It felt like everyone was in the control room, Iroh and some of his crew at the Pai Sho table, and Zuko Jee and I looking over the map on my table.
"I don't know how long the recovery rate for tracking is going to be after the storm," I said, resting my chin on my palm.
Jee traced his hand over the map, taking a moment before he spoke, "We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm, but if we continue heading northeast–" He was cut off by the shadow cast in the control room by a much larger ship pulling up next to ours outside our window.
"What do they want?" Zuko asked sceptically.
"Nothing good," I responded, eyeing the even larger piece of metal than we were on.
"Perhaps, a sporting game of Pai Sho!" Iroh said cheerfully, and Zuko gave him a look that said: 'I don't think so'.
Three soldiers from the other ship entered the control room without warning. Zuko and I stood up, Iroh never stopping his game of Pai Sho. I crossed my arms, not giving them any warmth. The messenger began to speak to Zuko, presenting a wanted poster of Aang.
"The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."
"I should have known." I scoffed, and the messenger returned me a very menacing look.
"Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!" Iroh happily said in congratulations.
Zuko looked down. "I've got nothing to report to Zhao." He glared back up at the messenger. "Now, get off my ship and let us pass."
The messenger wouldn't budge. "Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area."
"Off my ship!" Zuko screamed out, snapping at the messenger. They retreated, leaving the way they came.
" Excellent! I take the pot! But you're all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again." Iroh cried out, winning his game. I had learnt not to touch the Pai Sho board, let alone gamble on it if Iroh was there.
Zuko angrily huffed and sat back down. I watched as our Captain moved the ship forward and left the other vessel behind.
"Admiral? I can't believe it." I said in aggravation, sitting back down. Zuko closed my folder and rolled up the map, tossing it to the side.
"What are you doing?" Said Jee.
"What does it matter," Zuko said in exasperation, getting up and leaving. I furrowed my brows.
"Zuko, we can still find him, you've got the best tracker in the Fire Nation." I tried to comfort him, but he just glanced at me sadly, going through the door. I frowned at his departure, reopening the folder and picking the map back up to keep discussing it with Jee.
The sun had gone, and it was nightfall. It happened to be music night on the ship, and the crew were getting ready for it. I usually snuck away to my room and had a terrible night's sleep because of the loud drums and blaring horns from various different instruments.
Iroh had somehow managed at dinner to convince me to join for once, even if I was just going to listen. He said that Zuko had agreed to join for once, and that may have been the driving force for me to begrudgingly agree.
I sat awkwardly on my stool, Zuko being a no-show. The fire crackled as the crew set up their instruments.
"Do you sing Miss Laina?" Iroh asked. I perked up, waving my hands frantically. "Oh, no, I can't sing a note to save my life." I wasn't being humble, I sounded like a dying platypus bear when I attempted to sing.
"Do you dance?" another crew member asked. Like always, when it came to telling white lies, I was terrible. I sighed in defeat.
"Yes, yes I do," I admitted.
"Well, play a beat and giver her some music!" Iroh cried out happily.
"Wait!" I called out. The music stopped abruptly.
"Do you have two fans I could use?" I asked. Iroh quirked a brow and handed me two.
"I always keep a spare," He winked at me. "But why do you need them?" He asked.
"I only know how to Han Dance; Dance with fans," I answered. He raised an eyebrow but nodded. Starting a beat with his Tsungi Horn. Soon the circle joined in.
I tapped my foot and rested the fans on my hips. I sharply moved my head to the beat, raising and arm with a harsh yet fluid motion. I jumped up and extended the fan out, moving my hips to the beat. I swung it around and extended the other, fluttering both out in unison. I danced on as the music slowly began to pick up.
Soon enough, I was jumping and flourishing my fans around in concise movements. The drums pounded, and I waded through the air, finishing with a close of both my fans. I stood in my end pose, panting.
The circle stayed silent, and I started to sweat even more, worried they hated it. Suddenly they burst out in claps and cheers. I smiled brightly, enjoying the praise. I had to learn the Han Dance when I was with the Dai Li as an outlet to improve my reflexes by reacting to the beats of the music. But even if it was forced, I always enjoyed it.
"That was magnificent! Please, dance more for us." I nodded shyly, not minding it. The time flew by. It was a mix of dancing, love ballads, bar songs and Tsungi Horn solos that blared out proudly into the night.
It was about one in the morning when music night finished, and I trudged back to my room exhausted. I collapsed on my cot and was knocked out, not having thought about Zuko yet.
