Zuko awoke to a rather spry old man with a brown hat staring down at him.

"Why hello there!" A gap between his two front teeth peeked through his lopsided grin.

Zuko half yelped, half grunted, scooting backwards in surprise.

He bumped into his uncle, who grumbled at the rude awakening.

"Nnngh," Iroh mumbled from behind him.

Zuko sat up, pushing his hair out of his face.

The slender man studied the two men, not seeming to realize nor care how close he was to them.

Zuko frowned.

"What are you doing so close to our camp?"

The man chortled. "Camp? Why this here's my dock." He stepped aside, gesturing to the dock behind him.

Memories of the Painted Lady and the night prior came rushing back.

"Your...dock?" Zuko repeated.

He bobbed his head in response, thumping a long pole against the wood.

"Yep! I'm Dock, I run the boats to and from the village."

The young man stared blankly, now even more confused. He rubbed his eyes, turning to glance back at his uncle.

Iroh shifted in his place, throwing his arm over his eyes. "Sorry, we don't mean to intrude."

Dock glanced over to the man, still grinning.

He was friendly. Almost too friendly. Zuko thought. It gave him the creeps.

"You two are fine!"

Dock studied Iroh, who had just sat up. He noticed the bandages around Iroh's arm and shoulder. Zuko shifted in his place, noting the man's gaze.

"I know what brought you here! It was the Painted Lady, wasn't it!"

The travelers met eyes for a moment, saying nothing.

Dock didn't seem to care the pair didn't respond.

"She's amazing! We're actually erecting a statue in her honor today!" Dock continued as he walked over to his raft-boat, tossing on a few crates.

"You've seen her?" Iroh asked.

"Well, no," he admitted. "But one of our villager's kids has! He said she was absolutely magical, and she glows light blue when she heals!"

Iroh and Zuko met eyes once more, both unsure what to say.

"She is definitely magical, one could say." Iroh said, rubbing his recovered shoulder gingerly.

Dock nodded rapidly. "Would you like a ride to the village? We sell supplies if you are interested!"

Iroh fidgeted in place, trying to gauge his strength.

After a moment he gestured to Zuko. "My nephew Lee will take you up on that offer later today, if you'll be back later."

The firebender grumbled under his breath, unceremoniously shoving his blankets into a pile and standing up.

"No time like the present."

His uncle curiously looked up to the boy - who he realized in that moment was quickly turning into a man - and raised his brows.

"Okay. Leave me some food, I should be well enough to manage on my own. I'll meet you later."

Zuko grunted in response, snatching up his bag in one fluid motion.

Dock flashed the pair a gapey grin as Zuko threw a little pouch of food at his uncle.

"Alright then! All aboard!" The wiry old man leapt onto the raft, not seeming to mind it wobbling and creaking at his weight. The murky water below sloshed at the disturbance, sending its putrid smell up into the air.

Zuko scowled at his uncle for good measure before gingerly stepping onto the wood platform.

I swear to Agni, if I fall in...

Dock skittered over to the side of the raft, shoving the same pole he'd been holding into the water.

"Take a seat, get comfortable and enjoy the ride!" Dock pushed off, sending the boat forward. Zuko wobbled in place before promptly plopping down, deciding he maybe should take the kooky old man's advice.

As Dock pushed the raft closer and closer to the village, Zuko allowed his mind to wander back to the night prior.

"All I ask is that you help the citizens of the river in return..."

He knew his uncle was surprised that he'd hopped right up and decided to go into town then, but there was no telling how long they could stay in one place- especially with Azula and most of the Fire Nation's soldiers on the lookout.

He wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't follow up with the Painted Lady's request and he really didn't want to find out...

"Boy, you're a quiet one, aren't you!"

Iroh had managed to pull himself up to his knees, his gaze cast out across the river.

Pain shot through his shoulder and into his arm, but he could tell it had lessened greatly from the days prior. His mind - and lungs - felt clearer and his whole body seemed to hum with his chi's newfound semi-equilibrium.

"Boy, that Painted Lady sure knows how to work her magic," Iroh mumbled to himself as he pushed himself to his feet. "But is she a spirit...?"

~0~

Katara jolted awake.

What time is it? She wondered, her body aching.

"June?" Akira's voice floated into the back room. Someone - Akira, she assumed - knocked and Katara wondered if that was what had startled her awake.

"Mmmm," Katara threw her arm over her face, rolling slightly over. "Yeah."

