Chapter 14: High Risk Trading

Dear Diary,

It's me again, and you are not going to believe what the hell I'm doing right now…

Actually you will because I'm going to tell you.

It all started yesterday around late morning. I had just finished cleaning up after the breakfast rush and was bringing Lord Iroh his second pot of tea up at the helm…

"Argh! Dammit!" Jade hissed as the ship around her tilted ominously.

She was thankful she had reached the top of the command tower stairs, for had she been on them she would've certainly fallen and spilled her precious cargo of rather scalding Jasmine tea.

Quickly steadying herself as the ship levelled out again, she gingerly tapped at the closed door with her feet.

"Who is it?!" a loud voice called and she recognised it as one of the sailors.

"It's me, Huan!" she called loudly "I've got the tea"

The door was quickly opened and she was ushered in by a rather young navy sailor who was smiling wide as he inhaled the fumes issuing out of the large spout of the tea pot.

"How are the seas looking?" she smiled as she made to set the tray on a nearby counter.

"Calm, for now" Huan sighed as he helped clear away a couple of large maps for some space. "but we're heading into port again. Lord Iroh seems to have misplaced a very important item of his" he added in a hushed whisper, pointing to a low table set close by.

Sure enough as Jade turned to look, there was Lord Iroh, sitting with Quan the chief helmsman, Dango the cook and Nobu, the chief engineer.

Jade couldn't help but giggle softly to herself as she saw Dango glower up at his opponent.

Lord Iroh however just gave a benign smile and a wink as he waggled his finger.

"Patience Dango, it was only the first game"

But Dango only huffed and turned to glower at the now sniggering Quan who quickly made to take his place, Nobu narrowing his eyes on the Pai sho table.

Jade shook her head fondly as Iroh made to deal out the tiles and set the stakes.

For all his quiet smiles and fondness for tea and the small things in life, the old Lord could be ruthless in his strategy.

"What has he lost this time? A Pai-Sho tile?" She quietly made to whisper to Huan, but even as the sailor opened his mouth to chortle the door to the helm burst open.

"And here we go again" Jade rolled her eyes as none other but Prince Zuko himself stormed in, his face thunderous as he roared at the current helmsman at the wheel.

"What is the reason for this mutiny? No one told you to change course!"

"Actually someone did." said a calm voice and everyone turned to see Lord Iroh push forwards a tile on the Pai-sho board, brow furrowed with concentration "I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance Prince Zuko"

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Zuko asked his face suddenly alight with hope, but his uncle shook his head.

"Even more urgent. It seems, it seems I've lost my Lotus tile"

"Lotus tile?"

"For my Pai sho game" Iroh nodded gravely "most people think the Lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy I employ"

…

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?"

Oh this is just too good.

Jade smirked softly to herself as she watched the older lord make to smile innocently up at his nephew.

"You see you, like most people underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this next port of call. Hopefully they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life"

And even as his uncle answered him, Jade was certain she could see steam rising up from both the prince's ears.

She was very tempted to let loose her giggles but quickly caught herself just in time . Instead she chose to mask it with a professional but pleasant small smile as she made to hand out tea to the game players.

Lord Iroh in particular was quite happy to accept his drink and after a swig he smirked widely at his fuming nephew who had just let loose a great huff of fire up to the ceiling.

"I am lucky to have such an understanding nephew, aren't I Jade?"

Of course you had to drag me into it!

"I suppose"

Jade resisted the urge to roll her eyes as a whole cloud of smoke filled the room, the dregs of the prince's outburst.

As everyone coughed and hacked in attempts to swat the smog out of their faces Jade took the opportunity to glower at the fuming prince.

However when their eyes met there was a small pause.

This had been the first time they'd been so close since their talk on deck three days ago. And needless to say both of them were not going to forget that discussion in a hurry.

Zuko was quick to turn away with a small huff, his cheeks rather pink. Jade herself was quick to pour out tea for the sailors, hoping against hope that no one had seen how red her ears had gone.

But her prayers went unanswered, for when she made to pour out more tea for Lord Iroh he gave her a questioning look.

"Jade my dear are you alright. You look a little red"

"Oh nothing sir" she almost squeaked "It's just the room and the tea are warm… that's all…"

She quickly trailed off and turned away, completely missing the way all the older men in the room shared very quiet but very knowing smirks.

