Kya Maiden of the Sea Book 2 ATLA

Chapter 10

Morning came and the flower that was in my hair the day before was now in my lap. I stayed where I was, Zuko still slept with his head rested on mine. His shallow breathing softly moved a few strands of my hair, it felt peaceful. I closed my eyes again, trying not to fall asleep and just enjoy this moment. Then the door opened, and Iroh walked out of the room.

"What's going on? Is the club meeting over?" Zuko jumped up ready to fight, my head that was resting on his shoulder no longer had its support and I almost went down. I was a bit shocked at almost falling since I was still half asleep.

I placed the flower in my bag where I held a few blank pieces of paper.

"Everything is taken care of, we're headed to Ba Sing Se," Iroh said.

"Ba Sing Se? Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom Capital?" Zuko asked.

"The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice three more," The old man responded.

I yawned as I stretched my arms, it might be a good idea.

"We can hide in plain sight there. And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation," Iroh smiled, "Even I couldn't break through to the city," He said happily.

"I have the passports for our guests," Said a younger man, "But there are two men out there looking for them,"

We walked over peeking out the window. The two men from the tavern last night were asking around about our wanted posters. I looked to Zuko who looked to Iroh.

"What are we supposed to do about them?" I asked.

"I think I have an idea," The old man said.

The man who had our passports brought out large flower pots on a cart.

"A very uncomfortable idea," I added with an unamused face as we all got into the pots.

The ride was dark and I tried not to cough as I felt the dirt enter my lungs. The silence wasn't bad but I came up for air every once in a while. I seriously couldn't handle the thick scent of dirt. Iroh and Zuko popped out at the same time I did, looking around. I went back inside the pot nodding my head repeating the melody I had engraved in my mind, trying to ignore some big questions my mind tried yelling to me.

The man handed is our passports as we entered the docks. Families gathered all either relived or completely terrified of being here. I was one of the relieved, taking a deep sigh of relief once the whole boarding process was done.

I looked out into the open water calming myself. The boats were filled, with only enough room to sit with a couple feet between us and the other groups of people but at this moment I didn't mind the abundance of people, at least not as much as I usually do. Everyone was just trying to make it to Ba Sing Se away from all the issues outside of it.

I placed my hand on where my scar is. Being so far away from the rest of the worlds issues, Zuko can keep changing for the better. I saw a glimpse of it. I wanted to finally trust I was doing the right thing by staying here. I wanted to believe my heart ache and the one I placed onto my siblings was worth it. At least that's what I want and for once the thought of trying to do the right thing didn't weight so much on my shoulders.

"Who would have thought after all these years I would return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace," Iroh spoke seriously before placing on a straw hat with a flower on it and grinning,"As a tourist!"

"Look around, we're not tourist! We're refugees," Zuko said.

"Keep talking that way and the soup is gonna taste worse," I said swirling the soup I hand in hand.