"I was wondering if you were awake," she spoke through the door. "We have another set of newcomers in town, I thought you may like to see if they've met anyone in their travels that you may know."

The brunette shot up at the mention of the newcomers - who Katara assumed could only mean Zuko and Iroh. Dock had probably met them earlier that morning.

It was only sensible that he would have offered them a ride, considering they had camped so close to his dock. A smile twitched over Katara's lips at the thought of Zuko dealing with the rather kooky, yet harmless old man.

"Uh..." She scrambled to put on her clothes. "Maybe."

After she had straightened up her bedroll and put away her pajamas, she slipped out to the back of Akira's shop. Akira was settled in a rocking chair towards the front, her gray hair peeking between the woven wooden back.

There had to be some way that she could see Zuko and Iroh before they saw her...she didn't want them to know that she had been staying in the village. Perhaps she could make up some reason to Akira as to why she didn't want them to know of her presence.

As if in sync with her thoughts, she saw Zuko's head of dark hair across the way, his back towards their shop.

Katara skittered backwards, knocking into a shelf of fabric.

Akira frowned, glancing up to notice her newfound housemate's actions.

"June?" she started, before noticing her wide blue eyes. "What's the matter?" Akira had lowered her voice, getting up to hobble over towards the girl, who'd ducked behind the shelf.

"I-" she shook her head rapidly. "Recognize them."

Akira frowned. "Alright, then go talk to them."

"N-no, definitely not a good idea."

This confused the old lady further, yet she did not push the subject. "Did they hurt you?" Her gaze traveled over to the young man, close to June's age, and the sweet and jovial looking elder man that was with him.

"No..."

"Ahhh, an old boyfriend?" Akira joshed, nudging Katara with a knowing grin.

Katara chuckled awkwardly, not knowing how else to explain her reaction. "Something like that..."

~0~

Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh were talking to a shop owner, trying to find somewhere in the village they could stay for the night. The owner wanted an arm and a leg for the use of his back room, mentioning the Painted Lady being the reason for the mark up in prices.

Zuko growled in frustration, pulling his uncle away from the stingy shopkeeper.

"It's fine Uncle, we'll go buy some food and then see if Dock will take us back to shore."

Iroh nodded, not wanting to fight with his nephew.

The pair went across the way to a different set of shops. A man that looked near identical to Dock was seated behind the table, rummaging through crates.

"Dock!" Iroh called in greeting as they approached.

"Hm?" The man shot his head up, adjusting his yellow and red hat that perched atop his head. "Oh, no, Dock is my brother! My name is Xu!"

Iroh and Zuko glanced from the man to each other.

What the hell? The only difference in his appearance was his hat...

"You look just like Dock, our apologies," Iroh said instead, inclining his head. "What do you sell, Xu?"

"Ah, Dock is my twin brother!" Xu stooped over and pulled up a tray, the stench of grimy fish meeting their noses. "I have clams and fish available, if you're interested!"

Zuko grunted at the stench, resisting the urge to plug his nose.

Iroh grimaced, waving his hand. "Ah, no thank you."

The motion irritated his shoulder, sending a wave of pain down through his arm.

"Oh! Are you injured? You could stick around, perhaps the Painted Lady will help you if you're lucky!" Xu grinned rather maniacally, shoving the tray of fish back under the table. "She's a river spirit that watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was a legend, until now."

"You don't have any medicine?" Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Or a fish that doesn't look like that?"

"Medicine?" Xu repeated. "No, sorry. All the medicine and food we have goes to the factory..." he glanced around. "Until recently... the Painted Lady has been delivering food and medicine. But we've had to use all it on our sick. There's a lot of sick folks here."

Xu seemed to ignore the fish comment, wiping down the counter absentmindedly.

"Although…check with Pu! His house is over there," Xu pointed across the way in a general direction. "He's the closest thing we have to a doctor."

Zuko glanced around. Children were running around playing and flying small kites.

A commotion came up from around the corner, near the largest platform in the village. The wood shook beneath their feet.

"It doesn't seem like many people are sick," he stated, looking towards the commotion.

A group of men dragged a huge wooden carving around the corner, sweat dripping down their brows. With a thud they pushed it up, using ropes to leverage the statue into the air. It stood nearly 12 feet tall, the statue being a near exact replica of the spirit that had visited Zuko and Iroh the night prior. The only difference Zuko could tell was that this spirit looked much...older.

