Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender does not belong to me, it belongs to Mike, Bryan, and Nickelodeon.

Chapter 4

The next morning they all woke up and started getting their supplies ready. While Iroh was getting his stuff he saw what looked like a white dragon bush flower. Whoa, the rare white dragon bush!, Iroh thought as he walked over to stare at the flower. Lenetta looked over at him with a questioning look on her face, What's he looking at?, Lenetta wondered as she walked over to him.

" Iroh, what are you looking at?", Lenetta asked him. He looked over at her and motioned her over. She noticed that it was an odd looking flower, she scrambled her brain to figure out it was as Iroh spoke, " This the rare white dragon bush, it makes an amazing tea, or it's the white jade which is poisonous.", Iroh said with an eerie voice. " Um, maybe you shouldn't risk it.", Lenetta told him, suddenly Zuko burst through the bushes. " I didn't find anything to eat! I can't live like this! I wasn't meant to be a fugitive. This is impossible!, shouts Zuko as he raises his fists to the sky. " Hey, it'll be alright.", Lenetta reassures him as she walks over and places a hand on his shoulder. Zuko looks over at his uncle and sees him kneeling over something. " Uncle, what are you doing?", Zuko asks as he walks over to him. "You're looking at the white dragon bush. It's leaves make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking. That, or it's the white jade which is poisonous.

" We need food, not tea. I'm going fishing.", Zuko says. Lenetta chases after him as he grabs his fishing pole, " I'll go with you!",Lenetta tells him and Zuko nods to her. " Hmm… delectable tea? Or deadly poison?", Iroh says dreamily then eerily.

Lenetta chuckles as Zuko sighs, shaking his head, once they were out of earshot they began talking. " So, Iroh really loves tea huh?", Lenetta asks Zuko amused. " Oh yes, he started loving tea after Lu Ten died, he decided to have a fascination for tea to honor him, and now it's pretty much a part of him.", Zuko tells her, she smiled. " That's really sweet.", Lenetta replied. " Yeah.", Zuko had a smile on his face. Lenetta smiled too, They really do love each other.

oOoOo

Zuko and Lenetta arrived back at the campsite with only a tiny fish on his fishing pole. " I've been here for awhile so I might've hunted all the animals and I guess that armadillo bear we caught last night was the last thing to hunt.", Lenetta was telling him, he had asked her why he couldn't find anything to hunt and why there was only that tiny fish on his pole. " Ah, I see, well it's a good thing we got that bear last night.", Zuko told her. " Indeed.", Lenetta was the first one to see Iroh hunched over.

" Zuko, remember that plant I thought might be tea?", Iroh asked, he was still hunched over and had his back to them. I have a bad feeling about this, Lenetta thought to herself as she continued to watch Iroh with a worried frown. " You didn't…", Zuko replied with a shocked expression on his face. No, Lenetta brought a hand to her mouth trying to contain her utter disbelief. " I did… and it wasn't.", Iroh turned to face them, he was red and swollen with hives on his body, he was scratching hard.

" Ahh!", Zuko screamed a little and leapt back, dropping his pole in shock. Lenetta was open mouth shocked, completely dumbfounded. " I told you you shouldn't risk it, now look what's happened!", Lenetta was shouting at him.

" When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing.", Iroh informed them with surprising calmness. " How are you so calm about this?", Lenetta asked, still utterly dumbfounded. " My dear, it is no good to panic, and look what I found!", Iroh exclaimed excitedly, holding out his hands. "Bacui berries, known to cure the poison of the white jade.", Iroh's expression suddenly darkened. " That, or maka'ole berries that cause blindness.".

Zuko grabbed the berries and hurled thim into the bushes. " We're not taking any more chances with these plants! We need to get help.". Zuko and Lenetta helped Iroh up, and they all started walking.

Iroh was getting more swollen by the minute, and he was having issues with not itching. Lenetta had read some botany books on her travels and she knew that scratching would only make the itching worse, so she held an arm while Zuko held the other one. Iroh was whining about how itchy it was but they wouldn't budge. " It itches!", Iroh whined for like the millionth time. " I know Iroh I know were almost to the closest town.", Lenetta tried to reassure him.

" What town are we going to.", Zuko asked her. She looked down, " My home village.", Lenetta replied. " WHAT, no we don't have to go there if you don't want to, surely there's another village that's close by!", Zuko tried to tell her, he didn't want her to be sad and have bad memories come back up, but he was also very worried about his uncle, so he felt kinda conflicted. " I'll be fine Zuko, this is the only village that's close enough.", Lenetta told him with a firm voice.

" Are you sure?", Zuko asked her, he wanted her to be absolutely sure. " I'm sure.", Lenetta reassured him with a small smile. Lenetta was worried yes, but Iroh getting better was more important to her right now.

oOoOo

Whenever they got to the village, they were instantly met with small gasps and whispers, " Lenetta's back", she tried to ignore as best she could. But Zuko could see her unease. " Are you ok?", Zuko whispered to her. She looked over at him and nodded.

Whenever they got to the healing hut they were greeted by a young woman Lenetta remembered her to be Song. She didn't exactly persecute her and be downright mean to her but they weren't friends either. Lenetta and Song looked at each other and then Song noticed Iroh's condition, " Right this way.", Song motioned for them to follow her, giving Lenetta a small surprised look. I never thought she'd come back here. Song thought to herself as she led them over to a bed.

" Well Lenetta, I never thought I'd see you again.", Song said to her. The whole village had been mean to her because she was a Firebender, she never thought Lenetta would come back here after all that. She knew Lenetta's parents had banished her and after that everybody just went back to their normal lives. Even her parents acted like they never had a daughter.

