Charmaine hadn't seen Zuko in a few days since he came to her room. Charmaine started going to breakfast and dinner early so that she wouldn't have to see him. She stopped practicing on the deck and instead would go into the ocean to train. She would go towards the back or go under water so that no one could see her water bending. She would practice for hours. When she was done, she would look up towards the deck to see if there were any flames. Once she was sure the coast was clear. She would climb back onto the ship and head straight to her room. In her room she would meditate or sleep.
Despite not seeing Zuko her thoughts would constantly drift back to him. She usually could push them away until she went to bed, then the tears would flow. So everyday she would push herself harder so that she would pass out from exhaustion. Still it was no use because she would dream about him. They where never nice dreams.
Last night she dreamt of Zuko marrying the water tribe girl. They had turned to mock her for ever thinking a Prince would want to marry a freak. They then grabbed a knife and stabbed her through her heart together. As she laying the ground dying, Zuko leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Do me a favor and die this time." Charmaine had woken up right after that. She had grabbed her chest looking for the knife. Once she was sure there was no knife or scar, she began to cry. Heart break sucks.
Charmaine had decided that today she needed to train far away from the ship and away from everyone else. So, she woke up even earlier than normal. She threw her hair up in a bun to hide the blue ends of her hair. She put on a pair of black shorts, a short sleeved green tang shirt, and black flats. Everyone on the ship owned clothes that would make it look like they where part of the Earth Kingdom. Whenever they needed supplies and where not close enough to a fire nation port they would put on the clothes. They had a regular fishing boat in the hull of the ship. They would get on the fishing boat and sail to a port to get supplies.
Charmaine grabbed a blank scroll out of her nightstand, a pen, and some ink. She walked over to her vanity table and proceeded to write a letter explaining that she would gone for a week. She wrote down that she would meet them at a specific fire nation port. She knew the port was in the direction they where currently heading. Once she finished writing her letter, she grabbed her swords and walked out of her room.
When she opened the door, she startled the guard that was outside of her room. He had fallen asleep sitting in a chair.
"Lady Charmaine, I apologize," the guard apologized while he bowed.
"It's fine," Charmaine said. "I won't tell anyone if you do me a favor."
"Whatever you want," the guard replied immediately. He wasn't an idiot. He didn't want to get yelled at by Prince Zuko. The guard had noticed that Zuko was more agitated then normal. If someone did anything marginally wrong, Prince Zuko would drag them out on the deck and start "sparring" with them. It was really just a crew member desperately trying to doge Zuko's onslaught of attacks.
"Please give this to General Iroh when he wakes up," Charmaine asked as she handed the guard the scroll.
"Of course," The guard responded as he took the scroll from her. "But may I ask a question, my Lady?"
"Of course," Charmaine responded.
"Why are you dressed like an Earth Kingdom citizen?" The guard questioned.
"I am going into Earth Kingdom territory for a little bit. My letter explains this to General Iroh and tells him where to pick me up."
"I understand," the guard responded. He wanted to ask what she was going to be doing in Earth Kingdom territory, but he knew better than to ask. He was already pushing it by asking her about her clothes in the first place.
After that Charmaine made her way down to the hull of the ship. There were only a few people awake at this hour. It had to be around 4 in the morning. The few people that were awake were the guards assigned to Zuko, Iroh, and Charmaine's rooms, a crew member tasked with looking for any approaching enemies, a crew member tasked with steering the ship, and a crew member that was in the engine room. This made it easy for Charmaine to leave undetected.
When Charmaine made it to the hull of the ship, she went and activated the mechanism that opened the hull. She then grabbed the chains that held the fishing boat. She had to pull the chains to get the boat to drop onto the platform that would deliver the boat to the water. Normally there would be several crew members who did this, so Charmaine struggled as she slowly lowered the boat down. Once the boat was on the platform she went and took off all the chains. She then walked over to the lever that would lower the boat into the water. The lever also had a built-in timer that would close the hull after 30 seconds. Charmaine pulled the lever and then ran over to the ship as it started fall into the water.
Once on the boat, Charmaine put up the sails and set her course. The boat wasn't very big. The boat was meant to be manned by two people, but Charmaine could still command the boat by herself. There were two rooms in the hull of the ship. There was a small room with two beds in it and then a storage room. There are always some emergency supplies sashed in the storage room. There was enough to get Charmaine through the next week.
