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~ The Waterbending Scroll (Part 2) ~

Ryuu POV

"Wake up!"

I knew I was dreaming, but it felt so real. In front of me lay my father's body. I screamed and crawled backwards, backing into someone. I looked up. It was my mother. She was crying.

"Wake up!"

A heavy black curtain swished between my mother and me. I clawed at it and fell into a dream sea. My leg felt like lead. I couldn't swim. A fin circled me menacingly, it surfaced, revealing it was the bounty hunter ship. I cried out but wasn't heard.

"Wake up!"

A hand grabbed my throat. I was no longer in the sea. It was the Fire lord who held me. Crying out, I couldn't breath, I was being strangled. Than it was all gone. Darkness. I woke up.

...

I was awoken by the door swinging open. It took a moment for my mind to concentrate on the fuzzy outline of the figure. I could see it was a man, but a short one. He placed towards me and knelt down to look at my ankle and then up my body, checking each wound from the chains.

He tutted. I realized he held something in his hand. A warm cloth was placed aggressively against my ankle by the man. He obviously didn't want to be playing nurse. Flicking my eyes fully open, my mind taking in all the input now.

"Wha.." I blinked. He ignored me.

The man, boy, was the Prince. He was muttering about Uncles and 'Stupid Scrolls'. I wanted to turn away, get away, flee from the son of the monster that kills innocent lives. But I didn't. Instead, I let him clean my ankle. He wasn't delicate, but at least it was being tended to.

When he noticed I was staring, he snarled. I tried to get up but got pushed back down against the mattress. His face softened for a moment when I flinched. Realizing my cheeks were wet from dream crying, I wiped them and averted my gaze, letting him proceed with cleaning my ankle's wounds.

"S-sorry," I eventually broke the silence.

He glanced quickly at me out of the corner of his eyes, "What for?"

I got enough strength to lift my arms so I could cross them over my chest. He had finished cleaning my wound, holding the bloody red towel.

"Earlier. "

He stood up and crossed the room to the door. He shrugged before exciting. I lay in silence for a bit. Just thinking nothing, staring at the wall. Then he came back with a bowl and clean bunch of towels. After he placed the bowl next to my waist, he soaked a towel in it.

"I was being a jerk. I got what was coming..." He murmured simply.

He hesitated about touching my waist. I nodded, allowing him to - but he still blushed. I flushed scarlet in response. He tentatively patted the towel on the raw parts of my waist. Luckily - for both of us - I have a high waist.

"Uh- so..." I racked my brain for small talk, "Nice weather?"

He looked up from his work and nodded. I, again, looked away, embarrassed at my failed social skills. Zuko hit a rather painful spot on my waist and I bit my lip, but still squealed. He instantly stopped.

"Are you Okay? Did I do something wrong?" He looked genuinely worried, not faking anything. I saw it in his eyes.

"N-no."

Zuko rolled his eyes back to my waist, "You're more hurt than you let on..."

I gave up. My waist and ankle hurt much more than I gave credit. Where Zuko had washed them, though, they felt slightly better. I studied the Prince's face as he dunked the towel back into the bowl and rung it out. He was worried.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my daze. A solider opened the heavy metal door and leaned in. Zuko went to him and they shared a whispered conversation. The Prince gave a small look of triumph before dismissing the soldier.

"Stay here. I've got work to do."

He left me laying on the mattress, with the bowl and towels, to clean the rest of my waist. My wrists and neck were just lightly bruised. I fell asleep again, only to wake at the sound of angry stomping coming up the stairs and a stressed -and slightly cranky- Zuko.

...

"Up!"

Zuko yelled, grabbing me by my arms. He pinned them against my sides and dragged me up. I was still half-asleep and delirious, so gave little protest. Zuko then lifted me into a bridal carry and took me from the room. I couldn't tell if we went up or down stairs, but we went somewhere.

Next thing I knew, I was sat in a makeshift doctors office.

