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

Chapter Twenty

Sakari's POV

Iroh and I sat at a table with Zhao as he served us some hot tea, we were in shock and I could barely speak.

"I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko. Just devastated." Zhao said.

"The Fire Lord will not be pleased to learn who was responsible." Iroh stated.

"You know who was behind the attack?" Zhao asked.

I picked up some worry in his voice, did he do it? Was it because of the whole Blue Spirit thing? Surely not, he can't be stupid enough to kill the Prince of the Fire Nation.

"Yes. Pirates." Iroh stated angrily. "We had a run-in with them a while back. They wanted revenge."

I caught a small smirk on Zhao's face as he took a sip of his tea; he did do it!

"So, have you reconsidered my offer?" Zhao asked Iroh.

"I accept." Iroh said sadly. "It will be an honour to serve as your General."

They raised their cups and toasted the Fire Nation and future victory, I put my cup on the table with a sigh and left, I think I heard Iroh apologise to Zhao before leaving as well. I walked through the ship, not really knowing where I was going, when I noticed a suspicious looking guard coming towards me. As we walked by each other he grabbed my arm and I was quick to react, I shoved my elbow into his gut and with one twist I had him in a choke hold.

"I taught you well." A raspy voice managed to choke out.

"Zuko?!" I asked shocked, letting him go immediately.

Iroh came running around the corner, obviously hearing the commotion, and relaxed when he saw that it was just me and Zuko.

"The plan is working perfectly; Zhao doesn't suspect a thing." Iroh told Zuko in a half whisper.

"You didn't have to do this, uncle." Zuko replied.

"You guys didn't tell me your plan?!" I whisper yelled at them, crossing my arms.

"No nephew of mine is going to stow away on a ship without backup." Iroh stated.

"Thank you." Zuko said, looking to Iroh and then to me.

Just then we heard a door open somewhere close by.

"Someone's coming." I said worried.

"Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole. Good luck." Iroh told Zuko.

Iroh and I began walking away from Zuko, when he suddenly grabbed my arm and leaned down to whisper to me.

"Stay safe." Zuko told me.

"You too." I replied.

We parted ways and I gave Iroh a small smack on his arm, he stopped and looked shocked at me while I crossed my arms.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I demanded.

"Ow! I thought it would be more realistic if you thought he was actually dead." Iroh explained. "It made it more believable."

I squinted at him, trying to think of a good reason why he should have told me, but none came to mind. I sighed and dropped my arms to my side.

"Yeah ok, makes sense I guess." I said.

We met Zhao out on one of the balconies of the ship and he turned to see who we were before speaking.

"My fleet is ready. Set a course for the Northern Water Tribe."

I leant over the balcony to look at the fleet behind us and a pool of dread settled in my stomach. That's a lot of ships, I hope the Northern Tribe has better defences than the Southern.

*****

The Fire Nation ships began attacking the Northern Water Tribe and the sound was deafening, even from this distance. I could hear the fireballs crashing into the wall of ice surrounding the large tribe, and it made me angry.

"Zhao! Stop this! You won't win!" I yelled from beside Iroh.

"Somebody muzzle her." Zhao said, waving my words off.

Two guards quickly grabbed me, tying my hands behind my back and wrapping a cloth over my mouth so that I couldn't speak.

"It's almost twilight, Admiral Zhao. As your military consultant, I must advice that you halt your attack. Waterbenders draw power from the moon, and it is nearly full tonight." Iroh explained to Zhao. "You should pull back and resume the attack at daybreak."

"I'm well aware of the moon problem and I'm working on a solution." Zhao said. "For now, though, daybreak it is."

Iroh left the room, a questioning look on his face, and went to presumably see Zuko off. The plan was for Zuko to leave in a small canoe during the night, I was supposed to see him off as well but I guess I can't now. I was still tied and gagged by the guards with no signs of them letting me go, but that didn't stop me from trying to talk anyway, although it came out as mumbled words.

"Take the gag off." Zhao ordered, clearly frustrated by my attempts to talk.

"What are you gonna do to Tui?" I demanded.

"Who?"

"The moon! What are you going to do to the moon?!" I asked.

"Oh, that, well I'm going to kill the Moon Spirit, of course." Zhao said, like it was obvious.

"What? No, you can't!" I screamed, struggling against the guards now.

I kicked one of the guards in the knee and he fell to the ground, still holding onto me, I rolled out of his grip and got up to make a run for it, but Zhao caught me and shoved me back to the ground.

"Throw her overboard. I don't need anyone getting in my way." Zhao commanded.

"But, sir. What about General Iroh?" One of the guards asked.

"I will deal with Iroh, just get her off my ship." Zhao repeated.

I was dragged outside into the freezing night air and lifted up over the railing of the ship, I pleaded with the guard but he just ignored me. And then I was thrown overboard. I screamed as I fell through the air, which was a mistake because now I had no air in my lungs for when I hit the water, and I hit it hard. I tried to swim to the surface, my still tied up hands making it very difficult, before my vision went black and my body stopped moving.