19
BOTTLE UP THE LAUGH OF FATE
ZUKO WOULD BOTTLE UP THE laugh of fate, screw the top tight with a cork, toss it into the river and let its currents flow. Perhaps whoever found the 'empty' bottle and opened it would be whoever fate would toy with next. He was done being a laughingstock in fate's eyes. But what choice did he have? His hopes of regaining his honour was long gone now and the Fire Nation has branded him a fugitive, alongside his uncle and friend.
First and foremost, they needed a change of clothes and necessary items that will give them the fresh start they needed. They found an abandoned cottage nearby the river having been taken over by moss on the outside. The bread in the cabinets had gone stale but at least the outfits left behind were decent.
"San? Is everything alright?"
Iroh was passing by when he spotted San struggling with something in the room she was occupied in, seated in front of a mirror with one hand holding a comb seemingly stuck in her midnight tangles. He entered and her reflection mirrored an awkward smile.
"It was until this stupid comb got stuck. There's no detangler brush here so..."
"Oh, then I can try to help." He suggested. As soon as he pulled on the brush, San yelled in pain. But by then, the comb had released itself.
"Ow, ow, ow..." She mumbled, squeezing her eyes and patting down her hair.
"Sorry," Iroh winced, "but the good thing is that your comb is no longer stuck. Here, I'll help you. I promise I'll be gentle this time." He hurriedly said the last sentence as soon as he saw her frown.
San visibly relaxed, her shoulders no longer stiff as tranquility settled in the air around them. Iroh kept his promise, combing through her hair as gentle as fingers brushing through rows of feathers. Nostalgia seeped into the edge of her mind because for a moment, Iroh's reflection became replaced by her mother's. Suddenly, in the mirror, San saw the five-year-old version of herself sitting on the stool contently, her mother combing her hair behind her while humming a soft tune under her breath. She blinked and the reflection returned to the way it was in the present with Iroh also humming an unfamiliar tune to himself.
"What song are you singing?"
"Just an old tune." He answered with a smile. "Leaves from The Vine."
"It sounds lovely," San said, returning the smile full of warmth and content.
"Okay, I'm done." Iroh declared, putting the comb down. "Would you also like me to style your hair?"
"You can do that?"
"I'm no hair stylist but I can try."
"Then I'd like a single braid, please."
The two yielded to the comforting silence again and before long, the elderly finished braiding her hair. San admired it in the mirror.
"You've done a really good job, Uncle Iroh. I'm impressed." She complimented with another beaming smile.
"So you love the braid?"
"I love it."
"Good," he sighed in relief, "this was my first time braiding someone's hair. I'll go try to find something edible in this house if they have any. You should go find Zuko and see if he's finished with whatever he's doing."
"Will do." San bobbed her head up and down and began her silent search for him. It didn't take long. He was by the wash basin of the bathroom, the door left open; his pants were tailored to the Earth Kingdom style but he still wore his red tunic, searching for something to replace it.
"I can't believe I'm a fugitive. I'm not cut out for this life." He muttered grumpily, stripping off his tunic. San didn't know whether she should be flattered or insulted that he didn't acknowledge her presence.
"I doubt any of us expected each other to be thieves either but we do what we must to survive." He didn't flinch when she spoke so she assumed he did at least know she was there. "Found any medicinal herbs or ointments?"
"We can't bring much anyway because we'd have to carry them all."
"They're important. I need them just in case any one of us gets injured. Besides, we're in Earth Kingdom territory and one of those... extremists could pop out of nowhere."
"Are they still after you?"
"I don't know."
"You'd think after they probably saw the moon disappear they'd stop to realise the absurdity of their goal." He scoffed, holding a cloth in hand and dipping it in the wash basin. There was a sharp line of scar tissue running short along his back, most likely from the fights he experienced in the North Pole. Then he ran the wet cloth over his shoulder and across his bare chest, water trickling down his torso.
'Oh— for Spirits' sake!' San thought, her cheeks burning as she looked away. "Right, what happened to Zhao anyway?"
"The ocean spirit dragged his body away. I don't know if he's dead or alive."
"I see. Serves him right."
