The coastal town on the edge of the Mo Ce Sea was bigger than any I'd ever seen. I actually felt a little claustrophobic as I walked through the busy streets, catching glimpses of the huge, black metal warships docked there rising above the buildings, all carrying the emblem that was burned into my chest. It was especially nerve wracking seeing all the soldiers around, but because the city was so full of people, no one gave me a second glance as I approached the docks. Trying to control the nervous heat in my chest, I walked up to the first soldier I saw, a young man with a surprisingly kind face who was looking over a load of cargo beside a ship.

"Excuse me," I said, standing in front of him. He smiled at me and raised his eyebrows. "I'm looking for a ride into the Fire Nation, are any of these ships taking passengers?"

"This ship isn't, but mine is," he said. "We're taking refugees on our way back home. Are you a citizen?" I nodded. "Can I see your papers?" I took out Zhin's documents and handed them to him. He asked me the same questions about my connections and I told him the bastard story, fully expecting him to drop his polite façade. Instead of looking at me with disgust, though, he gave me a sympathetic glance before handing the papers back. "What's your name?"

Something about him made me want to trust him and I couldn't help but feel I shouldn't give him a fake name. After all, I was far enough from my village that I would just be one of a hundred other refugees and this soldier probably wouldn't remember me, anyway. "Rei."

He bowed to me with a smile. I bowed back somewhat clumsily in my surprise. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Tomi." He studied me for a moment before glancing behind me and saying, "Rei, if you'd like to wait a moment, I'm almost done here and I can escort you on board my ship. Due to your… uh, situation, you might get hassled if you show your papers to the soldiers in charge of refugee affairs."

I blinked in shock before narrowing my eyes. "That's awfully kind," I said, suspicion plain in my voice. Even if I were dealing with the nicest Fire Nation soldier alive, there was no way he was that accommodating.

He chuckled. "Let's just say I can understand your situation. Trust me, it's your best bet."

I studied him for a few moments before I sighed and threw caution to the wind. If he was a bastard himself, it could be that he'd had plenty of unpleasant experiences with the Fire Nation, too. "Thank you, that would be a great help."

I stood a few paces behind Tomi as he counted the crates and made notes on a pad. I didn't know enough about the soldiers to know what rank he was by his uniform, but it was different from most of the ones I'd seen, which made me think that he must have been more than just a foot soldier. His helmet was outfitted with a long tail of black hair spilling from the crown. I'd never seen this before, and I found myself hoping that wasn't his actual hair. I couldn't help thinking that would look ridiculous, and I didn't want him to look ridiculous. Maybe it was because of my newfound identity, but I wanted to know that there were people from the Fire Nation that could be kind, smart, and not hilariously misplaced by birth. He took off his helmet after just a couple minutes- it was really too hot outside to wear it for long. The hair was part of the helmet to my relief, and when he took it off, his own hair was shoulder-length and black. While his face was a bit too round to be considered handsome by most definitions, it wasn't a bad face, and his dark eyes seemed to smile, even as he counted crates. Twenty minutes later, I decided to like Tomi. When he finished his work and turned to me with a smile, I smiled back and let him lead me toward a smaller ship docked a short distance away.

When we rounded the corner to the side of the ship that opened into the hull, we came upon a huge line of maybe two hundred people queuing up to board the ship. My eyes went wide as I took in the sheer number. I'd heard that some of the regular citizens settled in the "colonies" were going back to the Fire Nation, but I never thought there were so many colonists fleeing the Earth Kingdom… Maybe this war wasn't going as badly for the rest of us as I first thought. If the colonies were no longer safe for Fire Nation citizens, it could be because the tides were starting to turn against them. That angry part of me relished the thought that my people intimidated these refugees enough to run back to that burning piece of land. Tomi led me past the line of refugees, most of whom eyed me with jealous anger at seeing another refugee being taken straight to the front of the line. I kept my gaze on Tomi's feet in front of me, knowing that if I met their eyes, they'd see nothing but triumph. As far as I was concerned, they deserved to be driven from the land they invaded in the first place.

Tomi and I were stopped after we climbed the ramp and reached the huge doors cut into the side of the ship. After a few whispered words with the soldiers there, Tomi led me into the ship with a smile. I kept my gaze down, but couldn't help but look around the ship. The doors opened into a huge cavern that seemed to span from the bottom of the hull all the way to what had to be the underside of the deck, about forty feet in all, with landings layering the sides of the ships, doors dotted periodically around them.

