It felt as if Homura had been hit by a boulder the next morning - every inch of her body was in pain due to sleeping all night long at a cramped space - and when she attempted to get up, her joints cracked one by one. She rolled her neck, letting out a small sigh of relief before she stretched - more cracks - and finally, she looked for her sword still worn on her front and then her ring, still on her finger. She ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to smooth it down, with the other hand, searching into her pockets for the money she had gotten in return of the ostrich horse.
It wasn't there.
Alarmed, her eyes wide, Homura searched her other pocket but the money wasn't there either. She searched once more, looking like a lunatic to anyone who looked in her direction but there was no use. The money wasn't there.
She looked back to the place she had fallen asleep but there wasn't any money there. With her anger blazing, Homura let out a low growl and kicked away a rock, sending it tumbling down the path until it was lost from sight. It didn't help her at all and she was still extremely angry but there was nothing she could do about her loss of money. She wasn't even particularly surprised by the result of sleeping at the ground during the night. Just upset something that belonged to her had been stolen. With a sigh, she took the route over to the pub she now worked at. Thankfully, she'd get some money to buy food at the end of the day.
Her day at the pub was uneventful. Zhu, the brother who had won last evening, came to the pub with his group of 'friends' and stayed there for most of the day. A couple of other customers came and went by and she hardly had a break, but she made sure she didn't seem bothered by it - her boss was always nearby, always keeping an eye out for any reason she should be fired - and at the end of the day, she took the Yuan she had worked for and left the shop. She stopped by to take some food on her way along with an apple and then, she took the route back to the place she had decided to stay at.
Homura hummed a low tune under her breath as she walked, eating her food and keeping an eye out for anyone who would wish to steal the last of her food, her apple. She sat down on the ground beside the place she had slept in yesterday, and she was just about to eat her apple when a small head of unruly dark hair peeked in from the wall beside her and sent her a toothy smile.
"There you are, Miss Homura! I thought you had left!"
Chin, the young boy who lived in the house she used to stay at, walked over without wasting a second and sat down right beside her, his dark brown eyes wide, as if he was expecting something. She didn't smile. Instead, she raised an eyebrow at him.
"It's late, Chin. Won't your parents be worried you're out on your own?"
"Mum won't mind," he shrugged, "besides, I'm not on my own. You're with me." His eyes briefly fell on her apple before he looked away, busying himself with looking at her seathed sword. "Can I take another look at your sword?"
"No, and I hope you never have to take a good look at a sword," she muttered as she looked in the distance. "How was your day, Chin?"
"I played for a while and helped my mother with a few chores," he spoke and as she turned to face him, he hurriedly looked away from her apple. "What did you do? I didn't see you around."
"I went to work," she muttered as she glanced at the apple that suddenly didn't seem so appetizing. She turned to the little boy sitting beside her. "Do you want the apple?"
His face brightened and he instantly grabbed the apple, biting into it with haste. He almost choked and wide-eyed, Homura patted his back as he ate. "Easy, Chin. The apple isn't going anywhere."
"Thank you," he spoke the moment he had finished the apple and with no warning, he jumped in her arms, his little arms around her waist incredibly tight, and she was almost unable to breathe. She froze, her eyes incredibly wide as the boy nuzzled his face in her waist, and slowly, she put her arms around him in return in a rather awkward manner. He seemed to appreciate it, though.
"I can get you more apples every day," she found herself saying and at the moment, it was as if she wasn't controlling what she was speaking of. "I get paid every day and I can spare some money for you. If you meet me here every day I can give you an apple each time."
In response, his arms around her tightened even more and despite herself, Homura didn't complain. She let him be until he felt ready to let her go, a few minutes later. He was still smiling when he did and she couldn't help but smile back. Eventually, Chin got up.
"Thank you, Miss Homura. I've got to go back to mum now."
She nodded, "Good night, Chin."
That evening when Homura climbed the rooftops to find a place to sleep, she got to sleep with a smile on her lips. Because for the first time in weeks, she felt like she had finally done something right.
-
It had been too much time on Appa for Zuko - he was now always feeling as if he was floating when he was on the ground and he was always on edge when they flew - his discomfort was obvious but he found comfort on the fact he wasn't the only one uncomfortable with the way they were flying. Toph too stayed quiet most of the time they were on the flying bison and no matter how many times Aang assured both of them Appa knew what he was doing, they didn't seem completely convinced. When they landed, they were always the first to leave and touch land. This time, though, it was different.
