GIVE ME LOVE ─── atla

xiii. AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!

"What is this mutiny?" he growls. "No one told you to change course!"

        Before the sailor is burnt to a crisp, Iroh raises his hand. Scratching his beard, he makes a confession. "Actually, someone did. I assure you, it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."

"Oh, the utmost," Jing-hai teases. She was certainly going to enjoy this.

        Zuko ignores her and ponders hopefully. "Is it something to do with the Avatar?"

Jing-hai gushes when Iroh answers.

     "Even more urgent! It seems, I have lost my lotus tile," he claims.

"Lotus tile?"

       "For our Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus is insignificant but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ," Iroh confesses. Then, with a wink, he grins. "You know, the Princess is actually pretty good, Prince Zuko. Conned your men out of half their bets. Perhaps you ought to take a page from her book. I'm sure she could teach you plenty."

Zuko scoffs in disbelief. The insinuation that a waterbender could be better than him at anything was clearly his final straw. The girl smiles smugly and flashes him her winnings. Zuko's anger simmers. "You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?"

         "See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully, they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life," Iroh folds his arms. Jing-hai smiles. Another detour was exactly what they needed to let Aang get a headstart.

Apparently Zuko didn't think the same.

       Breathing fire up at the ceiling, the boy's tantrum was thankfully shortlived. But before he left, he turned to Jing-hai and glared. He knew, somehow, that this was all her fault. Even if it wasn't, it was.

     "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew," Iroh smiles with just a hint of teasing at the outburst.

Jing-hai snorts.

∘₊𖦹─── ·࿐࿔· ───𖦹₊∘

the stokehold,
zuko's ship.

       "THE PRINCE DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE," one of his crew tells Jing-hai later that day when the new course was set to a seedy merchant's pier. Jing-hai looks up from her cot and sighs. She cannot imagine why it is she's been summoned, but knows it cannot be good. Ever since their visit to good old Crescent Island (where Jing-hai saved Aang through sabotaging Zuko), his hate for her had been all too known. The return of her cuffs, more snide remarks, longer interrogations. He wasn't shy about hiding his scorn. But why was this betrayal any different from the last? After all, she had never pledged her loyalty to him. It is to be expected.

"Lead the way," Jing-hai sighs.

     As the crewmate escorted her towards the Stokehold, the princess discovered the reason for her latest transportation: another interrogation.