, Nima found that Foba was actually quite sociable. Certainly more than Dan. The guy didn't say much, but at least he smiled and made conversation. And here Nima thought she would be helping with the dishes in total silence.

"So…" Nima began, curious. "Is it okay if I ask what kind of things you write in your journals? You don't have to tell me if you don't want if it's personal. You're just kind of always…"

"Glued to it," he said kindly, his voice having a certain soft quality to it. "I am. It's nothing exactly personal… not in the way you're thinking, at least. I'm a writer. I like to write novels and things like that, short stories maybe. Sometimes I'll write to a newspaper for a little bit of money if I'm feeling up to it. I can be quiet out here," he said, gesturing to the air and the world in general, but then he pointed to his temple. "But I'm not in here. That's all."

"Oh, that must be nice. Having somewhere to put down all your ideas," said Nima, smiling.

"Are any of your uncles writers?" he asked.

Nima thought about it just for a moment. "I don't actually know," she shrugged, struggling slightly with her voice as she shoved down a certain bitterness that was dragging up guilt right along with it. "They don't really tell me everything exactly."

If Foba noticed her odd moment then he didn't say anything, taking the last dish to dry from her. "Is that why you left?"

Nima could feel her face fall and she looked away. She heard the dish clank against the other dished in the cupboard rather hard

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. T-that was too much," he stammered. He sounded like he was leaving when she reached out for his sleeve.

"No, it's okay," she said, hating the guilt and slight panic in his voice. "It was probably kind of obvious, wasn't it?"

He nodded and pursed his lips, meddling with his fingers and staring downcast. "Sorry. I'm really sorry-"

"It's okay," she said, not even bothering to dry her hands when she put placed them on his arms. "I promise it's okay. It's not a big deal. Just… how did you know?"

He seemed to calm down after that, a small nervous smile curving his lips. "Takes one to know one, right? That's the saying, isn't it?"

Nima nodded and tried to return his smile. "Why did you…?"

"It's a longer story than we probably have time for, but let's just say that my grandfather wasn't exactly man of the year," he said, raising his forearm and showing off the thin scar on his left arm. "Basically. Kind of. What about you?"

You don't trust them either.

Nima bit her lip. She didn't exactly want Dan to be right on this one. "Promise you won't say anything."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Foba said.

"Well… my dad and I kind of… we had a huge fight. Biggest fight we ever had-"

"Did he hit you?" Foba asked, frowning.

"No!" Nima's eyes widened at the very thought. As children, her mother had always been the one who spanked them when she or the twins were misbehaving badly. But her father? She couldn't even imagine it and she certainly couldn't imagine it the way Foba was implying. "He would never hurt me. Not… not like that. He just… we didn't talk and I left to clear my head and…"

She swallowed. Maybe this was a bad idea. How exactly was she going to explain that she just got lost?

"And stuff happened," Foba rolled down his sleeves. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Stuff always happens. I get it. You don't have to tell me everything right now. Or ever if you don't want."

"...thanks."She said, shoulder slumping. "Thanks for understanding... it's weird. I want to talk about it, but I-I can't. Not yet."

Even now, a lump was forming in her throat and her stinging eyes betrayed her. She missed her ship. And her bed. And the hugs before bed and in the morning. She missed her family's voices. Their smiles. She missed her mother's warm touch and her father's kisses to her forehead. She missed the twins…

Now, her entire world was just different and unfamiliar. The Sea Viper crew were great, but…

Not home.

The smells and sounds were different. Even the way the wood felt beneath her feet just wasn't the same. As nice as it was to be in a somewhat familiar environment, all of it only made her crave for home more.

Foba shrugged, pursing his lips. "It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me. Thanks for sharing. It's… you know, having a new person on the ship. It's nice, but it also makes you curious. Nervous even."

"This is your home," Nima said, nodding. "And I'm a guest. A complete stranger. You just want to know who I am."

"Yeah… this is my place in the world, honestly. At least, in this chapter of my life and… yeah." Foba looked down at his hands then back at her. "You miss your family. I get it. Honestly, I really do."

Nima let out a breath.

Gods, she was glad someone did.

-:-:-:-

That night, before they went to bed, Nima did her very best not to look at Dan. He didn't pay her any mind. So, it would probably be best if she didn't pay him any mind either. He would probably prefer it that way anyhow.

"Are you going to keep acting like a child or are we actually going to communicate about this heist of yours?"

She heard him say it in his normal apathetic voice. Now, Nima always considered herself someone of a fairly even temper. Balanced. She was neither a hot head like her Uncle Skoochy nor had the patience of a god like her Uncle Longshot.

But, damn it, she didn't have to that this.

"You know," she twisted on her heel and turned to him, frowning at him. "If my silence bothers you so much then why don't you just apologize. Like a regular human being?"

"I was telling you the truth," he said, crossing his arms. "You can't just brush everything off just because you don't want to face the facts."

Nina made an undignified sound. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That your situation - and all the situations you seem to get into, are serious." He growled. Impressive. He actually growled at her. "Grow up a little. He was going-"

"I know what he was going to do to me! Thank you very much!" She walked up to him so that they were facing each other, her hands balling into fists. "I'm not an idiot and I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat me like one! How I deal with the things that happen to me is my business! You're nothing to me so why don't you back off?"

Nima tasted the way her words soured just as she saw his face do the same. He seemed to glower at her for a moment before turning his back on her and getting ready for bed in utter silence. She obliged him. She didn't touch his back the way she did the night prior, keeping to her edge of the bed, in fact.

Her nightmares were vivid that night, blood and cruel blue eyes terrorizing her so that she woke up cold and breathless.

Turning onto her back, she swallowed down the urge to turn and poke Dan. Apologize. Even if he didn't accept it or care. She hadn't meant to take out her frustration on him. Her mother had taught her better than that.

Finally, she had someone to bother with her. Someone who knew her family and knew some truth of her. And she'd essentially told him to go to hell.

"Miserable," she let an almost inaudible whisper escape.

She screwed her eyes shut as tears leaked back into hair.

Miserable. Miserable Daughter. Friend. Person.

She hated the night.

A transitionary chapter with some important stuff honestly. A lot of relationship things going on in this chapter. As Nima gets to know The Sea Viper crew, Dan seems to be a confusing part for her. A frustrating part for both of them mutually and it's a muddled time for both of them, I think. Next chapter should be up pretty on time since I have up to chapter 23 up. Should be regular for a little while!

As always, guys I love it when you leave those reviews! They really keep me writing and really keep me motivated! Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!