Chapter 11 - The Ranch

"And what might your name be my lovely lady?" asked Jet as he smiled at Katara roguishly.

However, the waterbender was still fussing over the Fire Prince and his injuries. "Are you sure that you're alright? That table and chair may have blocked the worst of it, but you just got struck by lightning. I'm not sure if my healing was enough to help you."

Zuko grunted as he adjusted his seated position in the wagon. "I'm fine."

The Water Tribe girl wasn't completely convinced. "You're not trying to hide an injury again, are you? You've done that before. Just a few days ago in fact.

The Fire Prince shifted uncomfortably from all the attention the others in the wagon were giving the two of them due to all the worry the waterbender was expressing. "I said, I'm fine," Zuko stressed a little more tensely. He didn't exactly like displaying weakness in front of strangers. Especially this many unknown people.

At the firebender's second assertion of his well-being, Katara seemed to relax just a little bit. And that easing up in concern allowed for another emotion to play out, namely, indignation. "Well, if you're feeling alright, then what were you thinking?! I told you that it was dangerous fighting alone and you ran off on your own anyway! If I didn't follow you, then things could have turned out much worse! How did you think that you were going to win that fight? Did you even think any of that plan through? You nearly died again!"

Zuko flinched slightly at the mention of not thinking things through. It was something that his Uncle had lectured him on repeatedly in the past. Still, he needed to quiet the Water Tribe girl quickly; before she revealed more than she should to the other people in the wagon by accident with her very justifiable tirade.

"You're right!" Zuko relented quickly. He almost attempted to defend himself by mentioning that Katara wandered into the tigerdillo den first, but, in a rare display of self-restraint, didn't. "You're right. I shouldn't have done that. But I am feeling alright." He looked directly at her for a moment. "I trust your waterbending, in both fighting and healing." The Fire Prince missed the smile on the waterbender's face at his compliment to her growing ability as he began to look around the wagon, evaluating the other occupants.

At the front of the wagon with the reins in her hands, Smellerbee was quietly snickering at the fact that Jet's initial flirtations had been completely ignored by the distracted girl. And the exchange between the two new passengers in the wagon didn't exactly leave room for Jet to interrupt either. Pipsqueak and the Duke, on the other hand, occupied themselves with trying to get a jar of jelly candy open. Longshot simply rode alongside the wagon silently on top of Biscuit without showing any interest as to what was going on inside the cart.

Zuko turned to Jet. "Freedom Fighters?" he asked, wincing slightly with hidden pain when the covered wagon traversed a bump in the road. He tried to not take notice of the frown Katara shot him at his wince. "Are you all some kind of rebel group?"

"I said we are Freedom Fighters, not rebels," stressed Jet in annoyance now that he was talking to the injured boy with the face scar instead of the cute waterbender. "Our purpose in life is to rid the Earth Kingdom of Fire Nation invaders." Jet's expression sharpened. "And we will fight the Fire Nation wherever and whenever we find them."

"Except right now," interrupted Pipsqueak, his deep voice a stark contrast to Jet declaration. "We are looking to start over in Ba Sing Se, right Jet? Find honest work and a new life," stated the giant as he paused from opening the jelly candy jar and looked up at his leader with a slight frown.

Jet waved back at him dismissively. "Right, right Pipsqueak." He smiled at Katara again to which Zuko took notice of it this time, a frown appearing on the Fire Prince's face. "My friend makes a good point. Right now, we're working at a ranch not too far from town. We took some jobs there as ranch hands, earn some money for the road to Ba Sing Se, you know?. We're going to get to the capital, make a name for ourselves, and figure out how to get the Earth King to finally unleash his armies to end this war."

Zuko sniggered at that. "You're going to find a way to talk to the Earth King? Good luck with that. You have no idea what you're doing."

"We saved you, didn't we?" returned Jet cockily. "We heard the firebending going on in that building. We saw you fighting against a firebender and we stepped in to help. That's what we do. We'll get the Earth King to see that if we can get all of the Earth Kingdom to rise up together as one, then the Fire Nation doesn't stand a chance. We outnumber those islanders. We just need our people to grow a backbone and fight back. Then one day, we'll drive the Fire Nation from our lands for good and free our country from their oppression."

