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Disclaimer: see prologue

Chapter Two – This Is Life Now. . .

...1 Year later...

Aang

14th February, 3:17 pm 2002

On a bus

Aang shifted in his seat, he was on a bus to his new housing. The Monastery had been letting him stay with them but, Zuko was right. Things changed and the smaller boy had to retrain himself in almost everything. Because he had been abandoned as a baby and then growing up in the monastery – later becoming the youngest Monk in Elementalist Monastery, Aang had no experience with then-current technology. He had to learn how to use this technology and to get use to this technology. He'd stopped flinching, Aang was proud of that.

Smiling, the still long-hair boy clutched his bag tightly to his chest; there was no way he was going to lose all he held precious in the world. He glanced quickly out the window; the buildings were transforming before his eyes. The smaller, run-down houses and shops were disappearing, replaced with elegant houses ('More like mansion...,' Aang thought), large flash shopping centres and huge, spacious parks.

Suddenly he saw a large red building and he remembered – "Press the 'NEXT STOP' button when you see a large red building with the words, Ba Sing Se (s) Cinemas. The house is just down the road, okay?" Quickly, he pressed the big red button and the bus slowly stopped. Still clutching his bag, Aang rushed to the front of the bus, where the driver had opened the door for him. Smiling brightly, he bowed to the surprised driver, "Thank you!"

Startled, the driver mumbled a welcome before closing the doors (he's opened the back too, for another passenger) and drove off. He smiled, though, that was one of the first kind things a passenger have ever done.

Walking down the street, Aang rummaged through his pocket until he successfully pulled out a folded, wrinkly piece of paper. Unfolding it, he carefully followed the instructions to the kind old man's house. Aang grinned as he thought about his new guardian. He was an elder man, with a full-head of silvery hair and a huge beard and mustache and loved tea and that board game Ge'atso use to play. Iroh Firelore.

Soon, he was standing in front of Iroh's house. Feeling nervous, Aang quickly adjusted his pale blue snowhat before knocked lightly on the solid door, hope no-one would see him waiting there and start asking questions. The door, however, quickly swung open, revealing the jolly man he just thought about.

Grinning, he cheered, "Iroh!"

Smiling himself, Iroh ruffled Aang's hair before pulling him inside. "Yep! You looked better from the last time I saw you, how do you feel?" Iroh referred back to when he's seen Aang in his coma-state, but Aang smiled thinking he was referring back to their brief introduction four weeks ago.

"Yeah, a lot better! I know how to use a computer, television, MP3 player and almost everything else!" Waving his arms semi-crazy like, he added, "I even own a cellular phone! Isn't that great!"

Chuckling, Iroh sat on the couch, watching Aang flop down across from him. "A cell phone, Aang, or a mobile. I you go around calling your phone a cellular phone, you might get your butt kicked, kay?" As he said this, Iroh couldn't help but notice that his new resident didn't have more than one small bag. "Aang? Wh-where's the rest of your things? Surely, you have more than this?" he held up the small raggyed duffle bag.

"Hmm?" Looking up, Aang flashed the older man a small smile before saying, "No, that's all of it... All of my surviving belongings."

"Oh..." Iroh drifted off into an awkward silences, but then Aang giggled. "Huh?"

"All my new stuff's going to arrive in the next day or two," the boy giggled as Iroh scoffed slightly.

Smiling, Iroh noticed Aang's eyes dropping. 'He must be really tired...' he thought. Getting up, he pulled the younger boy up by his clothed arm, "Come on, you must be tired. I'll show you to your room, okay?"

Half asleep, the monk gave a almost nod; allowing Iroh to drag him along. The reached Aang's new room in no time, said boy quickly slipped on the bed and was soon asleep. Iroh watched him, a hint

of a smile present on his face. Before leaving, he quietly packed away Aang's things. Kissing the slumbering child's forehead, the scruffy faced man left for the kitchen.

He was hungry for some reason.

