7 Years Ago
No One's POV
In the Fire Nation Azula and (Y/N) were playing a game they made up in the garden. There were lines drawn in the dirt as they curved, went in straight lines, and crossed each other. It was somewhat like a maze with tiny circles and the goal was to reach one end of the garden to the other. During their game (Y/N) was halfway through as he jumped from circle to circle as it seemed like he was naturally good at keeping his balance. Azula however kept stepping on the lines making her go back to the start every time. She got more and more frustrated as the two played multiple rounds and she lost every time. Every time (Y/N) would walk up to her, just for her to lightly hit him in the chest as a way of letting out her frustration. When she lost for the fifth time though, she got really angry. When (Y/N) walked up to her she hit him the chest again, but blue flames came from her hands and shot out making (Y/N) fly a few feet back.
(Y/N) landed hard on the ground to begin crying from the impact. Azula looked at her hand as the blue flames died down. She looked at (Y/N) to reach out to him, but she brought her hand back when their mother appeared and crouched next to (Y/N) to hold him as she looked at Azula, "What were you thinking shooting fire at your brother?!" Azula fidgeted with her fingers, "I- I.." She could not say anything for her mother to point to her left, "Go to your room!" Azula got upset as she ran away leaving Ursa with (Y/N).
Later that night Azula was sitting on her bed with her knees to her chest. The light was off as she had a blanket over her head, "Stupid (Y/N). If he'd just dodged he would of been fine. He shouldn't of even been good at that stupid game." She then heard her mother's voice in her head, "What were you thinking?!" Azula held her legs closer to her as she felt something for the first time, "I didn't mean to. It was an accident." Her door then creaked open for Azula to hear her brother's voice, "Azula?" Azula had her back facing the door, "What do you want?" (Y/N) walked in to close the door behind him, "Well mom said you were grounded, so I snuck out and came here to play." "Go away. I don't wanna play."
(Y/N) then walked towards her, to hop up onto the bed, and pull up the blanket over Azula, "Why not?" Azula looked at where (Y/N)'s chest was for the boy to put a hand up, "Oh I'm fine. It didn't even leave a burn." Azula looked away from (Y/N) as she rested her head on her knees, "You should go play with Zuko." "Zuko's to uptight. Plus it's fun when I play with you." Azula stayed quiet for (Y/N) to think of something. He lit a very small very small flame in his hand to lightly hit Azula lightly in the shoulder. Azula rubbed her shoulder to look at (Y/N) who was smiling, "There, now we're even. I have no reason to be mad at you." Azula smiled a little, "You're really not mad at me?" "Of course not. We're twins. Through thick and thin, together till the end." (Y/N) held out his pinky finger, for Azula to wrap hers around his, "Through thick and thin, together till the end."
Present Day
Somewhere in the forest a large drill was heading towards Ba Sing Se. In the drill Ty Lee and Mai had their own rooms as they were doing their morning routines. In Azula's room the princess was sitting in her bed as she was breathing a bit heavier than usual. For her to frown as she let out one word, "Liar."
Meanwhile (Y/N) was heading towards a large dock as he was going to get on a boat to Ba Sing Se. He waited in line with Rody as long with his bow, arrows, and knives in a bag as he claimed it as cargo. He reached the ticket booth after what the boy could of assumed to be half an hour. A woman was on the other end of the booth, "Destination?" "Ba Sing Se please." "It'll be five gold pieces." (Y/N) looked in his pouch to find just enough to get on. He paid, got the ticket, and walked towards the boat. He was stopped by a guard however, "You can't bring that animal on board." "What? Why not?" "There's not enough room. And the only animals allowed in are zoo animals." (Y/N) looked at Rody to have the ostrich horse rub it's face against his. It was gonna take a while for the boat to depart, so (Y/N) took Rody away from the dock to take the saddle of him, "Good news buddy, you get to go wherever you want now." (Y/N) took off his reigns to take a few steps back, but Rody walked up to him. (Y/N) pushed the animals head a little, "No buddy. You can't come with me this time." Rody did not move though for a man's voice to be heard from afar, "Five minutes until all boats depart!" With this (Y/N) pushed Rody away, "Get out of here! Go!" Rody backed away a bit to look at (Y/N), to soon run away leaving (Y/N) all alone.
When (Y/N) could no longer hear the animal's footsteps, he quickly made his way to the boat and got on at the last second. He sat down on a bench to look around, for his eyes to soon spot a pregnant woman sitting on the wooden floor. (Y/N) got up to offer his seat to the lady, who graciously took it, "Thank you young man." Now that he did not have a seat he decided to head towards the front of the ship to get a good view of what was ahead. He leaned against the railing to take a deep breathe, 'I'm coming Zuko and Iroh, just wait a bit longer.'
