"Where is she?" Zuko demanded of his father.
He received no reply... no glance... no emotion. His father didn't even look at him or speak. Was she dead? But she had been in his room the night before! Was she kidnapped? What was going on?
Zuko spun on his heal and ran out of the courtyard, not caring if he ran into Azula... not caring if someone saw the tears pricking his eyes.
After running blindly for a time, Zuko found himself in the eastern courtyard of the palace. Spying a tree nearby, he climbed up as quickly as he could before sitting back near the top of the tree, out of sight from everyone. He was barely up there for five minutes till he spied the familiar golden hair. Shira rushed into the courtyard and looking around as if she knew he was there. The truth was... she did. She had sensed it when she had heard that he had run off to hide and with her plant bending abilities, was able to decipher roughly where he was.
"Prince! Prince Zuko!" She called. "I know you're here!"
"Go away!" Zuko yelled, not meaning to sound rough but not wanting her to see him weak like that.
Shira's keen blue eyes spied him in the tree and ignoring his past command, began to skillfully climb the tree even faster than Zuko had. When she reached the branch below Zuko, she found him sitting with his knees to his chest, his arms crossed over his knees and his hair a mess from running and climbing.
"Prince Zuko," she whispered.
"I told you to not call me that!" the boy snapped, trying to find a way to vent his misery.
Shira however did not even cringe of flinch, but a soft smile touched her lips. Climbing up to sit next to him, she placed her hand near him, not sure if he wanted physical contact.
"DO you know why people cry?"
"No," Zuko whispered, his voice cracking in pain.
Shira smiled, "it's the way of letting out your emotions: anger, joy or even pain. You're either going to let it out by yelling... or by crying."
"Men don't cry,' Zuko retorted.
Shira chuckled lightly, "You're not a man yet prin.... Zuko. But even grown men cry. Before I came here, I was living with a young family. Their father was big, strong and I never thought I would see him cry or even smile. Then one day, his wife had their first son... and you know what? He cried and laughed at the same time. Crying is not a sign of weakness Zuko."
The boy lifted his head when he felt Shira reaching out and taking his hand into hers, looking at him intently. Zuko felt a sudden weight lifted off him.... Shira was still there for him... even if his mother was gone and no one cared for him... Shira was still there... even though she had lost everything, she was there for him.
The girl smiled at him, "When you cry, it is a sign that you care and love, that you hate and despise... that you feel."
Zuko looked down at their joined hands... her pale little one tightly holding his limp larger tanned one. For a moment he felt ashamed of being weaker than a girl... then he remembered her words. Now, he didn't care. He didn't care if people thought him weak... it felt right... it felt good to be loved and comforted.
"Shira..." the boy whispered. "I'm scared."
The girl nodded, smiling softly at him, "I know."
Finally the boy broke and letting out a sob, he crumbled into her arms. Shira wrapped her arms across his chest, supporting him as sobs and tears overtook him. She stroked his soft black hair and rocked back and forth gently.
"Please don't leave me Shira. Ever," he whimpered.
"No," the girl assured him. "Never. I will never leave you. I will always be with you."
Zuko snapped out of his thoughts by a strange noise.
"Uncle?" he called.... No reply.
Getting off the bed, he hurried down the hallway but found nothing. When he reached the control room, he spied something out the window.... A parrot!? PIRATES!
Before he could even blink, the whole ship exploded and Zuko was thrown into darkness... but one thing crossed his mind as he blacked out...
**************
Zuko spied his uncle leaving Zhao's room. After Uncle Iroh found the injured Zuko in the ruins of the ship, he had smuggled the boy board dressed as a fire nation soldier and Iroh had pretended to join Zhao.
"The plan is going perfectly," Iroh whispered to Zuko. "Admiral doesn't suspect a thing. Wait until we reach the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours."
"You didn't have to do this uncle," Zuko whispered.
"You're my nephew. I care about you. Of course, I will do this for you."
There was a long silence before Zuko spoke, "Any sign?"
Iroh sighed, "I couldn't find her anywhere. She's not a prisoner. She may have not been on the ship when it blew."
Zuko felt a deep fear growing in his gut and be bit his lip, "I hope so."
"We'll find her Zuko. I promise." Iroh whispered.
Zuko nodded, "Yes uncle."
as the two parted, Iroh watched his nephew walk down the hall and around the corner. Iroh turned when he saw another soldier slip out of the shadows.
"You know he's worried about you," Iroh remarked. "I hate being a secret keeper to numerous people, for numerous people."
The person lifted the helmet enough to reveal Raven... with no injuries but a minor bruise on her cheek.
"We both need our space for a while, and we wont get that if he knows that I am here. I'll tell him after the pole."
Iroh nodded, "Stay safe..."
The girl nodded before walking off just as Zuko had done. Iroh sighed as he watched her go.
"... Shira."
Zhao stumbled back when a blast of fire nearly hit him, throwing him into a crouching position. When he looked up, he found himself staring up at an all too familiar face.... With a scar upon the left side of his face, a long black ponytail and a death glare that would maim if looks could kill.
