A/N: Thank you for clarifying where things made little sense, and I'm really sorry that my thoughts are very jumbled up right now . I'm so sick right now that I can barely breathe, let alone think straight… I have edited the ending of the previous chapter, so be sure to check that out before beginning chapter 6. ^.^; Also I'm sorry my updates are more spread out, but I've been spending more time fighting disease than writing. I'll even make this chapter longer than usual to make up for it. Enjoy :)
Fire Fighter
There was a meeting between the main heads of each panel of crewmembers, a few moons later. Zuko and Iroh were the banished royals, but they were still held high in respect, so they sat at the front of the group. The rest were all situated around a metal desk, maps laid out across the top, in the captain's deck.
Zuko studied the map carefully, looking at the area they were currently in. His Uncle was unsure what his nephew's plans were, as usual, but usually he never succeeded. Zuko looked up, still without a plan. "Give me a report about each of your panels." He ordered, looking at all of them sternly.
The first to speak was the Captain of the ship, clearing his throat to direct attention to himself. "We have no set course, Prince, but we are traveling in the direction that the Avatar seems to be heading. We speculate he is on his way to the Earth Kingdom, perhaps to complete his training." His voice was level and he showed no sign of uneasiness as he reported, however he subconsciously hoped this wasn't bad news to the Fire Prince.
Zuko simply nodded, looking at the Head Chef now. "How are our food provisions? How long will we last until we need to dock and resupply?" the scarred young man inquired. The chef took a moment to recall the supply listings of the morning before replying. "About two more weeks, sir, on a rationed diet, is left of the food. The water supply, however, is running dangerously low. We will need to dock at the nearest port for water, and we can resupply our food provisions as well." He stated, his voice sounding raspy, as it had always been. He was a bit of a plump fellow, a food lover, yet he was very reliable when it came to rationing. He wasn't known to take extra food for himself, and his work in the kitchen was remarkable. Worthy to be in a restaurant, Iroh thought of him.
Zuko looked at the map once more and found a close port, about two day's journey from their current location. "Here, it is Fire Nation controlled… We might have better chance of resupplying at Fire Nation ports than other nations'." He explained quietly. Iroh was impressed that Zuko was so skilled at setting courses and leading people, since he was very young.
The rest of the meeting was spent going over the activity done over the past month, and was dismissed an hour after. Zuko did not exactly enjoy meetings, especially with the bad experience he had, but he understood how crucial they were. If he did not preset a course for his crew, they would veer off course, or try to commit mutiny of some sort. Such were Fire Nation people.
Meanwhile, the Avatar had set his course to Ba Sing Se, although he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to simply fly into the bustling capital on Appa. Katara was busy washing out some of Sokka's clothing, using her bending to her advantage. Sokka, the "warrior," sat with the map in front of him, upside down. "Does anyone understand this?" he asked a bit loudly. Katara took a glimpse at the map, before rolling her eyes and going back to work. "It's upside down, genius." She pointed out. Sokka turned the map around and his cheeks went a light shade of red. "I knew that! I was just trying to look at it from all angles, you know?" he said nervously. Katara nodded, "Yeah yeah, I believe you."
Sokka sighed, looking out over Appa's saddle. He furrowed his brows after a moment, seeing something gleaming in the ocean. "Aang… I think we're being followed." He said worriedly. Aang's eyes widened and he jumped to the back, looking at the spot Sokka had pointed out. "Oh no…" he whispered. After a moment, his expression became a bit annoyed, "Why does he keep following me…? Isn't there something better he could be doing? He's a Prince, for goodness sake!" Katara stared at Aang, trying to remember what the Prince had told her the other day.
Zuko took the tray of food from Katara, expecting her to rush off as was usual. This morning, however, she stood still before him, eying him suspiciously. "Why do you want the Avatar so badly? What will capturing him accomplish?" she inquired, looking very irritated. Zuko didn't answer her until after a moment, looking away as he did. "I want my honor, my kingdom back. My father hates me, and the only way to get his love is to bring him the ultimate prize… the Avatar, the one obstacle keeping him from absolute rule." He said quietly, his expression losing its usual composure. Hesitantly, he grabbed one of her hands and put it on his scar, holding it tight lest she would cringe and pull away. Katara couldn't help but frown at the banished prince, trying to pull her hand from his iron grip. "My father did this to me, it is what marks me as a failure… I wish to right my mistakes while I have my second chance." Katara felt his grip eventually loosen, and she quickly pulled her hand away, brows furrowed, eyes narrowed. Yet again, she had that strange feeling of sympathy for him, yet burning hatred attempted to counter it. Wanting only to despise her captor, Katara swiftly turned away, leaving to finish her chores. She didn't glance back at the troubled young man.
Katara snapped out of the memory after a moment, looking out over Appa's saddle. She stared at the passing landscapes, thinking to herself. Sokka and Aang noticed this, a worried glance exchanged. "Katara… Did Zuko tell you something?" Sokka asked quietly. She looked at him and shook her head gently, not wanting to tell either of them anything that might make the Fire Nation prince seem human. "He's evil, Sokka. That's all I know." She said quietly, a hand clenching her mother's pendant. Aang nodded in agreement with Katara, crawling back to the reins. "Let's make camp somewhere. We could all use some sleep." He said. The water tribe siblings nodded, preparing their things.
