At a Busy Market, You Can Meet All Kinds of People, pt.2

Zuko ignored the banging on his door and calling for assembling of the firebenders. First, it was his Uncle, then Ming. He had better things to do than meditating or whatever they were calling him for. He didn't listen anyway. If all of them are assembled somewhere, it will be all the more easy for him to sneak away from the ship.

Zhao somehow always managed to make him angry to the point, he was exhaling fire. But in the last year, he has learnt to cool down faster than he used to. If he was to hunt down the Avatar, he needed to act quickly and for that he was forced to learn to control his temper. Or at least try. He still had a long way to go in this area, as well as others, but when he was alone and could change his focus, then he could cool down quite quickly. And now he was dressing into his black clothes and blue mask and had a focus on a very specific thing. He was going to sneak on Zhao's ship.

It is not the first time he did some sneaking around. Actually, the mask he stole was for this sole purpose. Zuko knew well, that his scar was a quite memorable feature of his face. So every time he had an opportunity at a port or anywhere, where Fire Nation soldiers were spending their leisure time, he would put on the mask and follow them to the inns, pubs or dark alleys to listen to their conversations. Mostly, it was just drunken gibberish, but few times he was lucky to overhear news from home or the latest updates on the progress of the Fire Nation army. By this time, he learnt to be quite good at being stealthy, but until now he couldn't gather enough courage to sneak in to more dangerous places, where the risk of being caught higher. But Zhao's last appearance gave him the final push.

He prepared a long rope with a hook and put it over his shoulder realizing that his dao blades would be a bit hindering. Zuko was quite confident in his fighting skills, even without weapons, and the rope was more necessary, so he left the swords hanging in their place. If everything goes right, then he wouldn't even need the blades.

The hallway outside of his room got finally quiet and Zuko glided out. He ran down the hallway, then the stairs. The deck was also quiet. Two torches were already lit since it got dark already. Everybody was probably gathered somewhere else. Zuko had no problem to sneak out unseen. He hoped it would be this easy on Zhao's ship.

Running through the shadows of the port, Zuko was glad that the market place was deeper in the town, attracting the people who were still in large numbers at the town. Zuko ran down the pier leading to the only other Fire Nation ship on the other side of the port. He stopped at the darkest place and listened carefully. The deck of the ship seemed to be quiet. Zuko imagined that most of Zhao's crew must be somewhere in the town getting drunk, like most of the soldiers and sailors did on their time off duty.

He managed to hook the rope to the railing on the first try without making much noise. Zuko climbed up quickly and silently. Firstly, he checked the deck. Upon seeing no one around, he climbed aboard. There were more torches lit up than on their own ship, but it seemed that he was alone, at least on the backside of the ship. He coiled up the rope to not leave any evidence of his presence behind and hid in the shadow of the large conning tower looking for the way in.

His plan was to find a military office and look for something useful. The military could have some information or at least indirect clues on the Avatar and Zuko was currently in a desperate need for a slightest bit of news. If someone had some information, it would be the Fire Nation Navy having its ships spread around the world. And Zhao just liked to bother Zuko so much.

Zuko found an open door inviting him inside the tower's darkness. The hallway he entered was completely dark, except a flickering light coming from one of its ends. He moved quickly without making a sound, searching for any kind of noise signalling presence of guards. He looked around the corner. The hallway continued to circle the tower. This part was lit by a couple of lanterns and was lifeless, like the whole ship seemed to be. Zhao probably granted his crew an evening off duty, not fearing any uninvited guests in this part of the world. Actually, even Zuko was invited just a few hours ago. He smiled behind his mask at this thought.

If the ship was anything like their own ship, the captain's office was somewhere higher in the conning tower. He needed to find the stairs. Moving forward, he inspected each turn and corner of the hallway. Suddenly, a pair of voices came from the front. Slowly approaching, he noticed what could be the front door of the tower. The voices were coming from the outside. Naturally, the stairs were right in front of the opened door. Step after step, Zuko took his chances. The two men were turned away from him, conversing not exactly in quiet.

"…and I'm already sick and tired of this place. The sun was up for what? Four hours?"

"Well, it could have been five."

"Huh. What are we even doing in this Agni-forsaken place? If Zhao wouldn't be so close to promotion, I would be asking for relocation. Even now, it had to be me who had to stay and guard his side-burned lazy ass."

Zuko stopped midway on the stairs. So Zhao is still in. And probably in his office. That meant that he would have to find a place where he can wait, hide and check on Zhao, all at once.

