This chapter (and story) was inspired by Jessie J's "Do It Like a Dude".

Chapter 7: Tan-Eyed Ship's Boy

I can do it like a brother, do it like a dude

Grab my crotch, wear my hat low like you

"I want to know who decided that I was to take in a new ship's boy!"

Iroh stared down his officers and adviser the next morning. Breakfast was seared giant koi and eggs benedict with some kind of butternut stickybun. He hardly touched the bun as sweets weren't his favorite. Still, food was hardly on his mind while his officers were picking and choosing his second for him.

"It was I, General." Lieutenant Roade cleared his throat and put his fork down. Iroh felt irate but let his man speak. "It's been so long since you lost your last boy, I thought—"

"You thought that a street urchin would fill the spot of my noble second?" He knew that he was sounding more like a Prince instead of a General, but his heart hurt. The last ship's boy he'd had had been taken down by the Equalists. The last thing he needed was to lose another one. He took a moment of silence to remember Shiji and how he had been...not how Iroh had last seen him, broken and powerless.

"It's time, my Prince." The man just bowed his head and refused to say anymore. There was an uncomfortable silence for much too long.

Hamin cleared his throat and delicately hit his knife against his cup. "Alright, enough of this. The child has yet to pass the tests, so it hardly matters. Let us move on. The next order of business is training. We need to make a stop by Kyoshi Island to pick up our last Master. In the meantime, it is as usual on board. Iroh, you need to choose your main Firebenders and put an officer in charge of teaching your new men the way of the ship."

Iroh sat down and put his napkin on his lap. Going through the motions seemed to help him relieve some anger at the predicament. As a general, he needed to learn his cabinet members were there to help him, even if he was in charge. Getting his way all his life made that a little hard to understand, but not impossible. So he took a deep, calming breath as his grandfather had taught him and took a bite of eggs. "Of course. Set sail for Kyoshi. Captain Oishi, you're in charge of teaching the new men their seafaring ways."

"Yes, sir!"

"Anything else?" the Prince asked, actually daring anyone else to say anything. He wasn't really in the mood for more of his men telling him what was best for him.

"Those are all the pressing matters," Hamin said with a dainty dab of a napkin to his mouth. His harsh avian features did nothing to belay his perfect etiquette. "If all is finished, we are set to depart for second shift."

The entire table rose the, saluting Iroh and turning their chairs in. It would take a while for him to get used to that, but if felt good. It was something he had earned, not something that he had been given. He had a lot to live up to and he was going to do the position proud.

Iroh continued eating and thought long and hard about getting a new ship's boy. He'd let himself get too close to the other. Never having had siblings, the boy had become like a little brother. A friend he wanted to protect with his life. In all honesty, his second was supposed to protect him. Not the other way around. When he'd lost Shiji, he'd lost the will to take another child on as his protege. Every Admiral and General was expected to do so, but... He sighed and put down his fork. He suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.

"Sire, if it pleases you," Hamin said from behind him, "it's time to meet your new ship's boy. Clean, clothed, fed, and ready to be tested."

He remembered back onto the face he'd seen. Covered in dirt and soot, the boy had looked brown in color. The only thing remarkable had been those strangely tan eyes... "Call me a fox, for that is all I am to you." But he shook his head. This boy was not Little Fox, obviously. Still, the resemblance was striking.

He told himself he'd remember those tan eyes...and he hadn't forgotten.

HHH

"RISE AND SHINE, LADIES!"

My hammock twisted and I was pushed out and onto the cold, very hard metal ground. Kojo met the same fate. I looked up to see some teenager standing above me with a rougish smirk. My body's internal clock told me that it wasn't even sunrise yet. "Agni damn, it's not even sunrise!"

"The early rabbit-bird gets the worm," the boy said with a wink. He was a light brunette, almost like yellow but not quite there. His eyes were the same color and he had almost as many freckles as Kojo. "Name's Li, Able-Bodied Non-Bender and in charge of waking you lilly-livers up. So get to the showers, head, and eat some food because it's going to be a long day, runts!"

Runt? I thought bitterly as I rubbed my head where I'd hit it on the floor. I'm not that short... And then something hit me.

Head? As in restroom? I was a girl...I didn't use a restroom like a boy. So, if I used the same restroom as them... I blanched and realized that I really needed to use the restroom! I hadn't gone since lunchtime the day before and my bladder was suddenly reminding me of that fact.