Zuko stood on the deck, staring at the gray dot in the sky that must've been Appa. He growled when it began to move towards the ground, obviously to stop for the evening. Zuko wanted to go inland and sneak up on the Avatar while he slept, but his guards' metal suits might wake him up. An easier solution would be to go alone, but then the other two would definitely attack him. There was no point wasting energy over night on his dully thought out plan, so he simply shot a blast of fire at the bison in anger. It had just gone below the tree line, the blast setting a distant pine on fire. "Maybe that'll burn them…" he said quietly. His Uncle came out, shaking his head. "Nephew, why are you creating forest fire? Nature is a delicate balance and should not be tampered with for anger release. I want you to go in there and set out the fire." Zuko looked at his uncle in shock, with an obstinate expression. "Why should I do the work of a water bender?" he asked a bit harshly. Iroh simply ordered the captain to lower the anchor near land.
Katara bended herself a whip of water from her hip-pouch, attempting to douse the spreading fire. "It was Zuko! He's trying to kill us!" Sokka exclaimed. Aang tried to help Katara douse the flames, bending water the best he could. "I think that was his goal from the beginning, Sokka." The young air bender retorted. Flames engulfed the area at an alarming rate, making Appa uncomfortable and start to grumble. The group was definitely not in a good position.
A moment passed and suddenly the flames began to die down, Katara finishing them off with a swipe of water. Sokka stared into the ashy terrain, "Who's there? I know you're out there! This wasn't a natural fire…" No reply came. After a moment, there was a familiar yell, and Zuko hurtled out of the forest, missing Aang by an inch. Aang blew a gust of air with his staff and flew out of his grasp, shock in his eyes. "Katara run! It was a trap!" he yelled, twirling his staff and floating higher. Katara nodded, beginning to run into the burnt forest. Zuko growled as he grabbed at Aang's feet. When he realized the air bender was too far from his grip, he shot fire at Katara, burning the backs of her heels and rendering her immobile. Zuko quickly ran to her side, grabbing her as prisoner once more. She snarled at him, using her water bending to heal the burn while it was fresh, before hitting Zuko with much force. He raised his fist, about to shoot fire at her again, before he remembered a scene from his dreams.
A giant orange flame engulfed the small child as the Fire Lord laughed. He shot another, and then another blast, until there was nothing left of the child.
Zuko hesitated to burn Katara, for the humanity of it, and instead punched her face, causing her to scream and water bend at him again. Zuko snarled at her and held both of her hands behind her back, limiting her bending range. "Either the Air bender comes with me, or I take the water tribe girl. Come forward, Avatar, if you want the pretty little thing to live!" he yelled up at the sky, where Aang hid perched in a tree. Aang couldn't stand the thought of Zuko keeping Katara away from him, but he didn't want to surrender so easily.
Sokka, however, had been waiting for the right moment. "Go boomerang!" he yelled a bit awkwardly, the angled weapon striking Zuko's head from the left. Sokka then caught the returning weapon, and ran for Zuko, attacking him like a wild man. Zuko growled at the pestering brother of Katara, and gripped her arm a bit tighter. "Do you want to see your little sister in flames?" he asked harshly, lighting his free palm on fire. Sokka's eyes widened and he immediately hit Zuko in the back of the head with as much force as he could muster. The dazed Fire Nation prince fell forward, unconscious, on top of Katara, who tried to kick his limp body away.
"Looks like the tables have turned…" she said quietly, dusting herself off and setting the puppet-like body on the ashy forest floor. Aang flew down, smiling at Sokka. "Nice work there! Now what to do with his body…" the young Avatar contemplated after a moment, not wanting to harm the Fire Prince. Sokka's eyes gleamed for a moment. "I say we throw him into the ocean and let him drown. Then we won't have to worry about some lunatic man chasing us around the world. It'll make the Avatar's training go so much smoother." Katara and Aang both frowned at Sokka, no matter how right he was. Katara lightly nudged the body with her foot, half-expecting the prince to wake up and spring to his feet, attacking her again. Aang finally shook his head, "We can't just drown him. He's a person too. Let's take him back to his ship, at least this time he'll know we're much stronger than him…"Aang concluded. Katara nodded lightly, going to the shocked air bison and starting to prepare him for flight.
Zuko, although unconscious, could hear everything the young kids said. He wondered to himself why the Avatar would want to keep him alive, instead of take his friend's good idea of throwing him into the ocean to drown. He couldn't quite understand the air bender's logic, but he was grateful he wouldn't be killed. Mistakes, he realized, were something he made one too many. Had he not attacked the Avatar, perhaps he wouldn't be unconscious. Oh well, he thought, nothing to do now except wait for my body to come back…
Although it was vague, Zuko could sense some type of warmth near his body, as if he was being held close to someone. His thoughts were brought to his mother, and how she would always stroke his hair when he couldn't sleep. She would sit there, for hours if she needed to, whispering soothing words and waiting for her soon to over-come his nightmares and go back to sleep. Sometimes she would forget to go back to her own room, and Zuko would be pleasantly surprised to awake cradled in her arms. It was such a contrast to how his father used to treat him.
