4. Water Tribe

Zuko woke with a groan. His side was throbbing; his shoulder and his thigh were burning with a dull ache. He could hear voices above him, but couldn't muster the energy to open his eyes. Instead, he tried to make sense of the conversation going on around him.

"… what were you thinking?" a young man's voice was demanding.

There was a reply, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"So you just kept going until you passed out?" the young man continued, exasperated.

Another faint reply. Zuko wondered where he was, and cracked an eyelid. He shut it just as quickly - wherever he was, it was very bright. Not his ship, then - all lights had been on their emergency setting.

"She'll be fine," another young man with a slightly higher voice said. "She wasn't injured."

"Still!" the first voice said, sounding annoyed. An intercom crackled on above him.

"Hey, Sokka," a girl's voice said. "This ship isn't going to pilot itself. Get up here." There was a pause, then the intercom came back on. "Unless you want to send Aang up so you can keep yelling at your sister and let me pilot…"

"No!" the first voice yelped. "I'm coming!" Zuko heard hurried footsteps, fading quickly. Sokka. That was a Water Tribe name - where had he heard that name before? Wait, he'd been picked up by a Water Tribe ship? Well, they might be Oma. Either way, the pirates must have towed him further than he'd thought. Assuming this wasn't another band of pirates.

He tried opening his eyes again, squinting against the light. He was in a clean-looking white room - most likely a med-bay. There was a bald boy sporting a blue, arrow-shaped tattoo on his head leaning against the wall across from him. A'pa, Zuko thought, fascinated. He'd never seen one, though he'd heard stories - they were famous for their navigation skills.

"Hey, Katara," the A'pa boy said, his wide gray eyes catching Zuko's. "He's awake."

"Is he? Good," someone said, and a young, vaguely familiar Water Tribe woman came into view. She had dark circles under her eyes, but she smiled at him warmly.

"You're on the Water Tribe ship Penguin Runner," she informed him. "We found your ship drifting not far from here." A shadow crossed her face. "You were the only survivor."

Zuko shut his eyes. All his men, dead. But there was honor in death, and the highest honor to those who died in battle. It was a good death, and there would be time to mourn later. For now, he needed to determine where he was. He cleared his throat; his mouth was bone-dry.

"What's your name?" the Water Tribe woman asked.

"Zuko," he rasped, then coughed.

"Here," said the A'pa boy, handing him a small cup with water in it. He nodded his thanks.

"I'm Zuko," he repeated. "Midshipman aboard the Armada destroyer Blue Spirit." He wasn't about to go around telling everyone that he was the heir to the Agni Kai Empire, and he didn't want a bunch of potentially dangerous questions about how he'd gotten to be a captain so young. Better to be cautious and, much as he disliked the thought, dishonest for now.

"Zuko," said the Water Tribe woman, as if fixing it into her memory. "I'm Katara, and this is Aang. You're on my brother Sokka's ship."

Zuko remembered the person on the intercom telling Sokka to stop yelling at his sister. "You're the one who passed out?" he said aloud, then blinked. He had meant for that to stay unspoken. They must have him on painkillers or something.

"Heard that, did you?" Katara said, sighing. "I have the Water Tribe gift of healing, and you had a knife sticking out of your ribs. I had to take care of all the internal damage - which I did - but I don't use my gift very often, and the drain on my energy was… a little much."

"So then Toph had to drag you back to the ship, and I had to lug her behind," Aang added with a grin. Katara hit his arm.

"Toph?" asked Zuko, frowning at the unfamiliar name.

"Our copilot. She's a Shu," Aang explained.

Zuko filed the information away for later. A Shu, with their species' incredible strength, would make it hard to get away if the crew decided to… withdraw their hospitality. So, in fact, would a healer, he thought, looking at Katara. He wasn't going to fully trust these people quite yet. He faked a yawn, hoping they would take the hint.

"Healing drains your energy," Katara said in an understanding voice, blue eyes sparkling. "We'll let you rest." Then she paused and turned back. "I… I'm sorry about your face - I would have healed that, too, but for some reason I couldn't get it to work." Confused, Zuko reached a hand up to his face, but all he felt was the normal, scarred flesh of his left cheek. Then understanding dawned.

"It's an old wound," he said. "It's all scar tissue."

"Ah," Katara said, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. She slipped out of the med-bay, Aang right on her heels.

Zuko leaned back in his bed and shut his eyes. He needed to think this through.

1. He was on a Water Tribe ship - but what kind? Were they on an official mission? Why had they picked him up?

2. What was happening back home? Someone had hired the pirates to murder him; did that mean there had been a coup back home? Had they killed the Fire Lord? Or Azula? Uncle?

3. For that matter, who had hired those pirates? He could only assume it was an Agni Kai - as far as he knew, none of the other galactic powers had reason to try to assassinate him,

He scowled. Assassination was a treacherous, dishonorable way of dealing with one's enemies, one that no self-respecting Agni Kai would stoop to. And hiring someone else to do it for you - ! Clearly, he was dealing with underhanded scum here, not fit to live under the Code.

Avenging the death of shipmates was considered an honorable reason for seeking a fight. I swear by the Code that I will not cease, I will not be satisfied, until my crew has been properly avenged. There. That was a binding oath, and he would hold to it. Then he began the ritual Agni Kai chant for the dead in his mind.

From flames, to flames; from stars, to stars; thus your spirit passes, and thus I commend it to Agni himself, in the hall of warriors…