The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 9

If it hadn't been for all of the noise on deck, I probably would been asleep much longer. Zuko was no longer in the bed, so he was likely to be the reason for all of the running back and forth above me.

I pushed myself from the bed and went to my own quarters, searching for any clean clothes I had. That was hard, considering I only owned what I could grab from the palace in less than ten minutes - which wasn't much. I let my hair down from its bed-ruined braid and combed through it with my fingers as I walked out onto the deck. Squinting from the sun, I saw that we were no longer sailing. In fact, we were at a dock.

I looked around for Zuko or Iroh, but didn't see either one. I pulled aside one of the crew - Bao - and asked him where I could find them. Without a word, he pointed to the dock, resuming to whatever it was that I had distracted him from. I don't think he liked me all that much.

I walked towards the ramp, expecting to only see Zuko and Iroh. I was wrong, of course. They were in conversation with Captain Zhao - I mean, Commander Zhao, as I'd overheard. In my opinion, a howler monkey would've deserved that promotion much more than him.

The two were fidgety while speaking to him, which gave me the incentive to eavesdrop.

That didn't get me very far. As soon as I was within earshot, they were inside of a tent. Just my luck. I sighed in frustration and went to help the crew with whatever I could.

"You don't have to help us," Bao said, trying to take the crate from my hands.

"I don't have to," I said, turning to hold the crate out of his reach. "I want to." I walked around him, but he didn't let up.

"No, really. Prince Zuko wouldn't want you carrying so much." He tried again to take the crate from my hands, but I kept walking.

"Well, Prince Zuko isn't here right now to stop me, now, is he?" He finally gave up on trying to take the crate and grabbed one of his own and walked with me.

"I never understood it. How you two could be so different, but so close. It's like....you're the moon, and he's the sun. Couldn't be any different, and yet, between you, there are millions of sparkling stars." I wasn't sure if he was trying to make it sound romantic or not. It was hard to tell through his grunting while he carried the crate of armor.

"Wow, Bao, that's very poetic," I say indifferently. "Did you get that from Iroh?" He definitely wasn't capable of coming up with something like that on his own.

"No, seriously." We set our crates down in the corner they were supposed to be in and went to get our next load. "And he doesn't even notice it."

"What is there to notice?" I asked.

He seemed to hesitate before answering. "How lucky he is to have someone like you in his life." That was enough to make me stop in my tracks. That's not what I wanted to hear. I didn't know what I wanted to hear, but that sure wasn't it. My fist went flying into his shoulder, pushing an "Ow!" right out of him. "What was that for?! That's a good thing!"

"But not entirely true," I corrected him as I lifted my next crate - a bit too heavy for me, but I still forced myself to carry it.

"What are you talking about?" He picks up his crate, and we start back to taking them to where they belonged. "If it weren't for you and his uncle, who knows-"

"Exactly," I grunted, the crate slipping from my grip. Bao catches it with his knee until I regain my grip. "If it hadn't been for his uncle. They've been the ones that have done so much for me. Well, them and Queen Ursa..." It was then that I realized that Bao didn't know much about me, or my story. I was alright with that. I didn't need anyone else pitying me or saying I don't belong with the Fire Nation. I'd had enough of being called "Water Tribe riffraff" in my lifetime.

We set the last crates down and headed back to the deck. All of the work was nearly done, leaving us with nothing to do. "What do you mean? How did Queen Ursa-" Thank the spirits that Zuko and Iroh had come back just then. I wasn't sure how much longer I would've gone without strangling Bao. Zuko went straight to storming to his quarters without giving me so much as a side glance. Oh no.

Iroh didn't have to say a word. All it took was for him to look at me with that "You know the drill" look.

"I'll be back," I told Bao, though I wasn't sure why. I didn't even want to go back to him. I headed back to Zuko's quarters - which I had been doing a lot, I noticed - and heard him throwing his tantrum. I pushed door open, only to have a ball of fire come hurling at me. He froze and stared with that concerned expression that he only showed in front of me to make sure I was okay. The wall was charred in one spot, in the exact place that my head would've been if I hadn't ducked. When he saw that I was unharmed, he resumed his ranting and pacing. I closed the door behind me and sat on his bed, not saying a word as I watched and listened.

"He's going to ruin everything!" Zuko shouted as he plopped onto his back on the bed, arms stretched out.

"Who?"

"Zhao! He's going to ruin everything I've worked for! He's already sent out his search parties to find the avatar!" He growled and slammed his fist against the mattress. "I'm never going to go home!"

Is that what you really want? I wanted to ask. To go back to the man that banished you for having common sense unlike his council of imbeciles? Instead, I said, "Don't give up."

"I have no intention of it," he spat.

I laid down next to him, turning onto my stomach and holding myself up on my elbows. "You know I believe in you, right?" He didn't answer. I gave a weak half smile, tracing my fingertip along his scar. A smile of his own mirrored mine. The first time he'd smiled since that night with the crew on deck.

"How is it that I can never just be in a bad mood? Why must you always fix it?" He asked, still smiling.

I shrugged, still tracing his scar. "Better get used to it. You're stuck with me."

"Promise?"

I laughed. "Promise."