Free
Kaito yawned quietly as he entered the meeting room.
He had fallen asleep for about a half hour until someone knocked on his door saying they had an emergency meeting.
Fuck, he was tired.
He had barely sat down before Admiral Zhao rather aggressively made his way through the door, classically arrogant as always.
He wondered if that man felt anything in his heart, or if it was just filled with ugly, ugly anger. Ugly as that stupid scowl that rested on his face (at least it wasn’t his grin).
He couldn’t stand looking at him for too long without getting that anxious, churning feeling in his stomach. It was hard though, because something wasn’t right.
Zhao looked.......ruffled to say the least. And not in the way when someone is pulled from slumber, like he was flushed and distressed.
He instinctively looked around for Prince Zuko, and quickly noticed his absence.
No, this wasn’t right.
Zhao cleared his throat as he attempted to regain his composure,
“I am.....troubled, to say the least, to announce that our Prince Zuko is a traitor, and will not be attending our meetings any longer.”
There was an audible hum throughout the room, as many were both confused and upset by the news.
“What do you mean?” An officer asked.
Zhao looked frustrated that he was being questioned, but wiped a hand over his hair and responded calmly,
“I don’t need to reveal the exact details, but the prince was preparing to sabotage our invasion plan. I managed to only keep him subdued as a prisoner in my room.”
Kaito’s head perked up at that. Hearing Zhao out of all people say he had a teenage boy locked up in his room set off all sorts of alarms in his head.
He had no doubt in his mind that the young prince had said something to make the admiral believe he was a traitor, but the fact that he was at the mercy of Zhao terrified him.
So he made a decision at that moment.
He looked around, and the room’s attention was all on Zhao, who was discussing with the other officers the details of the Fire Lord’s message.
He could be quiet, stealthy even. He had always been a subtle presence in social settings.
He managed to slip out of his seat, and consequently out of the door without making a sound or turning any heads.
Everyone else on the ship was still asleep, so he began to run towards Zhao’s room (he knew the path by heart).
If something happened to the prince, he would never forgive himself.
There was a pounding in his head once he reached the door, taking a few moments to breathe.
Once he got his breath back, he inspected the locker door, before grabbing the hair pin that held his top knot up.
If there was one thing he had learned from being in the navy, it was how to pick locks.
And that’s just what he began doing.
.................................
Zuko could feel the skin burn on his wrists as he pulled against his chains.
No, no he wasn’t going to stop fighting.
His vision was blinded by the tears that threatened to fall, because he was already pathetic enough in this moment, and crying would make that more so.
Maybe if he yelled, someone would save him.
No, Zhao wouldn’t allow that. He probably told half the ship already that he was a traitor. Fucking bastard........
He couldn’t even think of his face now. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to ever again. Right now, when he thought of those cold amber eyes and that lecherous smile, he could see him over him, breathing against his neck and—
Focus focus.
He couldn’t think of that right now. Right now, he had to get out. Before Zhao came back.
His own treacherous mind couldn’t help but ponder what it would be like when Zhao returned. The horrible, disgusting things he would do to him that he couldn’t stop because he was chained to his stupid fucking bed.
He angrily rattled the chains and pulled, pulled until he nearly screamed from the pain.
Suddenly, he felt very light headed when he saw blood running down his pale arm.
That didn’t last long when the door handle began rattling.
Shit.
Oh Agni no.
He scooted up as far back on the bed as possible, grabbing onto the headboard of the bed as if it would save him. His adrenaline peeked now, and his whole body went into fight mode, like he was a vicious animal being preyed on.
He wouldn’t go down without a fight, he wouldn’t give Zhao the pleasure of winning.
The door opened, and he was shaking so bad he could barely see the figure in the doorway.
It wasn’t Zhao.
It was.....Captain Kaito?
His body didn’t relax upon seeing the young man, instead he began hyperventilating.
“Wha—what....Kai.....I—“ he couldn’t get his words out, instead just heavy breathes that made white dots dance across his vision.
