Note to readers: Maeli's name is pronounced (May-Lee). See? Simple as pie.

Chapter 2: The Two Hearts

Zuko – The Lonely Boy With A Broken Heart

Zuko opened his eyes to find himself, yet again, trapped on his miserable ship. He was sure that this day would be another failure in catching the Avatar. Every time he tried to get his hands on something, it slips away. All his life he's lost precious things: his honor, his throne, his nation, and his parents' love. His father banished him and his mother left him. He was permanently marked with a scar that burned deep into his soul. His father, his own father, burned him and disowned him; that alone, tore Zuko's heart. After such a horrifying experience, he trusted no one. He proclaimed that he could live on his own, and didn't need any pity. But, he felt worthless; he didn't know his purpose in the life. Love. Love was something Zuko never knew. Sometimes he longed for this love, but feared that his heart would shatter once more. He had to close his heart; seal it forever, so no one could ever hurt him again. His greatest fear was heartbreak.

Maeli – The Timid Girl With A Loving Heart

Maeli woke up early that morning but was still too tired to get out of bed. She wishes she could see Prince Zuko and learn more about him. She could sense that something was troubling him. She wanted to comfort him, to love him. Her life has been filled with heartbreak as well. She never knew her mother not true love. The boyfriend she once had, betrayed her trust. Her father and older brother went to war and never returned. Losing these people all in one month cause her heart to close up. She stopped caring about her friends, family, and even herself. But the only one, who kept in contact with her, was her grandmother. Before Maeli left her village, her grandmother gave her a locket, with meaningful words, that would hopefully change her ways. Love. Love at first sight was common for Maeli. She felt that this was a weakness; caring for others so dearly could be used against her. Her greatest fear was losing people she loved.

Zuko was still half asleep when he woke up. He couldn't recall any dreams he might've had. There was a knock at his door. "Who's there?" he asked, his voice groggy. "It's me," Iroh answered. "Come in," he replied, raising his head up off the pillow. Iroh pushed the door opened and poked his head though, "Are you ready to set sail again?"

"Yeah, let's head southeast. Last time I checked, the Avatar was somewhere around Earth Kingdom villages."

"Alright," Iroh nodded and left. His voice echoed through the calls as he shouted the command to move on. Zuko stuffed his face in his pillow. "Damn! I hate this; I hate everything! I'm sick of chasing him." He gripped the edges of his pillow. "I wish all of this would end." He slipped his hands under the pillow and felt the locket. "That thing…" he pulled it from under the pillow and read the words again: "Learn to love others". He scowled at the wretched thing and tossed it on the floor. "I don't need love."

The ship creaked as it moved off shore. Maeli was leaving the bathroom when she wobbled a little. She went out on the deck to see the ship in motion. The sky was gray and gloomy; however, Maeli felt a sense of peace at the sight of the cloudy sky. A cool breeze blew her hair as she stood out on the open. The air was fresh and smelt of rain. There were neither birds nor any kind of animals in sight, just the choppy waters and the sky forever. Maeli only wished that her friends could be there with her. She felt guilty for pushing them away; but back then, she thought she was doing it for their own good, and hers. She sat Indian style on the ground and watched the scenery.

Footsteps echoed from behind her; she turned around, "Hey, Prince Zuko, where are we headed?"

"Southeast," the prince replied, gazing at the sea.

"So, why are you traveling at sea anyway?"

"I'm trying to find someone."

"Who?"

"…Don't worry about that."

Maeli was curious, but didn't question any further. "Oh! I just remembered; I have to pick up that stuff in my room. I was too tired to pick it up last night. Excuse me," she bowed. After saving the items from her bag, she realized that her locket was gone. Worried, she dashed over to Iroh to see if he knew where it was. He let out a hefty laugh, "I apologize; I put it in Zuko's room because I felt that he needed to see that message on the inside."

"How come?"

"Because he has never learned to love someone."

Maeli was speechless for a moment. "What? Are you serious?" she asked, breathlessly. Iroh nodded. "Maybe I can help him out. I've been through a heartless stage myself."

Iroh chuckled, "Good luck."

"Thanks!" Maeli found her locket lying on the floor. "There it is." She hooked it around her neck and returned to Zuko's side on the deck. "I'm back," she called. Zuko stared at the locket. Maeli glanced over at him and sniggered. "Are you staring at my neck, Prince Zuko?" The prince averted his eyes and was embarrassed that she caught him. "Hmph, are you mad?" he said in a snobbish voice. "As a hatter!" Maeli answered with another snigger. "You took that necklace out of my room. You went into my room. I didn't give you permission to do so." Maeli shrugged, "Well, you had my necklace. It's very special to me. My grandma told me to listen to the words inscribed in it."