Oh this was turning out to be very interesting indeed.

Yeah Diary. "the room and the tea were warm."

I know lamest excuse ever.

I was just lucky that we managed to call in at the port very soon.

It's damn difficult to avoid confronting people you're awkward with when you're all stuck on a small frigate in the middle of the ocean.

Though I have to admit the port we stopped at this time wasn't quite the distraction I was hoping for…

"Hey little miss, that's a pretty necklace you got there. How would you like a pretty charm to match? Special discount"

"Thank you but I'm gonna have to pass"

It took all Jade had in her not to cringe away from the seedy looking man, leering at her from behind a stall.

It was quite shabby looking, just like the many others that lined the streets, which were all, she noticed, dealing out items that were mostly unusual, rare and in some cases illegal, or a surprising mixture of them all.

Black market traders. Nothing quite like them in the world.

She couldn't help but think as she quietly tried to sidle her way towards another street.

As she did, she could not help but notice that every time she took a step, she could feel another pair of feet following her.

Pretending to examine some actually quite pretty looking hair pins at an elderly witchy-faced woman's clothing stall, she tapped her foot hard on the ground.

Two people…

She counted in her head with a small frown, before making to examine her reflection in a small mirror.

Carefully as she could she tilted it ever so slightly to scan the crowds behind her.

Sure enough, loitering in the shadows of the stalls behind her, two men were standing and looking in her general direction.

Both of them were dressed in ragged clothing but seemed to be built along the strong and thuggish side. But what really unnerved Jade most were the hungry gleams in their beady eyes. She could see it even from this distance.

Typical. Just because a girl walks on her own, she's automatically ripe for the picking.

She rolled her eyes to herself before picking reaching out to a small brown pouch and paying for a small but pretty black hair clip, which she tucked into her bag

As she made to untie her hair in the mirror a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"You shouldn't be walking on your own"

"Why? Because I'm a girl?" Jade glowered at the scarred face of the prince as it scowled at her in the mirror's reflection.

"No" Zuko coughed, trying and failing to look composed as he folded his arms with a pout.

Why wasn't she turning to face him? Why wasn't she surprised to see him? Why wasn't she jumping to apologise like any other normal servant would?

Because she is not a normal servant

A voice in the back of his mind reasoned. It was a small and faint, filled more with admiration than anger. However he was quick to quash it down under the vexation that filled him as her green eyes pierced him smugly in her reflection.

Those green eyes…Zuko's new found source of irritation in recent days.

Those eyes that haunted him from dawn till dusk, even when their bearer was not in sight.

But she was here now, and he could not deny that it was hard to keep his eyes off of them, that was until she began to brush through her long brown hair.

Argh! Just what the hell is wrong with me?!

Zuko growled in his head, barely managing to keep himself from howling in frustration as his eyes found her petite fingers. They were now combing the long locks over one shoulder, leaving the side of her slender neck exposed to him.

It didn't help that memories of their time searching for his uncle on the solstice came flooding back into his head.

Her warm body heat… her small waist, pliable and soft in his hands… the feel of her smooth skin against his scarred cheek as he pressed his face into the crook of her neck…her subtle scent of tea and –

No! don't think about it! don't think about it!

"Would you hurry up? We've got to get back to the ship soon" he snapped quickly turning his face away. However even as he did this his eyes slowly but surely meandered back of their own accord to her soft delicate profile.

Pff! Men!

Jade almost could've giggled out loud as she caught sight of the prince through the corner of her eye. But she decided against it.

Besides he did have a point. The sky was orange-gold as the sun began to dip in the west. Dinner would have to be prepared soon, unless they were staying at port.

Quickly she turned to the still scowling Zuko, being sure to flash her sweetest smile and bat her long lashes oh so innocently.

"If that is what you wish your highness."

How dare she-that little-

Zuko's scarred eye narrowed dangerously as she made to sashay past him, being extra certain to flick her loose hair into his face as she passed, smirking like a Cheshire cat with the cream.

But before she could walk even three paces away she stopped and glanced back towards him, eyebrows raised.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

Zuko felt as if he was about to explode…though whether it was from anger or not, he did not know.

Unable to figure out why he was in this emotional predicament, he decided to settle for irritability following the young kitchen maid in a huff, doing his best to ignore the small knowing sniggers of some of the old stall keepers and their wives.