He just stood there, a look of shock on his face as he took in the sight in front of him with horror.
He approached him quickly to placate him, but Zuko couldn’t help but push his body closer together.
“Prince Zuko it’s me, please breathe....I’m not here to hurt you,” he raised his hands in surrender, and his eyes were soft.
He managed to keep his breathing relatively steady, just to prevent himself from passing out, but he still was terrified and confused and all of the above.
“Wha—what are you doing here?”
He was carrying a pin, to which he stuck into the lock of those evil chains,
“I’m helping you escape.”
“But h-how did you know?”
Kaito gave him a very grave expression, before focusing back on his lock picking.
“Zhao said he was keeping you here as a prisoner. I knew something wasn’t right.”
He stared up at the man with his big golden eyes, his pupils so small that you could barely see anything but his burning irises.
“Do you not trust Zhao?”
Kaito stopped in his tracks and looked the prince right in the eye, which made Zuko wonder if he had said something wrong. He spoke in a quiet, but terrifyingly serious tone.
“Prince Zuko, I’m going to tell you something I should have told you right when you first came onto this ship,” he paused, almost unsure to continue,
“Zhao did to you tonight the same thing he did to me.”
He could barely comprehend what Kaito had just said, what he said happened to him. What probably, no, most definitely happened to others.
Zhao had probably always wanted to do that to him.
The revelation felt like a stab to his gut, and he quickly turned over to retch over the pillow his head lay on.
Kaito looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, before throwing the pillow off of the bed and continuing to pick at the lock.
He dry heaved some more before he felt like he was going to pass out again, and he spoke through his hoarse throat,
“You’re saying....he raped you?” The heinous word felt so vile coming off his tongue that he wanted to puke again.
“Yes.”
“He didn’t rape me.”
Kaito looked at him like he didn’t believe him, he looked at him with sympathy, like they were both victims.
“You’re in shock.”
“NO. No I’m not.....he didn’t.....nothing happened....”
He could still tell the other man didn’t believe him, but they didn’t have time to debate.
He almost let his tears fall once he heard the lock click, and the chains slide off of him.
He could barely register the relief before Kaito was pulling him off of the bed,
“Come on, we have to get you off of this ship.”
He nodded quickly in reply, following the man out of the wretched room.
Once they snuck down the hall, Zuko grabbed Kaito’s arm tightly.
“I need to go back to my room.”
“Why?”
He wished eye contact would transfer what he needed to say, but sadly it didn’t work that way,
“I have a pack in there that I absolutely need.”
He just sighed, then nodded as he followed the teenager.
They were both quick runners, even Zuko who was merely running on adrenaline.
Within a split second, he grabbed his bag out of his room and hastily made away with it.
The next few minutes didn’t feel real, his heart was beating faster than it ever had before.
What if they both got caught? Kaito would be executed, and he.....
He would have to go back to Zhao’s bed.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to kick out the thought.
They were almost off of the ship before Zuko realized he had forgotten another important detail.
“What?” Kaito asked, out of breath.
“I need to grab one of the boats.”
“Huh?” Was all he replied with, too confused as to what the younger boy was talking about.
He squeezed the bridge of his nose, then looked him in the eye.
“If Zhao said I was a traitor, he technically wasn’t wrong.”
Kaito squinted his eyes as he shook his head,
“Zuko, you need to explain a little faster.”
He had to tell him. Here Kaito was helping him and he didn’t even know the truth. He probably thought he was helping an innocent boy.
“I was planning on leaving from one of the mini boats after I found out Zhao’s invasion plans. I wasn’t—,” he sighed, “I wasn’t here to help Zhao. I was here to interfere with what he was going to do.”
For some reason, the Captain didn’t look one bit surprised, more annoyed than anything else.
“You didn’t need to tell me that. I kind of figured that was what was going on.”
“Oh,” there was a moment of silence, “and you still got me out of there?”
