"Out of the question!"
Elyrie arched one eyebrow and crossed her arms while she glared at Zuko. He, in turn, looked at her as if she had completely lost her senses.
The two firebenders sat crossed-legged on the hard ground of a clearing in the forest. The sun was just over its highest point, which meant it was somewhere in the middle of the day. On their flight, they had ran in the direction to the Earth Kingdom and away from the colonies and the Fire Nation surveillance. They were still in the colonies, but it was a good start.
Iroh had estimated that it was only a day's journey to the nearest Earth Kingdom village. The older General had been occupying himself with mapping out their location. Elyrie had brought maps of the colonies to find her way around. She was glad she had packed them in her travel bag, because they were invaluable now. With a little bit of luck, they would make it out the forest without any further complications.
That is, if Azula would not immediately pursue them. And somehow, she doubted that Azula was reckless enough to blindly pursue three people with an entire army. No, if she wanted to capture them she was working on something far more cunning. Something that would certainly work. Elyrie shuddered at the idea, but was also pragmatic enough to see that if she wanted to arrange something, the time had to be now.
"I don't see why not?' Elyrie shot back, "I doubt that Azula has already spread the wanted posters."
She put down one of her dresses, which she was inspecting for her selection. Since they had to carry everything themselves, they had to get rid of unnecessary luggage. Zuko and Uncle had left their luggage when they had to flee. Her bag had been strapped to her, so she hadn't thought about it. In her bag were mostly clothing and maps, not sufficient for a long journey on foot. As for money, she cursed her stupidity to leave her purse in her cabin to pick up later. She had convinced Uncle to let her pay for the resort after they had set sail, but now she wished she had packed it with her.
Oh well, she mentally sighed, No use to dwell on that now. The next best option was to trade and sell some things for a little bit of money. Elyrie planned to bring her dresses to a tailor to trade them for more practical clothing for Uncle and Zuko. Her clothing was mostly blue and white now, so it would not attract too much attention in the Earth Kingom. Zuko and Iroh, on the other hand, still wore the red colours of the Fire Nation. That was one of the first things they needed to take care of.
"Besides," she said while folding the last dress, "I blend in here quite well."
Zuko gritted his teeth at her, but he couldn't deny that she was right. With her auburn hair and light skin, she could blend in well with the people here. More often than not, the citizens were of mixed heritage themselves. And more importantly, she spoke the native language of the Earth Kingdom which was predominant in the colonies.
But he was not comfortable about the idea to let her walk in a town alone, only to send a hawk to the North Pole. Elyrie was determined to first send a hawk to the North Pole with a message what had happened to her. She was adamant about this: first the message, then she would accompany them further.
This, of course, caused a few words between the two of them. Zuko was not about to let her walk into town with her face plastered on every poster. And Elyrie was not about to let him tell her what she couldn't do. So they argued the opposite points for more than fifteen minutes.
"Just stop asking," Zuko said decisively, "I don't think it is a good idea."
You also thought it was a good idea to trust Azula and go on the ship, Elyrie thought but immediately she reprimanded herself. That was below the belt and she knew it. So, she pressed her lips together in annoyance and swallowed her reply.
But it did not change the fact that she hated to be told what to do. She knew he was only worried about her, but it irritated her nonetheless. And she wanted now against all costs inform her family to prevent them from worrying about her. She would explain that there had been unforeseen circumstances and that she needed to stay longer, but that she was safe. No more information needed, but just enough not to make them worry. That surely wasn't too much to ask?
Elyrie sighed and placed the last dress on the pile of clothing. They were all just a little worked up after the whole ordeal that morning. One of these days, I am going to pray for a calm and quiet life, she thought to herself. Because for the second time in a very, very, short time her life had changed in less than a day.
"I am not asking for permis-," Elyrie began again, turning her head to look at Zuko but she was interrupted in the middle of the sentence. But not by Zuko, as she expected.
"And what if I arrange it?" Iroh chimed in. Despite his focus on the safest routes, he had heard the entire conversation. Or discussion, which might be a better word.
"You, Uncle?" Zuko said surprised with a raised brow, "What are you going to do?"
"Well," the old man said as he stood up and picked up the folded dresses, "I could trade these in the nearby village and send word to the North Pole. I am sure that would not be impossible."
"But,-" Elyrie said before she thought about the idea. If anyone wasn't suspicious, it was a kind old man who knew his way around. He could manage the two tasks with ease. She glanced at Zuko and saw that even he had nothing to object to the plan of his Uncle.
"That would be very kind of you." she said as she openend a sack for him, "Thank you."
"No problem at all," Iroh answered as he put the dresses in a knapsack, "But you two prepare yourself for our departure."