He ran up the stairs leaving the unsuspecting guards behind. The hallway before him was empty as well. Now, he had to come with a plan. Listening carefully, he tried to find an empty room he could hide in for a while. The room on his left seemed to be quiet, so he tried to open its door. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Zuko couldn't believe the luck he was having. His problem was solving itself alone. The room was filled with Fire Nation uniforms.

Zuko found himself a fitting one to not look suspicious and hid the mask under the armour before putting on the helmet. He was really grateful for the helmet's design hiding the face of its wearer. Also, he decided to leave the rope behind, but took the hook off for later purposes.

The plan he came up with was to blend in among the guards patrolling the hallways. This way he could look for Zhao and his office while he wouldn't even raise suspicion, even if he was to be seen. Zuko was angry that he didn't think of this idea earlier. He could have borrowed a uniform from one of his own men and come in right through the front door. It seems that the harder way was just meant for him.

Returning to the hallway, he tried to look as little suspicious as possible, no longer trying hard to conceal his steps. He walked over the long corridor, again trying to listen for any signs of a presence of somebody else. When he didn't discover anything, he moved to the upper floors of the tower, guessing that Zhao's office would be on the higher levels.

It felt like hours. Zuko was roaming the poorly lit corridors of the tower, from time to time stopping by different doors to listen for any sign of Zhao's presence. This time he wasn't lucky. All the same, he decided to stay on the top floor, believing that the office was surely somewhere in this area. He chose to stay by the staircase, as if guarding the hallway, until Zhao comes out.

In that moment, the door on the very end of the corridor opened and a familiar figure was approaching him. Zuko saluted, as the totally unsuspecting captain walked passed him, not even looking his way. Holding his breath, Zuko remained in his spot, until the steps of the man faded into the silence of the lower floors. Only then, Zuko allowed himself a small grin behind the face plate.

He ran over to the door which Zhao didn't even bother to lock. Was that man really that careless? Was it going to be that easy? No. When Zuko pushed the knob, the door appeared to be locked after all. It had to be a new locking system which didn't require a key to manually lock. The hook Zuko took out of his pocket would have to do.

He felt quite proud when the door soundlessly opened. The room was only a bit lighter than the dressing room, thanks to the lights coming from the town through the large windows. He realized that he cannot make a greater light, if he wanted to go unnoticed from outside. The flame in his hand had to remain small.

The office was a big room, furnished better than an ordinary military office or any other ordinary ship of the Fire Nation Navy. Zhao was truly on his best way to a promotion, just like the guard said, to allow himself such luxuries. The ship looked like a whole new vessel straight from a shipyard. The furniture of the office could be probably just as expensive as the furniture at the Fire Nation palace.

Zhao's table was hidden under mounts of papers and maps. Zuko was delighted. He was bound to find something interesting in so many documents, letters and maps. Holding his hand just in the right distance to see and not to set alight the papers, he started to examine paper after paper. It was mostly basic military communication, nothing what would help him. Zuko was getting frustrated, until he rolled out the maps from one of the shelves of the table. They were maps of the world. On each of them were various markings signing different places, he didn't understand.

Then he came across a map with small golden markings. He would have overlooked the map completely had he not noticed marks on the Western Air Temple. What would Zhao look for on the abandoned island? Except Zhao wasn't. Slowly he started realizing that the markings were mapping his own expeditions. All of the Air Temples, the seaports in colonies where they spent longer time. For a moment, Zuko was taken aback. Why was Zhao keeping track of his journey? And how come it was so detailed? Studying the map, there were markings on every place where they stayed more than one day.

Zuko's mind started to race. He tried to come up with reasons for why would the hated captain monitor him. Was he keeping an eye on him? Was Zhao interested in the hunt for the Avatar as well? Was he told to keep an eye on him? That was the most likely option. But the only one who he could think of to do such a thing was… Did his Father care after all? The small flicker of hope he tried to suppress for so long came alive again. He needed more clues.

