Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

13

The sight reminded Keya of how her little brother Kanak would often spend his days playing Pai Sho by her mother's bedside. The woman was too weak to do anything else around the house, so educating Kanak was one of the few ways she would fulfil her role as mother to her children. Keya quickly shoved the memory back down. This was no time to ponder her upbringing.

"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?" Zuko asked incredulously with another eyeroll.

"I don't think this is a gamble." Iroh answered vaguely and made his way over to the man. Zuko stood up to follow him, but turned back to Keya with a nod.

"Come on." He said and motioned his hand for her to go with him. Keya said nothing but stood up and went with him. The two made their way over to Iroh and his new friend.

"May I have this game?" Their companion asked the stranger.

"The guest has the first move." Was the stranger's reply. He held out his arm over the Pai Sho table and Iroh sat down. Iroh pulled a round, wooden coin out of his wide sleeve (how long he'd had it there for was anyone's guess) and set it down right in the middle. From her view, Keya could see a small lotus painted on it delicately. It was very pretty, but the boy beside her looked unimpressed.

"I see you favour the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways." The stranger commented in a tone that matched Iroh's in sageliness. Keya sat down next to them to observe their game. She only knew a few techniques from watching her brother play, but was interested nonetheless. After all, one's Pai Sho technique was said to reflect one's personality. She was curious to see what Iroh would do.

The retired general bowed respectfully with his hands together. "Those who do can always find a friend."

Zuko scanned their surroundings again, making sure nobody was watching them too intently. After he found no threats, he sat down next to Keya so that he could keep his back to the wall.

"Then let us play."

As the two men started playing, Keya and Zuko observed them. Zuko looked on with confusion and annoyance, but Keya was entranced by their mirrored plays. Neither man ever stopped to ponder a move or think of a plan like she was used to seeing. Were they just that good or was something else going on? Their placements ended in the shape of a lotus and Keya felt the need to clap, but Zuko stopped her from doing so with a single scowl in her direction before she could even start.

"Welcome, brother." The stranger spoke. "The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."

What?

"What are you old gasbags talking about?" Zuko groaned, apparently thinking the same thing as the girl beside him. Keya snorted at his creative choice of words.

"Zuko, that's rude." She whispered, but the Prince just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game." There was a mischievous glint in Iroh's eyes. This was the man he had been seeking.

From the corner of the pub, an intimidating man interrupted their conversation. He stood up. His tall frame and broad shoulders were clad in green clothing with the sleeves torn off in typical Earth Bender fashion (sleeves were always 'too restricting' according to her oldest brother Hun). The man's chest puffed up intimidatingly as he spoke.

"I'm not waiting all night for these geezers to stop yapping. It's over! You three fugitives are coming with me!"

Keya looked at Iroh's 'geezer' friend in surprise. This guy was a wanted man? He looked rather harmless. Then again, so did Iroh and he was far from harmless. When she looked back at the intimidating man, she suddenly noticed that he was looking at her, of all people. Then it hit her.

"Wait a minute, did you mean me? Since when am I a fugitive?" Keya asked. Had her actions against those tax collectors really been that bad?

Apparently her actions had indeed been that bad, for lo and behold, the man held out a scroll with her face on it! Or... what was supposed to be her face... It looked more like a rough sketch if she was being honest. They probably didn't have a good reference image since her family was always too poor to get their portraits taken. Still, she felt mildly offended by the bad sketch. My nose doesn't look like that! Right...?

Zuko looked at Keya with surprise. Sure, he knew that she was fleeing from the Fire Nation, but what could a girl like her have done to get her face put on a 'wanted' poster? This unexpected information put made him see her in a whole new light. She was hiding something. But then again, so was he.

"I knew it!" Their new friend accused with a shrill cry. "You three are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!"

At the sound of the word 'bounty', the whole pub grew quiet. All eyes were on them. Keya glanced around nervously. Oh-oh.

"I thought you said he would help!" Zuko hissed to his uncle.

"He is, just watch." Iroh put his hand on Zuko's shoulder calmly. Keya's eyes found the man's drawing of her again and she scowled. Was that really what she looked like to others? How embarrassing...

"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold?" Their friend taunted loudly.

This time a couple of other men stood up. Mumbles slowly filled the space. "Gold?" Someone let out greedily. Everyone in the pub raised their weapons menacingly. The air was thick with tension.

The bounty hunter's well-dressed partner approached him and hesitated. "Uh, maybe we shouldn't..."

But the muscular man (who kind of resembled the 'boulder' - an infamous earthbending fighter that her brothers were big fans of, now that Keya got a good look at him) simply smirked and approached them, ready to fight. Two men jumped in front of him, but the boulder look-a-like just kicked them away with a grunt.

His partner got into an earthbending stance and buried another guy up to his neck in sand. In the meantime, the boulder look-alike had moved onto new enemies. He held two local sand benders in each hand and kicked his other attackers away with his right foot. Keya wished that she could do something like that. Men were being thrown and kicked left and right, fighting both the two earth benders and one another.

Amidst all the chaos, Zuko grabbed Keya's hand and slipped away after Iroh and their new friend. The old man -not Iroh, the other one- hurriedly led them through the dark alleyways to one of the many neglected buildings of the town. He opened the thick, wooden door carefully and frantically motioned for them to go inside.

❃

A/N: Do you like Zuko and Keya's banter? Keya never misses an opportunity to talk about her family and Zuko seems to tolerate her presence after his episode on the mountain brought some sense to him... what do you think?