A. N. : Zuko is currently unavailable, so I had to go with someone else. Which makes that chapter only undirectly painful I guess. Maybe. I... don't usually issue warnings but this time is a bit special because there are a lot of dead people and some talk on this, soooo... Yeah. This is an ugly chapter. Just so you know. (I am very glad text doesn't include smell.)

The attack went smoothly.

The warriors on the ship weren't expecting anyone to come at them in the dead of night and most of them couldn't react quickly enough, in spite of their training.

There were a few injured, but no dead among the Water Tribe warriors.

Bato lets out a relieved sigh. The only bodies they will have to send to the sea will be Fire Nation.

Speaking of which – the Prince. His skill with swords is honestly amazing – if scary, are all firebenders trained with weapons ?

There is also no doubt he has killed before.

As for Jet – his dagger did more damage than the sword he was lent, probably a matter of habit, but what damage –

He too has killed before, many times, enough times that he won't hesitate dealing the fatal blow, won't spare a glance on the corpse before jumping to the next enemy. Enough times that the savage joy of fighting turned into a habit.

But he is still a kid.

Bato will vouch for both of them to be included in the making of their plans – experience and knowledge are always welcome – but he will also ask Hakoda to keep them out of the fighting as much as possible.

Sokka needs to get experience and the reflexes that will save his life, these kids already have too much.

But of course the first kill is never easy.

The Prince is standing next to Sokka on the deck, near the edge, looking at the sky while Sokka empties his stomach in the sea.

Taking a life is easy, just a swing of the sword and it's done, and it is even easier when your opponent is wearing a mask that takes away all his humanity.

Taking a life is easy, with the heat of the fight and the knowledge that it's you or them.

But then the realization settles in, once the tension is gone, once the time comes to clean the battlefield and you are covered in blood and gore and it gets worse with every body you send to the sea. With every drop of blood you clean from your sword.

It is Sokka's first, so he doesn't have to clean up with everyone. If he wanted to, they would let him help. But the Prince stopped him when he tried, and it was probably for the best, if Bato is to judge by the fact he hasn't seen Sokka's face since he hung his head above the sea, about an hour ago.

Most of the bodies are gone from the ship, but the smell of death is still here, along with everything the dead left behind.

Death smells like iron and faeces, like burned flesh and puke, and it floats around and taints everything it touches, like the nauseating feeling of evaporated fat clinging to the skin.

It is the smell of nightmares.

Bato is a warrior, he fights to protect his Tribe, kills so others won't have to. His enemies are those who bring harm to the people he loves, and that is why he and the others can leave the battlefield without being crushed by guilt.

Sokka will learn too. It will take some time, but he won't be alone to bear it, will have the Tribe if he has questions or just things to get off of his chest, will have Katara to remind him of why he fights. And, hopefully, he won't have to fight that way for too long.

The discovery of the ship accelerated things, but Bato is sure Hakoda would've chosen to follow Sokka's idea anyway. He wants – they all do – to see the end of the War too much.

But if Bato fights for his Tribe, what does the Prince fight for ? The Prince, who just killed his family – or people, since that's how the Fire Nation says it – who hasn't said a word since the end of the fight, who looks at the sky without seeing it and doesn't react when some of the men ask him to help out.

He seems both blind and deaf, his mind somewhere out of reach, like it got eaten by Spirits, cursing him to become an empty shell of a person.

Someone makes a comment that at least the Prince will be useful on the ship – these Fire Nation ships don't really have a lot in common with the wooden ones used by the Water Tribe. And yes, he will. But not now, anyone looking at him would see it.

But they don't look, don't see, and Bato himself started seeing him only recently, and he can't judge them because the Prince looks so much like the enemy, like a warrior, that unless you are willing to see it, you'll miss the child.

Bato doesn't judge, but that doesn't mean he will let anyone drag the Prince to the insides of the ship while they are still reeking of blood – and in a closed space, the scent becomes suffocating and feels like it won't ever wash out of your skin.

Talamak looks at him like he just got insane, but Bato just tells him that now is not the time, how about he goes back to helping the others get the ship in a state they can sail in without getting sick – Talamak shrugs.

This… is probably going to become the talk of the Tribe for the next month or so. Ugh.

Bato sighs. The Prince still has these empty eyes and it makes him sick, that a child can look so dead, and he really wants to do something about it – well, if the whole Tribe is going to think he has taken the Prince's side anyway, he might as well really do it.

Or he would, if he only knew what to do.

He's always been too impulsive and it has gotten him into a whole lot of troubles over years – most of the time dragging Hakoda with him – but even he knows that he isn't the best person to talk with the Prince. Sure, they share the pain of a burn, but Bato doesn't understand half of the Prince's actions, and the fact he has never really cared for Fire Nation people before doesn't help.

Hakoda has. There's the whole know your enemything, of course, but Hakoda is curious. He had the courage to sit with the Earth King for a while after all, listening to a full monologue on whatever the subject was – Bato stopped listening after a few minutes of this.

Sitting still isn't his thing. Sitting still while listening to someone talk ? There's a reason Hakoda's speeches are always short.

Hakoda. Hakoda could talk with the Prince. Try to understand him. To help him become a bit less dead. Hakoda could help the Prince live with this night – let's be honest, there is no doubt the reason he looks even more damaged than usual is tonight's attack.

Right.

Now to actually convince Hakoda.