Disclaimer: I do not own avatar damnit! Stop taunting me!

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Soon they arrived at the ship, where Iroh was ready to welcome them.

"Prince Zuko! Where have you been?" Iroh asked, walking quickly towards the two. Aurora hid behind Zuko and said,

"Daddy, who's that?"

That one sentence stopped Iroh in his tracks. Zuko then replied, "This is my Uncle Iroh, Dragon of the West."

"Wow…" she said.

Iroh finally snapped out of his daze and said to Zuko, "Daddy? What is she talking about Prince Zuko?"

"I've adopted her uncle. Her name is Aurora. She was an orphan, lost in the forest. The village had expelled her because she was a firebender." he replied, looking down at the girl.

"I am very proud of you Prince Zuko. That was very honorable." Iroh said. Turning to Aurora, he said "Hello my dear. You may call me Uncle Iroh."

"Okay." She said quietly, looking up at him with her bright, orange eyes.

" Have you ever had Ginseng Tea, Princess Aurora?"

"No Uncle. I've never had tea." She said, the title coming easily to her.

Zuko quickly ushered her across the deck to the door to the bedrooms.

"Sorry Uncle, not right now. She needs to eat, and then she needs to sleep. She's had a long day."

The prince was right. The sun had just recently sunk below the horizon, and it was slowly growing darker.

"All right Prince Zuko. Tomorrow then?" he said, directing the question to a disappearing Aurora.

"Okay Uncle." she called back to him.

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Below decks, all the soldiers in the mess hall had immediately focused their gaze on the little girl as she and Zuko came in.

When she saw all those people looking at her, she immediately hid behind Zuko and whispered, "Daddy, who are they? And why are they looking at me like that?"

Unfortunately enough for Zuko, the mess hall went completely silent before she said this, so everyone heard her.

"Daddy?" Lieutenant Ji asked, clearly laughing silently at Zuko.

"Yes? Do you have a problem with that?" Zuko said, his tone clearly stating that you would die a horrible death if you dared smart mouth him.

"Oh no, sir. I just wanted to meet the little girl." This was quiet true: all of them wanted to know who the shy, little girl was.

"Well?" Zuko said to Aurora. "Introduce yourself." He said bringing her forward. She gulped and turned to Ji.

"H-hello sir. My name is P-princess Aurora." She said, her voice quavering.

"Hello as well your highness." Ji said, bowing to the little girl. "My name is Lieutenant Ji."

"It's nice to meet you sir." Aurora said bowing back to him.

"She is very well mannered, Prince Zuko." Ji said, his attention back on Zuko.

"Thank you." He replied. "I thought so as well."

Aurora's stomach then let out a loud growl.

"Excuse me." She whispered, her face turning red in embarrassment.

Zuko turned to her with a worried expression on his face.

"Ji, can you go get the princess some food? She hasn't eaten all day."

"Of course your highness." Ji said, equally worried. Ji hurriedly fixed her a plate and handed it to Zuko.

"Thank you." Zuko said, taking the plate.

"Eat. You need your strength." Zuko said to her. She needed no prompting. Soon the entire plate was empty, and Aurora was dozing in her chair.

"All right, time for bed." Zuko said lifting her up and carrying her out of the mess hall. He quickly walked to the guestroom beside his. He opened the door, and set her on the bed. He pulled the covers up to her chin, and said "Goodnight, princess."

She sat up, leaned towards him, and put her arms around his neck. Then she gave him kiss right below his scarred eye.

"Night-night, Daddy." She said, snuggling into her bed.

He gave her a kiss on the forehead and said, "If you need me, I'll be right through that door, okay?" he pointed to the door on the left wall of her room.

"Okay daddy."

And with that, he left the room, and shut the door.

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