"Seems like this Painted Lady has positively affected the entire village," Iroh commented. "It's a good thing she came back."

Zuko looked down to Xu's table, noting the small carved Painted Lady figurine.

"Oh yes!" Xu bobbed his head. "It is, but I wish she would do something about that factory."

Zuko thought back to the night prior. He'd promised the spirit he would help the people of the town.

What better way to do so?

~0~

Meanwhile, "June" busied herself in the back of Akira's shop, mending a few more articles of clothing to sell.

The pair had made a deal that if she fixed the stack Akira had given her, Katara could take another outfit to add to her collection.

Katara was thankful for the offer, as her current attire wasn't quite her size and hung off her slender frame in tatters in some areas.

Squinting down at the current seam she was working on, she grumbled under her breath as a strand of her dark hair fell into her face for what seemed like the tenth time that hour. One of her maroon ties she'd previously used to keep her top knot up had snapped that morning, leaving her hair a bit unkept.

"June?" Akira called from the front of the shop. "Are you making any progress dear?"

Katara didn't respond right away, still not used to her new moniker.

"Huh?" She mumbled after a moment. "Oh, yeah...hey, do you have any spare cord I could use to make something for my hair?"

Akira's head popped over the shelves dividing the front from the back. Her eyes lingered on Katara's waves for a moment.

"I may..." her head disappeared from view and a moment later she was scurrying around the corner, a comb in hand. "Here."

She positioned herself behind Katara, who'd stiffened at the sudden proximity.

Akira began combing through her hair, thinking to herself the time when her hair was the same beautiful chestnut shade.

"What are you-" Katara started, before Akira shushed her.

"Keep mending, I'll take care of your hair."

Lowering her eyes to the seam, she continued to repair it as Akira had started doing... whatever she was doing.

Eventually Katara relaxed, not having anyone brush and do her hair since she'd been back home with her Gran Gran.

Ten minutes later, the woman tucked the last piece of hair into place, stepping back to admire her work.

She had combed through all the hair, pulled the top half back with a French braid and secured that into a traditional topknot with a scrap of fabric from the desk.

"Would you like to see?" She asked as Katara had stopped what she had been doing to reach up and gingerly touch her hair.

"Please," the girl responded, standing up.

She followed Akira over to the front, where she had fished out a small wood handled mirror.

"I traded one of my best dresses to a merchant's daughter for this."

Katara took the mirror from the elder woman and stared into the shiny surface. She'd only seen her reflection a few times in an actual mirror, normally she'd have to bend water into ice or sneak peaks of herself in mirrors at some of the nicer vendors in various villages.

Her hair hadn't been braided to her scalp in such a way since she was a child, when her mother did it for her.

"It..." she trailed her fingers up the braid, a smile coming to her face. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"Good," Akira took the proffered mirror back. "I'm glad you like it. I could hear you grumbling at your hair from up here. It's been a while since my own hair was healthy enough to be plaited."

Her face reddened from embarrassment; she didn't think she was that loud.

"And, if I'm not mistaken, you only have that one top left before you're finished, and the ceremony for the Painted Lady is about to begin."

Katara's eyes widened before she could stop herself.

"The- what...?"

~0~

Zuko had managed to be volunteered, thanks to Iroh, to help the men secure the Painted Lady statue to the decking.

He had no clue how the statue had been carved and painted in such a short time.

Though at the same time, he wasn't necessarily surprised, as the residents seemed to be crafty. They would have to be, living with such limited supplies thanks to his father's soldiers occupying the nearby factory.

The adults had gathered a few of the older kids together and sent them with Dock under the village.

Zuko had been put in charge of holding the statue in place as they drove the nails in from the bottom.

"Thanks for your help, Lee!" Dock had exclaimed after he returned from his trip beneath the stilted village. "Now we can get the celebration started!"

"Lee" merely cocked his good eyebrow up in response.

"I'll go find...Mushi."

The dark haired teen stalked away, his eyes scanning the ever growing crowd for his uncle.

~0~

The whole town had gathered on the wide platform where they'd erected the statue. The sun had sunk significantly in the sky, casting a golden light over the village. Some played music on various stringed instruments and a few children tapped drums in unison.

Akira had already made her way to the party, leaving Katara behind. She'd been in the middle of altering her new set of clothes, promising Akira that she'd join in on the fun as soon as she finished. The elder woman had painted the red lines of the Painted Lady on her face, saying that they were going to start a new tradition. She'd let Katara know where she'd left the reddish paint and told her to put some on before she left.

