Thank you EyeoftheTigerKissoftheDragon and LittleFlowerLei for reviewing!
I have decided to do a contest. The first person who guesses who the 'mystery talker' appearing throughout the chapters right gets a cookie!
I'll probably end up doing that other story. Check for it appearing soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. I own Nami, Sunoo, Yasuo and the 'mystery talker' though. Nah nah!
Chapter 5 - Kyoushuu
He watched her, feeling guilty about what he had to do. She was asleep but he knew it wouldn't last for long. Sighing, he pushed the door open and made to walk out but he couldn't.
His promise to keep her safe kept floating up and he paused. He couldn't let her get hurt, especially not in this way. Turning, he made to walk back in but stopped himself.
What was he doing? His mission was to be complete and this had to be done. He wanted to rest in peace and he believed she did as well.
Sighing, he forced himself to turn on his heel and walk out the door. He needed to go somewhere to think over his mission.
He just hoped she would forgive him.
Zuko gazed at the full moon forlornly, hoping it would bring the Avatar to him if he thought hard enough. No such luck. He didn't think it would work anyways.
The prince turned when the hatch opened and his uncle walked out onto the deck. He crossed the steel surface to Zuko and stopped besides him. "A beautiful night, isn't it?" he asked softly.
He didn't reply and took back to staring at the moon. It stared back and seemed to mock him and his quest. The Firebender frowned.
Iroh watched his nephew for a moment before turning to the hatch. He smiled and gazed up at the moon. "We have a visitor."
"What?" he asked, trying to figure out where the visitor was.
The dog appeared out of the shadows, sniffing along the railing.
"It's just the dog, uncle," he muttered. 'I wonder why he left the girl,' he thought and watched the canine as he continued to sniff the railings.
And promptly lifted his leg, marking the next bar.
Zuko almost burned the dog into ashes but Iroh held him back. The dog gave the prince a triumphant look and put his leg down. He looked quite pleased with himself.
"Just let me kill it!" he growled loudly, fighting the grip on his shoulder.
"Prince Zuko, control yourself," Iroh said calmly. He was grinning though.
"He did it on purpose!" the prince accused, snarling as the dog seemed to be laughing at him.
Their feud ended abruptly, however, as a wave hit the ship, making it lurch violently to the side. Another wave smashed the ship the opposite direction.
A terrified scream pierced the air.
Nami rolled over in the bed, surprised to find her dog not there. She didn't think anything of it though. She had left the door open incase he needed to take care of 'business.' Sighing, she tried to go back to sleep.
The door creaked as it opened slightly and it closed with a small click. Nami thought it was just Sunoo and didn't move. The clicking of boots, however, had her bolting up, squinting in the darkness to see who was here.
Something dark moved through the room quickly. She immediately fought to get off the bed but something hit her, throwing her into the wall. Her head knocked against the steel and she blinked the stars from her eyes.
Whatever was here had her pinned by the time her mind focused again. Just by the size and the rough hand holding her down, she had to guess it was a soldier.
A soldier who was chuckling softly.
"You're a feisty one," he slurred, his eyes glinting in the small amount of light.
He had to be drunk. There was no other reason why he would be in here with the prince's quarter right next to hers. She bucked, trying to throw him off. That had the opposite effect on the drunk, burly soldier.
"Impatient I see," he mumbled, chuckling again.
"Get off!" she yelled, twisting her wrists free. She decked him as hard as she could across the face and made to run off when he was stunned.
That didn't work.
He slapped her hard enough to make her nose bleed. She saw stars again and lied stunned for a few seconds. It was just enough time for the soldier to hit her again as he fought her spirit.
When her mind refocused, she felt his hands on her and she started fighting again. "Get off!" she yelled again, trying to kick the man. Nami freed one hand from his hold and tried to punch him but missed as he ducked and punched her himself. The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped for air.
"Little bitch!" he growled, throwing her off the bed. His foot connected with her side, making her roll facedown on the floor. The soldier snarled loudly as he beat the girl while she curled up on the ground.
