Rezalia sits on the observation deck and watches Zuko spar with one of the guards. Usually she'd be on the deck, but the guards had a habit of pulling her into sparring when they got tired and she was supposed to be resting. Not that she actually sparred much anyway. Suddenly, the boat turns and knocks them both off balance.
"Someone's changing our course!" Zuko exclaims before making his way to the helmsman. Rezalia joins him, entering the room just after him. "What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course!"
Rezalia silently tugs at the prince's arm and points to Iroh, who sits across from a crew member playing pai sho. "Actually," Iroh speaks up. "Someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."
Zuko brightens. "Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Rezalia resists the urge to roll her eyes.
"Even more urgent. It seems... I've lost my lotus tile."
"Oh spirits," Rezalia laughs, putting her hand to her head when it throbs dully. The pain had reduced greatly, but it still bothered her.
"Lotus tile?" Zuko asks. Rezalia pats him on the shoulder and moves to sit down. She examines the game that Iroh's playing an notes a few ways that his opponent could make to win. Or, not lose as badly.
"For my Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."
Zuko tried to reign in his anger, which Rezalia appreciated. "You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?"
"See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life!" Iroh says happily. Zuko tries hard to not get angry, but a blast of fire escapes his mouth and covers the room with smoke. "I am lucky to have such an understanding nephew."
Rezalia waves her hand in front of her face and coughs as she makes her way to the door. Once she opens it, the smoke clears and Zuko looks at her apologetically. She waves him off and sits back down.
Once they reach the pier, Rezalia wanders off with a promise to meet them back at the ship in a couple hours. Dressed in her shorts and t-shirt ensemble, she draws much less attention than she normally would. As it is, people whisper as she passes. As she wanders, she buys a pair of black sandals that have straps travelling up to mid shin and tying in the back. Instantly, she puts them on as she had been barefoot previously.
As she's looking at the shops, Rezalia bumps into someone. "Shit! Sorry! Are you okay?" she asks, looking up to see that she had run into the avatar and his friends. "Oh, it's you guys."
Sokka reaches for his boomerang and Aang gets his staff ready. Rezalia holds up her hands in surrender. "Woah, I'm not here to fight you guys. I'm technically not even allowed to fight right now."
"Allowed?" Katara asks, voice tight.
"Yeah, I got knocked out by Roku and now I can't fight for a while. Doctor's orders. I mean, I technically could ignore that and bring you to Z, but I feel like he'd be hella pissed if I did that. And Iroh wouldn't be too happy either. They were pretty damn clear on the no fighting rule. Not that I really fight all that much anyway. I usually let Z handle it, cause this is his goal you know? It's not that I can't fight, I just feel like Z would prefer to do it himself. He has this thing about receiving help. He's, like, allergic to it or some shit. I don't know. But the point is that I'm not here to fight you. We didn't even know you'd be here. We're actually here to get a board game piece. Well, Iroh is. Zuko is here so that he can make sure we leave as soon as possible and I'm here 'cause I'm really tired of that damned ship. We go places, sure, but I've spent the better part of two years on a ship. It gets old, you know? Anyway, I should get going. Z's gonna come get me soon anyway. Iroh's probably buying shit he doesn't need again."
With that, Rezalia gets up off the ground, dusts herself off, and walks away. "That was weird, right?" she hears Sokka ask.
"Yes," Aang answers. "She seemed nice though."
Katara responds but Rezalia was too far away to hear what she said. Zuko spos her in the crowd and waves her over. Rezalia falls into step with them as they approach a pirate ship. She lets out a low whistle. "This place looks promising!" Iroh says happily. As they enter, Iroh's instantly drawn to an odd looking monkey statue with red gems imbedded in it. "Ooo! That is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"
"Hard pass," Rezalia responds. Iroh shrugs and continues to inspect the monkey. Meanwhile, Zuko walks over to the owners of the ship.
"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" Rezalia looks over, ignoring Iroh who had begun to make monkey noises.
~*~
Not long after, the pirates chased Katara through the woods and straight to Zuko. She crashes into him and the prince holds her in place. "I'll save you from the pirates," he sneers. Despite her struggles, Katara is soon tied to a small tree and surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers and pirates alike.
"Tell us where he is, and nobody gets hurt," Rezalia says calmly. Katara glares at her.
"Go jump in the river!" she shouts.
