It's a busy day today at the restaurant. Omashu's lunch hour is infamous around the Earth Kingdom for being very hectic and fast-paced. Almost every single table is full, and I've been running back and forth, from patron to patron, gathering dishes, placing orders, and running back to the kitchen to repeat the process. The smells of fish, fresh meat, and tea fill the whole room, and the colors of mustard yellow and dark green give it the signature Earth Kingdom atmosphere, much different from what I've experienced back home. The work is worth it though, I've received so many tips from the customers that I've served, that my pockets are almost full with a variety of copper, silver, and gold pieces. Eventually, there's a lull in the action now that the lunch hour is over. I find a table and sit down to enjoy some Jasmine tea; a Fire Nation favorite.

My arms are sore, and my green tunic and apron are stained with residue from food and the kitchen. Having short hair is an advantage though, so I don't have to tie it up and worry about all the safety regulations. I push the dark brown locks away from my forehead, and it barely reaches my ears on the side; very convenient. Drinking the wonderful beverage immediately reminds me of home, and how homesick I am. Missing the dark reds and black colors that adorned all the buildings and walls, and how energetic and strong-spirited the citizens were. However, it also brings me hate and anger, of how a power-crazy leader has killed so many thousands of innocents, an entire culture, just so he could be the ruler of the world that by the time he finished conquering, would be almost burnt to a crisp. He would even duel his own son in an Agni Kai, and banish him, just for talking out of turn. That was the tipping point for me. My best friend, Zuko, who I basically grew up with, has been gone for years, and I couldn't stand living in such a vile, hated, dishonorable place.

My father was one of Firelord Ozai's most trusted advisors, and I lived the good life; life in the palace. My mother was just a simple seamstress, and, according to the many stories they've told, fell in love at the academy, married as soon as they were allowed, and have been together ever since. They named me Luzon, after my mother's grandfather, a nobleman in Sozin's era. Being the oldest of three children, and at the age of 16, I basically was the man of the house, as my father was often at meetings, and doing work for the Firelord. I have two younger siblings, a girl, Riza, who's 14, and Kuzon, 9, who was named after my great-grandfather's best friend. When I told them my plan, all of them, except my father agreed to leave. He decided it was best not to go, as he was Ozai's most trusted advisor, and him leaving would be worse for our family, as they were sure to track us down. He stayed, and later I learned he was imprisoned for a month, and later freed, with Ozai exhibiting a rare display of mercy. He had learned from my father that I had a special "relationship" with someone very close and important to him, and that if my father was killed, it would deeply hurt that person in question. My father was freed, returning to his old position, I managed to get my family to Ba Sing Se, and I moved to Omashu, looking to make an honest living away from that huge city.

As I finished my tea, I turned to the window, and saw a rather scruffy looking old man, walking slumped over, accompanied by two teenagers, dressed in deep blue, obviously for the cold weather. I assumed that they were this old man's grandchildren. "Finally, a place that isn't packed with hundreds of people; I'm starving!" I heard the boy say. I could already tell that the cooks in the back were going to have to prepare ten pounds of meat. As the trio sat down, I made my way over to them, and the boy, who looked about my age, was getting more excited by the second, now that he learned that he was going to be fed soon. Surprisingly, the old man spoke up first, and as I got closer, I could tell that it was one of the worst disguises I've seen in my life. I could easily see his weird blue arrow tattoos that adorned his body, and he was obviously no older than 12 or 13. And as I got closer to the two "grandchildren" had much tanned skin, and I noticed the girl's necklace, obviously hand carved and very special to her culture. The boy was an air bender, and the two teens were obviously from the Water Tribe. Spirits only know how the Avatar has reappeared, and why they're in Omashu.

As I was amazed at my discovery, mouth agape and staring, I hadn't noticed that the boy was blabbering away about his order. As soon as I snapped back to reality, the young boy got a little harsh. "Hey! I just ordered enough food to put your place in business for a whole year, how about some quality service!" he complained, and he was met with a look from the girl. They were obviously siblings.

"Oh, right… sorry. What will it be?," I answered, still shocked, but with a subtle smile on my face.

"I'll have two servings of the roast duck, pork, and chicken, a large bowl of rice…" I immediately cut him off, as it was too much to remember without writing down, which I hated.

"Tell you what," I began, "I'll give you two servings of every meat dish on the menu for the price of one. Consider it making up for the terrible service. Besides, it's worth it, I never go a day without the roast duck." I said, with a chuckle and a smile. The boy looked like he was about to faint, and nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Now this is my kind of man! A fellow meat connoisseur, if I do say so myself. Tell me good sir, what is the best way to get a… hands-on experience of the mail delivery system?" he asked, with a nudge of my arm and some funny facial expressions.

"How about this, you guys are my last order of my shift, so once the food comes out we'll sit down and have a chat. Sound good?" The three nodded, the water tribe boy the most enthusiastically. "Before that, let me finish taking your orders. What about you sir? What would you like? " I said, looking over to the Avatar in disguise.

