Ashton was never one to complain. She never cared when Azula got all the attention from their father and when she got whatever the princess desired because quite frankly she never wanted any of that. She did crave for a long time to laugh and play with her brother and she was deprived of a mother at a young age. But, she never spoke a word. It could've been because at the mention of either of those wishes her father would punish her severely. Perhaps even more than he had to Zuko simply because it was an excuse to hurt the only person, besides his brother, that he didn't understand. Yes, she was never one to complain because she had seen the torment that was displayed in others eyes as her people stole everything from them.
Though as she rested on her brothers shoulder in the bustling streets of some random earth kingdom village she wanted nothing than to complain. Her pale skin now was bright red due to the cruel sun beaming down on her constantly. She was ravenous and her backed ached from the weeks of sleeping on the hard ground. The princess had a layer of dirt atop her skin that ,no matter how hard she scrubbed, wouldn't budge. She was exhausted, her mind was plagued with thoughts of Yue and him. His blue eyes haunted hers as she rested them and the way his fingers just fit perfectly between hers filled her with longing as she wanted them more than anything.
Her body betrayed her as she fell into sleep on Zukos broad, oddly comfortable shoulder. As she dreamt of the boy from her vision, Zuko hid her small, feminine figure from creepy lustful men that passed by and Iroh begged for money. "Spare coins for weary travelers?" Iroh asked a man walking by, and feeling charitable he dug out a coin and donated it to the old man. Zuko huffed "This is humiliating! We're royalty! these people should be giving us whatever we want!" his voice drew his sister from her slumber and she popped her head up, whipping her head side to side cautiously. "They will if you ask nicely." Iroh responded, turning to a passerby and changing his approach to begging into a helpless old man.
As he dramatically pushed his hat to the pedestrian as he called out "Spare change for a hungry old man?". It was a young girl and she held a face full of pity as she reached into her sleeve pulling out a shiny coin and placing it in his hat saying "Aw, here you go?". To say the least, Ashton was impressed. That is until the man dropped the act and he cheekily responded with "The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile." causing the girl to giggle, Ashton to roll her eyes, and for Zuko to facepalm. When she wondered off a man with broadswords to her plave in front of the trio a smirk plastered on his rough and beaten face. His eyes met Ashton and her smirk deepen as he leaned close to her, "How about some entertainment for a gold piece?". Ashton's usually friendly eyes darkened and she lifted her hand to slap the man but Zuko stopped her by grabbing her shoulders and holding her closer to his side "We're not performers." He growled.
"Not professional, anyway!" Iroh said happily cutting through the tension, oblivious to the true meaning by the mans words. He stood and began to sing, "Its a long long way to ba sing se but the girls in the city they look so pretty!!!" The man straightened back up and looked like he struck a gold mine, completely forgetting about the fire princess he pulled out his broadswords, "Come on!! We're talking a gold piece here!! Lets see some action!" he brought the swords down to the siblings feet and Ashton gasped in horror and Zukos grip on his sister tightened as he narrowed his eyes. He wanted to ruin him. "Dance!" the man yelled and iroh continued to sing but at that point the Prince stopped listening. His eyes were glued to the mans swords and how they struck the ground just millimetres from his beloved uncles chubby feet. He knew his sister was holding back the urge to strike the crude man with as much lightening as she could muster.
Ashton was kind, kinder than anyone he had ever met. But, she was protective. If someone even came within seconds of hurting someone she loves she will make them pay. She was lucky she wasn't there when Ozai scarred him, she would've been behind bars or worse dead.
As the man walked away laughing Zuko knew one thing. No one would hurt his family without getting burned back, literally.
