Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Chapter 6

Once they reached the entrance of the village, they stopped by a nearby building and went to settle themselves down. Once they got their sacks off the ostrich horse it settled down on the ground and instantly went to sleep. Lenetta gave it a soft pat on the side in thanks for carrying them so far. They set their sacks down and laid out some straw mats. They pulled out their hats, while Iroh was gonna use his for gathering coins Zuko shoved his hat on his head before huffing and crossing his arms after they flopped onto the ground.

" Spare coins for hungry and weary travelers?", Iroh holds his hat out to a passing pedestrian with a pleading look on his face. The man throws some copper pieces into his hat. Zuko groaned and put his head in his hands, he felt an arm around his shoulders and noticed it was Lenetta, she gave a reassuring smile. " I hate this.", Zuko hissed those words at her. Lenetta gave him a sympathetic frown and rubbed his shoulder, " I know", Lenetta told him, she gave him an understanding look before removing her arm from his shoulders.

" Spare coins for weary travelers?", Iroh once again holds out his hat. Another passing man throws in more copper pieces. Zuko turns to Iroh in anger. " This is humiliating! We're royalty. These people should be giving us whatever we want.", Zuko tells him. Iroh grins, " They will-if you ask nicely.", Iroh tells him. Lenetta and Zuko glance at each other. As a well dressed young woman passes by, Iroh tries her next. " Spare change for a hungry old man?", Iroh begs in a weak voice. " Aww, here you go.", The young woman produces a coin from her sleeve and puts it in his hat. " The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile.", Iroh tells her flirtatiously. Lenetta and the young woman giggle as Zuko slaps his forehead in frustration as she walks away.

A man carrying dual broadswords on his back wanders by the beggars and stops to address them. He smiles cruelly as he says, " How about some entertainment in exchange for...a gold piece.", He flashes a gold piece for them to see.

" We're not performers.", Zuko tells him angrily. " Well not professional, anyway.", Iroh smiles as he stands and puts his hat down. Iroh clasps his hands together as he begins to sing. He starts rocking back and forth as he shifts from one foot to another. " It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city look soo prett-ay!". Lenetta watches astonished that he was actually willing to go his far while Zuko just sits there, arms crossed and scowling at the ground. What did I do to deserve this?

The man whips out his broadswords looking displeased. " Come on! We're talking about a gold piece here! Let's see some action!", Lenetta's face goes from to astonished to angry as she glances, his eyes are burning with fury and rage. The man points a sword at Iroh, " Dance!", he begins swinging his swords at Iroh's legs as Iroh hops up and down to avoid the blows as he continues his song, " And they kiss so sweet that you've got to meet the girls from Ba Sing Se!", Zuko grits his teeth as he grips his knees in his hands, Lenetta grabs his shoulder, when he looks at her, she shakes her head indicating not to attack him and to just stay calm.

" Hahaha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner!", The man laughs cruelly. " Here ya go!", he tosses the coin to Iroh and walks away and sheathes his swords. Iroh leans down to pick it up and sits back down. " Such a kind man!", all three of them look to their benefactors retreating back, " What! He just humiliated you by making you sing and dance while swinging swords at you!", Lenetta reminds him incredulously, Iroh only smiles kindly at her, " My dear, sometimes you do what you gotta do to get what you need.", Lenetta sits back against the ostrich horse and looks at Zuko, he looks angry and humiliated.

oOoOo

After many hours of sitting out on the street as the sun sets they walk to a more secluded place in town. " This was the worst day ever!", Zuko exclaims angrily. " Oh come on it wasn't that bad.", Lenetta tries to reassure him, but even she doesn't believe her words, she sees he doesn't believe her words either. They both flopped down on the ground in a depressed funk. " Don't worry you two, tomorrow is a new day and it will be better, I know it.", Iroh tells them in an attempt at comforting them.

They would be leaving the next morning so at least that was happening, that makes Zuko happier. " I can't wait to leave this place.", Zuko huffs grumpily as he tries to make himself comfortable putting his hat over his eyes. Lenetta and Iroh look at eachother and shake their heads.

Lenetta takes some food they managed to get and made it into a nice meal of pork and rice. After they ate they sat there and stared at the full moon. Lenetta thought of Princess Yue as she sat there watching the moon. She slipped into a meditative state and prayed to Yue. Iroh watched her sit in the lotus position and breathed deeply as she went into deep meditation. Iroh looked up at the moon and closed his eyes, thanking the heavens Zhao had failed with his plan. Zuko remembered that night when everything had gone red and then went completely dark. He didn't really care at the time but now when he thought about it he felt glad Zhao's plan didn't work too.

Dear Princess Yue, please watch over me and my friends tonight, and please help Zuko through this troubling time. I know he's taking it the hardest and please help me to be the friend he needs, and to also be a good friend for Iroh, thank you.

Lenetta opened her eyes and looked up at the moon, she noticed the moon shined bright for a second and then went back to normal, she took that as a sign that Yue heard her. She turned back around and noticed they were both asleep. She took her place next to Zuko and soon went to sleep herself.

oOoOo

Later that night Zuko woke up and noticed his uncle and Lenetta were asleep. He skulked off into the town to find the man who embarrassed them. He finally finds him but the man knows he's there and he turns around and draws his swords and exclaims, " Who's there!". Zuko comes from his hiding donning his Blue Spirit attire and grabs his hands. Zuko disarmed the man and threw him into some boxes, his swords useless on the ground. Zuko takes his swords and sheaths them and walks off.

Author's note: Some of this dialogue came from Book 2 Chapter 4 The Swamp. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are staying safe through these troubling times with COVID-19 going on. I had Iroh mention that the next day is a new day and it can be better, well that is true, tomorrow is a chance for being better and for better and new things to happen. Just remember that this virus will go away eventually and everything will be ok. Never give up. Thank you for reading and I love you all. Reviews are appreciated.

Much love The Litness