"I know that voice." Toph said, dropping her hands to her side, "You all can relax now." The earth bender returned to her seat, "You two can come out you know. Hiding in that bush probably isn't too comfortable."
Two figures emerged from the forest, both looking haggard and worn.
"Wait," Sokka said, mouth agape, "You're here to help us? Prince Zuko and General Iroh are here to help us. Well, well, well, what a surpri-"
"Shut up before I light your pitiful excuse for a ponytail on fire." Zuko said with a glare that quieted Sokka in seconds. Kurogane smirked; he liked this guy.
"It has come to our attention that the Avatar does not know fire bending." Iroh said, ignoring his nephew's actions, "And with the upcoming battle, it would be wise for him to learn, that is, if you're willing to accept our teachings."
Aang studied Zuko and Iroh for a minute. Both of them, now, seemed trustworthy, and they just added four new people to their group, what was two more? Aang rose to his feet and bowed to Iroh and Zuko, "Thank you for offering to teach me." He said with a grin before he sat back down, "I hope that we can put our past relationship behind us and become friends." Aang smiled even brighter.
Katara nodded approvingly at Aang's decision, and offered their new companions some fish, and Toph didn't seem to care all that much. Sokka looked extremely distraught, but he didn't say anything for fear of having his warrior's wolf tail burned off.
"It seems that your group has grown since we saw you last in Ba-sing-sei." Iroh commented before eating a bit of his fish, "It is an honor to meet friends of the Avatar. I am Iroh, and this is my nephew, Zuko." Iroh said cheerily. Zuko nodded in recognition of the group.
"It's nice to meet you!" Mokona said, popping out from under Fai's hood. The wizard appeared to be surprised that the creature had been hiding there, "This is Fai, Syaoran and Sakura! The scary one there is Kuro-tan!" Mokona introduced.
"Ku-ro-tan!" Fai echoed in a sing-song voice.
Kurogane snatched Mokona off of Fai's head and stuffed him into the magician's face. Then he pulled Fai's oversized hood down past his face. "It's Kurogane!" He growled.
Zuko smirked a bit at the three as they fought. He decided that he was probably going to like Kurogane.
"Kuro-chan, it's getting hard to breathe with both me and Mokona in here." Fai mumbled through the thick cloth. Kurogane made a "tch" noise and pulled the hood back. Mokona fell out of the hood and rolled over to Zuko and Iroh. Both the wizard and Mokona inhaled a deep breath of the evening air.
"Mokona could have died!" Mokona cried, standing to his feet.
"Like I'd care." Kurogane rolled his eyes and set about staring at the fire.
Iroh and Zuko looked at Mokona curiously, now having a better view of the being, "And what," Iroh began, "Might you be?"
"Mokona is Mokona!" Mokona said, holding out a paw to Iroh, "Shake!"
Iroh chuckled gently and shook Mokona's paw, "It's nice to meet you, Mokona."
Mokona turned to Zuko and held out his paw, "Zuko too!" Mokona said.
Zuko glared down at Mokona, "What the heck are you?"
Mokona sighed, "Mokona already said that Mokona is Mokona!" The creature huffed.
"You look like a rabbit." Zuko commented.
"That's what I said!" Sokka said, looking towards Zuko and Mokona.
"Mokona is Mokona." This time it was Fai that said it, and Mokona nodded before hopping over to Fai and landing up on his shoulder.
Before the discussion on Mokona continued, Syaoran changed the subject, "You two know fire bending?" Syaoran asked curiously.
"Yes," Iroh said, "Why do you ask?"
"We're world travelers, and don't know much about this world." Syaoran explained simply.
"Ah, I see." Iroh said, not needing any further convincing. However, Zuko looked totally confused, but he said nothing. "We will show you tomorrow when we teach the Avatar."
Syaoran grinned brightly at Iroh, "I can't wait." He said happily.
"Syaoran's really into learning about history and culture, huh?" Katara asked Sakura.
"Yes. Syaoran-kun likes to learn a lot about new worlds we go to." The princes smiled lightly.
"Hey, would you like to come to the market with me tomorrow?" Katara asked, "With all these new people here, I have to buy new supplies for our trip."
Sakura nodded, "I'd love to!" She said, smiling even brighter.
"Great! What about you Toph?" Katara asked, turning her head to Toph, who looked like she cared less, "Come one, it'll be a girl's day. All the boys are probably going to be training, and we deserve a break after drilling Aang the past few days. What do you say?"
"Why not?" Toph said, shrugging her shoulders, "I'll humor you."
Conversation spread throughout the now crowded camp as evening faded into night. When the moon was high, Katara pulled some water to the fire, putting it out, and everyone got ready for bed. Aang curled up on top of Appa, holding Mokona and Momo close, Zuko sat up against a nearby tree, Kurogane slept the same way, and Iroh slept on the ground near his nephew. Katara and Sakura rested on Appa's tail, Fai and Syaoran near them. Sokka was in his sleeping bag on the ground, and Toph had created herself a tent of earth away from everyone else. In almost no time at all, the group was silent and all were asleep.
