"Matthew."

"Maithyu?"

"Matthew."

"Maaaatyou?"

"Matthew."

"…Matthew?"

"Yes. Matthew."

Sokka smiled triumphantly. Clearly, he had already gotten over most of his earlier doubts. "Matthew! Your name is Matthew!"

"Yes."

Toph brushed her nails against her tunic. "What a weird name."

"What a weird guy," Sokka was quick to correct. "The only things Katara's managed to teach him so far are 'yes' and 'no'."

"Well, it's kind of hard to tutor someone in the air," Katara defended. "Besides. You haven't tried to teach him a thing this entire time."

"I can totally teach!" Sokka scoffed indignantly. He took out his boomerang, and held it out to Matthew. "Boooomeeeraaang."

"Boooom-er-ahng," Matthew managed, his accent garbling most of the word.

Sokka shrugged and sheathed the weapon. "Meh, close enough."

"How far is the next town anyways, Twinkletoes?" Toph demanded. "We should've run into something by now!"

"I don't know!" Aang called back from the reigns. "What's the map say?"

Sokka rummaged around in his bag. He pulled out the map and laid it flat over Appa's large saddle. "Let's see…"

Katara studied the map as well. "It doesn't look like there's any towns nearby…"

"Well then let's land," Toph grumbled. "I can't teach Aang earthbending in the sky!"

Matthew peered over Sokka's shoulder to see the map. "…No."

"No what?" Katara asked. "What's wrong?"

"As if he could answer." Toph rolled her unseeing eyes.

"Wait." Katara held up a hand (forgetting that Toph couldn't see it). "I think he wants to tell us something." She looked at Matthew and gestured to the map. "No? What's 'no'?"

Matthew tapped the map, and then spread his hands as if to say, 'I don't know. I'm confused.'

"So he doesn't even know where he's from," Sokka sighed. "Great."

Appa groaned, causing Momo to stir in his sleep and chatter. Aang rubbed the bison's white fur. "Okay, buddy."

"Care to translate for those of us who don't speak bison?" Sokka asked sarcastically. He rolled up the useless map.

"Appa's tired," Aang obliged. "And hungry. We should stop for now."

"Yeah!" Toph cracked her knuckles in anticipation. "Time to get back to business, Twinkletoes! I'm gonna do the job I was hired for and pound you into the—I mean, teach you earthbending!"

"Sooo…" Alfred said into the stifling silence. "Where are we going?"

"That way," Zuko answered tersely, wondering how hours later this blue-eyed nuisance was still present in his life.

The blond (a strange, difficult to pronounce word that Alfred used to describe his own hair color) shoved his hands into the pockets of his strangely marked jacket. "Okay, then. Why are we going that way?"

"Because we've already been the other way." Weren't they supposed to ditch this guy in town after breaking camp? Whatever happened to that idea?

"Well at least you have a plan," Alfred sighed, going quiet again.

One blessed minute of silence. The best minute Zuko had had all day.

"What is this thing?" Alfred asked, gesturing to the animal he was leading by the reins. Because if he was going to stick around then he was going to be useful. At least he seemed to have a hand with animals.

"It's an ostrich horse," Iroh explained patiently. "You don't have these where you're from?"

Alfred shook his head. "Ostriches and horses are completely unrelated animals, as far as my homeland is concerned."

Zuko frowned at that. Alfred was turning out to be an absolute trove of ridiculous claims. "I don't even want to think about what those would looklike."

"Imagine how I feel trying to figure out when an ostrich and a horse found each other attractive enough to conceive this thing." Alfred shuddered for emphasis. "Horrible mental picture."

Iroh smiled. "I would love to see your home someday, Alfred. It sounds most interesting."

"Well you're in luck, 'cause I'm the best tour guide in my country." Alfred glanced aside, and did a double take. Then he pointed very unsubtly to their left. "Do people usually hang out in bushes here? Is that normal? Or—wait...am I being rude for pointing it out?"

Bandits.

Zuko stopped and mentally prepared himself to draw his dao. From the corner of his eye he could see his uncle's stance shift and subtly balance itself. "Alfred, keep back."

A man in ragged clothing and mismatched armor stepped into the path, his confident swagger probably having something to do with the large warhammer strapped over his back. "Why hello, there, folks! Care to spare a few coins for some weary travelers?"

At his words, several other men in threadbare rags and patched armor crawled out of the bushes. Zuko counted six bandits total—five armed in some way. The little one moved like a bender.

"Alas, we have no coin to spare," Iroh said, immediately taking the role of diplomat. "For we are as needy as yourselves. Could you perhaps tell us how far it is to the next town?"

"Won't matter to you," said the little one. He sounded young, and his bravado rang false. "If you ain't got coin, then we'll just take those travel packs and the ostrich-horse."

"That won't happen," Zuko announced simply. He resisted the urge to draw his weapons immediately. Timing was key.

"C'mon," the ringleader coerced. "You can keep the clothing on your backs."

"No deal," Zuko kept his voice neutral. "Take your business elsewhere."

"Well, we tried," the leader sighed with false reluctance, strutting forward. "You leave us no choice—"

Zuko leapt into action, darting towards the leader with swords drawn. He was forced back by a wall of solid earth. He dodged away just in time, only to be met with another bandit, this one holding a dented short sword.

'Parry, and—there!'

He dropped low and ran his shoulder blade into the man's stomach. The grimy bandit went down, and Zuko suppressed a smile. Not the most textbook move, but these were not textbook opponents. Having a brief reprieve from the action, he marked his allies' positions.

