Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

05

"Ouch." She hissed and tried to get back up. Instead, she was suddenly met with fierce amber eyes and a pair of dual swords against her throat. She swallowed and looked up at the aggressor. The man's eyes widened when he realised who she was. Apparently, she wasn't who he was expecting. But then again, she could say the same about him.

"What are you doing here?" His raspy voice almost choked in surprise as he lowered his swords. In one move, he manouvered them back into their shared sheath.

"Lee?!"

The rugged teen regarded her an open stance, completely caught off guard by her appearance. It was definitely him. Scars caused by fire were common these days, but she could never forget a burn like the one that covered his face. The pink flesh around his eye scrunched as he frowned at her. His outfit looked even more worn down than the last time that she had seen him. His face also looked a bit beat up, like he had been in a fight. Overall, he looked like he could use a nap. And a cup of tea...

"What's going on?" He asked her. "Why are you here?"

Keya winced as she stood up and observed her knee. It was a bit scathed from her fall, but thankfully it didn't look too bad. She was more concerned about the boy in front of her.

"I-I was looking for someone. There was an explosion, so we couldn't travel together anymore, because he needed to find his nephew, but I still had his spark rocks and I felt guilty, so I went back and-" Her rambling was cut off by another question.

"You know my uncle?" His raspy voice sounded surprised. His pale face became serious when she nodded hesitantly. Then, his warm hand engulfed hers and he dragged her with him through the town. All around them, old abandoned homes were burning. A cloud of thick, black smoke rose up in the cloudless sky. Keya was happy that she wasn't around when the damage had been caused. Whoever had done this must have been a force to be reckoned with.

Lee brought her back to the same spot where she had just seen the other kids. This time, however, she could see someone laying on the ground. She gasped in horror at the sight of the friendly old man, wounded and unconscious.

"Mushi!" She exclaimed and ran over to him. Lee followed behind her with a pained look on his face. Keya knelt down beside her friend and immediately started checking his condition. Lee clenched his fists at the sight of his uncle, but kept his distance. He looked like he was on the brink of a meltdown.

"Oh, Mushi. What happened to you?" She asked her old travel buddy, but received no answer. Keya immediately assessed the man's wound. He had been burned! Had he been caught by the flames in one of the homes? Or had the bad guys (whoever they were) gotten to him? She couldn't imagine any of those kids from earlier doing such a thing- not if they were involved with Toph, at least.

"My uncle was hurt by my sister. Can you help him?" At the sound of his plea, Keya took her bag off of her back and looked through its contents. She chose not to focus on what Lee had just told her, too distracted by the state of her poor friend. 

"I might have some ointment in here somewhere. Do you have any bandages? We need to get him out of the sun as soon as possible if we want to prevent him from getting sunburnt or dehydrated." She quickly found the ointment and spread a bit of it across Mushi's chest wound. Lee handed her some bandages from his uncle's bag with shaking hands.

The two of them were silent for a while. Keya was focused on Mushi. Lee observed her for a moment. Her light brown hair was spiked up in different directions, as if she hadn't brushed it for some time. Her worn cloak moved aside with the movement of her toned arms. She looked like the servants back at his home. Slender, but strong. She looked so composed, sitting there and taking care of his uncle. And what was he doing? Nothing. Just staring, too frozen to move. He averted his eyes in shame and coughed awkwardly.