i'm so excited and anxious at the same time for the next couple chapters x3

thanks to you guys, i've had so many ideas bouncing around my head that it's hard sometimes to figure out which path i want Zuko and Kinri to take

if the story veers towards the future pairing of Zuko and Jin, then certain events need to take place,

but if the story more so involves our yellow-eyed stalker, then those events will be replaced with others

or if things stay mainly on canon's path, then interactions between Kinri and other characters will be slim and it'll just be her running around causing mayhem for poor Zuko (she'll do that in all the paths tho lol)

urgh, so many different choices x~x

well, enjoy~ c:

Chapter Twelve:

I believe in second chances

"Who would have thought after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace..." Iroh mused, then grinned broadly as he turned toward Zuko, the large floral hat on his head quivering as Kinri shifted beneath it, "As a tourist!"

His uncle had gotten the gaudy thing from somewhere, Zuko didn't even know where he got it from, but it was the perfect place to hide the little dragon since hiding her in their shirts would be too obvious. He'd been grateful at first for the solution to their problem, but now he was just getting annoyed.

"Look around." Zuko retorted, sending a glare at the other passengers on the ferry as he leaned against the railing. "We're not tourists, we're refugees."

He picked up the complimentary bowl of gray sludge they'd gotten when they boarded and took a sip, his expression widening in disgust before he spat it out over the edge. "Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this."

"Aren't we all?"

Zuko glanced over his shoulder at the unfamiliar voice, spotting a young man not much older than himself leaning against a pillar, a strand of wheat drooping in his lips as he grinned.

"My name's Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters," He introduced himself, stepping into the sunlight and gesturing to the two who walked up to his side, "Smellerbee and Longshot."

"Hey." The one called Smellerbee greeted in a husky voice, and the other, Longshot, simply nodded wordlessly.

Zuko scanned them with his eyes, taking in the hooked swords at Jet's side, the daggers at Smellerbee's, and the bow on Longshot's back.

By now he figured they were false names, but with everything going on it wasn't much of a surprise. He and his uncle had their own fake names, but Zuko was sure their identities were more important to keep hidden than these rough and tough hooligans with their mismatched armor.

All this evaluation took a span of a few seconds and he turned back to the water with a grunted 'hello', intending for their attempted conversation to drop then and there.

"Here's the deal." Jet began, his gaze on Zuko as he came nearer, "I hear the captain's eating like a king while the refugees have to feed of his scraps. Doesn't seem fair does it?"

"What sort of king is he eating like?" His uncle asked curiously.

"The fat happy kind." Jet answered drily, and in response Iroh's jaw dropped, drool dribbling down his chin.

"You want to help us 'liberate' some food?" The young man smirked, turning back to Zuko.

Zuko stared down at his gray sludge for a moment, his eyebrows lowering at the rotten meat floating on the surface. He raised the bowl and threw it over the side of the ferry, turning to face Jet fully with clenched fists.

"I'm in."

.

Kinri tried her hardest not to move under the hat, because she knew her person wouldn't like it if she drew attention to herself, but she wasn't exactly small anymore, and the balding head of the old man wasn't as comfortable as Zuko's.

She huffed in frustration, thin tendrils of smoke curling out of her nostrils before disappearing through the straw slits of the hat.

Realizing that would also bring attention to herself she clenched her jaws together, nearly crossing her eyes as she focused on her nose and willed the smoke to stay inside of her.

Her concentration was broken as her person's voice sounded nearby, it was quiet, so it was probably meant for Iroh's ears only, but of course she could hear it as well.

"Keep an eye on Kinri. I'll be back soon."

The Uncle's head moved underneath her talons as he nodded, and a strange thrill went through her as she processed her person's words.

Was he going somewhere? Where? Why was he leaving her with the old man?

Her scales prickled at the urge to throw off the hat and leap after her person, but with a click of her fangs she settled herself, the occasional twitch the only sign of her discomfort.

She watched impatiently through the slits of the hat as Zuko left with the three he had been talking to earlier, and Iroh lowered himself to the floorboards with a sigh.

The sky had grown dark in Zuko's absence, and Kinri nearly dug her talons into Iroh's scalp in her restlessness. She felt him wince as he reached up to his head and grasped the hat with one hand, and her belly in the other, swiftly setting her down beside him, the hat still hiding her from any prying eyes.

