Façades [A Zuko x OC Story]

25 - Welcome Home, Li Mei

Back on a cold metal Fire Nation boat. My favourite place to be. The chains on my arms and ankles are painful and they are starting to chafe and bleed. The only human interaction I get is from the guards who bring me food. No visits from Prince Zuko or Azula. I have almost started talking to myself out of pure boredom. I just wish I could be back with my friends.

Some loud noises come from the hallway but then they disappear. Once again, leaving me in silence. The room is almost empty except for a bucket for my business and the chains that I'm attached to. As much as I missed being on Zuko's boat, this does not give off the same feeling. And though I may have been a 'prisoner' there, I was treated like any other member of the crew. I'm currently at the bottom of the food chain. Guards take turns taunting me through the door every day. It just becomes a part of the atmosphere at this point. I need to find Iroh, or at least find out if he's on this boat at all.

"Stay against the wall." The guard orders before they open the door. It's not like I can do anything but stay on the wall. These chains aren't extendible. The door opens and the guard drops a bowl of grey mush in front of me.

"Eat up." He chuckles cruelly. It doesn't taste like much but there are hints of a fish flavour of some kind and maybe carrot-tomatoes. It is not very filling and they only feed me once a day, I guess rations for the prisoners are small.

"Stay against the wall." For the second time in one day, this is strange. The door opens and two guards come in. They unhook my chains from the wall and waddle me down the hallway.

"We're here." The guard on my right says. The deck is so bright I feel as though I might go blind. My skin has become much paler with the lack of sunlight. Once my eyes focus to the light I can see that Iroh is also on the deck in his chains. He looks very tousled and I'm guessing I don't look much better.

A voice that I haven't heard for a long time echoes through the air as we sail towards the gate, "Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's Capital. In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko, and together they faced the Avatar..." The twins then speak simultaneously, "And the Avatar fell! And the Earth Kingdom fell!"

"Azula's agents quickly overtook the entire city. They went to Ba Sing Se's great walls..."

"And brought them down!" Li and Lo chorus.

"The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the walls and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory."

"Now the heroes have returned home!" They choral speak again.

"Your princess, Azula... " The crowd around me cheers loudly. I can barely make out Azula's figure at the top of the tower.

"And after three long years, your prince has returned." I feel a pit in my stomach.

"Zuko!" Li and Lo cheer. Zuko approaches the edge of the tower with Azula and the crowd goes wild. I look down, finding my feet more interesting than his grand entrance.

Day 1:

The jail cell in a way feels more homely than my chamber on the boat. I don't have to be chained down but it is dark and damp here. It is a stone room that has a metal cell inside it where I am placed. They bring food at least twice a day here and it is more tolerable than the grey stuff on the boat. Mostly rice and stale bread. The clothes are grey and tattered but they could be worse.

No one has visited yet but I know that Zuko must be thinking about visiting at least one of the two of us between me and Iroh.

It almost feels unnatural to be back in the Fire Nation as it has been four years since I last went anywhere besides the Crescent Island in the Fire Nation. A familiarity is there of course not very strong because I am stuck in a cage. If I'm lucky I might die here when I'm young and I won't have to suffer here until I'm old.