Flameheart | Zuko

SIX

A soft hum echoed around the room, carrying an almost nostalgic tone, cutting through the stillness of the morning, offering it some colour. The humming woman stood in front of a mirror, brushing her long dark hair carefully, her eyes, bright and flickering like the flame of a candle, following the movement of her hand as she grabbed her brush tightly. It had been a while since she had finished with the day's training and so, after having a much needed bath, she took to combing her hair. She lost track of time. A while later there was a knock on the door, and slowly, she let the brush to the side as she began setting her hair in the classic Fire Nation hairdo.

"Come in."

The door opened, the room appearing to be extremely quiet now in the absense of her humming. Ty Lee poked her head in the room, her hair set once more in the usual braid, a wide smile on her lips as she noticed her sitting in front of the mirror, fixing her hair.

"Homura, Mai and I are about to head out. I asked Mai whether you could join us and she didn't have an issue with it. Do you want to come?"

Homura smiled at her friend through the mirror as she finished her hair. "What about Suki?"

"She's with Sokka, I didn't want to bother them."

She smiled knowingly at her as she nodded and slowly stood up, the dark red dress she had chosen to wear that had been pulled at her thighs while she sat falling to the floor at the swift movement, covering all trace of the scars on her feet. She put on her simple gold ring she never parted with before turning to face Ty Lee, following her out of the room. She closed the door behind her as they walked away side by side.

"Where is Mai?"

"She's waiting for us at her house," Ty Lee explained simply as she shot her a smile. "She said she'll show us some of the city but then she has a few duties to attend to. I assured her we wouldn't mind joining her for that as well."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind," Homura agreed as she briefly turned to face her. "What are Mai's duties?"

"I'm not sure," her eyebrows furrowed and her nose scrunched up in an adorable manner, and Homura had some trouble keeping herself from smiling. "I think she's helping Zuko with something."

"She's helping him?" she couldn't help but ask, unable to stiffle her curiosity. "What's her position?"

Ty Lee shrugged. "I don't know. We could ask her, though."

"Yeah, as long as we are discreet about it. And you ask her, you know her better."

She smirked. "Sure, I can be discreet. If I didn't know any better though, I'd say you're intimidated by her."

Homura chuckled as she passed through the doors of the palace, getting to the front gates and then out in the city. "Well, she isn't the most approachable person to ever exist."

"That's a first, finding a person to intimidate you," Ty Lee teased, but before Homura could reply in any way, she had skipped away, heading to a house in the side of the road. She followed after her as Ty Lee got up the few steps and raised a hand to knock on the door. She knocked thrice and then stepped back. A short while later, the door opened, Mai appearing behind it. She cast an appraising glance over Homura and then Ty Lee and seemingly pleased, she nodded once before getting out of the house.

"You arrived on time," she commented as she got down the steps. Ty Lee and Homura exchanged a look before following after her.

"Where are we going, Mai?"

Mai briefly glanced at Ty Lee as she kept walking, leading the way. "I'll show you the upper part of the city. And then I'll tend to my duties."

Homura cleared her throat before speaking up. "What kind of duties?"