The Fate of Kaori (ATLA Fanfiction)

|| Chapter 4 ||

Kaori's PoV

I am not going to miss the freezing temperatures of the poles.

Standing on the ship's deck, I watch from the other side of Zuko as the Avatar's hands are bounded behind his back. Zuko inspects the staff in his hand. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." He said. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."

'So dramatic...' I thought to myself, holding back the temptation to roll my eyes at him. He could simply just say that he's captured and can't escape—BUT NOOO...

"Take the Avatar to the prison hold," He ordered his guards. He handed the staff to Iroh. "and take this to my quarters." Iroh takes the staff and looks at it for a moment. Zuko places a hand on the small of my back as he and I walked away.

"Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?" I heard Iroh said, to one of the guards.

It's oddly suspicious how the Avatar won't fight back. Is this really an Air Nomad thing? But still we need to be on high alert. The Avatar could escape from our clutches the moment he sees an opening.

"After this, we could finally go home." Zuko said, once we were out of anyone's view. "Like my grandfather said, we'll be married as soon as I'm in a rightful age."

I hummed in agreement. Zuko is already 16, which is the age where boys are considered as men already. Once we get back, there's no doubt that we'll be married soon. "I can't wait to spend the rest of forever with you." I said, planting a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"You missed." He smirked, leaning down and pulling me close to him.

I quickly hold up my hand over my mouth, separating his lips from mine. He gives me an annoyed look, which I just cheekily beamed at him. "We can continue this later." I then looked around warily, the feeling of something bad might happen hasn't wavered off. "We don't know anything about the Avatar aside from him being an Airbender. If he fights off the guards, he will try to take his staff back. So you go back to your room and wait for him to come. I'll stay guard from the top in case he ever tries to fly off."

He sighs before nodding his head in agreement. We don't have the luxury to relax while the Avatar is still here with us. He places a light kiss on my forehead, giving me a pointed look once he pulled himself away as if he was saying that 'we will continue what we were doing' before turning around and walked back to his room.

I'm surprised he actually agreed with me ordering him. Normally, he would have bickered off with me for telling off the 'Prince of the Fire Nation'. But at least he understands our situation at the moment, this is too important to let go and be nonchalant about it.

"The Avatar has escaped!" The loud shout from the guards echoed throughout the whole ship. I knew that Airbender shouldn't be underestimated.

I passed by one of the halls to see three guards on the ground, groaning to themselves in pain. I approached Changpu, kneeling down and inspecting whether he gained serious injuries. "Where are you hurting?"

"I'm f-fine, L-Lady Kaori. The Avatar—" he coughs out. "The Avatar has escaped."

"I know." I stand up, towering over them. "Gather the others and go to the deck. We'll corner the Avatar there." I ordered, walking away to the control room. The man at the helm saluted to me as I entered the room, passing by him to the upper deck.

I looked around, no signs of the Avatar. Either Zuko has him, or he's somewhere inside the ship. I climbed up on top of one of the poles, crouching down like a predator waiting for their unsuspecting prey. And when he comes, I'll put him in his place.