He was almost relieved when the two of them stumbled into his uncle as he exited a small shop, looking deflated.

"Oh Lord Iroh? What is the matter?" Jade was quick to ask pleasantly.

"I have just been checking all the stores in this entire pier." The older Lord sighed heavily "Not one lotus tile in the whole marketplace"

That's it! that does it!

"It's good to know that this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!" Zuko snarled and Jade was surprised to not see steam hissing out of his ears.

"Quite the contrary" Lord Iroh smirked not phased at all by his nephew's ire. "I always say the only thing better than finding something you're looking for…is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain"

And indeed as he said this several of the ships guards strode past them all, their hands laden with piles upon piles of merchandise.

Jade snorted with laughter as her brother made to pass her and the two royals, doing his best to carry both a giant Tsungi horn and a large ceramic bowl in his arms.

"Yeah! Yeah! Laugh it up Lucky!" Shen grumbled as his little sister giggled softly.

Prince Zuko though was not amused as he glowered at his uncle.

"You bought another Tsungi horn?"

"For music night on the ship" Iroh shrugged. "the old one was accidently broken when we tried to run the blockade. Now if only we had some woodwinds"

"Oh I think I saw some down that away. An old woodworker had them on display" Jade chirruped from the side pointing down the street and towards the docks.

"He did? Then let's have a look?"

It took all Zuko had in him not to tear out his whole ponytail as his uncle took the young girl's arm in his in gentlemanly fashion and led her down to the docks where he was quick to find a distracting sight.

"Oh that one looks promising!" Lord Iroh called out excitedly pointing to a rather large boat with red sails and rather seedy looking crew, who were all leering down at them with unpleasant smugness.

At once Jade stopped in her tracks, gulping nervously as the warning sirens went off in her head.

"Uh are you sure you wanna…" but she trailed off as the older lord made to scurry up the gangplank and onto the boat.

As she caught Zuko's eyes he smirked maliciously at her.

"Well, aren't you coming." he muttered before stalking after his uncle, leaving the young kitchen maid to fume at his own back.

And that Dear Diary, is where the fun really starts…

Jade sighed heavily, torn between the temptation to earth bend a rock into the prince's skull, or to toss him off the docks and into the waters.

However she was quick to remember where she was and settled to mask her fury with a calm composed mask, she always adopted whenever she was stressed out in the kitchens.

However this too proved to be difficult as the ship she was now in was…well…suspiciously full of rather rare and valuable items.

"OH this looks handsome" Lord Iroh exclaimed as he made to examine a rather creepy statue of a monkey with rubies for eyes and a collar. "Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"

There was a small pause in which Jade and Zuko rolled their eyes or shook their heads, before turning to peruse other shelves of the room about them.

Quickly Jade was drawn to a small shelf in the corner where a small brown leather pouch was situated. It looked a little worn but the stitching seemed to be strong as something, if the way it bulged was anything to go by.

Hmm this should be good for the salt-huh? What's that?

Quietly she took the little bag in her hands and peered inside.

To her astonishment, the little bag was packed with a bunch of small round smoothed rocks painted in a light green. She picked one of them up and twirled it in her hands.

"I hope you're willing to pay for those" A voice sneered from the sidelines.

She almost jumped out of her skin as a swarthy faced man with long grey hair a large red hat, and a rather evil eyed iguana parrot on his shoulder stepped out from behind the shelf.

His face was smiling but his eyes were cold with suspicion as he drawled:

"Nice little trinket's aren't they?"

"Y-yes quite." Jade gulped before holding up one to the light "Clay?"

The pirate (what else could he be wearing that hat?), smirked at her. It was the kind of small nasty smirk that a fishermen gave at the water when they felt a fish give their bait a nibble.

"Yes, old specialty these are. Said to have belonged to the infamous Lucky-Jade"

"Lucky Jade? Who's that?" Jade's brow furrowed a little.

"Only one of the Fire Nation's the most wanted outlaws" the pirate shrugged. "Why stories say the Lucky Jade led the rebellion of the-"

But then suddenly the door to the ships galley/boutique burst open and a tall thin man with a face like a rat dashed up to the counter.

"Captain!" He hissed to the man before Jade who gulped doing her best to sidle away politely.