"That's... very ambitious," commended Katara as she listened to Jet's declaration.

"Any one can speak big," remarked Zuko.

"Oh, I assure you. We can back up our talk. We've raided Fire Nation camps and supply lines for years. We know our stuff. We'd be invaluable to the Earth King," boasted Jet as he puffed out his chest in pride.

Before Zuko could get in another retort, Katara spoke over him to keep the conversation civil. "Thank you for rescuing us once again. My name is Luna and this is Lee. We're refugees. We lost our homes to the Fire Nation."

"A pretty name for a pretty girl," flattered Jet with a wink. Katara blushed slightly. "Although, I am sorry to hear about your homes. But don't worry, you're amongst friends." He pointed to his companion in the sedge hat riding on the ostrich horse. "Longshot over there joined up with us a couple years back after his town was burnt down by the Fire Nation."

Pointing over to the small child with the helmet on his head, Jet continued, "And we found the Duke trying to steal our food the summer before last. We offered him a place with us." Jet leaned closer to Katara, keeping his voice low as to not let the Duke hear him as the kid was enjoying some jelly candy. With a sorrowful tone, the rogue added, "I don't think he ever truly had a home."

The waterbender held her hand to her heart. "That's so sad."

Zuko felt bad for the small kid in the wagon too, but didn't say anything. For some reason, he felt that Jet might have been added that last line in an attempt to invoke sympathy from them. But the Fire Prince couldn't figure out a way to call Jet out on that without sounding like a fool. And worse yet, if it was true and the Duke never did have a home, then the Fire Prince would sound even more terrible. So Zuko remained silent.

While the Fire Prince was grappling with that last thought, Katara spoke up once more. "What about you? Why did you create the Freedom Fighters?"

Now it was Jet's turn to grimace. "The Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old. Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, and I were the only survivors from our village that day. It changed me forever."

The Water Tribe girl's eyes were downcast. "I lost my Mother to the Fire Nation."

"I'm so sorry, Luna," replied Jet sympathetically.

Zuko remained silent as he placed his hand on Katara's shoulder. He didn't want to share with the others in the wagon that he too had lost his Mother. Katara knowing was enough for him. She seemed to pick up on that as she placed her hand on top of his comforting one on her shoulder. Jet hid his frown at the apparent closeness between the two new members in the wagon.

"If you all are done with your pity party back there, then I'll let you all know that we're just about back at the ranch," commented Smellerbee from over her shoulder. She kept her face forward to prevent anyone from seeing the tears threatening to fall on her face from being reminded of one of the most horrible days of her life so long ago.


As the covered wagon carrying the Freedom Fighters arrived at the main gate to the ranch, an elderly lady walked out onto the front porch to greet them. "You're late you rascals! You were supposed to get the supplies in town and be back here hours ago! I knew I should have had Ralin accompany you all!"

The elderly lady was wearing a simple dusty yellow and white dotted country dress with a heavy cooking apron. Her hands were on her hips in displeasure at Jet's crew being late and there was a wooden ladle in her right hand that Zuko figured might double as a weapon the way the old woman was gripping the kitchenware. The one odd thing that stood out to the Fire Prince was the fact that the old lady wasn't wearing any footwear and was instead walking around barefoot.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, grannie. We got all the supplies on the list. It just took some time to track everything down, that's all," sighed Jet as he climbed around Smellerbee to hop off the wagon first. In actuality, they probably could have completed their errands back around midday, but Jet had been in no real hurry to get back to the tough work on the ranch. The town held more sights and places to gather information on Fire Nation activity across the Earth Kingdom anyway.

The others slowly disembarked as well. Zuko stumbled when he stepped down from behind the wagon, but held out his hand to prevent Katara from jumping down from the wagon to help him. Recovering, he turned back around and offered his hand instead to assist Katara down from the wagon bed. The elderly lady paused in her scolding against Jet when she saw them. "And who might you two be?"

"My name is Luna and this is Lee, ma'am," answered Katara politely.

The lady seemed to scrutinize the two of them critically. Her curious eye lingered on Zuko for a moment later than she did on Katara. Then, the lady's scowl brightened into a wide smile. "You're clearly much more well-mannered than this bunch that my husband hired. Are you both looking for work as well? There's plenty to do here on the ranch."

