honey [azula]

the boy in the iceberg

i miss my little spy

❉ ╤╤╤╤ ✿ ╤╤╤╤ ❉

TRAVELING with Prince Zuko was exhausting. He had been completely against Airi's accompaniment and had been cold and rude to her ever since they set foot out of the fire nation. The days were all the same, monotonous in their hair-pulling exasperation. She would play pai-sho with General Iroh, who truly was the beacon of light on the ship, spar with Prince Zuko, hear Avatar this, Avatar that, for the next several hours, save Prince Zuko from some sort of ghastly accident, eat with the crew, attend music night if it was happening, go back to her room and write Azula a daily update, send it off to her with one of the messenger hawks on board the ship, read whatever Azula had sent her, if anything, and then lay her head down and sleep for several hours until she woke up again.

And years of that, day after grueling day had really started to wear on Airi's last nerve. Which was saying something, because she was always seen as the calm, composed, and polite one out of the Princess' little group of friends. She was close to snapping — telling Zuko that he wasn't going to find the Avatar, that he wasn't ever going to get his honor back, and to stop trying.

Until one day a beam of light shot into the air about a mile off from where the ship was. Zuko's head snapped in the direction of the beam of light and Airi was sure she heard a crack.

"Did you see that?" he asked, something other than anger creeping into his voice for once. Airi turned to stare in the direction of the light. It was gone as soon as it came. "That must be the avatar, nothing else could explain the source of that light. Whatever created it must be incredibly powerful."

"Zuko," Iroh said calmingly, "relax. We've been here before. It's just the northern lights. Sit back, drink some calming jasmine tea."

Zuko turned to Airi, clearly angry with his uncle's opinion and wanting come affirmation. "Well?" he asked. "Or do you think I need to calm down too?!"

"You're right," Airi pointed out. "Whatever made that light source must have been incredibly powerful. And the northern lights don't usually seem so close. But General Iroh is not incorrect I'm saying that we've been here before. My apologies, but don't get your hopes up, Prince Zuko."

He glared at her, but said nothing, which was generally a good sign. Unlike Azula, Zuko did not stew on his anger. He let it out, fast, hot, uncontrollable, much like how he used his fire. "Helmsman," he called, turning away from Airi, "set a course for the light!"

Airi turned to Iroh. "I should inform the Princess," she said quietly, in hopes that Zuko wouldn't hear her. He never liked to get reminders of his sister, which was partially why he didn't like Airi. Iroh, on the other hand, understood that there was nothing Azula said that Airi would not do, for better, but usually for worse. He smiled at her.

"And then, will you indulge in a cup of jasmine tea and a game of Pai Sho?" He asked, though his eyes darted to his nephew. Airi smiled.

"Of course, General Iroh," Airi said. She bowed respectfully to him before setting off to what had become the mail room on the ship. She hummed quietly to herself, a song her mother had taught her when she was so young that the expectations of her parents had yet to be pushed down upon her. She first wrote to Azula, though she could see that there was a scroll for her, presumably from the princess. It was short, saying nothing more than that they had spotted something that could lead them to the avatar, and a short note at the end that said she missed Azula and that Zuko was irritatingly cranky all the time. She rolled the scroll up and set it in the messenger hawk's carrying backpack-like apparatus.