I've split this chapter into two parts because it's enormous, the second part shouldn't be too far away.

Zuko woke early the next morning with a rumbling stomach and a throbbing head. He had fallen asleep almost as soon as that woman had left him alone and so had missed dinner. The pain in his head was intense, as was the curling anxiety in his gut. Zuko had decided some days ago that he loathed waking up in strange places and the knowledge that this may be the rest of his life only served to fuel that loathing. Miserably, Zuko dressed.

The amenities in the small room were spare, but functional and Zuko did not have an elaborate morning routine in any case. In other circumstances, he may have considered the freedom from attendants and servants to be exciting, an adventure even, but any enjoyment was stillborn in the knowledge that the servants were gone because he was banished, cast out, to return only with the Avatar.

Zuko clutched his temples and groaned, the Avatar! How on earth was he meant to find that ancient powerful figure, let alone capture him? He hoped that he would soon gain some insight as to how to complete what, currently, felt like an impossible task. Gritting his teeth, Zuko mentally grappled with himself: the task could not be impossible because he had been given it and he would complete it. He would complete it because that was the only way he could go home. He was going to go home again; therefore there must be some way to capture the Avatar.

Taking a deep breath, Zuko settled himself and slid open the door to the hallway. As he did so he noticed the folded square of paper that had been pushed through the gap. The paper was crisp and new, the folds barely worn and it was sealed with a wax stamp in the shape of some kind of stylized flower. Above the seal was Zuko's name, the characters formed with the bold, elegant strokes that Zuko remembered, and he couldn't stop the sudden cry, "Uncle!"

Not even bothering to close the door, Zuko split the seal and unfolded the letter from his Uncle Iroh.

My favourite nephew,

I am sorry that I could not be there to see you off, I have been very busy at the palace recently. I have been honoured by your esteemed father, Fire lord Ozai, with a position on his council. I wanted to apologize for missing your birthday, and have arranged a present to be delivered to you. Enclosed is your certificate of ownership, do not lose it! I have also sent you my pai sho board, I do not think I will have much time for the game with my new duties, and hope that you can make better use of it.

Your uncle,

Prince Iroh

Zuko stared at the letter, dumbfounded. He felt a rush of disappointment, followed by a surge of anger. He had been thinking about his uncle almost constantly since boarding that miserable ferry, wondering where he was, why he hadn't come, and all he gets is some stupid letter about court and pai sho? And what was that nonsense about his birthday? It wasn't his birthday for another eight months!

A wisp of smoke curled from the page where it was clutched in his fist and Zuko angrily tamped down the sparks. As upset as he was, he didn't want to destroy his uncle's letter. He unfolded the bottom of the sheet to have a look at this 'certificate of ownership'. He was angry that his uncle had sent him such a meaningless letter, but also curious about what his gift was.

Zuko plucked the official looking slip of paper from the air as it fluttered to the ground and smoothed it out, muttering as he read, "Certificate of Ownership... Fire Navy vessel, Cruiser class... It was commissioned in the fifth year of the Dog, Ri Wu Era... That's thirty years old!"

His uncle had given him a thirty-year-old Fire Navy Cruiser? Some ancient hulk, what did he want something like that for? Wait... his uncle had given him a thirty-year-old Fire Navy Cruiser! He had a ship! Zuko remembered seeing an old, battered cruiser docked next to the ferry yesterday, could that be his? Ecstatic, his hunger forgotten, Zuko raced out of his room with the letter still clutched in his fist.

It was only an hour past dawn and the pier-side market was quiet. Very few people were out and even fewer were moving. As he hurried towards his new ship, Zuko noticed a man snoring loudly, propped against some crates near the docks. He'd never seen someone sleeping outside before and as he slowed and took another look, one of the man's eyes cracked open and he glowered. Startled, Zuko moved on.

The ship was docked where he remembered, towering imposingly over the little junks and fishing boats nearby. The details on the certificate Zuko held matched the ship's identification tag, so he wasted no time in clambering up a rope ladder and onto the deck.

He spent a few minutes poking around the deck, slipping around the side of the command tower to check out the boiler and stacks. The ship was not terribly impressive by current military standards, it was somewhat rusty, and Zuko could only see one catapult hatch but it seemed to have been maintained, and from what Zuko could remember of his lessons, this particular model was fast. And more importantly, it was his. Moving back to the deck, Zuko tried the door to the tower, but it was locked. He wondered who might have the key, since it had not been included with the certificate in his letter.

A commotion from the dock beneath him drew Zuko from his perusal; leaning over the ladder he found himself looking down at the panting, sweating form of a middle aged peasant. The man was trying valiantly to climb the rope ladder onto the ship. Zuko cleared his throat, about to ask the man what he thought he was doing, but at the sound the man's head jerked up and his eyes narrowed.

