Polar Opposites

6 - Sacrifice

Elora had been granted freedom for five consecutive days before she was approached by her trusty "guards". The two young men had been slowly testing the boundaries of her bubble – seeing how close they could get before an older crew member looked at them. Each day were able to move their station closer to Elora. The men were used to seeing her pathetic form sitting on the deck, and, therefore, stared at her less.

On the fourth day, Elora caught on to the younger men and decided to help them out. She was incredibly bored just sitting on the ship with no one to talk to – and she figured they would be great entertainment. So, the next day she was out, soaking up the sun and fresh air as they were near washing the crew's clothes, she asked Zokkik to go grab her something to eat. The healer smiled at her and instantly went to get her something – he had been worried about her lack of appetite the last couple of days, so he was pleased she asked for food.

Not two seconds after the healer was out of view, Elora locked eyes with Konoye – remembering that he seemed the more extroverted one of the two – and smiled at him before waving him over. Konoye nervously glanced at Petak before making his way over to her.

He cleared his throat, wanting to make sure he sounded manly, "Do you need something, Elora?" She shook her head softly, "No, I actually wanted to see if y'all needed help?" He questioned weakly, "Help?" Elora gave a firm nod, "Yes. It looks like y'all have many clothes to wash," she gestured to the large pile of clothes by the tubs of soapy water, "and I'm hopelessly bored over here. Plus, it seems I'm the only one not working around here, and that doesn't feel very fair."

Konoye's voice cracked slightly as she looked up at him with big, pleading eyes, "Well- Well that's because you're injured. You don't have to work." She sighed sadly, "I know I might slow you down because I'm not fully better, but please." Konoye quickly learned that he folded at the sight of a sad woman. "Well, when you put it like that..."

The young man weighed the decision in his mind. What would it hurt? The worst she could do, if she was a Fire Nation spy, was burn their extra clothes to a crisp. That would just be annoying, not fatal. He asked her, "Do you mind if we move your seat to the tubs instead of the tubs to you?" Elora's face brightened and she nodded vigorously, "Of course!" Konoye felt infinitely better at her apparent mood change as he held her seat in one hand and guided her with the other.

Elora was getting more stable on her feet with each passing day, but she was still much weaker than a normal person and hadn't gotten her "sea legs" yet. She leaned into Konoye's side as a crutch as they walked the short distance, her eyes darting around for anyone who would foil her plans. She had quickly learned which men to stay away from – the ones that always gave her dark looks and watched her closely. She didn't know what their issue was, but she didn't want to get close enough to figure it out.

When they reached their destination, Konoye helped Elora ease onto her seat and she gave him a dazzling smile, "Thank you for helping me. You must be very strong to carry both me and my chair." The young warrior's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he stuttered out, "Oh, well, you have to be strong to be a warrior." Elora grinned, "You must be a good warrior, then."

Elora noticed his chest puff slightly and his biceps flex, "Well, I'm not a force to be reckoned with." Petak gave him an icy look – the idiot shouldn't be discussing anything like that with the potential spy! How stupid was he?! "You must also be quite a force on the battlefield, Petak." The icy look melted off his face as the woman's purr became directed towards him. Elora batted her eyelashes innocently, "It was Petak, wasn't it?" He just nodded dumbly.