Rie looked at where Katara would land if she kept going the direction she was going.
It would be right on top of Rie.
Rie, having realized this, stood silently panicking. She was not that strong, and was pretty thin. One of two things would happen if Katara landed on Rie; Katara would die, or Rie would end up with some broken bones. Neither choice was something Rie wanted to happen. Rie stood, helpless.
No one else had realized this problem, oddly enough, which made her wonder if her calculations were off. She didn't wonder for too long, as Katara's impact drove the wind right out of her.
Rie fell back onto a mess of ropes that had been there for ages, which cushioned her fall somewhat. Thank God for ropes, Rie thought, unable to speak. Looking down, she saw that the fall had made Katara unconscious. Great. Now, if someone could get her off of me, we'd be peachy.
The first mate must have been physic or something, because he came over and lifted Katara. Rie nodded her thanks, but found herself unable to get up, still winded.
Zuko, having been distracted by Katara's fall, looked up at Appa. Sokka must have taken control of the reins, because Appa was sailing off to the south. Obviously furious, he stormed over to Rie, who was being helped up by Iroh.
"I thought you said we'd be able to throw a net over the Avatar. Instead, we got that Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko spat at Rie.
"How was I supposed to know that the bison wouldn't fall far enough?" Rie gasped, catching her breath. "I amazed the thing can even fly!" The two went at each other for about a minute.
Finally, Iroh stepped between them. "Zuko, it is not Madam Rie's fault that the Avatar's bison did not lose enough elevation. But, we have gained an advantage."
"What advantage, Uncle?"
Rie gave Zuko a look that clearly said she thought the scar had not only ruined his face, but had damaged his brain. Zuko realized this, and was about to say something more when what Iroh had meant finally dawned on him.
"Hostage. We'll use the girl as bait to capture the Avatar," Zuko muttered. The mention of Katara reminded Rie of something.
"We're out of space. There's no place we could put the girl," Rie said. "I don't think this ship has a prison hold, and there were only three bedrooms."
"We have a prison hold, Madam Rie," the captain corrected. "But we've been using it for crew quarters."
Zuko turned to the captain. "Well, tell the men to move their things somewhere else. We're going to need the prison hold for something else."
"She's a person, Zuko. Not a thing. There is nothing more insulting then being thought of as a thing," Rie said. Zuko ignored her and waited as the men obeyed the orders. The first mate handed Katara to Zuko, since he had been sleeping in the prison hold. Rie giggled at Zuko's clear discomfort. Iroh heard, and gave Rie a bemused look. He clearly thought this was funny as well.
Who wouldn't laugh at this? If only I had a camera, Rie thought.
A few hours later, Rie went down into the prison hold to check on Katara. Before she even got to the hold, the crew member who had been gathering up the last of his things dashed out, wet. "That girl is crazy," he said to Rie as he passed. "Be careful." Rie nodded and entered the hold.
It was obvious which cell Zuko had put Katara in. It was the only one with a wet floor outside the bars. When Katara saw Rie approaching, she made as if to make a water whip from the canteen at her side. Rie nimbly dodged it.
"You'll have to do better than that, Katara," Rie said, stopping outside her cell.
Katara looked at Rie warily. "How did you know my name?"
Inwardly, Rie swore. She had forgotten to feign ignorance. Her cover could be blown if she slipped again. Thinking fast, she replied, "I'm a Seer, as it were." Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy Katara. "I realize you might not want this, but just in case I brought you an extra outfit of mine." Rie pulled out an outfit similar to the one she was currently wearing, only a bit smaller. Katara took it, though looked at it with obvious distaste.
"I just thought you ought to know Zuko will more than likely be in here to question you on the Avatar's destination in a few minutes. And speak of the devil," she muttered as Zuko entered the prison hold. "Don't expect me to leave, Prince Zuko. Your uncle wanted me to stay down here to make sure you don't harm this girl in any way," she said, a bit louder. Zuko glared at her, then turned to Katara.