Both nodded dutifully, almost as if they were schoolchildren who gotten orders from a teacher. Iroh grinned at their nodding heads and lifted his finger to strengthen his point. "We'll leave as soon as I return," he said he as he swung the sack over his shoulder. "I'll be back in an hour."
Then, he walked away whistling a love song.
Elyrie waved at the older man as he walked away. For some reason, it almost seemed like he enjoyed the change of scenery. Then again, Uncle always had an joie de vivre-attitude about everything.
She smiled and extended her hand to pick up the maps Uncle had been studying. Placing them in her lap, she leaned forward to map out their location and how their journey to the Earth Kingdom would be.
"What are we going to do in the Earth Kingdom?" Zuko asked as he moved himself closer to her so he could look over her shoulder to the map.
"Find a way to avoid Azula and provide for ourselves?" she answered as she raised her shoulders, "I have honestly no idea."
Zuko let out an irritated sigh. Not at her answer necessarily, but more at the whole situation he had found himself in. This morning, he had woken up with the idea he would soon be back at the Royal Palace. He would see his father again and be the son he always dreamed of having. His old life, the life he had lived before he was banished.
This was even worse: when he was banished, he at least had a goal. If he captured the Avatar, he could return home with honour. And to that goal, he had desperately clung these past five years. But now, he had no prospects and no plans. The idea he had to travel every day for the rest of his life just to evade capture by Azula was intolerable.
Elyrie lifted her hands to pull her loose locks to the back and she tied up half of her hair so it would be out of her face when she studied the map. But again, she was surprised when her curls fell over her shoulders. It was not the first time she forgot she had cut her hair. Just a moment ago, she let her hand go through the length of her hair, only to find out that it stopped abruptly. She had to get used to the shorter hair.
Unbeknownst to her, Zuko was just thinking the same thing. Leaning back and trying to clear his mind from his troubling thoughts, he studied her. She had been right: her long hair was so distinctive for her, he couldn't imagine her without it. Without the curtain of long curls covering her back, she almost seemed like a different person.
He had to do a couple takes whenever he saw her in the corner of his eye, yet the short hair suited her very well. It made her look younger, more carefree. She looked no longer like an elegant noblewoman, but more like pretty girl with her curls springing around her heart-shaped face. Her hands and movements on the other hand were still elegant and refined, the epitome of grace. He might have scowled at her, but she truly had the poise and grace befitting a princess.
"Zuko?" he heard her ask as she looked at him with questionable eyes, "Are you even listening to me?"
"I'm sorry?" Zuko said as cleared his throat, hoping he had not stared at her.
"I said, is there anything else we need to remember before we start our journey?" she repeated slowly, but with an amused twitch of her lips.
"No, I don't think so," Zuko replied as he sheepishly rubbed his neck.
"What were you thinking about? You looked so far away?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side to look at his face.
"Nothing" he replied quickly and he cursed how his voice betrayed him went it came out with a shriek.
"I see," she answered neutral, but with a shimmer in her eyes. This was usually the moment to tease him relentlessly about his stumbling's, but now was not the time.
Still, old habits die hard.
Chuckling to herself, she thought about all the ways she could taunt him. The squeaky sound that came out of his mouth sounded just like his voice when he was ten years old. And his defence was just as good as when he was ten years old. She grinned wickedly, remembering how she loved it to outwit him at every opportunity as children.
It turned out, she didn't even need to say anything out loud because Zuko's scowled expression was the same.
Zuko saw her lips curling and her eyes glittering and he was immediately offended, just because he knew that she was thinking about all the things she could say to tease him.
"Stop it," he said in a low voice as he watched the amusement dance in her eyes. Apparently, she was thinking about something funny and he didn't doubt that it was about him.
"I didn't say anything" she countered trying to hold back the laughter she felt pricking in the back of her throat.
"And I am sure you are not thinking about vexing me?" he answered coolly as he arched an eyebrow.
"No." she answered, her tone sarcastic and she drew out the 'o' sound for at least five seconds. He scoffed at her, but she simply shrugged and focused her attention again on the maps in front of her.
Zuko wanted to be mad at her for laughing. How could she be so cheerful now? He wanted to be angry and frustrated because of what happened earlier that day. He wanted to lash out to her because of her calm reaction to all of this.
But he knew it would be useless. First of all, it wasn't her fault. Neither was it Uncle's. If anyone was to blame for this outcome, it had to be him for believing Azula.
Azula always lies
He had muttered that sentence over and over again when he was younger. Whenever Azula taunted and bullied him. Whenever she manipulated him and made him look like an utter fool.
