Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

03

❃ Good advice ❃

Keya didn't see Lee the next morning, nor did she meet him again on the road. It was a strange experience, being on her own. Back in her village, the girl could always count on the presence of her family. They were people that she knew she could count on. Her mother was always waiting for her when she came home, Lei was usually in town selling fruit while Hun was on the other side of town working in the mines. Kanak was often off studying his maps somewhere. No matter where she went, her family was always there.

But now? Now she was all by herself. Even the gloomy guy she met yesterday (who was kind of nice to her actually) was there one minute, then gone the next. It left Keya with a strange feeling, a wistful emptiness. Nothing that actually hurt her feelings too much, but it was not very comfortable either.

Thankfully, Keya did often spend her days wandering by herself in her hometown's forest. She was quite adept at making herself feel more at ease during the rare occasion that she did manage to be all alone. This situation was different though. The only times she had ever been by herself were the times she spent in the forest behind her house. That was a familiar place to her. It had always felt safe.

The wide plains around her were anything but familiar. The tall mountains that she had only ever seen from a large distance were now closer than ever. The altitude made her feel like the air around her was a lot emptier than the air at her home. It made her feel like she was always a little bit out of breath. She almost felt weak or even faint because of it.

What should she do now? She was all alone and a little bit frightened of the world around her. There was no one to run to. There was nowhere to go but forward. With her options being limited, Keya did the first thing she could think of to ease herself. She began to sing.

"Two lovers... forbidden from one another..." Her voice was not as smooth or strong as the one who had taught her. As a matter of fact, she couldn't even tell if she was singing the right notes or not. Still, Keya's breathing evened out as her mind replayed images of a young Lin singing to her only daughter.

"A war divides their people... and a mountain keeps them apart..." The young wanderer's tunes echoed through the area as they were carried by the wind. Light brown locks of messy hair flew around from the confines of the small strip of cloth that kept her ponytail together. Keya's words danced off of her tongue to the same rhythm as her feet marching on the rocky road.

Slowly but surely, she left the mountains behind her. Wide, open plains started to make way for more trees. Most of the trees looked like the types to never drop their leaves. Keya had only seen a few of those in her forest back home. Usually it meant that she had wandered off too far from home. Now they were all around her. It was an odd experience.

More and more trees started to provide shade along her path as she walked further into this new territory. The rocks that laid scattered about the road became less frequent with each step she took. Before she knew it, she was walking on soft sand again. All the while she kept on singing the old tunes to herself. The song depicted an old story told to her by her mother about the origins of a city named Omashu. Perhaps she would come across it on her way North...

"...built a path to be together~" Keya suddenly stopped to think. "What was the next part again?" She pondered with a frown. Her small, calloused hand came up to scratch behind her ear in confusion. Somehow, she always struggled with the next few lines, but she didn't want to ruin the rest of the song by ignoring its lyrics.

"It would be a shame to just stop it there..." Keya mumbled out loud. She was deep in thought.

"Yes it would!" A strange voice suddenly exclaimed behind her. The sudden intrusion made Keya jump and turn around. Her hand quickly found itself on her chest, as if checking on the fast pace of her heartbeat.