The Air of a Flame

*Trinity’s POV*

We were trailing Appa. I don’t know how we caught up to them, but just knowing that they were safe at the moment was a relief. We were sailing towards the Fire Nation, something that I was confused and worried about. What did they have to do there?

“Prince Zuko.” General Iroh scolded to his nephew. “We can not enter these waters. We will be arrested. You were banished!”

“Father will understand when he realizes I am chasing the Avatar.” Zuko said. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Iroh more, or himself.

“I have never known my brother to be understanding, Zuko.” He replied. I tried not to get involved in their arguments, but silently, I agreed with Iroh. Why couldn’t he just let it go for once?

“Ready the catapults!” Zuko said suddenly. My head, which was resting on my hands, shot up instantly.

“WHAT?!” I yelled at him. “You cannot shoot them out of the sky! I forbid you!”

“Not now, Trinity.” Zuko said sternly. This made me angrier.

“I will not allow you to hurt my brother, Zuko!” I screamed. He looked like he was going to listen to me for a second, but then he turned away from me and faced his men.

“Ready? Aim? FIRE!” Zuko screamed. The crew lit the boulder on fire, and it flung out towards Appa. I gave out a sigh of relief when they dodged it, barely.

“Zuko! Stop this!” I yelled again.

“We are still in Earth Kingdom waters. If we turn back now, we won’t be arrested, Prince Zuko.” Iroh added in. Zuko sighed exasperated.

“I have to do this, Trinity, Uncle. I have to regain my honor.” He said, using the same excuse he always did. I was about to reply when a crew member ran up to us.

“Sir! There is a blockade of ships up ahead!” the man said to Zuko. We looked ahead, and sure enough, a line of ships came into view. It was being led none other than Commander Zhao. My eyes widened in horror as they too began shooting large fireballs at Appa and those aboard him. I was about to run off and do something to help them, when Iroh held me back.

“You must not let them know you are an Airbender. It will put you in danger. Zhao will use you to get a hold of your brother.” Iroh whispered in my ear. No matter what I wanted to believe, I knew he was right. I couldn’t expose myself. Not now.

“You’re right.” I said to Iroh. “But I can’t just watch and do nothing while my brother is in danger!”

“You should worry more about your safety than theirs. Keep yourself safe, if not for yourself, then for your brother.” Iroh said to me. When I saw that Appa had, once again, dodged the wave of fireballs, I let myself relax a bit. I was about to go the edge of the ship, when all of a sudden I was knocked to the side.

“Oomph.” I mumbled as I felt a weight fall on me. I looked up and saw that it was Zuko. I was about to yell at him when I saw the gaping hole that was left by a fireball hitting the ship. I stared at it in shock. When it finally registered to me that Zuko had saved my life, I threw my arms around him.

“Thank you so much, Zuko.” I said to him with my arms wrapped tightly around him and my face buried in his neck. He hesitated for a moment, before returning the hug. “You saved my life.”

“It was nothing.” Zuko said simply. I sighed.

“Well no matter what you think, I’m so grateful. Thank you.” I said pulling away from the hug and lightly kissed him on the cheek. I feel my cheeks heat up, and I could see Zuko’s cheeks redden slightly also. We stared at each other for a moment before we were interrupted by one of Zuko’s men.

“Sir. The ship is badly damanged. We need to stop for repairs.” He said to Zuko. Zuko sighed angrily before replying.

“No. We stay the course.” He said to the man before walking towards the front of the boat. It was my turn to sigh. He would never learn.

~*~

When we had reached the blockade of Fire Nation ships, instead of being arrested like Iroh said we would, Zhao just let us pass. To say Zuko was confused was an understatement.

“Why would he do that?” Zuko asked pacing the floor, talking to himself. “Why would he just let us pass?”

“I don’t know, Zuko. He probably has some ulterior motive.” I said. I couldn’t figure out a reason either. I was currently sitting and staring at the seemingly never ending cloud of smoke that was coming from where the fireball had hit the ship. After a moment, I gasped in realization. “The smoke!”

“What?” Zuko replied, confused at my words. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Don’t you get it? The smoke! They are following it-following us! They didn’t know where Aang was going, so they decided to follow us! He knew we would lead him right to them!” I said, explaining my epiphany to Zuko. There was a brief silence while the works sank in.

“Well what am I supposed to do now?” He asked me. I didn’t know what to tell him.