The savage had turned around just in time to take a pike to the face, half his mask breaking away, leaving the metal deck covered in splinters of blue wood.

And just like that; every single one of Zhao's men forgot how to fucking operate.

Yue only took a second to appreciate the fact she wasn't on fire as she trampled through seemingly paralyzed soldiers like a wild komodo-rhino through an especially fragile and cramped marketplace. Her metaphorical rider being the Blue-masked warrior slung over her shoulder.

Blood pounding so hard she might as well have a drummer living in her head, she barely registered the belligerent shouting going on in the background as she jumped over the railing, her useless cargo in hand, and into the sea below.

Her warrior had said to trust in La, after all.

Yue opened her eyes and was momentarily surprised to see the bright blue sky over her head before the events of the previous night crashed into her head like a wild tigerdillo.

Right, she blinked. Blue had happened.

Feeling a sudden jolt of panic, Yue quickly shot to her feet and looked around wildly for the boy. Had he drowned? Had she failed him along with her people? Had-

"Hey..? You okay?"

Turning around Yue was momentarily surprised to see a young girl hesitantly hunching over a prone figure (Blue!). Gently nudging the boy as if to rouse him, the stranger glanced up and brown eyes went wide when she took Yue in.

"Who are you?"

"Yue, and you are?"

"Song," The girl tucked some of her flyaway black hair behind her ear, giving Blue a fruitive glance over her shoulder. "Are you a friend of his?"

"Is he alive?" Yue asked urgently, stepping closer. Distraction and evasion.

"Yes," Song crouched down and gave Blue's shoulder an experimental shake. "Just unconscious, what happened?"

"Fire Nation," Yue spat, walking over to the two. "We nearly drowned escaping."

"He probably has a concussion," Song revealed. "My mother is our village's healer, so if you'd like I can help you take him back home?"

Yue smiled and nodded, she'd like that very much.

Last night, Yue hadn't quite appreciated how heavy her rescuer was.

Song had helped her, of course. But still, hauling Blue's dead weight all the way up the hill to the healer's hut wasn't a small feat.

Wiping her brow, the young girl offered Yue a dopey grin. "I'll go fetch mother, why don't you go ahead and check on that knot on his noggin? Boy could use a nice cold compress."

Yue didn't have time to even ask where their well was before Song rushed out the door. Sighing, Yue slumped down in a visitor chair and glanced over at her savior.

Now that they weren't in imminent peril, Yue noticed that the hit from the pike had broken away half of Blue's mask. He was a pretty boy, Yue would give him that; pale like snow, and though he didn't look like he had any hair, he was quite handsome. If in a delicate sort of way.

Pulling what was left of the boy's mask off Yue barely registered how it clattered to the ground as her hands flew up to muffle her scream. Her eyes widening wide as they took in that horrible distinctive scar.

During the Princess's time in the Earth Kingdom, she had heard several rumors about the Banished Prince and had received ample gossip during her forced stay in Muttonchops brig. Yue had heard various things about the boy, mostly contradictory, but one thing had always remained the same. He had been horribly disfigured.

Standing up, Yue started to pace the shack, feeling her heart speeding up. It had to be a coincidence, right? There was no way she had just been saved by the Prince of her captors. That was just insane!

Eyeing the totally-not-an-enemy-prince, Yue hastily pulled back the boy's hood and felt weak in the knees when her eyes took in his painfully obvious Fire Nation hairstyle. This could not be happening..

She must have somehow contracted the disease despite being a non-bender. She was just hallucinating in her cell, and the guards' talk of Prince Zuko's rivalry with their captain was just influencing her fevered dreams. Any moment now, she'd snap out of it.

She did not snap out of it.

The boy was still just as scarred, and just as obviously Fire Nation as the last time she looked at him. Yue knew that if their hosts found out who he was, they'd kill him.

She wasn't about to let that happen.

"Well, the boy has a pretty nasty concussion, but he should be fine."

Song's mom, Soko, straightened. "Where did you say you were from?"

"Uh.." Yue searched her mind for a place, any place, and oh she really should have paid more attention to General Korlack. "Gaipan?"

"Really? You're an awfully long way from home."

"Yeah, my.. Brother and I got run out by the Fire Nation a while ago." She sighed. "They just caught up the other night is all."

"Well, you're lucky. No broken bones from what I can see, just a few bruises and scrapes. He'll probably be up within a day or so."

"That long?" Yue bit her lip. "I.. I don't have any money, or a place to stay or.. Or.."

"You can stay with us, right mama?" Song asked, smiling cheekily. "You always make too much roast duck."

Soko laughed. "I suppose if your father doesn't mind, I could always use an extra hand around the farm."

"Farm?"

"Song will show you the ropes in the morning," Soko waved off, neglecting to tell her what a 'farm' was. "Come, let's let your brother get his rest. Poor boy's going to have a headache if Koh ever gave him one."

Yue followed the women out of the hut and down the cobbled street, through a thicket, and up towards an old stone house with a wooden building off to the side.

Soko's husband, Don, walked out of the wooden building that Yue would later learn is their barn, wiping dirt off his hands as he flashed them all a wide grin.

"That boy doing alright?"

Soko nodded, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Go wash up, yeah? I'll start on dinner."

"Only if you let me wrangle you up some frog-fish."

Song's eyes lit up, turning to her mom. "Can I help? Please? It's been forever since Dad took me down to the pond."

Smiling, she gave a nod much to her daughter's enthusiasm. Turning to Yue she looked more amused, "Why don't you give Yue a crash course? Somehow I don't think they have frog-fish in Gaipan."

Oh, this was not going to be as fun as Song made it out to be, was it?

"Ack! This is disgusting!"

Currently, they were all walking around in the pond up to their knees hunting the worst, most slimy, putrid things Yue had ever had the misfortune of looking at, much less touching.

Song had started laughing at her and Princess or not, Yue sent her a glare fit for the warriors of her tribe.

"Don't worry, it washes out," Don assured with a snicker, shoving another slimy creature in the sack. "So Gaipan, huh?"

Yue shrugged, "Just a small village, really."

"I heard the Fire Nation took it over a few years ago, you must have been traveling a while. You and..?"

"Uh, Onni." Yue blurted out. "My brother."

"Onni?" Song smirked. "Cute name, can he haul wood alright?"

"Song, at least wait until the boy's awake to start planning your wedding."

Song's face lit up red. "Dad!"

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Song splashed him! Yue felt the blood leave her face and took several steps back. Bracing herself for if Don decided she was also guilty for not stopping Song before she disrespected him so-

Water crashed down on Yue and she had to blink several times to process the fact that all Don had done was splash his daughter back.

Yue didn't even have the luxury of being confused because these two were quickly making her very wet.

Non-bender or not, no self-respecting Water Tribesmen could allow this to stand. This was how Yue went from collecting the most disgusting things on this planet to winning her very first water fight.

Seeing she was losing, Song grabbed a frog-fish out of her bag like a cheater and started chasing Yue around the pond.

"Stop it! Get that- Ack!" Yue tripped, Song followed, and they both went down. Frog-fish included.

Suffice to say, Soko laughed very loudly when they returned, still dripping back to her doorstep.