"Sorry, but no," replied Zuko bluntly. "Jet and his group helped us out of a tight spot, but we need to keep moving. Some of our..." He faltered, searching for the right word. "...friends might also be in trouble. We need to find them." As he finished, a pain in his chest flared as his hand involuntarily moved to cover his side.

Katara looked at him in concern. "Lee, you're still hurt. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stay. And we owe them for helping us out in town."

Zuko still looked like he wanted to leave despite his pain. Bad memories of the last time that they stayed at a homestead were hovering at the back of his thoughts. Another jolt of physical agony caused him to close his eyes and relent. He nodded in agreement.

"If you'll have us, then we'll gladly work our share for a couple of days," offered Katara towards the lady of the ranch.

"O' ho!" laughed the lady. "You really are courteous. Your folks taught you well. I'll find some work for you both, don't you worry about that." The sun was getting low in the distance. "But we can think about that in the morning. Come along now, supper's almost on." Just before she turned to lead them towards the ranch house, the elderly woman paused. "I do apologize for not introducing myself just yet. I should have guessed that Jet wouldn't have bothered to make introductions. My name is Camila and welcome to the Sierra Bonita Ranch."

Jet moved to walk pass Camila in the direction of the ranch house only to be stopped as a wooden ladle barred his path. "And where do you think you're going? Get that wagon into the barn and help Han and Ralin unload those supplies."

The rogue looked like he was about to backtalk Camila again, when he recalled that a certain waterbender was standing nearby. Instead, Jet signaled to his gang to move the wagon into the barn while grumbling lowly to himself about task masters.

Zuko watched them for a moment before walking after them towards the barn. "I don't trust them to look after our ostrich horse properly. I'll be right back."

Camila waved Katara over as she led the Water Tribe girl into the ranch house. "Bah, Han and Ralin would have made sure that your ostrich horse was well looked after. But your friend is right, Jet and his followers would have done a poor job of it. Unfortunately, with all the more experienced ranch hands joining up with the Army after this latest draft, it's only untrained children left to help out with all the ranch work around these parts. It's been making things difficult around here to be sure, but we'll manage. Always have."

The two of them made their way through the ranch house towards the kitchen and dining room. "Oh, let me introduce you to Jin," proclaimed Camila. "She's my granddaughter. She's staying with me and Han while her parents are getting settled in Ba Sing Se. I invited her parents to stay here too after they lost their home, but my Son is too proud to return here. The dang fool wanted to start over in the capital instead." Camila appeared a bit miffed before her expression lightened. "At least I have my darling granddaughter for a while here with me."

As Katara walked into the kitchen, there was a young girl around her age stirring a pot over the stovetop. "Grandma, I think the stew's just about done." The other girl was wearing a dark green full length tunic dress and had two long braids of her dark brown hair coming down on either side of her head.

"Jin, this is Luna," introduced Camila as she presented the new girl. "Her and Lee are going to be helping out here for the next couple of days until they can get back on their feet. Be sure to add two more bowls to the table."

Wiping her hands clean on a towel, Jin reached out to shake Katara's hand. "Welcome! It will be nice to finally have another girl to talk too here on the ranch besides my Grandma." The Earth Kingdom girl paused as she thought for a moment. "Well, I guess there's Smellerbee, but she always acts like too much of a tomboy. I asked her what her real name was once before, because seriously, what kind of name is Smellerbee? But she wouldn't tell me."

"Wait, Smellerbee is a girl? I didn't realize," stated Katara in surprise.

"She certainly tries to hide that fact, doesn't she? Always wearing boy's clothes and acting like one of the guys. I think she just wants to fit in with them. But I suspect she's got a little crush on that Longshot. I always catch her watching him," gossiped Jin. "But what about you? Where are you from? You have the most beautiful blue eyes. What brings you out to our ranch? We haven't gotten too many visitors lately. Mostly just the regular cattle buyers looking to purchase our livestock. So who's Lee? Is he your family member? A childhood friend? Oh! Is he your boyfriend? You have to tell me everything."

Katara's head was spinning at the flurry of questions Jin was bombarding her with. Before she could attempt to answer anything, Camila shooed them both away. "Jin, there'll be time for that later. Go set the table." Camila sighed as Jin grabbed Katara's arm and led her to the dining room to get the table settings ready, all while still excitedly talking away.


