As soon as his ship had docked at the nearest harbour, Prince Zuko rushed onto the land. "I want the ship repaired as quickly as possible" he said to his older Uncle who walked behind him. "I don't want to lose his trail". "You mean the Avatar?" his Uncle answered. Zuko quickly spun around angerly and faced his Uncle. "Don't mention his name on these docks! As soon as word gets out that he is alive, every firebender will be after him. I don't want anyone getting in the way.' "Getting in the way of what?" said a deep voice behind him
At the same harbour, a young woman was finishing her book. She had begun reading "Love amongs the Dragons" when she had been a girl, but never found the time to pick it up again. Now she had nothing but time. Usually it was the duty of engaged young women to entertain large parties and call upon other noble ladies, but since her fiancé was a naval commander she had been restricted to the harbour for these last few weeks. She was lucky to be surrounded by such kind maidservants, otherwise she would have surely being bored to dead within a week. She sighed, put her book down and started to softly hum to herself. She fixed her hair, since it was almost time for tea. Undoubtedly, during the tea the commander would boast over his new ship or a recent victory for the Fire Nation which he had secured. Always the same things, but she never saw the point in the war. She was clever enough not to speak her opinion out loud, but instead smiled and nodded. As was expected of a dutiful fiancée. She went downstairs to the hall, which was filled with Fire Nation symbols. She mentally rolled her eyes at all the grandeur, but stopped when she heard muffled voices. The door was slightly cracked, so she could hear the what they were saying as they approached. She heard the commanders voice "You must regale me with all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?". Another voice, belonging to a younger man, answered: "Sorry, but we have to go." A third voice quickly followed by saying "Prince Zuko, show commander Zhao your respect. We would be honoured to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favourite." Her heart skipped a beat.
Zuko angerly followed his Uncle inside, mentally damning him for accepting Zhao's offer. He did not want tea and he certainly did not want to drink it with Zhao. He had finally found the Avatar after five long years, only to risk losing him again by drinking tea. He only listened half when Zhao opened the door and said "Please, I would so much like to introduce my fiancée to the Fire Lord's brother and son." Zuko looked at him and shrugged. He did not care for Zhao's fiancée. No doubt it would be a Fire Nation noble woman. Demure and quiet, nodding at every sentence Zhao uttered and praising his every move when asked. He knew those ladies, he grew up around them. He stepped inside and looked at the woman by Zhao's side. His heart skipped a beat. "Elyrie", he whispered.
It had almost been five years since he last saw her. Then she had been a pretty sixteen year old, but now she had grown into a beautiful woman. She was dressed in the finest red silk, befitting the fiancée of a high ranking Fire Nation commander. She had grown taller, with a small waist and long legs, which gave her a mature elegance. Her skin was the colour of ivory, and her dark hair and eyebrows formed a pretty contrast. Her sweet, heartshaped face looked surprised, but then her full pink lips formed into a broad smile at the sight of him. That smile had not changed since she was six years old and still made him feel happy every time he saw it. Today was, despite everything, not an exception. He finally looked her in her eyes, which were an unusual shade for the Fire Nation. Her curly auburn hair already made her an exception among the sleek and blackhaired Fire Nation citizens, but her deepblue eyes had made her standout from a young age.
The smile did not lessen when she approached him and Uncle. Like Fire Nation-etiquette dictates, she first greeted Uncle with a respectful bow. 'General Iroh, I am very pleased to see you again after such a long time' she said with her sweet voice. That soft voice brought him back, to the times where he, she and his mother played the piano and sang together. He quickly suppressed that memory. Uncle Iroh smiled widely at the young woman, and took her small hands in his. 'My dear, you have grown even lovelier over the years. I am glad to see you as well. It has been a real hard job to find a worthy opponent in Pai Sho, since Prince Zuko does not have the patience." She laughed and turned to Zuko. She made a curtsy, but with her lips pressed together as if to hold back her laughter. He knew why. She had always found it funny to bow to him, even when he assured her she wouldn't need to do it. But with her fiancé standing beside her, she had no choice but to follow the proper etiquette. "Prince Zuko, I am so very happy to see you again" she said. The golden eyes looked in to the blue ones and he felt himself smile back at her. It had been a long time since he had smiled, but he would very gladly do it for her. "It is certainly nice to see you again. Let me congratulate you on your engagement" he said stiffly. She noticed and wanted to answer, before she retook herself, smiled sweetly and bowed again. "I thought you would appreciate a meeting with my fiancée" Zhao said smugly. She slightly winced at the word 'fiancée', but no more than a second before she smiled again at the pair before her. "Would you like to join us for a cup of ginseng tea? And perhaps some cakes?" she asked. Uncle chuckled, "You remembered. How could I refuse such a kind offer?". Again she laughed, and took the arm Uncle had extended to her. Zuko watched them, while he and Zhao followed. The commander said "She is beautiful, is she not? One of the finest noblewomen in the Fire Nation. We plan to marry this summer, after Sozin's Comet." Zuko nodded absentmindedly. Elyrie engaged to commander Zhao, his best friend engaged to such a pompous man. He could not believe it.
