Well, they were due to come home in about five months. Annoyingly. She had gotten money to spend for the six months they were gone. Normally, she had more than enough to last through these months, but if she didn't she could get odd jobs. Then she felt something in her shoe like a rock. Taking off the shoe, she found some coins. "Oh yeah. I put it there a week ago," she remembered. She walked over to the food shop nearest to her and asked for a fire pepper. Spotting the boy, she handed him another coin after getting the spicy pepper with her bored look on. Then she walked away, taking a bite out of the pepper.

Fen stared at the coin in his hand. Then he glanced at the girl who gave it to him. She was walking away now, casually eating her fire pepper. He looked back at the con, then scowled. He wasn't a beggar. She should've given him the money when he earned it, meaning when he was fire-bending, not after the fact when he wasn't. Why didn't she give it to him when he finished? Probably just found it he thought, But I'm no beggar. He clenched his fist and looked around. He easily spotted the fiery-headed girl and ran up to her. He grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the pepper and shoved the coin into it. "Thanks," he said, "but you're 'make-myself-feel-good-by-giving-the-beggar-boy-money' deal doesn't work for me. I'm not a beggar and I don't do charity,"

Ea just looked at him in a curious manner. "Wow, that was a long adjective," she commented dryly, "do you often throw a bunch of words together to make an adjective?" She took another bite of the pepper. Hey, this one is actually fresh, she thought. After a short pause of silence, Ea handed the coin back. "I have no idea what you are talking about. When'd I call you a beggar and give you charity?" Okay, sometimes she said and did things without remembering, but that hardly ever happened. She then shoved her hands in her pockets so the black-haired, black-eyed kid could not give it back.

Fen exasperatingly blew his hair from his eyes. Boy, is she really this dense? He thought. "That's not the point," he said, "I never said that you called me a beggar, but you did give me charity. This," he held up the coin, "I didn't earn it. You just gave it to me out of sympathy. That's charity, which is something you rich people tend to do a lot,"

Looking at the kid with one eyebrow raised, Ea told the boy, "So you didn't earn it? Then why the hell were you doing those tricks? Didn't see you complaining when all those other people gave you money. In fact, you looked quite pleased with yourself,"

Fen rolled his eyes, "If you gave me the coin right after, as in, directly after the show, when I was bowing and all, then I'd have earned it. But you gave it to me way after when I wasn't doing anything. Therefore, I didn't earn it," Fen glared at her, "Duh,"

Ea gave Fen a you-are-a-stupid-little-kid smirk, "Well, I couldn't find my wallet after the performance and I found the coin afterwards and saw you and thought I might as well pay you. So don't roll your eyes at me," she took another bite out of her pepper, then held out her other hand, "Hell, if you don't want it, I might as well have it back; Get another one of these peppers,"

Fen stuck out his tongue, "I can do anything I want, you're not my mom," The last bit blurted out unexpectedly. His neck throbbed and he blinked rapidly, as if he could blink the memory away. He glanced at the coin, shrugged, and handed it over, "Here you go. One Fire Pepper ready to be bought,"

Ea noticed he acted strange after he said 'mom', but she didn't press the matter. Snatching the coin back, she snapped, "Well then, thank you". Shoving the coin in her pocket, she stalked off, yet again pissed off.

Fen cupped his hands around his mouth, "You're welcome!" he yelled, then watched her depart into the food store. He figured he could peeve her further by going into the same store, but decided against it. He went into the one next to it and ordered noodles. It was a long time since he had had noodles and been able to pay for it. As he waited for the noodles to cook, he watched the girl walk off with her pepper, no doubt bored. She walked by the food place he was eating at and he made a face behind her back. She didn't seem to notice and she walked further on.

Trying to be the better person, Ea attempted not to say anything, but after a few steps, she couldn't help it. She turned around and flicked the boy off. Naturally, this caused a mild disturbance in the people around her, who started muttering stuff like, "so rude" "no respect" and "kids these days". Of course, she was every used to this sort of thing, as she always seemed to be doing things that set off that kind of response.

Fen was a bit surprised when the girl flicked him off for the face he made. He didn't even think she had noticed. Nevertheless, he returned the favor with both of his hands, triggering another scene of hushed scoldings about their behavior. The girl didn't add any more gestures and walked off. Fen watched her choice of direction with narrowed eyes. The dusty street split into three sections: straight, left and right. The girl turned right and Fen's mind raced. Why the hell did she choose right? "Oy! You're going the wrong way!" he yelled, but the girl didn't respond and continued walking.

What does he mean 'the wrong way'? This is the way I live. I could walk it in the dark. Stupid little kid. Ea just continued walking.

Fen turned back towards the counter. Stupid girl he thought Why was she going right? What if she met Zheng? Why the heck did he care so much? It was just some random girl. Some stupid random girl. Fen rubbed the back of his neck and pulled the high collar of his shirt up to hide his scar.