"The bottom floors are the refugee barracks," Tomi said beside me. "The rest are for crew and officers." I nodded and followed when he turned right. I expected to be led down towards the barracks, but he climbed a staircase.

My heart started to beat faster as I wondered where he was taking me. "We're not going to the barracks?" I asked, following him.

"We are, I just want to show you where I'm staying in case you have problems and need to see me," he said without turning around.

I stopped halfway up the staircase, forcing him to pause and turn to raise a questioning eyebrow. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why are you doing all this?"

He lifted the corner of his mouth in a wry smile. "You don't have a lot of faith in people."

"They don't have a lot of faith in me," I replied.

"Consider it my good deed for the week." When I still looked suspicious, he descended so he stood close to me, then looked around to check that we were alone. "I know what it's like to be… ostracized for something you can't control. I'm just trying to give you an easy time, here."

I studied him for a long time, trying to find some hint of deception in his face, but I couldn't. I finally let him lead me to his rooms, but I wouldn't go inside. He huffed and told me to wait while he grabbed something. I stood outside his door and listened to him rustle around in there, darting nervous glances up and down the hall. It was only a few seconds before he emerged again, leaving the door open behind him. "Here," he said, holding out a round wooden chip with the Fire Nation emblem etched on one side, and the name of the ship on the other.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's a sign of status. If anyone gives you a hard time, show them this and tell them you're under Weapons Master Tomi's protection." My expression must have been growing more and more suspicious because he said, "Look, I know you don't trust me. And I know that you don't have any reason to, but just take it. It can't hurt."

I heaved a sigh and let him drop the chip into my hand. "Guess it can't."

He smiled and said, "Just follow the staircases down two stories and you'll be in the barracks. It's just bunks, so sleep with your things and keep that chip close."

With a hesitant smile, I thanked him and turned to walk down the staircase. When I looked back, the corridor was empty and Tomi's door was closed. I slipped the chip in my pocket and made my way downstairs, wondering if I'd ever get used to the smoky, metallic smell of the ship or the heat that always seemed to rise up from the engines. When I got to the barracks, a few other refugees were trickling down the stairs and claiming bunks. The room was long and narrow, with bunks lining both walls, leaving a narrow passage down the center. I'd guess that the other side of the ship had similar accommodations. Since I was one of the first down there, I managed to get a bunk right next to a window. A few of the ones I'd skipped in line shot me dirty looks, and I placed my hand over the chip in my pocket, finding comfort from the fact that it was still there, just in case. After a couple hours, the sound of the huge doors closing over our heads rang out and the roar of the engines starting filled the room. Faster than I thought was possible, we were pulling away from the dock and heading out of the cove, toward the Fire Nation. A chill went through me, but I took a deep breath and brought to mind the familiar fantasy of seeing Kenshin's face twisted in pain. I smiled as the sky grew dark and the torches lit along the walls.

I lay back on my bunk, using my bag as a pillow, and tried to sleep, but the noise of the rest of the refugees settling in was making it impossible. I'd only been laying there for about an hour before I felt a hard tap on my shoulder. A deep, impatient voice said, "Hey. S'cuse me."

I opened my eyes to see a middle-aged man standing over me. "Yeah?" I said.

"I'm with my family and we want our bunks together. Could we have this one?" His voice was just this side of rude, but I thought he was more tired than irritated with me. I looked behind him and saw a pretty woman and two small, energetic children settling into their bunks. Still, this was my bunk, and I was pretty tired of these people thinking they could have anything they wanted. My mom raised a polite, considerate healer of the Earth Kingdom, but we were on a Fire Nation ship, and I was Fire Nation.

"No, sorry, I claimed it already," I said, closing my eyes again.

"Come on, I just want us to be together," he said, exasperated.

"Then you should have come earlier."

My eyes were still closed so I was startled when I heard his voice much closer to my ear. "Hey, we were in that line a full three hours before you showed up. You don't have any right to that bunk, and if you don't move, I'll move you myself."

My eyes shot open just in time to see him make a grab for me. I spun quickly, ending up with my legs poised at his chest and my back to the end of the bed. I felt the heat from my chest rushing down my arms and worked to calm myself as he grabbed my ankle. Finally, I remembered what Tomi had said and fumbled in my pocket for the chip, yanking it out and shouting, "Stop! I'm under Weapons Master Tomi's protection. Don't touch me." I kicked his hands away as the rest of the barracks quieted and stared.

The man's eyes narrowed in disgust. "Maybe I should have let my wife fuck an officer. Then we could have any damn bunk we wanted, just like you," he sneered.

