Fuel to my Fire - Book One (ATLA Zuko Fanfiction)

Chapter Three

Sakari's POV

I was shoved hard into a room on the ship, and the door was locked behind me.

"You could at least untie my hands!" I yelled to the guard as I heard him walk away.

I sat for a moment, trying to think of a way out, but then I started hearing what sounded like fighting coming from somewhere on the ship. It must be Aang. I heard the sounds getting closer and closer.

"Aang! I'm in here!" I yelled.

I heard my door unlock, and people run past. Peeking out the door I saw that Aang was running from some guards, he must have unlocked it on his way past. I snuck out of the room and made my way onto the deck, there was nobody out here but as I looked up, I saw Aang begin to fly. He waved to me happily, but before he could fly down and grab me the guy from earlier jumped and caught Aang's ankle, bringing them both crashing down to the deck.

"Are you ok?" I asked Aang.

Aang and the guy both got up and were ready to fight, I felt completely useless with my hands tied, when we suddenly heard Appa growling from above us.

"What is that?" The guy asked, looking shocked to see a flying bison.

"Appa!" Aang and I yelled in unison.

The guy took our moment of distraction to shoot fire towards Aang, but Aang deflected it with his staff, almost falling over the edge of the ship. The guy then directed his attacks at me, I screamed as I jumped to avoid being burnt, only to end up stumbling over the side of the ship. A moment later Aang was sent into the water with me.

"My hands are still tied! I can't swim!" I yelled as I struggled to keep my head above the water.

As I sunk below the surface, I felt something very fast go by me in the water, I think it was Aang but I was losing consciousness. It felt like forever before I finally felt someone's arms around my waist. I was brought to the surface and started coughing up a small amount of water, I turned my head to thank whoever saved me but upon realising who it was I froze. It wasn't Aang, or Sokka, or even Katara. It was the Firebender that sent me into the water in the first place.

"Sakari! Where are you?" I heard Sokka yell from above us.

I looked up and saw my brother with a worried look on his face.

"Go! I'll be fine!" I told him, realising there was no way we were going to get away from the Fire Nation if they waited for me.

"We're not leaving you!" Sokka argued.

"Sokka! Go! Now!" I told him sternly.

"I'm older by two minutes, you shouldn't get to tell me what to do." I heard him grumble.

"Sokka!" I yelled again, warning him to leave before the guards caught him.

The Firebender and I were helped back onto the ship by an old man, I was thrown to the side when they saw what was happening. My siblings and Aang had flown off on Appa.

"Shoot them down!" The guy yelled.

"NO!" I screamed.

I watched in horror as the guy and the old man sent a huge fire blast towards Appa, but I was filled with relief when Aang sent a gust of air towards it, redirecting its path. My relief however was short lived as I realised that an avalanche was headed from the cliff right onto the ship. I wriggled my hands quickly and got free just in time to stop myself from being buried in snow. I stepped to where it was safe before letting the snow fall onto the ship, I looked around and realised no one had noticed that I was no longer tied up. I took the opportunity to bend the snow at some of the guards and freeze them where they stood.

"Now, now. There's no need for that, is there?" A kind voice spoke from behind me.

I turned to face the old man with my hands up ready to fight, but he simply walked over to me and pointed to my hair.

"I like how you wear your hair." He stated.

"Thank you." I said, relaxing my body.

He nodded and turned to the young guy.

"Good news for the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." The old man said.

"That kid, Uncle, just did this. We can't underestimate him." The guy responded. "Dig the ship out and follow them!"

The old man and I both looked towards the guards, there were only two that weren't frozen in ice and they were trying to melt the others. The old man and I turned back to the guy.

"As soon as you're done with that." The guy stated.

"You know, Prince Zuko, we have someone here that could help us." The old man stated, pointing to me.

"Why would I help you? If I help you, you'll just go back to chasing Aang that much quicker." I stated, still processing the fact that this kid is a prince.

"Hmm, you have a point my dear. Tell me, what is your name?" The old man asked me as he led me inside the ship and away from his nephew.

"Uh... Sakari." I answered.

"What a beautiful name." The old man said kindly. "My name is Iroh."

I was led through a hallway and came to a stop in front of a door, Iroh opened it and gestured for me to enter. It was a fairly nice room, the bed looked soft enough.

"This is where you will be staying during your time with us." Iroh explained.

"Why not in a cell? I am your prisoner after all." I stated, sitting myself on the bed.

"I do not believe you belong in a cell." Iroh said. "Now why don't you get some sleep."

After Iroh left the room I decided that I would meditate rather than sleep. I got into my meditation position and cleared my mind.

"You're back sooner than usual." I heard Tui's voice speak.

"Got a bit of spare time." I simply stated.

"Good, good. I would like to give you another Healing lesson, I think just a few more and you will be a master healer. After that, I have one more lesson I can give you, only if you want it though." Tui said in a warning tone.

I nodded my head, wondering what my very last lesson would be on, and why she sounded so stern.

Tui started explaining to me more about Healing and how to go about it, and I focused on her completely.