Chapter 7: Fanning the Flame

Dear Diary,

Sorry about the long delay between entries, but life has been hectic. Dango has accidently stabbed his foot with a kitchen knife when we were preparing a pig-chicken. He was in a fluster and as he rushed about he fell off the counter and kinda…well…I think you get the general idea.

Honestly diary, he's a good boss and a good cook, but he's just so clumsy sometimes. It's a wonder he's managed to not chop off both his arms and a leg by now.

Thankfully Chan managed to treat him before he fainted from blood loss, so hopefully he'll be alright soon. However since he's out of action that means that I've been working like a dog to fill in for him.

It's not been easy. I've barely even have time to sit and eat in peace let alone rest. For a whole week I've been working from five in the morning till midnight or one in the night, cooking all the meals and washing all the dishes alone.

It doesn't help that Akan is up to his usual antics. No he doesn't try to hurt me anymore, but he does like to jeer and curse at me whenever he gets a chance, which just happens to be whenever my father and brother aren't in the room. Honestly if my father heard even a small snip of what that man calls me he'd be dead before he could open his mouth.

However I've just decided to do my work and ignore him. After all he's not worth it.

But even so, I'm still a bit confused as to why he has it in for me. In my two years on this ship I've never once disrespected the other guards, or even the other crewmembers unless they're truly at fault. But even that rarely happens. Most people on the ship are fairly nice and easy going. Also to be disrespectful to any of the higher ranks would have to mean dishonouring my father and my family and I could never do that.

Alright so that is not completely true. I have given that jerk Prince Zuko more trouble than I should, but even then he's not as nasty as Akan. He's cranky, weird and a jerk, yes. But not a scumbag.

Speaking of the Prince, ever since that night in the kitchen we've not actually fought at all. I know it sounds ridiculous but seriously for nearly three weeks, he has actually been doing his best to avoid me. Even when we're in the same room he does his best to not even looking at me.

It's odd and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's not breathing down my neck anymore but –

Knock-knock!

"Jade! Dango says its time for clean up duty"

"Alright I'm coming!"

Zuko's eyes opened a sliver as a fist tapped twice on a large metal door.

He was seated before his table in his room, on which four candles were burning brightly, flickering in time with each of his breaths as he meditated.

Must be uncle…

His brow furrowed softly. He had said he didn't want to be disturbed, but if his uncle wanted a word then it would be something important.

"Come in" he muttered and almost winced angrily when he saw that it was not his uncle, but Jade.

Her brown hair was tied back today in a high ponytail that swished lightly as she bowed her head with practiced courtesy, though her lips were pursed very stiffly.

"I have come to take back your breakfast tray" her voice was tenser than a bowstring, though it was not as forced as Zuko's as he made to clip:

"Close the door when you're done. I don't want any more distractions"

Jade nodded quietly, her eyes darting down as she quietly crept

As they moved Zuko faintly noticed the golden specks glimmer faintly in those green orbs as something like energy seemed to spark from deep within.

It's just the firelight. She's not a bender…

He reminded himself as he turned his back on her.

But even as she made to work, he couldn't help but listen.

She was pottering around doing her best to fiddle with the tray. The sound was very soft, so soft that in a normal place it would've been swallowed up by other noises. However the prince's quarters were nearly always so silent that even the softest of footsteps usually echoed around the dark metal walls.

Dark….

Zuko made to grimace down at the candles before him. All four were flickering gently, peacefully. Even as he inhaled deeply they barely grew or diminished in size which was not so bright and yet not that dim.

The perfect temperature.

Odd…

Zuko frowned. He rarely ever was this calm to achieve that, even when he was fully focused on his meditation

As he continued to ponder his ears pricked as the sound of quiet humming hit his ears.

Quietly and keeping as still as he could he tilted his head and chanced a small peek out of the corners of his eyes.

Jade was quietly collecting all the small bowls and cups he had scattered around his room and was wiping them with a dishcloth before stacking them neatly on the tray.

How can she be happy when she has to work such a menial task?

