The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

Goodbye, Everybody

I leaned over the railing of the ship with a smile as we were on the ferry towards Ba Sing Se.

"How can you be happy at a time like this?" Zuko said with his usual grumble. "This is all terrible."

I looked back at Zuko and scoffed. "You need to look more on the bright side... Lee. Perhaps we can really like it at Ba Sing Se if we go into it with a good attitude." I tried to convince, using Zuko's cover name. We had decided we would use the names Zuko and Iroh had been previously using, and I would just be called Ash-Lee. Everyone's name in the Earth Kingdom is Lee anyway.

"Who would have thought, after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace...as a tourist." Iroh said, coming up to us with a big grin. I turned around and greeted Uncle with a smile.

"Look around, we're not tourists, we're refugees. Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt... I'm tired of living like this." Zuko said grimly as he looked over the railing of the ship. I sighed and put my hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Aren't we all?" A guy said, walking up to us, a piece of straw in his mouth. "My name's Jet, and these are my freedom fighters, Smellerbee, and Longshot." Jet stepped out toward the rail, his companions behind him.

"Hey." Smellerbee said in greeting. Longshot simply just nodded a greeting.

"Hello." Zuko said without looking at them.

Jet stepped closer. "Here's the deal. I hear the Captain's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of "king" is he eating like?" Iroh asked.

"The fat, happy kind. You want to help us "liberate" some food?" Jet continued.

Zuko stared down into at the bowl of gruel, considering a moment before he hurled it out over the rail. He turned around. "I'm in."

"You can come too if you want." Jet said to me, before he winked at me.

I crossed my arms. "No thanks, Robin Hood." Iroh glanced at me disapprovingly, and I kept my arms crossed.

"She's not coming." Zuko told Jet with a frown.

"Ok, well, we'll steal the food at nightfall." Jet said, walking off.

"Ash-Lee, do not make enemies before we even get to the city!" Iroh scolded me lightly.

"Yeah, for one that's always acting positive, you sure know how to appear rude." Zuko butted in.

"Well, you're one to talk." I scoffed. "Besides, he doesn't even know who Robin Hood is. It probably wasn't rude at all."

"Who is Robin Hood?" Zuko asked quietly.

"He is a story. A guy who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. See, calling him Robin Hood isn't even a bad thing." I explained.

"That's an interesting anecdote." Uncle said, stroking his beard.

------

It was dinnertime. Zuko sat between Uncle and I. I glanced at Zuko in distaste as Jet and his two friends walked over and sat across from us. Several minutes earlier, Zuko had gotten back from stealing a bunch of food from the captain of the ship. I will admit, the food was actually edible.

"From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall." Jet said.

"It is a magnificent sight." Iroh commented.

"So you've been there before?" Jet asked.

"Once, when I was a different man." Uncle said in regret.

"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of. But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning. A second chance." Jet explained.