The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 19

"This is absolutely ridiculous," I huffed, leaning against the railing. "Absolutely ridiculous. Why didn't he listen? The ship is in dire need of repairs, Zhao caused dozens of injuries when he shot that fireball at us, and our supplies are running low — and, yet, he still refuses to stop. He's so focused on capturing that Avatar that's literally affecting all of us — but mostly him — in a negative way. And he doesn't even notice it! He barely sleeps, he barely eats." I stopped, remembering that I was running out of air in my lungs.

I took a deep breath — regretfully inhaling he fumes from the smoking engine of the ship — then continued my rant. "I try to be patient with him. I try to help and to empathize, but he's losing his mind! Do you know what I mean?" I look over, the messenger hawk screeching in my face. I sighed, "And I'm talking to a bird...." I propped my elbow on the metal and rested my cheek in my palm. In all honesty, I wanted this voyage to be over. Or to simply leave and never look back. But I couldn't. I wouldn't. I promised that I'd stay by Zuko's side no matter what, and I always keep my promises.

Well.....not all of them. I still never told Zuko that I had gone ahead and warned the Southern Water Tribe of the ambush that was coming. I also may have been going behind Zuko's back and seeing Bao again.

Okay, so I was definitely not the epitome of keeping a promise.

"Saki!"

Startled, I jumped, and accidentally hit my knee.

"Oh, Saki, are you okay?" Zuko asked, laying his hand over my knee as he helped me keep my balance. He didn't even let me answer before he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked, slightly hurt.

"You were just talking to that messenger hawk, weren't you?" Zuko laughed, grinning at me. Something was off about him, but I definitely wasn't complaining. This happy side of him never got a chance to show, this side that I'd missed. But I couldn't help asking myself: What's wrong with him?

I felt myself start to giggle. "Yeah, I guess I was." We stood together laughing — Zuko holding me up, me holding my knee, the hawk flapping vigorously behind us. It was definitely a funny sight. Zuko helped me to my quarters where he sat me down on my bed and he sat down next to me. He ordered a crew member to bring me a bowl of water, and to bring us both some jasmine ginger tea. "But you hate tea," I pointed out. "You've said it yourself, on many occasions: It's just burnt leaf juice."

Zuko only shrugged. "Yeah, but you like tea, so we're having tea." He smiled as the bowl of water was brought in, and the tea came soon after. Zuko was acting strange, especially considering our current circumstances. It was only moments ago that I had overheard him with his Uncle, both of them suspicious of Zhao's reason for not arresting him. I was expecting for him to eventually bring up the Avatar or Crescent Island or Commander Zhao, but he never did. I used the bowl of water to heal my knee — and the rest of me, which was extremely sore after falling when our ship was hit by one of Zhao's meteor-sized fireballs.

That was when it hit me: "Zuko! You broke my fall yesterday!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I did."

"Well, I'm not exactly the lightest person. Take your armor off," I demanded.

"Saki..."

"No. Do it now." Almost reluctantly, he removed his armor from the waist up, exposing the scrapes and bruises all over his chest and back left by the gears that he'd protected me from. "By the Spirits, Zuko," I sighed. "You're out of your mind."

"For helping you?" He asking, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"For thinking that me getting hurt is more important than you getting hurt." I began using the leftover water to heal his mutilated back and chest. "I don't need you to constantly protect me."