Forgive me?

Ch. 3

Disclaimer- Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to me.

As Zuko stalked away from the crooked merchant, he couldn't shake the fact that something was going to happen. His nerves were going haywire, and he felt more agitated, angry, and paranoid then he had in a while. Every time he heard breaking twigs, or saw a rat scurry through the market, he had the instinct to turn around and pounce. On top of that, the man looked very familiar, and dangerous. If he was right about his suspicions, something was bound to happen. Zuko paused momentarily, and then continued on his trek of the marketplace, unaware of the significance of his thoughts.

The sun grew warm on his back, and the already busy market quickly filled up with even more individuals, including panicked women, energetic children, and hobbling elders.

"Fresh fish!" Zuko heard as he merged into the crowd.

It was early afternoon, and the market place was well into its busiest time, much to Zuko's dismay. He couldn't walk one foot without stepping on or something, The first being a cart of cabbages.

"Gah!" screamed a scrawny older man with brown pants and a light colored shirt, "My cabbages!"

"Oh, um, sorry, " Zuko said awkwardly, and reached down to help pick up some of the vegetation, but apparently he was not welcome, and the man swatted his hand away.

"Get your paws of my vegetables!" exclaimed the old man and Zuko stumbled back in surprise, only to bump into a woman with a blue dress.

"Oh!" the woman said, before touching her behind, and slapping his hands away. "Watch yourself!"

"What?" he said somewhat embarrassed as to where his hands had landed; and again he hurried away. He was not used to such interaction, or crowds. In fact, he nearly tripped over a small child who had rushed in front of him to grab a piece of fruit that a merchant had dropped. "Ug," he said as he managed evade the possible collision, and light feminine laugh met his ears.

"Heehee. " Zuko turned to see where it had come from, and caught sight of a flash of olive green, grey, and gold. Before he could get a better look however, a rush of people swarmed in front of him, effectively cutting off his view. Within seconds, a piercing cry ricocheted off us his eardrum, and he tripped over a good-sized rock.

"What the Fu-?"

"Flowers! Rare flowers from the Island of Green!"

The phrase cut of his slew of profanity and Prince Zuko cursed inwards. Zuko was not normally that clumsy, but crowds such as these made him seemed quite the opposite. And no wonder, being a prince, or ex-prince, he was used to people giving him plenty of space, and at times, respect. However here there was hardly any space to move and almost every open patch of land was covered with bodies closing in on a good deal, and him, or so it seemed.

Since he had made his decision to help the avatar defeat his father, and especially after he met the dragon master's, he had calmed some, but in situations such as this, he seemed to revert to his angry and bitter self from time past. And at this moment, he was hot, honorary, tired, and extremely stressed. So much, in fact, that his scar seemed even more vicious, and his molten eyes became as like steel.

"Sir." He had said in his first attempt to make conversation. With the hard edge to his tone and mean look on his face, the phrase seemed more deadly, and the man, as well as the others, who were nearby, tended to shy away from him.

"Ma'am?" He attempted again, and the women smiled slightly, before tapping her son's back and urging him to go faster.

"Hey, excuse me?" Again, there was no success and Zuko rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. He felt his tension lighten just a tad, and once again attempted to approach other individuals. This time, many people spoke, but none of them were helpful. Some were even sarcastic, much to Zuko's chagrin.

In fact when he asked a famous butcher about the ostrich horse, the man's response was "Half-dead or dead." Zuko did not allow it to phase him, and asked that man where he got that shipment be.

"Somewhere on the continent."

At that time Zuko narrowed his eyes and moved on to the next booth. But alas, there were no responses of any use. After what seemed like hours, Zuko finally got irritable enough to punch a near bye wall.

"Argh!" Zuko cried in frustration as he threw his hands in the air. "Can't I get any leads!" He wove his fingers into his thick dark locks, and closed his eyes. He did not notice that the crowds had died down a bit, or that the ones in the market were now looking at him with strange looks on their faces, and frankly, he didn't care. All he knew was that he had to make up for what he did to Song, and had no idea how to do that anymore. "Why?" he asked to the air and his ears were soon greeted with girlish laughter. Realizing it was the same that he had noticed throughout his mission of finding an ostrich horse, Zuko twisted around, wondering about the source.

However, he saw nothing save the thinned out crowds going about their business. Zuko took a deep breath, and looked towards the sky with a distant, albeit softened expression. His mind briefly registered the scuffling of dainty feet and smell of green trees when "You look much better like that."

The voice was young and lithe, and Zuko snapped his head forward. As he did, he whirled around to see a girl in a green and gray tunic dress, with golden brown hair and light green eyes.

"Who the heck?" he asked, and the girl smiled before bowing slightly, and twirling once or twice away from him.

"Are you looking for something?" she asked, and Zuko felt his heart rate slow. He let out a clear sigh before affirming her question. "I am."

"Maybe I can do something" the girl stated, curiosity present in her small features. Zuko felt the briefest twitch on his firmly set lips.

"I want to find an ostrich horse," he said urgently, "Can you help?"

"And Ostrich horse, huh?" The girl paused on her left foot, and tilted her head to the side, as if thinking, then finally. "Well I don't know, she said, annunciation on the I, "but I think I may be able to lead you to someone who can."

Zuko felt his heavy spirits lift a bit, and he felt more like he had after the avatar had accepted him. Finally he had found a lead. "Where?"

The girl drew little circles in the dirt with her brown sandal, and placed her hands behind her back. She leaned away from the prince a little, and wavered, almost as if she was unsure about her offer. She then smiled slightly, and waved him towards her. "Follow me."

Without any doubts, Zuko followed her straight away, and she headed towards a less populated part of the village. Unnoticed eyes followed him as he went, and the tall shady merchant Zuko had bought his clothes from, stepped out of the shadows, with a slight smirk on his face, and a concealed object strapped across his back.

To be continued…

Done! Although, I'm debating on whether making the girl bait or an innocent bystander for the next chapter, what do you think?