Chapter 25:
Freya stood looking at the tranquil waters. The sky was clear the ocean was blue and some birds flew overhead. Freya watched them before the wind seemed to change and a chill went down her spine.
Freya waved her hand and water accumulated before her, multiplying easily.
"The air's damp…" she mumbled as the door opened and Zuko moved out of it with a spy glass in his hands. Freya glanced at him before turning to the sky around them. Zuko stared at the sky through his spyglass as Iroh breathed in the air around them.
"There is a storm coming. A big one." he realised and Zuko lowered his spyglass to look at his uncle.
"You're out of your mind, Uncle. The weather's perfect. There is not a cloud in sight." he believed, walking over to the man.
"No Zuko, you're uncle's right." Freya agreed "The air's damp and… tense." she muttered
"And how would you know?" Zuko demanded of her
"Too much water in the air. And you can feel the electricity buzzing even from here." she explained "Sailors are good at telling the weather from just the air you know."
"You're not a sailor."
"In training I was." Freya snapped back "Remember my father was a general." she said
"The storm is approaching from the north." Iroh said with a nod, breaking up the two's argument "I suggest we alter our course and head southwest." Iroh advised
"We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same." Zuko rejected the offer stubbornly.
"Zuko, Aang wont fly in a storm any more than you'd sail in one. He's probably grounded, you can afford to change direction." Freya said, annoyed at his stubbornness.
"That depends on how close we are." Zuko believed
"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew." Iroh warned
"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" Zuko snapped as the Lieutenant walked up onto the deck, turning as he heard the words. Zuko turned to the man who rose an eyebrow, and moved towards him. "Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety." he snapped before turning and leaving the deck.
"He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up." Iroh assured the lieutenant but neither looked positive.
"I'll… go talk to him." Freya decided before she took off after the boy.
"Zuko!" she called
"Leave me alone." Zuko replied
"Hey you followed me earlier, I have the right to do the same at least once." Freya decided as she fell into step behind him.
"Not on my ship." Zuko disagreed
"Look Zuko, I understand you want to kidnap Aang to return home, I don't agree with it but I kinda understand, but in order for you to achieve such a goal you kind of need a ship and a ship is run by crewmen." she explained "You can't say the crew doesn't matter when they're the only ones you've got to help you." The prince turned to the girl and leaned down into her personal space.
"I need your little friend and so he comes first." Zuko hissed
"Well you can't catch him if your ship ends up at the bottom of the ocean." Freya confessed "You need to think about these things with a little more depth. You run headlong and don't think about things and you'll end up worse off. Taking small precautions like altering the ships course for a few hours is usually the smarter way to go about your quest."
"I do not need advice on how to run my ship from a water tribe peasant." Zuko snapped at her
"You forget I'm also the daughter of a general!" she snapped back "And a good leader is capable of taking on the advice of others around them instead of believing they're always right and superior to others." she said "Now when we enter that storm and your boat gets capsized, don't come running to me for help." and the girl turned to leave.
"I swear it's impossible to console you!" she snapped back at him before turning a corner.
The horizon of the sky and water changed drastically and clouds rolled in like a wall of soldiers heading to battle. The ocean's calm nature was turning savage as the winds began to pick up and Freya looked at it all seriously.
"Uh! Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all." the Lieutenant turned to Zuko who'd stepped back into the deck to check the weather as they saw the clouds and he crossed his arms. Iroh had walked out after his nephew, clearly having gone and collected him. Freya guessed the boy had listened to him better than her.
"Lucky guess." the general said with a smile
"Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect, or I will teach it to you." Zuko snapped, walking over to the man and pointing at his chest. He turned to walk away but the Lieutenant stopped him.
"What do you know about respect?" he questioned and Iroh stood behind him making a cut off motion with his hand to his neck. Freya watched them with curiosity. "The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle shows you know nothing about respect." Zuko had stopped and Iroh looked worried at the words. "You don't care about anyone but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?" Zuko said nothing but he turned and readied himself to battle the lieutenant, his arms up and ready.
"Easy now." Iroh decided as the Lieutenant took his own stance accepting the challenge. The two stepped forwards and crossed their wrists over, Zuko's hand began to smoke from his anger. Iroh moved to stand between them and removed their hands, pushing them down.
"Enough!" he demanded "We are all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles everyone will feel much better." The two stared at one another before Zuko turned around and the Lieutenant left the deck, the other soldier's following.
"I don't need your help keeping order on my ship." Zuko snapped at Iroh who moved to put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. Zuko shrugged him off and walked towards the bow, watching the rolling clouds. Iroh sighed.
"You'd better get inside if you are to avoid the storm. We don't need you getting a cold." and the man turned to Freya as Zuko huffed and silently agreed with his uncle as he left.
"Freya, go and talk to him." Iroh said to her and she looked at him surprised
"Are you insane? I tried that and he completely shot me down. We only ended up arguing."