"Ah...roasted duck sounds nice..." He sighed, patting the top of his head with a bandana.

She stared at him incredulously, but his eyes were glazed and a bit of drool was dripping down his chin.

This was her chance!

She was about to squirm out from under the hat, but she remembered her bright scales would draw the attention of other people.

The hat would have to stay on then.

With another glance at the Uncle, she crept as quietly as she could away from him, the hat floating silently across the wooden planks as she followed her person's scent. There were a lot of people and their scents kept getting tangled up with Zuko's, and she also had to stay out of the open areas where people were pacing or sitting.

She stopped behind a pillar as someone walked by, her breath caught in her throat as she waited for them to pass her before once more sneaking closer to clump of shadows that smelled like her person.

Suddenly, one of the shadows detached itself from the others, followed by two more as it crept up the stairs.

It was her person!

She shivered in elation and skittered forward after them, and luckily it seemed that no one caught sight of the possessed floral hat that scurried across the floor.

The stairs were the hard part though, and it took her longer than she would have liked just to get up one step at a time while also making sure the hat didn't fall off.

She clenched her teeth in concentration as she pulled herself up the last step and onto the upper deck, her breaths coming in gasps as she looked around through the slits in the hat.

There was a figure standing guard by an open door, but they weren't looking in her direction as Kinri drew closer. It wasn't her person, of that she was sure, so she peered around the open doorway curiously as she looked for him.

There!

She scampered inside and up to the table where he was doing something with his swords and some bowls, but the figure outside called in quietly about a guard and immediately he turned and ran right past her with the same boy as earlier on his tail.

She was about to follow after them, but the tantalizing smell of meat wafted down to her and she raised her gaze to rest on the hanging carcases of several chicken-ducks above her.

Momentarily forgetting about her person with her empty stomach growling at her, she crawled over to the stove directly beneath them and stood up on her hind legs to reach the first handle. The hat fell off her, but she paid it no mind as she pulled herself up to the next handhold. Her talons closed around her next handhold, an empty cooking pot, only for her to wobble as it started to tilt backwards. She tried to flap her wings to regain her balance, but it was too late.

All the pots and pans on the stove, including herself, fell to the floor with a loud crash.

.

Zuko stiffened at the loud noise that exploded behind him and he twisted in alarm, eyes wide as he looked back at the kitchen.

"What was that?" Smellerbee whispered harshly from their place at the rope Longshot had shot up to them.

"Go, I'll check it out." Zuko ordered and the other scowled.

"Don't get caught or we'll be found out."

Zuko barely had the time to roll his eyes before he sprinted back to the door and looked inside. He could hear the steps of the guard quickly growing closer so he had to hurry.

His eyes fell on the fallen pots on the ground, and was about to turn back before his eyes caught the bright sparkle of golden scales as Kinri's head popped up from under a pan. Catching his dumbfounded gaze she grinned dizzily at him, attempting to drag herself out of the pile of cookware.

He felt his heart drop for a second before the nearby footsteps sent him rolling across the floor, scooping a confused Kinri into his arms and slamming his back against the other side of the table just as the guard stepped into the kitchen.

"Is someone there?" The guard called cautiously, walking towards the fallen pans, and Zuko slid around the other side of the table, holding his breath as the guard stopped walking.

Slowly, he peered over the top of the table, and seeing the guard not looking in his direction he took his chance and slid silently out the door, leaving a very baffled guard holding a large floral hat in his hands.

The rope was gone by the time he'd made it outside, and he grimaced as the guard began to walk out of the kitchen.

Zuko didn't allow himself to breathe until Kinri was safely inside his shirt and he was at the bottom the stairs, hurrying towards the huddled forms of Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot.

"Thought ya were a goner." Jet smirked, one bag tossed over his shoulder and the other at his side. "What made that racket anyway?"

"It was...uh, a mouse." The prince clenched his jaw, sweat slipping down his cheek as the three stared at him.

"A mouse?" Jet repeated, his eyes flashing with something Zuko couldn't identify in the dark. Disbelief? Suspicion? Amusement?

"Yeah, a really big mouse." Zuko swallowed, and they looked at each other before shrugging.

