HELLO MY LOVELIES!

I have missed you all so very much! Sorry I have been away so long… writer's block! Plus my old computer finally bit the dust. It was a lovely memorial service, really! Poor Sony Vaio you will be missed. But I have returned and Jeeze I've miss you guys! But now I'm back! And honestly I don't have a plan for this chapter. I'm just going to write and see where it goes. And never worry Guest reviewer I do not plan on abandoning this story.

So I have decided to try a little something new after reading a meme about 23 adulthood truths. It was that there should be a sarcasm font. So I'm going to use a different font for when Felicity or Alice or anyone really is being sarcastic it will look like this. I think that looks good what do you think?

So without any more wait there is part 2 of the Return to Omashu chapter!

FELICITY'S POV

"So you're telling me that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father?" Zuko questioned me again.

I just crossed my arms and grinned, "Yep."

"But that's impossible, Anakin is Luke's father." Zuko looked more and more confused the more he thought about it.

"Yep," I said again very matter-of-factly. "Search your feelings, fussy-pants, you know it to be true."

He gave me a snarky look before he went back to thinking and rubbing his chin in his very Zuko kind of way, "How can that be? Vader killed Anakin, right…SO, that can mean only one thing!" He snapped his gaze back up at me, "Anakin and Darth Vader…..they're the same man!"

"Bravo, fussy-pants," I clapped my hands together, "you have figured it out."

"But why wouldn't Obi Wan just tell Luke the truth? He would have been spared the shock and the pain," Zuko sat up and inched closer to me only for a moment before he realized he was getting closer to me.

"Because it was something Luke had to discover in his own time. He had too much he needed to do and learn. Knowing the truth would have clouded his judgment." I poured Zuko a cup of tea as I explained.

"I don't think that's true." He took a sip then continued, "If I…he had known the truth from the beginning then he would have been better prepared, and he could have probably changed things for the better." Zuko stared at me for a moment.

I had a feeling he wasn't talking about Luke anymore, "You don't quite understand yet, but you will. Obi Wan trusted that Luke was strong and fully capable of learning from his trials and that he would become a better man by facing them. Obi understood that Luke was smart, strong, and had a good heart, and so Obi simply guided Luke only when it was necessary. If Obi Wan did all the work for him and told Luke the whole truth from the start then what kind of hero would Luke be?"

"A well informed hero," Zuko snapped.

"He was informed. Obi Wan told him the truth, just not all of it," He wasn't talking about the story anymore but me and him. As well he should, there was more than one reason why I was telling him these stories, but after everything that had happened the past few months Zuko had been seeing everything very one-sided.

"Yes, but he wasn't told the whole truth. It might as well have been a lie," Zuko glared at me for a moment then looked back at the fire.

I took a deep breath, and thought very hard on what I was about to say, "You may be right."

His head snapped up and Zuko looked back over at me again.

"But I can't rewrite the story." I took a sip of my own tea, "It has happened the way it was meant to happen. Now you can learn from it, or ignore it, but trials, adversity, and loss is what makes a hero a hero. Anakin and Luke are two sides of the same coin." I stood up and brushed myself off. Before I went back into the cave I turned back to Zuko. "Which side will you be?"

He started to say something, but I didn't wait to hear it. Of course, I already knew the man Zuko would become, but he needed to learn it for himself. 'Make me proud, Zuko.'

ALICE'S POV

As the sun rose the gAang got ready to head back to the city and make the trade of Tomtom for Bumi. Tomtom was still sound asleep. I had volunteered to care for him while Sokka, Katara, and Aang got everything together.

It was hard to believe this sweet, happy baby was Mai's little brother. I never, NEVER, liked Mai. She's too gray. Obviously she's not the color, but she's that gray feeling, gloomy and dull.

"Alice, we're ready to head out!" Sokka called down to me.

I nodded and handed Tomtom up to Katara before climbing up, "Sokka make sure you find a close place for Appa near the trading site."

"Why?" Sokka gave me a serious look, "What do you know?"

"Just trust me, we are going to need him close by," I told him as stared up at the clouds. I still couldn't look down while flying, it freaked me out. If I looked up at the clouds it just left like I was riding in a convertible car or something.