Nami let out soft groans as blows rained down on her. She was losing her control; she could already feel the ocean outside beginning to churn. Crying, she struggled to focus as waves rose up and hit the ship, throwing her into the wall. The waves outside were rising higher as her control slipped and snapped. Her world shattered and collapsed as the man continued to rain blows on her.
She screamed.
"What is going on?" yelled the prince as he grabbed the railing, preventing him from falling over the edge.
Another wave made the warship lurch to the other side and the dog went sliding across the deck, barking. He tore off, charging for the hatch as he snarled and barked.
"The girl!" his uncle yelled over the creaking of the boat.
Zuko, managing to get a foothold, followed the dog, sliding across the deck as the ship was pummeled by waves. He ran after the sound of the dog's barking, hands braced incase he went flying into the walls.
Several soldiers and sailors were appearing out of rooms, wondering what was going on as well. After seeing the prince racing down the halls, they followed.
He burst into the hall, barely acknowledging that the door to the girl's room was shut and her dog was snarling, throwing himself against the door. The Firebender hit the door, throwing it open.
The dog rushed in, snarling. His small body hit the soldier hard and the two rolled on the ground. His teeth snapped at the man's face and neck while his claws ripped open his arm.
Zuko stared, trying to figure out where the dog ended and the man began. Growling, he reached over and fought the dog off the soldier, tossing him away while he dealt with the man.
He was nearly punched as the soldier retaliated. Zuko grabbed his arm, twisting it around and pinning the man on the floor. He bucked and snarled but stayed still when a flaming fist appeared next to his face.
"It would be in your best interest to stay still," the prince growled. Looking up, he found several other soldiers and his uncle watching him. He stood up, extinguishing the fire on his hand and pointed to the men. "Take him to the holding cells! I'll deal with him later!"
Several of them rushed forward and dragged the drunken soldier away.
The boat gave another heave as the waves continued to hit it.
"Prince Zuko!" his uncle called out, gripping the dresser to keep him from falling.
He turned and found the room empty except for him, his uncle and the dog. "Where?" he asked but found the beast was trying to get under the bed. Frowning, he crossed the room and knelt down, squinting in the darkness.
She was trembling and staring at him with wide eyes. Her face was bloody and she backed further under the bed when he reached out to drag her out, whining. It almost sounded like she was hyperventilating as tears slipped down her face, mixing with the blood.
The waves were becoming more urgent and he grimaced as his head hit the steel support under the mattress. Sighing, he managed to bite back his pride. "Come on, it's all right now," he whispered gently, trying to calm her down as his head reconnected with the steel.
She whimpered, pushing herself against the wall. A vague memory crept up but she pushed it back down, curling into a small ball.
"Nami," he said, managing to not growl. "Come on, it's safe now."
The girl blinked and he noticed her pupils had shrunk from the shock. She blinked again, her pupils growing as she finally shuffled towards him slightly. Her breathing had calmed down slightly and she moved closer to where the prince and her dog were.
Zuko grabbed her arm as soon as she was close enough. She squeaked as he dragged her across the floor. Her trembling started up again and a blanket draped across her shoulders. The girl gazed around the room even as Sunoo jumped on her, licking the blood off her face. She winced, pushing him down and pulled the blanket closer.
"Prince Zuko, you stay here. I will go get Yasuo," Iroh said, leaving the room so that his nephew couldn't argue.
He opened his to mouth to say anything to get him out of here but found his uncle had already left. Sighing, he gave the girl a small glare but found she wasn't even looking at him but softly scolding her dog. The dog himself looked like he was sorry for leaving her and licked her face to help calm her.
The waves had stopped and he felt the ocean calming. He gave a small sigh of relief.
"Prince Zuko?"
Zuko glanced over at the girl. Her voice had been so small that he felt a pang of sympathy for her. "I am sorry you had to go through that." His voice sounded cold and he forced himself to sound a little kinder. No telling what could happen if she went into another fit like that. "I promise that it will not happen again."
"No, no," she mumbled, holding tightly onto her dog. "Thank you, again." She gave him a weak smile. "It's the second time you've come to the rescue."