Kaito looked horrified now, like what Zuko had said was something awful. He held himself together well however as he spoke with the utmost softness, as if he was about to cry,
“Zuko, I would have gotten you out no matter what. No human being should go through that.”
He felt the tears return to prickle his eyes, to which he wiped his sweaty, dirty hand on to stop them from falling. No time for crying. Nope.
“We need to get going.”
Though his expression was still sympathetic, he agreed. The duo rushed to the hull.
“Quick, you grab the front of it, I’ll get the back.”
On a count of three, the two lifted the boat and carried it outside, letting it down into the water.
“Do you have everything?” Kaito panted, clearly strained from the heavy weight.
“Yes,” he replied.
Shit, he felt awful.
“Then you need to go. Now.” He patted the boy on his back.
“Wait. What about you? I can’t just leave you here to deal with Zhao’s wrath.”
The man fiddled with his fingers as he seemed to avoid an answer, which appeared to be his nervous habit.
He made his heart hurt to think what happened to him probably not that many years ago; he was still a kid too.
“It is about time I confronted Zhao. I won’t leave now,” he answered finally.
He had so many questions for him that he wanted to ask but couldn’t. Why’d he stay all these years? When did it happen? Why did it happen?
How many others did it happen to?
He shuttered at that last question. Even Kaito couldn’t have been Zhao’s first.
He just hoped he would be his last.
No, no he wasn’t even one of his victims. He hadn’t even.....he hadn’t gotten that far.
Nothing happened.
“Thank you. I don’t even know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
He shook his head and smiled a bit,
“Ruin Zhao’s plans. That’s all I ask.”
Zuko nodded in return, not being able to find it in himself to smile right now.
“I will,” he replied as he hopped into the boat.
Kaito gave it a little push before Zuko lit the coals, which started the boat and pushed it towards the greater sea.
All Zuko could see was the slowly shrinking shadow of the young Captain, standing on the shore, watching him disappear.
He knew he was tired, tired to the bone. But after everything, adrenaline was still coursing through his body, and he was on higher alert than ever.
After all, he was on his own now.
........................................
Sokka watched his sister and the princess converse near the fire, both their cheeks red and eyes glowing with admiration.
It was.....different to say the least, knowing his sister clearly had a thing for another girl. To a degree, he didn’t really care, because he was happy to see his sister smile despite all they’ve gone through.
He felt a cold breeze run over his body, and he pulled his coat tighter around his body as he shivered.
Katara and Yue moved closer to one another, sharing body heat.
‘Wouldn’t that be nice?’
He almost fell back into the inevitable pit of loneliness that had been his retreat for weeks, but then someone sat next to him.
He swore he’d never seen her before, but also, maybe he had?
She sat close to him, but not close enough to seem strange. She looked like she wanted to speak to him.
“Hi,” she said simply, and he gave her a small smile.
“Hi.”
He couldn’t help but notice she was really pretty, and had just about the bluest eyes he had ever seen.
‘Not the most beautiful ones you’ve seen though.’
“I’m Sakari,” she broke the silence once more with her kind voice.
“Sokka,” he said simply, once again trying to hide the warmth he felt creeping up into his cheeks.
“Nice to meet you Sokka.”
Both were too distracted to see Katara and the princess slip away, quietly giggling as they crept into the darkness.
“You make me quite the improper princess, Katara,” Yue said with a grin as they paused their escape on the bridge.
“Oh do I?” Katara giggled, her cheeks growing hot. She couldn’t not notice how beautiful Yue looked under the almost full moon, like it was a part of her.
“Yup,” she replied bashfully. They both leaned against the bridge, so close they were practically touching.
“It’s really beautiful out tonight,” Katara said out of the blue. Man that sounded stupid.
She hadn’t even seen the look the princess was giving her, the gaze locked on her face.
“Katara,” she said softly.
Katara turned her head in response, realizing as she did so how close they were, how Yue’s lips were parted.
