The hours went by agonizingly slowly as the men spent yet another day traversing the ocean. They had not seen land in weeks, save for a that rapidly-disappearing coastline filled with rugged mountains that, despite its foreignness and rough inhabitability, now hung in their memories like a painting of the most fertile fields, or of the royal gardens in springtime.

As Li leaned against the railing, he imagined that, instead of the heavy scent of saltwater, he could smell the sweet perfume of fresh flowers as they waved to and fro in the gentle breeze. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not shut out the incessant crashing of the waves against the sides of the ship, nor could they still the steady rocking of the boat as it went over wave after wave after wave with seemingly no end in sight. There was only blue, blue, and more blue all around.

A sudden push woke him from his daydream.

"Li."

He turned lazily and saw Ren, who held his helmet under his arm, and two other soldiers who quickly lifted their masks to reveal themselves as Mao and Qin, before placing them over their faces once more. They, along with the rest of the men, had been trapped on this ship with General Iroh and Prince Zuko since the beginning, enduring endless sailing after endless sailing and unsure of how much more of such isolation was to come.

Ren looked quickly to either side.

"There's no one behind me?" he asked.

Li shook his head. "What's this about? You're behaving even more suspiciously than usual."

Ren shot him a glare before continuing. "We… need to speak with you about certain matters involving His Most Royal Highness, Prince Zuko," he said with a smirk, and Li almost could not hold back his laughter from the sarcasm that dripped heavy from his mouth.

"What about His Most Royal Highness?" Li asked with a soft chuckle.

This time, Mao answered. "We'd been considering for a while what were to happen if some sort of… particularly grievous injury was to befall the Great and Mighty Prince." His eyes darted about in much the same manner Ren's had.

"I'm listening," said Li.

Mao continued, "We were just thinking that… Oh, if something grievous were to somehow happen to the Great Prince, we might be… "forced"… to return home."

At this, Li raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? We can't possibly…" He looked about and made the motion of sawing a finger across his neck. He then spoke in a low whisper: "We ourselves would be put to death along with every other crewmember on this ship."

Qin shook his head at this. "We only mean that… this grievous, grievous injury might make him…. reconsider his…. his… Journey of Redemption. Perhaps he will just become the poor and unfortunate wandering exile his father, the Great Fire Lord Ozai, wanted him to be, and we… we poorer and more unfortunate in terms of status and endowment may return home to our poor and unfortunate little families."

This only confused Li more, and his lack of understanding was plastered across his face. "I still don't understand what you me—"

"Listen," said Ren. "You have a wife at home, don't you?"

Li nodded. "I do."

"Good. I'm sure she misses you by now."

Li looked down at the metal deck.

"I'm sure you miss her, too."

Li didn't answer. Instead, as the seconds dragged on, his face grew more and more somber as the memories of his dearest wife, pregnant with their child, filled him. He never even learned the child's name, whether it was a son or a daughter, or if his wife had survived childbirth.

A hand on his shoulder brought his gaze back up. "Look at me," said Ren.

Li nodded solemnly.

"Do you understand? We're going to do to him what you do to your wife."

At this, Li's eyes opened wide as he spoke with a dumbfounded expression and bewildered tone, "I don't understand. Do you mean you want to— "

"You there!"

The men nearly jumped at the sound, before turning their heads to see Prince Zuko standing before them, irritated and impatient as ever. He stared into Ren's eyes with an almost hateful fervor.

"You," the prince pointed. Ren blinked stupidly.

"Yes, Sir?" asked Ren.

"I'm retiring to my chambers," said the prince. "Wake me if something happens."

"We will, Prince Zuko," said Ren, as he nodded his head and bowed slightly.

Mao and Qin were thankful that their helmets were able to conceal their smiles.

Prince Zuko stared at him for a few seconds, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he quickly settled his eyes on Ren, then Qin, Mao, and Li. Then, he nodded once in acknowledgement, turned on his heels, and walked calmly down to the quarterdeck.

A long silence as the men stood patiently, listening to the waves crashing and the breeze blowing, and none of them moving at all, save for their deep and regular breaths.

"So?" asked Qin, shattering the tense nothingness as he looked out into the newly-formed dusk. He stared hard at Li, and soon Li could feel Ren's and Mao's gazes upon him as well, watching him closely and judging his every movement.

"So?" Qin repeated, "What will it be? Are you going to participate in our… encouragement?"

Li took a deep breath, and even though he had watched Zuko exit the area with his own eyes he still felt the need to look around carefully before speaking in a low tone: "What are you thinking? If anything happens to the prince, we're all going to pay for it. Whether that's murder or… whatever it is you're planning, it doesn't matter. As soon as he tells Iroh or his father, we're done for. He may be exiled, but I don't think the Fire Lord will take kindly to… that… happening to his son. Of all the insane—"

Mao stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"Li, what makes you think he'll tell anyone?"