Hama made stuff to eat for us and I stayed in bed the whole day. Zuko was barely seen and when he was, he barely smiled and looked stiff and annoyed. I tried to talk to him but he didn't allow me to.
Was he angry because he blamed me for eating the berries and getting us stuck here? Why was he so upset all the time?
I decided to let it go; he'd cool off by tomorrow.
"Hama, where are you from?" I asked later that day, but she avoided my question.
"Tea or . . . tea? Sorry," she chuckled, "I don't have much right now. I haven't gone out for a long time."
"It's alright. Now if you don't mind, where are you from?" I repeated, not backing down.
She sighed. "I used to live in the Fire Nation as an innkeeper at a sweet little Fire Nation town, but I was chased away from there after being wrongly accused of something I didn't do," she sighed sadly, and I felt that she was being truthful. "I came here to start over; a new life, and now I've found you."
"So you're from the Fire Nation?" I asked.
"No, I told you, I stayed there. Now I'm going out to buy some stuff for dinner. Stay safe," she said sweetly, "And don't touch anything."
Then she left.
I sighed and trudged up the stairs, thinking deeply.
Who was she?
As I walked up, I pondered over everything she said. Poor, poor old woman. Shed been thrown out of her own home and she had started over here in the Earth Kingdom.
Suddenly, I smashed into something, hard, almost breaking my nose.
I cried out, losing my balance and falling onto my butt.
"What do you want?" an emotionless voice came.
"My nose. . ." I groaned.
"I don't have your nose."
"I didn't say you did!" I snarled, irritated, and clambered to my feet.
"What do you want?"
"You know, this old lady?" I asked, lowering my voice, "She's really nice. I really like her. And she cares about me. I want to stay here a little longer and get to know her more."
"No." He said clearly and to the point.
"What? Why?"
"I don't trust her."
"But why?" I repeated, grabbing his arm. "This is my journey, not yours. You just decided to tag along. If I want to stay, I stay. Got it?" I sounded mean, but something was forcing me to stay. There was something about Hama that I wanted to know.
"I don't trust her," is all he said, turning around. It was funny, really. I was trying to be intimidating but he was a head and a half taller than me? almost.
I rolled my eyes at his back, when I realized he was wearing different clothes. Instead of his prince clothing with the large shoulder guards and protective chest stuff and all, he was wearing a casual red robe—the normal clothing every Fire Colony villager wore. The only thing that was the same were his shoes.
"Why'd you change?" I asked, following him.
He didn't reply.
"Did you hear?" I asked falling in step next to him.
His jaw was set, his dark bangs in his eyes.
"Okay," I sighed, "I'm sorry. Do you want to explore the house?"
"No."
"Come on, it'll be fun." I pulled on his sleeve. "Pretty please?" I begged. Not taking no for an answer, I grabbed a handle of a door and pushed, but the door wouldn't budge.
"Don't open it," Zuko shook his head, "we shouldn't be snooping."
"What do you care?" I scoffed. "I would expect you to do stuff like this. Calm down."
"Okay, but how will you open it without breaking it?"
"Watch and learn." I smirked evilly, and took a deep breath. Then I opened up my water pack that was hanging around my waist and waved my arm in a smooth motion, the water slowly coming out of the bottle. Then I moved my hand and the water bubble entered the lock. I brought my fingers together in a swift motion and the water froze. With one sharp twist of my wrist, I heard a crack as the ice-key turned and the door unlocked.
I grinned at Zuko who rolled his eyes, following me into the room.
The room was weird. It was completely empty, one window letting the suns rays into the room. But at the center of the dusty old room was a box. A small blue chest that had silver linings running through the edges and the keyhole. I bent down in front of the box and used more water from my pouch to create an ice key. The box opened with a click. Swallowing, I placed my palms on each side of the top of the chest and lifted.
Inside was something I never expected. It was a comb; extremely familiar. I picked it up and turned it in my hands, my brow creased. Then I realized why it was so familiar.
My mother had one.
It was a whale tooth comb.
"Is that really what was in there?" Zuko scoffed. "How cheap."
"My mother had one," I said, tracing the edges with my fingers. "It's beautiful."
Suddenly, I heard a voice belonging to neither of us.
"I see you can waterbend too," the old voice said. We whipped around, my heart racing as I dropped the comb.
Uh oh.