"I'll have some of these ol' steamed vegetables and rice. Nothing gets better than that! Kids these days, with their meat and exotic dishes…" he said, with a hilarious, yet terrible impersonation of an elderly man.

"And you, ma'am?"

"I'll just have some steamed rice and some jasmine tea. Thanks."

"I'll bring the rice and vegetables out first. It might take…awhile for the meat to be done." I said. As I walked away from the table, and gave the order to the cook, who visibly groaned, I became lost in thought once again. Why was the Avatar in Omashu? Why is he traveling with two teenagers from the water tribe? Where has he been the last one hundred years? The questions flooded my mind, and before I knew it, the food was ready. Surprisingly, the meat was prepared just as fast as the vegetables and rice.

I made my way over to the table, where the young air bender was talking enthusiastically to his traveling partners. As soon as the water tribe boy caught my eye, his expression lightened up extremely and a huge smile was plastered over his face. I presented the food to the group, and pulled up a chair to the table. The Avatar and the water tribe boy looked pretty hungry, and were diving into their food. However, the girl was just picking at her food and kept looking at me, and was just a little odd.

"So, what are your names?" I asked. "And I mean your real names; your grandfather's disguise over here is terrible." I laughed. They immediately stopped eating and stared at me, obviously surprised by how bad the air bender's disguise was.

"Don't worry, you can trust me. I'm just a waiter. I'm not going to hand you over to the Fire Nation." I said. As they looked to one another, contemplating revealing their identities, the boy finally gave in.

"My name is Sokka." He motioned to his sister, "This is my sister Katara, and we're from the Southern water tribe. That's our grandfather. His name is too long to pronounce."

"It runs in the family!" Katara quickly added. I laughed, not fooled by their poor attempts at concealing the Avatar's identity.

"Look around," I said "there's nobody here. The cook is pretty much deaf. I know who you are, Mr. Grandfather. Question is, why are you here, and what took you so long?" Finally, the boy relented, and decided to tell the real story.

"My name is Aang, and as you've already figured out, I'm the Avatar. The last air bender to be precise. We're just passing through, honestly. I wanted to show my friends the mail delivery system. We're heading to the North Pole so I can master water bending."

"Okay, that answers the first question. Now, what took one hundred years? You're twelve years old for Spirits sake!"

"I was frozen in an iceberg. Katara and Sokka found me, and let me out. There was nothing I could do…" The boy visibly saddened at this, and Katara patted his back.

"There was nothing you could do Aang, it's not your fault, no matter what anybody else thinks."

"She's right. I don't blame you. Some people may feel different though." I said, concern falling over the young boy's face.

"Just find a better disguise, you'll reveal yourself sooner rather than later."

"Thanks," Aang said, comforted by my kind words. "What's your name anyway? What's your story?" I tensed up at this. Should I reveal that I was Fire Nation? Will they attack me? I really don't want to end up on the bad side of the Avatar. I decided to take a chance.

"What I'm about to tell you can't leave this room, and you have to promise to trust me? Understand?" I said, sternly and matter-of-factly. There was no way that the second largest city in the Earth Kingdom can find out that someone from the Fire Nation was here the entire time, much less be talking to the Avatar.

"I promise," They all said in unison. I exhaled, and began.

"My name is Luzon. I'm from the Fire Nation. I defected three years ago, along with most of my family, who are living in Ba Sing Se. I've been working at this restaurant ever since." Sokka's mouth dropped, Katara gasped, and Aang jumped.

"W-why did you defect.. " Katara asked, her voice still full of shock and amazement.

"I hated what my country was doing to the rest of the world. I would rather die honorably, than be the king of an empire who killed millions of innocents and ruled unfairly," I said, my voice shaking, and my fists clenching. I absolutely hated Ozai. Aang smiled at this.

"Good to know that there are still good people from the Fire Nation these days," he said. "But why aren't you with your family?"

"I hate that city. I mean sure, the walls are great and all, but the streets are dirty, it's crowded, and there's crime everywhere. Omashu is great, especially the mail delivery system." As I finished the last of my sentence Aang brightened up even more.

"I wanted to take Katara and Sokka there right after this!" he exclaimed, getting more excited by the minute. "I used to ride it a hundred years ago. It was a blast!"

"You better believe it is," I said. An idea flickered in my mind as I looked at my bulging pockets full of tips.

"What if I told you, that I can take you there and we can ride it, no hassle?" Aang nearly fell out of his chair. Sokka and Katara were smiling brightly as well.

"That would be awesome! But… how?"

"Just watch…" I said, smirking. I motioned for them to get up, and told the cook that I would be heading home. He nodded and we made our way to the delivery system.

As we arrived, Aang was almost jumping up and down, and Katara and Sokka were standing there, mouths agape. I bet all they saw at the South Pole was ice and penguins. We made our way to the top of the system, via a huge set of stairs. As we made our way to one of the carts, an earth bender approached us. Obviously upset that some kids were up here.

