"I'm very impressed." Zhao leans back at his desk. "You all seem highly qualified for the mission I have in mind." A pirate crew stands on the other side of his desk, complete with a reptile parrot. Hands reach for the chest that sits on the desk. It opens to reveal that a sea of shiny gold. The pirates' interest heightens as much as the worth of the gold. The salesman who had first caught Aang's attention with his "exotic curios" snatches a gold piece with a grubby hand. He chomps down on it with rotten teeth.
"That's some tasty gold!" He exclaims. The captain grabs it and puts it back in the chest, snarling. A lizard parrot claws his leather-clad shoulder.
"What do you need us to do?" The captain leans forward, hands on the table.
Zhao smiles.
"I believe you're acquainted with Prince Zuko?"
"Good luck!" a crew member yells. There's no response as the crew leaves to join Zhao's mission at the North Pole. Iroh waves as they walk down the pier before boarding the ship. It's unnaturally still with only himself and his nephew aboard. Iroh misses the cook already. At least, he thinks, he has an excuse to teach Zuko to cook. Iroh pokes his head into the angry teenager's chambers.
"The crew wanted me to wish you safe travels."
"Good riddance to those traitors." Zuko snarls at the ceiling at the thought of Zhao stealing his men.
"It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me? It would clear your head." When Zuko doesn't respond, Iroh's smile falls. "Or just stay in your room and sit in the dark. Whatever makes you happy." Iroh leaves. Zuko still carries much anger with him. He goes on a walk without Zuko, making his way along the pier, humming the song he was singing before Zhao stepped in. A lizard parrot swoops through the night air.
The pirates board the ship under the cover of nightfall. Metal hooks dig into the side of the ships and barrels of blasting jelly are hoisted upwards from a small skiff in the water. "Careful with the blasting jelly!" A pirate whispers as another almost drops a barrel onto the ship. The first pirate opens a door. It creaks loudly and he curses under his breath.
"Uncle?" The prince bolts awake at the sound. The pirate shoves the barrels of blasting jelly inside before sprinting away as another guides the trail of black gunpowder to the deck of the ship. He strikes some flint with his knife before disappearing over the side of the boat.
"Uncle, is that you?" Zuko asks, peering out into the empty corridor. He arranges himself into his fighting stance and narrows his eyes. Iroh would call out. Zuko heads warily out to the bridge of the ship and sees the lit trail of gunpowder. The lizard parrot squawks at Zuko before tearing off after the pirates. Zuko's eyes widen. The pirates. He turns to run, but the fire finally reaches the blasting jelly and he arcs through the air with the explosion that wrecks his ship. Zuko takes a breath before he hits the water hard and falls deep into the water. The saltwater burns at the cuts from flying pieces of metal. At least it put out the fire on his clothes. Zuko waits beneath the water as long as he can before finding a stray bucket to come up under. The pirates would be watching to make sure that he did not escape death.
Iroh hears the explosion and turns around just in time to see Zuko's ship explode.
"Zuko!" He cries out. He runs as fast as he can back to the ship. His face is ghost-white as he fears for Zuko. Zuko couldn't die this young. Not him, too. Iroh couldn't stand the loss of another son. Even if Zuko was not his son... he couldn't. Iroh sinks to his knees, orange and red flames dancing through the air.
"Zuko..."
The girl — Katara — clutches her hands together as she walks next to the Avatar towards Pakku's training grounds. She looks excited, Yue thinks. So excited to see waterbending. Yue remembers Pakku grumbling as he left the banquet hall the previous night about being expected to teach the Avatar and his friend. Was Katara the friend? Yue bites her lip. She was in for a nasty surprise. Yue wishes she could have warned her, but they had already reached Pakku and Yue was walking along the passageway up above the training grounds to leave the palace and go into the city. She had promised Mrs. Huemodo that she would visit and her father would most likely be along shortly and could deal with any disputes.
Aang waves.
"Good morning, Master Pakku!" Pakku drops a blob of water with a grimace. The water sloshes on the ground and quickly turns to ice.
"No, please, march right in, I'm not concentrating or anything."
"Uhh... this is my friend, Katara, the one I told you about?" Aang redirects the conversation like a true airbender. Katara beams as she bows. She'll finally get to learn waterbending from a true master! Pakku isn't nearly as excited as he looks her up and down. He sits on the ice chair he has formed with a delicate flick of his wrist as he says his next words.
"I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending." He says, dismissing Katara. Katara steams. Her jaw tightens as she angrily lifts a finger.
'What do you mean, you won't teach me? I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me "no!"" Katara storms up to Pakku.
"No." Pakku refuses.
"But there must be other female waterbenders in your tribe!" Katara shoves her hands onto her hips.
"Here the women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student despite your bad attitude."
"I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" Katara yells.
"I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules."
"Well, your rules stink!" Katara stomps her foot down angrily. She did not come here and gone through so much just to be refused at the last second by a sexist old jerk... he wouldn't teach her but if Sokka was a bender, he'd teach him no problem despite him being the worst student ever...