While talking to General Iroh, who amused her greatly, Elyrie glanced back to Zuko and Zhao. Zuko had changed, she noticed. He had become a grown man at 23 years old. Five long years she had not seen him and General Iroh, yet it seemed not a day had gone by. Iroh told her about their journeys to the Air Temples and the Earth Kingdom, to which she listened with great enthusiasm. They truly travelled all over the world, she taught. She looked over her shoulder and met Zuko's golden eyes. She smiled at him. He had become more muscular and his black hair had been shaven, except for a ponytail. His features were still handsome and strong, with beautiful golden eyes. The most prominent change in his appearance was his scar, that completely covered his left eye up to his ear. The burned flesh looked rough and was shaped like a flame. 'I won't fight you' she involuntarily remembered. She quickly supressed the memory.
She looked at Iroh, who had not changed in five years. He looked like the same kind old man she remembered. As Zuko close was to Iroh growing up, so had she been. She smiled at the memory of Iroh teaching them Pai Sho, with Zuko losing his temper and quitting the game rather quickly. It all seemed like yesterday. "And then, we encountered the most beautiful flowers in the Earth Kingdom" said Iroh, interrupting her thoughts. "They were the loveliest shade of blue and red, but you should have been there to try the sweet sticky rice!" She smiled fondly at the older man, who turned to her and asked "How have you been, my dear? Did you continue with your studies?" She nodded and proceeded to tell about her courses, which were quit extensive. "I tried to learn as many languages as possible, since I hoped to see more of the world." "Don't you travel with the commander now?" Iroh asked her. She shook her head. "Unfortunately not, since we are docked at this harbour most of the time." They arrived at the sitting room and she started to pour the tea.
Zuko observed her, as he took a seat. She heated the teapot with a quick flick of her wrist and poured the hot drink. She then took a seat and listened to the conversation between Iroh and Zhao. Her eyes switched between the two men, as if she made mental notes of the conversation to remember them later. She then looked at Zuko over her cup and winked. He felt his cheeks heat up. It had been a long time since a woman had winked at him so playfully. He quickly looked away and when he looked back up, she glanced at him with a amused grin. He mentally shook his head. After all this time, she was still that playful little girl yet he had not been playful for a long time.
Elyrie noticed his eyes getting darker and frowned. She wanted to tell him so much and ask him even more, but it was not possible with Zhao in the room. She sighted and listened again at the conversation of the older men. "And by years end, the Earth Kingdom will be under our rule. The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." "If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool." Zuko said. Elyrie looked at him, pleasantly surprised. She had been thinking the same for quite some time, yet never spoke. "Five years at sea have done little to temper your tongue" Zhao sneered at the prince. Elyrie sighted, since she was familiar with that response. She looked at Zuko and gave him a small, encouraging smile. "But I do think we underestimate the power of the Earth Kingdom, like prince Zuko says. They did not survive a hundred year war by mere accident" she said. Zhao looked at her, but turned back to Iroh as he said "We discuss this later, we must not bore the lady." Zuko's quickly looked up at Elyrie, who pressed her lips together and looked at the teapot with an irritated look in her eyes. Zhao did not seem to notice and turned to Zuko. "So, how's your search for the Avatar going?" "We haven't found him yet" Zuko said, while looking at Zhao. "Did you really expect to?" the older man said mockingly, "The Avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders." Elyrie saw Zuko looked away, which Zhao noticed too. "Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive" Zhao continued. "No, nothing" Zuko answered. Elyrie silently hoped that Zhao did not notice the small twitch of Zuko's mouth. Prince Zuko was many things, but a good liar was not one of them. As smoothly as his sister could lie, that is how terrible Zuko was. The Avatar was alive and Zuko somehow encountered him, she was sure of it. She said nothing and looked down as Zhao said "Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you found." Zuko looked at Zhao defyingly as he said "I haven't found anything." And added, without breaking eye contact "It is like you said: the Avatar probably died a long time ago."