-Q-
Zuko laid awake starring at his ceiling. He had been having trouble sleeping over the past few days. He was plagued with nightmares. Between the lack of restful sleep and his issues with Charmaine, Zuko had become even more short tempered than usual. He found himself snapping at the smallest things. Then he would end up sparring with whoever had been around when he snapped. He was trying to use the sparring to alleviate his temper and agitation, but it never helped. Zuko knew why it wasn't working. He couldn't get that night out of his head.
Zuko knocked on the door. As he expected there was no answer. "It's Zuko, please open up." Zuko waited for a minute but there was no answer. Maybe she really is asleep? Zuko shook that thought away. He knew even if she was asleep, she would have woken up from the noise at this point.
Zuko knocked again and waited a minute. "Charmaine, please I just want to talk." Still no response. Zuko sighed in aggravation. Why does she have to make things so damn difficult? Zuko knocked again, but harder. Still no response. "Charmaine, I will break down this door if you don't open up!" Zuko yelled as his patience was gone.
Charmaine opened the door looking rather annoyed and tired. She was in her usual nightgown and her hair was down. Even though she looked annoyed Zuko couldn't help but think she still looked beautiful. He tore his thoughts away from Charmaine's outfit and looked at her. "What do you want so badly that your willing to suffer my wrath by breaking down my door," Charmaine grumbled out.
"What is wrong with you," Zuko asked incredulously.
"What is wrong with me?" Charmaine asked dumbfounded. "You're the one threatening to break down my door."
"I meant what has been wrong lately?" Zuko asked "You have been acting strange since we left Roku's shrine. You've been cold and distant. You also weren't helping us with the pirates. You aren't going to dinner, and you wouldn't even open your door for me without me having to threaten you. This isn't like you."
Charmaine looked down at Zuko's pocket. She reached her hand into his pocket. She pulled out the necklace that Zuko had in his pocket. Zuko stared wide eyed at Charmaine as she held onto the necklace. Charmaine stared at the necklace with her brows furrowed. Her bangs hid her eyes so Zuko couldn't get a read on her thought process.
Charmaine looked up at Zuko with anger in her eyes. Zuko was taken back by her anger. "Look, don't bothering pretend to care because we are engaged. We both know you would prefer that water tribe girl." Zuko looked at Charmaine, completely taken off guard. "The way you have been staring at her necklace and rubbing it says it all. Then when she was captured, you stared at her with lust in your eyes."
Before Zuko had a chance to recover from his shock. Charmaine tossed the necklace to Zuko. Zuko fumbled with his hands to catch it. "I'm not interested in your fake niceties anymore. From now on, only talk to me when you need something. There is no point in trying to fake like this is a happy relationship anymore." With that Charmaine shut her door.
Zuko just stared at her door. There were a million thoughts racing through his head. 'She thinks I've been faking our entire relationship? She noticed my strange fascination with the peasants necklace? She seen how I looked at that peasant?' Zuko walked away from her door with a mixture of sadness, embarrassment, anger, and shock.
At first Zuko was in denial about his feelings towards the peasant. He tried to convince himself that Charmaine was making it up, but the more he thought about his behavior lately he knew she wasn't wrong. The peasant was beautiful. He had looked at her with lust. She looked different from almost every single girl he had ever seen. She was exotic compared to all of them. All of them except Charmaine. Charmaine's hair made her exotic. When he had asked his mom about Charmaine's hair, she told him that Charmaine was touched by the spirits.
After Zuko realized that he was attracted to the peasant he became angry with himself. How could he care for a peasant like that, especially when he had Charmaine? Zuko knew that he could have concubines once he was married but he despised that idea. He remembered his mother's face when they had seen a concubine exit his father's room. He never wanted to do that to Charmaine.
As much as Zuko hated the water peasant he couldn't help but feel drawn to her beauty, but that was it. Zuko only felt lust towards her. When Zuko thought about Charmaine it was different. He obviously felt lust, but Charmaine was absolutely gorgeous. When he thought about Charmaine it almost always brought him happiness and a warm feeling in his chest. He would think of the nice memories he had with her. Sometimes the feelings would change depending on what he thought about her. Like when she saved the boy peasant, he was angry at her and slightly scared that she had feelings for him. Other times he would feel fear and his chest would tighten, but that feeling only came when she was put in danger by him. Lately when he thought about her, he would feel sad and his chest would tighten. Zuko felt terrible for having feelings for someone else when he had her.
Zuko also thought about the peasant's necklace and why it seemed to have captivated him. He would fond himself taking it everywhere with him. He would rub the stone when he felt anger or agitation. It provided him a sense of calmness. Sometimes he would rub it and think of the peasant, but that was rare. Maybe I should buy some soothing stones at the next port.
