Avatar; The Royal Firebender.

Avatar Beifong

"So, what do you know about the Beifong family?" Sokka asks as he watches Yue and Aang mix sugar in with the egg yolks as they begin the first steps to make custard. "I know the avatar before you was a part of that family but do you know anything else?"

"I know they run a merchant system around the earth kingdom, those merchant caravans we've done business with a few times all work for them. They help get supplies all around the earth kingdom and are allowed to bring it to the firenation colonies since the merchants are neutral in the war." Zuko says as he reads over the scrolls he drew up the previous night, with his off hand he stirs a large pot full of udon noodles that he and Katara had made that morning.

"So they're war profiteering?" Yue asks as she turns to look at Zuko. "That doesn't sound like a very good thing to do."

"It's not exactly war profiteering, they are trading with the colonies, providing aid to refugee camps and they help travelers get around the earth kingdom in protected caravans. It does cost money to be escorted by the caravans but it does cost a lot of money to actually run a business of that scale." Iroh says as he finishes setting up a pai sho table. "Anyone care for a game?"

"Oh! Oh! Of course I'll play!" Aang says as he quickly loses interest in cooking and sprints across the room to go play the game. "Monk Gyatso and I used to play this all the time back home... my sister always thought it was boring though."

"Well, who wants to come with me to the Beifong estate? Aang and Uncle Iroh are probably gonna be at that for a few hours." Zuko asks as he cuts off the fire from the pot. "Lunch is ready so whenever you two need to use the oven let me know." He says before ladling a bit of the soup into his bowl then adding some fried shrimp and some vegetables to it.

"I'll tag along, this shouldn't take very long so we can have these when we get back." Yue says as she pours the custard into a few pastry molds before putting it into the oven. "These aren't the kind of tarts you need to bake Zuko, you actually need to chill them. But we do need to bake the pastry base for these. Hey, Iroh, can you bake the pastry for me while we're gone? I'm gonna make an ice box so the custard can chill for a little while." She asks before putting a couple nails into a candle to act as a timer. With her waterbending, she creates a large block of ice before hollowing it out and putting the custard inside it. She freezes the opening over so the box is hollow.

"Of course." Iroh says with a nod before placing down the white lotus tile in the center of the board. "This is sure to be an interesting day, and an interesting game." Iroh says as he gets up to go bake the pastry and make himself a bowl to eat.

"You coming too, Sokka?" Yue asks, causing him to snap his attention to her, with three half eaten tempura shrimp still sticking out of his mouth. She giggles when she sees this out of her husband, causing Sokka to quickly finish his food.

"Yeah, I'll tag along. We might even get another meal out of this too, it is lunch time." Sokka says excitedly as he gets up from his spot on the sofa.

"What do you see in him, Yue? He only thinks with his stomach or his sword." Katara groans as she gets up from reading her bending scrolls. When she sees the blush on Yue's and Sokka's face she realizes what she said. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!!!"

"Can we not yell please? We're in the same room damnit." Zuko scolds, coincidentally also yelling this in the same room, defeating the purpose.

"I don't get it." Aang says as he raises an eyebrow but this just causes Iroh to shrug.

News that the avatar is in town had gotten out, while normally someone of such status would bring celebration... not when that Avatar was born a firebender. Then again, he is known as The Good Firebender, and stories of his feats have made their way around the earth kingdom. Zuko doesn't mind the lack of publicity, truth be told he was never a fan of all the prompt and circumstance that would follow anything his family did back in the firenation. Given the chance, Zuko would rather just sit on the cushions in the palace, reading books or spending time with... "She's gone..." Zuko interrupts this train of thought, shaking his head to physically rid himself of the memories. Ahead of him, the three watertribe members talk with one another but all he can hear are mumbles. "One more step closer to becoming a fully realized Avatar... What then? Will I actually have to face my father? Will I have to fight him?... Will I be able to defeat him?..."