A/N: Meeting Iroh and Zuko properly, or should I say...Mushi and Li :3 So this chapter is all about setting the scene and such. I'll be diving down deep into the hearts and minds of our two reluctant soulmates in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy this one and leave a review to let me know what you think!

The first thing she became aware of was that her head was hurting. Or at least it was throbbing a little. A low moan sounded from her lips, as she lifted a heavy hand to press against the tender spot. A slight wince of pain crinkled her forehead, before she felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist and tug it away from her injury.

"You should not touch your wound, my dear. It is still quite swollen."

The voice caused her eyes to snap open and her entire body slipped into a state of fight or flight. Her hand moved to take out the dagger she always strapped at her side, where she felt nothing but the soft material of her clothes. Her legs kicked away the blanket that was covering her, and she quickly tried to move away from the speaker who was sat only a few inches away from her.

And she would've run off, if her head hadn't spun, followed by a wave of nausea that had her seeing dark spots in her vision. She stumbled, causing the figure to reach out and grasp her arm to keep her from hurting herself further.

"Do not fear child. No harm shall come to you."

Finally, the dark spots vanished, and Orora was able to gain back her vision. Her blue eyes blinked as she adjusted to the bright sunlight that poured in through the opening of a small cave. Her attention, however, was on the man in front of her.

He was old, almost as old as Master Pakku. And he still held her arm to keep her from running off. But his touch was gentle. Not at all like the way her father would grab her arm when she would try to storm off after yet another argument. The bearded old man gave a small nod and a kind smile, his eyes holding no malice or anger. And something within her seemed to calm down a little.

Her body loosened, but just enough. If he gave her a reason to cause any harm, she would bolt. Adjusting herself so she was sitting with her legs tucked underneath her, Orora raised a hand to her head as she groaned softly. "My head feels so heavy." She muttered, prompting the man to nod. "Well you did happen to fall on a particularly nasty rock. Good thing there was no bleeding." He reached beside him to pick up several leaves. "Here. These should help with the pain. I do not have the means to boil them in water but they should help with the pain. They are-"

"White Willow Leaves." She finished, slowly reaching out to take a few from his hands. The old man gave a small smile of delight. "It seems you know your medicinal herbs. I took the liberty of washing them for you." He added. Orora gave a small nod of thanks before tossing a few leaves in her mouth and chewing. Her face contorted to one of utter disgust as the bitter taste spread along her tongue. A water-skin came into her view and she grabbed it before greedily gulping down the contents.

Sighing once she was done, Orora turned her gaze towards the man and gave him a small nod. "Thank you, sir." He waved away her gratitude with a smile. "My name is Mushi, my dear. No need for formalities. Might I ask you for yours?" Orora pursed her lips briefly before giving a small nod. "Orora." He gave a small hum in response. "A beautiful name. I have never come across someone named as such, it must be quite rare." She gave a small shrug, having never thought of that before. "I suppose."

A small silence followed her words before the man, Mushi, spoke again. "It would seem, you had an unfortunate run-in with my nephew."

Her entire body went rigid, the water-skin dropping from her hands and onto the dirt covered floor of the cave. Scenes from last night played within her mind.

The Spirit that had attacked her.

The tug on her finger.

Removing the frightful blue mask.

Seeing his face.

His scar.

His eyes.

Golden.

Her soulmate.

"You have gone quite pale, Orora. Perhaps you should lie down once more." He suggested but she shook her head frantically, ignoring the pain behind her head. "No! I-I have to l-leave." In her hurry to stand, she very nearly stumbled on the blanket, which she realized was actually her cloak. Picking it up, she quickly threw it around her shoulders, before moving to pick up her pack.

Orora underestimated the level of injury she had sustained, and the sudden multiple movements caused her to stumble on her feet, her head swimming. She had barely taken a few steps, vision swimming when she suddenly collided with someone. Her hands flew out to steady herself on the person's arms, the short strands of her hair falling into her eyes as she tried her best to get rid of that feeling in her stomach. Whoever held her upright didn't pull away, instead they seemed to grip back, as if helping to steady herself.

"I see you're finally awake." The figure spoke. The voice was raspy and not at all like any she had heard before. The string on her finger had gone completely tight, but it didn't hurt. Despite her initial decision to not look at him, she found herself straightening up so that she stood at his eye-level.