But even as she returned to Iroh's and Zuko's sides she caught a few words of what the man was saying.

"We lost the water tribe girl, and the little bald monk she was travelling with"

The effect was instantaneous. Zuko's head shot up like a dog that had caught the scent of a bone. Without further ado he strode up to the pirate captain and his crewmate, eyes narrowed shrewdly.

"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"

Yep you guessed it diary…Pirates…and pretty nasty ones too if their loot is anything to go by.

Father always says that you can tell a lot about what kind of low lives pirates are by seeing what they've stolen.

The stupid ones only usually have only two or three things really worth of value and can never really keep hold of them for long periods of time. However the best of the best ones almost always tend to have a lot of things that are rare and prized, and tend to covet them more carefully. So carefully that to steal from them would be as dangerous as kicking a wasps nest.

Which is kinda what the Avatar and his friends did when they stole a particularly expensive water bending scroll.

All in all I personally believe that it's better that the scroll is in the hands of people who actually are going to put it to good use (like helping save the world)

Though truth be told I am envious that they even have a scroll they can learn from. I don't think I've seen any earth bending scrolls on my travels, but then again, not many earth benders live along the coastlines our ship passes.

Father says that further in on the mainland there are actually villages where earth bending children are taught in special schools by actual teachers, much like how fire benders are taught back home in the bigger cities.

Man if only I could have just one lesson at one of those schools that would be just great. I could actually learn the proper forms to bend my element, rather than keeping on trying to gimcrack my way with fire bending moves.

But anyways I'm rambling on again. Now where was I?

Ah yes the Prince made a deal to help the pirates in return for the Avatar. Or rather, just the bald monk and the water tribe girl…I know I know stupid move on his part.

Nearly all idiots who've sailed these seas knows not to make deals with pirates.

But then again the prince isn't your average idiot…

And apparently neither am I…considering I actually went along with him to help.

Though to be fair I didn't exactly have much of a choice on the matter…

And neither did my father it seems…

The brush and ink in Jade's hand paused over her page as she looked up from her diary to the side of the small boat.

There her father was standing alert with the other guards, who were all watching the pirate's ship as it sailed behind their much smaller but still fairly powerful metal boat.

As he caught his daughter's eye Ruishi sighed heavily, his face a stony mask and turned away.

He's just worried about you…he just wants you safe…

She tried to reason in her head, though in her heart she felt as if something like a needle was stabbing her painfully.

Why couldn't he just let her go? Why was he so reluctant to let her be herself? To use the gifts she'd been given? Why did he hide her away like something vile he didn't want seen?

"You shouldn't say that" a small voice muttered beside her.

Jade jumped, almost smearing her page with her brush as she turned to see her brother Shen sit down beside her on the floor.

"I didn't say anything" she mumbled quickly packing her journal away before her brother could get a look at it.

"Maybe not" he smirked "but you were thinking it"

"Oh is thinking a crime no-ow!" she winced as she was poked hard in the forehead.

"only when it's something stupid rock head!" Shen smirked though it was quick to diminish into a small frown.

"Jade…how long has Prince Zuko known?"

"Known what?" Jade blinked, only to flush pink as her brother gave her a swift searching look. It was so eerily similar to their father's that it made her bristle uncomfortably as she mumbled.

"Since the Winter Solstice. But he had his suspicions before that"

"And he's not done anything about it?" Shen's brow furrowed if possible even more.

"Not that I'm aware of" Jade snorted softly before biting her lip nervously "Why? Is something going on behind my back? do others know?"

Shen glanced around at the other guards, some of whom were eyeing the two siblings with intrigue but were still keeping their distance.

Once he was sure none of them were looking he mumbled again to her.

"Not all of them. But some of them are suspicious that something's going on between you and his royal pain. But that's just …"

He trailed off as his sister's ears turned bright pink of their own accord.

"What?" she muttered dipping her head down to hide her cheeks, but too late. Shen's mouth was twitching upwards into a small smirk.

"Oh spirits you've got to be kidding me"

"Shen no" Jade began but already her brother was sniggering into his sleeve.

"Pff! Oh spirits! Ha! No bloody wonder he begged to have you here-"

"Shen shut it!" Jade hissed horribly aware that the other guards, her father included were all glancing in their direction, curiously.

