Fire & Rain: Book 1

The Storm

No one's POV
They were sailing smoothly, the sky was clear, the sun was shining, it could have been a lovely day for the crew to rest, but Zuko was up, scanning the skies for the Avatar, as always.

Iroh took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the air around them,

"There is a storm coming. A big one."

Zuko scowled at Iroh,

"You're out of your mind, uncle. The weather is perfect. There's not a cloud in sight."

"A storm is approaching from the North. I suggest we alter our course and head south west."

"We know the avatar is travelling northward, so we will do the same."

Iroh rarely continues to argue over things like this with Zuko, but his voice became stern as he insisted,

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew."

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!"

As Zuko yelled that towards his uncle, he noticed the lieutenant stop in his tracks and raise an eyebrow towards Zuko. The prince furrowed his eyebrows and walked over to him, Zuko's tone and posture almost threatening as he stated:

"Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety."

As Zuko stomped away, the lieutenant eyed Y/N and muttered,

"He wouldn't have said that if it was about her."

Iroh calmly walked over to the lieutenant and reassured him:

"He doesn't mean that. He's just all worked up."

As the ship furthered North, they sailed into greyer areas, the sky was completely covered in dark clouds.

The lieutenant from earlier became irritated and crossed his arms before announcing cockily,

"Oh. Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all."

In attempt to diffuse the situation, Iroh shrugged and suggested that he had just had a lucky guess, but Zuko wasn't letting the behaviour slide:

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

But the lieutenant didn't back down and yelled after Zuko, who had begun stomping away,

"What do you know about respect?"

Iroh tried to gesture for the lieutenant to stop, but he held his position, staring after the prince and continued,

"The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your little girlfriend, even your esteemed uncle, shows you know nothing about respect. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Then again what should I expect from a spoiled prince."

Y/N stepped forward and yelled,

"That's enough, lieutenant! You don't know what you're talking about!"

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows and held out his arm to the lieutenant, challenging him, the lieutenant accepted and pushed his arm against Zuko's.

Iroh held out his hands and pleaded,

"Easy now..."

But they began heating up their arms, Zuko's started smoking through his armour. Iroh, however, pushed them apart and yelled:

"Enough! We're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better."

They turned away from each other and Zuko replied to his uncle,