"You! Kid, what do you think you're doing on this ship?" he all but bellowed.

Zuko was momentarily startled; he had never been spoken to like that by a peasant. Forcibly reminded of some of his harsher tutors, he felt the irrational urge to apologise. Quashing it he glared haughtily down at the man as he produced his certificate, "I own this ship, what business is it of yours?"

Zuko could see the wheels turning in the man's brain, his jaw worked silently for a few moments and then he paled, "P..Prince Zuko?" he looked like he was trying to figure out how to bow while climbing a ladder, the resulting motion was awkward and Zuko couldn't entirely suppress his snicker.

"Forgive me sir," the man scrambled onto the deck, bowing properly, his eyes skittering over Zuko's bandaged face, "I did not recognize you."

Zuko glowered, "Who are you?"

The man took a moment to catch his breath and then spoke from his bowed position, "I am Hun, temporary harbour master of Hesan."

Zuko nodded, thinking, "Harbour master, hmm... would you know where I can find the key to my ship's tower?"

The man's eyes shifted nervously and his voice took on an unctuous tone, "Of course Prince Zuko, the Naval Outpost on the outskirts of the town should have your keys," he pointed to a building just peeking over the roofs of the town, "it's just over there."

Shading his eyes Zuko glanced across at the building, a quick estimate said it couldn't be more than an hour's walk away. Waving the man off, Zuko leapt down to the dock, landing in a crouch. As he rose he felt slightly lightheaded and a little dizzy, but his head was still throbbing so Zuko figured it was just his injury.

As he walked through the town towards the outpost building, Zuko became convinced that his estimate was seriously off. The sun, climbing relentlessly into the sky was beating down on him from a position that was far too close to noon for his liking. He was tired, sore, thirsty and still dizzy by the time he finally made it. Dragging himself up the shallow steps, he was too miserable to do more than glance at the building before stepping inside. He noted with some satisfaction that, despite the ramshackle appearance of many of the towns other buildings, the outpost was well maintained and study looking.

The interior of the building was much smaller than Zuko had anticipated. The narrow room was divided by a tall desk and a screen behind which Zuko could just see a glimpse of stairs and hallways. The front area where Zuko found himself was plastered with Fire Nation hangings, recruitment posters and pro-war slogans, leaving barely a square inch of the off-white plaster remaining. A stern and serious looking woman stood behind the desk. She was wearing the uniform of the home guard and currently engaged in marking up a ledger.

Zuko cleared his throat and stepped further into the room, "This is the Naval Outpost? The harbour master said you would have the key to my ship." He slid the certificate forward on the desk, which was so tall that his shoulders only barely reached it.

The woman made a humming noise as she took the certificate; she then disappeared behind the screen. Zuko just stood there, slightly dumbfounded that she would just walk off without saying anything, but he did not have long to wait. Moments later she returned with another heavy ledger and a small lacquered box. She came around to Zuko's side of the desk, performed a crisp, military salute and presented the box to him, "Here are your keys, Prince Zuko. I will need you to sign the ledger to indicate that you have taken possession of them, and the ship."

Signing his name quickly, Zuko turned to the woman, "So, does the ship have a crew or...?" he trailed off uncertainly.

She frowned at him seriously, "No sir, the ship is in your private ownership, if you have a mission that concerns the Navy and require a crew then I'll need to see orders from the Admiral of your fleet."

Zuko was conflicted, his banishment notice included the order from the Fire lord to hunt the Avatar, but he really did not want to hand it over. The shame of banishment was enough without having to present the physical proof that he was unworthy of his father. Reluctantly, he drew the scroll from his bag and handed it to the woman. His shame could not be allowed to hinder his mission; pride was what had gotten him into trouble in the first place.

The woman read the orders quickly, copied out the code from the bottom of the sheet and stamped it. Flushed with embarrassment, Zuko accepted the scroll back, but he couldn't bring himself to break the awkward silence that had descended on the small office.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. After a few awkward moments, the woman cleared her throat and continued in a serious and businesslike manner, "How soon do you require your crew sir?"

"Immediately!" Zuko replied without hesitation, the sooner he was underway the sooner he could begin his search and the sooner he could go home.

"Very well, here is a list of sailors currently without postings in this port," she copied out a list of names and their skills and handed it to him, "you'll have to track them down yourself to make your offer, once you have your crew you can send someone to retrieve copies of their particulars."

