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𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮— 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯, 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘪, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥... 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥? 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦? 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦... 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰? 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘪, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘳.

"𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰?!"

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰, 𝘪'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦!"

𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 [ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ] 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.

[ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ]... 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘰, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘢 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 [ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ]; 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 ( 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥: 𝘢𝘯𝘺 ) 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

"𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰?"

[ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ] 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.

𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

"𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰, 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦! 𝘪'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘪 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! 𝘪 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘪—"

𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴:

"𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥!"

𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 [ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ] 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯— 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴.

"...𝘪'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

[ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ]'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 '𝘪𝘧', 𝘣𝘶𝘵 '𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯'.

𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴— 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵!"

[ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ] 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪'𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! 𝘪 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥! 𝘪 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵!"

𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴.

"...𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."

𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

[ 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 ] 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘭𝘢.

𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴.

"...𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?

"you're doing it again, [ name ]."

"uh huh, leave me alone, general."

biting her nails is a bad habit of [ name ]'s, it's gotten worse over the years, really, one would think she's a earth bender with how chapped her nails are. she just can't help it, she gets the slightest feeling of stress and her fingers come up to her mouth, like a smoking pipe.

of course, she's been trying to get better, but playing mahjong with general iroh makes her relapse every single time.

"i'm just saying, we're in the south pole, the biting cold could irritate your fingertips even more."

she scoffs at his words, her eyes shifting from the tiles on the small table between them to the man behind it. iroh looks so sure of himself, so calm and serene, and [ name ] scrunches up her nose in irritation.

"you're being condescending."

"you're being stubborn."

yeah, well, that's how the life on this ship affects her.

it's been three years since zuko was banished — three years, two months, and sixteen days to be specific —, [ name ] couldn't just not follow him, a part of her felt that she owed him that, he's the only in the royal family who's showed her real kindness, she just couldn't let him go after ursa left, besides, staying alone with fire lord ozai and princess azula was pretty much suicidal, so she joined his odyssey for the avatar along the former war general iroh, who also happened to be zuko's uncle.

has life been easy? hell no, they just go back and forth from the earth kingdom and water tribes, and they've even visited the desolated air temples to make sure there was nothing there. to say that she truly believed that zuko would capture the avatar was a lie, she didn't have any faith on his search.

of course, she would never say that to his face, she knows how important it is for him to restore his honor and go back home. [ name ], on the other side, could spend the rest of her life not knowing about the avatar and die satisfied.

"you're both being lazy."

a lot of things change in the span of three years in exile, and one of those things is zuko's attitude.

he walks past both [ name ] and iroh without sparing them a single glance, his step confident as he approaches the railing of the deck, warm hands gripping the metal and evaporating the ice on it. this mission has brought up the best and worst of the fire prince— his sweet attitude? pretty much gone, the summer child ursa cherished so much buried deep under bitterness and shame, but he's grown so sure of himself somehow, his leadership skills developing crazy fast with this small crew that his father was, oh, so kind to lend him.

"what do you suggest we do, then?"

to be fair, [ name ] hasn't grown any kinder either, if anything, she only grew a few inches taller than last summer.

"help me find the avatar, maybe? isn't that why you're here?"
zuko doesn't turn to look back at [ name ], giving the blue and white scenery of the south pole his full attention.

"we're just having a small match of mahjong, prince zuko, nothing wrong with that."

iroh stays unbothered, though, he isn't one to worry himself with mundane things. he draws one tile, one with the familiar waterbending symbol, and [ name ] bites down on her nails once again because how can this old man have such a good hand?

"there is something wrong when it's all you do all day, every day."

"now, that's just not true, nephew! we also play pai sho at times."

iroh winks at his accomplice, and [ name ] only rolls her eyes in feigned annoyance, it's hard to believe that she once found this old man intimidating.

this comedic routine is nothing new between them— iroh and [ name ] slacking off while zuko busies himself with chasing the inexistent avatar, she's pretty sure at least one kid is going to have a good laugh when they read this part in the fire nation history books.

this routine is fragile though, vulnerable, and [ name ] doesn't see that it's broken as soon as that sharp gust of wind hits her face.

she closes her eyes shut at the hard breeze, and she groans quietly under her breath as she rubs her eyes with her fist, fuck, she feels like something got in her eye.

"the hell...?"