I woke up groggily the next morning, yawning and running on 4 hours of sleep. I remembered music night and how Zuko wasn't there. I sat down at my table and tried to rub my eyebags away. I took my towel and walked to the bathroom. A crew member groaned at the sight of me going in.
"Oh, come on, I was just about to use it!" He groaned out.
"You snooze, you lose. I'm going to have a shower, so you are just going to have to wait," I said, slamming the door shut. Though it was a communal bathroom, I was the only female member on the ship, so when I used it, it could only be me in there. I picked the cleanest shower, which wasn't easy to do, and had a short one, trying to not impede on anyone's time.
It felt wrong being undressed like I was going to be found out. I ran the soap over my red, scarred skin, looking at it with disdain. It had healed the best it could, but I was no doubt noticeable with it. Those who knew of my story in the Fire Nation could clock who I was in an instant.
After I finished my shower and finished getting ready, I walked out onto the deck, stretching my arms up. Iroh was still out on the deck, playing his Tsungi Horn. Zuko was pulling the small vessel back on the ship. He was dressed in all black and had his dual swords strapped to his back. Iroh noticed too.
"Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed music night! Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song, and Miss Laina did some fantastic dancing with fans." Iroh called out. Zuko turned to us, looking really tired.
"I'm going to bed. No disturbances." He said plainly, slowly walking away to his quarters. Iroh shrugged and continued to play his horn. I frowned as I watched him walk away, wondering where on Earth he had been.
I hesitantly walked to his quarters, having only entered them once before. I creaked past a small kitchen with a private chef, a living room, and some servant quarters. I went up a level and passed a dining room and various other rooms intended for recreation.
Finally, I approached the only closed door in the quarters, so I figured it was probably Zuko's bedroom. I hesitated for a moment before I knocked on the door, feeling slightly anxious. Yes, I had been in his quarters before, but only with Iroh, not alone.
"I told you no disturbances, Uncle," Zuko said in a muffled voice from his room.
"Uh, it's not your Uncle," I said awkwardly. There was silence for a moment before footsteps and then the creak of the door opening.
I was met with a strong glare from Zuko, and he was shirtless. I widened my eyes and tried to look past it.
"What do you want?" He asked in a grouchy voice.
I looked at him with concern. "Where were you last night?" I asked. He glanced to the side.
"Nowhere," He answered, too fast. He began to close the door, but I slammed my palm on it and held it open.
"Don't lie," I said sternly. He glanced out into the hallway, looking from left to right. Suddenly, he pulled me into his room and closed the door. I gasped at the action, suddenly in his room now. I tried to take in the scenery, it was a lot of daunting tapestries with Fire Nation insignias in blaring red, burning off the walls.
He spun me back around, and I was starting to feel dizzy. "Zuko, why did you bring me in here and close the door?" I asked.
"You wanted to know where I was, right?" I nodded, trying to ignore the no-shirt situation I was just meant to be living through. He glanced back at the door.
"I went out to the outpost in the mountains, Zhao's outpost. I found out he had captured the Avatar and was holding him there captive." He explained.
"So you what, rocked up to the outpost and asked for him to hand the Avatar over?" I said slightly sarcastically. He had a look on his face, I couldn't quite place it, but it was a look.
"What?" I asked, slightly worried.
"I went to the outpost in a disguise, and I didn't bend." He walked over and took his dual swords off the wall.
"I knew you used dual blades," I sang out triumphantly, and then I remembered back to what he said. He had disguised himself and broken into the outpost. "Wait, you did what?"
"I broke in and broke the Avatar out." He said it like it was a normal night for him.
"You what!?" I shouted out, astonished. He shushed me, glancing at the door. He looked at me sternly.
"No one can know, ok?" He said.
"So what happened?" I asked. He sighed,
"I got him out and to the last wall. I threatened the Avatar with my blades so that Zhao would let me pass. But he had these archers, they were unlike anything I had ever seen. They could pin a fly to the wall from a mile away. They shot at me on got me on my mask, knocking me out. I woke up in the forest with the Avatar by my side... but he got away." He explained to me, the last part coming out in a croak.
"Zhao didn't recapture him, did he?" I asked, the idea horrifying. Sitting in a cell all your life because if they kill you, you'll only be reborn.
"No, he didn't." He said, and I thought it would be a comfort to him that Zhao didn't have him, but he didn't look comforted at all.
"Zuko?" He didn't even look at me, he just stared at one of the tapestries on the wall. I don't really know if it was a conscious decision, but my body moved without my mind, and suddenly I was hugging Zuko. He tensed up at first, but he eventually relaxed into it, hugging me back. I didn't know what was bothering Zuko, but I knew he was conflicted and that he needed someone to cling to for the time being.