As we walked to the boy's home, tons of hybrid pigs were hollering at us. The young boy noticed Zuko and I's cocked brows. "No one can ever sneak up on us." He shrugged.

"Tch, no kidding." Zuko said. The boy took Jimbo to the barn to eat. Meantime, I'm guessing was his father, started to approach us. "You a friend of Lee's?"

Isn't Zuko's cover-up name Lee?

Lee runs out to his father, "These two just stood up to the soldiers! By the end, they practically had them running away!"

A woman, I'm also guessing was his mother, walked over to us. "Do these two have a name?"

Zuko looked down, "I'm - uh,"

Yup, it is.

"He doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want to, Sela." The father said.

"Well, I don't mind. I'm Jade." I wearily smiled.

"Anyone who can hold their own against those bully soldiers is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms."

"The real soldiers are off fighting the war, like Lee's big brother, Sensu."

The boy merely smiled at his brother's name.

"I have a family member fighting in the war too, my father." I said. Lee lifted his brows, "Really?" I nodded, "Mhm."

"Suppers going to be ready soon. Would you like to stay?" Sela asked us. Before I could say yes, Zuko responded, "We can't. We should be moving on."

The family of three looked to me with their brows raised and I nodded my head, "Supper sounds great."

"Gansu could use some help on the barn and I could use some help in the kitchen. Why don't you two work for awhile and I'll steal your girlfriend for a bit to help me prepare the food. Then, we'll eat." Sela smiled.

Before I could elucidate that I wasn't Zuko's girlfriend, which I've been having to do often, Zuko simply nodded and we parted from each other.

In the kitchen, Sela started to strike up a conversation. "He seems quiet." I'm sure she was referring to Zuko. I nodded, "He is, he keeps his distant. I apologize about that."

Sela shook her head, "Oh, no don't apologize. Nowadays, sometimes it's best you are."

I continued to mix up the salad in the bowl she handed me and she continued to stir the liquid in the steaming pot.

"How long has your father been fighting in the war?" She asked. "Roughly two years." I responded.

"Have you spoken to him?"

"No, not since he left."

"Keep your hope."

"... nowadays, that's all you can have."

>>>

After supper, I walked with Zuko to the barn where we would be sleeping for the night. Gansu and Sela offered and I quickly accepted, which bothered Zuko a bit.

"We have to keep moving."

"We haven't had a good sleep in days, Zuko. I'm tired and so are you." I told him while we laid on a pile of ostrich hay. "They're good people."

"You don't even know them."

"They're giving us their hospitality."

We laid beside each other and stared up at the wooden roof.

"What happened to your thumb?" I asked him. Zuko cleared his throat, "...I hit it with a hammer."

I snickered, "Bird brain."

"You're the one dating him." I knew Zuko was smirking. I playfully nudged his side, "Shut up and go to sleep."

During the night, Lee sneakingly came into the barn and tried to take Zuko's dual swords.

Zuko and I's bodies were laid facing each others - I could see behind him.

"I see you." I whispered with a weary smile. Lee quickly put his hands behind his back, "I uh.... uh-"

I carefully stood up from the pile of hay and reached over for the dual swords. "C'mon." Lee and I walked out of the barn and gently closed the door behind us.

I followed Lee to a field of sunflowers then handed him the dual swords. "Please don't hurt yourself."

"Pfft, I'm a tough guy!" He smirked, taking them from my hands. I rolled my eyes with a chuckle.

Lee began to hack the sunflowers. I took a seat on a patch of grass and watched him. He then started to individually jab the swords into a tree repeatedly.

"I'm fighting an army!"

I laughed, "You're doing great!"

"No, he's holding them all wrong."

Lee and I jumped back with a yelp. Zuko began to walk toward us and we looked to each other with worried expressions. "It was his idea!" I pointed to Lee. "Wha-?! She let me!" He did the same.

Zuko kept a straight face and Lee and I hung our heads with a frown. Lee handed Zuko his swords.

"Keep in mind, these are dual swords." Zuko took the dual swords out of Lee's hands then placed them together. "Two halves of a single weapon."

Lee and I looked to each other in surprise. We expected him to be upset.

"Don't think of them as separate because they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole." Zuko explained while showing Lee the right way to use them.

Zuko handed back Lee the swords and started to mimic Zuko's movements. Or at least try to.

Zuko watched with his arms crossed. I placed my hand on Zuko's shoulder and smiled up at him.

After a moment, Lee looked over his shoulder at us, maybe wanting approval. Zuko nodded with a half-smile.

"You want to see something cooler?" I asked Lee. Lee nodded and I opened my water skin.

I whipped out a stream of water and froze it in a sword like sculpture. I sliced through the sunflowers in a swift, easy motion.

I unfroze the water and placed it back into my water skin. I faced the two boys with my hands on my hips.

"That was amazing!" Lee exclaimed. "But, we nonbenders have to stick together, right?" Lee looked up to Zuko with a childish grin. Zuko nodded slowly, "Right... let's start heading back."

As we started to walk back to the farm, Lee began to talk to Zuko about his brother. "I think you'd really like my brother, Sensu. He used to show me stuff like this all the time."

Then he looked up to me, "And I think he'd really like you." He finished with a wink. I ruffled his hair with a snicker.

"I'll race ya!" Lee grinned before he started to run to the farm. "He's a good kid." I said with a smile.

"Thank you for coming with me."

I raised my brows with slight wide eyes. I looked to Zuko from the corner of my eyes and saw that he was doing the same. "You're welcome, Zuko."