An hour passed for (Y/N) to soon hear a child whining. He looked around to spot the young boy whining to his mom and dad that he was bored. The parents were asleep, which was understandable as he saw a baby in each of their arms asleep. To entertain the boy, and let the parents sleep, (Y/N) sat down next to the boy, "Hey." The boy looked at him, "Who are you?" "My name is Haruki. What is yours?" The boy was hesitant for a bit, "Poa." "Well Poa, do you wanna do something fun?" "How can we have fun if we can't run around or be too loud?" "Well this is something we can do very quietly. Do you know the song of Ba Sing Se?" "No." "Wanna learn it?" An hour passed for (Y/N) of taught the boy the song and the hand dance him and Ty Lee made.
The boat soon boarded for (Y/N) to get up, "It was nice meeting you Poa." Poa waved goodbye as his parents woke up, "Bye Haruki." (Y/N) walked on the streets to look around, 'Now if I were an old man and a teenager who is always angry, where would I be?' (Y/N) then thought of something as he walked towards someone, "Hey, are there any tea shops around here?" The person looked at him, "There's a few, but you won't find any good tea any time soon." "Oh, thanks." (Y/N) walked away, 'If uncle was making tea then the whole town would be talking about it. Need to find them a different way.' The young boy walked around the streets for a few hours, to have no luck in finding Iroh or Zuko. (Y/N) rubbed the back of his neck as he walked up to a stand to buy an apple, so that he could have something to eat before he had to go to sleep.
He bought what he wanted to check his pouch, 'I don't have that much left.' He then started eating his apple as he climbed to the top of a building. He laid down on the roof as he used his hands as a pillow. He looked up at the stars as he thought about his home, friends, and family to soon fall asleep and have the night pass.
A Week Later
(Y/N) was going from street to street as he was trying to find any hints of where his family could be. But Ba Sing Se was a really big place, and (Y/N) began to think that he would never find them. It also did not help that he was confined in the lower ring. He checked his pouch to see that there was no money left, 'Looks like I'm gonna have to get a job. But what would I do?' As he thought about what to do he walked past two men who were talking, "I'm telling you, they actually serve good tea." The other man looked at him, "The last time I went there the tea was horrible." "Yeah, buy some old guy and a kid started working there. It's the best tea I've ever had." The were then stopped by (Y/N), "Excuse me gentlemen, where is this tea shop?"
(Y/N) found his way to the tea shop the men were talking about. He walked in, without noticing the closed sign, to see no customers making him the only one left in the shop. He sat at a table for him to look around at all of the decorations. Meanwhile in the back Iroh and Zuko were cleaning up. Iroh had heard the door open, "It seems we have another customer." Zuko was putting cups away, "Well were closed." "We can still serve them tea." Iroh went towards the dinning area to take the customer's order, to stop when he got behind the counter as he saw his second nephew sitting at a table looking around, "(Y/N)?" (Y/N) stopped looking around to look at Iroh, which made him stand up, "Oh uh... Hey uncle. How have you been? It's been a while huh." Iroh began to make his way around the counter and towards him without saying anything. This made (Y/N) a little nervous, "I know that I should be at the fire nation, but it got worse when you and Zuko left. And I didn't-" He was cut off by Iroh bringing him into a deep hug, to which (Y/N) was a little surprised by but he quickly hugged his uncle back.
Iroh clung onto (Y/N) tight, "It is good to see you again my nephew." (Y/N) patted Iroh's back, "It is good to see you too uncle." As the two hugged Zuko came from the back to stop at the counter when he saw his little brother. (Y/N) saw him to part from Iroh's hug, "Zuko!" Zuko crossed his arms as his voice was not so welcoming, "What are you doing here?" "Well I'm here to see you and uncle again." "You wouldn't have any plans to capture us and throw us in jail would you?" (Y/N) looked at his big brother confused, "What?" Zuko pointed at his little brother, "Don't you play dumb! Azula failed, so now father sent you after us!" "Azula failed? What are you talking about? Where is Azula and what did she fail at?" Zuko slammed his hands against the counter, "Stop playing dumb!" "I'm not!" "Then what are you doing here?!" "I already said why! To see you and uncle!" Zuko chuckled a little, "So you just left the fire nation just to see us!" (Y/N) put his hands up, "Yes!" "Liar!"
Iroh stood in front of (Y/N), "Zuko enough!" Zuko looked at Iroh and then his brother to scoff and walk away. Iroh sighed to turn to (Y/N), "He's happy to see you, he's just a bit paranoid from everything that's happened." "What has happened?" "Why don't I tell you at home." (Y/N) nodded for Iroh, Zuko, and (Y/N) to finish closing up the shop. Afterwards (Y/N) followed Iroh and Zuko to their apartment. When they arrived Zuko instantly went to his room and slammed the door behind him.