–. –2 Hours Later–.–

The front door swung open and a handsome young man, about 16 years old, stepped through. He had chin-length black hair and stood at 6 foot; dressed casually in jeans and a sloggened shirt, he looked good. His most distinguishing feature was, however, a disfiguring scar that cover almost all of his left eyes. Slamming the door closed, he called out, "Uncle! I'm home!"

"Zuko?" Iroh called back in question. "What are you doing home so early? I thought you were visiting your father and sister?"

Scoffing, Zuko plopped down onto the couch – the same one Iroh and Aang sat on just hours earlier, wriggling to get comfortable. "Yeah, like I'd stay there long! Azula was driving me crazy, so I thought leaving early would be better if I didn't end up in jail for homicide..." He fell silent for a moment before asking, "So, how was your day? Did your new 'ward' arrive yet?"

The younger boy hear his uncle laugh as he headed to the sitting room. Zuko smiled, he hadn't heard his uncle laughter in a while, 'Stupid family!' he thought.

"Yes, Aang is here. Actually he was really tired, so he's in bed..." Iroh glanced at his nephew, 'Would he?' he thought.

Feeling his uncle's gazed, Zuko huffed, "Okay, what is it?"

"Huh? What's what? I wasn't going to ask anything..." the older said, smirking at the younger boy's knowing stare. "Well... there is something you could do for me."

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want me to do?"

Smiling, Iroh said, "Aang isn't very socialised and I was wondering if you could invite him out with you and your friends tomorrow." He emphasised 'invite' because he knew if he didn't Zuko would either not ask Aang at all or force him. "I want him to have a choice, okay?"

Frowning, Zuko pulled a face, "I wasn't gunna force him or nothing!" His uncle simple raised an eyebrow, "Fine, I might have... Hey! How'd you know I was gunna hang out with my friends tomorrow?

Winking, Iroh tapped his forehead and said, "Must be physic."

"Hmm, whatever... What's with the ward? Something wrong with him?" he asked, "He be abused or something?"

Smiling sadly, Iroh replied, "No, nothing like that... You still remember the boy who shared your mother's hospital room?"

"Yeah, Anil, why?"

"Yes, Aang Anil."

Zuko's eyes widened, "You mean – ?"

"Yep! The boy currently sleeping upstairs is the coma patient for a year – "

The kitchen door slowly opened and Aang poked his head through, his long hair covering his forehead. He was dressed in a high-collared, long-sleeved night shirt obviously too big for him and too long sleeping trousers, his bluey-grey eyes were heavy with sleep. "Iroh?" he asked quietly.

From where Aang stood, he couldn't see Zuko and the older teenager quickly sunk down, not yet willing to met the boy who kept his mother alive for so long. Nope, he had to think of what to say first.

Iroh chuckled as he moved over the the kitchen door, "Yes, Aang?"

"I – I can't sleep..."

"Why not?" Iroh asked, both confused and concerned.

Smiling slightly, the younger boy murmured, "It's one of the side effects, sever insomnia..."

"Oh" Iroh felt stupid, he should know all this! He read the report on all the side effects Aang will have to suffer because of 'cure' he had taken years ago; in it, it mentioned all of the medication the young monk now had to take and what Iroh had to do for Aang's general care.

Giving the older man he had started to feel as an uncle, Aang waved him off. "It's alright, no-one can expect you to memorise everything in one go! I was just wondering where this monstrous library you have mentioned only a hundred times is. I thought I's have a squizz of the books."

Laughing, Iroh gave the young man direction and sent him on his way. Just before he left, he added, "I'll be by in an hour or two to check on you. See if you can get any sleep, okay?"

"Kay, 'night..."

Turning to Zuko, Iroh murmured, "It's getting late, and you got friends to hang out with tomorrow."

Smiling, Zuko caught the not-so-subtle way of telling him to go to bed, "Alright, goodnight Uncle."

"Goodnight, nephew-mine."

Chapter Two END

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