Zuko's brow furrowed even more when he saw a small smile grace her face, her rather common complexion somehow seeming to glow in the warm light of the candles.

Indeed the more the prince looked he found that most of her other individual features were rather simple. Not at all as sharp nor as fine as a lot of fire nation women. Her nose was delicate, she had full soft cheeks and her hair a definitely lighter shade of brown than the usual dark almost black hair.

True there were small things that were trademark fire nation, like her eyes. Though they were green and slightly on the round side, they did have a definite almond shape with a slight upwards tilt at the edges. Her body too, was more slender and lithe, and when she moved she had a sense of prideful determination, even if it was usually a quiet one.

However had she not been wearing her red serving robes, he still might have easily mistaken her for an earth kingdom girl.

There was a small tapping at the door again and both teenagers looked up just as Lord Iroh peeked his head through, a scroll held tight in his hands.

"Prince Zuko I-Ah good evening Jade!" Iroh smiled wide as Jade bobbed her head courteously as she wiped a cup.

"Good Evening Lord Iroh. I trust you had a good nap."

"Oh yes I did. And what a marvellous rest it was." Iroh yawned only to pause as he caught sight of the state of her messy white apron.

"My dear are you still cleaning?"

"It's quite alright sir" Jade nodded quietly. "This is my final chore for the day. After this I shall be able to sit and relax for a bit"

"That is just as well" Iroh quirked a concerned brow at her in almost grandfatherly fashion "You have been working hard, and whilst that is good in its own right, a little bit of rest is still wouldn't go amiss"

"I'll do my best to remember that. Thank you sir" Jade smiled gratefully as she picked up the tray and strode out the room.

Once she was gone Iroh turned back to look at his nephew, who had not moved an inch since his arrival.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Zuko beat him to it.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me, is if you have news about the Avatar"

The old general's smile fell as he gave a deep sigh.

"Well there is news Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset"

"Uncle," Zuko cut across calmly "You taught me that keeping a level head is the sign of a great leader. Now whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it."

"Alright then" but still Iroh nervously stroked his beard "We have no idea where he is"

"WHAT?!" Zuko roared and jumped to his feet.

As he did the four candles he had been meditating before, burst so that their flames converged in a giant burst of heat that flew up to the metal ceiling.

"You really should open a window in here" Iroh muttered as he flicked out a folding fan from the insides of his robes.

Zuko however was not interested

"Give me the map." He snapped as he snatched the scroll from his uncle's other hand as the older man made to explain.

"There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down."

"how am I going to find him uncle?" Zuko narrowed his eyes as he looked over the dotted lines drawn haphazardly over the map. "He is clearly a master of evasive manoeuvres"

"Or you have not simply found his pattern yet" came a voice and both Lord and Prince looked up as Jade quickly slid into the room.

"Sorry" she mumbled to Iroh, completely ignoring Zuko's look of outrage as she picked up her cleaning cloth and a mug of soapy water she had left on a nearby cabinet. "I almost forgot thi-"

"Get out" Zuko glowered at her, so fiercely that his amber eyes glinted like fire in the dim light.

But if he thought that it was going to scare her he was sorely mistaken.

Instead she pulled up to her fullest of heights, which was still shorter than him and narrowed her eyes back.

"Care to repeat that your highness?" she snorted.

"You heard me" he hissed. "Get out and do not disturb me again that's an order"

But Jade did not move. She only sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Seriously? You're going to play this card again"

"Get out!" he growled, the candles on the table flickering hotly as he did his best to restrain his anger

"Fine, fine! I'm finished anyways!" Jade waved him off as she stalked to the door. But when she reached it she paused and looked back over her shoulder.

Zuko was still glaring at her angrily, but there was something else in his expression that she couldn't quite fit. He seemed to be torn between embarrassment and confusion.

"Is ordering people about the only way you know how to ask for something?"

Zuko blinked. Her voice hadn't been terse or snappish, but soft and oddly…concerned. Indeed for a split second, the prince almost thought he saw pity stir in her eyes.

Her eyes…those jade green orbs that could stop him dead in his tracks…how he hated them.