"finally!"

the enthusiasm is all too familiar in zuko's voice, it's the same exact tone he used when he saw aurora borealis in the east of the north pole three months ago or when he heard a rockfall in the north of omashu. the tone he uses when he thinks he found the avatar.

[ name ], naturally, groans. they've gone through this a hundred times before, can you blame her for being skeptical? but when she opens her eyes and sees a beam of light coming from the horizon, her jaw slackens.

"...what is that?"

it can't possibly be...

"the avatar."

zuko finally turns to look at both [ name ] and iroh, and while she's dumbfounded by the sight in front of them, iroh keeps drawing out tiles.

"do you realize what this means?!"

she can tell that, despite trying hard to maintain a calm expression, zuko is ecstatic by the possibility of finally restoring his honor.

"i won't get to finish my game?"
iroh is pretty used to zuko calling every weird thing he sees the avatar, so he doesn't get his hopes up, unlike [ name ], who gets up from her spot and approaches zuko by the railing to look at the beam of light.

"it means that my search is about to come to an end."

"...do you really think it's him?"

[ name ] asks softly, one would think she's speaking to herself, but zuko answers anyways.

"that light came from an incredibly powerful source, it has to be him."

"it could be a geyser, though."

"or the celestial lights."

iroh chimes in, still skeptical to this whole affair. he doesn't bother in looking up at the so-called celestial lights, he only observes the tile in his hand— an airbending one.

"we've been down this road before, prince zuko. i don't want you to get too excited over nothing."

iroh places the tile down in a different one, the one carrying the firebending symbol, and he turns to look at zuko with a kind smile, gesturing to the spot [ name ] left free.

"please, sit. why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?"

and zuko isn't the kind of guy who you should tell to 'calm down'.

"i don't need any calming tea!"

zuko turns his head to iroh so fast one could think he's possessed, and his fuckass ponytail ends up hitting [ name ] in the face, 𝘰𝘰𝘧!

"i need to capture the avatar!"

he then points at the direction where the light came from, in case the crew didn't see the fucking giant burst of light coming from the further south.

"helmsman, head a course for the light!"

they didn't realize it in that moment, but zuko was right, the end of his search was near.

as usual, [ name ] can't sleep.

she actually had an excuse the first few nights in the ship— the thoughts of her mother, the banishment and the homesickness would keep her up all night, but all those feelings are pretty much gone now. she has no reason to not sleep, she guesses that the timezone difference and her bad sleeping habits held her back from resting.

thankfully, they're in the south pole, and the cold weather has always helped her to sleep, so she gets up from her bed, fixes the robes that always seem to slip off when she turns in bed, and gets out of her room.

she rubs her eyes in an attempt to get used to the firelight of the torches hung on the walls of the hallways. there's no one outside their rooms at these hours, she wouldn't be surprised if the helmsman himself was dozing off while navigating.

of course, zuko is the one exception to the rule, as she finds him wide awake by the helm of the ship while staring into the distance. it's incredible how this guy is a morning owl and an early bird at the same time.

he turns his head around when he hears the door open, [ name ] can't really see his expression in the dark though, and even if she could, he turns away just as quickly.

she hears him say something that she doesn't quite catch, and her lips purse slightly in confusion as she walks up to him.

"what'd you say?"

"you've came here to tell me to go to sleep, too?"

"ah, no."

a yawn escapes her lips as the southern breeze hits her face, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she stops right besides zuko, looking at him curiously.

"should i?"

he doesn't answer.

"you can't sleep?"

[ name ] chuckles faintly at his question and nods her head, leaning her upper body on the railing.

"you know me so well.."

zuko remains quiet and [ name ] does too, just taking in the sounds of the waves hitting the rocks nearby and the ship itself. she feels herself growing sleepy, but for some reason she doesn't feel like going back to her room just yet.

she glances at zuko's profile— the slope of his nose, his furrowed brows, his lips pressed in a tight line and, of course, the scar she saw heal but failed to see be formed.

she closes her eyes for a second, she tries not to think about it. in an attempt to clear her mind from unpleasant thoughts, she restarts a conversation.

"you really think it's him?"

she doesn't have to say his name for him to know she's talking about the avatar.

zuko says nothing for a second, she sees his features twitch before turning sharper, his frown deepening.

"it's irrelevant to think or hope, i have to check it by myself."

his hand grips the railing tighter, his knuckles turning white. [ name ] notices, as always, but she doesn't comment on it.

