Arctic Flower

One Day, I'll Be Laughing At Your Ashes

General Iroh's study was a short walk down the hall. Floor to ceiling shelves cluttered with books and curiosities covered most of the walls. The cabin's leftover parts were taken up by tapestries depicting the Fire Nation insignia and a large porthole that let in the setting sun's light. A warm fire crackled in a hearth in the far corner.
At the low table in the center of the room sat a tubby old man with thinning grey hair and sideburns and a wispy grey beard. He rose from the plush cushion he was sitting on and bowed to Katara. Then he smiled at her as if she were a favorite granddaughter.
"Good evening, my dear," he said. "You're just in time for tea."
He gestured for her to take a seat on one of the cushions around the table. Katara took the one across from him. "Thank you for having me, General."
The table was set for tea. Delicate, black porcelain cups circled a large, squat teapot. Next to the teapot was a plate of little white cakes that resembled delicate flowers or snowflakes.

General Iroh nodded in the direction of the cakes. "Please take one."
These treats looked too tempting for Katara to resist. She picked up one and took a bite. Rice flour paste and milk custard melted in her mouth. Absolutely sinful.
"I believe you've met Prince Zuko." The General poured tea into Katara's cup. "What did you think of my nephew?"
What did she think of the Prince of the nation that had terrorized her people and killed her mother? Of the man who'd done nothing but hurt, insult, and intimidate her? The answer: not much.
"I have burns on my arms that should give you an idea of what I think of him." Katara rolled her eyes and accepted the tea.
"My nephew is a complicated young man."
"Complicated isn't precisely the word I'd use."
The words that did come to mind were too impolite to say over tea and cakes, but complicated worked fine. Katara wracked her brain to try to make sense of the scarred Prince, who now held her life in his hands and found nothing.
She took a sip of tea, unsure of what else to do. The tea was sweet and refreshing, like taking a bite from a piece of fresh fruit.
"Are you enjoying your tea?" General Iroh said.
"I am," Katara replied. "Thank you."
"I'm partial to headier brews, but I wasn't sure what your limits are. So, I decided to go easy on you." A pleasant smile crossed his broad, wrinkled face. His eyes narrowed to crescent-shaped slits. With their diadems of crow's feet, they looked like the rising sun. Gran-Gran smiled like this.
Katara couldn't help but give him a weak smile in return. "I don't have much experience with tea," she said. "It's a rare treat here in the South Pole and we only ever get the stuff that tastes like hot leaf water."
"Then we'll have to remedy that situation."
"You want to turn me into a tea connoisseur? I can think of worse ways to occupy my time."
The General's eyes singled in on the phoenix pendant hanging around Katara's neck.
"Did Prince Zuko give you that?"
Katara blushed and lowered her eyes. "He said that the crew would know what it meant, and they wouldn't harm me." Her fingers rubbed the jade pendant. " I know that phoenixes are a common symbol in the Fire Nation because of the whole rebirth through fire thing, but I don't know what other significance there is."
"Phoenixes have an ancient association with the Fire Lord and his household," General Iroh said, stirring his tea with a spoon. "They're often paired with another royal creature, the dragon, to symbolize harmony and balance, particularly between male and female."
"We have something similar in the Water Tribe: Tui and La, the spirits of the moon and the ocean. Their push and pull create the tidal and lunar cycles and keep the world in balance."
"Then I guess our cultures aren't as different as we like to think." He plopped another cake onto her plate.
"Uncle, is the tea still warm?" Prince Zuko entered the General's study. He furrowed his brow when he noticed Katara sitting with his uncle. "You look presentable," he said to her.
"For a peasant?" Katara replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I thought you'd still be in my cabin."
He had said he'd back later to discuss the terms of Katara's "stay" aboard the ship. Katara hadn't been anxiously awaiting that particular appointment.