Over in the barn, Zuko was removing the saddlebags from Biscuit after Longshot dismounted and the two boys gave each other a brief head nod in acknowledgement of the other's presence. Setting the bags off to the side, the Fire Prince led Biscuit into one of the empty stalls, placing some hay in one of the troughs and pouring water into another.

"Howdy there partner," greeted a rugged-looking elderly man wearing a thick pair of faded green wool pants and a long sleeved yellow shirt. "Name's Han. I hear you and your friend will be staying with us for a while."

Zuko gave a grunt of acknowledgment as he continued to ensure Biscuit's stall was ready for the night. With all the new people around, he was quickly reverting back to his withdrawn and stoic demeanor. It did not help that he still did not know what had happened to his Uncle. For all he knew, it was too late for his Uncle or it could be too late very soon. And here he was standing in a barn talking to a stranger instead of out searching for his Uncle.

Han observed the Fire Prince's work with a calculating eye. "Well, you already seem to be better with horses than the other young'uns I recently hired in town. You ever herded cattle before?"

"No."

"Lasso a bull-ox?"

"No."

"Milk a moo-sow?"

"No."

"Shear a wooly-pig?"

"No."

"Mend a fence?"

"No."

"Hmm... I guess I should ask if you have any ranching experience."

"...I've shingled a barn roof before."

Han gave a low thoughtful whistle. "And how'd ya do?"

Zuko was finishing up with Biscuit's stall. "The owner appeared to be satisfied with the work." Despite his qualms with how his time ended at the plains village, Zuko was fairly positive that Gansu had approved of the job he had completed with helping to repair the barn roof.

"Then I reckon you did a good job. Barn's an important part of any farm or ranch. No ranch owner would let a bad patching job stand and risk rain soaking the hay and animals," surmised Han. "Well, it's not much experience, but I can show you the rest of the ropes. I'm already training up the others anyways."

Zuko looked around the barn. Apparently, Jet and the rest of the Freedom Fighters had taken the opportunity of Han talking to the Fire Prince to scurry away. The supplies from the wagon were unloaded, but were in complete disarray all over the place.

Han followed the Fire Prince's gaze and frowned at the state of the other's work. He sighed. "No work ethic, those kids. Ralin's not here either. He probably chased after them to try and bring them back here, but I don't think he'll have much luck. Jet's a headstrong kid. If only he'd apply himself properly to his work, then he wouldn't make a half-bad ranch hand."

Scratching the back of his head, Han continued, "Would have fired the lot of them by now normally, but as my wife's probably already told you, help's hard to come by these days. Seems the Earth Kingdom Army's been on a drafting year lately. Most of the normal hands I would hire got recruited."

Looking back to ensure that Biscuit was contently munching on some of the hay and straw in the trough, Zuko simply grunted in response. He had already heard about the recent Earth Kingdom recruitments from Gow. Walking over to the disorganized supply boxes, Zuko began to shift and move them out of the way so that the area at least wasn't blocked off by the containers.

"Thanks for the assist," grinned Han as he began to help out. Stacking another box, the elderly man asked, "Didn't quite catch your name earlier."

"It's Lee," replied Zuko as he continued to work. A pain was beginning to develop in his shoulder as he moved and lifted the crates. Rotating his arm gingerly, Zuko frowned. He really wasn't as healed from his recent wounds as he would have liked to be.

A couple more minutes passed before Zuko and Han finished up in the barn. Or at least until they finished getting all the new supplies out of the way and the wagon back in its spot in the far corner of the barn.

Extending his hand in thanks, Han stated, "Thanks again for the help Lee. Looking forward to working with you the next couple of days." He gestured over to the barn exit. "Let's go see what my wife and granddaughter whipped up for supper. I'd bet all this extra work built up an even greater appetite."


Zuko and Han were the last to arrive at the dinner table. Jin elbowed Katara lightly in the side when the Fire Prince walked in. "That's Lee? He's so handsome," she gushed. Then, after another thought, the Earth Kingdom girl leaned in towards Katara and added, "And you promise that you were being honest when told me earlier that he's not your boyfriend, right?"

