True Balance . Prince Zuko

XXI

rush
twenty-one
XXI

For once, Lelo found herself ready to drown a village if it meant drowning the Prince. The anger inside her had bubbled to a point, but it hadn't been the anger that brought hateful tears to her eyes. It was the searing feeling of betrayal that confused her. The moonlight glinted off her adoptive mothers necklace, something she knew Katara would have been heartbroken over losing.

"I didn't steal it." The Prince tells them, walking in front of them. His eyes flicker to hers, and for a moment, his golden eyes shiver in shock at the angry tears that threatened to fall. Lelo had reached exhaustion to her emotional limit.

"No!" Katara growls back at him, tugging against her restraints. The pirate Captain steps forward, "Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll."

"I wonder how much money this is worth." The Prince asked rhetorically to his guards as he revealed the scroll from his belt. Hot flames burning in the palm of his hand brought a chorus of protests from the pirates, "A lot. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy."

"Everyone?..." Lelo spat at his feet, drawing the attention of everyone. Katara had seen her sister angry before, incredibly pissed off, but the dark obsidian in her eyes made hers widen in shock. The Prince searches her face, her emotions implanting themselves accidentally into the back of his mind.

"Search the woods for the boy and meet back here." The Prince commanded them, the pirate captain glared at the prince, he and his men walking further into the woods, "Fine."

"Take me with you," Lelo called suddenly, her voice echoing through the trees. Everyone paused at her words, her arms resisting against the bonds. The pirates glare down at her, "What?"

"No." The prince growled immediately, his shocked eyes glaring between them but Lelo doesn't even pass his a glance. Shielding him from her illuminated eyes, "I can show you where they are."

"Lelo! No!" Katara cried; confusion and panic made her struggle against her restraints. The disbelief at her sister swords struck her chest painfully.

"How?" The pirate asked suspiciously, his greedy eyes washing over her tiny frame. Skeptical about how Lelo could help them.

"You're looking for my brother; I could track him down with just my nose. Vomit. Then find him." She deadpanned, her eyes glaring back as the pirate captain tried to dismiss her with a scoff. His nose crinkling at her words before registering the seriousness on her moonlit features, "Ew...but alright."

"No! She's my prisoner." The prince growled in response, attempting to stand between them but the pirate captain just glanced at him.

"The quicker we find the boy, the quicker we get the scroll, and we can leave." He tells the angry prince but Zuko wasn't having it. Shaking his head he moves out of the pirates way, grabbing his arm as he passes, "She's up to something. She'll try to escape."

"I won't. You can even keep me chained." Lelo compromised, ignoring the burn from Zuko's gaze. Her breath hitching as the pirate captain glanced between them before settling back on the prince. His hot palm grabbing harder, "She'll try something."

"I just want my scroll." The captain growled, throwing the princes arm off and grabbing the back of her shirt. Lelo falls to her knees, face planting the dirt before she's picked up roughly and forced to move forward.