A/N: I really should stop putting time estimates on my author notes. Last chapter I said 'at least it wasn't two years' and that was in 2020.


Vidya spent most of her time above deck since for some reason the fire nation like to have their engines on the deck. Probably because they have firebenders start it, but it still seemed like it would be an issue. Regardless of the reason, and what Vidya thinks, it was much better being above deck, even if being in the back meant she could hear Zuko's training.

It also meant that she noticed when they were getting close to land once more. They were going along a cliff side before dropping anchor by a small beach. It was the first time they weren't stopping by a port, and suddenly Vidya wished she paid more attention to the gossip during meals.

"Hey Chiyo, do you know why we are stopping here?" Vidya asked the other girl.

Chiyo shrugged before getting back to filling the bucket with coal. Not too surprising since for most of the sailors, their job was to get the ship from point A to B in one piece. They didn't care where or why they were going somewhere. It was obvious something was happening since the soldiers were all on deck and Zuko was yelling at everyone.

Which was normal, but usually doesn't last this long.

Her curiosity got the better of her, and Vidya walked over just to see what they were doing.

"Uncle, I didn't come all this way to just look at some mountains! From all the scrolls I've read, the avatar should have been from the southern Air temple. There has to be some clue there about where he went," Zuko yelled in his 'I'm an adult' voice.

"There is a reason why Fire Lord Sozin was only able to defeat the Air nomads during the comet. It is impossible for a non air-bender to get up there. Sozin needed to use the energy provided by the comet to get all of his men up there using nothing but their own fire to lift them into the sky," Iroh said, sounding like he was getting ready to tell a story with an important moral at the end.

"There has to be some way to get up there!" Zuko yelled in frustration, and everything seemed to slow down as Zuko looked at her and pointed. "You! You're the one who made that compass thing, right? Figure out how to get us up there."

Vidya was frozen in shock. She was doing so well at avoiding Zuko's attention, and the moment she gets close enough to hear him yell (which isn't even that close!), he pointed her out.

"Dude, that's not even my job."

It took Vidya way too long to realize she was the one who said that. To Zuko. To Prince Zuko who owned this ship. The very ship she was on because Hua convinced her that hiding in plain sight was a good idea.

Vidya took a step back just as Zuko stalked over to her. Or at least tried to. Iroh had his hand on his arm.

"Prince Zuko, she is right. Vidya only works on the engines. It would be unfair to ask more than she would be able to provide."

Vidya narrowed her eyes at Iroh. It wasn't like they were friends or anything, but Vidya has played a few more games of Pai Sho with him. It was a little insulting that apparently he thought she was only good for working on engines.

"If you want my opinion," Vidya started to say before wondering if it was a good idea, but by then they were both looking at her and it was too late, "I would recommend making a pulley system with the rope so when you climb and you slip, you won't fall to your death."

Before, Vidya did some rock climbing. It was a hobby and she was decent at it. Something she didn't do too often, but knew enough that she felt confident she could recreate some of the equipment used.

"I'm not going to slip," Zuko said like the idea of him doing so was outrageous.

"You might not, but I am old and my strength isn't what it used to be. Having a safe line like that would make me feel safer," Iroh said, though Vidya was pretty sure he was lying.

Out of anyone, Iroh probably is strong enough to use his fire to fly like a jet. At least long enough to keep himself from reaching bone breaking speeds while falling.

"Fine. Get whatever you need and make enough of these ropes for everyone," Zuko said before turning around to yell at someone else.

"Thank you Vidya, I know Prince Zuko isn't the best at using his words, but I'm sure he greatly appreciated your advice."

"Uh...okay," Vidya elegantly said before doing the most awkward bow in history and trying her best not to break into a run to get away faster.

While internally screaming, Vidya was able to track down Takuma.

"Help," Vidya said when she saw the man, not even caring she was interrupting him.

"Vidya, what's wrong? Is one of the soldiers bothering you?" Takuma said, getting down from the engine he was working on with Airi, an older sailor who usually does the sails.

"Prince Zuko wants me to make climbing ropes for everyone going to the temple?" Vidya said like it was a question.

