Zuko walking into a dry town with the stolen bag on his back, he was walking for days and finally found a village he hoped had food and water. He was so thirsty. His brain felt foggy when he tried to focus on everything around him, his senses worked for walking but he couldn't keep his eyes steady. He use to feel so nauseous from not eating in two days but it went away into painful stabbing cramps, he was starving.

He didn't pay any attention to the civilians around him but he could feel their eyes on him. Zuko found someone in the small market and dug for the little money he found in the bag he stole.

"Can I get water and a hot meal?" He set the coins on the counter as the other man watched him.

"Not enough for a hot meal," the merchant said.

"Any food at all?" Zuko grunted.

"Let me check to see what would be close," the man said sympathetically and left the teen to see what food he could offer.

Zuko heard young childrens giggles as two boys hid around the corner of the building and each of them threw an egg at soldiers near by.

"Ow!" One of the earth soldiers were hit and the two boys ran off. Zuko didn't move.

"Hey!" The soldiers stood up and stormed towards the teenager.

"You throwing eggs at us stranger?" The leader sneered at Zuko, who kept his back to them while he waited for food and water.

"No," Zuko replied dryly.

"You see who did throw it?" He glared.

"No," Zuko turned to him annoyed placing his hands on his blade handles on his side.

"Is that your Favorite word? No?" Another soldier snorted.

"Egg had to come from somewhere," the leader crossed his arms.

"Maybe a chicken flew over," Zuko told them sarcastically and one of the men even laughed.

The merchant came back with water in an animal skin, bread and a few apples in a bag seeing the boy was starving by the way his cheekbones were poking and his eyes were sinking a bit.

"Thanks for the contribution," the lead soldier snatched it before Zuko could even put his hand on it.

"The army appreciates your support," he chuckled walking away with the food and water as Zuko clenched his fists tightly.

These were the people he'd kill. These soldiers are the enemy. He clenched his jaw to fight the urge to slit the man's throat for his food but he was exhausted.

"You better leave town, the penalty for staying a lot steeper than you can afford stranger," the leader looked back at Zuko with a warning sneer.

"Trust me," he patted the hammer on his side as Zuko looked at him while they all left.

"Those soldiers are suppose to protect us from the fire nation, but they're just a bunch of thugs," the merchant scoffed shaking his head with disgust.

Zuko inhaled a shaky breath as his stomach growled causing pain for him. He better move on since he couldn't get a meal in this town.

"Hey," the merchant sighed before Zuko left.

"Next town over us a dusk to dawn trip, if you leave now you can get there when the market first opens and they may have pity on you boy," he set a large cup of water on the counter and slid it to Zuko as well as another apple.

"I don't have any more money for You," Zuko rasped, his throat was dry.

"I know, that's why I didn't see you drink that water or take that apple," he nodded softly walking away so Zuko could be alone.

He grabbed the water and sipped the water, careful to not chug it immediately.

"Thanks for not ratting me out," a young voice popped up behind him.

Zuko ignored him and kept drinking the water slowly.

"I'll take you to my house and get you a hot meal," the boy smiled brightly. Zuko finished the cup of water and set it on the counter, swiping the apple as well.

"Oh come on, I owe you," he beamed up at him. Zuko didn't say anything but the boy grabbed his sleeve and dragged him anyways.

—

Zuko followed the boy up the dirt road to a farm with animals making sounds at them the entire time, Zuko ate the apple as they walked since he couldn't ignore his stomachs begging for food any longer.

"At least no one can sneak up on us," the boy joked as Zuko looked around curiously of the landscape.

"No kidding," Zuko agreed as he passed a sheep-pig. The boy ran ahead as Zuko waited at the edge of the gate seeing the boys parents outside.

"You a friend of Lee's?" His father walked over.

Zukos heart sank at the name of the young boy. Lee. His mouth got dry again and made it impossible to speak, his chest was tight but could feel every hammering thump of his heart. Lee.

"This guy just stood up to the soldiers!" Little Lee jumped excited as his mother peaked over confused.

"By the end he practically had them running away," he explained as his father put a hand on his shoulder to calm the boy down.

"Does this guy have a name?" His mother walked over cleaning her hands off a rag.

"I-uh I-I-" "he doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want too sela," Lee's father saved zukos stuttering over a false name.

"Anyone who can hold his own against those bully soldiers is welcomed here, those men should be ashamed to I wear earth kingdom uniforms," he put his hands around his wife and son as the family stood together in front of Zuko.

