Operation Avatar

Iroh stood at the bow of the ship, keeping a steady eye on the horizon. They were surrounded by an endless ocean. In every direction endless blue water faded into endless blue sky. There wasn’t a single sign of life; no land, no ships, not even a lone gull flying overhead. They were completely isolated. This type of seclusion normally soothed the retired war general, but today he couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that had been blossoming in his stomach since morning.

WHOOSH.

An unannounced fireball went flying past the side of his head, close enough to singe a few whiskers of his beard. Iroh watched the fireball hit the water and sizzle before abruptly turning around.

“Prince Zuko, you must be careful not to lose control!” Iroh’s voice, normally calm, was tight with the stern demand.

Zuko said nothing and his lips pressed tightly together. In another time, in another life, Zuko would have apologized for almost harming his uncle, but times had changed. Zuko had changed. The young prince simply looked at his uncle with a single cold eye.

Iroh looked at his nephew, barely fourteen years old but already developing the body of a man. Prince Zuko stood on the bridge surrounded by handful of Fire Nation soldiers he had been sparring with. Sweat glistened on the young man’s bare chest, which heaved up and down with labored pants.

Ever since his banishment, Zuko had been training almost nonstop. In the morning he worked on his flexibility, in the afternoon he worked on his Fire Bending, and in the evening he did his strength exercises, followed by more Fire Bending. Iroh had tried to tell the young prince to slow down, but to no avail. The shameful scar covering Zuko’s left eye spoke louder than Iroh ever could.

“I think it is time we break for tea,” Iroh said with a nod towards the Fire Nation soldiers. They nodded in return and retreated to their usual duties.

“Uncle, I’m not finished yet!” Zuko complained.

“I said nothing about you finishing. You can continue with your training after tea. Besides, I think your sparring partners need a break. You’ve tired them out.”

Zuko, seemingly pleased by this veiled compliment, pulled a jacket over his bare chest, cinched it around his waist, and followed his uncle to a table already outfitted with two sets of teacups and a steaming pot of tea.

Iroh took his time, pouring tea first for Zuko and then for himself. He inhaled the vapors flowing from the tea before taking a satisfying sip. “Ah, this is really good stuff, Zuko. You must try it.”

Zuko didn’t appear to hear him. His eyes were trained on the horizon, searching for any irregularity. Iroh didn’t bother to ask what his nephew was looking for. He already knew the answer: the Avatar. Whenever Zuko wasn’t training he was obsessively searching for the Avatar, which was his ticket back home.

Knowing Zuko was lost in his obsessions for the time being, Iroh continued sipping his tea and lulled himself into a pleasant nap.

“There! On the horizon! Uncle, look! Look!” The young prince was acting like an eager young boy as he shook his uncle’s shoulder.

Iroh found himself jostled awake and the old soldier in him was on high alert. Zuko was bounding towards the ship railing, his arm pointing into the distance. Iroh followed the gesture, but had to blink several times and wait for his eyes to focus. When they did, he saw faint trails of gray rising into the sky.

“It’s just a smoke column, Zuko. Probably another ship.”

Zuko furiously shook his head. “No, uncle. It’s the Avatar. I can feel it. Captain! Switch the heading to North-North-East!”

“Zuko, I think you are letting your emotions cloud your judgment. It is nothing more than a ship.”

“Uncle, please believe me on this one. There is something out there. I can feel it in my bones. Uncle, you’ve always told me I should never ignore my gut feelings. Well, this one is telling me to go towards the smoke.”

Iroh looked at his nephew. His face was tight with anticipation and his eyes – both the normal and damaged one – were alight with excitement. For a moment Iroh consulted his own gut, which had been reeling with unease all day. Could this be what his instinct had been warning him about? Iroh couldn’t be certain, but he knew his nephew was on the right path.

“Okay, Prince Zuko. I support your decision.”



It took the better part of the afternoon for the small ship to reach the source of the smoke. It was a ship wreck. Planks of wood and metal floated on the surface, still smoldering. Only a portion of the boat had not yet been submerged. Iroh noticed the Fire Nation insignia painted on the ship, but unlike other Fire Nation ships, this one lacked an identification code.

Either this ship was manufactured by imposters or it was stolen from the Fire Nation before a code was put on it. Either way, these people had not been part of the Fire Nation army. Not officially, anyway, Iroh thought.

Upon seeing the wrecked ship Zuko slumped into a chair. His lead had turned out to be for nothing. “Tell the captain to return to the original course. There’s nothing here for us.”

Iroh was about to relay his nephew’s orders when something caught his eye. It was a flash of color. Iroh searched for the source. There! “Turn the boat starboard!” Iroh commanded. The captain obeyed.

“Uncle, what are you doing? I said—“

“There’s something – someone – out there, Prince Zuko,” Iroh interrupted.

This piqued Zuko’s interest. “The Avatar?” He returned to the ship railing and searched as the ship slowly maneuvered through the wreckage. Iroh joined his nephew and searched.

“There she is,” Iroh announced, and pointed. It was a girl, not much younger than Zuko, curled in the fetal position and resting on a dark plank of wood that was partially submerged. She wore a deep red dress that was soaked with sea water and had burn marks on it. Her hair – long and black – was in disarray around her face, which showed serious signs of dehydration. Her hands were tied together with thick metal shackles, but most sickening of all, were the infected burns that trailed up her forearms. They were caked with dried blood and pus and were dried from the harsh sun.

Iroh’s stomach gave a sickened twist when he looked at the poor condition the girl was in. It will be a miracle if she is still alive.

Iroh looked to his nephew, who was looking down at the girl with a mixture of disappointment and disgust. “A whole day of travel wasted on this.” He shook his head and walked away, completely disinterested in the girl.

“Prince Zuko, we must rescue her. She will die if we don’t bring her aboard.” If she hasn’t already passed on.

Zuko paused, considering what his uncle had to say. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he said, “Fine. But if she uses up too many of our resources or takes up too much of our time we drop her off at the next port.”

Iroh knew that was as generous as his nephew was going to get. He called the orders for a small boat to be sent out and the girl to be retrieved. The soldiers worked diligently, careful when moving the girl, especially when handling her badly injured arms. When they returned to the main ship they had good news.

“The girl is alive, but barely.”

Iroh nodded and told the soldiers to take her to the brig – the only available space in the ship – and have the cook – who doubled as a doctor – tend to her. The soldiers obeyed and Iroh watched them carefully carry the girl away.

The unease that had been plaguing him all day slowly melted away. Iroh knew that they had done the right thing, and he knew that life was going to get more interesting with this girl in their lives.