Chapter 9: Order?

Zuko was irritated.

No, he decided. That was two nice a word. Enraged, sounded better or maybe livid. But neither option felt like a good enough word to portray the depth of his fury and indignation. Maybe those two words were good enough. And his mood was deteriorating with each passing minute. The irony was not lost on him either that he had made a game of this situation. A 'how mad am I at this moment' game. He had started with annoyed and then after a while moved on to mad, and it had gone downhill from there.

When they had arrived at the blasted ship to board two warriors had ushered him away from Katara's side. They had pulled him down into the belly of the ship and into a small storage room. They had then weaved rope through the chain connecting the shackles on his wrists and hoisted the rope up over a support beam and proceeded pull him upwards and tie off the rope on a round metal loop by the door. Then they left the room, closing the door. Leaving him suspended, arms pulled up above him barely standing on the balls of his feet.

And it seemed that they were all determined to forget about him here as the hours ticked by. His fingers were tingling, and the numbness seemed to be moving down through his arms. His stomach grumbled alerting him to the fact that he had missed at least one meal. He felt cramping in his calves from standing on his toes. The sensations making him alternate from letting his body just dangle from his wrist to give his legs a break, to having to change his position back to standing on the balls of his feet. And his back was aching from the different positions. All of this, each ache and pain adding to his discomfort and dragging his mood further into a deep burning rage. And he could not even complain about it. Katara had made sure of that before they had even left her chambers to head to the docks.

"After we board, make sure you stay quiet and try not to complain about anything." She had said. "We will be traveling most of the way by boat, before making that last bit of the journey on Appa."

Zuko did not think she even realized what she did. He himself had not thought much about her words. But he was learning that how she said words mattered. As the tingling in his fingers began, and with no one coming to his aid, he found himself uttering curses under his breath. Attempting to call out for help only resulted in a sensation of the words catching and burning in his throat, leaving him voiceless, as if someone had forcefully taken away his ability to breathe. It took him a few moments to regain his breath, to feel like he was not gasping for breath. Once he was recovered enough, he tried again. But again, he choaked on the words, feeling like he had swallowed hot coals. And as he was gasping again for breath, he felt the burning sting on his chest. Gritting his teeth through the pain he had remembered Katara's words.

Mumbling under his breath, he found, seemed to be fine. As the pain in his chest subsided. And so, he had proceeded to mutter ever swear word he had learned the past few years traveling from port to port. Running through the list rather quickly, he had begun to make up his own words.

As the hours continued to tick by, Zuko began to feel like he was being punished for something. That maybe after what happened during their market trip the day before that Katara had changed her mind about working towards trusting him. That maybe the people at the market were right about him. And he, being a fire nation exiled prince, he would never be trustworthy.

They had given him a wide berth, glaring at him as he walked by following Katara through the market square. The whispers had started, followed by the louder insults. They refusals to let him in their shops. When someone had thrown something at him Katara had grabbed his chain and led him back through the streets and back to her room. She had left him there, telling him not to leave the room, and then she had left. After a couple hours she had returned with the remaining items she had originally set out with him to get. She had remained quiet, not speaking to him while she had worked to finish packing the last items. Upon hearing what had occurred over dinner, Sokka had worn a smug smile on his face the rest of the evening, elated that he had been correct.

Zuko grunted as he tried adjusting his stance again. After hours of enduring this discomfort, he had begun contemplating the idea of spitting fire to burn the rope and relieve his suffering. He had quickly disregarded the idea when it first came to him. This was not a steal ship; this boat was made of wood. And Zuko did not think Katara would agree with him setting it on fire. But as the hours continued to pass him by, the idea kept coming back to him. And he was assuring himself that he could possibly put the flames out once feeling returned to his limbs and if not, he would gladly face the consequences if it meant getting out of this position.

He was still weighing the options, his anger boiling below the surface when the door banged open behind him and he turned to see an angry waterbender standing behind him.

Of all the stupid, irresponsible things to do. Katara chided herself.

She had lost the firebender. Well not entirely, she was pretty sure. She definitely remembered him being brought on board by two warriors. She just did not know where they put him. And everyone she had asked had not seen him since. She knew she should have taken better care of making sure she knew where he was before they had set sail. And they had been traveling for several hours now.

After boarding, she and Master Pakku had run through some bending exercises together. They had worked together until lunch time. Over lunch they had discussed the route they should take for the rest of the journey on Appa to reach the earth kingdom. After lunch she and Aang and gone to help one of the waterbenders bend the water around the ship propelling them through the water faster. Plus, it given some practice in for Aang. So, by the time dinner was ready she was tired and hungry. And it was then she realized she had not seen Zuko.

What a wonderful way to start off. She thought miserably.

"Aang," she called, he was sitting next to Sokka discussing something while they eat. "Have you seen Zuko?"

