When Zuko opens his eyes he, for the first time in a long time, feels refreshed. Maybe it's an odd thing to ponder, but it's as good as any as he settles his morning meditations. He hasn't been able to add candles in forever, but he's feeling unusually calm and so tries for his old best of seven and closes his eyes, letting the flames pulse with his breaths.

He doesn't know why last night's conversation settled him. He still had all the same problems, and really he should be more worried about her telling on him too. But somehow he doubts that. Logically, he hadn't said anything wrong. The Fire Nation did need the Moon and should not anger the Ocean, thus Zhao deserved to die. It was the simple truth. Still, it's not a sentiment Zuko would casually share with most. It would not be strategic to draw attention to his own failures?

But ultimately, Azula had been right and so Zuko doesn't have any real reason to distrust the girls. Besides, he had essentially bet his life on taking Azula's word over uncle's. He could stand to trust Ty Lee, for now at least. He is returning to court life after all, he should be making allies not enemies.

It'll be fine.

Zuko opens his eyes and finds every candle but the fifth still burning. He sighs and motions to put the remaining candles out, before resuming his morning routine.

When he's done he goes to the officer's canteen for breakfast where a special, royal table is already prepared. Immediately a waiter comes to him. Quickly followed by the chef, because of course this ship has a chef and not a cook.

The chef ducks his head. "Your highness, what would you like for breakfast?" He asks, as the waiter next to him poignantly does not look at his scar.

Zuko's too hungry to care at this point, really. "I'll just have congee and some tea, please."

For some reason, it makes the waiter go wide-eyed, but the chef shushes him and pulls him away while managing a quick. "Of course my prince."

Zuko ponders why the waiter even came if the chef was just going to do his job for him while he watches the odd duo scurry off, before slapping himself: he doesn't even like tea.

Of course, this is the moment his sister walks in, apparently already having deemed it fit to be chagrined today. The scowl being pointed at him as she moves towards their table does not bode well, though he is not surprised.

She sits down across from him and wastes little time ruining his day too. "Why weren't you training on the deck?" she asks, all too familiar disdain rolling off her tongue.

"Because i practiced my form in my room." He replies.

"You're still doing your kata's cold? That habit might have suited you while you were fooling around in the Earth Kingdom, but there's no sense in hiding your flame here."

"I don't see the sense in sweating out my armour when we'll make port before noon."

"The sense is that as royalty we should be projecting the strength of our nation, not withering away in some hole because we deem it convenient."

"What? So i'm supposed to show up home stinking like a dog? I thought you lend me your spare so i could 'be more presentable'.

"I gave you those so you could fill your role as a prince, not so you could concern yourself with the worries of a servant."

"How nostalgic."

The comment is enough to break Zuko off of his incoming retort. He looks up to see Mai standing over the two of them wearing that Face again. It's enough to make Zuko retreat into a sip of bitter leaf juice as Mai takes her place at the table. Closely behind her is Ty Lee and their waiter who's she's jostling, probably to order her own breakfast. So long as she doesn't make the guy drop the platter with the slightly steaming bowl, which Zuko guesses amounts to his breakfast, he won't mind it.

He's in luck though, because no such thing happens. He pulls off the upside down bowl to be greeted to his breakfast. It's congee yes, but made with white Yumegokochi, not cheap brown rice, drenched in warm milk, not water and supplemented with a rich variety of nuts, slices of ripe papaya and finally a slathering of honey. It strikes Zuko it's the first time since before his banishment since he's had this meal. Even on his ship, milk especially just didn't last long enough to be practical at sea and never mind such luxuries during his time wandering the Earth Kingdom. He really is going home, and it takes all his control to release that thought and tell the waiter that yes, the food does appear to his liking. The idea clings to him as the girls order pathongko, roti canai and khanom krok, because while he knows, intellectually, that the Earth Kingdom has its own variants of these dishes, multiple even. A couple times he even tried them himself. But there is something about hearing those Fire dishes named freely, without hushed tones or looking over one's shoulder. Zuko's not about to cry over breakfast of all things so he promptly starts stuffing his face instead. If the girls look at him funny for doing so, he can pretend not to notice. He even allows Lala to snipe a piece of honeyed papaya. The dish is too sweet for his tastes anyways and besides, what's to stop him from getting something heartier for seconds?

It feels too easy to let a sense of normalcy set in. As he remembers what day it is along with a certain tradition and orders mochi balls when the waiter returns with the girls' breakfast. Zuko thinks he can count the times that he spent a meal at ease the last year on one hand, with some other than well —not that that matters to him, nor does it bother him that none of them look him in the eyes for long. He is used to it after all. He even lets Lala take one of his mochi balls and only rolls his eyes when she justifies it by saying his lack of exercise and overeating will only make him fat. Giggling, Ty Lee says Azula could've just asked and promptly asks Zuko if she can have half a mochi ball. Which is ridiculous: who'd want only half? But Ty Lee shamelessly lies in his face and insists a whole would be 'too much' and then wordlessly shares her second half with Mai.

