Twelve
The four of them – Maya, Prince Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and Commander Zhiao sat at a table inside the Fire Navy base of the town. Zhiao was talking about the Fire Lord, and his plans to completely take over the Earth Kingdom. "Once the Earth Kingdom is under the Fire Lord's rule, we will have nearly won the war."
Zuko scoffed. "My father is a fool if he thinks that the Earth Kingdom will fall without a fight."
Zhiao smirked at him. "I see two years at sea has done nothing to temper your tongue."
There was an awkward lull in the conversation. Maya watched Zhiao closely, but did her best to do so discreetly. There was something about him that she did not trust. He seemed to never stop grinning, and it was setting her teeth on edge looking at him like that.
"So, Prince Zuko, how goes your search for the Avatar?"
Before Zuko could respond, a loud crash echoed throughout the room. Maya snapped her head in the direction of the sound, and saw Uncle standing over a pile of knocked over ornamental weapons, which had previously been leaning neatly against the wall. Uncle was blushing. "Sorry. My fault, entirely," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Maya stifled a giggle. She wasn't sure if Uncle had done that on purpose, in the hopes of distracting Zhiao, or if he had just legitimately done it on accident, but either way, she thought it was funny.
If it had been Uncle's intent had been to distract Commander Zhiao, he had failed. Zhiao was not to be distracted. He looked over at Uncle dismissively, and then his gaze returned to Zuko. "Well?" he said.
Zuko sighed and looked down. "I haven't found any sign of him."
Zhiao smirked. "Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a long time ago, along with all the other Air Nomads."
Maya was watching Zuko intently, praying to the spirits that he had a good pai sho face. Unfortunately, at the last second, she saw his emotionless eyes widen for a moment, and he turned ever so slightly away from Zhiao. Then his eyes returned to normal and he looked at the Commander with an utterly Zuko-like face. A mix between constant annoyance and complete disinterest. But she had seen the slight change in Zuko's body language. And, if she knew anything at all about Commander Zhiao, then she knew that he had seen it too. She put her hands under the table and clutched at her knees nervously.
"Unless, of course, you've found some evidence that the Avatar is somehow alive," Zhiao said, his voice a question.
"No," Zuko replied, voice dripping with despair. "Nothing." He sighed. "It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago." He looked up at Zhiao with eyes that were sad. But Maya could see the contempt beneath them. The taunting look that said, "You'll never make me tell you in a million years."
Maya looked down at the table, studying the grain of the wood. She knew it was only a matter of time. They were going to lose, one way or another. Zhiao was going to find out what really happened.
Zhiao stood and began pacing the room slowly, hands behind his back. "Prince Zuko," he began slowly, "the Avatar is the only one who stands in the way of the Fire Nation and victory of this war. If you have even an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found." He leaned down and got up really close to Zuko's face, staring at him.
"I haven't found anything!" Zuko said angrily. It was obvious that he was getting tired of having to lie. He stood up. "Come on," he said, looking at Uncle and Maya. "We're leaving." He turned to walk out the door, but the two guards who stood on either side barred his way, making an X in the doorway with their swords.
A Fire Nation soldier in full outfit came in through the door in the back of the room. He spoke to Commander Zhiao. "Commander," he said. "We interrogated the crew like you asked. They told us that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape."
Commander Zhiao grinned even wider. He looked at Zuko, whose back was still turned. "Now. Tell me again how your ship was damaged."