I got up and ran to the head before anyone else could get there. Luckily, I'd gotten a little tour the night before and I just so happened to remember how to get there. I ran through the doors and saw line after line of seats on a lifted ridge in the back of the room. I ran up to one and looked down—below was the sea. Nothing was private...and I was in a pickle.

No one was in there yet. Most were probably taking a shower or running to the mess first. Not willing to be caught so early in my ruse, I hopped on the toilet and went as fast as I could. A few men came in and left in that time, but my hands and long shirt were covering my lap, so I was safe. I tried not to look at them. My face was on fire.

I did try to see what they did in the restroom, though. They went and then did a little shake before putting themselves back in their pants. I didn't see anything though...I tried to tell myself that, at least.

As soon as I was alone, I hopped down and pulled everything back up. Then I ran to wash my hands and ran back to my room. I had to make sure that I was well fed and looked perfect for my tests—I didn't need to just be nervous about passing as a boy anymore. Who knew what would happen to me if I didn't pass?

My uniform on and mostly wrinkle-free, I ran to the mess hall and pulled my hair up at the same time. Men spend more time on their appearance than I ever used to, I thought wryly. I was just sitting down to eat when I realized that I didn't know anyone around me.

All of them were older and were giving me strange looks. Like I didn't belong there or something. I gave a quick prayer under my breath and got even more looks. I just ate the wonderful food put in front of me and tried not to make eye contact with them for as long as possible. That was when a familiar face sat down across from me.

"Hey, kid, how're you faring?'

I let out a breath of relief and smiled at the old man. "Zargo! Not bad, yourself?"

"Full of life! Can't say that for most of the men on board." He pointed to the rest of the men around us. I realized that the men hadn't been giving me weird looks—most of them looked sick. Half looked green in the face. Most of them really didn't even have food in front of them. They couldn't look at me as I was eating. "Yep, this always happens. Half the men get sick the first night. Sometimes it lasts a week, the seasickness."

I sent up a prayer to the spirits that I wasn't sick like everyone else. I didn't need one more reason to fail my tests later. "I'm lucky, I guess."

"Strong gut's what ya got!" The old man laughed and wiped a tear from his eye. "Yep, I don't feel for these guys one bit." He slapped a teenager on the back who was sitting next to him. The kid held in some vomit and ran from the room. Just like that I wasn't completely hungry anymore. That didn't keep me from finishing my food, but it slowed my gusto. I wasn't one to waste food. "You'll do fine today, though. Hope you aren't too worried."

I swallowed my food and thought about what kinds of tests I would be put through. "I just...it isn't fair, y'know? Life isn't fair, but what's bad is that I've never been taught anything. How am I supposed to take a test on a subject I've never been taught?"

"You'd be surprised what you know." Zargo's finger was suddenly in the middle of my forehead. I opened my eyes and looked straight into his hazel ones. "Trust me, kid. I've been alive long enough to tell you that you're smarter than you think." His tanned, mapped face seemed to tell me to trust him.

I nodded seriously. "Of course. I'll do my best!"

Just as I was finishing my meal, a bell sounded. I looked to Zargo who simply said, "Changing of shifts!" I nodded and scarfed down the last of my food. It didn't take long to clean my mess kit, put it away, and follow Zargo up the the deck.

There, I could see dozens of men practicing with one another. Usually they were in groups of four—one Firebender, Waterbender, Earthbender, and non-bender. Others were practicing with their own kind, learning moves that I'd never thought of doing. And yet others were working the ship itself. Zargo, apparently, was an engineer. He patted me on the back and left to go work on the engines.

I wasn't sure what to do, so I went and stood next to another Firebender who looked new. I knew he was a Firebender because he wore maroon and his aura practically screamed it. He looked down at me with a stink eye before returning to doing what I assumed was nothing. In fact, though, he was watching the men practicing. I decided to do the same.

One group of Firebenders was practicing a move that looked way too difficult for me. I only hoped that that wasn't what Iroh was going to put me through. One man had arms of fire that turned into tentacles, flying in the air and snapping at the other. The other skated away on fire skis in a way that was much faster and more graceful than anything I could accomplish.

"There you are!" I started and looked up into a pair of molten golden eyes. Iroh was already frowning—that couldn't be good. He grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the front of the ship, away from all of the men practicing. Then I was forcefully pushed away from the General. "Where in Koh's name have you been?"

I blinked up to the man and partially wanted to cower but partially wanted to snap back. Instead I bit my tongue. Genji had said that my tone could get me thrown in the brig for a few days. I breathed like Mother used to tell me and looked into Iroh's eyes again. "I-I apologize, General. I wasn't sure what to do, so I decided to observe the Firebenders. I didn't know that so much could be done with bending!"