The silence was suddenly very loud, and she felt her heart pound, the space shrinking. And—
—And Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe was kissing her.
Holy. Shit.
It was soft, albeit a bit awkward, considering this was her first kiss and perhaps also the princess’s.
But it was still perfect.
It was Yue who pulled away, looking into the waterbender’s eyes with an emotion she couldn’t quite place.
“I really like you Katara.”
“I do too,” she responded way too fast, her serotonin making her dizzy. She felt so warm and happy and for once things were pretty damn amazing—
“I’m engaged.”
Then that turned to a cold pit in her stomach.
Katara pulled away, hurt and confusion painted across her features.
“Wh—what?” Was all she could muster.
Yue reached out to touch her, but she pulled back, still contemplating her words.
“Katara please—“
She cut her off, “why would you kiss me if you’re engaged?”
Yue looked desperate, tears springing to her eyes.
“I knew this would be the last chance I would ever get to.”
She willed the tears forming in her eyes to not fall, but she couldn’t look at Yue right now. Not with the growing ache in her chest.
“Katara, please look at me,” Yue said with a shaky voice. She placed a hand against her face,
“Please.”
She moved away again, shaking her head,
“I just gotta clear my head ok. Just.....give me some space,” she said sharply.
“Katara—“
She walked away without another word, leaving the princess to cry by herself.
It was better that she left, before she lashed out in anger. Yue didn’t deserve it, but it was that old temper, that old dark part of her that had been festering for years.
‘Everyone is going to leave you.’
She wasn’t ready to let her see her ugly side yet. So as awful as she felt leaving Yue like that, it would hurt her less.
She was walking so fast and thinking to herself so deeply that she was back at her and Sokka’s place before she even knew it.
She stared at the white ice for about five minutes straight before finally walking inside.
He hadn’t seen his sister so distraught in years. It made his heart drop to his stomach when he saw those empty blue eyes fill up with tears. His lovely, wonderful evening with Sakari flew to the back of his mind as he shot up.
“Katara?”
Tears rolled silently down her cheeks, but she looked more angry than sad, which wasn’t surprising considering this was Katara.
“She’s engaged, Sokka.”
Then that angry facade melted, and her sobs racked the room.
He didn’t even need to ask, he knew who this was about.
He just walked up to his little sister and wrapped his arms around her, doing what he’s always done best.
Be a big brother.
“What-,” she hiccuped between her sobs, “what are y—you supposed to do when there’s.....there’s the perfect person right there.....but you can’t have them?”
The words punched him in his gut, and he almost wanted to cry too at their relatability.
But this was her moment, not his.
“You’ll move on, I promise,” was all he could think to say to her.
That’s what he told himself anyway.
................................
The sun finally began to creep over the horizon, and Zuko relished in the warmth of the glow on his pale face.
He almost wanted to close his eyes against it, but he knew he would fall asleep if he did so.
The only reason he stayed awake for the whole night was pure adrenaline mixed with the need to not freeze to death and die.
He would sleep once he reached his destination.
It was amazing, honestly, how much a goal was able to distract him. The Avatar distracted him from thoughts of home, of the sad, empty ache inside of him that threatened to creep out of his one good eye in the form of tears.
Getting his message to the North Pole was the goal that was stopping him from tumbling down the terrifying chain of thought that led back to Zhao, and the awful feeling it left in his stomach when he even thought of his name.
Dark eyes, hands on his hips, teeth against his neck—
‘Stop, stop thinking STOP!’
He shut his eyes against the memory and shook his head, taking a few shallow breaths as he recentered himself. He had to think of something that made him happy, something that could distract him.
Uncle’s laugh, reading a book about swords quietly in the library......
.....Sokka’s eyes looking into his, leaning closer to him.
He smiled to himself as he thought of him. It had already felt like a lifetime since he had last seen him. It had to have been at least a month.
Would he be happy to see him? Would he care?
It was a stupid, childish thought to have, but it nicer then thinking about Zhao.