She felt like half of her brain was mush from the stress. Why was running around a Fire Nation occupied Shan Hai less stressful than talking to Zuko?

"That's… six people? General Iroh is going with them, as well as Lieutenant Jee," Takuma said while stroking his little goatee, "How much rope will you need for your idea?"

"60m?" Vidya said since she believe that was the standard in her old world for climbing rope, "But I also have an idea for a harness set up."

Vidya pulled out one of the papers she kept folded up in her outfit at all times in case an idea hit hers. There was enough stuff around the ship that making a few harnesses wouldn't be too hard. The biggest issue is that while the rope used around the ship was good quality, it wasn't reinforced like the climbing rope used in her old world. Finding something to use as an anchor for the rock was also needed.

Takuma ended up helping her a lot in finding the stuff she needed for her modified design. Chiyo also found a few parts that Vidya was able to repurpose, and before she knew it, Vidya had something that looked like climbing gear.

"Is there any way I could get you to give this to the prince?" Vidya asked Takuma, since he was her boss.

"No way I'm talking to that snobby kid any longer than I have to. Sorry, Vidya."

Vidya sighed dramatically before gathering up all the materials and taking it to the bridge. The sun was already past it's zenith, and somehow it look like there were even more people than earlier that morning.

Vidya would much rather give the stuff to Iroh, but he was having lunch and Zuko was in 'charge'. It would be rude to undermine him like that just because Iroh was nicer.

Wait, that's not rude. Zuko's the one who is taking out his frustrations on others. That's rude.

Unforcuently, while Vidya was having this internal debate, Iroh saw her.

"Prince Zuko, looks like Vidya is done with her rope."

"About time," Zuko said before marking over like the angry teen that he is.

Vidya dropped the stuff and backed off. She really wanted to leave, but it would be best to explain how it worked and stick long enough to see how the trial run works. Vidya was confident it would work, but there was still a lot that could go wrong.

"Let me demonstrate how this works," Vidya said before strapping herself in one of the harnesses and clipping the rope on.

A few of the solider were also watching, as well as the other firebenders which was nerve wracking, but Vidya calmly explained how it all worked and the best way to use the safe line.

"It won't help you climb, but it will make it so you never fall more then 5 meters at a time."

Zuko nodded, "Everyone, get the belt thing on. I want to be up there before night fall."

Vidya, who was getting ready to leave, suddenly turned back around.

"You're going now? I just made this today, you should really be doing a trial run."

"We don't have time."

"Right. Because you don't want to be too late in capturing the avatar. 100 years is fine, but 100 years and two days? Oh too bad. Seems like your daddy will never love you now."

There was a moment where everything seemed to freeze while Vidya felt like face palming from how stupid she was. Usually, she was better at keeping her thoughts to herself but… that's not entirely true. Vidya was good at keeping her thoughts to herself with strangers, but not with people she knew. Or people that annoyed her. Back home she didn't care to keep her thoughts to herself until the fire nation arrived, and even then she never tried that hard. One of the reasons was Li-An was never happy with her.

"What did you just say?" Zuko demanded, voice breaking a little at the end and Vidya felt the temperature increase.

Shit.

"I didn't…" Vidya started to say before switching gears, "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that."

"Then what did you mean to say?" Zuko challenge, and Vidya took a step back as sparks started appearing in his hands.

Zuko was almost the same height as her, and there was no way Vidya was going to be afraid of a young teen, but that meant nothing when there was a good chance of being set on fire. Suddenly, Vidya felt like she couldn't hear anything from how loudly her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Prince Zuko, you must forgive young Vidya here for her miss step. She's from the colonies and they have much more lax rules about what can be said to each other. It was probably just a joke!"

The flames left as Zuko turned his attention from Vidya to his uncle, and Vidya focussed too much on getting her breathing under control to listen to what they were saying. Vidya didn't have much time to recover before Zuko turned his attention back on her, but at least now she didn't feel like she was about to hyperventilate.