The Prince had long since gone, but I could still hear him yelling about on deck (again about uncles and scrolls, and also pai sho...?). He sounded really angry. I blinked to filter out the harsh new light of the office. I was laying on a plank suspended by two chairs, with a pitiful excuse for a pillow propping my head up.

"You're awake then," Someone told me, stating the obvious.

I mumbled something that didn't make any sense. The person laughed. They sounded like they were pouring tea. I knew because a little cup was thrust in front of my face. I hesitated before taking a small sip. The owner of the hand holding the cup came into view.

"How are you now? Ginger tea should be of great help."

I wiped some sleepy sand from my eyes and narrowed them. It wasn't an office, it was the top of the command tower, just with a bad bed installation. As soon as I went to get up, a shooting pain encompassed my right arm. The man was very concerned. He caught me before I fell off of the plank.

"What's going on? Where's Princess? Who are you?" I babbled in his face.

After placing me firmly back on the planks, he swigged his tea and watched the tea leaves in his cup dance around. I stared void of emotion at the ceiling, trying to think everything through.

"I am Iroh," He introduced himself, "And you are hurt. Stay there, it'll be better for you."

That didn't do much to reassure me. He, for the second time, gave me a cup of warm Ginger tea - it trickled down my throat, reminding me I hadn't drunk anything since yesterday night. I drunk it vivaciously. Iroh chuckled at my eager tea drinking.

"I like to think no one likes tea more than me, but I was wrong!"

"Oh," I wiped my mouth with the back of my left hand, "My captor didn't let me drink tea..."

Iroh's kind eyes widened in horror, "He is beyond evil!"

I chuckled lightly, taking time to enjoy the first laugh in three months. Mid-laugh, Zuko burst in. He held a small pai sho piece in his hand, before throwing it at his uncle. Iroh caught it and smiled pleasantly. Zuko saw me giggling and sent me a quizzical glance.

"Thank you, nephew. Most kind."

Zuko left, slamming the door. I pointed my thumb at his exit.

"What's up with him?"

Iroh placed the piece on the board situated behind him. It was a lotus tile.

"He's just confused..." Iroh dismissed my question, wafting it away with his hand. I wanted to ask more, but I got the feeling that Iroh wouldn't give a straight answer. Well, yet anyway. He manoeuvred the Pai sho board between us and pointed to it.

"Do you know how to play?"

I analysed the pieces curiously, "Only ever watched it being played. Never had a go myself..."

At this point, I was forcing myself into the conversation, as my anxiety was trying to get the better of me. As my mother had told me 'Buck up and get on with it'. Lovely women, horrible advice. Iroh saw me staring at the board curiously.

"Well, I could teach you. It would pass the time."

I looked up at him, "Why? Where are we going?"

The older man held an unreadable mask over his features, "Following the Avatar."

I left it at that. Zuko had something to do with this, as did the scar on his face. Iroh set the Pai sho tiles out on the board and set about teaching me.

I was a horrible student. Everytime Iroh tried to teach me something about the game, I would end up doing it wrong. He laughed it off and told me I reminded him of his son - if that's a good thing, I don't know. Our game was interrupted by the helmsman, who commented that he was rubbish at it too. Apparently, Iroh always won.

"There's no chance for me then, is there?" I smiled.

The helmsman laughed, so did Iroh. We had just finished our fifth attempt at a game when Zuko burst in again with a red swathe of fabric and bandages tucked under each arm. He was scowling, but carried them to me.

"Lieutenant Jee had some old uniforms," Zuko growled. He pushed the bundle towards me. I took it, confused.

"Thought it was time you had some clothes, " he commented, making me self conscious about wearing only my undergarments ( chest and posterior bindings and a ratty old skirt). I blushed and wrapped my non-painful arm around my chest.

"Oh, and bandages. You need them."

