Iza smiled as she looked down at one of the green button up shirts. She had bought some stretchy fabric, specifically the fabric used in skydiving suits, and had essentially made a glider. When she pressed a button on the inside of the shirt, the cord holding them taught would release and the glider would unfurl. This was just in case she ended up falling from the sky again. Now all she had to do was test it.
Iza pulled off her shirt and pants and pulled on the earth kingdom clothes. If this worked, Iza would put this on all of her avatar clothes. She sat down and went to the void. She got up and walked over to the Avatar string. She put her hand on it and focused and landed atop a cliff overlooking the sea. After a minute a salty sea breeze filled her nose.
Iza spread out her arms and looked at the glider mechanism. She nodded, it looked fine. She walked over to the edge of the cliff and noted that there was a small fire nation ship a ways out. She took a deep breath in, and jumped.
After a few seconds of falling, she pushed the button. It all was working fine. The button had properly released the glider, and the glider was catching the wind, slowing her down. Then she noticed the seams coming undone. Iza's eyes widened as the tips of the glider on the right arm started coming off.
Soon she was free falling into the cold ocean below. She flailed her arms, but it didn't stop the hard impact of the water below. She immediately went underwater. Iza quickly tore the rest of the gliders off and swam up towards the sky. Her eyes burned and her throat was sore from the salt water. She didn't think she was going to make it up. Her eyes started to dance with darkness and the world faded, when she felt two strong arms grab her around the waist and start pulling her up. Her last thought as she slipped unconscious was, 'This feels nice…'
Zuko was on the deck when he saw someone jump off of the cliff and speed down towards the mountain. He saw the way something came off of their shirt and caught the wind. This also meant he saw when the things started peeling off and the figure started flailing their arms. He quickly grabbed a telescope from one of the crew members around him and pointed it towards the falling figure. 'Iza!' His eyes widened. What was she doing? She was going to fall into the ocean! The currents were too strong for someone to swim in. Zuko barked out an order to head in that direction as he peeled off his armor and was left in a black under shirt and tight fitting pants. He quickly wrapped a rope around his waist. "When I pull on the three times, pull me up." He told his uncle, who was standing off to the side looking worried. As soon as they got close enough, he ordered the captain to stop the ship, and he leapt into the icy depths below the ship.
He cracked open his eyes in the water and saw a figure that was slowly moving. He quickly swam over and wrapped his arms around the sinking girl. Once he had a good grip on Iza, he tugged sharply at the rope three times and felt himself being pulled up. Once they reached the deck, Zuko let go of Iza and pushed on her chest, forcing her to cough up the water she had inhaled and swallowed. Her eyes fluttered open. "Thanks." Was all she said before blacking out again. Zuko sighed and stood up. He unwrapped the rope around his stomach, and turned to one of the crew members.
"Put her in the empty room next to mine and put two guards outside. Put some clothes her size in the room. Inform me when she wakes." Was all he said before grabbing his armor and heading to his room to put on new clothes, as the ones he was wearing would soon be stiff with salt.
When Iza woke up she was quite warm and comfortable. Then she remembered what had happened. She quickly sat up and saw red clothes that looked like they should fit her. She quickly took off the ripped shirt and stiff pants, putting on the soft red clothes.
She heard a knock on the metal door. She quickly walked over and opened it to a young man wearing fire nation armor. "I have been instructed to take you to General Iroh and Prince Zuko." Iza nodded and the man turned around and started walking. Having nothing better to do, Iza followed the man. As she walked through the halls many of the people on board turned and looked at her. Soon they reached a door, and the man knocked twice then opened it. Sitting at a table in the room was Iroh and Zuko. The man bowed and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Iroh smiled at her. "Take a seat. Would you like some tea?" Iza nodded and took a seat. Iroh picked up the tea pot and poured her a cup of tea.