"You're alive?" Zhao asked in disbelief.
"YOU TRIED TO HAVE ME KILLED!" Zuko yelled, firing two blasts at the man who quickly rolled out of the way.
"Yes, I did," Zhao hissed as he got to his feet. "You're the blue spirit...."
Zuko walked through the cloud of smoke made from the fire blasts, his expression not changing in the slightest.
"...and enemy of the fire nation," Zhao continued. "You freed the Avatar."
"I had no choice," Zuko replied, throwing a kick blast then multiple fist blasts repeatedly.
Zhao easily avoided the blasts before removing his cloak so as to move more freely, "You should have accepted your failure. Your disgrace. Then you could have lived!"
With that, the two went head to head, avoiding the other's blasts while trying to lay heavy blasts on the other but both failing. They were evenly matched, however Zuko was much more agile and he managed to blast Zhao enough that he fell off the bridge to another one below, Zuko jumping down to follow him.
"You really think I will fall to you?" Zhao asked, regaining his footing and firing back at the boy who quickly jumped, allowing the blast to pass underneath him. "When I know your weakness?"
Zuko completely ignored his remarks and fired two fist blasts together, Zhao spinning away to keep from getting blasted. "I don't have a weakness," Zuko hissed.
Zhao smirked as he made a long blast of fire by swinging his foot around but Zuko did a somersault over it, "No real man has weaknesses, but you're not a man. You're a child, a disgrace, a pure let down."
Zuko gritted his teeth at those words but he created two fire knives in his hands and began to swing at the man. "I've lived through disgrace. I've become a man thanks to it."
"Really?" Zhao asked, blocking one of the knives and trying to blast at Zuko but the boy bent back to avoid it. "How can you be a man, when your weakness is a girl?"
The boy froze in his fighting, feeling a dark hole of worry and fear spread over his whole being. Zhao took this opportunity of his being distracted to lay a heavy blast at the boy which knocked him back with a grunt. Zhao approached Zuko who was almost wasted, exhausted from looking and carrying off the Avatar and his earlier duals with Katara.
"You are a letdown," Zhao remarked smugly. "A disgrace to your nation and to yourself. You will never be a man..."
He raised his hand, about to lay another blast when out of nowhere, his left knee buckled beneath him like it was giving way before the other one followed. Something swiped at his feet, throwing him onto his back. Ice grew over his hands, legs, chest and limbs, pinning him down.
Zuko furrowed his brow in confusion, wondering who had done that. Just when he was about to speak, a figure rose from where it had been crouching behind Zhao's previously standing body. Zuko stared in shock as the person pushed the hood of her jacket back to reveal a head full of jet-black hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, bangs flapping about her forehead and face.... Piercing blue eyes.
The girl stepped over the pinned body of Zhao till she was upon Zuko. Kneeling down to his level, she held out her hand and he took it, the girl hauling him to his feet easily.
"Shira," the boy whispered, staring down at the girl, still not quite believing it himself.
Raven furrowed her brow, "Why are you calling me that?"
"Because that is you... isn't it?" Zuko whispered.
Raven took a full step back and her forehead knitted together in puzzlement, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Isn't Shira your childhood friend?"
Zuko frowned. Was she just going to keep pretending to not be who she really was? Why was she avoiding the truth?
"Shir...." The boy started but a yelp caught their attention.
Spinning around to the source of the noise, they stared in shock as Zhao was picked up by what appeared to be glowing water! Zuko sprinted over and reached out his hand to the man.
"Take my hand!"
It almost looked like Zhao was about to take it until he drew his hand away, glaring daggers at the young boy before he was dragged into the water.
Raven walked over to Zuko and placed a hand on his shoulder, "He made his choice."
The boy nodded heavily, suddenly feeling the need to lay down and sleep for a month.
*******
"I'm surprised that you are not at this moment hunting the avatar," Iroh observed as he messed with the sail of the small boat they were on.
"I'm just tired," Zuko sighed, his voice dripping with exhaustion.
"Then rest," Iroh told him, patted his shoulder, "A man needs his rest."
Zuko didn't object and went to lay down on the floor, rolling onto his side so the sun didn't shine on his eyes. However, this meant that he had a perfect view of Raven who sat on the edge of the boat, her feet dragging in the water and her hair blowing in the wind, her back to him.
The boy frowned, biting on his lip. Since Raven had found him fighting Zhao on the bridge, he hadn't brought up her scar or the fact that he knew she was Shira. Something about her behavior told him that there was something off... like there was something missing.
He snapped out of his thoughts when uncle Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. "You need to give her a little space. She is confused."
"About what?" Zuko whispered back. "The fact that she has been hiding who she really is from me since I ran into her?"
Iroh shook his head, "She never hid who she really was... because she didn't know who she was before she was Raven."
"What are you saying?" the boy asked, frowning.
"Raven has no memory of being Shira. She was brainwashed."
Hello all! I hope you have been enjoying my story so far! For your information, this book is done and I will be moving on to Book 2 which will be covering the season 2 of Avatar: the Last Airbender:).