"Yeah, they're not fair. If you won't teach Katara, then — " Aang rushes to defend Katara.
"Then what?" Pakku stands up, staring down the young Avatar.
"Then I won't learn from you!" Aang turns and starts walking away.
"Well, have fun teaching yourself. I'm sure you'll do a great job." Pakku calls out.
"Wait!" Katara stops. This couldn't happen because of her. "Aang didn't mean that." She runs after Aang and grabs his shoulder. "You can't risk your training for me. You have to learn from Master Pakku. Even if he is a big jerk." Katara feels guilty for being selfish when Aang needing to learn waterbending much more than she did. Aang nods glumly and turns to face Pakku again.
"Why don't we get started then." Pakku smiles smugly.
Sokka pants as he runs along the sidewalk.
"Princess Yue! Good morning!" Yue turns in surprise. She had been deep in thought again as Doraq guided her through the city. "Hey, how about that picnic last night? Boy, your dad sure knows how to throw a party."
"I'm happy you enjoyed yourself." Yue says.
"Well, it wasn't as much fun after you left." A big toothy grin stretches across Sokka's mouth. Yue blushes.
"So, I'm hoping we can see more of each other."
"Do an 'activity', you mean?" Yue fights a grin.
"Yes! At... a place! For... some time!" Sokka stumbles over his words.
"I'd love to!" Yue blurts out before she can stop herself. "I'll meet you on that bridge tonight." She points at the nearest bridge that connects either side of the street.
"Great! I'll see you — ahh!" Sokka splashes into the water at the end of the sidewalk he hadn't noticed.
"Sorry!" Yue laughs at his luck, a strange flutter in her chest. Sokka pulls himself out of the water and falls backwards onto the sidewalk.
"That's okay, it was worth it," he says dreamily. He sighs as someone steps over him. He waits too long to get up and finds himself frozen to the snowy sidewalk.
" #^$%^!"
"Princess Yue." Mrs. Huemodo bows. Yue bows back respectfully as Doraq secured the canoe. "I've been looking forward to our weekly visit."
"As have I. I feel like so much has happened in just the last few days. It's been so much longer than a week!" Yue exclaims. Mrs. Huemodo just laughs. Yue had first met Mrs. Huemodo 5 years prior when she was upset and crying about something she couldn't even remember anymore and had run from the palace and hidden in Mrs. Huemodo's kitchen in the back of her bakery. She had snuck in into a cupboard and managed to tough it out for several hours before sneaking an arm up to grab a blueberry bannock whose heavenly smells were making her stomach rumble. Mrs. Huemodo had grabbed her hand in a blink of an eye. Yue had burst out in tears all over again and Mrs. Huemodo's eyes had softened and she offered the crying girl the blueberry bannock as she coaxed her out of her hiding place. Yue could hardly eat it through her tears and rambling confessions. It was nearly as comforting as Mrs. Huemodo's patient listening ear as she sobbed over her story. They had been the best of friends since then.
"I would suspect it has been, what with the Avatar of all people showing up."
"That's not even the least of it." Yue thinks of her fiancé as Mrs. Huemodo ushers her into the back room of her bakery. Wait — her fiancé! Sokka! The panic must have shown on her face as Mrs. Huemodo places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I'll get the blueberry bannock." Blueberry bannock is Mrs. Huemodo's favourite too.
Yue spills out all of her frustrations and worries about her betrothal and the war and her place in it and her people and Sokka and the war that would most likely be coming to a head and getting married and having children... Mrs. Huemodo was the most understanding woman in the North Pole, if not the entire world. At least, Yue thought so.
"Well, darling, you have a lot on your plate for such a young girl. Your parents should know better than marrying you off this young, even if it is traditional," she sighs, rubbing her thumb over the back of Yue's hand.
"The North is nothing if not traditional," Yue gives a small laugh.
"You could change that, if you wanted. But that is too much to think about at the moment." She smiles, eyes creasing at the corners. "You could always refuse marriage — or at least Hahn. It hasn't been announced publicly yet. We should give you the chance to explore your own relationships. Especially those with boys who fall of sidewalks for you!" She reaches for another piece of blueberry bannock. "And a wedding right now... take your happiness where you can get it. Hmm, these are quite good this batch. I'll have to remember what I did this time." Yue mumbles her agreement through the mass of blueberry bannock in her mouth. Mrs. Huemodo had been perfecting her blueberry bannock for her entire life and regularly asked Yue's opinion. When she had time, the princess would help her make the delicious treat. Take your happiness where you can get it. Yue stores the thought away in her mind. She feels much better. Though she knows that she would still go through with marrying Hahn — her people deserved a princess that would do that for them — she would delay it a little while. And she would see Sokka that night. She swallows down the last bite of blueberry bannock.
"Thank you. This was so helpful. I could never repay you for all your kindness to me." She hugs Mrs. Huemodo.
