At the break of dawn, Homura was on her feet and moving around the room, making sure she had gotten all of her belongings before they were ready to leave. She put on her Kyoshi warrior armour and fixed her make-up, even though it felt peculiar to know she was going home dressed as a warrior of the Earth Kingdom. But then again, the Fire Nation hadn't been her home in years.
Her thoughts were running wild that morning as she collected her few belongings and with a small bag at hand, made her way to the sculpture of Avatar Kyoshi in the middle of the village. Hardly anyone was awake at this hour, she knew, but this was the main reason she loved this part of the day. Sitting at the feet of Avatar Kyoshi, she watched the dawn without making a sound.
In the horizon, the thin purple line of night was vanishing as the time passed, in the distance, the sea glimmering, reflecting the light of the sun. The nature around her seemed to slowly wake up along with the rest of the world, and she allowed herself to smile as she drifted off to a treasured memory.
The grass was soft beneath her hands as she inched closer to the small pond, her eyes wide as she watched the turtle ducks swimming around. She didn't have anything to feed them but they came over anyway, and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was the first time in all her seven years of life she had seen turtle ducks. They didn't have any at home and this was the first time her parents had let her go to the palace while they had a war meeting with the Fire Lord. To say the least, she was enjoying herself quite a bit.
She was shaken to the present by a loud laugh followed by a groan.
"I don't even know why I agreed to come with you in the first place!"
"Come on, Zuzu, you love our company."
"No, I don't!"
Curious, the girl stood up and followed the noises. There were four children on the other side of the garden, three girls and one boy. She watched, surprised as a girl with short dark hair reached over to the boy and poked his cheek. He glared at her.
"As soon as this meeting is over I'll-"
"Quiet, Zuzu," she cut in, her eyes, flickering like flames, taking in every inch of the garden. She didn't have the time to hide behind the tree beside her when the girl caught sight of her. Her eyes instantly narrowed. "Who are you?"
She didn't have the chance to hide now. She hesitantly walked towards them, briefly taking a look at the other two girls - one with long black hair styled as if it were meatballs and another with a long braid - then her eyes fell on the boy who was suspiciously alike to the girl that had noticed her before she came to a stop a few ways away from them.
"I'm Homura. My parents are in the war meeting."
"In the war meeting?" she repeated, evidently interested as she looked her up and down, almost sizing her up. "Who are your parents?"
"General Zhao and Chiaki."
"I've heard of them," the boy spoke with a small smile at Homura. "I'm Prince Zuko, that's my sister Azula and her friends Mai and Ty Lee."
She smiled at all of them, nodding her head in the direction of Azula and Zuko in a show of respect. "It's nice to meet you."
The girl named Ty Lee stood up with a wide smile. "Come on, Homura, I'll show you something!"
She watched with wide eyes as Ty Lee walked away and started running to the other side of the garden, doing a few impressive acrobatics Homura had never seen a person in her life do before. She stopped in the other end and turned around with a grin.
"Ta da!"
"Show me how you did that!"
Ty Lee was more than happy to oblige.
It had been the first and last time Homura got to go to the palace but she had had a good time. As she grew up, she hadn't seen any of the kids in years, until the Avatar made an appearance yet again. She first met Prince Zuko while he had been hunting the Avatar - he also burnt the village she now lived in, not to mention he had a terrible scar on the side of his face she was sure he hadn't had when she had left him in the capital of the Fire Nation - and it was a few months later she stumbled upon Azula, Mai and Ty Lee with her fellow Kyoshi warriors. That encounter hadn't ended well either as Homura found herself in a prison near the Fire Nation palace and Suki was taken away from her as she was the leader of the group. None of her peers from the Fire Nation remembered her. And as a result, Homura had the chance to keep pretending to be a girl from the Earth Kingdom that came to Kyoshi island to learn how to fight. She hadn't figured out yet if she was pleased or disappointed by the idea.
Lost in her thoughts, Homura didn't realise how much time had passed until she felt someone sitting down beside her. Looking to the side, she noticed Suki, dressed in armour, her make-up in place. She smiled at her before looking to the sky.
"Are you excited for our trip?"
"Quite a bit. I'm eager to see the Fire Nation in a moment of peace."
"I take it this time it'll be better," she mused with a slight smirk. "At least we won't be in a prison cell."
"Now, you can't be sure about that, Suki."
She laughed at her light teasing before she slowly grew quiet. "Sokka should be here soon. I also passed by Ty Lee's room. She's almost ready."
"That's a relief. She usually takes longer to get ready."
"I suppose she wants to see her homeland so much she woke up early to finish quicker."
Homura could do nothing but nod, knowing what Suki was talking about. She had hardly slept last night, she couldn't when she knew she'd be going home after so long.
"Are you excited Sokka is coming?"
"Very," she grinned as she turned to face her, a hint of curiosity in her expression. "I've never seen you do your hair this way."