"it could be a waterbender."

"didn't you say it was a geyser?"

and [ name ] scoffs, damn prince is mocking her. zuko tears his gaze away from the horizon to look directly into her eyes, his sharp amber eyes meeting her own.

"you think it's him too, don't you?"

she frowns slightly, as if offended by his statement. [ name ] has been reluctant to believe in the whole 'find the avatar' affair, most days she's sure that she's going to die in this ship. zuko was bitter to her skepticism, but he's grown used to it.

so that question doesn't only pisses her off for how stupid it sounds, but for how valid it is.

that light... it was like nothing they've seen before, and she can't find a logical explanation for it, or at least not one she can agree with.

but [ name ] is stubborn, so she argues either way.

"hell no."

she lies, he grumbles.

"we always get excited for nothing, even a magical beam means nothing at this point, zuko."

he's not happy with her answer, that much she can tell, but she's not going to apologize for something that's — partially — true. they're not different to children chasing the end of a rainbow.

"it's like you and my uncle compete to see which one of you makes me the angriest."

[ name ] opens and closes her mouth, she was about to ask him how did he find that out before she realized he didn't actually figure it out.

so they stay in silence.

"...you should really get some sleep, though."

"shut up."

despite the sun being high up in the clear sky, the cold doesn't reside, it stays as biting and unforgiving as ever, real different from their homeland. [ name ] doesn't complain, though, she's long forgotten how truly hellish the heat is in the fire nation.

"morning, yoh."

she greets one of her colleagues as she walks past him on the hallways of the ship. she'd be lying if she said she cared about any of these persons the first time she set a foot in this ship, but three years is long enough to get accustomed and grow fond of the crew in here.

"good afternoon, [ name ]."

she frowns slightly when he pronounces the word afternoon like that, and she stops walking to look at him with the hint of a pout.

"it's just a few minutes after noon, it's not that late."

"it's nearly one."

"it's early."

"yeah, to you."

[ name ] doesn't miss the teasing tone in the soldier's voice, but she doesn't argue further and instead watches him walk away with one of those characteristic frowns of her.

yeah, okay, she sleeps in, who cares? certainly not zuko, because he hasn't bothered in waking her up early in these last three years, that means it's not important, besides, it's not like she woke up at one, she woke up at eleven and spent one hour looking at the ceiling— useful? not really, but awake.

so she scoffs, her chin tilted up with all the honor of a servant who thinks she's more important than she's actually is, and she keeps walking until she finds the deck, where zuko seems to be having his morning— no, sorry, noon training.

zuko, as usual, is pissed off. he's standing in front of iroh, looking two seconds away from setting the whole ship in fire, and by the relaxed look in iroh's face and the way he's munching on his roast duck, he's probably the cause of his anger.

"how's your training going, prince?"

[ name ] approaches zuko with a curious look, stopping once she reaches iroh's side.

"it's 𝘯𝘰𝘵 going,"

he answers in that cold angry tone of his.

"my uncle keeps wasting my time making me repeat the same move over and over again."

"we've had this conversation before, prince zuko, you have to master the basics."

iroh stands his ground, he's one of the only persons in the ship who has the authority to say no to zuko. silently, he hands a roast duck to [ name ], who doesn't hesitate in taking a bite out of it.

"yes, and you remain as stubborn as ever!"

[ name ] has to resist her urge to roll her eyes, she doesn't want to anger zuko any further, but it seems like her mere existence pisses him off, so when he sees her eating? he grabs her wrist and pulls her closer.

"spar with me!"

she almost chokes on her snack.

"what?! no, i'm eating!"

[ name ] is the furthest thing from a skilled fighter, she'll be the first one to admit that. the only reason why she knows a move or two is because, after a bad experience with a group of bandits in the earth kingdom, zuko wanted her to learn to defend herself at least.

also, she's forbidden from wandering off on her own.

"can't you eat after you spar?!"

"can't i spar after i eat?"

"you can't!"

"you really shouldn't."

zuko and iroh speak in unison, and [ name ] sighs heavily because there really is no way out of this one.

"fine."

she says, and zuko looks satisfied, nodding his head as he gets into a fighting stance. she only rolls her eyes and hands her roast duck to iroh.

"please don't eat this."

"who do you take me for?"

