Good and Evil || An ATLA Fanfiction

Chapter 21

"Hey, I brought you some tea" Ren's voice calls from behind me.

"Thank you" I reply, a kind smile on my lips as I take the cup from him.

Pulling the glass to my lips, I take a long sip of the tea. The warmth spreads through my body, my eyes closing in relaxation. 

When I open them again, Ren's face is in mine, his fingers tracing my wrists. "Azara, what are these bruises?" he questions, his go lucky smile gone. 

I hadn't told Grandpa what Zuko and I faced at Roku's island. At this moment, I urged to explain to Ren why I had so many outbursts, and what kept me awake at night.

Soon.

"Remember, Zuko and I were caught and shackled? They must have done them too tightly on my wrists" I smiled, lying straight through my teeth.

"Right" he says, clearly unconvinced "I heard Iroh is getting the ship turned around, to go to a market. We should be there by day break tomorrow."

"Really? And Zuko is alright with this?" I ask.

"Prince Zuko has no clue" Ren smiles "I was thinking, maybe we could do something before we have to come back onto this floating box of metal."

"And what were you thinking?" I question, taking another sip of my drink.

"Perhaps there are some firebending scrolls in the market" Ren states, making me laugh.

"Unless they have one on The Dragon's Breath, I'm good."

"Surely you're not one move away from being a master. Come on, where's your sense of adventure!" Ren says, a boyish grin on his face.

"Fine" I smile, eyes rolling.

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"You watch her like a hawk Ren, or else you won't need to worry about working on my ship anymore" Zuko growls, glaring at Ren.

"That's enough Zuko" I say harshly "Meet me on that ship in 20 minutes." I point towards a pirate ship. Sighing, he nods before walking off with Grandpa.

"Alright, shall we go?" I ask, holding out my hand. 

"We shall", taking my hand, we walk through the markets.

It was truly amazing, around us were people of all nations. No one was fighting, no one was dying. There was balance, a luxury during this time.

"It's weird, this almost feels normal" Ren chuckles.

"Normal for me would be sitting at the palace" I sigh, missing my home, and the simplicity it once held.

"Well, I don't think any of those are around, but you already have a servant boy" Ren smiles, but I don't mirror the movement.

"You really need to stop staying you're a servant boy" I sigh.

"I think you forget it's who I am Azara, I am a servant, and you, you're a Princess, it's how it is, and I'm alright with it. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be cracking jokes."

"You have such a way with words."

"I learned from your Grandfather, that man breathes wisdom" Ren states, resulting in my lips to turn upward.

Turning my attention from Ren, I spot a necklace cart. Red, blue and green jewels cover the cart, each shining in the sunlight.

"These are beautiful" I gap in awe, trying to look at all of the jewels in front of me.

Finally, one catches my eye. A blood red jewel is held in place by a tear shaped piece of gold. The piece screamed fire nation.

"I'll take that one" Ren says, pointing to the necklace.

"No, I'll take the necklace" I state, sending a look to Ren.

"As your friend, I'm saying let me pay for it, or I might be forced to melt your shoes to the ground" Ren snaps, holding out the money to the merchant.

Groaning, I follow Ren as he walks off.

"Here, turn around, I'll put it on you" he says, fingers pushing away some of the stray hairs from my neck. Slowly, he clasps the necklace around my neck, the jewel proudly hanging.

"It's beautiful" I smile, touching the red jem lightly "thank you Ren." Moving forward, I kiss his cheek lightly. 

His face burns like a furnace, causing a smile to grow on me yet again.

"W-We should probably get back to Prince Zuko" he croaks, turning back towards the ship.