The sun streaming through the window woke Zuko, he had gotten used to finding himself back in his room above the Jasmine Dragon. Soon he remembered that a week ago had been the celebration of the Earth King's return and, of course, the people responsible for ending the war had been invited. Aang had suggested they all stay in the city and relax for a while, no one had moved into the house he, Katara, Sokka, and Toph had stayed in and they had room for Suki as well, they offered Zuko to stay there but he had decided to stay with Uncle in his tea shop.
He enjoyed the week, he knew there was a lot of work ahead of them so a chance to relax and celebrate what they had accomplished had been a very good idea but he still had one more job to do before he could help restore the world and it had already been delayed longer than he expected. He put on clothes fitting the style of the Earth Kingdom; he would travel faster as just another traveler than as Fire Lord Zuko, and began packing the supplies he would need.
He had just finished packing when Uncle came into his room. "All ready?" He asked. Zuko nodded as he lifted his bag of supplies, he had tried to keep it light but he was glad he had bought an ostrich-horse to ride. "Are you sure you want to go alone?"
"I'm sure, it's not that far and I know you have plenty of work to do here." Zuko answered. "I just hope she hasn't moved again." He sighed. Ozai had said that the last he knew of, Ursa had gone to a small village that had been one of the first Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom after her banishment but when Zuko arrived there she was nowhere to be found. Just when he had been ready to assume his father had lied, which would not have surprised him, Zuko ran into a woman who had lived next door to her for a few years but they said she moved to an Earth Kingdom village east of Ba Sing Se.
"You will find her," Iroh said resting an encouraging hand on Zuko's shoulder. "I'm sure she will come back to the Fire Nation once word about your pardons reaches her."
Zuko was not so sure, when he asked the woman who told him about his mother's move why she left, she answered that Ursa had said something about not feeling at home there. He had shared the woman's confusion about why someone who had lived her entire life in the mainland of the Fire Nation would expect to feel more at home on the other side of the world in the Earth Kingdom than in a colony of her homeland, unless she liked life in the Earth Kingdom better. "She might want to stay, she has been living there for years after all, but I want to see her again." He had no intention of forcing his mother to come back, though he hoped she would want to, but after years of thinking she was dead he had to see her again.
"It might take her longer than the others to get everything in order, but if I know my sister-in-law she will want to come back." Iroh assured his nephew. Just then they heard familiar voices downstairs in the shop.
They both went down the stairs to see Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph standing at the door of the shop. "We thought we'd wish you good luck on your trip, and since we're all leaving the city today we might as well go together." Aang said. Zuko had told them about his plan to find his mother, he felt badly since he knew there was so much work to do that they would need his help with, but they all seemed to understand.
"Thanks, and I'll let you know as soon as I get back so we can get to work." As one of the few Nations that had suffered the least from the war, and caused the damage in the others, he figured the Fire Nation would have to support most of the efforts to rebuild.
"You've done everything we needed so far." Aang told him. "We need to get an idea of the damage done before we can figure out what else is needed." Zuko had returned all the Fire Nation colonies to their original nations though he had continued trade between them and the Fire Nation in order to help support the Earth Kingdom's economy, hopefully trade would resume between all the nations soon.
"But you will have to introduce us to your mother once you've found her." Katara added.
"Yeah, it'll be nice to meet the parent that isn't evil." Sokka added teasingly.
"Well, we had better get going." Suki pointed out, they had all planned to leave the city early so they could get back to their homes and figuring out how to repair the world.
"All aboard for another flying trip." Toph added, somewhat unenthusiastically.
It did not take long for Appa to reach the Outer Wall where Zuko had arranged for an ostrich-horse to be held for him. He waved from the ground as Appa flew away carrying the others to their own destinations. Paying the man who had kept the animal for him, guiltily remembering how he had acquired the last ostrich-horse he had ridden and reminding himself to visit that little village and repay the family, Zuko made his way eastward.