Another chapter! YEEHAW! sorry bout that I watch too much Dukes of Hazzard (I just love that car)... um ok then on with the chapter!
Chapter 11
ZUKO'S SHIP
As the days passed Trina and Zuko became more and more inseparable. Zuko never went anywhere without her beside him, and even if she wasn't beside him he never let her out of his sight. He didn't want to risk anything happening to her. He didn't think any of his men would dare to touch her but he couldn't help but worry. At least the bruise was beginning to fade so he wouldn't have that reminder of how he had failed to protect her.
Zuko was beginning her training with some basics that wouldn't put much strain on her ribs. The first few days they devoted solely to breathing techniques. "The most powerful fire bending comes from breath not muscle. Now you try it," having just demonstrated an exercise. When he turned to her he saw that she was looking out at the ocean. "Did you hear anything I just said?" He seemed to be fighting a loosing battle at times to get her to pay attention.
"I'm sorry. It's not my fault I have ADD."
"What's that?"
"Attention defecate disorder, it makes it hard to concentrate on one thing for very long."
"We might as well take a break for a while then."
"Well, if it isn't my two favorite young people," Iroh said as he walked up to them. "How are you feeling my dear, Zuko isn't wearing you out is he?"
"No sir, but I think I want to change so if you two will excuse me." She backed away and started for Zuko's room.
"Be sure to lock the door." Zuko called after her.
"You worry too much." She called back to him without turning around.
"She's right you know. You do worry too much."
"No, I don't. You know how I feel about her. I just don't want to risk anything happening to her."
"Yes I do know how you feel about her, and I know that she feels the same way about you, but you need to give her some space. I will say that she's the best thing to happen to you. You've been less short with the crew and your overall attitude is improved. I think it's time for you to take the next step."
"If you say any thing about having children I'll hit you."
Iroh laughed, "for once that's not what I meant. What is something people who are in love do?"
"………"
Iroh shook his head at the blank stare he was getting from his nephew. "People who are in love get married, Prince Zuko, you know that."
"Get married? Uncle you can be serious. I've barely known her a week."
"I know that, but I've seen the way you two look at each other went you think no one is looking. The crew has seen it and knows too. I think you should do it."
"But how can I ask her? I don't have a ring either."
"Come with me. I have something for you that may solve that problem."
Zuko followed his uncle to his room. Once inside Iroh opened a drawer and reached into the back of it and pulled out a small black box and handed it to Zuko.
When Zuko opened the box he nearly gasped at the beauty of the ring inside. It was made of the finest silver inset with rubies and diamonds and was shaped a bit like a starfish. It was vaguely familiar to him. "Uncle, where did you get this?"
"It was your mother's. She wanted you to have it. She gave it to me to keep for you right before she died and told me to save it for you until a special time. I think that this is that special time."
"Thank you," Zuko said simply. Thinking of his mother was still painful; she had died only a short time before he had been banished.
Iroh put a hand on Zuko's shoulder and said, "It would have made her happy if you proposed to Tarrina with her ring."
"Do you really think so?"
"I don't have to think, I know so."
"But how can I propose? I don't know what to say to her. What if she says no?"
"Trust me she won't say no. As to how to go about actually proposing, just say what comes from your heart."
"Thank you Uncle."
"You know Music Night is tomorrow, I'm sure it would really impress her if you did it there, in front of the crew."
"Uncle you can't possibly be serious."
"Of course I am. I know she wants to go. She told me that she was planning on singing and I know that if she's there you'll be there. You can't get out of this. You should do it right after she's finished singing."
"I don't know," Zuko said hesitantly. "I don't know if I can do it in front of the whole crew.
"If you really love her you can, I know it."
"Thank you Uncle Iroh." Zuko put the ring box in his pocket and left the room. He made his way slowly back to his own room, thinking about what his uncle had said. He was startled from his thoughts when he met Trina in the hallway.
"You ready to start training again?" She asked him.
"Give me a minute. I'll meet you out on deck." Trina nodded and both of them continued on their way.
Zuko entered his room and locked the door. He didn't need anyone barging in on him in the middle of what he was doing. He pulled back one of the mats on his floor and pressed on a panel while using his bending. The panel promptly slid back. Inside the space was his blue spirit mask. He took the ring box out of his pocket and put it in the space as well. He closed the panel and replaced the mat. Now that he was certain that nothing could happen to the ring until he was ready to use it he could go about his business.
He made his way back through the halls and back out on deck. He found that most of the crew had gathered and was watching and cheering something, but from his position he couldn't see what.
"Prince Zuko," Iroh called, "it seems that Miss Tarrina is quite a skilled fighter."