"Freya, Zuko is a troubled young man, and he needs people to stay and help as he tries to work through his emotions." Iroh said as he looked at the door the boy had disappeared through. "He is just having a difficult time finding his way in this world. A caring touch could be the key."
"So why don't you talk to him, he listens to you." she reminded him
"I need to speak to our crew. I think it is time they understood my nephew's drive for capturing the avatar." Iroh said and Freya paused
"They don't know? I thought it'd be something everyone knew?"
"Not everyone was invited and the word did not reach to our crew before we had left." Iroh admitted. Freya glanced at the man before she sighed
"You know he'll just turn me away."
"But it's the courage to try that has the most affect." the general smiled and Freya huffed before she moved to the Prince's room.
Freya stood at the doorway huffing as she debated on actually knocking.
You're acting like a coward. she accused herself before knocking.
"Leave me alone." Zuko replied
"Does that apply for everyone?" she said and there was silence before the door opened and Zuko stood before her
"I do not want to talk, especially not to you." he said to her
"Yeah, which is what I said when your uncle asked me to come and do so." Freya sighed, keeping herself calm. "But, we don't have to say anything, just the company could do the trick." she offered carefully, not wanting to make him mad again. Zuko looked down at her, noticing her carefulness, he could hear it in her words and see it as she bit her lip patiently.
"Fine." he agreed and he moved aside to let her in. Freya did so without another word and Zuko shut the door behind her as the girl moved to sit on the floor. She didn't say a word as agreed and Zuko glanced at her as he returned to sit in front of his candles. Freya watched him as the candles, after a few breaths, began to move with him.
The girl unconsciously moved forwards towards him as she watched his back, crawling around before she stopped beside him. Zuko's eyes were closed but his eyebrows furrowed inwards before he looked annoyed.
"What are you doing?" he questioned
"Thought you didn't want to talk?" she replied softly
"Well if you're going to stare…!" he began
"Not staring." she said smiling "I'm admiring." Zuko was caught off guard, the candles flickered in his surprise before he turned to her. She was still smiling.
"Admiring what…?"
"Just your concentration. Don't let me interrupt though." she said before she adjusted her position and closed her eyes. Zuko watched her before he turned back to his candles. Freya opened an eye to see he'd done so and her gaze set upon his scar. She watched him for a another minute before the girl rose her hand and her fingers touched the scared skin. She felt Zuko flinch from the sudden contact and the girl froze, allowing him to either swat her hand away or question her actions.
The prince did nothing and Freya looked at him as her fingers traced over the scar before he turned to her.
"Not that you have to tell me but, what happened exactly?" she wondered looking into the amber eyes that were tormented by the memory.
There was silence for a moment and Zuko turned away from her.
"I wanted to attend a war meeting." Zuko confessed. Freya was slightly surprised he agreed to tell her but she said nothing as she watched him "Being first born I'm first in line to become FireLord after my father so I believed I needed to learn a few things."
Several men walked through a set of curtains with the fire nation insignia on it, a couple of guards standing on either side. A younger Zuko, a head full of hair and no scar walked towards the room himself, only to have the guards stop him in his tracks.
"Let me in!"Zuko demanded
"Prince Zuko, what's wrong?" Iroh asked as he came up behind the prince.
"I want to go into the war chamber, but the guard won't let me pass!"Zuko admitted
"You're not missing anything, trust me. These meetings are dreadfully boring." Iroh assured as he guided the prince away.
"If I'm gonna rule this nation one day, don't you think I need to start learning as much as I can?"Zuko asked with a smile
"Very well." Iroh agreed as more men entered the chamber. "But you must promise not to speak. These old folks are a bit sensitive, you know." he said, glancing at one.
"Thank you uncle!"Zuko bowed before his Uncle lead him into the war chamber.
The men were seated around a long table in which a map of the Earth Kingdom was atop of. A line of fire stood blazing before a podium in which the FireLord sat, listening to the meeting.
"The Earth Kingdom defences are concentrated here." One of the men stood and used a line to point at the positions on the map "A dangerous battalion of their strongest earthbenders and fiercest warriors, so I am recommending the 41st division." he pushed a fire totem towards the earth nation ones.
"But the 41st is entirely new recruits. How do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion?"another asked confused
"I don't." the man grinned "They'll be used as a distraction while we mount an attack from the rear. What better to use as bait then fresh meat?"he asked proudly
"You can't sacrifice an entire division like that!" Zuko suddenly spoke up as he got to his feet and everyone turned to him surprised"Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?"
"They wanted to just kill off their own soldiers?" Freya asked surprised
"I didn't believe sacrificing an entire devision was right." Zuko said as he avoided her gaze "But it wasn't my place to say so and my father was furious about it."
