The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly. Steamed fish was served for lunch instead of noodles for once, which the crew was quite excited about. Kugo didn't get as many leftovers from the others, but the man did sneak back to the cook for seconds. And thirds. Iroh joined the rest of the crew to eat, which was a nice gesture. Iroh sat in the center table in the mess hall and regaled those around him with stories and shared memories. Rei sat with her usual people on the outer edge of the crowd. Stitches sat next to Rei covered once more in new bandages, this time around his chest from the fireball he caught from Zuko. Though visibly stiff, Stitches still laughed along heartily with the others at Iroh's stories. Even the man-of-few-words himself, Hawk, emitted a slight chuckle from time to time as he picked at his fish. Zuko didn't pass through the mess hall at all, presumably too busy practicing his new firebending moves to grace everyone with his presence. Nevertheless, the mess hall was full of life and laughter that day.

The room was bustling with energy particularly since they were just over a day's cruise away from Kyoshi Island. Rei couldn't help but join in on the excitement because she was quite interested in seeing the Avatar in action. She yearned to see him in his famous "Avatar state" especially. Being the only other airbender in existence, it would be exceptional if she could learn even an ounce of knowledge from the Avatar. Even though he was just a boy of twelve, the Avatar had shown exceptional power and promise, at least according to the accounts she's overheard during the meal. So far, she's heard that the Avatar's eyes can glow and unleash an awesome bending power at will. The Avatar used this incredible power to escape from Zuko's ship when he was initially captured, much to the dismay of the young prince. Rei wondered what it would be like to witness such power. All the while, Rei also considered the possibility of escaping while the ship was docked at Kyoshi Island. As she looked around the ship in her spare time, she did notice that there was a small vessel docked inside the ship, which could act as a great escape route. However, the possibility of encountering the infamous Unagi serpent-monster was quite likely whilst escaping in a fire nation vessel. Whichever way she chooses, Rei knew she'd attempt to escape the next day.

After mealtime, Zuko wanted to practice his firebending in solitude so Rei didn't get to witness any more training for the rest of the day. Kugo and the others went off to their respective posts while Pho-Jin instructed Rei to perform trivial duties such as mopping the deck or polishing boots. Rei didn't mind all too much, but it was boring work to be sure. She spent the day working away, alone with her thoughts which was such a treat.

Rei's first thoughts went back to her family in Terra. She hoped that the town recovered adequately, and that everyone was OK. She could imagine the town getting together to rebuild the buildings burnt down during the raid. Oftentimes, when a neighbor was in need of help, the entire village would come together to do their absolute best to make the situation better. One time, when one of the town widows received news of her husband's passing, the entire town came down to her house with gifts of food and hard labor to help with chores. Terra was just that kind of village. She thought once again about the slight possibility of escaping captivity once the ship arrives at Kyoshi Island. Ever since she's been taken away, Rei's many thoughts were of escape and go home but even so, she hesitates. Word of her airbending spread like wildfire and caught the attention of the fire nation in only a day, so if she returned to her village it would probably bring the fire nation right back. She can't hide her bending for much longer on this ship either, so that posed another problem. She felt as if she was in-between a hard place and a much harder place in this situation. She had to go home and make sure everyone was OK, but she knew that she couldn't stay. Now that she was an airbender, she knew that she couldn't stay in one place for very long. Now, she wouldn't be able to call someplace "home" anymore. This though filled her soul with longing and sadness, dampening her mood.

Perhaps her place is with the Avatar. Being the only two airbenders known to exist, it would probably be beneficial for Rei to be in his presence to learn more about airbending in its purest form. Sure, she practiced her airbending on the ship using firebending stances, but it felt...unnatural, odd even to use those stances. It's like playing one of those block games, trying to match the right-shaped block to the right-shaped hole. The trouble is in this sense, using firebending techniques for airbending was like trying to fit a triangle-shaped block into a circle-shaped hole. Pushing this aside, Rei hoped to get as up close-and-personal as possible to the Avatar when they arrive at Kyoshi Island. Maybe she could escape with the Avatar, who knows?