It was frustrating to realise how gullible he was. Elyrie and Uncle, on the other hand, had not been not fooled by her ruse. Now that he thought about it, even when they were children, Elyrie had kept her distance from his sister.
She used to get along fine with both Mai and Ty Lee, but she was always hesitant around Azula. Was it because she was afraid of her? He could easily believe that, since Azula was able to make any grown man shudder in fear. Elyrie had reacted almost frantically on his suggestion to hide at the Northern Water Tribe because she was afraid of what Azula would do to it.
Zuko glanced sideways and saw her tucking the loose strands behind her ear over and over again. After a few tries, she swung her hair to the side and tied it together with the ribbon in a low ponytail. Her blue eyes kept studying the map and when her hands were free again, she let her indexfinger trail the routes.
For some reason, he couldn't believe that she was actually afraid of Azula. If she had been, she would not have sat here so relaxed. More importantly, she would not have wanted to march right into the nearest village to send word to her family.
Her intelligent blue eyes never left the pages, but he gazed at her nonetheless. She didn't look afraid, not really. She was cautious around Azula, that was a better description. Even as a child, she had simply been cautious. He, on the other hand, tried to best his sister at every opportunity. Usually with terrible results for him.
Zuko was brought out of his musings by the sound of cracking tree branches. Jumping up, he took a fighting stance as his eyes scanned the surroundings. He half expected a wave of blue flames to engulf them right then and there.
Elyrie reacted slower and remained sitting on the ground. She turned her head to identify the cause of the sound. In the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko's muscles tense.
"Hold your fire!" a familiar voice sounded from the bushes, "I come in peace." Zuko and Elyrie relaxed immediately at the sound of Uncle's voice.
A moment later, Iroh's smiling face appeared amidst the green leaves of the bushes and trees. His red clothing was already switched to the light green pants and tunic. Without his topknot, he looked just like any other man in the Earth Kingdom.
"Uncle, you look amazing!" Elyrie exclaimed as finally jumped up. She needs to have her priorities sorted, Zuko thought dryly as he watched her walk towards his Uncle. She didn't move when they were possibly endangered but she jumped to her feet to offer someone a compliment. Nevertheless, Zuko had to admit that his Uncle looked just like any other fugitive in the green colours.
"I brought some for you as well," Iroh said as he reached in his bag and gave Elyrie two pieces of green-coloured farbric, "Because the seamstress was more than willing to help me." He wiggled his eyebrows at them.
Elyrie let out a giggle, but Zuko groaned. His Uncle could be a smooth-talker whenever he wished and for some reason, it made him feel awkward just thinking about it.
"Just give me my clothes." Zuko murmured as he grabbed his clothes from his Uncle's outstretched hand and disappeared behind the trees to change.
Iroh rolled his eyes at his nephew and turned back to Elyrie, who was examining her clothing. "I have send word to the North Pole about your situation," he said, "It will reach it soon enough."
"Thank you." she said with a smile that softened his heart. Her blue eyes looked relieved as she added "I hope it was not too much trouble?"
He pinched her cheek lightly in a fatherly manner. "Don't worry about that, my dear," he said reassuringly, "I have my ways."
He sounded secretive but just as she was about to ask what he meant by that, Zuko appeared again in his other clothes. His attire was similar to his Uncle's: a tunic and loose pants in the same olive-green.
Iroh nodded approvingly at his nephew. If he let his black hair grow out, which was already happening before they left, he would blend in quite well. The only thing that they couldn't hide was his distinctive scar. But they could count on the discretion of people not to ask invasive questions about this. Even his crew had not asked anything and just assumed it was a training accident.
And even if they were curious, no one would associate the scar with the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. They had the secrecy of the Royal Family to thank for that: few knew about Zuko's 'accident' before his banishment. It would do the divine idea of the Fire Lord no good if it was widely known he had publicly burned and scarred his own son, the heir to the throne.
Lasty, if someone was to ask about it he could simply respond that it was because of a firebender. No one would hold that against him. Unfortunatly, it was also not uncommon around these parts.
Elyrie changed her outfit just as quickly as the two men. Her tunic was a little bit too big, but at least the pants were the right size. She had never worn green before but it complemented the auburn shade of her hair, Uncle noticed as the girl turned around to let them judge her.
"Perfect!" Uncle exclaimed as the trio packed their other pair of clothing in the bags, "Just one more thing."
"Where did you get the hat?" Zuko asked as his Uncle handed him a straw hat to place over his head until his hair was a little bit longer.
"The seamstress was kind enough to give them to me!" Uncle said with a mischivious smile. The other one was smaller and green like the rest of the clothing. It was a flat cap, usually worn by older men or young boys.
"Can I have it?" Elyrie suddenly asked as she picked up the cap and turned it around in her hand.
