For the rest of the day, Homura walked around Ba Sing Se, taking in all that had changed in her absense. Not much had changed but if possible, she thought more people had become criminals over time and the citizens of the Lower Ring seemed to be even more poor than she remembered them being. Still, Homura walked on, passing through alleys and narrow passages before she reached a wider street. There were no paths made of cobblestone in the Lower Ring, just bare ground beneath her feet. She schooled her features as if she were wearing an expressionless mask and kept going.
She bought some food later on in the day and ate while walking, taking in every inch of her surroundings as she did. It didn't take her long to find the place she remembered most shops were, and as she had expected, they were open. She passed by a small tea shop, didn't spare a look at a man selling cabbages standing beside the road with a cart full of cabbages next to him, she walked by a cart with fruit and finally stopped in front of a place she remembered her mother had taken her to have dinner once or twice, when her mission was going well and they had some money to spare. She remembered it had been a rather good place for a pub. With a determined nod at herself, she straightened up, squared her shoulders and got inside.
Only to risk being hit in the head by a bottle.
Homura ducked right in time, her eyes widening dramatically as she turned to the wall behind her and noticed the thousands of glass shards littering the wall and the floor before she turned to her front to examine the chaos inside the pub.
Tables had been upturned, chairs had been thrown aside - she could spot a broken one too - and about a dozen men were yelling at each other and fighting among themselves, throwing glass bottles at each other occasionally. She noticed a few men on the ground, evidently unconscious, and her eyes trailed over to the counter in the side of the shop, where she could see a rather short man hiding behind it, trembling from head to toes. Keeping a mindful eye on the quarelling men, she approached the man behind the counter.
"What happened here?"
"The Xu brothers, that's what happened," he sniffed as he glanced at the men. "They got here at the same time with their gangs and got into a fight. They're wrecking my pub!"
Homura couldn't help but agree with him as she took in the state of his pub. The men were still fighting. "Can't you make them stop?"
"Are you insane, young lady?" he exclaimed, ducking behind the counter once more as a bottle was thrown at him. Homura winced at the crashing sound as the owner of the pub peeked over at her. "Do you need a drink or something to eat?"
"Actually," she licked her lips as she turned to the men, "I came here to work."
He blinked. "You want to work here?"
She nodded, "I do. I want a Yuan an hour."
His eyes widened. "That's too much, young lady!"
She shrugged, "Doesn't seem to me like you've got much help running the pub."
One of his eyes was starting to twitch in clear annoyance as he glanced at his customers and then back at her and sent her a nod. "I accept your proposal if you manage to get them to stop fighting."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "If I do it, you'll pay me a Yuan an hour and I get to have my sword with me at all times. If I can't do it I'll leave you and your pub alone."
The pub owner nodded, "Deal. Don't be discouraged if you don't manage to make it, though."
Homura nodded as she turned her attention to the fighting men. With a short nod directed mainly at the pub owner, she pushed herself away from the counter and walked over to her customers. For a second she thought of covering her ears - their yelling was obnoxious - as she took a while observing the two groups that had formed behind two men that were almost identical if one excused the fact that one of them was bald and the other had long hair.
"We had decided you wouldn't come here today!" the brother without hair said.
"Liar!" the other accused, "It was your turn to not come here!"
"Who are you calling a liar, filth?"
"Who are you calling filth, you incompetent pigster?"
The bald brother bristled as those around him took a menacing step forward. The other group mirrored their moves, sprouting meaningless words meant to offend their opponents. With a small sigh, Homura got closer and cleared her throat, taking in a deep breath.
"PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"
At once, the men turned to her, forgetting all about each other. It was a truly a funny sight. A young woman standing a few ways away with a long sword on her back and her eyes narrowed in their direction, glaring at about a dozen men at least a foot taller than her with lots of muscle that had been fighting. Anyone could have thought she had a death wish, interrupting them like that. She didn't seem to realise her disadvantage.
"What exactly is going on here?"
The bald brother turned to face her completely, his lips pursed. "It was my turn to come to the pub today and Zhu ruined it!"
"That's not true," the one with the hair protested at once, "Pi ruined my day! It was my turn!"
They started arguing once more and Homura stepped forward, getting in between the two brothers. She raised an arm in front of both of them, forcing them to keep their distance.
"There has clearly been a misunderstanding. Both of you think it's your turn to be here today. We obviously can't settle this with words." Ignoring the owner's gasp in the background, she moved to an upturned table and moved it back in its correct position before taking two chairs and putting them around it. She turned to face the brothers once more. "Take a seat."
"I thought we couldn't solve this with words," Pi grumbled as he begrudgingly took a seat, Zhu not too far behind him. Homura smiled at both of them.
