GIVE ME LOVE ─── atla

xvii. A GOLDEN CAGE IS STILL A CAGE!

      Above ground, she finds the crew repairing the wreckage of the storm. Overall, they were pretty beaten up but it could have been far worse. Thank God for her, right? Not that Jing-hai had received any praise. That was, until she stepped on deck. As if rehearsed, the crew stop what they're doing and clap and cheer. Celebrating their victory. Her victory. Jing-hai blushed and couldn't fight a smile. Especially as she was handed a wildflower by one of the passing men. But the second she remembered they work for the Fire Nation, her blissful mood was soured.

"Ah, Princess Jing," Uncle Iroh grinned. "I was wondering when you two might wake up. I see you're feeling better."

      Jing-hai smiled. "Better? I'm feeling wonderful! What the hell did you put in that tea?"

Iroh tapped his nose. "Secret recipe. So, how did my nephew sleep?"

The girl's smile dropped.

       "I'm sure he slept like a baby," Jing-hai said. "Since he sure does talk and act and do everything else like one."

        This he laughs at. But their moment of peace didn't last long as Jing-hai's eyebrows furrowed. She had a lot of questions she needed to ask but couldn't find the words. Things felt...different on the ship. No longer did she feel like the prisoner she was. Is. Instead, she felt respected. Adored even.

By all except the Prince.

"Was that really all for me?" Jing-hai asked of the applause.

         Iroh nodded. "Of course. You did a brave thing yesterday."

Jing-hai swallowed. "I don't feel brave. I feel like a traitor."

         Iroh doesn't speak for a long while ━━━━━━ taking the time instead to groom his perfect beard. Then, finally, he talks. And he talks in a way like he knows her hardships. "Cowardly people don't risk their lives to save others. I should know. I've been around them all my life. But you are bolder than you look, Princess Jing. And tough. And fiercely loyal. But you're also kind. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. But it will make things difficult for you. On your path, I suspect there are many moral quandaries. But only you can make those decisions. And when you do, I know it'll be the right one."

Jing-hai's smile crinkles her eyes.

        Meanwhile, Prince Zuko stirs in his hammock. He greets the day with an indescribable feeling ━━━━━━ almost as if he'd lost something. So the boy got up to find it. Slipping on his armour, Zuko took a stroll up onto the foreground. There, he finds his men hard at work. And his prisoner lazing in the sun. The girl was wearing a lilac tunic with ridiculous wildflowers tucked into her hair. Zuko watched her with no air in his lungs, just like the night before. He thought about the steady way she had looked at him down in those treacherous depths. When her eyes had sparkled like the fallen snowdust the day the two first met. Jing-hai was giggling and beaming now at something somebody had said. Her laughter carried in the morning breeze. He decided then (begrudgingly, of course) that he must thank her. She had saved his life after all.

But before he could, one of his men (or rather, boys) interrupted.

      "She's a pretty one, isn't she?" he nudged absentmindedly as he worked on fixing the mast. "And here I thought the girls back home were the finest in the lands. But they don't even compare. Don't you miss girls, Prince Zuko?"