Ivana Alone
~~~
Ivana found some luck in the first village she visited. She found a poster from a shop that wanted help preparing food for a festival. In exchange, she would be paid enough copper pieces to buy supplies for a few days. She happily accepted, going to the location and being hired since she was only one of two people to show up.
She did the job and was paid a little extra for her hard work with the lack of staff. The couple that hired her offered for her to stay for an extra night before she moved on. She accepted, staying there a night before leaving the next day. She thanked them profusely for their kindness before leaving for the next town. They had a map of the area and allowed her to copy it for herself.
Ivana traveled for a few days, rationing her food so she could keep going. She wanted to put as much distance between her and Zuko as she could. She still found herself missing him and felt a yearning in her chest to find him and Iroh. She resisted, wanting to find her own path.
She arrived in a small earth kingdom farm town. Ivana asked the town's shop owner if he knew of anyone who might need an extra hand in exchange for a few meals. He pointed her in the direction of a family who's son recently was deployed. He told her they might need an extra hand with him gone. She decided it was her best bet, so took his directions and headed for their farm.
As she entered their property she found they were pig farmers. They had many varieties, and each one screeched at her as she approached. She was met by a woman carrying a pail of water. She made her case, ultimately convincing the woman to let her help them in exchange for food and a place to sleep.
She helped them with work around the farm for two weeks. It was going very well. She ate meals with them and slept in the barn which was cozier than it sounded. She helped the woman, Sela, in the kitchen sometimes, and kept an eye on her son, Lee for her during the day. She ran errands into town for Gonzu. Ivana did anything necessary and enjoyed her time there. She didn't want to leave and they didn't seem to want her to.
"Are you sure I haven't overstayed my welcome, Sela?" Ivana asked one day while they hung up laundry.
"Ming, you have helped my family during a difficult time. You can stay as long as you want to," she said, smiling. Sela thought it was silly she even had to ask.
"If you say so," Ivana said, giving her a small smile. They continued to work until the pigs warned them of an arrival. "Maybe that's Lee. He said he was going to play with his friends in the village this morning." Sela nodded. They both went around to the front of the house, finding a man standing in the road. Ivana nearly panicked when she saw who it was.
She approached him with Sela as Lee told Gansu how he met the stranger, "This guy just stood up to the soldiers! By the end, he practically had them running away!"
"Does this guy have a name?" Sela said. Zuko spotted Ivana, his eyes widening.
"I'm... u ..."
"His name is Lee, actually," Ivana said, trying to help him. "He's an old friend."
Lee looked up at Zuko, grinning, "We have the same name! Why didn't you say so!" Ivana chuckled at his excitement.
"Well, anyone who can hold his own against those bully soldiers is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms," Gansu said with a bitter tone.
"The real soldiers are off fighting the War, like Lee's big brother Sensu." Sela paused. "Supper's going to be ready soon. Would you like to stay?"
"I can't. I should be moving on." Zuko said, glancing at Ivana. She looked away.
Sela looked at Gansu with a frown. "Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don't you two work for a while, and then we'll eat. You and Ming can catch up later too," she suggested. Zuko nodded in agreement.
Ivana followed Sela into the house to help prepare dinner. "So Lee is an old friend. Why aren't you traveling together?" Sela asked, stirring a pot of broth over the fire.
"We argue pretty often," Ivana said honestly. "It just wasn't a good fit." She shrugged as she kneaded the dough for some dumplings. "We only separated a week before I came here. My life is a lot more peaceful without him." She found herself sharing more than she intended, as well as getting more aggressive with the dough in her hands.
"I see he's a sore spot. I shouldn't have pried, though try to keep it civil. Lee's took a liking to him." Sela said, focusing back on making dinner. Ivana nodded before taking a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing to make dinner.
When Sela no longer needed her help, Ivana went to help with the barn. She climbed the ladder to see what she could do. When she saw Zuko's job on the shingles she cringed. Gansu must have decided to give him space, rather than teach him the proper way.
"I'm going to go get some more supplies, and then we can finish before dinner," Gansu said, going down the ladder.
"Can I show you how to put the nails in properly?" Ivana asked before pulling out the nails that he'd messed up.
"What are you doing here?" he grunted.
"I could ask you the same thing. Where is Uncle?"
"We separated."
"You mean you left him on his own," Ivana huffed. She kneeled next to him. "You're so selfish," she muttered under her breath.
"I left him so he could make his own choices," Zuko said.
"Your intentions don't matter. You left him on his own and he doesn't deserve that. You could have at least left before I did. I would have stayed with him. I left because of you."
"I know."
Ivana focused on redoing the work Zuko had already done. It seemed her frustration with Zuko made it easier to do the labor. She looked at the work Zuko was doing and groaned, "You have to hit it straight or they'll bend like that," she huffed.
"I'm doing the best I can. It's not like I've ever done this before. Speaking of, how do you know how to do this?"
