𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 [ᴢᴜᴋᴏ]

eight

Iroh soon joined them and together the three waited for the ship to reach the port. When the ramp lowered, Jasmine slightly squinted her eyes to adjust to the sunlight before she followed Iroh and his nephew, trailing behind them.

The port was huge. The docks reached further in both directions than Jasmine could make out. Big red tents were lined up along the docks and many more were placed randomly through the whole port. The place was crowded with soldiers.

Jasmine unconsciously stepped closer to scar boy and Iroh. Her fingers touched her necklace and she looked around but tried to avoid direct eye contact with any soldier there was.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." Zuko walked ahead and balled his fists. Losing the Avatar was not something he was willing to risk.

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh asked, not bothering to quicken his steps in order to catch up with his angry nephew.

Zuko immediately stopped and turned around. He almost got into his uncle's face, "don't mention his name on these docks." The boy's eyebrow twitched in anger as he moved closer to his uncle. Trying to seem intimidating, he lowered his voice. "Once word gets out he's alive, every firebender will be out looking for him."

Jasmine eyed him for a moment before her eyes darted over his shoulder. A tall and muscular man was walking up to them with a smug smile. The girl scowled at the sight of him, getting a bad vibe from him immediately.

"I don't want anyone getting in the way," the angry boy said and straightened his posture as the man stopped behind him with a smug smile. His brown hair was pulled up into a bun and his beard stuck out from his cheeks and ended just below the cheeks.

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko turned around and crossed his arms. "Captain Zhao." The prince found the captain to be an asshole. The two didn't like each other and they didn't try to hide their distaste for the other. In various meetings, be it official meetings or random encounters, Zhao had to rub his superiority complex in the prince's face. Poor Zuko being a banished prince couldn't do anything against it. This time I'm gonna show him.

Zhao smirked and put his hands behind his back. "It's Commander now," he said and straightened his posture, towering over the three visitors. His eyes lingered on Zuko for a moment, needing the ego push by looking down at the prince, before turning to Iroh. "And General Iroh, greatest hero of our nation," Zhao bowed to Iroh.

The tea-loving man slightly shook his head and bowed as well. "Retired general."

Jasmine only eyed the Commander with a frown on her face. Everything about this man screamed arrogance and she immediately despised him even more than she despised Zuko. I really want to punch the smugness out of his idiotic face.

"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcomed guests anytime. What brings you to my harbour?"

Jasmine tensed and was glad that the commander hadn't noticed her standing behind Iroh yet. Her face paled and she looked between her two companions, blinking the tears away. She couldn't believe her bad luck. Out of all people who could've taken me, it just had to be the Fire Lord's son and brother.

"Our ship is being repaired," Iroh said and gestured behind him at the damaged ship.

Zhao looked over Iroh's shoulder and his eyebrows shot up at the sight of the ship. "That's quite a bit of damage," he said and slowly looked between Iroh and Zuko.

"Yes, you wouldn't believe what happened," Zuko said after clearing his throat. He briefly glanced at his uncle, hoping he would come up with a good lie spontaneously. "Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened." Zuko cursed himself mentally for not thinking about an excuse before. That damn Zhao.