[ name ] doesn't have to answer him for him to know the answer, she only stretches her back as she walks up to zuko, facing him directly as she gets into position.

the air is thick with anticipation, it's been a few months since the last time they've sparred, and nearly a year ever since [ name ] practiced at all. she remembers the basics, but she doubts she can take an experienced bender like zuko.

well, they better get this over with.

she launches forward forward.

zuko throws a kick, sending a horizontal whip of white-hot flame toward her midsection. and despite feeling dizzy with nerves, [ name ] doesn't stop her stride and drops into a low slide instead, the heat of the flames sending a shiver down her spine. she takes the chance to spring upward, aiming a lightning-fast palm strike at zuko's chin.
​
but he doesn't retreat. he throws a fire punch directly at her face, not to burn her, but to blind her temporarily with the light of the flames. her strike misses by a fraction of an inch, and the acceleration of her attack makes her fall forward, so she uses the fist that was supposed to hit zuko to support herself on the ground and, with the centrifugal force, connect a kick to his face.

zuko leans back in a controlled fall, supporting himself with one hand before getting into fighting stance once again, his lip bruised.

​the bad thing about being students of the same teacher is that they really can't outsmart each other; they're both familiar with the same tricks. landing a punch on each other is miraculous.

​[ name ] is a whirlwind of elbows and knees, moving so close that zuko can’t extend his arms to aim a full blast. she weaves through his gouts of fire like a needle through silk. but every time she finds an opening, zuko organizes a flash of heat from his shoulders or chest, forcing her to keep her distance if she doesn't want to get burned.

[ name ] wants to get out of this already, so, for a change, she takes distance from zuko and, using the railing of the deck to impulse herself, leaps off to deliver a flying kick. zuko squares his stance, his fists lighting up with flames to meet her mid-air. the collision seems inevitable— unstoppable force meeting unmovable object.

she really hopes he puts that fire out before it reaches her.

"stop."

the fire immediately dies as iroh's voice breaks through. it breaks her concentration, and [ name ] lands with a less than graceful fall, wobbling a little as she tries to keep herself up in her feet.

"what? what happened?"

[ name ]'s voice is slightly shaky with exhaustion, sweaty strands of her hair sticking to her face as zuko looks as perfect and composed as ever. she doesn't know how he does it.

iroh walks over to them, but his attention is directed to zuko, of course, he's the one who's actually training.

"canalize your fire correctly, it's like you're fighting it instead of directing it."

zuko's eyes narrow and his fists clench, but even in her exhausted state, [ name ] can tell he's not angry at iroh or at her, but frustrated with himself.

"i'm directing it just fine!"

he doesn't waste time in arguing with iroh, and [ name ] lets out a big, heavy sigh. she doesn't even feel like eating anymore.

the good thing about training is that it tires [ name ] so much that it helps her sleep. with a smile in her face, she hugs the pillow under her head, her cheek smushed against it.

tomorrow morning they should reach land, which means getting out of the ship and walking all over to south pole to look for the source of the beam they saw earlier today. it's going to be a big day of walking around and complaining, so she's glad that she's going to be able to catch some sleep.

"[ name ]!"

or not.

[ name ] opens her eyes when she hears zuko's voice calling her name, and she barely sits up on her bed before the door of her quarters fly open, revealing a very enthusiastic zuko.

"wha—"

"get here!"

she doesn't have any time to react before zuko grabs her wrist and pulls her out of bed, the sheets falling to the floor as he drags her out of her room and makes her run through the hallways with him.

"zuko! w-wait! wait a second!"

he brings her to the deck of the ship, almost pushing her against the railing as he tosses a telescope at her and points at a specific direction.

"what's your—"

"quick! look over there!"

[ name ] grumbles quietly under her breath, but she obligues either way and peers into the telescope. she only sees white snow, but her heart drops to her stomach when she spots two persons close to a fire navy ship wreckage.

one of them seems to be just a member of the water tribe, a girl wearing thick blue clothes, but the other one? he's holding the girl in her arms as they... fly?

"the hell?"

[ name ] leans forward on the railing in an attempt to get a better look. this mysterious person seems to wear light yellow and orange clothes, his tattooed head shaved.

she puts the telescope down, her eyes are wide open as she tries to make sense of what she just saw.

"don't tell me that's—"

"an airbender. the last one of his kind."

zuko keeps his gaze locked to the two small figures out in the far snow, and he squeezes [ name ]'s shoulder gently.