"I'm sorry, Alice, this is the closest we can take Appa in. If the guards see him they will know that we have Aang with us," Sokka explained as he landed. I just nodded. I don't know why I didn't think of that too.

We arrived at the trading location before Azula and her crew. I wasn't sure why, but I felt so anxious waiting for them to show up. I held Tomtom to me as his sister and the others walked towards us. When he saw Mai he reached out and smiled at his sister, but her face didn't budge.

"You brought my brother?" Mai asked as they lowered Bumi down to the platform.

Aang turned slightly allowing Tomtom and I to be better seen, "He's here. We're ready to trade."

I started to move forward, but Azula interrupted, "I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?"

Mai stepped to the side, "Of course not, Princess Azula."

Azula eyed us smugly as she spoke, "We're trading a two year old for a king. A powerful, earthbending king?" She looked up at Bumi, who nodded in agreement. "It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

Mai looked back at her toddler brother, "You're right." Azula smiled slyly while Mai walked forward. "The deal's off."

"How could you?" I handed Tomtom to Sokka then moved past Aang. "He is your brother, your baby brother. He's helpless and innocent, and you would just abandon him. What kind of a sister are you?"

Mai sighed and rolled her eyes, "Tomtom is not worth as much as the earthbending king…."

I interrupted her quickly, "You're right…. Your brother is worth ten times more. You're his big sister, and it's a big sisters job to keep their little sisters safe."

She chuckled, "Umm, he's my brother, remember?" She looked back at Azula and Bumi, "Enough of this, take him away," and with a wave of her hand Bumi was being lifted back up.

"Bumi!" Aang yelled. He sprinted forward with his glider at the ready, increasing his speed with airbending. Azula tried to stop him by blocking his path with a mighty stream of blue flames. Aang dodged them by leaping high up into the air. Azula was completely shocked by his incredible jump. Aang briefly touched the scaffolding around the statue and pushed himself off, opening his glider in mid-air. When he opened his glider, he lost his hat, exposing his arrow tattoo.

Azula grinned evilly, "The Avatar! My lucky day."

As they moved higher up the scaffolding Katara, Sokka, the baby, and myself were left face to face with Mai and Ty Lee.

Katara opened her water pouch and looked back at Sokka, "We've got to get the baby out of here!"

Sokka was already blowing the bison whistle before she said anything, "Way ahead of ya!" He replied before giving his sister a big, goofy smile.

We all quickly turned and ran to the edge. Before we could reach it, however Ty Lee's fist emerged from one of the holes in the floor and punched Sokka's foot, causing him to fall over and slide toward the edge. He protectively clutched the baby in his arms, preparing for the worst, but I jumped and caught his leg, stopping them just in time.

"Thanks," He sighed.

I just nodded and turned back to the Fire Nation girls. Katara was busy with Mai, and even though I knew I was no match for Ty Lee all I had to do was buy Sokka a little time to get away. Ty Lee is fast so the best thing I could do would be to throw her off balance. I bent the water from my pouch and iced the boards under our feet. When she slipped she landed down on one knee so I whipped the water stream around her ankle and pulled her bracing foot forward. Being as flexible as she was, Ty Lee did a split when I jerked her foot forward. When she placed her hands down on the icy boards to push herself up, I took advantage of it. I bent the ice around Ty Lee's hands keeping her stuck for a moment.

"That should hold her for a little while. Go, get Tomtom out of here," I ordered Sokka quickly.

"On it," He ran over to the latter and slid down.

Ty Lee frowned, "Ah, why did the boy leave?"

"Sorry, I just didn't want the baby stuck in the middle of a fight, you know?"

Like I thought, it didn't take her long to get her hands free of the ice, "I wouldn't count on that trick again."

"I know," I pulled the water back to me. Crap, I'm in trouble with her back on her feet. Ty Lee jumped and flipped all around me while I barely managed to hold her off. I think I would rather be dealing with Mai, long distance is more my thing.

When Ty Lee saw that Katara was giving Mai a run for her money, Ty Lee turned her attention to Katara. I iced the boards again, but instead of trying to make Ty Lee slip I pushed myself past her until I was back to back with Katara. We just had to stall for time, and Sokka would be back.

