Almost two weeks have passed. It had become pleasant routine. Azula would sit at Lao's table and dutifully copy his scroll. Carefully reading it and even more carefully writing down its content to the fresh paper. Lao told her something very valuable about the art of calligraphy, something she disregarded back then with her original writing teacher. Perfection in art isn't achieved through aiming for perfection itself but by doing it just right in just the right moment. She had tried her best to impress Lao but the harder she tried the more mistakes she was starting to make. Instead he told her to surrender to the moment but not blindly, mindfully. She learned to observe the movement of her hands, the weight of the brush, the feel of paper touching ink, to write the words not like a mere copycat but as if they were coming from her own mind.

She felt herself completely absorbed in the activity. Sometimes the higher purpose of it almost didn't seem to matter, she enjoyed it for its own sake. Later on she found herself able to recite the words from memory. It came in handy when she didn't know what to say in a conversation or start a topic. Jhana and Mudita would listen the most, sometimes out of sheer politeness, sometimes with genuine interest.

Back at home she often heard that the Earth Kingdom was a nation of savages, foolishly resisting a superior civilization, now she saw the enemy from the inside and understood the source of their fierce strength. For a hundred years the Fire Nation had taken that nations physical bounty, they should have taken its mind too. Perhaps the war would have been won much sooner that way. Azula would often ask Lao about the meaning or his opinion on a certain passage and he would patiently and joyfully discuss it with her. She would sometimes forget to concentrate on his words, just observe his excitement. Was this how he discussed the scroll with his son too?

Most of all she couldn't resist trying to impress Shen with a quotation of two. Whether he always understood the significance was another matter but he listened with the same patience as she would bring in watching his activities.
On their first meeting he showed her the garden, it was quite big. After all, it was supposed to feed an entire community and even help out the village from time to time. He carefully led her through the fields, even offering his hand which she refused. She was a skilled acrobat after all and even without her battleboots she found it quite easy to balance on uneven ground. They came to rest at a passage that Shen said he needed to work on. He took a spade from the hut nearby and invited her to sit on a smooth rock nearby. She wasn't sure how to start a conversation. When asked about it Maitri said just say something small and random and let the rest develop

„So are you working these fields alone? There is quite a lot of them?"

„Not always but I like to do it myself. Lao and Maitri say the food was good before but it became excellent after I started working on it. They say I have a secret way with the ground and the plants."

„So what is this great secret of yours?"

Shen looked her straight in the eye with a slight smirk and said: „Love, the secret is love."

Azula laughed: „How lame. Isn't that what every housewife says about her cooking?"

„Oh, I know many a housewife here who'd sell me her daughter for my vegetables. Actually, some even did."

She didn't know how to directly respond so she decided to deflect:

„For a moment I thought you'd tell me you're secretly an earthbender or something like that."

„Oh, but I am." said Shen absolutely nonchalantly.

„Please, just get to work. Show me what you do those plants or whatever."

So he started working, as the minutes passed and the labor intensified the heat of the sun became harder to bear. After a while, Shen decided to take off his shirt. He wasn't just strongly built but really well defined. Azula couldn't help but notice. This time an opposite problem emerged, she couldn't bring herself to look away.

He noticed and smiled inwardly yet a small smirk couldn't escape him.

The longer Azula looked the more she wondered. Such a physique couldn't have come from hard work alone, he must have been a bender too. In her fanciful moments she had always imagined herself with someone strong, someone whose bending could match hers. The curiosity about Shen's prowess began gnawing at her until she finally said:

„Show me your bending!"

Shen stopped his digging and looked at her: „You want me to show you what?"

„Your bending. Just a quick demonstration. I want to see it."

He came closer until they were only steps away from each other: „Are you really really sure?"

Azula pouted: „What a dumb question, I said do it."

As soon as she was done speaking she felt the rock underneath her suddenly rise up. The force of this unexpected lift threw her straight towards Shen, right into his arms.

„Happy now?"

Still in his embrace she looked up and stammered: „You... you really are..."

With a laugh he responded: „I told you, didn't I?"

He let her go. She dusted herself and looked at him with bewilderment.

„How come you're not with your people, the war is over?"

„And this village is still my home, why would I leave it for a land I don't know?"

She knew that in the colonies there were lots of Earth Kingdom people living under the authority of the Fire Nation as second class citizens but she never dreamed she would ever be so... intimate with one.

On the other hand, she had worked with and respected the Dai Li, the group of earthbenders that helped her take their capitol. Perhaps Shen could prove valuable on her side as well. She had to think about it though.

She said her goodbyes to him soon after and went to her room to rest, yet his image wouldn't so easily leave her head.

What would Maitri do?