The Archer [Zuko]

➳ 2 ➳

By the time I got back to my house, night had turned into dawn. Dawn is my favorite time of day because it's so quiet outside in the world. No one has had the chance to annoy me yet; it is very peaceful, and I love it a lot.

I slip in through one of the back doors at the Pohaui Stronghold. The early morning sun burns through the crack in the door, but once it shuts, it snuffs out all of the light. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness and stifle a scream when I see my mother standing in the corridor with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Heiza," she snaps. Her quiet voice carries over to me, echoing in my ears. "What have I told you about going to the forest in the middle of the night?"

"Not to do it," I sighed softly. "You know how bored I get. I can't do anything here!"

"Walking around the forest in the dead of night is not safe," Mom says. She pulls me through the hallway toward our little suite in the stronghold. We only get two bedrooms, but at least I don't have to share my room with anyone. "How can I protect you when I don't know where you're at?"

"Mom, you know I can protect myself." I pat my bow and quiver full of arrows; they shift in the quiver and the metal clangs against each other. She eyes them distastefully. "I'm better than most of the men here."

"And you should know that I don't like you using those." She opens the door for me, so I step into our suite. It opens up to my parents' room, but I don't see Dad anywhere in the clean and tidy room. He must already be up. "I don't like how you use them to steal from people."

I scowl at her. "By now, you should know that I only steal from the people who wouldn't even notice. They have so much things that they wouldn't notice if I took a few pieces of jewelry or whatever else I steal."

Her dark eyes stare at me for a second before turning away from me. She faces the small fireplace where a fire burns against the wood in it. "Whatever you say, Heiza."

People always tell me that I look like my mom. We have the same dark hair that gains a halo when the sun shines on it. I don't really like when people tell me that I look like her because we are totally different people on the inside. She hates that I steal from people, but there's nothing she can do to stop it. She knows she can't control me. No one can. I can't even control myself.

Without another word, I head to my room. The door slides shut behind me, blocking all of the light from my parents' room. I hang my bow and quiver full of arrows on the wall. There isn't a window in my room because our suite is near the center of the Stronghold. 

I throw myself onto my bed and sigh. My hands cover my face, stifling my second sigh. I have a good life, yes, but I can't stand being cooped up in one place for a long time. Especially this place. My room feels like a cell - which isn't saying much because there are actual jail cells here. I need to get out sometimes, and that's why I know the forest so well. If I could, I would have gone farther a long time ago, but I didn't because of my mother. She forbade me a long time ago from leaving the grounds of the Stronghold because I would be invading the Earth Kingdom if I did.

I roll onto my side, and the letter in my cape pocket crinkles. Somehow, I totally forgot about the letter from Ty Lee and how I need to be preparing for the biggest job in my life. It's really risky to steal from the Fire Nation Palace, but it'll secure me for the rest of my life. I wouldn't have to work again if I got the Crown Jeweled bow and arrows. I can just see it now: me sitting on my own island that I bought with all that money and having some quality time with my favorite person in the world. Or at least the person who I can stand the most, which is myself. 

But, first, I have to actually get the bow and arrows. Xalen didn't have any information about where it was at the Fire Nation Palace. That doesn't help me at all because I have to plan out the job right down to the second. This one, though, I have to fly by the seat of my pants because I don't know much about any of the things that I have to do. I'll just have to hope that I am still on Azula's good side. If I still am, that'll make it easier for me to figure out what to do once I get there.