Ty Lee dodged all my water whips while Katara caught Mai's arm in a stream of ice. When Ty Lee was right up on me she quickly jabbed my arm over and over, and I knew I was done for. It stung at first, and I hissed at the pain.

"Alice!" Katara heard me, "Are you ok…." Before she could finish Ty Lee jabbed her arms as well. Katara was surprised by Ty Lee's attack and lost control over her water stream that splashed on the ground. She tried to raise the water again, but it only moved a little.

"There's no point, Katara, she blocked our Chi," I held my arm where it was jabbed

Mai just grinned as she taunted us, "How are you gonna fight without your bending?"

Mai pulled out a sai from her robe and aimed it at Katara. Just as she was about to throw the weapon, Sokka's boomerang flew past our heads and knocked it out of her hand. Ty Lee and Mai spun around to see Sokka flying to the rescue on Appa.

"I seem to manage!" Sokka and Appa landed between Katara and I and our attackers. As Appa landed, he slammed his tail hard on the ground, sending Mai and Ty Lee flying off the scaffolding.

When we finally caught up with Aang he told us what Bumi had said, that he would have to find a new earthbending teacher, and I knew what that meant.

"Don't worry, Aang, I know we will find your teacher, soon." I patted his shoulder. "Very, very soon." I couldn't help but be a little excited, Toph and Sokka were always my favorite characters in Avatar. I've been friends with Sokka this whole time, and soon I'm finally not only to meet Toph but get to hang out with her. 'Excuse me, not Toph, Melon Lord!'

He gave me a small smile, "Thanks, Alice," but his smile quickly faded into a look of sadness and worry for his friend still imprisoned.

Katara cleared her throat and turned to me, "Alice, about what you said to that girl back there?"

"Oh, you mean Mai, yes?" I shrugged.

"I know you were talking to her, but it kinda sounded like you were…" She stopped to find the words.

"It sounded like you were talking about Felicity," Sokka finished.

"Felicity? What do you mean by that?" I looked back and forth to the two of them.

"Well, you know that Tomtom is Mai's little brother, but you said 'it's a big sister's job to protect her little sister,' you didn't say brother." Katara looked like she was worried about me. "Does that mean you're not mad at Felicity anymore?"

"I….I don't know," I never was mad at her to begin with, but I was mad. "Let's not worry about that right now. We have to get Tomtom to his parents."

Aang nodded, "She's right, it's not their fault that the deal went south. I'm sure they are worried about their son."

By the time the sun set we were leaving Omashu, Tomtom was back with his parents, and I knew we would have Azula on our tails. I had a lot to think about right now, but I couldn't make myself stay awake anymore. I laid my head down, and let myself sleep.

FILI'S POV

"Finally a town!" I ran ahead of Zuko and Uncle Iroh when we reached the next earth kingdom town. All the street lamps were already lit, but luckily there were still a few shops open for us to get some food. It looked really familiar for some reason though. "Hmm, weird."

"What is it?" Zuko whispered as he reached my side.

"What? Oh, nothing I just thought I have seen this place before," I shook my head. "Ok, so let's split up as see if there are any places to sleep or get some food." I gave both of them both some money, "Alright, this is all we have left so spend it wisely."

It really wasn't all that much. I had two silver pieces and one copper piece, Uncle had six copper pieces, and Zuko had one silver and three copper pieces. All of that together didn't even equal up to one gold piece. I was just thankful that this was a pretty big town, and I could probably earn it back plus more with a song or two.

We all picked a street and headed out in search for food. At least until the feeling of someone's hand wrapping around my forearm stopped me.

"Felicity," Zuko was the one who grabbed my arm, "Don't get yourself into trouble. Don't talk to anyone, and just be careful, alright?"

I just smiled and nodded, "I promise, I'll be careful." I wanted to tease him, but how could I? He looked and sounded so sincere in his concern, and it felt so good to know that he cared enough to worry. As I walked down the road, I saw a merchant with a wheeled cart. On the cart he had all manner of masks.

"See any that catch your eye, miss?" He smiled as I looked at all the masks.

Alice collected masks back home, and I just knew she would love these. Unfortunately, I barely had enough money for food, "They are beautiful. Thank you for letting me look….." Just as I started to walk away one mask in the top right hand corner caught my eye, and I knew exactly where we were. It was a blue dragon mask, the same one that Zuko wore as the Blue Spirit.