Zuko tore his thoughts away from all of that and thought about the nightmare he just had. Charmaine was laying on the ground in her usual outfit, but she had a sword in her abdomen. There was blood all over the ground. Zuko was kneeling on the ground as he was restrained by some unknown force. Charmaine just stared at him with tears streaming down her face. Zuko kept fighting against the unknown force trying to get to her, but nothing worked.
Charmaine spoke to him, "Why did you do this to me? Do my scars mean nothing to you?"
Zuko tried to speak to her but nothing would come out of his mouth. All he could do was stare at her. Then another Zuko came walking up to her. He had a sword in hand. He stood above her and she looked back up at him. He then drove the sword right into her heart.
Zuko had woken up screaming no. His dream had freaked him out more than any of the others he had over the past few days. This dream made him feel like absolute trash. It made him want to run out and hold Charmaine and apologize to her, but he knew he couldn't do that. He was avoiding her, and he knew she was doing the same.
The dream had made it clear to Zuko, he loved Charmaine and that peasant girl could never replace her or come close to her. Zuko just kept starring the ceiling as he fought against the urge to run to Charmaine and tell her he loved her. An hour had passed as Zuko fought against his urges. Finally, he decided that he needed to see her. He knew she had been getting up around this time every morning to eat breakfast before she trained.
Zuko didn't bother getting changed from his black silk pajama pants. He made his way towards the dining room when he noticed the guard that normally guards Charmaine's room make his way towards Iroh's room. The guard also had a scroll in his hand. Zuko thought this was strange so he followed the guard.
The guard made it to Iroh's room. He had heard from the other guards that Iroh had woken up, so he headed straight for the room. He nodded to the guard outside of Iroh's room and then proceeded to knock on the door.
Iroh opened the door with a yawn. "What can I do for you?"
"General Iroh," the guard addressed. "Lady Charmaine asked me to deliver you this letter when you woke up."
"A letter huh," Iroh questioned as he took the letter from the guard. "Thank you. You may go." Iroh dismissed the guard away as he opened the letter.
Zuko had been hiding around the corner easy dropping on the conversation. As soon as the guard left Zuko came around the corner. "What's the letter about uncle?"
Iroh was reading the letter and furrowed his brow as he read. As soon as Iroh finished reading the letter he rolled the scroll back up and sighed. "Charmaine has decided to take a week off from us."
"WHAT?!" Zuko yelled.
"She says she needs a break from us," Iroh said. He was lying though. The letter said she needed a break from Zuko. Iroh didn't want to make Zuko feel bad. He had noticed that the two were avoiding each other the past two days. Although Zuko appeared agitated to the rest of the crew, Iroh could see the sadness in his eyes. Iroh couldn't get a read on Charmaine though. He could understand her need for a break though. It had been three years at sea, and lately it seemed the two were fighting more than usual. He had hoped the two would confess their feelings for each other, but it seemed lately they were constantly at each other's throats.
"Why does she need a break from us?" Zuko questioned.
"We have been at sea for three years Zuko. That's enough to drive anyone to need a break."
"Well how is she supposed to get back to us? Are we just supposed to sit here waiting for her while the Avatar gets further away?"
"No, she already took that into account. She looked ahead in our course and plans to meet us at Mawei Port. It is about a week away from here."
"What else did she say? That can't be everything she wrote. Let me see the letter." Zuko tried to grab the letter from Iroh but Iroh pulled away. Zuko wanted to know if she wrote anything specifically about him.
"Zuko, she wrote the letter to me. You need to respect that," Iroh said as he held the letter out of Zuko's reach. He didn't want Zuko to see that she left because of him. The poor boy was already sad. That might cause him to become depressed or send him into a rage, and the crew didn't deserve to experience the full wrath of teenage angst.
"Uncle, I order you to give me that scroll," Zuko demanded.
"I will not."
"I am the crown prince of the Fire Nation and I order you to hand over that letter." Zuko demanded again angrily.
"As a prince of the Fire Nation, a retired general, and your elder I out rank you. I will not hand over the letter. Now drop it," Iroh fired back angrily. Zuko took a step back. He rarely seen Iroh angry. Zuko knew it was time to drop it.
Zuko walked away angrily. He bumped into a crew member on his way up to the deck. He grabbed the crew member and dragged them onto the deck and proceed to "spar" with him for the next two hours. As Zuko "sparred" with the crew member, his anger melted away and was replaced with depression. She needed a break from us? I bet she really meant she needed a break from me. What is wrong with me?! Zuko could feel tears start to sting in his eye, but he wouldn't let them fall, not in front of his crew.