Zuko left Appa the moment he could and straightened up at once, rolling his shoulders with a small grimace as he looked around the area. They were at a desert, at a place he had been in with his Uncle once, when he had been a fugitive. The place was as deserted as it had been when he had first come.
"I say we rest here for the night," he said as he took in the place before he turned around, only to see no one had come down. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you waiting for?"
"We don't have nice memories from this desert, Zuko," Aang said softly as he patted Appa. The flying bison moaned in response.
Zuko seemed confused. "What happened here?"
Katara cleared her throat, "Well-"
"I'll make it quick," Sokka cut in, ignoring his sister's scowl as he turned to Zuko. "We searched for a library buried in the sand, found it, the spirit who had it attempted to bury us with his library, Toph held the library out long enough for us to get out but she couldn't protect Appa who was abducted by sand benders-" Appa moaned once more, "-then Aang left in search of Appa and we were stranded in the dessert, Katara made us drink her bending water-" Zuko scrunched his nose up, "- we almost died by some wasps, we found those who abducted Appa, Aang got really angry, we took one of the sandbenders' ships and left the desert to go to Ba Sing Se."
Sokka took in a deep breath. Zuko blinked. "Wow." He turned to Toph. "You kept a whole library from sinking?"
She shrugged, almost nonchalant, "Yeah."
Zuko was even more impressed than before. "Wow."
Toph smiled as Suki cleared her throat and slowly got off from Appa's saddle. "So that's how you lost Appa. I found him with my warriors at a forest far away from here. He was in a pretty bad condition."
Appa moaned once more as Suki petted him with a smile and then came to stand beside Zuko, looking at her friends expectantly. "No matter what happened, we need to get some supplies."
"You and Zuko can go," Katara suggested with a small smile. "We'll stay with Appa."
Suki and Zuko exchanged a look but in the end, they nodded at them and walked away. Suki turned to face him at once. "You said you've been here before?"
"Once," he nodded, "there's a place I know we can get some food from. Don't expect anything grand."
Suki smiled, "Yeah, I had the feeling that in such a place you wouldn't find anything good to eat."
Zuko shrugged, "Better than nothing."
She nodded in response as they reached a building. Zuko gestured to her to get inside and then he followed after her. The yelling coming from inside hit him at full force as he entered and he exchanged a look with Suki, pulling her down just in time so she wouldn't be hit by a wooden cup. They exchanged a look, their eyes wide, and then, as quickly as possible, they headed to the counter.
"We need food," Zuko said at once at the man standing behind the counter, appearing unbothered by the ruckus inside his pub. He looked up at them briefly and then, he handed them over a plate of something Zuko wasn't quite sure what it was. He exchanged yet another look with Suki as she leaned forward and sniffed it. She sent a nod at Zuko and reassured, he turned to the man behind the counter.
"We need five more of this."
The man presented him with the food at once and leaned forward, appearing uninterested as he spoke, "Three golden pieces."
Zuko was about to protest, to claim this was too much for a meal, but before he could, Suki had paid and had gathered the food, walking away. Zuko had no choice but to follow after her.
"I could have bargained with him!"
She spared him a look before shaking her head, leaving the pub. "I don't think he would have changed his mind."
"You can't be sure!"
"It's not worth getting into a fight over some food, Zuko," she pointed out with a chuckle as she handed him half of the food so he could carry something as well. Their friends and Appa were close now and he could see Sokka standing up, eager to see the food they had gotten, when something passed by him and then Suki in a whirlwind of sand, and when he looked at his hands, he noticed the food was gone. He snapped his head at the direction the sand was moving.
"Hey! Thieves!"
He ran after them, Suki right beside him. A shadow passed over him and he saw Aang, flying over to the thieves using the sand to get away quicker. They were too quick and agile, though, moving away from all of Aang's attacks. The Avatar was starting to get frustrated.
"Do you people ever stop stealing?!"
Just then, the sandbenders stopped, the sand beneath their feet not letting them go. Before Zuko could realise what had happened, the sandbenders were moving past him and Suki and back to where Appa was. Aang landed beside them as they all turned to the sandbenders that stopped right in front of a smirking Toph, Katara and Sokka, the siblings appearing smug.
"Thank you, I believe that's ours," Sokka took the food and put it on Appa's saddle as Toph held the sandbenders in place.
"You should have thought better before stealing from the Avatar," she mused as Aang, Zuko and Suki finally reached them and at Katara's indication, got up on Appa, leaving only Toph on the ground.
Aang took the reins, "Yip yip."
The sky bison got in the air and Toph blasted herself up, on its saddle, landing right in between Sokka and Zuko. She grinned.
"That was fun."
They couldn't help but laugh.