"we found him."

"can you believe it, zuko?! it's him! it's actually him!"

in the dim light of the candles in zuko's quarters, dutiful personal maid [ name ] helps prince zuko put his military armor on, holding his helmet tight as she giggles excitedly. her eyes are crinkled by her big grin, and her cheeks are flushed with excitement, can you blame her? they've finally reached the end of the rainbow.

"don't get too excited, [ name ], we still need to capture him."

zuko's voice is low, calm. this is the most important moment of the mission, where he will find out if all his effort was actually worth it.

[ name ], on the other hand, scoffs, as if he was being ridiculous, and puts the helmet on his head.

"don't you get it, zuko? he's been hiding for one hundred years! what were the odds that we found him here?"

she giggles once again, and she holds his head so her bright eyes meet his sharp ones.

"we're about to make history."

and for once, zuko's eyes soften.

[ name ] giggles once again, and she lets go of his head to take a step back and flap her hands excitedly, an habit her mother would call 'hideous'.

"now let's go catch the avatar!"

zuko's eyes sharpen once again, and he nods his head, marching out of his quarters with [ name ] skipping after him.

"go go go go go!"

she chants after him, she's just as impatient as him, and zuko would be lying if he said it didn't feel good to have her cheering for him, but still, he needs to concentrate.

"[ name ], head to your quarters, i don't want you getting caught in the crossfire in case there's a fight."

he didn't have to tell her twice.

"yep!"

and she leaves him alone, but she doesn't head to her quarters, no, she goes to the deck instead, she doesn't want to miss the action.

the ship quickly approaches a village, the small figures of the members of the water tribe panic as the ship's bow as it plows through the snowy shores, splintering the ground. one figure in particular stays still, a boy standing by a low-stooping wall, wall that cracks as the ship gets closer and closer.

she laughs when she sees him raise a club, as if it was going to defend him from this giant ship. [ name ] heard that the southern water tribe was under developed, but she didn't think that their education was this bad. before he can make his move, however, the bow crumbles a large portion of the wall into snowy ruins. the snow slides downward, pushing the boy several feet back before he lands to a halt.

with a loud hiss of steam, the ship has come to a halt as well.

the bow of the ship opens and creaks forward in a burst of steam, forming a walkway, three figures emerging from the mist. [ name ] grins when she recognizes one of them as zuko.

the water tribe boy let out a battle cry and charges towards zuko with his club, [ name ] grins in amusement when zuko kicks the club to his left, kicks the boy over to his right, and sends him into the snow.

as expected, zuko is quick and brutal. [ name ] can't make out what he says, but she can hear the small echo of his voice as he grabs an elderly woman from the water tribe by the hood of her parka, threatening the people with fire and even when the same water tribe boy tries to attack him again, he dodges easily as a boomerang is thrown at him. the boy's attempt to fight him are pretty pathetic, in [ name ]'s opinion, and she giggles when the boy falls to the ground. the boomerang, though, comes back to strike the back of zuko's helmet, yikes.

zuko readies himself to burn the boy, but suddenly? he falls to the ground in a... very embarrassing way, to be honest. [ name ] hisses in sympathy.

her eyes widen when she sees him, though, the avatar.

the last airbender soars into the air and rides... a penguin? with rapid speed towards the villagers who cheer for him, even after they're showered in snow when he rides past them. [ name ]'s breathing stills as she watches the avatar come to a halt in front a girl with braids.

is her eyesight failing her? that looks like a kid.

fast enough, she observes as their crew surround the avatar while zuko gets back in track and assumes a fighting stance. the avatar uses what seems to be a staff to smash it against the ground, sending a rush of snow and wind towards zuko, who quickly melts it off.

they exchange a few words, zuko and the avatar, [ name ] can't tell what they say, before they start fighting all over again. she frowns slightly in confusion at the avatar's fighting style, though, it's so... gentle? he doesn't throw any attacks himself. [ name ] would think he would be a lot more brutal against the fire nation.

but then, he stands straight and says something to zuko that makes him nod his head.

the avatar is apprehended by their men.

[ name ] starts running.

a strange combination of fear and excitement swirl in her stomach, did they really catch the avatar? could it be a trap from the airbender? [ name ] can't think straight, she only runs through the hallways in an attempt to catch sight of the avatar.

she turns on a hallway, and she sees him— being held by two soldiers and with zuko marching in front of him, but she sees him.

the avatar.

