𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚎𝚗

┏━━━━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━━━━┓

The Fire Nation harbors always made La'kea quietly angry, she would keep her mouth shut but there was always that feeling. Like you were standing next to a ticking bomb.

The keeping quiet part was out of necessity, in Earth Kingdom villages they were none the wiser to her enslavement. In a port run by the Fire Nation though, it was a different story, they knew who she was. Zuko was the only one protecting her. 

Thus, here she was, walking behind Iroh and Zuko as they descended down the ramp. Their damaged ship was noticeably smaller than the rest of the Fire Nation fleet. "Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail."

The retired general frowned innocently, "You mean the Avatar?"

"Don't mention his name on these docks!" The prince demanded, spinning to face his uncle, "Once word gives out that he's alive, every firebender will be looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"Getting in the way of what," A snide voice butted in. Here comes trouble, La'kea thought dryly, ducking behind Iroh as Caption Zhao approached. La'kea could count the number of times she had encountered the Fire Nation official, and each time had been more unpleasant than the last. "Prince Zuko."

"Captain Zhao," Zuko responded tightly, arms crossed.

Zhao folded his hands behind his back, smugness written all over his face. "It's commander now." He bowed curtly, "And General Iroh, great hero of our Nation."

"Retired General," Iroh insisted humbly, and La'kea thought it would be over there, but of course Fire Nation people just loved surprising her.

The commander looked at her like she was the dirt under his boot, "And if it isn't the royal bed warmer, keeping the prince company in his banishment."

She inhaled sharply, picturing the harbor erupting into chaos to stop herself from launching at the commander, a massive tidal wave sweeping through like a vengeful spirit. Water shoving itself into Zhao's ears, his throat, his eyes-.

Iroh was suddenly maintaining a grip on Zuko's arm, the prince shaking with rage and embarrassment. La'kea wished the general would let go, just to see Zhao go down.

"Commander Zhao," The former general said calmly, "That is inappropriate of you."

"He's of age, it wouldn't be surprising." The commander just carried on with a roll of his eyes, "The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?"

"Our ship is being repaired," Iroh explained, gesturing to the extensive dents on the bow.

The commander just frowned, glancing over the battered ship. "That's quite a bit of damage."

"Yes," Zuko started, "You wouldn't believe what happened. Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened." La'kea winced, both of them were terrible with coming up with believable stories, especially on the spot.

Pulling on the prince's shoulder, she hissed into his ear. "It would be faster to just let me drown him. Make it look like an accident."

"Not helping," He whispered discreetly, glaring at Zhao. "We crashed, right into.... An Earth Kingdom ship!"

Zhao was obviously not convinced. "Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details," He leaned in closer to Zuko, "Join me for a drink?"

Zuko turned away, "Sorry, but we have to go."

"Prince Zuko," Iroh held him from escaping, "Show Commander Zhao your respect. We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite."

La'kea wanted to pull her hair out, the longer they waited here the farther away her ticket to home was getting. The feeling was shared, Zuko growled in frustration, fire flaring out from his hands as they started following after the general. "I'm telling you," She murmured lowly, "It'll look like an accident."

"Don't tempt me," He muttered.

┏━━━━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━━━━┓

"And by year's end," Zhao boasted, facing a map of the four nations, "The Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule. The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war."

She hated this, standing in the shadows of the tent by the wall, suffocating in the sweltering heat. Even Zuko was on edge, she could tell by the way his fists were clenched and shoulders ridged in his seat. "If my father thinks the rest of the world will willingly follow him, then he is a fool."

"Three years at sea have done little to temper your tongue," The commander sat down, still smiling snidely, "So, how's your search for the Avatar going?"

Iroh suddenly knocked over a rack of spears, and quickly backed away with an apology.

"We haven't found him yet," Zuko answered.

"Did you really expect to?" Zhao scoffed, "The Avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders." La'kea squeezed her eyes shut, her tribe and her people had never needed an Avatar, they had never heard of them. But was that enough to stop the Fire Lord from killing all the airbenders of her tribe?

