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Flamewater Rose: Arc 1, Chapter 3

Wave upon wave upon wave stretched below them from horizon to horizon. Foamy, white caps peaked and splashed into the ocean so far below that Sokka could only distinguish them as a fine line of white on a field of blue. A field of blue with not a single other sign of life in sight.

The wind whipped and whirled past them. It was a cacophony of noise that only punctuated the fact that Katara wasn't in the saddle with them. Sokka missed her endless, cheerful chattering, and so did Aang.

"Do we have anything to eat?" Sokka grumbled.

"I think there's some bread left in the packs," Aang offered. "There might be some cheese, too. We're all out of fruit, though."

Sokka glanced at Momo. The lemur was perched on Aang's left shoulder, scanning the forward horizon with Aang.

"We're going to have to find somewhere to get supplies. Aren't we?" Sokka sighed.

Two weeks they'd been searching for Katara - two days on land around the city she'd disappeared from, and twelve at sea. Twelve at sea without any stops for food or supplies, only long enough to let Appa rest and eat whatever they could forage.

Sokka rummaged through their supplies, and pulled out a moldy crust of bread. After picking off the moldy parts, there was just enough edible bread to fill the palm of his hand.

"I don't suppose you know of any markets around here, do you?" Sokka asked.

"I... think there's one about a day north of here," Aang offered. "Maybe they'll have news about the Fire Navy!"

Sokka sighed. He wasn't any good to his sister dead, and Aang had a good point, even if it was made just to help them feel better about taking a detour from their search. Hold on, Katara. Please be OK. Dad, I'm so sorry... Sokka slumped and laid his head on his knees, his hunger temporarily forgotten.

Appa banked gently to the left, taking on a northerly course. Aang glanced over his shoulder at Sokka, a few optimistic words on the tip of his tongue. One look at Sokka and Aang decided to remain silent. His heart wasn't in it. Katara always knew what to say. Whether it was something in her voice, or something in her smile, the right words would have come out of her mouth, but from anyone else, they were just words.

They flew on in silence for hours. The sun sank below the waves, and the moon rose from the depths. On the distant horizon, lights, hundreds of lights, lined up in rows, stacking on top of each other. Aang was glad to have found the town at night when he could fly over in the dark and hide Appa a distance from the town. As the lights grew larger and the town came into view, he banked Appa to the left again and directed him to a landing some miles west of town.

As Aang and Sokka quietly made camp near the beach, another set of lights floated into view. A single ship floated slowly toward the port like a wounded soldier limping off the battlefield.

Iroh stood on the bow of his ship, gazing silently at the city that was drifting closer and closer. The lights of a dozen homes danced and swayed in reflection in his tea. He raised the porcelain cup to his lips and took another sip. One who didn't know him better might think tea was his biggest weakness, but they would be wrong.

In fact, his ginseng tea was probably the only thing that would keep him sane until his biggest weakness was safely back aboard his ship. His nephew, Prince Zuko. For Zuko, Iroh had accepted exile. For Zuko, Iroh had faced Zhao. For Zuko, Iroh would face the Fire Lord himself in an Agni Kai duel.

A month and a half they had been chasing the Navy. Iroh had pushed his vessel to its very limits and beyond. The ship was in desperate need of boiler repairs as a result. It would be at least a day in the town procuring the necessary materials and parts, and at least another day on the repairs.

At last the ship's forward motion stopped. The crew scurried about the deck, tossing ropes over the port side and securing the ship to the dock. In a few minutes, a town official would be boarding and working out details with Jee.

The retired, and tired, General Iroh finished off the last of his tea returned to his cabin. He walked past his table and eyed his half-finished game of Pai-Sho wistfully.

"We'll finish as soon as we locate the Prince," he told Jee.

Six weeks later, the game sat, unfinished. The pieces laid out on the table, secured in their positions through the rocking and rolling of the ship, still waiting for Iroh's next move.

Iroh went to his dresser and removed his sleeping attire. He reverently placed his lucky lotus tile in the top drawer where he could find it the next day. He glanced at the mirror above his dresser, and though he knew he was the only man in the room, he did not recognize the old man staring back at him.

Zuko leaned against the bars separating his cell from Katara's. She lay sleeping only a few feet away, her cot pushed up against the same bars. He listened to the rise and fall of her breath for a while. It was calming, relaxing. By timing his breaths with hers, he could induce a meditative state in himself.

It was quiet, now. The other inmates had exhausted themselves in their frenzy of lecherous shouts and forced voyeurism only an hour before. Katara hadn't screamed this time. Throughout the beatings and brutal assault on her womanhood, her blue eyes had stayed locked on his. In his dreams, he would still see those eyes. Glazed and desperate at first. Then, they would be empty.

