Iroh's P.O.V
Haku stared at me with widened eyes:"This can't be! I thought she's one of us?" "That's what I thought too. I-" "Stop talking and collect the firebender!", Saira interrupted me with her harsh voice. I did as she said, not wanting any of my men to loose their lifes. "We trusted you, bitch!", Haku yelled. "I didn't ask you to, honey. Neither you nor Li. Now keep moving.", Saira pushed Haku away. My crew just kept walking, not wanting anything to happen, just as me. I still couldn't believe, that the lovely, warm, disciplined girl was a stonehearted rogue. I shouldn't have trusted her because she didn't deserve it. So I decided, when all this was over, I would let imprison her myself and let her suffer just like she let the people here. Men, women, children, old and young. Many of them were dead because she was clever enough to fool us. Crying after the man who was laying in a blood lake, pretending to give herself all fault. I should've known it.
Then I felt someone pushing me:"Keep moving, stop thinking! You have an order to follow, Lieutenant!" As I finished collecting all firebender, Saira called the others. "It's our task to take over the Northern Watertribe. They have many good bender but we have better ones! Remember, one mistake and three of you are dead, so do as I say!", Saira ordered. My crew just nodded. I was impressed that she was able to control so many people and no one was saying anything or standing up against her. Not even Haku.
Soon we were brought to our mother ship. Saira brought all of us downstairs to the prisons and locked the crew up. Haku and I were dragged upstairs. "You will look out for enemies, the Northern Watertribe. They see us as enemies so it won't be clever not to warn me because they will destroy this ship and the crew downstairs. Understood?", Saira yelled the last word. Haku looked at her with a disgusted look and nodded. Then she ordered me to come with her. I did as she said. I ended up steering the ship.
"Why?"
"What why?"
"Why are you doing all this?"
"Can't you see?"
"What do you mean?"
"Zuko and Aang have destroyed our nation. We were the strongest nation of the world, Li. The United Republic. didn't exist and it won't anymore when Fire Lord Ozai is back once."
"Your whole family helped the Avatar. Your father is the Fire Prince's friend. Why are you against them?"
"My traitorous family? I'll make sure they'll get punished for what they did. Just because they are traitors it doesn't mean that I have to be one too."
"Your family helped to bring peace-"
"and shame over the Fire Nation.", she interrupted,"Now stop talking and keep working."
A few hours later, we reached another island. Saira ordered the other rogues to watch out for enemies and to capture any waterbender on the island. She asked me to head back to the Dead Man's Island, how I call it, and took more people with her, and to my surprise, even people from the Watertribe.
"What are you doing?"
"That's none of your business, Li."
"Well, it is. I'm the Captain of this ship."
"No, it's not. Either you keep quiet and do your work or you can join your buddies in the prisons downstairs. So let me do my job and you do your job."
"My job is to fight for justice."
"This is justice."
"I really liked you."
Saira turned around. For the first time, since I've met her, I have seen confusion on her face, or better said shock.
"What do you mean by that?", she asked.
"I have started liking you. I liked you from the beginning on because you were different", I laughed,"You still are but you're on the wrong side."
Saira kept staring at me. I couldn't tell which emotion she was going through.
Then she sighed:"In your eyes, I'm wrong. But you have to see it from the other side. We have lost our power, Li and you know that."
Suddenly her mimic became cold again and she turned around. I had to think of something that would trick her. But the problem was that she had the whole control. And one mistake would cost many lifes.
We docked at the Dead Man's Island. Saira took Haku and me with her. Soon we were at the rogue's headquarters and finally saw the masked man, the leader, without his mask:"Were are my men, Alia?" "There under my control now. As well as you."
"How dare you?"
"You have no power anymore. They're all on my side. Now be a good boy and follow my orders, because I'm the leader of IAZO now. Now get out."
"You can't deal with power, huh bitch?"
"If I couldn't, I wouldn't be the leader of IAZO, Haku," Saira, Alia or whatever she called herself, took out a knife and suddenly I felt pain in my back,"Next it will be his throat. So watch out what you do or say. I wasn't bluffing."
She pulled out the knife of my body and walked out of the room, locking us up.
"I take everything back. I hate her and she's not the perfect girl for you, Iroh. She wants to kill your grandpa and bring your ex great-grandpa back. She was talking bad about your ex Katrina, but she's worse than her."
"She still isn't aware, who I am, otherwise she would've executed me immediately. But she didn't.", I thought loudly.
Haku gave me a questioning look:"I thought you were just kidding and you two pretended that you're Li."
I shook my head. Suddenly I felt the pain in my back again and at that moment, Saira opened the door:" Take off your coat and everything that's under it. Keep your pants and boots."
It was as if she sensed my pain. As I finished, she opened her fire and was about to heal me, when Haku interrupted:"Woah, Woah! Slowly! You stabbed him and now you're burning him? Who did a mistake again?" "I'm healing him."
"Aha and you really think, that's gonna work? Do you think I'm dumb or something? You're gonna burn him y-" "She's right Haku. Saira, I mean Alia did this before." Haku looked over to Saira with a grumpy mimic. She told us to come out when I was finished. As I was, we did as she said.
"We're ready to fight now, Li, Haku."
Hope you liked the chapter! In case you are a Yugioh-fan, please check out my newest story Past and Present!