With what felt like a great effort Zuko turned his head away to glower at the wall.

"Just go" he muttered.

But even as she turned to walk out, Zuko chanced a small glance, and felt his stomach churn a little with discomfort at the sight of the kitchen maid's slightly downcast face.

It didn't help his mood that he could feel his uncle's stern frown by his side.

"Prince Zuko I'm surprised at you" Iroh tutted shaking his head "Treating a young lady like that"

"It wasn't her place to comment"

"Nonetheless you could've still asked her to leave nicely"

"Even if I did, she probably still wouldn't have listened" Zuko mumbled, doing his best to avoid his uncle's narrowing eyes.

"Zuko we both know that is not true" Iroh shook his head, "Besides, she was only trying to be helpful-"

"She's not helpful" Zuko snapped "if anything she's a big distraction. She's so noisy and busy, it's hard to keep focus and-"

There was a loud snort and the prince quickly turned to see his uncle, not frowning, but grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" he frowned but as Zuko caught Iroh's eye, the old lord burst out laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Just a distraction! Ha-ha!" he chortled and clapped his very stunned nephew on the shoulder. "Oh my dear boy, if I had a copper piece for every time a young man said that I'd be richer than a king"

"Richer than a what? Uncle what are you talking about?"

But Iroh only continued to laugh.

He could not help it. Long had he waited for this moment to come and finally it seemed he was going to get much reward for his patience.

Dear Diary,

Hi it's me again. I know I only spoke to you an hour ago but still. You know how I told you the prince wasn't being as much of a jerk anymore, well turns out it was only too good to be true.

I honestly don't know what his deal is. Either he's completely ignoring me like any other pompous royal OR he's biting my head off for trivial reasons and watching me like a hawk.

He was doing that even as I was cleaning up, just like he did that night we left Earth Kingdom harbour. Just staring after me…and even now when he asked me to leave his room, he looked so-

"LAND HO!" a voice yelled.

Hold that thought.

"Hello there young miss, what can I get for yer?"

Had Jade not already seen so many things in her life she might have cringed at the sight of the very old fishmonger. It wasn't that he was unpleasant, indeed he had a most jovial air, but it did not help that he was missing or had cracked most of his yellowing teeth.

Instead however she smiled back sweetly and pointed to a couple of red scaled fish laying amongst the others.

"both of them please, and two and a half dozen of those tiger prawns" she added, looking at a box filled with large orange and black striped crustaceans, each one just as big as her entire hand and long spine like whiskers.

The old man looked surprised at the amount but when he looked over the girl's red clothing he shut his mouth and quickly nodded.

Jade's smile fell as the old fishmonger made to bag her items, mumbling darkly to his wife who stood beside him with another customer.

"Typical Fire Nation brats, always demanding more, more, more. Even when young they're so entitled. I just hope that Avatar deals with them soon"

It took all Jade had in her not to chuck her money into the old man's face as she quietly paid him.

It was always the same. No matter whatever earth kingdom port she went to, all the people took one look at her clothes and started whispering and muttering. She knew with the war going on they had every right to be hostile but even so…

She bit on her lip as she heard the old woman hiss back to her husband.

"Oh I agree. Speaking of the Avatar, have you heard he's on Kyoshi island. One moment sir it won't take long!" she called, her scowl quickly flickering to a wide fake smile, as her customer waited, tapping his foot impatiently.

Jade noticed with a gulp that it was Akan, who had been picking up a small fried snack. At the sound of the woman's rather carrying whisper he glanced sidelong at Jade and leered at her quietly as she accepted the fish in a wooden crate.

"Such a large crate for such a small girl"

"And you'd know all about small sizes wouldn't you?" Jade clipped back, pleased to see the guard's face turn redder than the red on his uniform.

"What-how-dare-" Akan spluttered

However before he could even snap at Jade, her back was already turned and she was walking off, giggling softly to herself.

Ha! Nailed him!

"The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island!"

Jade winced as she and another servant finished setting down both Zuko's and Iroh's breakfasts on their table.

