The woman now named Lily had physically recovered greatly thanks to the help of Aila, Kai and Yona. Even the young boy, Hachi, comes over the house and watches over her once in a while. She ran her fingers through her now short cropped hair.
"I'm afraid we're gonna have to cut off your hair, Lily..." Aila muttered sadly. She had tried her best to comb out the tangles and knots, going so far as to putting oil and grease in hopes of detangling it. "It's such a shame... you have grown it to such length, too!"
"It's alright... Hair always grows back, right?" Lily said kindly, holding Aila's hand. "I never got to thank you for all trouble you went through to help me, even if I am a stranger to you..."
The woman smiled kindly at Lily. "A stranger is a friend you just haven't met yet." She took the blade in her hands, sharpening it with a whetstone. "You ready, Lily?"
"As I'll ever be." She smiled and closed her eyes as Aila carefully ran the blade through her hair. The bulk of the tangled mess fell to the floor and instantly Lily felt light. A huge weight literally fell of her shoulders.
Maybe this was a sign of a new beginning for her.
Lily giggled as Yona paced around the front yard, deep in thought. Kai sat under the mahogany tree, resting after the morning deliveries to the market.
"Alright! Now that we have solved the mystery of your name, I think it's time we figure out what you used to do for a living." Yona pushed her light brown hair back into a tight ponytail, her expression meaning nothing but business.
Lily thought hard, trying to remember something, anything but to no avail. It's like her entire memory was wiped clean.
"I think we should rule out 'slave', because you were dressed so fancy and you have all those nice rings on your fingers... But we should still give it a try! Here!" Yona handed her a broom. "All you have to do is sweep all these fallen leaves into a pile right here." She pointed to a spot under the tree. "Got it?"
"Didn't mom ask you to do that, Yona?" Kai called her out, an eyebrow raised.
"Two birds with one stone!" The child said simply and turned back to give the broom to Lily.
Lily nodded and took the broom from Yona. She held the long wooden handle in both hands, feeling its weight.
No one knew exactly what or how it happened, but next thing Lily knew, she had twirled the broom in one of her hands. Yona's eyes widened as big as Lily's and she ran to her. "Do it again, Lily!"
She did it again, passing it from one hand to the other. Kai looked on with interest, watching her as she happily played with the broom. The first thing he noticed was the expression of her face. She looked happy, almost relaxed. The next was the way her eyes sparkled in delight.
Her mind may not realize what she was doing, but her body sure remembers.
Lily stopped, and proceeded to try and brush the leaves into a pile. Her actions left the siblings laughing, clutching their stomachs. "What?"
Yona pointed at the way she swept the leaves, "Y-you... are... using... the wrong end!" She said between her laughter. Once she calmed down, she concluded. "So you're definitely not a slave then..."
"I guess not..." Lily pouted and clutched the broom. She was really curious why she knew how to twirl the broom, but not exactly use it for its intended purpose.
Aang sat in the middle of the deserted town, legs folded beneath him, his staff laid across his lap as he meditated. He and his friends have been constantly on the run for almost two full days from the girls they had fought in Omashu. He had taken a bagful of Appa's fur and made a fake trail, hoping it would lead them away from his friends. The lack of sleep had taken a toll on all of them, to the point that Aang had snapped at Toph and she ran away.
He opened his eyes and saw the leader approaching from the distance, riding a gigantic lizard. Once she was a good distance, she dismounted and looked down on the Avatar.
"Alright, you've caught up with me." Aang had a calm expression on his face. "Now who are you, and what do you want?"
Azula put a hand on her hip, smirking. "You mean, you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance? Here's a hint." She put a hand over her left eye. "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor!"
Aang found no humor on her supposed joke; he only looked at her tiredly.
"It's okay, you can laugh! It's funny!"
"So what now?"
"Now? Now, it's over! You're tired, and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you."
He finally stood up, staff in hand. "I'm not running."
Iroh handed a cup to the stranger he just met while following his nephew. "Here's your tea... You seem a little too young to be travelling alone."
"You seem a little too old." Toph snapped back. After her fight with Katara and Aang, she had split from the group and for some reason, she ended up having tea with this old geezer.
Iroh laughed at her comment. "Perhaps I am."
"I know what you're thinking, I look like I can't handle being by myself—"
"I wasn't thinking that..."
"You wouldn't even let me pour my own cup of tea!"
Iroh smiled at the child. She reminded him so much of his own nephew. "I poured your tea because I wanted to, and for no other reason."
Toph gripped her cup. "People see me, and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me. But I can take care of myself, by myself."
"You sound like my nephew," Iroh confessed as he took a sip of his own tea. "Always thinking you need to do things on your own without anyone's support. There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you. Not that I love you! Well, I just met you!" Iroh added the last part as a disclaimer, earning a laugh from the girl.
"So where is your nephew?"
"I've been tracking him actually." The uncle had followed his nephew ever since he left him in the cave. After Lu Ten, Zuko was the closest thing he had to a son. If something were to happen to him, and he was not by his side, it would break his heart.
Toph tilted her head to the side. "Is he lost?"
Uncle Iroh looked away. "Yes... a little bit. His life had recently changed, and he's going through very difficult times. He's trying to figure out who he is, and he went away."