Sighing, he sat on the floor next to her and tried to assess the damage done. The bleeding from her nose had slowed and her face had started to swell. She was wincing and curled up when the door opened.
Iroh and Yasuo walked in, the Firebender carrying a tray of tea and the medic carrying another tray with bandages and other medical supplies. Zuko almost wondered where his uncle kept all of it. Yasuo made her turn to face him as the table was in the way. He began to examine his patient as Iroh poured tea into cups.
"You took quite a beating," the medic mumbled, taking a wet cloth from his tray and wiping the blood off of her face. She winced as he pressed down on sensitive bruises but remained still. "Not broken though, that is good."
The older Firebender passed her a cup of tea and she waited until Yasuo put the cloth back down before taking a long drink. Shuddering, she settled further down into the blanket.
Yasuo turned to the two Firebenders and shooed them. "I need to take care of her now," he said.
Iroh chuckled and grabbed his nephew, dragging him out of the room and into his own. He made the prince sit and poured him a cup of tea before he could stop the old man. "Your nerves are frayed, Prince Zuko. This will help you think clearly."
Before he knew what he was doing, the young man had taken a drink of the tea. It did calm his nerves somewhat.
"She will be all right, Prince Zuko," his uncle assured him. "Miss Nami is strong and will get through this."
"It is not that. She was attacked on this ship when I promised her she would not be." He stared down into the tea and wished he could make it explode. It would give him some satisfaction. "I do not know if we can keep her safe from the other men for another two days."
"I have just the solution, Prince Zuko!" his uncle said cheerfully.
Zuko stared. Obviously, he was not too happy about his uncle's outburst. Who knows what he could be thinking and for once, Zuko was a little scared.
"I can't believe your uncle thought of this."
The exiled prince looked over to see her back to him. Well, what would have been her back if her dog hadn't been lying beside her. He gave a snort. Of course he had imagined his uncle to think of some crazy plot like this to happen.
He couldn't believe he had let his uncle walk away without a scratch on him when he suggested it.
So now, here he was, the exiled prince of the Fire Nation with the Water Tribe girl in his bed as far away from him as she possibly could. Her dog was watching the prince with wary eyes and had made very sure that the Firebender hadn't tried anything.
Zuko sighed and rolled his shoulders. "This was the only idea we had. And I would assume you would not want to hear my uncle's snoring the entire night." He heard her snort. 'Well, her spirit is back at least,' he thought. The Firebender waved his hand, extinguishing the lamp.
She felt the bed shift and scooted a little more to the wall until she was almost right up against it. Nami hissed, clutching her side as the movement jarred her bruised ribs. The bed stopped as the prince turned to looked over at her.
"I'm fine."
He shrugged and lied down. Sunoo grunted and kept himself planted between the two humans, growling slightly as Zuko shifted.
"Shut up," he grumbled at the dog.
"What?" she asked.
"Talking to your mutt," he muttered.
"Be thankful he hasn't bitten you yet," she mumbled.
He snorted and, balancing on the edge of the bed, tried to sleep.
"That can not be comfortable," she remarked. "You do not have to balance on the edge of the bed. Sunoo understands. I hope," she growled and her dog gave a whimper.
"I am fine," he growled.
"Ah, suit yourself," Nami mumbled, yawning. She fell asleep soon, exhausted.
Zuko stared at the wall and only fell asleep when he heard the dog's small snores.
He had hated leaving her alone. His heart was heavy with guilt at knowing he could have prevented that from happening.
Pacing, he moved about the room silently, taking in the difference. He could hear the snores of the occupants of the bed. His feet stopped in the middle of the room. This couldn't go on forever.
He had completed this part of the mission. He still needed to make sure the mission ended well. It would help end this stupid war.
How he hated his mission though.
Sighing softly, he silently cursed whatever gods there were that he had been stuck with this almost impossible task. But he had done well so far.
He stared at the full moon through the window and promptly wished this nightmare would end so he could get on with his life. Of course, no such thing would happen.
It would only be a few more days and, if that went well, he would be free.
He just needed to make sure his next move would not get the opposite effect.