𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛

┏━━━━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━━━━┓

Zuko paced back and forth in front of the prison- ah, slave girl's room. He had to accept the truth behind how she was here. She had expressed interest in going to the port when they docked, but it was nigh midday and she was still asleep. He had half a mind to go without her and admonish her for wasting the opportunity when she woke up. But then what would he do with the clothes he had procured, to replace the dingy prisoner uniform?

La'kea turned to whoever was knocking at her door at such an unholy hour. "Who is it," She snapped, "Someone better be dying or the ship must be sink-." She stopped when she flung open the door to see the prince standing there looking unamused.

"We're leaving for the port in thirty minutes," He thrust a pile of fabric into her arms, "Get changed, and be quick or we'll leave without you."

La'kea choked out of embarrassment, she forgot that the rest of the world operated during daytime. Of course they would be going during the day. "Right, give me a minute," She slammed the door on him before he could respond.

Zuko had to duck back quickly to avoid getting hit in the face by the door. Grumbling under his breath, he walked away soldiers parting for him as they looked between the prince and the door he was walking from.

La'kea laid out the clothes on her cot, "Fire nation clothes," She muttered, thinking of ways she could fashion it into something she would be more at home wearing, but decided against it.

Fumbling with the clothes, she cursed her numb fingers. Wrapping the tunic, she thought more about how she was going to blend in. They were in this so called Earth Kingdom, she didn't know how their people dressed or how different they were from the fire nation. Even on the ship she stuck out like a sore thumb.

If someone pieced together that she was a slave, they might throw her back in a mine, and she didn't trust the prince to stop them. She'd feel better if Iroh was going with them, but she had failed to confirm he was going before agreeing.

"Come sit down," Iroh coaxed his nephew in front of the pai sho table. "We still have to wait for Miss La'kea, might as well relax."

"I am not waiting!" Zuko snapped, becoming more and more impatient. "There is no time to relax, we have to restock and then continue the search for the Avatar!"

"Looks like you won't have to wait," His uncle mused, sipping slowly on his cup of tea. "Doesn't she look nice?"

Zuko whipped around to see the girl walking onto the deck, tugging at her new Fire Nation attire uncomfortably.

"Come my dear," Iroh beckoned, pulling a teapot out of seemingly no where, "Join us for some tea."

"We don't have time for tea," Zuko groaned, wanting to scream his frustration to the sky.

"There is always time for tea, the port is not going anywhere." His uncle poured two cups as the girl sat down hesitantly, looking between him and his uncle. Zuko threw his arms in the air, turning away.

Iroh handed her a cup, "How do the clothes fit you, my dear? My nephew was so worried about it."

Zuko nearly choked on air as the girl looked at him from the corner of her eye. "They're fine," She murmured into her tea, focusing on keeping a grip on the cup.

The general smiled in the prince's direction, "Of all the healers, we were lucky enough to be graced with the most lovely one. Wouldn't you agree, Prince Zuko?"

La'kea huffed, vaguely amused at the old mans flattery and how uncomfortable it wasmaking the prince.

"I don't have time for this," He snapped, stomping down below to reach the cargo hold that had been opened to the port.

"I should probably get going," She sighed, setting down the half empty tea cup, "Are you coming with us?"

"No, this is a trip you and my nephew can take alone," The old man started shifting through a box of pictured tokens, "When you return, I can teach you the game of Pai Sho, if you would enjoy that."

La'kea glanced at the intricate board and blanched, "It looks complex."

"Trust me, my dear, once you know the basics it's a lot simpler than it seems." He assured her.

"Hey you!" The prince shouted from the doorway, "I'm not waiting any longer!"

"Hey you," La'kea mocked under her breath as she passed him down the stairs, "I have a name."

"I heard that," He hissed, following after her to the cargo hold. "Just stay close, and don't touch anything, and don't speak either. I'm only letting you do this if you don't try and run." She only gave a hum of acknowledgement, only thinking of possible situations for her escape but she kept coming to dead ends.

She didn't know anything about these people, with only a vague knowledge of how they looked and dressed. How would she be able to blend in if she did escape? Would they recognize her as a slave, would they be willing to turn her in?