I pointed up at the mask, "That mask…?"

He looked up at where I was pointing, "Oh? Don't you think that one is a bit…much… for a young lady like yourself? You have such a lovely face it would be a shame to cover it all."

"Where did you get it?" I looked from the mask to the merchant.

"I get them from time to time when they have 'The Love Amongst the Dragons' play, but that Blue Dragon isn't very popular," The merchant shrugged, "He's the villain, you see."

Shortly after seeing the mask, I found a bread merchant. He was sweet, awkward but sweet. He only charged me for two loafs but gave me three. As I walked back to our meeting location I saw Zuko standing at a fruit stand.

"A mango for me, a grapefruit for Uncle and…" He hadn't quite seen me yet as he talked to the merchant.

"How about apples?" The merchant lady asked.

"No, thank you, she doesn't like apples that much unless they are the sour ones."

"What a lucky girl you have. Take your time and get her something she will really like." The old lady smiled up at him. "What about oranges, I have lots of those."

"She's not my… never mind. I don't remember if she likes those…" Zuko rubbed his chin like he always does when he was thinking as he looked over all of the fruits "Plums! She loves plums! The dark, sweet plums."

"Of course," She picked up a plum and started to hand it to him as Zuko laid down the money, "Oh, oh dear, I'm sorry, but you don't have enough for a plum and all the rest." She looked sad for him. "I'm sorry dear if they weren't so hard to come by I wouldn't mind, but…"

"Then just the grapefruit and the plum? Do I have enough for that?" Zuko stopped her.

She recounted in her head, "Well yes but…"

Zuko nodded, "I'll take those then please."

The lady merchant just smiled a little and handed him the fruit, "I hope you all enjoy. Have a safe night."

"Thank you," Zuko picked up the fruit and turned towards our meeting spot. That big ol' softie. I wish he wasn't so hard headed sometimes, and I really wish I had enough to get him a mango. I didn't even know he liked them.

When we were all together again we pulled out all of our spoils. Uncle Iroh managed to sweet talk his way to get a wheel of cheese, I had the bread, and Zuko had the fruit. At least we wouldn't go to sleep hungry.

I noticed Zuko watching me as he gave me the plum, "Thank you, fussy pants." I smiled as he put it in my hands. He had picked a good one. Nice and firm but not too hard, and it was a deep red almost purple. I took my knife and cut it in half then pulled out the large seed in the middle.

"Here, have some with me?" I held out half of the plum, "I know it's no mango but…" I stopped to watch his face.

He looked a little surprised, but after a sigh he looked disappointed, "You keep it, I bought it for you. You love them."

Uncle watched us in silence as he ate his bread and cheese. In the corner of my eye I could see the grin growing on his face.

"Yes, I do love them. They're one of my favorite fruits," I took his hand, gently, and placed the plum in it, "And I want to share it with one of my favorite people."

He gave me a confused look, "Felicity…."

"Eat the plum, fussy-pants," I chuckled, "before I change my mind, and give it to Uncle."

Uncle Iroh just laughed at us, "I do love a good plum."

I nodded in agreement as I took a bite. Mmm, perfect!

Uncle waited until Zuko began to eat as well, "You know many people believe that plums are one of the main ingredients in powerful aphrodisiac and love potions." Zuko's head jerked up, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

That's just mean, Uncle Iroh, funny, but mean!

ZUKO'S POV

Something was tickling my nose, and it was driving me crazy. This was the first time in months that I was actually sleeping peacefully, and something had to tickle my nose.

I didn't want to open my eyes, because I knew if I did it would take me forever to fall back asleep.

I brushed my nose.

Once…

…Twice….

I groaned as I opened my eyes to see what it was that was plaguing me.

It was a lock of dark golden hair. Felicity's hair. She was curled up with her head tucked under my chin, and her back to my chest. Sometime in my sleep she must have rolled closer to me. She is such a heavy sleeper she never would have noticed.

Wait…

After a moment I realized my arm was wrapped around her waist. That is how I sleep, I always end up pulling a pillow close to me. It's the reason I sleep with the door locked. It looks childish, like a toddler with a stuffed animal.