After his banishment, Zuko seemed to mean nothing to his father. If he ever became ill, he would send a maid to check on him and give him what he needed, but never did he show any real concern. Perhaps, he thought, this was the reason why the Fire Lord was able to scar his own child… because he had already built up enough anger and hatred that it would be easy to take it out on a mere adolescent. How could anyone contain such anger within themselves? Zuko could not figure out the answer, so he left the thought, trying once more to reach back to his body, and wake up. He strained, but to no avail. He was going to be unconscious for awhile.
So he took to listening to his surroundings. He could hear the wind in his ears, as Appa soared across the sky. He wondered how it would feel if he was awake… perhaps like a ship? He tried to keep in his curiosity about the Avatar's daily life. How did they sleep at night, knowing that at any moment a wild animal could attack, or someone could steal their possessions…? Zuko knew he wouldn't be able to sleep through the worry. There were many things he took for granted, that the Avatar probably had to fret greatly about… albeit, the Avatar was but a kid, no older than himself. How could he handle all of it? He was the Avatar, sure, but he was only human… Zuko snapped out of his thoughts, realizing he was actually trying to understand his foe. If only he could wake up, he was right in their midst.
After a moment, Katara noticed that the fire bender was just beginning to stir. "Guys… Get ready to hold him down." She said quietly. She had been sitting rather close to him, afraid he might fall over if Appa ever made a swift turn. She knew that he was the enemy, but she didn't want to think about what might've happened had she let him roll off Appa's side. Aang was right; Zuko was human, even if that wasn't fair. She didn't want to have to sympathize with her enemy, but when it came to humanity… She shook herself out of her thoughts, ready to freeze or attack the prince.
Zuko's eyes shot open, and he shot straight up, thinking this was all a bad dream. When he saw just how high up in the sky he was, his skin became just a shade paler. He couldn't help but look over the side of Appa, seeing nothing but ocean and trees below. He glanced back at the Avatar and his friends, hoping they wouldn't decide to throw him over. "Just don't try anything stupid, and we'll have you at your ship." Aang said quietly, trying to keep the peace. Zuko was reluctant to make any sort of treaty with the Avatar, but right now the opposite party had the advantage. Zuko nodded, as his agreement.
"Why didn't you just kill me while you had the chance?" Zuko asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at the group. Katara looked away, not sure how to answer. Aang looked straight at Zuko, hoping the fire bender wouldn't go back on his word and become hostile. "We didn't kill you because you're a human too, Zuko. I don't have the right to take away the life you were given. You will have your own time." He explained carefully. Zuko scoffed, sitting cross legged. "How can I be sure you won't just push me off the side?" he asked skeptically. Katara smirked, "We can't be sure of you either, Prince." He frowned lightly at her tone, but realized she had a point. It was an eye for an eye in this situation. He sighed softly, staring out at the clouds. Zuko felt like a prisoner in this situation, unable to do anything other than sit.
Katara noticed that the fire bender hadn't moved away from her, so she scooted away, more towards her brother. She didn't want to talk in Zuko's presence, but Sokka held her hand reassuringly. She smiled softly at him, holding his hand tightly. He was as hesitant as she was about this.
Zuko glanced at them, a pained look striking his face. He remembered how Azula would treat him, always trying to be better. She could care less what happened to him, because she was power greedy. All she cared about was herself, which Zuko would guess she inherited from their father. He remembered all the times she would tease him, and then he saw how close Sokka and Katara were. They acted like a true family, while Zuko had no one apart from his Uncle.
"Uncle…" he said to himself. The old man was probably worried out of his mind. He had sent his nephew to put out a few flames, but hours afterwards he hadn't come back. Zuko hoped that his crazy uncle hadn't sent a search party for him. They would be wasting their time.
A silent hour passed, before Sokka finally couldn't take the awkward silence anymore. "So! I'd bet you haven't ever ridden a flying bison before?" he asked a bit nervously. Zuko gave Sokka a strange look, but he nodded, looking back out over Appa's saddle. "It's amazing that an animal could fly like this." He remarked, more to himself than anyone. Sokka nodded, smiling a bit. "I didn't believe it at first."
Katara was glad the tense feeling was thinned, she felt like she could finally breathe again. She crawled over to where Aang sat, smiling at him. "How far are we?" she asked quietly. Aang looked out over Appa's head, then back at Katara, "Not long. Almost there…" he replied. He looked worried, though. The entire trip, he had been thinking about how Zuko might turn on them and attack. Katara put a hand on his shoulder, seeing the anxiety in his expression. "I'm sure it'll be okay. We just need to bide our time right." She assured him. Aang nodded with a soft smile, going back to the reins. How he loved having Katara with him on the journey.
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