Well, Katara thought. This ought to be interesting.

Zuko, who'd found his uncle flirting with an older woman, had left the pair as soon as he heard him laying on the charm.

Leave it to Iroh to find some woman to grin at and talk about Pai Sho.

So he kept to himself, settled on a barrel on the outskirts of the party. Instead of allowing himself to get lost in his thoughts, he stared out across the small sea of people, noticing that there were more people here then he'd originally thought.

~0~

Katara had just finished getting ready as the sun met the horizon, the golden light turning a bit more reddish as the sunset formed.

Her outfit consisted of a deep red wrap skirt over a pair of cropped black leggings and a slightly cropped collared vest, the same deep red color but framed with a tannish gold outline. She finished the outfit off with a red arm cuff, leaving her hair how Akira had fixed it earlier in the day. Her face adorned the same markings that it would have if she was going out at night.

Those of the Painted Lady.

This is strange, she thought to herself.

If they only knew...

As odd as she felt with it, she knew that she'd stick out like a sore thumb without it, as every woman and small child had it painted across their face.

Katara slipped out of the seamstress's shop, heading towards the tall statue they'd erected in the middle of the largest platform, closer to Xu's shop.

As soon as she crossed over the walkway, she audibly gasped at the sight.

So many people milled around the statue, faces lit up by the almost set sun and various torches positioned around the platform. She looked from face to face, trying to see if she recognized any from her night's prior. A few she recognized, and some she didn't. Pepper and her son Erin were holding hands and laughing, half spinning and half dancing off to one side. Noa and another lady, someone she vaguely remembered healing, also cheerfully swayed, casting a glance over towards the mother and son.

She pushed through the crowd, trying to find Akira, yet instead, she ran into Pu.

"Pu!" She exclaimed with a smile. "You're up and moving! How are you feeling?"

The elder man grinned back.

"All thanks to her," he gestured to the statue. "I'm feeling nearly brand new."

"That's wonderful," Katara smiled. "She's definitely done a lot for the village, I never would have thought so many people lived here."

Pu grinned, stepping out of the way for a moment as a few younger kids ran by, laughing. "Many returned to be with their families to celebrate once they heard they were better."

He caught a young boy as he stumbled towards them. He smiled down to the boy before pushing him lightly back towards the others. "And now that I'm back on my feet, I'm able to help."

"June!" A familiar voice shouted from across the way. "You finally finished your projects!"

Akira waved from a few feet away, weaving in and out of people.

"This one is such a good seamstress," she said to Pu, nudging Katara. "She gets the repairs done twice as fast."

She blushed at the compliment. "Lots of practice growing up. My Gran taught me well."

~0~

Zuko's eyes landed on a figure with long dark chestnut hair. She was talking to the older lady his uncle had been flirting with and a man a bit younger. A weird sense of familiarity tickled his brain, yet he couldn't figure out why.

While Zuko was distracted at the trio talking, the group of playing children had managed to make their way towards him. A younger girl with pigtails missed the ball thrown at her, and it whizzed past her head, knocking into Zuko's barrel.

He jumped, removing his attention from the girl in the distance to peer down at the much younger one in front of him.

"Sorry mister!" She grinned, showing a missing tooth.

Zuko stood up, scooping the ball off the ground.

"It's fine," he said, tossing the ball back.

Another kid came over to where she was standing.

"C'mon Aria!" He looked to Zuko. "Leave grumpy pants alone."

Zuko's mouth dropped. "Who are you calling grumpy pants?"

Aria snickered, running off with the brat. Zuko scowled in response, raking his fingers through his hair.

Once the duo had left, Zuko turned his attention back to the girl. She turned her head to look over the elder man's shoulder at something and his eyes widened at her profile.

Was that-?

BOOM

A thunderous noise drew everyone's attention to the commotion. The ground shook violently and screams replaced the brief silence.

A huge fireball had slammed into the statue's head. It teetered precariously in it's place, a cracking sound coming from the base.

The screams went silent.

All eyes turned towards the source of the blast, where a rather nasty looking group of soldiers stood.

Zuko could barely see them on the other side of the crowd, their spiked helmets peaking over the villagers heads.

"I'm sorry to break up your party," a voice cut through the silence. "But you all have some things that belong to us."

He raised his arm, motioning forwards. Behind him, the soldiers moved forwards, pushing their way into the crowd.