Chapter 20: A Bump in the Night
Dear Diary,
It's been only a few days since the storm but already things have more or less settled down. We managed to find a Fire Nation colonial port that would help us in repairing the damage to our ship and are just ready to set off again when we finally get the last of the ship's galley supplies delivered.
The good thing about this is that we all get to have a much needed break and recovery time. On the bad side it also means that we lose the trail of the Avatar.
Since the storm, we've had no sightings of Aang or his friends but we're all still going to follow a path north east towards the North Pole seeing as we know for certain that's going to be his final destination.
Of course this frustrates Zuko to no end, but for once he's putting his ship's safety above his own quest to capture the Avatar. I think having a near mutiny really put some things into perspective for him.
On that note Diary, I can safely announce to you that we've both stopped arguing and have made some reconciliation.
Well…reconciliation is not quite the right word, considering I still have no idea of what's going on between the two of us to be quite honest and-
"Jade! It's time for Lord Iroh's evening tea!"
"Alright! on my way!"
Talk to you later diary.
Trust that man to drink tea like a fish even at this time
Jade Shi sighed heavily as she shut the door to Lord Iroh's room behind her.
It was very late in the night now (almost midnight), and she was exhausted. It was a good thing that evening service was mostly short, seeing as they were docked in at port and all the crew were eating dinner on shore.
On the other hand that made the ship almost unbearably dark and empty.
It was so quiet that Jade could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as she turned a corner.
Oh come on Jade man up!
She quietly cursed herself as she tiptoed down the shadowy hallway.
But it was no use.
No matter how much she tried to convince herself, a cold shudder still slid down her spine.
Grateful she'd left the whole tray in the old lord's room, she quickly made to bend down to her feet.
Seeing as they were heading further north and winter was pressing, the weather had gotten just cold enough to wear boots, which was a good thing for her because she could always hide a small knife in them.
It wasn't as if she doubted her safety aboard the ship anymore, what with Akan locked up. But still, it wasn't uncommon for ships docked into port to occasionally attract an unwanted visitor.
Rather like the one that was standing behind her in the corridor.
She didn't know whether it was just her earth-bending senses playing up or not, but she could feel something moving close by…hidden in the shadows as it moved towards her.
As soon as she could feel the body heat approach her close enough she struck.
Her knife in her hand was sharp and deadly and exact as she swung it in a graceful arc across her body, right at a black clad chest.
Only it never hit.
Her eyes widened in shock as the strange dark figure grabbed at her wrist and twisted it hard, making her drop her weapon. Then quick as a flash he spun her around and forced front first against the wall.
She only knew it was a he, because she could feel his body through the tight fitted dark body suit he wore as he pinned her against the wall. But it was his face that had her gasp as he came into the light of one of the few still lit golden red lamps on the hallway wall.
It wasn't a face at all. It was a mask. A mask of a dragon-like demon creature painted starkly in blue and white.
She opened her mouth to scream only for her vision to go black.
The helm was fairly peaceful and quiet when Jade gently kicked open the door, carefully balancing a tray laden with tea and cups in her arms.
No one noticed her enter for they were all too engrossed in their activities.
Four sailors and the junior helmsman were busy checking out the readings of their various stations before reporting them to Lieutenant Ji and Prince Zuko, who were both standing off to one side and pouring over a large map.
In the midst of them, Lord Iroh was sitting with some of the ship's most senior crewmates (like the head cook, the head engineer and the head helmsman) and gambling on a game of Pai-sho.
Jade approached them first, knowing that the old General would be most anxious to have his afternoon drink and was not disappointed when he excitedly accepted the steaming cup in his hands.
"Be careful and don't drink it too fast" she warned the older men gently as most of them almost rushed to take a sip of their own cups. "it's just come off the stove"
"You sound just like my mother" Quan rolled his eyes and the other men chuckled.
"Considering how much trouble you stubborn old men get into it's probably for the best" She countered swiftly. Lord Iroh and Dango both chuckled particularly loudly at this, attracting the attention of both Ji and Zuko, the former of whom made to smirk.
