Wandering Firebender

Eighty Eight: Unfair

All of the supplies had finally been delivered to Fire Nation colony two. The Huang family had been safely retrieved. Elio and his crew were just finishing up the last of their preparations so they could take flight and return to the Fire Nation tomorrow morning.

To ensure that the Huang family would not be put in any danger from outsiders, Elio instructed them to say within the confines of the airship and away from the exits for now. Now it was nighttime again, and the crew was settling in early for the flight tomorrow.

"Hey, Cindra. Could you do me a favor?" Elio asked, calling to get her attention as he was passing her in the upper hallway. She stopped to look at him and saw that he was holding a thick blanket in his arms.

"Hm? Yeah sure, what's up, Elio?" She asked curiously, approaching him and eyeing the blanket.

"I need to go over some things with the flight operators, can you bring this over to Chaya?" Elio requested, holding the blanket out to her.

"To Chaya? What, did you have a tough time keeping her warm yourself last night?" Cindra let out a snarky comment as she took the blanket from him.

"I'm not entertaining that." Elio rolled his eyes at her.

"What? Just asking a question. She's pretty, maybe not as pretty as Azula, but you know." Cindra spoke once more before turning around and walking towards their quarters with the blanket tucked under her arm.

"Alright, look, you know what? We'll hash this out after I'm done." Elio decided before making his way to the control room.

"Oh yeah? Fine." Cindra huffed. She made her way to Chaya's room and knocked on the door. After a minute, Chaya answered the door.

"Oh hello again, Cindra. How are you today? Did everything go well?" She asked politely, managing a smile while folding her hands in front of her.

"Yeah, everything went fine. We're leaving tomorrow for the Fire Nation so you and your family can finally go home." Cindra said, doing her best to speak kindly to her despite her irritation. She wasn't sure how much of it was still apparent.

"That is good to hear. Thank you for finding us, Cindra. We're very grateful. I hope that in the future I'll be able to repay you." Chaya said, bowing her head for a moment.

"You don't have to do that. We're here to help. It's what we do. Uh, here's that blanket you asked for." Cindra changed the subject. She held out the blanket to her. Chaya took it carefully and set it down on the edge of her bed.

"Thank you. It was cold in here last night." Chaya commented.

"Eh, it wasn't that bad to me, but I guess I'm more used to the cold than you would be." Cindra thought aloud.

"Perhaps. I've never had to do without like this before. It...I've taken a lot of things for granted, and I look forward to having them back." Chaya expressed.

"I understand that," Cindra acknowledged with a nod. "You've got a pretty nice family." She added.

"Thank you. Uh...we do our best. It has been difficult lately, having to flee from our homes and finding out that father is gone..." Chaya admitted sadly.

"Right, yeah...how long has it been?" Cindra asked.

"We found out a few months ago," She answered. "We were struggling then, but when we heard the news...I truly thought that we had lost hope of getting back." She said.

"Hey, it's okay. You'll be home this time tomorrow, and the four of you will be able to start over." Cindra said to be reassuring.

"Thank you, Cindra. I will do my best." Chaya said, managing a smile. She clearly had a lot of weight on her shoulders, but Cindra couldn't think of anything else to say or do.

"You're welcome. Have a good night." Cindra said, stepping back now.

"Yes, you as well. Goodnight." Chaya responded politely before closing her door.

"She's nice, isn't she? Poor girl's going through a lot. The whole family is." Elio commented, walking up to her. She let out a huff and looked sideways at him.

"She is. I can't really imagine how she must be feeling." Cindra said honestly, making her way towards her room.

"Well thank you for being nice." Elio said, moving ahead of her.

Elio gestured for Cindra to follow her to his room. He opened up the door, holding it for her. She walked inside. Elio walked in behind her, closing the door behind him.

"I'm not gonna be mean to a grieving girl, Elio. My problem is with you, I wouldn't take it out on someone else." Cindra said, turning to face him again and folding her arms.

"Right. We need to talk about that." Elio said.

"Do we? I've already said just about everything I've needed to say about it. My thoughts and feelings haven't changed." Cindra shrugged.

"Which is fine, I get it. But you can't be giving me an attitude when we're working together day to day." Elio said seriously.

"Yeah?" Cindra raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes. I'm still the captain of this ship, Cindra. You don't have to like what I did, but the jabs and comments and disrespect need to stop." He stated.

"Or what?" Cindra inquired.

"It's not up for debate. When we are working together with everyone else, I don't need you taking away my focus. Regardless of how you feel about what happened, that is not the time to address it." Elio stated firmly.

"Fine, Elio. I will refrain from mentioning it during work so you will feel better." Cindra said stubbornly. Elio took in a breath, doing his best not to respond irritably.

"What is it that you want from me, Cindra? Do you want to leave? Is that it?" Elio asked.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked, looking up at him now.

"Obviously I don't, but what are we gonna do? You can't just be mad at me forever. I'm here right now. Let's just hash this out. Go ahead." Elio invited, gesturing for her to go ahead and say what she needed to say.

"I've already said what I think about this, Elio," Cindra said with a sigh. Her voice dropped down now, and she started to speak softer. "I just don't understand why. Why would you do that? Do you even know how much you risked by doing what you did?" She questioned.

"Yes, I am aware. I'd be lying if I said I thought it all the way through, but in the moment I was trying to convince Azula to come back willingly and get the help she needed." Elio emphasized.

"Which is fine, sure, I get that. But that doesn't explain you kissing her. That doesn't explain you almost letting her slip away because you were trying to trust her. Weren't you warned? I mean you've dealt with her before – it's crazy to me how careless you were!" She scolded him.

