Polar Opposites *A Prince Zuko Love Story*

Chapter 9 - The Ferry

With the use of some clever disguises and the help of the White Lotus, the 2 of us manage to sneak away from Xin Fu and Master Yu. Before long, we were on our way to Ba Sing Se. There were many reasons to be apprehensive about stepping foot into the large city. Zuko believes that we won't be able to fit in, but I was optimistic that everything would be just fine.

Currently, we're on the ferry that takes us across a lake to the city from Full Moon Bay. Zuko and I lean against the railing in silence, meanwhile, Iroh voices the reason he should be nervous without much shame. "Who would have thought, after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace..." Iroh says solemnly. "as a tourist!" he finishes as he turns to Zuko and I, putting on a flowered straw hat and wide grin.

I can't help but giggle at the grinning old man and the floral hat he'd put on his head. Zuko of course, is less amused. "Look around!" he motions to our surroundings. "we're not tourists, we're refugees." he finishes angrily before he takes a sip from the wooden bowl in his hand. "Ugh!" he groans as he spits over the railing. "I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt... I'm tired of living like this." he groans as he leans on the rail despondently. I sigh softly as I run a soothing hand down his back. His muscles are tense under my touch but isn't burning up which is a good sign. "Relax," I tell him which makes him look at me for a second before turning away from me again, staring at the water below again. "this is only temporary." I continue.

He's about to reply but another voice interrupts him from doing so. "That's what everybody says." I feel my body tense at the sound of the voice. I mentally curse at the sound of Jet's voice. Zuko pulls away from me, he and Iroh turning to where Jet stands behind us, while I stand perfectly still, not wanting Jet to recognize me. With Jet being here, I'm now scared because this was the only person I ever met who hated the Fire Nation as much as I once did, if not more and I know exactly what I would do if I'd come across such people in this circumstance. He couldn't find out that Zuko and Iroh are Fire Nation. "My name's Jet, and these are my freedom fighters, Smellerbee, and Longshot." Jet introduces. "Hey." I hear Smellerbee greet and I assume that Longshot nods a greeting. "Hello." Zuko greets back as he looks out over the lake again. "Here's the deal," Jet says without any further preamble. "I hear the Captain's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed off his scraps." he explains. "Doesn't seem fair, does it?" he asks.

He hasn't changed. He's fishing for something just as he did with Aang and Katara, posing his word like facts then ending it with a simple rhetorical question, making it appear like he wants the other person's idea and not his. It's simple manipulation. Hearing it only solidifies that he hasn't learned his lesson from last time. "What sort of 'king' is he eating like?" Iroh asks him. "The fat, happy kind." Jet answers. Jet's reply makes Iroh's mouth fall open as he drools. "You want to help us 'liberate' some food?" Jet asks, while looking at Zuko, his eyes glancing toward me for a few seconds before he returns his gaze to Zuko again.

Zuko is silent for a moment and I watch him from the corner of my eye, wondering as to what he's going to say. I really hope he tells Jet to get lost and leave us alone. He looks down at the bowl of rotten food in his hand before tossing it into the water below and turning to Jet. "I'm in," he declares. "No, you're not." I say as I finally turn around, having enough. I listened to what Jet had to say and it isn't anything worth our time. I quickly rush over to Jet, pinning him against one of the beams of the ship, holding him by the collar of his shirt, glaring at the boy in front of me intensely. "What are you doing?!" Zuko asks me, surprised by my actions. "Trust me," I say turning my head to look at him from the corner of my eye. "You don't want to associate yourself with Jet." I growl before turning back to face Jet.

Jet's eyes are almost the size of his head, his teeth clamped together in a deep scowl. I can tell that he's trying to piece together who I am. It doesn't take long until he realises who I am, astonishment floods the confusion on his features. "Kida?" he asks. The only confirmation I give to his guess is glaring at him, not breaking eye contact with him. A smirk stretches his lips but the fear isn't completely gone from his eyes. He tries to lean closer to me, but I push him back against the beam I had pushed him against moments ago. "What are you doing here? Where are Aang and your siblings?" he asks as he straightens again. "I don't know," I answer him honestly. "but even if I did know where they were, I wouldn't tell the likes of you." I growl. "Oh really?" he asks, a smug smirk on his lips again. "Did they finally get tired of your high and mighty attitude?" he continues. "Watch your tongue, Jet." I snarl. I'm about to continue my threat but a hand being put on my shoulder stops me. "Kida, you're going to cause a scene." Iroh says softly.