Chapter 12 - The Butterflies

Zuko stared at the open barn door that Katara had just stormed out of. Bolting up and out of his makeshift bed of hay and running towards the entrance, the Fire Prince had a singular thought in his mind. 'I can't leave things like this. I have to make this right.' Biscuit neighed loudly in complaint to being woken up by the Fire Prince's loud movements.

Catching up to Katara about halfway to the farmhouse, Zuko grabbed her hand franticly as he attempted to stop her brisk walk. "Please, Katara, please wait! I was out of line. I didn't mean that!"

Katara pulled her hand away from his as she twisted away from his grasp. There were tears in her eyes as she turned to face him. Zuko had just forcefully reminded her of being left behind by her Brother and Aang on that fateful day. All that trauma and anguish came rushing back unbidden. And what made it all the worse was the fact that Zuko was the one who said it. "I don't want to hear it Zuko."

Zuko stood there, not completely sure what to say, only positive that he needed to say something. It wasn't exactly a situation he knew how to navigate. Usually, whenever he got himself into trouble by speaking without thinking, he wouldn't even think twice if the other party didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. But now, he found himself dreading the fact that he might have just seriously jeopardized a friendship that he didn't even realize was important to him.

He was taking too long to say anything and Katara turned to walk away once more. In a panic, Zuko reached out once again to grab the Water Tribe girl's hand. "Please! You don't have to say anything, but please just listen."

When he didn't get immediately pelted with water, Zuko suddenly remembered that Katara had dropped her waterskin back in the barn when she had left in a hurry. Still, the waterbender didn't pull away from his grasp this time, even if she was still looking away, back towards the ranch house and away from him. That had to mean something, right?

The words just sort of flowed out of him. Slow at first, but once they started, he just kept going. "I didn't mean to lash out at you. I don't know what I was thinking, what I was saying. I was hurting and just saying hurtful things. You are not the one I am angry with. I'm just so worried about my Uncle."

"Those are just excuses," the Water Tribe girl declared as she refused to look back at him.

Zuko nodded. She was right. He was just deflecting. He needed to be clearer. "You didn't deserve that. You've done nothing to deserve that. Over these last few weeks..." the Fire Prince faltered as he attempted to come up with the words. This was hard for him. He hadn't really ever been in this kind of situation before; caring about how someone else felt.

Releasing Katara's hand, Zuko groaned as he struggled to figure the next part out. "Oh, I don't know. These last few weeks, you've been there, right at my side. Everything that's happened since that port town, all of it, we've faced it together, haven't we? And all that time, you've done nothing to deserve my stupid anger."

The Fire Prince breathed in once before he continued. "I don't have many people I can say that I am very close with. I don't know why, but I do care what you think of me. And I need you to know that I am deeply sorry for saying your Brother, for saying..." he racked his brain for the name, she had said it once or twice before, right? "...Sokka, for saying Sokka, left you behind." He felt like he was rambling with his apology, but he hoped his message got across. He was not good at this.

Katara still had yet to turn around. The fact that all he could see was her back and had no idea how she receptive she was being to his apology only continued to fill Zuko with an unending amount of anxiety.

For her part, the range of emotions playing across Katara's face were best left to her alone. The Water Tribe girl could hear the distinct, shaky tone in Zuko's voice as he was apologizing. He was doing his best to speak as honestly as he could. And she knew this because in all the time she had known him, Zuko's apologies hadn't extended past a single word or a simple grunt, and that was if he bothered to say sorry in the first place. It was like he might actually be truly afraid of her losing her faith in him.

But even if the initial impact of Zuko's careless remark had dulled somewhat and Zuko sounded completely candid with his apology, Katara wasn't fully ready to forgive him just yet. It hurt, thinking that someone she considered a friend would bring up a painful memory like that, out of anger and frustration. Or maybe it just hurt because that someone was Zuko and she wasn't exactly sure herself what she was feeling.

After several tense moments, which to Zuko each felt like an eternity, the firebender finally heard Katara state, "Thank you for your apology Zuko, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed." As the Water Tribe girl took a step, she paused and hesitated for a moment. Zuko looked back at her as she wavered there. Then, another moment before Katara added softly, "...Good night." And with that, she returned to the ranch house.

"Good night," echoed Zuko, his gaze locked on the departing shadow of the Water Tribe girl. He stayed that way for awhile. He listened to her footsteps as she walked away, as the front door opened and as the front door closed, until only the gentle music of crickethoppers droned on in the night.

Katara's last words of the evening to him weren't those of forgiveness, but on the other hand, neither were they of anger. Zuko honestly didn't know where he stood with her right now, but he sincerely hoped that his careless remark hadn't just cost him one of the few people in his life that seemed to care for him and that he was starting to care for back.

He could have been standing there for five minutes or five hours, time seemed very unimportant to him right now. The only thoughts on Zuko's mind at the moment were the deconstruction of how he messed up in the first place and if his apology reached Katara. But try as he might, the Fire Prince was only going around in circles within his head.

Groaning to himself under the mental strain of his thoughts, Zuko rubbed his face with his hand. Sleep. He needed sleep. He wasn't getting anywhere, standing in the middle of space between the barn and the ranch house in the middle of the night with only his miserable thoughts to keep him company. He needed rest to try and figure out all the problems he was causing for himself.

Pivoting on his heels, Zuko turned around towards the barn only to stumble backwards abruptly as he came face-to-face with Camila standing right behind him. "H-How did you get here?!" he stuttered out as he fell onto his backside. He hadn't heard anyone's footsteps walking on the rocky terrain after Katara had left. "Where did you come from?!" he added in accusation.

"This is my ranch. There is nothing that goes on within my ranch that I don't know about. As for why I'm out here..." Camila smirked back at the Fire Prince. "I think the better question is, what are you doing out here?" The lady of the ranch stared more intensely at Zuko as she prompted, "You better not be trying to head to the women's side of the ranch house."

Zuko composed himself and pointed towards to the barn with the back of his thumb. "I couldn't sleep in the same room as Jet's crew. It was too uncomfortable in there. I was going to sleep in the barn alongside my ostrich horse. It feels more familiar to me."

Camila gave a slight "hmm" sound before nodding as if she accepted that answer from him. Stepping to the side, she gave Zuko leave to return to the barn.

As Zuko reached the entrance to the stables, he heard Camila say one last thing to him. "Mistakes are always forgivable, especially when one has the courage to admit them."