However the prince had not taken any notice of them, as he jumped to his feet and began to storm off.

"Uncle ready the Rhino's!"

"Are you going to eat that?" Iroh pointed at the steaming cooked fish laid out before him.

"I was going to save it for later!" Zuko snapped snatching the fish from the table and storming off. As he passed Jade he shoved it into her hands.

"Put this away for later! I'll eat it when I come back"

Iroh pouted grumpily.

Well that was one good fish completely wasted!

Jade rolled her eyes but this time just kept her mouth shut. Arguing with the prince was exhausting and she already was tired from waking up early to prepare the meal.

Once the prince was out of sight she quietly placed the fish back in front of a still grumpy Iroh who blinked as the smell wafted before his nose.

"Didn't he say-"

"I'll make another when he comes back." Jade muttered softly "Besides it doesn't taste as nice when it's reheated"

"Then I shall eat all of it and waste nothing!" Iroh's face lit up delightedly and with a quick nod of thanks he began to plough through the fish.

Jade shook her head, a fond smile playing on her lips as she quietly made to exit the room.

Though she was of servant status, the old general always treated her and the whole crew with great respect and kindness. Not like his dear nephew.

How those two come from the same bloodline is beyond me

Jade shook out her head as she walked down the ship and towards the stables where the Komodo Rhino's were kept.

It was a warm place, the floor covered with so much straw that it felt like she was walking on grass.

If only I could…

She sighed heavily as she approached one of the large beasts which was just standing and masticating on a patch of hay. It grunted and turned its head towards her as she reached out to stroke one of its horns by its ears.

"You're in luck today boy" Jade muttered her fingers dancing over to scratch the rhino's ear "You get to go out onto shore leave with all your buddies. Now won't that be fun?"

She giggled as the Rhino grunted again, this time swallowing its mouthful of hay and leaning into her touch.

"Yeah. You like this don't you?" She cooed as her arms reached round to scratch the animal's tough leathery neck "Getting scratched like a kitten. I bet it feels really nice, doesn't it boy?"

"ahem!" someone coughed.

Jade quickly turned round in alarm, only to see prince Zuko standing behind her dressed in his full armour. His arms were folded and he frowned oddly at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh…nothing" Jade gulped her cheeks flaring till she was sure they were on fire. "I was just…um…I was just…I'll just go now. Good luck with the mission"

Great! Of all the people to catch me in an embarrassing moment it had to be him!

She was quick to step away from the rhino, doing her best to keep her head down. But even as she passed Zuko he grabbed her upper arm.

"Thank you" he murmured before she could shove him off.

"I was talking to the rhino" she mumbled down to the ground.

"No you weren't" Zuko muttered, but rather than being angry his tone was quiet almost unsure.

"I…I…" she gulped nervously and he quickly caught her gaze.

His cheeks (or rather his unscarred one) was almost as red as hers was and he was doing his best to avoid her eyes.

For some reason, it was a surprisingly amusingly goofy sight and in spite of herself, Jade found her mouth twitching upwards in a small smile.

Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion

"What?"

"Nothing" Jade bit on her lip to stop herself from giggling in his face.

Zuko scowled darkly.

"You're laughing at me again"

"No. I was just thinking of something funny whilst looking at you."

"Like what?"

"Oh…a little bit of this and a little bit of that"

Jade's smiled sweetly, batting her eyes oh-so-innocently as Zuko's gaze hardened suspiciously.

"That wasn't much of an answer"

"Wrong. It was enough of an answer" and with that she carefully slid her arm out of his grip, her smile sliding into a small smirk as she made to slowly walk away from him. "Happy hunting princess"

"Would you stop calling me that!" he yelled but she was already at the doors.

He watched her back closely until she walked out the room. As she did, he couldn't help but notice the the way her red robes swished about her hips as she walked, or how her green eyes glinted when she gave a tiny glance back at him through the corner of her bright jade eye.

As soon as she was out of sight he all but growled angrily.

