Chap. 2

Refugees

All day, the torture had been inflicted. With each passing second, he had prayed for relief, and for a moment, it had seemed possible. But relief was again dashed from his grasp and finally, he was forced to answer his tormentor…..

"Uncle, ENOUGH!" Zuko cried out as he faced his singing, and now dancing uncle.

"But Zuko, the people are enjoying it so." Iroh exclaimed as he paused in his spiel. "Look they're throwing money in my hat."

"They're doing that to make you stop!" Zuko yelled. "It's humilating enough we have to beg, can you at least do it with some dignity?"

Shaking his head, Iroh obeyed his nephew's request and sat back down. Though he knew that Zuko was wrong about the entertainment (people had been smiling kindly at Iroh's act all day, with more then a few donations) he did not want to upset him any further. Since the two of them had arrived at Ba Sing Se a week ago, things had not gone as well as they had hoped. Though they were out of the grasp of Azula and the Fire Nation, Zuko and Iroh had been faced with a greater problem; lack of food and shelter.

Since the city was so crowded with refugees, almost every single hovel had been snatched up, and jobs were just as scarce. Few positions were available, and the ones that were had no interest in hiring 'filthy refugees.' It was just as well, since the royally raised Zuko and Iroh had few skills that could be used in the workplace. They had attempted to stave off their current state by trading the few supplies they could live without. But those gains had been lost, and now the two of the were forced to take up the main job of Ba Sing Se refugees; begging for scraps.

"I don't suppose you have heard anything about that job that might be open?" Iroh asked, knowing that Zuko had been paying attention to the word on the street, hoping to find them employment.

But the former prince shook his head. "No Uncle, I haven't heard anything more. And besides, we are not going to work in a tea shop!"

"Come now, you such a job is perfect for me." Iroh said with a laugh.

"You'd probably drink more tea then you sold anyway." Zuko answered. Leaning back, he let the light of the sun stream on his face, then asked, "Uncle, is this all we have to live for now?"

"Zuko, we've had this talk before." Iroh siad with a sigh. "I don't want to stay here forever either. But we have no money, and right now, no plan for the future. We can't go back to the Fire Nation, and you won't even consider the other option…"

"And I still won't." Zuko said sharply, as he broght his head back down. It had been something Iroh had mentioned one night on their travel from the desert. Zuko could still hear the words….

Perhaps we should find the Avatar after all. We are not that different from him anymore now, as we're both wanted.

Now, as it had then, the words filled Zuko with anger. He was nothing like the Avatar! The Fire Nation wanted the Avatar because the boy represented the last real danger to their campaign. Zuko was only wanted through a mistake, and he would make his father understand it if it took the rest of his life.

But each time he thought about it, a nagging thought kept running through his mind. Zuko had become sickened by what he seen of the campaign's destruction on his time at sea. He had held his tongue as best he could, but it continually got harder for him to think of the Fire Nation as the honorable, noble institution he had been taught it was. It had become even harder to rectify the actions of his father. And now, that Zuko's home and father had betrayed him, why should he try so hard to return to their grace?

And the Knights… that had also weighed heavily on Zuko's mind. Those ten animal-men, the chosen voices of the gods, coming down all those months ago, and saying the Fire Nation was wrong and the Avatar was to be protected… how could any man dispute that? How could any mere man say that the gods were wrong? And then, when they had said that Zuko was the hope for the Fire Nation, that they saw things in him that no one else had, were they saying he was right to feel the way he did? That his disgust and questioning was the honorable course? These issues had weighed heavily on Zuko's mind, and never let him have peace. It was because of them, he'd come to believe, that he could not master lightning. Zuko had to make his choice, but he didn't know how, and he knew he couldn't do it here, begging for scraps…..

"Nephew." Iroh said, as his touch awoke Zuko from his deep meditation. "It is almost noon. The mission will be open soon, and we can get some food."

Zuko nodded, and he rose to his feet. Turning in the direction of the misson, which had been set up to help feed the refugees of Ba Sing Se, he began to walk towards it. As he walked off, Iroh watched his nephew with a concerned gaze. The former prince's walk was unsteady, and after a moment, he had to stop and shake the cobwebs from his head. It was not a sight Iroh was seeing for the first time, and it was not one he cared to keep seeing. The mission they were headed to did not have the best food in the city; since so much of the government's efforts were towards the war, they could not supply the misson with proper food. Still Iroh was able to make do with the supplies that they were able to buy with their begging money. But the money was not a constant, and the misson often served as their primary means of food.

But Zuko had not taken to that fact so well. His pride barely allowed to him to stand begging, and he had even less stomach (no pun intended) for the misson's food for the 'poor and downtrodden.' Therefore, Zuko had not been eating well in the time they had stayed at Ba Sing Se. He did not show it often, but Iroh could tell his nephew was starting to truly feel the effects. The prince's inner turmoil wasn't helping matters either. Zuko was too distrcted by his demons to even recognize his problems.

I have to do something before he destroys himself. Iroh thought as he followed his nephew. But what? We can't leave the city, and there is no one here to help us. If only there was something I could do besides observe his destruction and wish I could help. Iroh finished, as he walked towards the misson with those dark thoughts on his mind.