"Ok...well I'm going to pass out the food, you guys get yourselves settled." Jet instructed, passing Zuko's bag back to him.

With that crisis averted, Zuko let a sigh slip past his lips, sending a frustrated glance down at the not-so-surreptitious lump in his shirt.

.

"I thought I told you to watch her!" Zuko hissed under his breath as he sat down beside his uncle, who was busily filling his mouth with food.

"Ah, this hits the spot." Iroh cheerfully ignored him, rubbing his large stomach as he set down the empty bowl in front of him.

Zuko fumed silently as Smellerbee and Longshot joined them, Jet still handing out food to the other refugees.

"So, Smellerbee, that's an unusual name for a young man." Iroh surmised, looking over towards the smallest Freedom Fighter with curiosity.

"Maybe it's because I'm not a man, I'm a girl!" Smellerbee snapped, getting to her feet and stalking away angrily.

"Oh, now I see!" His uncle called after her, trying unsuccessfully to correct himself, "It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!"

Longshot watched her for a moment before following after the girl and grabbing her shoulder, turning her to face him.

"I know, you're right. As long as I'm confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think. Thanks, Longshot." Smellerbee recited gratefully, and the boy nodded firmly at her.

Zuko stared after Smellerbee and Longshot in shock, he hadn't realized she was a girl until then either.

He reached for his cup of tea, though noticing a flicker of gold he looked down to see Kinri inching her head out of his clothes and shoving her muzzle hungrily in the bowl of food in front of him. His eyes widened and he gasped, stuffing her back in his shirt.

"Somethin' wrong?" Jet asked as he sat cross legged across from the prince and his uncle, nearly giving Zuko a heart attack.

"No! Nope, nothing's wrong! Everything's just fine!"

Jet sent him another look, and Zuko fervently hoped Kinri wouldn't do anything suspicious again. Luckily she decided she'd had enough and he could feel her even breaths against his stomach as she slept.

"From what I hear, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se." Jet continued, turning his attention off Zuko as he looked down at the food before looking back up at them with a grin, "I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."

"It is a magnificent sight." Iroh commented, and Zuko glanced at him.

"So you've been there before?" Jet asked eagerly, leaning forward in curiosity.

"Once." Iroh admitted, gazing down with distant, guilt-ridden eyes. "When I was a...different man."

"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of." Jet confessed, looking away from them before turning back, gesturing idly in the direction of the walls. "But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning...a second chance."

"That's very noble of you." Iroh acknowledged with a nod. "I believe that people can change their lives if they wanted to." He glanced over at Zuko, who returned his gaze evenly. "I believe in second chances."

Jet stared silently at them, his blank face a mask of emotions.

.

Zuko laid on his side, using his arm as a pillow as the others slept peacefully around him, his eyes watching the dark waves rolling across the surface of the moonlit lake.

The little dragon stirred in his clothes, poking her head out of his collar and sniffing fondly at his chin.

He was starting to regret leaving the hat in the kitchen, but he couldn't go back and get it. So he was going to have to somehow make sure the Kinri-sized lump in his clothing didn't capture too much attention.

'Cause he's already doing so well already.

He sighed, reaching up with his free hand and rubbing the fur between her horns absentmindedly.

Kinri had caused him more than enough trouble on the ferry, so just how was he going to be able to watch out for her and keep her safe in the middle of a bustling city where a thousand things could go wrong if she happened to get outside, which he was almost positive she was going to try to do.

The odd sensation of being watched pierced through his muddled thoughts and sent a chill down his spine. He tensed, shoving Kinri back down into his shirt as he peered over his shoulder, roaming the still deck of the boat with sharp eyes.

There was hardly any movement or sound on the boat with everyone asleep, just the near silent steps of the guard on the upper deck and the small waves lapping against the sides of the ship.

Though for a spit second he saw them, and Zuko couldn't help but stiffen at the familiar sight.

Yellow eyes, glowing eerily in the dim light before disappearing behind a pillar as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving the deck empty and silent once more.

what would you guys want to see more of in the walls of Ba Sing Se?

Jinko? our yellow-eyed stalker? canon based occurrences? or do you have any ideas/thoughts you'd like to share?

seeing what you think would really help me decide which path to choose c:

thanks for reading~! ^-^