"I guess." He muttered, dragging the cloth to the nape of his neck.
"It's too bad about the crew too." She continued, "Lieutenant Jee and everyone else... I doubt they survived what went down there."
Grief was a strange thing. She never experienced it but she'd imagine it was a horrid thing, an emotion slithering over the heart and squeezing until you couldn't breathe anymore. The thought of the crew being dead left an aftertaste of sorrow in her mouth but otherwise, she couldn't find any tears willing to fall for them.
"Okay, how do I look?" He turned to her when he was done, fully clothed in an ordinary Earth Kingdom outfit.
"With your eyes."
"San."
"Like a good old jolly citizen of the Earth Kingdom!" She teased. "The only thing you're missing now is a big smile."
"I'll take your words as a simple 'you look good'." He deadpanned, refusing the notion to smile even a little. "Now, all I need left is a hat to cover... you know. So get me one."
"Please get me one." San corrected. "What happened to your manners, my prince?"
She was only teasing but her calling him my prince left his heart aflutter and now he needed a hat more than ever not just to cover his scar, but to cover the rising blush across his cheeks.
"Please, my dearly beloved San, would you do me the honour of acquiring me a new hat?"
His exaggeration and dramatics were clear but the underlying sincerity in his eyes made her heart skip a beat and her smile fall in pleasant surprise. Though as quick as it vanished it reappeared and she playfully bowed her head.
"I will do you the honour."
✷
A WEEK HAD GONE BY all too quickly. The three fugitives found themselves in the forestry again, foraging for food. Daylight shone through the jade-green canopies but thanks to the thickness of the forest, they doubted anyone would journey through here. San brushed her hand through the bushes but found nothing, Zuko thought he found nuts but they ended up being creepy crawlers so he freaked out, and Iroh was intently staring at a stunning white and crimson plant.
"This is impossible! I can't live like this!" Zuko complained, throwing his hands in the air like he was blaming the universe for all his problems. Then he turned to San. "You should at least have some skills in the wilderness, right?"
"And what gives you that impression?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well... you're not a noble."
"Uh-huh. And?"
"So... you must have spent a lot of time outside."
"You logic makes no sense." She deadpanned.
"Ugh, I know!" He yelled at the sky in frustration, scaring some birds away from the tree. Diverting his attention to his uncle, he asked, "Uncle, what are you doing?"
"You're looking at the rare white dragon bush! it's leaves make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking. Or it could be the white jade, which is poisonous." He answered, humming under his breath and massaging his chin in deep thought.
"We're looking for food, not tea." Zuko sighed and picked up a long wooden stick. "I'm going fishing."
"Hm... delectable tea? Or deadly poison...?"
"I'm going to continue looking for nuts or berries." San said, jabbing her thumb in thin air to the woods behind her. "Don't do anything stupid while Zuko and I are gone, Uncle Iroh. Not that you would, right...?"
"No worries! I won't touch this plant!"
Doubt creeped into San's mind but she brushed it off. Someone titled the Dragon of the West surely wouldn't do something as irrational as brew an unknown plant in the middle of the woods into tea. Quickly, she found a branch full of dangling scarlet berries. At first glance, they appeared scrumptious and she herself nearly took a bite- but then she remembered they could be poisonous and instantly stopped herself.
'I should go see how Zuko's doing.' Despite being wary of the berries, she brought them along with her because they were the only source of edible food she found after half an hour of fruitless searching. Eventually, she made it to the nearby river and spotted the exiled prince splashing around in the water, desperate to catch a fish but to no avail. San chuckled.
"What?!" He huffed, deep down embarrassed she saw him flailing around in the river trying to catch a fish out of anything.
"I didn't know you'd struggle so much with this." She admitted, his short temper tantrum only adding to the mirth.
"Then why don't you give it a shot? Since you claim to be such a brilliant fisherman." He said sarcastically, handing her the long stick gladly.
San shrugged, deciding to give it a try. She rolled up the cuff of her pants and stepped into the river waters, grabbing the stick and observing the fishes swimming idly about; predator to prey. Abruptly, she stabbed the stick into the water, aiming at one of the larger fish. But she missed, the stick sinking into the sandy river bed, the large fish leaping from the water and swinging its long tail wildly, slapping her across the face. San let out an offended gasp, touching her cheek.
