The Archer [Zuko]

➳ 10 ➳

I have been at the Fire Nation palace for at least a week, and I still have no idea where the jeweled bow is even at yet. My time here is limited because I doubt Ozai enjoys having company here as well as Zuko or Azula. Not many people stay at the palace like I have. I know that I don't have as much time as I would like, so I need to get started on figuring out where this thing is at. I just have to be very inconspicuous about why I'm sneaking around the palace at night.

Xalen has spoken to me recently and told me that he has a lead for our mission. I have to believe him about that, though I'm not sure why I would doubt him. He's never lied about missions before, so he's speaking the truth. I hope he'll bring me in on the lead soon; it isn't like him to keep me so far in the dark about these things. We are partners, after all. Well, he is my accomplice while I am the leader. We don't share much of anything together at all.

The bracelet I stole from that general or whatever he was weighs heavily in one of the many pockets of my cape. I don't really know why I brought it along with me, but I did. Maybe I don't want people to find it in my room; there has been a little birdy talking around the palace that someone stole their family bracelet, so I need to make sure that no one knows I took it. More than that, though, I feel terrible that I stole it from him. I usually steal from people who wouldn't notice what I took. He noticed, and he's miserable. Now I'm miserable.

I'll soon get over that, though. I plan on giving the bracelet to Xalen so he can sell it for some money for himself. That's my act of good for this job, so I know I'll be fine when I finish everything. Whenever I set up a job, I try to do one act of good to make sure the Spirits view me as someone worthy of leading this life of stealing. Hopefully it works.

A few voices ring out in the small corridor where I am currently walking. A few torches light up the area around me, but there is a small area where it's total and complete darkness. I press my body against the wall and wrap my cape around myself to block all source of color and light from off of me. 

The person I had heard talking suddenly rushes out of the room right next to me. In his wake, he leaves a slight breeze and the smell of smoke wafting next to me. I wait for a few more seconds before stepping out of the shadows and into the light of the torches.

"What are you doing here, Heiza?"

I glance to my right into the doorway where that last man came from and see Xalen standing there with his arms crossed across his chest. He has his helmet off, but he does still have the rest of his armor on. It looks strange on him; I'm so used to seeing him in regular clothes. He looks more grown up with the armor on, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. 

"You wanted to talk to me, right?" He nods slightly. There's something in his eyes that tell me that he's not in the mood to talk to me at all right now. I ignore it. "I'm here to talk about what you found out for our job."

"We can't talk about it here. I already got into trouble about asking too many questions." Xalen grabs me by the arm and drags me toward the wall. I frown as he pushes on a panel on the wall. A small door slowly opens up, so I take a step inside. "This is better."

"What is this place?" I ask, glancing around at the small room we are standing in. There's a small torch sitting in a sconce right next to the door, lighting up the bookcase on the opposite wall. "And how do you know about it?"

"Since I'm a guard, I know about all the secret tunnels and secret rooms in the palace," Xalen says with a quick nod. "This room has been vacant for a few years, so I decided to make it our little room full of secrets."

"Good idea."

"Thanks."

It grows very awkward between us, so I shuffle over to the bookcase and flip through the scrolls and books on it. Most are about the previous Fire Lords and their families, but some are about the art of firebending. My heart constricts at the sight of the firebending. My mother desperately wanted me to be a firebender, but when she got a nonbender, she was so disappointed. Dad was happy because that meant I could learn the art of the archer, so it wasn't a total waste I guess.

"So," I say, spinning around, "what have you found?" Xalen pulls out a map from the top bookshelf, unrolling it in front of me. My eyes travel along the paper, making me frown. There's a strange picture on the paper with some lines drawn across it. "What am I looking at?"

"A map of the palace." A grin makes it's way across my face, but Xalen shakes his head, quelling my happiness. "It's an old one, so don't get your hopes up, Heiza."

"Well, an old map is better than no map, right?" I take the paper out of his hands, holding it close in front of me. The light from the torch isn't bright enough to see, so I roll it back up, stuffing it into my cape. "I'll look at it later. Thanks for this."

"You're welcome."

I begin heading toward the secret door but suddenly stop when I realize that I still have the bracelet on me. "I have something I want to give you," I say after turning around to face him.

He views me with one eyebrow arched. "The last thing you gave to me was something that resulted in me going to jail for two weeks. I don't want it."

I wave my hands at him before grabbing the gold bracelet out of my cape pocket. "Take it and get yourself something nice after you sell it," I tell him, placing it in his hands. He stares down at the place where my fingers touched his skin for a second. 

"Fine. But if I disappear, it's all your fault."

"Got it."

The two of us stare at each other before I turn around and exit the secret room. When I turn back around to look at the secret door, I find that it's already shut. Xalen did not follow me out of there, so he probably shut the door behind me when I left. It doesn't matter that he's upset or whatever he's feeling. I know that doing this will finally make me happy, so I need to do it for myself. I deserve to be happy, right?