-Q-
Charmaine pulled into dock at a small fishing village around 8 in the morning. There where a few boats at the dock. There were a few stalls open selling various fresh fish. Charmaine walked up to one of the stalls. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I lost my map at sea and I'm not quite sure where I'm at. Do you have any maps around her? I can pay of course" Charmaine said as she smiled brightly at the merchant.
The merchant was speechless at first. Charmaine was quite the beauty and then combined with her rare blonde hair, she looked like an angel. "Ohhh, umm… if you go the general store in town, they should be able to sell you map," the merchant stammered out
"Could you tell me where the general store is?"
"Umm, yes no problem. Just go down this road and make a right one block down. It will be the third building on the right." The merchant continued to stare at Charmaine with lust in his eyes. He was a sixty-year-old man and a beauty like Charmaine only came around once in a lifetime. He was gonna get his fill before she left.
Charmaine felt uncomfortable under the mans lustful gaze. She tried her best to play dumb, but it did creep her out. "Thank you so much. Here for your trouble." Charmaine handed the merchant a couple of copper pieces and walked away quickly. The merchant tried to call out to her, but she ignored him.
As Charmaine made her away to the general store, she got several stares. People whispered as she hurriedly passed them. This was a problem she encountered every time she went somewhere dressed as an Earth Kingdom citizen. Her blonde hair made her stick out anywhere she went. Blonde hair was rare among all nations, but thankfully it wasn't too rare that she could be immediately identified as a Fire Nation citizen. This is why she was often left behind when they need to go undercover.
Charmaine walked into the store and walked around the store looking for a map. As she looked at the shelves, the young stock boy followed her around hiding behind shelves or displays. The boy was probably only twelve. Charmaine just ignored him and continued to look for a map. After a few minutes of searching, Charmaine sighed and turned to the stock boy. "Excuse me?"
The stock boy jumped and squeaked. "Y-y-yes?" The boy stammered out.
Charmaine smiled brightly as she asked the boy, "Do you happen to have any maps? I'm a little lost and I lost my map at sea."
The boy was captivated by her smile and just stared longingly at her. After about thirty seconds Charmaine coughed to get his attention. "Ohh, umm y-yes," the boy said as he cleared his throat. He tried deepening his voice as he spoke to her. Charmaine stifled a chuckle at the cuteness of the boy.
They boy then ran behind the counter a grabbed a map. "This is where you are at, Heshun village," the boy said as he pointed the location out on the map. He was still trying to deepen his voice. "Where are you headed?"
Charmaine looked closely at the map before she answered. "I'm headed to a small town outside of the Mawei Port."
"Mawei Port?!" The boy yelled out. All the effort to sound manly and mature went out the window. "You can't go there! The Fire Nation controls that port!"
"I'm not going to the port, just a small town about twenty miles out," Charmaine responded calmly.
"But its too dangerous! Why would you want to go anywhere near there?!"
"My aunt lives in the village. She is very sick, and I need to go take care of her. Once she is better, I am going to move her more inland and away from the port to keep her safe," Charmaine said reassuringly to the boy. She felt bad about lying to the boy, but she had too in order to keep herself hidden. She knew that Rapist was around this area, and she wasn't looking forward to a reunion with him.
"You promise?"
"I promise." With that Charmaine paid the boy one silver piece. She gave him extra so he could buy himself a candy bar for being a help to her.
She walked back to her boat quickly while ignoring all of the stares. When she made it back to her boat there were three men in their early twenties by her boat. "Excuse me," Charmaine said as she tried to walk around them to get on her boat.
"What's the rush sweetheart," one of the men said as they grabbed her by her upper arm to stop her.
"Please let go of my arm. I have to get to my sick aunt to take care of her. I am in quite the rush." Charmaine stared back up at the man with a strained smile. She didn't want to make a scene.
"But it's dangerous out there. There are Fire Nation ships sailing around out in the sea. We couldn't call ourselves men if we just let a delicate lady just sail out by herself," the second man said as he walked up behind Charmaine. Charmaine got goose bumps as she felt the man come up behind her. He was only maybe 6 inches behind her. The other man had yet to let go of her arm,
"Thank you for your concern, but I don't plan on going far out into the water. I am going to stick close to the coastline," Charmaine said as she tried to pull her arm free, but the man wouldn't let go of her arm.
"Still, what if some pirates find you? We wouldn't want something to happen to such a beautiful young lady," the third man said as he walked up to Charmaine's left side and tousled a piece of Charmaine's hair. Charmaine froze up as the man touched her hair. Even though she was a warrior, she felt like a scared little girl. She wished somebody would come and save her, but there was no one. The dock had been emptied out.