Had I? I had….I pulled her to me. I started to pull my arm away from her waist, "Thank goodness she sleeps so heavily."

Before I was completely free I felt her squeeze my other arm's sleeve. She was using it at a pillow, and I realized I wasn't going to free it so easily. Just when I started to give up hope of freedom, Felicity lifted her head to roll over.

Once she was facing me I noticed something odd. Felicity was crying in her sleep, "I haven't seen her cry since…. Since the day I told her to leave. Could she be…?"

It was moments like this I wished I had her talent of listening to people. I wanted to know what she was dreaming about to make her cry. I couldn't ask her. I didn't have the right to anymore.

I laid there and waited until she stopped crying. When she finally smiled, I closed my eyes to sleep again.

Sadly, that wasn't long lived. The sun was coming up, I could feel it. Not only that, but this town seemed to be full of early-risers. Uncle quickly woke up as well. I took Felicity's music player out of her bag and put the buds in her ears. Her music would help her to sleep for a little while longer.

While she slept, Uncle came up with a terrible idea to start begging for coins. I hated the idea of it. I didn't even like when Felicity would offer to buy something for me, and she was one of the very few people closest to me. Why would I willingly beg? I am a Prince! Royalty, I don't beg.

"Spare coins for weary travelers?" Uncle held up his hat as a passer-by dropped a couple of copper pieces into Uncle Iroh's hat.

The more I heard the jingle of those coins the angrier I became, "This is humiliating! We're royalty! These people should be giving us whatever we want."

"They will if you ask nicely," Just then a girl walked by and Uncle put on his puppy face, "Spare change for a hungry old man?"

She pulled a coin from her sleeve, "Aw, here you go."

"The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile!" Uncle winked at her. This was worse than the begging. I slapped my forehead in frustration as the young girl giggled and walked away.

As soon as she was gone, a man with dual broadswords on his back wandered up to us, "How about some entertainment in exchange for ... a gold piece?" He held up the gold piece with a smug grin.

"We're not performers," I answered. I was just glad Felicity was still sleeping soundly.

"Not professional anyway." Uncle sat down his hat as he stood up and started to sing, "It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty!"

Never mind, I wish Felicity was awake.

The man, annoyed with the quality of the entertainment, pulled out his swords, "Come on, we're talking a gold piece here! Let's see some action! Dance!" He ordered as he swung the swords at the ground near Uncle's feet.

The more Uncle sang the madder I became until I felt my fingernail nick my palms from squeezing them so hard. Suddenly, I felt a softness move over my hand.

Felicity was staring up at me with sleepy eyes, 'You're yelling in your head too loud.'

My eyes darted over at Uncle and the man.

'I know, but it will be alright, trust me.' She squeezed my hand gently.

"They kiss so sweet that you really got to meet the girls from Ba Sing Se!" Uncle sang the last line loudly, and the man started laughing.

"Ha, ha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner! Here ya go!" he tossed the gold coin onto the ground and walked away.

Uncle picked up the coin and watched the man walk away, "What a kind man."

Felicity patted my hand before she started to stand up, "What do you two say about me trying to earn a few coins now?"

I didn't say anything. I knew she wouldn't listen anyways. After two songs we had more than enough to last us a week. Many of her onlookers even gave us food. On the one hand this was better than begging, but on the other I was starting to worry. More than one of the people in the crowd knew or had heard of the "Girl with golden hair." Word was traveling fast, and we still had Azula on our heels.

"Thank you," She bowed and smiled. I knew this made her happy, but we had to get going. We couldn't stay here much longer.

'I know, Zuko, I can hear you.' She waved goodbye to the crowd and turned to me, "I'm sorry."

I just shook my head, "Let's get moving."

Felicity walked over to me and took my hand. I had to stop myself from jerking it away. She didn't take it to hold it. Felicity turned it over and place a small pouch in my palm.

"I thought this would be better for the road," She smiled up at me.

I looked from the pouch to her, "What is it."

Felicity just smiled and opened the bag as I held it and pulled a piece of what looked like a mix between and orange candy and a chip then ate it, "It's dried mangos."

She turned to Uncle and started talking about the weather and Uncle's singing. I just stared down at the bag. I had always hated it when she bought me things, I still did, but this was…. I don't know what it was, but I hated it a little less.