"Yeah you tell them Jade"
"What do you mean, tell them?" Jade raised her eyebrows as she came over to hand the lieutenant and the prince a cup. "You're one of them"
The laughter rose higher much to Ji's embarrassment so that even Zuko couldn't help but snigger a little, until Jade added.
"I don't know what you're laughing about your highness. Seeing as you're the ultimate magnet for trouble"
"Che! And yet how many times have I saved your butt from trouble in these past two months" Zuko smirked right back in her face as he took a cup of tea from her.
"Only because you" Jade poked him hard on his armoured chest "got me in trouble in the first place"
"Yeah well you didn't exactly complain about it then did you?" Zuko quirked his remaining eyebrow as he put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion.
He was faintly pleased to see her cheeks flush ever so slightly pink as their eyes made contact even as she made to smirk.
"Only because I ended up being mostly incapacitated after every one of your misadventures. Now if you'll excuse me I have a job to do."
And with that she pulled her hand from his and sashayed back to the tea tray to serve the Pai-sho players their second cups. As she did so, Zuko's eyes couldn't help but wander down her slender back all the way down to her swishing-
"Ahem! Your highness" a voice coughed from beside him and at once the prince shook out his head.
"Yes Lieutenant" he clipped, his cheeks flushing a little with embarrassment as he turned back to face Lieutenant Ji, whose eyebrows were both raised very high as he raised the map to the prince's attention once more.
"As I was saying, we haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm, but if we continue heading north east we'll-"
A large shadow passed over the map.
Zuko turned back round to face the helm window's and scowled as he saw a much larger ship sailing before their own, dwarfing it completely.
"What do they want?"
"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai-Sho" Iroh commented cheerily as he took a third cup of tea from Jade.
Seriously! This guy drinks tea like a fish!
She rolled her eyes only to sigh heavily as someone snorted behind her.
"Something the matter your highness?"
Jade turned to see Zuko scowling however for once the look wasn't directed at her, but at the new ship before theirs.
It wasn't a tiny frigate like theirs, but a fully sized huge double turreted war ship with a huge red and black flag flying high in the breeze.
For some strange reason, the sight of it made Jade shudder and her stomach churn.
No…keep it together Lucky!
She scolded herself shaking out her head, however the uncomfortable feeling in her gut did not dissipate.
It had been happening for a while now. Every time she saw fire nation memorabilia she felt almost sick to her stomach.
But she was not sick because she was disgusted.
No.
But ever since she had encountered that strange masked vigilante last night her fear had increased tenfold and now she was absolutely terrified. She had tried to tell Lord Iroh about it but could not find the time given her rather busy schedule for today.
To make matters worse, Zuko was keeping watch on her again. Or at least she thought he was, for whenever she turned to meet his eye he often glanced away to avoid it.
And yet the strange thing was, was that for all his keenness on her, they weren't fighting nor was he angry at her.
In fact nowadays they were as cordial and as civil to one another as any other two ordinary human beings, slightly better in fact seeing as even their bantering was more playful than scornful.
Jade couldn't help but blush a little as she remembered his closeness just a few moments ago.
That was another thing she could never get used to. The prince's completely haywire sense of personal space. Sometimes he was as distant and shut up as a clam in a deep underwater minefield and then other times, with her, he was very…
There was loud squeak and both Zuko and Ji wheeled about to see Jade promptly stumble back from the door, the remnants of hot tea spilling all over her hands and front as three burly fire nation soldiers burst through the doors to the helm.
None of them Jade recognized at all, and all of them were wearing full and neater navy attire than any of the crew members present.
"out of the way girl" one of the strange soldiers grunted to Jade who opened her mouth to snarl, only for Prince Zuko to beat her to the punch.
"HEY! Who are you and why are you on my ship?"
"Apologies your royal highness" the leader of the soldiers said as he and his two fellows bowed low. "But we bear important news and orders."
Still doesn't excuse bad manners ass!
Jade scowled from the floor as she watched the soldier pull out a scroll for his belt and unfurl it to show to the room at large.