A wave of tiredness hit him by surprise again as he let his mind wander.
He splashed some ice cold water in his face to wake up, running it through the stubble-turned hair that was now growing on his usually bald head. He hadn’t shaved it in awhile, and couldn’t deny he liked the look of his head with hair much better than without it.
The sun was now high in the sky, and Zuko sighed to himself.
This was going to take awhile.
..................................
Unfortunately, before the sun rose, Zhao had discovered the prince’s escape, and had practically burned his own room to a crisp.
“Now, as many of you may know, I am a man of reason,” the admiral announced to the room where he had gathered his whole crew.
Kaito practically snorted at the words. It was amusing, really, to see Zhao so angry, yet still trying to maintain his temper. Considering the damage done to his room, and any moment any crew member had ever spent with Zhao, everyone knew what he said was bullshit.
He continued as his vicious eyes scanned the room,
“Prince Zuko was a traitor, however, and whoever let him go free is a traitor to this nation as well and will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
He had the slightest quiver to his lip, one that only a person who was really looking could notice: he was unhinged because for once in his fucking life, he lost.
Kaito had let his prey go free, and he hated that.
“Come forward now, and I’ll consider mercy,” he gritted from behind his stupidly perfect teeth.
Who knows what mercy meant to him.
When the room fell silent, Zhao’s composure fell slightly, and that glint of evil flashed in his eyes that made Kaito’s stomach hurt.
“Come forward now or,” he walked crisply, his voice steady yet cruel,
“Someone else will receive your punishment.”
He stopped by one of the youngest crew mates, whose skin was youthful, his hair dark and eyes bright.
Just his type.
He didn’t even think before he stepped forward, too blinded by the sight of Zhao looking down at a teenage boy.
“It was me,” he announced, and all eyes were on him.
He forced himself to stare back at the amber that quickly shot their gaze at him. He wouldn’t be scared of Zhao anymore.
“What?” He spat, the anger creasing into his forehead, his back straightening.
“You heard me,” his tone was stern, no hesitance, “I set Prince Zuko free.”
He broke free of Zhao’s stare, looking at the rest of the room who was shocked.
“I set him free because he wasn’t a traitor. Zhao was keeping him prisoner because—“
“Guards,” Zhao cut him off.
He raised his voice, “What, Admiral?” He surprised himself with the mockery in his tone, “do you not want me to tell them your dirty secrets?”
Zhao’s face was twisted into something ugly now, but he didn’t care, even as multiple guards approached him.
“He likes teenage boys you know,” he finally got out, “that’s why he was keeping the prince hostage.”
The air turned to ice, and all disturbed eyes fell on Zhao.
They all knew now.
Zhao laughed at him, even if there was a single, fleeting moment when he was scared that the truth had been told,
“You’re a disgrace, Captain. I can’t even call you that anymore.”
Kaito pulled against the guards that were holding him back,
“The only disgrace here is the one who rapes kids,” he sneered at him.
“Take him away—“
“Did you ask him if he was loyal to you? Huh?” He practically ripped himself from the guards restraints as he saw red, “HUH? Is that what gets you off?”
All the anger he had held inside him, the anger he now felt for Zuko, was coming out. He could care less if Zhao killed him right here.
He wanted the whole world to know how sick Admiral Zhao is.
He was being dragged out of the room as he fought, fighting like how he wished he had all those years ago, when he was sixteen, all alone in the world, and the only one “looking out for him” was Zhao.
“Are you loyal to me?” Zhao had asked him, his hand running up his thigh.
“Yes,” he had made the mistake of answering. But he didn’t know better, he was just a kid without a guardian. He wanted to scream, but the man groping him was his only path to his future.
The older man whispered against Kaito’s ear,
“Then prove it.”
The last thing he remembered as he yelled profanities into the air was Zhao’s dark, furious eyes, a room that looked all kinds of confused, and the grip on his arms as he was dragged into a cell.
Then it all became dark.
...........................