"Unless," The commanders voice brought her out of her rampart thoughts, "You've found some evidence that the Avatar is alive."

"No. Nothing," Zuko responded a little too quickly.

Zhao wasn't convinced, he stood from his chair, "Prince Zuko. The Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning the war." He brought his face close to Zuko's. "If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found."

La'kea like to think she wasn't a violent person unprovoked, but right now, there was nothing more she wanted than to shove a spike of ice into the man's heart. It was an insult if he thought Zuko would break so easily.

"I haven't found anything," The prince insisted, sounding tired of this interrogation. "It's like you said, the Avatar probably died a long time ago." He stood from this chair, signaling carefully at La'kea to follow. "Come on, Uncle, we're going."

They only got the tent entrance before a pair of guards blocked their path. "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape." Her stomach dropped like a stone, followed quickly by rage.

The commanders chuckle was like nails against chalkboard as he stalked closer, enjoying this far too much. Zuko pushed her behind his shoulder, scowling up at the older man.

"Now tell me, how exactly was your ship damaged?"

┏━━━━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━━━━┓

When she was old enough to swim on her own, her father had taught her how to fight off tiger sharks, and how she should never swim in the open ocean with a fresh wound. The predators could smell a drop of blood miles away.

That's what Commander Zhao reminded her of as he circled Zuko being detained in his chair by a pair of guards. "So, a twelve year old boy bested you, your firebenders, and your precious waterbending slave. You're more pathetic than I thought." La'kea struggled against the guards holding her arms to her back feebly. If she wanted, it wouldn't take much thought for their eyes to rupture, but that would always land her in bigger trouble.

"I underestimated him once," Zuko defended himself, every muscle straining not to glance at La'kea trying to pull her arms out of the guards grip. "It will not happen again."

She could tell the commander was plotting something, "No, it will not. Because you won't have a second chance." Maybe she really should shove an icicle through his ears.

"Commander Zhao," The prince protested, "I've been hunting the Avatar for three years, and I-."

"And you failed," He snapped, fire fanning out from his arm as he flung it. "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now." It was all falling out of her reach, if Zuko couldn't bring the Avatar back to his father, he could never grant her the freedom she needed.

Shouting, Zuko lunged forward, only to be held back by two guards. Zhao only sneered, sending one last spiteful glance in her direction before leaving the tent. The prince kicked the nearby table upright in anger, shaking the guards off before collapsing back into his chair.

"More tea please," Iroh requested simply.

┏━━━━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━━━━┓

Some time had passed when Zhao returned to the tent where they were being kept. La'kea paused in her pacing, having finally shaken off her guards, and stopped envisioning her initial plan to flood the harbor.

"My search party is ready," The commander announced, "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship, and you'll be free to go." There were so many things she wanted to say to him that her mother would have disapproved of.

"Why?" Zuko demanded, "Are you afraid I'm going to try and stop you?"

Zhao laughed like the idea was ridiculous, "You? Stop me? Impossible."

"Don't underestimate me, Zhao," The prince stood, "I will capture the Avatar before you. No one else has a loyal waterbender on their ship." La'kea knew he was just selling it to Zhao, but she had to admit a small part of her swelled with pride that Zuko regarded her so highly.

Only to be dashed by the commander, who looked down on her with scorn. "Please, everyone knows the slaves with pretty faces are only good for one thing."

Zuko opened his mouth, but Iroh butted in, "That's enough."

"You can't compete with me," Zhao replied matter of factly, "I have hundred of warships under my command, and you? You're just a banished prince. No home, no allies. Your own father doesn't even want you."

"You're wrong," The prince stood his ground, "Once I capture the Avatar, my father will welcome me home with honor, and restore my rightful place to the throne." It was the hope he had been clinging onto as desperately as La'kea.

"If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar." Zhao held it over his head, "But in his eyes, you are a failure, and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"That's not true," Zuko argued.

"You have the scar to prove it."