"you got him!"

she exclaims happily, a big grin forming in her lips as she approaches zuko, who only nods his head with a serious expression.

"the avatar is now a prisoner of the fire nation."

he's all serene, the exact opposite of [ name ], who's a giggling mess that practically buzzes from excitement.

"i knew you could do it, zuko!"

her eyes shrink by her big grin, walking past zuko and in front of the avatar. she looks at him the same way she looks at the severed dragons heads hung in the fire palace, and she reaches out to pinch the avatar's cheek.

"he's funny looking!"

"ow ow ow! don't do that!"

"woah! he speaks!"

"[ name ], don't bother the avatar."

she rolls her eyes fondly, and she releases the avatar's cheek to fall into step with zuko, her hands behind her back. she observes him for a second, noticing the staff in his hand.

"is that the avatar's?"

he doesn't quite answer her question, he only hands the staff to her.

"take this back to my quarters, it'll make an excellent gift for my father."

and she deadpans at him, taking the staff from him.

"ah, sure."

despite being a servant, [ name ] dislikes being ordered around, but zuko is kind of her friend, so she can do this one thing for him.

"see ya, avatar!"

"uh, see ya?"

the avatar speaks confusely, but [ name ] doesn't linger around to actually watch his reaction, she only turns around and heads for zuko's private quarters.

she finds it easily, and pushes the door open to walk inside, but instead of setting the staff down and leaving, she sits down on the edge of his bed messes around with the staff.

her fingers trail down the wood, it looks pretty good to be supposedly one hundred years old, but to be fair, the avatar looks quite young to be one hundred years old, too.

[ name ] wonders what kind of magic could the avatar have used to stay hidden and young for so long? she's well aware that the last avatar from the earth kingdom lived up to two hundred years, but she was already looking her age back in the moment. it's different for this airbender, it's as if he was frozen in time, in the day that airbenders disappeared.

weird.

then, the quarters' door opens, and zuko steps inside, looking so big and strong, but [ name ] only grin at him.

"you must be feeling really happy, huh?"

she speaks before he can scold her for remaining in his quarters instead of just leaving the staff and walking out.

zuko's eyes soften slightly, and he looks down at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. he takes a step into the room and leans his back against the wall behind the door.

"...i'll feel better when we arrive to the fire palace."

"of course."

one would think that zuko is naïve for wanting to capture the avatar, but he's actually done it this time. if it was [ name ], she would be jumping up and down all giddy, but zuko is still careful with his steps, he doesn't want to mess this up.

she admires that a lot.

"...can you imagine the face azula will make when you return with the avatar?"

zuko scowls when [ name ] says that, and every other person would say he's furious she ever suggested that his sister might be displeased if he fulfilled his mission, but [ name ] knows him well, and she can tell that zuko is trying hard to keep a grin in. that's why she smiles at him.

"that's irrelevant—"

"she'll turn green with envy when she sees how you've captured the avatar after just three years!"

"[ name ], that's enough."

zuko puts an end to her daydreaming, but she doesn't take it personally, she just giggles and shakes her head, leaning back on her bed with her hands on the mattress, the staff resting on her lap.

she's about to open her mouth to tease further when zuko cuts her off.

"i'm sure you will be the envy of all the other servants in the fire palace when my father recognizes your participation in the mission."

her smile fades slightly at his words, and she feels her heart beat a little bit faster at the implication.

zuko knows better than anyone else that [ name ] hates being a servant, hates having to do what ever she's told to do. throughout this journey, zuko has seen how much of a free spirit she actually is, and his heart aches at the thought of her having to return to her old position of having to do everyone's chores for them.

"...you really think so?"

so he nods his head, but he doesn't quite look at her, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"i'll do anything i can to get you a better life in the palace, [ name ]."

sozin would have blushed.

their conversation is interrupted by the sounds of footsteps, they're loud and quick, as if someone was running, but it couldn't be from anyone of their crew, the footsteps aren't as heavy as the soldiers'.

[ name ] grips the staff tighter in her hands, she glances at zuko and he narrows his eyes, standing straight but he doesn't move from his spot behind the door. before she can get a word out, a small figure runs past the open door, but it quickly traces its way back and peeks its head into the room.

[ name ] and the avatar share a look.

he escaped?! she thinks.

