The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 1: Air, Chapter 7: The Festival

(Originally posted on January 29, 2023 on AO3)

"Okay, so here's the plan," Aang instructed. "We'll head into town from here. You and your uncle should probably wear your Kyoshi robes since your Fire Nation ones are... a bit obvious. We can't count on these people being as oblivious as the villagers on Kyoshi were."

"Are you kidding me? It's freezing, we can't wear those! Plus they're so... blue." Zuko complained with a shudder, already doubtful of the Avatar's plan. "Why can't you just go by yourself and buy clothes for us?"

He and Aang were currently huddled behind one of the buildings on the outskirts of a quaint Earth Kingdom town in the Taihua Mountains to the northwest of Ba Sing Se, while Iroh had stayed back at their campsite to keep watch over their belongings with Appa and Momo. Aang had insisted that the two of them scope out the town and make a plan before entering. Recently, the airbender had been much more cautious about being recognized.

Zuko longed to spend the night in a warm inn instead of the cold, wet cave that they had set up camp in the previous night. Due to the high elevation, the air was quite brisk, possibly even more so than at the Southern Air Temple, and it had even started to snow a bit. Strangely, as usual, Aang appeared unbothered by the cold despite his lack of warm clothing. Is that an Avatar thing, or an airbender thing?

"How am I supposed to know what sizes you wear? Besides, it won't be for long! We just need to go into that shop, buy some nice warm Earth Kingdom robes, then we're home free."

"Well, what are you going to wear, then? Your tattoos alone will definitely make you stand out."

Aang waved his hand nonchalantly. "I've got that covered." He turned around for a moment, pulled the back of his shirt over his head, then turned back around. "Ta-da!"

Zuko stared at him with a deadpan expression. The Avatar's shirt was not made to be used as a hood, and thus now looked extremely awkward on his body.

"What? I know it's not perfect, but it won't be for long. I'll find a hat once we get to the shop."

Zuko sighed and shook his head. It was going to be another long day.

*****

A few hours later, the boys returned to town, this time with Iroh. Aang had managed to find an old barn near the outskirts of town for Appa to sleep in for the night, as the trio had planned to stay in an inn once they had purchased new clothes. Much to Zuko's chagrin, he and his uncle were currently dressed in their bright blue much-too-lightweight Kyoshi robes, and Aang had pulled the back of his shirt over his head once again. Momo was currently cuddled up inside his shirt, his tiny head occasionally poking through his collar below the Avatar's chin.

Somehow, Zuko felt that it would have been less conspicuous if they had simply walked into town in their normal clothes without going to all of this trouble. He groaned, placing his thumb and forefinger on his brow.

He decided to enter town first, cautiously and quickly making a beeline for the shop he and Aang had scoped out earlier, trying not to think about about how goofy he must look. Once inside, he nodded at the shopkeeper's greeting and looked around, snatching up a bamboo hat, brown long-sleeved shirt and pants, and a long and heavy-looking plain green outer robe that vaguely looked to be his size. He needed to layer up if he didn't want to freeze to death tonight.

Luckily, everything fit well enough. When he exited the changing room, he saw that Aang and Iroh had arrived. Aang was currently engaged in a friendly chat with the shopkeeper. Thankfully, he had also found himself a bamboo hat and was no longer using his shirt as a hood. Meanwhile, Iroh seemed to be taking his time perusing the various styles of robes the shop offered.