Zuko spun back around in a flash. 'How much of that did she hear?!' his mind screamed at him. The only response he received from the elderly woman was a sly wink as she returned to the ranch house and shut the door behind her.


Sleep did not come quickly for Zuko that night. Morning did though. He groaned slightly as the sun rose in the distance. If he wasn't able to sleep before, then he definitely wasn't going to be able to get it now.

Rising, he swiftly organized his blankets in a stack near the saddlebags. No one else seemed to be out and about on the farmstead when he emerged from the barn this early in the morning, so he found a quiet spot on a nearby stack of hay bales and took some time to meditate.

His mind was jumbled. With his Uncle missing and possibly worse, his Sister actively trying to hunt him and possibly worse, and now his own actions hurting the one person who had been at his side supporting him through it all, everything was out of sorts for him. Ultimately though, meditation served to only increase Zuko's worries as he dwelled upon his thoughts.

Sighing, he picked up his Dao broadswords and found a wide, open space next to the barn. If meditation couldn't calm his mind, then Zuko would let training fill that role. Perhaps if he was tired enough, then that would offer him some sort of clarity that he was currently lacking.

The Fire Prince ran through a basic sword form. Then another. And another. Over and over again as the sun rose higher in the morning sky. He focused on his movements: the swing of the blade, the position of his footing, the balance of his thrusts. This at least provided an outlet for him to focus on.

Jin observed Zuko from the kitchen window silently as she watched him train for the last ten minutes or so. She had been the first to wake within the ranch house and had come downstairs to get started on preparing breakfast for the household. Jin had always thought herself an early riser, but Zuko had clearly been up for far earlier than she had been. And she found herself staring at him once she caught sight of the scarred boy outside this early in the morning practicing his sword training.

It was a short while later that Jin she heard others moving within the house as their footsteps began to approach the kitchen area. Quickly scrambling to place mixing bowls and various ingredients onto the counter, Jin attempted to make herself appear busy preparing a morning meal.

Camila was the first to make a comment about the Fire Prince training outside as she peered outside the kitchen window. "Does that boy have to be outside this early in the morning training? He's so loud out there that it's hard to sleep-in," she grumbled half-heartedly.

"He's so diligent. The sun's barely up and he's already hard at work practicing with those swords of his," defended Jin in admiration as she paused to look up in time to watch Zuko parry an illusionary foe and counter.

Katara said nothing as she helped Camila light the stovetop and pull more foodstuffs from the cabinets. The Water Tribe girl didn't get much sleep last night either. Her own thoughts had been a mess, even despite the apology she had received from Zuko. And one of the last things she wanted to talk about this morning was the Fire Prince.

Camila gave the firebender outside a sideways glance and added, "At least he's up and ready for the day. I don't expect the other young'uns will be up until mid-morning at best. Those lazy urchins are worthless in the morning."

"That's not entirely true," replied Jin as she noticed another figure walking outside near the barn. "Longshot's usually up around this time too."

Zuko gave a nod of acknowledgement to the newcomer as the archer wearing the straw woven sedge hat neared. Longshot simply returned his own singularly silent head nod as he set up several handmade targets across the hay bales on the other side of the yard. Then, the archer proceeded to check his bowstring. Once satisfied with the string tension, Longshot began his targeting training.

Zuko studied the other boy for a minute as several arrows flew in quick succession and struck their marks on the bull's eye each time. Approving of the skill, the Fire Prince continued his own sword practice.

Camila sighed at her granddaughter, who appeared more interested staring out the kitchen window instead of working in the kitchen. "Jin!" alerted Camila as she slapped the kitchen counter with a towel. "Come on now. You know there's a lot to do today. So focus on getting breakfast ready."

"Yes, Grandma," groaned Jin as she reluctantly started to heat the stovetop.

Keeping an eye on her grandchild for a minute to ensure she kept focused, Camila rapidly cracked, whisked, and readied a bowlful of eggs to be scrambled on the hotplate. "Luna, how are you coming along with the batter?" asked the elderly woman. When she received no answer, Camila turned towards the Water Tribe girl. "Luna?"

Camila caught Katara absently looking out the window herself as the Water Tribe girl was slowly pouring flour into a bowl. "That's plenty of flour missy," instructed the lady of the ranch. The waterbender didn't seem to hear her. "Luna, the bowl's overflowing."

"Huh?" replied Katara as she realized someone was talking to her. The Water Tribe girl glanced down at the large mixing bowl that she had been filling. Flour was currently spilling from the large bag in her hands into a completely full bowl and onto the countertop. "Ah! I'm sorry about the mess! I'll clean it up right now!" apologized the waterbender as she stopped pouring the flour and looked around frantically to find something to clean up the spilled powder.

"You can go out there and practice too if that's what you rather be doing," Camila declared as she took the bag of flour from the panicked waterbender.

"No, I should stay and help out here," protested Katara. "You said we needed to get breakfast ready quickly."

Camila redirected the waterbender out of the kitchen with a motherly hand. "I did. And we'll get it done quicker if you're not in here making messes. So, just get out there." Then, with her other hand, Camila grasped the cuff of Jin's tunic as the Earth Kingdom girl attempted to sneak past her. Holding back her granddaughter, the elderly woman stated, "Sorry, but you have to stay. I need your help in here."

"But I wanted to watch them train too..." whined Jin as a whisk and a bowl of batter were placed in front of her.

Zuko faltered mid-step as he watched the front door to the ranch house open and Katara walk out. He tried to not look too conspicuous as he watched her walk to a trough full of water in the yard and begin her own training. She started slowly, moving the water back and forth and creating small waves. She raised and lowered columns of water from the trough with practiced ease.

Satisfied with her warm-ups, Katara's arm movements grew more intensive as she pulled most of the water from the trough and bent it around herself in a protective ring. She raised and lowered the water ring up and down as she lashed out with whips of water against imaginary enemies.

Zuko noticed parts of water breaking from the ring and splashing to ground as she attempted to strike out with the water while holding the ring up in defense, but overall, her bending was definitely getting stronger. Ever since she had started to practice regularly, Katara seemed to intuitively grasp how to bend her element.

At the pace she was progressing and figuring things out on her own, Zuko was beginning to doubt the idea that finding an actual waterbending master to teach her would be necessary anymore soon. The Fire Prince paused when Katara's latest water whip caused her entire water ring to crumble and collapse to the ground in a spatter. Maybe he spoke too soon.

The firebender, waterbender, and archer continued to practice their sword techniques, bending, and archery for a while in silence. At least that was until Jin waved them all inside from the front porch.