"Gansu and Lee helped me. I've had two weeks to learn how to hammer nails," she said.
"Hey kids, Sela says dinner is ready!" Gansu called from the bottom of the ladder.
"Coming!" Ivana said, putting the hammer down. Zuko followed her down the ladder and inside.
~~~
"You don't mind sharing the barn do you, Ming?" Sela asked, handing Zuko a blanket.
"Not at all," Ivana replied with a smile, despite feeling differently. She went to her corner of the barn and curled up in her own blankets. Zuko laid down on a bed of hay, covering himself with a blanket. "Goodnight," she said softly.
"Goodnight," Zuko replied, turning his back to her. She turned away from him too before slowly drifting off to sleep.
Ivana was startled awake from her nightmare when she heard the barn door slam shut. She looked over to see Zuko gone. She got up, going to look for him. I'm still following this boy around. I need to get a grip.
It didn't take her very long to spot him in the sunflower field with Lee. He was swinging his dual swords around as Lee watched. "What are you two doing awake?" she sighed tiredly as Zuko gave the swords to Lee. They both jumped at her voice.
"I was just showing him how to use them properly. He snuck in the barn and took them," Zuko said, knowing Ivana might get angry with him.
"My brother used to show me stuff like this all the time," Lee said excitedly, trying the moves that Zuko showed him. "You won't tell my parents will you?"
"No, I suppose not," Ivana sighed, leaning against a dead tree that Gansu hadn't found the time to remove from the field. She watched as Zuko showed him the technique again. She found it sweet the way he was teaching him. Lee seemed to enjoy it. She watched as they practiced a few more times. "Lee, you should go get some sleep before your mom catches you out of bed," Ivana said, knowingly. "You should too. You get unbearable when you haven't slept enough."
He gave her a glare before taking his swords from Lee and heading back towards the barn. They parted from Lee and went inside, laying down in their old spots. "Where did you get dual swords?" Ivana asked, staring up at the barn ceiling. She could see the holes that they hadn't quite patched up yet.
"Nowhere," he grunted, knowing that if he told her, she'd give him an earful.
"You stole them then," Ivana concluded from his behavior.
"And if I did?" he huffed, looking at her.
"It's your choice. I could care less now," she huffed back, rolling her eyes.
"Oh so you just leave and you don't care about me anymore," Zuko said harshly.
"Why would I care about you when you haven't cared about me in years?" Ivana spat.
"Who said I stopped caring about you? My life keeps falling apart piece by piece, I'm doing the best I can to be a friend, 'Vana," Zuko said quietly, looking away from her.
She sat up in surprise, looking over at him. "You haven't called me 'Vana since before the agni kai," she said, her anger melting away.
"Yeah...well..." he muttered, looking away from her. He was grateful for the night, otherwise, Ivana would have seen the light blush on his cheeks.
"Maybe you're not as hopeless as I thought," she teased, grateful to see that maybe his old self was still there, at least just a little of it. Ivana paused to think for a moment, "I'll come with you when you leave. That is if you'll let me."
"Well see how tomorrow goes." Ivana squinted at him since she swore he was teasing her. "Now let me get some sleep. You're the one who said I get unbearable without it." Ivana laughed softly before laying back down. "Goodnight."
"'Night."
~~~
In the morning, Gansu woke them to finish the work on the roof. Ivana stretched, getting up right away. She walked over to Zuko who was still lying in the hay. "Get up," she said, still tired herself. She held out her hands to help him up. He took them, and she helped him stand. They went on the roof and started patching up the remaining problem areas.
"Gansu, I think I'll be leaving with Lee this afternoon," Ivana said.
"Sela and I thought that might happen. We understand, though Lee will be disappointed," Gansu replied as he hammered away.
"We'll try to send him some letters," Ivana smiled. The sun started to get hot on their backs as they worked. Ivana wiped some sweat from her forehead. Gansu nodded, focusing back on his work. Ivana noticed Zuko still struggled, but not nearly as much as he did the day before. They worked on the barn until it was finished. By noon, they were eating around the table inside the farm house.
"How do you and Lee know each other?" Lee piped up, asking Zuko more questions than he wanted to answer.
"Our mothers were best friends. We've known each other our entire lives," Ivana answered, smiling at the boy.
"Have you ever kissed?" Lee asked. His mother scolded him as both Zuko and Ivana turned red at the question, looking down at their food.
"Um, no we haven't..." Ivana answered slowly, stirring her noodles.
"Why not?" Lee asked, ignoring his parent's embarrassment.
"Lee! Those aren't questions to ask people, let alone strangers," Gansu scolded.
"But-"
"No buts. You've finished your food, please go do your chores," Sela said. Lee left. "I'm sorry about him. He isn't normally so bold."
"It's no problem. He's just curious," Ivana said, looking up at Sela with a smile. "Though I'm not sure where he got the idea..." she chuckled awkwardly.