Fire Heart

Chapter 10

I sit beside Uncle Iroh as we play Pai Sho with a couple crew members. Zuko is talking to the Helmsman about tracking the Avatar. We're all in the control room right now. But the natural daylight disappears behind a large shadow. I look up from the Pai Sho table to see a large Fire Nation ship. It's one of Zhao's by the looks of it. Zuko glares at the ship, confirming my thoughts.

"Ivy, come here." Zuko says, holding a hand out to me, not looking away from Zhao's ship. I stand up and walk over to him. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me to his side. Three crew members from Zhao's ship enter the room.

"The search for the Avatar has been made prime importance. Any information on the Avatar must be reported to Admiral Zhao." One of Zhao's men say.

"Zhao's been promoted? Good for him!" Uncle exclaims as he takes his turn. I face palm.

"I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass." Zuko growls.

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The crew member from Zhao's ship says. Zuko glares at the man.

"Don't make my fiancé angry. He'll hit you so hard that there'll be a hole in the wall that's shaped like you. Now get off this ship." I warn Zhao's men.

"But..." The same man begins.

"OFF MY SHIP!" Zuko yells. The three men turn and start to leave.

"Excellent! I take the pot!" Uncle exclaims, pulling the pile of copper pieces towards him. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

"But you're all improving! I'm sure you might win if we play again." Uncle says. Zhao's ship goes away and we start our course again. Zuko leaves the room and slams the door behind him. I sigh.

"I'll talk to him." Uncle says and stands up. I place a hand on his shoulder.

"You can come along. But it might be best if I talk to him. He usually doesn't like complicated advice when he's upset." I remind Uncle. He nods and follows me out to the deck. Zuko punches a bunch of fire at the sky.

"Is everything alright, Zuko? It's been almost an hour since you gave an order to the men." I say. Zuko walks over to the railing and stares at the water.

"I don't care what they do." Zuko growls. I frown.

"Don't give up hope. There's still a chance you can get Aang before Zhao." I say softly. He whips around.

"How!? With Zhao's resources, it's only a matter of time before he captures the Avatar!" Zuko exclaims. He turns back around and stares at the water again.

"My honor, my throne, my country...I'm about to lose them all." Zuko says in a defeated voice. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him.

"I'll figure it out, Love. Now, it's starting to get dark. Go get your dinner and eat in your room. Then meditate for a while before bed. I'll get things all straightened out." I tell him. He looks at me curiously.

"How? There's nothing you can do." Zuko says. The image of the duel swords Zuko gave me when I was 12 comes to mind along with the red mask I got from my mother for a gift. I wanted to scare Zuko on a holiday and it worked. But the ends of my hair kind of caught fire...wonder how that happened...

"I have my ways." I reply before going to my room. I change into a pair of black leggings and a fitted black long sleeved shirt. The shirt has a hood that's also fitted so that when I have it up, it hides my hair and makes it so I'm unrecognizable from behind. I pull on a pair of black boots before grabbing my duel swords and putting my mask on. Now no one shoulder know who I am. Only Zuko would know since he's seen the mask before. And the swords too. I wait till dark before sneaking out of my room and over to the small boat. I go to move it into the water but am stopped by a familiar voice.