Okay the last chapter wasn't funny. This one isn't either. I know I'm gonna get flamed. So I will warn ya now OOC-ness, but you'll get it next chapter.


It had been years since he had been home. Finally the war was over. So much reconstruction needed to be done that it would take a life time. But before he returned home, there was still something he needed to take care of. It didn't take much to learn where Admiral Dhai had relocated his family after the fall of the Fire Nation.

Zuko looked up at the large gate through his shaggy black hair. The large property was surrounded in a steal fence. He shook his head. They gave themselves away as Fire Nation, especially in such a remote Earth Kingdom providence. He looked down at the tattered clothes he had on and the filth that covered him. A small grin curled over his lips as he knocked on the gate. A small round woman opened the gate just a crack and looked out.

"Can I help you?" He nodded his head at her.

"I would like to speak the lord of the house there miss." The portly woman looked over the boy the back up to his face that was hidden behind unkempt hair and dirt.

"What business do you have?" The youth shrugged his shoulders.

"Looking for hire, just need temporary work." The woman shook her head.

"I don't think the lord needs anyone."

"Kinada? Who the hell are you talking to?" A loud voice boomed behind her. She glared daggers at the dirty boy then turned back to her master.

"A hermit, sir. He wants work." The gate shut only to open moments later with the large Admiral glaring down at him.

"What kind of work?" The boy looked up at him through his hair.

"Any kind sir."

"I have need for a mucker." Zuko nodded.

"I will take anything you can give me." The large man nodded.

"Good then, Kinada will show you where you will stay." Zuko grinned.

"Perfect." He followed the pudgy woman to the far end of the property, where a small one room shamble of a shack stood. She snarled her nose and looked over him again.

"Here is where you stay." With that she walked off. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, having to turn sideways to shut the door. The room was big enough, a small bed and a fire pot in the corner. He stepped out the door and found his work immediately. The stench from the stalls where the ostrich-horses were kept was unbearable, not to mention up wind from his shack. He turned and surveyed the lay out of the land. It was perfect, the small gardens were just behind his shack and off to the left.

He worked diligently for a week before he saw her. She had grown into the woman he always knew she would be. Her silky hair was kept in braided buns, and her ruby kimono was never out order. Her eyes were just as brilliant and as breathtaking as he remembered them. She was tall and lean, not sickly skinny like some of the other fire nation women had become, but full of curves. He grinned as she and her ladies in waiting past by the stalls on the way to the gardens. And just like in the past, Mai Su stuck her nose up at him.

He finished mucking out the stables early that night, while the ladies were still in the garden. He returned to his little shack, he pulled a golden bracelet from under the mattress. He took his blade in hand and walked out to sit against the side of the shack. As he shaped the gold and carved it, the metal sparkled in the setting sun light. As he planned, the women stopped as they walked by. Mai Su flipped her fan open to cover her face trying to avoid the smell as she looked down at the bracelet.

"You are a fine craftsman Mucker, I would like to have the bracelet." Zuko looked up at her with a small grin.

"And what price will you give me for it." Mai Su frowned, she was used to getting what she wanted for free, but what else could she expect from a lowly urchin.

"I have plenty of money, what price do you want." He smiled looked back down to the gold as he continued to carve the lotus blossoms.

"A kiss, and you can have it." Mai Su almost dropped her fan. She stared down at him in disgust. She snarled her nose at him.

"You disgusting cur!" Zuko nodded his head and pulled a ruby from his pocket setting the stone in the center of the lotus he had been working on. He moved the blade around the edge of the soft gold and sealed the gem in. Mai Su stared at the bracelet; she blinked a few times and started to walk away, but she stopped.

"I must have that bracelet. No one else has one. I would be the envy of all." She turned to her ladies in waiting. She walked back over to stand in front of the mucker.

"I want the bracelet." Zuko shrugged.

"My price hasn't changed." She huffed for a moment.

"Fine, but my ladies will hide us. I don't want anyone to see." Zuko smiled and stood up. The ladies stood around them, as Mai Su kissed him gently. He smiled and handed her the bracelet.

"Thank you my lady." She snarled her nose at him and turned away. She muttered as she walked back to the large house, he ladies behind her.

Two days had past since Zuko had given her the bracelet. He had watched her as he shoveled the shit from the stables. She was the perfect woman. Her beauty shown even into the night and on occasion he had heard her singing lessons and needless to say, she sung magnificently. That evening he again pulled 

a piece of gold from under his mattress and sat beside the shack. This time the gold was woven head dress. He braided the soft gold, and once the elegant netting was finished, he began to add the tiny ruby accents.

Mai Su watched the gold flicker. She wrung her hands as he placed each shining ruby in it's place.

"Ki-My, go ask him what he wants for the head piece, but no kisses this time." The meek lady in waiting did as she was asked. She walked over to Zuko and looked down at him.

"Mai Su, wants to know the price of that piece, but she says no kiss." Zuko smiled up at the girl and shook her head.

"The price for this one is a little better that just a peck." Ki-My covered her mouth with her sleeve.

"Oh no, Mai su would never do that."

"No? Sorry, that's the price." Zuko said and turned to look back to his craft. He had watch his mother weave jewelry often when he was a child, he had never had use for it until now. He listened for the shriek as Ki-My reported back to Mai Su. Three. Two. One.

"WHAAAAT?" Zuko didn't have to look up. He could feel her stomping his way.

"Where do you get off asking for such?! You are a pervert and a filthy hermit."

"You ask me my price, I told you." He looked up at her with a smile. She stomped her foot as she looked down at the gold.

"What is your name cur?" Zuko blinked for a moment. He hadn't planned on her asking that. His mind reeled for a moment, suddenly an image of a humorous moron popped into his head.

"Sokka." She stared down at him.

"Well, Sokka, I'll pay your price, only if you don't ask for this again." Zuko nodded. Again the ladies hid them. Mai Su snarled her nose as she looked at him. He didn't look any cleaner than the first time she saw him. She closed her eyes, not so much as she thought she was supposed to, but more along the lines as to not to look at what she was kissing, which actually worked in his favor. With her eyes open at this distance she would have been able to see his scar much better, and that might have given him away. He smiled as her lips touched his, she gave him a little room, and it wasn't but a second until their tongues slid over one another. His tongue ran over her lips as she pulled back. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she stared at him. She frowned deeper. As dirty as he was, and the stench that carried off of him, she expected him to taste like the manure he shoveled. But he had very little taste to him, and what taste he did have reminded or of rice cake. She jerked the head dress out of his hand and placed it on her head. The gold braiding fit close to her head, and the openings at the back fit snuggly over her buns. Again she mutter and stomped off, her ladies in waiting close behind her.

Zuko laid in his bed that night, staring up at the half rotten wooden roof. He closed his eyes as he thought of Mai, not the daughter of his current employer, but the friend of his sister. He hadn't thought much of her when he was younger, but then there was the time during his last year that they became rather close. They were so close to one another. He felt deeply for her, but he couldn't honestly say he loved her. Maybe it was their lack of time spent together since he left.

His lips curled up in a cruel smirk. Next time he wouldn't change the price, but a good surprise would be waiting for little Mai Su.


R&R