A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! I promise I read them all and enjoy them all, I just sometimes forget to respond...
The plan was simple, which was good. Simple plans were easy to remember. The problem was that even the simplest of plans often went wrong.
He breathed in, then out. He nodded to the men. They'd wait ten minutes, they didn't have the luxury of using a signal, then they'd come. Zuko slunk away into the darkness.
It was harder than usual, not only because he was wearing green, but because all of them were weighed down with the possessions they could carry. They were allowed to take anything as long as they could fight while carrying it, or a small bag they could drop quickly if necessary. Food and water came first though.
Around ¼ of the crew were simply carrying supplies, they wouldn't be able to come back to this port for more.
The other ¾ of the crew were split into two parties, those who would fight and those who would get the ship out onto the water. The tide was nearly perfect now, though the lighting was abysmal.
Zuko made it onto the ship without issue. It was when he got to the brig that things started being… strange.
The ship was a large one, the brig on one of the lower levels, though it wasn't really a proper brig, probably just a storage room they'd converted into a prison cell on short notice.
Uncle was… singing. Was he drunk? Or trying to pretend to be drunk?
There were two guards outside the door, but Zuko couldn't see inside the room because the door was wooden. He could take the guards easy enough, but probably not silently enough. He needed to try not to wake the rest of the pirate crew up, it would be far easier for his crew to fight them if they were disoriented.
Zuko breathed. In and out. In and out.
"Can we shut him up?" One of the guards asked.
The other guard shrugged. "They didn't tell us not too."
Zuko felt his blood boil. He waited for them to turn, for one of them to reach for the keys on his belt, and then he struck.
Twin Dao came off his back and into his hands. He slammed the hilt into one man's head, as hard as he could. The man toppled and before his companion could shout Zuko's other blade sliced through his throat. Zuko caught the man before he could fall, easing him to the ground.
The blood had sprayed everywhere, soaking through Zuko's clothes. This was why he didn't wear green- blood showed up far too easily.
The fight wasn't over but this fight was over. Zuko was trembling, Uncle was still singing, and the guards were out. One was out permanently.
It took him two tries to grab the keys, three to open the door once he'd gotten the correct key in.
Uncle fell silent when he saw Zuko. His arms were chained against his chest so he couldn't move, couldn't bend. Zuko stepped forward with the keys once more. It took far too long to unlock Uncle's arms. It was stupid, Zuko didn't have time to go into shock now. Most of the fight was still ahead.
"Crew's coming." Zuko said. "Any second now. We'll take the ship and sail out tonight. I take it you didn't get to sell the Wani?"
Uncle looked at him for a long moment. "You did well nephew," he said, "We can attack from the inside while they begin the frontal assault. And as for the Wani…"
He reached inside a sleeve, pulling out a bag of coins. Zuko wasn't quite sure how the pirates had missed that. Did they even search him for weapons? What kind of pirates were these anyways?
Uncle grinned, though the smile seemed strained somehow. "I believe the Wani will be in good hands."
…-…
The attack was swift and deadly. The pirates were fighters, and good ones, but they were not trained soldiers. Still, Zuko lost three more men, one in the initial assault, two to their wounds later.
Zuko, Riko, and Akimo had helped as much as they could, but they'd really only had a couple weeks of training. It wasn't enough. It was never enough.
He didn't even know how he could write their families. He didn't have the Wani anymore, he couldn't just go to the Fire Nation, couldn't… couldn't… He'd have to ask Uncle about it. Uncle had all sorts of weird friends, surely at least one of them could get letters into the Fire Nation.
They shoved all the pirates into one of the smaller boats aboard and set them loose. They were still close enough to shore that the pirates should be able to get back easily enough, though it would take time. Time Zuko and his crew could use to get away.
The other ships had noticed the commotion, but most of the men were gone or asleep. They couldn't follow, at least not fast enough.
Zuko took the time to breathe, in and out. In and out.
They had the ship and money from the sale of the Wani. Zuko really wondered about Uncle's friends sometimes. Who would even want a Fire Nation ship? And why?
He shrugged the thought off.
He'd lost more people tonight, good people. He couldn't bring them back, couldn't save them, but he could remember them.
And so he did, repeating their names over and over and over again.
He would just have to work harder to protect the rest of them. He could save the rest of them. They would find the Avatar, and then they would be able to go home.
They would go home.
He'd make sure of it