The Earth Kingdom girl handed Zuko a small hand towel as he walked inside. "You sure worked up a sweat, Lee."

"Thanks," replied Zuko as he accepted the towel and wiped his face and the back of his neck.

"You looked quite skilled with your swords. I bet you practice all the time," Jin smiled at him.

"When I can. We've been traveling a lot," Zuko returned as he finished cleaning his face. He looked unsure about what to do with the towel in his hands.

"Oh, I'll take that," observed Jin as she took the towel back and weaved it through her belt loop. "I'll throw that into the wash later. Anyway, we made griddle cakes and scrambled eggs. You can tell me all about your travels while we eat!" She took him by the arm and led the Fire Prince towards the dinning table.

"So... no towel for us?" noted Katara as she watched a flustered Zuko attempt to answer questions while being led away by a flirty Jin as she seated him right next to her at the dinning table.

Longshot just shrugged in response as he found an open seat at the table. Katara stared at the sight of an awkward-looking Zuko being the sole focus of Jin's attention for a moment as knots began to twist within the waterbender's stomach. Then, with effort, Katara moved herself to join the archer on the other side of the dinning table.

"Woo! Griddlecakes!" cheered Han as he walked into the room. He gave his wife a kiss good morning. "Thank you honey."

"You've got a long day of work ahead of you if you're going to get that new cattle pen built in time for market day," stated Camila as she served her husband a plate. "I wanted to make sure you started off right."

Another older man walked in from the front door to the ranch. He took a moment to shake Zuko's hand as he sat down next to him. "Hey there, didn't get a chance to say hello to you last night. I'm Ralin, an old ranch hand that's worked alongside Han and Camila for the last thirty odd years or so now. It's nice to meet you."

Zuko acknowledged the man by returning the handshake and a quick introduction for himself just before Jin peppered the firebender with another question. Ralin didn't seem put off in the least by the interrupted and cut short introduction as he knew better than to interfere with Jin when the girl was this excited about something, or more specifically, someone. The old ranch hand simply fixed himself a plate and started eating.

The next couple of minutes were bustling as silverware clanked against plates and the delicious smell of eggs and freshly baked batter filled the air. Camila, Han, and Ralin were laughing over some old story of theirs, but Katara barely heard them. No, her attention was continuously drawn to fact that Jin was sitting far too close to Zuko's seat and the fact that Zuko didn't seem to be attempting to shuffle his chair away.

The Water Tribe girl felt someone nudge her shoulder and looked over to see Longshot pointing towards a bowl of seasoned potato wedges that he clearly wanted her to pass over to him. Obliging the archer's silent request, Katara glanced back over to see Jin placing her hand on Zuko's shoulder as she laughed at something Zuko said. Probably not a joke, since Zuko rarely joked. But maybe something the Earth Kingdom found humorous anyway?

To Zuko's credit, at least the Fire Prince twisted slightly to remove Jin's hand from his shoulder, appearing discomforted by the unfamiliar touch. That was probably the only thing that prevented Katara from snapping the fork in her hand into two pieces.

The rest of the meal continued in a similar fashion. After they finished breakfast, Camila shooed the menfolk outside to start work on the cattle pen while she kept Jin and Katara with her.

As the two girls were cleaning up the dining table, Jet and the rest of the Freedom Fighters finally came walking into the room. "Something smells amazing," smiled Pipsqueak as he ducked his head through the doorframe.

"Well you best enjoy the aroma, because breakfast ended already," called back Camila from the kitchen.

"Ah, come on. Don't be like that boss-lady," yawned Jet as he sat down at the empty table. "You can't expect us to work on an empty stomach now, can you?"

"I expected you all down here when breakfast was being served. Meals are only included in the contract if you show up on time," stressed Camila. Then, she waved a disappointed looking the Duke over to the kitchen and handed him a plate of towering, steaming hot griddlecakes.

"Hey, wait a minute. That's not fair! Why does he get something?" complained Jet as he looked hungrily at the plate of food.

Camila positioned the Duke at a seat near the kitchen and stood protectively at the little kid's side to block Jet's vision of his plate. "This one's still growing. And despite your bad influence on him, he is still as sweet as can be."

"Traitor..." grumbled Jet as he watched the Duke happily pour syrup onto his griddlecakes. He turned to Katara and Jin and flashed a roguish grin. "Are you sure you all can't spare some breakfast for us too?"

Katara felt a tug at her heartstrings at that charming smile and the request for food. She knew what it was like to be hungry, truly hungry, from her time as a prisoner. "I'll see what..." she started as Jin walked in front of her.

"You know that Grandma's rules in the kitchen are the law Jet. You've been told several times before. Don't go trying to get Luna into trouble just because you couldn't be bothered to wake up on time," shut down Jin with her hands on her hips.

"This still isn't fair," countered Smellerbee as she stepped up to confront Jin.

Weighing the merits of seeming petty by arguing over a missed meal or appearing humble by relenting, Jet waved his hands in defeat as he stood back up. "Stand down Smellerbee. They're right. They're right. We overslept. If this is what the ladies of the house have decided, then it can't be helped." Standing up, he walked over to the front door. "Let's get to work. I'll see you all outside." He gave another wink towards Katara as he left.

Smellerbee protested once more before she gave up and left to join Jet outside. Pipsqueak looked dejected as he walked towards the front door when the Duke pulled at the giant's shirt and raised his plate of griddlecakes up to his friend. Pipsqueak looked over at Camila, who was actively ignoring the Duke offering his food to the gentle giant. Smiling, Pipsqueak took a single griddlecake from the large stack and ruffled the Duke's helmetless hair before he walked outside as well.


"Glad you all could join us this morning," greeted Han as Jet and the rest of the Freedom Fighters arrived at the cattle pen build site. "Watch what the others are doing and I'll go through how to get this job done properly."

Ralin, Lee, and Longshot were a fair distance away from each other, all digging a different hole. "First step when you're building a cattle pen fence is to dig holes about as wide as this wooden post and about two feet deep," begin Han as he started to explain what the others were already doing. "You'll want to space the holes about ten feet from one another. Once the hole is dug, hammer in one of these wooden posts and fill back in the hole to stabilize the post. You'll want all the posts to be about level with each other. If they aren't, then you either dug too deep or not enough." Pointing to a nearby spool of metal wire, Han finished with, "Once we get enough posts together, then we'll run this metal wire across the posts three times to create the fencing."