He started to wade through the papers with a new vigour. There had to be more, there had to be something, what would tell him why. While examining the table closer, he noticed a discreet drawer. Now this will be the place with the more interesting stuff. He opened it quickly. Bingo. There was only one letter. It had the broken Fire Lord's insignia on its front. Without thinking, Zuko grabbed the letter and started to read:

Captain Zhao,

You have proved yourself to be a loyal servant and a true son of the Fire Nation. The Fire Lord expects, that you can be trusted by a private order of monitoring the progress in the mission of the banished prince. Although the reappearance of the Avatar is very unlikely, but if any hint of his return would turn up, the Fire Lord expects nothing less than your immediate takeover of the mission of his capturing. The shameful presence of the banished prince and his return to the Fire Nation is an unwanted option. For your concerns, you will be awarded with a proper promotion on my own command.

Fire Lord Ozai,

The Highest Servant of Agni and Supreme Ruler of the Fire Nation and its colonies

Zuko read the letter once, then twice and once more. A swell was building inside his throat. All thoughts disappeared from his mind. His whole body switched on an automatic regime. He put everything back on its place, walked out of the office and down the stairs. Later he couldn't even recall how he got off the ship.

He recovered himself when he was already outside, aimlessly wondering through the port which was slowly hiding in a thickening fog. He couldn't go back to his ship. Being alone was a much better option for the moment. Even the thought of facing his Uncle was out of question. He knew him too well, he would know just by looking at him, that something is wrong. Without thinking, Zuko climbed on the rooftop of the nearest house and moved across the town unseen and unheard, all while his body was shaking. This lasted until one of his unsteady legs slipped on the wet surface of a steeper roof. Somehow, his fall remained silent, but not without impact.

Zuko slowly collected himself. First, he adjusted the mask to see. His shoulder and the right side of his back ached, but didn't feel like anything has broken. But the pain woke him up from the lethargy of his mind and all came flooding back. The letter, the map, getting his hopes up just moments before they were crushed again. The thought, that his father would send Zhao to look after him because he cared for his banished son, seemed ridiculous now. It was only the smallest of hope in his heart that he tried to ignore, but the disappointment was still overwhelming. There was no love or at least honest interest for his children left in his father's heart for a long time, or in ever. The only thing his father cared for was power.

Daddy's going to kill you. Really he is. Azula's voice sang in his head again. He really should have learnt by now what is the way in his family. Survival of the fittest where the weak ones disappear, get banished and or worse.

Zuko's hands were shaking, so he clenched them. If he wasn't wearing gloves his palms would probably bleed by now. His eyes stung as they were filling with unwelcomed tears.

In two years, just now he could finally see the true meaning behind his mission for what it was. Finding of the Avatar was not supposed to give him hope. It was a mockery. His father disgraced him, cast him away and mocked him. He wouldn't even speak his name…no…he wouldn't even write the name of his own son on a stupid piece of paper. Only a banished prince for his father, a spoiled brat for his crew and a joke for the rest of the world. It was all he was.

He didn't even notice when he fell to his knees. Now this would be a sight his father would sure like to see. A disgraced failure kneeling and crying in some dark alley in an Agni-forsaken seaport. Now that would be a sight for the whole nation to laugh at.

After this thought, he couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, on still shaking legs and took a deep breath while leaning on the cold and wet wall. He won't give in such thoughts. He may be a banished prince, but he still is a prince. He is the rightful heir to the Dragon Throne and he won't allow his father, Zhao or sister to take it away from him. It is his destiny and he will fight for it, even if alone. All he has to do is to get his honor back. His father took it away from , but he will damn sure give it back as well.

If there is an avatar, he'll make sure it will be him alone who will find him and take him back to his father. The Fire Lord will have no other choice than to welcome him back. The goal of his mission was made public after all. It maybe was supposed to be a joke at his expense, but he will definitely turn it against his father.

Zuko took another few calming inhales and exhales and got in touch with his inner fire. He kept breathing until he was able to exhale a few sparkles of the dragon breath letting the comforting warmth flew through him. He was already feeling much better. The shaking stopped and he was able to stand upright.

What now? He didn't even know where he was. He was probably on the outskirts of the small town. Somebody on the ship would probably notice that he's missing, but also, probably not. Still, he wasn't in the mood to get back to the ship just now.

Maybe staying out for a few hours more would prove useful. Maybe he could find out more from Zhao's soldiers. Although, he was not exactly sure, if he wanted to find out more.

Zuko examined his surroundings. He was in a narrow dark alley, which ended into a fog covered street. Nobody was around. Zuko had to guess in which direction the center of the town was. The market was surely there and where the market is, there are inns and pubs with visitors overflowing.