In the sunlight she could see more of his features. And though the scar was a big part of his face, she hardly registered it in favor of assessing his eyes like she had done last night. He seemed to be looking right back at her, so maybe he wasn't completely disgusted by her appearance.

As if realizing what she was doing, Orora snatched her hands back from where they still rested on his forearms and gave his chest a swift punch. It wasn't enough to hurt him badly, but since he hadn't been expecting it, the sudden action had him stumbling back, slightly winded.

His features morphed into an ugly frown as he glared at her. "What was that for?!" Orora held her arms up, hands in fists as she glared back. "For what you did last night you Son of a Hog Monkey!" She was still a little unsteady, but her anger surpassed that feeling.

A loud boisterous laugh sounded from behind her, prompting the girl to glance back at Mushi who was having a good old belly laugh. "Oh dear, I have not heard that insult in quite a long while." He chortled, wiping away a tear as he reached out to gently lay a hand on her shoulder. "No one will hurt you, Orora, you may calm down." She opened her mouth, as if she were about to respond when he spoke.

"Orora?"

Her head whipped in his direction as he stood there, a hand still on his chest where she had hit him. "Is that your name?" He asked, sounding a little strange. At least strange to her. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes. My name is Orora. Do you have a problem with that?" Why did the Spirits have to go and have her run into him like that?!

He shook his head. "Nothing." So saying he walked past her and into the cave. "We need to leave Uncle. I saw a patrol of Fire Nation Soldiers not too far from here." Orora frowned. "Why would you be running from the Fire Nation? Aren't you firebenders?" She asked, leveling a glare at the other teenager. Mushi shook his head. "We may be firebenders, my dear, but we are enemies of the Fire Nation, and neither of us seek to cause anyone harm." She turned to glare at his nephew who avoided her eye in favor of packing up.

Clearly Mushi didn't know his nephew well.

"And you are still hurt. It would be best if you were to come with us." He turned now, his tone severe as he regarded his nephew. "After all, it was involuntarily caused by Li here, for startling you." For his part, Li looked almost embarrassed at being called out like that.

If it had been up to her, Orora would've replied with a simple no and been off. But she suddenly caught sight of a little something Mushi held out to her. "This fell out of your bag while you were sleeping. It is a very pretty." Her eyes widened as she glanced from the small tile to the old man holding it out for her. There was a knowing look in his wise eyes as he pressed the precious tile into her palm.

"Yes, I believe it would beneficial for us to travel together." She agreed, her eyes now directed at the boy standing behind his Uncle. Seemingly ignoring the palpable tension simmering between the two teenagers, Mushi gave a nod of approval.

Orora learned very quickly that neither Li nor Mushi were built for foraging. She was no expert either, but she did manage to catch fish every time they were by a body of water. It helped that she used her water-bending skills to do so. Her ability to catch fish, perfectly matched up with Mushi's ability to cook it to perfection. The first few times she had cooked, the meat had always been charred. And not in a nice manner. But Mushi seemed to be an expert, and she would happily eat with him.

Since the day she began to travel with the Uncle and Nephew, Orora found a friend and confidant in the old man. He was kind to her. Always ready with his gentle voice and his calming presence. She spoke to him like she had never done any other adult, and he enjoyed her company just as much. The fact that he was aware of the importance of the White Lotus Tile, whatever it may be, eased her nerves around him. Master Pakku had advised her that those who knew of the White Lotus would help her, and she trusted the waterbending master.

Mushi had very briefly told her how they were from the Fire Nation Colonies, but were enemies for having caused trouble for the Fire Nation army. And that was that. He didn't provide any more information, but kept the conversation targeted towards more neutral topics. He had asked her about her family as well, to which she had told the truth about the matter. She had kept it brief, but he had understood her need to not speak about it and had not asked her again.

And while a strange yet welcome sort of friendship formed between her and Mushi, the situation between her and Li was an entirely different matter.

Since the first morning, neither of them had spoken to one another. One would think it would be difficult not to converse, given they were now traveling together, ate together and slept just a few feet away. But Orora kept her focus on traveling, getting something to eat, earning coin by healing wherever she could and taking care of the Ostrich-Horse she had taken a shine to. When Mushi had told her it didn't have a name, she had taken to picking one instantly. Chairo (Kai-ro). The word meant brown, and admittedly was not the best name for a creature that was so obviously brown, yet she did not know what else to pick so she had stayed with that name.