"P-p-please let go of me," Charmaine stammered. She tried to calm herself.
"Don't be afraid little lady," the first man said.
"We will take good care of you," the second man said.
"Why don't you come back to our store," the third man said. The first man tried to pull Charmaine towards what she assumed was the direction of the store.
The man's pulling brought Charmaine to her senses. She was sure these men were going to try and assault her. Her brain kicked into overdrive as she went into fight or flight mode. She used her free hand to quickly elbow the man behind her in the stomach. The man grunted at the strength of the blow a doubled over. She then kicked the man holding her in the balls. He squealed like a girl as he grabbed his balls with both hands and fell onto his knees.
Now free, Charmaine bolted for her boat. She jumped onto the boat and quickly pushed off from the dock. The third man had been stunned at what had happened. As she kicked off, he seemed to have regained his senses. He chased after her and yelled, "Get back here!"
The second man had coming run over to the end of the dock. He and the third man bended up two large boulders from the water and launched them at Charmaine. Charmaine acted quickly and threw up a rock wall to block the boulders. Then with the cover of the rock wall she blasted air out of her hands to push the boat out of range from their attacks.
Once Charmaine got further out of range, she began to shake from the adrenal leaving her body and the gravity of the situation weighed down on her. She sunk down onto the ground and held her knees and she shook. Something like this had happened to her before, but Zuko was there to protect her.
-Q-
It was the day after Charmaine's birthday. She had wanted to go explore the Capital, but she was told she wasn't allowed to. She was used to this. She was always forbidden to leave the palace grounds unless she had a group of guards with her and another member of royalty. Even then she wasn't allowed to explore. It was only to go to one specific place, and they would clear the whole area out of the citizens before they arrived. It was like when she went to the aquarium when she was little, but this time she wasn't a little girl.
Charmaine got up early and dressed in some plain Fire Nation clothes she stole from the servant quarters. She left an apology note and several gold pieces, more than enough to cover the cost of the clothes. She put her hair up into a bun to hide the blue tips of her hair, and then through a dark red shawl over her hair to cover it completely. She wore short sleave dark red tung top, dark red leggings that went to mid-calf, a black skirt that went to mid-thigh, and dark red flats. The only thing she wore that could give away her status was the star necklace Zuko gave her last night. She had it tucked under the shirt so no one could see it. She had only chosen to risk being identified because the necklace meant a lot to her.
She then went outside the palace and looked for the least guarded part of the wall. The guards were switching shifts and left a two-minute window for someone to climb the wall. Normally this would be a security threat, but the wall was impossible to climb unless you had a ladder. If you had a ladder anyone would be able to spot you before you made it to the wall if you where on the outside, but no one watched the inside too well. Who would try to break out of the palace?
Charmaine looked around and made sure no one could see her. She grabbed the ladder she had stashed earlier from the bushes and leaned it against the wall. She quickly climbed the ladder. When she made it to the top, she kicked the ladder down. She made sure it fell into the bushes and wouldn't be seen easily. She then looked out at the city. It was beautiful. Charmaine smiled as she took in the beauty of the city, but she quickly tore her gaze away and leapt down off the wall. As she was about to hit the ground, she air bended to soften the cushion of the fall.
Charmaine didn't worry about having a way to sneak back into the palace. She was sure that in a matter of a few hours they would notice she was gone. She then figured it would take an hour or so before they found the ladder. Then they would send undercover soldiers out into the city to find her. If they didn't find her, she could walk up to the gate and show them her hair to prove who she was.
Charmaine made another quick glance around to make sure no one saw her. Seeing that the coast was clear, Charmaine made her way into the center of the capital. Charmaine had already planned out her day. She was going to go see the aquarium first, then the art museum, then the weapon museum, and then lunch at the popular tea house. Iroh always spoke highly of the tea house. He said the tea was only second best to his own, and they made delicious little finger sandwiches. After lunch, Charmaine figured if she hadn't been caught yet she would go wherever the wind takes her.
Everything had gone perfectly. She spent the day like an average person. She had to pay for everything, wait in lines, and got shoved around from the hustle and bustle of the city. Even though she had been at sea for almost three years, wherever they went they still got preferential treatment. It made her so happy to be treated like a regular person.
Iroh was right about the tea house. Charmaine had to keep herself from stuffing the finger sandwiches in her mouth like a pig. The tea was delicious as well, but it wasn't as good as Iroh's.