My eyes went wide and I glanced around at the other refugees who were all wearing similar expressions of disgust, some shaking their heads at me. The man backed away from my bunk and set up a blanket on the floor between his wife's bunk and his children's. Once I was sure no one was going to attack me again, I straightened my bed and lay back against the wall of the ship, feeling the hum of the engines in the wall. I examined the chip in my hand and starting putting the pieces together. This didn't just mean protection, it meant that I was… consorting. It meant that Tomi wanted people to know that I belonged to him. My jaw clenched in anger as I thought of his kindness. I should have known that no firebender did anything for anybody without expecting something in return. Well, I wasn't that desperate for protection, I could manage by myself. I resolved to go to Tomi's quarters the next morning and return the damn thing.

""""

I woke to the shrill sound of a horn blasting through the barracks and a male voice ringing out over the speakers that it was time for breakfast. I grumbled, but rolled myself to the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. Suddenly, my resolve from the day before rushed back into my consciousness and I shot out of bed, hoping to catch Tomi before he went to breakfast. I fell asleep in my clothes, so it was a simple matter of grabbing my bag and rushing out of the barracks and up the stairs to the officers' rooms before the other refugees were fully awake.

I was nervous walking past the soldiers and officers on the upper floors, but none of them looked surprised to see me there, just gave me looks that varied from appraising and interested to bored and disgusted. I doubted that Tomi told all of them that I was his… whatever, but it seemed that young refugee women heading up to the officers' corridors was a regular occurrence. I told myself not to let their judgments affect me, but my cheeks still burned red and I couldn't help feeling somewhat ashamed. I hurried to Tomi's door and knocked.

I heard a muffled, "Coming," before the door opened and Tomi was standing in the doorway, holding a bowl of oats and dressed in casual, red clothes. He looked surprised to see me, but quickly smiled around a mouthful of food.

Before he could say anything, I took the chip out of my pocket and shoved it at him. "Look, I don't know what you were expecting from me, but I'm not some whore. You can have this back," I tried to keep my voice steady against that traitorous hurt.

He chewed slowly and studied my face, glancing down at the chip I was holding out for him. He swallowed and shook his head, saying, "I'm not expecting anything."

"I'm not stupid, I know what this means." I shook the chip to emphasize my words.

He clenched his jaw and glanced up and down the hall before stepping aside, leaving his doorway open. "Come inside," he said.

"No. I just came to give this back to you and tell you thanks, but no thanks." There was just a touch of sarcasm in my voice.

He sighed and turned to set his bowl down on a desk behind him, which held a few pictures and a lot of what looked like business papers. When he turned back to me, his face was sad. "Please," he said, "would you let me explain?"

With a gesture to follow him, he turned and walked further into his room. Now, I thought about just tossing the chip in the room and walking away, but I was curious. After an angry sigh, I followed him, but I didn't let the door close behind me. Once he turned to face me and saw the door was open, he rolled his eyes and walked around me to close it. I took the time to glance around his quarters. It was small, with a narrow bed, a sparse wardrobe, and the desk sitting beneath the window. There was a Fire Nation banner above the bed. My nose wrinkled and I tried my best to smooth it before I faced Tomi again.

"Okay," I said, "Thank you for taking me on board and letting me skip that huge line, but I'm not going to sleep with you for it. If you'd explained what this," I held up the chip again, "meant yesterday, I would never have accepted it."

I expected him to sneer and call me a prude or threaten me, or something like that, but I didn't expect him to drop his head and stare at his feet. He raised a hand to rub at his forehead and I narrowed my eyes, confused at his behavior. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have told you what it meant, but I didn't think it would matter. I don't expect anything from you."

I didn't let my guard down. "Why?"

He raised his head to give me a wry smirk. "Trust me."

"No, you said that yesterday and I had to go through a pretty humiliating scene downstairs. I'm short on trust."

He moved towards me with a gentle expression and I think he was just trying to comfort me, but I was already on edge and I wasn't expecting it. My eyes started to lose focus and I could feel the fear rushing through me. To my horror, Tomi's face melted into Kenshin's and suddenly I was back in my home, Kenshin's huge body shoved up against mine. I quickly backed up, but my back met with a cold metal wall and so the only thing I could do was raise my hands and let the fire consume them.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted. My heart was pounding and I knew that I wasn't reacting right, but I couldn't do anything to stop myself from panicking.