"Is it just you who's not allowed to voice an opinion or would no one have said such a thing?" Freya wondered
"Only the other generals really, after all, no one of power or class can disrespect them." Zuko said
"But Zuko, you're the prince, even as a child you should be more highly ranked than them." Freya believed
"Not according to my father." Zuko said glaring at the wall. "He was furious with me. And he decided that by me challenging the general's plans I had disrespected him." Zuko explained "So he ordered for this disrespect to be dealt with."
"He made you fight a fire duel." Freya understood "Agni kai."
"I thought he wanted me to fight the general, and being the old man he was I by no means backed down from the challenge. It would be an opportunity to show my father I was strong and my opinion mattered."
"But I did not understand what my father meant." Freya looked confused
"You weren't dulling the general?" she asked
"No. I had spoken out against a general's plan, but it was done in my father's war room and in his presence. It was my father whom I had disrespected, not the general." Zuko looked at Freya who's eyes were wide. "So it wasn't the general who stood to fight me."
"No…" she mumbled and Zuko looked away.
"It was my father."
"Y… You fought your father?" Freya asked her voice small from the shock.
"If only I'd had the courage to do so."
"Courage?!" Freya demanded but Zuko continued.
"I refused to fight my father, and I begged for his forgiveness." Zuko confessed
The FireLord walked towards his son across the arena.
"Please, father, I only had the fire nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"Zuko apologised
"You will fight for your honour." his father decided
"I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son." Zuko promised as he kneeled and bowed down on the floor.
"Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!"the fire lord demanded
"I won't fight you." Zuko disagreed as his father stood before him.
"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher." Zuko's hand shook on the ground before him as he looked up, tears spilling down his cheeks. Fire flared and Zuko screamed, echoing through the hall.
Freya was speechless as she stared at Zuko, who'd closed his eyes.
"It was pain like I'd never felt." Zuko admitted, the girl could say nothing but stare at the scar on his face which hadn't just caused pain physically.
"That wasn't the only punishment he had for me however." Zuko continued "Refusing to fight my father shamed him more and he said I had shown shameful weakness. So he banished me from the Fire Nation, from my home and everything I knew. He said the only way I could return was if I kidnaped the Avatar and then, only then, could I return with my honour."
And silence fell. Freya dropped her gaze trying to hide the pity she felt and find something to say.
"Zuko," she began carefully "Can I ask you something about it?"
"Why?"
"Curiosity?" she offered softly. "It's just… if it wasn't you and you were watching this sort of display… how would you feel then?" she said carefully, making sure she phrased her words right and her tone was light. "You told me you believed it was somehow justified." she continued "I cannot see how this is at all the appropriate way to punish a thirteen year old so, as an outsider I was just wondering…"
"Any father would have done the same thing!" Zuko decided and Freya looked surprised
"My father would never have done such a thing." Freya confessed and the prince looked at her as she turned to him. "There were a few times where I spoke when I shouldn't, especially when I was younger. He'd give me a look and then afterwards perhaps give me a serious scolding in which I'd cry from. As soon as he saw my tears though the man would console me and explain in a kinder voice." she smiled "Young love in a way."
"I can't see how Iroh would do such a thing either, ever. He'll yell and disapprove but all parents do that." she said "But I can't see how physically and emotionally burning your own child for a small mistake like that is justified. How can he expect anything like that from a thirteen year old? I mean you're still learning, that's the point of you being there in the first place!" Freya said, getting angrier as she spoke and the candles blazed before the girl took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Sorry." she mumbled, bowing her head.
"Things are different for me." Zuko said looking down at her and the girl rose her gaze. "I'm born in a different era and am the prince of the Fire Nation. Even if your father was a Fire Nation General you were born in the Water tribe and…"
"And in an era of peace." she nodded "Yes I guess that is a bit different, not as much was expected of me as it likely is from Fire Nation children these days. You're all probably expected to be callus and emotionless in order to be able to battle and conquer and tare families apart…"
"We are sharing our wealth with the rest of the world!" Zuko snapped
"But how?"
"The Fire Nation is the most resourceful and this is meant to be shared with others."
"But you're trying to conquer it. If you were sharing with the world you'd first make connections with the other nations, the Earth King and the Northern Water Tribe rulers. Then talk to them about what you have and make an offer to share, introduce it." Freya believed "Instead you guys decided to force it on the world, how is the violence necessary? If the nations refused then you just leave it at that and move on until they realise they need your resources or something." her voice was still calm and Zuko could see she didn't understand the Fire Nation's views. He simply stared at her as she stopped, realising she had completely left her original point of understanding how Zuko was feeling, what was going through his head.
"Zuko, I want to understand." she mumbled "Everyone's so angry at the Fire Nation… with reason, but has anyone actually thought about seeing both sides? War is always about people's opinions but no one tries to understand the opposition. Zuko, for once open up a little, let me understand, please." she begged slightly looking at him.
Zuko looked down at her as her expression was soft and hopeful.