Disclaimer: I do not, and will never, own Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Zuko glared out at the passerbys beneath the wide rim of the ridiculous straw hat he was forced to wear to disguise his scar. The teenage boy could hardly believe that he, the crown prince of the exalted Fire Nation, was reduced to begging on the streets of the Earth Kingdom. Closing his eyes, Zuko sought to wait out the rest of this miserable day in the relative solitude of his mind.
But it was not to be.
The arrogant sound of a man's voice, then the clinking of long swords, and the warbling of Uncle singing. Zuko's eyes snapped open. His uncle was jumping up and down to avoid the swiping swords wielded by a laughing man, singing all the while. Zuko's hands clenched into fists as he fought to contain his rage at the audacity of this peasant's actions. Even he, as Fire Nation royalty, wouldn't have stooped so low.
When the man left, tossing a gold coin to Iroh, the aged firebender sank down and looked at Zuko with a happy expression.
"What a kind man," sincerity rang in every syllable.
Zuko gaped at his Uncle in astonishment before resigning himself to the fact that though wise, his Uncle sometimes was quite senile.
Zuko shook his head and leaned back, closing his eyes again.
"Hello!"
Zuko ignored the cheery voice. It wasn't talking to him.
"Are you all right?"
Zuko's lips turned down into an irritated frown though his eyes stayed closed. That voice was much to happy and grated on his fraying nerves.
"You should wake up,"
Zuko's eyes snapped open and his one eyebrow drew down into a hostile glare. Suddenly, he looked, taken aback, into the innocent face of a young girl. Seven, maybe. A bit younger than Azula had been when he was banished.
The girl was dressed in simple clothes in Earth Kingdom colors. Her black hair was plaited back neatly into two twin braids tied with fraying ribbons gray with age. One hand clutched a large tattered book to her chest and the other was holding tightly onto an older boy's hand. The resemblance between the two declared them siblings. Zuko allowed himself the brief moment of shock he always recieved whevever he saw two siblings who didn't actually hate each other. Shocking.
The little girl looked up at him again.
"Hello! What's your name? My name's Anya. Are you hungry? You look hungry. You're awfully thin. How come your clothes are dirty? Doesn't your Mama wash them? My Mama sa-"
"Anya! Shut up! You don't go telling strangers about your life. And those guys looked dangerous! They might hurt you, and then where would we be?" The boy dragged his protesting sister away after throwing one last suspicious glare at Zuko and his Uncle.
"Well now. It's so refreshing to find such innocence in the midst of such turmoil," Iroh commented cheerily, as a passerby tossed him a copper, "Thank you!"
"That boycertainly wasn't innocent," Zuko growled, one hand raised to his scar at the boy's words.
"Hmm," Iroh made a brief sound of agreement and returned to his begging.
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"Hello!"
Zuko opened his eyes and sure enough, there was that happy peppy little girl, still clutching that book to her chest, though she was now alone. Happiness is overrated, Zuko thought sourly.
"Hi," Zuko said, his voice rough with disuse. The little girl, Anya, grinned, elated that you had elicited a response from this solitary man.
"Hello, Anya," Iroh said, smiling at her kindly.
In response the little girl carefully set the book, cover down, on the dusty ground and picked her skirt up in a clumsy curtsy.
"General Iroh, Prince Zuko, its nice to meet you!"
The traffic around them all but froze.
Iroh looked at her in astonishment before assuming the roll of a doting grandfather and said, "Now now, dear, in times like these its best not to play games of pretend,"
The watching passerbys sighed with relief and walked away, dropping their suspicious glares. Zuko glared at her.
"What are you talking about? And pipe down!" he hissed.
Anya's lower lip quivered and Zuko instantly regretted his actions.
"Don't cry!" he said, exaperated, "It's just, you have to be quiet,"
Iroh patted her hand reassuringly. "Why do you think that we are who you think we are? We are just beggars,"
Anya shook her head, her braids whipping around furiously. She picked up her book and showed them the cover. It read, "Traitors of the Great and Mighty Fire Nation". Surrounding the words were two large pictures. One of Iroh, and the other of Zuko, labeled General Iroh and Former Crown Prince.
"The Fire Nation took over our schools, so we have to learn what they want us to," her nose wrinkled in disgust. Zuko felt a pang in his heart for all the atrocious things his country had done.
"They said you're horrible, and the worst thing you can be is a traitor, and my friends think so too. But I think that if you were brave enough to betray the Fire Nation, then you must be good people,"
The two firebenders were shocked.
Iroh recovered first.
"My dear, how is it that you were able to tell who we are? It is dangerous for people to know our true identities,"
"Oh don't worry! None of my other classmates actually read. They just want to play pranks on the teacher. She's Fire Nation,"
"Uncle, there's not much we can do about the situation. We should leave," Zuko muttered.
Iroh nodded briefly in response before turning to Anya.
"We would be very grateful if you would not tell anyone, anyone, about your findings,"
"Okay. But I also brought you this," she set her book on the ground again and unslung a sack that was hooked over her shoulder.
"Here. I brought you some food, its from my own dinner, don't worry, I didn't steal it. And this is a special silver coin that I've been saving for something special. But I want you guys to have it," And so saying, she unloaded each item from the cloth sack and passed it to the astonished firebenders.
"Thank you," Iroh smiled sincerely. Zuko nodded briefly.
"What do you want as your payment?" Zuko asked. They really couldn't afford this, but his sense of honor demanded he repay her.
Anya looked at him in confusion.
"I don't want anything. It's a present. It would be nice though, if you passed this on to someone else. That way, more people will be happy!" she exclaimed with a grin.
Zuko nodded his head slowly, "Thank you, Anya,"
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Several weeks later
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Zuko paused, face masked as the Blue Spirit, with his dual blades positioned dangerously close to a man's neck. The Fire Nation guard gulped. Who knew that getting the Avatar out of the clutches of Zhao would be so difficult, he thought, sarcasm entering his thoughts.
And just as he was about to slit the man's throat, Zuko paused. His mind flashed back to several weeks ago, when they were begging. Anya.
It would be nice though, if you passed this on to somene else. That way, more people will be happy!
Zuko whipped his swords away and shoved the man to the ground, shoving a fist against his head and knocking him out cold.
"My debt is repaid," he whispered to the wind as he vaulted off into the darkness.
Author's Note: Yeah, I know. I should be working on my other story. But its not my fault all these little plot bunnies pop into my head at night and practically demand to be written. BLAME THEM! But anyway, review, and please, please, please, read my fanfic, Below Ba Sing Se and give me some feedback and some ideas. I have writer's block on that one. And read Little Sisters, too! Its my favorite fanfic that I've written. Go to my profile!