Raised in Earth (OC x Zuko) book 2

Chapter 2

Zukos POV:

I was alone in the Earth Kingdom without any food or water. My ostrichhorse was dragging its feet beneath me and seemed ready to fall over. We were approaching a small rural town that seemed to be falling apart. Everyone looked ready to either fight for their food or run from danger at its first sighting. I came upon a small store and dismounted my ride. A group of unfriendly looking men were gambling in front of the small place but I paid no mind to them, i was too tired.

"Can i get some water a bag of feed and something hot to eat?" I asked the store owner and put what was left of my money on the bar.

" not enough here for a hot meal. I can give you two bags of feed." He seemed to genuinely want to help, but he couldn't give things away. I noticed two small boys to my left with mischievous looks on their faces. One with unruly hair took an egg from his friend and tossed it at the back of a gambler's head, unfortunately hitting its target. The man turned around slowly and I felt him glare at the back of my head.

"Hey! You throwing eggs at us stranger?" He asked me with a deep menacing voice.

"No." Was my curt reply.

"You see who did throw it?" I turned to face them.

"No." I lied

"That your favorite word, no?" One of the main guys followers asked. I kept my head down and tried to avoid a fight.

"Egg had to come from somewhere." The main guy glared.

"Maybe a chicken flew over." I turned to grab the bags of feed the store owner brought me, but the leader of te group came and took them.

"Thank you for your contribution, the army appreciates your support." He gave an awful grin. "You better leave town. Penalty for stayin is a lot steeper than you can afford stranger. Trust me." He pats the war hammers that hung from his belt as a threat.

"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation," the store owner explained, "but they're just a bunch of thugs." I turned and mounted my ostrichhorse again to find another town without assholes like them around.

"Thanks for not ratting me out." I heard a younger voice behind me and immediately knew who it belonged to. I ignored it and my animal kept walking. The boy from earlier ran in front of me and took the reins. "I'll take you back to my house and feed your ostrichhorse for you. C'mon, I owe you."

We arrived at a small farmhouse surrounded by noisy animals.

"No one can ever sneak up on us." The kid, whose name I found was Lee, joked.

"No kidding."

We got closer to the house and a man and a woman, probably his parents came outside. Lee took my ostrichhorse away behind the barn and a less than pleasant pigrooster stood before me on a post making its terrible noise.

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

"This guy stood up to the soldiers!" Lee came running from where he had put my horse. "By the end, he practically had them running away!"

"Really?" His mother asked. "Does this friend have a name?"

"I'm... Uh..." I was at a loss for names. I hadn't really thought of what to call myself since people might know of the banished Prince Zuko.

"He doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want to Sela." Lee's father said to his wife. "He doesn't have to say who he is if he doesn't want to, Sela. Anyone who can hold his own against those bully soldiers is welcome here. Those men should be ashamed to wear Earth Kingdom uniforms. The real soldiers are off fighting the War, like Lee's big brother Sensu. Supper's going to be ready soon. Would you like to stay?"

"I can't. I should be moving on." I didn't deserve these peoples help.

"Gansu could use some help on the barn. Why don't you two work for a while, and then we'll eat." Sela compromised. I nodded in agreement.

Lee's father, Gansu, and I started working on the barn and Lee was constantly asking questions. "You don't seem like you're from around here." "Mm-mm" i shook my head.

"Where are you from then?"

"Far away."

"Where are you going?" Before i could answer, Gansu saved me.

"Lee, give it a rest. Stop asking the man personal questions, got it?"

"Yes." He sounded disappointed. But the silence was short lived. "So how'd you get that scar?" Surprised by the question, I accidentally hit my thumb with the hammer.

"It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A man's past is his business."

"Everyone I meet has some mysterious past." He grumbled. "Remember when Mílù first came here dad?" His father chucked at the memory. "She didn't know anything about anything."

"Perhaps I should have told you," Gansu turned his attention to me. "We have another guest here. She is a bit strange but I'm sure you'll get along. She has been here about a month and is staying in Sensu's old room for now until she... Figures things out. You'll meet her at supper."

"Or I could randomly appear at any moment." I heard a girl beneath. She climbed the ladder. "Sela wanted me to tell you supper is ready." I didn't turn around and finished the board I was working on. I climbed down the ladder after Gansu and went to the house.

"Take a seat. Sela and Mílù always make amazing dinners." I did as he asked and Lee sat next to me.

"Alrighty," a girls voice came from behind me again. "We have dumplings, pigchicken, and a salad." The girl put the dumplings next to me along with the salad and sat down as Sela brought out the pigchicken. The second I saw the girl, my heart stopped. All I saw was the back of her head, but the color of her hair threw me off. i could have sworn... And her voice...

She turned to look at me and got the same look in her eyes that I felt.

"M-Madelyn?" I stammered.

"Sorry?" She asked. I couldn't help but reach out my hand and brush her cheek gently. "Babe, what are you doing?" She looked at me as if I were insane, was i?

"Madelyn, it's me, Zuko."

"I don't know anyone by that name."

"Zuko, Zu-ko... Zuko. That sounds familiar." Lee pondered. My cover was blown. "That's the name of that guy you dream about." Lee gave a mischievous smile.

"What are you talking about?" Madelyn asked him, I couldn't take my eyes from her.

"When you sleep and when we first found you thats what you kept saying. 'Zuko.' Then something about the moon." Lee shrugged.

"When you came here Mílù, you didn't even know her name." He then turned to me. "She didn't know where she was or anything. We have been taking care of her hoping her memories come back but none have until maybe now." Gansu filled in the blanks in my mind. "She didn't even know she was an earthbender."

"Earthbender?" I asked. How could she be an earthbender when she was already a firebender?

"Maybe now that you are here, if you really know her, you can bring here memories back." Gansu suggested. Madelyn gave me a wary glance before looking again at her food.

"O-okay." She stammered. "I have to go." She stood up quickly as did I, earning me another weird look. "A-alone." She then walked quickly out the door. I sat down and watched her leave.

"You really do know her dont you." Sela said more as a comment than a question, but I still found myself nodding. I turned back to the food in front of me and couldn't resist taking a bite despite the confusion from before.

"So... Zuko huh?" Lee smiled. "Cool name." I didn't respond because my mind was now focused on the living girl in this house rather than the one I failed to protect at the North Pole.