The sun had long since ended its majestic arc in the sky, being replaced by the silvery gleam of the moon by the time Rei finished with her duties. Her feet burned from tenderness as Rei padded down the narrow hallways of the ship, holding her aching back with her right hand. Weathered and worn from the long workday, all Rei wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep. However, as she walked down the narrow corridor to her room, she walked straight into Kugo and bounced off his protruding pot-belly.

"Hey there, Fumbles!" He grinned. "You look a little worn today."

"Hey Kugo," Rei replied. "Yeah, I was just on my way…"

Kugo cut Rei off. "Well dontcha worry about that! You should come to the crew's music night tonight, everyone's gonna be there!"

"Oh no, I…" Rei started.

"Apparently General Iroh will also be attending this evening as well, though he won't be performing anything due to a lack of a proper woodwinds section or something. We really do need to do something about that…" He said, scratching his beard.

"No, I don't think I'm up for that tonight…" Rei replied.

Kugo slapped Rei on the back. "Great! We'll be meeting downstairs in the furnace room in 20. Don't be late!" He laughed as he continued down the hall.

Rei's throat croaked in protest, but Kugo was already out of sight. Seeing him gone, Rei groaned and padded away towards her room. She struggled to open the heavy, metal door and fell face-first into her bed. She groaned into her pillow then laid her head on its side to stare at the wall. She wasn't in the greatest of spirits after being left to her own thoughts. She thought about blowing off the musical session, but Rei considered that it could be beneficial sit in the background and enjoy a bit of music. It could be better than just sitting by herself in the dark. Perhaps an evening of song would do something to elevate her spirits. She laid in her bed, considering it for a little bit longer before deciding "meh, why the hell not".

Rei padded down the dimly-lit staircase to the furnace room. As she made her way down the metal stairs, she could feel the air getting drier and warmer. It felt as if she was stepping into a dragon's breath, and it was suffocating. However, walking down those stairs made the muscles in her shoulders relax ever so slightly in the heat. At the foot of the stairs was a roaring furnace and a small circle of people sitting on steel drums and whatever else they could find to sit on. Amongst the shadow-shawled faces she recognized Iroh sitting at the top of the circle with Kugo, Hawk, Stitches and a few others surrounding him. Some held various musical instruments while others poured themselves drinks or snacked on flaming fire flakes. The air was charged with the plucking of strings, loud chatter and the occasional honk of brass. Iroh flashed a generous smile over his cup of tea and motioned for Rei to take the empty seat to his right.

"Rei, glad you could join us." Iroh welcomed.

"Uh…Hi." Rei replied sheepishly, giving the circle a small wave. She sat down and smoothed out her pants with her hands. Rei looked around and recognized Kugo sitting across from her in the circle, nursing a large mug in his hand. Pho-Jin sat on the opposite side facing Iroh, giving Rei a weary stare with a mug in hand. The men were passing around a jug of some sort of beverage across from Rei, alcohol presumably with soldiers. She saw Hawk sitting in a darkened corner behind Stitches, stroking his patch of facial hair absently. Stitches sat on the left of Iroh cradling a string instrument in his arms. He gave her a toothy grin, showing a chipped incisor.

"Just in time for my opening number!" Stitches held up his instrument and strummed it wildly in comedic effect.

"Please don't let it be your rendition of 'My Lady of Fire' again." Pho-Jin groaned.

"Hey! That's a beautiful sonnet of love and compassion!" Stitches retorted, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "One of the most serene sonnets I've ever played."

"Oh please, it was about you setting a girl's doll on fire as a child." Kugo chuckled.

"Alright, smart-ass. How about this," Stitches took a deep breath and strummed a chord on the guitar.

"O you landsmen and you seamen come listen to my song

It's of a trick was played on me it won't delay you long…"

The circle erupted in boo's while others threw small handfuls of fire flakes at Stitches, who used his guitar as a makeshift shield. Rei ducked out of the way of some misfired flakes that flew in her direction. Iroh looked over to Rei and chuckled at her aversion of flakey rain.

