"It's time we went our separate ways, Uncle." Zuko said as he took up the reigns again.
I stared at him from my kneeling position beside the river. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Away... I don't really know yet."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"No. I need to go alone."
"I didn't give you a choice. I'm going with you. You're Uncle isn't a fire nation fugitive and if you're not going to be here, I'm not going to turn him into one. You've heard the stories of what I did right?"
"Took out an entire fire bending squad alone."
"Do you know why?"
"Because you felt like it?"
"Because they were grooming her to be a soldier," Iroh said.
"Because they wanted me to murder without hesitation in order to protect the royal family." I looked Zuko in the eye. "I was going to be a part of your guard when you became the Fire Lord, Prince Zuko." I could feel my feelings welling up inside me. I wasn't happy about any of this and I wasn't just going to give into Zuko's abandonment issues because that would only cause mine to rise. I took a deep breath. "You don't know it, but I wasn't born in the fire nation. I born in the Foggy Swamp Tribe just south of the Earth Kingdom to a water bender. I wasn't accepted as I am so I ran away to Ba Sing Se. Only, I didn't reach Ba Sing Se. I was caught and sold into slavery by sand benders. Eventually, I ended up working in the fire palace kitchens as a seven year old.
"By the time I was eight, I'd seen your face twice and I was being trained as a fire bender to be the best there is. I took out the squadron when they wanted me to kill a young woman who had a son who had once bumped into you on accident." I clenched my fist as I stared at him. "They didn't want me to show any mercy to a woman who had done nothing wrong and even her boy hadn't committed a crime. That's why I killed the seven of them and ran for it. So I'm sorry if you're the only person I actually care about Zuko because you're the only one I was allowed to care about, but I'm not just going to let you leave without me."
"I didn't need your life story..." Zuko looked at the ground. "But I'm glad I know it now... I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble..."
"Prince Zuko..." I grabbed his wrist. "You didn't. I care about you and not just because I was trained to. You're not a bad person and you don't deserve this."
He didn't pull his hand away. "If you're coming with me, then get on the ostrich-horse."
I released his hand and he helped me up before swinging his leg over in front of me. "Good bye, Iroh. Good luck."
"Be safe on your travels." Iroh waved and I got the feeling that he was just happy someone was going with Zuko.
***
I had put my own coolie hat down around my neck because it was continually knocking into Zuko's hat. I was thinking about what we would do for food as we both hadn't eaten much in nearly five days now as we rode our ostrich horse over a rope suspension bridge. The ostrich horse put a foot through one of the planks and almost lost its balance, throwing me sideways. Zuko acted quickly to right the animal, causing me to grab hold of his waist for the first time since we'd started our journey so I wouldn't fall, and continued crossing the bridge.
It wasn't long before Zuko stopped our mount mid stride as he smelled the air. He looked off the path a little to see two people in Earth Kingdom clothing around a campfire. We could see food cooking and Zuko clutched his stomach. He moved his hand to the hilt of his broadswords, preparing to steal some of their food. I looked again at the two people as the man approached his wife who was pregnant. He rubbed her belly and smiled at her.
I set my hand on Zuko's shoulder to tell him we should keep going.
He released his grip on the sword. He lowered his head in resignation and we moved forward again.
Soon we weren't just hungry. We were thirsty too, running out of water in our pouch, and eventually we were tired. My eyes had grown heavy as I fought back sleep until we reached a good stopping point. My sight was starting to go blurry and there was no way Zuko was in any better shape than me. He seemed to be dosing off every few moments but he always woke himself until he woke once with a start.
The sun was beating down hard as we came into a small earth kingdom town. By the time we came into town neither of us had slept in four days nor eaten anything for seven.
We rode, exhausted, up to a stall near some earth kingdom men who were gambling. I noticed one of them stand to look at us but ignored it by paying attention to Zuko. I passed the two copper pieces to Zuko.
Zuko offered them to the merchant. "Could I get some water, a bag of feed, and something hot to eat?"
The merchant shook his head. "Not enough here for a hot meal. I can get you two bags of feed."
Zuko looked down in despair.
"We need food..." I mumbled. I offered the man our water bags. "Could you fill these for us?"
"Sure, little lady." The merchant turned to a small water spout beside him and filled our pouches.
I was distracted by the sound of a splatting egg and turned to see it hit one of the gambling men on the head. The man stood up and looked around. He spotted me and Zuko in the otherwise empty street and marched up behind us. I tensed and prepared to grab the hidden dagger from my pant leg.
"Hey!" The man and his friends approached Zuko from behind, stopping just behind us. "You throwing eggs at us, stranger?"
Zuko didn't bother to turn. "No."
"You see who did throw it?" the man asked angrily.
Zuko turned around and put his hand on his sword hilt. "No.
Another man grew angry. "That's your favorite word, 'no?'"
The egg covered man growled, "Egg had to come from somewhere."
Zuko turned back to the merchant to take the sac of feed. "Maybe a chicken flew over."
One of the soldiers started laughing, but a look from the egg covered man silenced him. The merchant placed down the water bags and quickly re-appeared, dropping two bags of feed on the counter.
The man swooped in and grabbed them both. He threw one to one of his men. "Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support. You better leave town. Penalty for staying is a lot steeper than you can afford, stranger." He tapped the war hammer hanging from his belt. "Trust me." He and his men walked away.
The merchant apologized to us. "Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the fire nation, but they're just a bunch of thugs."
We walked back over to our mount. Zuko helped me up and a bright eyed boy appeared on the other side of the ostrich horse as Zuko was about to hop up.
"Thanks for not ratting me out."
Zuko hopped on and we started to ride away.
The boy looked slightly deterred but then a smile spread on his face and he followed us. The kid grabbed hold of the ostrich horse's bridle. "I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come on, I owe you."