Zuko stared at the list; it wasn't very long, maybe twelve or thirteen people, scanning it closely, he noticed that there seemed to be exactly a ships complement. There was a cook, a medic, some engineers, and even a lieutenant. Zuko thanked the woman absently as he made his way from the outpost. Heading back to the pier he wondered briefly if the crew had served together on their last posting. Sometimes, if a ship is badly damaged, it's just not worthwhile to repair it and the crew end up waiting to find new postings.

The walk back to the docks was long, hot and tiring. By the time Zuko finally reached the end of the side-street he had been travelling on and was faced with the crushing press of the noon crowd he was sticky, dizzy and sore. The thought of wading through the crowds looking for sailors with only their names to go on was just too much and he decided to begin his search that evening when it would be at least cooler, if not significantly less crowded. Skirting the edge of the crowd Zuko made his way to his ship. If he had an afternoon to kill he may as well spend it learning what he could and exploring.

The ship was where he had left it, the harbour master nowhere in sight. Climbing the rope ladder was much harder this time around, his hands were shaking and his limbs felt heavy. After taking a moment to overcome his dizziness Zuko went to the tower door. He had been given four keys, two of which were identical. Neither of those fit the tower door lock, which turned out to be opened by the larger of the two remaining keys.

The interior of the ship was pitch black and smelled of coal; Zuko hooked the tower door open and stepped into the gloom. He found himself in a short hallway, floored with gratings, ending in a door to the engine room. Closer to the door was a ladder, a hatch in the floor under it and in the roof above it. On the wall was one of the red-glassed coal oil lamps common to Navy ships. Opening up the hinged window in the lamp's chimney, Zuko checked the oil level. The font was full and the wick neatly trimmed, it had obviously been maintained recently. Pinching his fingers over the wick, Zuko lit the lamp and closed the window. Closing the tower door behind him, he set off towards the engine room door.

Zuko's exploration of the ship was thorough and systematic. Beginning at the engine room, he went floor by floor, checking all of the doors. Beneath the engines he discovered a small dock containing a river steamer, nearby he found that the identical keys were for the single cell in the hold of the ship. The hold was also retrofitted with wooden pens to hold komodo-rhinos, there was a coal chute for loading coal, this currently about one third it's capacity and next to this was the catapult in position under the deck, waiting to be winched into place.

The galley and crew mess were just above the base of the tower, in front of the boiler, with a hatch to the storage bay beneath. The storage bay was also accessed from the deck and was neatly shelved, and empty. Crew quarters were also in the tower, on the next floor up, and he found that the ship had a crew capacity of twenty four including officers.

Above the crew quarters the tower narrowed again so that there were only a few rooms per floor. On the first of these narrow floors were petty officer quarters, a tiny office and the washing facilities for officers. The facilities on the ship were rather rudimentary, but nowhere near as bad as they had been on the ferry.

The next floor up was officer quarters, one large bedroom, somewhat furnished and next to it a decent office. This office was locked; fitting the final and smallest key Zuko was given. In the office was a desk, chair and a large chest. The walls were lined with shelving for scrolls and books, wooden sliding doors covered the shelves to stop the contents sliding out with the motion of the ship. The desk was bare, but the shelves were not and Zuko resolved to return here as soon as he was finished searching the last few floors of the tower. He was looking forward to the rest, climbing the ladders and especially lighting the lamps was really tiring and his dizziness wasn't going away.

Relocking the office behind him to start forming a good habit, Zuko ascended to the next floor which was another set of officer quarters but these were bare, as was the office opened to the same small key. Above this last room was the bridge, climbing through the hatch, Zuko set about exploring the room. Dominating the centre was an enormous compass, and arrayed along the walls were the controls for the engines, pressure gauges for the boilers, and speaking tubes for communication with the engine room. On the left side, near the front was the helm. The room had two doors in addition to the hatch which both lead onto the balcony which encircled the top of the tower.

Zuko spent a few minutes enjoying the sea breeze on the balcony before retreating inside to his office. The chest was incredibly heavy and Zuko could barely shift it, curious, he examined the lock. The lock was intricate, but there was no keyhole, instead the lid of the chest appeared to be worked with a series of tubes, one opening where the lock would be and two others on the sides of the lid. This was a firebending lock, and only a firebender who had mastered the breath of fire would be able to open it. Zuko had been taught the breath of fire by his uncle but he had never had to produce the small, precise blast that would be necessary to open the lock.

Seating himself cross-legged in front of the chest, Zuko tried to calm and focus himself on the task. It was almost impossible, his head was throbbing and he was dizzy and sick, his tongue was thick and if he held his hands out they shook slightly. Pushing aside all his body's discomforts, Zuko took a deep breath and concentrated on his inner fire. Feeling slightly steadier, he leaned forward over the chest, his lips hovering close to the mechanism, hands placed to either side.

