CHAPTER 15

It was a rather sunny day and I should have been enjoying the fresh air, but I was in the kitchen with the cook, a cloth covering my nose and mouth just in case I started coughing again. I'd been getting sick the past two days, but I made sure to keep my hands clean so I could do my job. When I gave two short coughs, the cook shot me a worried glance.

"Miss Kiara, I can make lunch on my own today," he said softly. "You don't need to keep working in your condition."

I shook my head. "I'm fine. My hands are clean, and I promise, I won't cough on the food."

He nodded, but still looked a little worried. We continued preparing lunch and I made my rounds after it was finished, delivering food to the crew members. All of them thanked me as usual and most asked if I was okay to be working. To that, I answered that I was fine. A little bit of a cold wasn't going to keep me from doing what needed to be done. But as I walked away from a group of soldiers, I caught the end of their conversation.

"Maybe she can talk some sense into him. She's the only one he'll listen to," one guard said.

Another replied, "Yeah, but he's having her work while she's sick. If he's doing that, what make you think he'll change his mind about our safety when there's a storm coming?"

Zuko said their safety doesn't matter? Of course it does! If the crew wasn't safe and working, the past two and a half years wouldn't have been possible. Although, Zuko still hasn't captured the Avatar, but we're closer now than ever.

Either way, I'd talk to him for them. I nodded to myself before coughing a couple times and going toward the prince's room. He was facing the wall, his shirt off, breathing deeply. Meditating as usual.

I sighed quietly and began making the bed. When I was finished with that, I spoke. "Prince Zuko, there's going to be a storm today," I said.

He hummed in response, acknowledging me.

"For the safety of everyone on the ship, shouldn't we dock somewhere?"

His sigh was an annoyed one. "You too? I already told Jee and my uncle that we're not stopping anywhere anytime soon. If there's a storm, we're riding it out. The Avatar is more important than some stupid storm."

I gaped at him in disbelief. "What about your men?"

"What about them?"

"They could be injured or killed if the storm is big enough."

"I said no."

"You're being unreasonable."

His eyes snapped open and he shot me a look. The candles went out. "Unreasonable?" I nodded, staring at him. "My main goal right now is to capture the Avatar, not to keep those men safe."

"So you're telling me that anyone on the ship could die and you wouldn't care? They're just disposable to you?" I questioned. Without hesitation, he nodded. "Even your uncle? Or me?"

"Don't do that."

"You're the one who agreed to that."

"Kiara." His voice was angry.

"Prince Zuko, I hope you have a nice time keeping yourself company tonight. Because the way you're acting right now is not the person I want to be around. I'm sleeping in my room." I started to leave, spinning on my heel and walking to the door. But his hand on my wrist stopped me.

I was spun back around to face him as he towered over me. "I know what you're doing and it's not going to work," he said lowly.

"And what exactly am I doing? Trying to talk some sense into you? Trying to convince you that the safety of thirty men is worth more than the honor of a stubborn teenage prince? Because, believe it or not, it is."

"You're guilt tripping me."