"And I would never ask you to, darling. You are always welcome here. I'll see you next week?" They pull apart. "Oh!" Mrs. Huemodo exclaims. "You've got a bit on your — yes, there." She points at the corner of Yue's mouth and Yue wipes off a bit of blueberry stuck to her lip.
"Thank you. Imagine the scandal if someone had spotted the princess with blueberry stains around her mouth!" Yue jokes.
"There would be a revolt, my dear! They would think you've been replaced!"
"It would be a sight. See you next week!" Yue waves as she leaves the bakery, spirits high. Doraq is already there, extending his hand to help her descend into the canoe. She thanks him and waves goodbye again to Mrs. Huemodo.
"Home?" Doraq asks.
"Yes, please. Thank you for waiting so long this week. I didn't think it would take so long, otherwise I would have told you that you could go do whatever you wanted for a few hours."
"Don't worry about it, Princess. Mrs. Huemodo has a great scroll collection. I'm almost done with the new series from the Earth Kingdom she has."
"Is it good?" Yue asks. He sounds excited.
"Yes, very much. There are these huge monsters that the main character keeps fighting and he just accidentally destroyed a general's home and now they don't believe that there were any monsters so they tied him up in the woods and he has to try and escape before he gets slaughtered in the night!" He gushes, clearly enthralled with the adventurous tale. It was nearly the most Doraq had ever said at one time. Stories tended to capture his attention like nothing else.
"What is this one called again? Tales of... Samraq?" Yue racks her brain.
"Just Samaq, Princess."
"Samaq," Yue repeats carefully. "Perhaps I'll read it, when you're done with it, of course."
"I would be very pleased if you did." Doraq smiled.
Zuko carefully sets a foot down on Zhao's ship. He had wrapped some stolen rags around his shoes, so he padded softly on the metal deck. Perfect for becoming a stowaway. No, perfect for taking what was his so he could return home to the Fire Nation. The Avatar. He had come up with his plan huddled out under a sopping wet tree with his uncle, who had insisted he come along as backup. Stowaway on Zhao's ship disguised as a soldier until they arrived at the North Pole. Once there, he would sneak off the ship and find the Avatar before Zhao did. Then he would take him back to the Fire Nation, to the Fire Lord, his father. Zuko carefully sets an ear against the armoury door. He waits several seconds and when he doesn't hear a peep showing someone inside he swings the door open silently and slips inside. He dresses quickly and efficiently, getting his helmet on first in case someone came inside. His old clothes are stuffed under his armour, to be dropped off the side of the ship the first chance he got.
The next few hours before Zhao's ship leaves the dock are the most crucial for ensuring that no one suspects the sudden additional guard. Zuko makes sure he gets put on shifts and writes in past ones when no one's looking in case anyone bothered to check. He switches pencils and pens as he writes. He listens in on conversations about ship drama so he remembers names and can understand jokes. He doesn't talk much, though. Not worth it in case Zhao overheard and thought his raspy voice sounded familiar. He works at the same pace as everyone else during his shifts, despite the itch in his step begging to reach the North Pole.
The next day, he has the morning shift and passes Iroh in a corridor. They stop side by side. How Iroh can recognize him under all the armour Zuko could never figure out and didn't bother to ask.
"Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing," Iroh whispers. His fist tightens as he remembers Zhao's expression when he told him about Zuko's "death" before walking on.
"I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko. Just devastated." Zhao didn't even sound like he was trying.
"The Fire Lord will not be pleased when he learns who was responsible," Iroh said, looking up at Zhao. Zhao frowned.
"You know who... was behind the attack?" He asked, suspicious.
"Yes..." Iroh slammed a fist on the table. Oh, how he longed to tell Zhao that he knew it was him and was arresting him for treason. Ozai wouldn't have him executed, though. Zhao would probably be given a promotion from the Fire Lord himself. "Pirates!" He exclaimed. "We had a run-in with them awhile back. They wanted revenge." Iroh makes sure not to look at Zhao's smirking face.
"So, have you reconsidered my offer?" Zhao wasted no time.
"Yes, I accept. It will be an honour to serve as your general. To the Fire Nation!" Iroh bows before raising his glass.
"To victory!" Zhao toasts.
"You didn't have to do this," Zuko says, removing his guard mask and looking at his uncle.
"No nephew of mine is going to stow away on a ship without some backup!" He declares.
Zuko's eyes soften. "Thank you, uncle." Footsteps approach the pair.
"Someone's coming! Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours! Good luck!" Iroh warns. Zuko slides his guard mask back up into his mask and walks off in the opposite direction of Iroh. He could never thank his uncle enough.
A/N: Why have I never checked out prowriting aid before? I LOVE IT and I don't even have the premium verson!
Anyways, re-reading this has made it even more painfully obvious how Mrs. Huemodo is a flat OC but she has such a cool backstory! And she has a fun camaraderie with Iroh later! But right now she's just emotional support for Yue which hopefully I can fix when I edit this! Doraq will also get more characterization later... much later...
Anyways, lemme know ur thoughts.