"sorry, you mind giving me that?"

the avatar shamelessly asks for his staff back, flashing [ name ] a sheepish smile as he takes a step into the room, his hand gesturing to the staff on her lap.

she blinks once or twice, wondering if he seriously just asked her that, but by the way he looks at her? he actually is.

[ name ] doesn't look at zuko, she worries that the avatar might tell he's in the room with them if she sees her gaze trail off, but she can feel his eyes on her, and she can already hear his voice ringing in her ears.

capture him!

"yeah, sure!"

so she smiles brightly at the avatar, standing up from her spot on the bed and walking over to him with his staff in hand. the avatar's whole face lightens up, and [ name ] almost feels bad for what she's about to do.

"hey, sorry if i made uncomfortable earlier, it's just that we don't see a lot of airbenders lately."

she apologizes as she gets up from her spot on the bed and stands in front of him. she gives him his staff back, and he smiles up at her with childish innocence.

"no biggie! i know you didn't have ill intentions."

the avatar laughs, and [ name ] laughs with him, she also grabs him by his orange hood that's so characteristic of air nomads and shoves him into the room, making him stumble and fall to the floor.

"woah— hey!"

[ name ] steps outside the room and quickly closes the door behind him, she hears the avatar scream in an almost comedic timing, and she giggles to herself as she turns in her heels and starts walking away, hands behind her back.

okay, back to daydreaming— there's no way that fire lord ozai doesn't give her at least one medal for helping zuko capture the avatar, she's pretty sure he'll give her a monetary reward too, and with that money? she's going to flee, well, not flee, flee is an exaggeration, but she is leaving the fire palace! no more scrubbing floors for her.

she's going to go somewhere tropical, like ember island! she's never been there, but zuko always used to say that it was really good place to be. she wouldn't mind living in a beach house, with enough money to make the idea of ever working again look ridiculous.

yeah, that would be nice.

the sound of a door slamming against the wall pops [ name ]'s little bubble, though, and she doesn't even have time to react properly before she feels someone stepping on her head.

"sorry!"

"oof!"

she — embarrassingly — falls to the floor, face first, and she has the feeling that her nose broke. she barely manages to understand what happened, but when she lifts her head and sees a flash of orange turn on a corner, she understands that the fuckass avatar just used her head as a step and airbended his way out of here.

she catches sight of zuko by the corner of her eye, the guy barely takes a look at her before he keeps running after the avatar. [ name ] grumbles under her breath, blood running down her nose and over her upper lip, and she struggles to stand up, supporting her weight on the wall.

she decides that she hates that bald headed kid.

wiping the nose off her lips with her forearm, [ name ] starts walking — yes, walking, she doesn't feel like running — to the deck of the ship, where she hears commotion taking place, but when she gets there? she finds a giant fucking thing flying over the ship, and a part of her believes that she just got some serious brain damage.

zuko and the avatar are standing on the middle of the deck, both in fighting stances, but the sight of the creature seems to shock them as well, well, zuko is the shocked one, the avatar seems ecstatic to see the animal.

"appa!"

the avatar's whole face lightens up with excitement when he catches sight of the appa thing. if [ name ] squints her eyes, she can see two persons on the back of the creature, they're wearing blue clothes so it's safe to assume they're from the water tribe, in fact, one of them seems to be the boy that zuko fought earlier, small world.

the avatar turns around to face zuko and manages to deflect a firebending attack by spinning his glider around like a baton. however, he propels himself by accident into the air and lands on the ledge of the deck. he leans precariously over the side, unsteadily balancing himself, but manages to regain his balance only for zuko to fire another blast at him.

he twirls his glider again to deflect the attack. two more blasts are fired his way before he loses his grip on his glider and the object spins away, the staff falling several feet away. the avatar ducks, spins and leaps out of the way of blasts and lands on the very ledge, struggling to keep his balance.

zuko hurls more fire blasts his way, and the avatar holds up his hands in defense, but the last blast seemingly knocks him out cold and he falls backward off the ship into the water.

[ name ] gasps, and she hurries to the ledge of the deck, looking for the avatar with her eyes in the ice cold water, but she just can't spot him.

"shit, we lost the body!"

who's going to believe they killed the avatar if they go to the fire nation without a body? they need to retrieve it.

and zuko scoffs behind her, it's like he can't go two seconds without reprimanding her.

