Polar Opposites *A Prince Zuko Love Story*

Chapter 16 - The Bounty Hunter

It's been a week since I had been taken back to Zuko's ship, after Zuko had rescued both Aang and I from Zhao. My leg is basically healed. The doctor had told me I'd be alright if I just take it easy. The last couple of days, I've been just hanging out in my room, reading and meditating.

Both Iroh and Zuko have been coming in and checking on me every once and awhile. Iroh brings me tea and we talk for a while before he leaves to either train Zuko or take a nap. While Zuko is just his grumpy old self, always asking me if I know where Aang is heading next. Although, he has been less stern with me ever since he rescued me from Zhao, which to me, is very strange, considering all of the other times I was on the ship he would always demand that I tell him where Aang was going and storm off every time I told him that I didn't know.

Currently, I sit at a table kitty-corner to both Zuko and Iroh as Iroh gives us cups of the tea he had just made. "Ahh!" he sighs with a smile on his face. "See, Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well being." he continues to Zuko as he pours tea into Zuko's cup. Zuko raises his cup to take a drink but before he can, the ship rocks suddenly, causing the tea in his cup to splash all over his face.

I put my hand over my mouth, stifling my laughter, not wanting him to get mad at me for laughing at him. He growls angrily as he wipes his hair out of his face and gets to his feet to see what had caused the ship to rock. Iroh and I get up also, and follow close behind him.

On the deck, guards line up aside Iroh, Zuko and I while a woman riding a giant animal run along the deck. "Get back!" the woman commands. "We're after a stowaway!" she continues. Zuko walks up closer to her, Iroh and I close behind him. "There are no stowaways on my ship!" he says. The woman's animal then proceeds to bite into the floor of the deck, throwing the chunk of metal it rips out at us. This causes the guards around us to jump out of the way while Zuko, Iroh and I duck under it. Zuko turns to the woman angrily, obviously upset that her creature is destroying his ship.

The animal then sticks its head into the gaping hole. It seems to be looking for something or someone. A moment later, a frightened man climbs up onto the deck, trying to run away. As he's running away, the animal runs after him, whipping out its long tongue and hitting the man in the back twice. The man falls to the floor, unable to move. "He's paralyzed." Zuko states, his voice filled with slight shock.

The woman walks over to the paralyzed man, grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt. "Only temporarily." the woman states. "The toxins'll wear off in about an hour. But by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money." she continues as she throws the man over her shoulder. "But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko asks her as the woman walks back to her animal. The woman looks over her shoulder at us while petting the animal. "My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." she answered before she gets back into the saddle, the paralyzed man laying across the shirshu's back behind her. "Well, I'm impressed." Iroh says.

The woman then cracks her whip and her shirshu bolts off of the ship and down to the dock, out of sight. We watch her go from the edge of the ship. "Very impressed." Iroh repeats while stroking his beard, making both Zuko and I look at him oddly.

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About an hour later, Zuko and Iroh set off to find the woman and her shirshu, no doubt planning on using her to track down Aang and my siblings by using my mother's necklace. I would have gone with them but my leg had started hurting me, so I decided against it. If anything, I know that Zuko won't capture Aang, so there's no point in me going with them. Iroh was surprised that I decided to stay but he understood why, considering my leg was the main reason as to why I decided to not tag along with him and Zuko. 

After I had said my goodbyes to them, I walk back to my room, wanting to relax a little bit, not wanting to strain my leg too much. I lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling, my thoughts wandering to my siblings and Aang, hoping that they were safe. Knowing that Zuko is going to use that woman's shirshu to track Aang down by using my mother's necklace, makes me worry in that sense. I really do wish that I was there with them so I could protect them in any way I could when Zuko would attack them. The thing is, I know that the 3 of them can take care of themselves just fine.

My thoughts then wander to Zuko. Ever since I've been back on the ship, he's been acting really weird around me. Especially when the 2 of us are alone together. It's always as if he wants to tell me something but he always decides against it.

I shake my head, not wanting to think about the scarred prince right now, since he's probably tracking down Aang and my siblings right now. I turn to lay on my side, wanting to go to sleep since I'm tired and I want to get a good night's rest.

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It's early evening 2 days later, when Iroh and Zuko return to the ship. And from Zuko's grumpy expression, I can tell that Aang and my siblings got away once again. I would reassure him that he'll capture Aang eventually but that would just be a lie since I know Aang is more capable in taking care of himself against Zuko than most people realize. "I take it from your grumpy expression that it didn't go well." I say to Zuko as he walks up the ramp and onto the deck. He gives me an intense glare before storming off into the ship, presumably to go into his room for a while. I smirk smugly, before continuing in my practice of my waterbending.