Shen noticing her fear was quick to stop laughing, though a wide teasing grin was still splayed over his face as he whispered:

"But seriously Jade, I think its kinda sweet-Agh!"

He winced as a very hard, very sharp elbow slammed into his ribs.

Jade smirked.

Hitting her brother always worked wonders on her nerves.

It was night by the time both the pirate ship and the prince's boat made to park themselves on the banks of the great river they had been travelling on.

By this time, Jade was feeling a lot better in spirit, thanks to the light hearted banter and squabbling her brother provided her.

Her father on the other hand was not so jovial. Indeed he was most disconsolate about the whole affair, that his face was grimmer than a tombstone even he stood relaxing by a tree.

If anyone noticed his rather unpleasant temperament no one commented-

"You're doing it again"

Well almost no one.

Ruishi glanced sidelong at Lord Iroh who was holding out a cup of tea to him.

"Forgive me" he muttered, taking the cup but not drinking "I should be less distracted whilst on duty"

"No old friend, you should just be less worried" Iroh sighed following the guard's gaze.

It was on a girl with brown hair and green eyes as she made to help her brother and Huan collect wood for their small camp fire.

She was narrowing her eyes with almost fond irritation as her brother made to make a teasing comment about her rather lame attempts to light the fire with her spark rocks.

"I'm still not sure whether I'm ready for this" Ruishi muttered and when Iroh looked perplexed he added "Letting her attend to your nephew"

"I assure you Zuko will treat her with the utmost respect"

"It's not respect I am worried about…I know you can keep the two of them and their tempers at bay quite easily."

"Then what is it that you are worried about?" the old lord frowned with slight offence at his friend who was quick to narrow his eyes at him.

"You know exactly what"

There was a pause as both men shared a very grim look as they turned back to the campfire only to see that Jade wasn't there…and neither was Zuko.

"Stupid brother. Just because he's a firebender-hmph!"

Jade grumbled as she stumbled through the forest around her.

In spite of the impending darkness (and the possibility of running into an allied but nasty pirate) she wasn't scared. She quite liked the night.

Unlike the daytime it was quiet and she had time to think…to breathe.

She revelled in the feeling of the earth under her feet as she stepped over the dirt and towards the beach.

She seemed to have gone around a bend in the riverbank for she could not see the encampments of both the pirates and her shipmates.

Instead all that greeted her was the rather beautiful sight of the moonlight as it shimmered over the water and sands.

Quietly she shifted her foot on the ground, senses pricked for any other disturbances around her.

No one so far…

She bit her lip as she approached the water.

It looked lovely and inviting.

Maybe just a little dip wouldn't hurt.

Quietly she slipped off her small black shoes and hoisted up the hem of her robes. Keeping them gripped firmly above her knees, she slowly stepped into the small waves lapping the riverbank.

She sighed with satisfaction as the cool water lapped about her ankles, splashing playfully against her shins, swirling about her toes as the wave was pulled back into the water.

"Having a nice dip?"

There was a squeak and a large splash, as Jade tripped right into the water.

"Why you little-" she spluttered and scowled as she surfaced, glaring hard as Prince Zuko stepped out from behind a tree smirking smugly.

"You know for someone who claims to hate being on a ship. You sure enjoy swimming in water"

"And for someone who claims not to be a creep you sure spend a lot of time stalking me!" Jade snapped back crawling up to her feet, painfully aware that her whole body was soaked from head to foot.

"Great! Now I'm all wet! Thanks a lot princess"

"You should be careful of what you say. Some men might take that as a compliment"

"Agh!"

It took all he had not to laugh as with a huff she stormed up to the bank reaching down for something, only to stop short when all she saw was sand.

"Looking for these?" he held up a small pair of worn black shoes and was not disappointed when she snatched them roughly from his hands.

"You-You-You-You're such a-" she growled.

"A jerk? A creep? An idiot? A royal pain?" Zuko provided oh-so-helpfully.

"Unbelievable!" Jade spat in his face and he smirked.

"Yes I know. I've been told that by a lot of other girls."

"And let me guess those other girls also told you that you were handsome and looked like you could do with a good time?" Jade sneered.

But if she thought her comment was going to sway the prince's surprisingly rascally mood she was sorely mistaken.

Indeed his smirk widened and the smallest of amused snorts escaped him.