He looked around, searching for a building which would be easier to climb. To remain unseen, it was easier to move on the level above the streets. One of the houses across the street had a smaller wooden shack attached to its wall. Zuko silently ran towards it and without a greater effort, he was already jumping from one rooftop to the other. He continued, until he heard voices. Lots of loud voices, actually. When he looked in their direction, he noticed a dim light, which could be a great flame, if it were not for the fog.

Zuko set a faster pace and headed into the direction of the light. Suddenly, the smell of smoke hit him in the nose. There was no more doubt. The strong light was a fire. What could have happened? Silly question. After all, the town was full of firebenders, maybe even drunk firebenders.

The fog and smoke were mixing, creating an impenetrable wall, making it hard to see and breath. Zuko had to stop at the very last rooftop, right above the square, to see what is going on the marketplace.

At the moment, it resembled more a great bonfire than a market place. People were running away from the fire in panic. The buildings around the square were lit red by the huge flames. Zuko watched in shock, how the sea of fire grew larger by every passing moment nearing dangerously to the houses. Zuko's mind started to panic. He had no idea what to do. The easiest would be to sneak back to the ship. But he couldn't do that. What if it was his men who caused the fire? It would be his responsibility.

Before he could decide what to do, a big unnatural lash of flame came from the marketplace, what couldn't meant anything else than a firebender. Zuko creeped across the rooftops closer and he noticed a group of men fighting close to the flames, almost too close. They were six men and half of them had red fire nation clothes. That could be only soldiers off duty. Judging by their movements, they couldn't be sober. Actually, it looked like that the firebenders were not even aware of their firebending.

The stalls started to crumble and the last people were running from the flames' reach, except the group caught in the middle of the fire, literally.

"Chien!" the general noise was cut by a high-pitched cry. There was a small girl running across the square, headed directly to the group of the fighting thugs.

"Chien!" she was crying loudly at one of the men, ignoring the flames completely.

In that moment, Zuko hesitated no more. He climbed down from the rooftop and ran after the girl. He caught up to her just when one of the firebenders hauled off and created a giant fire whip. In the last second, he managed to pull the girl back from the approaching flame. Pulling her by the clothes, Zuko got the struggling child to safety.

"No! Let me go! Chien!" Zuko just pulled more forcibly by the shirt and led her in what looked like a safe alley. "Let me go!" cried the girl wholeheartedly, no more than ten years old. Tears were flowing in ponds from her eyes.

"No! Chien... He'll die!" she was sobbing and pulling on Zuko's arm. Unfortunately, he had enough of it. He caught her by the shoulders and shook her strongly to wake her up from the almost hysterical cry.

Apparently, it helped, because the girl fell silent. She looked on her captor for the first time, almost jumping at the sight, fear replacing the tears in her eyes. Right, the mask. The mask wasn't exactly friendly looking, Zuko remembered. Nevertheless, he decided to use the fear to scare the girl into doing what was safe for her.

"Stay here!" he said with an intimidating voice, hoping that it would work on the smaller child.

"But my brother," she wasn't giving up.

"Stay here, until it will be safe to walk out!" he tried again while pushing her a little back.

He looked over to see the square. Probably from the fear from the unpredictable firebenders, the people still haven't tried to start to put out the flames, which were gaining on size. Here only firebenders can help, if the people don't want to have half of the town burned down.

"Change of plan!" He looked back on the small girl. She looked more than surprised by the sudden change of his approach. "What's your name?" She was watching him carefully now.

"Yongchi," she said with a firm voice. The fear was starting to get replaced by commitment.

"Yongchi, listen to me! I will help your brother, but you have to help me as well. You will go to the port. A smaller Fire Nation ship is anchored there. Not the bigger, the smaller. Tell them what is happening in the town, that you need help!"

"But they are Fire Nation…"

"But you will need firebenders to put out the fire. Now run!" The girl didn't protest anymore and ran in the direction of the port. Zuko had to hope that his soldiers stayed there and are not scattered across the town. Only his Uncle would mean a great help.

But firstly, he had to take care of the cause of the fire while staying undercover. Heading out of the alley, he ran directly to the group, still so caught up in the fight, that they didn't register their surroundings were turning into a disaster scene.

Using the moment of surprise, he jumped right on a Fire Nation man kneeling above another man and hitting him in the face. Zuko crashed into him with all of his weight, knocking him away for more than two meters. Using the time he gained, he pulled up the man with the bloodied face and ordered him to get out. Actually, he was more of a boy than a man, barely older than Zuko himself. He wasn't arguing about the chance to run off and did as he was told.

