"Prince Zuko has gone to a brothel?"
"That's what you got out of this?!"
Lieutenant Gerk almost backs out. He's been trying to knock on the door for a solid ten minutes until he remembers promise to Rareng and knocks on the door.
"Lady Enora... I heard what happened at dinner. I overheard a few crew members talking about it. I know you were trying to join them on the mission."
Silence.
Lieutenant Gerk almost wishes that Enora was emotionally constipated in the way the Prince was. His eardrums however are thankful that Enora is the type to sulk in silence.
"The idea that a woman isn't allowed on the battlefield is more his misogynistic ideology then anything." Anyone who knew the Princess knew that by heart. "Why don't you tell me your plan? If you can't execute it maybe I can."
The door opens with little to no resistance.
"Lady Enora, at this point being childish won't-"
He isn't able to finish talking the entire room looked as though a small tornado had blown through and Enora was nowhere to be found.
Childish.
He had been about to accuse Enora of being childish.
He should have been accusing her of insanity! He should have seen the signs.
Or rather they were there the entire time , with how blindingly Enora had followed the Prince's steps into whatever trouble he got himself into.
"Woah! Lieutenant Gerk. What has you in such a rush?" General Iroh asks softly stopping Gerk from his sprint.
The Lieutenant almost considers lying, but if anyone knows, or is genuinely going to be on the right side of the war it's him.
"Where's the Prince?" He hisses after a glance around his surroundings.
General Iroh's normally jovial face turns grim. "He passed on the Wani' s-"
"Cut the sh-" Lieutenant Gerk takes a breathe. It is not proper to curse out a member of the Royal Family. His mother raised him better than that. "I know okay? He's been horrible at disguises and lies since he tried to sneak into a brothel because Joon said it was a high intelligence agency and he was fourteen! I know he's alive and I think Lady Enora is on some suicide mission to do something. I can't find her and there's a bag of essential items missing from her room. I found a boat missing off the Port side of the ship so it's either the Prince or her! So where is the Prince!?"
As Lieutenant Gerk ran a hand through his hair he could tell that the General was having a hard time processing all the information spewed onto him.
Finally the General spoke , "Prince Zuko has gone to a brothel?"
"That's what you got out of this?! That's what you think is important right now?" Lieutenant Gerk pinches the bridge of his nose.
Turns out that was a good trick for fighting migraines.
"Nevermind General. I shall tend to the situation myself." He bows stiffly turning heel to leave when General Iroh puts a hand on his shoulder stopping him.
"Lieutenant, I apologize. That was a lot of ... information that you've thrown. Prince Zuko has indeed left the ship already." Lieutenant Gerk's shoulders immediately relax with relief until the General continues. "However he took a boat from the starboard bow."
Relief was twisted.
His mother did teach him better than to curse in front of a member of the Royal Family. But his father , not so much. Gerk will blame his lack of manners on him.
~~~~~~~
Enora spits out the salt water, her entire body is trembling and she can't stop shaking. She had underestimated the ice of the water , threatening to freeze her own veins, but she had made it in.
Carefully she slinks through the tribe until she finds a home with what looks like there's a teenager her age.
Her hands go to the bag around her waist and at the realization that , after her plans tonight ,she won't need her coins any longer she just drops the whole bag by the sleeping teenagers head.
Earth Kingdom Money or not.
Silver was Silver and Copper Copper.
It's hard to find the clothes in the hut without waking the sleeping family but it's done nonetheless.
Or at least she believes so.
A rough hand grabs her right as she's finished slipping on the warm dry blue shirt. She's slammed into the table and a woman's cry is heard, what's on the table clatters and against Enora's better judgement her hand sticks out to catch the falling plates which shatter on the floor.
It's the father that's caught her and judging by a quick scale of his attire, he must be a high ranking official of the Northern Ranks. "Dad!" The teenager shouts rushing towards them.
"Don't come any closer!" Enora hisses to the teenager which comes to a halt and the grip on her grows stronger. Enora chokes out the rest of the warning , "You'll cut yourself on the porcelain!"
The grip loosens but the anger is still prominent on the Father's face.
"Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter."
"It matters to me as the owner of the house you broke into."
Enora fights the urge to pout at his words, finally she settles for saying "You're not my target."
"And who is? The Avatar?"
"No." She scoffs and his eyes flicker in confusion. "I'm going after the man who killed my Prince."
A moment of hesitation, "What?"
"Admiral Zhao , the commander of this fleet has committed regicide." Enora says and feels so great to have gotten to tell someone. It doesn't matter that it's the enemy, nor does it matter that the man has every right to end her life.
She's just so relieved that she can confess what has left her so choked on anger and grief.
"And you a child can kill him?" He asks as though he's registering that Enora is not a threat. In response Enora moves her arms to push his grip off her and she escapes his grip.
"It certainly won't hurt to try." She affirms from her place behind him, free of his grasp. "I'm not here to hurt you, I even paid for the clothes I've taken from your child."
"What good is Fire Nation filth?"