"You?" the two man asked in unison. Uncle had planned to wear it himself, like older citizens used to do.
"Well," she answered while placing the cap on her head, "I was thinking about how we would be described as fugitives. You can be certain that it will be 'two men and a woman'."
"So," she continued as she pushed her short hair under the cap, "With this I could pass for a young boy?"
"Uhm," Zuko said as he rubbed his neck, "I don't think this is going to work"
He looked at her, but even with her hair under the cap she didn't look the slightest like a boy. Her long eyelashes, large blue eyes and soft cheeks were as feminine as could be.
"It is not necessary to look exactly like a man" she answered, "But just at the first glance?"
Clever girl, Iroh thought as he saw her tuck the last strands of her beneath the cap. The loose clothing hid most of the curves of her body, so with a quick glance you would think she was a boy of no older than 12 or 13 years old.
"I think this might work" Iroh said as he motioned to the path further in to the forest, "But now we really ought to keep going if we want to reach the Earth Kingdom before sundown."
When the sun finally started to set hours later, they had almost managed to reach the edge of the forest. They had taken care of almost everything, but one unanticipated problem surfaced: Elyrie couldn't walk.
Zuko and Iroh kept the shoes of their Fire Nation armours, which were designed for support and comfort. She, on the other hand, only brought slippers with her which were not made for long walks. The flats she wore were almost worn off by the end of the afternoon.
The blisters and blood in her shoes were impossible to miss, but she gritted her teeth and stubbornly kept on walking. She ignored the pain as much as she could, but she started limping after barely an hour of walking. She refused to complain, but it was obvious that at the end of the day she was getting behind on the two men.
"Lily, are you sure you are alright?" Zuko asked for the tenth time that hour, "You can lean on me if you want?" Iroh turned around as well and saw that the girl was more than ten metres behind Zuko and him.
"If I need help, I ask for it." Elyrie answered between her teeth. Not out of frustration, but to numb the pain as much as she could. She was considering throwing away her shoes altogether, but it seemed useless at this point. Her feet were already painful enough as they were, with or without the shoes. Besides, she felt nothing for adding cuts and splinters to her list of injuries.
Stubborn girl, Zuko thought as he saw her limping towards them. He exchanged glances with his Uncle, who nodded to him. With a sigh, Zuko finally did what he planned to do for at least two hours now.
Before she could protest, he put his arms around her waist and lifted her from the ground, placing his other arm under her knees to steady her.
"Put me down!" she yelled as she stretched body to make him put her down, "I can walk by myself."
"No." he simply responded as he continued walking, although it was hard to hold her if she kept kicking and moving. She is much more manageable when she is unconscious, he thought wickedly as he remembered the last time he had to carry her in his arms.
"Lily," he said as if he were talking to a little girl, "I am not putting you down."
"Put me down!" she yelled again while placing her hands on his chest to push herself away. With a sigh, Zuko stopped and placed her on a large stone on the side of the way so she could at least sit down. She did not get up and rubbed her feet, but still avoided his look.
Zuko placed his hands on his hips. "Look at you," he said while pointing at her feet, "Your feet are blistered and you can barely stand." Elyrie didn't answer but looked away with a pouted lip and crossed her arms, like she did when she was small.
Zuko shook his head. "Uncle," he sighed as he turned to the older man, "Some help here?"
"Dear, listen," Iroh said as he sat down next to Elyrie on the stone, "We have a long way to go and I hate to see you in pain. Please listen to my nephew and let him carry you for the remainder of the day?"
"But,-" she began her protest before Uncle lifted his hand to stop her. "It won't be much longer," Iroh promised as he patted her hand, "We'll find shelter soon."
She looked from Uncle to Zuko, both staring at her with their golden eyes. "Fine" she sighed. She knew when she was beaten.
"Would you please help me?" she asked Zuko quietly. Zuko uncrossed his arms and nodded as he turned his back to her and knelt down, so she could climb on his back. She pushed herself off the rock and placed her hands around his neck.
Leaning forward, Zuko placed his hands under her upperlegs and stood up. "Good?" he asked as he slightly lifted her higher so he could carry her.
"Mhm" she mumbled with her chin on his shoulder, "Thank you" she whispered in his ear. Zuko felt a pleasant shiver going through him as he felt her lips so near his skin, but he composed himself.
"I-, ehm, you're welcome." he stammered as he began to walk without looking.
"Zuko?" he heard his Uncle call him. Zuko turned around with Elyrie on his back and looked bewildered at his Uncle. "What?" he asked, impatiently waiting for his Uncle to catch up.
Iroh didn't move, but pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "It is that way." he said amused as he saw his nephew's cheeks turn red.
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