After lunch Charmaine had wandered around the tourist district. She got to see a variety of street acts. She made sure to give them all money. She didn't need the money. As she wandered the district, she noticed some guards looking around. She was sure they where looking for her, so she left and went to less popular shopping district. She had been preoccupied watching the guards she didn't notice the two men following her.
She walked around the shopping district until it was sunset. She had bought only a few things and they weren't expensive. She didn't want to draw attention to herself. She had bought a beautiful hand painted tea set. It was dark red with a gold dragon wrapping around the various pieces. The inside of the cups and tea pot where gold as well. She knew that Iroh would love it. She also found a set of fictious novels based on a spirit seeking revenge on those that killed his late spirit friend. She had gotten them for Zuko. Only she knew that he loved to read about spirits. He kept a few books hidden in his room, but Charmaine found out about them when she walked into his room one day to get him for dinner. He was laying on his bed reading one of them. She hadn't knocked so she caught him off guard. He tried to hide the book, but she took it out of his hands and looked at what he was reading. He was embarrassed and demanded she never tell anyone.
Charmaine had asked around for a good place to eat and got some directions to a local restaurant known for its curry. Charmaine figured she would head back to the palace after dinner. The restaurant she went to had the best curry she ever tasted. 'The palace should hire whoever the cook is,' Charmaine thought as she made her way to the palace.
There was a parade going on and the main streets were blocked off as various performers and costumed people made their way down the street. Charmaine had stopped to watch for a little bit before she headed back to the palace. The streets were to crowded to make her way through, so she went down some back streets. The back streets were poorly lit, but Charmaine didn't have a hard time seeing. She was used to the darkness out at sea.
Charmaine was able to navigate the backstreets decently but occasionally she would stumble upon a dead end. She wasn't very familiar with the layout of the city. She knew the main streets and main areas from studying the map, but not the small side streets.
Charmaine had noticed two men following her a few minutes ago. She tried to walk faster to lose them, but she couldn't shake them. She thought maybe they were undercover guards, but their movements told her they weren't. She had been so focused on them she wasn't entirely paying attention to were she was going. She ended up walking into another dead end. She went to turn around, but the two guys were right there.
"Excuse me," Charmaine said as she tried to walk around them. They blocked her path.
"Hey, you look a little lost, did you need some help," one man asked as he smiled at Charmaine. His smile betrayed his intentions. It was innocent. It was a sinister smile.
"No thank you," Charmaine said as she tried to shove past them. They both grabbed one of her arms and pushed her back against a wall.
"Now that's not very nice," the second man said. "Here we are trying to be gentlemen and you just rudely try to push us. That's not very lady like."
The two men where standing only a few inches in front of her. She felt the hair stick up on the back of her neck as one of then men reached his hand out towards her. She instinctively smacked the hand away. The first man reached out grabbed the forearm of the arm she just used. "Now, now that's not very nice."
"Let me go," Charmaine snarled back as she tried to free her arm. The second man grabbed Charmaine's shirt. She pulled away quickly and part of her shirt was ripped from the motion. You could see the top of her bra and her star necklace.
"Well, well what do we have here?" The second man said as he stared at Charmaine's necklace. "Look at that necklace Akihito."
"We thought the broad had some money, but this type of necklace must mean she is of high society. We got ourselves a proper Lady," the man named Akihito said as he eyes the necklace. "How much do you think we could get for it, Hidemaro?"
"At least fifty gold pieces," Hidemaro said. Charmaine just watched silently as the two talked. Hidemaro was still holding her forearm.
"Hey Hidemaro. how about we show this proper Lady want a real man is like?"
"What do you say Lady? Want a to feel a real man instead of those sniveling little boys," Hidemaro said as leaned in to give Charmaine a kiss.
Charmaine froze in fear as she realized what they were planning to do. Even though her brain screamed for her to fight she couldn't move a muscle. She watched in fear as the man leaned in to kiss her, but before he could, the man was thrown away by his hair and into a wall. The other man, Akihito, turned to swing his arm at the man who attacked his friend. The man dodged Akihito's fist. He then swept out Akihito's legs and Akihito fell to the ground. The man proceeded to beat Akihito's face. Hidemaro got up from the ground and ran at the man and threw his arms around the attacker. The attacker bucked Hidemaro off his back and onto the ground. He then proceeded to kick Hidemaro in the stomach repeatedly.
Charmaine just watched in total shock. As her senses started to come back to her she realized the attacker was Zuko.
Once Zuko was sure the men weren't going to be getting up anytime soon, he stopped his attack on them. He turned to look at Charmaine. He opened his mouth to say something, but before anything could "Zuko!" and threw herself into his arms. Charmaine buried her head into his chest and hugged him tightly. She fought back tears. She didn't want him to see her as weak. Zuko just hugged her back.