Katara was absolutely sure that she did not like gleam in Jin's eyes as the Earth Kingdom girl observed Zuko from head to toe with an appreciative look. Zuko didn't seem to notice how he was being sized up as he sat down next to Han at the far end of the table. The elderly man had been talking to the Fire Prince when they entered and was still conversing with him about something. However, Katara didn't get a chance to respond to Jin as Jet slid into the free chair on the opposite side of the waterbender and scooted his chair a little bit closer to her.

"Evening Luna, that waterbending healing ability of yours today was remarkable. I can't say that I've ever seen anything quite like it before. You looked like such a natural out there," Jet complimented smoothly.

"You didn't tell me you were a waterbender!" commented Jin from the other side of Katara as she heard Jet. "Having a bending ability has got to be so exciting!"

"Thank you, both of you," acknowledged Katara with a smile. It felt good to be recognized for her progress with her waterbending. "Although, I'm still learning how to waterbend better. Lee's actually been helping me a lot."

"Oh! Is he a waterbender too?" asked Jin earnestly as she looked over at the Fire Prince still conversing with her grandfather and none the wiser that they were starting to talk about him. The Earth Kingdom girl's attention seemed to be mostly focused over there.

"No," answered Katara. "But he has trained with other benders before and he is teaching me what he's learned." It was a little bit of twisting the truth, but Katara realized she was quickly getting too close to accidentally revealing Zuko's actual bending abilities, even if he was currently unable to bend.

"Well, if he's not a bender, then he's probably just making some stuff up," disputed Jet harshly. His attempt to compliment the waterbender had ended up circling back to Lee and the rogue was not exactly thrilled about that. So he pivoted the conversation. "Actually, the next time that you are practicing your bending, how about I show you a few things? My hooked sword style might help you to learn some new bending forms. I probably know a couple things that Lee hasn't shown you."

"Really? That sounds wonderful Jet," thanked Katara. Since she didn't know if she would ever find a waterbending master to teach her, the Water Tribe girl was willing to see what she could learn from others and adapt it into a style all her own.

"As a matter-of-fact, have you ever thought about freezing your water into weapons when you fight?" asked Jet. "Like say, maybe into a pair of swords of your own? You could completely surprise your enemies because they wouldn't ever be able to guess you could use a weapon if they don't see you carrying one."

"Huh, I didn't think of that," replied Katara as she considered the idea.

Finding his opening, Jet prodded a little further. "Interesting. I would have thought Lee might have made the suggestion. He never considered teaching you how to use swords? Weird."

"How so?" prompted Katara as she tilted her head.

Jet shrugged. "I'm just saying. I just think it's a little strange that Lee rather try to teach you about waterbending when he isn't a waterbender, instead of teaching you how to use something he actually knows how to use, like his swords."

Katara frowned. "We've been traveling together for a while now. I don't think Lee's intentionally trying to not help me. What are you trying to imply?"

Backpedaling a bit as he realized he might have pushed too much, Jet raised his hands to relent. "I'm not trying to imply anything. My mistake if I gave you that impression. Maybe the idea of using frozen weapons never came to Lee. I mean, you weren't considering it until I just mentioned it, right?"

"Right..." answered the Water Tribe girl hesitantly.

"See!" beamed Jet as he redirected the focus onto something else. "So tell me more about yourself. What's the craziest fight that you've won with your waterbending?" The rogue grinned as Katara began to tell him about using her bending ability to oppose a bully in a small no name Earth Kingdom plains village.

Zuko soured as he watched Katara laugh at some wisecrack Jet had made at the other end of the table from the corner of his eye. Han was still talking about some ranch chore or whatnot, but to the Fire Prince, the old ranch owner's voice was becoming quieter and quieter as the firebender's attention was diverted.

Zuko didn't really understand it himself, but this Jet character was really starting to get on his nerves. Now, Zuko would hardly call himself a people-person; however, Jet's constant boasting and hovering next to Katara in the short timeframe, namely this recent afternoon, that they had known him was driving the Fire Prince to completely brand new levels of irritation.

The Fire Prince accepted a bowl of beef stew from Camila as the elderly lady began ladling out portions to everyone. With a simple word of thanks, Zuko started to eat while trying to focus on Han's explanations and forcing himself to ignore the far end of the table.

