The DragonBorn

Chapter 27

~~~Tale of Zera~~~

Zeraphina was resting at home after the whole incident with Jet the other day. True, her wound did heal nicely, but now there was a scar in its place, and the owner of the tea shop decided that Zeraphina deserved a couple of days off because of the shock. Zuko and Iroh decided that it was best for Zeraphina to enjoy a couple of days off so she followed their instructions and stayed inside.

She leaned against the wall after finishing up all of the housework and preparing food for dinner that night, but something was weighing on her mind. It was a sad day for her, a day that she should have celebrated with her family.

"You are thinking about them, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. It's a very special day for me. I should have been there with them for this day."

"I understand your sadness. Iroh and Zuko are out to work today. Perhaps you could walk around the city for a while, get your mind off of this."

Zeraphina sighed and thought that it wasn't so bad to take the voice's words to heart. So, she grabbed her overcoat, braided her hair, and left the apartment to wander for the rest of the day. She started off wandering near the markets, admiring many of the stalls that sold all sorts of beautiful items.

"Wonderful gemstones for sale!"

"Beautiful vases here!"

"Adorable dolls for your precious little ones!"

She smiled upon seeing the most adorable little doll wearing Earth kingdom clothing. It had a sewn on smile, black button eyes, brown yarn hair and wearing beautiful green clothes with symbols for the Earth Kingdom in gold.

Zeraphina admired the doll for just a little while longer, until she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a voice call out to her.

"Looking for something for a special little someone?" the owner of the stall asked. Zeraphina looked up and saw an older woman with greying black hair and a sweet smile, "I see you're looking at that wonderful little doll. Perhaps for a daughter?"

"Oh, no Ma'am. I'm too young to be a mother right now." Zeraphina chuckled, "I just noticed that this doll looks a lot like my little brother."

"Your brother?" The woman questioned, "This doll was actually based off of a little boy that I met a couple of years ago."

"What do you mean?"

"It was a little boy walking around here with his mother. A beautiful woman with long brown hair and bright blue eyes. The boy was very sweet and bought a lovely little doll wearing red. Said it was for someone very special."

The woman then smiled and took the doll off the stand before handing it to Zeraphina, "Here you are."

"No, ma'am, I don't have enough to afford it."

"Then why don't you just take it."

"But--"

"No buts, young lady. I have a good feeling about this, and I am usually always right about these sort of things."

Zeraphina sighed and nodded, taking out just a few coins from her pocket and placing it on the stall. The woman was about to make her take the coins back, but Zeraphina ran before she could say anything more. When she was far enough, Zeraphina looked down at the doll and was reminded of what this day was.

"It does look a lot like him, doesn't it?"

"Indeed it does, Child. And that story the stall owner said, is it possible that your brother and mother were here in this city?"