"Is it like a rule that you follow?"

"Yes, I suppose. I try to."

There was a sudden clap of thunder.

Maeli looked up at the sky, "Its going to rain again? Geez…Please excuse me, I'm going inside."

"Wait…Tell my uncle to meet me in the conference room."

"Yes, sir." Maeli sprinted down the hall, snatching a powdered donut from the passing cook's tray. "Uncle Iroh!" she called, pushing the door open. "Zuko wants to see you in the conference room. By the way, what do ya'll do for entertainment around here? I'm kinda bored."

Iroh looked up from some papers he was reading on his table, "Oh, well, we have music night, story night, Pai-Sho, and a couple of other things. We're having music night tonight if you'd like to join us."

"Sure!"

"Anyway, let's go see what Zuko wants," Iroh grunted as he rose to his feet.

In the conference room, Zuko and the lieutenant were going over a map. Iroh came in asking, "So, what's on the agenda?" He had a jolly tone, but knew it was probably going to be something about the Avatar again. "It's the Avatar, I know he's close but we need a plan for a surprise attack. I was thinking-" he heard a slight gasp and noticed Maeli standing in the doorway. "Wait, what're you doing in here?" Just as he was about to literally throw her out, Iroh stepped in the way. "I invited her to come," he interjected.

"She can't stay, this is a man's business!"

"Hold on, are you really after the Avatar? So, you really were banished from the Fire Nation?"

Zuko glared at the girl while the other men in the room all stared at her. At that point, Maeli knew she had said something wrong. She covered her mouth after realizing that she had offended Zuko, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was actually true."

"Out…Get out!" Zuko shouted, pointing to the exit. A flame flickered across his pointing finger. The girl slowly walked away, feeling ashamed of her self. Iroh sighed once again because his nephew had lost his temper, "Zuko, please, you have to practice restraint around the girl. You need to learn to treat her nicely; she didn't know about your situation."

"Don't tell me what to do. All I know is that I need the Avatar, and if that girl causes any more trouble, I'm throwing her out."

"But you don't know for sure if the Avatar will be the answer to your problems. You have to find something better to do with your life."

"Nothing can make my life better but regaining my honor and returning home."

Iroh sighed heavily. He was tired of always arguing with his nephew. Nothing he said seemed to be sinking in.

After the meeting, Zuko retired to his dorm to meditate. Maeli was waiting for him to return from the conference so she could have a word with him. She wanted to get to the bottom of his whole situation. When the time arose, she nervously knocked on Zuko's door.

"Who's there?" The sound of his, for once, calm voice almost made Maeli melt. "Its Maeli," she answered from behind the steel door. "Go away," Zuko's voice became irritable.

"Come on, Prince, let me talk to you," Maeli urged.

"I have nothing to say, except 'Get lost'!"

"Why are you acting like this? Come on, we're the same age, you can talk to me about anything!"

"Stop acting like you're my friend."

"Don't you want friends? Please, Prince Zuko, let's talk about this."

Zuko ripped the door open so quickly, that it made Maeli take a step back and Iroh take a peek at what was going on.

Zuko's face was unreadable as he looked down at the girl, "I don't need your pity."

"I'm not- "

"And stop talking back to me! You're really starting to annoy me! Who do you think you are? Sneaking onto my ship and talking to me as if you know me!" Zuko was now so angry that he didn't realize that he had backed Maeli into a wall. His hands were bolted to the wall on each side of Maeli's head. "You are a filthy peasant and I am royalty! You will do well to hold your tongue, or I will rip it out of your mouth!" His deadly eyes frightened Maeli as he glowered into hers. "Now, do as I say and stay out of my life!"

After Maeli took in all that the young prince threw at her, she simply glared at him and ran off.

Iroh burst through the hall, "ZUKO! How could you say that? Apologize to her right now!"

"Leave me alone, Uncle!" Zuko tried to slam his door but Iroh caught it, "Go apologize!"

Zuko faced his Uncle, "Why should I? She has the nerve to mention my banishment after taking shelter on my ship, and you expect me to say I'm sorry? She needs to apologize for embarrassing me."

"How did you become so stubborn," Iroh muttered, "Listen to me, you could be missing out on a great opportunity to make a friend."

"She's - a - peasant!" Zuko emphasized.

"So what? Just because you're on different statuses doesn't mean that she's a bad person, or an unworthy person. You can have friends of any kind! Having friends makes life enjoyable." There was a silence as Zuko pondered those last words. Iroh continued, "Trust me, if you just open your heart to her, she will in turn open her heart to you, and she'll see what a wonderful person you really are. And I think you both share something in common. Don't let the past drag you down; you have to move on and make a positive future for yourself."

