Blazing Crystal (Revised Version)

Chapter 4: Boiling Tea

Chapter 4: Boiling Tea

"Why?! I'll behave!"

I rushed after Zuko as he paced back and forth across the room pinching the bridge of his nose in either thought or aggravation.

"Come on Zuko! I've been cramped on this ship for three weeks now! Give me a break!" He stopped walking and I stepped in front of him trying to meet his eyes. "It's just a port! I don't want to be bored on a ship while repairs are being made! I need to stretch my legs."

"No!" He snapped. He walked past me over to his chest where he picked up his boots. "And Uncle gives you plenty of time to stretch your legs!"

"Zuko! Please! I need to walk around on a steady surface for a change! And I've never seen dry land before!"

The prince huffed and walked past me over to the cot he snagged from the vacant room next door. It was on the opposite wall from my own cot. As he plopped onto it, he yanked on his boots trying to ignore me.

Over the last three weeks, Zuko had actually become extremely civil toward me. He still chained me up when I was left unattended in the room, but he also was much more lenient about me walking on deck without my hands cuffed. Iroh had some to do with my small bit of freedom, but the fact the Zuko didn't argue against it meant he wasn't as bad as he could be.

A day after my spat with Zuko about him sitting in fire, I noticed that the young Fire Prince was being ten times kinder to me. I wasn't sure why, but I had an assumption it was because I'd earned respect from him. Zuko probably wasn't used to people arguing with or showing him up. I'd basically left him speechless when he couldn't argue against my drowning statement.

In all honesty, over the last three weeks Zuko and I had strangely been getting along. We didn't talk much to one another, but when we did it was always pretty calm and peaceful. My fever had finally left completely twenty-four hours after our spat. Once my fever left me, Zuko decided he'd given me enough space and that he wanted his room back. He missed sleeping on a cot in a familiar setting, but he refused to give me another room. He said that he didn't feel like installing another cuff to keep me chained to the wall. Instead, he had one of his men carry in a spare cot, stating while flustered, "It's either this or the cell!"

Being cabin-mates wasn't that bad after the first two nights. The first night Zuko and I slept in the same room, I blushed bright red when I saw him rip his shirt off. Surprisingly, Zuko had a strong build underneath his clothes and I couldn't help but stare. He shot me a puzzled look when he felt my eyes on him, and I quickly rolled away staring at the wall with burning hot skin. I could've sworn I heard him chuckle, but I pretended it was just the noises of the ship.

The second night was much more eventful. As the both of us slept, I felt something rub against my exposed arm waking me from my dream. Staring in the dim room, I noticed from what light seeped in through the door cracks a black shape scuttle across my cot. When I heard it squeak, that's when I screamed bloody murder. Zuko was quick to stumble off his cot while I kicked and thrashed in the dark squealing my lungs out. He lit a torch on the wall, and that's when I screamed louder.

A strange black furred creature about four inches tall with a long pink tail and piercing red eyes looked straight at me. I screamed some more having never seen such a creature before. Iroh must've heard the screams from down the hall, because as Zuko rushed around the room trying to catch the creature, the door to the room was thrust open and a half asleep man ran inside. The beast ran out of the room faster than I'd seen an animal move. While I breathed heavily to gather myself, Zuko scolded me for piercing his eardrums over a stupid mouse-rat. Iroh assured me he'd place some traps on the ship tomorrow that would keep the creatures away from me. After things calmed and Iroh left for bed, Zuko shook his head in disbelief. "You're such a girl," he had muttered as he went back to bed himself.