It wasn't his place to tell Katara who she could or could not talk to. She was a free person and able to make decisions for herself. He certainty didn't care if she was willing to talk to an egotistical, self-righteous, smug, bull-headed, narcissistic, conceited, clingy... Zuko's face continued to darken as his thoughts drifted further and further down the rabbit weasel hole.

"Food not agreeing with you?" asked Han as he paused mid-explanation on how to fashion a lasso out of rope.

Zuko shook his head as he took another couple of bites absentmindedly. "The food is fine. Your wife is an excellent cook."

"If it's not that..." pondered Han as he followed Zuko's gaze. "Ah, another young buck has entered the picture. I get it now."

"What?" stumbled Zuko as he stopped, the spoon in his hand halted midair up towards his mouth.

"You're feeling threatened," surmised Han pointedly. "Well, if you're willing to take some advice from an old timer like me, then I'd say you'll be fine. I know a thing or two about a thing or two. I can tell when a person is just being polite and not actually paying much attention to someone else. It's similar to what you're doing to me right now." Han took another bite of his own meal. "Your girl's just making conversation."

"My what?!" stammered Zuko a tad louder than he intended as he stared at Han.

"Act like that, and perhaps the other buck might have a chance with her after all," shrugged Han with a laugh as he continued to eat.

Zuko placed his spoon on the table and picked up his bowl with both hands. Then, despite the bowl still being nearly completely full, the firebender raised the whole thing to his mouth and chugged the rest of his stew in a single gulp. As he finished and set the bowl back on the table, he vaguely heard the Duke exclaiming something about how awesome that was. "I'm going to bed. I'll be ready for work first thing in the morning." With that he stood and departed the room, turning left down the hall.

"Other way," commented Han, not even looking up from his own meal since Zuko's heavy foot stomps let him know exactly where the kid was. A grin grew on the old rancher's face, when he heard the Fire Prince pivot behind him, grumbling the entire time, and proceed in the other direction.


About half an hour later, Katara found herself in the bath house with Camila, Jin, and Smellerbee. "Thank you for allowing me to use the bath house. It's been a few days since I've been able to wash up," expressed Katara with gratitude.

"Think nothing of it dear," replied Camila as she pulled out soaps and clothing bins for everyone. "It gives me an excuse to drag this one in here to ensure she is cleaned up."

"I told you my name is Smellerbee," the tomboy snapped back.

"And I told you that is not the name your mother gave you. I refuse to believe any parent would name their kid that. So I'll wait until you tell me proper; otherwise, your name is whatever I deem to call you," retorted the lady of the ranch.

"Never mind them," stated Jin dismissively of the two people glaring sparks at each other in the bath house. "I figured that with waterbending..." she trailed off as Katara removed her upper clothing. "Luna, your shoulder..."

Katara sharply remembered the Fire Emblem insignia branded distinctly into her left shoulder. Her right hand instinctively rose to somewhat cover the mark. She had tried to use her healing to treat the mark several times, but had only succeeded in making it fade a little. The brand itself was still clearly visible.

There was a flash of steel from Smellerbee as the tomboy brandished a small knife in her hand from the folds of her tunic. "That's a Fire Nation emblem!" she exclaimed loudly as she tightened her hold on the blade with a reversed grip. "You're one of them!"

"Settle down young lady," scolded Camila harshly from the side of the washtub as she tested the temperature of the bathwater. "And put that knife away. You haven't even heard her side of things yet."

The waterbender hadn't had the chance to give much thought to what others might think about her brand. It had never really been a major issue previously. Katara had been traveling with Zuko for so long and he never cared about the brand that she had received from the slavers. When she had bathed at Sela's farm, the Water Tribe girl had been alone and none of them had seen it.

Now taking in the accusatory look in Smellerbee's eyes, the worried gaze in Jin's, and the interested expression in Camila's, Katara realized that the truth was really the only good answer here. Or at least as close to it as she could express without revealing too much.

"I was a Fire Nation prisoner," declared Katara. "My captors decided to give me a slave brand and sell me off. I was almost a Fire Nation slave, bound to be sold off in the Fire Nation Colonies, but Lee... Lee saved me, got me away from all that."