"Rei, calm down! I'm sorry, I'm not touching you!" he was backing up to the other side of the room, his hands held out from his sides, showing me that he wasn't threatening me. I tried to calm down, reminding myself that I wasn't anywhere near Kenshin, and that I could protect myself. I wasn't in danger, I wasn't in danger, I wasn't in danger. "Rei, it's all right. Just put your fire out."

My heart was still beating from my panic and I was having a hard time drawing the fire back in. I looked around the room for something to help, but this sparse, metal room was short on dirt or water. My eyes filled with scared, angry tears. "I can't. I don't know how!" I waved my hands frantically through the air, desperate to calm the flames, but at a loss as to how.

"It's okay," Tomi's voice was deliberately calm. "I can help, but I have to come over there." I concentrated on his kind face as he approached, telling myself over and over that his features looked nothing like Kenshin's. I held my hands out to him, the fire growing higher, and he reached for them. I saw a tiny flame in both of his palms before he placed them on mine, reaching from the tops of the fire and quelling them as he brought his hands down. The firebenders outside my hut the night Kenshin attacked me did something similar and I breathed a sigh of relief when Tomi's hands rested on mine, all traces of fire gone except for a thin trail of grey smoke.

I was breathing hard, tears clouding my vision, but mostly they were from embarrassment. I couldn't believe I'd lost control like that in front of one of them, no matter how kind he seemed to be. Tomi was still holding my hands, so I gently withdrew them, clasping them together in front of my body. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"What the hell happened to you out there?" he said quietly.

I looked up to see his eyes were full of sympathy and I collapsed. I slid down the wall to settle in a heap on the floor next to his bed. For so long, I'd had to be strong, keep up every defense. I'd been ready for another attack, but his kindness was disarming. I couldn't help it, I told him about Kenshin. I told him about living in the Earth Kingdom, but I couldn't tell him about my family, or Zuko, or anything that wouldn't fit with the story that I was the bastard of a Fire Nation contractor. It felt good to talk about it, but a part of me felt I was choking on all the things I couldn't tell him. He sank down to sit in front of me, his elbows resting on his knees.

"I'm so sorry," he said once I was finished. "I'd never have given you the chip if I'd known… I don't know."

"If you'd known… that I was almost forced by a soldier? You can understand why I jumped to the worst conclusions."

He nodded. "Can I see it?" He glanced down at my shirt and after a moment's hesitation I pulled down my collar to expose the tops of my scar. "The Fire Nation is so cruel sometimes. So many people suffer for it to be great." His voice was full of sarcastic bitterness.

My brows drew together. "That's treason, you know."

"So is attacking a soldier," he said with a smile.

I laughed, but quickly grew serious. This was one of the most bizarre conversations I'd ever had. "Tomi, why are you doing this? Really."

He stared at me for a long time, working out some kind of inner struggle. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "You trusted me… I should trust you. My father is a very prominent politician in the Capital. He always wanted me to follow him into politics. I'm his only son, you see, so he pinned a lot of hopes on my marrying well, gaining favor within all the right social circles and securing him even more into the fabric of the Fire Nation," he said grandly, waving a hand as if he were speaking at a podium. I smiled and waited for him to continue. "Anyway, I didn't quite fit into his plans."

"So you wanted to be a Weapons Master instead of a politician?"

"No, I wanted to be a schoolteacher. I was tossed here by my dear father after I told him I had no intention of marrying the woman he'd picked and going into politics. He's currently waiting for me to come to my senses."

"Why don't you leave? Just cut yourself away from your father."

"That's easier said than done. First, he has so much influence in the Fire Nation, I'd have to live in the colonies and I'm not even sure I'd be safe there. Second… he could easily have me arrested if I were to defy him."

"How could he arrest you? Even the Fire Nation must have some kind of due process?"

"We do, but I… I am guilty of a crime." He paused before he said, "Remember when I told you I knew what it was like to be ostracized?" I nodded. Instead of continuing, Tomi got to his feet and moved over to the wardrobe. He dug around in it for a moment before taking out a framed painting. Wordlessly, he handed me the painting. It was a portrait of a handsome young man with long, straight black hair, and the red and gold robes of a nobleman. There was writing on the portrait that said, "My love, stay safe. I'll be waiting, Nobu." My eyes grew wide and I stared up at Tomi.

"I told you. You have nothing to fear from me."

I just wanted to take a second to thank you guys for reading this story. I never expected a big following for it, considering the focus on an OC, but I'm so glad that some readers are enjoying it. I'll definitely continue to update it because I'm having an awesome time writing it, so even if I only had one reader, I'd still post it all. Anyway, you guys are great and we'll see some Zuko very soon!