Chapter 2:
Zuko stood at the docks, looking at the ship his father had "mercifully" granted him. He was quite relieved, as it was a newer model, though it certainly was not new or top of the line. He had expected his father to give him an ancient ship that was falling apart, but he had not. Zuko surmised that this was because his father was trying to maintain the illusion that he had sent Zuko on a possible task. Zuko, however, was not as gullible as his father thought he was and knew that Ozai was trying to build the illusion that the task was possible so that Zuko would be searching forever. "Honestly, I'm quite insulted," thought Zuko, as he mentally laughed at the effort his father was putting into creating this illusion, which was probably more effort than he had put into Zuko after Ozai had noticed Azula's potential.
He carefully planned his next moves, staring at the ship as his mind drifted to the issue of stabilizing his position and securing his future. Some people noticed this staring and gave strange looks at Zuko and the ship. Zuko noticed them as well, and mentally giggled. "Well, they won't see me for many, many years," he thought, "so their current thoughts don't exactly matter."
His train of thought was interrupted by Azula, who had come to gloat. "So, guess who's the crown princess now?" she said in a mocking tone, signifying she was somewhat drunk on her newfound success.
"You," Zuko responded, knowing that Azula was seeking an emotional outburst from him. He decided that he would not give her the satisfaction. She sighed, obviously disappointed at the lack of an outburst.
"He certainly gave you a good ship," she said, trying a new angle. "If I were him, I'd give you a decrepit ancient ship or nothing at all." Zuko wondered if Ozai had sent her to try to solidify the illusion that Ozai thought that he could actually succeed in this impossible task. Azula wandered off, trying to find some other source of amusement, as Zuko was not taking the bait and having an emotional outburst.
Zuko walked onto the ship, sitting on a chair on the bridge. He looked at the controls and quickly figured out which buttons and levers controlled which functions by using the manual his father had given him. "Piloting my own ship – I must really be desperate," thinking about how he was going to pilot the ship, something unthinkable for a royal such as himself. While he had no shame in doing so, it was still an action considered beneath the royal family.
Suddenly, Azula jumped onto the board of the ship. Zuko mentally groaned and walked out onto the board, investigating what Azula was up to. "Hello, brother of mine," she said with a small smirk.
"What do you want?" Zuko asked, preparing his emotional guard for another attempted breach.
"Oh, nothing," she said, "I simply forgot to give you the money the Firelord has decided to allocate to you to help you capture the avatar. It's meant for supplies, such as food and other needs." She opened the bag, showing a sizable amount of the Fire Nation's currency and the Earth Kingdom's currency.
Zuko calculated the numbers and realized that most of the funds were to be apportioned for getting a crew to run the ship. The rest was quite paltry and would be for supplies and other needs.
"Thank you, Azula," Zuko said in a calm voice, though he was internally celebrating. "Mistake number 1 – thinking I'd be so obsessed with honor that I would hire a crew to run the ship and help me find the avatar." He did not plan to use the ship for long, planning to sell it once piloting it to a Fire Nation colony.
Azula laughed and jumped off the boat, leaving Zuko alone on the ship. Zuko secretly grinned and started walking back to the bridge and his quarters. Once there, he continued formulating his plan in front of a map of the world. Sliding his finger from the port he was in to the portion of the Earth Kingdom that had been securely conquered, he planned on what city he would land in for the next phase of his plans. "This phase of the plan is the most critical and is the most plannable, as most variables I know right now," he thought, carefully planning the most critical step of his plan.
Suddenly, there was a knocking on the ship. Zuko strode out of the bridge, thinking it was Azula back to gloat again. Instead, his uncle Iroh was there knocking on the ship. "Would you be kind enough to lower the stairs," he said laughing, Iroh still his jovial self despite the circumstances.
"Yes, uncle," Zuko said in a respectful and happy tone, lowering the stairs to the ship down to the dock so that Iroh could get on.
"Listen, Zuko, I must accompany you on your journey to find the avatar," whispered Iroh, whose voice lost its normal carefree tone.
"He wants to help me, he knows it's an impossible mission, so he must really care about me," thought Zuko. Unfortunately, his plans could not accommodate two, and he did not want to endanger Uncle Iroh. "How can I do this without revealing anything?" Zuko wondered as he tried to come up with a reason for Uncle Iroh to stay behind. It was not that Zuko did not trust Uncle Iroh, but if anyone overheard and it reached the Firelord, Zuko's entire plan could be derailed with a single messenger falcon. "I'm sorry, uncle, but I must do this on my own," Zuko said, "it's the only way for me to restore my honor."
"Zuko, you're being foolish, what better way to find the avatar than to have an experienced general at your side?" Iroh countered, thinking Zuko was being stubborn.
"We shall see what happens uncle, if I need help, I promise I will write to you and let you know," Zuko stated, trying to find a solution that temporarily delayed Iroh from joining him on the boat. Iroh sighed and told Zuko that they should continue to conversation tomorrow, as the sun was close to setting. Zuko knew that he was doing this so that he could try again tomorrow, when he assumed Zuko would be less stubborn. However, Zuko had no plans for staying another day.
Walking back into the map room of the bridge, Zuko reviewed his plan. "Tonight," he thought, "I pilot the boat, and set it to travel to one of the western Fire Nation colonies." He currently did not know which city he would land in, but he knew that because of how slowly the ship travelled, he would be able to adjust the route after he had done in depth research about the colonies he would be travelling towards. His father had included books on the Fire Nation in the ship, either to keep him patriotic or to maintain the illusion that one day he would return and rule the cities the books talked about. It did not matter which one, as Zuko planned to use them for his own purposes. From there, the next phase of the plan would begin. The important part was that he must start the ship now, as time was of the essence, so that if Ozai was monitoring what Zuko did, which Zuko doubted, this phase of the plan would be complete before Ozai was informed as to what Zuko was doing.
Zuko sighed and walked to the ships controls to start the journey. It was difficult, as the task normally took five men, but one man could do it if they had the ability to multitask. After piloting it out of the dock, Zuko sighed and walked into his quarters, bringing with him the books about the Fire Nation colonies, preparing for Phase 2 of his plans.