"Not since we boarded." Aang admitted then asked Sokka. "Have you?"

"Nope, I have not seen the fire jerk." Sokka said between bites. "You sure they actually brought him on board?" he countered.

"Yes." Katara stated in exasperation, putting her hands on her hips.

Sokka levelled a gaze at her and asked, "They probably locked him in one of the storage rooms down below."

Katara stood and walked to the cabin. Then down the ladder into the belly of the ship. They were on a trading vessel, and the belling of the boat consisted of hallways and with doors down to keep things organized and secure. She decided to start at one end and work her way through. Opening each door, she progressed slowly moving towards the bow of the ship, checking each room individually. And she was getting more and more irritated as she went. The second to last door was the first one she had come across that was locked. Luckily the key hung on a metal hook beside the door, so she unlocked it a swung the door open wide.

And there he was, practically hanging from the ceiling. In one fluid motion she had uncorked the waterskin at her hip and flicked a wrist, sending a stream of water cutting through the rope. In the next instant since he lost the support, Zuko's arms fell uselessly to his side and his legs gave out, sending him crashing to the floor.

"La above." Katara cursed, moving forward to help Zuko sit up. "Are you ok?"

"Now she cares." She thought he heard her mumbling under his breath.

"What?" She asked him.

"Nothing." He murmured.

"I have been looking for you." She explained.

"All day?" Zuko gritted out accusingly. "It is not that big of a ship."

"No," Katara admitted. "I have been busy bending."

"What could you possibly need to bend out here in the middle of the fucking ocean." Zuko asked in disbelief.

"We bend the water around the vessel to make it go faster." Katara explained. "Saves on travel time." She reached out to touch his arm, but he maneuvered away from her.

"Did I do something wrong?" Zuko asked her.

She stared at him in confusion. "No."

"Then what am I being punished for?"

Confusion drew her brows together. What is La's name was he talking about.

"Was it for what happened in the market with the shop clerks?"

"No Zuko." She tried to reason with him. "None of that was your fault."

"Then why was I strung up like a polar sealions waiting to be carved?" Zuko demanded to know, his voice remaining dangerously low.

"I promise you are not." Katara struggled with the words to make him understand. "It was a misunderstanding." Zuko's eyes narrowed, his frustration not abating. She realized that he would not believe her. "It you were in so much discomfort why did you not call out for help?"

For the first time, Katara registered the intensity of the heat emanating from Zuko as he leveled her with an even darker scowl. Beads of sweat trickled down her back.

"Because you ordered me not to."

"I did?" Katara asked taken aback. She did not remember commanding him to do anything. She was fairly certain the words 'I command you' or 'I order you' never left her mouth.

"You ordered me to stay quiet and to try and not complain once we boarded." Zuko grumbled. "I tried to call out twice, but defying your order proved difficult. Even now my chest feels like it will burst into flame." He added under his breath.

"What did you say?" Katara asked, her eyes were drawn to the spot on his chest where the mark rested.

"The mark burns." Zuko reiterated, like it was completely obvious.

Katara reached out for him once more, but he tried to evade her grasp. Yet, she could tell by the way he had crashed to the floor that his arms and legs were temporarily immobilized. His attempt to escape her touch only resulted in him ending up flat on his back. Determined, she reached for the bottom of his shirt to pull it up, and he began rolling from side to side in an attempt to shake her off.

"Just leave me alone."

"Hold still Zuko and let me look." Katara stated in a stern voice.

He, to her surprise, immediately stopped his thrashing and laid their glaring up at her. She reached again and pulled up his shirt to reveal the mark on the left side of his chest. Her eyes widening as she prodded the raised red lines in his flesh finding it hot to the touch. She called the water from the water skin at her waist, coating her hand and pressing it against the mark. The blue healing glow emanating between.

"Did you do this." She asked him gently as the glow receded.

"Oh right." Zuko said with an eye roll. "Because being a firebender, we just love the feel of our flesh burning."

Katara's eyes flicked up to the burn on this face as he made his comment. Catching his gaze, she quickly averted her eyes, feeling a flush of embarrassment for getting caught staring. In her peripheral vision, she noticed his narrowed eyes, and she tried to ignore his glare as she focused on her task. With determination, she finished working on the mark and skillfully used her bending to bring feeling back into his limb as she ran water up and down his arm.

Zuko sucked in a painful breath as the feeling of thousands of needles pricked along his arm as feeling flowed back into the appendage. Katara repeated the process with his other arm and then both his legs.

"Can you walk?" she asked once finished with the task.

Without answering, Zuko maneuvered into a standing position, relieved that his legs were supporting him again. He took a few stops before nodding a yes in her direction.

"Then come on, let's find you something to eat." She stated, and he followed her out the door.