"Where is the Avatar?"
Katara gave no reply. Zuko repeated his question, but to no avail. As Rie looked on, she remembered how often she would question Beth about where she had hidden Rie's things, but the immature brat wouldn't answer her, infuriating her to no end. Katara was pulling that same tactic on Zuko, and it was working wonderfully.
"Where is the Avatar going?" Zuko asked, ticked off. "What Earth Kingdom city will he be at? I need to know!" Katara gave Zuko a look.
"Why? So you can capture him? Why do you even want Aang? Why not let one of your father's soldiers do the catching?" Rie winced. Katara had gone to far. She didn't know that Zuko was banished.
Zuko's temper flared, but he calmed down enough to mutter, "I don't want their help. I don't need it." He walked off.
Rie shook her head. "You shouldn't have mentioned his father, Katara. Ozai and Zuko…well, they haven't gotten along for about two years. That's why he's out on the ocean." Katara snorted.
"With a temper like that, who can blame the Fire Lord for not getting along well with Zuko? How can you stand being on the same ship as him?" she asked.
Rie smiled. "I blew my top at him this morning. That bruise on the back of his head came from my fist." Katara laughed. Suddenly, Katara wobbled.
"You must have hit your head harder than we thought," Rie said, noticing. "My advice would be to lie down for a bit. I can assure you, until you crack, Zuko will pester you with questions on A-, uh, the Avatar's whereabouts," Rie said, quickly covering up her almost-slip. Keeping what I know is proving harder than I thought, Rie said. I almost slipped a second time. Oh, well, like Sensei Koru says, "Challenges make you stronger." Rie left the prison hold.
When she reached the top deck, she saw that Zuko was practicing, Iroh calling out helpful reminders. Sadly, Zuko either didn't hear the tips, or was ignoring them. Rie, remembering that Roku had "blessed" her with Master Firebending, walked up to Zuko in the middle of a kick, and stopped him dead.
"Hey! What're you doing?" Zuko asked, nearly losing his balance.
"I'm going to see just how well your uncle has been training you, that's what," Rie said. "Not like in an Agni Kai, just a match to see how well you've been training."
"What are you, a Master?" Zuko said, clearly amused at the thought that anyone that short could be a Master Firebender. The smirk was wiped from his face right quick when Rie sent out a shot of flame, barely missing him.
"I'd say I'm a Master," Rie said, falling into the starting position and smiling. Zuko also dropped into the opening position, waited about ten seconds, then shot at Rie's long hair. Rie dodged this shot, returning it with one of her own. "I saw that coming from a mile away, Prince Zuko. Ever heard of feinting? It really works." To prove her point, Rie acted as if she was going for the head, but really shot at Zuko's feet.
This continued for about ten minutes, Rie talking the whole time. Boy, am I glad that Sensei and I had conversations while we practiced, Rie thought. All of my talking is ticking Zuko off. Just like Sensei would annoy me by talking before I had reached that certain level. With that in mind, Rie shot at Zuko's side, then floored him with a blast to his feet. She chuckled as she went over to help Zuko up. "Not bad, Prince Zuko. But try to prevent your temper from getting in the way of your Firebending. The man who trained me told me the same thing, then added that many a great fighter lost because he lost his temper. 'Lose your temper, Rie, and you lose the match'."
"Your Master was right, Madam Rie," Iroh called from the sidelines. "And how many times have I told you that exact same thing, Zuko?" he added.
Zuko was obviously sore about losing, and being told off by his uncle, but just shook his head and went back to practicing. Suddenly, it began raining. Rie, Iroh, and the crew all made a mad dash for shelter, but Zuko stayed out. "Zuko! You'll catch a cold! Remember what happened last time you were sick?" Iroh called out to the stubborn prince, who just kept practicing, despite every time he sent a shot out, it would fizzle. Iroh shook his head, and went into his room, leaving his nephew to the elements.