"I invited her to have tea with us," General Iroh said. He poured his nephew a cup of tea. "I hope you don't mind. It'll do her good not to be locked up in that cabin the entire time she's here."
"Very well. Here's as right a place as any to talk things over." Prince Zuko sat down on a cushion between Katara and his uncle.
Katara rolled her eyes and pouted. " And by talking things over, you meaning telling me what my fate's going to be, without my input at all."
"Exactly. You catch on quickly."
"I know the terms of my imprisonment." Katara took a bite of a cake. "I'll stay here as your hostage and take you on your word that you won't attack my village." 
"These terms are more than generous and you're in no position to negotiate, peasant."
"Oh, am I?"
He rolled his eyes and switched over to a moral official-sounding tone. "You'll be well treated, provided those savages you call your people don't offer any resistance, and if you behave like anything other than a good little girl, both you and your village will suffer for it."
Katara stared down at the half-eaten cake on the plate in front of her.  I see how things are. There's a knife at my throat and a canon aimed at my home. If either of us makes a wrong move, we'll both be destroyed. 
"I know," she said.
"Good. Then we're both on the same page." Prince Zuko smirked and nodded his head. "While you're here, you'll have the privilege of staying in my cabin and taking your meals with General Iroh and me. You'll be able to go wherever you'd like on board the ship, but you have to be accompanied by an escort. When I receive ambassadors, specifically those from the Southern Water Tribe, you'll be at my side as a show of goodwill."
Ambassadors from the Southern Water Tribe? Sokka would probably be among them. At least she had a chance of seeing him again.
Katara lowered her head. "Very well, I accept your terms."
Sokka wouldn't understand this decision. Katara didn't understand it herself. What she did understand was that if she went along with her captor's demands, everything that mattered to her might still go up flames, but the odds were even worse if she didn't cooperate.
"Prince Zuko," a booming voice called from outside the cabin. "General Iroh."
Prince Zuko scowled. "You think he would have left already."
Commander Zhao strode into these quarters as if they were his own. General Iroh rose and greeted him with a bow. "Commander," he said. "To what do we owe this honor?" 
The Commander brushed past the old man. His hawk-like eyes singled in on Katara as if she were a tasty mouse-bird. She desperately wanted to run and hide, but her body stayed frozen to her cushion. "Ah, the little Arctic wolf," he said. "I was curious about what became of you." 
"She's no concern of yours," Prince Zuko spat out with barely concealed venom.
Katara's heart pounded, and she could scarcely breathe as Commander Zhao stalk her like prey. His eyes flickered like an ember when he noticed the phoenix pendant.
"Now I see," he caught the pendant between his fingers. "The Prince has claimed you as his spoils of war."
Katara pushed his hand off of her chest. His touch had elicited an unexpected surge of defiance. "I don't know what you mean," she hissed.
"She doesn't know what I mean?" Commander Zhao looked over at Prince Zuko, who looked ready to barbeque him. "I don't think she'll be so innocent for long." He ran a finger across Katara's cheek. She felt his breath tickle the wisps of hair near her ear. "Maybe he'll let me have a taste when he's done."
Prince Zuko shot up, ready to attack. Flames flickered at the tips of his fingers. The petrifying effect Commander Zhao's gaze had on Katara wore off. She jumped in between the two men.
"Stop," she said. "I don't want anyone incinerated because of me. Don't you think I've caused enough trouble today?"
With a snarl, the Prince extinguished his flames. He then took out his anger by smashing one of his uncle's delicate porcelain teacups.
"Prince Zuko," Commander Zhao laughed. "Silenced by a Water Tribe peasant."
Prince Zuko threw a ball of fire at the wall above the Commander's head as a warning. "One day, I'll be laughing at your ashes."
The smirk fell from the Commander's face.
General Iroh put a hand on Commander Zhao's shoulder. "I'll show you out, Commander."
The two men exited the cabin.
"Zhao has no honor," Prince Zuko said. He then turned to Katara. "You were right. You have caused enough trouble today."