"I ain't really wanna go home... I wanna be able to help out if the avatar's dead." You frowned as you reached out for his hand.

Graciously, Iroh took it and rubbed the back of it.

"The Fire Nation is a stark contrast to the Swamp Lands. I remember when I went to your home lands. Every person made jokes about how uptight I was. And I was! I wouldn't even take off my armor! As if they were going to suddenly challenge me to a battle." He laughed at the memory. "Eventually, the played a joke on me and stole all of my clothes in the night!" You laughed with the old man; it very much seemed like something your family would do.

"We ain't have a stranger come to our home in my whole life til the Avatar and crew showed up. Just people tryin' to kill the swamp." You calmed down and laid your head against the bars. "Zuko ain't even care when I said I wanted to go home. He just said that he can't take me out on a date 'cause of ya stupid rules. But he's takin' that serious gal out."

"Oh, I was worried about this." He held your hand tightly. "You're not sharing him with that girl. That is not how it works here. It will not be equitable, like it would in the swamp."

"Equi-what?"

"In our society, you and her are not the same. In the Fire Nation, you are evil. You are ruining his relationship with this proper woman."

"I ain't ruinin' shit!" You looked panicked. "And I had 'im first! In every sense of the word!"

"It does not matter. He chose this other girl to be his in the public eye. You are a secret, and a shameful one. She... she will always come first.... I'm sorry to be the one to tell you... In fact, I feel as if I should apologize for my nation's entire culture." he chuckled lightly at this.

"Nah, we just different. Ain't better 'er worse. 'Least ya honest with me." Grumbling, you retracted your hand and laid your head on your knees. "I guess... I guess I'll think 'bout goin' home."

"There's no reason that you couldn't come back if you needed to. It is however... a long way back to your home. You would need to first cross to the other side of the Fire Nation. And then, you'd have to take a boat for likely quite a few days. But if you want to go home, then nothing should stop you. You have a duty to your family to stay safe. And I'm sure that they're missing you."

"Hmm... Well last time I knew, we had like six babies comin' and I was hopin' they'd be gals. Then maybe we could do boyfriend/girlfriend stuff, ya know?"

"If that is what you would desire, YN. Just let my nephew know your feelings; that is all I ask of you."

With that last piece of advice, you stood up and decided to go back to your room and practice your water bending. You'd think more about leaving tonight when Zuko got back.