Mushi was now more then aware of the tension that existed between the two of them, and though he tried his best to strike up a conversation that would include the two of them during the late evenings when they were resting for the day, nothing every came of it. Both of them were being ruled by a sense of stubbornness that was associated with teenagers, and neither would budge from their decision.

So the conversations would go as thus, either Mushi and Li would be speaking, or Orora and Mushi. And if the old man tried to include the other in the conversation he would receive and quick and short reply. And while Orora's would be respectful, Li's had a little bite to them.

A trait that had started to get on Orora's nerves lately.

Since beginning their travels, the string between the both of them stayed visible. There was no tug. No pull. Just a constant reminder that they both existed in one another's vicinity and yet chose to ignore it. It would seem they were both adamant about their decision of rejecting the other as their soulmate, yet neither of them came outright to say so. Given that they were not speaking to one another, it was not surprising that they hadn't had a chance to do so yet.

One night, Orora was feeling rather restless under the gaze of the full moon, when she became aware of a figure slipping away from their makeshift camp. Mushi was still sound asleep, snoring away. Casting a look in his direction, Orora quickly slid to her feet. Wrapping her cloak tightly around herself, she slipped out of the camp and followed the figure into the night.

In the light of the moon, she was able to see that all too familiar mask that Li pulled out from inside his shirt. Frowning, the girl stepped a little closer to him. "Going off to rob more people I see."

Zuko whirled around, his twin swords held up in defense. "Oh, its you." He stated dropping from his stance in favor of readying himself for his latest string of robberies. A small part of Orora burned at being dismissed like that. She hated when men did that. As if her very presence did not warrant their attention.

"Does you Uncle know? What you do when you wear that mask?" She nodded towards the object. "He seems honorable enough to not go about stealing from people, I'm surprised you would stoop so low as to commit such crimes." Zuko glared at her, and if looks could kill, she would've been underground by now. "I think its best that you keep your mouth shut and walk away." He retorted, prompting Orora to cross her arms over her chest. "Then perhaps I should inform your Uncle exactly how I injured myself. I've heard enough to know you did not tell him the truth, that you were about to rob me." She moved, as if to take a step back towards the camp. But she suddenly found herself with a sword pointed in her direction. The blade was long enough to just barely graze the front of her shirt, from where Zuko stood. And though a bubble of fear settled in the pit of her stomach, Orora kept her stance and glared right back at him.

"You have no right, and are certainly in no position to try and blackmail me." The former prince of the Fire Nation informed her. Of course, she was not aware of his royal status. Zuko knew if she were, she would never have made such a threat against him. "Besides." A smug grin pulled at his lips, one that had her purse her lips as she glowered at him. "You owe me."

He had dropped the sword slightly, allowing it to suspend in mid-air between the two of them. A silent warning.

"I owe you?" She let out a sound of disbelief at which Zuko raised his chin and stared smugly at her. "I saved you at the North Pole."

For the first time in a long while, she was forced to remember what had occurred that fateful night. "I didn't ask you to save me." She snapped back.

"So you would've preferred I let you die?" Zuko was eager to fight back.

"I had it handled." Her pride would not allow her to admit that he was right.

"Not from where I stood." That smug condescending smirk stayed in place.

"I didn't ask you to save me." She retorted.

"You didn't leave me any choice."

"You could've just left me there."

"And let you die?"

She opened her mouth to reply, to throw something back in his face, but nothing came out. His smile of victory had her near seething as her hands curled in fists and she threw an arm out to punch him in the chest once more.

He was ready this time, and caught her wrist in a firm grip. They were standing only a few inches away from one another now. Though the expressions they wore were borderline murderous as they regarded one another.

"You stay quiet about where I am going, I shall consider it payment for saving your life." Zuko regarded her with a look she could not place, though his response did prompt her to roll her eyes at him. "How noble of you to let me off that easily." She ground out between clenched teeth.

Finally, he let go of her wrist, allowing her to pull back. She could still feel the ghost of his touch around her soft skin as he put the mask in place, hiding his face from view, before vanishing into the night.

A/N: Hope you loved the chapter! And thank you SO much to allurasgrace and The Night Whisperer for leaving reviews. I am so glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. This chapter was for you! See you next time! - Hestia28