"Did it just—?!"
Zuko guffawed, clutching his stomach.
"I didn't know you'd struggle so much with this." He mocked her, unable to stop the devilish smile of mirth from appearing.
"That fish was just a jerk-y fish." She complained sourly, rubbing her cheek. "Good thing you and Uncle didn't have that for dinner. No, wait, actually, you should have that jerk fish for dinner! Take my revenge!"
She shoved the long stick into his arms without hesitation, Zuko cutting off his own laughter as a befuddled frown creased his forehead. "Seriously? Revenge on a fish?"
"I can't do it because I'm a vegetarian." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "So you cook and eat it for my revenge! Please? For me?"
He hadn't expected her to take on such an adorable pleading tone so before he knew it, he found himself desperately trying to catch fish again in the river (the jerk fish in particular, as San called it.) At the end of the day, the two returned semi-drenched with no revenge taken successfully and the tiniest fish caught in existence stuck on the end of the stick. Both of them couldn't believe they were outsmarted by a fish.
"That was humiliating."
"Tell me about it."
"Oh, there you two are! So speaking of poisonous, remember that plant I spoke about earlier?" Iroh said, his back facing the teenagers.
Zuko and San exchanged exasperated glances, "...You didn't."
"I did."
He turned around to reveal the unsightly, reddening rashes spreading to different parts of his skin, even reaching his face. They gasped at the reveal as Iroh continued scratching his back without showing signs of stopping anytime soon.
"When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing. But look!" He grabbed the branch full of berries the Fire Nation girl found. "San found bacui berries that could cure the white jade plant poison! Or they could be ma'kole berries that cause blindness..."
"Enough!" Zuko snapped, snatching the branch of berries from her hand and hurling it away. "We're not taking any more chances with plants. We need to get help."
"But where will we go?" Iroh asked, "We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives from the Fire Nation. Plus, the extremists after San are also from the Earth Kingdom and could be lurking in the shadows at any moment!"
"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed and we could run into those extremists." San listed off the choices they had. "But if the Fire Nation discovers us, they will turn us to Princess Azula."
The winds stilled as they contemplated their decision.
"Earth Kingdom it is!"
Iroh and Zuko agreed without hesitation. Fortunately, there was a village not too far away from where they were and they had a clinic. A kind girl around San's age volunteered to take care of Iroh, whose rashes had spread rapidly throughout his body already from within the past half an hour.
"You three must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make it into tea and drink it." The girl said, amused, as Iroh chuckled sheepishly. "Where are you travelling from?"
"The west."
"The east."
Zuko and San said at the same time. Alarmed, they said again-
"The east."
"The west."
She gave them a puzzled look as Iroh quietly face-palmed when she wasn't looking. A matching pair of nervous grins appeared on Zuko's and San's faces before the latter spoke again to clarify. "We mean we came from the east then travelled to the west and ended up here."
"Oh, I see!" She seemed convinced, the three of them internally sighing in relief. "If you don't mind me asking, what are your names?"
"Names? Yes! I'm, um, Xia."
"And I'm Lee," added Zuko, "and the man you're treating right now is my uncle... Mushi."
Iroh glared at the horrible name given. "Yes, my nephew was named after his father, so we just call him Junior."
He flashed a mocking grin to his nephew who signed at him to cut it out when the healer wasn't looking, San stifling a giggle.
"Xia, Junior, and Mushi, huh? My name's Song." She introduced herself. "You three look like you could use a good meal."
Song wasn't wrong. The three of them have failed to scavenge for a decent meal in days, their bodies thinning as a result.
"Sorry, but we must be back on the road as soon as we can." Zuko denied as politely as he could, tilting his hat down.
"That's too bad." She said solemnly. "My mom always makes too much roast duck."
"Where do you live?" Iroh piped up eagerly, earning a glare from his nephew.
Song gave them her address and mentioned the mint-shaded cream covering Iroh's rashes should heal him in no time as long as they remained untouched. Once the cream dries, he could put on his shirt again and the rashes would be gone.
