Eclipse (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Chapter 15: Second Contact

Miyuki was at a bit of a disadvantage here. For some reason, she'd been unable to receive any messages since arriving. She wasn't even sure if the message she tried to send out made it at this point. She could make her best educated guess as to where Zuko and Iroh might be, but past that, she would just have to leave it to chance. She hoped that they were still in the lower ring. If they somehow made it to a different ring already, it would take her longer to find them.

The first thing she had to do was start up a reputation. For the time being, she was dancing on the streets. The lower ring was filled with unsavory types, but she was making a decent amount for the time being, and the exposure would help her set up a new network in the near future. Still, it had been a week and progress had been slow.

She used her waterbending to create a sort of spectacle of water dancing in the air with each of her movements like ribbons trailing behind her, which would then direct the sunlight to her just right, creating a halo effect around herself to draw in as much attention as possible. It was perfect. If the idea wasn't genius, she didn't know what was.

She backflipped a couple times and brought the water down with her in a crashing wave, only to turn them into the smallest droplets of water she could when her feet hit the ground. She made the droplets bounce back up into the air, sprinkling the crowd in what looked like small jewels for a moment. Really, it was just like she was practicing her waterbending, but instead of the goal being to incapacitate her opponent as quickly as possible, her goal was to make it as entertaining as possible. Miyuki ducked into a bow and she heard the sound of coins falling into her bag.

"Wha- Miyuki? Is that you?!" a familiar voice exclaimed as she stowed her earnings for the day.

She looked up and smiled at the familiar face. "Hey there, stranger. I hardly recognized you with your new hair."

"What are you doing here?" the exiled prince asked. "And..." His eyes flickered to her clothes and he covered them with his hand. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." She decided not to mention the pink tinge on his cheeks as she laughed lightly and put the jade-colored outer layer of her dress back on. "I wasn't expecting to run into you again so soon."

"Right back at you."

"I hope it's a pleasant surprise? Is your uncle with you?"

"I'll bring you to him."

She noted that he didn't comment as to his opinion on their reunion.

·:*¨༺ ★ ༻¨*:·.

Miyuki smiled as she caught sight of Iroh serving tea in a tea shop. "What a pleasant surprise!" he greeted genially. "I had been missing our pai sho games recently, and you know how Lee isn't a fan."

She laughed lightly and noted Zuko's alias. "I would love to play when you have the time! It's so nice to see you both again. You seem like you're doing well."

"Yes, we can catch up later!" Iroh replied, ever friendly. "Would you like some tea?"

She smiled at him. "If you're the one brewing it, I would love some."

"You've got good taste, young lady. Mushi's the best tea maker in the city!" a man in uniform commented.

She flashed a bright smile at him and bowed a little. He didn't look like much, but if he was in uniform then he would know more people, and given the current state of her network, every single person counted.

A shiver went down her spine then, and Miyuki stood a little straighter. Someone's eyes were boring into the back of her head. She took a small mirror out and took a peek at who it was under the guise of checking to make sure the floral hairpin that she'd put into her hair was still in place. It was a girl in the corner of the shop with braids.