"The real soldiers are off fighting the war, like our oldest, lees big brother, sen su," sela offered a kind smile.

"Supper is going to be ready soon, would you like to stay?" The mother motioned to their home.

"I can't," Zuko pursed his lips. It was wrong and messed up for him to be fed by these people, he was their enemy, probably fought their son on the battle field.

How sick could he be to let them give him a hot meal? He did nothing for them but tear their family apart, and to be allowed a free meal?

"I should be moving on," he told them sternly.

"Gansu could use some help on the barn... why don't you two work for a while and then we'll eat?" Sela seemed to notice how he couldn't allow himself to have a meal for free. So to put him to work he would earn it.

Zuko had no choice but to agree to the work.

—

Zuko and Gansu hammered at the roof top to repair the hole, zukos nails were a bit messed up as he didn't nail a roof together in his years, he's only had a tent as a roof and putting the stakes in the ground usually was easy enough to push and stomp it in.

"You don't seem like your from around here," lee was observing the older teen.

Zuko shook his head as an answer.

"Where are You from then?" He asked not giving up.

"Far away,"

"Ohhh.. where You going?" He grinned hoping for an answer.

"Lee, give it a rest," gansu butted in. Hearing the name again made him dizzy almost.

"Stop asking the man personal questions got it?" He told his son only to earn a long groan.

"So how'd you get that scar?" Lee asked and Zuko slammed the hammer on this thumb making him yell a little pain.

"It's not nice to ask people about things they might not want to talk about, the man's past is his business," gansu said flatly.

"It's fine, my brother was no better," Zuko grunted and waved his hand to relieve the pain.

"You have a brother too?!" Lee smiled brightly.

Zuko kept his head down regretting saying anything but gansu looked at him and pursed his lips.

"Lee go run off, let us work till dinner," he told the boy and lee whined hut climbed down to leave them.

"I'm sorry about your brother," gansu said quietly for Zuko to only hear.

Zuko kept his eyes down, was he that easy to read for his grief. His misery of being without any of his brothers. He felt so lost, did these parents see right through it?

"I lost him eight days ago," Zuko said and got back to hammering.

"Older?"

Zuko nodded. "He made me the person I am today.. he was a soldier,"

"I'm sorry to hear that, he must've been a good man," gansu gulped a little at the idea of his own son being taken.

"He was," he whispered and focused all his anger of the world on the hammering again.

—

Zuko ate slowly so he didn't make himself sick from eating to fast, but he had three plates against his will after sela made another plate before he even finished the one he was on. They offered the barn for him to sleep in so he had a roof over his head for the night, Zuko thanked them for it and did stay the night in the barn.

Sleeping on the soft hay with his stomach full and his throat not hurting anymore after drinking a gallon of water it felt like. He passed out on the hay within minutes of laying on it.

Lee snuck inside and saw Zuko sleeping with a small snore in the air, before he tip toed over and borrowed his dao blades before returning back outside with them.

Lee ran out to the sunflower field and took the blades out to mess around with a little. He had small battle cries as he attacked the flowers, slicing them up and pretending they were an attacker, before leaping to stab the tree close by multiple times.

"Your holding them wrong," Zuko was watching from a few meters away.

Lee screamed in terror as he dropped to the ground while Zuko had his arms crossed calmly.

Lee stood again in shame and handed Zuko his swords back with his head down.

"Keep in mind these are dual swords, two half's of a single weapon," Zuko explained to him bringing the blades together.

"Don't think of them as separate cause they're not," he extended his arm and brought the swords back, silently parting them again and posed in strong forms to show the boy.

"They're just two different parts of the same whole," he said calmly and turned back to swipe the heads of the sunflowers clean off.

Before handing the swords back to the child.

Lee tried to copy him and sloppily made an attack to the tree before. He looked back at Zuko to see if he did it right.

Zuko smiled back with a nod to confirm he was better.

"I think you'd really like my brother sen su," Lee walked back to the barn after giving Zuko his swords back.

"He use to show me stuff like this all the time," he smiled with a small skip in his step.

"My brother showed me how to use them when I was thirteen," Zuko nodded.

"He's a lot like You, not afraid to step up and tell it as it is, he was a great leader, you might be too," he looked ahead at the moon as the night was quiet still.

"Was he a soldier?" Lee asked, he understood why it was past tense.

"Yea," he sighed.