DEAR DICTATOR → zuko

╸four : the banished

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❝ the banished ❞

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ONE YEAR LATER

      NARI DID NOT mean to run into the banished prince. She did not mean to pick-pocket his old uncle's robes, and certainly did not mean to steal his lotus tile. She was just trying to get a few extra coins.

     Not that she needed them.

     She was comfortable enough in the group she's sworn into– criminals, outlaws, wanted fools like herself, or just people who stumbled in life at some point in time. Allies who've become her sisters and brothers, or as they call it in the Earth Kingdom, daofei.

     And she'd like to get back to them. Back to her home in Hengying. But she's a little tied up at the moment.

     Nari wiggles in the secured rope she's found herself in. Zuko was never good at making knots, but for someone who's been commanding a ship for years, this is just sad. If Nari wanted to, she could escape right now. But she's learned to be patient.

     "I don't get it," Zuko walks in circles, his hands looped behind his back as he reads his thoughts out loud. "Why aren't you with your family? Why aren't you in Capital City?"

     "I ran away," Nari answers, short and sweet.

     "But why?" Zuko stops, throwing his hands out. "You had a good life, you had a good family. You had no reason to run away!"

     Huh. So rumors don't cross the sea.

     Nari shrugs. "For fun?"

     "For fun? Really?" Zuko's face is beet-red. For a boy who was forced into banishment, hearing that someone has the luxury to run away for their own amusement must be a stab to the heart. "Tell me the truth, Nari. What happened? And why were you trying to steal Iroh's Pai Sho tiles?"

     "In my defense, I didn't know they were Pai Sho tiles. And I didn't know they were Iroh's." The coin purse she nabbed from an old man turned out to be a bag full of game tiles and disappointment. The best part is, Nari wasn't caught stealing them. She was caught trying to give them back. "I tried to return them, you know?"

     "I... That doesn't matter!" He continues to pace around the 'interrogation room' which is actually just Zuko's personal room with one candle lit in front of her. Because of this, the anger on his face is almost comically large. "Answer my question, Nari."

     "I'm surprised you haven't heard, actually." She says. "I mean, it was all everyone was talking about when I left the Fire Nation."

     Dancing around the subject seems to make Zuko more angry. Nari could crack and fry an egg on his half-shaved head right now. "Does it look like I can go inside Fire Nation territory, Nari?" He crosses his arms, face thoroughly done.

     Nari fights a laugh– he must be referencing his bald head right now. Even if Zuko could make it past Fire Nation lines, his lack of honor is the first thing someone would notice in regards to his appearance. It's exactly why Nari didn't recognize him in the first place.

      Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a step back. A deep sigh leaves his mouth. "You wouldn't run away if you didn't have a reason. Just tell me what happened, and maybe I'll forgive you for stealing uncle's stuff."