set my heart on fire (slow updates)

New Recruits

Y/N's POV
That morning, the General had sent for the recall of some of my men, replacing each of them with another soldier to be under my command.

One of them, Shinu, was a cadet alongside me, I suppressed my grin when I saw him, before turning to my new soldiers, "I am Captain Y/N of the 6th division, under the command of General Han, welcome to my squad. Our primary task as of now is to keep the Earth Kingdom colonies in line, at the current moment, we are taking a detour to assist Prince Zuko and General Iroh in apprehending the  avatar. Afterwards, we will rendezvous with the General in the Earth Kingdom. I will shortly show you to where you'll be sleeping, eating and training, so besides that, any questions?"

"No, Captain!"

"Good. Dismissed."

As soon as the rest of the soldiers had dispersed, Shinu grinned at me, in a questioning way before I opened my arms and he rushed to embrace me.

"Y/N! It's been so long! This is so weird, you sound like a proper captain now!"

"You have no idea how long I've waited to have someone who isn't twice my age in my squad," I playfully shoved him, "I cannot believe you didn't send word to me that you were coming!"

He followed me back onto the ship as he explained, "I didn't actually know it was you! There might be others with your name across our ranks, and you are the one who didn't tell me about your promotion! I found out from your dad!"

"Oh, please. As if there's another Captain Y/N! Don't expect special treatment from me. Wait... I'm your boss now! How the tables have turned!"

Shinu was always the cadet in charge of my group during our training, ours superiors always favoured him, so for a long time, he was the one in charge of me.

"For now! I have my eye on general!"

I raised my eyebrows, "well, that makes two of us... hey, remember when you made me run laps until sun down for dropping my helmet?"

He rolled his eyes and laughed, "you can't use that against me! That was my first time being in charge! I didn't know what I could let slide!"

Our reunion was quickly interrupted by a loud voice, "Y/N, uncle said that you needed to speak to me about the avatar!"

Our laughs died down as I turned to Prince Zuko, "oh, yes, I do"

Shinu went silent, but looked like he was about to burst out laughing before I quickly introduced them, "Prince Zuko, this is Shinu, one of the replacements sent to me by General Han. Shinu, this is his royal highness, Prince Zuko"

Shinu bowed, "it's an honour to be of assistance to you, your highness"

The prince quickly nodded before turning back to me, as I explained, "I'm just going to get my new soldiers settled in, and then I'll join you to explain everything"

He huffed, "fine, but be quick, you've already lost us enough time today with this nonsense"

"I'll be as quick as I can, Prince Zuko. If you'll follow me below deck, Shinu, I'll show you to where you'll be staying"

Shinu and I excused ourselves and as soon as the coast was clear, we burst into fits of laughter, "that's Prince Zuko!? Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed! Didn't you grow up together?"

I shrugged, "he's kinda just like that, I dunno, he's very different now"

"And 'his royal highness'? You call the princess by her first name, what is up with the formalities?"

"The princess is different, she's my friend. I don't think Prince Zuko actually likes me"

"I thought you preferred him to the princess?"

"I mean, when he was younger, sure. Maybe that was just a kids thing, Zuko was my age and Azula was a couple years younger, so I favoured the one my age. But things are different now. He's different now"

I showed him to where he'd be sleeping before calling the rest of my soldiers and helping them settle in. Once I had finished up, I made my way to the prince, who was pacing up and down in his room.

"Prince Zuko? Is everything alright?"

"No. No, it's not. What did you need to tell me about the avatar!?"

I casually strolled over to his desk, waiting for him to follow and sit down. As he did, I leaned over his shoulder, pointing at the map, "I've received information that the avatar was spotted in these two locations. Considering we know he's heading for the Water Tribe, my guess would be that he's somewhere along this route"

"Are you sure about this?"

"With all due respect, your highness, is that a serious question?"

"What?"

"Of course, my predictions are only predictions, but when have I ever relayed false information to you?"

He dropped his head into his hands, "I don't know! It's just... Zhao was here and I know you listen to him so-"

I interrupted him, "Admiral Zhao is one of my superiors. He's a higher ranked officer than me in the army, yes. But I don't think he could convince me to betray the royal family, I know that you're still serving out your banishment, but it would still feel like treason"

He sighed, standing up, "I'm going to change our course, if you've lied to me, we'll drop you and your soldiers off at the next port of call and when I return home with my honour-"

I, again, interrupted the prince, "unnecessary threats, I haven't lied, Prince Zuko. You can trust me"

He looked like he was going to respond, but instead left without another word.