"Yeah, yeah," disregarded Jet as he picked up a shovel. "Dig some holes, places some posts, run some wire. We got it. This isn't exactly complicated stuff."

"If the job isn't done right, then the cattle can get loose and that will create all sorts of headaches," returned Han disapprovingly at Jet's careless attitude. "I hired you all to work on this ranch and if you can't do it properly, then you're all welcome to leave." Not for the first time did Han wish that he had hired some others in town, but the truth of it was that there weren't too many others to pick from. Most of the able bodied and experienced ranchers had been drafted for the war effort. Jet and his crew weren't really all that different than the rest of the kids remaining in town looking for work.

"Of course old man. Don't worry, we'll get the job done," replied Jet cockily as he kicked the shovel into the dirt.

Frowning at Jet's reckless demeanor, Han continued his instructions. "Let's just focus on digging the holes and planting the posts today. We can get to the fence wire tomorrow. We're going to make this pen about two hundred feet long by a hundred feet wide. Anyone here know how many posts we're going to need to for that?"

Jet glanced over to his crew, all of whom shook their heads back at him. Discreetly, the rogue started to count on his fingers.

"Sixty posts," answered Zuko uninterestedly as he continued to dig his assigned hole. All it took was some simple arithmetic and geometry to come up with the answer in his head. It looked like all those school lessons with the Fire Sages didn't go to waste after all. Then, pausing to consider a more practical aspect that he wouldn't have thought about prior to his time wandering the Earth Kingdom alone, the Fire Prince added, "Maybe a couple more if you're going to have us build a gate or something."

"Correct young man," congratulated Han. "You're pretty sharp. We can worry about the gate tomorrow though, when we string the wire."

Jet rolled his eyes at being shown up by Zuko. The rogue still hadn't counted high enough to be sure if the scarred boy was right or not. Well, it wasn't really that big of a deal. Who really needed math in the long run anyway? They would have known how many posts they needed to do the job after they dug the holes and counted them. What was the point of wasting time figuring that out beforehand?


Camila led Katara and Jin to a small set of individual animal pens alongside the barn. "You two will be with me this morning. We're going to check up on a couple of sick animals."

"Oh no! That's terrible," sympathized Katara as they drew near the pens.

Camila shook her head. "Oh, none of them have anything too serious I assure you. Some of the moo-sows haven't been eating lately and seem a little lethargic while that bison cow over there is just running a low fever. We keep them isolated here to prevent the rest of the animals from catching anything."

Jin knelt down next to one of the moo-sows. "You poor thing. Are you feeling lonely?" she asked in a soothing voice as the moo-sow looked back at her. She patted the animal's head gently.

Pulling a small bottle of medicine from her pocket, Camila stated, "You girls look over the moo-sows. Talk to them and make sure that they're eating and drinking. Place some of this medicine in their water, just a spoonful should do. A little love and care should be all they need. I'll handle the bison cow. With his fever, he's been a bit ornery and restless. I don't want you two getting kicked now."

Katara accepted the bottle of medicine from Camila as Jin poured some feed into the food troughs. The waterbender bent some water from the nearby well and filled the water trough. Then, she poured and mixed in some of the medicine. The girls led the animals to the food and drink, but neither of the animals appeared to be interested. Thinking for a minute, Katara stepped back and motioned for Jin to do the same.

Then, the Water Tribe girl settled into a stance and slowly bent the water up and out of the trough in a flashy motion and circled it in front of the moo-sows to ensure that she had caught their attention. As the animals were encaptivated in watching the mesmerizing water, Katara swirled the liquid around the moo-sows a couple of times before hovering a horizontal column of water in front of them. Slowly, the moo-sows began to drink their fill. Once they were finished, Katara bent the rest of the water back into the trough.

"Wow! How did you know that was going to work?" asked Jin in amazement.

Katara smiled at a memory. "Whenever my Brother refused to eat any of his vegetables as a kid, our Gran-Gran would make a show of it in order to get him interested in the food. I figured that might work here too."

Jin laughed exuberantly. "Did you just compare your Brother to a moo-sow?"

"If you ever get the chance to meet him, then you'll see that he eats about the same way." Both girls giggled louder at Katara's description of her Brother.

Calming down for a bit, Jin innocently probed further, "Where is your Brother right now?" She knelt down to pet one of the moo-sows that had started eating.

The humor on Katara's face faded away slightly. "We got separated," the Water Tribe girl eventually said. Jin looked up with a sympathetic expression, but Katara shook her head as she forced an optimistic smile to her face. "But by chance, I did manage to hear that my Brother, that Sokka, was actually somewhere nearby not too long ago. Unfortunately, Lee and I seemed to just miss catching up to him for now."

"I'm sure that you'll be reunited with your Brother again someday," reassured Jin. "I'm sorry if I dug up a painful memory." The Earth Kingdom girl turned her attention back to the moo-sow that she was kneeling down next too. "I was separated from all of my friends too when my family was forced to flee our village before the Fire Nation approached. I truly hope that all my friends got away in time like my family did." Jin scratched the moo-sow under the chin as she lowered her voice slightly. "Maybe my other friends made it to Ba Sing Se and I can find them again when I meet back up with my parents there." The Earth Kingdom girl didn't seem too confident of her last statement there as she smiled faintly at the friendly moo-sow in front of her.

Then, recovering just as quickly, Jin stood back up. Stretching her arms over her head, Jin smiled through the sad memory. "But I don't really like dwelling on the bad stuff, you know? Not when there's still so much good left in the world. There's still happiness. We just need to find the small moments. That's why I try to keep smiling."

Katara found herself evaluating Jin in a new light the more she talked to the other girl. The Earth Kingdom girl seemed nice enough and easy to talk too. At least when Zuko wasn't nearby to divert all of Jin's attention. And what's more, the Earth Kingdom girl's positive outlook on life resonated with the Water Tribe girl, especially after all the recent difficult trials she had faced.

Katara nodded in return. "You're right. There's still good left in the world. There has to be. One day all the fighting will end, but until then, we have to appreciate the small things."

As the two girls started to chat about more happy memories, Camila stared down the bison cow in the other pen. The bison cow snorted loudly as it shuffled its hooves underfoot as if it was preparing to charge. Then, with very little other warning, the bison cow did charge.

However, Camila didn't waver a step as the large animal barreled down upon her. Mere seconds before the old lady would have been trampled, the bison cow halted its charge, its face only a couple of inches away from Camila's stern look. The beast snorted loudly, but otherwise didn't take anymore provocative actions. "That's what I thought," complimented Camila as she patted the bison cow on the side of the face.