"And once again, you're behaving like him. Two and half years ago, you were banished for defending soldiers of the Fire Nation because your father placed them on the front lines and said they were expendable. That's pretty much what you're doing now, Prince Zuko." I snatched my arm away from him. "Goodnight." And I walked out of his room and to my own.

~~~~~
Zuko:
She was right. I remembered that night at the war meeting. I remembered which division was put on the front lines. The 41st. I remembered that they were all new recruits and how angry I was that those old generals could just place them there like that.

~Flashback~
A horrified look crossed my face as I looked at my opponent. It wasn't the general I had spoken against in the meeting, but my own father. I wasn't going to fight him...

I tried begging. "Please, Father, I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart!" I exclaimed. "I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"

But he continued advancing toward me. "You will fight for your honor, " he declared.

No. I fell to my knees in front of him, my head down as tears streamed down my face. "I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son."

"Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!"

"I won't fight you."

"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

I felt the heat of the fire after I looked up. But I didn't expect to feel the pressure of another body in front of my own as the flame was shot, both me and the other person screaming in pain before completely passing out. Who had come between me and that fireball?

~End Flashback~

Meanwhile, with Iroh~
3rd Person POV:
General Iroh sat with fifteen of the crew members, one of them being Lieutenant Jee, telling Zuko's story from that fateful day. He had already explained that the prince's opponent was his own father, and was just getting to the part where the Fire Lord struck him.

"I looked away," said Iroh, "But not before Kiara escaped the grasp of two grown men and landed herself between my nephew and brother."

"Miss Kiara was there as well?" one of the men gasped. Iroh nodded. "Is that why she was banished with him?"

"Yes, because she interrupted the Fire Lord's lesson on respect. But if she hadn't done that, Prince Zuko could have been killed. His whole face could have been scarred," the retired general explained.

Lieutenant Jee spoke. "I always thought that Prince Zuko was in a training accident..." he trailed off.

"It was no accident. After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness, and that Kiara had disrespected him as well," Iroh said. "As punishment, they were both banished and sent to capture the Avatar. Only then could Zuko return with his honor."

"So that's why he's so obsessed. Capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal."

"Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope."

"Not to mention Miss Kiara's here too," said another guard. "She seems to keep him stabilized."

Iroh nodded. "If it weren't for her, we'd probably all be gone by now. Zuko would have given up ages ago."

"So what's her story?" Jee asked.

"When the Fire Nation was rounding up Waterbenders from the Southern Tribe, Kiara and her mother were both captured. Her mother was a Waterbender, but Kiara isn't. Kiara was taken simply because she was the prince's age and Fire Lord Azulan believed Zuko needed a servant. Both of them were five. Nearly two years after being captured, Kiara was finally given to Zuko as a birthday present. But as anyone can see, the two are more than just servant and master. They're best friends."

"But they argue almost all the time," a third guard complained.

Iroh nodded his head. "That's because Zuko's stubborn and Kiara has to fight with him to get her point across. Eventually, he realizes that she's right. That girl may not be able to bend the elements, but she can bend his mind."

All of the guards nodded in agreement.

~~~~~
Zuko:
After arguing with Kiara, I went out to get some fresh air. Dark clouds rolled overhead, and then it began pouring. The ship rocked against the waves. Lieutenant Jee was next to me, struggling just as much as I was to stay upright while on the main deck. A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the ship, but I didn't see where it hit.

"Where were we hit?" I asked Jee.

"I don't know!" he called back.

Uncle, who stood next to up, pointed upward and shouted, "Look!"

On the bridge tower, a crewman was hanging from some of the rigging, struggling to keep his grip. "The helmsman!" I exclaimed. I raced for the external ladder of the tower that led to the bridge area, Jee right on my heels. Working together, Jee and I caught the helmsman before he could fall to his death. When I looked down to him, I looked past him to the deck and saw Kiara. She had a small smile on her face, obviously approving of my actions.

Carefully, the three of us made our way down to the deck. When I looked to the sky again, I saw the Avatar's bison flying above us.

"What do you want to do, sir?" asked Jee respectfully.

I paused to consider. "Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety," I said.

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm," Uncle informed.

I nodded and gave instructions to the crew. Before too long, our course was changed and we were in the middle of the storm where it was calmer and simply drizzling rain. I looked at my uncle and sighed. "Uncle, I am sorry," I said.

Uncle smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. "Your apology is accepted."

He released me and I turned to the girl who stood silently by my side. "Ki..."

"I know. But in the end, you did the right thing," she said with a small smile. "I knew I could talk some sense into you."

I rolled my eyes playfully, looking away, and pushed her. "Hey, watch it," I warned. When she didn't answer, I looked back at her. Her tan skin was pale and her eyes were droopy. Even though we were on a ship, she was swaying much more than she should have been, and that worried me. "Ki, are you okay?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at me and gave me a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

But she wasn't fine. Before I could say anything, her legs gave out and she collapsed to the deck. Luckily, I stopped her fall before she hit her head. But she was out cold. Completely unconscious. And she had a fever that was close to my normal temperature and nowhere near her normal.

"Kiara?" I called, trying to wake her up. "Someone get the medic!"