After a moment's thought, Zuko responded in a low voice, "I need some time alone." His uncle left without another word.

"We share something in common…'Learn to love others'…is that what she's trying to do? Love other people? Hmph, I guess it's the same for me…I guess I really did mess up. How is she going to like someone like me after I said such a bias thing? Dammit, I screwed up…I always screw up." Zuko gripped his head in pain and disgust. He engulfed himself in a wave of regret and feared that these painful memories and emotions would never leave his soul in peace.

Meanwhile, Maeli was sitting on the stairway that led to the deck. She sat in a daze, tracing the veins on the underside of her left arm with her finger. The quarrel with Zuko didn't make her poignant, but frustrated. How was she going to befriend someone who hated her? She wanted to get along with him if she were to stay on his ship. Besides, she kind of had a liking for him, although he appeared to be an arrogant, sexist, prejudice, spoiled prince. She knew there was some good underneath all of that, or at least she hoped.

The lieutenant came out of his quarters and saw Maeli sitting on the steps. "Why are you all alone?" The man's voice startled the girl. She glanced at him and said, "I dunno. Being bored." The lieutenant took a sip of his drink then said, "You're from the Earth Kingdom, right? General Iroh told us."

"Yes, I am."

"Then, could you do me a favor and come with me?"

Maeli was puzzled but went with him anyway. The next thing she knew, she was surrounded by a bunch of men in a fire-lit room, at the lower parts of the ship.

"Uhh- why am I here?" she questioned, not liking the setup.

"We've been at sea for 3 years with little entertainment. So, could you tell us some jokes or stories?" said the lieutenant.

"Eh? That's all? Okay, I guess. But why me?"

Another man spoke, "Because a lot of stuff that's told around here is either worn-out or just plain boring, so a new face is nice to have around. Do you have any legends and stuff like that from the Earth Nation?"

"Yeah, lots actually…"

Maeli and the men had a fun time for hours on end; she even introduced new dances and songs to them. They all danced and sang around the room. One guy played some kind of guitar for the people to dance to. They eventually came around to telling scary stories and gossiping about Zuko; this which Maeli did not enjoy very much. All of this entertainment lasted into the evening. One of the guys gave Maeli a red sash to put on her shoulders as a gift for making they're evening an enjoyable one. It matched well with her outfit.

Zuko woke up from a nap. As he sat up to stretch, a big map fell off of his chest. Surely he had fallen asleep from working too hard. He rubbed his eyes to see; the room was a bit dark, due to the flames of the candles dimming. His stomach growled. "Food" was the first word that entered his mind. As he made his way to the kitchen, he noticed that a few guards were missing in the hallways. The cook was nowhere to be found either. The lieutenant was gone, so was the hounds men, the engine worker, and even his sparring partner! "What the hell is going on?" the confused prince asked himself. Then it clicked, "Wait, they must be…"

Back in the room, everyone was still joking around. Maeli was dancing with the cook, when suddenly; Zuko came bursting through the door. "What're you all doing here!" Everyone stood frozen. Seeing Maeli reminded Zuko of what had happened earlier. The cook spoke up, "Just hanging out with Maeli and keeping her company." It was hard to tell whether Zuko was annoyed or just had a sleepy expression on his face; either way, it wasn't pleasing. "Well, you've had your fun, not get back to work!" The crew thanked Maeli for a good time and left. Zuko closed the door behind him and said to Maeli, "I need to talk to you". Once the crew heard this, they immediately pressed their ears against the door to snoop. Maeli turned away from the prince. Zuko walked up slowly behind her, "Look, I'm sorry for what I said. It was wrong."

"Yeah, it was," thought Maeli.

"I shouldn't discriminate against people. Doing that only shows how ignorant I am." He stopped right behind Maeli and she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. "He's so close," the girl's heartbeat quickened. "I…promise not to call you a peasant again. I'll try to be…nicer." Zuko could only whisper that last word because he was too introverted to say it aloud. Maeli turned around and came face to face with those golden eyes once more. She smiled, "You're forgiven." She hugged him but Zuko didn't hug back; he just stood there, feeling awkward. "And I'm sorry for upsetting you," she added.

Zuko's loud, rumbling stomach made Maeli laugh, "What timing, eh?" She motioned the prince to the door, "Go eat." Zuko smiled, but just slightly. When he opened the door, the crew freaked out. Zuko blinked, "I thought I told you to get back to work!"

"YES, SIR!" The crew shouted in unison and then returned back to their posts.

End of chapter 2!

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