"You aren't going to talk. Place your right elbow on the table." They did, even though they were confused. "Clasp hands. I trust you're familiar with the game."
"We are, alright," Zhu muttered as he got comfortable, clasping Pi's hand tightly.
Homura cleared her throat. "Whoever wins gets to stay here today and the loser can come here tomorrow but the winner can't. You know the rules. Whoever cheats automatically loses. I'll be your judge."
The brothers didn't seem to mind as they looked at each other, their expression determined. Homura looked at Pi and then at Zhu, and after a while, she gave them the affirmative. "Begin."
They instantly started to attempt to get the other's hand to touch the opposite side of the table, but neither of them budged. The members of their gang got closer as the game progressed and Homura didn't take her eyes away from them for a moment. Minutes passed and the brothers started to get red-faced, veins popped out in their foreheads, necks and arms. Slowly but steadily, Zhu was winning, pushing Pi's arm closer and closer to the table. A while later, the game was finally over.
Zhu stood up the moment Pi's hand touched the table, his friends cheering for his win as Pi glared at him. He stood up, his face contorted in anger.
"This isn't over, Zhu."
With a last glare at his brother, he gestured to his own friends to follow him and he left the shop. Smug, Homura walked over to the counter where the owner was starting to reappear, his eyes wide as he looked at his customers and then back at Homura. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I believe I fulfilled my part of the deal."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes. You start tomorrow morning, when the sun is at its peak. Don't be late."
She took that as her cue to leave the pub, and so, with a last glance at Zhu and his friends, she stepped by a few shards of glass and got to the exit. She took the route back to the place she had lived in with her mother all these years ago.
The sun had just set when Homura returned to the neighbourhood she had lived in in the past. She was eating an apple as she stopped by the street in a small and protected corner she decided she'd use to sleep at the moment. It had been a tiring day, and Homura went to sleep that night with her sword pulled securely in front of her chest, held in place by her hands and legs, her hand with the gold ring hidden by her body. The last thing she needed at the moment was to be robbed of her most prized possessions.
She managed to fall asleep when the moon was at its peak but even during that time, she was covered in shadows.
-
He had forgotten how it felt to fly on the back of a sky bison. He felt nauseous when they landed after hours of flying and the ground beneath his feet wouldn't stop moving for the next hour or so. Zuko could do nothing but sit down and lay his head against a rock while the rest got a fire ready and set up camp. It was almost like the old times, with the difference that his thoughts didn't revolve around his honour but a person instead.
He couldn't help but think of a young woman with eyes of fire, sparkling and wild, a smile that drew him in and lips he longed to taste once more. Not for the first time, he replayed the moment he had found her after she had defeated her mother. Ever since that time he couldn't help but wonder if it had been the right decision to leave her to herself for the day after what she'd been through. If he had stayed with her, perhaps, she wouldn't have left during the night, not if he had been by her side for the rest of the day.
He was worried for her and he missed her terribly. He knew she could take care of herself but he wouldn't rest until he was certain she was at a place he was aware of, safe and sound. It had been a reckless decision to leave everything behind and go after her but then again, those who knew him best were aware he wasn't the most cautious of people when it came to taking decisions. At least he knew the Fire Nation was in good hands while he was gone. He trusted Mai with his kingdom and he was confident that despite their break-up a few months ago and the history they had, she would make sure that when he returned everything was the way he had left it. The thought was comforting and allowed him to search for Homura without worrying about what was happening at home.
"Zuko, would you quit stargazing and come by the fire to have dinner with us?" Katara asked, and at the mild annoyance in her tone, Zuko blinked and looked over at them. He hadn't been stargazing but he wasn't about to correct her, and so, with a slight smile, he stood up and made his way over.
"It's been a long time since I flew on Appa," he muttered as he sat in between Sokka and Katara. "It'll take me a while to get used to it again."
"We have time," Aang smiled over at him as Sokka handed him over a slightly overcooked piece of meat. He didn't complain as he started eating while Aang kept talking. "I know we haven't gathered here for a joyous occassion but it almost feels like the old times again. I wish we could do that more often."
"That was optimistic even for you, Twinkletoes," Toph spoke up from her place beside him. "But I like being with all of you again too."
Katara cooed as Sokka and Aang grinned at Toph while Zuko and Suki smiled, not all that responsive to the conversation their friends took part in. Both of them were thinking ahead and worrying about the location of their friend. They were the last ones to fall asleep in their tents that night and the first to get up in the morning, already helping gather everything over to Appa's saddle, working in quiet, having come to a mutual understanding.
Finding Homura couldn't wait. Not for any longer.