"Are you ready to go?" My mother says from next to me as we stand in front of the house.
"I can't believe we're moving. I just got here a few weeks ago," She wraps her arm around my shoulders and I wrap my arm around her waist.
"It won't be safe here. We'll be safer in Ba Sing Se. I also found a bakery for us to work at." She turns me around with her arm around my shoulder, "No time to think about the past, it is time to think about the future." I nod my head slowly taking one last look at our house before we mount our respective ostrich-horses and set off to the ferries to Ba Sing Se.
-
"Passports," The woman at the ferry gestures for us to hand over our paperwork. My mother slides the two papers across the table. The woman glares at the two of us for a minute before she stamps the papers aggressively and hands them back to, "Enjoy your trip." She grumbles.
"Oh look who it is!" I hear my mother say but when I turn to look at her she's already disappeared into the crowd.
"Great," I mumble. Walking around in a sad attempt to find my mother I sit down near the ticket booths when I spot a couple of familiar faces. I stomp towards them and grab the younger boy's collar, "I need to have a word with you." I hiss. I move my gaze to Iroh and give him a pleasant smile, "Nice to see you again." I drag Zuko off.
"You want to explain why you kissed me and then left my house without a word." I lean into his face.
"I don't know." He looks away from my face.
"How can you not know? There must be a reason!" I poke him in the chest, "I don't like my feelings being played with like a toy." I drop my hand.
"I don't know." He repeats.
"Can we just pretend it never happened?"
"Yeah, I think that would be for the best." He finally matches my gaze.
"By the way, was that your first kiss?" My anger shifts into childlike teasing. He gets a little flustered.
"You of all people should know that wasn't my first kiss. Don't you remember?" He grumbles
"Remember what?"
"Firefly!" I run to the boy with a big smile on my young face. I sit my five-year-old self next to the similarly aged Prince Zuko.
"What?" The boy looks at me with wide eyes.
"I want to show you something!" I scoot closer to the boy, "But you have to close your eyes!" I put my hands over his eyes. When I remove my hands his eyes are closed.
"What is it, Li?" Zuko wiggles with excitement. I lean forward and peck the boy on the lips. His eyes widen, "What was that?" He sticks his tongue out.
"Mother says it's what you do when you love somebody a lot. She and Father do it all the time." I grin widely.
"You love me?" He questions.
"Of course! You're my bestest friend in the whole world!" I wrap my arms around his body tightly and he slowly reciprocates the hug.
My face flushes at the memory, "I forgot all about that," I shake my head, "But it must have been a fond memory for you if you remembered it all these years." I taunt wiggling my finger in his face. He blushes faintly.
"I'm surprised you didn't remember it. After all, you did 'love' me," He taunts back. I punch him lightly in the arm as we walk back to Iroh.
"You seem to be in a better mood now." Iroh points out as we join him.
"Yeah. We just had some... Stuff to talk about." I smile at the older man.
-
I board the ferry with Iroh and Zuko because I have yet to find my mother and something tells me she's doing this on purpose.
"Who would have thought after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace." Iroh turns away for a moment and when he turns back he is wearing a straw hat with flowers on top, "As a tourist!" He exclaims with a large smile. I chuckle at his antics.
"Look around. We're not tourists, we're refugees." Zuko sips from his bowl of food but spits it out quickly after, "Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food and sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this!"
Another boy slides up next to me, "Aren't we all? My name's Jet and these are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot." He points to his two companions.
"Hey." The girl named Smellerbee greets while Longshot just nods his head.
"Hello." Zuko greets. Jet leans closer to me to look at Zuko, "Here's the deal. I hear the captain's eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"
"What sort of king is he eating like?" Iroh chimes in.
"The fat, happy kind. You want to help us "liberate" some food?" Jet proposes to the three of us.
"I'm in" Zuko nods his head. Jet smirks and backs away from us. I push Zuko gently, "What are you doing?" I hiss, "You are going to get us kicked off this boat!" I scowl.
He leans into my face so close that I can feel his breath against my face, "You don't think I can pull this off?" He spits.
I smirk, no longer feeling as angry, "No, I don't." I pat his face and leave to go sit down in an empty spot.
-
I watch Zuko sneak off with Jet and his friends and I lay back down next to Iroh, "If he gets caught, we don't know him, okay?" Iroh simply hums in approval, probably not listening to me.
The sound of footsteps wakes me. A bag drops next to me as I sit up.
"Looks like I could pull it off." Zuko taunts. I stick my tongue out childishly. Jet starts passing out the food to other travellers while I sit with Zuko, Iroh, Smellerbee, and Longshot.
"So, Smellerbee. That's an unusual name for a young man." Iroh says in between bites.
"Maybe it's because I'm not a man... I'm a girl." Smellerbee snaps and leaves, quickly followed by Longshot.
"Oh, now I see. It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!" Iroh attempts to fix his mistake. I giggle and shake my head, "An honest mistake." I joke.
I yawn, leaning my back gently against Zuko's shoulder. He attempts to push me off but I stay put until he gives up eventually.
"What do you think it will be like to live in Ba Sing Se?" I ask no one in particular. Iroh speaks up, "It is a nice place if you are living in the Upper Ring."
Jet approaches us again, "From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."
"It is a magnificent sight." Iroh comments.
"So you've been there before?" Jet questions further.
"Once. When I was a... Different man." Iroh says solemnly.
"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of, but that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se: for a new beginning. A second chance." Jet replies. What he says makes me think of a certain someone.
"That's very noble of you. I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances." Iroh adds. I smile gently at the older man knowing that he speaks of his nephew. I lean closer to Zuko resting my head on his left thigh. I feel his body move to shake me off but he stops after a second and relaxes. I let my eyes close slowly as the voices around me fall into a quiet murmur.
-
After some time Zuko stands up making me smash my head onto the floor. I jump up from the shock and the pain.
"You couldn't be like a normal person and wake me up first!" I snap rubbing the side of my head.
He turns back to face me, "No." That's all he says before walking off. I almost join him but I see Jet walk after him and I choose not to interrupt their conversation.
Gasps of people along the railing of the ferry make me move towards the edge of the boat. Behind a great wall of fog, the great wall of Ba Sing Se reveals itself. A hand is placed on my shoulder and I turn to see its owner, "Are you ready for a second chance?" Iroh smiles at me.
"Second chance? I've never done anything wrong!" I joke with a chuckle
"Then maybe just a chance for you to get to know Prince Zuko a little better," Iroh smirks and walks off without another word. Heat rises to my face.
"What does that mean!? Iroh!"