He looked star-struck for just a moment before he shook his head to snap out of it. Then he was back to his normal, stoic look that looked neither approving nor unhappy. "Well from now on, you will be at the door to my quarters before the second bell. You'll get away with it today, but in the future, there will be a punishment."

I nodded. At least he's fair. "Yes sir!"

The Prince stared at me for a moment, not saying anything. I prayed to the Spirits that my uniform was correct and that I hadn't gotten anything on my face when eating. He simply just shook his head again and pulled something out of his pocket. "Before you become my second, you must first pass a series of tests. Your first is this: keep the fire from consuming this leaf."

My first thought was, Where did he get a leaf at in the middle of the ocean? My second was, I actually know how to do this! And last was, How long is he going to make me sit here and do this? I took the leaf and sat. He touched one finger to the center of the leaf and let it start to burn. I controlled the flame and closed my eyes.

"Not even a complaint?" he asked with a strange tone to his voice.

I shook my head but didn't open my eyes. "The first steps to Firebending are breathing, meditating, and patience. My mother used to make me do this when I tried her patience. I had to learn some, too."

There was silence for a while. Finally, he said, "Good. I'll be back for you at the ringing of the next bell."

I tensed only a little and lost concentration for only a moment. I have to sit here for eight hours? The longest I've done this is three! Still, I took a deep breath and didn't say anything. Instead I focused all of my energy on keeping the fire from completely destroying the leaf. I let myself get lost in the flow of energy through me, in the feel of the leaf in my hands, and in the swaying of the ship beneath me.

I was finally going to learn Firebending...even if it meant keeping a leaf from burning to a crisp for eight hours first.

III

Iroh took a few steps away and simply observed the boy sitting at the prow of his ship. Now that he was clean, his skin was actually pretty pale. Especially for a commoner. He was incredibly scrawny, which made sense, him being a peasant and all. It made Iroh feel just a little guilty for making the kid miss lunch. Still, it was the first of many tests that the boy had to get through and Iroh was sure that this wouldn't be the first meal he'd ever missed.

There were two things that surprised him—one was that the kid didn't even complain when given the boring, tedious mission of keeping a leaf from burning. Every man, woman, or child he'd practiced with or had taught had practically spit on the leaves they'd been given. It had been 'beneath' them. Then again, everyone he knew who had gone through the challenge had been nobles or higher. Never had he trained someone—or trained with someone—as low in the hierarchy as the boy sitting in front of him.

The other thing that surprised him were the boy's eyes. He still couldn't get the girl from Jang-Hui's frightened eyes out of his mind. The way she'd fought against him, desperate, trying to destroy the men who'd hurt her family...he still had nightmares from the dead civilians surrounding him. He kept seeing pictures of his men's faces who had sacrificed their lives to protect the innocents of the village.

But, once again, this boy wasn't that girl. If anything, they were somehow related, but even that was a far shot. Rather than think on that anymore, Iroh decided to make up a few more tests for the boy. He was interested to see what the boy would take before he started to snap.

III

Eight hours later and the boy hadn't moved from his spot. Iroh was actually impressed—even he would have lost concentration around six hours or so. He was even more impressed when he stepped up to the boy and saw that the flame he'd put on the leaf hadn't burned more than a half a centimeter out from its original position.

"Huo," he said, trying not to let the tone show how impressed he actually was. The kid didn't open his eyes so Iroh bent down and gently jostled his shoulder. "Hey, Huo, your time is up."

The boy jumped and the leaf turned to ash beneath his hands. His panicked eyes turned calm only for a moment before he realized that his leaf was gone. "G-General, I'm so sorry! It was alright just a second ago—"

"You're fine, you passed." He found the boy's nervousness endearing. "You were doing some serious meditating, there."

Huo blushed and stood up shakily. His legs had probably fallen asleep. "Yeah, I like to meditate during that exercise. It keeps me from burning too much of the leaf during long periods of time. Also keeps me from falling asleep." The shit-eating grin on his face made Iroh smile a little, too.

Iroh wasn't as tuned in to the Spirit World as his grandfather, but he could definitely tell that this boy was connected mentally and physically. Whether or not he knew it, well, that was another question. "You did well. You're welcome to go and grab some dinner, a shower, and some sleep. The next few tests won't be as easy."

Just as he'd taken the leaf without complaint, the boy just nodded. He knew he had a long road coming.