The pier they had docked stretched to the beach where a small village sat just beyond. She steadied her breathing, stopping herself from sprinting away as soon as she stepped onto the dock.

She followed the prince as they walked between the crew carrying crates of food and supplies to the ship. "So... This is the Earth Kingdom?"

He didn't stop to look back at her as they walked, "This is just one seaport the Fire Nation controls in the Earth Kingdom." Just one? How many were there?

"It looks..." She glanced from the roofs of the houses to the clothes the people were wearing, "Green. Are all the nations color coded?"

"Are-," He faltered in his stride, "Color coded? I... I guess I never thought about it like that. I don't think it was intentional."

"It's not that strange," She admitted, struggling to pick up a bracelet at a market stall in her hand, "My people often bore tattoos that signaled what kind of bender they were. It was a common practice but not everyone did it." She stopped, feeling suddenly foolish for talking about such things to the royal brat. Who could probably care less, she braced herself for the scolding.

The prince paused, about to admonish her for touching the item, "What kind of bender?" He echoed, "You mean your home had fire benders?"

The concept was baffling to Zuko, who had only lived in a time when the four nations were divided, and even before then, the benders had been divided. Which was the very reason for the Avatar's existence.

Yet here was this girl, who had begun explaining that the very strange idea was a reality. Even as they walked all the way through the market, and he still had that inescapable itch to continue his search. He listened, filing away diplomatic ideas as she spoke for when he was Fire Lord, because he would be Fire Lord, he would capture the Avatar and he would return home.

La'kea was shocked he was listening let alone letting her speak at all. A very angry part of her was screaming to shut her mouth, but she hadn't talked about her home in so long, and he was obviously interested.

The longer she spoke, and the more the prince listened, the more expressive she became. Proud to boast about her people, she recounted their ways of governing, how there were separate islands with separate rulers but still a whole.

Just as the sun was setting, they circled back around and reached the edge of the docks when Zuko finally spoke, "I'm sorry you were taken from your home." Truly, he hated the kernel of guilt that felt like it was lodged between his rib cage. His father would berate him for such softhearted wiles, but she had saved his life twice. In a situation where she could have easily ended it and nothing would have stopped her.

La'kea sucked in a breath, the only tell that he had stunned her with words of regret. Her mind was turning, spinning up ways she could use this to her advantage. "You could send me home."

The prince blinked, taken aback, and it was apparently the wrong thing to say as his face instantly soured. "I am a prince only in name. My power and birthright were stripped from me the day I was banished. Which is why I must capture the Avatar!"

"To restore your honor," She finished, feeling that little hope shriveling away.

"When I return home," Zuko blurted before he could stop himself, "I will also send you home." Oh Agni, he was making promises that he shouldn't. "When I capture the Avatar, my father will give me whatever I want, and I can ask for your freedom. To repay the life debt I owe."

La'kea turned towards the prince sharply, like the clouds had parted above him, she regarded him in a new light. He was an opportunity, and he was just as desperate as her. They had both been separated from their homes, and they had both had been forced on that ship.

"All you have to do is capture the Avatar?" She questioned.

It was easier said than done, he thought bitterly, but nodded.

"Then I'll help," Gesturing towards the ship, she spoke with cold determination, "Your voyage would go faster and smoother with a waterbenders help. But I will only help as your ally, not your slave or your prisoner, and when you are allowed to return home, so will I."

And when the prince was the Fire Lord, she would return to demand the release of the rest of the slaves. But one thing at a time, first thing to achieve was finding this Avatar.

To truly gain the trust of the prince, she would have to throw away thoughts and fantasies of escaping, and place her own trust in this prince. Could she do it? Wholly believe that this angry banished royal brat would fulfill a promise once he got what he needed?

Zuko looked down at the slave girl, unnerved that she was making such demands of him, but what she was saying was reasonable. He was as much trapped on that ship as her, perhaps he didn't really need her, but having the talents of a waterbender would give him an advantage. Perhaps it was because she was the same age as him, or maybe it was because they shared similar goals, but he held a hand out to her. "Allies then?"

A plan was coming together. Now she just needed to see it through, and she would need his help. La'kea accepted his hand with stiff fingers, "Allies."