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The village we entered was largely vacant, and clearly a poor place. It wasn't surprising, since we were in the desert. There was only one merchant to supply goods. I let out a stare as we passed by old men playing a game, they stared at us walking by. I kept my sights straight, avoiding the malicious glares from the men.

I guess not too many new people come and go from here. Newcomers make for easy targets, hopefully, we'll just stop and go.

I cleared my throat, forcefully choking down sand and dirt. Wiping the sweat off my forehead from the excruciating heat.

Zuko and I got off the ostrich-horse as we stopped in front of the merchants stand. The shade giving us both the much needed break. Looking to see Zuko, I noticed his light skin got a slight tan from all the sunlight.

"Could I get some water, a bag of feed, and something hot to eat?" Zuko said, holding out the two coins.

"Not enough here for a hot meal," The merchant said, "I can get you two bags of feed," He tried compensating the little money we had.

We both nodded as Zuko handed over my waterskin to be filled with water. From behind, I could feel the men stares on us while we stood with our backs to them. Two boys began to giggle. To my right, they threw eggs at the men. I watched warily as the boys quickly ran off. Zuko had also watched the whole thing occur.

"Hey!" A man yelled as I heard footsteps walk towards us. Zuko and I didn't turn around,"You throwing eggs at us, stranger?"

"No," Zuko replied, still keeping his back turned.

"You see who did throw it?" The man continued.

Zuko turned around, placing his hand on the grip of his dual swords.

"No,"

"That your favorite word? No?" Another soldier asked.

"Egg had to come from somewhere," 

"Maybe a chicken flew over," Zuko dryly joked turning to me. I snickered to myself, keeping a cold gaze.

"Anything you got to say little lady," The man said to me as we locked eyes.

"Do people have to speak when the possum mice squeak?" I said with slight unintentional provocation.

"That mouth of your sure has some sass," The man replied with annoyance.

Anger boiled in my stomach as the frustration from the heat was starting to get to my head. Another word and I might've struck him, but Zuko turned me back so we could retrieve our feed. He had a small smirk on his face from my remark, making me realize in that moment that what I said was actually a rhyme.

The merchant brought the feed, and placed it on the counter, but the man came over to grab it himself.

"Thanks for your contribution. The army appreciates your support," The man tossed one of his man the bags.

I scoffed to myself, these men are soldiers? They walked away, their heads looked back glaringly, "You better leave town, penalty for staying is a lot steeper than you can afford. Strangers, trust me," He threatened tapping his metal hammer.

So much for law and order.

"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation but they're just a bunch of thugs," The merchant said, handing me back my waterskin.

Zuko silently walked to the ostrich-horse and I followed.

"Thanks for not ratting me out," The boy who threw the eggs said from the other side of the bird. I looked him while an unamused Zuko helped me up onto the ostrich-horse.

"I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich-horse for you," The boy offered, holding the rein in his hand. He didn't wait for us to respond as he pulled us off, "Come on, I owe you,"

I watched as Zuko held his stomach, a loud growl emitted from it. No point in turning back now, maybe we'll be able to have some food while we were here. We were led to farm the boys family owned, and the pigs announced our arrival as we walked past.

"No one can ever sneak up on us," The boy said, looking up to Zuko.

Zuko clicked his teeth,"No kidding."

The little boy led the ostrich-horse to the barn, leaving us in front of his house. Zuko averted his attention to the pig-rooster that crowed at us.

"Hello to you too," I said, looking at the pig rooster as he crowed one more time in response. It was my first time seeing one in person.

I then looked curiously at Zuko, trying to read this thoughts. Finding it hard believe he actually let some random kid take us to his home.

"You both friends of Lee's?" A man who I could only assume was Lee's father asked.

I could see Zuko slightly tense at the idea of trying to make another name up for himself, not realizing it's okay to share the same name. Even if it was your fake one.

Lee ran out the barn and to his father, "These two just stood up to the soldiers. By the end, they practically had them running away,"

"Do these two have names?" A lady asked approaching the us.

