The DragonBorn

Chapter 19

It had been five days since both Zuko and Zeraphina had left Iroh and began traveling on their own. Zeraphina sat behind Zuko, her arms wrapped his waist as he led the ostrich horse through the hot sun. Soon, the two came across a bridge, but as they crossed it one of the planks cracked and made a large hole. The animal got scared and started thrashing around until Zuko could finally get it under control and freed from the hole in the bridge.

They rode the rest of the way over the bridge and continued on their way. However, soon after they continued, Zuko made the ostrich horse stop.

"My Prince, what is it?" Zeraphina asked.

"Over there. Don't you smell it?" Zuko said and pointed to the distance. Zeraphina looked over to see what Zuko was pointing at and piece of meat roasting over a fire, a man carefully cooking the food.

Zuko and Zeraphina's stomachs growled loudly as the scent of the delicious meal, but just as Zuko grabbed the handle of his sword Zeraphina placed her hand over his to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked, annoyed that she had stopped him.

"Do you really want to take the food from the mouth of a child by force?" Zeraphina replied.

Zuko, confused, looked down to see the man moving over to a woman who was sitting against a large tree, her stomach swollen from the child she was carrying. Zuko rethought his ideas and loosened his grip on his sword. Zeraphina smiled and got off the ostrich horse.

Before Zuko could ask her what she was doing, she had already descended down the hill and stood in front of the couple.

"Excuse me?" She said grabbing their attention, "I know this may be much to ask, but do you have any spare food I could take for me and my friend? We haven't eaten in days."

The two looked up at Zuko and then looked back at Zeraphina with a smile.

"Of course." The man said, "And if you'd like, your friend could come and join us."

Zeraphina nodded and waved Zuko down to come and join them. After the two of them got situated with a bowl of food, the four started talking. The couple introduced themselves as Ying and Than.

"So, what are you two doing all the way out here? Not exactly safe for a pregnant woman." Zeraphina asked.

"We're traveling to Ba Sing Se before our baby is born." Ying said, "We want our child to be born into a safe place where they can grow freely."

"Not in this world." Zuko muttered, but only Zeraphina could hear him properly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you've fed us and we haven't even told you our names." Zeraphina said, "My name is Mingxia and this grumpy teen is my friend Lee."

Ying laughed at the introduction, "I see, and where are you two heading? Are you going to Ba Sing Se as well?"

Zeraphina shook her head, "No, for now we're simply wandering. I guess you could say that we're on a journey to find ourselves in a way."

Zuko looked over at Zeraphina, glancing down at her bowl and seeing how little she was eating. Without hesitation, he scooped some of his food into her bowl.

"Lee, what's with this?" She asked.

"You need more food than I do. I'm full anyway."

Zeraphina was confused by his gesture, but she couldn't help but feel her cheeks grow warmer, and it wasn't because of the hot sun beating down on them. After they were finished eating, Zuko wanted to leave right at that moment, but Zeraphina couldn't stop smiling at Ying's stomach.