Searching (Zuko x OC)

Chapter 19

"There is a storm coming. A big one," Iroh said, standing on the deck of the ship.

"You're out of your mind Uncle! The weathers perfect. There's not a cloud in sight," Zuko replied, walking up next to him.

Zuko was right, but something in me felt like Iroh was right. I couldn't explain it, but I felt it in my body. Somehow I just knew he was right.

"A storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest," Uncle persisted.

"We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same," he said, pointing north before turning to walk away.

"Zuko, consider the safety of the crew. We-" I tried to say before Zuko suddenly cut me off.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter," he snapped, turning once more to face me.

As he said that, Lieutenant Jee walked out from under the deck and scowled. Zuko noticed and turned to him.

"Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individuals safety," he sneered before finally heading back into the ship.

"He doesn't mean that. He's just all worked up," Uncle assured Jee.

"For Agni's sake! He's so stubborn sometimes!" I fumed, clenching my fists by my side.

"I take it your discussion did not end well?" Iroh asked.

"No. It didn't. To think I was stupid enough to let myself believe he would listen to me," I muttered while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Prince Zuko doesn't care about anything but himself. Don't let him get you down," Jee said before returning to whatever he was doing.

If it had been any other day I would have fought him, but I didn't this time. I was too angry and upset with him to defend him.

"I think I'm going to go switch out my bandages," I said to Uncle before heading down to my room.

I grabbed the bandaging and began to undress. I then unraveled the previous bandages and threw them off to the side. As I wrapped the new ones around myself, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked exhausted. I had bags under my eyes from my lack of sleep. Ever since my talk with Zuko, we had returned to sleeping on our own. I had gotten so used to his presence and comfort that I was having a hard time sleeping. The nightmares kept resurfacing and I was miserable. But I was too stubborn to admit it, so I suffered silently.

I sighed and put my training clothes on. It might have been too early to return to training, but I needed to blow off steam. It was the only way I would be able to feel better. I made my way up on the deck and set up my targets. I began practicing throwing my knives at them and as I did so, I could feel the storm coming. As time passed, the water grew more and more harsh and I could see clouds off in the distance.

"Oh. Looks like your Uncle was right about the storm  after all," I heard Jee say from the other side of the deck.

I stopped what I was doing and decided to see what was happening.

"Lucky guess," I heard Iroh say, clearly trying to keep the tension down.

"Lieutenant,  you'd better learn some respect, or I will teach it to you," Zuko said threateningly.

I sighed as I turned the corner and saw Zuko confronting Lieutenant Jee. I walked by Uncle's side and he looked at me in acknowledgment of my presence. I turned my attention back to the situation in front of me.

"What do you know about respect?" he asked.

My breath caught as he said that. I knew Zuko wouldn't take kindly to his words. If that wasn't bad enough, he continued.