His uncle was fine, of course. Even without bending he was a force to be reckoned with. He advanced on his enemy, disarmed him, and tripped him all in one move, throwing the knife away into the bushes.

Alfred was...actually doing quite well. He grabbed one bandit's head, twisted around, and threw him into the other bandit that was trying to sneak up from behind. They fell, and didn't look like they'd be moving again any time soon.

'Useful after all?'

The ground beneath him shivered. Zuko jumped away just in time to avoid falling into a jagged crevasse as it formed in the ground. He barely had time to regain his balance before having to duck a small boulder that whizzed past his ear. That was when he decided that the earthbender had to go.

He ran, and sliced with his right, using the edge of his left to break another rock. The tip snagged the boy's clothes. He twisted the blade and pulled left, throwing him off balance. He was now on the ground, with Zuko standing over him, one tip over his heart and the other at his neck. "Stay down."

His uncle's voice rang out over the violence. "Zuko, look out!"

Zuko glanced up to see the bandit leader rushing towards him, that warhammer held high over his head.

Zuko prepared to dive out of the way, when the hammer was ripped unceremoniously from the bandit's hands. The world slowed as Zuko registered the shock on the bandit's face, and the stress of fabric over his built chest indicating someone grabbing his robes from behind. The blue eyes of his savior were narrowed dangerously as the man was pulled back, spun around, and whipped across the face with the end of the hammer's cloth-wrapped metal shaft.

The bandit crumpled, and Alfred looked at the weapon in his hands. "I like this hammer. I think I'll keep it."

"You do that," Zuko managed, still surprised. Then he returned to the matter at hand.

"Please don't kill me," the boy pleaded pathetically. With both Alfred and Zuko standing over him, he looked about ready to pass out.

"I don't want to kill you," Zuko answered honestly, still not removing the sword from his neck.

"I'll go 'way," he promised. "You won' see me again."

"You're not actually going to kill this one, are you?" Alfred asked with what sounded like trepidation. "He's just a kid…"

"W-what was that?" The trembling earthbender's eyes went even wider. "What did he just say?"

Ah, yes. Zuko had forgotten that Alfred was still only speaking High Court. Spirits knew what that sounded like to commoners.

His uncle joined them, brushing dust from his hands. "This is the last one that's awake. Rather young to be in bandits' company, aren't you?"

"I-I had no choice!" the boy cried. "They wanted an earthbender, and my family owed them for y-…you know, watching for Fire Nation. The Army don't come out here."

"Now that is sad," Iroh sympathized. "No parent should ever feel the need to sacrifice their child for a cause."

Zuko did not look at him. His expression must've been terrible, because the boy squeaked fearfully.

"Is your family nearby?" Iroh asked.

The boy shook his head quickly.

"Then here's your chance." The elderly man spread his hands. "From what I can see, your—or rather, your parent's contract has been fulfilled. They had an earthbender. Now is your chance to escape their debts." He nodded to Zuko. "Let him go."

The scarred teenager sighed and stepped away. The boy gave Iroh a look of wonder before scurrying off and disappearing into the trees.

Alfred rested his new hammer on his shoulder, apparently unbothered by its weight. "What was all that about, anyways?"

"Bandits," Zuko answered, switching to High Court and sheathing his dao. "They wanted money."

Alfred nodded in understanding. "Figured it was something like that. Are they a big problem in this Earth Kingdom, or are we just lucky?"

Iroh sighed. "Times have been hard. Hard times make for desperate people."

"Desperate people," Alfred echoed thoughtfully. "I get the feeling there's a lot of those around these parts."

"Stick."

"S-stick…"

"Good, Matthew! Now use it in a sentence."

"The s-stick is…broan."

Katara smiled patiently. "Brown. Br-o-wn."

"Brown."

"Aaaalright, Aang!" Toph's voice echoed cheerfully. "I sure hope you remember the stuff from last lesson 'cuz this is a pop quiz!"

Katara did her best to ignore this. "Right. Now try the sentence again."

"The st-stick…is brown."

Stone shifted—"OUCH!"—and Aang was thrown backwards, skidding into view on his face. He struggled to his feet and ran forward, disappearing behind the cluster of boulders again.

"Hey, I have a phrase!" Sokka said. He leaned forward. "Repeat after me, Matthew. Beat down."

Matthew frowned with concentration. "Beeeet dowun."

Katara used a small splash of cold water from the nearby pond to splash her brother. "Don't teach him slang!"

"It's not slang!" Sokka huffed indignantly. He gave Matthew a sly grin. "Beat down."

"Beat…down?"

"Good!" Sokka encouraged. Then he pointed at his sister. "Katara is bossy."

"Katara is boo—"

"No, Matthew!" Katara cried, waving her hands frantically. "Don't repeat that!"

Matthew tilted his head. "It is bad word?"

"No, it's just—" Katara stopped and sighed. "Never mind. Let's just work on numbers."

The ground shook. "Don't dodge it, Twinkletoes! Stop it! Earth doesn't run away!"

"But that rock was bigger than Appa!" Aang's dismayed voice rang out. "How do I stop that?"

"You were doing great just a minute ago!" was Toph's response. Her version of positive reinforcement. "Go with that!" The ground shook again. Stone cracked and the earth rumbled.

Matthew could be seen to wince sympathetically, before returning his attention to Katara's lesson.

I didn't expect this much support for the second go-around. Thank you so much, you guys are all great!

Later dudes. ^J^