Rie woke up to someone in the next room, coughing and sneezing very loudly. Getting up from her bed, she felt the boat shake. "It's storming," Rie said, looking out of her window. Even though the sky was overcast, it was obviously still nighttime. "Who on earth would be up at this night?" Rie wondered, pulling on her robe and tying it as she went to see what was up.
She wasn't the only one curiosity had bested. General Iroh, and several crew members were up, all heading towards the prince's room. The helmsman got there first. Upon opening the door, he was singed by a rouge flame sprouting from the room.
Zuko had apparently stayed out in the rain for a long time, and had contracted a cold. Iroh put his hands in his voluminous sleeves and shook his gray head as he entered. "What did I tell you, Prince Zuko? You let your foolishness get the better of you, and now look." Rie poked her head in.
The banners that had been in the room were singed. Whenever Zuko sneezed, flames would shoot out of his hands and go all over. Rie had to duck as one flew by her head. "I'm sure there's a proverb for this, right Iroh?" Iroh nodded.
"Yes, but I can't think of any right now. I warned that nephew of mine, Madam!" Zuko moaned and laid back.
Rie felt sympathetic. "I think Zuko gets the picture, Iroh. Where's Zhi?" The ship's doctor came right away.
"Yes, Madam?"
Rie pointed to Zuko's pitiful shape. "See what you can do for him. I'm going to go down to the prison hold and check on the Water Tribe girl. This storm is something awful." The doctor nodded, and Rie left him.
As she made her way down the stairs, Rie slipped several times. "Stupid rain. Makes walking a health hazard." Rie had never like rain, even back home. It made her all melancholy.
Before she had even reached Katara's cell, Rie knew that Katara was sick. "Oh, no," Rie said, looking at Katara. "Not you too. I knew something like this would happen. I just knew it." Rie grabbed the keys to the cell door from their hook and unlocked Katara's cell. "C'mon. We need to get you somewhere drier."
Katara obeyed, muttering, "I wonder where Sokka and Aang are."
Rie nearly slipped again as she replied, "Where ever they are, it has got to be better than here. You are sicker than my grandmother's cat was when it ate that rotten fish." Rie led the sick Waterbender up the stairs.
When Rie and Katara got upstairs, Zhi told her that Zuko would have to stay in bed for quite awhile. "That idiot prince should have listened to his uncle, Madam," Zhi said.
Rie nodded. "I agree. Can you help me here? I think she's gotten sick, too." Zhi took one look at Katara and said that she had caught the same thing Zuko had.
"That prison hold is leakier than a bucket. We need to keep her somewhere warmer," Zhi said. "But we don't have any more rooms available." Iroh heard the two talking and came out of Zuko's bedroom to see what was going on. He noticed Katara, whose face had lost it's healthy tan and was paler than his.
"I told my nephew to put her in a drier cell," Iroh said. "Madam Rie, which room is the largest?"
"Zuko's," Rie replied. "I had intended on using it as a storeroom before you bought the ship. I'd let her stay in my room, but it's almost too small for my bed and table, let alone another bed." I swear that room's a closet! Rie thought, yawning.
"I think we'll have to put her in Zuko's room for now. We can put up a divider until the girl is well again," Zhi said, taking Katara from Rie.
"Zuko isn't going to like that," Iroh warned. "And I'm not sure if the Water Tribe girl will like it any more."
Rie sighed. "We don't have much of a choice, General. I think the two sickies will be able to deal with each other for…how long, Zhi?"
"A week at least, Madam."
"A week, then. What're they gonna do, kill each other?" Rie laughed. "I don't think they could kill a fly at the moment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and my bed is calling." Rie yawned and returned to her room. The last thing she remembered thinking before falling asleep was that she'd done the impossible. She had put Zuko and Katara in a room and they weren't going to try and kill each other.