The silence was disturbed by a whimper from Katara. Then another. And another. Zuko leaned forward, wishing again to have his hands free, and whispered into her ear.

"Shh, Katara. Be strong."

She drifted into a more peaceful slumber before whatever was haunting her dreams could send her into a panic.

Am I in her dreams, too? Zuko wondered. Does she dream that I stand there and do nothing? Or worse?

Zuko didn't follow that line of thinking any further. Instead, he pulled back into his corner and waited. It would be at least another hour before it was time to wake her, and he needed to meditate.

A map laid haphazardly unrolled across Zhao's desk. The Admiral himself and three of his highest-ranking officers surrounded it.

"We found the girl... here," Zhao indicated a small port town marked in red on the map. "The Avatar was last seen... here," Zhao indicated a second city marked in red, "400 miles southeast, and three days before we found the girl."

"They're headed northwest, then?" one officer chimed in.

"They were, two weeks ago. They could be anywhere by now," Zhao pointed-out. "They're moving from civilization to civilization, so they must be restocking supplies. From here," he pointed to the first red mark on the map, "they would have been in range of at least three cities only a few days away as the crow flies."

"Would they be searching for the girl?" a lieutenant asked.

"The Avatar has no time. Souzin's comet is coming. He would be a fool to waste time on the girl."

"Has she said anything?" another lieutenant asked.

"No. If her questioning wasn't so... popular... with the crew, she'd be dead. She doesn't know," Zhao stated. "Follow the coastline to the next port," Zhao indicated a black mark on the map, "We'll restock and see if we can find out anything new about the Avatar."

"What about the Prince?"

"We'll release him as soon as we deliver the Avatar to Lord Ozai," Zhao answered. His voice carried a hint of wicked glee that induced smiles in his officers. "If he gets caught within the borders of the Fire Nation? Well, that's his problem, isn't it?"

Laughter reverberated throughout the officers' quarters.

Zuko unwound his legs and rose to his feet. Quietly, he approached the bars next to Katara's cot. Slowly, he reached his steel-bound hands through the bars and gave her a gentle shove on the shoulder. She rolled-back against his hands, clanging the steel gloves against the bar. The noise woke her and she sat bolt-upright in bed.

Zuko glanced around in the darkness, and the two of them held their breaths until they were certain none of the other inmates had awakened at the noise. In silence, Katara held the tin plate while Zuko ate. When he was done, she placed it back on the floor by the door to his cell before going to her own food.

Zuko sat cross-legged on the floor and watched her eat. She had fresh bruises forming from today's assault, and dark lines were forming where scratches and lashings were beginning to heal. Her wounds from the days before weren't noticeable in the pale light.

"Do you think they'll come for you?" he asked.

She stopped in mid-bite for a moment. She quickly swallowed and said, "Yes. We're family. They're looking for me."

"The Avatar is your family?"

"His name isn't, 'Avatar,' it's, 'Aang,' and yes, he's family," she stated. He smirked at the annoyance in her voice.

"What is he, a cousin, or a distant uncle or something?" Zuko asked.

"Neither. He's not related by blood, but he's like a brother to me," Katara said. The conviction in her assertion that the Avatar was like a brother to her brought a smile to Zuko's lips.

"And the other one?"

"My blood brother. He promised Dad he'd keep me safe. He'll come." Katara returned to her meal. She dabbed a bit of bread on the plate to sop up what looked like some kind of gravy.

"What's his name?"

"My brother?" she asked. Zuko nodded.

"Sokka."

"Do you have any other family? Your mother, a sister?"

Katara froze, her hand hovering over her bread. Zuko knew he must have hit a sensitive subject.

"Gran-gran. She's the only other family I have left," Katara answered, sorrow tinging each word.

So, her mother, then.

"What about you?" she turned to Zuko. "I know you have a father, but what about the rest of your family?"

"A sister and an uncle."

"Are they both firebenders?" she raised an eyebrow in Zuko's direction.

"You've seen Uncle firebend." Zuko stated. His eyes narrowed.

"Oh," she said silently. "The iceberg."

Zuko nodded.

"What about your sister?" she asked. When the question wasn't answered, she looked up from her plate and locked her gaze on the Prince. After a few moments, she blushed and turned away.

"Your uncle, then. Do you think he's looking for you?" she asked.

"He is."

Katara blinked and sat up. She turned to face Zuko, and looked him in the eyes.

"I have a proposition for you," she began. "If Aang gets to us first, I'll talk him and my brother into getting you out. If your uncle gets to us first, you get me out of here and leave me at the next port."

"And just let you go?" Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yes," she said. "OK. If Aang and my brother find us first, we'll take you to your ship. What happens when you're on your ship is fair game."

A chance to have the Avatar in range... Zuko thought to himself.

"Agreed," he held his hands out to her. She placed her hands on his and they shook on it.