"So, what were you doing jumping off of a cliff?" Iroh asked her. "I was testing something." She replied. Zuko suddenly looked furious. "You were testing something?" He yelled. "I had to fish you out of the ocean! What could you possibly be testing!" Iza shrugged, ignoring the way he towered over her in height. "As you have seen before, I have a habit of falling out of the sky. I was trying to make a glider shirt, so if I fell, I could simply open the glider and not impact the ground. Apparently I didn't sew them well enough, because the seams came loose and dropped me out of the sky." Zuko's eye twitched.
"So now that you can say it doesn't work, you aren't going to try again, right?" Zuko asked. Iza shrugged and stood up. "Nope. I just need to make it better. I should probably be going now." Zuko stood up as well. "No. You just feel out of the sky and into the ocean. You're staying here." Iroh sighed. "What my nephew is trying to say is, we just want to make sure you're alright before you leave. Surely it wouldn't hurt to stay a bit longer?" Iza sighed because he was right. "Fine. I'll stay. Well, I'll mostly stay, I have to go get some more clothes from my house." Iroh nodded. "That works." Zuko said shortly, then got up and left the room.
Zuko didn't know what he was doing. Telling Iza to stay here? Why? He just had to fish her out of the ocean! He shouldn't want her around. So why does he? 'You want her to stay because this is your chance to learn about her.' His traitorous mind whispered. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. He was going to go train.
Iza finished the tea and talked with Iroh some more. After she was finished, she told Iroh that she was going to go home and grab some things. Iroh nodded and wished her safe travels. Iza closed her eyes and focused on going home. When she opened her eyes she was met with the sight of her camper. Iza got up and went to her room. She took off the fire nation clothes and put on a t-shirt, sweat pants, and a red hoodie with the fire nation logo on it.
She grabbed a tote bag and threw in some clothes and shoes. Then she packed her laptop, phone, hair brush, tooth brush, and her chargers. She decided to bring some tea for Iroh, so she went and grabbed a few bags of tea bags. She also decided to bring some chocolate. After she had everything packed, she put her bag in her lap and focused on going back to the ship. Soon she felt spinning and she was falling back towards the deck.
She sighed and held her bag above her body so her laptop wouldn't break. She waited for an impact, but instead she fell into someone's arms. She turned and looked at the person who had stopped her hard fall into the deck. It was Zuko and he looked very unimpressed. She smiled sheepishly. "I told you I keep falling out of the sky!" Iza carefully stepped out of Zuko's arms. "Thank you for catching me. Would you like some chocolate?"
Zuko looked incredulous. "You have chocolate? How? It is extremely expensive!" Iza shrugged. "Not where I'm from." Iza set down her bag and pulled out a Hershey's bar. She opened it and handed it to Zuko. Zuko looked at her with a raised eyebrow then shrugged and took a bite. His eyes widened. "This doesn't taste like any chocolate I have ever had. It is really good, though." He looked conflicted about handing it back. "You can keep it." Iza said. "I have more." Zuko shrugged and took another bite of the candy bar. "I'll show you to the room you'll be staying in."
Iza followed Zuko through the ship and towards where she had woken up. Zuko opened the door and let her through. Iza set down her bag. "So Zuko, how old are you?" Zuko raised an eyebrow before responding. "Sixteen. How old are you?" Iza shrugged. "Same age as you. So, what's a sixteen year old doing on an old ship like this?" Zuko's face soured. "I'm looking for the Avatar to restore my honor." Iza frowned. She knew this already, but maybe she could stop Zuko from chasing the Avatar all around the world. There was more to life than just trying to kill a twelve year old boy.
"But Zuko, the Avatar hasn't been seen in a hundred years! Who would give you such a stupid quest?" Zuko huffed. "My father tasked me with finding the avatar, and it is not a stupid quest! I will find the Avatar." Iza shrugged. "Whatever you say." Zuko left the room. Iza shrugged. Maybe she would have more luck tomorrow. Anyways, she had a novel to read.