"What were you thinking?" Zuko hissed at his uncle. "We can't stay in one place for too long, much less go into someone's house."
"Why not?" San shrugged, on Iroh's side. "Song gave us a cordial invite and we accepted it. It's not like we're going to stay the night. Besides, think of it as a thank you for her helping to treat Uncle Iroh- though I do hope her mom also has something other than roast duck for dinner..."
Zuko fell silent after that, knowing he would just waste his time arguing with them both.
Heaven mourned as night arrived, the dark palette overtaking the pastel shades from the early day. Song's house was small and lovely, her mother cooking an assortment of dishes because she heard her daughter invited three guests for dinner. As promised, there was roast duck, salad, soup noodles and oolong tea.
"This is lovely. Thank you so much, Ma'am." Iroh thanked politely, inhaling the delicious scents of the steaming meals.
"It's no problem." Song's mother said. "Please, help yourselves. You all look like you haven't had a good meal in days. Song has told me you're all refugees. We were once refugees ourselves."
"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father." Song shared melancholically.
San slurped her bowl of noodles but put her bowl down as soon as she finished, an unreadable expression covering her face as she lost her appetite. Her mind helplessly brought back unpleasant memories of her father, how he wanted her to become powerful like a weapon to destroy people's homes and take away people's loved ones. Innocent people. All her life she had been taught the Fire Nation was the greatest and the war was a means for them to spread their prosperity unto others generously.
Those had all been L I E S.
"Dear, are you okay?" She snapped out of it when she realised Song's mother was talking to her. "Your hands are shaking. Are you cold?"
Her hands gripping the noodle soup bowl too tightly were indeed shaking. She cleared her throat softly and let go, putting them beside her. "No, I'm fine. I was just- I was just thinking about my mother, who I haven't seen in a long time too."
In an attempt to comfort her, Zuko put his hand on top of hers. She gladly accepted it and intertwined her fingers with his.
"I'm sorry." Song said compassionately.
San knew what they were thinking: that the Fire Nation took her parents away. They weren't far off- in a way, the Fire Nation were holding her mother captive. Hence why she needed to see her as soon as she somehow could. Her chance may have slipped when she denied Azula's offer but there had to be another way she could know her mother's all well and okay (while she could care less about her father).
Later, she aided Song's mother in washing the dishes and bid them goodbye alongside uttering a meaningful thanks for allowing 'refugees' such as themselves stay for dinner.
"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world but there is." Song reassured with a hint of excitement. "The Avatar has returned."
"He has, hasn't he?" San smiled, Aang's cheery face popping up in her head. At first, she didn't believe he could manage an Avatar's duties with how young he was and she knew she wasn't supposed to but- there was a genuine feeling of hope welling up in her heart at the thought of him being able to fulfil his duties to end the war.
She was sick of it- sick of people losing loved ones and sick of the war in general.
"I know." Zuko responded to Song's words bitterly. They shut the doors for goodnight and he turned around, noticing an ostrich horse. Quietly, he approached the animal, unfastened it from its post, and led it away.
"What are you doing?" Iroh panicked in a hushed tone. "These people just showed great kindness to you."
"They're about to show us a little more." He retorted, mounting it.
"Come on, Zuko." San sighed. "We can't just steal their ostrich horse."
"And you have a better idea? Think about it, San. At least they have food and a roof over their heads. We have nothing right now." He said, extending his hand.
Reluctantly, she took it and mounted the ostrich horse as well with Iroh behind her. When they took off, she secured her arms around his waist tiredly and leaned against his back, falling asleep minutes later.
A/N: I love chaotic duos so much. taking revenge from a fish in the wild?? hell yeah. also, as some of you can tell already, there's a bunch of kanej references throughout this book because I had a brainrot of them while planning the story/writing it (still do- best couple in the grishaverse!!) — let's see if you guys can spot what other couples reference I added between sunburn (their ship name 💓) though they're more on the subtle side. that being said, hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for voting and commenting, and please stay tuned for the next one, bye! ❤️
love,
coral