Daughter of the Moon - Book 1: Water

Chapter 13: Commander Zhao

- Elara -

It had been a few days since our run in with the Avatar, and the crew was still a little shaken up. After I had woken up from my coma-like trance, I was bombarded with questions and worry from the other crew members concerning my condition. I ended up telling them that I had taken a critical hit while dueling the Avatar, and that was why I was in so much pain (the exception being Iroh—I told him the truth, of course). Everyone seemed to believe my story, so they left me alone to recover. Zuko, on the other hand, didn't seem so convinced, and on many occasions I caught him keeping one eye on me, just in case. When the pain never returned, however, Zuko seemed to lose any and all interest in my well being, as per the usual.

As for the ship, we were lucky that we had escaped in one piece (more or less). It was an absolute wreck, especially considering how the Avatar had buried it with snow and ice. There was only so much I could do to fill the gaps with frozen and condensed water, so we were left with no other choice but to find a Fire Nation port to perform the repairs needed for our ship to remain a ship and not a deep sea decoration.

When we finally arrived at a Fire Nation repair harbor, I joined Zuko and Iroh as they departed and relished in the sensation of solid ground (even for a waterbender, spending so much time out at sea could drive you mad). Unfortunately, it seemed that I was the only one who was excited about our short detour.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible," Zuko demanded, almost as if he didn't know that Iroh didn't have any control over that matter. "I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail."

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh clarified.

I had to admit, I loved Iroh, but there were some moments where he made me want to slam my face into a brick wall. This was one of those moments.

"Don't mention his name on these docks!" Zuko snapped, saying exactly what I was thinking. "Once word gets out that he's alive, every firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" a stranger asked from behind us as he approached our small group.

For some reason, the man's chilling voice sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on where I had heard it before. Yet, that didn't stop the fear from trickling down my spine as a memory tucked deep inside my mind tried to force it's way out.

Zuko growled as he turned around to face the newcomer. "Captain Zhao."

"It's Commander now," Zhao sneered before turning to bow respectfully to Iroh. "And General Iroh, great hero of our nation."

"Retired general," Iroh clarified cheerfully, clashing horribly with the atmosphere of the current conversation.

General Zhao looked at the two men standing in front of me and smiled. "The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?"

"Our ship is being repaired" Iroh reported, and I couldn't stop myself from wishing that he would stop being so casual with everyone (we were going to get caught if he kept this up).

Zhao looked at the crumbling piece of metal that we called a ship and visibly became perplexed. "That's quite a bit of damage."

"Yes...you wouldn't believe happened," Zuko faltered in response, elbowing Iroh as a look of panic flashed across his face. "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened."

"Yes, it was incredible!" Iroh began before leaning towards Zuko Zuko and whispering, "What...did we crash or something?"

"Uh, yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship," Zuko elaborated as he tried (and failed) to cover up the true story of the damage.