One gone, five to go. Zuko automatically reached for his dao, except he grabbed empty air. He stiffened for a moment and he remembered an image of blades hanging on the wall. Right. He left them on the ship. This was going to be harder than he imagined. In front of him, the Fire Nation soldier was clumsily trying to stand up. At least now, Zuko could see that they were not his men.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the man. Realizing that without his swords or firebending, he was being outmatched by the men, Zuko didn't give the man the time to collect himself. With a couple of well-aimed strikes to his stomach and neck, Zuko took him off balance. Then he made him trip and the man was on the ground again, this time with embossed breath.

It was only then, when the rest of the man noticed the new participant in the fight. They looked on him confusedly, what he used for his advantage. He spurned apart the two men who were already holding daggers at each other, while managing to twist one of the daggers from the taller man's hand. But the other one was already coming after him. Zuko felt how the tip of the small blade made contact with his mask. At the same time, he noticed a light glare coming from the left, what could only mean a nearing firebender's fist. He jumped back avoiding a clear hit just in time.

Making few steps back to see all of his opponents, he had a little time to think. Basically, his plan was to stop the aggressive group from making more damage. Momentarily, he was succeeding in this goal, as the four men were focusing on him and the fifth was giddily rising from the ground. He got himself a dagger, at least.

"I said, who the hell are you?!" repeated his question the soldier. The other one, who was still holding his dagger, was slowly approaching him. Zuko didn't answer. Instead of answering, he just pointed at the disaster scene surrounding them, hoping they'll understand.

The men looked around what used to be a market place. One of the firebenders, realizing the problem, made his exit, running fast in the port's direction. However, one of the villagers suddenly roared loudly and jumped on the closest firebender.

"Damned firebenders! You put our town on fire!" He knocked the firebender down and started to strangle him with bare hands. That wasn't exactly the reaction Zuko was aiming for. The Fire Nation man tried to push the man's hands away, but didn't succeed. Zuko had to react quickly.

The man immediately put his hands down, when he felt the blade of his own dagger on his neck. He visibly gulped and slowly stood up. Zuko didn't stop pointing on his neck. The other villager grabbed his friends shoulder and was pulling him from the place.

Zuko wanted to turn to the remaining opponents, when suddenly the world went black for a moment. He felt the hit on the back of his head. He staggered and the stone pavement gave him another blow. But losing consciousness was out of the question. Almost immediately, he was back on his feet, even though the world was spinning around him.

He saw, that the soldier he knocked out of breath was grinning vindictively. The alcohol was fuelling his aggressiveness, erasing the rest of the world. The bloodlust was clearly visible in his eyes. Zuko only held his dagger tighter, although he knew it wouldn't be much of a help, if the man decided to bend. Slowly, he was retreating, but he couldn't get much further. There was a wall of fire right behind him.

"Chen! Stop!" The soldier, whose life Zuko saved just a minute ago, was getting up from the ground while coughing strongly. "We have to go!" However, the other man ignored him completely and sent a huge fireball on Zuko. He dodged it to the side but he was too slow to move out of the way completely. Standing up, he felt a burning pain on his shoulder. He looked down to see that a big part of his sleeve was burnt down.

The soldier was still grinning and was preparing to fight Zuko by himself, but his comrade stopped him. "That was enough! We're out of here!" said, while holding the other man's arm firmly.

This time he listened. While leaving the square, he kept his eyes, still longing for violence, locked on Zuko.

Being the only one left, Zuko collected himself and lumped back to the alley, where he pulled the girl in before. His head was still spinning and his arm burned and stung with each movement. Now, he only wanted to get back to his ship. He roughly had an idea, which direction would take him to the port. Moving on the rooftops was out of question for now, so he had to move in the shadows, the fog helping greatly. There were already people hurrying to the scene to try to extinguish the fire.


Ming was collecting the last of the bandages. He cursed himself for being too slow. Everybody has left already. The firebenders being the ones, who left immediately after the small girl arrived, with General Iroh leading them. The others gathered buckets and went after them, leaving Ming behind, as he had to prepare his first aid kit.

Putting the bag on his back, he was prepared to head out. But when he opened the door of his cabin, he was totally taken by surprise.

Kneeling on the floor was their missing commander. The prince was just emptying his stomach on the porch of his cabin.


A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews. They really made my day. Hope you like this chapter as well. It is perhaps a bit angsty, but I just couldnt help it ;).