Then, the bison cow bowed to the tough elderly lady without further struggle as she fed the large animal its medicine. All the while, a slight smile graced the corner of Camila's face as she listened to the two girls near the moo-sows talk about their hopes for the future.


They had a little over half of the holes dug and wooden posts planted as the sun reached its zenith, high in the sky. "This is hard work," sighed Pipsqueak in exhaustion as he hammered down another post while Longshot held it steady. The archer nodded in agreement. The Duke had joined them a little later that morning and was assigned the task of marking the locations for the fence post holes to be dug every ten feet with small sticks.

"Brutal is more like it," groaned Smellerbee as she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, halfway through the hole she was currently digging.

"I think it's about to get a whole lot better," grinned Jet as he noticed two figures approaching. He waved at them as they neared. "Well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes. How are you doing, Luna?"

Jin simply ignored the rogue while Katara waved politely in return as the two girls reached the workers. "We have sandwiches for everyone!" the waterbender exclaimed as she held up a basket of food. Cheers erupted from the Freedom Fighters as they rushed the Water Tribe girl and she started to divvy out out the prepared lunches.

"Here you go Lee," blushed Jin as she offered the firebender a sandwich from her basket. At some point in the last hour, due to the heat of the sun and the intensity of the work, Zuko had removed his shirt. Jin looked a little disappointed when he slipped the shirt back on after using it to wipe the sweat from his forehead. She brightened quickly at his straightforward word of thanks as he accepted the sandwich she was offering him.

"I made the ones in this basket myself. What do you think?" she asked nervously as she brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face.

Chewing a couple of times, Zuko shallowed and answered frankly, "There's lots of meat in this one. It tastes good."

Katara had been enjoying talking to Jin only a short while ago. Now the waterbender was having a difficult time understanding why she was getting so annoyed watching Jin gush in reaction to Zuko's comments as the Earth Kingdom girl seemed to be almost hanging onto his every word. Not that Zuko said many words in the first place. But he seemed to be giving the Earth Kingdom girl more than the one word answers he gave everyone else on the ranch.

"Got a sandwich in there for your grandpa?" asked Han hungrily. In response, Jin merely tossed him a wrapped lunch without even looking at her grandfather as she asked Zuko another question about what he enjoyed doing.

Fumbling with the sandwich for a moment, Han managed to catch it before it could tumble to the ground. "Well, that was rude," he muttered as he breathed in relief from keeping his food from being covered in dirt.

Ralin placed a hand on his boss's shoulder. "Do you really think you can compete for her attention right now with that boy around? Just be happy that she's still listening to you enough to even give you some lunch in the first place." As Han sighed at his granddaughter, Ralin just walked over and plucked his own sandwich out of Jin's basket without evening trying to interrupt the lass.

The girls passed around some waterskins as well as everyone ate. Somehow, in the shuffle, Katara found herself the closest one to Zuko. Despite still being a little upset at him, she offered some water to the firebender. In return, she was surprised to hear him ask her lowly, "Did you sleep well last night? Any nightmares?"

Thinking about his question, Katara knew that she hadn't done much sleeping last night actually. Between the new sleeping environment and being upset at Zuko, she had continued to drift in and out of sleep as she awoke to even the slightest unfamiliar noise in the room. She had missed the comforting warmth of the firebender at her side, but she wasn't about to tell him that. Still, it was thoughtful that Zuko had bothered to ask in the first place. As the Water Tribe girl shook her head in the negative, the Fire Prince seemed to breath in relief.

Then, as Zuko took another sip of water, Katara asked him a question of her own. "Are your wounds okay?"

Zuko had been fighting a pain in his side all morning. Fortunately, the spacing of digging holes ten feet from each other allowed him the capability to hide his discomfort from the others with very little effort. Occasionally, he also felt a shortness of breath alongside the dull pain, but he fought through it. He could manage. He would manage. He considered it his part of his punishment for upsetting Katara last night. He didn't want to inconvenience the waterbender further by asking for her to heal him again. So all he said in return was, "I'm fine."

Katara suspected that he wasn't 'fine,' as the Fire Prince put it. She had been around him long enough to know that he was probably trying to put up a tough front and enduring through any additional pain that he felt. She considered offering to give him another healing session and was about to speak up when Jet called for some more water.

Zuko handed her back the waterskin. "Here, thanks again." He picked up a shovel as he stood up again. Katara watched him walk back off to work, catching the slight wince he attempted to hide from others when he stepped across the uneven ground.

As she was about to call out to him, Katara was interrupted by Jet shouting over to her, "Hey Luna! Do you still have some water I could have?" Katara looked over as Jet handed the waterskin in his hands over to Pipsqueak. "I gave the last of the water I had to my friends."

Looking back over at Zuko, the Fire Prince was already back at work digging another fencepost hole away from the rest of the group. Katara shook her head as she trotted over to the Freedom Fighters. "Sure, Jet. Here you go," she stated as she handled him another waterskin.

"Thanks Luna!" beamed Jet as he allowed his hand to linger on the waterbender's for a moment longer than he probably needed too.

"We need to get back," interrupted Jin before Jet could say anything else. Placing an empty picnic basket in Katara's hands, the Earth Kingdom girl guided her friend back along towards the ranch house. "Try to finish up before supper!" she called back over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," answered Jet disinterestedly as he took a quick gulp of water before shoving the waterskin into Longshot's arms.

Han and Ralin took the opportunity after lunch to tell the rest of the group that the cattle pen was coming along nicely. If the crew kept up this pace, then they should be done by early evening in time for supper. In the meantime, the two older ranchers were going to ride out into the fields to check on the cattle herd while the young'uns finished up with installing the wooden posts.

It only took until the older ranchers were out of sight until Zuko found himself surrounded by Jet and Smellerbee on either side of him. "What do you want?" asked Zuko gruffly as he braced himself for a potential fight. Zuko definitely didn't feel one hundred percent, but he was confident that he could still handle this braggart and his lackeys.

Jet shared a glance with Smellerbee before a smirk appeared on the rogue's face. "Nothing much. But now that we finally have some time, I need to ask you about that firebender you were fighting back in town."

Zuko allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. It seemed that Jet wasn't planning on fighting him just yet. "Not much to tell," rebuffed Zuko as he continued to dig with his shovel instead. "She threw fire at me, then some lightning. Somehow, I didn't die. That's about it." He really didn't want to answer questions from Jet and he hoped that his clear-cut, short answers would stem the tide, but Jet's next question ended that hope immediately.

