The expected attack never came. He waited, but only silence greeted him, dust blowing across his boots. Cautiously, Zuko approached the wagon, leaping up in a singly motion with a guttural cry, sword ready. He landed gracefully on the edge of the driver's seat. Immediately he recoiled at what he saw, clamping a hand over his mouth involuntarily.
He had been right about the ambush, but it had already happened. A man dressed in the dull greens and browns of Earth Kingdom peasantry was slumped on the floor of the driver's seat, throat cut. The smell was overwhelming. Jaw tightening, he looked down in a moment of respect for the dead that ended when he heard again shifting from inside the wagon. Using the tip of his blade, he pulled aside the torn cloth door, peering inside. The wagon had obviously been ransacked. He heard a soft, anguished groan, and his eyes tracked to a slender hand. Crawling carefully inside, Zuko pushed aside a fallen crate to reveal a dark-haired woman looking up at him weakly through eyes narrowed in pain. A trickle of red moved sluggishly over her lips as she coughed, and without thinking, Zuko cradled her head, setting his weapon down within easy reach. "What happened here?" he demanded, then added more softly, "don't worry, you're safe now."
Shaking her head, the woman tried to speak. "No, stay quiet." Zuko examined the situation, trying to figure out how to get the woman out from beneath the wooden wreckage without further injuries. The woman didn't stay quiet though.
"Nnn. No. Take. Liang." She wheezed out a word Zuko couldn't quite catch. More blood ran down her chin, and she managed to gasp out more words. "Bohai. Take. To my sister. In Bohai. Liang." She repeated the last word again, and then the weight of her head increased as her body relaxed.
"No!" Zuko shook her shoulder futilely, the last moment of her life slipping away.
"I don't understand. Wait, don't…" Closing his eyes, Zuko didn't move for a long moment. Then gently, he lowered her head, brushing hair out of her face, and using his sleeve to wipe her face. She was young, and pretty, her face long and narrow. His jaw clenched in an effort to hold back the wave of sorrow that threatened to overtake him. He wasn't sure why he felt anything at the death of an Earth Kingdom peasant, but then Zuko always did think the worst of himself.
With a hand that shook with minute tremors, he sheathed his sword and turned to go, only to be halted by a gurgling noise. Immediately he turned back to the woman. Was it possible? But no, her face was growing cold; it couldn't have been the woman. Then what…
It was then he noticed a silk hammock high in the cover of the wagon, weighted down by a small bundle. Frowning, he stood. Rocking the hammock forward, Zuko looked inside, eyes widening.
Brown eyes stared back at him.
Liang, Zuko realized with a start. This was her baby, Liang.