"Some of them yes"

For some reason she could not fathom, Jade felt her stomach drop like a stone.

Of course she should've known, a little voice sneered in the back of her head. It wasn't uncommon for guys stuck at sea for so long to succumb to certain temptations whenever they reached a port.

But still…from what she'd seen of the prince she would never have guessed him to be one of those kinds of-

"You do know I'm joking right?"

She looked up and saw that Zuko was still looking at her, though his smirk was a fair bit more subdued than before. In fact he looked a little worried.

"Not very funny" she huffed.

"Why not?"

But Jade just averted her eyes down to the sand as she tugged on her shoe.

The remaining eyebrow of the prince rose as curiosity overtook him.

Indeed why hadn't she found the humour in such false implications. Couldn't she blatantly see that he wasn't that kind of guy? Something in his chest tightened as he remembered the disgusted expression on her face just a few moments ago.

She had been genuinely disappointed in him for even suggesting such possibilities…

But why?

Had he been telepathic Zuko would've been surprised to have found that the exact same question was echoing in Jade's own head.

But why? Why do you care what he does with other girls? He's the prince he has the free time to do whatever he likes-

"Hey wait hang on!" Zuko's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife and she looked up to see the smug smirk flicker back on his face "Did you just call me handsome?"

Jade's face turned so red Zuko could've fried an egg on it.

She opened her mouth to snarl up at him however-

Splash!

"Argh! Shoot! Come on water work with me here!"

Another splash, another curse word.

What the?

Jade and Zuko both glanced curiously at one another, though the latter was quick to smirk as the voice cursed again.

"Argh! Dammit! Stupid scroll!"

"Come on" Zuko hissed to Jade quietly and before she could even say another word he had grabbed her hand and was dragging her over to the corner of the bank where a tall bush was.

Quietly they both peered around it.

Oh crap…

Jade gulped as she caught sight of the figure of a girl, perhaps a year or two younger than her, wearing blue and with a dark braid with hair loopies, shifting her weight through several stances as she bent a large ball of water above her head.

Or at least that is what she was trying to do, for as soon as the water reached a point before her it splashed down on her toes.

"Argh!" Katara hit her forehead in exasperation. "Why isn't this working?"

Because you're aggravated

Jade bit her lip as she looked around at the clearing. She couldn't see anything, but she could feel thanks to the earth's vibrations that two figures were hidden out of sight just in the tree line around the water tribe girl.

Come on girl just calm down! Can't you see you're in danger out here?!

Was what Jade wanted to yell out. However she held her tongue as she felt Zuko's hand around hers tighten ever so slightly.

No what am I thinking?! I can't help the Avatar or any of his friends?! I'm supposed to be helping this idiot capture them?

But is that really what you want to do?

A little voice whispered in the depths of her mind.

Do you really want the avatar to be captured? Do you really want the Fire Nation to win?

Of course I do?! They're my nation!

Her own voice hissed in her head. But the other voice seemed to sigh as it shook its proverbial head.

We both know that's only half true. You love your nation, for it is your home. But you also hate it's horrible deeds. And those will only continue to get worse if they win the war and conquer the world.

No you're-

But then she stopped and paused. If the other little voice in her head had a face it would've been raising it's eyebrows sternly at her by now.

She mentally sighed heavily.

You're right…it would spell disaster if we won.

"Hey! Wake up! we've got to move"

She blinked, just waking up from her reverie just in time to feel Zuko's hand slip from hers.

Quickly she stood up and followed him, noticing to her horror that before them in the clearing, Katara was trying her best to run from a small batch of the pirates who were closing in.

But even as the water tribe girl bounced off the chest off a rather tall brusque brute, she swept her arms around.

At once a sweeping stream of water whipped out from the river and slapped the man in the face.

Angered another pirate sprang forwards a knife ready to stab at her. but at that same moment Zuko came rushing forwards to grab the girl.

"I'll save you from the pirates" he hissed in Katara's face, not noticing the shadow of the knife about to strike down upon his head.

"look out!" Jade cried out and before either Zuko or Katara could blink, a column of earth slammed into their attacker, sending him flying into a tree.

Zuko starred in astonishment as Jade panted where she straightened up to stand.

"You're welcome" She snorted at his dumbfound expression as she made to dust off her clothes.

Zuko scowled at her.

