Chapter 3

The heavy, iron ship slid silently through the warm gulf waters of the Midori, with the occasional gull crying. Dull, heather gray mist coated the body of the waves and the sky. The air was cool and little beads of dew were littered across the ship's deck. Night had just passed and the radiant globe of fire that was the sun struggled to assert itself through the dismal weather. The waves were unusually calm, making an ever so soft swishing sound against the ship's bow.

Zuko, wrapped in a burgundy blanket, stared at the gulf stretched out before him. His ebon bangs whipped wildly in the ocean breeze, sending strands of hair into his eyes. The prince shook his head and the hair settled back into place. Zuko tugged the blanket tighter around his shoulders and sighed.

"So much as happened…all in one day," he said to himself, although he could hardly hear his own voice over the wind. The sea began churning and the strengthening wind blew a gust of sea-salt air in his face. Tiny droplets of water hit Zuko in the face, spraying him with ocean water. He blinked and moved his hand to wipe away the remnants of the splash.

Suddenly, a gull cried and landed on the bar that surrounded the deck of the ship. Its ocher eyes met Zuko's and it squawked at the boy, it's shrill voice causing him to wince. Sticking his blanket-covered fingers into his ears, he furrowed his brows as the bird continued its banter. Minuets went by and still the wretched creature would not leave. It seemed that whenever Zuko dared to uncover his ears, the bird would begin its discordant calling again. Zuko, having had quite enough of this, uncovered his ears and inhaled a large breath of sea air.

"Shut up!" he bellowed, his tiny fists balled up. He leaned forwards, hoping to project his voice enough so that the stupid thing would be blown off the ship. It shrieked, arose into the sky, and flew off back into the fog. Zuko huffed, trying to regain his breath, as he watched the gull disappear. The burgundy blanket had blown off his ivory shoulders and whipped around until it finally settled. It lay uselessly on the ground, half of it outside, the other half in the ship's stairwell. Zuko's skin prickled as Goosebumps emerged all over his arms. The ebon haired boy's fists relaxed and his arms hung awkwardly at his sides. He was somewhat shocked by his outburst and contemplated on it. He crossed his arms to retain some warmth as one confusing thought after another raced through his mind.

Why was the bird yelling at him?

Where exactly had the bird come from?

Was he wrong to have yelled at the bird?

Was he becoming his father?

All previous sensation of warmth left him at that last thought. His father. What was his father doing now? Did he feel badly for sending his only child away? Did he miss Zuko? The boy dropped down and sat, clutching his knees to his chest, on the freezing and wet deck. A fit of shivers wracked his body and he glanced longingly at the blanket that had covered him before. Still, Zuko felt like it was too far away to try and attempt to go and get. He'd rather freeze. The young monarch sat like that for what seemed like hours. A light rain began to fall and this only caused Zuko's shivers to intensify. It seemed like his whole body was out of control, when suddenly--

"Oh, Zuko! Agni on a spit (1)! What do you think you're doing, child!" Auska's distressed voice rang out, as two large hands lifted him up from under the arms. The person who had lifted him up attempted to have him stand on his own too feet, but it seemed that his feet had fallen asleep. So, instead of standing, he just fell over again. The large hands lifted him up again and flung him over their shoulder. His gut connected with their shoulder plate rather hard and the boy groaned.

"Be careful with him, you brute! He's child, not a sack of rice!" his aunt snapped, although her voice sounded far off. Zuko relaxed as much as he could and drifted off to a somewhat restful sleep.

Zuko felt the softness of silk in his fingertips and he rubbed it against his face. The cool and glossy fabric slid through his hands easily. As he searched for it, he slowly began to realize that he was, in fact, surrounded by the same fabric and the boy ran his hands over it, a small smile on his lips.

He liked silk. It wasn't sticky and hot like wool, and it wasn't light and unable to retain warmth like linen. It was the perfect material for making clothes. When Zuko lived back at the palace, he'd often ask his mother why the men at court did not wear silk like the women. She explained to him that silk was a more feminine-looking thing to wear, and that was way the men wore did not wear it. Instead, she had told her son, the men wore a newly discovered textile called cotton and occasionally they wore wool. Zuko told his mother that when he was king, he'd wear silk everyday, in very masculine colors.