Zuko looked down trying to think, "I'm uh,"

"They don't have to say who they are if they don't want to, Sela. Anyone who can hold their own to those bully soldiers is welcomed here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms,"

I gave a small nod in agreement. It's disgraceful to the good name the Earth Kingdom has for itself.

"The real soldiers are off fighting the war. Like Lee's big brother, Sen su," Sela said as Lee smiled at the mention of his brother, "Suppers going to be ready soon, would you both like to stay?"

"We can't. We should be moving on," Zuko responded.

As much as I wanted the meal, he had a point. Especially with those 'soldiers', we shouldn't stay too long. The couple glanced at each other for a brief moment.

"Gansu, could use some help on the barn. Why don't you two work for a while?" Sela suggested," Your girlfriend can help finish dinner and then we'll eat,"

Truly a temping offer, I looked to Zuko and internally begging him to say yes so that we could eat. He nodded. I slightly curled my lips before heading off with Sela inside, working for a meal was a good exchange if you asked me. Zuko continued to watch me as I went inside before following Gansu.

"Shui," I said as Sela looked at me a little confused, "My name is Shui,"

She smiled in acknowledgment and continued our silence. Sela only spoke to me when she needed something else to be done, and I followed diligently as we made paomo. A mutton broth with soaked flat bread pieces. She eventually broke the silence as she stirred the soup.

"You two been traveling for long?" She asked.

I nodded serving the bowls of rice and a plate of pickled vegetables.

"We're refugees. We've had to leave a lot behind," I said, it was the truth but a vague truth.

Sela took that as a sign she shouldn't pry too much. I gave her a sorry look, but revealing too much was a risk and I also didn't want to lie to her at the moment. I was just too tired, and wanted the day to be over after all the traveling.

Time flew by quickly, and the sun was starting to set. When the others came in to have dinner, I saw Zuko's thumb was really red, as if it had been smashed. He didn't say anything so I didn't ask him in thay moment.  Most of the time, we were just giving short answers to random questions we were asked as Lee went on tangents in the conversation. It was good that he was so talkative, but not when he asked a questions that were a bit too personal. Luckily, his father scolded him for it. Once we finished, we thanked the family for the food.

Zuko and I then headed to the barn.

"Your thumb is awfully swollen," I said as I brushed out my hair with my fingers.

Zuko cleared his throat, "I hit it with the hammer,"

I snickered, knowing it was likely because Zuko had never done manual labor like that in his life before today, "What an idiot," I muttered.

"Apparently, your idiot," Zuko smirked as I went to heal his thumb.

"Want me to leave this as is?" I said with a smile, he looked at his thumb as my finger jokingly debated on pressing down on the swollen finger or not.

He snapped his hand out of mine, but then put his hand back for me to heal. So I did, and the barn filled with silence as he looked at me. When I finished, I looked at him with a small pondering expression, wondering what he was going to say next.

"We should sleep," He said, laying down on the pile of hay.

I laid down on the hay, giving a stretch before trying to relax.

I couldn't sleep, nothing new.

After a while, Lee sneaked into the barn, trying to take Zuko's dual sword. His eyes met mine as I nodded and shooed with my hand giving him the ok. The boy quickly grabbed the blade and ran out. A little later, I felt Zuko get up - to my surprise he was also awake and I followed him just in case he'd blow up at the poor kid.

Lee fell to the ground in the distance as Zuko just stood there. Lee looked down, but I saw Zuko take the dual swords and show him how to use them. My eyes softened as he demonstrated a move by slicing at the sunflowers. Lee tried thereafter. I squinted trying to still see from where I stood.

Did Zuko just smile?!

Deep down, it reminded me of Rui and I. I sat down with a smile until they said goodnight to each other. When Zuko returned, he froze when he saw me - not expecting I'd also be awake.

"I think he likes you," I teased, but Zuko didn't respond as he walked into the barn.

I smiled on my way back inside and laid down.

"Sleep," He said.

