The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 21

What an odd team. A retired general, a banished prince, a Water Tribe orphan, and a bunch of pirates. It sounds like that start to a really bad joke. To make it better? The pirates were trying to buy my necklace off of me; and if that didn't work, they'd simply try to steal it right off of me.

"Control your men," Zuko demanded of the Captain flatly after I'd told him. "Or else the deal is off."

"Aye, you heard the lad," the Captain said. "Leave his poor girlfriend alone." The crew of pirates exploded in laughter.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" I shouted, feeling my face go red. Simultaneously, Zuko had gone red and shouted with a slight stutter, "S-She's not my girlfriend!" This only made them laugh harder.

We had all taken the pirates' ship to search for the Avatar and the waterbending scroll that Katara had apparently stolen. Having no interest in their conversation, I sat inside with Iroh, who was marveling at all of the treasures that had been collected on this ship. "Are you alright, Saki?" Iroh asked me, looking up from the katana sword in his hands.

"I'm fine," I nodded. "My hand still hurts from punching that guy, and those looters that call themselves 'High Risk Traders' keep trying to steal my necklace. But I'm fine."

"That isn't what I'm asking," Iroh frowned at me. "After what happened at Crescent Island, I was beginning to grow concerned. I—"

"I'm fine," I interrupted, smiling meekly. "Really, I am."

He didn't seem convinced, but he left it alone. "When you are ready, you may speak to me whenever you wish."

The next few hours, Iroh and I rummaged through all of the treasures — not to mention I got bitten by the Captain's reptilian bird, who was very lucky that I'm not a firebender.

Come nightfall, I returned on deck to check on the progress. "Any sign of them?" I asked Zuko.

"Nothing yet," he replied.

In the distance, I could hear splashing and a familiar (and highly agitated) voice: Katara. "Okay, what if I — Ow! Stupid scroll!" By the looks of it, Zuko and the Captain had heard her too.

Zuko and the Captain must've already had a plan concocted for when they find her because they didn't say a single word. They simply looked at each other, and they just knew.

The ships found their way to shore, and everyone seemed to be scattering to pre-planned places. "You have to stay here," Zuko told me. "Please, Saki. Promise me you'll stay this time." Reluctantly, I nodded. I gave him my word, and I regretted it already. I wasn't going to stand there and watch my friend get ambushed. I couldn't. I returned to Iroh, who was now sitting on the floor and reading a scroll about who-knows-what.

"I'm ready to talk," I said abruptly, sitting in front of him. He set the scroll down, giving me his full attention. I opened my mouth, and out came everything I'd been holding in ever since I'd begun living in the Fire Lord's palace. Everything from my relations with Sokka and Katara, to my unexplainable bad habit of lying to Zuko and doing the exact opposite of what he tells me to do, to the gut-wrenching feeling I have whenever I want to go to Ursa for help and remember that I can't.

When I was finished, Iroh's face looked exhausted, as if all of my talking had worn him down.

"In all of the years that I've known you, Saki," he said slowly, "I have never expected so much bottled up emotion. You always seemed so happy."

"I am happy," I answered, then rethought it. "At least, I think I am.... How will I know?"

At this, Iroh gave a heartfelt chuckle. "That is not something I can tell you. You must find that one out on your own."