'Dear Mom and Dad,' Her letter began.
'I truly wish there had been a moment to say goodbye, but alas, it is not a goodbye, but a see you later.
I was persuaded by the spirit of adventure to embark on this journey with General Iroh and Prince Zuko. I promise you I will be home before you know it. I'll even send gifts home!
I hope you do not miss me as much as I do.
What I meant to say is, I miss you already, terribly. Be strong.
Sending my love,
Your daughter Tsai.'
The girl sighed as she lowered her ink brush and sighed waiting for the scroll to dry. Little did she know that her mother would faint upon reading her message. Her father would have to lay down and have some wine brought to his chambers, and Mecha would be the proudest brother in the Fire Nation.
Xxx
Iroh had been delighted at Tsai's change of heart. He had embraced her like the daughter he never had and welcomed her aboard the ship with more than open arms. The entire cabin and crew had been instructed that she was here as an honored royal guest and because of that should be esteemed and treated as such. Prince Zuko on the other hand fumed at the sight of a woman on his ship- not only a woman, but this one in particular.
He didn't know what it was about her that irritated him so much. He didn't know if it was her hair color, or the fact that she was now burdening him with her presence. As far as he knew she wasn't even a bender. She would only get in the way. But what bothered him the most-
He glared at his Uncle from across the deck of the ship. He had never looked happier on board. He sat on a small table with the girl. Both of them sipping tea and enjoying a heated game of Pai Sho. The prince seethed. He had watched his uncle play that stupid game hundreds of times and judging from the looks this one was probably the funniest most hilarious game he had ever played. He gritted his teeth.
"You're distracting my Uncle!" Zuko growled as he approached them. Both of his fists were clenched at his sides as he glowered at the girl. "Uncle, come watch me train!" He demanded like the spoiled prince he was.
"You're Uncle doesn't want to watch you practice ballet Zuko," she stuck her tongue out with an irked expression. What was it about her that just got under his skin? "You will address me as Your Highness or by my Royal title! Let me remind you that you are his guest. Not mine."
"If you insist, Your Highness." She said sarcastically. "Prince of being a pain in my ass," she grumbled under her breath.
"What did you say?!" He shot back.
"There is a storm coming," Iroh suddenly interrupted inhaling a deep breath of air from the ocean. Tsai still wasn't used to the scent of the ocean surrounding them. It felt strange to be away from home for the first time. Specially one a ship in the middle of the vast ocean.
"A big one."
"You're out of your mind, Uncle," Zuko commented dryly. "The weather is perfect. Not a single cloud in sight," he raised his head looking at the endless blue sky above them.
"Storm is approaching from the North," Iroh said firmly as he turned to look at his hard headed nephew. "I suggest we alter out course and head southwest."
"We know the Avatar is traveling northward," the other retorted pointing north. "So we'll do the same."
Tsai didn't know anything about navigation, or about climate conditions for a matter of fact. She had always been more a fan of tea, flora and fauna. Right now, the only thing she knew was that her purpose of being on board was persuade the prince that seeing the citizens of the Earth Kingdom as equals would be pivotal for the future of the Fire Nation empire.
"Such a lovely day," She said gazing at the sunny skies above. "You should listen to your Uncle. I'm sure with his experience as General he knows a thing or two about these types of circumstances," she said sipping her cup wisely not bothering to spare him a glance.
"Stay out of this! The only reason you're even here is for entertainment purposes," he spat harshly ignoring the unamused expression on her face. "What does it say about you when your Uncle would rather spend his afternoon with a perfect stranger than with his own nephew!" She challenged rising to her feet.
"Please!" Iroh said loudly making both hot-headed teenagers turn to him.
'Perhaps this had not been the best of ideas...'
"Price Zuko, consider the safety of the crew, of our royal guest," he signaled to the red-head standing next to him.
"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" He snapped angrily. "Neither does hers. She should've known what she was getting into before deciding to stowaway on my ship!"
'Why you-' She wanted to strangle him. Just as Zuko said that a Lieutenant walked on the deck and raised an eyebrow at the prince with a frown on his features.
Zuko's expression hardened. "Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety," he said before stalking off and slamming the door to the command tower behind him.
"He doesn't mean that," Iroh stated in an attempt to soothe the anger of Tsai and every other crew member that had heard him. She shook her head at Iroh's attempt to once again redeem his nephew. His words had not just been mean, they had been cruel. Tsai figured that maybe he really was just as cruel as she had heard his father.
Sometime later the ship's crew was gathered at the deck as they together observed a massive dark cloud that loomed over the horizon and was rapidly approaching. It was then that Zuko returned, the girl could sense the anger almost radiating off him.