"Argh! That-that girl! And those eyes!" he spluttered under his breath only to look up and come face to face with the calm face of a rhino.

"What are you looking at?" he spat at the animal.

It only blinked back. Zuko snorted out his nose, puffs of steam literally bursting from them as he vented his frustration.

"AGH! What the hell is wrong with me?!"

"Your highness?"

A voice called.

Zuko froze his spot.

Crap…

He slowly turned to see Akan standing behind him, a small dark smirk gracing his features.

"What do you want Lieutenant" he clipped tersely as he straightened himself up.

"Oh nothing your highness" Akan's shrugged though his smirk grew "I was just passing by when I heard you. Is there something the matter? Has a certain kitchen wench been bothering you again?"

"Who I deal with and how I deal with them is none of your concern Lieutenant" Zuko replied coolly and Akan looked rather taken aback.

Though he quickly recovered himself with a cough and a small bow.

"Of course your highness. Forgive me for my intrusion. I was merely concerned with the fact that that girl still doesn't know how to follow the right chain of command. I mean rules are rules in the navy, and no one is exempt from them…not the men…nor the women…no matter how pretty they are" the lieutenant added and Zuko was alarmed to see a small sneer creep its way up the older man's face.

But he took a deep breath to steady himself as he replied stiffly:

"Like I said before, its not your concern of how I deal with the crew. Now get a move on and saddle your rhino"

"Of course your highness" Akan bowed and swiftly made his way over to a rhino over in a corner.

As he worked Zuko kept a close eye on him

He wasn't sure why, but that sneer on the lieutenants made his gut churn uncomfortably. It was almost like Zhao's, full of deceit and lies and greed. Zuko knew he wasn't the best of people himself, but still…even he had standards.

So Diary I'm finally back again.

Sorry about the delays and the stopping and starting, but this is a big ship with a small crew and lots of chores have to be done.

That being said Lord Iroh did give me a nice break so as to see my brother off when he left with the rest of the Prince and his Rhino riders to Kyoshi village.

Seriously Diary that place is so quiet and peaceful even in the winter, it's no wonder Aang-I-I mean the Avatar and his friends wanted to stay there for a little. If I could, I'd probably stay there on the land for a good year before setting foot on a boat ever again.

But sadly I'm not that fortunate…and neither was Kyoshi for that matter.

You see one of the downsides of being on the side of the Fire Nation, is that whenever you get to go to most of these peaceful places, its usually to attack and conquer it. Like how Prince Jerk tried to do this afternoon.

I couldn't see much of what happened from the deck, but from what I saw through my father's telescope it wasn't good.

Nearly all the buildings in the village were on fire. And it just seemed to be getting worse, what with the prince and his troops continuously fire bending in the middle of it all.

It was a good thing the Avatar intervened when he did.

Now that was quite amazing. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he managed to hijack control of this giant underwater eel and made it spew water all over the town to stop the fire, like it was a gigantic water spray.

Seriously diary, it was awesome!

But even so…it's also a bit sad.

I know he's supposed to be the enemy, but still, a part of me really hopes that Aang does stop the fire nation from winning the war.

I mean don't get me wrong I love my nation. I grew up there and I love it's culture and am a part of it…but still…some of the things they have done… its really horrible to have to watch on and do nothing.

I don't know how my father and brother can keep their mouths shut and stick to their duties whenever they're ordered to go help terrorise a village. They both are kind people and they hate hurting people for no reason, father most of all.

Though I guess that comes from his past experiences. Shen told me that back when father had first joined the Fire Nation Navy he had seen one captain order to shoot down a passing boat, just because it had an earth kingdom insignia on it.

They'd made up the excuse that that ferry was smuggling rebels over the borders, but father and everyone else knew that it was merely a local ferry carrying innocent civilians over to another town, though they were forbidden to speak a word of it to anyone else.

It was horrible to hear the first time. But what's worse is that, that captain my dad had served, isn't the only officer like that. I'm willing to bet that there are plenty other douche bags in command ruining the reputation of the Fire Nation with their depravity (like my dear uncle Zhao).