To her sinking gut it was a picture of young Aang standing with his staff right next to a small sentence of text:
"Wanted — The Avatar. This fugitive knows airbending, can create whirlwinds, and flee like the wind. Hunters, be extremely cautious! By decree of the Fire Lord."
They forgot to mention he's smart and is currently learning how to waterbend.
Jade bit her lip as she stood up doing her best to listen as the soldiers began to prattle on and on about the warning they were showing off very deliberately and slowly.
As they did so Jade watched the prince's face grow more furious by the second, for if there was one thing he hated more than having strangers on his turf it was being treated like a child.
The head soldier however didn't seem to take any notice and continued to prattle on.
"-The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao"
"Admiral?" Jade blurted out before she could stop herself. She was spared the glares of the strange soldiers by Lord Iroh's loud and overly delighted exclamation:
"Zhao has been promoted?! Well good for him!"
But Zuko only glowered harder to the floor.
"I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass"
"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this harbour-" the head soldier made to start only to jump back a little as Zuko bellowed:
"OFF MY SHIP!"
The soldiers all nodded hastily and were about to turn their backs when their leader seemed to remember something.
"Um…" he gulped turning to Lord Iroh instead of the very irate almost steam hissing prince.
"Lord Iroh if you would be so kind as to tell us where we can find Lieutenant Ruishi Shi. The Admiral had a message"
"Ruishi Shi is currently resting from his night shift" Jade snapped tersely from her spot. "But I can take a message down to him"
"And you are?" the head soldier sneered down at the younger girl dismissively, only to jump back again as the younger girl straightened up to her fullest height and spat:
"I am his daughter Jade Shi and therefore the Admiral's niece. And I can assure you Lieutenant that any message you have for my father can be passed on quite capably through me. Unless you have any valid reason to think otherwise…"
There was a very pregnant pause as all three soldiers faces paled dramatically under their helmets.
"O-oh…right…sorry miss umm…" the lieutenant leading them coughed as his two fellows made to bristle uncomfortably only to wince as Jade raised a hand to silence him.
"I do believe the correct term is my lady. Now" she clipped eying the three men before her with derisive amusement. "What is the message do you have for my father?"
"W-well Lady Jade" the lieutenant before her coughed doing his best to avoid the sniggers from the table of old pai-sho players. "The admiral wished to extend an invitation to dinner with himself and Colonel Shinu, for your father, your brother and yourself at Pohai Stronghold this evening. He says he hopes you will all attend, especially you my lady" the soldier added his cheeks reddening as his embarrassment grew with each passing word "he has given express orders to have a new dress and robes sent for you down in the galley and hopes that you will wear them with the pride and dignity befitting a lady of your station."
In spite of his mounting anger, Zuko could not help but admire the very steely gaze that Jade fixed the lieutenant with at that last statement.
It was so withering that it could flatten a pride of armadillo lions.
However as she spoke, she seemed to sound flat and emotionless, almost dismissive even as she nodded down her nose at the three soldiers.
"Thank you for the message. I shall inform my father of this at once. You may be assured that we shall send a reply as promptly as we can. In the meantime if you would please return to Admiral Zhao at once and tell him from me that I thank him for the robes and I accept his gracious apology for his distasteful treatment of me the last time I was in his company."
"W-We will my lady" the lieutenant and the two soldiers all bowed in unison before hurrying out the door.
As their boots disappeared further down the command tower stairs Jade smirked victoriously.
HA! Take that you slimy dishonourable geezer! Oh how you'll rue the day you decided to dump me at an exploding volcano!
She grinned as she made to turn back to the room at large only to find Lord Iroh happily cry out.
"excellent! I take the pot!"
He chuckled as all his Pai-sho opponents groaned in unison and the slap of a face-palm echoed over the metal interior of the ship.
"But you're all improving. I am certain you will win if we play again"
Highly unlikely
Jade rolled her eyes fondly just as something brushed past her gruffly. It was Zuko and boy did he look furious.
And here we go again…
She sighed softly as she watched the prince's ponytail disappear down the stairs.
Dealing with a moody prince and a greedy ambitious uncle? This was going to be one hell of a day.
