Wandering Firebender

Ninety: Ember Island

The bay doors were opened, and Elio's crew began to pour out slowly. They stepped down from the metal walkway onto the rocky runway, where they were able to get a glimpse of the white sandy beaches of Ember Island off in the distance.

"Here we are, vacation destination." Mila said as she made her wait out with Delun and Sri.

"Yeah, but I mean, I'm sure that we're here for something important, right?" Delun asked, looking to Sri since she usually spent a lot of time with Elio.

"Actually, we are here on vacation. Fire Lord Zuko granted us a break after what happened to Elio. So the whole crew is off. I guess Elio just hasn't told everyone yet." Sri informed them.

"Oh wow...then yeah, vacation time! Glad I brought some clothes for warm weather." Mila said happily.

"How is the captain doing? I haven't see him." Delun inquired curiously.

"He's doing okay. From what I hear, his wounds are healing, but it has been slow. Alger and Cindra have been taking turns being by his side." Sri described...

This morning was Cindra's turn.

Since Elio had gotten stabbed, Cindra was by his side at the beginning of every day and at the end of every night using her waterbending to further along Elio's healing process. She would occasionally have to scold him about not doing too much, but for the most part Elio actually seemed to be taking advantage of being able to get extra rest.

"Well the good news is that my healing is working well. The bad news is there isn't a lot of healing left for me to do. Does it still feel tender?" Cindra asked, taking her hands off of Elio's abdomen. He sat up slowly and let out a small grunt of pain.

"Mm...yeah. Sometimes it kinda feels like the knife is still in there." He described to her.

"It's still going to be awhile for it to fully heal. For now just take it easy and keep following Alger's advice." Cindra recommended, standing up from Elio's bed now. Elio nodded and slowly stood up too.

"Well thanks for looking after me. Somehow, I knew having a waterbender on our team would turn out to be a good idea." He joked lightly with a smile, putting his shirt back on.

"Oh yeah? Look at you with the foresight." Cindra teased to play along with the joke.

"Yeah, I had a good feeling about it." He said. The two of them walked out of his quarters and made their way down towards the bay doors.

"Hey, captain! Everyone's waiting on you for their orders!" One of the engineers called up to him when he noticed Elio coming down.

"Have everyone gather around now. I'm coming." Elio said to him. The engineer nodded and hurried outside to get the crew's attention.

Elio made his way outside with Cindra following just behind him. He took in a deep breath, feeling the warm, humid weather hit him in the face as he stepped out into the morning sun. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, and Elio could faintly hear the birds chirping near the beach.

When he stepped outside, the crew turned their attention to him. They all started to line up and stand straight, but Elio held his hand up and shook it side to side, signaling that they didn't have to do that.

"No need to worry about the formalities right now. Everyone gather around, please. I don't want to have to repeat myself." He requested. He remained standing at the open bay door. The crew pressed in further to gather and listen to him speak.

"What's going on, captain?" One soldier asked him. Elio let out a brief sigh before answering him.

"After our last mission, Fire Lord Zuko has granted us a short break from all of these assignments. We'll be spending the next two days here on Ember Island to relax and recover. When we return to the Fire Nation, you will all be granted about another week to be with your families and friends.