"How?" demanded Smellerbee, her suspicions still high.

Katara looked at the tomboy, and then at Jin and Camila, both of whom were equally curious. "He paid for my release."

"You mean he bought you," deduced Smellerbee.

"Yes, he did," replied Katara. "But it's not what you think. Lee took me to a clinic immediately afterwards to get all my wounds treated from my time as a prisoner. And then, he released me. He didn't want me as a slave. He just wanted to help me."

"Why?" pressed Smellerbee, her misgivings still not abated. "Why would he just release you, just like that?"

"I think he honestly just wanted to help me," answered the Water Tribe girl. "I'm not sure if he felt sorry for me, or was trying to get back at the Fire Nation, or something else. But whatever it was, he did help me."

"And now you're still just following him around anyway," scoffed Smellerbee. "You sure you're not still just a slave? Even if you're not calling yourself one?

Katara was starting to feel a little peeved at all the pressure that this tomboy was directing towards both her and Zuko. What gave this girl the right to keep being so accusatory? "Lee told me to stay in that clinic and go wherever I wanted because he set me free. I didn't want to remain there. Then later, Lee offered to escort me wherever I wanted to go, but I didn't have anywhere to go. The Fire Nation saw to that. So, I decided to travel with him," she explained, her tone sounding a tad miffed at having to continue to answer Smellerbee's line of questions. "I've been with him ever since."

The tomboy narrowed her eyes at the Water Tribe girl as she considered the story. Then, a moment later, the tomboy asked one last question. "Alright then. Say I believe all that. What was Lee even doing in a Fire Nation Colony in the first place then?"

At this point, Katara figured that Smellerbee was going to ask something like that. "He was gathering supplies. You've been on the road too. You know that when you're traveling, you need to get supplies wherever you can. Even if its a Fire Nation Colony." The Water Tribe girl knew Zuko was actually on the run from his Sister, but figured he was likely in the Colony to fetch supplies as well.

When the waterbender saw that Smellerbee was beginning to accept this answer, Katara gave one last push. "Lee doesn't like to talk about it, but he received that scar on his face from the Fire Nation. So trust me when I tell you, he has no great love for the Fire Nation either."

"Fire Nation," growled Smellerbee. "What won't they destroy or ruin?" The tomboy gradually lowered the knife in her hand while the soap bar she was gripping in her other hand snapped in two under the pressure.

"Does it still hurt?" asked Jin as she stared at the Fire Emblem brand, inching a step closer.

Katara gave a sad smile. "Not so much anymore. I know it's there. I've tried to heal it, but my bending doesn't seem to be strong enough. It will probably always be there. But I also know that I'm starting to heal, at least in my mind."

The waterbender realized that she may have been slowly accepting that the brand was just a part of her now. Maybe how Zuko treated his scar as his mark, this brand was hers.

Jin didn't say anything else. She appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. Smellerbee kept grumbling about the evils of the Fire Nation. For her part, Camila didn't say anything further during the exchange. Instead, she just quietly took in this knowledge contemplatively.


Zuko was lying in a cot in the back of a dormitory style room at the end of the far hall. If it wasn't for the dull pain he kept experiencing off and on or the occasional shortness of breath, then he would have continued to insist on leaving immediately. He had only just recently made up his mind about finding his own way and moving forward. Then, he immediately got caught up in the trappings of his past and ran into his Sister. And now, he was convalescing on a ranch full of people that were invading his personal space.

It was always one step forward and three steps back with him. And to make matters even more confusing, he wasn't entirely sure why his thoughts were so jumbled right now. Azula was spewing more lies. That much was obvious. But which ones were the lies? That Uncle was dead or dying from a lightning wound? That she had even run into Uncle in the first place? Were the Avatar and his friends actually there? Did they help his Uncle? Did they just leave him there? And to top everything off, despite his agony over the fate of his Uncle, his mind kept refocusing on the image of Katara laughing at one of Jet's ridiculous jokes at the dinner table. Why was that so important to him?

In frustration, Zuko turned over in the cot and pulled his blanket up further. 'Sleep now, think never,' he mentally ordered himself. Unfortunately, Jet, Pipsqueak, Longshot, and the Duke chose that moment to enter the room rather loudly and rambunctiously.