When Ashton woke the next day she noticed a few things. They had food. Actual food. Not just a flimsy fish or some risky berries had picked, they had bread. She also noticed the sleeping bag draped over her figure. She stood and walked over to the carbs and poked it as if it were just a figment of her imagination, but to her surprise it wasn't and when Iroh wondered into the cavern the trio were staying in he caught her with a mouth full of the substance. He cocked his head and she excitedly ran over to him and shoved it in his face and he too quickly stuffed his mouth full "Where did you find this?" he asked after he had finally swallowed the wad he shoved into his mouth "It was by the fire!!" she exclaimed happily. He touched his beard confused, "Strange." he muttered but his thoughts were interrupted by Zuko dropping a barrels of food in front of them. Ashton peered inside, her mouth watering at the sight of pastries. "Where did you get these." Iroh inquired, while his nephew walked away "What does it matter where they came from?" he responded begrudgingly. Ashton shoved one of deserts in her mouth closing her eyes at it's deliciousness "Shit, this is good. You gotta try one Uncle.".
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The next day Ashton found herself exploring the surrounding forestry, she was tired of her families bickering that seemed to be constant and her mind kept lingering on Yue. Many thoughts swirled around in her brain, for example did she really need to join the avatars ranks? She thought of the air bender as calculated and wise despite his young age, though she never met him she assumed so as he had escaped Zuko on thousands of occasions it sounded. What would she offer? She was sure her father had rearranged all the troops across the earth kingdom at least by now. She also didn't know of any plans for Sozins comet, her father made sure to leave her out of any meetings that mentioned it. That boy too left a huge question mark in her head. Why show me someone you loved, Yue, knowing damn well that the man was gorgeous. She wondered, given the chance that they ever met, if he would think the same.
Soon she stumbled upon Zuko slumped against a tree looking very conflicted. She sighed and joined her brother swaying her feet a bit when she laid down in the grass and looked to the sky. "Ashton?" she hummed in acknowledgment "I think it's time for me to split from Uncle. Will you come with me?" thinking he was joking she let out a hearty laugh and propped herself on her arms looking at her brother "Good one, ZuZu.". He rolled his eyes "Im serious!!". Ashton's faced turned sour. "Zuko, I cant abandon Iroh." "And why not?"he sounded exasperated. "You and I both know that the old man will try to make tea out of some random flower again or he will stumble into some trouble, besides who's gonna save you when you get captured?" she responed simply, annoyed at his ignorance "What do you mean 'When i get captured' ?!?!" Ashton just looked at him. He groaned and sat up.
"Fine, if you won't go i have something to teach you." he leaned over and pulled his sister up and handed her a dagger. "Where did you happen to get this?" She asked studying its craftsmanship "What is up with you and him asking that?" he said, annoyed but she wasn't listening, instead continued to gaze at the blade. It was small and easily concealable. The handle had cherry blossoms painted on it and the metal itself was sleek and simple. "It's beautiful."she whispered "I'm glad you think so because you're about to learn how to wield it." her brother responded. And that she did they spent a week practicing and Zuko wracked his brain for any thing his old master, Piando, had taught him.
When she had finally grasped the basics at the end of the long grueling days of practice passed out that Friday night within seconds. The week was stressful, but she loved every second of it. Spending time with her brother after so long felt great and learning again filled her with great pride.
She knew he was leaving. He told her he was. But, when she woke with a new backpack and a letter filled with apologies, her heart broke a bit.
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Sokka was mercilessly hacking away at vines as he called for his sister and Aang. He was worried and angry about their separation in this 'dumb' swamp with these 'dumb' vines. He cursed his surroundings and with as much hate as he could muster he said to his surrounding enemies "You think you're so tough, huh?" and he pushed against a wall of the vines and fell head first in the water he groaned in defeat pushing himself up, but stopped midway in a crouch when he saw a girl sitting in the water in a clearing up ahead "Hello?" he called curiously. The girl looked back at him and waved him over, hesitated but complied. As he neared he noticed how pale she was her skin was like porcelain his eyes widened when he saw her robes, they were red and they looked oddly similar to the pony tailed prince that used to follow them around. When his eyes met hers he was taken aback, despite her fire nation garb her eyes were shockingly pale. "Must you always stare?" she asked, her pale pink lips turning into a grin. He went to poke her but in a blink of an eye, she was gone.
When Katara asked him if he had saw anything after sharing that she saw their mother he responded simply and firmly.
"Absolutely nothing."