"Huh, what do you know," she commented innocently. "Looks like Uncle Iroh was right about the storm after all," she crossed her arms over her chest and taunted the banished prince with a smirk on her face. "Lucky guess," Iroh responded in a pleasant tone.
"Listen here you colonial pest!" Zuko barked as he marked towards the girl. Her eyes shot wide at the insult. "You'd better learn some respect if you're going to be aboard my ship!"
She looked at him smugly. Not breaking eye contact she rose to her feet and stood as tall as possible, she raised her neck as tall as possible in her best attempt to appear intimidating. "Oh, yeah?"
"Or I'll teach it you," he threatened before jabbing her chest hard. Her eyes were angry but the sneer on her lips was almost one of humor. Instinctively she reached for her arm ready to-
"You can't go around talking to your girlfriend like that!" One of the crew members shouted. "That's fucked up," one murmured under his breath.
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"He wishes!"
Both retorted bitterly at the same time.
Iroh sighed and rubbed his temples. Nobody seemed to be noticing the way he was making silencing motions with his hands.
"What do you know about respect?" The Lieutenant demanded harshly. "The way you talk to everyone around, from your hard-working crew to your girlfriend and your esteemed uncle. It shows you know nothing about respect!"
"I'm not his-" She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind," she mumbled defeated.
This argument was pointless. It was obvious that Zuko didn't care about anybody but himself. Then again, what else was to be expected from a spoiled bratty prince. Beyond annoyed, Tsai decided to find something to do in the ship. She spent some time in the Commander's towers simply looking around. There were many maps and other important documents and placements on the walls which were pinned with Avatar sightings as well as his hot trail on a map of the world.
'Wow..', she let out a low whistle. It seemed like the prince had been searching for a while. He really was obsessed. She couldn't help but wonder just what they would do with the Avatar once they captured him. If they made off with him, he would just be reborn into his next life cycle. So would they just keep him around? Weaponize him for the benefit of the fire nation? It was a smart plan.
Some of the crew returned after a moment and growing bored she made a pit stop in the kitchen. The kitchen was unbearably hot and crowded which made her feel claustrophobic. She had never been allowed in the royal palace's back in You Dao. She took her time to find a snack and found some cherries to snack on. She stopped for a moment to listen to the booming thunder which signaled the arrival of the storm. Taking a bowl full of cherries she made her way back to her room, and figured she would attempting to read away the coming storm or maybe even nap.
She opened the door to her room mindlessly.
Her room was dimly lit with candles and in the center sat the prince in a meditating pose. Having been disturbed he snapped his eyes opened and scowled at her.
"What is your problem?!" She shouted angrily throwing the cherries at him.
She hated it when people were in her room, specially men. This was a complete invasion of privacy! What was so hard about just staying out? She knew she had this problem back at home with Mecha, but with him?
The fire behind him grew until it licked the ceiling.
"Come for your lesson, have you?" He rose to his feel, stomping on a discarded cherry as he approached her. Regardless, standing tall with her back erect Tsai stood her ground. She looked at his illuminated palm in which flames of fire only grew hotter. Her hand twitched slightly, ready to attack if provoked. He came close, very, close, much to close for comfort and stood inches away from her. The only sound in the room was the slight shaking of the ship and the angry rapping of the storm outside.
It was then that he raised his hand and she involuntarily flinched away losing her proud ground, giving a step back her body meeting the metal wall behind. She expected to see a smug expression on his face, but instead there was hurting in his eyes. The bowl with fruit slipped from her fingers and crashed against the floor shattering.
"W-Were you going to hurt me?" She asked in a small voice.
He looked at her, like really looked at her. She had attempted to stand up to him, yet he could see the fear in her eyes. He felt horrible. He had just been meditating about that fateful day- the days before he was branded as the "Banished Prince", before his monstrous father had done the unthinkable to him and to think he was capable of such cruelty. His blood ran cold at the realization that the apple did not fall far from the tree.
He was silent. The flames in the room dyed as he lowered his head with shame and stepped away from her.
"Were you?" She repeated louder, her voice harsher.
"No," he responded quietly taking a seat on her bed. He sat in the dim darkness and lowered his head. Tsai had a feeling that Zuko wasn't the kind of person to apologize, yet he looked disturbed, his shoulder's bearing a loaded weight of regret.
Cautiously, as if dealing with an injured animal she moved in careful steps towards him. Stepping on some of the fruits that were in the ground, careful not to directly step on any shards from the broken bowl.
"Hey," She said in a soft tone as she sat next to him. He still hadn't looked up, yet could feel her weight sinking the mattress next to him.
"Are-Are you O.K?" She placed a careful hand on his shoulder just like she would've done with her brother. He stiffened at the gesture. Taking note that she should avoid all physical contact with him she retreated.
He remained mute. Feeling the air growing heavy with awkwardness around them she decided to be the one to break the ice.