"What?"
"Look. Apparently your training is going well."
Zuko managed to push his way to the front of the mass of crew and what he saw surprised him greatly. Trina was in the middle of a sparring session with Lieutenant Ji. She was holding her own surprisingly well but Zuko could tell she was tiring. Zuko stood and watched for a few moments and was about to step in when Trina fell, breathing heavily.
Ji offered her a hand up. She refused it saying, "I think I'll just lie here for a while and collect my thoughts." He laughed as he and the rest of the crew began to go about their business.
"You know you could have waited for me," Zuko said as he knelt down beside her.
"I know but he offered to spar with me and I didn't want to say no."
"Are you going to be able to keep training today?"
"Sure, dude just gives me a few minutes. You gonna help me up or not?"
Zuko offered her his hand feeling slightly embarrassed that he hadn't right away. "Are you sure that you're alright?"
"Yeah, but maybe I should rest a while before we start training again."
"I'll take you back to our room."
"I can walk on my own you know," she said as she started walking toward the door. She didn't get too far though before she stumbled.
"Apparently you can't." Zuko picked her up easily and carried her to their room. "So where did you learn those moves?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
"OK. I picked up movements by watching too much TV."
"What's 'TV'?"
"I'll tell you about it sometime when I'm not so tired," she said avoiding the question. She wasn't really sure why she had even brought up TV, but she had. She knew eventually she had to tell him about where she was from but she wanted to put it off for as long as possible.
He put her down at the door and they both went inside. Zuko shut the door behind them. He went and sat at his meditation table while Trina laid down on the bed. Very soon after that he knew that she had fallen asleep because he could here her snoring lightly (well 'lightly' might be an understatement really). He tried to collect his thoughts and he found that every one of them pertained to the girl asleep in his bed. He knew that he should follow his uncle's advice and propose at Music Night but he was having trouble convincing himself to go through with it. He meditated about it for a while until he heard a soft knock on the door.
Zuko rose quickly and went to the door so he could answer it before the knocking woke Trina (not that there was any trouble of that because she was a very sound sleeper.) He was greeted by his uncle.
"Now what?"
"Zuko come for a walk with me. I want to talk to you."
Zuko looked back into the room and made sure that Trina was still asleep. He then nodded and stepped out of the room after Iroh.
"So have you thought about my suggestion?"
"Yes Uncle. I believe that I'll do it."
"Be sure to do it right after she's done singing. She told me that she was going to be singing a love song, that means the moment will be prefect."
Zuko remained silent processing this.
"So what did you do with the ring? It's not somewhere that she'll find it until you give it to her?"
"Don't worry. It's well hidden."
Iroh noticed the position of the sun in the sky, "it seems to be later than either of us realized. Go to bed Zuko. Don't get her up to train any more today. She fought enough today."
"Yeah," was all that Zuko said.
"When did you teach her those moves?"
"I didn't. All we've been doing is breathing exercises. When I asked her about it she was very vague. You don't happen to know what a 'TV' is, do you?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't. Most interesting though. I'm not sure I would want to face her in a fight once she's fully recovered and you complete her training." Zuko smiled slightly at his uncle's compliment. "Go to bed Zuko. You need to keep your love warm." At that Zuko shook his head because he couldn't believe Iroh had just said that.
"Please stop saying things like that," Zuko said before turning to return to his room.
When he entered his room he found that Trina had just woken up and was sitting on the edge of the bed stretching. "Don't bother to get up, it's getting dark."
"Oh, well I guess I can change out of these clothes then."
"I'll wait outside until you're done."
"Don't worry about it. Just turn around. I trust you not to look." She changed quickly once his back was turned. "All done," she said after a few short moments. At that point she decided that because the room was slightly warmer than usual she would zip them off at the knee.
"Don't rip your pants"
"I'm not. It's a zipper," she said while she demonstrated how it worked.
"Very interesting."
"They're quite common where I come from."
"Where is that? You never told me."
"Well…..," she hesitated. She knew that the time had come for the truth. "I don't know how to tell you this without simply coming out and saying it, I'm not from this world."
Zuko stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't seem to grasp it. "What?"
She sighed, "Where I'm from this whole place and everything happening here is just a story. No one even knows this world actually exists."
Zuko was silent, processing this new information.
"I'm sorry for not telling you before. I-I didn't know what to say you. I mean how do you tell someone you love that before you came to this place you didn't even think they were real? You hate me for not telling you before, don't you?" She rambled.
That snapped him back to reality. "No, I could never hate you. How could you even think that? All I can do is love you. I don't care if you're from another world or not."