"oh, now you care about the mission? didn't seem like it when you locked me up with the avatar!"

he points at her with an accusating finger, and [ name ] groans loudly in frustration.

"what, you thought i could help you fight an airbender?!"

"well, you didn't even try—!"

suddenly, the ship starts to shake, cutting their conversation short. [ name ] grips the ledge tightly for stability as the deck is overshadowed by a giant water vortex ridden by the avatar, the boy's eyes and tattoos glowing a bright white. she actually feels her heart fall to her stomach at such a sight.

the avatar lands on the middle of the deck, summoning the water with him, the water swirls around him, forming a protective circle, before spreading outward, knocking everyone off their feet, in fact, the only reason [ name ] didn't fall over the edge was because she was gripping the ledge.

still, water got into her mouth and nose, and she coughs violently while she kneels down. the appa creature lands on the deck and the two members of the water tribe slide down its back to aid the avatar.

one of them — the cute boy — goes to retrieve the avatar's staff by the edge of the deck, and lifts it only to see zuko's hand firmly gripping the other end. he appears horrified as zuko attempts to pull himself upward onto the deck. the two struggle for a bit before he pokes zuko repeatedly in the head with the end of the staff the way zuko did earlier with him. zuko grunts and falls backward as he lets go of the staff, falling off the side of the ship.

"zuko!"

[ name ] grasps at the ledger as she leans forward over the edge, expecting to see zuko in the water, but relief washes over her when she sees him holding onto the anchor chain.

"go get the avatar!"

he orders her, and [ name ] obeys for once. she runs after the water tribe boy, she can't let him get to the appa or else he'll run off with the avatar, so once she's close enough? she jumps up and kicks the boy's back with both feet.

"oof!"

they both fall to the floor, the boy falling on his face while [ name ] falls on her side, quickly getting up with practiced ease. she stands in front him, reaching down to take the avatar's staff, but she stops altogether when she feels water splash to her back.

she turns her head to see a water tribe girl standing behind her, her arms stretched out to her, and the water that just splayed [ name ]'s clothes turn into ice, freezing her still on her spot. the ice itself is thin, but it's the biting cold that creeps into her clothes and onto her skin that immobilizes her.

"hey, what?!"

just her luck to meet a waterbender right when they have to capture the avatar, gee, she thought there weren't any of those left in the south pole!

the boy she just kicked quickly stands up, holding the staff tightly as he smirks smugly at [ name ].

"that's waterbending for you!"

he even mocks her before running past her and mounting appa along with the girl and the avatar, [ name ] snarls in pettiness.

this whole chaos seem to have woken iroh up — when did he even take a nap? — for he emerges on deck with sleepy eyes, but the sight of the appa taking flight and flying past the cabin wakes him up.

"huh?"

"uncle!"

zuko calls for him, climbing onto the deck by the edge, and iroh hurries to aid his nephew, helping him get back on the ship.

"shoot them down!"

together, zuko and iroh synchronize a firebending move and fire a powerful blast at the appa. [ name ] is pretty sure they got it, but then the avatar leaps onto the saddle, opens the small tail wing of his staff and swings his glider around, using a powerful swipe of air to redirect the fireball into a nearby cliff side. the impact causes an avalanche of snow and ice to begin falling. [ name ] doesn't even have time to scream before she's buried by the snow, along with the front of the ship.

thankfully, the impact let her break free from the ice, and she manages to crawl her upper body out of the snow mostly unharmed. she's left breathless and sore by the whole affair, and she only gets more frustrated when she sees the appa dissappear around the cliff.

a rough hand grabs her by the arm and pulls her out of the snow fully and into her feet, she would've fallen all over again if zuko wasn't holding her up.

"good news for the fire lord,"

iroh, on his behalf, manages to get up on his feet and dust his clothes off. [ name ] aspires to reach that level of nonchalance.

"the fire nation's biggest threat is just a little kid."

"that kid, uncle, just did this."

with his free hand — the one that's not holding onto [ name ] —, zuko gestures at the damaged ship, the whole front covered in ice and snow.

"i won't understimate him again."

he finally lets go of her arm, and he turns to the soldiers as he points at the piles of snow.

"dig the ship out and follow them!"

but half the crew is trapped in the waterbender's ice while the other half is using firebending to melt it off. zuko, slightly embarrassed, turns his head away from them.

"...as soon as you're done with that."

and that's how their saturday went.