"That song's too slow!" One of the crew shouted.

"C'mon! Play something exciting!"

"Alright, alright! Don't bite my head off!" Stitches exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in surrender. "You boys want something exciting? I'll give you something exciting!"

Stitches proceeds to strum his guitar intensely, sometimes strumming so strongly that Rei thought could have sworn she saw smoke rising from the strings. Members of the crew began hooting and clapping their hands to the rhythm, clearly familiar with the tune. When he finished playing his intro, Stitches quieted his strumming and began to sing very fast with the claps of the crew.

"There's a neat little lass and her name is Mari-Mac

And make no mistake she's the girl I'm gonna track

Lots of other fellas try to get her on the back

But I'm thinkin' they'll have to get up early.

Mari Macs mother's makin' Mari-Mac marry me…."

Then the whole room erupted into the chorus

"My mother's makin' me marry Mari-Mac

Well I'm gonna marry Mari cause Mari's takin' care O' me

We'll all be feelin' merry when I marry Mari-Mac."

The whole song is quite the tongue-twister. All the while, the crew were passing along a jug of liquid and generously filling their mugs. Rei chuckled and tapped her fingers along with the beat as Stitches continued on with his song. She also noticed Hawk tapping his foot along with the others. Kugo was drinking his fair share from the jug and bellowing in laughter. As she looked around the room, her eyes caught sight of Pho-Jin, who didn't share the same energy as the rest of the crew. He sipped from his mug and stared absently in Sitches's direction, clearly stuck in deep thought.

"Wedding's on a Wednesday, everything's arranged
Soon you'll never change your mind unless you minus change
Of making the arrangements and feelings lots of rage
Marriage is an awful undertaking…"

Hawk also stared absently from a dark corner of the room, with his arms crossed across his chest. He would occasionally tap his foot with the beat, a sly grin creeping onto his face, but most of the time he kept to his own devices.

"Sure to be a grand for grand of that affair
Gonna be a fork and plate for every man that's there
And I'll be a bugger if I don't get my share
Although I may be very much mistaken…"

Stitches continued on with his song, suddenly gaining much speed. More smoke rose from the instrument, accentuating the speed of the song. He strummed faster and faster, until all of a sudden a string snapped and whipped Stitches right in the cheek. Stitches yelped and instinctively covered his new wound with his hand. The room erupted in good-hearted laughter from other crew members. Rei brought one of her hands up to her mouth to cover her surprise.

"Ey Stitches! You just can't win, can you?" Kugo roared, spewing his drink from laughter.

"Shaddup!" Stitches retorted, rubbing his cheek. "Why is it always me?!"

Iroh chuckled. "Well, I suppose you'll have to pick up some more strings on our next market stop, along with some more woodwinds."

Iroh took a deep sip of his tea before continuing. "Now then, let's proceed to the next performance."

Iroh gestured towards a few of the crew in the circle. One held a drum between his legs, another held a wooden block and mallet in his hands. Pho-Jin appeared to snap out of his trance-like state and picked up what appeared to be a shamisen from behind his barrel. When the laughter from Stitches's unfortunate string incident, Pho-Jin started to pluck a slow melody. He closed his eyes in concentration, plucking at the strings with delicacy. Drums started accentuating the beat in the background as well as the wood block joined. Rei heard Kugo clear his throat from across the room, and raised her head in his direction as he began to sing, albeit somewhat off-tune.

Winter, spring, summer and fall

Winter, spring, summer and fall

Four seasons, four loves

Four seasons, four loves…

This song seemed familiar to Rei. She must've heard it somewhere, maybe at one of the community bonfires in the summertime. She smiled at the memory of the whole village coming together, singing songs and roasting sweet treats on the fire. The children would dance in front of the fire, some sticking their bums out to warm them up as silly kids do. Her older brother Lee would be helping her father and the other men bring scrap wood from the nearby loggers and throw the pieces onto the fire. Mayu would be taking turns dancing on different people's feet, laughing and bouncing in excitement. Rei's smile faded when she realized where she was situated, far away from home.

