𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 | 𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘢

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭

{the drill}

later in the day, they arrived at customs. they needed to get through there in order to get to ba sing se. hana was scared, she didn't know how realistic their passports were and the thought of being caught was absolutely horrible.

they waited in several lines until they were in front of an unpleasant lady. her temperament was not kind and was a bit hard on the eyes, at least that's what zuko said and hana glared at him.

"so, mister lee, miss yun, and mister... umm mushy it is?" the woman studied their papers.

"it's pronounced moo-shee," iroh corrected her.

she looked up at iroh, "you telling me how to do my job?"

"uh, no, no, no," he stepped close and began to work his magic. "but may i just say that you're like a flower in bloom. your beauty's intoxicating."

hana and zuko looked kind of disgusted for a moment, but realized, it's iroh it'll work. so, it didn't matter what he'd say.

the customs lady was charmed, "you're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome." she made a cat-clawing gesture, "rawr. welcome to ba sing se." she stamped their papers and pushed it towards iroh.

iroh picked them up and zuko snatched them, "i'm gonna forget i saw that."

hana fake gagged and laughed. the three walked away from the woman. they walked into the train station and picked out a pole they'd sit around.

they sat peacefully for a while until they were interrupted by jet, who sat next to zuko and hana, "so, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?"

"get your hot tea here! the finest tea in the ba sing se!" a peddler interrupted.

iroh waved his arms, "oh! jasmine, please."

the tea peddler came over to them and poured iroh some tea into a cup. iroh took a sip, elated to have found some tea.

the old man quickly had been let down, "bleh! ugh. coldest tea in ba sing se is more like it. what a disgrace!"

jet gestured to the two of them, "hey can i talk to you two for a second?"

zuko and hana sighed and followed him a couple feet away. hana felt trapped.

"the three of us have a much better chance of making it in the city if we stick together. you guys wanna join the freedom fighters?" he asked them.

hana raised her eyebrows and looked to zuko for a response, "thanks, but i don't think you want me in your gang."

"come on, we made a great team looting that captain's food. think of all the good we could do for these refugees," he pressured them.

zuko turned around and started to walk away, "i said no."

jet looked to hana, "what about you? come on, think about it!"

she looked him dead in the eyes and refused, "no. lee is right. we do not belong in your gang."

"have it your way," he said as she followed zuko back to iroh.

hana looked down to the ground as she followed him. she felt bad but at the same time she didn't.

when she looked up and she saw zuko slap iroh's tea out of his hands, "hey! what's going on?"

"what are you doing firebending your tea? for a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move," he asked angirly at iroh.

"ir- mushi!" she said panicked.

"i know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but," he sniffled, "it's just so sad!"

hana smacked her face.

how the fuck am i going to survive this shit?

they sat there, waiting for the train for a while. they sat there quietly, for the most part, at least. zuko just kept complaining about iroh and his firebending.

sure, zuko had a point, but hana wasn't having it. hana told to him to "hush up"  and that "nobody saw."

not too long after that, the train arrived. many people boared at the same time so the three of them just waited until they could get on without bumping into anyone.

"last call for ba sing se!" the conductor yelled.

they quickly got on and sat next to a woman and her baby.

iroh was quick to notice, "what a handsome baby."

"thank you," the woman smiled.

"what's their name?" hana asked.

the woman was delighted by this question, "her name is hope."

"hope," hana repeated. "everyone could use a little more of that."

lexi speaks;
idk bout a chapter this week. its been a long few days.