Three... Two... One...

Small jets of flame erupted simultaneously from both index fingers and from between Zuko's lips, travelling up the slender pipes there was a small mechanical click and Zuko quickly lifted the lid before the heat sensitive mechanisms could cool again.

Head swimming, Zuko nearly dropped the lid down again when he saw what was in the chest. Stacked neatly, every twenty wrapped with a red rice-paper seal, were Fire Nation gold pieces, quite possibly Zuko's own weight in gold pieces. Bewildered, Zuko almost missed the neatly folded lotus flower sitting on top of the gold. The paper flower was very delicate looking and from its position, had anyone tried to firebend the lock without the precision Zuko had used, it would have been incinerated. Tugging on one of the petals, Zuko unfolded the flower, feeling torn between amusement at his uncle's antics and irritation; he scanned the short note,

This is for the maintenance of your ship and the payment of your crew. I have left the previous owner's financial documents to aid you, spend this wisely as I do not know when I will be able to replace it. Be safe.

Zuko smoothed out the fine rice paper note and tucked it into his bag with the letter from this morning. Shutting the chest again, he moved to the shelves to examine the documents his uncle had left him.

Sliding the doors open one by one Zuko checked each shelf, most were empty but he found a few maps which he placed on the desk to read later, a thick ledger which was probably the financial documents his uncle had mentioned and finally, tucked away in a corner on the bottom shelf, a battered journal. A quick thumb through revealed that it was the private journal of the previous captain. A little guilty, Zuko put it back; he might have a look later to see if there was anything relevant in it but for now he didn't feel like snooping.

Setting the ledger to one side, Zuko unrolled the first map, and quickly rolled it back up again. It was a map of the Fire Nation and just holding it made Zuko feel sick with longing. He stuffed the map scroll onto the shelf, next to the journal. Taking a deep breath, Zuko unrolled a second map, this one showed the western coastline of the Earth Kingdom. It looked like a very recent map too; the colonies were marked, as well as the patrol routs for mail ships and scouting vessels. Small annotations in very cramped and messy script adorned a few of the coves and bay's, indicating sources of fresh water or trouble. Eyes as wide as saucers, Zuko studied his prize meticulously, soon, he thought, his own annotations would be added to this map. The thought was exciting as well as a little daunting.

The remaining maps were simply increased detail for sections of the Earth Kingdom western coast, sporting their own annotations in the same hand. Zuko scanned them briefly and then carefully placed all the maps onto a shelf at eye level, arranged so that their labels were facing outwards and in order of scale, then latitude. Pleased with himself, Zuko turned to the ledger.

Flipping it open, Zuko felt an immense relief. One of his tutors had taught him finances and budgeting, preparing him for running a country he supposed, and that had been incredibly complicated. This ledger, however, seemed to just track income and expenditure. Very simple stuff and Zuko was glad, he hadn't been poor at budgeting exactly... it was just very, very boring. Zuko flipped through to the crew's pay, noting the rates paid out to the sailors each month, surprised at how little they earned. Exploring further, he found the recorded expenditure on food, coal and other essential items. Everything listed was for a crew of twenty four, Zuko would be lucky to get half that number. Luckily, the ship didn't need twenty four sailors to function; half of the listed complement was soldiers. However it did mean that Zuko would have to recalculate the required expenditures, extrapolating backwards from the figures in the ledger. He resolved to buy an abacus that night and settled down to read through the rest of the ledger, pleased to find something he understood.

After turning the last page on the ledger, Zuko stood to stretch, and had to catch himself on the desk as he nearly collapsed. There was a gnawing pit in his stomach and with a jolt, he realised he hadn't eaten anything that day. Zuko set the ledger back on the shelf, and locked his office door before making his way off the ship.

The dock was crowded with evening shoppers and street food vendors, the sun had set already and Zuko found himself wondering where the day had gone. He looked around for a tavern, hoping some of the sailors he was looking for might be inside, but was distracted by the smell of baozi steaming nearby. Pulling some of the change he had received at the inn from his bag, Zuko made his way over to the vendor's cart.

The baozi were large and fluffy, and Zuko bought two. He devoured the first in record time; surprised at his own hunger and a little ashamed that he had forgotten to eat all day. As he was starting on the second, he felt really light headed and a bit sick. Clenching his half-eaten bun a bit too tightly, he put his hand out to steady himself against the vendor's cart, but his depth perception was shot because of his bandaged eye and he came up short. There was a startled shout from just behind him and Zuko pitched forward onto the dock, unconscious.

Next: Zuko hates waking up in strange places, Jee is cheeky and somebody gets an action scene!