He put the bandadages forcefully on the end of my makeshift bed, making it wobble. I grinned thankfully up at him. He nodded before turning on his heel and marching out, slamming the door. Running a hand through my bad pixie cut the bounty hunter gave me, I stared at the two bundles.

"My rooms down the hall, third on the left. You can change in there."

I smiled in thanks to Iroh but looked at my left leg. Iroh handed me an old walking cane from his side. It had Fire Nation insignia burned into the handle. Managing to get up, I walked out of the room, clasping the bundles to my chest.

...

It felt odd, the blood red tunic and breeches. On the breast of the tunic was sown a black Fire Nation insignia. The collar stood up, brushing against my jaw. The clothes swamped me, but I was grateful to the Lieutenant. I still had no shoe so wrapped some of the bandages around my leg, to halfway up my calf. I did the same to my arms, so the old clothes would not get in the way. To be honest, I felt like a mix of cultures.

Like a multicultural centre. That's how I felt. Fire Nation clothes, Water tribe arm and leg wraps and Earth Kingdom heritage. Using some spare bandages, I wrapped them around my waist to stop the baggy beeches from slipping and the tunic from coming loose from where I tucked it into the breeches.

Checking in Iroh's small mirror, I brushed my choppy black hair back. I s'pose you're wondering what colour my eyes are, they're grey. Nothing special.

I clunked back to where Iroh was, but was surprised to find Zuko waiting as well. He was leaning back on my bed, talking to his uncle with a cup of Jasmine tea at his side.

"My, my dear, don't you look a picture, " Iroh complimented.

He offered me a cup of Jasmine tea, to which I accepted. I plopped down next to Zuko, taking a sip of the calming tea. The Prince glanced me up and down, making me feel uncomfortable. He took a sip of tea and sighed.

"Suits you."

He clacked the cup onto the Pai sho board before getting up to leave. I called a thanks after him as he excited the room.

"S-so," I stammered, still recovering from the shock of being complimented by Zuko, "What's my first duty, sir?"

Iroh beamed ear to ear, "One more game of Pai sho, than we will sort out your sleeping arrangements. Tomorrow is for work, today is for fun."

The helmsman glanced back, "I like that proveb."

I definitely agreed as I gathered in my tiles, ready to lose to Iroh again.

...

"Uncle!" Zuko's voice echoed from the stairs. He stormed into the room in a fit of anger. Iroh didn't look up from the gaming board at his raging nephew. I, however, curled up into myself to escape from his anger.

"Uncle! We lost him. How could we-!"

The older man put his hands up to calm the teen down. It slightly worked, but Zuko still was fuming, small flames flicking in his hands. I covered my head at the bad memories of fire. What it had done to me... to my father...

I must've been sobbing as Iroh put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Zuko, please. Be calm... for her sake, if not mine."

He growled once more and managed to calm down. The helmsman also sighed; probably remembering the last time Zuko had been in a rage like this. I felt another hand on my back - Zuko's. He sat next to me and gently patted my back.

"S-sorry. I know what Fire can do... "

Sniffing, I tried to regain my bearing. Looking back at him, he offered me an apologetic raise of an eyebrow. That burn. He did know what fire can do. It looked horrific. A perpetual memory. I wiped my eyes and nodded.

"I'm sorry too. I'm too emotional. "

Iroh shook his head, "No, you had a traumatic experience in your life. It's alright. Next time, Prince Zuko will control his emotions. Won't he?"

Zuko stuttered before agreeing solemnly.

"How about some Ginseng tea, calm us down?"

I forced a smile at the man's tea obsession. It did taste good though. Zuko politely declined the offer, instead wanting to return to the telescope, hoping to find the Avatar. Great, I was on a Fire Navy ship with two obsessed crazy people. At least one was a good crazy person...

Iroh handed me some of his favourite tea and reset the Pai sho board. He let me win to compensate the upset, but it still hurt. The memories I had once buried had come back. I forced a smile and carried on playing the game.