set my heart on fire (slow updates)

The Storm: Part 1

Zuko's POV
The pirates returned not long after day break, with the avatar and the Water Tribe boy, shortly followed by Y/N.

"Nice work"

As I made my way over to apprehend him, Katara called out, "Aang, this is all my fault!"

He replied, "no, Katara, it isn't"

But uncle quickly added, "yeah, it kind of is"

I ignored them as I turned back to the pirates, "give me the boy!"

"You give us the scroll"

Before I could reply, Katara's brother piped up, "you're really gonna hand over the avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?"

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!"

But the pirates were already intrigued, "your friend is the avatar?"

"Sure is! And I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll"

I yelled over him, "shut your mouth you Water Tribe peasant!"

The avatar turned to him, "yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth"

"I'm just saying it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the avatar. You guys would be set for life"

The pirate captain yelled over at me, "keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid"

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!"

As I attacked, my soldiers followed suit and Y/N turned to her men, "capture the avatar and the Water Tribe boy, don't let any of the pirates escape"

Y/N's POV
We all broke our into combat covered by smoke the pirates had created, none of us being able to see the avatar or his friend.

But soon, Iroh stood between Prince Zuko and the pirate captain, "are you so busy fighting you cannot see that your own ship has set sail!?"

"We have no time for your proverbs, uncle!"

"It's no proverb"

We all turned to see the pirates' ship sailing down the river with the avatar and both of his friends on board"

"Bleeding hog monkeys!"

Prince Zuko pointed after them, laughing before seeing that the pirates had stolen his boat, "hey! That's my boat!"

I shook my head and sprinted after it, not that I had much chance of catching up with it because it wasn't long until both the pirates' ship and Prince Zuko's boat went crashing down a waterfall.

As the prince finally caught up to me, he yelled "my boat!", staring down at the remains of it at the bottom of the waterfall.

"Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this, that lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"

He snatched the tile from his uncle and hurled it down the waterfall.

We trudged back to the ship on foot as the boat wasn't salvageable; once we arrived, I sent my men to run conditioning drills, "I don't ever, I repeat, ever, want to experience this level of embarrassment again. Losing to lowly pirates? When you follow my command you aren't just representing me, you're representing the Fire Nation, you're representing the Fire Lord. When you're done with these drills you are excused to eat and then I want you to run them again. Dismissed."

Iroh had been watching me and stood beside me as my men dispersed, "you've grown much as a soldier, I remember when you were a cadet. You make a fine young captain, Y/N"

I sighed, "I'm not good enough yet, we should've been able to win today, your boat should be in one piece and the avatar should be locked up below deck"

"You did all that you could, knowing what it is to fail is a key trait that makes a great leader, I lost many battles on my way to becoming a general"

"I don't know what else I'm supposed to do, I keep trying and trying and recently it feels like all I know is failure"

"Do you trust your soldiers?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, "what?"

"Do you trust the men under your command?"

I took a moment to think. Do I trust them?

"No, I do not"

"And do they trust you?"

Do my men trust me? Should they? Would I lay down my life for them? Would they lay down their lives for me?

"I don't know. I don't think so"

Iroh smiled at me knowingly, "well, do you know what you have to do?"

"I think so"

Zuko's POV
Staring through my telescope, I searched the clear skies for any sight of him- the avatar had yet again slipped from my grasp.

Uncle deeply inhaled before announcing, "there is a storm coming. A big one."

I screwed up my face and pulled the telescope from my eye, "you're out of your mind, uncle. The weather's perfect, there's not a cloud in sight."

Uncle shook his head, "a storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head south-west."

"We know the avatar is travelling northward. So we will do the same."

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "the safety of the crew doesn't matter!"

I felt someone's eyes on me and turned to face the Lieutenant, who raised an eyebrow at me. I glared back at him, "finding the avatar is far more important than any individuals safety."

Y/N, who had been listening from the doorframe stepped between us, "the prince is right, stopping the greatest threat to the Fire Nation far outweighs any of our lives, though perhaps we can come to an agreement to find the safest way to do so- losing manpower today may hinder us tomorrow"

Y/N really had grown up, I'd expect words like these from my uncle, but from her?

Y/N's POV
Zuko stormed inside as Iroh reassured the lieutenant, "he doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up."

A little while later, I heard chatting amongst the crew outside, as I went to join them, I stopped outside to see that the skies that were so clear earlier had been completely covered in grey clouds.

As if on cue, Zuko came storming out, the lieutenant cockily yelling over at him, "oh, looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all."

Iroh, trying to keep the peace, shrugged, "lucky guess!"

Zuko ignored Iroh and turned to the his lieutenant, "Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect," he jabbed his fingers onto the lieutenant's chest, threateningly, "or I will teach it to you."

As Zuko walked away, the lieutenant yelled after him, "what do you know about respect!? The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard-working crew to your esteemed uncle. I'm sure Captain Y/N and her soldiers are already regretting joining us. You clearly know nothing about respect. You don't care about anyone but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince!?"

Zuko snapped his head back around and held out his arm, the lieutenant mirrored him, pressing his arm against Zuko's and as the smoke became visible, Iroh came between them, pushing them apart, "enough! We're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better."

The lieutenant walked away and Zuko turned to face the sea, "I don't need your help keeping order on my ship."

Iroh placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder, but Zuko shoved him off.

I paused for a moment, considering talking to him, but thought better of it. He's not my problem.