Iroh walked to the kitchen, "Would you like some tea?" (Y/N) set his bow and arrows against the wall to go sit down at the table, "I could go for some." "I'll make your favorite." (Y/N) sat on his legs for Iroh to begin boiling water, "So how long have you been traveling?" "I think a year and a half. Maybe two. It's hard to keep track." "Have you been on your own?" "No. I've been with others for the most part." "Well why don't you tell me about the people you have met." "Well after a few weeks of being on my own I had tried to steal food from a cart, but I saw a man coming, so I hid in the cart. The next thing I knew I was living in that man's house with his family. I ended up working on their farm and helped the man sell his food." Iroh poured (Y/N) his tea, "Sounds like this is an interesting story." (Y/N) took a sip of his tea, "Mmm, Black Tea with milk and honey. You remembered my favorite." "Of course I did. Now please continue." "Well the man soon taught me how to cook meat and shoot a bow. But all of that can wait. What is going on with you two and Azula?" For the next hour and a half Iroh explained to (Y/N) what had happened before they arrived at Ba Sing Se.
A few days passed and Iroh was able to convince his boss to give (Y/N) a job as a waiter. (Y/N) happily accepted the job and did his absolute best every day. He was able to buy new clothes, finally get a bath, and for the first time feel at home. Even though Zuko still did not believe (Y/N) was not with Azula and whatever plan she had in mind. Everything was beginning to feel normal and it seemed like happy days from her on out. Unfortunately it was not going to stay that way long.
Elsewhere
In an old worn down house stood Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai as they were all in Kyoshi Warrior uniforms. Ty Lee was doing hand stands while Mai leaned against a wall, "Now can you explain why we're here three days ahead of schedule?" Azula was looking out of a window watching the citizens walk passed them, "Because I have an idea. We have next to no knowledge of Ba Sing Se, and that could give us a disadvantage. So I've decided that each of us are going to explore one of the rings for three days to learn more about this empire. After three days we meet back here. That's why we're here ahead of schedule." Ty Lee was concentrating on keeping her balance as she walked on her hands, "How are we going to do blend in though? I think Kyoshi warriors would stick out, and since the avatar is here then we can't go around dressed normally." "Then we will just dress like everyone else in our rings." Mai crossed her arms, "Well who goes to which ring?"
Azula gestured to herself, "Well I of course I will take the upper ring. Mai you will go to the middle ring. And Ty Lee will go to the lower ring." Ty Lee looked at Azula, "Why do I have to stay in the lower ring?" "Because I said so." A few minutes later Ty Lee was no longer in her Kyoshi warrior uniform, but now she was wearing raggedy clothes with her mouth and nose covered by cloth. Azula and Mai were about to leave for Azula to point at Ty Lee's hair, "Take those ribbons out of your hair." Ty Lee was quickly defensive, "Why?" "Because those pesky brats may recognize you from those. Nobody here has ribbons that nice anyways." Ty Lee was very reluctant, but took her ribbons out of her hair making it just a normal braid. She put them in her pockets to see Azula and Mai leave. She was left in the house alone for a while as she practiced her gymnastics a little.
Soon she decided to head out, 'The entire point is to learn about this place, can't do that without exploring.' She walked out to make sure her face was covered as she walked through the streets. She walked around for a few hours learning a few things here and there, but nothing significant really. Just the normal of how the people are strong and proud of their nation. As she walked she saw a few kids on the street playing. As she got closer the children noticed her, to ask her to play with them. Ty Lee happily accepted their invitation to begin playing what the kids called "Marbles". The goal was to use your marbles to knock your opponent's marbles out of the little circle they drew. She played this and a few other games with the children until one of the boys wanted to do a hand dance with her.
The boy started to explain the hand dance with the song of Ba Sing Se, but Ty Lee already knew what the boy was trying to teach her as it was her's and (Y/N)'s dance. Ty Lee stopped the boy in the middle of the dance, "Where did you learn this from?" The boy thought for a second, "From the boat ride here." "Who taught it to you?" "A teenager." "What was his name?" "I'm pretty sure it was Haruki." "Do you know where Haruki is?" The boy nodded, "My family went to a tea shop and he was a waiter there." "Can you take me to the tea shop?" The boy nodded again to begin leading the way to Haruki.
Ty Lee followed the little boy to begin thinking, 'Haruki has to be (Y/N) right? I mean he wouldn't use his real name. And if he isn't (Y/N) then maybe he knows him.' She stayed deep in thought not paying attention to where she was being led to, to have the boy tug on her arm, "We're here." This brought Ty Lee out of her thoughts to look around and see that she was in a small tea shop with nearly every table filled with a customer as they all talked, the decorations that covered the room's walls, and the elegant smell of tea. It felt calming as the tea shop felt more upbeat and happier than the rest of the lower ring. She then heard a familiar voice, "Hey Poa! How has your day been?" The little boy smiled when he saw (Y/N), "It's been fun Haruki. I even made a new friend." Poa pointed at Ty Lee for (Y/N) to look at her and stick his hand out, "The name's Haruki. Nice to meet you." Ty Lee slowly shook his hand as her cheeks became a little red, "H- Hi, I'm... Hua."