Dear Diary,
I'm only writing in you now for five minutes, seeing as that's all the break time I have till I have to leave with my father and brother to go have dinner with my uncle Zhao at Pohuai Stronghold.
Honestly diary, I don't know why I have to come along. I hate having to attend anything to do with that half of the family. The last time I did I was six and it was our great-grandfather's funeral and boy did it suck, seeing as Shen and I were sneered at all the time.
And to make matters worse, today I have to wear a bunch of really fancy robes. Don't get me wrong diary, I like nice clothes as much as the next girl, but having to wear such heavy layers…even as I sit here now writing in you I can barely move an inch. That and also I'm wearing make up and my hair is tied so tight my face might just split apart. Seriously I look like I'm one of those creepy porcelain dolls, all in red and black, yuk!
Oh well its just for this evening…an evening with my uncle…
Spirits I am really hoping its not going to be a long winded affair…these robes are already killing me!
The afternoon sun was sinking lower in the sky, its light only just peeking through the heavy overcast clouds.
But Zuko couldn't care much about the weather about him. With a ferocious yell, he kicked and struck out in a kata, fire streaming from his fist so that it burst out over the side of the empty deck and over the water they were milling about in.
ARGH! DAMN THAT ZHAO! DAMN THAT AVATAR!
He struck out one last time, fire blasting into the air above his head before slamming his foot down hard onto the metal deck floor, just as someone came out from the base of the command tower.
"Are you ok?" it was his uncle and he was sounding worried "It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order"
"I don't care what they do" Zuko snapped.
"Don't give up hope yet." Iroh shook his head "You can still find the Avatar before Zhao-"
"But how uncle?!" Zuko wheeled around his eyes wide and desperate "With Zhao's resources, it's only a matter of time before he captures the Avatar. My honour, my throne, my country …I'm about to lose them all…"
The prince's despondent voice fell away into silence as he turned to look back over the calm grey waters below.
"Why don't you come down for some tea" Iroh said as calmly and as soothingly as possible. "I'm sure we can try and think of an alternative plan for our course."
Zuko nodded, but it was a half-hearted effort that made his uncle twinge with sympathy.
"Come now" the older general sighed as he patted his nephew on the shoulder and led him below deck.
Their going was slow and silent, the weight of their conversation still hanging heavy over both royal's heads like one of the clouds outside.
Iroh indeed could not help but feel his heart ache at the sight of the disconsolate prince that shuffled beside him, shoulders slumped, head hanging low… as if he'd just had the stuffing all knocked out of him with a solid punch.
Oh Zuko…
Iroh sighed in his head. Although he wished with all his might that he could just pave the way cleanly for his nephew on his quest, he knew he couldn't. Especially not when Zuko was right about Zhao.
Zhao…
Lord Iroh bristled uncomfortably to himself as he walked alone down the empty corridor.
In spite of his words at the helm, the thought of that prideful cad being promoted to a position such as Admiral, almost made him want to explode.
Only goes to show the low levels of depravity my brother has sunk to, if he promotes such men of dishonour to the high ranks.
He snorted only to jump as he heard a small voice say:
"Oh…"
Both prince and general looked up quickly, only to blink in surprise.
There standing in the middle of the corridor was Jade.
Only it could not be Jade, Zuko thought as he looked her over.
The Jade Shi he knew always wearing stained and old and slightly frayed red servant's robes, with worn out slippers and her brown hair messily tied back out of her soap stained face.
But this Jade he saw before him was nothing like her at all. Instead of a dirty robe, was a pristine red and white kimono with a black dragon printed so that it looked to be curled over her hem, all of it on top of dark scarlet under robe that matched her silk obi sash. Her hair too was sleek and brushed, with the bottom half of it falling loosely down her back whilst the top half was tied neatly back in a traditional simple top knot, fixed in place by a small golden pin.
But the most astonishing thing about her was her face.
It was clean and smooth and pale, with the barest hint of-wait was she wearing make up?
Zuko vaguely felt his cheeks heat up as he examined her face closer. And there it was, faintly on her lips just traces of something red staining them, and there on her eyelids, ever so slightly applied a little trace of black that made the green irises pop and-
"AHEM!" came a loud cough from his side as a sharp elbow struck his ribs gently from the side.
