Mercy (Zuko)

Chapter Ten: The Open Ocean

 I practiced my bending well into the night until I wasn't able to stay awake any longer. The food in my belly let me sleep satisfied, but I know it wouldn't be for long. As far as I know, Zhao plans on keeping me hungry for the entire week he gave me to join him. And that's also when I assume we'd begin to see the northern territories. If I can somehow reach the Northern Water Tribe before Zhao's fleet does, then I could make sure they were prepared for the attack.

The next morning, I go right back to work. I'm having some trouble replicating what I did with the stream of water the previous evening, but I at least can freeze the water in the cup. I'm also having an easier time manipulating the water now. If I accidentally spill anything on the floor, I can successfully pick it up and put it back into the cup. A couple of times before I called it a night I had to utilize the glove method I used when I healed, too tired to do anything else.

As I was freezing and unfreezing my water, I hear the hatch open. Two sets of footsteps grew closer to me as I scramble to quickly hide the tin cup behind me until their silhouetted figures stand in front of my cell.

A small jet of fire has me stiffen, but it's just to light the sconce on the wall behind them.

"Iroh," I breathe, relieved to see him. I keep my eagerness in check though at the sight of the armored soldier next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you, Kohina," Iroh greets warmly. "I told Zhao I'd work on convincing you to agree to his deal, but really I'm here to help you." He smiles.

I stare at him in alarm, eyes warily darting between him and the soldier.

"Don't worry about him," Iroh tells me. "He's here to help."

I nod after a moment. "Oh..." I look at the soldier carefully; he doesn't move. "You're the one from last night...?"

After a tense moment, he finally nods.

"Thank you," I say quietly, pulling the cup of water out from behind me; he doesn't react this time, but Iroh chuckles.

"Good," he says. "I assume you have a plan, then."

I nod. "In the Water Tribe, warriors often traverse the ocean on a large piece of ice. The waters are calm enough and it's unsuspecting. That's what I want to do — it's the only thing I can think of that might actually work."

Iroh hums, his eyebrows creased. "Yes..." he muses, but clearly he isn't entirely confident with my idea.

"Zhao plans on killing me in a week," I point out. "I don't think I have many other options. Trying to steal a raft would be too difficult and the ice will be easy enough to maneuver with my waterbending."

Iroh nods, although reluctantly. "You're right," he says. "So let's not waste any more time."

Iroh stays with me for another hour to help me with my bending while the soldier he brought stands near the stairs, making sure no one catches Iroh doing something he definitely shouldn't be doing on a Fire Nation warship. When the soldier comes back, however, Iroh announces that they better leave before Zhao or the crew gets suspicious.

"Before you leave, Iroh," I begin, hesitating when Iroh turns to face me again. Iroh watches me patiently as I gather myself. It's a question I don't really want to ask again for two reasons: It might upset Iroh being one, and two, I'm not sure if I want it spoken out loud once more. But now that we're alone, I have to know if he was telling the truth last night. "Is Zuko really...?" I don't want to say such a harsh word: dead.

Iroh looks down and sighs quietly. In a soft voice, he replies, "I saw the explosion. I don't know how he could've survived it." He looks back up at me, his face riddled with grief and anxiety. "I should've pushed him harder to join me that night. If I had, he never would've had to go through that."