CHAPTER 17

Prince Zuko didn't tell me where he was that night, and I didn't ask more than once when he told me to drop the subject. He had sent me back to my room to rest. I ended up falling asleep faster than I thought I would.

A week and a half later, I was sitting with the prince and his uncle, enjoying a bit of peace and reading a book. We were in the dining room, and I was feeling back to my usual self, but Zuko still declared that my work load would be lightened so I wouldn't collapse again. I was sure that I wouldn't, but when he gives an order, I can't really go against it. As I turned the page, I saw Zuko raise his cup to take a drink from the corner of my eye. But there was a sudden shock, rocking the ship and splashing the tea on his face.

"Prince Zuko!" I gasped, desperately fanning the page in my book to dry the liquid that had splashed over.

"It wasn't me!" he exclaimed after wiping his face. He stood and left the table, making angry noises which let me know that whoever caused the ship to rock like that was in for it. I got up and followed him, along with Iroh, and came to find a dark haired woman had boarded the ship, riding a massive beast.

"Get back!" the woman shouted as her animal sniffed the air. "We're after a stowaway."

Zuko stepped forward. "There are no stowaways on my ship," he said, eyes narrowing.

Before anyone else could say anything, the monster ripped out a huge chunk of deck plating and hurled it to the left. I had been grabbed and pulled away from this happening, and where I had been standing was where the metal plating landed. When I looked, I found it was Lieutenant Jee who pulled me out of the way, and I quickly thanked him before turning back to the scene on the ship. A grown man, around his mid-thirties, came crawling from the hole in the deck, whimpering. It wasn't long before the monster whipped its tongue out and hit the back of the man's neck, causing him to fall to the deck, frozen.

"He's paralyzed," Zuko and I said at the same time, dumbfounded.

The woman, now off of the beast, picked the man up with ease. "Only temporarily. The toxins'll wear off in about an hour. But by then, he'll be in jail and I'll have my money." She was a bounty hunter.

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko asked.

The woman got back into the saddle and pet the monster as she spoke. "My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away."

"Well, I'm impressed," Iroh said. The woman then snapped her whip and the beast took off. "Very impressed."

~~~~~
It was now afternoon, and Zuko's been contemplating something all day. He wouldn't tell me what, though, so I didn't know how to help him. Suddenly, he stopped pacing and went to his desk, opening the top left drawer and pulling something out. When he looked at me, I could see the guilt in his eyes.

"Kiara, stay on the ship. If you leave, I'll have no choice but to lock you up," he said. I gave him a confused look. "If that monster can trace the smell of a stowaway onto the ship, it can trace the smell of your sister."

"You're going after her?"

"I'm going after the Avatar. She's traveling with him, and this is the only thing I have." Zuko showed me what was in his hand. It was the necklace that he'd picked up so long ago.

"Why can't I go?" I questioned.

"Because I said so. I don't know where that woman went, but judging by her appearance and her job, it's not a good place. She's probably at a bar or something, and I don't want you there," he explained.

"But it's my family, Prince Zuko."

"I understand that. If you were to go, I'd have to keep an eye on you. I'd have to make sure nobody touches you or looks at you like they wanted to touch you. It would be a struggle to keep you safe, and I have to focus on this."

I huffed. "Fine. Just..." I stood up and went to him. "Just don't hurt them. Sokka's going to make you angry, and Katara will probably ask where I'm at. They'll try and provoke you because of what happened. Don't hurt them, please. They're the only family I have left."

Zuko nodded. "I know. I'll try and control myself."

"Thank you." With that said, Zuko turned away from me and began to leave the room. "And please be careful. We don't know who this woman is or what she's capable of."

"I'll be fine, Ki," he said. And he left.

~~~~~
Zuko:
Kiara's worry made me feel warm inside. Well, warmer. I knew that she cared about my safety, but she'd never told me to be careful before. I guess it was because I was going to go find a stranger and make a deal with them to find the Avatar.

I hadn't planned on telling her where I was going, but I felt like she needed to know since it was her sister's necklace that would lead me to where I wanted. I knew she wouldn't be happy about staying on the ship. But I was glad she accepted and chose to obey.

It was taking a long time to find Kiara's sister and the Avatar. How far had they traveled? This beast was sniffing the air in a village at the base of a volcano, a huge wall of rock surrounding it. I felt like the woman in front of me was stalling.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked, annoyed. This woman's attitude just irked me.

"Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here," she replied.

I grabbed the necklace from her hand. "We have no time for this!" And I got down from the animal, showing it the necklace again. But its tongue zapped out and I narrowly missed getting paralyzed. "Hey, watch it!"

Uncle laughed. Yes, he was along for the ride as well. Honestly, I would have liked him to stay on the ship with Kiara. I know my men are trustworthy, but I don't know how they treat her when I'm gone. I had actually never thought to ask her. Did she feel safe with them? Had they harmed her in any way before? Or tried to touch her? The last thought caused me to clench my fists.

"Hey, hot head, get on. We have to go," the woman said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I got back on the beast, and she snapped her whip, causing it to take off again. "What's got you so moody?" she questioned.

"It's none of your business," I snapped.

She suddenly stopped the animal. "Look, if I'm helping you find your girlfriend, the least you can do is not get mad at me."

"She's not my girlfriend!" I exclaimed once again.

"What about the girl on the ship? I saw the way you looked at her."

"She's my servant." My voice was low.

"But you want something more." I was silent. "Come on, hot head, admit it. You like her." I glared at her as she looked at me. "No, it's more than that. You-"

"Can we just go now?"

"Fine, fine." And we were off again.

I couldn't like Kiara. She was my servant, my friend. If I felt that toward her, wouldn't I have figured it out by now? No. What am I saying? I can't feel that toward her. Not with the plan I had when Father accepted me back into the Fire Nation. When I captured the Avatar and Father accepted me, I would take Kiara home, where she belonged. She would no longer be my servant, or my friend.

She would be a memory.

Before I knew it, we had found Kiara's siblings. The woman, June, smirked back at me. "So this is your girlfriend," she stated as I hopped down and approached them. "No wonder she left. She's way to pretty for you."

I ignored her. "Where is he? Where's the Avatar?" I demanded.

The boy, I remembered as Sokka, gave me a defiant look. "Where is my sister?" he spat. "Did you get tired of hitting her? Or did you actually hand her over to those greasy pirates?"

Kiara was right. I clenched my fists to keep from lashing out on him. "I asked you first."

"We split up! He's long gone."

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"Pretty stupid." He grabbed his sister's arm. "Run!"

Both of them ran, but the beast's tongue paralyzed them before they could get very far. "What are we supposed to do now?" I asked June.

"It's seeking a different scent - perhaps something that the Avatar held," she answered. It was a scroll that fell from the boy's backpack. After loading the pair up and onto the beast, we set out again, backtracking to the abbey we had just been at.

"What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" I yelled.

All of us were thrown to the ground when the monster suddenly jumped up to snap at something. The Avatar. I saw him as I got back to my feet and the girl shouted his name.

The battle went by so quickly, I'm not completely sure what happened. I know had been paralyzed by the monster, but I wasn't sure how I got back to the ship. Or how I ended up standing in the doorway to my quarters. But I shook it off and went to the bed, finding a pair of sleep pants neatly folded on my pillow.

Kiara... A small smile made its way to my face as I glanced at her sleeping form. She was facing my side of the bed, some of her hair falling into her face. She had so much of it, only trimming it now and then. Mother had loved her hair, always braiding it and having Kiara dress up in a fancy outfit sometimes. She had loved Kiara, and I knew she would have supported our friendship.

I quickly changed into the sleep pants and climbed under the thin cover, facing the girl in my bed. Careful to not wake her up, I moved the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. In the dim light from the candle she'd left lit, I could see part of her scar.

She was always self-conscious about it and didn't want anyone to know it was there. So she wore clothes that covered all of her back. Would her siblings still hate me if they knew my father had hurt her long before I had? Or would they blame me for that too?

I sighed and Kiara moved closer to me, most likely moving toward the warmth that I emitted. Using my bending, I put the candle out and wrapped my arms around her, thinking. I had gotten used to the feeling of her being in my arms at night.

I just didn't know what would happen when we got closer to capturing the Avatar. I knew he was headed to the North Pole, so that's where I instructed the helmsman to go. With the plan of her being just a memory after I regained my throne, what would it be like without her? I wasn't ready for that just yet.

So I had to remember the feeling before then. I had to memorize it. I didn't want to bring her back to the Fire Nation only to have Father take her away from me. I wanted her to be a free citizen in her own country. That's where she belonged.