"You three must not be from around here, we know better than to touch the white jade. Much less make it into tea and drink it" Song, their doctor scolded.
"Oops" Iroh laughed, his face now bloated.
"So where are you travelling from?" Song asked.
"Yes, we're travellers!" Zuko exclaimed suddenly, making Kahlee face palm.
"Do you have names?" Song inquired.
"Names…yes, of course we have names. I'm…Li…and this is my Uncle, uh…Mushi" Zuko replied.
"Yes, my nephew was named after his father so we just call him Junior" Iroh smiled smugly, as Zuko did a stopping gesture.
"And what's your name?" Song questioned.
"Um…Ming…" Kahlee trailed off, with a frown.
"Mushi, Junior and Ming, huh? My name is Song. You three look like you could use a good meal, why don't you stay for dinner?" Song suggested.
"Sorry, but we need to be moving on" Zuko insisted.
"That's too bad. My mum always make too much roast duck" Song explained.
"Where do you live exactly?" Iroh smiled.
"My daughter tells me you're refugees. We were once refugees ourselves" Song's mother announced, as she placed more food on the table.
Kahlee hardly heard what she was saying, far too interested in stuffing as much food into her mouth as possible.
"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father" Song informed them.
"I haven't seen my father in many years" Zuko admitted.
"Oh…is he fighting in the war?" Song asked.
"Yeah" Zuko replied.
"Excuse me" Kahlee said, standing up and leaving the room, her appetite gone.
Zuko soon followed her, concerned. He found her out on the porch, her chin resting on top of her knees.
"Are you alright?" He questioned.
"Yeah…I was just thinking about my father…I never knew him" Kahlee sighed.
"He might not be dead" Zuko suggested.
"He is…I can feel it" Kahlee mumbled.
"I'm sorry" Zuko said, quietly.
"Do you think after this is all over with…we could find out what happened to him and my mother?" Kahlee inquired.
"Of course we can" He stated, putting his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it.
"Can I join you?" Song announced, surprising them both.
"I know what you've been through, we've all been through it. The Fire Nation has hurt you" Song reckoned, as she tried to reach out to touch Zuko's scar, but he quickly pushed her hand away.
"It's okay, they've hurt me too" Song admitted, pulling her trousers up to reveal burns on her leg.
Zuko's face softened for a moment, before he excused himself and walked back into the house.
"He's not good with words" Kahlee told her, before she followed him.
"Thank you for the duck. It was excellent" Iroh smiled, as they began to depart.
"Yeah, it's the best thing I've had in a while" Kahlee added.
"You're welcome. It brings me joy to see someone eating my food with such…gusto" Song's mother responded, as she passed him some food parcels.
"Much practise" Iroh said, patting his stomach.
"Junior! Where are your manners? You need to thank these nice people" Iroh insisted.
"Thank you" Zuko stated, as he bowed.
"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned" Song called out, making Kahlee cringe at her choice of words.
"I know" Zuko snapped, walking away.
Once they had walked out of their property, Zuko spotted their ostrich horse and started to pull it away.
"What are you doing? These people just showed you great kindness" Iroh scolded.
"They are about to show us a little more kindness…well?" Zuko asked, holding out a hand.
"We are terrible people" Kahlee sighed, as she took his hand and jumped on, Iroh getting on behind her.
Meanwhile, Azula had just had her first encounter with the Avatar, and was starting to understand why no one had been able to capture him. She had met up with her old friends Mai and Ty Lee to help her capture the traitors. After seeing Kahlee again, she had been feeling somewhat nostalgic and had hoped being around old friends would help. However, it didn't feel the same without Kahlee. She knew that Mai and Ty Lee had not chosen to be friends with her, they had been chosen by her father and forced into it. Kahlee had been forced to be her firebending master, but never to become her friend. She supposed she had turned away her only real friend.
They were sitting on a blanket, their ostrich horse resting behind them in the hot sun. Kahlee looked up when she saw a cart carrying the Blue Spirit mask pass by, noticing that Zuko saw this too.
"Spare coins for weary travellers?" Iroh asked a man, who dropped a piece.
"This is humiliating. We're royalty, these people should be giving us whatever we want" Zuko stated.
"Sometimes I forget what an idiot you are…and then you say something like that and it all comes back to me" Kahlee retorted, her patience wearing thin.
"I'm just not used to living like this" Zuko said, resting his face on his hand.
"Well I am. When I went out begging when I was younger I was lucky if I got three coins in a day" She admitted.
"You used to beg?" Zuko inquired.
"I did have a life before you, you know" Kahlee laughed.
"I think it's because I ask more nicely than you did" Iroh grinned.
"Spare change for a hungry old man?" Iroh pleaded, as a woman walked past.
"Aw, here you go" She replied, throwing him a piece.
"The coin is appreciated but not as much as your smile" He said, making the girl giggle.
Kahlee and Zuko both face palmed in disgust at the cheesy line.
"How about some entertainment in exchange for a gold piece?" A man questioned, with a smug smile.
"We're not performers" Zuko informed him.
"Not professionals anyway" Iroh smiled, as he got up and started to sing.
"Come on we're talking about a gold piece here, let's see some action" He insisted, drawing out his broad swords.
Things had gone far enough for Kahlee, and using the water from their water pouch, she pulled his swords away, grabbing them.
"Actually I think these will do fine" She smirked.
"Hey, give those back!" The man shouted.
He tried to grab them off her, but she placed one of them near his throat, as he quickly backed off, grumbly as he went.
"What?" Kahlee asked, when she saw Iroh giving her a disapproving look.
Before Iroh could say anything a man dropped three gold pieces into their bowl, surprising them on.
"I always have enough money to spare for a fellow waterbender" The man explained, with a smile, as he walked away.
"And that is how you gain broadswords and three gold pieces" Kahlee said smugly, sitting back down.
"I think we have a problem" Zuko announced, when he saw a wanted poster of them all being put up from across the street.
"Time to go" Iroh insisted, packing their stuff up.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've got to the last episode of Korra, and I'm trying not to watch it because I don't want it to be over:( I'm going to miss the Avatar series on TV a lot. Please leave a review:)