"Are you talking to me or yourself?" I asked, making him let out a small groan.

I hummed back in response.

Slowly waking up, I noticed I was facing Zuko. My eyes widened, examining his features for a minute or two before quietly sitting upright. He was still asleep, allowing me to let out a breath of relief. Having been taken aback from seeing his face so closely the second I opened my eyes. I began running my fingers through my hair to remove the strands of hay that might have gotten caught in it, heart racing when I felt another hand touch it.

"There," He said, picking out the last stand of hay from my head, "Lets go,"

I nodded with a smile, still shaken up a bit. Zuko looked away, and went to get the ostrich horse.

Lee's family waited outside to bid us farewell. Zuko and I got on the ostrich-horse, and looked to Lee and his parents.

"Here, this ought to get you two through a few meals," Sela said, handing me a small box.

"Thank you," I said, "I appreciate it"

We heard stomping coming our way. I turned to see the same soldiers who took our feed approaching us.

"What do you think they want?" Gansu asked.

"Trouble," Zuko responded.

Distressed oinking and squealing came from the pig-cows and pig-sheep as they arrived to where we stood.

"What do you want, Gow?" Gansu asked the soldier.

"Just thought someone ought to tell you, your son's battalion got captured," Gow stated sadistically. I saw as Gansu's jaw dropped in horror, "You boys heard what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners?"

"Dressed them up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them in first line unarmed. Way I heard it," A man responded spitting to the ground," Then they just watched,"

"You watch your mouth!" Gansu said, pointing at the soldier.

Gow tried to approach Gansu but Zuko blocked his path with our ostrich-horse. Gow studied the two of us as Zuko and I sent a glare to the men.

"Why bother rolling in the mud with these pigs?" Then they all left.

"What's going to happen to my brother?" A worried Lee asked.

Zuko looked down, and I wondered what was going through his mind. Ever since we left Iroh, Zuko seemed to get lost in his thoughts more often. Maybe, he had actually taken what I said to heart.

"I'm going to the front. I'm going to find Sen Su and bring him back," Gansu said to his wife, walking away. My heart hurt when I heard Sela cry.

"When my dad goes will you two stay?" Lee asked hopefully wishing for a good response.

"No," Zuko said, he sounded a bit sad,"We need to move on," Reaching into his bag, giving Lee his dagger.

"Here, I want you to have this. Read the inscription," Zuko said.

"Made in Earth Kingdom?" Lee read.

"The other one," Zuko corrected.

"Never give up without a fight,"

With that Zuko took off. I held onto him as we traveled under the hot sun.

"I guess you liked the kid too," I said, but Zuko remained quiet again.

And here I thought I was bad. Who knew I'd find myself trying to fill silence?

Zuko stopped to rest on a grassy field not to far from the village. He laid down, basking in the hot sun while I was practicing a bit in the river. The refreshing water waking me up from the dry heat.

I looked behind me as I heard Zuko repeat, "Azula always lies," I stared at him for a moment.

Now I really wonder what's going through your head.

I began to hear an ostrich-horse whining along with the sound of a cart. It was Sela and she carried a worried look on her face.

"You have to help. It's Lee," She begged.

"The thugs from town came back as soon as Gansu left! When they ordered us to give them food, Lee pulled a knife on them!" My mouth opened in shock as Zuko slightly looked away in guilt,"I don't even know where he got a knife! Then they took him away, they told me if he's old enough to fight, he's old enough to join the army!" She cried into her hands,"I know we barely know you, but-"

She choked on her tears.

"Don't worry," I looked over to Zuko, he didn't have to say anything. I could tell he agreed with me.

"We'll get your son back," Zuko said before I had the chance to.

"Thank you," She choked again.

"It's the least we can do,"

Sela nodded and ran to her cart while Zuko and I got back onto the ostrich-horse.

"I'll handle this," Zuko said, "Stay out of it,"

Having known what self blame looked like, I saw that Zuko was already blaming himself for what happened the kid. And wanting to assume responsibility for it.