the avatar, and that one good firebender, lee

water, part one

"we're getting close," the boy announces, hands planted on the railing. peering out at the horizon, they all see it, watching as the white ice parts the blue waves in its path towards the ship. he calls, "get ready to dock."

"zuko, it's just the avatar." iroh reminds, taking his place beside the boy. planting his own sleeves on the rail, the retired general sighs into a relaxed stance. behind them, the rest of the crew hurriedly set up the main deck with folded chairs and tables and carts of steaming tea. "remember, we're here to sell tea."

"no, we're not, uncle," zuko replies, breathing hard into the brisk air. before his uncle can reprimand him for wearing a thin coat, the boy continues, "we're here for the avatar. we always have been." the retired general falls silent at that. yes, of course .

"that being said--" iroh crosses his arms. "remember what we talked about earlier. we wait on your signal. until then, we sell tea." with that, iroh turns to leave, and upon spotting the layout of the tables and chairs, begins directing the crew on better aesthetic and come on, jee, help kook with the chairs.

"kook, if you're having trouble with the chairs, why don't you ask lee to help you?" jee's teasing suggestion warrants a grimace, and, tightening his collar, zuko leaves the railing to help kook out with the stupid jamming folding chairs, i told you we should buy new ones . over the fumbling, lieutenant jee announces, "we're approaching."

the ice, closer now, sits as a stark white against the ship's black frame. peering over the railing once more, zuko spots young children clad in their thick blue jackets, running towards the coast and waving at the incoming visitors. as the ship draws closer, eventually, the entire tribe lines the ice, standing huddled together for their scheduled tea visit.

"miss kanna of the water tribe, glad to see you again," iroh announces at the full stop, stepping down to grace the old woman with a polite handshake. "lee, come down, say hi to the water tribe."

"come on, lee, we don't have all day," feng ushers behind zuko, hurrying him down the stairs. "my love! i miss you!" stepping down on the snow, the engineer rushes towards a girl, who giggles at his arrival.

"and which love is this one? mei? aki? mika?" kook mutters as she passes zuko by. crouching down before the incoming herd of children, she greets each with a smile and a candy from the last stop. mara, haku, and daito follow shortly after, bumping fists and high-fiving the kids with soft coos. "where's yoshi? oh, my, you've grown so much."

zuko stumbles forward, propelled by an encouragingly stern pat on the back. turning around, he eyes lieutenant jee in disdain, and even more so at the man's suggestion to socialize this time, kid . meeting iroh's gaze, the retired general resonates the suggestion with a nod of his head. zuko, with another sigh, fixes his hair and settles for going back on deck, aiming to serve the incoming customers instead of socializing . on his third step however, pulling on his sleeve, iroh jerks the boy back down, turns him right around, and, with a tight smile, faces zuko with two water tribe members, a boy and a girl, vaguely familiar.

with a firm grip on zuko's shoulder, iroh keeps the boy in place, and says, "lee, you remember kanna's grandchildren. sokka and katara. they're just about your age, right?"

"yeah, sure," zuko mumbles, peering down at the two. they wave timidly.

"i'll leave you three to it, then," iroh says, leading kanna and the other water tribe members up on the deck for some steaming tea.

zuko expects another awkward greeting between the three of them, just like last time, but by the looks of katara's eager smile, he suspects something anew with the southern water tribe. before he can utter a greeting, katara breaks her smile even further, with the question, "so, you wanna see an airbender?"