After what seemed like hours, but really only a few minutes, Zuko pulled Charmaine slightly off him. "Let's go home." Charmaine just nodded in response. She took the shawl off her head and wrapped around her shoulders to cover the ripped shirt. Zuko wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the palace. On the way back he stopped to whisper something to some guards, but she couldn't make out what they said.
Once back inside the palace, Zuko led her back to her room. On there way up Charmaine stopped a maid and whispered, "Bring some fire whiskey to my room at once please." The maid just nodded and headed off to the kitchen. Zuko looked at her questioningly, but Charmaine just ignored his gaze.
Once they made it back to her room, Zuko turned to face Charmaine and said, "I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."
Before Zuko could leave Charmaine grabbed Zuko by his arm and pulled him into her room. Zuko went to object but Charmaine cut him off. "Please," she asked very quietly.
Zuko silently let her pull him out onto her balcony. She had a beautiful view of the ocean and the full moon. The moon gave off a soft white light that shown onto the balcony. There was a cool breeze from the ocean. Charmaine had a couch, two chairs, and some tables on her balcony looking out onto the ocean. Charmaine let go of Zuko and went and sat on the couch as she looked out towards the ocean.
Charmaine could see Zuko struggle with what to do out the corner of her eye. Eventually Charmaine turned to face Zuko. She looked him the eyes and then patted the spot next to her. Zuko silently obeyed and sat next her. As soon as he sat there was a knock on the door. Zuko bolted up but Charmaine pushed him back down. She walked over and opened the door to find the maid from earlier with the fire whiskey. Charmaine thanked her and then shut the door.
Charmaine walked back over to the couch and sat down with the whiskey in hand. Zuko looked at the bottle questioningly. Charmaine popped open the bottle and took a big swig of it. It burned her throat as she swallowed. She offered some to Zuko. He tried to turn it down, but she gave him a pleading look. He silently gave in and took the bottle. He took a big swig. He made a face of disgust, but he swallowed it with no complaints. Charmaine took the bottle back and took another swig. She leaned her head against Zuko's shoulder as she stared out at the ocean. After a few minutes Zuko timidly wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
For the next half an hour they stayed like that as they passed the bottle back and forth. Charmaine started to feel the effect of the alcohol. Charmaine turned to look at Zuko. Zuko had his eyes clothes and his head was angled up towards the moon. He looked so beautiful to her. Charmaine just stared up at Zuko until he opened his eyes and noticed her stare. He blushed a deep red.
Charmaine continued to look at Zuko and said, "Thank you." It was barely a whisper. Zuko's pupils dilated as he stared back at Charmaine. Before he could respond, Charmaine leaned up and kissed him.
Zuko pulled Charmaine close to him and she put her arms around his neck. She deepened the kiss as she pulled herself closer. Zuko grabbed her legs pulled her into his lap. He then wrapped both arms around her waist.
Charmaine ran her hands through his hair as he kissed passionately. They both opened their mouths as they let each other's tongues intertwine. As they continued to kiss, Charmaine brought her hands down from his hair and down to his chest. She began to pull off his armor. Zuko helped her pull it off until he was bare chested. Charmaine ran her nails down his chest and got a small moan from Zuko. Zuko then undid the buttons on Charmaine's tung shirt. She leaned away to help him undo the buttons. Zuko pushed the shirt off her. All she had underneath was a bra.
Zuko let his hands roam Charmaine's chest. She only stopped him once and that was to change positions so that she was straddling him. They continued their heavy petting for ten minutes or so when Zuko picked her up and carried her to the bed. He got on top of her and was in between her legs. They continued to kissing.
Charmaine moved her hands down to Zuko's pants and undid the draw string. She pulled them down as far as she could reach, and Zuko pulled them off after that and kicked off his shoes. Zuko in turn pulled off her skirt and leggings as Charmaine kicked off her shoes.
Zuko only had underwear on and Charmaine only had a bra and panties on. Charmaine reached down to pull his underwear off, but Zuko suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled away from her. He Sat up in between her legs and looked down at her. "We can't," he said breathlessly.
Charmaine went to protest but Zuko got off the bed. He went to grab his pants, but Charmaine grabbed him by his arm and pulled him back into bed. "We ca-" Zuko was cut off as Charmaine forced him to lay on his back. He just stared up at her.