"This isn't something to joke about. The Firelord sent me on this quest in order to regain my honor. He's giving me this chance to prove myself and that my mistake doesn't mean I can't be his- that I can't be a worthy prince. That isn't something I expect someone like you to understand, but that doesn't mean you can laugh about it!"

"You're right. That was in poor taste and I won't do it again," Vidya said and bowed so she couldn't look at him anymore.

Zuko didn't seem to care as he stomped off to yell at the crew to get ready, and Vidya notice that they had an audience during all that.

Great. Just what I need.

Vidya did not run away and hid in the first empty room she found. She wanted to. Very badly, but Vidya has gotten very good at ignoring her fears and just acting like everything was fine. Vidya stayed and made sure that everyone put the harness on correctly, and triple checked to make sure all the belts were secure. Just because these people were fire nation soldiers and firebenders doesn't mean that Vidya felt comfortable knowing they might fall to their death when she had a chance to prevent it.

(Though Vidya also wonders if she would still think that if some of these people were involved in the takeover of Shan Hai)

By the time she was done, her hands stopped shaking, and Vidya felt a little light headed but fine. Nothing bad happened. The group left and any accidents that happen now will be due to Zuko's impatience. Vidya couldn't help but watch as the small group started climbing up the mountain, and close to an hour passed before they got high enough that the clouds blocked her view.

With that, Vidya hesitantly went back to work, even though the rest of the crew was treating this time as a long break.


They ended up leaving mid-day the next day, everyone accounted for, and Zuko was just as angry as when he left. Only his bandages were now gone, showing off his very red scar. Vidya could only imagine that Zuko tore them off in frustration at having no clues of where Aang was.

Vidya made sure to steer clear of him.

Which was a little hard to do when Iroh wanted to play Pai Sho. And the fact that it's obvious Vidya likes the game, means that if a crewmate doesn't feel like playing with the General, they just recommend her. Which was welcomed most of the time, but not now. Not when Vidya keeps putting a spotlight on herself.

But refusing wouldn't do much good either. So Vidya just finished helping Takuma with one of the engines that started making a weird noise (turns out while they were docked, a spider rat tried crawling in for warmth), before taking her break. Then she had just enough time to get to the main deck and notice that Zuko was having an extra firebending lesson, and Iroh had the Pai Sho board set up on the deck.

Maybe I still have time to slip away…

"Vidya! Just in time, I hope you don't mind that I oversee Prince Zuko's lesson during our game today."

"No, it's fine," Vidya said, hoping she sounded a little convincing in her lie.

She took the seat across from Iroh, closer to the side of the ship in case… what? She decides to jump overboard to avoid the soon to be fireballs filling the area? Vidya knows there is very little chance of getting hurt, and at the very least Iroh would keep any stray fireballs from hitting her. But the fear was still there.

It made it hard to focus on the game. Every time there was an explosion or yell Vidya would look over. She would always turn quickly back to the game, but after a few times, Vidya noticed something odd.

Looking up during Iroh's turn, Vidya really paid attention to Zuko's training. He kept shooting out flames, but half the time it was just smoke, and the other half it was just a really thin stream of fire.

"Prince Zuko has been having a hard time with his firebending after what happened."

Vidya turned back to Iroh, who just then placed his tile down. A knotweed tile, thereby 'chocking' all of Vidya flower tiles nearby. It was a dumb play to have them so close, but Vidya was only one move from winning, and how she was back to zero.

But more important than her lack of a quick win, was what Iroh was saying. However, Vidya didn't know what to say to that. She knew that Iroh was talking about the banishment and Zuko getting burned by his own father, but Vidya shouldn't know that. Sure, she has overheard some of the sailors talk about it, but Iroh was the one person on this ship that was at the Agni Kai. Everyone else was just speculating, and was wildly off.

"I am grateful that he is trying so hard to overcome his fears, but I worry that he pushes himself too hard sometimes," Iroh continued.

Vidya couldn't help but frown a little at that. Zuko being afraid of fire sounds impossible. There was no sign of it in the show after all.

But Zuko did have issues with his bending in the show.

"I'm sure you'll help if he does end up pushing himself too far," Vidya said when nothing else came to mind as she moved her white lilly tile.

