More Than Honor

-One-

~Two Years Later~

     The trip was far harder than I had anticipated. From trying to keep my image of being a male to trying to maintain proper hygiene without alerting the crew of a female on board this ship! With age, I've come to realize how impulsive I was but I still wouldn't have changed my decision in the end. I had been fortunate enough to gain a allies on the ship, the main ally being Himorai. A decent fire bender but his main duties were to help patrol the decks as a sort of guard. 

     He discovered my secret when I had let my guard down. It was about a year and a half ago when it happened. It was very late in the night and I had stayed up to go and wash up while the men had been asleep. I'm usually fast with the process but as I had just let my hair down, he had walked in during one of his patrols of the ship. If there was one thing I remember clear as day from the first encounter, it was the feeling my heart stopping out of fear as I had made eye contact with him. 

     Thankfully, I was able to quiet him before he could do anything and explain what I was doing there. He had a bit more of a connection due to him taking the spot in place of his younger brother. From that day, he had made sure to help me in whatever way he could. The guy even managed to get me my own room that was a decent distance away from where the men slept. The room itself was very small. Just big enough to squeeze a cot in and to have my bag thrown in but it was better than the risk I had with sleeping in the same area as the others.

     Himorai and I have stayed close since. He had managed to have a few others know of me and my circumstance without the fear of them running to call me out. They assisted with helping make sure I was "Choi, Lee Fang"; not Choi, Saiyuri. To be completely honest, I may not have even made it longer than six months without getting caught if it weren't for them. 

     "Lee, what are you thinking over?"

     I quickly glanced around to see only Himorai in the area. I smiled, the sight of my breath escaped from my lips.

     "Aw you know, just wondering why the hell we're out in this frozen landscape," I stated.

     His orange eyes rolled, a smirk growing as he joined me in leaning against the rail of the ship. For the last few weeks, all we had seen was water, ice, ice bergs, and everything in-between that. The more heat we found was when Prince Zuko was training or losing his temper on a poor soldier.

     "It isn't that bad," he stated, "if anything, it builds character?"

     I looked at him, "Are you trying to convince me of that or yourself?"

     "Both. Definitely both," he said. We both let out a small laugh.

     He let out a small breath of fire, "How long have we been out here again?"

     I answered with another sigh,  my teeth chattering, "A-About....two years? Almost?"

     He nodded, "So much for finding the Avatar. There's been no sign of him for a what...over a hundred years?"

     "You'd be correct on that," I said, "I highly doubt we'll see a sign of him for the next hundred years too."

     "Yeah but hey, at least you get to pass the time a bit faster today," he stated. My brows knitted together in confusion.

     "And why is that," I asked.

     Himorai looked at me with a smile, "General Iroh has requested for you to spar with Prince Zuko." 

     My eyes widened a bit, "When?"

     "Ahhh," he thought a moment, "Well, it's been about five minutes since I was asked to come get you to spar so I'm assuming within the next ten minutes unless you want Zuko to flip out on you."