"And what very masculine colors would your silk robes be in, child?" she would ask, continuing whatever she was doing, which mostly was tea drinking or flower arranging.

"Well, my favorite color is bright green. I think I'd wear a bright green silk…with black cherry blossoms on it…and spears!" he concluded, after little thought. His mother would laugh her hearty laugh and continue tea drinking or flower arranging. Zuko would smile to himself and look up at the black haired woman amorously. Oh, how he loved her.

"Mother…"he sighed, that stinging rising up again. He buried his head into his knees, creating the fetal position, and sighed, his voice a bit shaky. He tangled black hair hung over his eyes and he made no move to fix it. Memories of the woman flooded back to him and he gripped his knees tighter to his chest.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Zuko immediately straightened himself. He pulled the covers up to his chin and attempted to let the person know they were admitted. However, a hacking noise escaped his throat when he tried to speak loudly enough to be heard through the door. Who ever it was took this as their cue to come in and the iron door opened with a creak.

"Oh, dear…" Auska said, clucking her tongue and coming over to sit on the side of Zuko's bed. He glanced at the indentation his aunt made in the silk and frowned. It wasn't perfect anymore. "How are you feeling?" she asked, placing her cool hand on Zuko's forehead. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment of coolness on his burning head. The prince shrugged his shoulders and moaned in the way that all little children do to say they feel absolutely wretched when then don't want to admit it. Auska shook her head and removed her hand.

"Alright…" Zuko managed to get out, his voice barely loud enough to make out. Auska sighed and turned to a servant that had silently entered the room after she did.

"Go fetch a bowl of water and a rag. This child's burning up," she instructed the servant. The menial bowed and left the room as silently as she had came, closing the door behind her. Auska turned her attention back to her nephew and again placed her hand on his head. Zuko's brows furrowed and his hand popped out from under the blankets to lie tiredly on the pillows.

"I…," Zuko chocked out before another fit of coughing erupted from his throat, "I'm sorry for causing you such trouble," he uttered, closing his eyes to get them to become moist again. Auska shook her head and pushed his hair back with her hand.

"What on earth possessed you to go out like that Zuko? Goodness knows how sick you are right now!" his aunt demanded softly, sliding her hand through his hair again. Zuko actually enjoyed the alien touch and didn't reply for a while, feeling her hand run through his glossy black hair. She asked him again and he shrugged one shoulder. "That's not a good enough answer. Tell me: What on earth were you doing out there?" she inquired, stopping the stimulating gesture. Zuko opened his eyes and looked into his aunt's. He couldn't understand why, but he grew angry with her. What business was it of hers to know what he was doing at all hours of the day? Didn't he have any privacy? Any will of his own?

"I don't know. Maybe I slept walked?" he riposted, trying his best to hide his anger and lies under his façade. Auska stared at him suspiciously, the way a mother looks at a child she knows is lying, but sighed and turned her back to him.

"Who knows? You could be right. Too much stress on such a young child can't be good…" she mumbled under her breath. Zuko tensed up, infuriated again. So, she thought he was just a child? That he couldn't care for himself? Well, since when was she his guardian? There were no legal documents, no signed papers. He was still technically his father's and mother's property and Zuko wanted it to stay that way. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe Auska wasn't his favorite aunt. In fact, minute by minute, she was becoming his least favorite.

Abruptly, the servant returned with a bowl of water and a white rag. Auska took the two items from the maid and dismissed her. The black haired woman placed the bowl onto a mahogany table that stood by the bed and dipped the rag into the water. She wrung it out and placed it on the prince's head. He sighed as coolness swept through his body and he threw the sheets off himself. Immediately, though, Auska replaced the sheets on him and went so far as to tuck them under the prince's body. Zuko frowned at her and threw them off again. Auska heaved a sigh and replaced them to where they were. Zuko threw them off again. He saw his Aunt chuckle as she again tried to have Zuko lie under the sheets.