It's no wonder that people like that fishmonger hate us. I'd hate us too, if it weren't for people like my father and Lord Iroh.

They are the only proof I have yet seen in my travels that the Fire Nation has some hope of redeeming itself to the world.

Oh hold on, one second I've got to check the time, its…oh crap!

Sorry diary, I've got to go to prep for dinner rush.

See you next time.

Knock! Knock!

"Prince Zuko"

Zuko winced a little as his uncle's loud call hit his eardrums even through the door to his room.

"Prince Zuko!"

"What?!" he yelled back irritably, still not moving from his meditation pose.

"I'm going to go down to dinner in the galley. Do you want to join me?"

"No! I'm fine Uncle." Zuko irritably yelled back.

"Are you sure?" Iroh sounded concerned. "I can bring up something for you"

"I said I'm fine. I'll come down later" he added, a little less harshly than before.

He couldn't help but smile ever so slightly as he heard his uncle chuckle outside the door.

"Very well then. I shall see you later"

"Finally" Zuko sighed to himself as he heard his uncle's footsteps fade away into silence.

He shut his eyes once more, doing his best to calm down his breathing and bring it down to a slow easy rhythm.

But even as he inhaled he couldn't help the way the back of his neck tingled unpleasantly.

Something was going to go wrong he just knew it.

But then again, he snorted bitterly, everything had gone wrong today.

The Avatar had escaped again, most of his best fire benders and warriors were taken down by a bunch of fan wielding girls, and he had gotten soaked from the water spray of a giant eel.

All in all, it was a horrible day.

And yet for all that…

He frowned to himself as Akan's words from earlier echoed in his head

"Rules are rules in the navy, and no one is exempt from them…not the men…nor the women"

Nor the women…

Zuko's brow furrowed even more. What exactly did he mean? True all army and naval personnel (male and female alike) were required to follow orders, but why would Akan be so specific as to the gender?

Maybe I'm overthinking this!

He groaned and shook out his head to clear it, only to groan again as he caught sight of the clock.

"Agh! Dammit!"

He had been sitting and contemplating for a whole hour, though it had only felt like seconds to him.

With a roll of his eyes he quickly grabbed his tunic and shoved it on, tying the sash even as he quickly dashed out of his room.

Dinner service would be over, but the cook Dango might still have plenty of hot leftovers before he had to clean up.

He was quick to get to the lower decks, and if anyone saw him they didn't pay him much heed. Everyone was tired and prince or no, the only thing anyone else wanted to greet was their warm bed and pillow.

But Zuko preferred it that way. If there was one thing he hated more than not having his orders obeyed it was having people simper and bootlick after him, especially at night when he was too tired and grouchy to deal with anyone save his uncle.

And so when he approached the door to the mess hall and heard two voices still speaking inside he scowled.

Great, there goes my chance of a quiet evening.

But even as he made to turn away, one of the voices, a man's, dark and dangerous, caught his attention.

"Listen here girl! If you dare talk back to me one more time I'll-"

"You'll what Akan? Chuck me overboard? I'd like to see you try" a female voice snapped back.

Zuko's eyebrows rose in astonishment. He'd never heard Jade sound so icy before. Heated and mad, yes. snarling like an angry armadillo lion, yes. But never had she been so cold, not even with him.

Zuko had just leaned his ear to listen at the door when Akan made to snarl.

"That's it girl! I've had it! if you say one more word I'll burn those pretty little lips off."

"Akan-"

There was a heavy thud and a crash.

Without even waiting to breathe, Zuko slammed the door open, just in time to see the tall figure of Akan lunging forwards, his face alight with fury.

Below him on the floor an was Jade, her green eyes wide as she did her best to scramble away from him and towards one of the tables which was over turned.

However Akan was quick to raise his fist, which was covered in burning hot fire.

He punched hard, and the flames shot out straight towards Jade's head as she cringed away.

"NO!"

MUAHAHAHA! BEHOLD THE EVIL CLIFFHANGER! :D

What will happen next?

hope you guys enjoyed and keep R&Ring for more