It took Lord Iroh all he had not to burst out laughing as his nephew blinked and said oh-so-elegantly:
"Huh? What?"
"I said my dear nephew" Iroh coughed again "Isn't Jade looking just lovely"
"oh" Zuko blinked again. "Yes she does. Look nice I mean-y-you look very um…nice" he blurted out, cursing himself as her blush deepened so that it made her cheeks match the same shade as her rosy lips.
Why her? why did it have to be her?!
He found himself chanting in his head for the umpteenth time as she mumbled in that soft sweet little timid murmur:
"Thank you"
Oh crap don't do the lip thing!
Zuko gulped as he caught sight of her grinding her teeth on her lower lip, a habit he noticed that she always did when they were both stuck in awkward moments with one another.
It certainly wasn't helping him as he muttered.
"So…you're going out...for dinner…"
"Yeah…at the Pohuai Stronghold…with my father, my brother, Colonel Shinu and Admiral Zhao" Jade nodded airily not quite meeting his eye, though it was plain to see that she clearly was not happy about the arrangement.
Not that he could blame her.
"Well at least its only one night you have to put up with him" he tried to smirk and was relieved when he saw the corners of her lips rise ever so slightly.
"Yeah…and knowing my father we'll all probably be out very shortly, unless another volcano erupts"
"I don't see how that's a problem" Zuko snorted "considering you could probably cover Zhao in lava"
"Whilst that is a very tempting road to take" Jade smirked. "I'm afraid I might just have to play the dumb doll tonight, seeing as my father is around"
"but you aren't just a dumb doll" Zuko blurted out before he could stop himself, much to his uncle's amusement.
"I-I-mean"
He spluttered doing his best to hide his embarrassment behind a stiff cough.
"I mean you-you are far from being dumb, and…and Zhao's an idiot to think otherwise"
Jade's face was so red it put even the ripest of tomatoes to shame. And yet in spite of herself she couldn't help but feel a great warmth flare up in her chest, one that she had to fight back down as it bubbled up hot and bright to her throat.
"Oh…um…thanks uh…wait really?" her brow furrowed in confusion, a look that only made Zuko's eyes travel even lower to the floor as he mumbled.
"Well yeah…I mean you were smart enough to follow the earth-bender's tracks, you remember all the names of everyone on this ship. You care for them day in, day out, plus you remember their favourite meals. Not to mention you know a fair bit about bending arts…and the Avatar…and people…"
"And lets not forget" Iroh piped in cheerfully on the side "You are very wise in the art of tea making"
It was as though the old general had flipped a light switch. Such was the change in atmosphere that one moment Jade was shyly blushing and the next she was smiling warmly loudly.
"That is something I learned from the best Lord Iroh. Now if you'll both excuse me" she bowed slightly to the two of them, careful not to crease her kimono "I have to go down to the stern. It's time to infiltrate the enemy camp"
"Well good luck! And have fun!" Lord Iroh yelled as she made to shuffle down the corridor, her robes rustling softly as she turned a corner.
"Ah…such a sweet girl" the old general sighed to himself before turning with a small smile to his nephew. "Isn't she Prince Zuko? Prince Zuko?"
But Zuko wasn't listening. His face had gone strangely blank.
"Uh…Zuko?" Iroh waved a hand before his nephew's face and was relieved when he saw him open his mouth to speak. Only the words that came out only made him more confused.
"infiltrate…of course…that's it!"
"Zuko what-" but even before Iroh could even finish his sentence, his nephew had rushed away and out of sight.
"Hmph? What is with that boy today?" the old lord mumbled as he scratched his head, only to shrug to himself.
Oh well! At least I win todays bet again!
"Watch your step Jade"
"I know Shen, I know" Jade sighed heavily as she stepped out of the rhino driven carriage that stood waiting before the entrance of a tall grand military building.
Before her at the small carriage steps were her brother Shen and father Ruishi, both of them dressed in their polished and best uniforms and looking more clean than usual which was saying a lot considering the former's very high standards.