"More like Earth Kingdom coin." Enora corrects gently. "I haven't set foot on Fire Nation Territory in the last three years, holding their currency would likely feel as foreign as the monetary means of the Air Nomads." She hums thoughtfully.
From behind her the teenager moves with a weapon to attack Enora and Enora's only response is a swift dodge and the family is left to watch their own child trip and crash into the wall bringing down warm furs that had been hanging on the wall.
"Oh dear." Enora fretted over the teenager, picking up the furs at the same time. "You need to work on your reaction time, people will not react like the mannequins you practice on."
"Who said I practiced on mannequins?!" The teenager huffed. "I practice on snowmen!" Enora pressed her lips together attempting not to smile and then turned to the parents of the teenager.
The father reacted by throwing a hoodie at Enora. "Keep your face covered as well." He warns, "it'll be easier to blend in here without your pale skin giving you away."
Enora's eyes widen and she nods in confirmation, and with that confirmation slips out into the night. The last thing she hears from the family being the words of the mother.
"Snowmen?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enora waited until the first wall broke. She remained hidden, out of sight of the battle and from other soldiers. There had been a few close calls but as the High Ranking Official warned, the blue hoodie helped Enora blend in better.
It was in the middle of the day she felt a sense of strength within, a reminder of her ties to the Avatar.
A bitter reminder that she had put herself in this position.
If only on that first day Enora hadn't helped the Avatar escape, Prince Zuko would be home.
He would take his place on the throne... amidst his father... and Enora would have been married off to Admiral Zhao as had been planned prior.
The thought caused Enora's stomach to churn.
Prince Zuko never would have let that happen while alive.
Prince Zuko .... Prince Zuko isn't here.
The words cause hot tears to fall down her cheeks and Enora doesn't bother wiping them away this time. The cold air dries them, sticking them to her cheeks but she doesn't find herself to really care.
She catches sight of the Komodo Rhinos and knows that they have the Admiral.
Her jaw is set and she sees her target.
He is too centered in the battle to be able to get away with attacking him now. The soldier's that give him their blind loyalty would be a large obstacle that she knows she can't handle. So she's forced to wait.
The moon rises, and Enora from her perch overlooking the city can see the raw power each Waterbender has. The strength granted to them by the Moon Spirit and while it looks like there's no need for concern she still feels that same concerned churn in her stomach as she remembers Admiral Zhao's plan. Even if she decided to warn members of the Northern Water Tribe, they would never believe her.
Unless...
Despite herself she gathers attention to a handful of soldiers , making sure to bring attention to bring attention to Admiral Zhao and his Elite Group. They engage in battle and Enora notes that as always, Admiral Zhao will leave the others and focus on what he truly considers his prize.
So he turns and leaves, a call to General Iroh that he should "Handle it."
Enora follows him, eyes narrowed and weaponry at the ready.
She has him cornered.
Her blood rushes to her head.
Vision has focused in and all she can see is red.
It's a dark crimson Red and she can't wait to watch it pour from Admiral Zhao's throat.
She lunges and is grabbed. A mangled growl leaves her lips before she's pinned to the wall , her face buried roughly in the snow.
"Pardon me Admiral." The voice apologizes.
It's Lieutenant Gerk.
She thrashes but her face is burrowed deeper into the snow, and her thrashing to be free turns into a struggle as she's unable to breathe.
She doesn't hear Admiral Zhao's words but knows he leaves and she's granted the gift of air.
"Enora!" Lieutenant Gerk snarls, his grip firm. "Do you know what you were doing?!?"
She didn't speak, doesn't want to dignify him with a response instead fighting against his grip. His strength overpowering her, a terrible terrible reminder of her age and lack of ability to get out of a strong hold.
"You were throwing away your life!" Lieutenant Gerk snaps. "Everything about your life you were going to throw away for him?"
"He has to pay!" Enora snarled. "He killed our Prince. He has to pay!"
"You do not need to pay alongside him." Lieutenant Gerk argues. "You have your whole life ahead of you. It's filled with such beauty and-"
"I have no life." She yelled before finally succumbing to her failure. "I have nothing- he took him from me. I failed! I failed everyone-" and Lieutenant's grip changed from holding her in place to pulling her into to comfort the fourteen year old for the second time.
"You have failed no one." He soothes as he rocks back and forth. "Neither the Princess nor the Prince... and he will say so as well."
She freezes at the present tense and looks at Lieutenant Gerk who smiles. "Gerk?"
"Yes Lady Enora." Lieutenant Gerk nods in confirmation. "As I've said before, you have failed no one and have your whole life in front of you."
Enora doesn't bother to hide her tears that shift from grief to joy and throws her arms around Lieutenant Gerk.
"Oh Agni!" She laughs and Lieutenant Gerk grins. "He is? Oh thank you. Oh Agni." She pulls away from him, her hand wiping the tears before she grabs Lieutenant Gerk's hands. "The Prince-"
"Here. Go find him."
She doesn't need to be told twice before she's running again.