"Yeah..." Elio sighed, unable to refute that in any way.

"Why? Why did you do that?" Cindra asked again, still firm but now hurt was breaking through in her tone.

"I..." Elio sighed. How would he even begin to explain something that he didn't fully understand himself? It was something he had done more by instinct, being led by emotion rather than rational thought. But he needed to start talking in order to try for her.

"I...thought that...I could convince her to come back. Despite all the fighting we've done, there is a strange mutual understanding that we've had. There was a time when...we considered working together. And I admit, at the time it was tempting.

"It's hard to say how that would have ended up – maybe badly, maybe not, you know? But I can't help but think about Cassian, and what he once told me about making a difference. If I had gone with Azula that day, that's where I would've been no question.

"But...I guess if you think about it, that's where I am now: making a difference while being Fire Nation again. I extended my hand out to the princess, and she refused, just like I refused her, so I guess that makes us even," Elio said with an ironic chuckle.

"I guess I don't really know what I'm getting at anymore other than...I took a risk and it didn't pay off. But I still...it felt wrong to keep that from you because..." Elio trailed off and swallowed.

"...you sound as crazy as her right now. You know that, right?" Cindra said quietly. Elio closed his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah...yeah I know. I'm sorry." He said sincerely.

"What would you have even done if she had said yes?" She asked.

"I don't know," Elio answered with a shrug. "She didn't. So I guess we'll never know."

"Yeah. But you're still carrying some heavy 'what ifs' with you. That's dangerous," She warned him. "What you did could have gotten you killed – gotten us killed. You know her well enough to know you shouldn't be messing with this."

"Maybe. But if it's within my power to do something, I'm still going to do it." Elio said, looking at her now.

"Even after she attacked you multiple times and left you in a cell for a month?" Cindra reminded him.

"It's not about getting even, Cindra. It's about making things better." He said in reply.

"You're right, and I'm not saying you shouldn't. But you need to make up in your mind what it is you're going to get out of it before you throw yourself at her like that again." Cindra warned, pointing a finger at him and tapping it against his chest.

"I'll get it right. Promise." Elio said, looking in her eyes.

Cindra sighed, staring back at him in silence. It was difficult to maintain eye contact with him like this, with so much tension hanging in the air. She broke first, looking away and shaking her head again.

"If you're waiting for me to say all is forgiven, I won't." She said.

"Because it hasn't happened yet?" Elio presumed.

"...that really hurt, Elio, seeing you like that. You were willing to give up so much, and for what? So you could run away with her?" Cindra scolded him again. Elio sighed.

"Cindra...I'm sorry that I hurt you. Really. It wasn't the right call." He agreed.

"It wasn't."

"I'm sorry that I did that to you. It's not fair to you." He acknowledged.

"No, Elio, it isn't fair..." Cindra said, her voice breaking. The sheer frustration of this emotional moment was starting to take its toll on her, and against her will, tears were starting to form in her eyes. She turned away from him to wipe her eyes.

Wordlessly, Elio stepped towards her, putting a hand on her back. At first, she shifted away from him, but when Elio tried again, she allowed it. Elio pulled her in and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her. Cindra kept her hands at his chest, leaning against him.

"I'm sorry, Cindra. I know...I know how you feel about me, and I hate that you're hurting because I messed up." Elio expressed.

"Yeah..."

"What can we do to work this out?" Elio asked, letting her go and looking her in the eyes now. Cindra wiped her eyes again.

"I don't know, Elio. I don't know. I still have a lot to think about." She said simply, pushing everything down for now.

"I get that. Take all the time you need. And if this means things change, that's fine too." Elio said.

"Things change? You mean between us?" Cindra asked.

"Yeah, that's what I meant." Elio confirmed.

"Maybe they need to...? Maybe...you really kinda punched me in the gut with this, Elio, doing all this and still trying to reconcile this with yourself even though you know...you know that I love you." She said.

"I'm trying to make this right with you, Cindra, because I love you too." Elio said earnestly.

"Heh, yeah, right, because the psycho princess rejected you?" Cindra responded sarcastically.

Elio didn't say anything in response. He swallowed and looked away, unsure of how to take that statement. Cindra sighed and shook her head again.

"I'm sorry, that was...what do we do for now?" She asked.

"I think...for now...we keep things professional, do what we've always done: work together and do it well, tackle things as a team." Elio said, looking at her again.

"As a team." Cindra repeated with a nod.

"I mean I still want you on my team. I still want you around." He added.

"I never said I was going anywhere." She pointed out.

"It kinda felt like you were thinking about it." Elio admitted, making it clear in his tone that he didn't want that to happen. Cindra acknowledged this.

"We work well together, and you still need a good waterbender with you. And as it turns out, I'm the only one nearby, so I guess you're still stuck with me for now." She said, managing to speak in a lighter tone and placing her hands on her hips.

"Good. I'm glad." Elio said in reply, giving her a bittersweet smile.

"Are you?" Cindra asked.

"Of course I am. You were the first person I wanted on my team when Zuko asked me to do this. That hasn't changed now." Elio said.

"Well I appreciate that. It's good work, and we do it well." Cindra said with a nod.

"We do." He agreed.

"Mhmm...will that be all, captain?" Cindra asked.

"For now. I'll see you soon, Cindra." He said, extending his hand out to her for a handshake.

"See you later." She nodded and shook his hand, holding it in both of hers for a few moments before letting his hand slip out from hers.

Elio watched as she made her way to his door, opening it up and looking at him for a few quiet seconds before closing it behind her. He sighed as he walked to the door and locked it.

"I really hope we work things out, Cindra." Elio thought to himself...