Indeed, such was the level of her father's impeccable grooming and manners, that even though he wore only a lieutenant's uniform, he seemed to stand just as tall and proud as Admiral Zhao and Colonel Shinu, who were both standing at the base of the great stronghold keeps steps and looking nervous.
Or at least the Zhao was looking nervous. The Colonel on the other hand was looking quite pleasantly surprised as he addressed Jade's father.
"Ruishi?"
"Hello Shinu, its been a while" Ruishi bowed respectfully to the colonel who started and bowed back.
"Y-yes a long while Ruishi." He straightened up quickly. "By goodness when Zhao said he'd have one of his brothers over for dinner I did not think you'd be here. Not that I'm not glad you're here" he added sparing a small nervous glance at a still silent and very stiff Zhao "I just thought you were still sailing round the world"
"I still am" Ruishi gave a small smile to the Colonel "the ship I am serving on is just passing through the port"
"Well that is fortunate" Shinu smiled and Jade was surprised to see how genuine the expression was even as he turned to look at her and her brother.
"Oh and these must be your children?"
"My son Shen" Ruishi gestured to Shen who bowed low "and my daughter Jade"
"It is an honour to meet you Colonel" Jade bowed low, flashing a sweet smile and batting her eyes oh so innocently.
"And it is an honour to meet you too young lady" Shinu smiled before turning to quirk an amused brow at Zhao "My, my Zhao. I knew you had a niece but you did not tell me she was so charming, or so beautiful"
"Well…I could not reveal all of our family secrets" Zhao smiled politely though his eyes were cold as they met Jade's. "Could I Jade?"
"Secrets uncle?" Jade blinked innocently though inside she was feeling her gut sink ever so slightly. "But what secrets could I have? I am an open book. Everything you need to know about me you can see right here"
Everything you need…but not everything you want…
She added in her head as Shinu chuckled loudly and jovially.
"Ha! Beautiful and sharp. Yes you are certainly a lady of the Shi clan. Oh but where are my manners, come in, come in, you must be dead on your feet standing out here in the cold night air" the Colonel gestured up the stairs and Ruishi graciously accepted.
As they ascended, Jade could feel the glare of Zhao's brown eyes bore into her skull as he walked behind her.
Clearly the evening was already not going according to plan. It was one thing to let your brother win over the respect of your colleague, but another to have your own niece upstage you in a miniature battle of wits.
The first battle of many it would seem.
She sighed soflty to herself as she glanced back over her shoulders.
Between the steps of the keep and the big heavily guarded entrance gates was a blank stretch of hard earthy ground littered with smaller buildings and storehouses.
But it wasn't that that had caught her attention.
She wasn't sure whether it was just the dark playing tricks on her but she could've sworn she'd seen a shadow, that was not a guard, slink its way to hide under their carriage.
"Is something the matter my dear niece" a voice hissed in her ear.
Jade quickly snapped her attention back to the front, her face set in a blank calm mask as she felt Shao slide in beside her.
"No uncle. nothing"
"Only I saw you looking worried?" Zhao's voice was almost dripping with so much venom that Jade was surprised to not see a forked tongue slip out of his sneering mouth.
"I was just looking around" she replied airily sticking her nose up in the air. "I've never been to Pohuai Keep before"
"Well then" Zhao's voice dipped to a purr "Perhaps I should take you on a tour while you're here. I daresay your father wouldn't mind me showing my favourite niece around"
The last sentence came out loud enough for all to hear, though it was Ruishi who seemed to be bearing the brunt of the sound as the words were directed at his head.
Fortunately for him though, Shen was quick to answer, with a very wide friendly grin.
"A tour sounds great uncle, but maybe perhaps after dinner so that we may walk off some of that delicious food I can smell"
Brother you are a genius and I love you!
Jade could've kissed her brother for relief as Shinu smiled in agreement.
"Yes, food first and some refreshments. I daresay you all are feeling quite exhausted after that long trip."
"Not so exhausted" Ruishi smirked "But yes food and drink does sound very inviting, perhaps brother you can take us on a tour to the dining hall first?"
He added and though he smiled, there was something icy in those brown eyes that made Zhao almost shudder.
