Zuko followed the crowd of slaves to the food room. He had woken up in a cell this morning. The last thing he remembered from the day before was Sokka thinking this was all part of his plan. Ugh.
Scanning the crowd for any possible allies, he saw the little boy from before. One of the people that led him to dinner on that fateful night, The Duke was it?
Limping over to the small boy about the age of eight, he didn't spot anyone else from their little group.
The Duke stared at his shoes. He could see the marks of where he would scuff his shoes on something hard. Feeling a presence next to himself, he continued to stare at his shoes in fear. He was alone in an unknown land, and he was as scared as a little boy could be after seeing a horror play come and attack the audience with out warning.
"Are you all right?"
The Duke moved his head down farther into his helmet and stayed silent, hoping the monster would just leave and stop taunting him.
"The Duke, are you all right?"
Sniffling quietly, The Duke looked up, curious as to how this person knew his name. Dark brown met gold.
Zuko gave a small smile to the younger boy, hoping it would give The Duke some hope that they could make it through this.
Much to Zuko's joy, The Duke smiled back warmly. It only lasted a second though because The Duke returned to looking at his worn out shoes and the slight frown on his young face returned.
"The Duke, want to hear some advice?" Zuko asked the small boy. The little boy didn't answer but Zuko still continued.
"The Duke, you should never give into despair. If you allow yourself to slip down that road then you will surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength." Zuko quoted, impersonating his Uncle Iroh.
The Duke burst out laughing, making a ghost of a smile appear on Zuko's face. "That-That was the funniest impersonation I have ever heard!" The Duke squealed in delight forgetting what predicament he was in.
"Yeah, my Uncle Iroh told me that though. It means that even though everything seems bad and impossible, you have to hope and keep your self going, knowing that the dark and impossible won't last forever."
"Wow."
Zuko chuckled quietly. "Wow? That's all you have to say? You little munchkin, just for that, you are going to get it." Zuko got up and before The Duke could do anything about it, Zuko scooped him up and held him against his chest and started walking with The Duke in his arms.
The Duke couldn't stop laughing and squealing in delight, as he tried to escape Zuko's hold. Both boys could feel a lot of eyes on them, but right now, they just didn't care becuase they were having fun.
They each made it to an empty table, still not finding their friends. "Stay here, The Duke." Zuko ordered setting him down on a seat. Zuko didn't want The Duke to get hurt or lost when he couldn't protect him. The Duke nodded his head making his oversized helmet fall down to his nose. Smiling softly at the scene, Zuko departed, limping in the food's direction.
After getting two meals, if you could call them that, he left for the direction of his table, but stopped.
A girl about The Duke's age lay on the floor crying with her hands on her face. People around her just walked on bye, ignoring the young crying girl. Enraged by the other people's generosity, or lack of it, he walked over to the girl and squatted down.
"Get lost."
Surprise covered Zuko's face, but being a stubborn person he retorted that he wouldn't.
"Get lost." The girl repeated.
Zuko's patience was running thin. He looked around for any guardians, seeing none he stood up.
"Good, you're leaving."
Narrowing his good eye to the same size as his scarred one, he reached out for her and plopped her in his arms ignoring her shouts to put him down.
As Zuko reached the table, he placed his food down in front of him and gave The Duke his food. Setting the girl down next to him, he asked her what her name was.
Sticking her nose in the air, she ignored him.
Growling, he asked her again but this time with more force. She looked in his direction, then smirked and said nothing.
"Alright, I understand your hesitance, but I need to know about you and I would like to call you something other then 'girl.' Please, everyone is having a hard time, it's not just you." Zuko pleaded, trying a different approach.
When she said nothing, Zuko's anger boiled. He was not going to let her win this one. "Fine, if you enjoy being alone and forced to fend for yourself, then be my guest." he snarled out.
"I am not alone, pig-head!" She froze. She wasn't supposed to say anything!
Zuko smirked. He had just gained information on the mysterious girl. "We aren't going to hurt you, peasant girl." Zuko added 'peasant' in there because he knew how it aggravated the water tribe siblings and thought it might work on the young girl. He was right.
"I am not a peasant pig-head and I have a name." Realizing her mistake, she glowered at the man that had tricked her.
"Okay, so you have someone you know here with you, you are relatively new here, and you have a name." Zuko said putting together what she had said so far and the clues he had picked up.
She sighed. "Yes, I have a name."
When she didn't say anything more, Zuko decided it was time to stop talking and eat before that time came. The Duke had already started eating and was almost done. Glancing to his side, he saw the girl still sitting with her nose held high and eyes glaring. Sighing loudly, he took his uneaten meal and slid it over, so it lay in front of the small girl.
She looked down in surprise. All she had said to this stranger was mean, and now he was giving her his food. She ate the first bite reluctantly, but as soon as it entered her mouth she started slurping down the rest as fast as she could.
"H-how long has it been since you've eaten?" Zuko questioned, while he watched her devour the blobs of food.
"I think about three days." She really had no clue. It was far too long in her book.
"Who were you traveling with?"
This man didn't sound like he was a Waru spy. Biting her bottom lip, she nodded cautiously.
Seeing her nod, Zuko knew she was going to talk to him.
"You first, then I will tell about myself. I promise," she told him, holding out her pinky for him.
Zuko smiled, he remembered doing pinky swears with Azula when they were little. Taking his pinky and wrapping it around hers, they shook. "I promise." He trusted this girl. His instincts told him she was alright.
Zuko told her his name and about how he left to the woods and saw the Waru there. He portrayed who else came with him here, though Zuko did leave out that he was a firenation prince and that Aang was the avatar, just in case. He told her about how Sokka reacted and how he found The Duke.
Both children listened intently to his story, hanging onto each word he said.
"Why didn't Sokka trust you before?" She questioned innocently.
"That's a different story. Now it is your turn."
Biting her lip in worry, she began, "My name is Keiko. I, um, I came here with my mother." She paused, her lips were quivering. After taking a moment to continue, she started again, "My mommy started to fight the Waru after we arrived here and they took her somewhere away from me. I know she is still here and I plan to rescue her." Her voice held strong determination near the end and they nodded in understanding.
"Alright, so here's the plan. We all stick together and rescue everyone, and I mean everyone as in all the slaves, together." The Duke said quietly so only their table heard. The Duke placed a hand in front of himself. "You guys in?"
"Duh," Keiko replied, placing her hand on top of The Duke's.
With out replying, Zuko placed his hand on top of the two children's hands and gave a smile that raised all hope and determination in every one of them.
A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know what you all are thinking. That those three are going to save everyone and I am mean because Aang and the Gang won't be doing anything. Well, you are wrong. They are just the beginning, the ones to set things in place for everyone else, so I can have all of them in the story together. If you weren't thinking that, good for you. :)
Also, I decided that writing 'slave capturers' is really annoying and I think that people living in the slave den would give them a name that's not 'slave capturers.' And that name is Waru. Waru means evil in Japanese and Keiko means sunny child in Japanese if you are wondering.