" Yeah, I never thought I'd be back here either to be honest but I'm here because of my friend here.", Lenetta told her. Song nodded as she wringes a cloth and washes Iroh's arms and legs. " You two must not be from around here. We know not better than to touch the White Jade, much less make a tea out of it and drink it.", Song told the two men. " Whoops!", Iroh replies.

" So where are you traveling from?", Song asks. " Yes, we're travelers.", Zuko replies uneasily as he rises from his seat. Iroh was trying to scratch but Song was flicking his hand away. Lenetta looks at Zuko with a " really" look on her face, Zuko shrugs at her. " Do you have names?", Song asks them. " Names? Of course we have names.", Zuko replies uneasily he scrambles his head for some Earth Kingdom names. Song glares at Iroh as he scratches again and she flicks it again. " I'm, uh… Lee and this is my Uncle, uh… Mushi?", Lenetta holds back a laugh as she sees the look Iroh shoots Zuko.

" Yes my nephew was named after his father so we just call him Junior.", Iroh tells her, he leans over and gives Zuko a pleased smile. Lenetta struggles to hold in her laughter as Zuko moves his finger over his throat but suddenly stops as Song looks over at him.

" Mushi and Junior huh. My name is Song. You three look like you could use a good meal. Why don't you stop by for dinner?", Song asked as she slapped Iroh's hand again. " Sorry but we need to be moving on.", Zuko tells her looking away. " Lenetta stands up. " No Lee. It'll be fine we haven't eaten anything all day.", Lenetta whispers to Zuko, " I'll be just fine, you don't need to worry.", Lenetta looks back up at Song. " We'd love to join you for dinner, and you're also the only one who wasn't outright mean to me, I thank you for that.", Lenetta tells Song. Song smiles at her. " Your welcome Lenetta, we'll be having roast duck.", Song tells them.

oOoOo

Song opened the door to her home just as Song's mother was pulling out a roast duck from the oven. " Song, hello dear." Lenetta walks in next to her. Song's mother gasps as she looks at Lenetta. "Hello.", Lenetta waved to her. Song's mother put down the roast duck and walked over to her. " My my you've really changed over the past three years haven't you?", Song's mother asks her. " Yes, three years of travel can do that to you.", Lenetta replied. " And who are these people?", Song's mother asks. " Mom, this is Lee and his Uncle Mushi, I told them they could join us for dinner.", Song told her, they bowed to her. " Very well, come along I have plenty for everyone.", Song's mother says. She leads them over to a table, but tells Lenetta, " Wait can we talk.", Lenetta nods at her.

Song's mother leads her outside and they sit down. " I am so sorry that I couldn't do more to help you Lenetta. It pained me to see the way people were treating you.", Song's mother told her. " It's alright I'm a Firebender so I understand why they were like that.", Lenetta told her. Song's mother gripped her shoulders and said, " That does not justify the way people treated you, just because you're a Firebender does not give people the right to persecute you, you are a good, kind girl that should be what people look for.", while Song's mother was saying all this tears built up in Lenetta's eyes and she threw herself at the woman, hugging her tightly. Song's mother rubbed her back. " Thank you.", Lenetta whispered to her. "Your welcome, my dear, now let's go eat some roast duck.", Song's mother led her into the kitchen.

oOoOo

As they were all eating a horrendous thing happened… Lenetta's parents burst into the house. Lenetta gasped her eyes widening in horror as she nearly choked on her duck. " Rohan and Wing, what are you doing here.", Song's mother asked politely. " Lenetta I thought we told you to never come back here!", Rohan shouted at his daughter. Lenetta was looking up at her father and mother with wide and frightened eyes. " Get out of here, right now!", Song's mother shouted. " Stay out of this, this is between us and our daughter!", Wing shouted at her. " Your daughter… your DAUGHTER, you have no right to call me that, you've been treating me like dirt ever since you learned I could Firebend, a parent never treats their child the way you've treated me!", Lenetta shouted at her parents. " If you really loved me you wouldn't have bended at me in punishment, you wouldn't have told everyone I was an evil Fire Nation girl, and if you'd loved me you wouldn't have hated me in the first place… just for being Firebender!", Lenetta shouted, she had a lot to get off her chest and now she got to do it.

Zuko was watching her with admiration as she stood up to her parents. " If you were really my parents you would've loved me unconditionally, you would've helped me when I needed you, you would've been there for me when I needed you, but instead you're not my parents you're just like everyone else in fact you're just as evil as the Fire Lord himself!", Lenetta shouted, her parents stumbled back in shock, then they gave her one last withering look as she stared back defiantly. They walked out.

Lenetta collapsed back into her seat, Zuko hugged her shoulder and she leaned into him. " Are you alright?", Zuko asked her. Lenetta nodded at him.

oOoOo

Song's mother looked over at Song and told her to get them an ostrich horse, Song nodded and led them out. " Are you sure this is alright?", Lenetta asked Song she didn't wanna be a burden. " If my mother says it's alright then it is.", Song told her. Lenetta gave Song a hug and thanked her for everything. She led the trio to the stable and got them an ostrich horse. They bowed to her and her mom who had walked in and thanked them for their hospitality. Then they rode off

Author's note: Parts of the dialogue were taken from Book 2, Episode 2, The Cave of Two Lovers. I kinda figured that Song would be the nicest to Lenetta considering her personality. I also wanted to give Lenetta a confrontation with her parents, I had a feeling they would just storm right in and yell at her and then she would yell at them and tell them how wrong they were. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Bye for now!