The rest of the circle clapped when the song ended with Rei joining in passively. Ending up feeling more homesick, Rei was just about ready to call it a night. Iroh clapped with the others then set his teacup on the floor beside his barrel.

"I can sense the end of tonight's music night is upon us," he began. "But before we adjourn for the evening, Rei, would you like to play the last song of the night?"

"Me?" Rei asked, surprised. "I… I don't think so."

"Oh come on, kiddo!" Kugo insisted.

"Yeah! I got whipped by a guitar string, you can't do any worse than me in that department." Stitches retorted.

"Only if you're comfortable. We won't force you." Said Iroh.

"Umm…" Rei paused. She did not feel like performing in front of an audience but perhaps if she did so quickly the sooner she could go back to her room. She thought back to songs from her home, where her thoughts resided. She remembered the night after her father went off to war, where she found her mother sitting by the window. She recalled that she couldn't sleep, and simply couldn't be soothed from her father's absence. Her mother took her into her arms and sang a quiet lullaby until her racing thoughts silenced themselves.

"Ok, I think I have one." The crew silenced, and stared at Rei in interest. Rei took a shaky breath and began to sing.

Shadows fall and hope has fled

Steel your heart, the dawn will come

The night is long and the path is dark

Keep to the stars for one day soon

The dawn will come

The shephard's lost and his home is far

Keep to the stars, the dawn will come

The night is long and the path is dark

Keep to the stars for one day soon

The dawn will come

Bare your blade and raise it high

Stand your ground, the dawn will come

The night is long and the path is dark

Keep to the stars for one day soon

The dawn will come

The room was silent for a brief moment. However brief it was, uneasiness seeped through. Stitches broke the silence by clapping his hands respectfully. The rest of the crew followed suit, letting the string of claps die off after a few seconds.

Iroh clapped his hands together and stood up. "Well this was an enjoyable night!" He began. "I know we all enjoyed each other's company, but now we have to prepare for tomorrow's arrival at Kyoshi Island."

"Well goodnight gentlemen," Iroh leaned over towards Rei and winked. "And goodnight, miss Rei."

"Goodnight." Rei replied, who stood up and began walking hastily towards the stairs. Rei's thoughts snapped back to her opportunity of escape. Even though they're reclusive, Kyoshi Island is still a part of the Earth Kingdom and would help one of their own. Rei would always consider herself a part of the Earth Kingdom, air bender or not. No matter what, she would attempt to escape to freedom the next morning. Her mind was set.

...

The door to her chamber creaked open, letting a stream of torchlight leak into the room. Rei placed a hand on her aching back and leaned backwards into a long, cracking stretch. The small cracks gave her some relief from the pressure exerted onto her lower back. Rei closed the door behind her with a backwards thrust of her foot and slumped onto her cot, bobbing up and down initially when she fell. She flipped over onto her back, bathing in the pale glow of the moonlight creeping through the nearby porthole. She removed the wraps around her hands to examine her burns. To her surprise, she could see that the burns have healed immensely since the application of the aloe verra ointment Iroh gave her. There was still more healing to be done, but Rei felt that she didn't need to wrap her hands anymore. She discarded the bandages off the side of the bed and rolled over onto her side. She closed her eyes and whispered: "Sora, tomorrow we're going home."

Hi everyone. I know that it's been a long time since my last update, but long story short, I had a lot of shit that happened in my life along with school and stuff that prevented me from being in the mindset of writing. Things should be improving for me starting now, which will help me get into the zone for writing once again. I have many big ideas for this series, just sometimes it's hard to connect them all y'know? I've seen that we also have some new story followers over the past few months, so HELLO my lovelies 3 I will keep writing this story so don't you worry. Here's to getting back to writing! I'll see you all very soon!

P.S. I used "The Dawn Will Come" from Dragon Age Inquisition since I thought it kinda fit. Also, the other song is called Mari-Mac by Great Big Sea. I was raised on the East Coast so I was around this sort of music growing up, and thought that it would be awesome to bring that into the story. Feel free to check these songs out on your own if you'd like to immerse yourself into the story even more!