She knew he was right, but she didn't want him to leave, so she grabbed the sheet that was at the end of the bed and pulled it up. She laid on her side and put her head on his chest. "Don't go," was all she said as she closed her eyes. He didn't argue. She fell asleep just like that. When she woke up the next morning he was gone. She felt embarrassed at her brazen behavior. She was supposed to be a lady after all. Her and Zuko ignored what happened that night and never spoke about it.
-Q-
Charmaine pulled herself out of her memory as a wave crashed against the boat and drenched her in water. The water had gotten rough because a storm was coming. Charmaine pulled herself up and she pushed all thoughts of Zuko and those rapists out of her mind. She needed to make sure the boat didn't capsize.
She fought against the waves for hours. Eventually the storm died down and night came. Charmaine decided she want to sleep on the deck and brought out a hammock net. She set the hammock up and laid in it. She stared up at the stars and the moon. It was a full moon. As she stared at it the memories from earlier came flooding back, but this time they made her sad. He was just drunk and horny. He doesn't love me, she thought. Then why did he pull away and stop, she argued to herself. Because Zuko has honor. He would never disrespect me in that type of way. Charmaine continued to argue with herself as she fell asleep.
-Q-
Over the course of the next six days, Charmaine would sail for a while and then pull over to empty beaches. She would practice her earth bending for hours until she was exhausted. This was one of the main reasons she had left. She couldn't practice earth bending out at sea.
After the encounter at the fishing village, Charmaine avoided people as mush as possible. She stood out too much and that made her a target. She would occasionally run into travelers. They were mostly friendly. She met a few earth benders who were impressed with her skill. They even showed her a few of their own techniques in exchange for her teaching them so of her moves. It was nice, she felt like a normal person.
When she was out at sea she would meditate if the water was calm enough. She had tried to enter the Spirit World several times, but it felt like she was barred from it. When she wasn't meditating, eating, or sleeping, her mind would always wonder back to Zuko.
On the seventh day, Charmaine made it to Mawei Port. Zuko's ship was nowhere to be found. Charmaine didn't want to get off her boat, as she was still nervous about what happened before. A few hours passed and there was still no ship.
Charmaine sighed and decided to go to a restaurant to eat. She was sick of fish and canned vegetables. She found a small little restaurant and sat down for a nice meal. After she finished her food a few Fire Nation soldiers came into the restaurant. They were joking around loudly, until one of them noticed Charmaine. He tapped on of his buddies in the stomach and pointed over at Charmaine. The rest followed his finger and seen her. The guy who pointed at her slicked back his hair and strolled up to her table. The other soldiers followed behind him.
"Well hello there beautiful, my name is Daisuke," the soldier said as he bowed to her.
Before Charmaine could even respond she was cut off. "She's not interested." Charmaine turned to see Zuko standing behind her.
"My apologies Prince Zuko, I did not know she was one of your concubines," The soldier said as bowed to Zuko. The other soldiers followed suit.
"Apologize to her," Zuko growled out.
The soldier looked at Zuko confused. "Apologize for what, Prince Zuko?"
"She is not my concubine. She is my betrothed," Zuko growled back.
"My apologize my Lady and my Prince. I did not Know your betrothal to Lady Charmaine had been called off," the soldier said as he and the others bowed to both of them.
"It hasn't," Charmaine said as she looked at the stunned soldiers. "I am Lady Charmaine. I needed to get around discretely, so I dressed in Earth Kingdom clothes and hid the blue parts of my hair."
"I am so sorry my Lady," all the men said in unison as they dropped to the floor and begged for forgiveness.
"You are forgiven," Charmaine said as she got up. She put some money on the table, more than enough to cover the bill, and walked out of the restaurant.
"Hey, wait up!" Zuko yelled out as he chased after her. Charmaine slowed her pace slightly but did not stop.
When Zuko caught up to her he went to say something, but Charmaine cut him off. "Thank you."
All of sudden Charmaine was grabbed by her right upper and was turned around. Zuko pulled her into a tight hug. Zuko leaned down and whispered into her ear, "I'm glad your back. I missed you."
Charmaine's eyes widened in shock, before she could respond or even hug Zuko back he pulled away from her. "Let's go back to the ship. I already have the crew loading the boat." With that Zuko walked off towards the ship. Charmaine just silently followed behind still in shock
Author's Note: I wanted to draw attention to sexual assault. Just because you are bad ass doesn't mean that you can't fall victim to sexual assault. No can predict how they would act if ever put in the same position. Bad ass women can freeze up in the moment. If you have ever been sexually assaulted in any way it doesn't make you weak. Don't feel ashamed of yourself. It isn't your fault.
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673