It was the morning of the third day of Azula's stay with Lao, she sat in the common room with the other students for breakfast. She sat among the students, no longer on Lao's right for she was no longer just a guest but now part of the community. The students didn't sit according to seniority as she assumed but according to agreement. They would however switch places with each other from time to time to get to know each other better and not make anyone feel left out. On her left and right set her roommates from the beds next to her in the sleeping room, Jhana and Mudita.

She learned that Jhana's name meant Joy and Mudita's Compassion and that they were both medics in the Fire Nation colonial armies. Jhana was about Maitri's age, Mudita a few years older and they both remembered her when she just came. Said she was distrustful and easy to anger but that she gradually became her true self, the Maitri Azula got to know. They also revealed that they were the maids of honor at her wedding with Lao, it was them who helped them get together. That of course meant that they instantly noticed Shen's flowers and soon started a lengthy discussion about their various healing properties, and, how sweet it was of him to bring them. Azula wondered if they were jealous of the attention she received but they only smiled, snickered and gave her knowing looks and wished her well. Was this how older siblings reacted when something good happened to the younger one?

She looked to the other side of the table for Shen but tried not to make it obvious. He came a bit late, their eyes soon met and he smiled. She tried not looking away first this time but some unknown force made that impossible. She also noticed that her lips curved as well, almost against her will. Meditation started soon afterwards and she wished well to her "enemy" again, this time knowing his name. As the students were dispersing she looked around for him and found him leaving. She froze up, was it really her place and duty to follow him? It was one thing to feel disconcerted about his presence but now to be too shy to call him by his name was another thing. Perhaps he would soon come back she thought but she had important business to do with Lao later on so she swallowed hard and called him by his name, and was unpleasantly surprised by how high pitched her voice sounded. However, he stopped in his tracks, smiled again towards her and approached.

"Avida."

"Shen."

"You look well today. I hope you enjoyed class."

For some reason, Azula suddenly found it pretty difficult to answer such a simple question. She however remembered something very interesting that Lao spoke about, that compassion and love remove fear. That the people we genuinely wish well for cannot for long remain the same people we are scared off. We might become afraid for their well being but that's another matter. She found the courage speak.

"It was pleasant. I...I... the flowers, they are from your garden?"

"One of my personal past times. Glad you like them."

"They are, well, I suppose, fine... if you are into those things."

Shen laughed. For a second Azula was afraid he was mocking her but in his eyes she saw no sign of denigration. Just the usual look of his she found so hard to endure.

"So what kind of things are you into?"

"I... I heard you were a hunter. What kind of animals did you hunt?"

Shen smirked: "I haven't hunted in a while but if there's a bounty for a wild beast I'll catch it and bring you its head."

From stories she heard that her grandfather was a dragon slayer and that he brought a dragon's head to her grandmother as a courtship gift. She couldn't help but imagine Shen doing the same for her now. Too bad dragons were now extinct. She noticed herself losing herself in this train of thought so she said:

"I'll do it!"

He looked at her with curiosity: "Do what?"

"I'll... I'll watch you work. When I'm done with Lao first of course. Master Lao!"

He seemed pleased at the mention of his teacher's title: "Good! I have some errands to run first. Meet me at the gate of the dojo after lunch meditation and I'll show you where we grow the food."

Azula felt relieved for a moment now that the meeting was arranged. Maitri said she should just allow herself to be won over but it felt like hard work. Diplomatic meetings sure felt very easy in comparison.

She knew she had to go to Lao's hut now, he was probably waiting. However, she hoped she would meet Maitri for a moment too, ask her what to do next. She didn't have to search for very long.

"I didn't want to intrude but it was so cute to watch you both." she said.

"You spied on us?"

"Please, don't call it like that. It was just me keeping an eye on you. I did give you a promise of help, didn't I? How could I possibly help if I'm not in the loop?"

"So, great and wise older sister, what should I do?"

Maitri came closer and put her arm on Azula's: "Relax, do what you told him, watch him work. If you are impressed by what he does, let him know. That will impress him. He was with many girls but only very few had the patience to watch and appreciate the hard work he puts into all his little gifts."

Azula nodded thankfully, asked a few questions about those other girls to witch Maitri replied that they were no danger to her. She listened and made her mental notes. She wanted to know about them more because she wanted to know what Shen saw in her. Perhaps he would one day reveal it himself. One day soon she hoped.