"That's what I don't get. I've never seen or heard of a firebender bending lightning before," pondered Jet. "How does that work?"

"How would I know?" replied Zuko automatically. The Fire Prince had a faint understanding of the process of lightningbending but trying to explain that to Jet would both be a waste of time and stupid. It wasn't knowledge that a regular Earth Kingdom citizen would have. "I didn't exactly get a chance to ask her."

Jet shrugged. He wasn't really expecting an actual answer. And while watching a firebender bend lightning was surprising, it didn't really change his goals. He would still eliminate all firebenders in the Earth Kingdom. "She must have been some kind of highborn lass with lots of snobby tutors training her to develop those kinds of skills. Why were you fighting someone like that?" analyzed Jet.

"We've run into each other a couple of times before," the Fire Prince grumbled.

"And why's that?" demanded Smellerbee. "How'd someone like you run into a firebender more than once?"

Zuko shot an annoyed look at the tomboy. "She's a hunter. She's hunting enemies of the Fire Nation. Looks like I was lucky enough to get put on her list."

"And what'd you do to get the Fire Nation to sic someone like that after you?" continued to interrogate Jet.

Zuko paused after ramming his shovel into the dirt as he faced the rogue. Lying was not really his forte, and he knew that if he attempted to make-up some kind of random story, then it was highly likely then his lie would be discovered. So he figured to keep as close to the truth as he could. "Not that it's any of your business, but I managed to upset someone high up in the Fire Nation."

"Who?" came the expected follow-on question.

"I don't know, someone important though," returned Zuko curtly. "That's what happens when you help the Avatar escape the Fire Nation's grasp."

Jet narrowed his eyes. "You're friends with the Avatar?"

"No," snapped back Zuko. "It was a stupid move. I was trying to humiliate a Fire Nation Commander who was attempting to increase his status by capturing the Avatar. But after breaking into the garrison and freeing the kid, he left me to take all the blame for his release. Now I have a target on my back."

Jet studied the scarred boy's face for several moments before the rogue grinned. "Well, any enemy of the Fire Nation is a friend of mine. And anyone who doesn't buy into all that Avatar hero propaganda is alright by me." The rogue pointed to Zuko's scar. "She the one to give you that scar?" probed Jet.

"No," returned Zuko bluntly.

"Then who did?" pushed Smellerbee.

"Her Father," Zuko answered honestly while still obscuring his own connection to his Sister.

Jet gave a low whistle. "I'd want some revenge too if something like that happened to me or one of my friends." He leaned in towards Zuko. "Would you want to be one of my friends? Longshot over there told me that you're pretty handy with a blade. We could always use another fighter. And if you talk to that waterbender friend of yours... a healer would be a welcome addition to the team too."

"We're not looking to join up with a band of Freedom Fighters," stated Zuko as he dismissed the rogue's invitation outright. "We're looking for some of our other friends right now."

Jet shrugged. "You sure? We're going to seek out some information on that firebender and her two friends next time we're in town. Now that we know that there is a firebender nearby, we're going to have to deal with them. After all, if you don't stomp out a small fire when you can, then it always tends to grow bigger."

"You and your crew won't be a match for her," asserted Zuko frankly as he checked the hole's depth with the length of his shovel. Realizing he was still a little short, he continued digging.

"Don't think that we are on the same level," smirked Jet. "You may keep getting beat by that firebender, but my crew and I, we'll will end her and her friends no problem."

"You're going to get yourselves killed if you seek her out, trust me," warned Zuko.

"At least we have the guts to try. What happened? That firebender beat you up so many times that all you want to do now is run away?" taunted Jet smugly.

"I'm learning to pick my battles more wisely," replied Zuko as he measured the hole's depth again.

"By all means, keep learning. But my Freedom Fighters and I, we're going to be doing. And I'm offering you the chance to finally get your revenge on that firebender," presented Jet once more. "When we find that firebender and her friends in town, and trust me, we will. Can I count on you to join us in taking her out?" The rogue extended his hand towards Zuko for them to shake on it.

The Fire Prince stared at Jet's outstretched hand for a moment. Some part of him did, in fact, want another chance to best his Sister. That competitiveness between them would probably always be there. And yet, there was a growing part of him that was more concerned about repairing his damaged relationship with Katara and finding his Uncle.

Perhaps it was because Jet was the one offering to help. The other teenager constantly got on Zuko's nerves, but the rogue was the one who stuck of his neck to help the Fire Prince when Azula was about to land the finishing blow.

Of course, despite as much as Azula needed to go down, she was still his family. Zuko couldn't seem to allow himself to want her to end up dead. There was always the chance that Jet and his Freedom Fighter might actually succeed somehow, now that they were going to go after Azula. Maybe if Zuko was there, then he could find a way to defeat Azula, but still keep her alive. His Sister may have wanted his head, but Zuko did not want the same for her.

Reaching out, Zuko shook Jet's hand to close their agreement. "Yeah. If you manage to find that firebender in town, then I'll help out with bringing her down."

"Great," smirked Jet. "Then you better be ready to fight soon, because my team moves fast."

With that, Jet walked back over to where Pipsqueak, the Duke, and Longshot was just starting to resume their work as well. Smellerbee stuck out her tongue and pulled one of her eyelids down at the Fire Prince before she walked away too.

As Zuko started to dig a little more, he heard Jet make one final comment to himself as the rogue walked away. "Too bad that girl's a firebender though. She was very hot."

Zuko faltered mid-shovel as his brain shut down, unable to compute the fact that Jet just hinted to being attracted to someone like Azula. Zuko shuttered at the thought of the brash rogue trying to sweet talk his vicious Sister.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the mental image of Jet coming onto his Sister, Zuko attempted to keep working. Slowly, he paused. Then again, Azula would probably just incinerate the fool the second he said anything fresh. Strangely, Zuko felt he could live with that.

As Zuko continued to work, the Fire Prince frowned as he looked back up. Jet had ditched the work site, leaving the rest of them to finish the job.


"I've always loved the picken coop ever since I was a young girl," recalled Jin as the two girls sprinkled bird feed around on the ground. "This was the first place on the ranch that my grandparents let me help out with." The Earth Kingdom girl looked over at her friend. "I've named all the picken here, you know."

Katara looked around the coop. There were dozens of pickens running around all over the place and eating the bird feed. "No way. There's too many here for you to do that. How would you even be able to tell the difference?"