"Rude," Rezalia mutters. Zuko places a hand on her arm and gently pulls her back so that he can talk to Katara. Rezalia steps aside and watchs patiently. She had no doubt that Katara would continue to refuse them information, but Zuko would never accept that.
"Try to understand, I need to capture to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." As he speaks, Zuko moves behind Katara and holds her missing necklace to her neck. Rezalia raises an eyebrow. She didn't know he had that.
"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?" Katara demands, glaring at Zuko as he moves to face her once more. The prince passes the necklace to Rezalia.
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is." That much was true. If Zuko knew where the avatar was, he wouldn't be stealing necklaces and he was no pickpocket. He couldn't if he tried.
Katara refuses to reveal Aang's location once more. At least she has some loyalty, Rezalia thinks idly as she remembers the village chief from a while ago. The captain of the pirates steps forward. "Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll!"
Zuko pulls said scroll out of his pocket and lights a fire in his hand before holding it close to the scroll. "I wonder how much money this is worth?" The pirates gasp and move to stop him. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."
The Captain sighs and gestures fr his men to fall in line. "Fine."
The pirates return with Aang and Sokka in tow. Zuko looks pleased as he holds out the scroll. "Good job."
Katara looks at Aang sadly. "Aang, this is all my fault." Rezalia inwardly agrees. If she hadn't stolen the scroll, Zuko never would've known that the avatar was nearby. Aang however, tells her that she wasn't at fault.
"Yeah, it kind of is," Iroh interjects. Rezalia giggles and turns to Zuko who raises an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she was done. Rezalia gestures for him to carry on.
"Give me the boy."
"You give us the scroll," the Captain counters.
Sokka looks between the scroll and Aang and begins to speak. "You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?"
Zuko points at Sokka. "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other."
The Captain looks down at Aang. "Your friend is the avatar?"
Sokka sidles up next to the pirate. "Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll," he chirps.
"Dude!" Rezalia exclaims. "Shut up!"
"Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth," Aang agrees, sending the pirates nervous looks. Sokka ignores them both.
"I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"
"Keep the scroll!" the Captain exclaims after a while. "We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid."
"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" Zuko growls. The firebenders fire the first shot. Zuko, Rezalia, and a couple other soldiers run toward Aang and Sokka who were still tied up. As they draw closer, four pirates jump in front of them and kick Rezalia back. "Rezalia, stop! You're hurt!" Zuko shouts as he fights.
"So? I'm not useless!" The teen counters as she rejoins the fight. Her head throbs but she ignores it. Fire is shot at random, everyone is dodging flames. Rezalia weaves around pirates and soldiers, punching people and stealing weapons as she goes. One of the pirates grabs her arm and yanks her back but she spins around and kicks him in the face. The pirate falls back and Rezalia uses his body a springboard, jumping and propeling herself up and out of the soke cloud. She looks down and sees Aang, Sokka, and Katara running toward the boats. Rezalia lands, rolls, an makes her way to the boats as well. She doesn't make it in time and instead changes curse to where Iroh and Zuko are standing.
Iroh appears to have just broken up a fight between the Captain and the prince. "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?"
Rezalia skids to a stop beside Zuko. "We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" he exclaims.
Iroh shakes his head and points the retreating ship. "It's no proverb."
"Bleeding hog-monkeys!" the pirate curses before running off. Zuko and Rezalia laugh in response. Their laughter is cut short when they spot the pirates using their boat to chase after their own.
"Shit," Rezalia cusses as they take off.
"Hey! That's my boat!" Zuko shouts, as though the pirates are going to turn back and apologise for the mix up. Iroh stands there for a moment before Zuko yells at him over his shoulder. "Come on, Uncle!"
They chase the boats down the river bank, helpless to do little more than watch as the pirates fight the avatar and friends. Rezalia glances toward their destination only to be meet with a huge drop. "Z!" she shouts as she stops abruptly. Zuko turns his head and stops as well, nearly tumbling off the edge. They watch as their ship sails right over the edge of the waterfall.
"My boat!" Zuko groans. Rezalia sighs and kicks a rock off the cliff's edge. Iroh catches up to them and pants. Suddenly, the old man laughs. Rezalia and Zuko turn around wearing matching expressions of confusion on their faces.
"Hehe, Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" Iroh says happily, pulling the game piece out of his sleeve to show them. Zuko's eye twitches as he struggles to control his breathing. Rezalia makes no such efforts and chucks the tile off the cliff and into the water. Iroh pouts at her but she manages to draw a laugh out of Zuko.