"So now you're following him."
"I know he doesn't want me around right now, but if he needs me, I'll be there."
Toph smiled. This old geezer was actually kind and sweet. "Your nephew is very lucky. Even if he doesn't know it." She stood up and faced Iroh. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Iroh smiled even if he knew the girl could not see it. "Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights!" He suddenly thought back to Suiren's young ward Chiyo. A stranger he had once shared tea and had conversation with had saved them from Azula's clutches. He can't help but wonder how she is faring at the moment.
"No, thank you for what you said... It helped me."
"I'm glad."
Toph picked up her satchel and threw it on her back. "Oh, and about your nephew, maybe you should tell him that you need him too."
Iroh sipped his tea. He never thought of it that way. He always had in mind that Zuko needed him and his guidance. But maybe this young girl was right.
Maybe he needed him, too.
"Do you really want to fight me?" Azula drawled.
"Yes, I really do." Zuko dropped from his ostrich horse and faced Azula, throwing his hat away and revealing his identity.
"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu!"
The nickname earned a laugh from Aang. "Zuzu?!"
Zuko took a fighting stance. "Back off Azula! He's mine!"
Azula reciprocated her brother. 'Just like old times.' " I'm not going anywhere."
The three had stared uneasily at one another, daring the other to make the first move, calculating the best possible way to win this battle.
At the momentary distraction, Azula fired the first shot, sending a stream of blue flame towards her brother who deflected it with a shield of his own fire, but the impact sent him back against a post, the roof it supported collapsing over him.
Aang took it as his cue to escape, opening his glider and taking off, but Azula created a whip-like wave of flame that took him down. She advanced, jumping on the roof as leverage and landing in front of the Avatar, and kicking up a swirl of flames which Aang easily avoided.
Aang did his best to dodge the flames both siblings were sending his way. Azula was attacking the Avatar while at the same time, fending off Zuko's attacks.
This went on for a while until he was cornered, having slipped from the roof, and Azula using her lightning to cut the portion he had been holding on to. He now lay there trapped beneath a beam that had fallen on him. Azula set fire to the edges of the room, walking towards the Avatar slowly. She raised her hand, ready to kill the Avatar, when she suddenly felt her arm grabbed by a whip.
"Katara!" Aang happily called out, but the princess had now turned on her, sending a powerful shot of blue flames to her. Katara ran to lead her away from Aang and she followed. Sokka ambushed her, using his boomerang to throw her off balance.
Zuko who had been knocked out for a while opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his uncle. "Get up!" He said, lending him an arm as he did so. He looked in the distance and saw Azula fighting Katara, Sokka and Aang.
Suddenly, Azula was thrown off-balance and onto her hands and feet. "I thought you guys could use some help." Toph smirked.
"Thanks." Katara smiled.
Seeing that she was at a disadvantage, Azula fired several shots of flames and made her escape, but she was cornered by Iroh and Zuko.
They closed in on her. Six against one. "Well look at this... Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done. I know when I'm beaten." She raised her hands. "You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."
Iroh made a mistake of looking at the young girl he had tea with. He was surprised that she had been a friend of the Avatar all this time. At that temporary lapse of attention, Azula fired at his chest, sending him flat on his back.
They all attacked together. Air, water, earth, and fire. But Azula made a powerful shield of flames, and threw them back with a huge explosion. She used the smoke of the explosion and made her escape.
Zuko knelt by his uncle, frustrated. He had come all this way to help him, and Zuko didn't even have the chance to defend him. He was angry. Angry at Azula, at himself, at everything that happened. He heard the footsteps of the Avatar and his friends, and he turned around. "Get away from us!"
Toph felt the ground with her bare feet. The man that had helped them was the same old geezer that gave her tea and advice! Her unseeing eyes filled with tears.
"Zuko, I can help." Katara approached them.
"LEAVE!" Zuko sent a powerful wave of bright flames towards them. And they took the message. They left them in the abandoned town as it burned.
Zuko put pressure on Iroh's wound, hoping to stop the bleeding. "Uncle, please..."
When the bleeding had subsided and fire had died down, he dragged his uncle into one of the ruined houses that was the most intact. He checked his uncle's supplies and found some bandages. He set to work on treating his uncle.
After doing the chores, Lily offered to help with dinner. She had no idea if she can cook, but she figured that she might as well learn. Aila gladly accepted the help and taught her everything that she knew, from chopping vegetables, preparing the meat, and cooking the rice.
The stew was nicely simmering and Aila had put a new batch of firewood onto the earthen stove. "Here," She handed her a fan. "You have to fan the embers so that the fire catches on to the new firewood. The stew needs to simmer for another half an hour."
"Got it." Lily held the fan in her hands.
A girl was spinning to music, holding two golden fans in her hands. And as the music ended, she knelt, with her head bowed, holding the fans in front of her. She heard tremendous applause in front of her and she had looked up and saw a boy smiling and clapping for her.
"Lily? Lily!" Aila called to her, worried. She held her hand and Lily was pulled out of her trance. "What happened? Are you okay?"
She looked down at the fan she was holding. 'Was that me?"