Jin grinned as she pointed and started naming pickens. "Over there's Rebe, Ebb, Kila, Taki, and Soven. By that trough is Bakbi, Garth, Lulu, Fae, Navi, Tatl, and Moomoo."

"Moomoo?"

"I was young!" defended Jin. "By your feet is Lani, Vida, Ciela, Tael, Star, and Little Ann."

Katara laughed at Jin's amusing antics. "You're just making these up as you go."

"Maybe," laughed back Jin. "But are you sure about that? I've visited this ranch lots of times in the past."

The waterbender decided to let Jin have her fun as the Earth Kingdom girl continued to rattle off cute little names for the pickens. Katara tossed out another handful of bird feed and watched the hens rush around the coop.

"Careful now Luna, those pickens might peck you if you throw the feed too close," warned Jet as he stood at the fence line to the picken coop.

Indignant at the accusation to the farm animals, Jin placed her hands on her hips. "Our pickens are better trained than you think Jet. They wouldn't just peck anyone." She paused for a moment. "Wait, how come you aren't out working on the cattle pen with everyone else?"

"We're rotating some breaks in amongst the team," answered Jet smoothly. "Too much work is no good for anyone. Your gramps and that other farm hand are checking on the herd, while my crew and that extra guy are almost done with building the cattle pen anyways." He leaned against the picken coop fence. "So, I figured that I'd come keep you two company. Those sandwiches you made for us were quite tasty after all. I wanted to come by to say thanks again."

"You're welcome Jet," replied Katara politely as she smiled in return to the self-confident grin on the rogue's face. "We just used what was in the kitchen. They weren't anything special."

"Nothing special?" replied Jet with feigned surprise. "Don't sell yourself short, Luna. Those sandwiches were the best I've had in a long time." When the Water Tribe girl blushed under the attention he was giving her, Jet smiled wider. "You know, that waterbending of yours looks very useful. I bet you've used it to defeat lots of firebenders in the past," Jet continued to compliment.

Recalling how her waterbending had gotten her into trouble back on the prison rig in the first place and how she was still improving her techniques, Katara disagreed a little. "Not exactly. I'm getting better with my bending, but I still have a long way to go."

"Nonsense," cut in Jet with enthusiasm. "I saw you holding your own and overpowering those Fire Nation goons with your waterbending back in town. You're very powerful, Luna. Plus you can heal others! You're amazing!"

"Thanks," returned the Water Tribe girl as the smile on her own face grew. This was the first time anyone had complimented her abilities so much. Maybe she had gotten a little bit stronger.

Jin stepped in-between them. "Jet, we still have a lot to do here with taking care of the pickens. Plus, we still need to check in again on the sick animals near the barn this afternoon. I'd appreciate it if you'd let us work instead of distracting us. My Grandma's not going to like it if we don't get our chores done before supper."

Jet appeared to brush the Earth Kingdom girl off as he continued to talk to Katara. "My crew and I are going to head back into town sooner or later to get more supplies. You can come with us if you want. Your grumpy friend seemed like he was interested in heading back into town as well. He wanted to get some information on those people that attacked you two."

"He did?" asked Katara in surprise. She had figured Zuko was more interested in finding his Uncle rather than confronting his Sister again. As Katara thought about it a little more, she considered the fact that Zuko might think that he could get Azula to reveal his Uncle's location. 'But that's just reckless of him,' mentally berated the Water Tribe girl as she frowned at the fact Zuko would consider doing something like that so soon to their last disastrous encounter with Azula.

Before Jet could say anything else, Jin put her fingers to her mouth and gave a low, sharp whistle. A large pigster came running out of the hen house at top speed as it skidded to a halt in the middle of the coop. Jin pointed at Jet and the pigster ruffled up its feathers to increase its size as it jumped and hovered towards the rogue, clucking and waving its talons.

"Ah! Whoa! Hey! You don't need to sic your evil birds on me!" the rogue protested loudly as he backed away from the pigster attacking the fence in surprise. When the bird didn't look like it was going to leave him alone anytime soon, he grumbled, "Fine, fine. I'm going. Think about what I said, Luna. You're always welcome to come into town with us if you want." He gave an arrogant wave as he jogged away. The pigster gave chase along the fence line for a short distance before stopping and returning to the hen house with a satisfied look on its face.

"Excellent work Sheriff Clucks!" cheered Jin as she gave the bird walking up the wooden ramp a snappy salute. At Katara questioning gaze, the Earth Kingdom girl laughed out loud as she grinned back at her friend. "I told you, I named every one of them. The Sheriff here looks out for all of us. He's quite protective and strong."

Katara joined in with her friend's laughter. "So I see."

Then, the Earth Kingdom girl's face became serious for a moment as she pointed towards Jet's retreating form in the distance. "Watch out for that Jet character though. I've seen his type all over the Earth Kingdom. He's a smooth talker and a charmer, but he doesn't mean most of what he says. At least not directly. He's the kind of guy who says what he thinks you want to hear so that he can get whatever it is he's after. I've watched him do exactly that with his so-called Freedom Fighters over and over again. He gets them to do his chores around the ranch for him. There were several boys like that back in my old village too. They would boast and act all tough, but when things got challenging, they would just quit."

Jin took Katara's hand. "I know that we've only known each other a day Luna, but I think we're already becoming fast friends. I don't want to see you get hurt by that rogue."

Katara was a little stunned at both Jin's warning and proclamation. She didn't have any female friends her age. There were no kids her age back in her village except for her Brother. When they first left the South Pole, she did run into a group of warrior girls but they weren't that approachable. Maybe Suki, but they never really got a chance to talk.

It was a nice feeling; making a friend. Katara placed her other hand over Jin's. "Thank you. I would love to be your friend Jin."

Jin beamed in delight. "Come on. We really should finish up here and then check on the other animals. Grandma really will get upset and scold us if we don't get our chores done. But afterwards, if we hurry, then, we can have some time to talk before supper."

As Katara smiled and nodded in return, Jin got a dreamy look in her eye. "You know, Jet may be a flake, but that Lee is definitely the real deal. He's just seems so serious and focused. And I bet he's reliable too. He tries to act distance and aloof, but I can tell that he's hurting inside. I just know that I can help him when I get him to open up a little."

That confusing feeling returned within Katara's chest as she listened to her new friend pivot the conversation from talking about Jet to focusing on Zuko.