"Those smoke bombs of yours Longshot were so cool! They went Boom! Bang! Swoosh! And then there was smoke everywhere. You couldn't see anything through it!" recounted the Duke excitedly.

Longshot simply nodded in recognition.

"So who do you think those three girls in the town were?" asked Pipsqueak to the group leader as they walked through the doorway.

"Fire Nation. That's all we really need to know," confirmed Jet. "Unless you know something you're not telling us, Lee." All eyes focused on the occupied cot in the far corner of the room.

"No," replied Zuko curtly, his back to them as he lay in the cot. Then, hoping to discourage any follow-up questions, he added simply, "I recognized the three of them as Fire Nation. I thought I could take them down by myself. I was... unsuccessful."

Jet sneered. "And you thought I was the one who was just talk. If we didn't have to waste time and energy carrying you of out there, then I know we could have beat all three of them easily enough."

Zuko said nothing as he remained silent in his cot without turning back over to see Jet. The rogue grinned. "Nothing to say? Just proves my point for me."

Zuko waited as he heard them get into their own cots before he rose and walked to the door. "Where you going?"

"Nowhere," muttered the Fire Prince as he walked out of the room and down the hallway.

Jet grinned to the others in his crew. "Want to take bets on when the old crone catches him walking around after hours?" The rogue glanced over at Longshot. "You ever figure out how that old bat keeps finding us whenever we leave our rooms?"

The silent archer merely shrugged in response.

Jet grumbled to himself. "It's like she's a specter, the way she creeps up on people in the night." He laughed smugly. "She looks the part anyway." The Freedom Fighters spent the next couple of minutes taking bets.


Zuko wandered out of the farmhouse and towards the barn. He found himself in front of Biscuit's stall. The sleeping ostrich horse barely stirred at his arrival. Pulling out some blankets from the saddlebags, Zuko made a small bed in the straw and hay. This was far more relaxing than being stuck in that cluttered bedroom with Jet's crew. 'Probably safer too,' the Fire Prince realized to himself as the thought of being surrounded by people he did not know or trust vexed to him.

Just as Zuko set himself down on his straw bed, he heard the door to the barn creak open ever so slightly as a figure made their way inside. He heard familiar footsteps approach.

"I saw a light on in the barn," stated Katara as she neared him. "I was hoping that was you." She raised up her waterskin from her belt loop. "I never got a chance to give you another healing session this evening."

"We should be out there looking for my Uncle," declared Zuko as he made his thoughts known. "I have no idea what actually happened to him."

"And I want to be out there looking for my Brother as well," replied Katara as she knelt down next to the firebender. "Azula said that Sokka and Aang were with your Uncle for some reason. That's the first time I've heard anything about Sokka ever since I was captured."

Katara unfastened the cap on the waterskin in her hands. "But you're still hurt and we don't know where they are. With Appa, they could have flown anywhere, in any direction. We don't even know where to start looking."

"And that's if they even decided to help my Uncle," grumbled Zuko. "Azula said she hit him with lightning."

Katara leveled a pointed look at the distraught firebender. "I may not know much about your Sister, but I do know that part of your Sister's story was a lie. Sokka may dislike the Fire Nation, but I know my Brother. He would never leave someone to die. Not when he could help them. And Aang gave me that same impression in the short time I knew him."

It may have been the stress he was feeling about being unable to help or do anything about his Uncle's situation. Or it may have been the strain he was experiencing from his lingering wounds. Or it may have been his anxiety about being surrounded by strangers on this ranch. Or maybe even some combination of all three.

But whatever the reason, Zuko lashed out with a retort to Katara's assertion about her Brother's and Aang's willingness to help others without thinking or before he could even stop himself. "They left you."

The Fire Prince froze the second the words left his mouth. That was too harsh. Too savage. He didn't mean that. He was hurting. He was worried. He was rash. He spoke without thinking. His eyes widened in panic. He knew he needed to take it back. Now. "Katara, I..."

But Katara was already standing back up, recovering first from the shock they both felt at those words. Her waterskin had fallen to the wayside. The Water Tribe girl left the barn without a word as Zuko stared at her retreating figure with an outstretched arm. His head dropped low in shame. Water pooled in the middle of the barn floor as the uncapped waterskin deflated.