"I had everything under control"

"Uh yeah sure you did Princess" Jade rolled her eyes.

Had Katara not been so frightened she might have laughed at the way her captor's face turned red. He looked almost like an angry tomato.

He was clearly ready to sneer a nasty insult but was stopped when the footsteps of several people began to get closer.

Quick as lightning, Jade stomped her foot and the pillar of rock she had bent, sunk back down into the ground, till it was but a small raised lump of earth.

Which was just as well, for barely a second later, more pirates (plus their captain) and Zuko's crew (plus his uncle) had just run up to them in a mad dash.

"Prince Zuko"

Most of the guards yelled, save Ruishi and Shen, the latter of whom eyed Jade and then the mysterious lump on the otherwise flat ground.

He quietly patted his sister's shoulder with a small proud smirk as they turned to watch the Prince order the other guards to tie Katara up to a nearby tree.

Jade could not help but feel a stab of pity as the other girl winced as her hands were bound tightly behind her to the back of the tree trunk.

As soon as that was done. Zuko strode forwards to sneer at her.

"Tell me where he is. And I won't hurt you or your brother"

As soon as her brother entered the threat Katara's blue eyes flashed with fierce determination.

"Go jump in the river!" she spat in the prince's face, to Jade's admiration, and Zuko's chagrin.

But he was quick to rally at once, his voice lowering to almost a sly purr in the dark as he made to circle his captive.

"Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost. My honour. Perhaps in exchange I can return something you've lost"

Well he looks cosy.

The little voice at the back of Jade's head sneered as she watched Zuko slide his hands to the Katara's neck, holding a familiar blue necklace to it.

She didn't understand why…but seeing him like that with another girl…it felt wrong to her. And why was she relieved when the prince made to step away from her.

Now you're just being ridiculous. You're sleep deprived! It's dark! No wonder everything looks and feels weird.

She rolled her eyes to herself as she continued to watch the scene unfold.

"My mother's necklace" Katara cried out angrily "Where did you get that?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering" Zuko's smirk quickly fell into a dangerous glower "Tell me where he is"

"No!"

"Enough with this necklace garbage!" the Pirate Captain growled, he and his crew all taking a menacing step forwards. "you promised us the scroll"

And just as quickly as he had done with the necklace, Zuko whipped out said scroll from his belt and dangled it above his palm, in which fire suddenly sprang to life.

"I wonder how much this is worth?" he shrugged casually as he held the scroll ever so slightly closer to the flame.

At once the pirates all stilled in their steps, their eyes wide with panic.

"A lot apparently" Zuko's smirk widened victoriously "Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here!"

Jade was willing to bet that murdering the prince was definitely topping the pirate captain's to-do list at the moment, if that scathing glower was anything to go by.

But apparently the thought of loosing that one scroll was enough to help him keep his mouth shut as he beckoned his crew to the tree-line, where they all disappeared from sight.

As soon as they were out of sight, Zuko turned to his men.

"Ji, Shen. Keep an eye on the girl. the rest of you get back to camp"

"See you later Lucky" Shen patted Jade on the shoulder.

She nodded quietly, doing her best not to say a word, for she was terrified that if she did she really might put her foot in it.

But even as they all made to walk away, she could not help but chance a glance back at Katara who was now looking very nervously around at the trees.

And who could blame her. Her brother and her friend were about to be ambushed by a band of bloodthirsty pirates.

If only I could help

She found herself thinking as she and the guards turned the corner of the bank towards their boats and campsite.

Then…unbidden the little voice in her head spoke up again.

Maybe you can help

But how…

She stopped in her tracks eyes wide.

oh…

"Jade?"

A warm hand squeezed her shoulder and she looked up to see her father looking concernedly down on her.

Quickly she forced a small smile to her face.

"I'm alright. Just tired"

She was almost horrified by how casual and genuine she sounded, and even more aghast at how swiftly her father was to nod and pat her on the shoulder, before walking on ahead…completely oblivious to her heavy sigh.

And that is where I must leave you now dear diary.

So wish me luck…because I'm going to do the most stupid thing in the entire universe.

I'm going to help the Avatar.

MUAHAHAHAHA! *evil cackle*

now we're getting somewhere!

I hope you guys enjoyed and keep R&Ring for more, i got a lot more juicy stuff to come ;)