Camila was putting the finishing touches on a casserole of meat, corn, and beans when her husband and Ralin entered the house from a side door. She noticed the sun setting low in the distance as evening approached in the door frame behind them.

Han removed his gloves and hat, placing them on the kitchen counter near the door as he warmed his hands by the stovetop. "That took longer than expected," he stated as Ralin nodded in agreement.

Camila placed a towel over the top of the casserole to keep it warm. "Oh, did something happen out there?"

Han shook his head. "Nothing too terrible. The herd was just more scattered than we predicted. Our rough counts matched the expected total, but it will probably take an entire day to gather all of them once we finish up the pen."

"I reckon Jin and Luna might want to help with the round-up," offered Camila as she moved her husband's hat and gloves from the counter and placed them onto a nearby hook on the wall.

"Supper smells divine," noted Ralin as he peeked under the towel covering the casserole.

Camila slapped his hand away with a spatula. Ralin had the dignity to at least look guilty as he waved his hand lightly to shake away the force of the impact. "Wash up first. Everyone should be nearby. Go call them for supper," ordered Camila.

With a quick, "Yes, ma'am," Ralin hurried to oblige.

Han gave his wife a kiss on the forehead first, before he too, headed over to the wash basin.

Soon, almost everyone was gathered in the dining room around the table. It was Jin who noticed the missing stragglers. "Hey, where's Lee and Longshot?" She looked at Jet. "You said you all were almost done earlier. Don't tell me you left them out there."

"Of course not," brushed off Jet, unconcerned. "Pipsqueak and the Duke are back. And Smellerbee just walked in a moment ago. I'm sure that those other two are probably just training somewhere."

"Actually, I returned because the Duke was getting tired from running around everywhere out there," interjected Pipsqueak as he helped the Duke into his seat. "Our progress slowed down after you left Jet, especially when Smellerbee took off a little while later too. Lee said that he would take care of it though. Told me to make sure that the Duke made it back to the ranch house safely."

Jin sent Jet a dark look that the rogue ignored. Instead, he defended himself. "See, Lee said that he was fine and there really wasn't that much left to do anyway. And don't worry, Longshot's with him."

Katara felt herself start to get a little worried. She rose from her seat. However, before she could state her intention to go and fetch the missing members, the front door of the ranch house burst open as Longshot entered, supporting a limping Zuko with the firebender's arm over the archer's shoulder. "Lee!" shouted both Katara and Jin in unison as they both rushed to help Longshot lay the scarred teenager onto a couch in the sitting room.

"What happened?" stressed the waterbender as she noticed the grimace of pain on the Fire Prince's face.

Zuko was still conscious enough to manage a short, "I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath," through a coarse throat. He promptly fell into a coughing fit.

Katara looked pointedly at Longshot, who simply gestured to the firebender's side where the lightning attack from the other day had struck the Fire Prince earlier. "Your injury wasn't fully healed was it?" Katara stated more as a fact than as a question. She was already lifting his shirt up enough to expose the acute lightning wound while summoning water to her hands from her waterskin. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

Zuko looked away from her and towards the backside of the couch he lay on. "I didn't want to bother you. You were already upset at me."

Katara's anger flared for an entirely different reason. What a ridiculous deduction. "You didn't say anything because you thought I wouldn't help you because I was upset over something you said earlier? Of all the foolish things you could do."

Zuko looked back cautiously for a moment to meet the waterbender's glare before turning his head away again. "I also told Han that I would get today's job done. So I had to get it done. And I did." Even though Zuko had turned his head towards the couch, he could feel the Water Tribe girl's eyes bore into him even more. The healing seemed to intensify as well. He fought the urge to squirm. Lowering his voice a bit, Zuko whispered mostly to himself, "And I didn't want to see you disappointed in me again."

Katara couldn't quite hear that last part as he said it under his breath. But after a moment, it didn't appear like he was going to say anything else. She sighed in exasperation. Sometimes, he could just be so insufferable and endearing at the same time.

Jin brought Zuko a pillow to rest against before darting into the kitchen. A couple of minutes of waterbending healing later and Zuko's breathing relaxed and his occasional coughing ceased. The marks from where he had been struck by the lightning the other day had nearly completely faded away as well.

Returning with a steaming bowl of soup, Jin pulled up a chair to sit at Zuko's side. Katara found herself repositioned to standing closer to Zuko's legs.

Adjusting the pillow so that Zuko was sitting up on the couch, Jin took a spoonful of soup and blew on it to cool it down before offering the spoonful to Zuko. "Here Lee, I made you some soup."

The Fire Prince looked extremely uncomfortable as he stared at the outstretched spoonful of soup in front of him. He could feel the eyes of the others in the sitting room and at the dining table all observing him. He wasn't a child or an invalid. He could feed himself. But he also didn't want to offend the owners of the ranch by refusing the kindness of their granddaughter. He was exceedingly torn about what to do in this situation he suddenly found himself in.

Zuko glanced at Katara and interpreted her worried expression to also be due to wanting him to not offend their hosts. The waterbender seemed to be constantly at the side of this Earth Kingdom girl all day long. The two had been laughing together as they brought the work crew their lunches. Were the two of them already becoming friends? He didn't want to offend Katara further either by refusing her friend's consideration for him. And he certainly didn't want the waterbender even more upset with him. Not after his careless remark last night and his hiding of his injuries just today.

Steeling his resolve, Zuko awkwardly leaned forward and allowed Jin to feed him the spoonful of soup. It tasted hearty, warm, and like tomatoes. "Thank you, both of you, for the soup and the healing," the firebender gratefully acknowledged softly. Jin smiled back at him as she readied another spoonful from the bowl. Katara was mixed between being happy for being recognized for her healing and slightly bothered about Zuko's seemingly casual acceptance of allowing Jin to feed him.

"Look at him. A little injury and he has two pretty girls fussing over him," observed Han jokingly from his seat at the dining table. "Kid's got the Spirit's luck, I tell you." Ralin nodded in unison with his boss's declaration.

"Oh hush you," replied Camila as she started to serve the casserole. "It's time for supper. Besides, the situation over there seems to be in good hands without our meddling." She turned to Jet and his crew. "And some of you have some explaining to do about why you weren't there finishing up the cattle pen."

Pipsqueak and the Duke looked down in mortification while Longshot, having remained until the job was done, just quietly accepted a piece of casserole with a clear conscience. Smellerbee had a look of annoyance on her face, while Jet was fuming lividly under a barely concealed expression of both envy and ire at the scarred boy being served soup in the sitting room.