It reminds Zuko of those old ladies who'd waste his time while he was waiting tables insisting the custard they themselves ordered was much too large for them and don't they have something a little smaller? Zuko would just tell them to eat what they want and leave the rest and then he would leave it at that. Uncle told him once that wasn't the right thing to say, but Zuko didn't get what the problem was, those grannies would always leave their plates empty anyways.

"Excuse me lords" says the waiter. The words bring Zuko out of his stupor. And the waiter glances nervously at Azula before he continues. "We are about the arrive at port."

"Very well," says Azula, "you may take away our dishes."

As the waiter does so Zuko grabs (with a napkin! He does have manners.) and quickly eats the rest, all the while giving his sister the side-eye, who rolls her eyes at him. Zuko tries to maintain his glowering at Azula as the waiter picks the last of their plates, but can't quite manage it once Ty Lee starts giggling at them. Not that anyone needs to know that last part.

Afterwards Zuko makes his way up deck to the bow of the ship and is a bit surprised to see Ty Lee join him rather than Azula and Mai in their room, but then: she had mentioned getting seasick before. Probably why she hadn't wanted to eat much earlier, come to think of it.

Soon they're both looking out over the railing again. The harbour is not quite in sight yet, but Zuko does recognize some of the smaller islands they're passing, though he can't remember the names. His tutors had painstakingly taught him all of them, but they'd slipped him by in the last half a decade. He hadn't bothered to learn them during his banishment, focusing his studies on the Avatar and where he could be hiding. Though in the end the kid had been on an unnamed ice berg. He probably knew the geography of the Earth Kingdom better than his own Nation's now.

He shook the thought, soon he would rectify that just like he would for his firebending and all his princely duties. Then he will have fully restored his honour and properly earn his father's respect.

Zuko looks to his right. Ty Lee hasn't said anything yet and while Zuko wouldn't say he knew her all that well it doesn't jibe with that bubbly, if kind of annoying, girl he knew from his childhood or even that new side of her he saw last night. It doesn't sit well with him.

"So," he says, scrambling for anything to start a conversation with, "did you sleep well?"

He picked wrong: Ty Lee grimaces at the question, though she pushes most of it away when she answers him. "Not really." She answers, smiling somewhat apologetically at him.

Now that he's really looking at her he can see the bags under her eyes, they're fairly slight but he could recognize them easily from his own face.. It was a stupid question to ask really: he should've been able to tell.

"Oh," he says, "sorry."

"Don't be," she responds, waving him off. "Our talk yesterday actually did help, I think, even if the ship's rocking did get to me eventually."

"Your seasickness still bothering you?

"Yes, well, it's not that bad anymore honestly. I think i am finally getting used to it."

Zuko chuckles at that.

"What? "

"Nothing, it's just: you're finally getting your sea legs, just in time for you to get back on land."

Ty Lee giggles back. "Yeah, i guess, but better late than never, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah," Zuko replies, the words sobering him, "I guess you're right."

A silence falls over them. The saying describes Zuko a little too well. If it came from Azula's voice, he would probably have felt mocked by it, though here it's said it without any venom. He sees a flash of worry on Ty Lee's face. Which is ridiculous, does she think him so weak that he'd let those banal words bother him?

She lets out a sigh and looks back at the sea. "You know," she begins, before he think of anything to say to defend his pride, "it's been a long time since i was back in the capital too."

"So it's true what Azula wrote about you? You ran away?"

"To the circus, yeah, though i don't know if you can trust what she wrote you: she was pretty upset at the time."

Truthfully Zuko didn't remember the letter all that well. Just that Ty Lee had left and that Azula had been mad about it. "I can imagine." he says grimacing.

"But she forgave me in the end, you know? It's fine now, water under the bridge"

That doesn't sound much like Azula. But Zuko shakes the thought.

"Why did you leave home though?" he asks instead.

"Oh Zuko." Ty Lee begins, Zuko thinks he sees her eyes get a bit watery. "When you got banished and... i realized, i thought that place didn't feel like home anymore, like it hadn't been in a while. So i tried to find home somewhere else, i guess."

So that had been his fault too, huh?

"Did you?" he asks, instead of kicking himself.

"At the circus? I don't know if i'd call it home, but i was happy there, yes."

Zuko wants to say that's ridiculous, but he recalls those odd few days of living in the Upper Ring, when he'd really been giving uncle's dreams a shot. Right before Azula brought reality crashing down on him. He thinks he can relate, but he also knows that sort of life could never be sustainable.

"Well, "I'm sure you'll be happy at the palace too now. Things are looking up in the world." He says, with all the conviction he can muster.

"Right," she says, her voice a little colder than before, "I'm sure i was just a silly girl anyways." Her gaze turns back towards the sea. Zuko follows it and his eyes go wide.

The giant white walls closing in the harbour's bay had been the last bits of home he saw before he was sent away. Now, they're the first piece he sees upon his return.

He's finally home.