Homura's long straight hair that was normally reaching her waist was now set up in a bun the way a citizen of the Fire Nation would wear it, two long strands of hair framing her face. It reminded her of the way Azula wore her hair, with the difference that her hair was slightly lighter and a lot longer. She smiled as she noticed Suki scrutinising her hairdo.
"Well, we're going to the Fire Nation so I thought I should wear my hair accordingly."
"It suits you," she murmured as she turned to face her once more with a bright smile. "It's really nice, Homura."
"Thank you," she smiled as she looked to the side, briefly spotting Ty Lee heading their way. "Just one question, Suki. Are we going to actually meet the Fire Lord?"
"Of course," she smiled back, "I'll introduce you to him immediately."
Homura didn't have the time to reply before Ty Lee arrived, sending them both a bright smile. "Good morning!"
"You came just in time, Sokka will be here any minute now most probably," Suki greeted her with a smile as Homura looked to the horizon. Just then, she noticed something heading towards them, a black spot in front of the sun. She stood up and squinted. It didn't take long for her to figure out what was going on.
"Sokka's coming!"
Ty Lee cheered as Suki stood up, and they gathered their things as they waited for Sokka to arrive. He was leading the Avatar's flying sky bison Homura remembered was called Appa, and in a few minutes, he was landing in front of them, a gust of wind following his arrival that almost messed up Homura's hair. Almost. As soon as he was on the ground, Suki attacked him with a hug. Sokka didn't seem to mind.
Sokka, Suki's boyfriend, was from the Southern Water Tribe. His complexion was dark but his eyes were unbelievably blue, and the first time Homura had seen him, she had been almost caught staring at him, amazed by their colour. Thankfully, it hadn't happened again and most importantly, he hadn't noticed. Sokka always carried a boomerang and a sword around and most of the time, he was rather funny. He was a great guy to hang out with and Homura believed he was perfect for Suki. Which was why she didn't attempt to disrupt their reunion and instead turned her attention to the sky bison he had come with.
"Hello, Appa," she greeted the sky bison with a smile. He turned to face her and before she could protect herself, he had taken a lick at her, from her feet to her face. Homura stayed frozen on the spot as she heard Ty Lee's hysterical laughter from some ways behind her, and wordlessly, she turned to face Sokka and Suki who were both attempting to hide their smiles.
"Seems like Appa missed you, Homura," Sokka grinned and she couldn't help smiling as she nodded.
"It seems so. Thank you for coming, Sokka."
"Of course, which reminds me, we should go," he gestured to Appa with a smile at all of them. "I need to take Appa back to Aang in the Fire Nation so he'll be able to go to the South Pole and pick up Katara and then they'll return so as to not miss the festivities."
"Sounds like we should go, then," Suki agreed as Homura nodded. They hardly had time to blink before Ty Lee had sprinted past Homura and had climbed on Appa's saddle before she could even turn her head to face her. With a shake of her head, Homura followed her lead and got on the saddle, helping Suki up afterwards.
"What are these festivities, Sokka?"
"We're celebrating Aang's victory against Ozai, Ty Lee," he explained as he got on Appa and took the reins. In a short while, they were rising in the air and Homura couldn't help but smile as she looked down and watched Kyoshi island get smaller and smaller by the second. She was going home.
"I'm so excited!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she laid back on the saddle. "I'm going to get to see Mai again! We're going to have so much fun!"
"Just so you know," Sokka cut in as he briefly turned to look at them. "Mai and Zuko broke up."
Ty Lee frowned. "That's sad."
"I'm sure they had their reasons," Suki pointed out, Homura nodding in agreement. Ty Lee shrugged.
"I suppose I'll find out. Mai will let me know, I bet she wants to complain about this to someone."
Sokka turned to her with a smirk. "Make sure to tell all the details to Suki, Ty Lee."
She grinned. "I could tell you everything in person!"
He placed a hand over his heart, appearing to be touched. "You would do that for me?"
"Of course! I mean, unless Mai asked me not to. I won't betray Mai."
Sokka scowled. "So much for doing favours, Ty Lee."
Homura couldn't help but laugh as Sokka turned back to his front and Ty Lee turned to her and Suki with a shrug. "It's a few hours of flight to the Fire Nation. Once we get there, we should greet Mai and Zuko and have dinner, but tomorrow, we're going to have fun." She grinned as she looked at her fellow warriors. "Homura's already on the right path. I'm going to make you look like Fire Nation women!"
"But we're Kyoshi warriors-"
"We're going to my home now, Suki," she cut in, "I'm going to enjoy every moment of it. And you're going to cooperate."
Homura snorted, "That sounded like a threat."
Ty Lee winked at her. "It sure was. We'll dress Sokka as a Kyoshi warrior instead."
They fell in a fit of giggles as Sokka turned to face them, unimpressed. "Very funny, ladies."
As Homura laughed with Ty Lee and Suki, she already had a feeling this trip home was going to be unforgettable.