"I don't want them on!" Zuko finally shouted, infuriated and exasperated. He crossed his arms as a shiver ran though his body. Auska rolled her eyes and tried to tuck her nephew in again.

"Look at yourself! You're shivering to death and you say you don't want them on! What sense does that make!" Auska demanded, laughing in spite of herself. Zuko glowered and crouched back up into a little ball.

"Lots! Now, don't put them on me again! I don't need them!" he stated, staring up at his aunt, as if daring her to try and put them on again.

"And who are you to give me orders?" the woman asked, surprised with the boy's attitude. She attempted to pick up the sheets, but Zuko kicked them out of her reach and she groaned, exasperated.

"I'm a prince! I'm the prince of the entire Fire Nation!" he declared, continuing to kick the blankets away. Auska placed her hand on his ankles and pressed down, preventing him from kicking. She began to pull them up to him again.

"True, but you are on my ship, in my waters, heading towards my island. Therefore, you'd do well to listen to me and be respectful." She calmly stated, as she pulled the sheets further up Zuko's body. As her hand reached his chin, Zuko bowed his head and attempted to bite her. His teeth made that click noise when they come down on each other hard. Auska had actually recoiled, her hand near her face. Her nephew smirked at her and kicked the blankets off again. Auska stared at him incredulously, shocked and amazed that he had actually tried to bite her. Soon her amazement turned into amusement and she started laughing. Zuko scowled and crossed his arms.

"What's so funny?" he demanded, sitting up and glaring at her. She looked at his angry face and another plea of giggles broke out. His frown deepened and his gaze became darker. Auska's laughter subsided long enough for her to wipe her eyes and clear her throat, in an attempt to compose herself. She breathed in deeply and ran a hand over her silk robes, removing the wrinkles that had emerged from her being doubled over in laughter.

"Well, I was quite shocked…" she began before looking at him and smiling widely, "when you tried to bite me!" Auska hooted, covering her face with her hand to conceal her hilarity. Zuko looked at her oddly, a bit confused as to why anyone would find it funny that they were almost bitten.

"Yes, well, I'm sure I could bite your finger off if you got me mad enough," Zuko said, head turned up and away indignantly, arms still crossed. Auska's chuckle lessened and she cleared her throat.

"I'm sure you could. In any case, if you don't want the blankets on, that's fine with me. I'm just trying to be a good replacement mom, as your father called me as I was packing." She shrugged, standing up and again getting rid of the wrinkles that had formed in her dress. Zuko turned to her and he looked in her eyes.

"Was that where you were?" he asked, his arms relaxing by his sides, holding him up.

"When? After your father left us?" his aunt asked, tilting her head slightly. Zuko nodded and she shook her head. Auska sighed and sat back down again. "No, I chased after him. I had hoped that I could change his mind, but he had his guards block me off once I reached his compartments." She said, her hands in her lap. Zuko looked down at her hands clasped in her lap and recalled the events of the day before.

"I was looking for you, Aunt Auska," he whined, looking back up her. She gazed at him, surprise and concern shining through.

"You were? Oh, Zuko, dear, I'm so sorry," she apologized, surprising him by picking him up easily and setting him on her lap. Zuko sat up straight and tensed up as Auska started to rub his back affectionately again. They sat like that for awhile, before Zuko started to zone out and eventually fall asleep. The gesture was very hypnotic, Zuko realized. Auska laid him quietly back down onto the bed and paused to look at the sheets lying at the foot of the bed. Glancing back at her nephew, she shook her head and got up. Even though her maternal instincts told her otherwise, Auska respected the boy's wishes and let him be without sheets. She stood up and silently walked back to the door. Opening it slowly so as to prevent it from creaking, she glanced back at the sleeping Zuko. The prince coughed and rolled onto his side, facing away from Auska. She smiled and began to close the door.

"Goodnight, my little prince," she whispered through the crack of the door before closing it slowly. She turned her back to it and swiftly walked back to the main haul of the ship, a determined look set on her features.