Iroh hummed as he sipped his tea, and the rest of the game passed with small talk that just made Vidya wonder why Iroh told her any of that. It's not like Iroh knows that Vidya is a little nervous around flames, and even if he did know, what was he expecting? She just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something Iroh wanted out of that conversation. Something Vidya failed to understand before their game ended and she went back to work.


Vidya somehow got wrapped up into going to music night. She wasn't against it, but it did feel weird. Gopal and Takuma were there, and Vidya made sure to take a seat next to them. Iroh was also there, which she expecting, and Hideaki the helmsman. The others were people Vidya wasn't familiar with, meaning they were either soldiers or firebenders who usually had their helmets on. Just like Takuma told her before, none of the 20-year-olds were around. Also, there were a bunch of instruments Vidya had no idea how to play.

Which was a little disappointing. She wasn't the most musical person, but she did know how to play piano, violin, and guitar in her past life. Vidya also listened to music daily and would sing in the shower. She wasn't good, but it was fun.

"Vidya! How nice of you to join us. Do you have something to share or just here to enjoy the pleasant night air?" Iroh asked, already grabbing that weird horn.

"Just here to listen," Vidya explained with an awkward smile.

A part of her wondered what the others would think of some of her favorite songs from before, but there was no way she was going to sign them without any music.

"Wonderful. You can help my nephew in keeping everyone's sprits up!" Iroh said just as Vidya heard stomping.

She didn't look to see who it was. Honestly, this was her own fault for assuming Zuko wouldn't go to music night instead of just asking. At least she doesn't need to worry about talking to him since everyone else will be playing or dancing.

Iroh started his song just as Zuko plopped down, arms crossed, next to him. And Gopal grabbed Takuma hand to dance, leaving the space between Zuko and Vidya empty.

Great.

Iroh was… fine at the horn. It was a pretty upbeat song, not something Vidya would dance to, but Gopal and Takuma were making it work. It got better when someone joined in with a drum and Hideaki started singing. He was surprisingly good, and by that time Vidya was taping her finger along with the music.

She relaxed just enough to forget the angry teen until she glanced over. Sure enough, Zuko was still sitting with his arms cross, frowning like everyone was here just to annoy him. It just looked so out of place with how happy everyone else was acting, and Vidya only realized her mistake when Zuko suddenly turned to look at her.

"What are you laughing at?"

Vidya thought about saying nothing, but she already got away unburned after bringing up Zuko's daddy issues, not like she could say much worst after that.

"You. You're acting like someone just pissed in your tea."

Vidya snickered at how Zuko's face scrunched up at that.

"That's not…Don't be so vulgar!"

"Vulgar? Have you heard what some of the others say?" Vidya had to ask since even she has learned some new swear words since arriving.

"Just because others say it, doesn't mean you should," Zuko fired back, and while that was decent advice…

"Is that something Iroh told you? Did he catch you swearing?" Vidya asked, leaning a little closer to the other teen since the idea of Zuko saying fuck only for Iroh to get disappointed was a little funny.

"N-No!"

Oh, that's totally what happened!

"Don't worry I get it. Your uncle has a very good 'I'm not mad just disappointed' face."

Zuko huffed at that, but fell silent. He even seemed to calm down a little, which wasn't Vidya's goal, but was nice to see. Vidya turned her attention back to the others, feeling a little satisfied with having one decent conversation with the banished prince. For once she wasn't worried about spontaneous fires, or being found out about being an airbending and locked away. She was just chilling with her crewmates, listening to some good music.

At least until they switched instruments and it went from good to awful. Like cats screaming and nails on the chalkboard type of bad.

Vidya quickly made an excuse to leave after that, hardly noticing Zuko did the same.


A/N: fun fact, everything but that music night scene was written over a year ago. I just really wanted the music night but didn't have the motivation to write it until I started reading 'Salvage' by MuffinLance (over on ao3, idk if they crosspost). A:TLA is really just a fandom where I dip in a few times every year between obsessing over other fandoms.

Thank you everyone who is still reading this, and any new readers. Have a nice day/night!