Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

13

Zuko awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as Keya rambled on about her family. He didn't know she could talk so much, but it didn't bother him as much as he had expected. The young Prince was more worried about how he could answer her questions without revealing his true motives -not knowing that his uncle had already revealed most of them to her.

"I was only there for a little while, but they don't take so kindly to strangers. From what I can remember it's... cold?" He shrugged. Thankfully, Keya knew him well enough by now to not push him any further. Instead she just hummed in response. The girl suddenly twisted her body and tried to get a good look at her soaked backside. She frowned.

"Does it look like I peed myself? That would be so embarrassing."

A rough laugh escaped Zuko's chest. The boy tried to cover it up as a cough, but his female counterpart caught on immediately. She punched his shoulder softly and wagged her finger at him. "Hey, you! This is no laughing matter, does it look that bad?"

Zuko eyed the wet spot on the bottom of her cloak and backside for a moment, before realising what he was looking at. How inappropriate! The Prince blushed and looked up at the sky. "It's just wet, no one will notice." He mumbled softly. His mother would have scolded him if she was here.

Keya tried to get a good look one more time before she gave up with a sigh. "Fine." She grumbled. "If you say so, but you had better not be lying, friend, or you'll find Earth Kingdom girls are not to be messed with."

The short girl's warning left the Fire Nation Prince rather unimpressed. "Sure." He rolled his eyes. He knew that she would probably tremble and cry if they ever got into an actual fight. She was just a peasant after all, and one with a fear of firebenders no less. It had taken her days to even start talking to him normally after she found out that he was a firebender himself, and now she thought that she was tough enough to take him on? What a joke. What could she do against the Fire Nation Prince? Bat her big eyes and disarm him?

"What are the two of you gossiping about?" Iroh suddenly appeared between them and the two teens jumped apart. They hadn't even realised how close they were standing to one another.

"Nothing!" They exclaimed in unison. Iroh just quirked a bushy brow and put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Alright then, let's go inside! I happen to know someone around here who I think can help us." He patted the two teens once and headed off to a local pub. Zuko and Keya followed him.

The pub was very suspicious. Dangerous looking strangers sat in different corners with sharp weapons strapped to their bodies and mugs of alcoholic beverages clasped in their strong hands. Some were invested in cautious conversations, while others simply drank and arm-wrestled one another. The whole place reeked of testosterone and sweat. Keya pinched her nose in disgust.

"How quaint." The airbender commented dryly.

Zuko scoffed and scanned the place for any danger. "The state of this place doesn't matter. We're not here to have a vacation."

"Yeah, I know. If only, right?" She laughed to herself, but was met with silence. Tough crowd. Keya looked around again as Iroh led them to a stone booth in a dark corner. The three of them sat down with their female companion squashed in the middle. Zuko scowled and crossed his arms.

"No one here is going to help us. These people just look like filthy wanderers."

"So do we." Iroh smiled. Keya had to remind herself that the boy's upbringing probably caused his nasty attitude. But even then, could he try to not be so snobby?

Iroh suddenly looked behind Zuko and pointed subtly to an old man across the room. "Ah, this is interesting. I think I've found our friend." The 'friend' he was pointing to was waiting peacefully at a Pai Sho table. It looked like he was waiting for a partner, but he made no moves to find one himself.