"You know- I know you're going to find him," she began. "Nobody had even seen the Avatar in the past one hundred years until you came along. That's got to count for something right? Although I do think you might need some serious counseling aid with your obsession. Your rage too. And the way you treat others, specially your Uncle."
"You don't understand," he muttered sharply under his breath. "My honor depends on it," he finally turned to face her, a hard look on his eyes.
"A virtuous man is content with himself without doubt or lacking of self: be it honor, courage or strength." She said wisely.
"You sound like Uncle," He scoffed lightly.
"I sound like my grandfather," she exhaled a long breath before laying back on the mattress. "Now, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave my room."
"Your room? This is mine."
Confused she slowly sat up. The room had been so dark she hadn't even seen the massive Fire Nation banner on the wall, or the dual twin swords hung on the other wall. "Oh," was all she could manage. She looked at the mess she had made, the smashed fruits on the floor, the broken bowl.
She felt a little smaller having been consumed by her embarrassment at the realization that she had been the one intruding.
"I'll be on my way then," she peeped.
They both stood up and the loud sound of thunder suddenly resounded as the ship was struck. A sudden wave violently rocked the ship violently. The fire in the room died. What if the ship flipped?
"Holy catgators! We're going to die!" She panicked not realizing she had reached for his arm despite her mental note of not touching the prince.
"I'm going to see what happened," he said walking away, shrugging her grip off. "Stay here," he ordered.
"No way! I don't want to drown!"
Both rushed to the deck where the rest of the crew as well was Iroh stood. "Where were we hit?" The prince demanded. The ship rocked dangerously and water seemed to be coming from everywhere. Tsai kept her hands raised above her eyes to keep her sight clear from the prickling rain.
"I don't know!" The Lieutenant cried out as he attempted to keep his balance. "Look!" Tsai suddenly pointed out at the sight of dark cloud of smoke rising from the top of the command tower. "The helmsman!" Zuko shouted when he realized the man was hanging precariously by one hand from the ruined observation deck. Without any hesitation Zuko rushed towards the service ladder and began rapidly climbing, his Lieutenant tailing behind him. It was then that the helmsman dropped. Tsai brought a horrified hand to her face her mouth gaping as the man fell to his death. It was then that somehow Zuko managed to catch the man's wrist mid air saving the man's life.
"Tsai! Watch out!" The girl was pushed to the deck's ground before she could react. She turned to see Iroh standing where she had been and a bolt of lightning struck him. Her eyes widened as it hit him and redirected it to the ocean. His shoulders, hair and hands smoking. She starred in shock having never seen anything like it.
"I am....fine," he practically squeaked. The ship was once again rocked violently.
The lieutenant and helmsman were not on deck. Tsai approached Iroh and helped him regain his composure.
"The Avatar!" Zuko suddenly shouted in surprise.
Tsai turned to see the most unbelievable things. A flying bison soaring through the storm. "B-But I thought all flying bisons were extinct." She said more to herself.
"What do you want to do, sir?" The Lieutenant asked with his back straight as he awaited for the prince's command. He hesitated for a moment. "Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety."
"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm," Iroh stated sagely.
Sometime later light shyly peeked in through gaps in the clouds as they reached the eye of the hurricane.
"So what did you think of your first day abroad Tsai?" Iroh asked as they both stood by the decks' railing gazing off into the now peaceful ocean. Light drizzling drain continued to pepper their at their skin.
"It's certainly more exciting than anything that's happening back home," she grinned.
Today had been scary, it had been a emotional rollercoaster, yet she was happy to be here. To have struggled through the day. Her mind had been taken off her grandfather's passing and she couldn't help but wonder what chaotic anecdote they would encounter tomorrow.
"I still can't believe you redirected that thunderbolt! And then we saw a flying bison! I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!"
"Patience my dear, patience," Iroh laughed whole heartedly. "We should focus on what we are having for dinner tonight. All of this commotion has made me realized how hungry I am."
Zuko once again found himself glaring at his Uncle Iroh and the girl.
"Uncle," he interrupted. Approaching the two of them quietly. Both turned to look at him. "I'm sorry," he genuinely apologized and slightly bowed his head.
Iroh smiled faintly and placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Your apology is accepted," he smiled. "Now I'm going to go get tonight's tea ready," he smiled at the two teenagers before leaving.
Zuko didn't leave, instead his gaze shifted to the calm ocean before him. She drank up his presence.
Perhaps Iroh was right and his nephew did possess some redeeming qualities. She hadn't even realized she had been genuinely smiling at him.
"What are you looking so smug about," He barked avoiding her gaze. Tsai wouldn't have bet on it but she could've sworn she noted the slightest of blushes dust his face.
Maybe, just maybe he wasn't all that bad.