"Of course right this way" he bristled before striding forwards to the front of the group his face a scowl of fury and embarrassment.
"Thank you" Jade hissed to Shen as he dropped back to walk with her.
"Don't mention it" Shen snorted picking up her arm in his as they reached the foot of a stairwell. "besides its big brother's duty to ward off creeps"
"even if they are related to us?" Jade giggled
"Especially if they are related to us" Shen scoffed only to smirk as both he and his sister listened to the Colonel prattling on about the daily life at the Keep.
He seemed to be a nice man, if a bit prideful of his station, but that was common amongst the older soldiers, Jade reasoned to herself. Otherwise he seemed to be fairly alright. At least her father could tolerate his ramblings.
Till this day Jade would never know how her father could be so patient to even the most talkative of people. But then again he always was the quiet one in the family, quiet but attentive and courteous, even to people of the lowest social status.
Not like Zhao.
Jade did not even bother to hide her disgust as she glowered at the back of her uncle's head.
No Zhao would not even know the meaning of the word courteous…or even common decency if his recent stunts were anything to go by…
Even Zuko at his absolute worst was a damn charming gentleman in comparison to the swine she was unfortunately biologically related to.
No…that's wrong…I shouldn't be comparing the two of them…
Jade bit her lip to herself as an image of a very bashful, red faced prince.
"you are far from being dumb, and…and Zhao's an idiot to think otherwise"
She felt her breath hitch ever so slightly in her chest as her heart gave a small flutter.
It was odd, she thought to herself as she lightly fanned herself with her hand, doing her best to hide her now pink face from any curious eyes.
When she had been smoothly complimented for her looks and wit by the Colonel just a few minutes ago, she had felt absolutely nothing at all. Though the words were genuine there was just something in that just made her go flat.
But just those few awkward words from a prince that obviously had some social issues and all of a sudden she felt light headed and warm inside
And it wasn't just that Zuko had said it that struck her, but the fact that he was able to tell her why he thought so. He actually knew why she was herself and he accepted-
"Sir! SIR!" A voice yelled cutting through her thoughts so sharply that she almost jumped out of her kimono. She looked up just in time to see a young soldier came running down the steps from the floors above a scroll clutched tightly in his hands.
"Admiral!" he cried out as he came level with Zhao.
"What is it private?" he snapped irritably eying the younger man over with a look of cool disdain.
"Sir it's a message from the Yuyan Archers" the young private gulped handing the scroll to the Admiral who began to read, eyes widening hungrily with every sweep down the page.
Something dark flashed in the top corner of Jade's eye and she quickly glanced up at the stair railing above her head.
What she saw made her heart leap in her throat.
There in the shadows above her head was a figure, garbed all in black, with a blue and white face.
No but it couldn't be the same one from…
But even as she continued to watch the masked man put a black gloved finger to his mask's lips.
For some reason the gesture looked vaguely…familiar…
She had just about opened her mouth to squeak only for the sound to be drowned out by her father's quiet question.
"Good news brother?"
There was a silence, a horrible silence, as Zhao looked up from the paper a smirk spread widely over his face.
"Oh yes brother. It is very good news. The Yuyan have captured the Avatar. They are bringing him in now"
Oh no…Aang!
Jade's gut sank even further as she looked back up at the railing above once more, only to find it bare and empty.
She shut her eyes and sighed softly to herself, doing her best to keep her mouth shut as she listened to Zhao boast about the cell they were going to use to capture the boy.
"And of course it has reinforced metal so there won't be a chance of him breaking out with any of his powerful bending-"
You didn't say anything about non bending though.
Jade bit her lip only to shut her eyes.
Don't worry Aang, I'm going to get you out!
Yeah because rescuing a trapped avatar whilst warding off her creepy uncle, avoiding a masked thief and not making sure her father and no one else discovered her doing it was going to be so easy.
She sighed heavily.
This is going to be a very long night…
TADAA guys! sorry for the long wait (I picked up a pretty bad flu which had me so bunged up that it wasn't funny and i've only just gotten over it)
hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and Keep R&Ring for more :)