Avatar's Protector

Chapter 24: Jet

We arrived safely at the ferry harbor at nightfall. The three of us all agreed that we will sleep the night before buying tickets tomorrow. Before the young man that brought us here could leave, I handed him some money and asked him to send Mirai back to Song and her mother, her rightful owners.

Unfortunately for me, when I tried to climb out of the pot plant, my dress accidently got caught on something and ripped, and it got ripped bad. I had to change, but the only outfits I had left were brightly colored ones, ones that will bring to much attention to us. Luckily, I had a plain long sleeve light brown shirt. The only problem was, it was an open back shirt.

“Here…” I looked up from inside the tent, in which we were staying in for the time being, when I heard Zuko’s voice. In his hand was a dark brown shoulder scarf. “Where-“ I was about to question him where he got it, when Zuko marched over to me and wrapped the scarf around me, covering my back completely. “Please tell me you didn’t steal this?” I begged as I watched him tie the scarf into a knot so that it doesn’t fall off.

“No, I found it laying on the ground.” Zuko answered, finishing the knot before looking up into my eyes. “Finders keepers.” He added, making me shake my head at him. “This still belongs to somebody Zuko!” I exclaimed as Zuko took my hand in his and pulled me out of the tent. “Somebody that doesn’t need it more than you now.” He said as he walked over to his uncle and Kai, pulling me along. Knowing that I won’t most likely win this argument, I stayed quiet and sat down next to Iroh.

“Good morning, dear Asami!” Iroh said to me with a bright smile. “Good morning, Uncle Iroh! Good morning, Kai!” I said with a bright smile before opening my arms when Kai jumped over to me and hugged him. The retired general had us have our moment before bringing us some bad news. “We have a small problem.”

Both Zuko and I looked to Iroh in question. “The ferry doesn’t allow animals.” Kai yipped in shocked while Zuko and I looked to each other in worry. “What are we going to do?” I asked as I held Kai tightly against my chest. “There is no way I’m leaving Kai here! This little fire ferret is my life!” I said as I held him as if my life dependent on it. “We’ll figure something out.” Zuko said as he gently squeezed my shoulder assuring.

The three of us sat and brainstormed ideas for how we were going to sneak Kai onto the ferry with us, without getting caught. “I got it!” Iroh exclaimed excitedly, catching both mine and Zuko’s attention. “Remember when you two pretended to be engaged?” Both Zuko and I nodded yes with a frown, not understanding what he’s getting at. “Why not pretend that you are married this time, and pregnant?”

“I’m sorry… what?” I asked as both Zuko and I stared at Iroh in disbelief. “If you hide Kai inside your shirt, and if he stays quiet while rolled up, it will look like you are pregnant.”

The retired general explained to us with a big proud smile. Both Zuko and I looked to each other in uncertainty. “You sure this will work Uncle?” Zuko asked as we frowned at his uncle. But Iroh just smiled brightly.

***
“Lay still Kai!” I muttered to my stomach, where Kai was laying as he hid inside my shirt. Iroh was right, I did look pregnant with Kai hiding inside my shirt. Only problem was that the fire ferret couldn’t stay still. “You’re going to get us caught!” I snapped at him as softly as I could, trying not to get attention to ourselves. Luckily, he stopped moving and just in time, because we were now standing in line to buy our tickets.

“I can’t believe your uncle talk me into this!” I mutter to Zuko as we waited inline for our turn. “Seriously?” Zuko asked me with a raised eyebrow. I thought about it for a moment before sighing in defeat. “Okay, yeah I do believe it.” I said, making Zuko chuckle before he took my hand in his and intertwined our fingers. “Now I might just get a slap in the face for saying this,” Zuko started saying, making me frown slightly at him in confusion.