"Yeah! Maybe we're near a village! And I bet that the village has much better food than some rocky nuts!" Yuen agreed before charging towards the village, faster than ever. "You traitor!" She heard Sokka's shouting.
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"GREAT HAT. I'll trade you some nuts for it." Aang haggled with an old man. Yuen scoffed, assuming the man wouldn't take the deal. But to her surprise he did and Aang got the pyramid-shaped hat. He laughed in happiness, making Yuen crack a small smile as well. As the three kids laughed, they spotted Katara following and walking towards a door.
They all glanced at each other and didn't hesitate to follow her. She opened the door to reveal the same guy from earlier. "Hey, you're that kid." Katara said. "Oh, yeah. Why did you run away before?" Yuen asked, seeing his shocked face.
"Uh..." he choked. "You must have me confused with some other kid." He lied. "No, she doesn't," Aang backed her up. "We saw you earthbending." He recalled. They gasped and the lady quickly shut all windows and doors. "They saw you doing what?" She scolded her child.
"They're crazy, mom. I mean, look at how they're dressed." Haru panicked. Suddenly Yuen felt unconscious in her Southern Water Tribe clothes. "You know how dangerous that is. You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending." His mom emphasised.
"Open up!" A harsh knock on the doors startled them. Sokka peeked outside. "Fire Nation! Act natural!" He whispered. So, everyone started to panic and pose by random things. The mom opened the door, and the guard stepped inside to see Haru and Sokka admiring an apple, Katara eating berries, Aang leaning on some wood and Yuen who stood frozen.
Aang tripped and fell into some water, making Yuen giggle and break her silent character. "What do you want? I've already paid you this week." The mom shouted. "The tax just doubled. We wouldn't want an accident, would we? Fire, it's sometimes so hard to control." The guard lied.
Yuen clenched her jaw. The mockery of an ancient bending, one that has been used longer than he was alive filled her with rage.
How could that man be so careless? Ruining lives? Threatening families? Killing them? This was all her fault. A hand grabbed hers. She looked down to see it was Aang's. It was almost as if he could sense her anger. He sent her a reassuring look, a smile creeping up on his face. She barely smiled back.
Haru's mom sighed and handed the guard some coins. "You can keep the copper ones." He dropped them on the floor before leaving.
"Nice guy. How long has the Fire Nation been here?" Sokka asked the lady. "Five years," Yuen's eyes widened. Five years? She's let them hurt innocent people for five years? Of course she knew it was much longer than that. It just kind of hit her slow. "Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships." The woman explained.