La'kea hated it, but Zhao's words intrigued her. Three years at sea and she still didn't know what Zuko had done to be banished. She figured it had to do with the horrific burn injury she had tended to. Maybe he had gotten in a fight with some high ranking official? Whoever it was, she hoped the other guy was in worse shape.

"Maybe you'd like one to match," The prince snarled in the commanders face.

Zhao only scoffed, "Is that a challenge?"

"An agni kai," Zuko demanded, "At sunset." Now her interest was really piqued, she had only heard whispers of agni kai's, some kind of Fire Nation tradition. She had tried to ask Zuko more about it one night, yet Iroh had all but tackled her to get her to stop. The message was clear, it was a touchy subject for the prince.

"Very well," Zhao accepted, "It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle and whore will have to do."

La'kea stepped in front of Zuko herself this time, to stop him from firing at the man. She couldn't let the petty insults affect her that much, they had bigger problems.

"Prince Zuko. Do you remember what happened the last time you faced a master," His uncle implored.

She looked up at the prince questioningly, betting it had something to do with his burn, but he only turned away from her.

"I will never forget."

┏━━━━━━━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━━━━━━━┓

"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko." Iroh instructed evenly as he stood before a kneeling Zuko. "They are your greatest weapons." On the other end of the courtyard, Zhao knelt alone. Both duelers were bare chested, with only a sleeveless vest to be discarded.

La'kea watched from the sidelines at a safe distance, the Fire Nation had the strangest customs to her. At the sound of a gong, both opponents crouched in combative poses. She leaned forward in anticipation, having spent three years sparring Zuko and watching him spar against other firebenders, she knew how he fought. And how he struck too fast and too far when he wasn't thinking clearly.

As he was doing right now, she could tell the way Zhao was studying the prince's fighting style as he parried the flames easily. Zuko was giving him too much time to counter his attacks. They were still on opposites sides of the courtyard, La'kea thought, quick and brutal attacks like that only work in close quarters.

If worse came to worse, there was always the tidal wave she reminded herself, struggling not to intervene as Zhao went on the offensive. No, she knew the prince would rather die than be rescued, especially in a sanctioned duel. But he was being driven back, unable to hold his ground against the commanders powerful blasts, and was thrown onto his back. She took a step forward just as Zhao leapt in front of Zuko, and aimed a finishing blow at his head.

At the last minute, the prince snapped out of it and flipped onto his hands, twisting his legs around and sweeping Zhao's feet from under him. La'kea settled back, watching with satisfaction as Zuko drove the now unbalanced commander back. Until the situation was completely reversed, with Zhao on his back and the prince standing over him.

Everyone waited with bated breath as the fallen commander goaded Zuko into dealing the finishing blow. "Do it!" With a snarl, Zuko shot the blast, incinerating the ground next to the commanders head.

"That's it?" Zhao demanded, "Your father raised a coward."

"Next time you get in my way, I promise," Zuko straightened, "I won't hold back." Glad that the duel had gone so well, and that there wasn't any major burns she would have to heal. La'kea began jogging over to the prince's side. Only for him to suddenly shove her out of the way as a wave of fire came hurtling for them.

Iroh clamped his hand around Zhao's outstretched foot, dissipating the flames and throwing the commander back. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful." Zuko turned to charge at Zhao, but she wrapped her hand around his arm, pulling him back. He looked at her incredulously, and she shook her head. Reengaging in a fight you had already won was poor judgement.

"Even in exile," Iroh continued, "My nephew is more honorable than you... Thank you for the ginseng tea, it was delicious." Without another word, they walked away from the man that had done nothing but scorn them since they arrived. The back of her neck tingled, she could feel Zhao's eyes on them, but kept walking past the arena gates.

Zuko finally spoke, "Did you really mean that, uncle?"

"Of course," The old man replied slyly, "I told you ginseng tea is my favorite."

La'kea allowed herself to feel a small bit of relief, sighing. She was... glad the prince had not died. Suddenly realizing she still had a hand around his arm, and that he had not pushed it away yet. She quickly pulled back, clearing her throat.