"That's definitely good to hear."
"Come on. Let's go to bed."
Trina nodded and crawled into bed with Zuko and snuggled into his strong arms. She was incredibly relieved that her revelation hadn't really changed their relationship. She had been afraid he would reject her because of it. But now that she thought about it she realized that if he really loved her he wouldn't reject her. She sighed contently at being locked in Zuko's arms and fell asleep.
WITH CAROLINE
When Caroline woke up the next morning she realized that she was alone. She assumed that Sokka was out looking for berries, but she wasn't sure where Katara and Aang were. Yawning and stretching her arms she stood to walk around the campsite.
When she walked over by the campfire she noted that Sokka had left his travel bag and boomerang behind. Caroline smiled wickedly. "Hehehe...boomerang!" She laughed. Unable to control herself, she picked it up and slid it out of its sheath.
She cautiously looked around to make sure no one was watching her. No one was. She tossed the weapon, aiming for the nearest tree. It spiraled around her intended target and suddenly began to come back at her. "Crap!" She cried and launched herself to the ground just as the boomerang whizzed over her head.
A loud THONK! sounded behind her and she peered cautiously around. The boomerang was stuck deep in a tree trunk about four feet off the ground. "Uh-oh," She said to herself. "Not good!"
She rushed at the tree and tried to pull the boomerang out. It was stuck fast. She yanked and pulled with all of her might, but it wouldn't come free. She was just about to give up and leave it when Sokka appeared behind her.
"Morning, Lomi Ka!" He called cheerily. "What are you doing?"
Caroline spun around and shielded the boomerang from Sokka's sight. "Nothing!" She replied a bit too fast, making Sokka curious.
"C'mon, what are you hiding?" He tried to peer behind her but she blocked him. "I'll tickle you again! Show me!"
Caroline giggled as he gently tickled at her sides, but she didn't move. "You'll be mad at me!" She said, trying not to laugh.
Sokka stepped closer to her and playfully threw his arms around her waist. He tried to pull her away from the tree and she fought to stay close to it. Suddenly Sokka's grip slipped and they both flew in different directions. Caroline quickly scrambled to her feet in an attempt to hide the boomerang, but Sokka saw it anyway.
"My boomerang!" Sokka cried, rushing to the tree and tugging at the weapon.
"See," Caroline said, her face downcast. "I told you you'd be mad at me." She sank to the ground and sighed sadly.
Sokka stopped pulling at the boomerang and stooped to put an arm around Caroline's shoulders. "I'm not mad," He whispered softly into her ear. Caroline giggled slightly as his breath tickled her and she blushed. Sokka continued, "I'm just curious to know how the heck you got it stuck in there so good."
Caroline turned her head slightly and found Sokka's sparkling eyes only inches from hers. "I was just playing with it." She mumbled. She could feel the heat rising in her face so she backed away and stood up. "Maybe if we both pull on it together it will come loose."
Sokka stood as well and looked at the boomerang. "Perhaps you're right," He mused. "Well, its worth a try anyway."
They both latched their hands around the boomerang handle that was protruding from the tree and pulled. Nothing happened.
From behind them Aang and Katara watched as they walked into the campsite. "What's going on?" Aang asked as he approached them.
"We're trying...to pull...my boomerang...out...of...this...tree!" Sokka explained as he and Caroline tugged at the weapon yet again.
Katara laughed. "How did you get it stuck in there in the first place?" She asked.
"My...fault." Caroline began. "Whoa!" The boomerang finally came free, but Caroline and Sokka weren't ready for it. They went tumbling backwards, tripping over Aang and Katara, and finally crashing to the ground some twenty feet away.
Caroline slammed into a tree and when she stood up she rubbed her back. She knew that new bruises were probably forming over her old, almost healed ones from when she fell with the lightning.
"That'll leave a mark!" She grumbled as Sokka ran towards her.
"Lomi Ka, are you all right?" He asked worriedly. "That looked like it hurt!"
Oh, it did! She thought, but instead she replied, "I'm fine. Maybe a little bruised up, but fine."
Sokka took her hand and led her over towards the fireplace. "That's good," He said. "Are you hungry?"
Caroline nodded and Aang and Katara came running over. "What did you find to eat?" Aang asked.
"Please tell me that its not nuts!" Katara groaned, thinking of all the times she'd had to eat them.
"Its not nuts," Sokka assured her.
"Are you just saying that?"
"No, look!" He pulled some oranges from a bag and handed one to everyone. He gave Katara a smug smile. "See?"
Katara rolled her eyes and Sokka and Caroline could only laugh.
As always R&R is always appreciated!