"Hey! What are you doing, this is a restricted area!" he yelled, and Aang was about to speak up, but I put my hand on his shoulder. Calmly I walked up to the guard, reached into my pocket, and slipped him 10 gold pieces. These guys weren't paid very well.

"In that case… go right on ahead. Believe me, it's a fun ride," the guard said, his tone changed considerably. He nodded to me and we all stepped into a cart.

"On second thought... I don't think this is going to be very fun," Katara said, who was absolutely terrified. Sokka was almost shaking. Aang and I laughed, and we pushed our cart down the path. All of a sudden, we were rocketing down the slide, all four of us screaming as loud as our lungs allowed us to. As we approached a crossroads, I noticed that there was a stopped cart right in front of our path. I gulped, and at the last second it dropped, filled with cargo. As soon as we were about to go by, another cart appeared, and we had no chance of missing this one. Our cart smashes into the other, and we derail, skidding along rooftops, all still screaming. Our momentum carries us into a cabbage stall, and we smash through it, the merchant very upset; various shops and items whiz by, people jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. The cart hits a rock in the road, and the next thing I know, I'm thrown out, and I land with a hard thud on the ground. I land in a side alley, and I see Aang, Sokka, and Katara surrounded by guards. I curse to myself and slip away, unnoticed by the guards. I have a deep cut on my arm, and my head is killing me. Nothing some tea and medicine won't fix, I think. I just hope they don't get punished too severely.

Two Days Later

My arm is heavily bandaged, and I'm back to work again. Its lunch hour, and I'm rushing left and right, going from table to table. The restaurant is very loud, full of people talking, and it hurts my head even more. Eventually, the room clears out, and I'm alone once again, the other waiters and waitresses on their lunch break. I sit down for some tea. I breathe in and out, and notice the small flames emulating from my mouth as I try to relax. I can't believe I didn't tell Aang I was a fire bender. The Avatar's destiny is to master all four elements. After they go to the North Pole, and he masters water bending, I can become his fire bending teacher. Where else is he going to find one? As I sit and think, sipping my tea, I notice that someone is walking towards me, looking up, I nearly spit out the hot liquid, as I see Katara making her way to where I'm sitting. I can't believe my good fortune.

"Hey! Are you guys all okay? It's all my fault that you guys got arrested." I said, regret laced in my words. Katara just smiled and said something I never thought she would.

"You should come with us Luzon. Aang and Sokka really like you, and you're really a nice guy. Besides, you've got enough money to last you a lifetime here." She motions to my pocket, once again bulging with tips.

"I'd love to, Katara. I just need to talk to the cook." She nodded and I made my way to the kitchen. Opening the door, I found the fat old cook butchering some fresh meat.

"Whaddya want?" the old cook drawled.

"Uh, I'm quitting. Duty calls y'know?" I said quickly, and was met with eyes of fire.

"Quitting?! Please tell me you're fucking joking!" the cook cursed, spit flying everywhere.

"No sir, and no need to pay me, I've got enough," I said, before ducking out of the door, and running out to the street, the cook chasing me with a cleaver.

I run around the corner, dodging pedestrians and running through merchant stands, trying to evade the crazy blade-wielding cook. After awhile, I'm pretty sure his body weight worked against him, and he stopped pursuing me after a few blocks. Breathing hard and laughing, I catch my breath and go to meet up with Sokka and crew.

"These tips will be enough for me," I laughed.

"Luzon buddy! Glad to see you're okay. You ready to head out?" I nodded and smiled at Aang. I noticed that they were all in very high spirits, considering the fact they were just arrested. We left the city gates, and back across the winding bridge that led out of the city. As we made our way into the forest outside the city, I was nearly scared to death by a deafening roar and a huge beast that rose out of the bushes. Aang just laughed.

"This is Appa; he's my flying bison, and my best friend." A winged bat looking thing flew over and landed on my shoulder, looking at me curiously. I laughed, as he was obviously curious about the newcomer.

"That's Momo, he's my pet flying lemur." Aang said. I petted Momo on the head and he chirped happily.

"Guys," I began, nervous about telling them about my secret. "I know that the Avatar's destiny is to master water, earth, fire, and air. So, after we master water and earth, what about fire, you might ask?" They all looked on curiously, wondering what I was about to tell them. "Where are you going to find a fire bending master? Well… I'm a fire bender. I'm not a master, but I learned from the best." They all collectively gasped. After a moment of silence, Sokka finally spoke up.

"Well, I'm glad you're with us now. I know that you're a good guy, and it would be nice to have a fire bender that isn't trying to burn us." I nodded.

"It's nice to know you told us sooner rather than later. That really took some stress off," said Aang. I smiled and tried to climb on top of Appa. I might have hit a sensitive spot because he roared and threw me off his back. I landed on the ground with a hard thud, another headache looming. Everybody laughed and Katara helped me up onto Appa, and they were eager to continue their journey.

"Yip yip." Appa roared in response, and almost immediately we were soaring into the sunset, on our way to the North Pole.